imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Saturday, January 15, 2005
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Pat Hynes, at PassionForFairness, says that Today is the day!
Your Oscar ballots are due at 5 PM PST. Once in, your ballots will be tallied and the nominees for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and all the rest will be kept closely guarded until January 25th.
So, if you haven’t already, PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION
Thank you.
HAR-MONICA CONVERGENCE
Check out the story inside Lorie’s drop-dead hilarious title Hummers and the Clinton Library :)
Hat tip Crush(ed)Kerry!
ARMSTONG RECAP
8 Pat at Brainster: I Want to Be a Team Player, But....
O'Reilly & Hugh are talking about the story on the Kos/Armstrong payments from the Dean campaign, which I have blogged about previously. But I gotta disagree with Hugh here …
…
I want to root for the home team, here, but I also want to be honest. There are lots of reasons to criticize Kos, but this does not seem to be one of them.
8 Aaron’s painful response, as a black conservative himself.
8 Shawn Macomber , in the The American Spectator, reminds us that the Left is lousy with “payola.”
[T]he Environmental Defense Fund, which lobbies against Bush Administration positions on everything from the Kyoto Accord to oil drilling in Alaska, received almost $350,000 in taxpayer dollars last year. In 2001, the League of Women Voters, which lobbies for affirmative action legislation and against Bush Administration environmental policies, received $20,000. Planned Parenthood, openly fighting what it calls George W. Bush's "War on Women," received more than $400,000 in taxpayer assistance. The National Council of La Raza, which opposes all sorts of immigration reforms, received $875,000 in government dollars in 2000. The AARP, fervent foes of Social Security and Medicare reform, received a staggering $73 million in a single year during the mid-'90s, according to the Heritage Foundation.
WHERE O WHERE HAS PROFESSOR GONE?
I go knocking on Prof’s door, cup'o'sugar in hand ;), and got this message!
CLOSED
gone guitarin' and writin' for cash...
The nerve! Oh well. He’s left the door open, however, so y’might as well dawdle awhile. Get a load of his
A Bachelor's Revelations on Housekeeping
Dog vomit is harder to remove than lipstick from nylon-pile carpeting
FIRST RULE: DO NO HARM
Shadows cast on a wall covered with the posters encouraging Iraqis to vote on upcoming elections, in Baghdad, Friday, Jan. 14, 2005. The election planned for Jan. 30 is the first democratic vote in Iraq (news - web sites) since the country was formed in 1932. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Blackfive has posted “an essay by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Ryan - a Task Force (Battalion +) Commander in Iraq - who has some words about the Fourth Estate”:
Aiding and Abetting the Enemy: the Media in Iraq
By LTC Tim Ryan, CO, 2/12 Cav, 1st Cav Div
What if domestic news outlets continually fed American readers headlines like: "Bloody Week on U.S. Highways: Some 700 Killed," or "More Than 900 Americans Die Weekly from Obesity-Related Diseases"? Both of these headlines might be true statistically, but do they really represent accurate pictures of the situations?
…
I just read yet another distorted and grossly exaggerated story from a major news organization about the "failures" in the war in Iraq. Print and video journalists are covering only a small fraction of the events in Iraq and more often than not, the events they cover are only the bad ones. Many of the journalists making public assessments about the progress of the war in Iraq are unqualified to do so, given their training and experience. The inaccurate picture they paint has distorted the world view of the daily realities in Iraq. The result is a further erosion of international public support for the United States' efforts there, and a strengthening of the insurgents' resolve and recruiting efforts while weakening our own. Through their incomplete, uninformed and unbalanced reporting, many members of the media covering the war in Iraq are aiding and abetting the enemy.
Hat tip Lucianne!
WHEN IN DOUBT WEAR RED
Berns Rothchild. left, and her father, John, make opposing political statements with their 'Count Me Blue' and 'Count Me Red' political bracelets, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005, in Miami. Berns, who voted for Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) in the 2004 presidential election, wanted people to know her political views after traveling abroad recently. Her father, who voted for Bush, has invested in 5,000 red bracelets. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Anti-Bush Bracelets Say, 'Count Me Blue'
Rothchild, 35, is selling blue bracelets that say "COUNT ME BLUE," while Laura Adams, of Fairway, Kan., offers blue bracelets that say "HOPE." The McKnight family, of Moscow, Idaho, is even more direct; their black bracelets proclaim: "I DID NOT VOTE 4 BUSH."
