tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133243792024-03-07T02:20:13.858-05:00ErrPort-77Where nothing flies under the radar.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.comBlogger567125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-81256134508769141252015-02-23T11:47:00.001-05:002015-02-23T11:47:23.035-05:00process recasdfdfVerchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-8877633791523064772011-02-12T10:13:00.002-05:002011-02-13T23:57:58.459-05:00Saturday Shuffle<i>Let The Music Play</i> - Shannon<br />
<i>Walk Away</i> - Tom Waits<br />
<i>(She's) Sexy + 17</i> - Stray Cats<br />
<i>Smash It Up (Part 2)</i> - The Damned<br />
<i>Taki Rari</i> - Yma Sumac<br />
<i>All I Know</i> - Basement Jaxx<br />
<i>Salvation</i> (live) - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club<br />
<i>Maybe I'll Catch Fire</i> (live) - Alkaline Trio<br />
<i>Justify My Love</i> - Madonna<br />
<i>Valerie</i> - Amy Winehouse<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yYQKB8Svdz0" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Maybe I'll Catch Fire</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This house is full of ears,</div><div style="text-align: center;">But I can't talk to anyone.</div><div style="text-align: center;">They've heard this one a thousand times.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Most exciting thing I do,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hang half way out a third floor window,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Maybe throw lit cigarettes down.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And maybe I'll catch fire.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something warm to hold me,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something pure to burn away the darkness that hides inside my mind.</div><div style="text-align: center;">All that evil shit's not hard to find.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I guess I only claim to be nice.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This house is full of eyes,</div><div style="text-align: center;">But I can't look at anyone.</div><div style="text-align: center;">They've seen this face a thousand times.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Most relaxing thing I do,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hang half way out a third floor window,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And look at rocks if I fall out.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Well maybe I'll fall hard.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something tough to break me,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something sharp to rip into my insides and bleed out all that pain.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sorry I don't even know your name.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I guess for me it's easy this way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Maybe I'll catch fire.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something warm to hold me,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Something pure to burn away the darkness that hides inside my mind.</div><div style="text-align: center;">All that evil shit's not hard to find.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I guess I only claim to be nice.</div></blockquote>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-68543028211592957272011-02-10T23:28:00.011-05:002011-02-13T23:57:22.847-05:00Rep. Steve King: Delusional racists are the president's problem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/SteveKing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/SteveKing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In the aftermath of Bill O'Reilly's <s>superbowl interview</s> <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleybaccam/every-time-bill-oreilly-interrupted-obama">childish badgering</a> of Barack Obama, Rep. Steve King <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/10/lawrence-odonnell-steve-king-muslim_n_821521.html?ref=email_share">took to</a> the Lawrence O'Donnell show to discuss his Republican constituents who still cling to the paranoid fantasy that the president is a secret Muslim. King, quite comfortable with <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/steve_king_theres_one_birth_ce.html">egging on</a> the Birthers who think the President isn't a citizen or going on the radio to smear him as a <a href="http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201006140007">racist</a> apparently draws the line at calling Obama a Muslim, but blames him for the misconception, anyway...only to have O'Donnell promptly punch him in the mouth:<br />
<blockquote><i>"Do you have any doubt about whether [Obama] is a Christian?" he asked King. "I take him at his word," King said.<br />
<br />
"Are you a Christian?" O'Donnell asked. "Yes," King said.<br />
<br />
"Should I take you at your word or should I maybe suspect you are Muslim?" O'Donnell said. "Do you have a Christian ID you can show me?"<br />
<br />
King said that the misconception about Obama's religion among many Republicans is "not a Republican problem, this is the president's problem." O'Donnell asked,<b>"if Republicans believe the world is flat, is that a Republican problem or a geography problem?"</b></i></blockquote>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-50684721120541160642011-02-05T10:13:00.031-05:002011-02-05T18:28:35.549-05:00Saturday Shuffle<i>Trees</i> - Dr. Octagon<br />
<i>Yesterday</i> - The Beatles<br />
<i>In or Out</i> (live) - Ani DiFranco<br />
<i>Rico's Blues</i> - Jan Hammer<br />
<i>21st Century (Digital Boy)</i> ('90 version) - Bad Religion<br />
<i>Words (For Love)</i> - Paul Oakenfold<br />
<i>Severed</i> (live) - Kittie<br />
<i>Guitar Date</i> - The 5.6.7.8.'s<br />
<i>Behind My Camel</i> - The Police<br />
<i>Harold of the Rocks</i> (live) - Primus<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V0d1-rHF8cQ" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>In or Out</u></b><br />
<br />
Guess there's something wrong with me<br />
Guess I don't fit in<br />
No one wants to touch it<br />
No one knows where to begin<br />
I've got more than one membership<br />
To more than one club<br />
And I owe my life<br />
To the people that I love<br />
<br />
He looks me up and down<br />
Like he knows what time it is<br />
Like he's got my number<br />
Like he thinks it's his<br />
He says,<br />
Call me, Miss DiFranco,<br />
If there's anything I can do<br />
I say,<br />
It's Mr. DiFranco to you<br />
<br />
