n-judah love song

Colbert Has Stones

  Colbert Has Stones 
  Originally uploaded by Mike Monteiro.

The red, white and true. Buy yours today!

changing tides

Goodbye, Mr. DeLay!

I'm suddenly very curious as to why he's announcing his retirement now. What kind of goods have they got on the guy that this story isn't being messaged by his office, and breaks on a Monday evening of a relatively slow news day, rather than being buried in the Friday night news?

Now, of course, the Republican party can wash their hands of him. Should be interesting to see how this plays out and if the Democrats can remind people that this isn't just about one man, but about a systemic problem, and present an alternate solution, rather than sitting on their collective hands.

Interesting too to see the blogosphere's take: and now they'll have a different audience coming with with the NYT redesign...

Ooo, I love a good fight.

punishment suits the crime?

Dr. Salvatore J. Culosi, better known in my hometown area as Sal, was swarmed by a SWAT team while they tried to serve a petty gambling warrant. The person who shot and accidentally killed him is a 17-year vet of the police force, and by all accounts should not have had his finger on the trigger during the arrest of an unarmed suspect - yet no charges are being pressed.  His family has started a blog dedicated to getting Sal justice here.

Sal seems to me to be any of the guys I grew up with - affable, good job, little house, close circle of friends - when circumstances went horribly wrong. Anyone who has known an ACTUAL bookie knows the difference between a pro and someone making a sports bet. Necessitating a SWAT team? And the immediate use of deadly force on an unarmed citizen?  This smacks of unaccountability to me, and of a general sense of "protect your own" among a police force who should rather live by the motto "protect and serve". Something just smells wrong.

for your Friday reading pleasure

I was having a No Good Very Bad Day until just a minute ago. Then Lady Bunny made me laugh my ass off.

"If Frey's fictional writings have helped so many people with their own problems, who cares if it's true or embellished? Oprah has absolved herself and the liar's been exposed. Let's move the fuck on.

Let's move on to the president who lied to start a war which has killed thousands that isn't anywhere near over. I'd settle for one hour-long special on the impeachment hearings that the White House is bracing for. Or the laws that he's broken by spying on us.

And the real scandal that NO ONE is mentioning? Oprah's hair was incredible today! Those side-swept curled wings? Some fag is working overtime on that ho. Can someone introduce him to Star Jones? She looks like a bug-eyed, drowned dog."

little things, big differences

Alex wrote a great post on jury duty, and it's cross-linked on Daily Kos. It's an interesting exploration of how political change on the micro level really matters. Most of us look at jury duty as either an interesting anthropological experiment, a pain in the ass, or both. His take on it is worth a read.

sustainable what now?

Somewhat pie-in-the-sky typical of the NYT op/ed section, this article does pose an interesting solution to the food crisis in America. The gist of it is, supporting mid-size farmers, rather than just the small farmer's markets or the monolithic corporatation factory farms, can ease environmental impact, aid sustainability, and improve the "economic" health of the land.

Large food-service companies too, like Sysco, are responding to their customers' increased desire for products that have a story attached to them by reaching out to midsize farms.

From a marketing perspective, I find that interesting, since you do see that happen a lot: Niman Ranch, TIllamook, and Stonyfield come to mind.  Agriculture is one of those bureaucratic tangles of kickbacks and subsidies, and I think the article glosses over a bit exactly how hard it would be to change that whole system. But it's still an interesting twist on the "think globally/shop locally" sort of mentality. And Niman Ranch bacon is very very tasty, it's true.

Sidenote: I like the New York Times, I really do, especially with coffee. I just like making fun of it more. Adults self medicate? HEAVENS TO BETSY WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Kids today have ridiculously connected bar/bat miztvahs? We must assume the author has been raiding old Sex and The City dvd's for ideas.

and she said that he said

Everyone knows a diva. There's the funny hairstylist who reschedules your appointments around dinner plans, but does better color than anyone, ever, so you keep going to him. There's that diva cocktail waitress who thinks because she's hot, she can throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a wall-to-wall Saturday night rush, but she still gets the best shifts. They are the epitome of the Squeaky Wheel - they whine, cajole, do things their own way, and never seem to get punished for bad behavior.

Does it seem to anyone else like Judith Miller is just a big ol' newsroom diva? No one at the NYT seems to be able to explain why they accept her mistakes, her disobeying of direct orders, and then she pulls the biggest move of all:

"Hi, did you totally hear? I went jail, can you believe it? For my principles. Because, you know, I am principled! And I lost weight too, of course. Wait til my book deal comes out, bitches."

feedbag

Did you see that Jamison spearheaded a campaign to put a sign for the Red Cross on the New Orleans "Streetcar Named Desire" F-? He rocks it. 