…
John Rothchild, a Miami Beach, Fla., resident who voted for Bush, has invested in 5,000 "COUNT ME RED" bracelets.
He has hired his daughter's boyfriend, who created her Web site, to create his, which he launched this week.
"Now we're sort of having a father-daughter competition to see who can sell more," Berns Rothchild said.
Click image for more info.
Friday, January 14, 2005
GHOST STORY
Volunteers exhume bodies of tsunami victims for indentification at a mass grave at Bam Lam Khem in Thailand's Phang Nga province
Thai tsunami trauma sparks rash of foreign ghost sightings
PATONG, Thailand : A second surge of tsunami terror is hitting southern Thailand, but this time it is a wave of foreign ghosts terrifying locals in what health experts described as an outpouring of delayed mass trauma.
Tales of ghost sightings in the six worst hit southern provinces have become endemic, with many locals saying they are too terrified to venture near the beach or into the ocean.
Spooked volunteer body searchers on the resort areas of Phi Phi island and Khao Lak are reported to have looked for tourists heard laughing and singing on the beach only to find darkness and empty sand.
Taxi drivers in Patong swear they have picked up a foreign man and his Thai girlfriend going to the airport with all their baggage, only to then look in the rear-view mirror and find an empty seat.
Guards at a beachfront plaza in Patong told AFP one of their men had quit after hearing a foreign woman cry "help me" all night long, and similar stories abound of a foreign ghost walking along the shoreline at night calling for her child.
Hat tip Rodger!
BLOGHO WENT BOOM
Confession: I read BlogHo’s funny/crazy thoughts on his blog he named (of all things) … ah-hem, well, you’ll have to surf over and check it out for yourself. Poor Ho was in an accident; he (hee hee hee) hit a (hee hee hee) garbage truck. HA HA HA !!! I have no idea why I begin to convulse with laughter whenever I hear that, but I do. I keep picturing a Monty Python skit. Check it out if you want, but I’ll warn ya that Ho is free’n’easy with his language. It’s a small miracle he hasn’t died from soap poisoning.
So….Bad News
Yep. I was in a car accident yesterday. Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine. My back hurts a bit. Dr. says I have spasms which let my wife say that she's known I was a spaz all along. I just hate it when someone with zero humor brings me so low so quickly. My wife....but I digress.
…
So yeah, he tickets Ho for unsafe driving, unsafe passing, and all kinds of unsafe things and I have to go to fucking court to clear it up. What kind of state makes you go to court every time you hit a fucking garbage truck? Jesus.
DO OVER!
HA HA HA !!! Stop, yer’killin’ me! This is rich!
Page Six hears
THAT it could get crowded for the Democrats in 2008. John Kerry has said he won't rule out running again, and now comes word Tipper Gore is telling friends that Al is eyeing another race himself.
CAPITALIST!
I’d like to add my name to the list, and I’d only charge a fraction of that 6-figure amount.
THIS PUNDIT FOR HIRE
By John Podhoretz
I WANT to express my deep sense of outrage at the fact that conservative pundit Armstrong Williams received $240,000 from the Department of Education to support Bush administration policy — and even greater outrage at Williams' claim that he is not the only conservative pundit to have gotten such remuneration.
These two shocking bits of information raise a very important question: Hey, what about me?
SPITBALLS!
Remember the Republican Convention last year? Remember the great speeches? Thanks to Aaron, at LifelikePundits, you can relive Zell Miller’s spitball speech. He has posted links to the speeches of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Arnold and the rest.
DEAN & THE DNC
Howard Dean’s Shrill Shill
By Patrick Hynes
This mini-scandal is, probably, the blog equivalent of Rathergate or the Williams scandal. As the busiest blog on the web, the Daily Kos receives about a quarter of a million unique "hits" every day. It's the closest thing we in the blogosphere have to the New York Times, both in volume of readership and absurdity of content.