Somedays the line I walk<br />
Turns out to be straight<br />
Other days the line tends to deviate<br />
I've got no criteria for sex or race<br />
I just want to hear your voice<br />
I just want to see your face<br />
<br />
She looks me up and down<br />
Like she thinks that I'll mature<br />
Like she's got my number<br />
Like it belongs to her<br />
She says,<br />
Call me, Ms. DiFranco<br />
If there's anything I can do<br />
I say, I've got spots<br />
I've got stripes, too<br />
<br />
Their eyes are all asking<br />
Are you in, or are you out<br />
And I think, oh man,<br />
What is this about?<br />
Tonight you can't put me<br />
Up on any shelf<br />
<br />
'Cause I came here alone<br />
I'm gonna leave by myself<br />
<br />
I just want to show you<br />
The way that I feel<br />
And when I get tired<br />
You can take the wheel to me<br />
What's more important<br />
Is the person that I bring<br />
Not just getting to the same restaraunt<br />
And eating the same thing<br />
<br />
Guess there's something wrong with me<br />
Guess I don't fit in<br />
No one wants to touch it<br />
No one knows where to begin<br />
I've more than one membership<br />
To more than one club<br />
And I owe my life to the people that I love </div></blockquote>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-74223286290517891752011-02-03T22:40:00.018-05:002011-02-05T17:29:58.536-05:00At the intersection of bigotry and tech savvyTech savvy comes up with a nice "gotcha."<br />
<br />
Great <a href="http://www.theweinerworks.com/?p=344">story</a> of code beating codified hate, here. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_%282008%29">Prop (H)8</a>-supporting <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners">National Organization for Marriage</a> decided to decorate their anti-gay marriage blog with a cartoon from the website <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/">Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</a> without doing much research into the creator's (Zach Weiner) actual <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1748#comic">opinions</a> about their social aims.<br />
<br />
They compounded their error by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inline_linking">hotlinking</a> the image directly from Mr. Weiner's database. (C'mon NOMers, you've never heard of <a href="http://photobucket.com/">photobucket</a> or <a href="http://www.imageshack.us/">imageshack</a>?) In addition to this being, well, stealing, it also afforded him the opportunity to alter the image that was being accessed from--and thus posted to--NOM's website. A little bit of HTML-fu later, this was the result:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/nomblog1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/nomblog1.gif" width="624" /></a></div><br />
Why <b>did</b> Thomas Jefferson hate traditional marriage so much?<br />
<br />
What I wouldn't give to have had a few of the NOMers' reactions captured, Philly school district <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35461838/ns/technology_and_science-security/">spycam-style</a>...Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-53739973788220265432011-02-01T22:26:00.007-05:002011-02-13T23:03:55.835-05:00GOP: "Well, there's "raped" and then there's REALLY raped.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/creepysilhouette.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/creepysilhouette.png" /></a></div>At least that's the plan outlined by the new GOP House majority, In yet another not-remotely-job-related legislative offering from the allegedly job-focused Republicans on the Hill, we're gifted with this <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-plan-redefine-rape-abortion">abomination</a>:<br />
<blockquote><i>For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.<br />
<br />
With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to "forcible rape." This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion.<br />
<br />
...The term "forcible rape" is not defined in the federal criminal code, and the bill's authors don't offer their own definition. In some states, there is no legal definition of "forcible rape," making it unclear whether any abortions would be covered by the rape exemption in those jurisdictions. </i></blockquote>Classy, eh?<br />
<br />
If you're poor, you better make sure your attacker not only rapes you, but beats the living hell out of you in the process. If not, you need to pay for--or live with and raise--his consequences.<br />
<br />
If you were drugged, incapacitated, unconscious, or molested by a non-relative, you weren't raped <b>enough</b> according to John Boehner. Which is perversely appropriate, since they're more than willing to violate you all over again with laws like this one.<br />
<br />
Once again, the conservative movement is working, tirelessly, to shrink government until it's just small enough to fit into every woman's uterus.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-67672861025988472752011-02-01T21:37:00.002-05:002011-02-13T22:21:27.756-05:00Cut out the middleman, Huck...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/HuckinIsrael_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/HuckinIsrael_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Huckabee (Likud-AR)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And just run for the <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/31/huckabee_on_egypt_protests/">Knesset</a> instead of the White House. It's becoming increasingly clear which nation is at the forefront of Huckabee's mind when contemplating "national interests."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Mike Huckabee, on his 15th trip to Israel, weighs in on the situation in Egypt -- and essentially comes out against the pro-democracy protesters:<br />
<blockquote>"[T]he events of the past few days in Egypt have created a very tenuous situation, not just for Egypt, not just for the Middle East, but for the entire world, and the destabilization of that nation has the potential of cascading across the globe."</blockquote>According to another Israeli newspaper, Huckabee also told the Knesset, "the situation could threaten the world and all those who seek peace and security."</i></blockquote>I never realized that threatening the Israeli government with (further) regional isolation is equivalent to "threatening the world." Speaks volumes that the Huckster, a legitimate contender for the Presidency of the United States, <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48484.html">views them</a> as one and the same. Better for the U.S. to throw its lot in with a despot who jails his opposition--while it occupies and/or bombs several other Muslim nations--than risk nervousness in a nuclear regime with he most sophisticated military in the region.<br />