Depending on your feelings on Katrina, you can choose from Mule Design's fabulous shirt designs.

All proceeds guaranteed to benefit the Red Cross,

All shirts guaranteed to piss off your right-wing friends.

I will stop writing about the hurricane one of these days, yall, I promise. Just not yet.

"get their asses moving to new orleans"

Today's links to hurricane coverage:

The Mayor of New Orleans expresses his frustration. Thanks to Anil for the pointer. Listen to the end when he says "I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences."
The media grows a pair.
Keep updated with the local news from New Orleans.
A survivor database.
Also, a wiki with actual useful information for the people who are affected by this.
Byrne wrote a post for Everything TypePad about how to help on your blog with a nifty badge like the one above.

geekish

You know, every time I read about "intelligent design", I think it's about how to build a better intarweb. It's good marketing, I suppose, since I just call them the "anti-Darwinist idiots".

Oh, and John McCain has just slipped a notch in my estimation, since he's with them now too.

An excellent op-ed piece from the Times traces one of the flaws in the anti-evolution argument: that the depth of time isn't properly perceived by us humans, because the sheer enormity of it boggles the mind. The author's name alone makes this worth reading.

do not adjust your broswer.

Dan Savage subs in for Andrew Sullivan this week. Hee.

strange voices

updated: cheeky lot, aren't they?

You know, I'm getting awfully tired of having my alarm clock click on with bad news, of hearing a tone in the announcer's voice that lets you know something is terribly wrong, of having people call and say simply "turn on the TV".

Our president weighs in thusly:

"On the one hand, you have people working to alleviate poverty and rid the world of the pandemic of AIDS and ways to have a clean environment, and on the other hand, you have people working to kill other people," the president said.

Is this irony? Someone please tell me, since it seems he's trying to insinuate he's one of the former, when he's one of the latter.

A former priest at my mom's parish (one who would wear a Frankenstein costume to Halloween services and always had an understanding heart for us kids in his church) has a blog of sorts. He's now a head chaplain in a MASH unit in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and writes quite eloquently about his experiences. Be forewarned that he's quite realistic in his depiction of the horrors of war - it's accurate but not for light after-lunch reading.

If you're feeling a bit helpless in the whole affair, he's asked for donations of DVD's for the soldiers. You can send me an email if you'd like to contribute, I'll find a way to get them there.

Take care of yourselves and each other, ok?

shoot the messenger, ask questions later.

Newsweek gets in trouble for reporting that US troops flushed the Koran to try to get Muslim inmates to talk.

"It's only fair to say at this stage that Newsweek can be held responsible for the damages caused by their story."

HELLO. Is this thing on? The reporter wasn't the one giving the good book a swirlie. Why are they in trouble for reporting it? And why are we listening to Pakistan and Afghanistan pontificate about what the press should be allowed to report about? Will someone please explain to me exactly why this is news story about a news story instead of a news story about an atrocity committed in a prison?

I always wanted to have a call sign

for reasons both personal and political, I think this is really cool.

smarty-pants

Some of you might remember Alex from our days of trying to heave a record label website and online store off the ground. (Remember back when DJ's played records?) He's also now one of the best liberal news filters I know of. He's a PhDJ - getting a degree from Boston University in Poli Sci while maintaining a residence at Avalon.  And who else would stay up until 3am discussing the realignment of political parties and the importance of the western states in the years to come? (Yes, Ales, he will always be Alex #2.)

Warning, his blog tends to be lengthy and filled with smart analysis of political issues, so if you're not into that sort of thing, you may want to check out some of his mixes instead.

just one more Bush dig, and then I'll be over it, I promise.

German pranksters have planted GW plags in piles of dog poo.

via BoingBoing.

Stella and I could start a riot with that in Dolores Park. (Which has now been  re-christened Mulva Park.)

happy coronation to you

My mom wrote that it's not only sub-freezing in DC, but now it's also snowing. The Bushies are having a heckuva time getting to their four-star benefit dinners. Not that I've ever known an inauguration day to be toasty and warm, but it still seems fitting that an administration that's all but forgotten about the environment...gets nature's equivalent of a big NEEENER.

tailgating liberals

I wonder how many accidents this guy has caused by people swerving around trying to read the back of his van.

apologies accepted

The world wants us to know our apology is accepted! Here, a message of world unity from a vast array of folks; Quebec citizens, members of the Dutch parliament, the Germans ("Don't let the Austrian bodybuilder get into office in 2008. We had an Austrian painter once, and look what happened to us").

via thisisnotover.com.

well, that about does it

I've seen and heard a lot of things on the internet about the election. Of course that means I've got a couple of things to add, because I cannot keep my big yap shut.

