New Pics

It has been a while since I've added any pictures here, so let's take a look at some recent stuff. Some of these need a lot of cropping and some Photoshop work but some of them I'm really proud of, enjoy.

2 years ago today

Katrina made landfall. Shrub wishes Nawlins a happy anniversary. Here's a timeline of that day. I remember that despite the fact "no one could have predicted..." my fellow commenters at Daily Kos (commonly referred to as Kossacks) were offering assistance days before landfall. 8/29/05 - never forget that on this date Republicans allowed one of the most beloved cities in the country to be devastated and still haven't mobilized to repair it.

And, OMG, the stupid, it burns, it burns us it does.

Top 10 Gonzales moments

Although, they are missing my favorite, when he says something like, "I have now been made aware that I do recall that." I'm going to have to do some digging to find the actual quote.

It's official

Any Republican that espouses "Family Values" to mean anti-gay is more likely to be a closet case. Can we just start laughing at them now when they bring this shit up?

Have to admit, I'm pretty freaked out about this.

Peter and I were watching the Sevilla-Getafe game when Antonio Puerte fell to his knees, his teammates rushed to his side and reached into his mouth to prevent him from swallowing his tongue. Eventually he got up and walked off the field to the locker room. But apparently he collapsed again in the locker room and was rushed to the hospital. He died Tuesday. It freaked Peter and I out so much that we stopped watching the game. And it's still freaking me out now. I've never seen someone die. And while I know that that streak will eventually have to end I'm unhappy and scared of when it will. And someday it will be me. Bummer.

Sorry for the downer, on a somewhat lighter note, after Puerte collapsed and left the field Peter and I looked over at each other and I know we had the same thought. We were both suddenly very afraid of our own tongues.

Is this thing on?

I think I'm down to like 2 readers (Hi Mom and Dad!) and I've never had commenters. Sigh.

Endless Cummer

Wonkette keeps track of all the summer's sex scandals.

Remember it's not (usually) the sex that is the problem but the hypocrisy.

A bloggers response to Michael Skube

You may remember my rant about the Skube piece in the LA Times here. And now here is an "official" blogger response.

Hillary, Hillary, Hillary ::shaking head::

Would you just shut the f*** up?

The correct response should be, "If there is another terrorist attack it will prove that the Failed Bu$h Administration^TM is in fact a failure and doesn't seem to really care about stopping terrorism and would give a huge boost to the Democratic party as the party that will actually do the correct things to stop terrorism." Duh. Was that so hard?

And this guy has 3 Pulitzers?

Suck on this, indeed.

He's such a wanker he has his own unit of measure named after him, a Friedman Unit is six months. Why are we still listening to him?

People are funny

And I think I will be adding their site to my "Goofy" RSS Yahoo feed page.

2 years ago today

Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas, six days later it would make landfall for the third time (after crossing Florida and then glancing off southeastern Louisiana) along the Louisiana/Mississippi border. As we all know, New Orleans was devastated and despite days of warning the Failed Bu$h Administration^TM did little to nothing for roughly the next 4 days. The really scary part - Katrina had been downgraded to only a Category 3 storm when it made its final landfall.

I Miss New Orleans
The Aftermath Numbers

And the area is still devastated. See this and this and this.

You know, thinking about all the incompetence of the Failed Bu$h Administration^TM leads me to wonder if it really isn't incompetence but deliberately done. Maybe the idea is for government to screw up so badly that everyone wants it replaced with private sector solutions. I know on a number of occasions I've thought, "Well, if they're not going to do it right, why don't I get a bunch of people together and we'll do it ourselves." I'm not the only one.

Edwards - Still my guy.