<br />
What could go wrong?Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-63570250471689368012011-01-29T14:43:00.051-05:002011-02-05T17:40:57.826-05:00*Totally* not a dictatorThe internet in Egypt is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/internet-egypt-shut-off_n_815495.html#s232525&title=Nick_Ellis">out</a>. No, not some sites. Not a ISP issue, like the one that ruins your day by keeping you from Netflix-ing the last season of The Office. The whole. Damn. Thing.<br />
<br />
(But remember, “they" hate us for our freedom, not our billions in aid to repressive regimes with a foot firmly planted on “their” necks).<br />
<br />
Ever wonder what an entire country's internet traffic getting <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/complete_internet_blackout_in_egypt.php">shut off</a> looks like? Well, wonder no longer:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/EgyptWebblackout2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/EgyptWebblackout2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
If you'll consult your programs, this is our "very responsible" <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/140923-biden-mubarak-not-a-dictator-protests-not-like-eastern-europe">ally</a> whom Vice President Biden "would not refer to as a dictator." Call me crazy, but responding to political protests against you by blacking out the internet, SMS messaging, and cellular service strikes me as a decidedly dictator-y thing to do.<br />
<br />
At least it couldn't happen, here, though. I mean, that would take a law vesting the White House with the power to declare some sort of "cyber emergency" and exert control without any judicial review or oversight.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20029282-281.html">Uh oh.</a><br />
<blockquote><i>Portions of the Lieberman-Collins bill, which was not uniformly well-received when it became public in June 2010, became even more restrictive when a Senate committee approved a modified version on December 15. The full Senate did not act on the measure.<br />
<br />
The revised version includes new language saying that the federal government's designation of vital Internet or other computer systems "shall not be subject to judicial review." Another addition expanded the definition of critical infrastructure to include "provider of information technology," and a third authorized the submission of "classified" reports on security vulnerabilities.</i></blockquote>How long until this Connecticut asshat retires, again?Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-89191460724254707442011-01-29T10:13:00.017-05:002011-01-30T15:08:01.377-05:00Saturday Shuffle<i>Death Dealer's Descent</i> - Renholder<br />
<i>Take It Off</i> - The Donnas<br />
<i>Extraordinary Girl</i> - Green Day<br />
<i>Generation</i> - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club<br />
<i>TV II</i> - Ministry<br />
<i>Come and Get Some of This</i> - House of Pain<br />
<i>Man With A Mission</i> (live) - Bad Religion<br />
<i>Clavicle</i> (live) - Alkaline Trio<br />
<i>Tick</i> - Ween<br />
<i>Right Between The Eyes</i> - Garbage<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DXgtv2C1f3U" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-72860800578803228612011-01-26T20:34:00.000-05:002011-01-30T21:38:51.408-05:00This is not the "democracy" you are looking for...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/obiwan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/obiwan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/26/obama-democratic-aspirations-egypt/">Move along.</a><br />
<blockquote><i>"Obama’s praise for the Tunisian revolution and declaration that the United States “supports the democratic aspirations of all people” is particularly relevant in the face of the massive pro-democracy protest movement that has erupted in Egypt over the past week, timed to coincide with the anniversary of Egyptian police revolting against their British colonizers.<br />
<br />
...One nation that has been mostly silent during these demonstrations is the United States. This is particularly important given that the United States is a close economic, political, and military ally to the Egyptian government, which receives nearly $2 billion annually in aid from the United States."</i></blockquote>All of which ignores the Mubarek regime's support position as the United States' most favored regional figleaf with their status as Israel's Chief Arab Ally™<br />
<br />
Personally, I can't see us standing with the Egyptians the same way we are with the <s><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatooine">Tatooinians</a></s> Tunisians. The United States sure does love it some democracy...until the democratized masses start <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012600372.html">casting ballots</a> for people we don't like so much. It's pretty clear that we "support democratic aspirations" only so far as they institute governments that we can coerce, control, or are otherwise in lockstep with our policy objectives.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-14312007446988880032011-01-25T23:55:00.045-05:002011-01-30T20:06:06.919-05:00Not-quite-live blogging the SOTUFirst of all, could John Boehner have looked any more put out at having to be there? He's the Speaker of the House for god's sake; one of the most powerful men in the country and he looked like my buddy's eight year-old when he finds out the restaurant is out of chicken fingers. His level of engagement went no further than spending the better part of an hour practicing his "withering contempt for the black man" expression, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196229/">Zoolander</a>-style.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/frozenmoney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/frozenmoney.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Secondly, I'm not sure how you spend the first half of your speech talking about all the innovations you want to support and fund and then turn around and say, "by the way, we're also freezing domestic spending for five years" just weeks after putting the country in a $900,000,000,000 (deeper) hole with that <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/senate-tax-cut-extension-plan-would-add-857-billion-to-debt.html">deal-with-the-GOP-devil</a> extending G-Dubs' tax cuts. I'm a big fan of high-speed rail, clean energy, education, etc., but what's going to get cut? That's a lot of the oft-discussed, yet never-detailed, "waste and inefficiency" to pare away.<br />
