Archive for August, 2009
What Obama’s Reading on His Summer Vacation
ABC’s got the scoop:
1. The Way Home by George Pelecanos
2. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Tom Friedman
3. Lush Life by Richard Price
4. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
5. John Adams by David McCullough
This means that El Somnambulo and Obama have at least one book in common. The Bibliophile Who Slumbers is currently reading Richard Price’s “Lush Life”, [...]
A Witty Saying Proves Nothing
When the Prince of Darkness died, I commented, “Good riddance. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way to Hell.” It was Chilon of Sparta who once said that one should not speak ill of the dead, but I’m pretty sure that he wasn’t speaking of people like Robert Novak.
With all [...]
The New Wingnut Lie — Death Books for Vets
Have you heard about this one? An ex-Bush appointee, Jim Towey — one in charge of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives under BushCo (!) — writes an op-ed in the WSJ painting a booklet that provides some guidance on end-of-life planning and claims that it deliberately steers vets towards death.
This would be, of course, wrong. The HuffPo has some great info on this, but the first thing you should know about Mr.Jim Towey and this current jihad of lies is this:
24Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 9 comments | Continued
Screw Joe Lieberman!
Is anyone else as sick as I am of all these guys with gold-plated government insurance plans telling everyone else they can’t have insurance? Joe Lieberman doesn’t mind spending money for an unnecessary war in Iraq but actually helping people right here in the U.S. is just too expensive. Never mind that reform [...]
24Aug2009 | Unstable Isotope | 14 comments | Continued
Absence of Journalism
One of our frequent targets of derision is The News Journal — from their inexplicable and often wrong keeper of the Delaware Way Mr. Ron Williams, to some of their very shallow reporting of local politics — this is a paper that doesn’t seem to know from the “paper of record”
24Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 5 comments | Continued
Early Morning Oddity
You decide – brilliant back-up plan or just plain insane?
They start their meetings with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the nation’s unofficial loyalty oath. And so it was last week when Republican Party leaders met at a Springfield hotel prior to attending Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair.
Republican county chairmen (party leaders, [...]
Late Night Video: Beyonce’s Single Ladies Spoof
This spoof by Nic Billington of Beyonce’s Single Ladies is great. Here’s a link to Beyonce’s video if you’ve never seen it, but trust me, you don’t need to watch it. Goth’s dancing to Beyonce is enough for anyone. h/t Randy Thomas.
23Aug2009 | nemski | 2 comments | Continued
Around the Horn Sunday
The News Journal says our blogosphere is small. I dunno, for our state’s size, there are a lot of good writers out there with a variety of opinions, some good, some horribly misguided. I see that every week in compiling this column. And a lot of people in these blogs are [...]
23Aug2009 | Delaware Dem | 9 comments | Continued
Bill Maher Covers the Health Insurance Debate
Smart, funny and some of the language is NSFW. Dana Gould really hits the heart of what passes for the debate on this right now — lots of yelling a spittle on whatever the wingnut fear and resentments are and then there are the people just trying to take care of themselves.
23Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 16 comments | Continued
If Loving Bush Was Wrong, Marc Ambinder Doesn’t Want To Be Right
Journalist Marc Ambinder reacts to the news that Tom Ridge admitted to politicizing terror alerts by giving the DFHs (the people who were right about Bush) another kick.
The news this morning that former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge believed that President Bush and his top advisers manipulated the terror threat alert system for [...]
Read All About It In the Sunday Papers-Aug. 23 Edition
LEAD STORY-Miami Herald: How Cyberthief Committed ‘Heist of the Century’
Nobody does crime reporting like the Miami Herald does crime reporting. Albert Gonzalez stole to his heart’s content, while on the Secret Service payroll. What happens when snitches go terriblyterribly wrong:
On May 7, 2008, federal agents swept through Miami-Dade looking for evidence that one of their [...]