Read the full speech at the end of the post. That's good, powerful, populist, progressive stuff. Here is what I took from the speech:

1) The centrist/DLC way does not work and will be abandoned.
2) Corporations currently run this country, this will end.
3) Money quote: "We cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats, just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of the other."
4) Need public financing of campaigns
5) Create true universal health care.
6) Implement caps on greenhouse gases without nuclear power or liquefied coal but with true renewable energy sources.
7) Strengthen unions
8) Raise minimum wage
9) Cut lower and middle class taxes, "Let's restore fairness to our tax code by insisting on a simple principle -- nobody in the middle class should pay higher taxes on the money they make from hard work than the wealthiest pay on the money they make from their investments."
10) End the war in Iraq, "We should immediately withdraw 40-50,000 combat troops immediately and have the rest out in about a year."

Like I said previously, Edwards is not prefect, there are some things on which we disagree but on most things we strongly agree. Obama could still ultimately win my support but he needs to get as fired up as Edwards and take off the gloves and direct his attacks at someone other than Hillary. How about an Obama/Edwards ticket?

I saw history tonight

Jaime Moreno scored goal 109 to take the most MLS goals spot. Too bad it was on a penalty kick. When's he going to score one in the run of play again?

They can't even win their own arguments

Start here or if you want to just jump right into the idiocy, go here. The op-ed in the LA Times by Skube is yet another grenade lobbed by the Corporate Media^TM at the blogging community. Unfortunately, for them, it bounces off... something... and lands at their own feet, but luckily, for them, they were too stupid to even pull the pin.

So, we start at the beginning:

clipped from www.latimes.com

The late Christopher Lasch once wrote that public affairs generally and journalism in particular suffered not from too little information but from entirely too much. What was needed, he argued, was robust debate.

Ok, let's ignore the little/much information problem and concentrate on debate:

clipped from www.latimes.com

The blogosphere is the loudest corner of the Internet, noisy with disputation, manifesto-like postings and an unbecoming hatred of enemies real and imagined.

I would call that debate. So, already in the first two paragraphs Skube has contradicted his own argument. Journalism is really all about promoting debate and blogs are nothing more than debate. If both of those are true then blogs are a vital, in fact, the most vital part, of the media today. Well done sir. Moving on.

clipped from www.latimes.com

And to think most bloggers are doing all this on the side. "No man but a blockhead," the stubbornly sensible Samuel Johnson said, "ever wrote but for money." Yet here are people, whole brigades of them, happy to write for free.

Unless you whore yourself you can not be a Very Serious Person^TM. Awesome argument. Next.

clipped from www.latimes.com

Some [bloggers] reject the label "journalist," associating it with what they contemptuously call MSM (mainstream media); just as many, if not more, consider themselves a new kind of "citizen journalist" dedicated to broader democratization.

Is "citizen journalist" supposed to be an insult? Is broader democratization bad? Enquiring minds want to know. Next.

clipped from www.latimes.com

To the contrary, he [Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos wrote, "we are representatives of the mainstream, and the country is embracing what we're selling."

Are you scared?

clipped from www.latimes.com

There is at least some reason for activists like Moulitsas to see themselves as the new wave. Last year, the California 6th District Court of Appeal gave bloggers the legal victory they wanted when it ruled that they were protected under the state's reporter shield law. Other, more symbolic victories have come their way too. In 2004, bloggers were awarded press credentials to the Democratic National Convention. And earlier this month in Chicago, at a convention sponsored by Daily Kos, a procession of Democratic presidential hopefuls offered full salutes, knowing that bloggers are busy little bees in organizing political support and fundraising.

Oh, yes, you are scared. Boo! Next.

clipped from www.latimes.com

"What democracy requires," Lasch wrote in "The Lost Art of Argument," "is vigorous public debate, not information. Of course, it needs information too, but the kind of information it needs can only be generated by debate. We do not know what we need until we ask the right questions, and we can identify the right questions only by subjecting our own ideas about the world to the test of public controversy."

