Leap This!!

On Leap Day, why don't you take a flying leap at, oh, say, a rolling doughnut?

A Foolish Inconsistency Is The Hobgoblin of Small Minds

Althouse on the McCain + Hagee/Obama + Farrakhan thing:

I think Barack Obama didn't go far enough distancing himself from Louis Farrakhan.

Why do you think they call you a conservative blogger, Divine Ms. A.? How much farther can/should Sen. O. go, short of a physical attack on Farrakhan? Especially when you yourself admit that McCain actively solicited Hagee's support? NOTE: This item originally appeared in a different (crummy) form because your Editor ran out of time to polish it & provide links. Do click on Ms. Althouse's links though, even if they all lead to her own items. She seems to be stuck in frightful legalistic pickiness concerning Sen. Obama's "non-denunciation" of Farrakhan.

No Shit?

Actually useful (well, of personal interest) information gleaned from Ms. Megan's Blog (though, as one might expect, it's not from the hostess of the salon, but one of her commenters). And here it is, not perfectly expressed (no surprise) but we won't be re-typing it:

On a touch-tone phone, the digit 1 is in the upper left corner. On a desk calculator [and on the number pad of a personal computer] the digit 7 is there instead. "Why did the phone company deliberately violate the standard when they introduced touch-tone"? you ask... My father was an early adopter of touch-tone. He often got misdials because he touched too fast, and the phone company couldn't handle it. He complained and the phone company's customer service rep said that fast typists often jammed the system. They had to make the touch-pads different from calculators so there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of people so well practiced at typing numerals fast that they would often get misdials. The phone company almost certainly chose that layout with that in mind.

Do any of the early adopters out there recall Touch-tone™ 'phones w/ a standard ten-key pad?

Have a Beer W/ FEAR(-Monger)

Who the hell would want to "have a beer" w/ George W(orst) Bush? What could the two of you talk about? W(orst) is completely disconnected from the day-to-day reality of real people, much as "Poppy" Bush w/ his famous amazement at supermarket scanners in 1992. What a pair of elitist idiots!

When asked about the possibility of the price going that high, president says, 'That's interesting, I hadn't heard that.' He also says a tax hike on oil companies would drive the price up further. WASHINGTON -- The prospect of sharply higher fuel prices, including $4-a-gallon gasoline, may not have made it into Oval Office briefing books, perhaps explaining why President Bush was surprised Thursday when a reporter mentioned what energy analysts are saying could happen soon in many parts of the country. "Wait, what did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?" Bush responded to a reporter who said some analysts expect prices to soon climb that high. "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. . . . I know it's high now."

No shit, Sherlock. It's high now. Are the White House flunkies afraid to tell W(orst) what's going on? Is his reaction to every briefing the standard "You've covered your ass, get lost?" And decent Americans couldn't expect an oil co. to reduce its profits to mere hundreds of millions from billions just to pay some taxes to the gov't. that spends billions of dollars to make the Middle East "safe" for democracyoil cos., could they? Of course not. That would be un-American. Taxes must be passed on to the "consumer." Hey, what happened to all the oil money from Iraq that was going to pay for the war & occupation, & give us "our" energy for less? And the "consumer" reaction, as told by the left-leaning L. A. Times (which probably found many patriots who approve of W(orst)'s ignorance, but chose to quote only "Hate America Firsters"):

Bush's acknowledged unfamiliarity with the recent cost of gasoline produced some fumes at the pump. At a Shell service station in the Bay Area city of San Mateo, the price of a gallon of regular had already reached $4.29, well above the state average of $3.42, as measured by the AAA auto club. "Bush is out of touch with a lot of things we are facing today," said 33-year-old Marisa Cajbon, who was filling her Toyota Sequoia SUV with the expensive fuel. "I have to buy gas. I need to work. I have two kids. I think it's unfortunate. I think it's a crime." [...] Bush said he understood that uncertainty about the economy was hard on American consumers. But he said the answer was for Congress to make the tax cuts he pushed through in his first term permanent. Many lawmakers have balked, arguing that those reductions have led to a dangerously large federal budget deficit."If you're out there wondering . . . what your life is going to be like and you're looking at $4 a gallon, that's uncertain," Bush said. "And when you couple with the idea that taxes may be going up in a couple of years, that's double uncertainty." The average U.S. pump price was $3.16 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA, but higher in many regional markets. Roy Persinco, who filled up his Ford 250 pickup truck for $3.25 a gallon at a Santa Monica Shell station Thursday, said he spent $125 a week on gas. "I can't believe that an ex-oilman could be so unaware and ignorant of what is going on around him in the real world, but I'm sure his old buddies in the oil industry can tell him they're doing just fine," Persinco said. Another motorist, Grant Reese of West Los Angeles, volunteered to help the president keep in touch during his remaining days in office, lest he be caught off guard by the Washington press corps again. "I'd be happy to send him all my credit card receipts for gasoline from now on," Reese said, watching the pump top $40 as he filled the tank of his Nissan Altima at a Sam's Club station in Long Beach. Energy analysts have offered motorists little solace, saying that the rules of supply and demand for gasoline and other fuels are apparently being overridden, and commodity prices are continuing their run.

Yep, permanent tax cuts for W(orst)'s "have" base will be making things much better for people who pump their own gas, won't they?

Plea For Attention

Ron Paul sucks & I hate him 'cause he is a funny looking idiot who is living in the 16th century. He's all wrong about the constitution & he had sex w/ a chicken. Last wk. Whatcha gonna do about it, Paultards? Wonkette doesn't like him either.

D for The Dead/Who Rise From Their Graves/To Chop Off Your Head

Today is the first anniversary of the death of Just Another Blog (From L. A.)'s™ female parental unit, after a cardiac event 9 February 2007. Couldn't even hold on one day, until 1 March, which would have given us her Social Security for the month of March. The troubles we've had to endure. See her only speaking role in a big-time Hollywood (more or less) studio production here, about 5:25 in. And a shout-out to college friend the late Dr. Weird (he came up w/ that pseudonym long before the character in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force opening segments, by the way) dead by his own hand (& gun) in February 1977 (9 February we believe). A talented actor, & popular disk jockey in Port Townsend, Wash. He is missed. Also Action Don, who died around this time of yr. in 19921 (Oops!) heroin o. d. Founder of The Action Swingers, a subsidiary of The East Hollywood/Silver Lake Barbeque Association, which he also founded. A real Swinger, as in "ring-a-ding-ding" stylee, not lame-ass bourgeois wife swapping. Also sorely missed. And Kristen, the sister of fellow Silver Lake Bachelor's Club (not gay ourselves, but gay-friendly) member Mr. Mike, in an automobile accident in Montana just after Action Don. Met her but once, she died much too young. Sheesh, if you're a friend or relative or relative of a friend of Just Another Blog, beware the mo. of Feb.! Happy trails also to Buddy Miles. Our peripheral connection to him is that we saw him play at the late, sort of lamented Starwood, formerly at the corner of Santa Monica & Crescent Heights in WeHo one night in October 1976 or 7, on a tab from KGFJ 1260 radio, leading to more double Wild Turkeys than we can remember, which lead to further high-jinks w/ the daughter of a cast member of The Addams Family. Discretion kicks in here.

Will Not Be Missed, Ever

Oil heir & Catholic Falangist William F. Buckley Jr. (b. 1925, d. not a moment too soon) is now colder than a landlord's heart. Get the hot poop from the horse's ass, where all the drooling loonies (Jonah G.), cokeheads (Larry Kudlow), wingnut welfare grant-givers (The Heritage Foundation), Canadian crackpots (Mark Steyn), newspapers owned by dangerous cult-leaders (The Washington Times) & just plain dipshits (House Republican Leader John Boehner) chime in. And thanks to clif of Outside the Tent for providing an item about G. W(orst) Bush & his party for WFB (Whatta Fucking Buffoon?) to celebrate the 50th anniv. of Nazional Revue, w/ some wonderful links to some of NR's finer moments in the civil rights for "crazed Negroes" struggle. Personal Note: Your Editor met Mr. Buckley once, when we were seven or eight yrs. old & our parents (now both dead for their crimes) hosted a cocktail reception for "Bill" before or after a speech he gave somewhere in the Stanford University area (maybe even at the Hoover Institution). Whatever.

