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A useful vicious
This month’s winner for biting commentary comes, not surprisingly, from Jeff Clark who dubbed The Aristocrats “an endurance contest for chronic masturbators”.
I haven’t actually seen the movie., but I haven’t heard much good about it.
And speaking of endurance contests, September is conspiracy to stop me from getting more than 5 hours of sleep a night. I finally have a light day and I get a new client with a crash and burn project that keep me up till 5:30, writing a blog post while files upload.
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Deep thought
If you had to think of a name for a band or rugby team, you could do a lot worse than the Green Apple Splatters.
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Rambling thoughts on hearing peace speeches
I apoligize for the rambling nature of this post, but my brain is a bit foggy right now.
Two notable things.
- If Cynthia McKinney is going to have a hyperbolic denunciation of the past 5 years, she should really get the details right. Cheney is from Wyoming, not Montana.
- “people signaling passing helicopters with gunfire” is the most ludicrous statement ever made.
There some other weird things such as Ramsey Clark’s statement that “We’ll only be safe when the defense budget is cut by 90%”, the weird attempt to link Haiti and the Palestinians to anything and everything, the endless self-congratulation and so much more.
I suppose the underlying (and unconscious) theme behind all of the speeches was the need for authenticity, which really wasn’t there.
I was reminded of the “Fingerbang” (they form a boy band) episode of South Park when the mall manager pans their audition. One of them says “But we tried out best!” The mall manager: “Really? That was your best? Wow.”
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Well put by Kaus
The ever-readable Mickey Kaus has some good insight
Escape from TimesSelect: The NYT’s Tom Friedman, in an exceptionally blowhardish appearance on Meet the Press, laments the effect of massive U.S. borrowing from China:
I think we have–we are now in a position where China has– they’re heading for $1 trillion, OK, of our–in reserves that they’re going to be holding, basically. And the leverage that is going to give China over the United States in the coming years, God knows where– how that’s going to play out.
Hmm. If you lend a trillion dollars to someone, does that give you leverage over them or them leverage over you? I’d always thought it was the latter, especially when the debtor is a sovereign nation. (Keynes: “Owe your banker 1000 [pounds] and you are at his mercy; owe him 1 million [pounds] and the position is reversed.”)
It’s worth noting that the Chinese (and whoever) are gambling on the US Government keeping it’s word and paying back all of their debts, which seems a bit iffy.
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Vegan fist
Naturally I was drawn to Vegans file lawsuit over surveillance at ham store.
That day, two vegans — vegetarians who eat only plants and plant products — were wrapping up an animal cruelty protest with a handful of other vegans when they noticed a man in a CVS pharmacy parking lot taking pictures of them.
Later, they would learn that the man was an undercover homeland security detective, according to a federal lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed Thursday on the vegans’ behalf.
Short version: they have some protest, some guy takes pictures of them, they get the photographers tag number, photographer has them pulled over and then takes paper containing tag number.
Grievances: They claim their right to privacy was violated, he claims he needed the car to be used in further undercover work (which is to say he regarded his earlier actions as private).
There are too many annoyances to list individually so I’ll just stick with this one.
The primary complaint of both parties was that the other violated their right to privacy in some way. While the abortionistas have been trying to define privacy as inherently vaginal this goes even further in lunacy.
Both parties were obviously and self-consciously in public when all of this happened, namely in the Honeybaked Ham parking lot.
One can’t be in private and in public at the same time.
However isn’t it nice these three found each other?
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The Hendrix Show
I just returned from the Hendrix show. I had a good time, there was a good turnout and all in all it was a success. It was surprisingly well documented both in audio, video and photo.
Gallery Here (or just click on the Photo.) The photos didn’t turn out to be that notable, but not bad all things being equal.
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Random sample of reaction to the “Weekend of Protest”
Or whatever it’s called.
Daily Kos Guidelines
The Crazies as seen by the shrill (in this case Malkin) -
Politics in the style of Runyon
From the Belmont Club, channeling Damon Runyon
The Gaza withdrawal may turn out to be far more dangerous to the Palestinian Authority than to Israel because it unleashed powerful forces which Abbas has been unable to control. It now threaten to drag him like a man whose foot has been caught in the traces of runaway horses. The sad trainwreck unfolds. Hamas blows up its own parade through stupidity. Unable to lose face, Hamas rockets Israel from Gaza. Sharon, loathe to concede the Gaza withdrawal may have endangered Israel, will kill a score of terrorist leaders and hit the Palestinians in the pocketbook to show he’s tough. That will get the ‘militants’ all jumping up and down, while the PA teeters like a house of cards in a Category 4 hurricane and the peace movement hums an inspirational hymn indistinguishable from the shrieking of the wind.
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Phil Ochs said it first
The world began in Eden and listed in Los Angeles was one of Phil Ochs‘ later and unremarkable songs.
That was in the sixties. Now I see these two headlines
Members of two of the worlds major religions, both getting caught trying to commit terrorism in the same city making news on the same day. Weird.
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Everything’s bigger in Texas
I was just watching MSNBC‘s storm coverage. They sent all 5 foot 4 inches of Rita Cosby to Galveston to be buffered by the wind, eerily resembling a Saturday Night Live skit.
They later cut to a local affiliate who also had sent people to Galveston. Texas newscasters, at least the hurricane covering variety, were around 230 pounds each and barely moved. It was a weird contrast.