I love it. So, according to the quote Skube supplies democracy requires debate prompted by the information provided by journalists. No shit Sherlock. Bloggers are saying that you Very Serious Journalists^TM aren't asking the right questions, or in most cases, any questions. you are absolutely right. Next.

clipped from www.latimes.com

He [1960's NY Times reporter Claude Sitton] recounted the time in Philadelphia, Miss., when "a few rednecks -- drunk, shotguns in the back of their truck -- showed up at the Holiday Inn where Fleming and I were staying." The locals invited the big-city reporters -- Sitton from the Times, Fleming from Newsweek -- to come out and see the farm. "I told 'em, 'Look, you shoot us and there'll be a dozen more just like us in the morning. You going to shoot them too?' "

So, serious journalism is measured by how many death threats you get? Well then, shit, liberal bloggers are super journalists. See this earlier post about Ava, a 16 year blogger in Alabama. 'Nuff said. Next and finally.

clipped from www.latimes.com

n our time, the Washington Post's reporting, in late 2005, of the CIA's secret overseas prisons and its painstaking reports this year on problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center -- both of which won Pulitzer Prizes -- were not exercises in armchair commentary.

Nor, apparently, are these exercises in Very Serious Reporting^TM and this really invalidates EVERYTHING he said previously about serious journalism. The Walter Reed stories did not win a Pulitzer in 2005... or ever. Wasn't even freaking nominated! I...I...I don't even know what to say.


Muhahahah! Wait, this op-ed is a plant, right? This is really some blogger pulling the wool over our eyes, right? Some blogger intentionally making the Corporate Media^TM look like stupid jackasses, right? No, really, ok. Well, good job anyway.

You know, maybe I just don't understand Skube's rapier wit and superior logic, after all, I'm just a stupid blogger, a "citizen journalist", one of the unclean masses. Or maybe I could write for the LA Times on my fucking coffee break. Just saying, Corporate Media^TM, if you want a fight at least stop punching yourselves in the face. Otherwise, we're just going to get bored, wander off and take your girl/boy.

Don't believe the hype

On a different blog my Mom made a comment about Clinton being unelectable (Congratulations Mom, did you know you are officially a blogger? You've written a post and commented on another one, welcome. See us bloggers aren't scary at all, we are you). I just wanted to point out that this is a completely false talking point coming from the Republicans. Check out these poll numbers. Only in Alabama does she lose to Ghouliani and Lazy Fred and even there she has made HUGE inroads. If Clinton is our weakest candidate in red states any of the top three Dems will destroy any Repub opposition.

Leaves on the sidewalk

Haven't posted any pics in a while. Enjoy.

Interesting - Vaunted Boroughs

Was checking out Eschaton came across this post which led me to this graph. Some interesting data here. Completely unsurprised that DC has the lowest fuel consumption per capita. Despite how much I personally complain about WMATA and Metro in particular DC has great public transpo, could be better, yes, but still great.

New York is second, I bet, take out NYC and that drops to the lower third.

Then there are some weird things.
Big states and little states are not distributed based on size. 5 of the top 10 are big to medium-big states (NV, AZ, CA, OR, WA), see state size rankings here. 5 of the bottom 10 are also big to medium-big (MO, ND, SD, OK, WY). Here's where it gets really weird, fuel consumption does not correspond to population density, although no wonder DC is first, the next closest state, New Jersey is 9x less populated. (As an aside, I'm a little leery of the website that population density links to. "Demographia is "pro-choice" with respect to urban development.
People should have the freedom to live and work where and how they like.", could very well be a pro-sprawl statement).

What does it all mean? I don't know, but there's a lot to study here.

About effing time!

You Must Read This! It's an editorial in the NY Times written by a group of non-commissioned officers in Iraq. For me, this is the first money quote:

clipped from www.nytimes.com

The ability of, say, American observers to safely walk down the streets of formerly violent towns is not a resounding indicator of security. What matters is the experience of the local citizenry and the future of our counterinsurgency. When we take this view, we see that a vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure and view us as an occupation force that has failed to produce normalcy after four years and is increasingly unlikely to do so as we continue to arm each warring side.

Why do I highlight this? Because it points out very distinctly the problems I have with the Corporate Media. To put it nicely the Corporate Media has been an ardent cheerleader in the Iraq Adventure^TM and since I'm not feeling nice I will also call it what it is. They have whored themselves out to this failed administration and time and time again have carried their water.

