Tuesday, September 30, 2003
"color" commentator
thanks to a post by the waded into jimmy the greek waters, ('cuz fat people, you know, have the necessities to float...)
appearing on espn's pre-game countdown show, lush windbag made the following remarks about the philadelphia eagles quarterback donovan mcnabb:
"think what we've had here is a little social concern in the nfl,'' limbaugh said. "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. they're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well ... mcnabb got a lot of the credit for the performance of the team that he really didn't deserve.''
amazingly, sports illustrated writer peter king thinks these remarks are not racist, just a stupid approach to how a quarterback matures in his career. however, phil sheridan of the philadelphia inquirer thinks we should penalize rush for illegal use of mouth.
bet.com has a specific take on the matter, as you would guess. and superbowl champion quarterback doug williams didn't appreciate rush's unique commentary either.
here's what joe sixpack is saying. and, once again, here is the petition to boycott espn for you to sign.
addendum: looseleft, over on kos' comments section, tells us he's gathering the names and addresses of the espn advertisers, so go over to flush rush and write some angry letters, kids!
thanks to a post by the waded into jimmy the greek waters, ('cuz fat people, you know, have the necessities to float...)
appearing on espn's pre-game countdown show, lush windbag made the following remarks about the philadelphia eagles quarterback donovan mcnabb:
"think what we've had here is a little social concern in the nfl,'' limbaugh said. "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. they're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well ... mcnabb got a lot of the credit for the performance of the team that he really didn't deserve.''
amazingly, sports illustrated writer peter king thinks these remarks are not racist, just a stupid approach to how a quarterback matures in his career. however, phil sheridan of the philadelphia inquirer thinks we should penalize rush for illegal use of mouth.
bet.com has a specific take on the matter, as you would guess. and superbowl champion quarterback doug williams didn't appreciate rush's unique commentary either.
here's what joe sixpack is saying. and, once again, here is the petition to boycott espn for you to sign.
addendum: looseleft, over on kos' comments section, tells us he's gathering the names and addresses of the espn advertisers, so go over to flush rush and write some angry letters, kids!
posted by skippy at
8:14 PM |
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americans, but especially anna, for dean
the lovely anna of annatopia has reminded us that howard dean is trying to reach another fund-raising goal as of the end of today (and the end of the 3rd quarter).
if you want inspiration, anna suggests you read this article from the nation (a fine report on today's white house press briefing, showing a rattled scott mcclellan).
anna says if you want to hear howard on line, go here.
but most of all, anna wants you to go here and contribute. and we wouldn't mind if you did.
the lovely anna of annatopia has reminded us that howard dean is trying to reach another fund-raising goal as of the end of today (and the end of the 3rd quarter).
if you want inspiration, anna suggests you read this article from the nation (a fine report on today's white house press briefing, showing a rattled scott mcclellan).
anna says if you want to hear howard on line, go here.
but most of all, anna wants you to go here and contribute. and we wouldn't mind if you did.
posted by skippy at
7:46 PM |
0
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happy end of september from the bush economic team
consumer confidence fell faster and farther than robert novak's excuses last month, far below analysts' expecations. of course, those analysts actually have jobs. cnnmoney says:
the conference board, a business research group based in new york, said its closely watched index of consumer confidence fell to 76.8 from a revised 81.7 in august. that was much worse than economists' forecasts and the lowest reading since march, when consumers were worried about the u.s.-led campaign to take baghdad.
the lowest point since the "u.s.-led campaign to take baghdad"? how about "the lowest point since the war in iraq, which is still going on"?
we know awol loves to break those records, so here's another his administration can hang on the wall:
but their attitude about the economy has been shaky, as the labor market has been mired in its longest slump since world war ii. recent sentiment surveys by the university of michigan and abc/money have echoed the weakness in thursday's conference board report. [ed. note: emphasis and use of the the bold button, ours].
and, as forbes.com reports, the news did not help today's stock market:
stocks sagged on tuesday after reports on business activity in the midwest and u.s. consumer confidence fell well short of wall street's expectations and boosted fears the economic recovery may be in danger.
growth at chicago-area businesses slowed sharply in september while u.s. consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level since the start of the iraq war, two reports showed on tuesday shortly after the open.
that doesn't help the recovery at all.
consumer confidence fell faster and farther than robert novak's excuses last month, far below analysts' expecations. of course, those analysts actually have jobs. cnnmoney says:
the conference board, a business research group based in new york, said its closely watched index of consumer confidence fell to 76.8 from a revised 81.7 in august. that was much worse than economists' forecasts and the lowest reading since march, when consumers were worried about the u.s.-led campaign to take baghdad.
the lowest point since the "u.s.-led campaign to take baghdad"? how about "the lowest point since the war in iraq, which is still going on"?
we know awol loves to break those records, so here's another his administration can hang on the wall:
but their attitude about the economy has been shaky, as the labor market has been mired in its longest slump since world war ii. recent sentiment surveys by the university of michigan and abc/money have echoed the weakness in thursday's conference board report. [ed. note: emphasis and use of the the bold button, ours].
and, as forbes.com reports, the news did not help today's stock market:
stocks sagged on tuesday after reports on business activity in the midwest and u.s. consumer confidence fell well short of wall street's expectations and boosted fears the economic recovery may be in danger.
growth at chicago-area businesses slowed sharply in september while u.s. consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level since the start of the iraq war, two reports showed on tuesday shortly after the open.
that doesn't help the recovery at all.
posted by skippy at
3:02 PM |
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but who will get her 2%?
in a move that will elicit a great big "so what" from everybody except her publisher, arianna huffington is rumored to be ready to pull out of the california recall.
the cw says that if arianna supports the "no on the recall" position (in effect, backing gray davis), her big 2% of support would go to bustamante, or perhaps camejo. as it is, if you believe cnn/usatoady's recent poll, it won't matter because the only thing that can stop ah-nold is if somebody comes back from the future and kills him.
whatever happens, be sure to check out arianna's "special interest brothel" cartoon on her website.
in a move that will elicit a great big "so what" from everybody except her publisher, arianna huffington is rumored to be ready to pull out of the california recall.
the cw says that if arianna supports the "no on the recall" position (in effect, backing gray davis), her big 2% of support would go to bustamante, or perhaps camejo. as it is, if you believe cnn/usatoady's recent poll, it won't matter because the only thing that can stop ah-nold is if somebody comes back from the future and kills him.
whatever happens, be sure to check out arianna's "special interest brothel" cartoon on her website.
posted by skippy at
2:52 PM |
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Monday, September 29, 2003
posted by skippy at
11:39 PM |
0
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blogging around
thanks to discrete ravings, it's zombie infection simulation v 2.3, a fun applet.
the horse is all over the plame affair, quoting josh marshall and cbs as well as the washpost.
at tbogg, tom takes on reason's take on clark.
mike at left is right wonders if awol is just a sacrificial lamb for the ultra-right.
the liberal oasis wonders if the plame thing found the gop completely disorganized.
thanks to eric at the hamster we find a petition from the people for the american way calling for an investigation into the plame affair.
talkleft tells us about an assisted suicide to be performed at a rock concert...truth is in indeed, stranger than fiction.
thanks to discrete ravings, it's zombie infection simulation v 2.3, a fun applet.
the horse is all over the plame affair, quoting josh marshall and cbs as well as the washpost.
at tbogg, tom takes on reason's take on clark.
mike at left is right wonders if awol is just a sacrificial lamb for the ultra-right.
the liberal oasis wonders if the plame thing found the gop completely disorganized.
thanks to eric at the hamster we find a petition from the people for the american way calling for an investigation into the plame affair.
talkleft tells us about an assisted suicide to be performed at a rock concert...truth is in indeed, stranger than fiction.
posted by skippy at
10:28 PM |
0
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open source plame
mark kleinman over at open source politics has culled together a fine overview of the valerie plame affair (including a fine cartoon of karl rove being frog-marched out of the white house in chains). we'd suggest reading it now, as this story promises to only get bigger in the future.
mark kleinman over at open source politics has culled together a fine overview of the valerie plame affair (including a fine cartoon of karl rove being frog-marched out of the white house in chains). we'd suggest reading it now, as this story promises to only get bigger in the future.
posted by skippy at
10:07 PM |
0
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rip famous song and dance man and famous stool pigeon
donald o'connor, the boyish and energetic dancing singing comic actor of 5 decades of movies, died last weekend at the age of 78.
o'connor will be best remembered for his performance in singin' in the rain, perhaps the best movie about movies every made.
starting in films in 1937, o'connor's last film appearance was in 1997's out to sea, starring walter matthau and jack lemmon. but fans of the tv show mr. ed may be interested to learn that o'connor starred in a series of goofy b movies in the 40's and 50's about frances the talking mule, the prototype for the talking horse on television.
a gagman to the very last, it has been reported that o'connor's last words were "i'd like to thank the academy for my lifetime achievement award i will eventually get."
also passing last weekend at the age of 94 was elia kazan, known both as a great director and the man who named names in front of joe mccarthy's house unamerican activities committee.
kazan directed such historic films as on the waterfront, east of eden and streetcar named desire, and such broadway greats as the original death of a salesman, which in itself would assure him a place in history. but it was his decision to reveal names in the early 1950's of his friends who had earlier joined the communist party that still reverberates today.
many, if not all, of the people kazan named to the committee were blacklisted for years, and could not find work in hollywood. kazan himself was threatened with being blacklisted if he did not cooperate.
we assume there is no blacklist in heaven. but we know there will be at least some singing and dancing.
donald o'connor, the boyish and energetic dancing singing comic actor of 5 decades of movies, died last weekend at the age of 78.
o'connor will be best remembered for his performance in singin' in the rain, perhaps the best movie about movies every made.
starting in films in 1937, o'connor's last film appearance was in 1997's out to sea, starring walter matthau and jack lemmon. but fans of the tv show mr. ed may be interested to learn that o'connor starred in a series of goofy b movies in the 40's and 50's about frances the talking mule, the prototype for the talking horse on television.
a gagman to the very last, it has been reported that o'connor's last words were "i'd like to thank the academy for my lifetime achievement award i will eventually get."
also passing last weekend at the age of 94 was elia kazan, known both as a great director and the man who named names in front of joe mccarthy's house unamerican activities committee.
kazan directed such historic films as on the waterfront, east of eden and streetcar named desire, and such broadway greats as the original death of a salesman, which in itself would assure him a place in history. but it was his decision to reveal names in the early 1950's of his friends who had earlier joined the communist party that still reverberates today.
many, if not all, of the people kazan named to the committee were blacklisted for years, and could not find work in hollywood. kazan himself was threatened with being blacklisted if he did not cooperate.
we assume there is no blacklist in heaven. but we know there will be at least some singing and dancing.
posted by skippy at
5:40 PM |
0
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the war that keeps on giving part one soldier killed, seven wounded
cnn reports one soldier killed and seven others wounded in two separate attacks near or in fallujah today.
a u.s. soldier was killed and one was wounded monday in an improvised explosive device attack on a convoy near fallujah, west of baghdad, a u.s. military spokesman said…
in other violence, at least six u.s. soldiers were wounded overnight in an improved explosive device attack in fallujah, the u.s-led coalition said. the soldiers were evacuated to a combat hospital.
please refer to lunaville's iraq coalition casualty chart for the exact number of u.s. troops since awol dared the vaguely defined enemy to "bring them on."
cnn reports one soldier killed and seven others wounded in two separate attacks near or in fallujah today.
a u.s. soldier was killed and one was wounded monday in an improvised explosive device attack on a convoy near fallujah, west of baghdad, a u.s. military spokesman said…
in other violence, at least six u.s. soldiers were wounded overnight in an improved explosive device attack in fallujah, the u.s-led coalition said. the soldiers were evacuated to a combat hospital.
please refer to lunaville's iraq coalition casualty chart for the exact number of u.s. troops since awol dared the vaguely defined enemy to "bring them on."
