Unbelieveable. Executive Order 12958, amended and endorsed by Bush, requires the National Archives to oversee a uniform system within the executive branch for protecting classified information. Under that order, the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives is charged with the task of inspecting federal agencies and the White House with making sure that safeguards regarding classisfied information are … Read More
Citizen Kane Still Number 1
Ten years ago, the American Film Institute members voted on and ranked the top 100 American films of all time. This year, they did the same thing, taking a new vote: In the CBS special "AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition," "Citizen Kane" held the same No. 1 billing it earned in the institute’s first top-100 … Read More
The Best 5-Second Youtube Video Evah
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s — it’s –it’s — The Dramatic Chipmunk!
Who Takes Longer To Train….
…a Starbucks barista or a member of the Iraqi police? From NPR: For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform. According to Aravosis, it takes seven days to complete training as a Starbucks barista. Which explains a lot. Meanwhile: The U.S. military on … Read More
The Ten Commandments Of Driving
The Vatican, in perhaps a slightly sacreligious way, has issued a Ten Commandments For Drivers to combat road rage: 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. 3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events. 4. Be charitable and help your … Read More
The Bloomberg Effect
So NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was a lifelong Democrat before he ran (and won) as a Republican in 2001, is now leaving the GOP to start a bid as the "independent" candidate for President. As a man literally made of money, he can mount a huge campaign. No, he’ll never be president, but he can become a Naderesque spoiler. … Read More
Not A Good Day For Rudy In SC
We’re used to corrupt Republican politicians who solicit bribes, take kickbacks and have online sex with boys, but now they have cocaine dealers in their midst? [South Carolina] State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was indicted on federal drug charges Tuesday and was suspended from office by Gov. Mark Sanford. Ravenel, 44, and Michael L. Miller of Mount Pleasant are charged with … Read More
Digby Outted
Anyone who knows anything about the political blogosphere knows of Digby, the witty writer of Hullabaloo. Many is the time when other bloggers (including myself) have written posts with the title "What Digby Says" and simply linked to, well, what Digby said. Insightful and witty, with the ability to focus on with laser-beam accuracy on the issues of the day … Read More
Red vs Blue
Some interesting facts about red vs blue states: The Commonwealth Fund report, "Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance," examined states’ performance across 32 indicators of health care access, quality, outcomes and hospital use. Topping the list were Hawaii, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Bringing up the rear were the Bush bastions of Kentucky, Louisiana, … Read More
The Booming Economy Myth
Yes, the stock market is playing with all-time highs. Yes, unemployment is low. But… 7 in 10 Americans believe the economy is getting worse — the most negative reading in nearly six years. Only one in three Americans rate the economy today as either excellent or good, while the percentage saying the economy is getting better fell from 28% to … Read More
“One Morning I Shot An Elephant In My Pajamas….”
Someone at CNN needs to fix this dangling modifier: Toddler missing after flooding kills 5 I took that to mean that a toddler, who was missing after a flood, apparently went out and killed 5 people. UPDATE: Well, they changed the headline. It’s grammatically correct now, but much much worse.
Scalia Doesn’t Cite International Law; Cites Hollywood Instead
This guy is an idiot: Senior judges from North America and Europe were in the midst of a panel discussion about torture and terrorism law, when a Canadian judge’s passing remark – "Thankfully, security agencies in all our countries do not subscribe to the mantra ‘What would Jack Bauer do?’ " – got the legal bulldog in Judge Scalia barking. … Read More
Clintons Can’t Act Their Way Out Of A Paper Bag…
…and their supporters have lousy taste in music. This is a send-up of the "Sopranos" final episode, starring (for real) Hillary and Bill: It’s part of her silly "fun" campaign to have regular Americans (you know, people like you) help decide what her campaign song should be. The winner, as it turns out, is this Celine Dion song, "You and … Read More
They Followed Us Home Anyway
Why did we invade Iraq? Um, let’s see. The WMDs right? Uh, not so much. Oh, then it was to bring peace and stability and democracy and love and understanding and warm fuzzy kissybear hugs to the people of Iraq? Nope. Guess not. Oh, thaaaat’s right. It was so all the other countries in the Middle East would see Iraq … Read More
“Mommy’s In The Rug”
This sounds like the beginning of a horror movie: A pregnant woman vanished from her home, leaving behind broken furniture, a pool of bleach on the floor and just one witness – a 2-year-old son who told police, "Mommy’s crying … Mommy’s in the rug." Nobody knows what the 2 year old means by that.