In the next money quote, this group goes after our failed administration:

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Coupling our military strategy to an insistence that the Iraqis meet political benchmarks for reconciliation is also unhelpful. The morass in the government has fueled impatience and confusion while providing no semblance of security to average Iraqis. Leaders are far from arriving at a lasting political settlement. This should not be surprising, since a lasting political solution will not be possible while the military situation remains in constant flux.

And this:

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Washington’s insistence that the Iraqis correct the three gravest mistakes we made — de-Baathification, the dismantling of the Iraqi Army and the creation of a loose federalist system of government — places us at cross purposes with the government we have committed to support.

Have we seen any of the Serious People in Washington^TM say things like this? No. In fact they are all beating the drum (at least right now) of "The Surge^TM is working!" Which is wrong, not even nuanced wrong but just false. The Corporate media is not to be trusted with, well, much of anything really.

Finally, there is this:

clipped from www.nytimes.com

At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation.

Why hasn't this aspect improved? Why haven't we made a priority of getting basic services online? It doesn't take a rocket scientist or even a college degree to see that while the Iraqi people were probably pretty happy to get rid of Hussein they probably also had a fairly rational expectation that getting rid of him would make their lives better not worse. But really no one should be surprised by this failed administration's ability to get anything done, if you are surprised I have one word for you... Katrina.

Write your congressman and senators. The time to impeach came about years ago and it is almost too late.

[UPDATE] I imagine those who don't understand my dislike for the Corporate Media will bring up the fact that I am quoting from an editorial in a Corporate Media newspaper. Yes, you are right and I'm not going to say that we need to get rid of the Corporate Media, they do things and have access to things that no blogger can do or has (yet). But here are the real problems: 1) Too little, too late. Where the fuck have they been for the past 8 years? 2) This editorial was not written by anyone from the Corporate Media.

DCU - 2 CLB - 0

So, yay, a good win against Columbus. Great strike from Fred, nice poaching by Emilio for the goals. Greg Lalas was the color commentator; stick to the writing Greg. He was horrible. The win puts DC 3 points behind New England and tied with NY.

Speaking NY, holy crap! 66,000 people, Beckham's first start, Beckham's first two MLS assists, 9 goals, that's right 9! Defense? Not so much. BTW, Jozy Altidore is the real deal.

The links don't work because MLS's video technology is shite.

Hobo LOLcats

Hi-lair-e-us

More about the lawsuit against AT&T

I originally talked about AT&T and spying here but this is more about the actual lawsuits.

Hepting v. AT&T (yes, I am linking to Wikipedia, in a separate post I'll talk about the problems with wikipedia)
al-Haramain v. Bush (the first page of Google results do not contain ANY links to corporate media stories. Still trust the media?)

BTW, Wired magazine has been talking about TIA since 2002 and Wired thinks it's important.

I'm going to end up in jail

Had this been me I probably would have been arrested or at best missed my flight.

I'm pretty sure I would have refused to enter my password and when the "anti-american" question came up I'm pretty sure I would not have answered the way they would have wanted me to.

Having a healthy disrespect for authority is a problem when living in an authoritarian state.

Huh. Beckham is captain.

FUCK!!!! 2-0, LA

Does DC ever win on narrow fields? No.

Fuck LA. I hates them.

But I'll be rooting for them in the final I guess. Soccer makes for many shifting allegiances.

So, the SuperLiga folks have to be happy, Becks in the final...good for them and good for the SuperLiga. Seriously, if you can't have the most decorated team in MLS in the final at least you have Becks.

Ok, now DC needs to come up with a narrow field game plan.

Holy Shit! Muwahahah!

Guiliani for the Rethug nomination!

Seriously, this situation scares me a little, I'm not even remotely worried that any of the Democratic candidates can't kick the crap out of any of the Rethuglican candidates.

Surge!!!

Effin' A, not even Faux News can spin this into a positive. But despite the obvious evidence, that they themselves report, will anyone be surprised when the corporate media (CM) cheerleads General David "I'm here to say whatever the White House wants me to" Petraeous's September "The Surge is Working^TM" report?

