Sunday, August 31, 2008
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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Salary Caps Are Fine for Some Sports
But this boat would never have been built if that applied to this rich-man's sport. Nice boat.
Dysfunction Junction
I would pity the Oakland Raiders if I didn't dislike them so much.
- Take this offseason for example. The defensive coordinator was fired until the owner said he wasn't. The head coach wanted to be fired and the owner wanted him to resign, so Lane Kiffin ended up back for a second season. Former players criticized the franchise as soon as they landed with other teams. And the $55 million wide receiver got beat up and robbed in Las Vegas, then wanted to retire in training camp before being talked out of it by the owner.
- It all points to a culture of dysfunction around the Raiders.
I like this view of Palin...
...by Linda Bergthold at the Huffington Post...
Did the Rovian type advisors to McCain just cynically think that throwing a young attractive inexperienced woman into the mix would satisfy women who long to see a woman president? Women, and Republican women, are not so stupid as to fall for that! It is reminiscent of the Republicans putting up Alan Keyes to run against Barack Obama for the Illinois Senate just because he was black. Voters saw through that pretty quickly.I also like the title of the piece: The VP Choice that Lost the Presidency for McCain.
It's also a slap in the face of Democratic women voters. They don't get Hillary but they get Sarah as the first potential woman President? In fact, I can just hear Biden saying, "Sarah Palin, you are NO Hillary Clinton!" I would imagine that the few remaining Clinton supporters who are wondering if they should support John McCain are even more leery now. There is absolutely no overlap between the positions Hillary Clinton has fought her entire life for and Sarah Palin. The two women are not remotely substitutable. They are as different as they can be.
How will this cynicism play with American voters? It is insulting to women to suggest that just "any" woman will do!
Time will tell...
Pass it along...
Sarah Palin opposes abortion, even in cases of rape or incest and opposes the use of birth control and condoms even among married couples.
I just thought everyone should know that...
Friday, August 29, 2008
THANK YOU, SENATOR MCCAIN!!!
Choosing Sarah Palin as your Vice President is quite literally the dumbest thing you could have done today, and it exposes two things that portend the failure of your candidacy:
1.) You feel the only way you can win is by courting disillusioned Hillary voters. Good luck with that. It's a very interesting way for a Republican to win the White House.In addition, McCain has declared null and void the whole "Obama is inexperienced" argument. Palin is faaaaaaaaaaaar less qualified than Obama for the office, and has ZERO foreign policy experience. Joe Biden will make her look silly in a debate.
2.) You think the short-sighted view that we can drill our way out of our oil dependency by drilling in ANWR is an issue that can deliver enough votes to win the election. Again, good luck with that.
Oh, and as if all this weren't enough, she's got a scandal back in Alaska she's trying to evade.
AWESOME PICK, OLD MAN!!!
UPDATE: From Palin's Issues2000 webpage, under the heading of "Sarah Palin on Foreign Policy":
No issue stance yet recorded by OnTheIssues.org.Indeed...
2nd UPDATE: In true Fox News fashion, one of their dickwad anchors is claiming that Palin does have foreign policy experience because....wait for it...Alaska is right up there next to Russia!!!
This has to be seen to be believed...
3rd UPDATE: Rahm Emanuel nails it:
"Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin's lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn't show judgment: it shows political panic..."I literally can't stop smiling!!!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
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Just three short years ago...
...with a hurricane demolishing the city of New Orleans, bestest buddies John McCain and George W. Bush came together to effectively address the situation...by eating birthday cake.
--August 29th, 2005
Now, with another hurricane heading toward the Gulf Coast, remember how Republican leadership handled the aftermath of Katrina.
Then, please think twice about surrendering another 4 years to a candidate who has no concern for how America's government handles such crises...
Barack will be speaking to a sold out 75,000-seat stadium tonight...
Meanwhile, John McCain can't fill a 10,000-seat arena, quite possibly to announce his VP pick.