But this isn't really about Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, whose sphere of influence never extended beyond the "Bush is Hitler" crowd. It's about Howard Dean, the sneaky little subversive who now wants to lead the Democrat National Committee out of the wilderness.
A whole new round of unanswered questions ought to anchor Dean's ascent to the DNC Chairmanship now.
SUCH IMAGINATION!
I particularly love these ideas. Hope they’re used.
Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons
THE Pentagon considered developing a host of non-lethal chemical weapons that would disrupt discipline and morale among enemy troops, newly declassified documents reveal.
Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an "aphrodisiac" chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a "distasteful but completely non-lethal" blow to morale, the proposal says.
Other ideas included chemical weapons that attract swarms of enraged wasps or angry rats to troop positions, making them uninhabitable. Another was to develop a chemical that caused "severe and lasting halitosis", making it easy to identify guerrillas trying to blend in with civilians. There was also the idea of making troops' skin unbearably sensitive to sunlight.
The proposals, from the US Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, date from 1994. The lab sought Pentagon funding for research into what it called "harassing, annoying and 'bad guy'-identifying chemicals". The plans have been posted online by the Sunshine Project, an organisation that exposes research into chemical and biological weapons.
Spokesman Edward Hammond says it was not known if the proposed $7.5 million, six-year research plan was ever pursued.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
FLYOVER COUNTRY FIGHTS BACK!
Pat Hynes ( Crush(ed)Kerry and AnkleBitingPundits) launched his latest blog, PassionForFairness, just to make certain that Mel Gibson’s blockbuster film would not be snubbed by the Oscars. Pat must be very pleased and optimistic these days.
Don’t look now, but The Passion of The Christ may be muddling through all those snubs and peaking in this Oscar race at just the right time!
'THE PASSION' UNLEASHED
Thousands petition Academy for Gibson film
Urge Oscars organization not to ignore popular movie about Christ
Sign the petition!
“A PUNCHLINE PRESIDENTCY”
The Clinton Dossier
By George Neumayr
Smith grew familiar with the Arkansas political machine that Clinton had manipulated effortlessly. He observes that Clinton used the machine to keep at bay potential Democratic challengers -- a practice that explains the dearth of Democrats once Clinton left the state. Arkansas became a red state Al Gore couldn't even win because Clinton's solipsism made a vibrant Democratic party in the state impossible. The Clintons, writes Smith, "would not tolerate any political challenger. The spotlight was to shine on them and them alone.
…
It's said that every generation gets the leader it deserves. Clinton was certainly the leader the media thought this generation deserved. As Osama bin Laden plotted, a late-night comedy culture accepted a punchline presidency -- and the media prided itself on a lack of vigilance towards its occupant. In the final pages of the book, Smith reaches a conclusion that the old media still can't admit: "Had the media done its job, there would arguably have never been a Clinton presidency."
DARE I SAY BIBLICAL?
Thailand
America
Scotland
And then there’s Venice …
Gondolas moored at the Rialto Bridge in Venice, northern Italy, are seen during an exceptionally low tide peaking at about 16:30gmt, Wednesday Jan. 12, 2005, causing canals to dry up and water buses to be rerouted. Often characterized by the opposite condition, Venice's waters have gone down by at least 70 centimeters (27 inches) below sea level, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)
Okay, so it’s an exhausted cliché by now, but these storms do cause one to wonder, What next?
Massive wave sweeps family of five to death
FIVE members of one family, covering three generations, are feared dead after being swept into the sea while trying to flee their flood-hit home in the Western Isles.
…
The islands were one of the areas worst hit by the hurricane-force winds which caused chaos across Scotland on Tuesday evening.
…
News of the tragedy plunged the islands, already reeling from the devastating effects of the storm, into mourning.
FLIGHT OF FANCY
Happy Birthday, Frisbee!
On this day in 1957, Wham-O begins production Frisbees, which were originally known as Pluto Platters. And how about this Frisbee bit of trivia:
In 1968, the U.S. Navy spends almost $400,000 to study Frisbees in wind tunnels, following their flights with computers and cameras, and building a special Frisbee-launching machine on top of a Utah cliff to test a prototype flare launcher.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
S.E.X.
