Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
by John Cole| 73 Comments
This post is in: Movies, Popular Culture, Previous Site Maintenance
I finished Season 1 of BSG and the ending was quite irritating. I will be ordering Season 2 from Amazon tomorrow, but I want to make sure this is the right one to order. Not sure what all this season 2.0 and season 2.5 shenanigans is all about, but let me know if that is the right one.
Also, I saw There Will be Blood over the week-end and loved it. Daniel Plainview was quite the detestable character, but Daniel Day-lewis is simply amazing.
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
The last couple of days with no news was a bit refreshing, and I think I am gonna take a few more days off, as I am just sick of the political scene. I tried to get back into things this morning, and the first thing I read was Bill Kristol attempting to determine political world views by analyzing campaign Passover statements. Seriously. Up next, Red State attempts to figure out the candidate’s tax policy by examining past Hallmark Mother’s Day cards they have sent.
Maybe I should have started my day with something other than Kristol, but maybe I just need a longer break. Besides, it isn’t like anything interesting is happening. The Democratic primary isn’t going to end for another 6 months, anyway. I will be back in a few days, but I will try to throw up some open threads every now and then so you can keep us all up to date with the stupid.
*** Update ***
Apparently Red State will not be examining Hallmark cards, as they are too busy sniffing out godless communists at google. In all seriousness, this Red State piece has to be considered an early frontrunner to sweep the 2008 Golden Wingnut Awards. If you really want to sample the hilarity of that post, go deep into the comments where we are informed that Diana Ross is a gay icon and blah blah blah:
But the video itself featuring Jesus singing and dancing to a *WELL KNOWN* gay bar/nightclub anthem (Diana Ross is still a gay icon) and then getting hit by a bus is probably the most offensive thing I’ve ever seen him do. Of course, this kind of stuff is how Larry Lessig became a rockstar in the first place.
One problem- Gloria Gaynor sang I Will Survive, the song in the video that offended Red State. They are so offended, they don’t even know what they are offended about. I await their deep thoughts on Julie Newmar and Ethel Merman.
This post is in: Sports, General Stupidity
Having solved Social Security, poverty, the War in Iraq, SCHIP, tax reform, Medicare, illegal wiretapping, and other such trivial issues, some lawmakers have latched onto an issue that will, no doubt, positively affect the lives and living conditions of millions of Americans: College Bowl Reform!
Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade because only the largest universities compete in most of the major bowl games. The resolution would require Justice’s antitrust division to investigate whether the system violates federal law.
The measure also would put Congress on record as supporting a college football playoff.
“Who elected these NCAA people? Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?” Abercrombie said at a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill, gripping a souvenir University of Hawaii football.
The more important question is: OMFG, who elected these morons?
(h/t James)
Lawmakers FINALLY Get Down To Important BusinessPost + Comments (28)
This post is in: Politics, Republican Stupidity, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To
I’m not sure I “get” the outrage being expressed over Jimmy Carter’s visit to the Middle East and his conversations with Hamas:
Carter’s series of meetings with top Hamas officials this past week have drawn condemnation from the U.S. and Israeli governments for engaging in diplomacy with a group they consider a terrorist organization. […]
Most Israeli officials have refused to meet Carter during his trip, angry over his insistence that Israel should talk to Hamas. Many Israelis dislike Carter’s observations about Israeli policies toward Palestinians in his recent book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
U.S. and Israeli officials believe Carter’s meetings with Hamas will achieve little, and could actually harm the Middle East peace process.
Because, you know, what we’ve been doing for decades has worked out so well. To quote Ben Franklin Rita Mae Brown:
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Rep. Sue Myrick even wants Carter’s passport revoked and funding of the Carter center cut off. Idiot. Look, there’s no doubt that Hamas is a terrorist organization. But cutting them off altogether doesn’t seem to be working. And remember, they were elected, so no matter what your feelings are about them, they have to be part of the process. So far, the policies of the US and Israel don’t seem to be working, and if someone is trying something different, I’m all for that. Love him or hate him, Jimmy Carter’s got a far better Middle East résumé than any of the clowns condemning him (who, in my opinion, only want to see him fail because he might achieve something where their own heroes have failed miserably.)