<br />
Thirdly: Salmon? Most bizarre <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/25/obama-state-of-the-union-_1_n_813478.html">laugh line</a> I've ever heard in one of these things.<br />
<br />
At the end of the day, it was all worth it for the gift of Michelle Bachmann's Teabagger rebuttal. What the hell was she looking at? She came off like a deranged weather girl, one who can't pronounce "Iwo Jima."Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-89379976714869566992011-01-25T18:44:00.047-05:002011-01-30T16:19:38.842-05:00Compromise, capitulation; To-may-to, to-mah-to, really.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/my_way.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/my_way.gif" width="200" /></a></div>As the President prepares to present his state of the union address to Congress, Senate Minority Leader (and noted <a href="http://www.google.com/images?q=mitch+mcconnell+turtle&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=20e&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnsfdo&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=pM5FTavnK8_1gAeHzsGdAg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1364&bih=606">human/turtle hybrid</a>) Mitch McConnell took the opportunity to remind us what the GOP <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/25/mcconnell-compromise/">envisions</a> when they think of "bipartisan compromise" over the next two years. (Here's a hint: It looks quite a bit like Barack Obama pretending that it was John McCain and not he who was elected back in 2008 and then governing accordingly).<br />
<blockquote><i>MCCONNELL: If the president is willing to do what I and my members would do anyway, we’re not going to say no and –<br />
<br />
ALLEN: But that’s not much of a concession. That’s not bargaining, to just give you what you want.<br />
<br />
MCCONNELL: Um, I like to think I’m a pretty good negotiator.</i></blockquote>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-1389996101785436132011-01-23T15:53:00.000-05:002011-01-23T15:53:25.096-05:00Can a dozen and a half "incidents" still be "isolated?"<a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/">Digby</a>, a true standard-bearer of bloggering fortitude and perseverance if ever there was one, has been discussing the farce that is the "isolated incident" of anti-left/anti-goverment terrorism since well before the recent events in Tucson. I'd considered reprinting her <a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/another-isolated-incident.html">list</a> of these few-and-far-between happenings (that just keep happening and happening and happening) but then I saw that she picked up the spot-on work from Dave Neiwert at <a href="http://crooksandliars.com/">Crooks & Liars</a>. <br />
<br />
And while pictures are worth a thousand words...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/IsolatedIncidents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="465" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/IsolatedIncidents.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I highly advise people to check out the <a href="http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/violence-directed-liberal-and-govern">words</a>.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-65969498201110195512011-01-22T10:15:00.019-05:002011-01-22T23:15:59.487-05:00Saturday Shuffle<i>Murder She Wrote</i> - Chaka Demus (feat. Pliers)<br />
<i>Say Goodbye Hollywood</i> - Eminem<br />
<i>Albatross</i> - Corrosion of Conformity<br />
<i>I Go Crazy</i> - Flesh For Lulu<br />
<i>The Ocean</i> - Led Zeppelin<br />
<i>777</i> - Danzig<br />
<i>Supernaut</i> - 1000 Homo DJs<br />
<i>Pleasure, Little Treasure</i> - Depeche Mode<br />
<i>I Wrote a Song About Your Car</i> - Mike Doughty<br />
<i>My Philosophy</i> - Boogie Down Productions<br />
<br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DOaHLsNPM88?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DOaHLsNPM88?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-36900541235540168602011-01-21T23:57:00.010-05:002011-01-22T23:13:13.750-05:00Countdown...and out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/Olbermann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/Olbermann.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Well, there it is. Keith Olbermann and Countdown are gone from MSNBC. There's far too much money at stake for this to be a firing as you or I would experience it, but, effectively, that's pretty much what it is. According to <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/bastard-machine/olbermann-msnbc-74532">the network</a>, "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract." Conan O'Brien can <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/business/media/22conan.html">tell you</a> exactly what that means: the network canned you and is paying through the nose to do so. Though clearly not at a "Tonight Show" level buyout, I'm not going to weep for Olbermann; he's got more than enough fans to land on his feet, elsewhere, and, at this point, more than enough padding in his wallet if his feet aren't what hit the ground first.<br />
<br />
That said, it's just remarkable how <a href="http://www.americablog.com/2010/11/final-taibbi-on-olbermann.html">little</a> it apparently takes to make a left-of-center personality unemployable, while <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/23/watters-ambush/">sending stalkers</a> after people you don't like or accusing the President of <a href="http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008">hating white people</a> is worthy of ongoing, multi-million dollar contracts.<br />
<br />
At any rate, here's Olbermann's farewell, which, by his own account, was allowed to be a bit more heartfelt than his exit from ESPN:<br />
<br />
<br />
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" height="245" id="msnbc6e018b" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=41201922&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc6e018b" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=41201922&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
