text:
Saturday, July 31, 2004
an aide to awol's campaing suggests that poor folk take prozac if they're unhappy with their jobs. the nydailynews:
"why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy - or go on prozac?" said susan sheybani, an assistant to bush campaign spokesman terry holt.in a related story, vice president dick cheney said he definately was not kidding when he told sen. pat leahy to go f^ck himself.
the comment apparently was directed to a colleague who transferred a phone call from a reporter asking about job quality. when told the prozac comment had been overheard, sheybani said: "oh, i was just kidding."
protesters keep on showing up where awol goes on his campaign. in missouri, ktvo tv tells us:
hundreds of chanting protesters gathered across the street from the downtown ball field where president bush spoke to supporters in springfield today.the springfield news-leader tells us:
the protesters booed loudly each time cheers arose from the crowd inside hammonds field. chants of "no more bush" also filled the air.
outside the ball field today, police moved the protesters to three different locations before settling them on a street corner hundreds of feet from the podium. officers were seen leading three people away. it's not clear if they were arrested.
with most presidents, i'm usually concerned about one or two issues," said reuthebuck, 32, of springfield. "this one, i'm concerned about all of them: disabled citizens, medicaid and medicare, our free will and choice being taken away."ah, there's nothing like an enormous berm to get your blood boiling.
not counting canines, close to a couple of hundred protesters turned out friday, voicing their discontent with homemade signs and anti-bush chants.
"no blood for oil," they shouted in unison as bush's motorcade rounded east trafficway onto sherman avenue, one black vehicle after the next, bearing miniature american flags.
protesters were first corralled into the rear of a gravel parking lot across the street from the baseball stadium, but springfield police officers gradually allowed them to move closer once most of the spectators were inside.
the vocal crowd eventually positioned itself on the southeast corner of jordan valley park, many of them assembling atop an enormous berm.
pollster john zogby reports that things are looking pretty good for john kerry all over the country:
the most recent zogby poll shows deeper trouble for president george w. bush beyond just the horserace. mr. bush has fallen in key areas while senator john kerry has shored up numerous constituencies in his base. the bush team's attempted outreach to base democratic and swing constituency has shown to be a failure thus far, limiting his potential growth in the electorate.thanks to atrios for the link!
the most important group in this election now is the undecideds and mr. bush's standing among them is weak. he is generally well liked among the undecideds, having a strong favorability (56%), but his job performance is another story. only 32% approve of bush's job in office and only 31% believe the country is headed in the right direction…
the most recent zogby poll shows deeper trouble for president george w. bush beyond just the horserace. mr. bush has fallen in key areas while senator john kerry has shored up numerous constituencies in his base. the bush team's attempted outreach to base democratic and swing constituency has shown to be a failure thus far, limiting his potential growth in the electorate.
the most important group in this election now is the undecideds and mr. bush's standing among them is weak. he is generally well liked among the undecideds, having a strong favorability (56%), but his job performance is another story. only 32% approve of bush's job in office and only 31% believe the country is headed in the right direction…
mr. bush has also shown weakness in what is considered to be his best region, the south. while kerry's choice of senator john edwards gives him his biggest boost, his economic populism and courting of veterans are also key in his eroding of mr. bush's support. not only has kerry now come to a tie with bush in favorability in the south (55% for both), the kerry-edwards ticket has pulled ahead, 48% to 46% in the south. president bush's job performance is down to only 44% in the south, and only 43% of southerners think the country is headed in the right direction.
mr. kerry is also performing well in blue states, among young voters and among single voters. in the blue states, mr. kerry is winning 50% to 38%, while in the red states, mr. bush is only winning 48% to 46%. among single voters, mr. kerry is winning huge by a total of 69% to 19%. and among young voters – 18-29 year olds – a group al gore only won by 2 points in 2000, kerry is winning in a landslide, 53% to 33%.
zizka points out all the dirt on awol in the 911 report over at seeing the forest.
nathan newman has an action alert to help defend new york's working poor.
and the daily cookie sends us the good news from the sfchron that the vibrator case in texas has been dismissed. (couldn't it "stand up" in court?)
Friday, July 30, 2004
william saletan, writing in slate, talks about how kerry's speech wasn't written by kerry himself, but rather by...awol!
in his determination to unite the right, bush hasn't just united the left. he has lost the center. look at last week's new york times/cbs news poll of registered voters. "do you think the result of the war with iraq was worth the loss of american life and other costs of attacking iraq or not?" fifty-nine percent say it was not. "which do you think is a better way to improve the national economy—cutting taxes or reducing the federal budget deficit?" fifty-eight percent say reducing the deficit. "when it comes to regulating the environmental and safety practices of business, do you think the federal government is doing enough, should it do more, or should it do less?" fifty-nine percent say more.
one more bush voter on the right, balanced by one more kerry voter on the left, plus the tilting of one more voter in the middle toward kerry, is a net loss for the president. that's the lesson of this administration, this election, and this convention. kerry doesn't have to write any good lines. he just has to read them.
which is more than awol can do!
though apparently you don't really have to! right hand side bar, the question of the day: "did john kerry convince you he's ready to be president?"
abcnews reports that john kerry's acceptance speech drew higher numbers than did al gore four years earlier, though this convention lost viewers compared to 2000.
based on television ratings, americans were more interested in what john kerry had to say in his nomination acceptance speech than they were for al gore in 2000.but dave barry, that scamp, offers his view of kerry's ratings for knight ridder:
an estimated 24.4 million viewers watched kerry's speech on the six biggest networks thursday night, compared to 21.1 million people who saw gore four years earlier, nielsen media research reported on friday.
despite thursday's surge of interest, the overall television rating for the four-day democratic convention was the lowest it had been since nielsen began keeping records in 1960. in terms of viewers, it was roughly on a par with 2000, nielsen said…
nearly three million fewer viewers watched the convention's final night on those three networks than did in 2000. the difference came in the cable networks: 15.6 million people watched kerry speak on abc, cbs or nbc, while 8.8 million saw it on cnn, fox news channel or msnbc.
was kerry's speech effective? pollsters who've been tracking undecided voters are reporting today that, quote, "they were all watching `seinfeld' reruns.'' the tv ratings for this convention, like those of all recent political conventions, have been horrible. if they want people to watch these things, they're going to have to start making the speakers eat live cockroaches or something. i'm just thinking out loud here.dave, you should have read the blogs!
the big problem with this particular convention, from an entertainment standpoint, was that the speakers weren't allowed to talk about the one issue the democrats all feel strongly about, which is how much they hate george w. bush. party leaders, wanting to keep the message positive, censored the harsh anti-bush rhetoric from the speeches, which meant that the speakers had to go with subtle innuendo:
speaker: and that, my fellow democrats, is why we must defeat this lying fascist criminal warmongering scum-sucking vermin toad, who, in the interest of remaining positive, i am not going to mention by name.
editor and publisher reports that the nation's top newspapers approved of kerry's acceptance speech:
one paper that found fault, the washington post, called the speech a "missed opportunity," noting that he had "elided the charged question of whether, as president, he would have gone to war in iraq." and the chicago tribune opened with: "well, not bad."[ed. note: stop the presses!]
but other larger papers found much to admire. the dallas morning news, in president bush's home state, said, "all in all, it was an impressive performance and one that should serve kerry well in his quest for the white house."
the philadelphia inquirer said kerry did a "solid job" linking domestic proposals to "family values," borrowing one of bush's themes…
the [los angeles times ]said, "it's only malcontents who won't want to steer in the direction that he's mapped out. kerry's skill at seamlessly drawing upon vietnam produced a portrait of master and commander."
the san francisco chronicle [said] "he was clear and forceful in accentuating his differences with bush. he succeeded in the mission of the night: he made the case that there is going to be a real choice in november."
the milwaukee journal sentinel provided one classic line: "if it's the national security, stupid, john kerry demonstrated thursday night that he isn't stupid."
while [the new york times] cast the democratic convention in a positive light, saying it "did its job" introducing the candidates, it criticized kerry for not admitting his vote to support the iraq invasion was a mistake. "it's clear now that mr. kerry isn't going to go there, and it's a shame," said the times, which itself decided to "go there" earlier this month.
the seattle times said kerry offered better "oratory" than his norm, adding that he seems "capable of becoming a strong commander in chief."
but the washington post [said] "mr. kerry was right to chide mr. bush for alienating allies unnecessarily. but what is 'the job' in iraq? he didn't say"…
the chicago tribune, while neutral, pointed out that there were moments in the speech "when you had to remind yourself that this was the democratic nominee for president who was speaking -- such as when kerry promised a larger military force, tax cuts, public school accountability, and a focus on family values"...
the new york post was extremely critical...
thanks to the gang at ampoljo, we find the latest on how far repubbbs will go to protect their cocks!
the nytimes reports that the repubbb agriculture commissioner of south carolina has been charge with taking payoffs to protect a cock fighting ring.
charles sharpe, 65, was indicted on federal charges including extortion and money laundering. he was accused of accepting the money from an organization involved in breeding and raising birds for cockfighting. cockfighting is illegal in south carolina…talk about family values! as someone once said, cock fighting is a grueling sport, because the competition is pretty stiff.