In these images taken from an animated public service announcement released in New York by thethreeamigos.org, Shaft, Dick and Stretch , from left , three animated condoms sit at a roulette table, and on a couch, as they deliver a serious message of safe sex. The United Nations on Monday Jan. 11, 2005 launched the Three Amigos, a series of 20 short, animated Public Service Announcements designed to entrench the use of condoms to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world, in 41 languages.This spot focusing on a roulette wheel in a casino says: Not all gamblers realize the odds stacked against them. Don't gamble with your life. Use a condom. Stop the spread of AIDS. (AP Photo/thethreeamigos.org)
Porn could decide DVD format battle
The concept may seem odd, but history has proven the adult entertainment industry to be one of the key drivers of any new technology in home entertainment. Pornography customers have been some of the first to buy home video machines, DVD players and subscribe to high-speed internet services. One of the next big issues in which pornographers could play a deciding role is the future of high-definition DVDs.
The new technology of H-D: the better to watch the latest "food porn" ads, not to mention “The Three Amigos” condom ads:
Now animated ‘condoms’ to be used in AIDS campaign
“We're using humour to stop the spread of AIDS,'' he told a news conference launching the public service announcements which are targeted at young people aged 15 to 24 in places threatened by the epidemic, including India, China, Russia, the Caribbean and central Asia. “The three amigos,'' as the cartoon condoms named shaft, stretch and dick are called, are pictured in a variety of settings from a spaceship to a soccer field to a casino. Twenty different spots are available in each of the 41 languages and they vary in length from 20 to 60 seconds, with some quite blatantly sexual and others much more restrained to appeal to
different audiences.
Lost in the translation ... siiiiiiigh
TOGETHER … WHAT, AGAIN?
Must be politics because those merry marrieds, Bill’n’Hill, were spotted together in the same room!
BILL and Hillary Clinton glitzed up Angus McIndoe's namesake Broadway hangout the other night when they came in for a late bite after catching "Democracy." The Clintons, their actor pal James Naughton, his wife, Pam, their daughter, Kira, and some Secret Service agents were seated on the third floor by McIndoe himself. Also enjoying a nibble were Billy Crystal, Uma Thurman (who will play Ula in the new film version of "The Producers" and was seen comparing notes with Broadway's current Ula, Angie Schworer), Thurman's boyfriend, Andre Balazs, and Natasha Richardson. The Clintons left at about 1:30 a.m. after saying goodbye to the waiters and leaving a hefty tip
WAPO DIMWITS
8 Example A: It’s not what they mean, but …
Capitol Hill Workers Told Not to Drink From Faucets Y’think?
8 Example B: What a difference a misplaced comma can make ...
Baffled Police Try DNA Sweep
In a still-unsolved crime that shocked this community of about 2,000 year-round residents, fashion writer Christa Worthington, 46, was found stabbed to death in her home in January 2002. Her 2-year-old daughter, Ava, was unharmed at her side.
Forensics analysis found semen on Worthington, and law enforcement officials have been trying to match it ever since. Ava's father, who is married, as well as a former boyfriend of Worthington's and several other men, have been ruled out as suspects. A $25,000 reward failed to produce a breakthrough.
Does that mean Ava’s father is bi-sexual?
HATE CRIME?
What, now we have to be sensitive to Satan?
DEVIL OF A BEATING FOR QNS. SATANIST
Romano — who dyes his hair blue, wears black nail polish and displays an upside-down crucifix at his throat — was punched, kicked and struck in the head with an ice scraper and a plumbing pipe, according to the complaint and law-enforcement sources.
A couple of months ago, Romano, who is in the process of becoming an ordained minister, had boasted to the trio that he was a devil worshipper and belonged to the Church of Satan, police sources said.
…
Rotondi and Scarpinito pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second degree aggravated harassment and second degree assault as a hate crime, which carries a stiffer penalty than a traditional assault charge.
If convicted, the pair — who posted $5,000 bail each — could face up to 15 years in prison.