Muerte o Gloria

I'm in!
I read this and realized, "what the hell, at games, that is where I want to be." I just paid my membership dues, sorry A&P and B&K I'll be on the other side of the stadium next season.

I bleed black and red

One more thing from a year ago.

The importance of the 50 state strategy. 425 out of 435 contested Congressional races. Can't win if you don't play. Let's remember that and not let the DLC "centrists" try to convince us that the better strategy is to only run in the races we can definitely win.

More on the DLC in a more lengthy post but basically I'm not prepared to listen to anyone who says the only way to increase Democratic power is to move to the right and blur the distinction between the two parties.

And 1 year (and 4 days) ago...

Thank you Sidarth for being called a racial epithet and recording it.

America might be much different without that incident.

And don't forget that it was the netroots that pushed the story. The corporate media was more than willing to ignore it.

Speaking of what the eff happened...

Who said this:
"Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? That's a very volatile part of the world, and if you take down the central government of Iraq, you could very easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off: part of it, the Syrians would like to have to the west, part of it -- eastern Iraq -- the Iranians would like to claim, they fought over it for eight years. In the north you've got the Kurds, and if the Kurds spin loose and join with the Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of Turkey. It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq."

Feingold? Gore? Dean? Kerry? Powell? Clark? All wrong.

Find out here.

38 years ago today

Ok, so what the eff happened to you guys?

OMFG! I didn't know there was a video! OMFG!

This is one of the songs that was in heavy, heavy rotation on my stereo as a kid.

36%!

If Gore is included in polls he wipes the floor. Everyone knows that if he runs, he wins and he wins in a landslide. If he doesn't run whichever Democrat wins better make him head of the EPA.

The Look

BTW, check out the last song in my playlist, a live version of "The Look" by Roxette. The sing-along at the end gives me goosebumps. It's not the song per se, I always have that reaction when I hear thousands of people singing together.

Could this be why Turd Blossom is running for the hills?

Judge demands reporters reveal their government sources in the accusation of Steven Hatfill in the anthrax letter case. Remember that? It's a good thing to remember when the wingnuts bring up the false "no terrorist attacks on our soil since 9/11" meme.

I, for one, welcome our new squirrel overlords.

They have heat producing tails people! They know how to use camouflaging makeup! We are doomed! Oh wait, they're fucking squirrels.

You can run but you can't hide Turd Blossom

Official press release from John Edwards. Classic.

AT&T - bad.

This is why I don't want an iPhone (they are only available through AT&T and for some reason Apple signed an exclusive 5 year deal).

AT&T's Secret NSA Room

For those too lazy to read the article, basically it talks about a class action lawsuit against AT&T which alleges the company has set up a way to physically monitor all IP based communications that travel through their hubs. That means all internet and telephone traffic. For anyone aware of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program this is a crucial (and illegal) part of creating a system capable of monitoring and parsing every bit of information sent through telecoms for whatever purposes the government deems appropriate. This is Big Brother stuff and before I am dismissed as a paranoid conspiracy theorist, remember that the system is already in place, we just don't know how it is being used.

If you use AT&T switch and write a letter to them explaining why. (Yeesh, trying to find an address or email address is next to impossible. I'll keep searching but if anyone has this info put it in the comments.)

If you aren't using AT&T send them a letter saying you won't be using them and explain why; send one to Apple as well.

Uncomfortably energetic

ZOMG!!! Zombies! MWAHAHAHA

New Comic

Found my new favorite comic, xkcd via Cute Overload. Here's why it's a favorite:



That's comedy gold, people!

Hi

We r in ur cuntry taking over ur politics

John Edwards

YearlyKos Presidential forum starting NOW!

Here.