<div style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; color: #999999; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none ! important;">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none ! important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(153, 153, 153) ! important; color: rgb(87, 153, 219) ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none ! important;">news about the economy</a></div>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-13036068149796592592011-01-20T19:20:00.008-05:002011-01-23T10:10:01.366-05:00A short ride off into the sunset<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/lieberman-bush-kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/lieberman-bush-kiss.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Looks like Rape Gurney Joe is calling it a (Senate) career. It doesn't sound as if there are too many of his <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2281645/">constituents</a> who will be too broken up at the prospect of no longer being represented by G-Dubs' favorite-est bipartisan figleaf.<br />
<blockquote><i>Another friend burned up her iPad tonight when I asked her to enumerate why she hates Joe Lieberman. She ticked off a half-dozen reasons and then said, "The thing is, I did not come up with most of these myself. They come from many rounds of playing the peculiar Connecticut liberal cocktail party game 'I hated Joe Lieberman before you hated Joe Lieberman.'"</i></blockquote>Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin, however, look to be getting positively misty at the prospect of a Senate without one of their <a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/138979-defense-industry-lieberman-will-be-hard-to-replace-">most loyal</a> sources of taxpayer-funded profiteering:<br />
<blockquote><b><u>Defense industry says Sen. Lieberman will be ‘hard to replace’</u></b> <br />
<br />
<i>“He is a giant of the Senate, to me just as important on national security as [Sen. Edward] Kennedy [D-Mass.] was on health or [Sen. Bill] Bradley [D-N.J.] on finance or [Sen. Pete] Domenici [R-N.M.] on the deficit,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a national security analyst at the Brookings Institution. “In that regard he is very, very hard to replace."<br />
<br />
...Lieberman cemented his favorable reputation with defense firms when he advocated for more models of combat systems like the Lockheed Martin-made F-22 fighter and the Boeing-built C-17 air lifter <b>even when Air Force and Pentagon officials argued against them.</b> <br />
<br />
...Lieberman has at times teamed up with conservative Republicans like Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and former Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri <b>in fights to maintain weapon programs that the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama wanted to terminate or overhaul.</b></i></blockquote>That's Joe Lieberman: an "advocate" and a "fighter." If he can strongarm billions for defense contractors, just imagine what he can do for the average person...and keep imagining, 'cause you don't want to be in the position of having to <a href="http://firedoglake.com/2006/03/13/lieberman-supports-rapist-rights-in-connecticut/">find out</a>: <br />
<blockquote><i>Lieberman said he believes hospitals that refuse to give contraceptives to rape victims for "principled reasons" shouldn’t be forced to do so. "In Connecticut, it shouldn’t take more than a short ride to get to another hospital," he said.</i></blockquote>For those keeping score: in LieberLand, the Boeings of the world won't have to worry about losing a contract just because the military doesn't want it, and violated women <b>shouldn't</b> worry about little things like having their rapist's baby, since it's a just a "short ride" to go hospital shopping so they can find emergency contraception. After all, what's a little road trip after a few hours of being examined, scraped, swabbed and questioned by the police? If it was really that big a deal, then maybe survivors groups should've had the foresight to pony up $140,000 in donations <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00000616&cycle=2008">like</a> United Technologies, so ol' Joe would know how concerned they are. <br />
<br />
No wars too big to support, no victims too small to throw under the bus to pander to your cross-over GOP voters.<br />
<br />
Don't let the door hit you, Senator.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-17556443768796165242011-01-19T00:42:00.040-05:002011-01-23T11:24:03.993-05:00Patron Saint of Kiddie Diddlers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/priestpredator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/priestpredator.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>A rather revolting juxtaposition emerging this week as the announcement that Pope John Paul II's bid for sainthood is proceeding at a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8260516/John-Paul-II-fast-track-to-sainthood-for-the-pope-who-ended-the-Cold-War.html">record pace</a> is followed, days later, with the revelation that, under his papacy, the Vatican <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/01/18/world/europe/AP-EU-Ireland-Catholic-Abuse.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">actively discouraged</a> Irish bishops' mandatory reporting of the sexual abuse of children.<br />
<blockquote><i>A 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police — a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the church enforced a worldwide culture of covering up crimes by pedophile priests. <br />
<br />
...The 1997 letter, signed by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland, instructs Irish bishops that their new policy of making the reporting of suspected crimes mandatory "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."<br />
<br />
Storero wrote that canon law, which required abuse allegations and punishments to be handled within the church, "must be meticulously followed." Any bishops who tried to impose punishments outside the confines of canon law would face the "highly embarrassing" position of having their actions overturned on appeal in Rome, he wrote.</i> </blockquote>While I might not agree with him on every issue, I've long admired John Paul II's intellectual consistency in his formulation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_life">"Culture of Life"</a> which was subsequently co-opted--and corrupted--by the far right in the United States (who conveniently tossed aside respect for life when that particular underpinning of their anti-choice rhetoric interfered with their eager, bloody embrace of capital punishment and pre-emptive war). That said, I have a pretty tough time admiring someone with any connection to or knowledge of this freakish deference to "canon law" when children were being assaulted. Again, the comparison is as striking as it is disturbing: It's a truly bizarre set of institutional priorities that permits casually waiving rules to get someone canonized at an unprecedented pace, but insists that they are "meticulously followed" when trying to keep abusive priests away from their prey. Meticulousness is fine when it keeps you from using the wrong fork at a formal dinner, but not so much so when it keeps molesters off the justice system's radar. <br />
