I love it! 😃
8 months ago
9.14.2010
A Hard Day's Night
Just finished a throughly engrossing conversation examining why I seem to be the only person on the face of the earth who doesn't think the Beatles were the greatest thing since high-fructose corn syrup. And on that note, I am on vacation, for the final time this fiscal year. Check back next week for an election season update.
9.09.2010
Headless Horsemen
Only 19 hours until football people!
A Discovery Channel special debuted this week. One full hour of Rudy Giuliani explaining how frightened, yet poised and decisive he was during the events of 9/11. How is it that nine whole years after the incident this man is still allowed to exploit that tragedy for his own personal gain?
According to poll results released early this week, voters think Republicans would be better at handling the economy than the Democrats. No word on whether or not those are the same respondents who 18 months ago told pollsters they thought Democrats would be better at handling the economy than Republicans, but that’s neither here nor there in this conversation. The point is that voters seem to have the memories of goldfish. People really trust the Republican party - the party that doubled the national debt in eight years, oversaw the near complete collapse of the American financial system, and supervised zero net growth in both employment and net income - to better handle the economy? Really? Are all those people masochists, or just plain stupid? It’s perfectly reasonable to tell a pollster that you trust neither party to handle the economy. It is the height of absurdity to claim you trust the people who broke the system more than the people who have at least made some attempt to fix it.
Nevada Republican senatorial hopeful Sharon Angle announced this week that she will “be a mainstream senator.” Huh? Sharon Angle based her entire Tea Party-supported primary campaign on the idea that mainstream senators were ruining the country. If she intends to be a “mainstream” senator, why should any of her supporters vote for her? I suppose Sharon Angle’s idea of “mainstream” might be a little different from everyone else’s. It would have to be. In the universe most of us live in it certainly isn’t considered “mainstream” to pay your doctor for your kidney surgery in chickens and goats?
Speaking of crazy people, Arizona (I know, I know) Governor Jan Brewer found herself in the news again last week after a dismal debate performance against her Democratic challenger. Things went bad from the opening statement, as Brewer got lost in her notes, fumbled with her words and stared awkwardly through several long, unintended pauses. And that was before anyone asked any questions. During the debate, she attacked her opponents closeness with labor unions as the reason the state has experienced a decline in convention tourism this year. When her opponent responded with a much more plausible explanation, that it was actually the Governor’s signing of the now-famous anti-immigration legislation, and false stories of decapitations in the Arizona desert repeated by Brewer on multiple occasions, she found herself at a complete loss. After the debate, when reporters asked her multiple times why she refused to recant the false allegations of decapitations in the desert, Brewer pretended not to hear them, ended the Q&A session and walked away. The next day the Governor announced she would not participate in any more debates prior to the election, because she doesn’t “believe things come out in proper context in an adversarial atmosphere.” Nice. Just what is the proper context for a 20 second pause, and fairy tales about headless bodies in the desert?
Of course, the pathetic part about this is that none of it matters. As weak as her performance was, we’re talking about Arizona here. The only qualification you need to win as a Republican is a pulse. In fact, according to one poll taken after the debate, Brewer’s lead over her challenger actually increased by three points, 60% to 38%. Seriously. Can’t we just cut that state loose and call it a day?
Rumor is that following Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s announcement this week that he will not run for another term, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel will step down to run to replace him. When was the last time Chicago had a mayor not named Daley? Isn’t it written into the city by-laws or something, that the mayor must be named Daley? This is going to be weird.
Finally, following an investigation into improper receipt of gifts while at USC, it appears as though New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush will be stripped of his Heisman Trophy. This comes on the heels of an NCAA disciplinary ruling against USC in which the school lost scholarships, was forced to vacate wins and was banned from bowl and tournament appearances for the next several years. I am slightly conflicted about this. Universities make tens of millions of dollars off of these players, yet the players aren’t allowed to accept any form of compensation whatsoever. But, Bush knew the rules, and chose not to follow them. Due to that fact, he forfeits the trophy. It’s pretty simple. What I don’t understand is why the Heisman Trust has decided not to award the trophy to the runner up. They have instead decided that for the first time in over 70 years, the 2005 Heisman Trophy will remain unawarded. Why? Why bother having a first and second runner up if you aren’t going to award them the trophy if the winner is disqualified?
A Discovery Channel special debuted this week. One full hour of Rudy Giuliani explaining how frightened, yet poised and decisive he was during the events of 9/11. How is it that nine whole years after the incident this man is still allowed to exploit that tragedy for his own personal gain?