gov. mark sanford immediately suspended sharpe, as required under the south carolina constitution, and will search for an interim commissioner to appoint. if convicted, sharpe, who was elected in 2002, would automatically lose his office. the two extortion charges alone carry up to 20 years in prison each…
sharpe was accused of taking the payoffs in 2002 and 2003, while he was a state lawmaker and then agriculture commissioner.
u.s. attorney j. strom thurmond jr. said sharpe escorted a law enforcement officer to the south carolina gamefowl management association's cockfighting arena and falsely told the officer that the fighting there was legal because it was done only to test the bloodline and hardiness of the birds. the officer was working undercover for the fbi and recorded the conversation…
the indictment also said sharpe tried to convince a candidate for aiken county sheriff that the bird operation was legal. the candidate, michael hunt, who was elected last year, also worked undercover for federal investigators.
marco's cyberspace travels, but he's on hiatus. (however, he does say skippy is 'always good for a laugh,' which is, after all, a big part of our mission statement!)
talkleft has some pictures of the police as they confront the protesters at yesterday's convention.
remember, these are the democrats! we can't wait to see new york in august!
they're asking how john kerry's speech went. you know what to do.
things are looking great for the economy, if you don't count...well, the economy!
initial unemployment claims are up, and cost of benefits on the job (health insurance and pension) rose much more than wages in the last 12 months, says the kancitystar.
wages and salaries, stymied the past three years by a weak economy and lackluster job growth, climbed 0.6 percent in the second quarter, the same increase as the first quarter of this year.and as if that wasn't bad enough, the gross domestic product also slowed, because nobody was spending any money. (here's a hint: nobody had any money!) bloomberg:
over the past 12 months, wages rose by 2.5 percent, down from a 2.7 percent increase for the 12 months ended in june 2003 and far below the 4 percent rise for the 12 months ended in june 2000, when the country was still in the midst of a record 10-year economic expansion.
however, benefit costs have risen much more rapidly, climbing 7.2 percent for the 12 months ended in june, the biggest 12-month gain since early 1990. benefit costs include health insurance and pension benefits for employees who have pension coverage in their jobs.
"though wages remain under control, benefit costs are still soaring at an unacceptable pace," said joel naroff, head of a holland, pa., forecasting firm.
in a second report thursday, the government said new claims for unemployment benefits edged up last week, climbing 4,000 to 345,000, indicating the labor market is improving after three years of lackluster job creation.
last week's increase followed a drop of 9,000 the previous week. claim figures have been volatile in the past month because auto plants shut down earlier than normal for retooling, which skewed the department's seasonal adjustments.
the u.s. economy grew at a 3 percent annual rate from april through june, the slowest rate in more than a year, as rising energy prices led to the weakest pace of consumer spending since the 2001 recession.we're beginning to think the real soft patch is in greenspan's head.
the change in gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, followed a 4.5 percent rate in the first quarter that was faster than the previously reported 3.9 percent, the commerce department said. u.s. treasury notes rose.
consumer spending slowed to a 1 percent annual rate after a 4.1 percent gain in the first three months. gasoline prices above $2 a gallon crimped sales at retailers such as wal-mart stores inc. consumer confidence and chicago-area manufacturing rose this month, signs the economy may emerge from what federal reserve chairman alan greenspan called a ``soft patch'' in june.
holden caufield alerted us to pie's post over at eschaton pointing out not only has sandy berger been cleared of any wrongdoing in the 9/11 document fiasco, but nobody in the national media has bothered to report this side of the story:
officials looking into the removal of classified documents from the national archives by former clinton national security adviser samuel berger say no original materials are missing and nothing mr. berger reviewed was withheld from the commission investigating the sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks...where's bill o'reilly and sean hannity on this one?
the conclusion by archives officials and others would seem to lay to rest the issue of whether any information was permanently destroyed or withheld from the commission.
archives spokeswoman susan cooper said officials there "are confident that there aren't any original documents missing in relation to this case." she said in most cases, mr. berger was given photocopies to review, and that in any event officials have accounted for all originals to which he had access.
the kids at the daily cookie sent us this alternet article detailing not only what really happened between teresa heinz kerry and the man she told to "shove it," but the long inacrimonious history between her and the richard mellon scaife rag he works for:
the tribune-review routinely sniped at teresa heinz during her marriage to pennsylvania's republican former senator john heinz. when the senator died in 1991, and the massachusetts junior senator john kerry stole teresa's heart, the paper's attacks grew increasingly slanderous. on december 28, 1997, the paper featured an anonymously penned cover story falsely insinuating that a woman named sheila lawrence had had affairs with both bill clinton and kerry. "far from giving all to bill, there was still something left over for sen. john kerry," who had "a very private tete-a-tete" with "sexy sheila," the columnist alleged. in another column, the tribune-review mocked john kerry as "mr. teresa heinz."
perhaps the most spurious of the tribune-review's attacks came in december, 2003, when it ran a piece accusing heinz-kerry of secretly "funneling cash" from her heinz endowment to the tides foundation, a group that "supports extreme left wing groups... anti-war protests... unlimited abortion rights, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy, as well as and [sic] environmental extremism." the piece was based on research conducted by the right-wing think tank capital research center, yet failed to mention that scaife granted the center $240,000 in 2002 or that he was connected to it in any way. the article also omitted the fact that the heinz foundation's grants were all strictly earmarked for mainstream western pennsylvania environmental charities, an inexcusable omission that could have been avoided if the paper had bothered to call either the heinz foundation or the tides foundation to confirm its wild claims.
ok, technically, this isn't out of his mouth...but rather from the pen of ron reagan jr.
he writes in equire a scathing attack on awol's presidency:
it may have been the guy in the hood teetering on the stool, electrodes clamped to his genitals. or smirking lynndie england and her leash. maybe it was the smarmy memos tapped out by soft-fingered lawyers itching to justify such barbarism. the grudging, lunatic retreat of the neocons from their long-standing assertion that saddam was in cahoots with osama didn't hurt. even the enron audiotapes and their celebration of craven sociopathy likely played a part. as a result of all these displays and countless smaller ones, you could feel, a couple of months back, as summer spread across the country, the ground shifting beneath your feet…(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat for the link to el payo in houstonia's daily kos diary).
the l-word was in circulation. not the tired old bromide liberal. that's so 1988. no, this time something much more potent: liar.
politicians will stretch the truth. they'll exaggerate their accomplishments, paper over their gaffes. spin has long been the lingua franca of the political realm. but george w. bush and his administration have taken "normal" mendacity to a startling new level far beyond lies of convenience. on top of the usual massaging of public perception, they traffic in big lies, indulge in any number of symptomatic small lies, and, ultimately, have come to embody dishonesty itself. they are a lie. and people, finally, have started catching on.
none of this, needless to say, guarantees bush a one-term presidency. the far-right wing of the country—nearly one third of us by some estimates—continues to regard all who refuse to drink the kool-aid (liberals, rationalists, europeans, et cetera) as agents of satan… but these protestations have taken on a hysterical, almost comically desperate tone. it's one thing to get trashed by michael moore. but when nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos.
does anyone really favor an administration that so shamelessly lies? one that so tenaciously clings to secrecy, not to protect the american people, but to protect itself? that so willfully misrepresents its true aims and so knowingly misleads the people from whom it derives its power? i simply cannot think so. and to come to the same conclusion does not make you guilty of swallowing some liberal critique of the bush presidency, because that's not what this is. this is the critique of a person who thinks that lying at the top levels of his government is abhorrent. call it the honest guy's critique of george w. bush.
you are the 525,000th visitor to skippy!
Thursday, July 29, 2004
judd legum makes the case over at winning argument that letting awol get off with implementing only part of the 911 commission's recommendations is not only more pr than policy, it's just bad policy altogether.
cherry-picking allows the administration to avoid difficult but critical reforms. the administration has already hinted it will reject some reforms recommended unanimously by the bi-partisan commission. homeland security secretary tom ridge has "signaled administration opposition to the idea of a new intelligence chief" – a key recommendation of the commission. if the administration selects a subset of the recommendation it will enable officials "defend their turf" by lobbying against changes that would reduce their influence. this is the same mentality that contributed to the intelligence failures leading to 9/11. the cherry-picking could result in the administration "choosing harmless changes that involve little more than moving boxes on an organization chart."more winning arguments at winning argument.
last night on msnbc's convention after hours with joe "what's this dead woman doing in my office" scarborough, ron reagan jr. finally said out loud what the rest of the media (and the politicians) should have been saying for almost three years now.
turning to joe "i never touched the body" scarborough, reagan said something to the effect of (and here we paraphrase badly, which is, of course, the very definition of paraphrasing in the first place):
the problem with the war on terror is that 'terror' is a concept, so it's like the 'war on obesity,' you're fighting against a concept, and not individuals.and to give joe "she had lots of medical problems before this" scarborough credit, he agreed.
we would refine rr jr's complaint a bit more precisely, ourselves. 'terror' is actually a technique, not a concept. "loving all mankind" and "the will of the people" and "more fun than a barrel of bloggers" are concepts. terror is a specific technique used by, admittedly, desperate and crazy people, in lieu of standing armies and icbm's.
it's rather like declaring a war on 'garroting,' or on 'torture,' or on 'surprise attacks.' these are tools of war.