I'm truly disappointed. I'm fearful of the consequences of the decisions we've made as a country. America is now a very scary place for many of us. However - I'm not moving to Canada. I don't wish anyone dead. I don't want to burn anything down. I kinda want to puke. But - this is my country too - not just GW's.

C'mon, yall, Bush has the Terminator on his side. Did you really think he could lose?

Lessons learned - though not all Bush voters are evangelicals, a good percentage of the exit polls showed "moral leadership" to be one of the foremost concerns of Bush voters. Let me repeat: do not underestimate the power of the God Squad. They know that Jesus will lead you to victory over your oppressors. They know Jesus wants you to only marry someone of the opposite sex. The whole shtick in being an Evangelical is to do believe that the Word is God, and the Word said vote Bush.

I also believe that while this election didn't go the way I wanted, it also went the way the majority - albeit a slim one - decided. And that, kids, is our vaunted democratic process at work, so put away the conspiracy theories. As a bumper sticker on my mom's truck said for ages: hate is not a family value.

In hindsight (which is 20/20, remember) I think it would have taken a much stronger candidate than Kerry to draw together the ever-disjointed Democratic party. We're misfits in a lot of ways - the kids who would rather paint than do math, who prefer everyone play nice rather than to step on everyone else to get rich. Not exactly the kids with the killer instinct to win. Single women, gays, blacks, hispanics, intellectual oddballs, city dwellers - does any of this sound like high school electing a class president to you? (It sounds like everyone I hang out with.) It takes a Bill Clinton, a Barack Obama, to unite enough votes to win. Kerry's best asset was that he wasn't the Other Guy, and that's obviously not enough to win.

Bush lied. So did Clinton. So did Kennedy. So does every politician ever since time began. That's like criticizing a ho for wearing fishnets.

"You only lie to two people in your life: your girlfriend and the police." - Jack Nicholson

As heavy-hearted as I am about the next four years, we did bring out record numbers of voters on both sides. People became engaged in the political process again. That's the sea change that's happening - and the foundation of democracy. I'll be interested to see if that velocity keeps up.

I'm so pissed, though, the Teresa won't be our first lady. All my dreams of mandatory holidays for fashion week are dashed!

vote.

in case you need a crib sheet for SF, like I do, here's the Bay Guardian's Clean Slate.

updated to add: Comedy Central's Indecision 04 blog is so funny.

The Pacific News announced this morning that Guam has overwhelmingly gone for Bush. In a related story, Funkytown has gone for Kerry.

CSPAN has such a cool map. via Kos.

all these servers are crashing on political sites. the internet is going to have a helluva hangover tomorrow.

the debates...

Bush has been shielded by his handlers from criticism for four years, and it shows when he makes faces like a high-school girl who has just been grounded.

What did you think?

how I remember DC, 3 years ago.

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 12:26:42 -0700
From: "James *"
To: Ginevra (yoshitoshi.com)

are you OK?

-----

if this gets too depressing, just go back to the post about monkeys.

I was sitting in my little studio far at 16th and Euclid, listening to fighter jets and the stony silence. Even the street vendors were gone. There were Hummers and yellow tape. There were too many channels.

Mostly I remember we all reached out to find friends. Do you remember asking everyone you knew if they were ok?

speechify

yall, did anyone else notice that the graphic designer who is working on the signage and stickers for GW is actually damn good? clean lines, good use of space, working well with three bold (but obviously limited) colors?

that is the only compliment I can give.

dear "liberal" "media": please tell me why I had to rush home to catch Kerry's speech, and why you'll carry Bush's at prime time. Well planned. I hear that Florida is carrying the hurricane instead. That's what you get for ignoring their voters last time.

GW: you really should take the time to memorize the biggest speech of your life, for fuck's sake. Stop with the teleprompter.

Ed note: we rented The West Wing on NetFlix. Martin Sheen is my President, la la la, I'm not listening....

the RNC

Jason's at the RNC taking photos, causing an artistic ruckus, and forgetting his cell phone.

Is the Governator sparking a revolution in centrism?