You can't fake enthusiasm like that!!!
My new favorite website...
Few things excite me as much as a well-executed movie montage from a circa-80's flick.
You know the movie montage. It's the part of the movie where the protagonist has to get ready to face the BIG challenge. It could be a championship fight, completing a laser beam project, or something as stupid as going shopping.
MovieMontage.com has catalogued many of the greatest montages of the 80's and beyond.
It's used to be the crescendo of many movies, but sadly, the movie montage is in danger of becoming a lost art.
My all-time favorite montage comes from "Real Genius", a criminally underrated 80's movie that is quite simply littered with great montages...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Blatant, filthy, disgusting LIARS...
Here's what Barack Obama said about the threat posed by Iran...
"Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries. That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean, think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, 'We're going to wipe you off the planet.' And ultimately, that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall."Now, here's the dishonest bullshit ad that the McCain campaign is running.
McCain and his campaign lackeys are dishonest scumbags completely devoid of honor and integrity...
The speech I'm really sorry I missed...
...was the one delivered by Governor Brian Schweitzer (D-MT). I really hope this guy is a huge part of the future of the Democratic Party.
Luckily, I've got the highlights right here...
My favorite quote:
"Even leaders in the oil industry know that Senator McCain has it wrong. We simply can't drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards, including the ones he can't even remember."Anyone who can get a convention hall that energized while giving a speech about energy policy is alright in my book...
Just stop
We’re not going to war with Iran. We’re not going to war with Russia. You’re not going out with a bang. For the sake of our sanity and that of greater humanity, please give it a rest already.
We’re going to get the Useless Nations Security Council to condemn another member for launching a counter-offensive when their soldiers were brazenly attacked? That’ll show ‘em. Ahh yes, the righteous wrath of the international community. This wasn’t the same community we spit in the face of a few years back, is it? Because that would be hypocritical and embarrassing...
Our puppet got out of line and I’m really dreading the day when it does come to light that we had something to do with pulling his strings. If anything good came out of the last few years being ruled by these imbecilic neo-cons it’s that their ability to drown us all in a tsunami of horseshit has somewhat eroded. But nobody in our media seems to argue with the wisdom of a Polish missile shield that will keep us safe from imaginary Middle Eastern ICBMs that will be fired without any dummy warhead decoys. But I guess lobbing a missile at the continental US won’t be a big deal in a few years because we’ll already all be homeless anyway thanks to our hawks propensity to fritter money away on this kind of crap and drive us deeper into debt (completely unopposed.) Remember when we sent a battleship to New Orleans after Katrina to deliver aid? Ahhh, nevermind.
Whoever decided sending Cindy McCain to Tbilisi and giving her a microphone was a good idea must have been well into the vodka. I guess Israeli-supplied American-trained Georgian artillery batteries have incredibly advanced targeting systems that can distinguish between Ossetian and Georgian housing at night when fired in barrages. It was instead those bastard Russians who chose to wipe out territory they came to defend. I think the only way our own media can portray us in a worse light is by asking Paris Hilton her opinion on the matter while she defecates on a dismembered Iraqi child.
I really didn’t think I could despise my government any more than I did, but they unerringly find a way to root further into the bowels of shameful disgrace at every chance (when they’re not making their own opportunities.) This entire matter isn’t a concern of anybody but those living in the immediate area which does not include the North Atlantic. And while he may be a bit melodramatic in regard to nuclear war, this man echoes my sentiments on this matter completely
In the rest of the world, it’s 2008
But alas Arkansas is still determined to maintain its firm setting in the Paleolithic era. Apparently who you’re sleeping with and whether or not you’ve sanctified it before your chosen whatever outweighs the fact that you’re willing to take children nobody wants into your home and raise them in a loving environment.
I wonder how many out of the 85,389 people that took the time to tell the world who shouldn’t be raising the unwanted have actually considered bringing foster children into their home. I’m going to wager the number has waaaaaay fewer digits.