'terrorism,' at least as defined by today's standards, is a relatively new technique in warfare (though we are wondering about the historical terms berserkers and kamikaze). so the old school warriors are at a loss as to how to defend against and fight this new approach. and it won't be pretty, or easy.
but you can't wage war against an idea, or concept, or technique. because even if you kill every single one of the mothercheneys who wage war in this manner, and wipe them off the face of the earth, someone somewhere later down the line will remember how they did it, and try it out themselves.
war is waged against nation states and groups of people. not against how they wage war (at least, not if you want to win the war. be sure you know who you are fighting).
the phrase 'war on terror' is simply a sound byte made up to stir the masses who think in black-and-white-us-v.-them-batman-v.-the-evil-doers ways of thought.
and in the end, as ron reagan was implying, this very two-dimensional approach only hurts the cause, not help it.
to scrafford and the apostropher.
to a very funny cartoon, fighting words.
reader and contributor laura sends us this bit of sugar from reuters: sec investigating krisy kreme
krispy kreme doughnuts inc. on thursday said federal regulators are investigating the doughnut chain's repurchase of franchises as well as its recently lowered earnings outlook.
the informal probe by the u.s. securities and exchange commission comes as krispy kreme is struggling to revitalize slumping sales, particularly in supermarkets.
the company in may slashed its profit forecast for the year by 10 percent, blaming the popularity of low-carbohydrate diets such as the atkins and south beach, which frown on starchy foods like pastries and bread.
but most importantly, what's dick cheney going to do for breakfast now?
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
our buds at resident bush alerts us to thomas defrank's piece in the nydaily news: nancy & ron reagan spell dubya trouble:
much to the dismay of the bush campaign, nancy reagan has just said no to appearing at the republican national convention next month.an 83 year old woman feeling bad after her husband just died? the slacker!
gop strategists had hoped the former first lady and hollywood actress would make a cameo appearance onstage after a video tribute to her late husband, particularly after her bush-bashing son, ron, agreed to speak at the democratic convention last night…
gop sources, meanwhile, confirmed his mother will not be at their aug. 30-sept. 2 convention - and some speculated her son might be behind the snub.
"i do not expect her at our convention but she knows she is welcome," republican national committee chairman ed gillespie told reporters here yesterday.
"if all of you might just keep in mind for a moment the year that mrs. reagan has had and be a little understanding of that, i think that would be appreciated by the public and, i suspect, by mrs. reagan," gillespie added.
republican officials refrained from publicly criticizing nancy reagan for the no-show. privately, however, some were upset as well as disappointed by the decision, which has been known to the white house for some time.
"i don't think she could have missed the symbolic significance of her son going to their convention and her not going to ours," a senior gop official told the daily news.
a downcast senior gop official confirmed nancy reagan had never committed to appearing at the convention, but was nevertheless dubious of the official explanation…
"the 'not feeling up to it' line is bull----," the official said. "something happened in the last month, and whatever it was was real."
to a complete bunch of pants.
thanks to cvcobb01's daily kos diary, we found the latest awol ad, by will farrell (via america coming together).
today saw the worst violence in iraq since the handover of power a month ago. a huge car bomb exploded north of baghdad, killing over 60 people, among other bloody incidents. the international herald tribune:
a minibus packed with explosives blew up near a police station north of baghdad on wednesday, killing 68 people and wounding 30 in the worst attack since the handover of power exactly a month earlier. ..
seven iraqi police officers and 35 insurgents were killed in clashes southeast of baghdad, a u.s. soldier was killed in a bomb attack, and a police officer was assassinated.
iraqi officials have said they expected attacks to intensify as the country tries to edge toward democracy, and they worried a major political conference to chart iraq's future scheduled for saturday will be a target.
a health ministry official said 68 people had been killed and 30 wounded in the blast, which happened shortly after 10 a.m. in baquba, an often violent town 65 kilometers, or 40 miles, north of baghdad.
in other violence, 35 insurgents and seven iraqi soldiers were killed in early morning clashes in the city of suwariya, southeast of baghdad, lieutenant colonel artur domanski of poland, a multinational force spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
talkleft has some pictures of the free speech zone at the dem convention...we've seen gas station toilets that looked more inviting. and here's a rundown of exactly who is protesting there in bean town.
talkleft also has a pic of jerry springer, and a contest running about naming the bloggers in this photo.
left is right thinks kucinich is awol on his promise, so left is right is now awol on kucinich.
the kids from the daily cookie link us to this nytimes piece about the votes from florida's electronic voting machine being lost in cyberspace...permanently.
judd legum of the progress report and winning argument sends us this bit of irony:
the first family...does not snack...they are very good at respecting meal time hours and do not eat between meals...there is no snacking..."
- white house pastry chef roland mesnier, whitehouse.gov, 7/27/04
"president bush fainted for a brief time sunday in the residence of the white house while eating a pretzel and watching a professional football game on television."
- cnn, 1/14/02
to flutterby, and thinking rocks and tripe soup.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
we are pleased as punch to find the transcript of cnn's show "live today" in which daryn kagan mentioned this blog.
daryn was talking about the blogging of the convention with aol on line advisor regina lewis, who was her guest yesterday when the original comments (about bloggers and rumors) that skippy took such exception to were made. (these comments, alas, are not available on yesterday's transcripts. c'est la blogue!)
the relevant part of today's program, en toto:
kagan: and here's a blogging angle for you, regina, you might know about. the bloggers are actually watching this show, and they watched your segment yesterday.now, we are quite happy to be named on a national cable news network, and especially by someone other than wolf "how's my beard" blitzer. so we are never one to look a gift horse in the mouth (though, to be honest, ms. kagan is much prettier than a horse).
lewis: oh, absolutely.
kagan: i received an e-mail from a blogger named "skippy the bush kangaroo." not really sure where that comes from. but he or she, whatever skippy is, took offense at our discussion of perhaps that bloggers are not putting complete truth out there, and he said, "aren't mistakes sometimes made in journalism as well?" skippy, point taken. and we appreciate you watching.
lewis: yes, and i think what you're seeing is -- yes, i'm glad to hear that. the lines are blurring, too. you know, there's the opinion pieces, and a lot of the bloggers are also linking to resources like the associated press and talking about what they see on cnn. so it's kind of the merging of the best of both worlds, if you're mindful of what you're reading and where it's coming from.
kagan: absolutely, and we want all the bloggers out to know that this is a blogger-friendly program, and we do appreciate your viewership.
however, we find it amusing that ms. kagan, when continuing the discussion of veracity in different media (cable news versus blogging), actually completely misquoted what we said, thereby continuing to prove our point for us.
granted, our email was more actually personal than what she made it out to be, in that we asked her how she could impune the fact-checking abilities of bloggers after her own on-air presentation of the white house contention that letterman doctored a video of awol (he didn't). however, let it go on the record that, while we may have been snarky, we weren't mean or uncivil, merely ironic to the point of being embarrassing, if broadcast media had any shame at all (they don't).
we never said anything about "mistakes." we never even said "aren't" or "sometimes" or "made" or "in" or "journalism" or "as" or "well."
we were 100% misquoted. and not just some of our words. all of our words.
after all is said and blogged, we are too smitten with ms. kagan's national attention to call her on it. after all, when she mentioned us by name, our hit counter stood straight up.
but, still, when will the broadcast media ever get it right?
erratum: upon further review, we find we were incorrect in the assesment of being 100% misquoted. it turns out we did use the word "as" in the original email.
we apologize for the error.
the kids at the daily cookie send us a couple of items:
this spinsanity article questioning the liberal use of the word "liberal" when describing the kerry/edwards ticket.
and a daily scribble musing about a candidate's wife, a reporter, and the words "shove it," versus a sitting vice president, a senator, and the words "go f^ck yourself."
markos zuniga, aka the daily kos, who is blogging from the convention, had a great interview/talk with rep. chris bell, the texas democrat who courageously brought charges against tom "bugman" delay up to the house ethics committee (we say courageously, because not only is delay a bully and a user of strong-arm techniques, but chris broke the "truce" between parties on ethics charges delay and gephardt wambled into existance five years ago).
some interesting tidbits:
i want the committee to investigate the matter. it's all i ask. if [delay] has nothing to hide, then the investigation will show that," bell said. his staff have put together a thorough package dealing with abuse of power (involving the faa and homeland security in an effort to track the fleeing killer d's during the redistricting saga), the use of prohibited corporate money for state legislative battles in texas, and the exchange of legislative favors for campaign contributions (westar's perks in the energy bill). and they could've added more...developing...
last week, a decision on the complaint was delayed 45 days. many of us saw it as a bad sign, but bell is actually encouraged. "they could've swept it under the carpet. i take it as a positive sign that they are taking the complaint seriously."
interestingly, while some republicans initially threatened retaliatory ethics complaints, they were quickly swatted down by the gop leadership. and indeed, the parties agreed that frivolous complaints would not only be swatted down quickly, but their filers would suffer sanctions. a good sign indeed.
let's open the ol' skippy mailbag!
zizka, over at seeing the forest, argues that the 911 commission report does not exonerate awol.
reader and contributer rose sends us this washpost piece by richard cohen, doubting awol's claims to be considering the 911 commission's recommendations.
and the kids over at the dc send us this slot machine where the jackpots are 10 reasons to stop bush.
to the sarasota springs, new york, democratic committee.