posted by skippy at
11:36 AM |
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plame it on someone
meteor blades, writing on the daily kos has an excellent review of how the media, the administration and president george herbert walker bush (senior) are looking at the valerie plame affair.
and we at skippy urge everybody to write or call their senate and congress jerks and call for an immediate congressional investigation into this felony which could have endangered so many lives of those who serve and protect america (though, it's obvious from the events of the past few months that the administration cares very little for the lives of those who serve and protect america).
meteor blades, writing on the daily kos has an excellent review of how the media, the administration and president george herbert walker bush (senior) are looking at the valerie plame affair.
and we at skippy urge everybody to write or call their senate and congress jerks and call for an immediate congressional investigation into this felony which could have endangered so many lives of those who serve and protect america (though, it's obvious from the events of the past few months that the administration cares very little for the lives of those who serve and protect america).
posted by skippy at
11:29 AM |
0
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a voice made for blogging
that's how atrios describes himself, but he'll be in the michelangelo signorile show anyway today at 3pm eastern, 12 noon real time. and you can hear it on the internet!
that's how atrios describes himself, but he'll be in the michelangelo signorile show anyway today at 3pm eastern, 12 noon real time. and you can hear it on the internet!
posted by skippy at
11:23 AM |
0
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good bye and all that
one of our favorite political blogs, political predictions, is calling it quits soon. we can quite understand. it's almost a full-time job to blog about all the ridiculous things the people in charge are doing, and for a full time job, the pay sucks.
too bad, pp! we enjoyed it when you hoisted those pundits on their own petards. good luck in whatever you want to do!
one of our favorite political blogs, political predictions, is calling it quits soon. we can quite understand. it's almost a full-time job to blog about all the ridiculous things the people in charge are doing, and for a full time job, the pay sucks.
too bad, pp! we enjoyed it when you hoisted those pundits on their own petards. good luck in whatever you want to do!
posted by skippy at
11:18 AM |
0
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let's open the ol' skippy mailbag
spade hammer sends us a link to his question at hammerdown: why does condi still have a job? (and we'd like to add, and why don't we?)
frank at i protest found a webcast of paul krugman's speech at berkeley.
spade hammer sends us a link to his question at hammerdown: why does condi still have a job? (and we'd like to add, and why don't we?)
frank at i protest found a webcast of paul krugman's speech at berkeley.
posted by skippy at
11:14 AM |
0
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Sunday, September 28, 2003
blogging around
the kos reminds us the cubs have won the nl central! impossible!
mary at pacific views compares dean and clark's approach to their grass roots.
kevin at calpundit has a good analysis of why the plame affair is important.
and atrios logically narrows down the suspects.
mithras at fables of reconstruction echoes something we have been noticing...that when the going gets tough (ie, when the lefty's are standing up to them), the repubbbs start to whine.
congratulations to talkleft who got her one millionth visitor on saturday (not friday, as we previously thought). jeralyn merrit is a tireless advocate of civil liberties and justice, not only here in blogtopia (y!wctp!) and on cable news, but in the real world too! she fights for justice for a living, which is much more than any of the rest of us bloggers can say. she has been a good friend to this blog since our beginnings and an enthusiastic reporter of all things legal as they pertain to your and our rights. may you get a million times a million more, jeralyn!
the kos reminds us the cubs have won the nl central! impossible!
mary at pacific views compares dean and clark's approach to their grass roots.
kevin at calpundit has a good analysis of why the plame affair is important.
and atrios logically narrows down the suspects.
mithras at fables of reconstruction echoes something we have been noticing...that when the going gets tough (ie, when the lefty's are standing up to them), the repubbbs start to whine.
congratulations to talkleft who got her one millionth visitor on saturday (not friday, as we previously thought). jeralyn merrit is a tireless advocate of civil liberties and justice, not only here in blogtopia (y!wctp!) and on cable news, but in the real world too! she fights for justice for a living, which is much more than any of the rest of us bloggers can say. she has been a good friend to this blog since our beginnings and an enthusiastic reporter of all things legal as they pertain to your and our rights. may you get a million times a million more, jeralyn!
posted by skippy at
1:00 PM |
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open toed scandals
where the democrats couldn't get anything to stick, the cia might have just a little more tenacity...
the justice department is starting an investigation into whether awol's administration leaked the name of an undercover cia operative to get back at her husband, who had the temerity to disagree with them.
cbsnews says the white house has already started damage control, with one unidentified senior administration official telling the washington post the leak was "wrong."
the washpost goes into detail:
yesterday, a senior administration official said that before [robert] novak's column ran, two top white house officials called at least six washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of [ambassador joseph] wilson's wife. wilson had just revealed that the cia had sent him to niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. wilson's account touched off a political fracas over bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking iraq.
condeleeza rice is already doing a fast tap dance around the facts. cnn says:
rice, speaking on "fox news sunday," said she "knew nothing of any such white house effort to reveal any of this."
"certainly it would not be the way the president expected his white house to operate," she said.
most egregious of all, the bosglobe reminds us:
the intentional disclosure of a covert operative's identity can violate federal law.
tucker carlson better bone up his bone head repubbb rants to cover on crossfire...looks like novak might be spending some time upstate, if you know what we mean!
where the democrats couldn't get anything to stick, the cia might have just a little more tenacity...
the justice department is starting an investigation into whether awol's administration leaked the name of an undercover cia operative to get back at her husband, who had the temerity to disagree with them.
cbsnews says the white house has already started damage control, with one unidentified senior administration official telling the washington post the leak was "wrong."
the washpost goes into detail:
yesterday, a senior administration official said that before [robert] novak's column ran, two top white house officials called at least six washington journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation of [ambassador joseph] wilson's wife. wilson had just revealed that the cia had sent him to niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. wilson's account touched off a political fracas over bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking iraq.
condeleeza rice is already doing a fast tap dance around the facts. cnn says:
rice, speaking on "fox news sunday," said she "knew nothing of any such white house effort to reveal any of this."
"certainly it would not be the way the president expected his white house to operate," she said.
most egregious of all, the bosglobe reminds us:
the intentional disclosure of a covert operative's identity can violate federal law.
tucker carlson better bone up his bone head repubbb rants to cover on crossfire...looks like novak might be spending some time upstate, if you know what we mean!
posted by skippy at
12:47 PM |
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Saturday, September 27, 2003
posted by skippy at
5:44 PM |
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ah-nold, it's a fair question!
canada.com is reporting that even though larry "toledo, you're on the air" king has offered to host a gray davis-arnold schwarzenegger debate on his gabfest show, the terminator has rebuffed him.
the governor and the actor had some help saturday from cnn's larry king, who invited them on his show to debate one-on-one. but while davis's campaign quickly accepted, the republican front-runner's campaign insisted he has no intention of debating the democrat.
"gray davis is taking a page from the desperate candidates' handbook. he knows he's behind," said todd harris, a spokesman for the schwarzenegger campaign.
"he knows he needs to do something to shake up the dynamics of this campaign."
yeah? like what, answering questions about his positions?
canada.com is reporting that even though larry "toledo, you're on the air" king has offered to host a gray davis-arnold schwarzenegger debate on his gabfest show, the terminator has rebuffed him.
the governor and the actor had some help saturday from cnn's larry king, who invited them on his show to debate one-on-one. but while davis's campaign quickly accepted, the republican front-runner's campaign insisted he has no intention of debating the democrat.
"gray davis is taking a page from the desperate candidates' handbook. he knows he's behind," said todd harris, a spokesman for the schwarzenegger campaign.
"he knows he needs to do something to shake up the dynamics of this campaign."
yeah? like what, answering questions about his positions?
posted by skippy at
5:31 PM |
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who's got a new series? that's right
via dr. carol of the side show...fans of british humor, sci fi that refuses to take itself seriously, and all things non-sequitarian will rejoice to hear the news: doctor who is returning to tv. hopefully in a ninth reincarnation, as the fox tv movie (except for eric roberts peeling off his own fingernail) was not that swift.
we know we pretend mostly to be a political/social blog. but we have often thought the good doctor was far more important to pop culture than all of star trek and star wars combined. so our question to you is this: who was your favorite who? and who was your favorite companion? (bonus points for naming the best writer of the series...here's a hint: don't panic!)
via dr. carol of the side show...fans of british humor, sci fi that refuses to take itself seriously, and all things non-sequitarian will rejoice to hear the news: doctor who is returning to tv. hopefully in a ninth reincarnation, as the fox tv movie (except for eric roberts peeling off his own fingernail) was not that swift.
we know we pretend mostly to be a political/social blog. but we have often thought the good doctor was far more important to pop culture than all of star trek and star wars combined. so our question to you is this: who was your favorite who? and who was your favorite companion? (bonus points for naming the best writer of the series...here's a hint: don't panic!)
posted by skippy at
5:27 PM |
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freep the 'sweek!
atrios tells us about a great poll from newsweek...scroll down about a quarter of the page, it's on the right hand sidebar..."should rumsfeld resign?"
atrios also tells us that the cia has asked the justice department to investigate the wilson/plame affair (joseph wilson, former ambassador to african countries without uranium, blew the whistle on awol's story that saddam was trying to purchase same from same...so robert novak "outed" wilson's wife valerie plame [who was an undercover cia operative] by publicly naming her as such).
atrios tells us about a great poll from newsweek...scroll down about a quarter of the page, it's on the right hand sidebar..."should rumsfeld resign?"
atrios also tells us that the cia has asked the justice department to investigate the wilson/plame affair (joseph wilson, former ambassador to african countries without uranium, blew the whistle on awol's story that saddam was trying to purchase same from same...so robert novak "outed" wilson's wife valerie plame [who was an undercover cia operative] by publicly naming her as such).
posted by skippy at
5:13 PM |
0
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rip texas democratic progressive caucus
bill howell of the stout dem blog sends us a link to his illegal memorial for the progressive populist caucus of the democratic party of texas.
bill howell of the stout dem blog sends us a link to his illegal memorial for the progressive populist caucus of the democratic party of texas.
posted by skippy at
4:58 PM |
0
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Friday, September 26, 2003
happy rosh hashanah from the bush economic team
trying to sneak in under the radar (or at least at the end of the weekly news cycle), the census bureau reports today that poverty increased in america for the second year in a row. the nytimes says:
the census bureau reported today that the number of americans living in poverty jumped by 1.7 million people last year, the second year in a row the number has increased, and that median household income declined.
it was the first time since the early 1990's that there have been negative changes in poverty and incomes in two consecutive years.
many democrats charge that not only is awol ruining the economy with his tax cuts for the sky box class, he's trying to hide the results of it. usatoady reports
for the first time in 15 years, the poverty report was released on a friday. that had prompted charges by democrats such as reps. carolyn maloney of new york and william lacy clay of missouri that the white house hoped to see the bad news buried in little-seen friday night and saturday news coverage.
awol trying hide something? nah, couldn't be!
trying to sneak in under the radar (or at least at the end of the weekly news cycle), the census bureau reports today that poverty increased in america for the second year in a row. the nytimes says:
the census bureau reported today that the number of americans living in poverty jumped by 1.7 million people last year, the second year in a row the number has increased, and that median household income declined.
it was the first time since the early 1990's that there have been negative changes in poverty and incomes in two consecutive years.
many democrats charge that not only is awol ruining the economy with his tax cuts for the sky box class, he's trying to hide the results of it. usatoady reports
for the first time in 15 years, the poverty report was released on a friday. that had prompted charges by democrats such as reps. carolyn maloney of new york and william lacy clay of missouri that the white house hoped to see the bad news buried in little-seen friday night and saturday news coverage.
awol trying hide something? nah, couldn't be!
posted by skippy at
7:04 PM |
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sorry we missed it
not only did we miss "talk like bill o'reilly day" (something we don't regret missing), we also failed to notice that atrios recorded his 5 millionth visitor on thursday. congratulations on the traffic, atrios!
we did notice, however, that he's still using our "congratulations, you are the xxx visitor" gag, without crediting us. we will take the high road, and assume it's not stealing a joke, it's paying a tribute.
