References to Ghost and "(I've Had The) Time of My Life" are not encouraged. Succumbed after long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi (Swayze's wife), George De La Pena in One Last Dance
RIP: “Norma Rae”
Crystal Lee Sutton, formerly Crystal Lee Jordan, was fired from her job folding towels at the J.P. Stevens textile plant in her hometown of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. for trying to organize a union in the early 1970s. Her last action at the plant — writing the word "UNION" on a piece of cardboard and standing on her work table, leading … Read More
The Lehman Crash: One Year Later
We may be seeing the hint of a whiff of the first signs that our economic woes are taking a turn for the better, but what about the long term? What about the reforms that Obama promised to ensure that Wall Street greed and bungling don't get us into another mess 5, 10, or 20 years down the road? For … Read More
The Czar “Controversy”
You know, I see these thing bubbling and I think, "Well, this is just another mindless rightwing rant that can't be taken seriously". And then it does get taken seriously. When will I learn? The latest Beck-inspired frenzy to have gone mainstream is this whole "czar" business — specifically, that Obama has in his administration a bunch of "czars" who … Read More
Joe Wilson’s “Special Relationship” With The Obamas
Joe Wilson, the "You Lie!" guy, went on Fox News Sunday to tell Chris Wallace that he ain't going to apologize for his outburst again, to anyone. Wallace asked Wilson about Maureen Dowd's op-ed, in which she alleges that Wilson's disrespect for the president was motivated by racism. Wilson came back with a surprising and absurd defense: I respect President … Read More
The Federer Shot
I've run into a lot of people who claim tennis is boring. I don't know what the hell they're talking about.
Kanye West Is A Dick
Here's how it went down: Okay, that's a spoof (the real video is embargoed). UPDATE: Okay, here it is fo' riz-eal: MTV Shows Here's some info from Dickopedia. Kanye aparrently has award show issues: In 2006 West lost Best Video at the MTV Europe Awards and, with the grace and class we’ve come to expect from him, jumped on stage … Read More
Teabagger Protest In D.C.
How many Tea Party prostesters went to march on D.C. this weekend? According to Michelle Malkin, it was in the neighborhood of 2,000,000. Wingnut bloggers from Glenn Reynolds to the Pajamas Media to Newsbusters excitedly link to Malkin. And they all shouted with glee: "See?!? We're no 'fringe'!!! Two million!!!" Except that ABC News, citing the DC fire department, reported that between 60,000 … Read More
RIP: The Man Who Saved More Lives Than Any Other Person In History
Oh, I could tell you his name, but it probably wouldn't mean anything to you: Norman E. Borlaug. He died at the age of 95 last night. What was his claim to fame? Well, the title above says it all. He saved more human lives than anybody in the history of…. well…. in the history of history. How many lives? … Read More
9/11 Tributes Gone Horrible Distasteful
In my book, the tribute honor today goes to Cakewreck, the website featuring poorly designed pastry and cakes. Example 1: "If you don't eat donut holes, the terrorists win" Also, they appear only to be red and white — no blue — so I guess it's for Swiss or Canadian patriots or something. Or maybe it's symbolic of blood. Eewwww! Here's something macabre: … Read More
Government Run Health Care? We’re Closer Than You Think
Slate.com: The latest report from the Census Bureau on income, poverty, and health insurance is full of interesting data. (For example, median household family income in 2008, at $50,303, was below where it was in 1998. Heckuva job, Bushie, Greenie, and the whole economic team!) Perhaps the most surprising census data are the significant evidence that, even absent a reform … Read More
Shorter Pat Buchanan
In "Is America Coming Apart?": It's terrible how divided and divisive America is today. I blame the non-Christians and funny-speaking foreigners.
Observations With Which I Concur
Culled from here: 1. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me. 2. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going … Read More
The Terrorists Won
Dudes, when the Coast Guard conducts a training exercise on 9/11, and no shots are fired, and it causes a major freakout in the right-wing blogs, that just shows that the terrorists won. Because the piss-in-the-pants rightwing bloggers are clearly terrorized. One gets the sense that they walk around in fear all day, especially on 9/11 anniversaries.
Short Takes
(1) I recommend Facebook Lite. It's Facebook's clutterless version. (2) 9/11 tribute? None from me today. I'm not sure what can be said this year that wasn't said in any prior year. Commemorate amongst yourselves. I think kitchy 9/11 tributes get worse and worse every year (picture below is from 2002) (3) Rob Miller, the Democratic challenger to Joe Wilson (R-SC) … Read More