According to poll results released early this week, voters think Republicans would be better at handling the economy than the Democrats. No word on whether or not those are the same respondents who 18 months ago told pollsters they thought Democrats would be better at handling the economy than Republicans, but that’s neither here nor there in this conversation. The point is that voters seem to have the memories of goldfish. People really trust the Republican party - the party that doubled the national debt in eight years, oversaw the near complete collapse of the American financial system, and supervised zero net growth in both employment and net income - to better handle the economy? Really? Are all those people masochists, or just plain stupid? It’s perfectly reasonable to tell a pollster that you trust neither party to handle the economy. It is the height of absurdity to claim you trust the people who broke the system more than the people who have at least made some attempt to fix it.
Nevada Republican senatorial hopeful Sharon Angle announced this week that she will “be a mainstream senator.” Huh? Sharon Angle based her entire Tea Party-supported primary campaign on the idea that mainstream senators were ruining the country. If she intends to be a “mainstream” senator, why should any of her supporters vote for her? I suppose Sharon Angle’s idea of “mainstream” might be a little different from everyone else’s. It would have to be. In the universe most of us live in it certainly isn’t considered “mainstream” to pay your doctor for your kidney surgery in chickens and goats?
Speaking of crazy people, Arizona (I know, I know) Governor Jan Brewer found herself in the news again last week after a dismal debate performance against her Democratic challenger. Things went bad from the opening statement, as Brewer got lost in her notes, fumbled with her words and stared awkwardly through several long, unintended pauses. And that was before anyone asked any questions. During the debate, she attacked her opponents closeness with labor unions as the reason the state has experienced a decline in convention tourism this year. When her opponent responded with a much more plausible explanation, that it was actually the Governor’s signing of the now-famous anti-immigration legislation, and false stories of decapitations in the Arizona desert repeated by Brewer on multiple occasions, she found herself at a complete loss. After the debate, when reporters asked her multiple times why she refused to recant the false allegations of decapitations in the desert, Brewer pretended not to hear them, ended the Q&A session and walked away. The next day the Governor announced she would not participate in any more debates prior to the election, because she doesn’t “believe things come out in proper context in an adversarial atmosphere.” Nice. Just what is the proper context for a 20 second pause, and fairy tales about headless bodies in the desert?
Of course, the pathetic part about this is that none of it matters. As weak as her performance was, we’re talking about Arizona here. The only qualification you need to win as a Republican is a pulse. In fact, according to one poll taken after the debate, Brewer’s lead over her challenger actually increased by three points, 60% to 38%. Seriously. Can’t we just cut that state loose and call it a day?
Rumor is that following Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s announcement this week that he will not run for another term, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel will step down to run to replace him. When was the last time Chicago had a mayor not named Daley? Isn’t it written into the city by-laws or something, that the mayor must be named Daley? This is going to be weird.
Finally, following an investigation into improper receipt of gifts while at USC, it appears as though New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush will be stripped of his Heisman Trophy. This comes on the heels of an NCAA disciplinary ruling against USC in which the school lost scholarships, was forced to vacate wins and was banned from bowl and tournament appearances for the next several years. I am slightly conflicted about this. Universities make tens of millions of dollars off of these players, yet the players aren’t allowed to accept any form of compensation whatsoever. But, Bush knew the rules, and chose not to follow them. Due to that fact, he forfeits the trophy. It’s pretty simple. What I don’t understand is why the Heisman Trust has decided not to award the trophy to the runner up. They have instead decided that for the first time in over 70 years, the 2005 Heisman Trophy will remain unawarded. Why? Why bother having a first and second runner up if you aren’t going to award them the trophy if the winner is disqualified?
9.02.2010
Don't Tread On (My Perception Of) Me
I had the day off today. Woke up late, went in to pick up my cheque, grabbed a Slurpee from 7-Eleven, and dropped in on a Chevy dealership to check out the new(ish) Camaro. So far so good. Came back home, flipped on the television, noticed the market finished the day up 250 points, feeling okay. In the process of changing the channel, accidently punched in 360 instead of 390, and instead of Alex Trebek, stumbled across Glen Beck. What a way to ruin a perfectly nice day off.
There really isn’t much more I can say about this clown that hasn’t already been said. It’s mentally exhausting to try to cut through the madness, fear-mongering and absurdity perpetuated by this man on a daily basis. But as cancerous as he is to American society, I have to give credit where credit is due. Glen Beck has managed to so something very few people in history - especially in wealthy, modern civilizations - have managed to do. He has created an alternate reality.