Sexual orientation has absolutely zip to do with anything. It never has and it never will. It infuriates me that for some reason this complete non-issue is still foisted upon us in every political arena possible as though anyone with an IQ over that of a dinner roll gives a damn. If people really truly want a less f*cked-up world, then we had better start doing right by those who are going to be taking over. Self-righteous pea-brained religious zealots are a far greater threat to foster children. Gay people are not.
As you can see, straight birth parents are doing a real bang-up job in other parts of the country...but I suppose this has more to do with her not being married than being a sociopath based on Little Rock Logic.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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Olympic gold medalist sells out her husband...
...in order to cozy up to John McCain. I'll let Paul Lukas of UniWatch explain...
This shot shows John McCain and Olympic gold-medalist Misty-May Treanor at Sunday night’s Marlins/Diamondbacks game in Arizona. The weird thing, as Corey Zoldan points out, is that May-Treanor is married to Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, yet she gladly donned the home team’s jersey instead of wearing her hubby’s colors. Pretty weak.That is cold as ice.
Maybe if Treanor was hitting better than .232 he could count on his wife's unwavering support...
Pamela Anderson, Dr. Phil, Larry the Cable Guy, Simon Cowell, Jennifer Love Hewitt...and John McCain...
They've all been on Jay Leno thirteen times.
That's a celebrity if I've ever seen one!
Monday, August 25, 2008
A brilliant question from Frank Rich...
...that deserves serious consideration...
"Does a bellicose Vietnam veteran who rushed to hitch his star to the self-immolating overreaches of Ahmad Chalabi, Pervez Musharraf and Mikheil Saakashvili have the judgment to keep America safe?"
OK, time for a little chest thumping...
My years overseas have humbled me in regards to how our country interacts with the rest of the world. And quite often I’ve been dumbfounded by not only by the policies we administer, but by those who are doing so and the horribly slanted way in which the US media portrays nearly everything.
But today someone came up to me and offered up a smug assessment of American athletics in regard to the Olympics. And it rubbed me wrong. Like most Americans, I regard the Olympic Games as a sort of afterthought in which I pay marginal attention while large portions of the rest of the planet hold it to be a source of immense national pride and fervor (I currently live in one of those places.) I’ll endure the good-natured ribbing, but let’s set the record straight:
LeBron guaranteed it. We brought it. And yeah, we won the most medals again. Sure we’re going to have trouble competing with a country that has over 1 billion people with government mandated training facilities in the future. And while Michael Phelps will get all of the fame, Dwayne Wade was a force to behold. He personified the determination that put us on our current pedestal that so many gaze longingly upon and not-so-secretly pray for our downfall in a multitude of areas.
Maybe it’s silly. We all have far larger issues to confront. But this team made me feel proud of who we are and where we’re from. USA: Get some.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Now I know where Bubble Busters gets his talking points...
Robin Leach comes to John McCain's defense.
Yes, that Robin Leach...
A great tune suggested by G...
He brought this one up a while ago, and it deserves a spin...
TRIVIA: In what classic 80's flick did the chick in this video star? I'll give you one clue: the immortal Billy Zabka was also in it...
If the product is good enough, manufacturing can still thrive in the US...
American ingenuity can make the best guitars in the world.
Who knows what else is still possible...
Who knows what else is still possible...
Paul Reed Smith Guitars, the Eastern Shore company that makes guitars for Carlos Santana and other well-known musicians, has received a $10 million private equity bond from the state to help pay for a major expansion of its headquarters, company and economic development leaders said yesterday.It's good to see a company that treats its employees well be so rewarded...
The bond, which is tax-exempt and provides the company with a low interest rate for repaying the loan, will be used to help finance an 84,000-square-foot addition to the company's manufacturing facility at the Chesapeake Bay Business Park in Stevensville. The current facility is 25,000 square feet.
The expansion, which is expected to be completed next year, is slated to create 60 new jobs, bringing the company's total work force to 250 people.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
John McCain: Elitist or just plain senile?