MADONNA SAVES CHERNOBYL
KABBALAH THE CURE-ALL
AN undercover BBC reporter who infiltrated a London Kabbalah group witnessed Madonna and Guy Ritchie chanting mystic spells to cleanse Chernobyl, the site in Ukraine of the nuclear disaster in 1986. Tony Donnelly, who used a hidden camera, claims the Kabbalah dinner turned into "a weird religious service, which started with prayer readings and chanting that culminated in everyone turning to the east, pushing the air with their hands, and crying out 'Cher-er-er-er-nobyl' at the top of their voices. They thought they were curing Chernobyl of radiation, using the power of Kabbalah to drive away the evil." Donnelly, a recovering cancer patient, says he was charged $1,500 for the dinner with Madonna and her husband, some "healing water" and several Aramaic texts — the Zohar — he was unable to read. He was told that just running his hands over the text and drinking the water could cure his cancer. He also had a session with Rabbi Eliyahu Yardeni, who told him, "Just to tell you another thing about the 6 million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust. The question was that the Light was blocked. They didn't use Kabbalah." Donnelly wrote in the London Telegraph, "It sounded as though he was blaming the Holocaust on its victims . . . I'm not Jewish, but his unprovoked rantings about Hitler's victims left me questioning his sanity." Kabbalah followers also include Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Demi Moore.
ROUNDUP
8 Once again Pat, at Brainster, has nailed it.
So O'Neill was clearly right on two very specific points about which Kerry's campaign was obviously trying to prevaricate. Now, if the Kerry people were willing to lie about which boat Rassmann was on, what else were they lying about, and what were they hiding with the initial lie?
8 Okay, so it was a no-brainer, still … Pat is right again. According to Drudge:
'AIR AMERICA' RATINGS TURBULENCE IN NY CITY: Surprising many observers who expected it to shine during election season, all-liberal upstart WLIB (1190 AM) -- base station for Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo -- actually headed south, shedding 15% of its summer audience to finish fall at 24th place in just-released ARBITRONS...
8 Roberto noticed: Christie Whitman and Jimmy Carter - Perfect Together
8 The Man’s latest caption-that-photo contest subject: Michael Moore
8 John Hawkins, at RightWingNews:
Liberals often accuse conservatives of "seeing things in black and white" and being unable to comprehend that everything is actually a wondrous shade of grey. That's a fair point. Conservatives are often willing to take a stand and say "That's right and that's wrong" even as liberals are just starting a long diatribe about nuances & tolerance.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
BLONDE LEADING THE BLONDE
According to IrelandOn-line, Britney Spears is actually serious about something; she wants to become a forensic scientist like she sees on CSI. I kid you not.
"Britney has been growing tired of all the media attention and is thinking about taking a break from it all. She's taking this university idea quite seriously."Yes Britney!, the blonde who said, “I always listen to 'NSYNC's Tearin' Up My Heart. It reminds me to wear a bra.”
And, “I would really, really, really like to be a legend like Madonna. Madonna knows what to do next, and when she's performing, the audience is just in awe of her.”
McCAIN IN ’08?
A Crush(ed)Kerry EXCLUSIVE:
Speaking of which, an unimpeachable source has told me John McCain will be a candidate for president in 2008. However …
What do you think?
ROUNDUP
8 Snowy day here.
8 Aaron has a painful post on Armstrong Williams.
8 Crush(ed)Kerry examines the idea of Newt as the ’08 candidate. Great discussion going!
8 Pat, at Brainster, has posted a couple of good Rathergate pieces, plus his usual sports posts.
8 And now for something completely different: The Millions (A Blog About Books)
PRETTY IN PINK
ANOTHER HILLARY SCANDAL
By Dick Morris
This is no clerical error, nor is it likely to be one young man's decision to commit fraud to help the campaign. It is just not credible to believe that Hillary didn't know about and approve of the understatement of the event's cost.
Hillary has always been a detail person who kept a hawk-like focus on the cost of even her husband's campaigns. How much more involved and fixated she must have been on a major financial decision that affected her own election effort.
…
Hillary's ethical obtuseness is truly Nixonian. Usually campaign-finance filing errors are so mundane that they draw light fines from the Federal Elections Commission. That her campaign committed so important a breach of the finance laws that govern elections that her finance chairman is under a federal indictment is truly extraordinary.