This past weekend Beck held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, given at the same location. Something Beck claims was merely a coincidence. (And if you believe that, there’s a really nice bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.) Reports very on number of attendees. Independent crowd estimating agencies estimated between 87,000 and 100,000 people showed up. Resident conservative crazy person Michelle Bachman “...will not allow the media to claim less than a million...” people in attendance. So, between 87,000 and one million people came to Washington to listen to Beck reveal his plan to “put American back on the right track.” He was a little light on specifics, but the impression I got was that it had something to do with “turning back to God”, and investing with Goldline. But underneath all the self-aggrandizement and the Obama derangement syndrome, there is something very powerful he has managed to tap into. Fear.
Glen Beck lives in a bizarro world. A world much like the one the rest of us live in, yet opposite. In Beckworld, whites, Christians and conservatives are persecuted minorities, threatened with extinction by liberal elites and minorities, intent on transforming America - the last outpost of freedom in the world, into a socialist utopia. In a country in which 65% of the population is non-Hispanic white, Beck feels white people have lost influence and their values have been abandoned in favor of others. Despite the fact that 77% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, Beck insists Christianity is under attack, persecuted by the godless masses trying to rid the country of religion. Even though conservatives are the largest single ideological group in the United States (at 40%, with only 21% identifying as “liberal”), Beck would have us believe that the political system is out to get them. In spite of the fact that Fox News pulls in more viewers that all other cable news channels combined, he insists the “mainstream media” is out to distort the facts and withhold the “truth” about whatever the “scandal” of the day is. In Beckworld, white Christian conservatives are an endangered species. The rest of “us” are out to get them, and it’s his responsibility to shepherd the flock through the valley of the shadow of death. And purchase a little gold along the way. It doesn’t matter if the facts contradict anything or everything he’s preaching. Those facts are agents of the conspiracy against him. There are no facts, there is no truth, outside of that delivered by Beck or any of his disciples. Regardless of how false it is. And the fact that so many people believe in him and his gospel says a lot about the mindset of a certain segment of this country.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a man walked into the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland and took several people hostage. Several hours later the situation came to a close with police shooting the hostage-taker, James Lee, to death. As usual, media coverage of the event consisted of breathless, fact-less speculation and hours of helicopter video of the mechanical equipment on the roof of the building. Fascinating. It seems Mr. Lee had some grievance with humanity, referring repeatedly in his online manifesto to humans as “filth” and claiming the only way to save the planet is to eliminate the “human pollution.” He apparently felt Discovery was not doing enough to advance environmental concerns. So, he decided to advance the cause himself by strolling into the building with a gun. Note to Mr. Lee: taking hostages is rarely an effective way to advance your agenda.
Finally, Washington Nationals (or “Natinals,” as they refer to themselves on occasion) rookie phenom Steven Strausburg will miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery. A couple months ago when Strausburg make his major league debut, ESPN declared his first game to be more significant than the Chicago Blackhawks breaking a 49-year drought winning the Stanley Cup about a week earlier. Of course, they said similar things about Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, before they blew out their arms and dropped off the face of the earth. Yet somehow, nobody saw this coming with Strausburg. Until it happened. Apparently, the human body simply isn’t designed to consistently throw a baseball at 102 miles-per-hour. It just isn’t. I certainly don’t mean to gloat, but ha ha. Okay, that isn’t true. I’m gloating. And I’m perfectly okay with that.
There really isn’t much more I can say about this clown that hasn’t already been said. It’s mentally exhausting to try to cut through the madness, fear-mongering and absurdity perpetuated by this man on a daily basis. But as cancerous as he is to American society, I have to give credit where credit is due. Glen Beck has managed to so something very few people in history - especially in wealthy, modern civilizations - have managed to do. He has created an alternate reality.
This past weekend Beck held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, given at the same location. Something Beck claims was merely a coincidence. (And if you believe that, there’s a really nice bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.) Reports very on number of attendees. Independent crowd estimating agencies estimated between 87,000 and 100,000 people showed up. Resident conservative crazy person Michelle Bachman “...will not allow the media to claim less than a million...” people in attendance. So, between 87,000 and one million people came to Washington to listen to Beck reveal his plan to “put American back on the right track.” He was a little light on specifics, but the impression I got was that it had something to do with “turning back to God”, and investing with Goldline. But underneath all the self-aggrandizement and the Obama derangement syndrome, there is something very powerful he has managed to tap into. Fear.