Are The Fucking Oscars™© Over Yet?

Finally, once & for all, we hope. They are for us. Lowest telebision rating ever, or something. The rightwing radio ranters were all over the lack of patriotism, no awards being given to Americans (well, not many) how wonderful movies were when the Hays Code was still in force, etc. Michael (the Savage) Weiner referred to the Coen Bros. as "the so-called Coen Bros." We've no idea what he meant by that. Aren't they brothers? Then he blamed islamo-fascist-jihad-terrorism on Hollywood, specifically denying that U. S. foreign policy was more than a tiny part of it, & saying that U. S. support for Israel was completely different. Now we can stop w/ all this crap, right?

There'll Always Be An England

One of the things Just Another Blog™ most regrets about being merely depressed, rather than a full-blown psychotic maniac, is the chance to act like this:

Retired English soccer star Paul Gascoigne was detained under the Mental Health Act after a series of bizarre incidents at a London hotel, according to London's Daily Mirror newspaper. The paper reported that Gascoigne "was almost permanently drunk, set off a fire alarm, spent hours gambling with staff and wandered around clutching plastic battery-operated parrots, during his two-week stay. "There were also reports he would order raw liver from room service -- and answer his door stark naked," the paper reported. A British tabloid, the Sun, followed up with a report that Gascoigne had recently checked into a rehabilitation center to help cure an addiction to Red Bull energy drink. It said he had been drinking 50 cans every day.

Sadly, we haven't the energy or desire to bother w/ any of that. Not that we'd eat even cooked liver. (Stay away from organ meats, folks. Eating a liver is like smoking a cigarette filter, f'r crissakes.) Or drink Red Bull™, let alone fifty a fucking day!! What the hell? Where's our battery-operated parrot, damnit? From the L. A. Times, but we'll bet if you searched the Daily Mail or The Sun there may be more details.

We Couldn't Have Put It Much Better Ourself, So We Didn't Bother

A liberal fascist from Australia (The nerve of these furriners, this is the only country w/ the right to tell others how to live!) weighs in on local gang activity:

I read with amazement your lead article on gangster shootouts on the streets of L.A. Please understand why the rest of the world assumes your society is utterly beyond redemption. The thought of America having the moral authority to lecture anyone is preposterous. In Australia, we had the worst mass civilian shooting ever. Our former prime minister set about banning ownership of anything but a single-shot rifle. The state governments fell into line. It is surely time for any sane American to demand your government do likewise. I won't hold my breath, however. Paul Murphy Sydney, Australia

Emphasis ours.

Ooops!! (Continued)

We insincerely apologize to pathetic nationalist tool Andrew Klavan, whose Oscar™ fantasies we mocked recently. When we made this snide post script:

P. S.: What happened to the eye patch you used to sport in the author photos on your book covers, Andy? We were looking forward to calling you a one-eyed freak. Turns out you're merely a garden-variety freak.

we were confusing Mr. Klavan w/ one Andrew Vachss, who writes real books (well, crime fiction, or mysteries, or however you want to classify it).

CONTINUED (25 February 2008 @ 1011): Time constraints yesterday prohibited us from finishing our abject apology. Here's the rest. This part:

If you've not heard of Mr. Klavern(sorry)Klavan before, he's one of those "That was despicable, let's look at it again" crime authors who doth protest the atrocities they delineate a bit too much.

was in reference to some of Mr. Vachss' work, as determined from the covers of his books during our tenure as a book shelver at Borders Books Music Video and a Cafe™. (Those who are concerned about the pay & treatment of working people will not patronize that chain, by the way.) Excuse the living hell out of us for not being able to tell the difference between Andrews.

In Which We Tear Some Candidates Some New Ones

While hoping that crazed baby-killers from our Iraq adventure in adventurism return soon to kill many of those in whose name murder has been committed (previous item) we note from someone in the NYT a certain amount of bloodlust (The sissified bloodlust of elitist pigs, who'll never come close to defending themselves, surrounded as they are by Secret Service agents & other "security" bullies who tote guns for them.) on the part of those who've chosen themselves to lead not only This Great Nation of Ours™ but all of the Free (Oh, the irony!) World. To wit:

“I’m pretty sure there will be duck hunting in heaven, and I can’t wait.” — Mike Huckabee “I’ve been a hunter pretty much all my life.” — Mitt Romney “I’ve always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints if you will.” — Mitt Romney, amending the record once it was pointed out that he had never had a hunting license. “Maybe he can get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his yard.” — John McCain “My father taught me to shoot 100 years ago.” — Hillary Clinton

We can't wait for Huckleberry to get to heavendie like a stuck pig either. He's so fucking stupid he wants the Constitution to comply w/the ramblings of sun-baked, desert-wandering Hebrews from six-thousand years ago, so it can only be a matter of time until he trips over a fence, or his own untied hunting boot, & blows his head off w/ the shotgun whose safety he'd forgotten to check. Yeesh, whatta maroon! And Madman McCain, the coward who committed murder from the skies, is willing to "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran," but not to put his feet on the ground & point a weapon at another human being, despite his advice to the doubtless middle-class homeowner in the above quote. By the way, Mr. Senile, it's "You kids get off my lawn!" not "You Guatemalans get off my yard!" The sentiment is the same though: Private Property, Gun Rights, Anglos Only. Romney was always a joke, Sen. Clinton is a pandering pile of political putridity, & Sen. Obama seems to have been rendered hopeless & unable to change anything, as you'll note if you bother to click t0 & read the Gail Collins piece.

Treason? What About It? We Didn't Ask to Be Born in This Country of Thieving, Lying Murderers, & We Hold No Allegiance to It or Any Other!!

Senator Babs sends us a whiny e-mail about American service people killing themselves (instead of babies) for a refreshing change.

Dear Friend: Like most Americans, I have been both saddened and angered to hear of the substantial increases in reported suicides and attempted suicides of members of our military and veterans. At a time when we are asking so much of the members of our military, I believe that we must also be giving them the support that they need while deployed and after they return home. I am please [sic] to provide you with the text of my letter to General George W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff of the United States Army, regarding this matter. You can count on me to take every measure on behalf of our military. Sincerely, Barbara Boxer United States Senator

Frankly, what can one expect from people stupid enough to volunteer to "protect" a nation that won't even provide better jobs for its citizens than killing foreign babies to insure obscene oil company profits? P. S.: Why just Gen. Casey? Is it just punk-ass soldiers offing themselves? One would think more of those psycho jarheads would be taking matters into their own hands. Maybe Marines are just "man" enough to keep it in until they return Stateside, & then they'll take it out on a deserving civilian population. (Americans, not Iraqis.)

Downtown Gentrification => Nostalgia

From the in-box, Brother "Brick" Wahl toots his own horn. (He's a jazzbo, whaddya expect?) Well, we thought, if he thinks so highly of it, why not share it w/ a larger audience than his e-mailing list? Then we realized his list is probably larger than Just Another Blog™'s audience. Nonetheless, this gives us the opportunity to believe ourself an actual editor, or publisher, even.

