Saturday, January 31, 2009

Creepy Holocaust Denier Gives Meta-Apology to Pope Ratzi

You know, "I'm sorry if anyone was offended by my off the cuff remarks, heh-heh," w/o actual apology for what was said.
A bishop recently rehabilitated by Pope Benedict XVI expressed regret Friday to the pontiff for the "distress and problems" he caused by denying the Holocaust. In a letter to the Vatican, Bishop Richard Williamson, who recently denied in a TV interview that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, called his remarks "imprudent."
Well, it's OK then, & certainly no more than a quarter million or so of the chosen people died in that "Holocaust" thing, none of them in gas chambers, is that what you mean, Williamson? Just as you meant before?
Look, he may a 19th century sort of bigot & all, but he's all over Bugger™ like stink on shit.
Is this a cop-out, besides "Look how just & righteous I am?"
Following in the steps of Our Lord (Jn. XVIII, 23) and St. Paul (Acts, XXIII, 5), Archbishop Lefebvre gave his Society the example of never so cleaving to God's Truth as to abandon respect for the men holding God's Authority.
Just walking down the street, boop-a-doop-a-doo, right in the "steps of Our Lord." Doot-de-doot-de-doo. What are you up to, not-follower-in-the-steps-of-Our-Lord? La-la-la.

Good News?

At least it isn't obviously immediate bad news for Zimbabwe, as opposition leader Tsvangirai agrees to be P. M. under President Mugabe.

If you give a shit, you'll use the resources of The NYT for further info. If you don't give a shit, well, the Stupor Bowl's tomorrow. Eat up & drink up, Piggies!

What We've Wanted To Do At Every Single Fucking Place Of Employment We've Even Walked on The Sidewalk Outside Of, Let Alone Been Employed In

We're not absolutely sure this is real. And in what sort of wage-slavery are the penned-in involved? In our case, once we'd crossed that line, we'd like to think there'd be no going back, & we'd get in as much fun & destruction as possible. There wouldn't be many surviving monitors or devil-boxes. Possibly not many humanoids surviving either. From BREAK.

A Month Passes Like Nothing

History. Here. Here. Most exciting event on this date in entertainment? First telebision soap premiered 60 yrs. ago. (Lasted four wks.) Sports? Jackie Robinson's 90th birthday.More "entertainment?" Johnny Rotten's 53rd birthday. Actual history? Leon Trotsky & family expelled from Soviet Union, a mere eighty yrs. ago today.

Friday, January 30, 2009

That "One" Religion

From Dhimmi Watch:
The question here, however, is: did converting to that one religion that treats women as inferiors on the one hand, and seducers on the other -- not to mention objects and animals -- have anything to do with his actions, even if by merely placating his "conscience"? Oddly, you'd be mistaken if you thought he was referring to Orthodox Judaism. Apparently those Islamo guys are about as bad.

No Access For You

We started a bogroll [sic] called "Sad Angry Losers," consisting, so far, of a couple of losers who don't seem to understand that 52 is larger than whatever percentage well under 50 the McCain/Palin ticket received. Today, desperate for amusement, we clicked the Liberty Girl link. You should too. Go ahead & play the YouTube, it's a mere four seconds Funny, huh? You'd think they'd want to share their misery, gain converts, or "piss off the left," the latest raison d'être of those rightward of Chris Matthews, but at least for the moment, it seems they want to crawl back under their rocks & lick their (or each other's) wounds. (They like the taste of blood.)

Super Bowl XLIII Prediction: Bet On It!

We state, clearly & unequivocally, that whichever team scores more points than the other team will win.
Probably.

History Is Bunk, But A Lot Of It Happened On This Date

Your link to the watercooler, & all the history. Well, most of the history. More here. Horrifying B-Day news: Dick Cheney is exactly & only one yr. older than Marty (Jefferson Hairpie, Jefferson Starship, Starship) Balin.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Our AmeiKKKan Heritage

Look at this Glen Greenwald item, wherein he excerpts a few items from the 2008 Platform of the Texas Republican Party.
Here, some other goodies.
Pp. 11 & 12:
HONORING THE SYMBOLS OF OUR AMERICAN HERITAGE 
Ten Commandments 
Pledge of Allegiance 
American English 
Flag Desecration 
Symbols of American Heritage 
Confederate Widows Plaque 
The fun doesn't stop. Nor does the nausea.

Hack, Or Actual Warning?

Brought to our attention by Zandar.

The March Of Time: 29 January

History, entertaining & otherwise, plus hot news from Cracker Central:

Bill Introduced To Allow Members To Carry Concealed Weapons In Church

State Representative Beverly Pyle says it would make churches safer.
Related to Gomer?  Today's birthdays, & the rest of the story.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Snowbilly PAC UPDATE

A wonkette explains what up w/ the Alaska silhouette in SarahPAC's banner.TBogg also on the case (Wonkette link & revelation therefrom). He sez it should have been "SnowPAC." The CBS blog where we first noticed it suggested it should have been "PalinPAC." Hey, why not perhaps "Joe SixPAC?" 

Maybe A Flushing Sound

Masochists &/or political fetishists (Guess we're one or the other.) will remember H. Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound" of "American" jobs going to (at that time) Mexico. There's no sound these days, because today's jobs aren't "going" anywhere, they're just disappearing w/ the snap of an illusionist's finger. (They were mostly illusionary jobs anyway, so ...)
With tens of thousands of layoffs announced this week by well-known employers such as Pfizer Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Home Depot Inc., the unemployment picture is bound to get worse in every region of the country, economists say. "We won't see a light at the end of the tunnel until 2010," said Anthony Sabino, a professor of law and business at St. John's University. The number of newly laid off Americans filing claims for state unemployment benefits has soared to 589,000, while people continuing to draw claims climbed to 4.6 million, the government said last week. There's been such a crush that resources in New York, California and other states have run dry, forcing them to tap the federal government for money to keep paying unemployment benefits.
The light at the end of Prof. Sabino's tunnel will, of course, be a locomotive of Islamic terror, or the choo-choo of ultimate economic disaster (in the form of inflation, deflation, or perhaps both) or perhaps the flames of global climate change.