He can't remember how many houses he and his wife own, so one must assume he's one or the other...or maybe both!
UPDATE: The McCain camp is responding to their candidate's boneheaded statement in the same fashion they respond to every dumb thing he says: Hiding behind his time as a POW.
Apparently, they believe being a POW makes McCain immune any criticism about anything EVER...
Is it getting drafty in here?
John McCain's response to this question:
"...if we don't re-enact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell."...was this:
"Ma'am, let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said."Discuss...
Heal thyself
A CEO is worried about possible effects in blinding studies instead of giving a dying child with MD a drug for treating MD? Forming a “close relationship” via litigation?
Apparently not enough people hate this industry yet. Worried about clinical trials? Go get some business pointers from your fellow suits at Merck. May they pack your golden parachute one day with the empty promises and broken hopes you bequeath those you should be serving. Now get the f*ck out of this profession.
Strangely enough
I find quite a bit of what this man spews out to be pure rubbish, but I think he really nailed this one.
We’ve already aligned ourselves with too many nut-jobs in a war against terror who are going to call the favor back one day (or probably fight us somewhere in the future.) No need to bring any more into the fold, although it could be argued we already have. But I cannot fathom as to why either presidential candidate seems to think betting on the wrong horse again is a good idea.
Making the hometown proud
Brian, make sure one tidbit of advice you post for future dads is "Don’t let your son drop out of high school to play air guitar."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
10 months and counting...
These guys continue to crack us up on a daily basis...sometimes literally...
P.S. In a few days or so, I'll put together a list of helpful tips for all you soon-to-be daddies out there!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
...
Yesterday I read quite possibly the most horrific and depressing article I’ve ever seen in my life, of which I have no intention of sharing with anyone here. But it did make me realize how weary I have grown gazing into the abyss on a daily basis simply trying to stay abreast of my surroundings, and I figure I’m probably not alone on this one.
So instead today I’m going to offer up something that makes me glad that I’m alive. This man is a genius and the album “Ocean Machine” is a masterpiece with unbelievable production work that I wish I had discovered a decade ago.
Devin Townsend - Life
Suddenly, I really hope it's Joe Biden...
The guy has paid his dues, knows more about American foreign policy than just about anyone else, and would serve as a great attack dog so Barack Obama could stay above the fray.
Thankfully, he's got a personality that does not scream "typical politician".
Sure, he voted for the war in Iraq, but his three-state solution is probably the only one that has a reasonable chance of securing the country going forward.
My biggest problem with Biden is his close ties to the credit card industry, which lead to his active involvement in the abominable bankruptcy bill of 2005.
That pissed me off then, and still pisses me off now, but it also proved to me that nobody in the House or Senate is free from poor decisions and/or misplaced loyalties at one point or another.
Aside from that, Biden is as good as it gets in the Democratic Veepstakes.
We'll see...SOON...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Novelty or not, this is great stuff...
The twins love the Barenaked Ladies' new children's CD, and so do their parents...
"Pollywog in a Bog"
John McCain: Blissfully unaware of his own voting record...
Sen. McCain says he never would've nominated Justices John Paul Stevens, Steven Breyer, David Souter or Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
If this is the case, why did he vote to confirm Breyer, Souter and Ginsburg?
Apparently, the only reason he didn't vote for Stevens was because he wasn't in the Senate yet!
(Big thanks to Taegan Goddard.)
Friday, August 15, 2008
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Bush Preacher Rips McCain
- "Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell. "I don't know if that is a perfect case in point, but it surely does help to juxtapose the DNA of Senator Obama, if you would, versus the DNA of Senator McCain."
John McCain knows nothing about foreign policy...
Sure, that statement might seem a little strong, but what other conclusions do you draw when you hear this:
My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression.McCain glosses right over the First Gulf War, the collapse of Yugoslavia, 9/11, the US invasion of Afghanistan and the US invasion of Iraq to lift the Georgia situation in relevance and attempt to re-ignite the Cold War.