Fever Just reread an email I sent to an owner of a new club downtown (Crash Mansion) in answer to a jazz question she had. I found I had added this as a p.s. and forgotten about it. It was a couple days ago and I was a bit feverish from the flu. I like it. Apparently I need to get the flu more often. P. S.: I just read of your club somewhere. Nice to see all these nitespots coming up downtown. We used to haunt downtown in my crazed punk rock days...taking the last bus to Pershing Square and wandering the streets of skid row in search of loud music. Hanging out with Darby Crash at the Atomic Cafe. Smoking dope with some guys in back of the Brave Dog who were telling me about the band they had just formed called the Minutemen. Walking to Al's Bar when all those parking lots were spooky empty factories and the hotels were just a gleam in some architect's eye. That was 1980-81. Armies of beggars. Bodies in the street. Piles of blood and scabs and hair, like the Fear song said. A few years later we'd hang at Charlie's Obsession—now the downtown Charlie O's--and see killer bands inside as guys dealt smack openly outside. Lotsa fun back in the days. Too bad half the people I knew then are dead! It's a whole new world down there now. Have fun with it.

For those of you who live in or will be visiting the gluteus maximus of The Beast, Brother Brick's jazz & the like live music selections/advice may be read each week in the L. A. Weekly, under the rubric "Brick's Picks," where he, too, writes in the second person plural (editorial "we").

Bugger Blogger™

Just as our host, Blogger™, finally restores spell checking to the service, we are again confronted w/ its inability to provide adequate commenting functions. And we quote: [REDACTED]to me show details 9:01 am (6 hours ago) ---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <mailer-daemon@google.com>Date: Feb 22, 2008 8:23 AMSubject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)To: [REDACTED]@gmail.comThis is an automatically generated Delivery Status NotificationDelivery to the following recipient failed permanently: noreply-comment@blogger.com ----- Original message -----Received: by with SMTP id k12mr19352678pym.3.1203697385994; Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:05 -0800 (PST)Return-Path:< [REDACTED]@gmail.com>Received: from nf-out-0910.google.com (nf-out-0910.google.com[REDACTED]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id x46si7905064pyg.3.2008.02.22.08.23.04; Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:05 -0800 (PST)Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of [REDACTED]@gmail.com designates as permitted sender) client-ip=;Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of [REDACTED]@gmail.com designates as permitted sender) mailto:REDACTED@gmail.com; dkim=pass (test mode) header.i=@gmail.comReceived: by nf-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id 4so267781nfv.17 for <noreply-comment@blogger.com>; Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:04 -0800 (PST)DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:references; bh=9eheDrnFKS/x95ZUskJvcSgGi9wx W9JR+757B1vIihQ=; b=tb1WiFkHqrXInNIdp88jCKfsxLrd92lsJNhkQ4Mra5oPBh40QSdSf6E43ru9zA9+Fx26sI0Tdo4koOme+xiKdAeMIBrl95LreiHAM+XmLffyzo70twe15C3BcNqv2BFbQYPxLQQsNF12e0qDBOalL7o+intNlxkLvzvOZ2duPgg=DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:references; b=QhukxQdubBYGLQndQ32gGwwxIatavpxNblFmkgkRP6JqnePVekVhqpU+iORo4gToSqALGDlMit0KAH+AGMklhv6nJzh7dojU+u7iQKUxQMjhXgjQgf3q6hBkxVfEB07jiD1/+VeTxCKXnAf/jrI30v2VQG3HVDULsqtmGRrpD3U=Received: by 10.78.139.14 with SMTP id m14mr335641hud.14.1203697381047; Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:01 -0800 (PST)Received: by with HTTP; Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:00 -0800 (PST)Message-ID: <Date">bf8924640802220823u24a43c0aue1aa4ea4b43a374a@mail.gmail.com>Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:23:00 -0800From: "[REDACTED]"< [REDACTED]@gmail.com>To: "M. Bouffant" <noreply-comment@blogger.com>Subject: =?WINDOWS-1252?Q?Re:_[Just_Another_Blog_(From_L._A.)?= =?WINDOWS-1252?Q?=99]New_comment_on_Plus_=C7a_Change....?=In-Reply-To: < 1203636777480.a2a928df-cb9c-4911-b948-0ca086e2c155@google.com>MIME-Version: 1.0Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----_Part_1638_4433863.1203697380912"References: <1203636777480.a2a928df-cb9c-4911-b948-0ca086e2c155@google.com>------=_Part_1638_4433863.1203697380912Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printableContent-Disposition: inline

[Here's the actual message:] The mind reels at the possibilities.... she sure is spooky... the "work" she had done on her face must have left enough skin to create another person... P. ----- Message truncated -----

Breeder Scum

Sophia (Not)Loren has also forwarded this tidbit, from the Beeb. Seems her Mac (thanks a lot, Steve Jobs, for losing her several thousand photos) has been repaired, & just in time to provide grist for our little mill here, as our research time is severely constrained. Now, the story:

A 16-year-old Argentine girl has given birth to female triplets - for the second time. The girl, named only as Pamela, had her first set of female triplets aged 15, having first given birth to a son when she was just 14.

Stop it!! This horrid world has been "replenished" a million times over!! We're like fruit flies w/ this multiplication business. It's no longer fruitful, it's a drain on everyone & everything. Enough is enough, already. Seriously, find out what makes this child so fecund & develop something to stop it. Now!!

Overheard at the Library

This was at the Central Library, yesterday. Of course one really shouldn't be overhearing things at the library, but a person of obvious mental trouble (could have been both slow & ill in the head) was using a public 'phone, speaking very loudly & slowly, w/ little affect. Whomever he was talking to, he was explaining how he'd been invited to a party where there were children, & he hadn't hugged or kissed any of them, 'cause he knew it was wrong. Before any further details were shared w/ most of the Social Sciences/Religion/Philosophy area, a library employee told him to shush, & then he got off the 'phone.

Bufo From Hell

This dude is no relation to The Editor, though his name is a bit similar. And there are other similarities:

"They are round with big mouths, and they will sit there and grab onto anything that walks past."

Also, Devil-frog existed before the impact that destroyed the dinosaurs, as did we. (Seems that way, at least.) Thanks to Just Another Blog™ fan Sophia (Not)Loren, who forwarded this to us. We did see it in yesterday's cage-liner. but as everything we've been doing lately seems to come from the L. A. Times, we weren't all over it. And we didn't even notice the similarity in names until it appeared in the in-box.

Later in the Day...

We'll be reporting on giant frogs (not obese French people) from pre-history, & speaking out for human extinction.

War in ah Babylon Baghdad L. A.

On the domestic terrorism front a chunk of L. A. was "locked down" yesterday. (Why doesn't George Bush have a War on Domestic Terror? This crap affects many, many more people in This Great Nation of Ours™ than the activities of a few religious fanatics in a cave on the other side of the world.) From the front page of the local cage-liner:

The violence began around noon when a 37-year-old man police described as a bystander was shot more than a dozen times by suspected gang members as he held the hand of a 2-year-old girl. He later died. The toddler, apparently picked up by a passerby and carried to safety, was not wounded. As the gunmen drove off, witnesses told police, several pedestrians who apparently knew the victim opened fire on the car. Minutes later, police attempted to stop suspects driving in a white Nissan sedan about 10 blocks away. Three men jumped out of the car, and at least two of them fired weapons at officers. A man wielding an AK-47 rifle was killed by police as they returned fire, authorities said. Another suspect was wounded and later found hiding under a car, where he was still holding a semiautomatic handgun, law enforcement sources said. Police said he is expected to recover. But it was a massive manhunt for the two remaining suspects that shut down dozens of streets in Cypress Park until police arrested one of the men about 5:30 p.m. The other is believed to have driven out of the area, police said.