[ed. note: catchy title!]
we are pleased as punch that daryn kagan, responding to our email to her story about bloggers (and their inability to check facts), mentioned skippy's site by name this morning on cnn live today.
skippy himself was in the kitchen making coffee and trying to wake up, when mrs. skippy, in the living room, shouted out "skippy the bush kangaroo! she just said 'skippy the bush kangaroo'!"
at first we assumed cnn was doing a piece about 60's australian children shows, but we walked in to hear ms. kagan talking about the email skippy sent her. ms. kagan said that skippy pointed out that broadcast media often make mistakes, too, and ms. kagan conceded it was a point well taken.
we appreciate ms. kagan's good natured mea culpa, and are thrilled she would mention our site by name (the google searches for "skippy the bush kangaroo" have hit the roof in the last hour).
but we must point out that that's not really what we said in our email.
what we said was, where would ms. kagan put herself on the scale of "not checking facts" and "rumor mongering" in light of her own misinformation reporting about the white house's accusation that dave letterman edited together a phony tape of a kid falling asleep behind awol's speech, when in fact it was completely above-board, real, and true.
however, at least ms. kagan admits broadcast media can make mistakes, even though she cleverly refused to mention herself by name.
and in the spirit of that, we admit bloggers can be snarky!
Monday, July 26, 2004
now this is getting ridiculous.
today awol fell off a bike for the second time in two months. reuters:
during an 18-mile ride, as bikers often do, the president took a minor spill and scraped his knee," spokeswoman claire buchan said. she said the president did not require medical attention after the spill.and don't forget when he fell down after choking on a pretzel.
bush had a similar mountain bike mishap at his ranch in late may, when he toppled over while riding downhill on soil loosened by rainfall, and suffered minor cuts and abrasions.
last year, he toppled off a high-tech segway scooter at the bush family estate in kennebunkport, maine.
sounds to us like he actually fell off the wagon.
thanks to eric alterman, we find this latimes piece that tells us a ton of talent plans to tour the country this fall doing concerts to speak out against awol.
bruce springsteen, neil young, r.e.m., pearl jam and a deep roster of other rock stars will unite for politically minded concerts this fall that will give voice to dissatisfaction with the bush administration…with death cab for cutie on the bill, they'll draw thousands!
other artists expected to join the lineup include [steve] earle, the dave matthews band, the dixie chicks, bright eyes, ani difranco, death cab for cutie and international noise conspiracy. there also are reports that bob dylan and james taylor may be part of the bill.
the shows reportedly will benefit several organizations, chief among them moveon.org, the advocacy group that champions a liberal agenda through web-based grass-roots efforts.
and now, it time for skippy's esoteric trivia guessing game! who can correctly tell us the band who sang the song from whence 'death cab for cutie' got their name, and for a bonus, who can name the act that band was parodying in that song?
to steve westly's convention blog.
steve is the california controller, and co-chair of california for kerry. you can sign up for an online chat this wednesday with delegates at the convention on steve's campaign site.
so says his online communications director, joel bush (no relation, joel tells us).
mrs. ketchup stepped in it yesterday, as she was caught on tape telling a so-called jouranlist to "shove it" because he kept insisting on misrepresenting her words.
we personally think more people ought to tell the mainstream press to go cheney themselves when they massage the meanings and twist the context of what folks say. (right, tucker "jacuzzi lawyer" carlson?)
apparently, an op-ed editor (not even a reporter) from a richard mellon scaife conservative rag, the pittsburgh tribune review, asked ms. heinz kerry what she meant by "unamerican activities" in remarks she just gave about the campaign process.
only trouble is, she didn't say "unamerican activities" which is a loaded red-baiting mccarthy are you now or have you ever been kind of phrase.
she said "unamerican traits." a whole different kettle of fish. the pittsburg patriot news:
citing negative ads president bush's campaign is airing about her husband, she said, "we need to turn back some of the creeping un-pennsylvanian and sometimes un-american traits that are coming into some of our politics."
when pittsburgh tribune-review editorial page editor colin mcnickle asked which un-american activities she was talking about, heinz kerry accurately denied that she used the word "activities." then, despite taped versions of her remarks, she repeatedly denied she had said the word, "un-american."
"i didn't say that, i didn't say that word," she told mcnickle. an aide rushed her off down a rope line, but heinz kerry shoved back past her aide, and leaning forward, shook a finger at mcnickle and said, "shut up. shove it."
heinz kerry (and the entire democratic party) have a history of tension with richard mellon the hunting of the president scaife. so it is no surprise that she told an operative from his paper who was twisting her words where to go.
it could have been worse. she could have told him to go cheney himself.
but the question is, how is the news media covering this incident? well, if you google "heinz kerry shove it" you get 210 entries.
"heinz kerry shove it activities" you get about three.
for instance, the reuters report of this incident says:
"we have to turn back some of the creeping, un-pennsylvanian and sometimes un-american traits that are coming into some of our politics," she said. morning television shows broadcast the remarks.gee, it sounds a lot worse than what the patriot news said, doesn't it?
when a reporter from a conservative pennsylvania newspaper, the pittsburgh tribune-review, pressed heinz kerry what she had meant by "un-american" she said repeatedly, "no, i didn't say that, i didn't say that."
she then turned away only to return moments later. "you said something i didn't say, now shove it," she said, pointing her finger at the reporter.
maybe you'd like to give reuters some feedback to the editor . here's what we said:
in your reporting of teresa heinz kerry telling op-ed editor colin mcnickle (not a reporter as you stated) to "shove it," you left a couple of important points out of the story, making her sound like a rude woman.
first of all, mcnickle asked her what she meant by "unamerican activities" which is not what she said.
we are sure you are aware that the phrase "unamerican acitivities," with its ties to mccarthy red scare hearings of the 50's, is so much more incendiary than what ms. heinz kerry actually said. for mr. mcnickle to twist her words and put new words in her mouth would be aggravating to anybody.
secondly, you failed to mention that the pittsburgh tribune review has often mischaracterized john kerry and in fact the entire democratic party, so no love is lost between the principals involved.
since you fail to provide context in your story, which could have been done in one more little paragraph, you are as guilty of twisting the facts as mr. mcnickle.
shove it.
yeow! thanks to buzzflash's democratic convention blog, we get this list of the annual salaries for various news anchors:
according to the book "news flash" (2004), by bonnie anderson, here are examples of some of the salaries that would be at risk if mainstream television news personalities told us the truth:
peter jennings $10- 11 million
dan rather $7 million
tom brokaw $7 -8 million
katie couric $12-15 million
paula zahn $2 millionyikes! guess we won't be seeing katie at the wal-mart anytime soon.
and we really don't want to offer an opinion about the others, but if paula zahn is worth $2 million, we've got a bridge we can sell cnn!
congrats to pandagon who had his web page prominently displayed on cnn this morning as daryn kagan discussed the phenomenon of bloggers at the convention, though ms. kagan seemed less than impressed concerning bloggers' record for "fact-checking."
true, daryn, we're not as good as the national media when it comes to fact checking. by the way, anybody find those wmd's yet?
addendum: over lunch one of our copy editors pointed out that it was daryn kagen who reported on air the white house claims that dave letterman had edited together a fake clip of a kid falling asleep during one of awol's speeches, when in fact it was a real, unedited clip, and cnn later claimed the white house never said anything about it to them. fact checking, anyone?
here is the letter we sent to ms. kagan:
dear ms. kagan:
we watched your piece today on bloggers at the convention with great interest.
yet we detected from you a bit of, shall we call it, doubt, as to the veracity of what bloggers say.
perhaps it was when you mentioned that bloggers don't have to stick to "facts," insinuating that they spread rumors instead.
(no, it wasn't when you smirked and called the howard dean meeting with internet users a "love-fest." we know you were just being playful).
here is what we want to know:
if bloggers are less worthy to be listened to because they don't "check facts," and instead "spread rumors," then where are you on that scale?
wasn't it you who reported on air that the white house claimed that david letterman edited a videotape of that young man falling asleep behind a george w. bush speech?
how hard did you check those facts?
and, as it turned out to be not true, could you not also be accused of "spreading rumors?"
we'd like to know. please respond to our email address at ....
etc. etc.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
not much news at the convention, apparently, because all the dead trees media are talking about our friends.
the nytimes starts off its piece on convention blogging with an anecdote about our bud talkleft receiving her blogging credentials. it goes on to mention tom burka and markos zuniga.
but alas, no bush kangaroos!
though we are not technically blogging on the east coast this week, our words are getting out there via the blogtopian convention information superhiway (yes! another pharse that we proudly coined!).
as you may or may not care, we are contributors to the american street, which, in turn, has several bloggers at the convention (including our buddy jeralyn merrit of talkleft, dave johnson of seeing the forest, and the very funny tom burka).
so, the amstreet is being aggregated, or syndicated, or what ever the geek term is, on various blogs about blogs about the convention. aside from the dnc convention bloggers news aggregator, whom we mentioned earlier this weekend, the amstreet's posts will be seen on politics.feedster, another aggregator.