<br />
I don't care how many French nuns you heal, running interference for kiddie rapers takes you completely out of the sainthood sweepstakes. We'll just have to wait and see if the Church of Rome agrees...Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-60318540725451559112011-01-17T15:28:00.000-05:002011-01-17T15:28:30.647-05:00Whack-a-psychoIf one thing is true of every tragedy or disaster, it is that said event will be immediately followed by all manner of fear-driven, reactionary plans to ensure that This Thing Never Happens Again. Without fail, these plans, themselves, have two things in common: a painfully narrow focus on the unique details over broader issues (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid_%28shoe_bomber%29">shoe-bomber</a>, anyone?), paired with a Magoo-like myopia as to the consequences.<br />
<br />
Wasting no time, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/81410/US-gun-law-reform-tucson?page=0,1">The New Republic</a>, came up with a solution to help Tuscon-proof the rest of the Union (via <a href="http://worksofliterata.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/all-the-wrong-actions/">Literata</a>):<br />
<blockquote><i>"The problem is that state and national laws are too narrow to catch dangerous individuals like Loughner. When Congress returns, one of the legislative changes it should consider is passing <b><u>a law that would require all public entities, as well as all organizations that receive public funds, to file a report on any affiliated individuals (e.g., employees or students) that they deem to be public mental health concerns</u></b>. These confidential reports (which would be provided to the person in question) would then be entered into the Brady database, called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and serve as grounds to prohibit immediate firearms purchases. <b><u>People would ultimately have the opportunity to prove their mental stability</u></b> and have the reports revoked in a timely manner—but, until then, or if unable to prove stability, they could not walk into a gun store and buy a weapon. Period."</i></blockquote><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/whack-a-mole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/whack-a-mole.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The TNR crisis response center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>What could possibly go wrong with mandating that a bunch of amateurs file assessments on whatever they deem a "mental health concern" and then compiling all their guesswork and supposition into a national database? Once you apply a legal mandate, you're just asking to get filings on every slightly twitchy, disagreeable, odd, or otherwise sketchy individual these entities come into contact with. If someone thinks there is legal--and perhaps funding-related--accountability, the lowest threshold will be applied. After all, who's going to take the chance of not reporting anyone who seems even remotely out of the ordinary if they think that if he/she <b>does</b> go off the deep-end, they will be neck-deep in wrongful death lawsuits from grieving family members?<br />
<br />
And with such widely-cast nets come all the people getting caught within them.<br />
<br />
If you do end up on the no-gun list, who can afford not to take the "opportunity to prove their mental stability?" Anyone want to wager their next job, loan, or credit application on the belief that this information will only come up if you try to buy a gun? And while you can't afford the consequences of ignoring it, how are people going to afford the finances of addressing it? Barring the establishment of a government office dedicated to proving mental stability, that's a lot of pricey psychological assessments and evaluations. (Not to mention a steadily growing government database of psychological profiles of citizens who've done nothing wrong and committed no crime. Nope, nothing creepy about that, no-sir-ee).<br />
<br />
When will TNR and our knee-jerk <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/136895-dem-planning-bill-that-would-outlaw-threatening-lawmakers">legislators</a> realize that, regardless of what we do about these situations, there will always be a "next time?" The crazies are out there and they will find a way, eventually. The sooner they accept that, the sooner we can apply common sense solutions to minimize future danger instead of engaging in this game of legislative whack-a-mole, instituting staggeringly impractical policy tailored to stop what's already happened.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-1376781390102164682011-01-16T23:45:00.056-05:002011-01-22T22:39:12.631-05:00Making the Rounds after the Globes?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/12RoundsPromo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/12RoundsPromo.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>Very nice to see non-Hollywood faces like <a href="http://www.nin.com/">Trent</a> <a href="http://howtodestroyangels.com/home.html">Reznor</a> and <a href="http://howtodestroyangels.com/home.html">Atticus Ross</a> take home the Golden Globe for Best Score for their atmospheric work from <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/">The Social Network</a></i>. With any luck, the newfound notoriety will help the long-unreleased (and as-yet-untitled) third album from Ross' band, <a href="http://www.12rounds.net/">12 Rounds</a>, see the light of day. I saw them open for Marylin Manson on the "Mechanical Animals" tour back in 1998 and bought their sophomore effort, <i>My Big Hero</i>, the same night. Then, they dropped off the face of the Earth. After some label wrangling (they were signed to Reznor's lawsuit-riven Interscope vanity imprint "Nothing Records") Ross and his wife/12 Rounds singer, Claudia Sarne, got their rights to the material restored. They're definitely worth checking out:<br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ZPB-BJs-8I?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2ZPB-BJs-8I?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-50327291844536541212011-01-15T19:02:00.001-05:002011-01-16T09:54:49.108-05:00Shorter 2011 GOP legislative agenda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/GOPlegislativeplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/GOPlegislativeplan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/Ransomnote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The Republican party has been accused of many things. Being subtle has never appeared on the list.<br />