Click the link above to see the picture of the LAPD SWAT officers, sporting desert camo (very effective in the urban environment, doncha know) looking exactly like U. S. troops in Baghdad. The stop sign, police cruiser, & more lines on the power/'phone/cable tee vee pole in the background are the only appreciable differences between Cypress Park & any Iraqi city. In other acts of fascism around the city, traffic has been screwed up around the tourist trap intersection of Hollywood Blvd. & Highland Ave., in fear of terrorist activity at the Oscars™. Sounds like a good idea to Just Another Blog™. (The terrorist activity, stupid, not fucking up traffic for innocents who live nearby or must pass through the area to & from work & other necessary activities.)

Just a Bit More McCainery

From L. A. Times wire services:

In response to the New York Times article, the McCain campaign issued a statement from its communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, saying, "It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.

Does the phrase "Keating Five" mean anything to anybody? Anywhere? At all? Sounds as if McCain's chummy relationships (bribery?) w/ lobbyists (sex or not) are about to come out.

Plus Ça Change...

Still nothing to say, though that stuff w/ Baby/Would-be Iran-Bomber McCain is amusing, innit? And one must love the picture of Cindy McCain there @ MSN, lips clamped firmly together, turtleneck to hide her sagging wattle...

Got Nothin' Again

"New Novelist" Gets Old & Dies

Alain Robbe-Grillet, French novelist & filmmaker, expired Monday, aged 85. Per the AP, in the '50s he & some other Frogs "tossed aside traditional literary conventions like plot and character development, narrative and chronology, chapters and punctuation." Good for him. You certainly won't see any of that bourgeois crap here at Just Another Blog™. Another thing you won't see is the Bush Administrsation giving a shit. Did they release a statement when, say, Norman Mailer died? Nope. The French president's office (A talking office? WTF?) had something to say about Robbe-Grillet:

President Nicolas Sarkozy's office described Robbe-Grillet as "equally at ease in the expression of his most intimate fantasies as in the lucid and dispassionate analysis of concepts." "The Academie Francaise today loses one of its most illustrious members, and without a doubt its most rebellious," his office said in a statement.

Au revoir, Alain.

Less Is More of the Same

Nothing yesterday, as the libraries were closed. Nothing today 'cause there's just nothing. (Jonah "Pantload" Goldberg took the day off, per the L. A Times. Not even him on whom to pick. Wasn't even anything from Megatron to bitch about, @ Fire Megan Mcardle.) Maybe we'll find something horrid to rant about later this p. m., but as we so often remind you all, don't hold your breath.

"You're a Fuckin' Dick, Man!"

Brought to our attention: Dickipedia - a wiki of dicks. Praise Jah that the Web is at last being used for something important & useful. Do they take contributions for non-public or locally public figures?

Erik Prince's Catholo-Fascist Mentor Dies, But Not Soon Enough

We've mentioned him before, & now he's dead. If only this principle applied more widely & often to many of those we mention.

Oscar™ Fantasies From a Fascist

Andrew Klavan (not to be confused w/ "Klavern") demonstrates why the "Hollywood" creative community remains somewhat liberal:

"Oono." Hilarity ensues when a 16-year-old girl finds herself pregnant and gives the baby away to a similarly unmarried neurotic so that the infant grows up to become a drug-addicted loser and dies of an overdose at 23, whereupon the hilarity abruptly stops. What struck me about this film was that Hollywood filmmakers finally ended their attempts to sanitize and glamorize the irresponsible lifestyles that are destroying their own children before the paparazzi's very eyes.

The answer to this problem wouldn't be real sex (& contraception) education, as opposed to "abstinence only" education, would it? Don't hold your breath, though, 'cause telling young people about sex forces them to "do it."

"Look, I'm just a fat little man in a suit making movies, but these soldiers are out there risking their lives to fight some of the worst enemies this country has ever faced. What kind of people would we be if we made films attacking our soldiers and their mission?"

Yes, fighting those terrible enemies of America, the Sunnis & Shiites who've been waiting to get at each other since Saddam Hussein imposed his iron fist on them thirty odd yrs. ago. P. S.: Andy, it's an occupation now, not a war.

"All the Prosecutor's Men." Journalistic heroics based on a true story. Intrepid radio talk show host Sean Hannity fights for justice when the mainstream media attempt to railroad four innocent white students who've been falsely charged with the rape of a black woman.

The key words here are: "Intrepid radio talk show host Sean Hannity." One can't help but wonder what Mr. Hannity's reaction might have been were it colored guys accused of raping a white woman.

"The Hours and Hours and Hours." An apparently committed lesbian reveals her true yearning to become a wife and mother. She gets married, devotes herself to her husband and two kids and looks back at 80 to find she's lived a happy and fulfilling life. OK, this one was a bit slow for me, but I did enjoy the scene in which the heroine's executive sister returns from yet another business trip and declares, "I feel so empowered!" before bursting into hysterical sobs.

We really don't get this one. Is it part of the "dirty queers choose to be dirty queers, so it's alright to shoot them, or at least whack 'em around w/ a manly, firm baseball bat" narrative? Or is it "women are all hysterical witches?" Both? Or just nothing at all?

"Good Night, Uncle Joe." In the 1950s, a dogged congressional investigator hunts down a screenwriter who's been propagandizing and organizing in support of a Soviet regime that has murdered millions of people. In this groundbreaking work, Hollywood finally takes responsibility for the many filmmakers who gave propaganda and financial and organizational support to one of the most repressive and homicidal governments in history. The ad line, "Ideas Matter," says it all.

"Takes responsibility?" Wasn't the blacklist enough? Could we please have a list of all (any, is more like it) the Hollywood flicks that "gave propaganda and financial and organizational support to one of the most repressive and homicidal governments in history?" And people who give support to a gov't. that has killed or driven from their own country millions of people? A gov't., by the way, not located on the other side of the world, but right here in the U. S. of A., & supposedly responsive to the "grievances" of its own people? Should someone take responsibility for those people? If you've not heard of Mr. Klavern(sorry) Klavan before, he's one of those "That was despicable, let's look at it again" crime authors who doth protest the atrocities they delineate a bit too much. And his latest work? Let's look at his website, AndrewKlavan.com:

"One Missed Call" Has One Good Weekend Jan 7, 2008 The weekend opening of Warner Bros' new film "One Missed Call," "outpaced all expectations," according to the Hollywood trade paper Variety. Taking in an estimated 13.5 million dollars at 2,240 theaters, the film's 6-thousand plus per screen average beat that of every other picture but the surging indie "Juno." The Japanese horror remake, scripted by Andrew, "hit the sweet spot among younger females, the target demo for PG-13 horror titles," Variety said. This despite what Andrew himself called "brutally bad" reviews. Andrew responded to the film's reception with typical wry humor. "Clearly, if newspapers were written by 13-year-old girls, the reviews would've been sensational," he said. "Plus, the world would be a better place all around."

That's what "Hollywood" needs, more remakes of Japanese horror movies. Thanks for your contributions, you pathetic toad. P. S.: What happened to the eye patch you used to sport in the author photos on your book covers, Andy? We were looking forward to calling you a one-eyed freak. Turns out you're merely a garden-variety freak. UPDATE: See here for a correction & abject apology.

Terrorist Bedfellows

Another example of how the biased liberal mainstream media is surrending all of Western Civilization has come to the fore, in the story that was all over the cable news channels & broadcast network programs. You remember, the story that Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia (Yes, the former Saudi ambassador to the U. S, who was chosen by George H. W. Bush & his braintrust to educate George W[orst] Bush on international affairs.) told Tony Blair, then-prime minister of the U. K., to stop investigating the bribes Bandar had rec'd. from BAE, Britain's largest defense co., or Bandar, now head of the Saudi Security Council, would stop providing information about possible Islamist terror attacks to the Brits. As they say, w/ "friends" like this you don't need enemies.