U Bin Skrood & U R 2 Stoopid 2 No It, Moran!

28 January In Recorded Human History

Birthdays. Entertainment. Actual History. Sound, pictures & what "digtriad" left out.
Pardon the living hell out of the Editorial Staff here, but we've much more important things to do than copy & paste for your fucking amusement' til the cows come home.
Specifically, we're looking for an apartment w/in the City of Los Angeles that will accept gummint housing vouchers & isn't more than $1124.00/mo. for a one bedroom or studio. Sweet mutha-fuggin' blood of Jee-zis, it isn't easy.
So expect no fucking action herelight blogging for a while, ranging from a few days to infinity.
Yeesh. "Light blogging." We've been reading too much McArdle, for too long.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

"Lovely Spam™, Wonderful Spam©"

Anyone noticed a downturn in spam lately? Hasn't been anything un-toward in our gmail for hrs. And just when we were thinking we might want a Rolex "replica," too.
Positive effect of the massive economic downturn?

A Loss In The Family

We are sorry to announce that our one "follower" seems to have left Just Another Blog™. 
Go right ahead & be that way. See if we care. Don't let the door hit your fat ass on the way out. Your mother was lousy in bed, too. But inexpensive.
If we could remember which loser in the bogroll [sic] you are, we'd delete you. 

Snowbilly Starts PAC: Money & Caribou Pelts Accepted

SarahPAC wants money & notoriety. Don't give it any.
Is Alaska supposed to be stomping on the heartland of AmeriKKKa in this banner? And where the hell's Hawai'i?More of Sarah in nature. Not killing anything though.

More From The Fascist Front

Shorter DaBro: Conforming to "Institutions" is good. Thinking for yourself, not so good.

27 January In History, Entertainment & Birth

If you give a shit about the crap in the title (Is that too vulgar?) look for yourself. If you're serious, look here. Today's attractive (for a Scientologist) Birthday Person, Mimi Rogers, is 53.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Just Plain Lame

As if Hitler & Mussolini were to debate the merits of tolerance, so we find a putz from The New Republic & a double-putz from Reason (Har-de-har-har!) discussing B. O.'s foreign policy & AmeriKKKan exceptionalism.
"Reason." Our ass. And The Ancient Republic. Fuck you, asssholes. 

Political Traumatic Stress Disorder

Then: Note moko in the stupid bastard's left nostril. (Conservatives: That means on your right. No, no, your other right.)Whenever we hear the phrase "The President" on telebision, we continue to have the visceral reaction that they mean Bush & he's done something horrible again.  Then we remember. It may be yrs. before we've completely recovered. Now: Mr. President, be a real man like Just Another Blog™ & smoke non-filters. The fiberglass & asbestos in the filters is what kills people.

Pictures Do Not Lie, Much

A pictorial wrap-up of the Bush Admin., by Errol Morris, who asked the photo eds of the AP, AFP, & Thomson Reuters to pull out a few photos & discuss them as emblematic of the Admin.
An example that we haven't seen before:What the hell is Bush hiding in his pants? No, no, we don't need to know.

Slave Labor: Not in AmeriKKKa, Surely?

Surely, yes!! 
Town leaders say they don't know what they will do without the free or ultra-cheap labor the jailbirds provide. "Oh my goodness, gracious, they are such an asset -- they are our public-works department," said Ms. Hall.
Here, my friends, is the new economic paradigm. More prisoners, more free labor for gov't., & almost free labor for corporations. This is the kind of thing that will bring the Napoleonic Code to our shores. By the time we at Just Another Blog™ are dead, we would expect a littering charge, say, to be worth about five yrs. of picking up litter, while chained at the ankles & wrists to a guy who didn't water his lawn or leave the garbage cans out on trash day. He'll be doing ten yrs.
When a minimum-security prison was built in downtown Wooster, Ohio, a decade ago, "we took a lot of heat" from people who didn't want it, says Capt. Charlie Hardman of the sheriff's department there. But now that budget cuts could close the facility, he says, "People are concerned. Who is going to pick up the litter?"
Is there a more spoiled & entitled culture in all the world? Solutions: A) Don't litter. (Especially when you may be arrested yourself & put on the chain-gang for littering. B) Why can't you fucking pigs pick up your own litter? Too fat to bend over?
Originally, Sandra Hull was antiprison. She heads Main Street Wooster, a downtown-revitalization group -- and a building full of criminals wasn't her idea of an improvement. "I didn't really want them there," she says. Today, she wants them to stay. They turned out to be "wonderful neighbors," Ms. Hull says. Among other things, prisoners shovel snow in front of local shops.
Gawd fucking damn, the hypocrisy of humanoids like this ratbag just makes us want to get one of those shovels she likes to see the slaves using & shove it in her ear. How much would you be willing to bet she's one of those morbidly obese AmeriKKKans (that's most of you fuckfaces) who would get some good out of using a snow shovel herself, if she didn't collapse & die during or immediately after the first shoveling? And there's an added bonus for sick fucks like this shithead
Closure is also being fought by city officials and the local Habitat for Humanity. Habitat's truck driver, Jesse Smith, has a bad back, so he uses convicts to help him lug around fridges and other heavy items. Sometimes, he says, the inmates gripe about prison life. "I tell these boys, 'Don't get an attitude, you're the one who done it,' " Mr. Smith says.
who have the opportunity to push their empty moralizing on a literally captive audience. Mr. Smith, you lazy slacker, bag that "bad back" shit, suck it up & do your own job. And keep your mouth shut. It may be a different story when your nieces & nephews get the guts to go to the police about your "activities" w/ them, you lazy, sickening pervert.
County Commissioner Jim Carmichael says closure is being considered because the prison isn't profitable, and it's not fair for cities and towns to get "free labor at a cost to the county."
When did prisons become profit centers? Is this a private prison? Is it fair for prisoners to be forced to work for nothing? Oh, it's the Wall Street Journal, where power is the issue, never fairness, decency, or humanity.