Glen Beck lives in a bizarro world. A world much like the one the rest of us live in, yet opposite. In Beckworld, whites, Christians and conservatives are persecuted minorities, threatened with extinction by liberal elites and minorities, intent on transforming America - the last outpost of freedom in the world, into a socialist utopia. In a country in which 65% of the population is non-Hispanic white, Beck feels white people have lost influence and their values have been abandoned in favor of others. Despite the fact that 77% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, Beck insists Christianity is under attack, persecuted by the godless masses trying to rid the country of religion. Even though conservatives are the largest single ideological group in the United States (at 40%, with only 21% identifying as “liberal”), Beck would have us believe that the political system is out to get them. In spite of the fact that Fox News pulls in more viewers that all other cable news channels combined, he insists the “mainstream media” is out to distort the facts and withhold the “truth” about whatever the “scandal” of the day is. In Beckworld, white Christian conservatives are an endangered species. The rest of “us” are out to get them, and it’s his responsibility to shepherd the flock through the valley of the shadow of death. And purchase a little gold along the way. It doesn’t matter if the facts contradict anything or everything he’s preaching. Those facts are agents of the conspiracy against him. There are no facts, there is no truth, outside of that delivered by Beck or any of his disciples. Regardless of how false it is. And the fact that so many people believe in him and his gospel says a lot about the mindset of a certain segment of this country.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a man walked into the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland and took several people hostage. Several hours later the situation came to a close with police shooting the hostage-taker, James Lee, to death. As usual, media coverage of the event consisted of breathless, fact-less speculation and hours of helicopter video of the mechanical equipment on the roof of the building. Fascinating. It seems Mr. Lee had some grievance with humanity, referring repeatedly in his online manifesto to humans as “filth” and claiming the only way to save the planet is to eliminate the “human pollution.” He apparently felt Discovery was not doing enough to advance environmental concerns. So, he decided to advance the cause himself by strolling into the building with a gun. Note to Mr. Lee: taking hostages is rarely an effective way to advance your agenda.
Finally, Washington Nationals (or “Natinals,” as they refer to themselves on occasion) rookie phenom Steven Strausburg will miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery. A couple months ago when Strausburg make his major league debut, ESPN declared his first game to be more significant than the Chicago Blackhawks breaking a 49-year drought winning the Stanley Cup about a week earlier. Of course, they said similar things about Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, before they blew out their arms and dropped off the face of the earth. Yet somehow, nobody saw this coming with Strausburg. Until it happened. Apparently, the human body simply isn’t designed to consistently throw a baseball at 102 miles-per-hour. It just isn’t. I certainly don’t mean to gloat, but ha ha. Okay, that isn’t true. I’m gloating. And I’m perfectly okay with that.
8.25.2010
Bi-Centennial
This is my 200th post! Okay, that isn't true. The last post was my 200th post. But, aside from me, who's really counting. Anyway, to celebrate, I'm taking the week off. I know I know, that's exactly what I did the last time I celebrated. Someday I'll vary the act, perhaps by nodding my head and waving my arms while I... take time off. Yeah, I'll work on it. See you next week.
8.24.2010
Team Evil or Team Stupid
I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. The hits just keep on coming.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Parent Company Trap | ||||
| ||||
8.20.2010
Highlights
Once again, the most rational, reasonable discussion on television, of an issue relating to Islam, comes from a Jewish man who "make(s) fart jokes for a living."
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Extremist Makeover - Homeland Edition | ||||
| ||||
8.19.2010
One More Time Around
I've been busy writing other things this week, so just a couple quick hits.
It's official. Brett Favre is returning to the Minnesota Vikings for his 20th season. I know, I'm as stunned as you are. Perhaps more-so. According to Favre, this will be his last season. Fifty bucks says we get to do this all over again next August.