(we don't even know what an aggregator is. we thought it was a crocadile that worked on a farm).
ergo, we will be posting a lot on the amstreet this week, just to make it look like we're in boston.
we love blogtopia! and we love that we coined that phrase!
david shaw's media matters column in sunday's latimes makes a quick mention of the fact that bloggers are at the convention this week.
after commenting that the networks are scaling back their coverage to three hours a week (when in the old days it used to be gavel to gavel), mr. shaw then spends one paragraph on blogging:
yes, i know. bloggers are the wave of the (not-too-distant) future, the unfiltered voice of true democracy, the one opportunity for the independent little guy to have a say in a world increasingly dominated by massive, nameless, multimedia conglomerates. but too many bloggers sound like a cross between a guy in a barroom and a guy on a soapbox. or maybe a guy on a soapbox in a barroom. this isn't to suggest that they don't have value. many do, whether as simple tip services or as the expression of intelligent, provocative, unique (if often stupefyingly solipsistic) viewpoints. but bloggers are more the cyberspace equivalent of columnists than reporters — opinion-mongers, not news-gatherers. and at a convention, i'm more interested in news and insight than i am in opinion and outrage.well, where do we start?
yes, we're on a soap box in a bar room. but if that's so, the national news media are the pr firm for the soap company, doing ads for the bar.
please, mr. shaw, give us an example of a national news "reporter," a "gatherer," who isn't an "opinion-mongerer." cnn's william schneider, who gets air time continuously? msnbc's lisa myers, who said she was fact-checking michael moore, when all she did was disagree? anybody on fox news?
no sir. by choosing what facts to present to the american public, the national news media are themselves "opinion-mongerers." it's been years, if not decades, since two sides to a story, conventions included, have been presented on the nightly news.
no wonder we bloggers are outraged. apparently the exclusive club of news "reporters" can only be attended by the rich and well-connected, as opposed to those of us who want to hear as many facts as obtainable.
the news media is actually quite fearful of the blogging phenomenon. not because we present opninion with our facts, because, after all, the news media does it daily, just far more subtly than we care to (they've got the bucks to hide their agenda so much more effectively than we).
no, it's because a huge part of the facts and opinions that bloggers are spreading around call into question the competency and indeed, very veracity of the mission statements of the news media.
they don't like us because we're holding them up to standards that they've let go of sometime in the last century.
anecdotal proof of our premise can be found in mr. shaw's own column.
he starts out by presenting two recent announcements about how the conventions will be covered:
one, the networks will cut back, and two, the bloggers will be there.
then, in the next 23 paragraphs he uses to analyze these two announcements, 22 of them are devoted to television cutting back.
1 paragraph, the (rather condescending) one we quoted above, is devoted to the bloggers.
out of sight, out of mind, eh, mr. shaw?
the kids at the daily cookie have sent us a few tidbits:
in california, the sfchron points out that the execs at pg&e gave themselves $83 million worth of bonuses for handling their bankruptcy proceedings so well.
gail sheehy in mother jones points out the 911 commission report does not answer why awol was awol (along with rumsfeld and others) on that fateful morning.
and the asspress via truthout reports on the fracas in the michigan state legislature over one repubbb's comment about needing to "suppress the detroit" vote.
to the buzz democratic convention blog, maintained by buzzflash.
u.s. soldiers are still dying there.
two soldiers (and nine iraqis) were killed and one soldier wounded by a roadside bomb outside of samarra on friday, says the daily star.
one soldier died and one was wounded by explosive devices near bayji on saturday, says the multinational force newspage.
and, in a terrible tragedy not necessarily related to iraq, two soldiers, a husband and wife recently returned from the war, were found dead in their fort hood home in an apparent murder-suicide, says the asspress.
bloomberg is reporting that 6 out of 10 americans plan to watch kerry's acceptance speech on television.
now if those same 6 out of 10 amerians plan to vote for him...
Saturday, July 24, 2004
to what would you say raymond.
thanks to the kids at ampoljo, we find out the truth of what happened to linda ronstadt at the aladdin. and the answer is: nothing.
the tucson citizen had a telephone interview with their native daughter, who reported that she didn't even know the aladdin was mad at her until an hour after she had left the place:
singer linda ronstadt was not asked to leave a las vegas casino saturday after she endorsed michael moore's controversial film "fahrenheit 9/11," the tucson native told the tucson citizen wednesday.the article quotes ms. rondstadt as saying she had been dedicating the encorse, "desperado," to michael moore during the entire run of her tour, with mixed results, but people always start cheering once she actually sings the song.
and she was not booed off the stage by a concert crowd that had erupted in mayhem, she said.
speaking by phone from san francisco, ronstadt said that she left the aladdin resort & casino immediately after the concert and was not aware that the management was irritated by her comments until an hour after she left the show.
aladdin management declined to comment on the incident yesterday, referring the citizen to a statement issued monday…
the los angeles times and associated press reported that ronstadt was escorted off the property, not allowed to return to her room and booed off the stage and that people were throwing drinks by the close of her show.
none of those things happened, she said…
"this woman comes huffing up to me and says, 'i'm afraid i can't let you leave.' i said, 'what?' and she said, 'you can't leave yet because the owner is on his way over here to talk to you.' " the singer said…
"i thought she was going to read me my miranda rights or make me start writing things on the blackboard," she said.
"i didn't know they were mad at me until we were gone, and i didn't know what they were mad at me about until about an hour later, when apparently they called up one of the people that was traveling with us and went, 'she's talking about michael moore, and this is a place for entertainment, not politics,' " ronstadt said.
she also said she was only trying to get people to think:
now i don't think somebody should take my word. because i'm a singer doesn't necessarily make me an expert in world politics, though i'm well read. but i think my obligation at this point is to try to steer people into just thinking."funny how we didn't hear this version on the national news.
congrats to markos moulitsas, aka the daily kos, who got his pic and a nice profile on cnn's write up of bloggers at the convention!
moulitsas, who will be blogging from boston, massachusetts, site of the democratic convention, works closely with the party. he says he has raised more than $400,000 for democratic candidates.
"i'm going to focus on what my audience really craves, which is information on senate and house races, and the chances democrats have in picking up particular races," he said.
and a big congrats to glenn reynolds of instapudit fame for also being pictured and quoted!
and even we got mentioned:
poynter's [howard] finberg says original reporting and timeliness keep readers coming back to blogs.silliness, ranting and din! three mentions! all right, we scored!
"but there is a lot of silliness out there, finberg said. "and there's lots of ranting out there. that's going to be the challenge for political bloggers and others, to be heard over the din."
we don't know why, but ayn clouter has written about the sandy berger debacle in the style of edgar allen poe.
we won't be impressed until she discusses the plame affair as if h.p. lovecraft covered the story ("wilson's eyes widened in horror. 'yellow cake?' he cried out, but nobody heard him as the rove covered his mouth, renering him mute...")
thanks to our buds at the dc, we found the dem convention news aggregator for the bloggers who will be attending.
(of course, we aren't there, but only because we are on the opposite coast. if it was held anywhere from tiajuana to port angeles, we would have hitch hiked our way and bring you our own view of the convention!)
however, it's a fine line up of bloggers, and we'll be checking this site daily.
Friday, July 23, 2004
you may have heard about a recent incident (or, more precisely, lack of incident) on a northwest flight into los angeles from detroit, where a freelance writer, one annie jacobsen, was alarmed that some middle eastern men stood in the aisle and went to the bathroom.
after landing, she subsequently wrote a piece about it for womenswallstreet.com, describing her fear and trepidation at watching what possibly could be another repeat of 9/11.
it wasn't. it turned out the middle eastern men were a syrian band on their way to a gig at a casino (perhaps to replace linda ronstadt). and apparently they went to the bathroom because, well, they had to go to the bathroom.
but womenswallstreet.com got millions of hits the day ms. jacobsen's nail-biting account was put online. as the ms. jacobsen reports in a follow-up piece on wws, then the media began calling, including nbc, abc, and others:
the following statement was made by daniel drezner, an assistant professor of political science at the university of chicago, on his website danieldrezner.com:wow! george will and nicholas kristoff! heavy hitters in mediatopia (yes! we coined that phrase! but we're not proud of it).
"i received a mass email linking to this disturbing first-person account by annie jacobsen... i can say that the e-mail sent to me and other bloggers was cc-ed to movers and shakers in the mediaspere -- bill keller, david ignatius, george will, anne applebaum, and nicholas d. kristoff. so they're certainly aware of the story... i'd like to see real journalists dig deeper into this."
we can understand why the media jumped all over this. after all, they didn't have to do any investigating beyond clicking a few links. it's much easier than walking to the fax machine to get the rnc talking points for the day.
so many questions needed to be answered. ms. jacobsen put it succinctly:
then i spoke with a producer from abc. she explained that she could not get dave adams, head of public affairs of the federal air marshal services (fam), on the phone. so she asked me some of the questions that she had wanted to ask him: where exactly did this band of 14 musicians play? what was the name of the band? who booked the band and what kind of music did they play? did anyone follow up and actually witness these 14 men performing at their desert casino gig? i had none of the answers, even though i had asked adams these exact questions myself when we spoke last week. the abc producer also asked me other questions which had crossed my mind after hanging up with adams. did i know anything about their return flight on jetblue? did the men go back to syria? did i believe fam's story?well....it turns out, the answers to those questions are, in order: an arab music show at the sycuan resort and casino (near san diego), nour mehana and his backup band, booking agent james cullen, mehana is known as "the syrian wayne newton", yes, yes, yes, and it really doesn't matter if you believe it, lady, because apparently everybody else on board thought you were a trouble maker.
eric leondard of kfi news:
undercover federal air marshals on board a june 29 northwest airlines flight from detroit to lax identified themselves after a passenger, "overreacted," to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told kfi news.
the passenger, later identified as annie jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service…
"the lady was overreacting," said the source. "a flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane."
the middle eastern men were identified by federal agents as a group of touring musicians travelling to a concert date at a casino, said air marshals spokesman dave adams.