Using a sheaf of previously secret documents, the court is now hearing how BAE obtained the help of powerful friends to stop the fraud investigators. They included the then prime minister, Tony Blair, and one of Saudi Arabia's most influential princes, Bandar bin Sultan. Bandar does not deny himself receiving £1bn from BAE for his own purposes, although he denies there was anything wrong with the secret payments. The two judges appeared yesterday to have some trouble wrestling with the concepts involved. Moses said that surely, in Britain, for a suspect to issue threats of dire consequences if an investigation went ahead was simply "a criminal offence".

Seems as if the Limeys have their own Blackwater:

There is a state within a state in the United Kingdom, a small but untouchable domain that appears to be subject to a different set of laws. We have heard quite a bit about it over the past two months, but hardly anyone knows just how far its writ runs. The state is BAE Systems, Britain's biggest arms company. It seems, among other advantages, to be able to run its own secret service.

Big ups to Britain's own Guardian, for breaking this story that our own left-wing pinko media have used to shame & embarrass the Bush Administration. What? You say this hasn't been the lead story? That the leftist pinko scum whose only interest is to make G. W. Bush look like an even digger douchebag than he already is haven't been all over this? You must be kidding! How could those biased liberals miss a chance to show how the Saudi royal family & their allies in crime, the Bush family, haven't the slightest concern for Western Civilization or its safety? A Google search of "Prince Bandar + BAE" had this article as the second ranking American story. The first is from the NYT of 8 June 2007. Google hasn't anything about this latest horror from any American news source. Liberal bias? Bush Derangement Syndrome? Please!!

Pervs

Listening to the ever-amusing/amazing Michael Weiner (Savage Nation)yesterday. Sez he: The reason "Demoncats" are opposed to gov't. wiretapping is that a considerable part of the Democratic base are child molesters/child pornographers, & Pelosi is protecting her base, because, you know, the FBI or whoever might pick up some of these perv-o conversations while spying on "terrorists." (Paraphrased, but true.)

Annals of Religiously-Justified Sexism

In Kansas (remember the state School Board opposing the teaching of evolution?) a basketball referee was not allowed to referee a high school boys game. Why not?

The game was at St. Mary’s Academy, a private religious school that sits on a sprawling campus about 25 miles northwest of Topeka. Before the game started, a school administrator approached Campbell’s officiating partner, Darin Putthoff of Topeka, and told him a woman could not serve as referee. That would be putting a woman in a position of authority over boys, he was told — a scenario that was contrary to beliefs at St. Mary’s Academy. “I was upset,” Putthoff said. “So I said, ‘You’re telling me you don’t have any teachers at the school who are women?’” When reached Tuesday by The Star, the athletic director at St. Mary’s declined to comment, and other officials referred questions to the school’s principal, Father Vicente A. Griego. Griego was at a retreat in Minnesota and unavailable for comment, they said. The school is owned and operated by the Society of St. Pius X, a group founded in 1970 in response to reforms that the Roman Catholic Church initiated with the Second Vatican Council. The group follows pre-Vatican II practices, such as the Latin Mass. Pope John Paul II excommunicated the society’s world leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, in the late 1980s. Lefebvre died in 1991. [...] According to the St. Mary’s Web site, “The ultimate goal of our schools is to form good Catholics and good citizens in such a manner that the whole person may be submitted to the reign of Jesus Christ in the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical spheres.”

For Fred Shockey, the message that came from the school that day was far different.

A basketball official who lives in Wamego, Kan., Shockey worked two games at St. Mary’s just before Campbell’s game. He was getting ready to leave when the school’s athletic director approached him and said there had been an emergency. The school needed Shockey to stay and referee another game. Reluctantly, Shockey agreed to do so — until he found out what the emergency was.

In a show of solidarity, Shockey and Putthoff walked off the court with Campbell.

I said, ‘There’s no way I’m staying,’” Shockey said. “I kept going, ‘Wow. Wow.’

“I was so disgusted.”

[...]

In 2004, St. Mary’s chose to forfeit its football game against White City High School because White City had a girl on its roster. At the time, an official in the U.S. district office for the Society of St. Pius X told The Star, “We’re trying to form the boys to be gentlemen, and knocking a girl around on a football field is the furthest thing from that. … It’s not a game for girls, and not a game for boys to play against girls.”

An official at the district office said Tuesday that, like Griego, all designated spokesmen were in Minnesota and unavailable for comment.

People who are too nutty for the official Catholic Church indoctrinating innnocent children who have no choice about where they're being sent to school. And it sounds like a boarding school. ("St. Mary’s, which houses students in kindergarten through 12th grade...") Wonder what the Society of St. Pius X has to say about priests & altar boys? "No comment," perhaps? "The boss is out of town on a retreat in Minnesota w/ some of his little friends?" "We have to teach boys to respect the authority of men?" "Jesus says shut your mouth (or open it, depending) and take it like a man?"

Campus Eviction

Wingnuts worried that today's college & university campuses are hotbeds of liberal giveaways & so-called entitlements should be cheered by this, from The Daily Bruin (Yes, we've gone totally Westside.):

In Old Westbury, N.Y., student Denisha Dennis started the semester on a sour note. She received a letter from the administration informing her that because of her GPA, she was being removed from the dorms and getting kicked off her meal plan. Now, according to an article in The New York Times, Dennis makes a five-hour round-trip commute from her parents’ home in Mount Vernon, N.Y. to the State University of New York, since non-university housing is rare in the area.

Cheese & Crackers. One can only wonder if Denisha D. rec'd. a rebate for the room & board she didn't receive. As the Bruin editorial goes on to say, this is hardly going to help anyone get their GPA back up.

This Week's School & Governmnet Shootings Wrap-Up

Besides the Northern Ill. U. event yesterday:

Last Friday, a woman shot two students to death and killed herself at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge. Also Friday, a man shot at his wife, a teacher, in an elementary school in Portsmouth, Ohio. This week, a high school student in Memphis, Tenn., was shot, allegedly by a classmate, during gym class. And a 15-year-old was shot at a junior high in Oxnard; he has been declared brain-dead.

From the L. A. Times. Not to forget the Kirkwood, Missouri City Council shooting last Thursday. That's still part of the wk. in question.

Bush League

Further on the Congressional MLB/steroid/HGH hearings, from Christine Daniels of the L. A. Times:

Rep. Dan Burton, Republican from Indiana, called Clemens "a titan in baseball. All these lies, if they're not true, destroy his reputation." [...] Burton told McNamee, "This is really disgusting. You are here, under oath, yet you have told lie after lie." [...] Houston is GOP territory. Houston has an airport named after George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president and a longtime friend of Clemens. In 1991, while still pitching for the Boston Red Sox, Clemens visited Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine, and pitched horseshoes with the president. [...] George W. Bush is also a Clemens friend. Bush used to serve as Texas governor. Clemens' governor. In 2006, USA Today reported Clemens has a standing invitation to dine at the White House. On Thursday, one of McNamee's attorneys predicted Clemens will be pardoned by Bush, if and when such a bullpen call is needed.

"It would be the easiest thing in the world for George W. Bush, given the corrupt proclivities of his administration, to say Roger Clemens is an American hero, Roger Clemens helped children," Richard Emery told the Associated Press.

"It's my belief they have some reason to believe they can get a pardon."

Yikes. And those of you complaining about hearings on this mess when there's a war on, the economy, & so on... Congress is investigating these issues because it may want to pass some laws concerning the issues. It's probably not a good idea that young people think they can & should use these substances to get ahead in scholastic & professional sports, or that young people (scum that they are) think they can get away w/ abusing these drugs. In adition, both Major League Baseball & the NFL (whose players have been much more honest about their performance-enhancing drug abuse than the baseballers, though the NFL hasn't been the subject of Congressional investigation) enjoy anti-trust exemptions from the gov't., so it is Congress's business. Just Another Blog™ calls for a deeper investigation into the roles played by team mgmn't. & ownership in the abuse of these substances.