More Pope Dope

The Daily Dish has more than you need to know (or can stomach) about Pope Ratzi's Bishop Friend Forever Williamson. Whoooo! What a fucking weasel.

75 Yrs. At The Apollo, & Little Else

Seventy-five years ago, on January 26th, 1934, the Apollo Theatre in Harlem presented its first live stage show, featuring Benny Carter and his Big Band. In 1956, Buddy Holly made his first recordings for Decca Records. In 1958, Holly and the Crickets appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show." In 1977, guitarist Peter Green, formerly of Fleetwood Mac, was committed to a mental hospital in England. He had fired a gun at a delivery boy who was bringing a royalty check to him. [We know him to be one of the world's greatest pickers, & a wig job, but we didn't know he was shooting at the people w/ his royalty checks. Totally cool! — Ed.] In 1979, "The Dukes of Hazzard" made its debut on CBS.In 1988, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Phantom of the Opera" opened on Broadway. In 1997, drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica married Skylar Satenstein. Associated Press

Were You Born On This Date? So Were These Jerks, Ninnies, & Morons:

Today's Birthdays: Actress Anne Jeffreys is 86. Actress Joan Leslie is 84. Cartoonist Jules Feiffer is 80. Sportscaster-actor Bob Uecker is 74. Actor Scott Glenn is 70. Singer Jean Knight is 66. Activist Angela Davis is 65. Rock musician Corky Laing (Mountain) is 61. Actor David Strathairn is 60. Football Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood is 59. Alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams is 56.Rock singer-musician Eddie Van Halen is 54. Reggae musician Norman Hassan (UB40) is 51. [Why the fuck does every douchebag in UB40 get their birthdays in the AP list? This is literally the third one in a month! — Ed.] Actress-comedian-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is 51. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky is 48. Musician Andrew Ridgeley is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazzie B. (Soul II Soul) is 46. Actor Paul Johansson is 45.

Lunar New Yr.: 4706 On The Chinese Calendar, Yr. of The Ox

By The Associated Press AP - 1 hour 20 minutes ago

Today is Monday, Jan. 26, the 26th day of 2009. There are 339 days left in the year. This is the Lunar New Year. This Date In Sound & Vision Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 26, 1788, the first European settlers in Australia, led by Capt. Arthur Phillip, landed in present-day Sydney. On this date: In 1784, in a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the choice of the eagle as the symbol of America, and stated his own preference: the turkey. In 1802, Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol. In 1837, Michigan became the 26th state. In 1841, Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. In 1861, Louisiana seceded from the Union. In 1870, Virginia rejoined the Union. [Stay out, tax-parasites. Our nation neither needs nor wants you. — Ed.] In 1942, the first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland. In 1950, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president. In 1962, the United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon - but the probe missed its target by more than 22,000 miles. In 1969, President Richard M. Nixon declared a federal disaster in California in the wake of major flooding. In 1979, former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller died in New York at age 70. [The stories we've heard! — Ed.] In 1996, First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe. Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton welcomed a frail Pope John Paul II as the pontiff began his seventh pilgrimage to the United States in St. Louis. Jordan's King Hussein turned over the temporary operation of his country to his eldest son and flew back to the United States for urgent medical care. In 2001, an earthquake hit the Indian subcontinent, killing more than 13,000 people. Five years ago: The White House retreated from its once-confident claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; Democrats swiftly sought to turn the about-face into an election-year issue. Lionel Tate, the Florida teen who'd killed a 6-year-old playmate and became the youngest defendant in the nation to be locked away for life, was released after three years behind bars. At least 16 people were killed in the collapse of a building in Nasr City, Egypt. In 2005, Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as secretary of state. In 2006, confronted by Oprah Winfrey on her syndicated talk show, author James Frey acknowledged lies in his addiction memoir "A Million Little Pieces." One year ago: Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the South Carolina primary. Maria Sharapova won the Australian Open, beating Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3 for her third Grand Slam singles title. Mirai Nagasu became the second-youngest woman (after Tara Lipinski) to win the title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held in St. Paul, Minn. Christian Brando, the troubled eldest son of the late actor Marlon Brando, died in Los Angeles at age 49. Radical PLO leader George Habash died in Amman, Jordan, at age 81. Thought for Today: "Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking." — Albert Einstein, German-born physicist (1879-1955).

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Get Free Bubble Wrap for Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

The ninth annual National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day is tomorrow, January 26, 2009.

Sealed Air Corporation makes the cushioning, which has been around since 1957.

The appreciation day started in 2001 with "Bubblympiad", including a Bubble Wrap popping relay.

They company is giving away free Bubble Wrap in honor of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, but is not covering the shipping costs.

You can order the Bubble Wrap by clicking here.

WFMY News 2

Only In AmeriKKKa

Google™ "2 killed, 7 wounded," & you'll get coverage across the country, from Portland, Oregon, to Wichita, Kansas & Miami, Fla.
Alright, this guy noticed it a bit before we did. And there are now nine reported wounded in Miami. Still. This country will not be safe until people can shoot more effectively. Two dead of nine plugged is not a good ratioo. Do you people think that ammunition grows on trees, free for the plucking?

Blood & Circuses

We suppose that at some point we'll be able to put this in our exciting (for those who like to watch the lawn grow) daily "How the Entertainment Industry Bored Us on This Date" feature.
The 6-foor-4 Canseco jolted the 5-6 Bonaduce a couple of times in round 1 and a couple more in round 3. Bonaduce, who played Danny Partridge on the "The Partridge Family," never went down. Bonaduce predicted he would be knocked out, only to hang in there and land a few body blows on the hulking Canseco. There were few big blasts and most of the crowd of 1,500 at a suburban Philadelphia ice rink started to leave before a decision was announced.
In the current economic & financial climate, how long can it be before a literal "Celebrity Death Match" occurs? Our guess? Another mismatch like 6' 4" on 5' 6", wherein a D-list has-been dies. Ratings, interweb views & downloads & DVD whatever goes through the roof. The next one is billed as "To The Death!" And can we wait that long? When will the victor be required to eat the loser? (And when will the victor insist on getting the loser for dinner? That's when you know you're in real financial trouble.)

