Forget the Zone.
Screw the South Beach Diet.
Nix the Atkins Diet.
I want whatever diet plan Jason Giambi is on:
Before
After
And it had NOTHING at all to do with steroid use. Sign me up!
The New “It” Diet
Before
Archives for 2004
Before
Gay Marriage
I have already had my say on gay marriage, and it is safe to say I am agnostic. I would rather not have government involved in the whole marriage issue, but at the same time, I recognize why there are those who wish to codify marriage as between a man and a woman.
What I do find a little amusing is the blogger reactions. Hyperbole will be in overdrive on this issue for a while (as Jon Henke capably demonstrates).
*** Update ***
I might add, that in the big picture, this decision by Bush makes me less likely to vote for him in the general election. Not because I think he is a gay-basher, not because I think he is mean-spirited, but because this is the sort of thing that clearly shows a lack of priorities.
*** Update #2 ***
I note that I am not the only one who seems to think this is reflective of a clear lack of priorities, as Michele and Alex Knapp state their similar opinions. BTW- I remember when Alex started blogging, and he just keeps getting better and better.
Stupidest Angle Ever
There has been a lot of bloviating about Gibson’s Passion movie, but I just heard the dumbest angle ever on MSNBC. Lester Holt asked:
“Should Jesus have been played by a white man?”
WHO… GIVES… A… SHIT…
If I had my way, this is who I would like to have seen play Jesus:
The look on Tom Delay’s face as he went to a viewing of my version of the Passion would be priceless.
*** Update ***
BTW if you want some comentary from someone who seems to know what heis talking about, Jesse and Ezra have been posting on the issue. Read them in this order: Post #1, Post #2, Post #3, Post #4, Post #5, and Post #6.
See also this TNR round-up, and check here for the reaction from someone who has actually seen the movie.
In a sort of related vein- I wonder what the reaction would have been like today to Martin Scorcese’s Last Temptation of Christ. I remember it was quite the brouhaha back in the day, and that was before the internet and cable news.
Also, for those of you who have not seen the
BTW- I would be remiss in this already way off topic ramble if I failed to mention Water Lily Acoustics, which is also a spectacular label and one of my absolute favorites.
The Department of Not Getting It
So am I going through the Corner, catching up on the posts, and I see this gem:
ROD PAIGE IS WRONG, OF COURSE
Unfortunately, Al Qaeda isn’t nearly as bad at terrorism as the NEA is at educating our children.
Sometimes people are visual learners. For those who don’t get why Rod Paige’s remarks are offensive, here is one more attempt for me to help you:
These are teachers and likely members of the NEA:
This is typical of who they work with every day:
These are terrorists or terrorist supporters:
This is who they probably work with:
These are their ultimate goals:
Unfortunately, a typical weekend at a disco in Israel
The World Trade Center
Now do you understand why Paige’s remarks are offensive?
Why is This Not Bigger News
I have a hard time falling asleep unless there are people talking (preferrably male voices) in the background. No need to tell you that, really, except to state that I often hear a lot of infomercials, late night C-Span, and frequently the Coast to Coast conspirators.
One of the recurring topics of late on Coast to Coast has been the increasing frequency of super-viruses (I may be using the wrong term). Granted, you have to take a lot of what is said there with a grain of salt, but they do manage to unearth a lot of references to the avian bird flue, SARS, etc.
With that in mind, I am curious- why is this story not getting more attention:
A mysterious viral infection has forced military authorities in Germany to close four bases, ordering nearly 4,000 personnel and their dependents to stay home, authorities said Friday.
The bases Schwalmstadt, Schwarzenborn, Stadtallendorf and Neustadt will be closed for three weeks while the premises are disinfected.
“This is the worst single such infectious situation we’ve ever had,” a Defence Ministry spokesman said Friday.
The viral epidemic began in Schwalmstadt in the central German state of Hesse, when 150 of the 800 personnel stationed there complained of inflamed and itching eyes.
The Bundeswehr closed that base last week. Just four days later, the same symptoms cropped up at nearby Neustadt, where all 800 service personnel were told to go home until further notice.
With some 14,000 troops stationed in Hesse, German military authorities became alarmed as two more bases were ordered closed.
“Something is being transmitted between these bases – food, laundry, books – something that people touch with their hands and then inadvertently transfer to their eyes,” a spokesman said.
Let’s try to go easy on the tinfoil hat theories, but are these viruses really on the rise? I have not seen anything on Charles Murtaugh’s or the Medpundit’s sites.
Thanks, Ezra
Thanks. And the same goes for my readers, please.
Appalling Judgement
Also via Mark Kleiman are these obscene remarks from Secretary of Education Rod Paige:
Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation’s largest teachers union a “terrorist organization” during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday.
Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige’s remarks about the National Education Association.
“These were the words, ‘The NEA is a terrorist organization,”‘ said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin.
“He was making a joke, probably not a very good one,” said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. “Of course he immediately divorced the NEA from ordinary teachers, who he said he supports.”
Unbelievable. Almost as offensive as Sean Hannity’s new book title, which Sully correctly admonishes:
And then, along comes Sean Hannity, whose new book has the following obscene title: “Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism.” Why obscene? It is obscene for Hannity to purloin a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer in order to advance his partisan political views. And yes, it is also obscene to equate terrorism and despotism with liberalism. Hannity isn’t worthy to speak the word “liberalism,” a long and complicated and deeply Western political tradition that is the only reason he can actually publish a book like this and face only criticism. To place it in the same context as “terrorism” reveals that this man has no understanding of what this war is about. It’s a war in defense of liberalism, in defense of pluralism, in defense of the various peaceful Western political traditions that Islamo-fascism would snuff out in an instant. Even if he wants the word “liberalism” to describe merely a kind of decadent left-liberalism, it’s still unconscionable. Peaceful Democratic leftists, however misguided, are not terrorists.
Well said. It was offensive when Julian Bond used the GOP and the Taliban in the same sentence, Patty Murray’s stupid remakrs about Osama and day care centers were absurd and offensive, and it was offensive when Kerry stated that we needed ‘regime change’ in Washington (something the MoveOn folks still haven’t figured out is offensive).
You would think that post 9/11, these so called intellects would be capable of understanding the difference between a legitimate political opposition and murderous thugs. Come to think of it, Paige’s remarks are more offensive than Hannity’s book title. Hannity is not a public servant.
I don’t care if some of you think I am playing into the Democrat party’s hands, and I don’t care that they defend their own when they make these egregious statements. It is time for Rod to go.
*** Update ***
Wow. Atrios and I agree– and that is twice in one month!