From Wired News:

Schwarzenegger taps the power of California itself, the perfect platform from which to launch a revolution. From Reagan's supply-side economics and limited government to the direct democracy of ballot referendums, the state is the country's leading laboratory for political experimentation. Analyst Pat Caddell, former pollster for Jimmy Carter, calls California "the biggest political lever in the nation - what Archimedes was thinking of when he said 'Give me a place to stand, and I can change the world.' If Arnold actively enlists the citizenry, he could change everything."

Again, is it news to anyone that we're becoming a one-party system? Other than Alan Keyes and Ralph Nader, of course.

is this really news?

We learned this in Political Communication my junior year of college. And I think at the lunch table. It's called "talking behind someone's back". If you're not the one saying it to someone's face, then it's not really you.

Slater said in each case Bush "was able to basically take the high road and give the same answer: 'I'm not associated with these attacks, and I don't condone these attacks. I'm engaged in a high-road campaign,' while at the same time, his allies are basically doing the dirty work."

Hello? Is this thing on? Must be a slow news day at the Chronicle. Allies are supposed to do your dirty work. That's what they're for in a political campaign.

Read this instead, about the financing for the Swift Boats for Truth 527.

I'm curious to see how John McCain comes out on this one, because he's gonna have to address this soon.

you decide.

A traslation from German into Portland-ese: a comparative analysis of Sinclair Lewis and modern Bush-era politics. (Via Portland IndyMedia)

A critic is told "that freedom of speech becomes licentiousness or complete lack of rest when it develops into criticism of the army." Are these only words from a 1935 novel or could they be said today?

well, at least the author didn't pick George Orwell, for once. The arguments rooted in literature seem to be furthering that "pointy-headed liberal" stereotype...each to their own, though, I suppose.

I much prefer the Punk Voter take, whose fliers I've seen up in bars everywhere, outlining the issues for rockers to read whilst on the can.

Jason and I are tag-team hosting both an election night gathering (at his place) and the (Second) Election Year Debate Drinking Game at my house. Feel free to suggest ideas, costumes, or catchphrases that deserve a shot.
"Swift Boat Veterans for _insert high-minded pun here_?
Any references to manifest destiny?
get creative...nothing too easy, like Bush mispronouncing things.

the blue protest.

I wish I could see this. "Rather than flooding the streets with placards and bumper stickers, an image of New York draped in one single color will demonstrate to the world a clear message: we, as one city, want a change for our country."

via everyone's favorite new yorker

scandaliciousness in the blog world...

Washingtonienne's story broke a while ago, but the Post is just picking up that the whole story broke because of blogging, not because of traditional media.

In case you didn't know, this is the gal who posted a racy blog about getting some extras to supplement her meager income from Capitol Hill, and subsequently got canned when the blog was publicized for all of five minutes on Wonkette.

I hear her book deal is up to $300K.  I'll bet the girls at the Madison are just seething that they never took up blogging.

from one of the guys behind outfoxed

here's his weblog. By the by, I bought this movie and have it at my house if anyone wants to have an Outfoxed night.

What McCain Really Means

Wonkette is on it like grits on gravy today.

John says / John means

John says: Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry's military service "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well.

John means: I am done pretending to like George Bush.

bill clinton on the daily show!

someone, anyone, who has cable, please invite me over. I will make you cookies.  Thanks to Jason for the link!

Bill Clinton to Appear on 'Daily Show'

NEW YORK - Bill Clinton has been all over television promoting his new book. But one show he won't be visiting is "Saturday Night Live."

The former president has turned down an invitation to be guest host of the NBC sketch-comedy series next season, spokesman Marc Liepis confirmed Friday. No reason was given for Clinton rejecting the offer, first reported by TV Guide Online.

But far from going into retreat, Clinton will sit down with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's "Daily Show" Monday at 11 p.m. EDT, presumably to say more about his best-selling memoir, "My Life," as well as global affairs and the presidential race.

This appearance comes on the heels of Clinton's guest shot on CBS' "Late Show" Tuesday, when he brought a copy of his book as a birthday gift for host David Letterman's 9-month-old son. Meanwhile, Clinton gave Letterman a rare ratings win over NBC's "Tonight Show," delivering the biggest audience for "Late Show" since last March, when Janet Jackson drew a crowd for her first post-Super Bowl interview.

Fueled by Clinton's ongoing publicity blitz, his book has sold more than 1.5 million copies since its June 22 release.

ON THE NET

NPR this morning

was so damn interesting. Joe Trippi from the Howard Dean campaign was talking about his new book, and I would actually be curious to read his take on how the internet (and Movable Type) changed the way we campaign.

And ain't that John Edwards just as cute as a button!

once again

Madrid, te quiero.