<br />
They were <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44688.html">more than open</a> about the fact that their top legislative priority over the next two years is not homeland security, the economy, or jobs, but engineering the defeat of President Obama in the 2012 election.<br />
<br />
Then they blatantly held the middle class over a barrel until they got <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/hoyer-supports-rupublican_n_793250.html">tax breaks</a> extended for the wealthiest of Americans.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Their tax cut "compromise" having been so successful, they've wasted no time in unveiling their strategy for the new year (via <a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/01/15/quote_of_the_day.html">Political Wire</a>):<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>"<u><b>It's a leverage moment for Republicans</b></u>. The president needs us. There are things we were elected to do. Let's accomplish those if the president needs us to clean up the old mess."</i> <br />
<br />
-- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), quoted by the Washington Post, saying Republicans will insist on their own agenda items in return for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.</blockquote>They might not be driving the car, but they have no problem jerking the wheel into oncoming traffic.<br />
<br />
<br />
(Click <a href="http://www.joshuarey.com/index.pl?Action=ShowArticle&ID=134">here</a> for your own ransom note-generating fun).Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-17444842968437344632011-01-15T10:13:00.018-05:002011-01-22T22:39:56.583-05:00Saturday Shuffle<i>Flowers In The Attic</i> - Christopher Young<br />
<i>The Eternal</i> - Joy Division<br />
<i>Whistle Down The Wind (For Tom Jans)</i> - Tom Waits<br />
<i>Soldier Blue</i> [Extended Cut] - The Cult<br />
<i>I Fought The Law</i> (live) - The Clash<br />
<i>One More</i> - Medicine<br />
<i>Pow</i> - Beastie Boys<br />
<i>Elephants</i> - Them Crooked Vultures<br />
<i>Destined For Nothing</i> - Bad Religion<br />
<i>New Girl</i> - The Suicide Machines<br />
<br />
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ie6FivkEZBo?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ie6FivkEZBo?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-82580513938721098682011-01-14T22:36:00.006-05:002011-01-15T12:03:52.716-05:00Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Priebus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/reincepriebusTDS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/reincepriebusTDS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I have to say, I'd kind of prefer "Prince Bierus," myself. He could be the emcee of Oktoberfest, which sounds like a more plumb gig than <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/republican-party/reince-priebus-wins-rnc-chairm.html">this one</a>:<br />
<blockquote><i>Wisconsin Republican party chairman Reince Priebus won a protracted fight for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee today, replacing his one-time ally Michael Steele at the helm of the committee.<br />
<br />
Priebus led on every ballot but picked up momentum once Steele exited the contest after the fourth round of voting.</i></blockquote>For all the shit Barack Obama took for his name and how American it was or wasn't, I'll say this, it's not fodder for a round of "American Political Figure or Hogwarts Wizard."Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-76889405673604534792011-01-13T21:31:00.001-05:002011-01-17T18:34:08.479-05:00Shocking poll: The wealthy happy despite recessionThe wealthy are happy.<br />
<br />
Truly stunning, I know. But the numbers don't lie: as it happens, nearly 71% of the 1900 households surveyed (average income of $235,000/year) report being happy, a huge increase over the 40% who felt that way back in 2007. <br />
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Why the sudden explosion of satisfaction and contentment? I wondered that, myself. Unfortunately, I'm only able to relay what I found now, after being forced to seek immediate medical attention to repair the detached retina caused by the spastic, involuntary eye roll that occurred as I read further into the NYT's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/01/13/business/business-us-usa-wealth.html?hp">story</a>:<br />
<blockquote><i>"Interest in luxury is trending up, but this interest is qualitatively different from the unbridled enthusiasm that characterized ... the mid-2000s," said Jim Taylor, Harrison Group's vice chairman. <b><u>"People take pride in the way they have managed their finances and family through the recession."</u></b><br />
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And this pride had led to happiness among the rich, with 71 percent saying they are happy, up from 40 percent in 2007.<br />
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"It's because <b><u>they didn't know they could survive something this bad</u></b>," Taylor told the Luxury Marketing Council of New York on Wednesday. "They have got competent, they have gotten close to their family, <b><u>they have self-esteem from their ability to handle a crisis</u></b>."<br />
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"Happiness is now the abiding object of affluent American life, not success," he said. <b><u>"They're really happy with their ability to operate under pressure."</u></b></i></blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/dirtyrottenfilthystinking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/dirtyrottenfilthystinking.jpg" /></a></div>It's like seeing the lessons of my father brought to life--the intrinsic reward of personal accomplishment and satisfaction in a job well done. Think about it: it has to be incredibly self-affirming to find out you can still "survive" and "handle a crisis" scraping by on--on average--only about a quarter-million dollars per year. The men and women who were able to successfully shepherd their families through that living hell of domestic vacations, non-touch iPods, and C-Class Mercedes <b><u>should</u></b> be proud--dammit--cut, as they are, from the same hardy cloth as our pioneering forefathers.<br />