in the same vein (of traffic highs, not joke stealing), a big congrats to our bud talkleft for making a million hits today!
not only did we miss "talk like bill o'reilly day" (something we don't regret missing), we also failed to notice that atrios recorded his 5 millionth visitor on thursday. congratulations on the traffic, atrios!
we did notice, however, that he's still using our "congratulations, you are the xxx visitor" gag, without crediting us. we will take the high road, and assume it's not stealing a joke, it's paying a tribute.
in the same vein (of traffic highs, not joke stealing), a big congrats to our bud talkleft for making a million hits today!
posted by skippy at
6:58 PM |
0
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the war that keeps on giving part two u.s. soldiers and one british soldier killed in iraq
the ap reports one u.s. soldier was killed and two others wounded in a rocket propelled grenade attack in northern iraq on thursday night, while another soldier died in a warehouse fire in tikrit.
an american soldier has been killed and two others wounded in an ambush in northern iraq. the us military says it happened late thursday night when someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the soldiers' vehicle in the oil-producing city of kirkuk…
the military says an american soldier died and another was injured in a fire in northern iraq.
and the bbc reports british soldier died in a "tragic incident" involving small firearms on thursday.
a 32-year-old british soldier has died in a firearms incident in iraq.
sergeant john nightingale, from leeds, died in a "tragic incident", the ministry of defence said on thursday.
it happened on 23 september at shaibah, near the southern city of basra.
sgt nightingale's death did not involve enemy fire, the mod said, and the royal military police are investigating exactly what happened.
worse still, 8 iraqi's died and 18 were injured in a rocket attack on a market place, says the australian sbs:
a mortar blast at a market north of baghdad killed eight and injured another 18 civilians late on thursday.
the blast, which targeted a us military position, occurred in baqouba, about 50 kilometres north of baghdad. it came after the united nations announced plans to scale back its international staff because of the ongoing violence.
and , nbc's headquarters was bombed in baghdad. so guess which one of these incidents you heard about on tv?
the ap reports one u.s. soldier was killed and two others wounded in a rocket propelled grenade attack in northern iraq on thursday night, while another soldier died in a warehouse fire in tikrit.
an american soldier has been killed and two others wounded in an ambush in northern iraq. the us military says it happened late thursday night when someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the soldiers' vehicle in the oil-producing city of kirkuk…
the military says an american soldier died and another was injured in a fire in northern iraq.
and the bbc reports british soldier died in a "tragic incident" involving small firearms on thursday.
a 32-year-old british soldier has died in a firearms incident in iraq.
sergeant john nightingale, from leeds, died in a "tragic incident", the ministry of defence said on thursday.
it happened on 23 september at shaibah, near the southern city of basra.
sgt nightingale's death did not involve enemy fire, the mod said, and the royal military police are investigating exactly what happened.
worse still, 8 iraqi's died and 18 were injured in a rocket attack on a market place, says the australian sbs:
a mortar blast at a market north of baghdad killed eight and injured another 18 civilians late on thursday.
the blast, which targeted a us military position, occurred in baqouba, about 50 kilometres north of baghdad. it came after the united nations announced plans to scale back its international staff because of the ongoing violence.
and , nbc's headquarters was bombed in baghdad. so guess which one of these incidents you heard about on tv?
posted by skippy at
12:20 PM |
0
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two weeks off for good behavior
in an effort to boost morale among the troops stationed in iraq, the u.s. military is granting two week leaves of absence to soldiers stationed there. the bosglobe says:
american troops will get a vacation from the campaign in iraq under an r & r program being revived for the first time since the war in vietnam.
a planeload of troops is scheduled to arrive today in baltimore, the first of thousands to be flown out of deployments that have turned out to be longer and tougher than some expected.
we are happy our troops get some time off and get to actually be among their loved ones for a few days.
now, we are not subversive by nature, nor are we calling for anyone to do anything illegal, but it seems to us that once the troops get back here to america, the temptation and the rationalization to go awol would be incredibly great.
after all, if it's good enough for the commander in chief, it's good enough for everyone!
in an effort to boost morale among the troops stationed in iraq, the u.s. military is granting two week leaves of absence to soldiers stationed there. the bosglobe says:
american troops will get a vacation from the campaign in iraq under an r & r program being revived for the first time since the war in vietnam.
a planeload of troops is scheduled to arrive today in baltimore, the first of thousands to be flown out of deployments that have turned out to be longer and tougher than some expected.
we are happy our troops get some time off and get to actually be among their loved ones for a few days.
now, we are not subversive by nature, nor are we calling for anyone to do anything illegal, but it seems to us that once the troops get back here to america, the temptation and the rationalization to go awol would be incredibly great.
after all, if it's good enough for the commander in chief, it's good enough for everyone!
posted by skippy at
11:50 AM |
0
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more rip
robert palmer, the man who reinvented himself by putting sexy women in tight black dresses behind him in mtv videos, has passed on. reuters says he died in paris:
british rock singer robert palmer, whose smart suits and laconic style set the tone for much of the 1980s pop scene, died in paris of a heart attack early on friday, his record company said. he was 54.
palmer was best known for his 1985 no.1 hit "addicted to love" and its accompanying video, which featured leggy models in short black dresses with slicked-back hair and electric guitars.
and author/actor george plimpton, the man who pretended to play with the detroit lions while researching a best-selling book about it, passed away at age 74, says the ap:
just days before his death, "paper lion" author george plimpton shared memories with members of the 1963 detroit lions team with whom he briefly played as research for the best-selling book...
"we had just spent a wonderful weekend with him, celebrating the 40th anniversary of `paper lion,'" detroit lions president matt millen said friday in a statement. "he and `paper lion' will forever be an important part of the history of the detroit lions."
and last but not least, gordon jump, the rotund character actor most of us remember as befuddled mr. carlson on wkrp in cincinnati, passed away earlier this week. hollywood.com reminds of his work:
jump, a native of dayton, ohio, began his career working at radio and tv stations in the midwest. in 1963, he moved to los angeles and launched his acting career, appearing in the television series daniel boone, get smart and the partridge family.
his most popular role, however, was that of arthur carlson on the cbs sitcom wkrp in cincinnati. the series, which ran from 1978 through 1982, focused on the antics of the staff and management of wkrp, a rock 'n' roll format am radio station in cincinnati, ohio.
robert palmer, the man who reinvented himself by putting sexy women in tight black dresses behind him in mtv videos, has passed on. reuters says he died in paris:
british rock singer robert palmer, whose smart suits and laconic style set the tone for much of the 1980s pop scene, died in paris of a heart attack early on friday, his record company said. he was 54.
palmer was best known for his 1985 no.1 hit "addicted to love" and its accompanying video, which featured leggy models in short black dresses with slicked-back hair and electric guitars.
and author/actor george plimpton, the man who pretended to play with the detroit lions while researching a best-selling book about it, passed away at age 74, says the ap:
just days before his death, "paper lion" author george plimpton shared memories with members of the 1963 detroit lions team with whom he briefly played as research for the best-selling book...
"we had just spent a wonderful weekend with him, celebrating the 40th anniversary of `paper lion,'" detroit lions president matt millen said friday in a statement. "he and `paper lion' will forever be an important part of the history of the detroit lions."
and last but not least, gordon jump, the rotund character actor most of us remember as befuddled mr. carlson on wkrp in cincinnati, passed away earlier this week. hollywood.com reminds of his work:
jump, a native of dayton, ohio, began his career working at radio and tv stations in the midwest. in 1963, he moved to los angeles and launched his acting career, appearing in the television series daniel boone, get smart and the partridge family.
his most popular role, however, was that of arthur carlson on the cbs sitcom wkrp in cincinnati. the series, which ran from 1978 through 1982, focused on the antics of the staff and management of wkrp, a rock 'n' roll format am radio station in cincinnati, ohio.
posted by skippy at
11:45 AM |
0
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dixie chick update
jenny at the little red cookbook has an interview by dixie chick martie maguire from spiegel magazine. unfortunately, it's der spiegel, the german publication (not the catalogue chicago illinois 60608), so unless you sprechen sie deutche, you'll have to read the provided translation, which jenny is wary of.
and speaking (in english) of little red cookbook, here's another post wherein jenny is aghast at awol's turn of the phrase "going badly."
jenny at the little red cookbook has an interview by dixie chick martie maguire from spiegel magazine. unfortunately, it's der spiegel, the german publication (not the catalogue chicago illinois 60608), so unless you sprechen sie deutche, you'll have to read the provided translation, which jenny is wary of.
and speaking (in english) of little red cookbook, here's another post wherein jenny is aghast at awol's turn of the phrase "going badly."
posted by skippy at
11:35 AM |
0
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no spin blog
guess we missed the memo. but atrios and blah3 are pretending to be bill o'reilly today. we're not sure why, but both blogs are worth chekcing out. (probably more are in on the joke, let us know if there's any we missed; we've got to start reading our mail).
guess we missed the memo. but atrios and blah3 are pretending to be bill o'reilly today. we're not sure why, but both blogs are worth chekcing out. (probably more are in on the joke, let us know if there's any we missed; we've got to start reading our mail).
posted by skippy at
11:21 AM |
0
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Thursday, September 25, 2003
coroner rules spector shooting a homicide
the la coroner has ruled out accident or suicide, calling the recent shooting at phil spector's home a homicide, says abcnews.
the february shooting death of an actress at the home of record producer phil spector was ruled a homicide monday by the coroner's office.
lana clarkson was shot by another person and died of a single gunshot wound to the head and neck, said lt. cheryl macwillie of the los angeles county coroner's office.
usatoady goes further and reports that the la sherriff's department says spector shot her.
"it's not an accident. it's not a suicide," capt. frank merriman told the los angeles times in a story for friday editions. "phil spector shot her."
we are happy that this was the finding, as we have suspected it all along. skippy actually knew the victim, lana clarkson, and had worked on a more than one project with her in the past.
we knew lana to be energetic, ambitious, vibrant and a happy and beautiful woman. it was a great shock and sudden loss to hear of the events which unfolded at spector's house.
we can only pray for justice for lana.
the la coroner has ruled out accident or suicide, calling the recent shooting at phil spector's home a homicide, says abcnews.
the february shooting death of an actress at the home of record producer phil spector was ruled a homicide monday by the coroner's office.
lana clarkson was shot by another person and died of a single gunshot wound to the head and neck, said lt. cheryl macwillie of the los angeles county coroner's office.
usatoady goes further and reports that the la sherriff's department says spector shot her.