Joshua Holland pretty much sums up how I feel:
One of the ways to almost guarantee that a peace agreement will be impossible to implement is to negotiate it without bringing all of the combatants to the table. Israel and Fatah (the faction of Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority) can negotiate a deal, but if Hamas isn’t invested in it, then they’ll have no incentive to comply with its terms.
One doesn’t need to have warm feelings towards Hamas to recognize this reality.
This post is in: Beer Blogging
I’d never heard of it before and saw a variety pack, so I decided to try it.
Don’t buy it. The packaging is nice. The bottles are nice. But every single beer in the variety pack I bought tastes like the beer version of Boone’s Farm. Positively awful. It’s made by Miller, which I didn’t know, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I swear to god. The suckification of “beer.”
Dumped 8 bottles down the sink. Worth more in the recycle bin. If a beer lover is driving the truck, he’ll probably leave those bottles behind.
Update: I consider myself to be a bit of a beer connaisseur. My friends would disagree and tell me I am a beer snob. I think over the past few years, I’ve realized they’re right. I am a beer snob. Having said that, I live by the golden beer rule: If it tastes good to you, drink it. My former roommate swore by Michelob Ultra. I hate MU. But whatever. He liked it a lot, and he spent one helluva lot less enjoying his beer than I did!!
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
I have not read the news, watched the news, or read a blog for 48 hours, and it is kind of great. Hell, I have not even checked memeorandum to discover the latest ginned-up outrage of the week. The 98% of the world who don’t read blogs may be on to something.
by Tim F| 19 Comments
This post is in: Media, War, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.
A while back I noted that the Administration had spent $1.6 billion on PR alone and said, more or less, WTF? The three fake journalists (Armstrong WIlliams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus) barely added up to $2 million all together. Either some columnist out there got one hell of a sweetheart deal from the government or there is something really weird going on. One clue came when a commenter pointed out that the cash mostly went to the DoD.
Now we know one reason why – almost every “military analyst” on rotation through the major networks has substantial connections with the Pentagon, links which are almost never disclosed to viewers. In some cases the links are financial and obvious, such as when the “analyst” is a lobbyist or a consultant hoping for another $10 million contract. In other cases the connection takes the form of posh junkets and privileged access to Pentagon insiders. The case of retired Col. John Garrett illustrates the point nicely.
John C. Garrett is a retired Army colonel and unpaid analyst for Fox News TV and radio. He is also a lobbyist at Patton Boggs who helps firms win Pentagon contracts, including in Iraq. In promotional materials, he states that as a military analyst he “is privy to weekly access and briefings with the secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high level policy makers in the administration.” One client told investors that Mr. Garrett’s special access and decades of experience helped him “to know in advance — and in detail — how best to meet the needs” of the Defense Department and other agencies.
In interviews Mr. Garrett said there was an inevitable overlap between his dual roles. He said he had gotten “information you just otherwise would not get,” from the briefings and three Pentagon-sponsored trips to Iraq. He also acknowledged using this access and information to identify opportunities for clients. “You can’t help but look for that,” he said, adding, “If you know a capability that would fill a niche or need, you try to fill it. “That’s good for everybody.”
At the same time, in e-mail messages to the Pentagon, Mr. Garrett displayed an eagerness to be supportive with his television and radio commentary. “Please let me know if you have any specific points you want covered or that you would prefer to downplay,” he wrote in January 2007, before President Bush went on TV to describe the surge strategy in Iraq.
Conversely, the administration has demonstrated that there is a price for sustained criticism, many analysts said. “You’ll lose all access,” Dr. McCausland said.
Some of the sources eventually realized the yawning gulf between the “inside information” that they were being fed at private audiences and the evidence from their own eyes, and a small few acknowledged it publicly. Out of either political loyalty, loyalty to cash or sheer obliviousness the rest went right on spinning. It’s a sad denouement for a bunch of guys who at one time served the country with pride and honor.