New Dope On The Pope

The Pope's favorite bishop isn't just a Holocaust reducer. He's a 9/11 truther.
Among the men reinstated Saturday was Richard Williamson, a British-born cleric who in an interview last week said he did not believe that six million Jews died in the Nazi gas chambers. He has also given interviews saying that the United States government staged the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan.
Looks like the Pope is trying the same thing the Republicans are: Get all the Catholics In Name Only out of the church.
A theologian who has grappled with the church’s diminished status in a secular world, Benedict has sought to foster a more ardent, if smaller, church over one with looser faith.
A not uncommon reaction when reactionaries see the world whizzing past them at full speed.
In a letter sent to followers on Saturday, Bishop Bernard Fellay, the director of the Society of St. Pius X and one of the four reinstated, said: “Thanks to this gesture, Catholics attached to tradition throughout the world will no longer be unjustly stigmatized and condemned for having kept the faith of their fathers.” He added that the society welcomed an opportunity to talk with the Vatican “to explain the fundamental doctrinal reasons which it believes to be at the origin of the present difficulties of the church.” George Weigel, a biographer of John Paul II, said he was troubled by Bishop Fellay’s implication in his letter that the schismatic group represented the tradition, while “the rest of us are, somehow, the true schismatics.” He added: “It is not easy to see how the unity of the Church will be enhanced unless the Lefebvrists accept Vatican II’s teaching on the nature of the Church, on religious freedom, and on the evil of anti-Semitism, explicitly and without qualification; otherwise, you get cafeteria Catholicism on the far right, as we already have on the left.”
Ah. Hitleryouth only wants to get rid of the "left-wing" CINOs. We can only wish His Imperial Child-Molesting Neo-Nazi Holiness the very best in his attempt to marginalize his Cult of Jesus & Mary Idolatry. Tax the churches! And Scientology too!

Legion Of Charlies

On January 25th, 1958, Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" became the first single ever to enter the UK pop chart at number one. In 1962, "Twistin' the Night Away" by Sam Cooke was released.In 1971, Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane had a baby girl. Slick claimed she wanted to name the child god, but the couple decided on China. And, Charles Manson and three young women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six others. In 1980, Paul McCartney was released from a Tokyo jail after being held for more than a week. He had been arrested when marijuana was found in his luggage. In 1990, actress Ava Gardner died of pneumonia at her London home. She was 68. In 1992, singer Emmylou Harris joined the Grand Ole Opry. In 1993, Michael Bolton, Boyz II Men, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey and Reba McEntire were among the winners at the 20th annual American Music Awards. [Why we hate AmeriKKKa, music & awards. Reba's OK, though. — Ed.] In 1994, singer Marky Mark was sued by a Portland, Maine, woman, who said she was trampled during one of his shows. She said he invited the crowd to rush the stage after he stripped down to his underwear. In 2006, "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch was convicted of failing to pay taxes on his one million dollar prize. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Associated Press

Older Than Dirt Today

Today's Birthdays: Journalist-author Edwin Newman is 90. Actor Gregg Palmer is 82. The former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, is 81. Actor Dean Jones is 78. Country singer Claude Gray is 77. The former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, is 76. Conrad Burns, former U.S. senator (R-Mont.) is 74. Blues singer Etta James is 71. Movie director Tobe Hooper is 66. Actress Leigh Taylor-Young is 64.Actress Jenifer Lewis is 52. Actress Dinah Manoff is 51. Country musician Mike Burch (River Road) is 43. Chet Culver, governor of Iowa, is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kina is 40. Actress China Kantner is 38. Associated Press

Bobbo Burns Hits The Big 250!

Today is Sunday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2009. There are 340 days left in the year. This date in sound & vision.
Today's Highlight in History: Two Hundred & Fifty years ago, in 1759, Scottish poet Robert Burns was born in Alloway. On this date: In 1533, England's King Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn, his second wife. In 1787, Shays' Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Capt. Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass. In 1858, Britain's Princess Victoria, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, married Crown Prince Frederick William (the future German Emperor and King of Prussia) at St. James's Palace. In 1890, the United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus, Ohio. Reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) of the New York World completed a round-the-world journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes. One Hundred years ago, in 1909, the opera "Elektra" by Richard Strauss premiered in Dresden, Germany. In 1915, Alexander Graham Bell inaugurated US transcontinental telephone service between New York and San Francisco. In 1947, American gangster Al Capone died in Miami Beach, Fla., at age 48. Fifty years ago, in 1959, American Airlines began jet flights between New York and Los Angeles on the Boeing 707. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.Forty years ago, in 1969, Vietnam War peace talks resumed in Paris, with the inclusion of representatives from South Vietnam and the Viet Cong. In 1971, Charles Manson and three women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. In 1988, Vice President George Bush and Dan Rather clashed on "The CBS Evening News" as the anchorman attempted to question the Republican presidential candidate about his role in the Iran-Contra affair. In 1993, a gunman shot and killed two CIA employees outside agency headquarters in Virginia. (Aimal Khan Kasi, a Pakistani man, was later convicted and was executed in 2002.) In 1994, singer Michael Jackson settled a child molestation lawsuit against him. In 1995, the defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, saying Simpson was the victim of a "rush to judgment" by authorities. Ten years ago: The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the 2000 census could not use statistical sampling to enhance its accuracy. In Louisville, Ky., a man who'd lost his left hand received the first hand transplant in the United States. A powerful earthquake rocked Colombia, killing more than 1,000 people. Five years ago: NASA's Opportunity rover zipped its first pictures of Mars to Earth, showing a surface smooth and dark red in some places, and strewn with fragmented slabs of light bedrock in others. Outgoing US weapons inspector David Kay told National Public Radio his inability to find illicit arms in Iraq raised serious questions about US intelligence-gathering. Mikhail Saakashvili was inaugurated as Georgia's president. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" snared best dramatic film at the Golden Globes; HBO's six-hour adaptation of "Angels in America" won best miniseries or TV movie. In 2006, the Islamic militant group Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections. In 2007, Ford Motor Co. said it had lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006, the worst loss in the company's 103-year history. One year ago: President Bush urged Congress to quickly pass an economic stimulus package void of extraneous spending, saying only quick action would kickstart the sputtering economy. Democrat Dennis Kucinich abandoned his presidential bid to focus on a tough race for re-election to Congress. Thought for Today: "There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing." — Robert Burns, Scottish poet (1759-1796).
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Pope Announces Final Solution: "Quote, unquote, the Holocaust"

Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI (né Hitleryouth) has decided to continue w/ the hating, by de-excommunicating four bishops who had their mitres handed to them, along w/ an invitation to get the hell out of the church, for having been consecrated some 20 yrs. ago by extra-right archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
The Vatican said Saturday that Benedict rehabilitated the four as part of his efforts to bring Lefebvre's Society of St. Pius X back into the Vatican's fold.

But the move came just days after one of the four, British Bishop Richard Williamson, was shown in a Swedish state TV interview saying that historical evidence "is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed."

Christ on a crutch, so to speak. Have yet to watch this, but is it one of those "It was really only four and a half million, not six, so none of it counts" deals? As we watch: Oh no, it's much more than that! More on this dude, & political machinations w/in the church at the Times of London.
We find this sort of thing both stupid & very irksome. It really bothers other types. Jewish people, for example. And Andrew Sullivan: 
I am truly, deeply ashamed of my church for this action and hope this provokes such an outcry it is reversed. These are not the words of Christ. They are the words of evil.
Nyah nyah, Mr. Pope!!

We don't pull this one out every time the German Pope does something, but he's begging for it this time.

Obama Wimps Out: Neither Justice Nor Peace

Ted Rall gets righteous.

Donald Rumsfeld, the beast who promoted, botched and joked about a war that has killed more than a million innocent Iraqis, spent the last year as a "distinguished visiting fellow" at Stanford, cogitating about "issues pertaining to ideology and terror."

John Yoo, the Justice Department hack who wrote the memos that authorized U.S. military and intelligence personnel to torture prisoners of war, is enjoying the cozy ambiance of academe as a UC Berkeley law professor.

Colin Powell, whose 2003 lie to the U.N. ("there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more") convinced Americans who were still on the fence to support the invasion of Iraq--a misbegotten project that drove the last nail in the coffin of the U.S. economy--whiles away his days attending the meetings of various corporate boards.

If you were expecting Barack Obama to deliver justice, forget it. "I don't believe that anybody is above the law. On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards," Obama said recently. "Look forward" is Beltwayese for "no accountability."

[...]
If we fail to hold the elites who seized the presidency in a 2000 judicial coup d'état to account, if we say torture is no big deal, if we don't imprison men who lied and conspired to murder more than one million Iraqis and Afghans and Americans and countless others, if we let these individuals golf and fish and deliver lectures to young people as if they have done nothing wrong, then such horrors will happen again and again. I want would-be torturers to "look over their shoulders." I want them to second-guess themselves.
As these sons of bitches don't appear to have given a second thought to anything they've done, that doesn't seem too likely.

Royal Saudi Rats Leave
Sinking U. S. S. Bush

Loyalty rewarded: No sooner does Bushie leave office than his "friends" turn on him.
"America is not innocent in this calamity," said Turki, who is the chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. "Not only has the Bush administration left a sickening legacy in the region, but it has also, through an arrogant attitude about the butchery in Gaza, contributed to the slaughter of innocents."

The impassioned comments are a departure from the oil-rich kingdom's normally diplomatic rhetoric toward the U.S., its longtime ally. The Bush family has had strong ties with the Saudi royal family, and Turki's harsh public comments about Bush were rare.
Poor little George. Once people are free to speak their minds, tiny as they may be, W. will be recorded as the worst "leader" of a democracy ever. And of most authori-totalitarian regimes as well.

Our Globalized World

Once in a while a visit from afar is too good not to share. IP Address [MYOB, jerks! — Ed.] (Warsaw Agricultural University - SGGW) ISP NASK Research and Academic Networks in PolandLocation
Continent : Europe
Country : Poland (Facts)
State/Region : Warszawa
City : Warsaw
Lat/Long : 52.25, 21 (Map)
Distance : 5,985 miles
Language Turkish So. Someone whose devil-box speaks Turkish & is connected to Warsaw A & M's IP address searched for:
indian party in warsaw 17 january 2009 bollywood
It's almost inspirational, this world wide web.

Bottom Dropping From Bottom At Increased Rate

What's the question?
"The question now is not how bad will 2009 be, but will we recover in 2010 and if we recover, will it only be anemic?" said Andrew Scott, professor of economics at the London Business School, adding that the housing bubble is bigger, consumer debt is higher and the speed of the slowdown faster than in previous recessions. [...] That is diminishing hopes for China as Asia's economic white knight, with its growth potentially propping up economies in the region. And as China grows at a far slower rate, it is importing fewer goods from neighbors, giving export-dependent nations in the region no way to pick up the slack from plummeting demand in the United States and Europe. Particularly hard hit is South Korea, which saw trade with China soar in recent years. But as China slows, and the United States, Europe and Japan sink into deep recessions, unsold goods are piling up at South Korea docks. This week, the government said the economy in the fourth quarter staged its sharpest drop since the Asian economic crisis swept across the country in 1998.
There is no answer. We'll be fighting each other for tins of pet food before we know it.

In Entertainment, Nothing Notable On This Date From 1971 Through 1989? Really?