Doctor Laura Schlessinger made some headlines last week. Honestly, I thought she'd retired to Cancun ten years ago. But apparently, she is still on the radio, continuing to tell people who already know exactly what they should do, exactly what they should do. Well, she found herself in a little trouble this week after telling a woman who called to complain about her husband's racist friends that black people just need to lighten up. It might have been considered typical Dr. Laura fare had she not insisted on using the N-word eleven times during the conversation and complaining that if black people get to use it, white people should get to use it too. Later in the show she took herself off the air and the following day issued an apology. Again, she might have fared better had she simply stopped there. Instead, she made an appearance on Larry King Live Tuesday night (presumably so no one would actually see her) and announced she would not renew the contract for her show at the end of this season because she doesn't want to have to "prune her words." According to Schlessinger;
At a Tea Party rally earlier this week, Phoenix area sheriff Joe Arpaio actually suggested stationing the U.S. Border Patrol on the Mexican side of the fence to curb illegal immigration. Apparently it's not enough for Arpaio to arrest Mexicans in Arizona, He now feels he needs to arrest Mexicans in Mexico. I guess that would take care of any racial profiling issues.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Judge Walker's ruling two weeks ago overturning California's ban on same-sex marriage and have issued direction to hear the case immediately. In their comments the Court seems to doubt whether opponents of same-sex marriage even have standing to challenge the ruling. In order to have standing to appeal a ruling, the party issuing the challenge must show that they have suffered actual harm as a direct result of the ruling. And the definition of actual harm has narrowed even further under the current Supreme Court. Seeing as how opponents managed to produce only one witness and almost no evidence to support their claims during the trial, I certainly am interested to see what they present to support their appeal.
Finally, in a bizarre decision announced this week, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted of only one of the twenty-four Lincoln-would-be-rolling-over-in-his-grave bribery and extortion counts he was charged with last year. The jury couldn't agree on the other twenty-three, many times split 11-1 in favor of conviction. In what was perhaps the dumbest post-trial press conference ever broadcast on television, Blagojevich's lawyer Sam Adam emphatically insisted that even though he had provided his client with "absolutely no defense whatsoever," the government had still failed to convict him. I hope Blagojevich emphatically insists on paying his lawyer absolutely nothing whatsoever.
It's official. Brett Favre is returning to the Minnesota Vikings for his 20th season. I know, I'm as stunned as you are. Perhaps more-so. According to Favre, this will be his last season. Fifty bucks says we get to do this all over again next August.
Doctor Laura Schlessinger made some headlines last week. Honestly, I thought she'd retired to Cancun ten years ago. But apparently, she is still on the radio, continuing to tell people who already know exactly what they should do, exactly what they should do. Well, she found herself in a little trouble this week after telling a woman who called to complain about her husband's racist friends that black people just need to lighten up. It might have been considered typical Dr. Laura fare had she not insisted on using the N-word eleven times during the conversation and complaining that if black people get to use it, white people should get to use it too. Later in the show she took herself off the air and the following day issued an apology. Again, she might have fared better had she simply stopped there. Instead, she made an appearance on Larry King Live Tuesday night (presumably so no one would actually see her) and announced she would not renew the contract for her show at the end of this season because she doesn't want to have to "prune her words." According to Schlessinger;
"(I) want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors."Sigh. Are there really white people walking around desperate to throw up the N-word every chance they get, and upset because it has been deemed socially unacceptable for them to do so? Besides Dr. Laura?
At a Tea Party rally earlier this week, Phoenix area sheriff Joe Arpaio actually suggested stationing the U.S. Border Patrol on the Mexican side of the fence to curb illegal immigration. Apparently it's not enough for Arpaio to arrest Mexicans in Arizona, He now feels he needs to arrest Mexicans in Mexico. I guess that would take care of any racial profiling issues.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Judge Walker's ruling two weeks ago overturning California's ban on same-sex marriage and have issued direction to hear the case immediately. In their comments the Court seems to doubt whether opponents of same-sex marriage even have standing to challenge the ruling. In order to have standing to appeal a ruling, the party issuing the challenge must show that they have suffered actual harm as a direct result of the ruling. And the definition of actual harm has narrowed even further under the current Supreme Court. Seeing as how opponents managed to produce only one witness and almost no evidence to support their claims during the trial, I certainly am interested to see what they present to support their appeal.
Finally, in a bizarre decision announced this week, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted of only one of the twenty-four Lincoln-would-be-rolling-over-in-his-grave bribery and extortion counts he was charged with last year. The jury couldn't agree on the other twenty-three, many times split 11-1 in favor of conviction. In what was perhaps the dumbest post-trial press conference ever broadcast on television, Blagojevich's lawyer Sam Adam emphatically insisted that even though he had provided his client with "absolutely no defense whatsoever," the government had still failed to convict him. I hope Blagojevich emphatically insists on paying his lawyer absolutely nothing whatsoever.
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