Why would you want someone this unhinged with his finger on the fucking button???
Thursday, August 14, 2008
J-Mac gets a breather, although...
- "...the lawyers also concluded in a separate opinion that McCain needs an affirmative vote of four commissioners to withdraw from the program, which McCain had asserted was unnecessary.
- That could set the stage for the first real partisan FEC battle since a new commission was confirmed this summer, since the commission is comprised by statute of three Republican members and three Democrats.
- If Republicans got the sense they couldn't attract a single Democratic vote to approve the lawyer’s recommendation releasing McCain from the system, however, they could vote against the lawyer’s recommendation that McCain needs four votes to withdraw, killing that proposal and possibly allowing McCain to withdraw unilaterally.
Dialing W Back A Bit...
Gates adds a dose of reality to the White House - both President Bush and his boss Dick Cheney's tough-talk interpretation of the situation.
- It was hard to miss the contrast between President Bush's tough talk on Wednesday over Russia's intervention in Georgia, and the reality check offered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates a day later. While Bush promised that the U.S. military would rush relief supplies to Georgia and warned the Russians that Washington expected them to retreat from Georgian territory, Gates was careful to make clear that the U.S. has no desire to get involved in the fight between the Russian bully and its Georgian victim. "I don't see any prospect for the use of military force by the United States in this situation," Gates told reporters Thursday. "Is that clear enough?"
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Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Poland signed a preliminary accord today that will allow for 10 U.S. interceptor missiles to be based in the eastern European country, completing a defense system that Russia opposes.
The height of narcissistic self-righteousness...
One of the fine folks that works in my building has a rather self-aggrandizing bumper sticker on his car:
Don't abort, I'll adoptReally?
You, the owner of beat-up 2000 Saturn now has a moral opposition to the practice of abortion and enough financial means to raise the thousands of babies who are aborted each year in the United States?
This kind of slogan shows a nearly ostrich-like lack of critical thinking toward one of the tougher moral decisions that any human being can make.
The issue of abortion is far too complex for either side to boil down its message to a pithy bumper sticker slogan.
The seems roughly equivalent to responding to our crushing national debt with a bumper sticker like this:
National debt? Throw it on my credit card. No biggie.Get over yourself...
P.S. Forgive me here, but I still get uncomfortable whenever a man touts his opposition to the practice of abortion. You'll never be in that position, so what the hell is your opinion really worth on the topic?
Obama receiving six times more contributions from troops deployed abroad than McCain...
What could possibly be the explanation? After all, I've been told he is a Marxist, anti-military, closet Muslim who hates the very idea of America?
Why would the American military support such a man?
Do tell, Republican lurkers. I can't wait to hear you spin, er, explain...
I’ll throw the gauntlet down a day earlier than usual.
You want some old-school ass kicking? Two words: John Bush.
Armored Saint – Reign of Fire
Anthrax - Only
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Speaking of powerful vocals
Since we are on the topic of singers, this guy has one of the most bizarre but coolest ranges I’ve ever heard. This band (along with In Flames, Soilwork and too many others to name) also confirms the fact that Scandinavia has been owning the metal scene for years now.
Scar Symmetry – The Illusionist
McCain echoes his buddy Bush on the Georgia situation...
...and the result is a stunning example of blatant hypocrisy...
In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.Except when they do...and you vote to authorize it...
The most powerful voice in rock history...
...belongs to Anne Wilson. Anyone care to prove me wrong?
"Alone" by Heart
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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Spokesman = (Al Gore – intelligence) – charisma
Interesting how a man who never had to work a day in his life has become a mouthpiece for the longstanding First World elitist practice of “organic” farming.
Genetic modification has been the basis of agriculture since man intentionally stuck the first plant in the ground for purposes of sustenance. We simply have the tools and technology now to speed the process up instead of waiting years upon years to reap the rewards. “Organic” farmers would always be opposed to this because they would have to further justify why they charge $8 for a tomato.