January 24th, 1952, Carl Perkins married Valda Crider in Corinth, Mississippi. In 1957, Elvis Presley recorded the song "Teddy Bear." In 1969, Jethro Tull played its first US concert, in New York City. They were the opening act for Led Zeppelin. In 1970, James "Shep" Sheppard, the lead singer for The Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelites, was found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway in New York. [A do-wop fact we did not know, & a sad one, even 39 yrs. after the fact. — Ed.] In 1990, actress Kim Basinger signed papers giving her title to most of Braselton, Georgia. The price was about $20 million. Also, actor John Hurt got married for the third time. He married Jo Dalton in England. In 1992, the producer of the New Kids On The Block album "Hangin' Tough" claimed that the group members sang only about 20 percent of the lyrics. He sued for millions of dollars for creative contributions and royalties. The allegations were denied by the New Kids, and the suit eventually was dropped. Associated Press

Today's Birthdays

Actor Ernest ("Mermaid Man") Borgnine is 92.Evangelist Oral Roberts is 91. Actor Jerry Maren ("The Wizard of Oz") is 90. Actor Marvin Kaplan ("Top Cat") is 82. Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 73. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 70. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 68. Singer Aaron Neville is 68. Actor Michael Ontkean is 63. Actor Daniel Auteuil is 59. Country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs is 59. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 58. Bandleader-musician Jools Holland is 51. Actress Nastassja Kinski is 50.Rhythm-and-blues singer Theo Peoples is 48. Country musician Keech Rainwater (Lonestar) is 46. Comedian Phil LaMarr is 42. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sleepy Brown (Society of Soul) is 39. Actor Matthew Lillard is 39.
Associated Press

Jan. 24 In History

By The Associated Press 1 hr 30 mins ago
Today is Saturday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2009. There are 341 days left in the year.
Today in Sound & Vision
Today's Highlight in History:
Jan. 24, 1908,
is considered the starting date of the Boy Scouts movement in England, under the aegis of Robert Baden-Powell.
On this date:
In 1742,
Charles VII was elected Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the Austrian Succession.
In 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of '49. [And, of course, the ruin of California. — Ed.]
In 1924, the Russian city of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader. (However, it has since been renamed St. Petersburg.)
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.
In 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
In 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, plunged through Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada.
In 1984, Apple Computer began selling its Macintosh PC.
In 1987, gunmen in Lebanon kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner and Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh (All were eventually released.)
In 1989, confessed serial killer Theodore Bundy was executed in Florida's electric chair, for the 1978 kidnap-murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
In 2003, Tom Ridge was sworn in as the first head of the new Department of Homeland Security.
Ten years ago: House prosecutors interviewed Monica Lewinsky, a move that triggered fresh partisan convulsions in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Olympic leaders recommended the expulsions of six International Olympic Committee members in an unprecedented response to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the games.
Five years ago: Howard Dean sharply questioned John Kerry's judgment on Iraq as Democratic presidential rivals raced through a final weekend of campaigning before the New Hampshire primary. NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars, arriving at the Red Planet exactly three weeks after its identical twin's landing.
One year ago: Congressional leaders announced a deal with the White House on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds of $600 to $1,200. [Har-de-har-har. How'd that work out, idiots? — Ed.] French bank Societe Generale announced it had uncovered a 4.9 billion euro ($7.14 billion) fraud by a single futures trader whose scheme of fictitious transactions was discovered as stock markets began to stumble in recent days. Italian Premier Romano Prodi resigned after losing a Senate confidence motion.
Thought for Today: "All men wish to have truth on their side; but few to be on the side of truth." — Richard Whately, British theologian (1787-1863).

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Extra History From Elsewhere:
In 1972, the Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.
In 1986, the Voyager 2 space probe swept past Uranus, coming within 50,679 miles of the seventh planet from the sun.
In 1993, retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died at age 84.
In 1995, the prosecution gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Future, Is There One?

It was noted earlier
"I don't think we will live the same way for 10 years,"
that we (technically, just you, palefaces) face ten yrs. before a return to the previous levels of conspicuously pointless consumption & waste. That assumes "we" come back at all. There's no assurance that pulling the belt a notch tighter & hunkering down for a few yrs. while the attempt at ginning up a believable enough scam to get imaginary money moving again will work. This could be it. You may never get up & go another round. If you do get back on your feet, the ring may well be filled w/ new, young & vital economies, fueled by their billion+ populations & a log-awaited chance to indulge themselves in greed. Do not, however, give up hope, or spare any change. Suze Orman, the well known Ph.D. in economics, Nobel recipient & White House economic adviser to every administration since Reagan's, said on the Chicken Noodle Network that things may not improve until 2015. Four yrs. less already! We're going w/ Suze.

Did You Feel It? UPDATE!!

Could've been drunks in the next room falling down, but we think there was a just a palpable earthquake on the West Side of Los Angeles County. UPDATED: 23 January 2009 @ 1955: A magnitude-3.3 quake struck one mile west-northwest of Marina Del Rey at 7:42 p.m.

That's "B. J." For Short

Below: Nothing, personified.
On one level, of course, Billy Joel is an absolute nothing, obviously un-worthy of consideration as a serious creative anything. (The concept of the Billy Joel/Elton John tour, for example, is a bit short of IDF activities in Gaza, but close enough to take to the International Court of Crimes Against Human Aesthetics.)
So, on a different level, why not rake the fucker over the coals? He's done as much to our ears. Here are well over 800 wds. on the subject.

You've Been Scammed, Losers!!

MSNBC.com has a new section: "Cracked Nest Egg." All about trusting Americans screwed by their corporate betters.
Ha fucking ha. If you were stupid enough to believe that your money, future or anything else was safe or assured under the rapacious bastards who run your empty lives, while they're stealing anything not nailed down, & most of what's nailed down as well, you got just what you deserved. Nothing. What did you really expect, suckers?