"Liberal" Fascism

More proof that "fascism" is totally liberal:

"People are very curious about us," said Gabor Vona, a former psychology student and rising star in Hungarian far-right politics. He founded the Hungarian Guard to defend what he describes as traditional values and his nation's cultural heritage. [...] The freedom that followed the collapse of communism, and then expanded with EU membership, has also unveiled a dark strain of anti-Semitism, prejudice and anti-immigrant sentiment that is being channeled by a new crop of small but noisy extremist groups. They are able to capitalize on disillusion among some segments of the population who feel bypassed by free-market reforms and globalization. [...] In Vona's view, Hungary never made the full transition from communism; he wants to get rid of Gyurcsany's Socialist government and return the country to an older time, with emphasis on pure Hungarian identity and Christian values. "Christian identity and Hungarian identity are one," Vona, who turns 30 this year, said in an interview at his office in Budapest. [...] What many people here find particularly provocative are the Hungarian Guard's uniforms (black caps, vests, pants and boots), insignia and flags. All of it is reminiscent of the Arrow Cross, Hungary's World War II fascist militiamen who worked with the Nazis and were responsible for or assisted in the slaughter of tens of thousands of the Hungarian Jews who were killed.Many Jews were shipped off to death camps; others were simply shot on the banks of the Danube and dumped into the river.

Vona says the red and white stripes and other emblems are from the medieval Arpad dynasty and weren't meant to evoke Nazism. But that explanation has convinced no one. [...] Anti-Semitism persists but has not been overtly violent in recent years, said Michael L. Miller, who teaches Jewish studies at Budapest's Central European University. He recalled being handed a leaflet a couple of years ago at a mainstream political rally that showed a big-nosed, kinky-haired man with a fistful of 100-euro bills, an unstated but not-so-subtle use of the Jew as the money-grubbing "outsider."

Sounds like the typical left-wing organization to us. Could be Code Pink, or MoveOn.org.

V. D., Performance Enhancing Drugs, etc.

Today in history: Valentine's Day, and pitchers & catchers report to spring training. And typing of baseball, yesterday's congressional hearings on the subject of steroid use by professional players divided along party lines, with the weasel on the hot seat, one Roger Clemens, apparently a Bush supporter (and there is talk that the Texas Rangers, the team of which George W. Bush was made the figurehead/"owner" after all his other business ventures failed, was advising its players how to use steroids w/o getting caught) was hailed as a "titan" & "the franchise" by Republican members of the committee, while the Democrats were more inclined to disbelieve Clemens & take his accuser (also his former personal trainer) Brian McNamee at his word. Per Bill Plaschke of the regional cat-pan liner:

In a 4 1/2 -hour hearing in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, McNamee's testimony was supported from the first capital letter to the last period. Clemens' deposition was contradicted from page to page. McNamee calmly withstood criticism of his checkered history while his testimony in baseball's Mitchell Report was supported by everyone from Clemens' teammates to Clemens' former nanny. Clemens, meanwhile, could offer nothing but unsupported bluster and banter before finally being gaveled shut by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills).

We're happy to say that Rep. Waxman is Just Another Blog's™ Member of Congress, whether we're in the Armory or where we lived when we had someplace to live. And we're pleased as punch to see the Republicans once again backing an apparent liar. Not surprised at all, but pleased. Via the fish-wrapper, from across the nation (Well, from Newsday, at least.):

Shaun Powell, Newsday Without [Andy] Pettitte, the afternoon was much ado about nothing. Really, did you learn anything? Did it change your opinion? McNamee stuck to his story, Clemens to his. Both stories were running in opposite directions, like Hillary and Obama. The hearings lacked someone to trust and believe. Instead, the hearings had Washington-style justice, with Republican questioners lining up behind Bush backer Clemens and the Dems throwing up the dukes for McNamee. Wallace Matthews, Newsday You wonder why nothing ever gets done in Washington, why all these brilliant minds can't unravel the health care mess, balance the budget, find an alternative means of energy, end homelessness or figure out a way to keep more Americans from dying in Iraq. Then you watch something as comparatively simple as yesterday's hearing and the reason immediately becomes clear. This 4 1/2 -hour charade disguised as a hearing was Washington in microcosm. Democrats . . . put Clemens on the grill. Republicans . . . aimed their barbs at McNamee. And in the end, Clemens walked off knowing that since nothing was resolved, nothing more is likely to happen to him. Did Clemens perjure himself? Probably not. Did he expose himself? Definitely yes.

Other columnists went much further in calling Clemens a liar. He's a Republican, what can one expect?

Joke of The Week

Foundation for Defense of Democracies [sic] would love to have you at their confab in Israel ("Defending Democracy, Defeating Terrorism") this June. (Maybe they'll be helping to stop Israeli terrorism against the Palestinian people...ha ha, we kid. Israel is a democracy, the Palestinians aren't. That answers that.) Oh, you have to be an academic. They're looking for:

...university professors and lecturers who serve in a teaching capacity to participate in the FDD's Academic Fellowship program.

Participants have included (names redacted for the sake of common decency):

Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, College of Human Ecology, East Carolina University Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Brigham Young University Assistant Professor, Social Sciences and Philosophy Department, Arkansas Tech University Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Middle Tennessee State University Associate Professor of Political Science, Southern Connecticut State University Associate Professor of Political Science, Azusa Pacific University Paideia Professor and Holder of the Tower-Hester Chair in Politics, Southwestern University Associate Professor of Political Science, California State University at Chico Assistant Professor of Humanities, University of South Carolina at Beaufort Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Center for Applied and Professional Ethics, California State University at Chico Professor of History, Grove City College Professor of History, The College of Mount Saint Vincent

Well, we didn't say you had to be much of an academic. And don't think it's going to be some picnic on the beach:

During the trip you are requested to dress in relaxed, business casual style. Acceptable attire for men includes shoes, khaki pants and a golf/polo shirt while women should wear a skirt/pants and a shirt/blouse. During off hours and on some visits to military bases you can dress in shorts and t-shirts- Israel is a very laid-back country. A light sweater or fleece vest might be necessary on some evenings and for air conditioned lecture halls. FDD will advise you about the dress code on a daily basis. Do I need to attend every FDD event in Israel?

Yes. Barring illness or some previous arrangement made with FDD, you are required to attend every FDD event in Israel. It is a condition of your acceptance into the program. If you have visited Jerusalem previously and prefer not to go on the tour of the Old City you may do so provided you advise the FDD staff of your decision, provide a point of contact, and rejoin the group on-time for the next day’s events. You will have plenty of time to enjoy yourself, but your activities will be largely group oriented. We should finish most days by 7:30 PM unless we have arranged a group event for the evening. Otherwise, you will be free until the next morning.

No free ride, either:

Under no circumstances will FDD pay for transportation costs that exceed the cost of round trip travel between your home airport and Tel Aviv.

So there.

"Manic-depressive goth-barfly with an unhealthy appetite for pot and lager and ne'er-do-well men"

Slate has a semi-thoughtful (& short) Amy Winehouse piece, no good pix, & YouTube links for those of you who, like us, have better things to do w/ our (or just not enough) time than cruise YouTube for anything even vaguely interesting.

More of The Same

That is, nothing...

"Nothin', Y'Hear, Nothin'!!"

If less is more, than nothing must be the most. Therefore: (Blank empty space intentional.)

Kirkwood, MO Follow-Up

Comment leader Peabody kindly advises us of linkage from fellow whack-job & once homeless person The Divine Mr. M., who has links to one "Infamous Brad" (not brad of Fire Megan McArdle, this a different adifferentbrad) who has deeper whatnot on the whole ugly mess. Surprise, race & economic class are involved!! We'll point out that when the story first broke we didn't know Charles "Cookie" Thornton was of the African-American persuasion, so we assumed he was just another crazed honky. Turns out he was a black man driven crazy by the honkies.