Like it or not, we are in a continual competition with millions of other organisms for our food - not just other members of our species. The mold waiting in your cabinet doesn’t sleep – it’s going to eat your preservative free bread faster than you will most of the time. The same individuals who can demonize pesticides can also walk to any market in their area and find a full produce section.
The only people who vandalize research centers are those who have enough food in their belly to do so. And you will never see anyone but rich white people propagate this kind of garbage. Go try “living with nature” in eastern Africa or North Korea or a myriad of other places where people are starving. Find out “food protection” really means guarding that bag of cornmeal just tossed out of a plane with and AK-47. Find out that “nature” would just as much bury us with the dinosaurs unless we protect ourselves.
I’m not deriding people who choose “organic” food – it’s a personal choice they are free to make for themselves and their families and should be grateful that there is an abundance to do so with. But blocking the advancement of sciences where vitamins can be added to base crops such as rice in the name of “protection” is horseshit.
The height of callousness
When I read that Philly whacked the municipal employees involved with this I applauded. But after reading this, I’m not only embarrassed that I’m American but that I’m human.
Seeking to Right the (Ch)Air Force...
Newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Schwartz has his hands full.
- The Air Force has been sullied over the past year by nuclear mishaps, including the inadvertent transfer of warheads over American skies and the mistaken shipment of nuclear-related materials to Taiwan, incidents that led to a Pentagon report criticizing the Air Force's safeguarding of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Air Force has also been plagued by acquisition problems and purchasing scandals at a time when the Pentagon leadership has pushed the service to focus less on future needs and more on current wars.
- Schwartz said the Air Force should focus on "jointness," recognizing that the wars the United States is currently waging overseas are primarily fought as ground wars with Air Force support. ... Schwartz said there needs to be more attention to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Brought to You By the Secretary of Sophistry...
"Two wrongs do not make a right," Mukasey told the American Bar Association yesterday in New York. "The people hired in an improper way did not, themselves, do anything wrong. It therefore would be unfair -- and quite possibly illegal given their civil service protections -- to fire or reassign them without individual cause."In other words, since these aren't the Republicans who are guilty, I will not bother to inconvenience them. Oh and I won't bother to prosecute those who hired them illegally, either. Mukasey.....Gonzalez 2.0?
An interesting idea for cutting down on emissions...
Pay-as-you-drive car insurance: Very interesting.
Take a read and tell me what you think...
A pop masterpiece from the 1980's...
This tune just feels and sounds like a classic...
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears
Bush has officially stopped trying to hide his bullshit...
Take a deep breath before you read these lines...
"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state....Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century....We have no doubts about it. This is a deliberate attempt to destroy an entire country and change the regime."Wow...
Monday, August 11, 2008
McCain Flashes His Foreign Policy Credentials Yet Again
Did McCain Plagiarize His Speech on the Georgia Crisis?
(Thanks Taegan Goddard)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
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Are we keeping you from something, Mr. Bush?
What a fine representative to send to the Olympic Games...
Saturday, August 9, 2008
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Yup, that sounds about right!
You know what the country needs right now? An offshore oil well that won't come online for a decade or more. That's pretty much it.It'l be interesting to see how they finesse the exact wording...
--GOP platform, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
It's Good to See Divisive Race/Religion-Baiting Candidates Lose
- Nikki Tinker, the Democratic attorney who based her primary challenge to first-term Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) almost entirely on appeals to race and religion, has gone down to an ignominious defeat.
Since Geoff opened up the metal box this morning...
I feel inclined to properly lay down the gauntlet...
"Eyes of a Stranger" by Queensryche
"Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden
"Holy Diver" by Dio
Bye, bye, Nikki Tinker...
The Democratic party has no need for racist, Jew-baiting, union-busting hacks like you, so take your 60-point loss and fuck off...