Mad Speak

Who knew? Hugh Hewitt has a "favorite" ad exec, a poor blighter whose command of the English language has been weakened by yrs. in the ad game.
The GOP, by and large, hires communications people and "marketers" from within the political marketing vertical. This is a recipe for bad creative.
Careful; it might be a recipe for bad clams or worse mayonnaise. The pathetic, almost human mewling you are about to hear is the English language being taught a lesson:
Working completely in a vertical -- any vertical -- takes those who are making the communication too close to the product. When that happens, they create things that talk only about the product, in the language of the product. They forget the audience completely. It happens in b2b, it happens in healthcare, and it happens to the GOP. Preaching to the choir.
We have a vague idea of what he meant there. But HHFAE is forgetting one thing. Their product itself is rancid. Far beyond its sell-by date. And it's not a one-off, that can be bailed out of. The product (or its moldy, fungal descendants) will be living in the consumer's refrigerator for some time, probably warning the consumer that there's a terrorist right underneath the refrigerator, right now! every time Joe Six-Pack opens the door to see if that little light will come on again.
Truth is, Hollywood and Madison Ave are just two sides of the same coin -- we in advertising are just more overt about using creativity to sell products. Hollywood does the same, really, although it's intentionally and craftily presented as entertainment for entertainment's sake.
Yep, there's: A) No creativity in Hollywood; B) A Vast & Hidden Conspiracy to sell us something by Hollywood; C) Entertainment for entertainment's sake? I think that is central to my point. It couldn't possibly be that simple. It's certainly not very entertaining. What are they selling us? It's awfully hard to tell, as everyone at Breitbart's Big Ho can give you a list of film, telebision & music product that is obviously, undeniably conservative, damn it! You can then find a less doctrinaire reviewer w/ a vastly different take on the product. And often the creators of the product deny any conservative intent. Hollywood, believe it or shove it, just wants to sell admissions or recordings or downloads. The World wants an hour or three to itself, amusement & escape from assholes telling them how to live & behave. That's why the obvious & heavy handed are avoided in the real-world of profit & loss. (The Hollywood definition of profit & loss can be flexible, but there is a larger corporate bottom line to meet.) And that's probably why so few of these creative conservatives will succeed in the Big Ho of Reality. That yes/no, good/evil thing doesn't work too well in that global marketplace. And there are plenty of preachers on the tube for those who want to be preached at. Hey, maybe TBN is hiring?

McDonna Report

Pictures of a tired & haggard McDonna, posing in her ... yes, underwear. But first, ask yourself why you're such a jerk, & why you're reading crap like this, let alone clicking to wallow in the sad decrepitude of an icon. Well? Got that sanctimonious bullshit out of the way? Good.

A Decade Of Nothing

On January 23rd, 1958, Brunswick Records released "Maybe Baby" backed with "Tell Me How" by The Crickets.
[Are you going to tell us that not one thing of interest happened on 23 January from 1959 until 1970? — Ed.]
In 1970, singer Judy Collins was denied permission to sing her testimony at the Chicago Seven trial.
In 1976, "Donny and Marie" premiered on ABC. It was the first variety show hosted by a brother and sister team, Donny and Marie Osmond.
In 1977, the TV mini-series "Roots," based on the Alex Haley novel, began on ABC.
In 1978, Terry Kath, a vocalist and guitarist with the band Chicago, accidentally shot himself to death. He was 32.
In 1982, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley recorded their first demos as Wham! at Ridgeley's parents' house. They used a portable studio that cost them $32.
In 1986, the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were honored. They included Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
Also in 1989, James Brown was sentenced in Georgia to another six years in jail in connection with a police chase through two states. At the time, Brown was serving a sentence in South Carolina.
In 1990, former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins died in Florida of complications from pneumonia. He was 37.
In 1996, the city council in Johnson City, Tennessee, withdrew permission for White Zombie to hold a show there. Several town residents had complained that the band advocated Satan worship.
In 1997, "Louie, Louie" composer Richard Berry died in his sleep at his home in South Central Los Angeles.
In 2002, Virgin Records and Mariah Carey terminated their record deal after barely nine months. Virgin paid Carey $28 million to break the contract, on top of the $21 million Carey got for signing with Virgin. [Probably their best contract move ever. We know we'd pay a lot to get rid of her. — Ed.]
In 2005, Johnny Carson died from complications of emphysema in Los Angeles. He was 79.
Associated Press

Tee Vee Fatalities Throughout History

Today in History - Jan. 23

Today is Friday, Jan. 23, the 23rd day of 2009. There are 342 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Jan. 23, 1968, North Korea seized the Navy intelligence ship USS Pueblo, charging its crew with being on a spying mission. (The crew was released 11 months later.) On this date: In 1789, Georgetown University was established in present-day Washington, D.C. In 1845, Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In 1932, New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 1943, critic Alexander Woollcott suffered a fatal heart attack during a live broadcast of the CBS radio program "People's Platform." In 1950, the Israeli Knesset approved a resolution affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In 1964, the 24th amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the poll tax in federal elections, was ratified. In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War. In 1989, surrealist artist Salvador Dali died in his native Figueres, Spain, at age 84. In 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding the return of prisoners from the Afghan campaign; he was later slain. In 2005, former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson died in Malibu, Calif., at age 79. Ten years ago: A federal judge ordered Monica Lewinsky to submit to an interview sought by House prosecutors in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. During his visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II urged his flock in the Americas to make the region a "continent of life." Five years ago: The Illinois Supreme Court upheld former Gov. George Ryan's powers to commute sentences, keeping 32 spared inmates off death row. The enduring situation comedy "Friends" filmed its final episode in front of an invitation-only audience. Bob Keeshan, TV's "Captain Kangaroo," died in Windsor, Vt., at age 76. One year ago: Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from Gaza after Palestinian militants used land mines to breach a barrier dividing the border town of Rafah. French Open winner Michael Chang was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and IMG creator Mark McCormack and Tennis Week magazine founder Eugene Scott were selected posthumously. Today's Birthdays: Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., is 85. Actress Jeanne Moreau is 81. Actress Chita Rivera is 76. Actor-director Lou Antonio is 75. Actor Gil Gerard is 66. Actor Rutger Hauer is 65. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jerry Lawson (The Persuasions) is 65. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., is 62. Singer Anita Pointer is 61. Actor Richard Dean Anderson is 59. Rock musician Bill Cunningham is 59. Rock singer Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 56. Princess Caroline of Monaco is 52. Singer Anita Baker is 51. Reggae musician Earl Falconer (UB40) is 50. Actress Gail O'Grady is 46. Actress Mariska Hargitay is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Nelson is 38. Actress Tiffani Thiessen is 35. Rock musician Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie) is 34. Copyright ©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Sound & Picture