Bill richardson

Political fanboy

I am a political fanboy. In a future post I will explain what that actually means (think The Beatles coming to America, Japanese schoolgirl at an N'Sync concert, comic book fans at the opening of Spiderman). OMFG! Ana-Marie Cox!!!! Darcy Burner!!! Scott Kleeb!!! Charlie Brown!!! Markos Moulitsas!!! Markos!!! Kos!!! And is that Jodie Foster? Pictures coming (but not of Ana-Marie Cox!!! or Markos!!! or Jodie Foster) Sorry.

Seriously, Jen Capps and Patty Mallan, wtf?

No, really, seriously, WTF?

My mind is blown. Will write more about this development later.

[Later] So I'm in Chicago for the YearlyKos convention, randomly wandering downtown looking for a restaurant or bar to get something to eat. This group of people walk past me. As the last person in the group is walking by I glance over at her. Have you ever noticed those times when your brain just kind of shuts down because it just can't compute. I realized it was Jen Capps about the same time she recognized me and we both just kind of stopped and stood there. It was even more strange because just a week or two earlier I had run into her twice in one day, after not seeing her for more than a year (we currently work in adjacent buildings).

You're probably saying, "so what, people run into someone they know all the time." Well, yeah, I guess so, but it is rare made even more rare by the distances involved. I want to talk about this some more but right now I need to get ready for work.

Oh, and Patty was in the group too. Not sure how but we walked right past each other. Wonder what she's up to these days.

Yearlykos

So, I'm here and the show has begun. I will try to update as frequently as possible but it might be a late at night recap. To figure out what I'm talking about go here. And go here to see the blog that originated this convention.

A couple pictures of morning over Lake Michigan.

Gay marriage legalized

After a small, brief ceremony the happy couple went on their honeymoon in The Hague, Netherlands.

Speaking of soccer

How about the Iraqi national team getting to the final of the Asian Cup? Now if there was anyone competent in the government we would be using this kind of goodwill for some soccer diplomacy. The message is easy, "See, Shia and Sunni can come together and accomplish a shared goal." Duh. Also, paging MLS, why aren't you guys saying, "Hey, why don't we help you guys set up a league." Granted, MLS is barely surviving on their own but I'm sure any help they could give would be appreciated. I know, I know all of that is more complicated than I make it seem, but fuck, is anyone even trying?

Anyway, congrats to the Iraqis and good luck, I hope you kick some Saudi ass (that's an interesting matchup).

Also, check out Drew Carey saying all the things I want to say to the unenlightened on Letterman:

Well, well

Looks like Freddy is on his way to Portuguese club, Benfica. As recently as Wednesday it looked like the deal had fallen through mostly because it seemed that MLS was asking WAY too much for a transfer fee, $7.5 million (at least that was the number Steven Goff threw out, sorry can't find the post where he said that). Now it looks like the transfer fee is a much more realistic $2 million. Freddy flies to Portugal tomorrow, seems like a done deal. Good for Freddy. He needs to be on a team where he is not the star. Let's just hope he doesn't get Donovan Syndrome. Surprisingly, becasue of the complicated deal that sent Freddy to RSL from DCU means that DC gets $150k and RSL's third round pick next year (which really is nothing). That $150k would be very useful towards the Juan Sebastian Veron to DCU rumors.

Batshit crazy

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour from huffpost and Vimeo.

These guys...

These Are My Wednesday One-Liners, in Whom I Am Well-Pleased
Seated proselytizer: Jesus walked through walls without using the door, and when Jesus touches you, he is inside you and you become like Jesus. So, if you do something to me, I don't need the police. I can just come to your house, because I can get in without keys.

--1 train

Overheard by: thaler

Mexican preacher: Statistics show one in one person will die.

--Times Square

Overheard by: soccerking3t

Religious nut: You have to accept God! His holy grace! His saving grace! He's got all kinds of grace!

--Grand Central

Bible-thumper: There's no way if you wrap citric acid, cola, and carbonation in aluminum foil and stick in in the fridge for a million years it's ever going to evolve into a Coke!

--Tompkins Square Park

Preacher: The best thing you can have on your resume when you die is not that you went to Harvard, not that you have a Ph.D., but that you have eternal life.