Gramophone Award Wrap-Up

Wrap it up & throw it away, we say! Fifty yrs. of crap, be done w/ it! Just Another Blog™ could not possibly care less about awards, let alone the programs on which they are presented. Indeed, back in the good old days when the AMPAS Awards©™ were presented in late Mar. or early Apr., & there was a House/Apartment of Bouffant© (other than a homeless shelter) to clean, we'd take the opportunity of Oscar©™ night to perform spring cleaning.

Dep't. of Amplification, Scatological Obscenity Desk

We recently mentioned former AgSec (& current moldering corpse) Earl Butz ,indicating in our mention that we weren't sure whether or not he'd said "nigger." Well, thanks to Gustavo Arellano, in today's regional wrapper of fish, we find out that ol' Earl said "coloreds."

Other newspapers, on the other hand, had fewer qualms about Butz's insult. The New York Times, America's epitome of a too-genteel newspaper, wrote in its obituary, "Mr. Butz made a remark in which he described blacks as 'coloreds' who wanted only three things -- satisfying sex, loose shoes and a warm bathroom -- desires that Mr. Butz listed in obscene and scatological terms." Doesn't quite capture the flavor of the original, but it's closer. Reuters used a description similar to the New York Times' measured take, as did Butz's home state daily, the Indianapolis Star. None of them printed Butz's full joke, but their approach makes them veritable George Carlins to the Los Angeles Times' Jeff Foxworthy.

(For the obscene & scatological terms, click the "Earl Butz" link above. Just Another Blog™ is much closer to Carlin than to Foxworthy, we say modestly.) What a paragon of tolerance the Sec'y. was, & shame on us for thinking he'd have used an awful term like "nigger." Our sincerest apologies to the late Secretary Butz & all of his family & friends. (Heh-heh, we said "Butz.")

Roots of American Socio-Political Idiocy

Gawd knows if these two tomes have yet reached the Los Angeles Public Library, but they've certainly reached the reviewers @ the L. A. Times. (Therefore we'll leave it to the Timesfolk to review them.)

Corruption abounds. The U.S. secretary of the Interior is giving no-bid contracts for oil, coal and timber on public land to the president's corporate campaign contributors in secret meetings. Big Oil not only writes energy policy but also dictates military options and environmental priorities, this last mainly by dismantling protections enacted by previous presidents. The U.S. attorney general signs off on whatever comes his way, putting the administration's friends above the law. The FBI looks the other way. The president may not understand what it all means, but it's unclear whether he would disapprove if he did. What year is it? Here are a few more hints: The president's security detail shuttles concubines in and out of the White House and delivers payoffs to former mistresses to keep them quiet. His wife consults a psychic daily and punishes petty slights with the help of government agencies. Vocal upholders of public morals keep their gay lovers in Washington and their wives back home.

Still guessing? Turns out it's 1922, not 2001-2008 or anytime during the Reagan era, as evidenced in a book about the Teapot Dome scandal. Also: The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby. Pantheon: 362 pp., $26 Merely as a pseudo-intellectual, we at Just Another Blog™ are outraged by what Mme. Jacoby has to say about you wilfully ignorant bastards & the future you promise us:

"a surge of anti-intellectualism capable of inflicting vastly greater damage than its historical predecessors inflicted on American culture and politics."

As reviewed by Art Winslow, some sort of intellectual elitist who used to write for The Nation, fer crissake.

Open Letter to The Bastards @ Bugger™

Dear Buggering™ Bastards: When will spell checking be available again? Not that we really need it, but it's been a while & it never hurts to check one's work. Sincerely, Malignant "Chas." Bouffant Editor-in-Chief Just Another Blog (From L. A.)™

Not Much Happening

Nothing new or sucky to report, other than being awakened @ 0500 instead of 0600 @ the Armory today. We hope the 144th Field Artillery is called up & shipped to the other side of the world to die horrible deaths. Soon. Click to Sadly, No! from the bogroll [sic] & peruse Mister Leonard Pierce's reports from the Conservative Political Action Conference, under the rubric of "The Beast Is Red," if you need entertainment. (And who doesn't?)

The American Scene

More fun w/ mainiacs w/ guns ( Just Another Blog™ was one once, but the L. A. County Sheriff's Dep't. took our peashooter away) : Five Dead in Los Angeles:

The standoff began shortly after a man in Winnetka called 911 saying he had gunned down three relatives. It ended early Thursday -- more than eight hours later -- with a single round from a police sniper who killed the suspect as he emerged from his burning house firing a barrage of bullets. In between, two highly decorated Los Angeles Police Department officers were shot, one fatally.

Out in a blaze of glory after killing the rest of your family. Just how we wanted to do it. If you can't get a celebrity or politician, your family's the next best thing. And lighting your house on fire is a nice finishing touch. Speaking of politicians, we all know how horrid the gov't. is, w/ its parking tickets & other affronts to freedom. One man stood up for himself last night. Best part of this one? The shooter's brother thinks it's just fine:

Thornton's brother, Gerald, told local television station KMOV that he saw justification for the bloodshed. "My brother went to war tonight with the people and government that were putting torment and strife into his life, and he ended it," Gerald Thornton said. "I'm OK with it."

Hokey fuckin' smokes, what sort of family background/genetic deficiencies did these two have? Are there any more at home like them? Bear in mind that when it's Pres. Clinton or Pres. Obama, people like this will be coming out of the woodwork taking potshots at any gov't. figure in a last-ditch effort to stop the socialist menace. Meter maids beware! On the feminist front, we get this, hot off the presses this a. m.:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A young woman killed two female students in a college classroom at a vocational college today, then killed herself, police said. The students apparently were shot in their seats in the second-floor classroom at Louisiana Technical College, Sgt. Don Kelly said.

Sisterhood is powerful. Three publicized acts of multiple-victim gun violence in This Great Nation of Ours™ in about 36 hrs. Keep the chain going America, it's bad luck if you break it.

Conservative Movement (No Poop Jokes, Damnit!!)

In our recent forays into the sad world of Right Wing Rant Radio, we've noticed many references to the "conservative movement," as in: "What's McCain done for the conservative movement?" or "McCain hasn't helped conservativism any." On the other hand (warts) "left" radio (other than Pacifica, which is just too serious for us) is not condemning anyone for being untrue to the "movement" or the like, though of course the two still-standing Senators are at least semi-liberal, if far from "progressive" or actually "left," in the sense of all other semi-democratic industrialized nations. But it would be awfully tough for RWRR hosts to come right out & ask, "What's McCain done lately to help corporations, increase the wealth of the wealthy, impose a fascist theocracy, & cater to the whims of paranoid pantswetters who sense a Muslim sleeper under every bed?" Other than his promise to stay in Iraq for 100 yrs. if that's what it takes, of course. So the reference is merely to "the movement," not its goals. Well kids, as long as you have a clique to belong to...

Loser Admits He's a Loser

It appears Mittens has quit (or "suspended" his campaign) & not a moment too soon. Any more of this "Democrats are going to surrender to terrorists" crap & it might have been time to apply a bit o' terror to Mormon boy. Hey, does this mean that the Mormon "Heavenly Father" doesn't exist? Or is powerless to affect events here on this planet (as opposed to the one he rules in outer space somewhere)? Wouldn't you think "Heavenly Pops" would want one of his boys running things here in America, where Jeezis made a special stop several hundred yrs. after his crucifixion & alleged revival? And where Jeezis will be returning to re-establish the Garden of Eden in Missouri or somewhere? Inquiring minds want to know, damnit!! Here's some bullshit (from the AP via MSNBC) from ol' Double Gitmo about "surrender:"

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington Thursday, Romney talked of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama retreating in Iraq and declaring defeat. He then told the crowd he disagrees with McCain on a number of issues, but that he'd given the matter a lot of thought and if he fought on all the way to the Republican convention, " I forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I'd be making it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror." Romney added, "If this were only about me, I can go on. But its never been only about me. I entered this race... because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I now have to stand aside, for our party and for our country." The former Massachusetts Republican governor has been seriously trailing McCain in the delegate count since Super Tuesday. [Emphasis added.] Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., remains in the race but trails Romney in the delegate counts.