"it's not an accident. it's not a suicide," capt. frank merriman told the los angeles times in a story for friday editions. "phil spector shot her."
we are happy that this was the finding, as we have suspected it all along. skippy actually knew the victim, lana clarkson, and had worked on a more than one project with her in the past.
we knew lana to be energetic, ambitious, vibrant and a happy and beautiful woman. it was a great shock and sudden loss to hear of the events which unfolded at spector's house.
we can only pray for justice for lana.
posted by skippy at
5:05 PM |
0
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the big loser? comedy writers
last night's debate for the california recall gave comedy writers a bad name. instead of quips and clever bon-mots, the candidates, arianna and ah-nold specifically, degenerated into a series of school yard "i know you are but what am i" put-downs.
arianna tried to slap some "anti-woman" dregs on ah-nold, and he just came back with a very lame joke about having a part for arianna in "terminator four." we especially liked ah-nold's clever response to the democrats' spending habits. "you guys have an addiction problem. you should go to an addiction place."
ah-nold, you should go to comedy writing place.
who won? who lost? the sacbee's blog says nobody (and you know they're right, because they're named after an insect!)
we personally were impressed tom mcclintock and peter camejo, who managed to stay on point and above the fray throughout most of the evening. they both actually offered real proposals, as opposed to pale imitations of tough crowd with colin quinn. at any moment we expected ah-nold to tell arianna, "shut up, stupid."
last night's debate for the california recall gave comedy writers a bad name. instead of quips and clever bon-mots, the candidates, arianna and ah-nold specifically, degenerated into a series of school yard "i know you are but what am i" put-downs.
arianna tried to slap some "anti-woman" dregs on ah-nold, and he just came back with a very lame joke about having a part for arianna in "terminator four." we especially liked ah-nold's clever response to the democrats' spending habits. "you guys have an addiction problem. you should go to an addiction place."
ah-nold, you should go to comedy writing place.
who won? who lost? the sacbee's blog says nobody (and you know they're right, because they're named after an insect!)
we personally were impressed tom mcclintock and peter camejo, who managed to stay on point and above the fray throughout most of the evening. they both actually offered real proposals, as opposed to pale imitations of tough crowd with colin quinn. at any moment we expected ah-nold to tell arianna, "shut up, stupid."
posted by skippy at
12:44 PM |
0
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thanks
we must give a big shout out to orcinus, who, in quoting tom tomorrow's interview in salon magazine, included the link to our humble blog.
and another big thanks to tom for mentioning us in the first place. go buy his book! it's funny! and if orcinus writes one, buy that one, too!
addendum: reader steve, who blogs edgewise, informs us that orcinus has written in god's country: the patriot movement and the pacific northwest. go buy it!
double addendum: sorry, we misspelled orcinus' name at first. thanks to apostropher for pointing it out!
we must give a big shout out to orcinus, who, in quoting tom tomorrow's interview in salon magazine, included the link to our humble blog.
and another big thanks to tom for mentioning us in the first place. go buy his book! it's funny! and if orcinus writes one, buy that one, too!
addendum: reader steve, who blogs edgewise, informs us that orcinus has written in god's country: the patriot movement and the pacific northwest. go buy it!
double addendum: sorry, we misspelled orcinus' name at first. thanks to apostropher for pointing it out!
posted by skippy at
12:18 PM |
0
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the fourth sign of the apocalypse
we at skippy international could not believe our ears earlier this week. while flipping around the screeching heads on tv, we actually heard joe "that's no intern that's a dead body" scarborough agree with tim robbins! from the transcript:
scarborough: and one person the war hasn’t been good for, business-wise at least, is actor and activist tim robbins. but to prove we at scarborough country are uniters, not dividers, we want to embrace tim robbins by saying he was dead right over the weekend. watching bill maher’s new show i almost fell out of my crimson tide la-z-boy when i heard robbins voice support for our military troops. take a listen.
(begin video clip)
tim robbins, actor: they’ve been over there a long time. they’ve done a great job in what they’ve done, and have served their country, and they’re being asked to stay longer than they were originally told. some of their families are having a hard time paying their rent.
i read about families that have lost apartments because the reservists have been over there so long. i would suggest that this administration start dealing more on a human level with these troops that they so call support instead of cutting $10 billion in aid from veterans.
(end video clip)
scarborough: i agree with tim robbins 100 percent. support our troops. and if one of our soldiers is killed in action, the government must provide families with enough money to bury their sons or daughters. and if an american hero is injured or loses a foot in combat, as we told you last week, congressmen and women should stop waving the flag long enough to take care of our soldiers’ hospital bills. say what you want about tim robbins, but he’s right on this issue, and a lot of republicans are wrong.
for the record, tim robbins has always supported the troops in this iraqi debacle. and lest the repubbbs try to paint him with the "partisan war supporter" brush, tim robbins was on record opposing clinton's war in kosovo, too.
robbins is not an opportunist like some people who received campaign contributions from the supervisor of the medical examiner which pronounced the staffer dead of natural causes. he doesn't dissemble or manipulate facts ("honestly, officer, lori had a history of medical problems.") tim robbins is a man of integrity. right, joe?
we at skippy international could not believe our ears earlier this week. while flipping around the screeching heads on tv, we actually heard joe "that's no intern that's a dead body" scarborough agree with tim robbins! from the transcript:
scarborough: and one person the war hasn’t been good for, business-wise at least, is actor and activist tim robbins. but to prove we at scarborough country are uniters, not dividers, we want to embrace tim robbins by saying he was dead right over the weekend. watching bill maher’s new show i almost fell out of my crimson tide la-z-boy when i heard robbins voice support for our military troops. take a listen.
(begin video clip)
tim robbins, actor: they’ve been over there a long time. they’ve done a great job in what they’ve done, and have served their country, and they’re being asked to stay longer than they were originally told. some of their families are having a hard time paying their rent.
i read about families that have lost apartments because the reservists have been over there so long. i would suggest that this administration start dealing more on a human level with these troops that they so call support instead of cutting $10 billion in aid from veterans.
(end video clip)
scarborough: i agree with tim robbins 100 percent. support our troops. and if one of our soldiers is killed in action, the government must provide families with enough money to bury their sons or daughters. and if an american hero is injured or loses a foot in combat, as we told you last week, congressmen and women should stop waving the flag long enough to take care of our soldiers’ hospital bills. say what you want about tim robbins, but he’s right on this issue, and a lot of republicans are wrong.
for the record, tim robbins has always supported the troops in this iraqi debacle. and lest the repubbbs try to paint him with the "partisan war supporter" brush, tim robbins was on record opposing clinton's war in kosovo, too.
robbins is not an opportunist like some people who received campaign contributions from the supervisor of the medical examiner which pronounced the staffer dead of natural causes. he doesn't dissemble or manipulate facts ("honestly, officer, lori had a history of medical problems.") tim robbins is a man of integrity. right, joe?
posted by skippy at
12:05 PM |
0
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let's open the ol' skippy mailbag
larry schles has a new blog up and running, politically inco-wrecked, we'd recommend you check it out.
sean-paul, the agonist, has an important piece on the diebold voting machines controversy.
oliver of the liquid list has a new contest going...whoever can correctly guess which bad news story karl rove will bury on the friday afternoon close of the news cycle, wins a liquid list t shirt!
and dr. mugwabwe ngindo needs our bank account number to facilitate an inheritance from a dead family in nigeria, and we'll get 25%! wow!
larry schles has a new blog up and running, politically inco-wrecked, we'd recommend you check it out.
sean-paul, the agonist, has an important piece on the diebold voting machines controversy.
oliver of the liquid list has a new contest going...whoever can correctly guess which bad news story karl rove will bury on the friday afternoon close of the news cycle, wins a liquid list t shirt!
and dr. mugwabwe ngindo needs our bank account number to facilitate an inheritance from a dead family in nigeria, and we'll get 25%! wow!
posted by skippy at
11:51 AM |
0
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Wednesday, September 24, 2003
riddle me this batman
a: how are awol's numbers like skippy was over a year ago?
q: they are both under 50!
george w. bush is in the worst political trouble of his presidency, according to a new nbc news/wall street journal poll released wednesday night. bush’s approval rating now stands at 49 percent, the lowest point of his tenure.
even worse for awol, a cnn/usatoady poll says that both gen. wesley clark and john kerry would beat him if the election was held on oct. 7 (sorry, we meant, "was held today." we were thinking about the california recall!) and most of the other top tier democrats are just a footstep behind him, breathing hard down his oily little neck.
aahhhh, the smell of it!
a: how are awol's numbers like skippy was over a year ago?
q: they are both under 50!
george w. bush is in the worst political trouble of his presidency, according to a new nbc news/wall street journal poll released wednesday night. bush’s approval rating now stands at 49 percent, the lowest point of his tenure.
even worse for awol, a cnn/usatoady poll says that both gen. wesley clark and john kerry would beat him if the election was held on oct. 7 (sorry, we meant, "was held today." we were thinking about the california recall!) and most of the other top tier democrats are just a footstep behind him, breathing hard down his oily little neck.
aahhhh, the smell of it!
posted by skippy at
5:24 PM |
0
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suing to restore all of america to a "first amendment zone"
from cursor, we find that the aclu has brought suit against the secret service for herding various dissenting groups into the so-called "first amendment zones," while leaving pro-idiot (sorry, we mean pro-administration) supporters to remain in close vicinity of awol during his various teleprompter readings. from the aclu press release:
at events attended by president bush and other senior federal officials around the country, the secret service has been discriminating against protesters in violation of their free speech rights, the american civil liberties union charged today in the first nationwide lawsuit of its kind...
according to aclu legal papers, local police, acting at the direction of the secret service, violated the rights of protesters in two ways: people expressing views critical of the government were moved further away from public officials while those with pro-government views were allowed to remain closer; or everyone expressing a view was herded into what is commonly known as a “protest zone,” leaving those who merely observe, but express no view, to remain closer.
security is not at issue, the aclu noted, because anyone intent on harming officials would simply carry a sign with a supportive message or no sign at all. “the individuals we are talking about didn’t pose a security threat; they posed a political threat,” [aclu pittsburg legal director witold] walczak said.
w says
the civil liberties group filed the lawsuit in federal court in pennsylvania on behalf of four advocacy organizations that claimed that the secret service forced them into protest zones or other areas where they could not be seen by president bush or vice president dick cheney or be noticed by the media covering their visits.
and the grand junction sentinel states that the lawsuit specifically mentions our hero, ex-hippie brett bursey, whose arrest in the columbia s.c. airport for holding a "no war for oil" sign was one example of the deprivation of first amendment rights by the secret service.
good luck, everyone!
from cursor, we find that the aclu has brought suit against the secret service for herding various dissenting groups into the so-called "first amendment zones," while leaving pro-idiot (sorry, we mean pro-administration) supporters to remain in close vicinity of awol during his various teleprompter readings. from the aclu press release:
at events attended by president bush and other senior federal officials around the country, the secret service has been discriminating against protesters in violation of their free speech rights, the american civil liberties union charged today in the first nationwide lawsuit of its kind...
according to aclu legal papers, local police, acting at the direction of the secret service, violated the rights of protesters in two ways: people expressing views critical of the government were moved further away from public officials while those with pro-government views were allowed to remain closer; or everyone expressing a view was herded into what is commonly known as a “protest zone,” leaving those who merely observe, but express no view, to remain closer.
security is not at issue, the aclu noted, because anyone intent on harming officials would simply carry a sign with a supportive message or no sign at all. “the individuals we are talking about didn’t pose a security threat; they posed a political threat,” [aclu pittsburg legal director witold] walczak said.
w says
the civil liberties group filed the lawsuit in federal court in pennsylvania on behalf of four advocacy organizations that claimed that the secret service forced them into protest zones or other areas where they could not be seen by president bush or vice president dick cheney or be noticed by the media covering their visits.
and the grand junction sentinel states that the lawsuit specifically mentions our hero, ex-hippie brett bursey, whose arrest in the columbia s.c. airport for holding a "no war for oil" sign was one example of the deprivation of first amendment rights by the secret service.
good luck, everyone!
posted by skippy at
1:07 PM |
0
comments
new unemployment figure: one homicide
now this is just depressing: newsday reports unemployment drives man to commit murder.
bryan randall was a high school hero, then an ivy league basketball star. later he was the guy who converted his love of sports into a promising business. but somewhere along the line, his life went out of bounds.
in the end, police say, the 37-year-old was a desperate, unemployed father whose pending divorce drove him down a suicidal path that also took the lives of two of his children.
sometime after picking up his four children sept. 12 for a weekend visit, randall threw two of them into a lake. then, on sept. 15, he swerved his sport-utility vehicle with the other two youngsters as passengers into the path of an oncoming truck. one child drowned; randall and another one of the youngsters were killed in the crash.
things are pretty bleak out there, mr. awol. got any plans to do something about it, besides giving another tax cut to your sky box buddies?
now this is just depressing: newsday reports unemployment drives man to commit murder.
bryan randall was a high school hero, then an ivy league basketball star. later he was the guy who converted his love of sports into a promising business. but somewhere along the line, his life went out of bounds.
in the end, police say, the 37-year-old was a desperate, unemployed father whose pending divorce drove him down a suicidal path that also took the lives of two of his children.
sometime after picking up his four children sept. 12 for a weekend visit, randall threw two of them into a lake. then, on sept. 15, he swerved his sport-utility vehicle with the other two youngsters as passengers into the path of an oncoming truck. one child drowned; randall and another one of the youngsters were killed in the crash.