"in concert with the flight crew, the decision was made to keep [the men] under surveillance since no terrorist or criminal acts were being perpetrated aboard the aircraft; they didn't interfere with the flight crew," adams said.
the air marshals did, however, check the bathrooms after the middle-eastern men had spent time inside, adams said.
fbi agents met the plane when it landed in los angeles and the men were questioned, and los angeles field office spokeswoman cathy viray said it's significant the alarm on the flight came from a passenger.
jacobsen's husband kevin told kfi news he approached a man he thought was an air marshal after the flight had landed.
"you made me nervous," kevin said the air marshal told him.
"i was freaking out," kevin replied.
"we don't freak out in situations like this," the air marshal responded.
federal agents later verified the musicians' story.
"we followed up with the casino," adams said. a supervisor verified they were playing a concert. a second federal law enforcement source said the concert itself was monitored by an agent.
"we also went to the hotel, determined they had checked into the hotel," adams said. each of the men were checked through a series of databases and watch-lists with negative results, he said.
the source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned jacobsen's actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves.
but you know what? the truth is just not good enough for some people. the desert sun tells us:
brendi rawlin, a spokesperson for womenswallstreet.com, said verifying the syrians were part of a musical band doesn't completely explain their actions on the plane."they actually still believe this was a dry run, regardless of whether they were musicians," rawlin said, citing responses to the article and quotes attributed to adams. "if terrorists can learn to fly planes, couldn't they learn to play instruments?"
there are unsubstantiated rumors that a domestic terrorist group is plotting to attack the media during next week's dem convention. bloomberg:
the federal bureau of investigation said it received ``unconfirmed information'' domestic terrorists might try to attack television news trucks in an attempt to disrupt the july 26-29 democratic national convention in boston, according to a statement from the fbi's boston office.cbsnews tells us the steps being taken to make sure no freedom of speech is actually exercised next week:
the terrorists, who weren't otherwise identified or described, might use explosives or incendiary devices to attack the trucks, which are used by correspondents, producers and camera crews in the field to report stories, the fbi said.
the boston globe reports that a federal judge has upheld a plan by boston police to confine protesters to a small area surrounded by concrete barriers, fencing and razor wire.gee, why would anyone be mad at the media?
jenna and barabar will be online to answer your questions (be nice now) on the official george bush election web site. you must pre-register first.
they'll be talking between 2:30 and 3:30 real time. pittsburglive.com has a preview of how it might go.
mark morford, writing in the sfchron, wonders how far the repubbbs will go to steal the election this time:
there is a sense of lawlessness, of desperation, among the republican party right now. it is no longer a question of simply which party will run the show or which platform will have the most influence on policy. rather, it's about a radically polarized worldview: are we going to be an aggressive macho globally disrespected isolationist nation that has burned all bridges and molested all foreign relationships and mocked all global sympathy, or are we, as the gop wants you to believe, going to become some liberal namby-pamby country where gays can marry each other and sexually deviant women can have abortions every day and everybody speaks french?(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to no more apples for the link!
because there is no middle ground. this is the gop message. you are either with us, or you are a terrorist. you are either on the side of the "patriotic," pro-war party of wmd lies and homophobia and violence toward the global community, or you're a liberal hippie 'nam protester like that jerknose kerry.
what else could they do to guarantee a november win? what are they capable of, in the wake of 2000's stolen election and the rigging of the florida recounts and a sneering, despoiled supreme court? just about anything, really.
how about a nice october surprise of suddenly finding osama somewhere in a remote cave in afghanistan, as the news media receives an "anonymous" delivery of a big glossy photo of dubya himself standing outside said cave in a manly flight suit and lookin' all tough in his cowboy boots and confused smirk as he waves an american flag in one hand and holds osama by a chain in the other? what, too obvious?
well, then, maybe something a bit more devious? how about the thousands of electronic, touch-screen voting machines now installed in the nation's polling places, most every one manufactured by corporations run by staunch bush-supporting republicans and many of which don't allow for recounts or paper trails or any means of double checking their completely programmable results. an obvious recipe for election rigging? is that katherine harris, giggling through her botox?
billmon looks the wall st. journal's report on how the tax cuts created a two-tiered recovery.
eccentricity takes awol's defense of his security policy with a grain of salt.
in case anyone's going to be in boston next week (we can't imagine why), the nation and the american prospect will be hosting a showing of "outfoxed," after which eric alterman will speak.
orcinus covered the seattle debut of "the hunting of the president," including guest like susan macdougal and gene lyons.
who knew? the democratic veteran is the pope! (at least, he says, his claims to be are as legitimate as those saying was no pattern of abuse at abu ghraib).
no more mister nice blog congratulates liz smith, of all people, for debunking a repubbb meme.
bear left wonders if america's chemsitry has changed.
unknown news brings us this headline: county backs down in dildo battle!
needlenose gets to the good stuff in the 911 commission's report. so does lambert at corrente. ditto the side show.
we are ashamed to admit we hadn't heard about the passing of movie composer jerry goldsmith, a giant among film musicians. thank goodness tbogg had.
the middle earth journal has pictures of giant sun spots. ooooooohhhhhh!
suckful thinks barbara is prettier than jenna. oooooooohhhhhh!
the bosglobe has the most succinct explanation yet of exactly why tom delay is under investigation by the house ethics committee (if you don't count the obvious "because he's a scumbag" approach):
gerrymandering by itself is not illegal. in texas, however, delay used the clout of a political action committee backed by corporate money to secure the gop legislative majority required for the gerrymander. texas law forbids corporate donations in legislative races. when democratic lawmakers took a plane to oklahoma to prevent the legislature from voting on the plan, a delay aide asked the federal aviation administration to track it down. house standards of conduct forbid members from contacting federal agencies for political purposes. in addition, [rep. chris] bell contends, delay sought a campaign contribution from an energy company in exchange for favorable consideration of legislation.
the daily cookie sends us to this site: george says...
you can write what awol says and pose him, too!
Thursday, July 22, 2004
ani-mail! ani-mail! hot diggety dog, it's ani-mail! (ok, so we like animal planet, so sue us).
norwegianity bemoans the dropping like flies of celebs for the dems:
first they came for the dixie chicks, and i didn't speak up because i wasn't a musician and didn't like country music...
left is right found a website listing pro-choice republican congress women.
and here's your daily dose from the daily cookie:
the asspress muses that f911 is making the gop nervous...
two senior republicans closely tied to the white house said the movie from director michael moore is seen as a political headache because it has reached beyond the democratic base. independents and gop-leaning voters are likely to be found sitting beside those set to revel in its depiction of a clueless president with questionable ties to the oil industry. ..
based on a record-breaking gross of $94 million through last weekend, theaters already have sold an estimated 12 million tickets to "fahrenheit 9/11." a gallup survey conducted july 8-11 said 8 percent of american adults had seen the film at that time, but that 18 percent still planned to see it at a theater and another 30 percent plan to see it on video.
and 22 percent plan to steal a cable signal when it comes to hbo.
faux news talks about an upcoming network which is a conservative answer to mtv:
tun [the "u" network"] aims to challenge what it says is mtv's liberal bias as well as compete with the entertainment channel by including student-based programming and in-house productions co-produced by students like "the w show," a docu-series based on president bush's 2004 campaign; "dinner and a debate"; at least two military-themed reality shows; and a "positive" spring break special called "make or break."
gee whiz, wally, all the kids at the soda shop will be dancin' and stuff!
and finally, reuters reports that free plastic surgery, including breast implants, is being offered to recruits by the u.s. military:
"anyone wearing a uniform is eligible," dr. bob lyons, chief of plastic surgery at brooke army medical center in san antonio told the magazine, which said soldiers needed the approval of their commanding officers to get the time off. ..
the magazine quoted an army spokeswoman as saying, "the surgeons have to have someone to practice on."
be all that you can d-cup?


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The Core Plus Income Fund is a bond fund with primary investment objectives of current income and capital preservation. A secondary investment objective is long-term capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities, which may include U.S. Government and agency securities, corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and securities issued by foreign governments. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in debt securities which are non-investment grade or unrated. The Fund may invest in derivative instruments. The Fund may also invest in common stocks, preferred stocks and securities convertible into stocks.
The dollar-weighted average maturity of the portfolio is expected to be less than 10 years and the minimum duration is expected to be at least 3 1/2 years. The Fund's primary benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
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< Back to collections by Larry Towell
Larry Towell - PALESTINE. Gaza Strip. 1993.