From other AP sources, the stories Yahoo! News doesn't want you to remember. In 1849, English-born Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to receive a medical degree, from the Medical Institution of Geneva, N.Y. In 1937, Seventeen people went on trial in Moscow during Soviet leader Josef Stalin's Great Purge. In 1985, Debate in Britain's House of Lords was carried live on TV for the first time. In 1997, a judge in Fairfax, Va., sentenced Mir Aimal Kasi to death for an assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters in 1993 that killed two people and wounded three.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dead Chain Walking

Potential big losers in the rest of the yr. include Sears Holdings.
One-third of U.S. women recently surveyed by America's Research Group said they plan no clothing purchases--none--in 2009. Normally, it's just 4%. [...] "I don't think we will live the same way for 10 years," says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based retail consultant and investment bank Davidowitz & Associates. "People are so scared they're starting to save." [...]

Another possible casualty: Sears Holdings, operator of Sears and Kmart stores. A key to hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert's 2005 merger of the two chains was in the underlying real estate. But with those values down 30% or so since then, slumping sales hit even worse. "I'd be surprised if Sears-Kmart makes it through the year," says Britt Beemer, who runs retail market-research firm America's Research Group.

Ten yrs., sheep. Greatest Country in the World, huh?

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

Oscar™ nominations.

Angry Old White Bastards Unite To Re-Take "White" House

President Obama signed executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year. Photo: Doug Mills/The NYT

Peace In The Holy Land

Sumner Redstone & the other Jew-haters at CBS have, through their Simon & Schuster imprint, brought out another book by well-known anti-Semite & house-bulder Jimmy Carter.Our little contribution toward a solution? Stop calling the area the "Holy Land." Call it "The Shit Pile," or "Hell," or "Phoenix, AZ." Then see how many people want to die over it. It's all branding.

Oh, Crap! Mac Geeks Invade White House.

The "surprises" never stop. Certainly none of the unknown billions of $ wasted by the Bush Admin. were diverted to infrastructure at the (No longer!) White House.
One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos. Senior advisers chafed at the new arrangements, which severely limit mobility -- partly by tradition but also for security reasons and to ensure that all official work is preserved under the Presidential Records Act. [...] But there were no missing letters from the computer keyboards, as Bush officials had complained of during their transition in 2001.
Could you show some of that "liberal elite media bias" & tell the absolute truth about that claim, WaPo? Reducing it to "Bush officials had complained" is a start, but can't we have both sides? You know, the claim & then the truth?

Updating The "New Majority"

Right wing fighting! In response to a "lay off the 'mos" plea from James Kirchick, mentioned here earlier, one of the alleged 'mo attackers defends himself.
I’d bet that I made the obvious point that judicial imposition of same-sex marriage is an ongoing threat, and I’m sure that we cited the widespread popular support for traditional marriage and the need to continue to defend traditional marriage. But I don’t think that any of us believes that the best way to defend traditional marriage is to frame the matter as a “gay issue”, and I don’t recall any mention of any other “gay issue”.
While we're here strictly to hope for the collapse, & enjoy the contraction of the right, we will note that the effort to have, say, adulterers stoned to death "in the public square" (we think they mean "on telebision" when they use this quaint phrase) has not yet reached the level of "having more people married & treated like human beings is bad for marriage" hysteria that's currently on display in certain quarters. But just enjoy the fight; it doesn't matter who wins, neither of these contestants are going on to any championship bouts. And while we're revisiting NewMajority.com, let's compare Hoobert Heever's great grand-daughter w/ FDR's grand-son.

"Little" JD Leaves Hospital

Nashville, TN -- Grand Ole Opry star "Little" Jimmy Dickens has been moved from a Nashville-area hospital to a rehabilitation center to recuperate from surgery.

The 88-year-old Dickens underwent surgery Jan. 13 to repair a subdural hematoma, a form of brain injury.

Opry publicist Jessie Schmidt says Dickens anticipates a short stay in the rehab center.

The 4-foot-11 entertainer has been a member of the Opry since 1948. His hits include "Country Boy," "A-Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed" and "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose."

Associated Press
From the days when pop stars were known as "Little," rather than the contemporary & ill-apostrophied "Lil'." Our favorite Little Jimmy Dickens tune? "Take An Old, Cold 'Tater And Wait."

Pretensions Of Culture From The Past

On January 22nd, 1938, Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" was performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1953, "The Crucible," Arthur Miller's drama about the Salem witch trials of the 17th century, opened on Broadway. In 1959, Buddy Holly made his last recordings in New York. He died in a plane crash the next month. In 1960, singer Sam Cooke signed with RCA Records. In 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers held their first recording sessions. In 1967, the Rolling Stones refused to go on the revolving stage during the finale of the British TV show "Sunday Night At The London Palladium." The press saw it as a snub against tradition. In 1968, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," hosted by Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, premiered on NBC. In 1971, the Joe Cocker film "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" premiered in London. The movie was a documentary of Cocker's tour of the same name and featured performances by Cocker, Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge. In 1990, Slash, the guitarist for Guns N' Roses, used a profanity while accepting American Music Awards for his band. Viewers complained to ABC, which had broadcast the show live. The network apologized. Fifteen years ago, in 1994, actor Telly Savalas died, a day after his 70th birthday.In 1998, singer Toni Braxton filed for bankruptcy, listing liabilities of more than one million dollars. Five years ago, in 2004, Jennifer Lopez called off her engagement to Ben Affleck. [Luckiest guy in the world? — Ed.] Associated Press