If young David Rosen wants to take the fall for Hillary and join the likes of Web Hubbell and Susan McDougal, who chose to languish in prison rather than tell the truth, that is his decision. But don't ask us to believe something the average 8-year-old knows can't be true — that a gain to the campaign of $280,000 was beneath Hillary's notice.
However, the Prowler reports:
The Clintons were never targets or subjects in the investigation, and Clinton's Senate campaign and office cooperated fully with the investigation. Throughout the weekend, however, the Clintons expressed support that Rosen would be cleared
…
"The Clintons' dodged a bullet with this one," says a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. "The media just hasn't been interested in these kinds of stories, at least when it comes to our side."
About that picture …
As I was searching for a picture to post with these articles, I came across the picture of that book. I couldn’t resist, especially since it reminded me of her “pretty in pink” press conference. As for the book Hillary Clinton’s Pen Pal …
Going to prison without this information could prove deadly. I wish I had possessed such a guide when I entered federal prison on October 22, 1993, for having exposed and ridiculed several morally corrupt Wisconsin judges and lawyers. Luckily, I survived 15-1/2 months in prison by quickly learning how to avoid being stabbed, slashed or killed and how to act and talk like a tough con. Wimps and ladies don't stand a chance in prison.
Heed my advice, Ms. Clinton, and you'll survive your sentence without major physical and psychological damage. You'll leave the federal slammer tougher than ever. If Bill thinks you are a tough broad now, after your prison experience he'll be terrified knowing that you won't just throw lamps at him but that you can reduce him to a wimpering blob of lard with just one well-placed stab of a finger -- a defensive move you'll learn in prison to fight off aggressive predators and bulldykes.
DUELING EGOS
GC: C'mon bigmouth. I dare ya!
BO'R: Mmmmm, I gotta see the format first.
Blowhard Bill vs. Loony Clooney: I can almost hear the banjos playing now. Will Bill take George's challenge? Notice that BO'R has left himself an out.*
CLOONEY DARES O'REILLY TO SHOW
GEORGE Clooney has challenged Fox News Channel star Bill O'Reilly to participate in Saturday's fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall for tsunami victims rather than "simply stand on the sidelines and cast stones." Clooney made a letter public yesterday in response to what O'Reilly said last Thursday when he reminded viewers that Clooney was also behind a fund-raiser for 9/11 victims three years ago. "You may also remember that Clooney strenuously objected to 'The Factor' investigation that uncovered problems in distributing the 9/11 money, even though we proved our case," O'Reilly said. "Clooney objected to . . . my insistence that if celebrities ask for money, they have a moral obligation to see the donations go where they are supposed to go — Clooney disagreed." And Clooney still disagrees. "No one objected to you investigating where the funds were going, but we strenuously objected to you insinuating that it was a fraud," Clooney says. "I don't make as much money as you, Mr. O'Reilly . . . but I'm fascinated by your use of the word 'celebrity' as if you're not one . . . I'm booking the talent for the tsunami event, and you . . . are now officially invited to be a presenter. This way, you can personally follow up on our fund-raising. This is your chance to put your considerable money where your considerable mouth is." Last night, O'Reilly told viewers: "I got a letter from my pal George Clooney today. I don't think he likes me." He said the invite "sounds good . . . [*] but I have to see what the format is . . . I think George Clooney may be considering me for a part in 'Ocean's Thirteen,' where I meet an unpleasant demise."
Monday, January 10, 2005
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE
One again, LoanCat has delivered another tasty treat she heard on Imus this morning, with Evan Thomas of Newsweek as his guest. Slick is not happy not being top dog. Imagine the race for the limelight if Her Royal C is ever elected top bitch :)
PACK MENTALITY
If you’ve never read anything by Tom Wolfe, this interview would be a good place to begin.
[I]n [I Am Charlotte Simmons] a lot of my conservative friends will probably comment on the political correctness. And there is some in there, but in fact the students pretty much ignore and discount it. They will put up with it and regurgitate it to the extent that they need to get credit in the courses. But as far as I can tell they are really not bothering with it. There is always a faction of activists. When I was visiting Stanford, students were protesting that the catering staff -- they weren't even university employees -- were underpaid. If that's as big an issue as you can come up with, then political correctness is not having a big effect on the students. And there is one good effect of it all, which is that even in the roughest fraternity houses you are very unlikely to hear racial epithets.