P.S. For some backstory, click here...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Here’s to hoping your weekend rocks...
They’ve never put a bad album out. Enjoy a double-shot of metalcore perfection.
Killswitch Engage – My Last Serenade
Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache
If Various Poets Had Written the Star Spangled Banner
(Thanks, Atlantic.com)
The Banner—that we watched in Air
so Proudly as it Gleamed
Was Proven by the Rocket Glare
Or so to us it Seemed—
And so we waited for the Dawn
To see if it still flew
Or if—in Tatters—it is Gone—
As happened once—with You.
I woke up—at the Matin Bell—
A vast and empty Bed—
The Pillow bore—the slightest smell
Of Oil—from your Head.
The Ghost of—Not To Be—
And Postmen—in their Crimson Caps—
Aim their Artillery.
—Emily Dickinson
The Frost, cummings, and Whitman versions are great, too.
Without Googling, does anyone know the name of the pub song that our national anthem was set to by F. Scott Key?
Not My Cup of Tea, but...
Strikes me as formulaic metal with a Japanese cast. Not that there's anything wrong with that...;)
(Hat tip and thanks: Drumsalad)
Don't think McCain represents a 3rd Bush term?
Ask the man...He'll tell you how he thinks...
"The president and I agree on most issues. There's was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time."
While you're wrapping your brain around the idea of Brett Favre in a Jets jersey...
Check out this link to Paul Lukas' ESPN column that compiles many of the forgotten player/team combinations in sports history.
My favorite forgotten player/uni combo?
Look no further...
Our first Olympic shaming before the games even begin
Why is it that a handful of morons seem to garner all of the attention? I suppose it sells news, but stop embarrassing us. If you have the time and the money to attend or even the incredible opportunity to participate in a game steeped in so much history, try pulling your head out of your ass and enjoy the wonders of a truly incredible city and country that most people will never get a chance to see in their lifetime.
Contrary to media portrayal, the Chinese have more in common with Americans than most of the other countries we currently call our “friends.” We’re in their house – show some respect. There’s not a single country in the Games that doesn’t have historical blood on its hands.
I disagree with the President on a myriad of things, but he really made the right call in not politicizing this one. Don’t believe the hype.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
While McCain is tarring Barack Obama as a "celebrity"...
Remember that one of the two candidates has:
-Appeared in "Wedding Crashers"
-Appeared on "24"
-Hosted "Saturday Night Live"
-Appeared on "The Daily Show" more than any guest in the show's history
...and it wasn't Sen. Obama...
McCain offers up his zombie bride for a topless beauty pageant...
Braaaaaaains....Braaaaaaains....Must take off top for braaaaaaaains!!!!
Thanks to Talking Points Memo...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I Didn't Drink That Much
I'm not hungover. I just have a lean-over.
(A small-sized hangover, usually comes with merely a mild headache, a vague fatigue, and little or no sense of regret and/or shame.)
Bertrand Russel: Setting Precedent for Flying Spaghetti Monster...
- "If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Game Is So Dull, You NEED Soap Operas...
- "The playing part gets boring for people," said the 19-year major league veteran, who now plays for the Florida Marlins. "And they want to know what is going on in athletes' personal lives."In this modern media age, with its increasing saturation and declining standards, the curious won't have to surf long to find it.
Sunday Morning, the Most Segregated Time of the Week, and Likely to Stay That Way...
- "One man asked me if I was prepared for a hostile takeover," says Sheppard, pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, California.
- The nervous parishioners were African-American, and the church's newcomers were white. Sheppard says the experience demonstrated why racially integrated churches are difficult to create and even harder to sustain. Some blacks as well as whites prefer segregated Sundays, religious scholars and members of interracial churches say.
What was the coolest thing that happened over your weekend?
I saw my son pull himself up to a standing position for the first time ever yesterday.
Top that!
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. (unless you have some strange brand from California that smells like yak urine)
This is the beginning of the end, ladies and gentlemen. Because if the Feds even let half of the contents in a cancer stick beyond the ppb level and don’t outright ban the rest then the conspiracy is no longer just theory.