things are pretty bleak out there, mr. awol. got any plans to do something about it, besides giving another tax cut to your sky box buddies?
posted by skippy at
12:57 PM |
0
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apparently the first amendment doesn't apply to blogs
yikes! found via the kos, the diebold corporation, claiming copyright infringement, has sued bev harris and blackbox voting.org, to shut it down. bev has left us this message:
due to a dispute with diebold, incorporated, and its wholly owned subsidiary diebold election systems, inc. (collectively "diebold"), which is claiming links to certain materials that do not reside on the blackboxvoting.org website constitute copyright infringement, blackboxvoting.org has been temporarily disabled.
we regret any inconvenience this may cause visitors and journalists to the blackboxvoting.org site and hope to have this matter resolved shortly.
in the interim, send questions or information requests to bev_blackboxvoting@yahoo.com.
anybody know any good first amendment lawyers? email bev, who is doing the world a big service by trying to expose the corruption innate in computer touch voting machines.
update: thanks to monkey, a reader at the kos, we learn how to find a google cache of blackbox voting:
google "black box voting" then hit the cache button, then navigate around the site, just avoid the front page, which holds the warning about being shut down.
hahahah they can't stop the monkey!
eek eek eek
thanks, monkey!
yikes! found via the kos, the diebold corporation, claiming copyright infringement, has sued bev harris and blackbox voting.org, to shut it down. bev has left us this message:
due to a dispute with diebold, incorporated, and its wholly owned subsidiary diebold election systems, inc. (collectively "diebold"), which is claiming links to certain materials that do not reside on the blackboxvoting.org website constitute copyright infringement, blackboxvoting.org has been temporarily disabled.
we regret any inconvenience this may cause visitors and journalists to the blackboxvoting.org site and hope to have this matter resolved shortly.
in the interim, send questions or information requests to bev_blackboxvoting@yahoo.com.
anybody know any good first amendment lawyers? email bev, who is doing the world a big service by trying to expose the corruption innate in computer touch voting machines.
update: thanks to monkey, a reader at the kos, we learn how to find a google cache of blackbox voting:
google "black box voting" then hit the cache button, then navigate around the site, just avoid the front page, which holds the warning about being shut down.
hahahah they can't stop the monkey!
eek eek eek
thanks, monkey!
posted by skippy at
10:56 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
crybaby changes his mind
for those of you living in a cave all day today, the california recall is back on. the 11 member panel of the 9th circuit court of appeals reversed the 3 member panel of the 9th circuit court of appeals which reversed a lower court, so now, it's back on for oct. 7.
but the real news is that the big crybaby that started the whole thing, darryl "cry me a river" issa, is urging repubbblicans to vote no on the recall.
what the--?? am waking up in bizarro world! superman am not running for governor! me am governor! me vote no on recall!
the kos says it makes perfect sense...issa is afraid that mcclintock will split the repubbb vote from ah-nold, and if the recall goes through, cruz "busta move" bustamante has a very real chance of getting to be governor. so issa is endorsing a "no" on the recall vote.
apparently a latino democrat in charge is much worse than a causcasian democrat in charge. gotta love them repubbbs!
for those of you living in a cave all day today, the california recall is back on. the 11 member panel of the 9th circuit court of appeals reversed the 3 member panel of the 9th circuit court of appeals which reversed a lower court, so now, it's back on for oct. 7.
but the real news is that the big crybaby that started the whole thing, darryl "cry me a river" issa, is urging repubbblicans to vote no on the recall.
what the--?? am waking up in bizarro world! superman am not running for governor! me am governor! me vote no on recall!
the kos says it makes perfect sense...issa is afraid that mcclintock will split the repubbb vote from ah-nold, and if the recall goes through, cruz "busta move" bustamante has a very real chance of getting to be governor. so issa is endorsing a "no" on the recall vote.
apparently a latino democrat in charge is much worse than a causcasian democrat in charge. gotta love them repubbbs!
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from the skippy mailbag
reader sbmail2000 sends us a link to the salon article about bev harris (the heroine of black box voting.com) and her research into the fraud-wrought voting systems of diebold.
and reader and contributor rose sends us a link to a nytimes op/ed that opines the more troops in iraq are not necessarily better (which, when you think about it, makes sense).
reader sbmail2000 sends us a link to the salon article about bev harris (the heroine of black box voting.com) and her research into the fraud-wrought voting systems of diebold.
and reader and contributor rose sends us a link to a nytimes op/ed that opines the more troops in iraq are not necessarily better (which, when you think about it, makes sense).
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Monday, September 22, 2003
oh really? no, o'reilly!
speedkill points out how bill o'riley dissembles when it comes to criticism of himself. this time he's especially disingenuous in his labeling as "dishonest" the seattle post intelligencer for accurately reporting on the time when bill told the son of a 9/11 victim to, quote, "shut up! shut up!" unquote, on his faux news program.
speedkill ably deconstructs o'riley's manipulation of the facts:
[o'reilly] claims "glick was saying without a shred of evidence that president bush and bush the elder were directly responsible for 9/11. now that kind of stuff is not only loony, it's defamation." but he's not. he's saying dubya is continuing the legacy, by bombing afghanistan, of his father, who armed the precursor to al qaeda in afghanistan in the 80s. he's not mentioning 9/11! o'reilly twists it, because he knows he can't deny the fact that we armed the muhjadeen through the pakistanis during the cold war. It's undeniable.
speedkill points out how bill o'riley dissembles when it comes to criticism of himself. this time he's especially disingenuous in his labeling as "dishonest" the seattle post intelligencer for accurately reporting on the time when bill told the son of a 9/11 victim to, quote, "shut up! shut up!" unquote, on his faux news program.
speedkill ably deconstructs o'riley's manipulation of the facts:
[o'reilly] claims "glick was saying without a shred of evidence that president bush and bush the elder were directly responsible for 9/11. now that kind of stuff is not only loony, it's defamation." but he's not. he's saying dubya is continuing the legacy, by bombing afghanistan, of his father, who armed the precursor to al qaeda in afghanistan in the 80s. he's not mentioning 9/11! o'reilly twists it, because he knows he can't deny the fact that we armed the muhjadeen through the pakistanis during the cold war. It's undeniable.
posted by skippy at
8:26 PM |
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happy atumnal equinox from the bush economic team
the daily kos points out that awol's people are trying to "hide bad news" by releasing the census bureau's poverty and income report on a friday, at the end of the news cycles, according to yahoo news:
for at least 15 years, the census bureau has released its annual reports on the nation's income and poverty statistics on a tuesday or a thursday. this year, when indicators suggest that the reports will document downward trends, they will be released friday.
how bad will it be? well, last year's report was pretty darn bad in itself:
last year's reports showed that median household income in 2001 registered the first significant decline since 1991 and the percentage of americans living in poverty rose from 11.3% to 11.7%, the first increase in five years.
so we can guess that it will be even worse than that.
[ed. note: if it's being released this upcoming friday, shouldn't the headline be "happy rosh hashana from the bush economic team"?]
the daily kos points out that awol's people are trying to "hide bad news" by releasing the census bureau's poverty and income report on a friday, at the end of the news cycles, according to yahoo news:
for at least 15 years, the census bureau has released its annual reports on the nation's income and poverty statistics on a tuesday or a thursday. this year, when indicators suggest that the reports will document downward trends, they will be released friday.
how bad will it be? well, last year's report was pretty darn bad in itself:
last year's reports showed that median household income in 2001 registered the first significant decline since 1991 and the percentage of americans living in poverty rose from 11.3% to 11.7%, the first increase in five years.
so we can guess that it will be even worse than that.
[ed. note: if it's being released this upcoming friday, shouldn't the headline be "happy rosh hashana from the bush economic team"?]
posted by skippy at
12:45 PM |
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mad at the french
mad kane has another song parody up, this one about all the french basher called "bush wants to wash the french right out of his hair" (sung to the old rogers and hammerstein favorite from 'south pacific.' anyone under 40 who think brittny spears can sing should google this to find out about music).
mad kane has another song parody up, this one about all the french basher called "bush wants to wash the french right out of his hair" (sung to the old rogers and hammerstein favorite from 'south pacific.' anyone under 40 who think brittny spears can sing should google this to find out about music).
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forget those other presidents, all hail great leader...
while posting a reminder to bookmark the new url for jon's mind, we were aghast to read something jon found at the washpost.
apparently someone in the administration has removed several historic photographs from a diplomatic exhibit that lined one of the lesser travelled halls of the state department.
the two dozen mostly grainy black and white shots were a historic progression of great diplomatic moments, sources recalled.
there was an original political cartoon from the jefferson era showing britain and france pick-pocketing the americans; there were pictures of negotiations with indian tribes over land; president woodrow wilson at versailles; former secretary of state elihu root somewhere; roosevelt and churchill signing the atlantic charter; former secretary of state james a. baker iii and former soviet foreign minister eduard shevardnadze in cowboy boots at jackson hole; a splendid shot of the old state department building; and a photo of president ronald reagan at a meeting with a very young colin l. powell seated behind him.
then they were gone. and what was put up in their place? what else? a george w. bush family album montage of 21 large photos of the president as diplomat. he's speaking at the united nations and meeting with foreign leaders.
that's right. the administration took down wilson, roosevelt churchill and reagan, and put up awol, awol, awol and awol.
this goes beyond pathetic into the napoleonic.
while posting a reminder to bookmark the new url for jon's mind, we were aghast to read something jon found at the washpost.
apparently someone in the administration has removed several historic photographs from a diplomatic exhibit that lined one of the lesser travelled halls of the state department.
the two dozen mostly grainy black and white shots were a historic progression of great diplomatic moments, sources recalled.
there was an original political cartoon from the jefferson era showing britain and france pick-pocketing the americans; there were pictures of negotiations with indian tribes over land; president woodrow wilson at versailles; former secretary of state elihu root somewhere; roosevelt and churchill signing the atlantic charter; former secretary of state james a. baker iii and former soviet foreign minister eduard shevardnadze in cowboy boots at jackson hole; a splendid shot of the old state department building; and a photo of president ronald reagan at a meeting with a very young colin l. powell seated behind him.
then they were gone. and what was put up in their place? what else? a george w. bush family album montage of 21 large photos of the president as diplomat. he's speaking at the united nations and meeting with foreign leaders.
that's right. the administration took down wilson, roosevelt churchill and reagan, and put up awol, awol, awol and awol.
this goes beyond pathetic into the napoleonic.
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12:34 PM |
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say hello
to dogfight at bankstown and the leftleaner.
and while we're at it, be sure to change your book mark for jon's mind, which will be switching to an ftp site this week.
to dogfight at bankstown and the leftleaner.
and while we're at it, be sure to change your book mark for jon's mind, which will be switching to an ftp site this week.
posted by skippy at
12:23 PM |
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skippy to the rescue!
we at skippy international were quite pleased to read about a cousin of ours, thanks to separate emails sent by our gentle readers, sara and darryl.
the bbc reports:
a female kangaroo has saved an australian farmer's life by alerting his family that he was lying unconscious in a field.
the pet kangaroo, lulu, made noises outside the family home in the state of victoria, until the farmer's wife paid attention.
in a scene reminiscent of the 1960s australian children's television series skippy about a resourceful kangaroo, the animal then led the woman to her husband.
leonard richards, 52, had been checking his property for storm damage, when he was knocked unconscious by a falling branch on sunday.
he could have died had he not been found so quickly, an ambulance paramedic told melbourne radio.
we at skippy international salute lulu! you go, girl! good on ya!
we at skippy international were quite pleased to read about a cousin of ours, thanks to separate emails sent by our gentle readers, sara and darryl.
the bbc reports:
a female kangaroo has saved an australian farmer's life by alerting his family that he was lying unconscious in a field.
the pet kangaroo, lulu, made noises outside the family home in the state of victoria, until the farmer's wife paid attention.
in a scene reminiscent of the 1960s australian children's television series skippy about a resourceful kangaroo, the animal then led the woman to her husband.
leonard richards, 52, had been checking his property for storm damage, when he was knocked unconscious by a falling branch on sunday.
he could have died had he not been found so quickly, an ambulance paramedic told melbourne radio.
we at skippy international salute lulu! you go, girl! good on ya!