ISRAEL. Palestine Square, Gaza City. 1993. Massive protests by burning tires to draw Israeli soldiers into
ISRAEL. Gaza City, Gaza. 1993. Shaikh Radhwan neighbourhood is one of Gaza City's most common neighbourhoods for "clashes." Here children play after school. Isr...
ISRAEL. Jabalia, Gaza. 1993. Hamas activists opposed to peace negotiations with Israel hold "cold" weapons
Father of twelve-year-old Allah Abu Hindi grieves at the concrete sepulchre of his son killed by an Israeli sniper during a stone throwing clash. Bodies are ret
Dr. Eyad El Saeeaj is a civil rights activist, who has been jailed 3 times in past years.
ISRAEL. Shati refugee camp, Gaza. 1993. Palestinian women (mother centre) hold photo of family member, Ahmed Salem Deep ELHAPAT, a 21-year-old PLO guerilla kill
ISRAEL. Gaza City, Gaza. 1993. Triangle of sunlight (caused by roof lines) on ground in Palestine Square. (Then Palestine, page 2-3)
©Larry Towell/Magnum Photos
ISRAEL. Khuza'a village, Gaza. 1993. Palestinian woman harvesting wheat.
©Larry Towell/Magnum Photos
ISRAEL. Shati Refugee Camp, Gaza. 1993. Family mourning the death of 12-year-old Alla Abu HINDI shot to death by an Israeli sniper during a stone throwing clash
ISRAEL. Shati, Gaza. 1993. Teenagers waiting for patroling Israeli soldiers to pass by an alley during the wake of Ahmed Salem Deep ELHAPAT, a 21-year-old activ
ISRAEL. Gaza City, Gaza. 1993. On May 11 Israeli radio released the names of six Paletinian armed activist
ISRAEL. Nasr, Gaza City, Gaza. 1993. Burial of Allah Abu HINDI, 12 years of age. On May 6 Allah Abu was killed by Israeli soldiers during a stone throwing incid
ISRAEL. Shati Refugee Camp, Gaza. 1993. Palestinian woman with basket on her head. (Then Palestine, page 38) ©Larry Towell/Magnum Photos
ISRAEL. Khuza'a village, Gaza. 1993. Palestinian woman offers the photographer an egg while threshing wheat. (Then Palestine, page 69) ©Larry Towell/Magnum Phot
ISRAEL. Shati refugee camp, Gaza. Mother of Ahmed Salem Deep ELHAPAT with photo of son, 21-year-old PLO guerilla killed by Israeli agents near the Egyptian bord
ISRAEL. Shati Refugee Camp, Gaza. 1993. Palestinians regroup in defiance following attack by Israeli army at vigil for Hassdan Homammed Mohammed HAMOUDA, killed...
ISRAEL. Zeitoun Quarter, Gaza City, Gaza. 1993. Hamas women enter the family house of an activist killed i
ISRAEL. Shati refugee camp, Gaza. 1993. A Palestinian youth runs by a clandestine national flag during wake for one of three PLO activists killed on the Egyptia
ISRAEL. Shati refugee camp, Gaza. 1993. Fatah activist spray painting graffiti at funeral of PLO guerilla
ISRAEL. Mother holds a photograph of her 21 years old PLO guerilla son who was killed near egyptian border trying to escape Gaza.
ISRAEL. Gaza Strip. Daily life in Dier el-Balah refugee camp. 1993.
ISRAEL. Family threshing wheat in Huzar village.
ISRAEL. Gaza Strip. Khuza's village. Wheat harvest. 1993.
A mother pleads with Israeli soldiers for the return of her son accused of throwing stones at a passing army truck.
Palestine Square, Gaza City, The Gaza Strip
GAZA STRIP. 1993. Family members of Shati Camp run with body of Allah Abu Hindi, 10, shot by Israeli soldiers, to bury him before Israeli soldiers capture the b


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We asked and you voted. Here are the top 25 sitcom couples of all time...
25.? Doug Funnie and Patty Mayonaise - "Doug"
Doug and Patty's love clearly doesn't extend towards their future children, who, one way or the other, are screwed in the last-name department.
24.? Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knope - "Parks and Recreation"
?It's not every day a guy who isn't Bill Clinton can survive a political blow like sleeping with someone you shouldn't. Ben's love for Leslie prevented a scandal, and also his goals for the future, minus the one about being in love. So it's all fine.???
23.? Frank and Marie Barone - "Everybody Loves Raymond" ??
Frank and Marie's undying devotion can probably be entirely attributed to the fact they can spy on their son 24/7. Nothing unites two people quite like meddling in their immediate family's affairs.?
22. ?Al and Peg Bundy - "Married with Children"????Sometimes the secret to a good marriage is simply not murdering the other person in the marriage, which was quite an achievement for Al and Peggy. Despite pretty much hating each other, they somehow worked.
21. ?Jesse and Rebecca Katsopolis - "Full House"
Jesse and Becky are from two different worlds, which is why it's even weirder that, given the choice between the two worlds, they chose the one where the are married adults who have to live in an attic.


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How to Formalize Your Selection of an Estate Attorney
After you have researched attorney credentials, interviewed estate lawyers, and discussed pricing, you will be ready to make a final decision on an attorney to assist with the administration of your estate or trust. Once your selection is made, you will proceed to formalize the arrangement. Often, an engagement letter is used to formally establish a working relationship between attorney and client.
The engagement letter outlines the scope of the work to be performed. A clear definition of the attorney's responsibilities and your duties as fiduciary should be established. For example, you may be responsible for providing the attorney with all relevant information, and he or she may undertake to provide necessary forms and documents to be filed.
Generally, engagement letters are formulaic. You should still take the time to read through them carefully. Anything you don't agree with can be deleted. Additions can be manually inserted, provided that both you and the attorney initial the changes.
Ask questions if anything in the letter is unclear. After all, it's your decedent's estate.
Remember, your choice isn't irrevocable. You may change attorneys at any time and for any reason. Dissatisfaction with your choice, even without professional misconduct or shady dealings, is reason to try again.


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A woman pregnant with twins went into labor while waiting at a bus stop early Friday and delivered one of her boys on the side of a Long Island road.
Nassau County police say they were notified of a woman in labor near Meacham Avenue and Rosser Street in Elmont early Friday.
Three officers arrived and helped the 33-year-old mom, Mariejunia Ally, deliver her first baby, police say.
Shortly after that, an ambulance was on scene to take her to the hospital. Her second baby was born in the ambulance, police say.
Mom and both babies are doing well.


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Icahn's New Target: Dell
Dell said activist investor Carl Icahn is pushing for a huge special dividend instead of a planned $24.4 billion leveraged buyout by founder Michael Dell. David Benoit joins Markets Hub. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... on the call corporate arena these days they call him an activist investor ... Holy see active Carl Icahn didn't seem like it or in Times Square recently ... this morning from paper Wall Street Journal when we talk about some of the Dell deal Carl Icahn is involved in the Dell deal that did the doesn't have enough on his hands right Herbalife Transocean ... Chesapeake ... he in ... the rush to sell into the middle the Dell deal sending a rather blunt letter to Dell's board of doubt they're going private transaction ... that could put it here he said to them ... having reviewed the going private transaction ... we believe that it is not in the best interests of deal should tell shareholders ... that substantially undervalues the company ... rather than engaging the going private transaction ... we propose that Dell will immediately declared a special dividend ... of nine dollars per share ... if you fail to agree promptly of the forty or ... if you fail to agree promptly combine the vote on the going private transaction with a vote on the annual meeting ... coming up soon ... we anticipate years of litigation will follow ... Carl Icahn wants nine dollars a share day Benoit ... who won the authors on the story that is a front page of one of the Wall Street Journal to ... talk about this tale story and ... Carl Icahn ... this guy ... I'd UniCredit Ee that the lady I have is a trait Exec Lee is out there and being busy at Mrs this is among his more significant moves recently I mean right Herbalife is slow but a different story but ... but certainly he has just trust him self and in this you weren't his way into this Dell deal ... and is not a good sign for Michael Dell this by now ... we don't know how big his stake his recent sale right now ... he called insubstantial ... he's kind of didn't want the scope of what justice is in the letter ... was talk about the surprise that the board decided they were put in our eye on since is so so we don't know how big it is and how big of a blow but ... likely he's one of the top shareholders and over already ... the Reverend yes oh ... yes and so and buys a PQ state gobbles up the huge state right to shares it down a little bit ... now still some about thirteen sixty five or oh well above the low but ... now that it's too and the T Rowe and ... then sell some of the two largest outside is ... already against the deal ... now Carl Icahn comes on board against the deal ... was that if the deal so aam ... still a bit unclear but so CNBC has reported that icon status or five or six percent and ... if that's true ... the no votes the people who applied the cons are they're voting no is around twenty percent ... and when they may have to get to forty two percent ... but that tells people that don't vote the shares adobo come as the now ... well so ... that twenty percent people publicly ... clamoring no no no and I'm sure there's market but their tail in all they say they're a lot of people that are clamoring yes ... on the Dart St ... by ... I ate there a lot of questions right now whether they still can get done at this price Seiyu said that deals more with this NRA calls him I knew this report laid out ... what is the bubble was the board's goal and why so is this is this a discussion involves the special committee is is conducting a go shop period bring out there out there soliciting offers ... the story today in the Journal ... says that HP has looked at an offer Blackstone is looking in an offer it is looking essentially gone away that science can happen ... and Lenovo was the least approached ... to offer ... and they said no we don't we don't wanna do that either ... so ... essentially ... this special committee of directors that this post be independent of Michael Dell and ... his is doing everything it can to make sure that it provides the best offer for shoppers ... it now has to consider this special dividend ... and whether or how how strong they have to consider it is kind of un clear how the hell is real but offers says Niko icon it will put the letter says ... he himself will own out of his own pocket three billion dollars ... get this done ... aam ... there have to just decide in love ... I obviously


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John Goodman has lost a lot of weight.