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Like so many before them, they've weathered the storm and come out the other side the better for it; voyaging, now, into their futures, sustained by the knowledge that they can rely on themselves, come hell or high water. (Possibly even come "still" over "sparking.") The light from their example of fortitude shines far, even reaching the America that the other 90% of us occupy.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-82683150410988414642011-01-13T00:22:00.001-05:002011-01-22T22:40:19.720-05:00And now for something completely different....Enough about guns, political pinheads, and bombastic bloviating.<br />
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A belated "Happy Marriage" to author <a href="http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/01/yes.html">Neil Gaiman</a> and punk-cabaret songstress extraordinaire, <a href="http://blog.amandapalmer.net/">Amanda Fucking Palmer</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/Gaiman-PalmerWedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/Gaiman-PalmerWedding.jpg" width="400" /></a>For those unfamiliar, Mr. Gaiman is the noted wordsmith behind more than a few excellent novels, including <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/Coraline/"><i>Coraline</i></a>, <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/American+Gods/"><i>American Gods</i></a> and <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/Neverwhere/"><i>Neverwhere</i></a>, as well as the acclaimed <i>Sandman</i> comic series published by DC/Vertigo.<br />
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The inimitable Ms. Palmer was/is half of the "Brechtian Punk Cabaret" duo, <a href="http://www.dresdendolls.com/">The Dresden Dolls</a>, before branching out into a solo career that will astonish, amaze, and totally reinvent how you think about <a href="http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/amanda-palmer-performs-the-popular-hits-of-radiohead-on-her-magical-ukulele">Radiohead and ukuleles</a>.<br />
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And yes, if you must ask, I nicked one of their wedding photos for this post from Facebook. I doubt either would mind, much, as such behavior is only creepy if I had previously dated one or both of them. Since A.) I can't very well do Neil's writing much justice with an excerpt and B.) I don't want to wait until next October to post it, here's a clip of the reconstituted Dresden Dolls at Irving Plaza in NYC (courtesy <a href="http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/11/the_dresden_dol_4.html">BrooklynVegan</a>) this past Halloween...<br />
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<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zb4HgU3HjPA?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zb4HgU3HjPA?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13324379.post-66609790797132927682011-01-12T21:53:00.000-05:002011-01-17T18:30:22.600-05:00Andrew Breitbart in lead at the Summer's Eve invitational<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/RavingBreitbart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Grendel_Prime/RavingBreitbart.jpg" /></a></div>Always up for a challenge, when <s>Right-wing blogger</s> raving, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201012210006">utterly discredited</a>, con-man Andrew Breitbart found himself with the opportunity to face Sarah Palin in a contest to see which one of them could cram his/her foot further into his/her mendacious, truth-averse pie-hole, he didn't flinch. Even when the Quitter led off by responding to the recent assassination-spawned controversy over her militant rhetoric and gunsight imagery by not merely playing the victim, herself, but by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/blood-libel-sarah-palin_n_808104.html">invoking</a> the anti-Semitic <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/01/12/132861457/sarah-palins-blood-libel-use-stirs-new-controversy">smear</a> of "blood libel" to do it, Andy knew he could still do better. Summoning heretofore unseen levels of tone-deafness, staggering ignorance, and the most casually exploitative view of other people's pain and human suffering, he took to his <a href="http://twitter.com/AndrewBreitbart/status/25244050315546624">Twitter</a> account and went straight-up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeru_Kobayashi">Kobayashi</a> in this competitive eating contest of moronitude (h/t <a href="http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2011/01/12/so-not-that-i-should-be-surprised-that-andrew-breitbart-would-liken-criticism-to-rape/#comments">Feministe</a>):<br />
<blockquote><i>"I used ‘blood libel’ because I thought using analogy of lefties at pinball machine in Jodie Foster film ‘The Accused’ was too obscure."</i></blockquote>Now, to clear up the "obscurity": <i>The Accused</i> earned Ms. Foster an Oscar for her portrayal of a woman who was--wait for it--thrown up against a pinball machine, beaten, and gang-raped by a bunch of drunks. (Such a wit, that Andy; always ready with the perfect 160 character bòn mót.) Because, really, when you think about it, what could be more similar to violent sexual assault than having people criticize your choice of words as having a negative effect and suggest that you tone it down a bit?<br />
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My question is this: If Mr. Breitbart is of the opinion that what Sarah Palin has gone through is on par with rape, exactly what does he think about what happened to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, or Judge John Roll, or <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/08/20110108arizona-congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shooting-victims-brk08-ON.html">Christina Taylor Green</a>? If questions that one can parry with safe, one-sided, unchallenged video releases are akin to a fundamental violation of one's body and dignity, what analogy would he use for what the nine year-old Green's parents and family are now going through?<br />
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At least Mr. Breitbart has answered the riddle of where he comes up with his views and provided the solution in an equally cinematic bit of framing: the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119822/"><i>As Good As It Gets</i></a> rule: You think of a man...and take away reason, accountability, and every last shred of human decency.Verchielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02763830885479232414noreply@blogger.com0