--Staten Island Ferry

Overheard by: God requires a resume?


via Overheard in New York, Jul 25, 2007

...need to see this picture.

(picture yoinked from here)

Hey illegal immigrants, screw picking grapes...

you'll make a lot more money proofing ads. Obviously, this is one of those jobs Americans don't want to do.

So True.

Wednesday One-Liners for the Naked Cowboy

Hoochie: Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between a generally good party and a generally good party with naked girls.

--St. Mark's & 2nd Ave

Overheard by: Steve

via Overheard in New York, Jul 25, 2007

Best ads ever

Found this site, some good stuff, especially this. I give it 5 ha-rumphs...well, 4.5 'cause it didn't have this one:

Ray Hudson is, in fact, insanely awesome

Found this post recently and I agree, Ray Hudson can be an incredibly annoying announcer but he does bring a lot of passion and some of the most sublime, nearly unintelligible metaphors you will ever hear. Most of the time you're thinking, "Ray, what the f* are you talking about?" But then he'll bust out with the crazy and your brain does a "Wait, what? What did he just say? OMG, that is the bestest, most convoluted metaphor I've ever heard." Seriously, I've made Peter rewind the game just to hear some crazy thing Ray has said. Even when he was DC United's coach, the team may have played like shite but the quotes were awesome. Don't believe me, check out Ray Hudson Must Die (obviously someone who can't enjoy the absurd).

My favorite on that list:
Here you see him, trickier than a monkey up a monkey tree.
Hudson, 19:09 1st

Seriously, WTF? But I can't help laughing.

Darfur and water troubles

I'm in the process of writing a fairly long post about the commodification of water and the effects of the continuing scarcity of it. Water is poised to become the most precious commodity, so much so that oil would be relegated to the same level as bananas when compared to it (meaning wars for oil will look like border skirmishes in comparison).

I am aware that the situation in Darfur is terrible. However, I am completely ignorant of the reasons behind the conflict. According to this BBC report it's water. Are there other conflicts that foreshadow the looming problem? Kashmir? Nepal? Congo? Las Vegas (there should be a second link here but I can't find it, where was I reading that)?

Those stories about women's colleges are true, aren't they?

That Thing Almost Took Off My Hand Last Time
Student #1: Jess, come here. I need your help.
Student #2: I am not touching your cooter again.

Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts

via Overheard Everywhere, Jul 16, 2007

Mr. Lee the Cat Photographer

This is so cool. Some dude hooked up a digital camera to his cat and sent him outside with the camera set to take a picture every so many minutes. I want to do this...although it would be pretty boring on Mittens since he rarely goes outside and when he does stays within 50 feet of the door.

Kind of cool

I was able to ask neo-con asshat Bill Kristol a question on a WaPo online discussion. Mine is the very last question he answered.

Just found this

through DCist.

VegDC. Who's up for checking out Java Green. Speaking of vegetarians I've been on the mailing list for this Meetup group for a long time but have never gone, anyone interested in going to one of their events with me?

Sound like LNSers to me...

except that they're riding the bus, I'd imagine that is against the bylaws

For Those Who Think It Tragic That White Birthrates Are Dropping
Old frat boy #1: Yeah, dude, I really need to get my stuff together. I've already graduated college and I still live like I'm in college.
Old frat boy #2: Yeah, don't mess around and end up like Mike* -- he's about to have a second kid. Both of them were mistakes.
Old frat boy #1: Yeah, I always make the girls I have sex with stand on their heads after. I'm so glad that urban legend is true.
Old frat boy #2: Haha, yeah, I always make the girls I hook up with do post-coital jumping jacks.

Metrobus
Washington, DC

Overheard by: Tyler

via Overheard Everywhere, Jul 14, 2007

City Paper cover story of Late Night Shots (LNS), only read this if you are prepared to be thoroughly disgusted, pissed off and possibly homocidal.

Wonkette laughing at these morons since June 2006.

Out of Africa

So I just finished watching Out of Africa again. I last saw it when it came out in theaters (it was in Manassas, so it may have been at the dollar theater a year after it was released) and this is what I remember from the first time:

• I didn't really understand the plot or follow the story line (I think I might have even fallen asleep at times).