The 63-year-old actor debuted his significantly slimmer physique on the red carpet Thursday at the premiere of his new movie "Trumbo" during the BFI London Film Festival.
The "Roseanne" alum has spoken publicly on multiple occasions about his fluctuating weight. In 2010 after having lost nearly 100 pounds, the Golden Globe winner told Men's Health how he'd struggled to maintain a healthy weight for most of life.
"It started when I was a kid. I'd lock myself in the house and sneak food," he said. "It gave me great pleasure to eat —it's part of an alcoholism personality."
NEWS: Roseanne reunion! John Goodman and Sara Gilbert catch up on The Talk
Goodman has been sober since 2007, and in doing so, he's been able to focus a lot more of his energy on living healthfully. Even so, though, it isn't easy. "It's a life of rehab," he told Men's Health of his more active lifestyle. "But it's a labor of love."
He also spoke with David Letterman on the "Late Show" back in 2010 about his then-recent slim down, admitting his "all-time" highest weight was around 400 pounds.
"It's going to be an ongoing process for the rest of my life," he reiterated, reassuring Letterman he never planned to slim down to the point where he might "look like Paris Hilton or anything like that."
SIGN UP: Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest celeb news delivered straight to your inbox!
The best part, though? Goodman said he feels "night and day" better when he's working out and eating well.
For much more on how Goodman shed an estimated 100 pounds, tune in to E! News Friday at 7 and 11 p.m.
PHOTOS: More celebrities who've lost a lot of weight


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The Second Issue of Open Anthropology is Here!
Violence is the theme of the second issue of Open Anthropology. The collection "On Violence" offers information, revelations, historical facts, descriptions of context and portraits of situations over time and place, a sampling of anthropological findings on the subject. Ten articles, two book reviews, and "The Editor's Note" comprise this anthology written by anthropologists across … Continue reading The Second Issue of Open Anthropology is Here!


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Every other Thursday, we bring you Nicholas Day -- on cooking for children, and with children, and despite children. Also, occasionally, on top of.
Today: Nicholas wants us to make pesto like a 3-year-old -- with abandon, and especially with kale.
This is the season of pesto: there is no better time to make the sauce that almost all children, by some apparent secret agreement, are willing to eat. I have a reputation for insisting that your child will eat garlic. But there seems to be some sort of child-friendly alchemy when the raw garlic in pesto meets anything: it is all mysteriously okay.But I am not here to give you yet another marginally altered, incrementally improved recipe for pesto genovese (basil, pine nuts, etc.). Basil, as Gillian Riley writes in The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, "is perhaps too well known as the main ingredient of pesto genovese." And pesto, she adds, "has now become fossilised, in areas outside Italy, into an industrial product eaten almost exclusively with pasta."
I want you to make pesto more randomly and more eccentrically. In short, I want you to make pesto more like a child would: with radical abandon followed by a lot of smashing. I do not know how Isaiah would make pesto, but I can tell you how he makes yogurt pops. His recipe, verbatim:"I put some flour in a bowl. And I cook it for twenty one minutes. And then I add cinnamon and sugar. And some eggs. And then I cook it some more. And then I put it in the fridge. And then I have yogurt pops!"I ask you, would Isaiah confine himself to basil and pine nuts and garlic? He would not! He would add—I dunno—finely crushed leaves! This would fix the fossilised recipe problem, although perhaps not in the way that Gillian Riley was envisioning.
Pesto will tolerate anything short of a garnish of autumn leaves. There are strictures—you do need an herb or vegetable, you do need oil—but they are not very strict. Add any nut you want (or none). Add garlic or not. Add cheese or not. Add almost any herb or green, alone or in combination. A pesto recipe is a Rorschach test for how you see the kitchen: you put in the things most prominent in your mind. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall makes brown bread, hemp oil, and parsley pesto. Alice Waters makes traditional pesto with immaculate ingredients and she'd really prefer you used a mortar and pestle. Tamar Adler, who is incapable of looking at a compost pile without seeing dinner, makes pesto out of cores, stems, and leaves. (It's the best broccoli-flavored butter ever made. But to a kid, it may look like the sort of green lump that adults are always trying to get you to eat. Isaiah gave his pile the look you'd give something that was walking across your plate.)
The point is that pesto knows no taxonomical boundaries: you should never have to go to the store because you're missing an ingredient.
All of this brings us, inevitably, to kale, the "it" vegetable of the new century, the brassacia that ate Brooklyn, the only vegetable that inspires t-shirts. Earthy and ridiculously hale, with the sort of deep wrinkles you get from a life of soaking up the sun, kale has a sort of superfood emanence, especially to the parents of small children. Have you seen the internet lately? It is now mostly comprised of recipes for kale chips.If you are skeptical, do not think of kale as bitter and earthy. Think of it as virtuous but tough, like a monk who kickboxes. Kale pesto is not outlandish. Melissa Clark did it, cleverly pairing it with butternut squash—dessert meets dirt. Maria Teresa Jorge has posted a cavolo nero version. I riffed off ibbeachnana's recipe, using less oil and toasting the walnuts (and just shocking the kale). We put it on pasta and added chunks of feta; some of us added chile flakes. It would be splendid on toast, on potatoes, with eggs. You lose the fragrance of pesto genovese, of course, but you gain a few notes on the bottom—it is a weightier thing. And if you have some kale stems left over, you are most of the way to making stem pesto. Eat it after bedtime.
Kale Pesto by ibbeachnana
Makes 1 to 1 1/2 cups
1 big bunch of kale, rinsed, ribs removed and torn into large pieces3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil (optional: 2 tablespoons of which Meyer lemon olive oil)1/2 cup Parmigiano, microplaned2 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped1/2 cup pine nutsSalt and pepper to taste1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photos by Joseph De Leo (except Kale Pesto, by Winnie Abramson)
A New Way to Dinner, co-authored by Food52's founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, is an indispensable playbook for stress-free meal-planning (hint: cook foundational dishes on the weekend and mix and match 'em through the week).
See what other Food52 readers are saying.


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For some time now, I have been using Gmail as my email provider. A couple of months ago, one of my email addresses just stopped working. I kept getting the same error message saying that my password was wrong, no matter what I entered into the boxes. I was also using Microsoft Outlook as my primary email program on my computer. Since that one email address no longer worked, I decided to see if I could figure out why and spent a lot of time with different email programs. I used Thunderbird, Apple's Mail and Sparrow to try to get around the problem.
Thunderbird was working well until last night, when my primary email address, that I have on literally hundreds of registrations and forms, stopped working. Strangely, it kept working on my iPhone, leading me to believe, ultimately, that the problem did not lie with Google. As an alternative, I had already signed up for Yahoo mail and inexplicably that program seemed to work.
OK, so here was the situation.
My regular and highly used email address, email@example.com, stopped working except on my iPhone. None of the three programs, Thunderbird, Mail or Sparrow will connect with the Gmail server for that account. I have spent about two hours trying to come up with a solution and nothing I do seems to make any difference at all.
So, if you send me an email message for the time being, do not assume I have received it.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Email Struggles
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- GP2 news
Leal joins Racing Engineering alongside Leimer
- Drivers:
- Julian Leal
- |
- Fabio Leimer
- Teams:
- Racing Engineering
Racing Engineering has announced that Julian Leal will join Fabio Leimer at the team for the 2013 GP2 season.
Leal is entering his third season of GP2 having made his debut for Rapax in 2011. He failed to score a point in his first year as he registered a best finish of ninth place in two sprint races, but after switching to Trident for the 2012 season Leal scored nine points, with seventh in the feature race at Spa his best result. He will join up with Leimer once again having been team-mates at Rapax and said he feels he can improve further this year.
"Racing Engineering is a team I believe in and where I feel that I can demonstrate the experience I have gained so far," Leal said. "I am happy we reached agreement and that Racing Engineering will be my team in 2013 and I will be giving everything to achieve the best possible results. It is a positive point to be able to work again with Fabio as he is a very fast driver and we will be able to compare the data to continually improve."
Leimer enjoyed a strong campaign in 2012 as he finished on the podium six times for Racing Engineering, and he said he can build on that consistency to mount a championship challenge this season.
"I am very happy I can drive again with Racing Engineering in 2013," Leimer said. "I already felt very comfortable in this team last year, our collaboration was extremely professional and I am happy we can continue to build on this. I would also like to thank the team for their trust in me.
"I am convinced that in 2013 we have very good chances to win the championship. I would also like to thank all those, who are additionally supporting me. It was not easy to obtain the funds for another season in GP2. Now I am optimistically looking forward and am impatiently waiting for the first race on the 23rd of March to start."