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12:17 PM |
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Sunday, September 21, 2003
there's a reason they call it awol
the uk independent takes a look at the growing resentment towards the current administration among the u.s. military community:
from vietnam veterans to fresh young recruits, from seasoned officers to anxious mothers worried about their sons' safety on the streets of baghdad and fallujah, the military community is growing ever more vocal in its opposition to the white house.
"i once believed that i served for a cause: 'to uphold and defend the constitution of the united states'. now i no longer believe that," tim predmore, a member of the 101st airborne division serving near mosul, wrote in a blistering opinion piece this week for his home newspaper, the peoria journal star in illinois. "i can no longer justify my service for what i believe to be half-truths and bold lies."
and how's that privatization program turning out, anyway?
and they have given politically embarrassing prominence to such issues as the inefficiency of civilian contractors hired to provide shelter, water and food - many of them contributors to the bush campaign coffers - and a mystery outbreak of respiratory illnesses that many soldiers, despite official denials, believe is related to the use of depleted uranium munitions.
"it is time to speak out because our troops are still dying and our government is still lying," candace robison, a 27-year-old mother of two from krum, texas, and a politically active serviceman's wife, told a recent protest outside president bush's texas ranch. "morale is at an all-time low and our heroes feel like they've been forgotten."
see, if awol had stayed in the military, he might have learned a few things: honor, integrity and discipline.
addendum: reader jim graciously provides us the link to the letter by airman predmore in the peoria journal star.
the uk independent takes a look at the growing resentment towards the current administration among the u.s. military community:
from vietnam veterans to fresh young recruits, from seasoned officers to anxious mothers worried about their sons' safety on the streets of baghdad and fallujah, the military community is growing ever more vocal in its opposition to the white house.
"i once believed that i served for a cause: 'to uphold and defend the constitution of the united states'. now i no longer believe that," tim predmore, a member of the 101st airborne division serving near mosul, wrote in a blistering opinion piece this week for his home newspaper, the peoria journal star in illinois. "i can no longer justify my service for what i believe to be half-truths and bold lies."
and how's that privatization program turning out, anyway?
and they have given politically embarrassing prominence to such issues as the inefficiency of civilian contractors hired to provide shelter, water and food - many of them contributors to the bush campaign coffers - and a mystery outbreak of respiratory illnesses that many soldiers, despite official denials, believe is related to the use of depleted uranium munitions.
"it is time to speak out because our troops are still dying and our government is still lying," candace robison, a 27-year-old mother of two from krum, texas, and a politically active serviceman's wife, told a recent protest outside president bush's texas ranch. "morale is at an all-time low and our heroes feel like they've been forgotten."
see, if awol had stayed in the military, he might have learned a few things: honor, integrity and discipline.
addendum: reader jim graciously provides us the link to the letter by airman predmore in the peoria journal star.
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1:12 PM |
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the war that keeps on giving part three more u.s. soldiers killed
the nytimes is reporting that 3 soldiers were killed and several more wounded in various attacks yesterday in iraq.
two american soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in a mortar attack late saturday night on a sprawling prison complex here, about 20 miles west of baghdad, united states military authorities said.
another soldier died on saturday night in a roadside attack in ramadi, a town about 60 miles west of baghdad that has been a center of opposition to the occupation.
the deaths brought to 304 the number of american troops killed since the iraq war began, including 165 since president bush declared on may 1 that major american combat operations had ended, according to pentagon records. in the last three days, six soldiers have been in killed in attacks.
the nytimes is reporting that 3 soldiers were killed and several more wounded in various attacks yesterday in iraq.
two american soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in a mortar attack late saturday night on a sprawling prison complex here, about 20 miles west of baghdad, united states military authorities said.
another soldier died on saturday night in a roadside attack in ramadi, a town about 60 miles west of baghdad that has been a center of opposition to the occupation.
the deaths brought to 304 the number of american troops killed since the iraq war began, including 165 since president bush declared on may 1 that major american combat operations had ended, according to pentagon records. in the last three days, six soldiers have been in killed in attacks.
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1:07 PM |
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let's open the skippy mailbag!
today we get a note from larry shles, who has started a new blog called the weakly link. larry suggests we scroll down and check out his post titled "virulence."
and reader kelly sends us a link to a salon article stating that a study shows that monkeys may resent unfairness.
although kelly thinks that "the conclusion should have been that some monkeys are republicans (or at least wingers). i'm sure those monkeys think they earned the grape."
today we get a note from larry shles, who has started a new blog called the weakly link. larry suggests we scroll down and check out his post titled "virulence."
and reader kelly sends us a link to a salon article stating that a study shows that monkeys may resent unfairness.
although kelly thinks that "the conclusion should have been that some monkeys are republicans (or at least wingers). i'm sure those monkeys think they earned the grape."
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Saturday, September 20, 2003
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the war that keeps on giving part 5 soldiers wounded, one tiger killed
a "spate" of attacks in iraq have left five u.s. soldiers wounded, says yahoo news:
five us soldiers were reportedly wounded in a spate of attacks at trouble spots in north and central iraq with an explosion and an exchange of gunfire hitting the flashpoint town of fallujah.
witnesses and the us military said rockets and bombs were used against the occupying forces, extending a series of hits from forces loyal to the ousted baath party since a new audiotape attributed to ousted dictator saddam hussein was released last wednesday.
and, in one of the more bizarre events of the occupation - sorry, we mean, liberation - of iraq, a rare bengal tiger was killed by an american soldier in the baghdad zoo:
a u.s. soldier shot dead a rare bengal tiger at baghdad zoo after the animal injured another soldier who was trying to feed it through the cage bars, the zoo's manager said on saturday.
adil salman mousa told reuters a group of u.s. soldiers were having a party in the zoo on thursday night after it had closed…
the night watchman said the soldiers had arrived in military vehicles but were casually dressed and were drinking beer…
at the tiger's cage, now empty, pools of blood showed that the soldier passed through a first cage intended only for keepers and stood next to the inner cage's narrow bars.
a "spate" of attacks in iraq have left five u.s. soldiers wounded, says yahoo news:
five us soldiers were reportedly wounded in a spate of attacks at trouble spots in north and central iraq with an explosion and an exchange of gunfire hitting the flashpoint town of fallujah.
witnesses and the us military said rockets and bombs were used against the occupying forces, extending a series of hits from forces loyal to the ousted baath party since a new audiotape attributed to ousted dictator saddam hussein was released last wednesday.
and, in one of the more bizarre events of the occupation - sorry, we mean, liberation - of iraq, a rare bengal tiger was killed by an american soldier in the baghdad zoo:
a u.s. soldier shot dead a rare bengal tiger at baghdad zoo after the animal injured another soldier who was trying to feed it through the cage bars, the zoo's manager said on saturday.
adil salman mousa told reuters a group of u.s. soldiers were having a party in the zoo on thursday night after it had closed…
the night watchman said the soldiers had arrived in military vehicles but were casually dressed and were drinking beer…
at the tiger's cage, now empty, pools of blood showed that the soldier passed through a first cage intended only for keepers and stood next to the inner cage's narrow bars.
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6:16 PM |
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brett bursey update
brett bursey, the old hippie who was arrested for not taking his "no war for oil" sign to the "free speech zone" when awol came to the columbia, south carolina airport, will be allowed to view some of the government's secret security documents, says wis channel 10 news:
us district judge bristow marchant filed an order thursday that gives the federal government five days to show him a reason the documents should not be disclosed. marchant ordered us attorney john barton and the secret service last month to deliver all documents relating to bush's visit in october so he could review them and determine if activist brett bursey could use them in his defense.
this may be good news for everyone that believes all of america is a "free speech zone."
brett bursey, the old hippie who was arrested for not taking his "no war for oil" sign to the "free speech zone" when awol came to the columbia, south carolina airport, will be allowed to view some of the government's secret security documents, says wis channel 10 news:
us district judge bristow marchant filed an order thursday that gives the federal government five days to show him a reason the documents should not be disclosed. marchant ordered us attorney john barton and the secret service last month to deliver all documents relating to bush's visit in october so he could review them and determine if activist brett bursey could use them in his defense.
this may be good news for everyone that believes all of america is a "free speech zone."
posted by skippy at
6:08 PM |
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google gets scary
we were trying to find some updates on the "mystery illness" that spread among the troops in iraq last summer. so, of course, we typed "mystery illness" into google. yikes! we found 3 other mystery illnesses! how many can there be?
8 people are dead of a mysterious fever of unknown origin in india...
3 people died within an hour of collapsing, diagnosed with hemmoragging in their lungs, in new zealand...
a school in kildare county was closed when 20 kids came down with sore throats in ireland (not to make light of it, but that last one sounds more like kids didn't want to go to school more than anything else!)
refining our search a bit (adding the word "iraq" to the google), we find this update: united press international says that the mystery illness toll among the u.s. troops in iraq may be much higher than we were lead to believe:
mysterious pneumonia-like illnesses and breathing problems appear to be striking u.s. troops in greater numbers than the military has identified in an investigation -- including more deaths, according to soldiers and their families.
some of the soldiers were deployed to iraq and died but are not part of the pentagon's investigation. others who got ill told united press international they suffered a pneumonia-like illness after being given vaccines, particularly the anthrax shot.
no, the administration lying about iraq? who woulda thunk?
we were trying to find some updates on the "mystery illness" that spread among the troops in iraq last summer. so, of course, we typed "mystery illness" into google. yikes! we found 3 other mystery illnesses! how many can there be?
8 people are dead of a mysterious fever of unknown origin in india...
3 people died within an hour of collapsing, diagnosed with hemmoragging in their lungs, in new zealand...
a school in kildare county was closed when 20 kids came down with sore throats in ireland (not to make light of it, but that last one sounds more like kids didn't want to go to school more than anything else!)
refining our search a bit (adding the word "iraq" to the google), we find this update: united press international says that the mystery illness toll among the u.s. troops in iraq may be much higher than we were lead to believe:
mysterious pneumonia-like illnesses and breathing problems appear to be striking u.s. troops in greater numbers than the military has identified in an investigation -- including more deaths, according to soldiers and their families.
some of the soldiers were deployed to iraq and died but are not part of the pentagon's investigation. others who got ill told united press international they suffered a pneumonia-like illness after being given vaccines, particularly the anthrax shot.
no, the administration lying about iraq? who woulda thunk?