We're closer & closer to a McCain/Huckleberry ticket. Two spiteful assholes w/ thin skins (anger management issues, in other words). Oh, swell. We just can't have too many hateful dipshits running This Great Nation of Ours™, can we? P. S.: Romney, McCain, & their pants-pissing ilk have already "surrendered to terror," merely by whining about it all the time.

YouTubery

Internet friend "Sophia" from across the pond sends this YouTube thingy: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5fda4_wo6JI Alas, either we're just not familiar enough w/ Windows 2000 (And why should we be in 2008?) or the library has their devil-boxes set up oddly, but we can't get the YouTube image to appear. Indeed, please excuse the general (total) lack of pictures & other imagery of late. Though even if we could get images up, we haven't the time to search for l'image juste under the LAPL's time constraints.

Super Duper Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Wrap-Up

Like, whut-everrr.

Vote Early, Vote Often!

Rudely awakened @ 0400, instead of the usual 0545, as the 144th Field Artillery's Armory had to be used as a polling place today. And, last night's dinner was a suckfest: turkey log, boiled carrots, undercooked new potatoes. Plus my piece of day-old bread, no doubt from a snooty Westside restaurant, was wheat (Blech!) w/ a mess of icky seed things in it! P. U. & hmpf! So fuck "democracy," & fuck all you morons who think you live in a democracy. Technically, it's a "democratic republic," more accurately it's a kleptocracy. Or simply a shithole, & the capital of hypocrisy. Of course, if you're stupid enough to believe what you were told in high school civics classes (It's not called "civics" any more, is it? That went out w/ "junior high school," if not before.) it may not be hypocrisy. What exactly is it called when the ruled are too ignorant/stupid to realize they're being ruled w/ lies? Everyday human existence? The natural state of afffairs? Reality? Whatever you call it, it sucks.

Will Not Be Missed

How do these assholes manage to live this long? Isn't the horror of their souls supposed to eat them like the cancers they are on the body politic? Above contemplations in response to the death of Nixon AgSec Earl Butz. (Heh-heh, he said "Butz.") From the regional fishwrapper (Now, by the way, owned by some real estate mogul rather than the Tribune Corp.):

He was forced to resign his Cabinet post in October 1976 after telling an obscene joke that was derogatory to blacks. The slur was overheard by John Dean, Nixon's former counsel who was jailed in the Watergate scandal, and Dean's report on it was published in Rolling Stone magazine.

And, especially for those of you too young to remember, here's the obscene joke that Sec. Butz told & the L. A. Times was too chicken to repeat. (We can't remember if "nigger" was used but the set up was that the only things African-American men were interested in were):

"Loose shoes, tight pussy & a warm place to shit."

Just loverly, innit? What exactly made Sec. Butz think that most Euro-American males weren't interested in the very same things? (Apparently wymyn weren't even on the Secretary's radar.) We know, as a currently homeless person, that a warm (& private) place to shit is paramount to our well-being. And nobody likes tight shoes. As a mentally ill person, our medication has removed our libido (just as well, really) so we can't comment on the other interest.

Awful Person of the Week

Due to various circumstances beyond our control (basketball & hockey games, wknd. infomercials, "best of" repeats of crap we've already heard) we've been listening to more right wing squawk radio than any sane person should. Jeezis H. Christ, those people are just plain nutz!! And filled w/ hate, rage, pain, & fear? Oh, you bet. Hokey Smokes!! So often they accuse the left (or what passes for it in our nation) of being hate-filled, yet you truly would not believe what issues from their mouths, much of it now directed at their own, as the recent rise of Sen. John McCain as the latest phoenix from the Party ashes seems to have set many of them off. This wk.'s "awful person" earned her designation when discussing Preacher Boy Hucklebuck, to whom she referred as a "malignant narcissist." A bit o' pop psychology from our weekly winner, Ms. Tammy Bruce, the self-hating (a bit o' pop psych from us, there) self-admitted lesbian who is a conservative mouthpiece. Per Ms. B., it's "all about Huckabee" because he won't get out of the race & throw his support to Mittens Romney, whose constant invocation of Ratbag Ronnie Reagan (a grown man who called his second wife "mommie," allegedly before the Alzheimer's Disease set in -- get out your psych texts for that one, kids) & whining that "Washington is broken" while conveniently forgetting to mention that his party broke it (Isn't that just what the Republicans want to do, break the gov't. so that it only works for their corporate welfare cronies?) seems to have made Mittens the new darling/last hope of the Party loudmouths. Not that we have anything positive to say about The Huckster, who does seem to have a pretty high opinion of himself, & is a deliberate obscurantist & ignoramus of the first water, but what politician is not a narcissist? Ever looked at Romney's hair, Tammy? And get this from Tammy's page:

Mitt Romney is a forward thinking individual who, through business, understands the importance of people, our impact and influence. His success is based not in contempt for people, but in working with them. Many, including myself, have worried that one of Romney's weaknesses is that he doesn't have a "romantic" backstory like McCain, but I was wrong. Romney does have perhaps the most romantic backstory--his is the only history made of helping other people gain success. Clinton and McCain have spent their lives celebrating themselves and using others to gain personal power.

Yep, leveraged buy-outs followed by lay-offs & re-selling companies for a huge fucking profit, the very definition of "understands the importance of people, our impact and influence." (Tammy writes well, too, another criterion for "awful person.") Certainly not one working stiff has been used to gain any wealth or power for ol' Mittens. By the way, we've heard Mittens described as a "self-made man." Sure, if pater was the head of American Motors, the governor of Michigan & a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination until he made the mistake of telling the truth about Vietnam, anything you do is completely on your own. Dug ditches 50 hrs. a wk. to get himself through correspondence school, if we're not mistaken. Totally self-made. We feel sick, & our time runneth out. (So does yours.) Ciao 'til next time!!

Annals of Sociology or Some Other Soft Science...

Interesting: Many of our fellow human dregs @ the Nat'l. Guard Armory receive their gov't. stipends (VA benefits, SSI, General Relief, whatever) on the first of the month, & (so I'm told) they take said money, run to downtown L. A., rent a cheap hotel room, & spend all their remaining money on consciousness alteration until the money runs out. This results in fewer occupants of the Armory, and larger portions of food being served to those of us who have our baser appetites under control. (Although there are few appetites baser than desire for food.) And, oddly enough, those who go off on a drug run seem to be those most likely to be loud, cause disturbances, etc. The result? A fairly pleasant evening in the Armory.

Every Few Months

Joel Stein, of the Los Angeles Times & various failures to get sitcom writing gigs, is generally not amusing, especially when dealing w/ show bidness, but once in a while he gets off a good column. We were quite amused by one he did comparing Gen. Petraeus & Britney Spears in Sept. (You could find the link by searching "Joel Stein" in the search field at the left in the Blogger™ navbar above.) Today he's cranked out another good one:

The idea is this: Say, for instance, I got $600, and I spent it on strippers. Those strippers would then buy clothes at Bebe, and the person who owns Bebe would buy the crappy house I overpaid for and get me out of the financial predicament caused by unscrupulous mortgage lenders and not by my addiction to strip joints.

Good, that is, except for the Milton Friedman/poor people suck/Megan McArdle-style reference, but poor people are more likely to blow their $600.00 all at once. We (all us po' folk, not merely The Editor) know there's no future. (And barely a past to speak of.)