• Africa was/is beautiful

• The cinematography was awesome (yes, I noticed that at the tender age of 15 (or 16), it was one of the reasons I think my parents took me to see it)

• The plane scene was incredible, I think that is when I decided I love flying (maybe I just liked it before?).

Here is what I know now:

• Meryl Streep was not “hawt” but strong, independent women are hot.

• Any guy that doesn't have a man-crush on Robert Redford is either psychotically oppressively gay or dead inside or just doesn't like blonds.

• Best line of the movie:

  Hans (Streep's husband, Klaus Maria Brandauer): “You could have asked, Dennis.”

  Dennis (Streep's lover, Robert Redford): “I did. She said yes.”

• The British/Spanish/Dutch/Germans/Italians/French (aw, hell, Europeans)/Americans fucked it all up for the rest of us (meaning future generations of those nationalities and the people they “colonized”).

• Dennis (Redford) came the closest I've seen in a while to expressing my reservations about marriage. (Paraphrase: Would I love you less with or without a piece of paper)

• Karen (Streep) came the closest I've seen in a while to expressing the argument against my reservations. (Paraphrase: No, but at least you would have acknowledged that you have a reason/obligation to be here with me (there is more to it than that, but it's a start)).

• I yearn for a true frontier.

• Europeans/Americans mistook technology, bureaucracy and strict social mores for civilization.

• Africa was/is beautiful

• The cinematography was incredible.

• The plane scene was awesome.

• Coffee can be grown at high altitudes.

I have actually had this happen...more than once

5PM You Mean the Planter?

Blonde salesgirl on phone with IT: My computer is not working.
IT guy: Did you plug everything in right?
Blonde salesgirl: Yes! Of course! The light is on, but nothing's happening. [IT guy goes to her office, bends over, presses power button and walks out.] But the light was on!
IT guy: That's your screen. The computer is the big box on the floor.

Office, Meilleur Street
Montreal
Canadia

Overheard by: ID-10-T

via Overheard in the Office, Jul 12, 2007

My Mascot

Ha-rumph indeed

I'll be there too!

Hillary last Dem candidate to accept the invitation to YearlyKos.

Well, Republicans, are you proud?

There are a lot of things to address from this clip:

1) The power of the internet
2) The myth of the weak Democrats
3) The truth that the Democrats have been and continue to be the party of the lower and middle classes while the Republics have been and continue to be the party of the rich
4) Democrats are for education, Republics are for money
5) Democrats think long-term, Republics are short timers

Yet Another Example

of why the music industry is horrible and deserves to have its product stolen; they make it not worth buying.

F*** Yeah I Am!

My Liberal Identity:

You are an Eco-Avenger, also known as an environmentalist or tree hugger. You believe in saving the planet from the clutches of air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

This is called proof.

One more false argument the climate change deniers can't use.

Awww yeah, shake it little otter [BARRY WHITE VOICE]

Otters RULZZ!

Holy Horoscope!

Mine is spot on! (Aquarius)

Davezilla's Horoscopes

OH!! SHNAP!!

Michael Moore rips the f* out of Wolf Blitzer and the media in general. Once again, Moore points out the incompetence and complicity of the mainstream media. BONUS: Moore basically endorsed Al Gore. Run Al, run.



UPDATE: Couple links for you, Michael Moore's site, an anecdotal story about audience reaction in Texas, Texas people! In the comments from the audience reaction piece I found these links, One Care Now and Health Care For All, which are specific to California but might be a good model for the rest of the country. Finally, House Resolution 676, introduced by John Conyers, there don't seem to be any bills introduced in the Seanate.

Katie-Brian Wedding in Erie, PA

MWAHAHAHAHA

Someone at DOJ is unhappy.

un-FUCKING-believable

Bush gives a huge "Fuck you" to justice (PDF).

Madam Speaker Pelosi, NOW will you put impeachment back on the table?

Ow!