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6:03 PM |
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reserve reservations
thanks to atrios, we find this washpost article about the family of reservists getting angrier at the new one-year tour of duty the national guard and army reservists now find themselves saddled with in rummy's "new army."
in kansas, family members of soldiers in the 129th transportation company, an army reserve unit, set up a web site and almost immediately gathered 8,000 signatures on the internet demanding that the army scrap 12-month tours.
in michigan, the wife of a soldier in the 1438th engineer detachment, an army national guard unit, said three-quarters of her husband's fellow soldiers are planning to quit as soon as they return from tours in iraq that could be extended by four months under the new policy.
and in florida, sen. bill nelson (d) said after meeting with angry national guard families in orlando and tampa that he would put a hold on the nomination of james g. roche to become army secretary if the policy is not modified.
it's not good for morale, and certainly not good for repeat business (re-enlistment, for those of you who find business metaphors, when applied to human lives, disgusting).
retention may be another matter. reservists and their family members predict that the new policy is likely to have a devastating impact as individuals drop out of the reserves after they return. it has been impossible to gauge the effect on retention thus far, they say, because there is a wartime "stop-loss" provision in effect on mobilized units that bars reservists from leaving the force even after their service requirements have been met.
if you want to sign the petition to "bring them home," be our guest.
thanks to atrios, we find this washpost article about the family of reservists getting angrier at the new one-year tour of duty the national guard and army reservists now find themselves saddled with in rummy's "new army."
in kansas, family members of soldiers in the 129th transportation company, an army reserve unit, set up a web site and almost immediately gathered 8,000 signatures on the internet demanding that the army scrap 12-month tours.
in michigan, the wife of a soldier in the 1438th engineer detachment, an army national guard unit, said three-quarters of her husband's fellow soldiers are planning to quit as soon as they return from tours in iraq that could be extended by four months under the new policy.
and in florida, sen. bill nelson (d) said after meeting with angry national guard families in orlando and tampa that he would put a hold on the nomination of james g. roche to become army secretary if the policy is not modified.
it's not good for morale, and certainly not good for repeat business (re-enlistment, for those of you who find business metaphors, when applied to human lives, disgusting).
retention may be another matter. reservists and their family members predict that the new policy is likely to have a devastating impact as individuals drop out of the reserves after they return. it has been impossible to gauge the effect on retention thus far, they say, because there is a wartime "stop-loss" provision in effect on mobilized units that bars reservists from leaving the force even after their service requirements have been met.
if you want to sign the petition to "bring them home," be our guest.
posted by skippy at
5:45 PM |
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posted by skippy at
5:27 PM |
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big lies, big book
we have just finished joe conason's big lies, and what can we tell you, except that it's a great respite from the spin, manipulation, and down right (dare we say it?) "lies" that are being propigated on a daily basis by the media.
what joe has done is take 12 different particularly nasty repubbb memes, and methodically, and with tons of cites, sources, footnotes and references, simply refute them, one per chapter.
memes like "conservatives love america and lefty's hate it," and "conservatives are tough on terrorism while liberals are not." and joe names names in his quest to thoroughly investigate and deflate the misstatements and untruths that are permeating the airwaves.
here's amy goodman interviewing joe on democracy now!
we highly recommend big lies. it's a fascinating read, and it will certainly encourage everyone to keep fighting the good fight!
thanks, joe!
we have just finished joe conason's big lies, and what can we tell you, except that it's a great respite from the spin, manipulation, and down right (dare we say it?) "lies" that are being propigated on a daily basis by the media.
what joe has done is take 12 different particularly nasty repubbb memes, and methodically, and with tons of cites, sources, footnotes and references, simply refute them, one per chapter.
memes like "conservatives love america and lefty's hate it," and "conservatives are tough on terrorism while liberals are not." and joe names names in his quest to thoroughly investigate and deflate the misstatements and untruths that are permeating the airwaves.
here's amy goodman interviewing joe on democracy now!
we highly recommend big lies. it's a fascinating read, and it will certainly encourage everyone to keep fighting the good fight!
thanks, joe!
posted by skippy at
11:11 AM |
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nathan v. eugene
nathan newman takes on eugene volokh's take on wesley clark's take on regressive taxation. what's your take on it?
nathan newman takes on eugene volokh's take on wesley clark's take on regressive taxation. what's your take on it?
posted by skippy at
10:59 AM |
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blogroll addition
we are pleased as punch to add the erudite jon's mind to our permanent blogroll. it's the least we can do, as he has linked to us almost from the beginning of his blogging career. welcome, jon!
we are pleased as punch to add the erudite jon's mind to our permanent blogroll. it's the least we can do, as he has linked to us almost from the beginning of his blogging career. welcome, jon!
posted by skippy at
10:52 AM |
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Thursday, September 18, 2003
the war that keeps on giving part at least 3 soldiers killed in an ambush
the bbc is reporting that "at least three" american troops were killed in an ambush on a convoy in a town west of baghdad:
at least three american soldiers have been killed in an attack on a convoy in the town of khaldiyah, west of baghdad, according to witnesses.
a truck transporting troops was blown up by an explosive device on a road in the town, and soldiers were fired on as they tried to evacuate casualties, iraqi sources said.
the us military said two soldiers were wounded when their convoy was attacked east of the town of ramadi, but they have not commented on the reported attack in khaldiyah.
the number of fatalities is unconfirmed at this time, but the nytimes is reporting that al-arabiya television is putting the number at 8.
stay tuned.
the bbc is reporting that "at least three" american troops were killed in an ambush on a convoy in a town west of baghdad:
at least three american soldiers have been killed in an attack on a convoy in the town of khaldiyah, west of baghdad, according to witnesses.
a truck transporting troops was blown up by an explosive device on a road in the town, and soldiers were fired on as they tried to evacuate casualties, iraqi sources said.
the us military said two soldiers were wounded when their convoy was attacked east of the town of ramadi, but they have not commented on the reported attack in khaldiyah.
the number of fatalities is unconfirmed at this time, but the nytimes is reporting that al-arabiya television is putting the number at 8.
stay tuned.
posted by skippy at
11:43 AM |
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back from vacation
folks, lazarus wants everyone to know he's back from vacation, and ungodly politics is back in business!
folks, lazarus wants everyone to know he's back from vacation, and ungodly politics is back in business!
posted by skippy at
11:29 AM |
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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
the great ones die in three's
first johnny cash, then john ritter.
now, rest in peace sheb wooley.
sheb wooley, for those of you too young to remember when songs on the radio actually had lyrics, was the man who wrote perhaps the king of all novelty hits, the one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.
sheb was not only a singer and songwriter, but an actor who was featured in high noon, and several tv westerns.
the tennessean says,
purple people eater was a six-week no. 1 hit in 1958, and its humorous tale of a monster who wanted to play rock 'n' roll is the work for which mr. wooley is best known. but mr. wooley was also an accomplished actor who starred on the tv western rawhide, acted in feature films (including the classics high noon and hoosiers) and served as a father figure to country star roger miller.
''he was a real hero to roger,'' said country music hall of famer bill anderson. ''i got the feeling that it was sheb the man that roger looked up to, even more than sheb the artist or the entertainer.''
in a strange twist of fate, sheb was friends with both johnny cash and john ritter (whose father tex sang "do not forsake me oh my darling," the theme to high noon).
apparently god needed a novelty song.
first johnny cash, then john ritter.
now, rest in peace sheb wooley.
sheb wooley, for those of you too young to remember when songs on the radio actually had lyrics, was the man who wrote perhaps the king of all novelty hits, the one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.
sheb was not only a singer and songwriter, but an actor who was featured in high noon, and several tv westerns.
the tennessean says,
purple people eater was a six-week no. 1 hit in 1958, and its humorous tale of a monster who wanted to play rock 'n' roll is the work for which mr. wooley is best known. but mr. wooley was also an accomplished actor who starred on the tv western rawhide, acted in feature films (including the classics high noon and hoosiers) and served as a father figure to country star roger miller.
''he was a real hero to roger,'' said country music hall of famer bill anderson. ''i got the feeling that it was sheb the man that roger looked up to, even more than sheb the artist or the entertainer.''
in a strange twist of fate, sheb was friends with both johnny cash and john ritter (whose father tex sang "do not forsake me oh my darling," the theme to high noon).
apparently god needed a novelty song.
posted by skippy at
6:29 PM |
0
comments
well, if you're going to insist on the truth, i guess i'll tell it...
presumably reeling over dick cheney's nose growing three feet on meet the press last sunday, awol has admitted in public that there was no evidence of any link of saddam hussein to 9/11, says the ap.
president bush said wednesday there was no evidence that saddam hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of sept. 11, 2001 – disputing an idea held by many americans.
"there's no question that saddam hussein had al-qaeda ties," the president said. but he also said, "we have no evidence that saddam hussein was involved with the sept. 11" attacks.
we wonder why all of a sudden awol has decided to tell the truth?
presumably reeling over dick cheney's nose growing three feet on meet the press last sunday, awol has admitted in public that there was no evidence of any link of saddam hussein to 9/11, says the ap.
president bush said wednesday there was no evidence that saddam hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of sept. 11, 2001 – disputing an idea held by many americans.
"there's no question that saddam hussein had al-qaeda ties," the president said. but he also said, "we have no evidence that saddam hussein was involved with the sept. 11" attacks.
we wonder why all of a sudden awol has decided to tell the truth?
posted by skippy at
4:12 PM |
0
comments
pour rummy down the drain
the folks at movon.org want you to urge congress to urge awol to fire rumsfeld. personally, we think you should urge congress to fire awol, but we'll take things one step at a time.
go here to sign move on's petition to fire rumsfeld, and to find an action alert to call your congressjerk and complain about rummy's lack of planning to keep our troops safe.
the folks at movon.org want you to urge congress to urge awol to fire rumsfeld. personally, we think you should urge congress to fire awol, but we'll take things one step at a time.
go here to sign move on's petition to fire rumsfeld, and to find an action alert to call your congressjerk and complain about rummy's lack of planning to keep our troops safe.
posted by skippy at
3:52 PM |
0
comments
sometimes even the readers make mistakes
our good friend and long-time reader rose tells us she sent us the wrong url for that smoking gun story a couple of days ago...(we wondered why we were supposed to care about some grandma suing eminem...but we like to post almost everything we get).
rose tells us she meant to send us this smoking gun piece...about a man who passed a phony "$200 bill" with bush's face on the front.
we hope they arrest him and send him to prison for the rest of his life. oh yeah, and the guy who passed the phony bill, too.
our good friend and long-time reader rose tells us she sent us the wrong url for that smoking gun story a couple of days ago...(we wondered why we were supposed to care about some grandma suing eminem...but we like to post almost everything we get).
rose tells us she meant to send us this smoking gun piece...about a man who passed a phony "$200 bill" with bush's face on the front.
we hope they arrest him and send him to prison for the rest of his life. oh yeah, and the guy who passed the phony bill, too.
posted by skippy at
3:49 PM |
0
comments
a cite for sore eyes
our reader kilroi thoughtfully points out in our musing over the 9th circuit's decision in the california recall:
not so fast skippy. the bush v. gore decision stated that florida couldn't keep recounting until gore somehow obtained enough votes to win. the 9th is trying to stop a state constitutionally mandated election on the premise that the very same machines used to elect grey(out) davis 11 months ago are now all of a sudden aren't adequate to un-elect him prior to there even being a problem. it will be overturned and rightly so. and if anti bush crybabies want to keep shedding tears over gores attempted highjacking of the 2000 election, so be it.
be that as it may, this crybaby wants to point out that the legal precedent set to prove whatever point bush v. gore was trying to prove (in your stated case, that gore couldn't keep counting), the logic used and conclusion arrived at is grist for the legal mill; to wit, the application of the equal protection clause in vote tablulation.
the washpost posits:
now the 9th circuiters have called bill rehnquist's bluff. did he really mean all that stuff about extending the equal protection clause to voters who stood a greater chance to be disenfranchised by the absence of a uniform standard of counting votes? was he really concerned about the tabulation disparities between one county and the next? or was bush v. gore just a one-time-only decision crafted to elect a republican president?