…
I think I have been called conservative because of what I have said about cultural matters. In The Painted Word I didn't pass critical judgment on anything. But obviously I didn't take certain holy things very seriously, which I insist is different from saying that something is bad. And then what I wrote about the Black Panthers at Leonard Bernstein's was taken as a reactionary gesture, but I had no political motive. I just thought it was a scream, because it was so illogical by all ordinary thinking. To think that somebody living in an absolutely stunning duplex on Park Avenue could be having in all these guys who were saying, 'We will take everything away from you if we get the chance,' which is what their program spelled out, was the funniest thing I had ever witnessed.
I was openly taking notes, but they just assumed that if I was there for New York magazine it was because I must have approved of what they were doing.
HOORAY FOR FLYOVER COUNTRY!
Mel Gibson holds his award for favorite movie drama, for his work on The Passion of the Christ, backstage at the 31st Annual People's Choice Awards, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Next Stop: Oscars!
Damn the naysayers ... it CAN happen
The people have spoken and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ has won the People’s Choice Award for Best Drama. This despite a complete and thorough snubbing from the Hollywood industry; everyone from the Golden Globes to the Directors Guild to the American Film Institute has passed over The Passion. But not the people.
CRACKUP
The Day the Wheels Came Off
By any measure November 2, 2004, was a bad day for the Democrats. But January 6, 2005, was the day the wheels officially came off.
Comment here.
WOMB WITH A VIEW
BIOSPHERE FOLLY GOES UP FOR SALE
Talk about a white elephant: Biosphere 2, a glass- enclosed laboratory that was designed to simulate the Earth's environment, is for sale.
The $200 million facility, 16 miles north of Tucson, Ariz., was built by a wealthy industrialist in the late 1980s to house eight "biospherians" on a two-year quest to see if they could live without outside water, oxygen or energy.
But the experiment failed; outside air had to be pumped in when oxygen levels crashed, and the tenants had to leave early.
Biosphere 2 — so named because Earth itself is "Biosphere 1" — still contains laboratories, housing, classrooms and even a hotel.
MM AS MONEY MACHINE
At least 600 books? What Would Marilyn Say?
Maybe this: An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
IT NEVER RAINS IN CALIFORNIA
Prisoners from Malibu Camp 13, prepare sandbags at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu, Calif., Friday, Jan. 7, 2005.
Geoffrey's suffered flood damage as he latest wave of major winter storms dumped rain and snow throughout California. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
“It never rains in California but girl don't they warn ya, It pours, man it pours!”
Hat tip LoanCat!
Rodger, who lives in LA, reports that It's A Deluge
The last time it rained this much in L.A. so early in the wet season was 1966 —and that's before today's big Pacific storm arrives. There has already been 15.86 inches at the official measuring spot in Los Angeles. That's more than in an entire normal year.
However, Rain hasn’t slowed the prolific Jacobs. Speaking of deluge, read his Alcohol of Floaters for a chuckle (and to see my name in print:).
Not so funny ...
Danny Sugarman and his wife, Fawn Hall.
Exit From Wonderland Avenue*
We've been trying to write an appropriate obit for Danny Sugarman, longtime aficinado, and eventual manager, of the Los Angeles rock band the "Doors" but we're not in the mood. Perhaps it's the rain, perhaps it's bitterness over what little he did with managing Iggy Pop's career, but we just can't work up any passion for the man who parlayed a gig as a male groupie into a career. He was such a starf*cker that he even married Fawn Hall, who was Oliver North's secretary during the Iran-Contra scandal.
* Wonderland Avenue
ROUNDUP
8 MOORE A MAN OF THE PEOPLE'S
Lefty filmmaker Michael Moore has been tipped he's going to win the People's Choice Award tonight, Tom O'Neil reports at goldderby.com.
Sign the petition if you already haven’t, and then check out this ad for Mel’s movie!
8 POLL: IN MATCH-UP BETWEEN HILLARY AND KERRY, MOST DEMOCRATS WOULD CHOOSE SUICIDE
8 U.S. employers created 2.2 million new jobs in 2004
8 Amazing before and after satellite photos!
Hat tip LoanCat!