President Obama Highlights a Favorite Cause of Bloggers
At his Town Hall at the DNC the other day, President Obama took notice of how dysfunctional the media’s role has become:
23Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 11 comments | Continued
Late Night Video — Quentin Tarantino Edition
The thing to know about QT movies is that the language is brutal and definitely in the NSFW or probably little kids category. That said, this is a video essay from Matt Zoller Seitz that is quite good — showing how his characters use language to best and dominate each other:
22Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 3 comments | Continued
Support the Billionaires
Make sure you watch this all the way through the credits — nicely done!
h/t Bob Cesca, who also notes that one of the organizing tenets of the C Street “Family” is:
about a Calvinist interpretation of the New Testament as a divine mandate for the acquisition of wealth, and government ought to be shaped around supporting [...]
Star Trek — The Exhibition
I had no idea this was going on!
22Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 1 comment | Continued
‘Bulo’s Music For the Masses: Jason330 Edition
You reallyreally thought the Beast Who Just Can’t Help Himself would pass up this opportunity? Even though ‘bulo wants Jason back, there are some bridges too far. No, not Jason’s return, but the featuring of Player’s “Baby Come Back, aka the Swifter Mop Song” here. Besides, JMY has already used that one:
Ray Charles: Baby Please [...]
Weekend Open Thread
What’s on your mind?
The birthers have a new obsession. I’m beginning to think their obsession is rooted in something else…
The may be some new torture allegations in the much-delayed CIA report to be released soon. Remember, this is the report that Cheney says proves torture gave good information.
A long-suppressed report by the Central [...]
Hurricane Charlie (Or How To Win Votes In The New Republican Party)
No, that’s not the name of the storm after Bill – It’s Charlie Crist’s new approach to the Religious Right.
Town Hall reports that Crist was speaking to a group of real estate agents, and credited prayer notes in the Western Wall in Jerusalem with preventing his state from being hit by hurricanes during his time [...]
Late Night Video — Performance Enhancing Genie Edition
Baseball Superstar Accused of Performance-Enhancing Genie Use:
Baseball Superstar Accused of Performance-Enhancing Genie Use
from The Onion!
Wonder How We Can Become More Stupid?
Well… we could put Texas Republicans in charge of textbooks.
The first draft for proposed standards in United States History Studies Since Reconstruction says students should be expected “to identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority.” [...] Others have proposed adding talk show host Rush Limbaugh [...]
Actions Have Consequences?
Betsy McCaughey, last seen being dismantled by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, has “resigned” from the position with medical device company Cantel.
Dick Armey was forced out of his lobbying shop, and now opposition to health care reform has taken a professional toll on another critic: A New Jersey medical device company, Cantel, just announced [...]
Friday Afternoon Bacon Blogging — Road Trip & Miscellany Edition
A bacon-themed road trip? Surely you jest!
21Aug2009 | cassandra_m | 6 comments | Continued
Jon Stewart Rips Apart Health Care Misinformer
I don’t know how many of you know who Betsy McCaughey is, but she is very influential in Republican health care politics:
Back in the early 1990’s, Betsy McCaughey wrote “No Exit,” an article for The New Republic on the Clinton administration’s healthcare reform plan. The piece was filled with falsehoods — so many, in fact, [...]
21Aug2009 | Unstable Isotope | 18 comments | Continued
Next They’ll Be Threatening To Hold Their Breath
Watching Republicans is like watching a bratty kid’s temper tantrum.
Here’s another fun detail from last night’s Americans For Prosperity teletown hall, which featured Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). Both politicians said that if a health care bill passes, it should be actively fought and resisted through a collective effort of conservative [...]
Two Democratic State Reps Make People of Influence List
In Delaware Today’s list of the People of Influence, two of our Democratic State Representatives make the grade, Schwartzkopf and Kowalko.
Pete Schwartkopf was named for his influence in politics.
The Rehoboth Beach legislator sponsored the bill that made sports betting legal in Delaware, and he continues to be a powerful voice for the Del Pointe project, [...]
Social Media