Water pong?
Every Wii game encourages drinking. The controllers even come with straps to foil even the most inebriated partygoer. It’s like peanut butter and jelly.
But it’s good to see the Yale administration warding off this vile menace, considering the weapon of choice of some alumni we won’t name here...
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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Childish Favre Forces Pack Into No-Win Position
So the saga continues, though we should have some idea of the end-state by tomorrow afternoon. After his tearful goodbye retirement, the way Brett has handled his indecision has been less than admirable. He put the "I" in team with his off season performance.
- As a result of his decision, we invested considerably in a new and different future without Brett and we were obviously moving in that direction. That's why this wasn't easy. Having crossed the Rubicon once when Brett decided to retire, it's very difficult to reorient our plans and cross it again in the opposite direction--but we'll put this to our advantage.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Our stupid political discourse, part 1,036,382,902...
The Wall Street Journal is making the case that Barack Obama might have trouble being elected because...wait for it...He's too physically fit.
No, they're not kidding...
Speaking to donors at a San Diego fund-raiser last month, Barack Obama reassured the crowd that he wouldn't give in to Republican tactics to throw his candidacy off track.MyDD has compiled a comprehensive list of the qualities the media is convinced that Americans are looking for in their next President:
"Listen, I'm skinny but I'm tough," Sen. Obama said.
But in a nation in which 66% of the voting-age population is overweight and 32% is obese, could Sen. Obama's skinniness be a liability? Despite his visits to waffle houses, ice-cream parlors and greasy-spoon diners around the country, his slim physique just might have some Americans wondering whether he is truly like them.
1. Not think before he speaks
2. Never use more than two-syllable words
3. Always underachieve
4. Hate academics
5. Drink cheep American beer
6. Bowl well
7. Be hated overseas
8. Take lots of vacations
9. Look like "us"
And, critical to our nation's security,
10. Be fat!
Why Paris and Britney?
So, why exactly did the McCain campaign cut an ad linking Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears?
For your definitive answer, you need look no further than this RNC ad from the 2006 Tennessee Senate race between Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. and Republican Bob Corker...
This ad successfully played to many voters' discomfort with a black man having even perceived relations with a white woman.
The ad worked, Ford lost, and McCain's advisors were taking notes.
Not really seeing the sexual connotation? Check out this comment from McCain apologist Joe Lieberman had to say about the ad:
"To some extent the appearance of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- people complain about it -- they should just relax and enjoy it..."Just relax and enjoy it? Wasn't that Bobby Knight's advice to victims of rape?
We all know who gets to write the history books, but...
In no way do I condone the actions of either the former Serbian leader or the current leader of the Sudan. But in the zeal to administer international justice to individuals whose atrocities were committed within their own autonomous regions (maybe the Serbia/Croatia/Macedonia is debatable, but for the sake of argument we’ll leave it at Yugoslavia), is the US inadvertently leaving a flank open for future retribution since we have engaged in a war with another completely different country which has been viewed as baseless by the world at large?
Hang your hopes on a politician...
And you’ve actually stuck them in a noose. A man who was capable of amassing tens of millions of dollars on an almost quarterly basis for years and aimed at "eliminating poverty" is no longer going to lend his support to paying for one year of college for kids from one tiny high school in NC.
For those of you unfamiliar with Greene County, imagine a giant field of dirt surrounded by more giant fields of dirt. It is simply the embodiment of the definition "dirt poor". The very epitome of those this man claimed to not only champion but formerly hold rank with.
I’m sure he is no longer capable of commanding the capital he was merely months ago and no man wants to fall on his own sword. I also have no doubts this was a painful decision and that his legions have abandoned him for a better meal ticket. But there are people will far less clout propping up scholarships everywhere in this country with less means. Is it that easy to give up? Or are all of these candidates really that full of sh*t?