"plaintiffs' claim presents almost precisely the same issue as the court considered in bush, that is, whether unequal methods of counting votes among counties constitutes a violation of the equal protection clause," the three judges wrote. "in bush, the supreme court held that using different standards for counting votes in different counties across florida violated the equal protection clause."
and the tallahassee democrat weighs in:
when the supreme court released the opinion in bush v. gore, many lawyers here in tallahassee were scratching their heads wondering how the federal government could possibly order a state to stop its recount, especially under the guise of securing the equal-protection clause of the constitution. many cynical observers assumed that the majority opinion in bush v. gore used specious logic to justify a republican victory, a ruling that was highly specific to election 2000. even justice ginsburg, who dissented from that opinion, said as recently as february that bush v. gore was a "one of a kind case," adding: "i doubt it will ever be cited as precedent by the court on anything."
but here it is again rearing its ugly head. bush v. gore held for the first time that the constitution's equal-protection clause, which protects citizens from arbitrarily disparate treatment by state authorities, can be applied to the methods states use to tally votes. previously, election methods had been the province of state officials. but now, with election 2000 as a precedent, previous election methods have been called into question and opponents of the recall effort have been able to magically transform bush v. gore from a reviled coup into a legitimate weapon. it's like when the democrats picked up seats in 1998 because newt gingrich and the impeachment chorus had become so crazed.
so, kilroi, however your rightist mind desperately wants to see the two cases as different, precedents can be cited, and what is good for suing the goose is good for suing the gander.
the 9th circuit may indeed reverse itself, as the full court is reviewing the three-member panel decision today, or the case may go back up to awol's daddy's friends, the supremes, and they may reverse the decision, thus opening themselves up to accusations of blatant partisanship.
but once a decision is handed down, it can be used in further arguments. don't complain to us. call judge judy.
our reader kilroi thoughtfully points out in our musing over the 9th circuit's decision in the california recall:
not so fast skippy. the bush v. gore decision stated that florida couldn't keep recounting until gore somehow obtained enough votes to win. the 9th is trying to stop a state constitutionally mandated election on the premise that the very same machines used to elect grey(out) davis 11 months ago are now all of a sudden aren't adequate to un-elect him prior to there even being a problem. it will be overturned and rightly so. and if anti bush crybabies want to keep shedding tears over gores attempted highjacking of the 2000 election, so be it.
be that as it may, this crybaby wants to point out that the legal precedent set to prove whatever point bush v. gore was trying to prove (in your stated case, that gore couldn't keep counting), the logic used and conclusion arrived at is grist for the legal mill; to wit, the application of the equal protection clause in vote tablulation.
the washpost posits:
now the 9th circuiters have called bill rehnquist's bluff. did he really mean all that stuff about extending the equal protection clause to voters who stood a greater chance to be disenfranchised by the absence of a uniform standard of counting votes? was he really concerned about the tabulation disparities between one county and the next? or was bush v. gore just a one-time-only decision crafted to elect a republican president?
"plaintiffs' claim presents almost precisely the same issue as the court considered in bush, that is, whether unequal methods of counting votes among counties constitutes a violation of the equal protection clause," the three judges wrote. "in bush, the supreme court held that using different standards for counting votes in different counties across florida violated the equal protection clause."
and the tallahassee democrat weighs in:
when the supreme court released the opinion in bush v. gore, many lawyers here in tallahassee were scratching their heads wondering how the federal government could possibly order a state to stop its recount, especially under the guise of securing the equal-protection clause of the constitution. many cynical observers assumed that the majority opinion in bush v. gore used specious logic to justify a republican victory, a ruling that was highly specific to election 2000. even justice ginsburg, who dissented from that opinion, said as recently as february that bush v. gore was a "one of a kind case," adding: "i doubt it will ever be cited as precedent by the court on anything."
but here it is again rearing its ugly head. bush v. gore held for the first time that the constitution's equal-protection clause, which protects citizens from arbitrarily disparate treatment by state authorities, can be applied to the methods states use to tally votes. previously, election methods had been the province of state officials. but now, with election 2000 as a precedent, previous election methods have been called into question and opponents of the recall effort have been able to magically transform bush v. gore from a reviled coup into a legitimate weapon. it's like when the democrats picked up seats in 1998 because newt gingrich and the impeachment chorus had become so crazed.
so, kilroi, however your rightist mind desperately wants to see the two cases as different, precedents can be cited, and what is good for suing the goose is good for suing the gander.
the 9th circuit may indeed reverse itself, as the full court is reviewing the three-member panel decision today, or the case may go back up to awol's daddy's friends, the supremes, and they may reverse the decision, thus opening themselves up to accusations of blatant partisanship.
but once a decision is handed down, it can be used in further arguments. don't complain to us. call judge judy.
posted by skippy at
9:12 AM |
0
comments
a mighty wind
the east coast prepares itself for a possible landfall by hurricane isabel sometime today or tomorrow.
the nytimes says north carolina seems to be the probable target of the now category 3 storm:
the storm's winds were holding steady at about 110 miles per hour, which forecasters had expected, as it moved north-northwest at 9 m.p.h. though the national hurricane center said the storm's momentum was likely to pick up, its strength was not expected to diminish before it made landfall sometime in the next day or so.
rumor has it isabel is endorsing john edwards for president.
the east coast prepares itself for a possible landfall by hurricane isabel sometime today or tomorrow.
the nytimes says north carolina seems to be the probable target of the now category 3 storm:
the storm's winds were holding steady at about 110 miles per hour, which forecasters had expected, as it moved north-northwest at 9 m.p.h. though the national hurricane center said the storm's momentum was likely to pick up, its strength was not expected to diminish before it made landfall sometime in the next day or so.
rumor has it isabel is endorsing john edwards for president.
posted by skippy at
8:54 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
recall waiting
the 9th circuit court of appeals is considering whether it will revisit the decision made yesterday by the three member panel putting the california recall on hold.
the san jose mercury news reports:
the associated press reported that the 9th u.s. circuit court of appeals asked california election officials and recall proponents to file briefs by this afternoon on whether they want an 11-judge appellate panel to rehear the case.
for now, the election remains on hold, under monday's decision by the three-judge panel.
the brilliance of the aclu's lawsuit to postpone the recall until punchcard ballots are replaced is now coming to light.
if this decision gets appealed to the supreme court, awol's daddy's friends will have to revisit and reconsider their own 2000 decision bush v. gore, which stopped the florida recount (and the rest, as they say, is history. dirty, manipulated, sickening history).
if the supremes rule in favor of the recall going forward on oct. 7, it will just show how partisan they really are. if they chicken out of their partisan ways and act like judges and uphold the 9th circuit court's decision (or even better, refuse to hear it), davis and the dems will have adequate time to force ah-nold to talk about the issues.
on the other hand, the 9th circuit court could revisit the three member panel decision, and, who knows, reverse it themselves. it's possible.
the 9th circuit court of appeals is considering whether it will revisit the decision made yesterday by the three member panel putting the california recall on hold.
the san jose mercury news reports:
the associated press reported that the 9th u.s. circuit court of appeals asked california election officials and recall proponents to file briefs by this afternoon on whether they want an 11-judge appellate panel to rehear the case.
for now, the election remains on hold, under monday's decision by the three-judge panel.
the brilliance of the aclu's lawsuit to postpone the recall until punchcard ballots are replaced is now coming to light.
if this decision gets appealed to the supreme court, awol's daddy's friends will have to revisit and reconsider their own 2000 decision bush v. gore, which stopped the florida recount (and the rest, as they say, is history. dirty, manipulated, sickening history).
if the supremes rule in favor of the recall going forward on oct. 7, it will just show how partisan they really are. if they chicken out of their partisan ways and act like judges and uphold the 9th circuit court's decision (or even better, refuse to hear it), davis and the dems will have adequate time to force ah-nold to talk about the issues.
on the other hand, the 9th circuit court could revisit the three member panel decision, and, who knows, reverse it themselves. it's possible.
posted by skippy at
12:52 PM |
0
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it's official! edwards is one of us poor working stiffs
john edwards officially launched his candidacy today, making his announcement in front of the mill his father worked in. cbsnews says:
the moderate senator, who made millions as a trial attorney before entering politics five years ago, highlighted his blue-collar roots by making his announcement at the robbins, n.c., textile mill where his father worked for 36 years. a young john edwards once had a job there, mopping beneath looms in the weave room.
edwards used the speech to assail president bush's record, offer his own biography and address some of the criticism he has faced as a first-term senator.
"i haven't spent most of my life in politics, but i've spent enough time in washington to know how much we need to change it," edwards told the crowd.
meanwhile the daily kos reports that the latest poll shows edwards way ahead of anyone else in north carolina, a must win state for him, and probably couldn't hurt the other guys if they won.
and on the clark watch, it looks like the general will announce his candidacy tomorrow.
good luck to both gentlemen!
john edwards officially launched his candidacy today, making his announcement in front of the mill his father worked in. cbsnews says:
the moderate senator, who made millions as a trial attorney before entering politics five years ago, highlighted his blue-collar roots by making his announcement at the robbins, n.c., textile mill where his father worked for 36 years. a young john edwards once had a job there, mopping beneath looms in the weave room.
edwards used the speech to assail president bush's record, offer his own biography and address some of the criticism he has faced as a first-term senator.
"i haven't spent most of my life in politics, but i've spent enough time in washington to know how much we need to change it," edwards told the crowd.
meanwhile the daily kos reports that the latest poll shows edwards way ahead of anyone else in north carolina, a must win state for him, and probably couldn't hurt the other guys if they won.
and on the clark watch, it looks like the general will announce his candidacy tomorrow.
good luck to both gentlemen!
posted by skippy at
12:39 PM |
0
comments
stick this on your hummer, ah-nold!
democrats.com sends us this link to a page of great bumper stickers for sale.
(we like the one that says "re-defeat bush!")
democrats.com sends us this link to a page of great bumper stickers for sale.
(we like the one that says "re-defeat bush!")
posted by skippy at
12:26 PM |
0
comments
some good media news for a change
moveon.org gives us the great news that the senate voted this morning to roll back all the draconian fcc rule changes, thanks in no small part to all of us writing to the various congressjerks, demanding that michael "he doesn't like it hey mikey" powell not destroy the "cross-ownership" rules that have been in place.
the washpost reports thusly:
the senate voted 55 to 40 today to wipe out all of the federal communication commission's controversial new media rules, employing a little used legislative tool for overturning agency regulations.
the resolution of disapproval, sponsored by sen. byron l. dorgan (d-n.d.), is now put on the house calendar, where a tougher vote is expected. even if passed by the house, the white house has promised a veto.
dorgan's resolution is the most sweeping of several challenges to the fcc's rules, which make it easier for media corporations to buy more newspapers and television stations but tighten radio ownership rules.
the fight's not over yet, but a significant battle has been won.
moveon.org gives us the great news that the senate voted this morning to roll back all the draconian fcc rule changes, thanks in no small part to all of us writing to the various congressjerks, demanding that michael "he doesn't like it hey mikey" powell not destroy the "cross-ownership" rules that have been in place.
the washpost reports thusly:
the senate voted 55 to 40 today to wipe out all of the federal communication commission's controversial new media rules, employing a little used legislative tool for overturning agency regulations.
the resolution of disapproval, sponsored by sen. byron l. dorgan (d-n.d.), is now put on the house calendar, where a tougher vote is expected. even if passed by the house, the white house has promised a veto.
dorgan's resolution is the most sweeping of several challenges to the fcc's rules, which make it easier for media corporations to buy more newspapers and television stations but tighten radio ownership rules.
the fight's not over yet, but a significant battle has been won.
posted by skippy at
12:25 PM |
0
comments
grandma sues eminem
our friend rose sends us this bit from the smoking gun, which tells of the widow of a veteran movie composer suing rapper eminem for unauthorized use of one of her husband's tunes:
a 70-year-old california grandmother is suing eminem over the rapper's unauthorized sampling of a musical piece authored by the woman's late husband, a veteran movie composer. in a federal court lawsuit filed last month, harlene stein alleges that the rap star (real name: marshall mathers) used a piece of one of her husband ronald's compositions on "guilty conscience," a cut from the rapper's acclaimed 1999 debut "the slim shady lp." the stein instrumental composition at the lawsuit's center is titled "pigs go home" and is part of his score for getting straight, a 1970 film starring elliott gould and candice bergen (what's next, 50 cent sampling "papa, can you hear me?" from yentl?).
our friend rose sends us this bit from the smoking gun, which tells of the widow of a veteran movie composer suing rapper eminem for unauthorized use of one of her husband's tunes:
a 70-year-old california grandmother is suing eminem over the rapper's unauthorized sampling of a musical piece authored by the woman's late husband, a veteran movie composer. in a federal court lawsuit filed last month, harlene stein alleges that the rap star (real name: marshall mathers) used a piece of one of her husband ronald's compositions on "guilty conscience," a cut from the rapper's acclaimed 1999 debut "the slim shady lp." the stein instrumental composition at the lawsuit's center is titled "pigs go home" and is part of his score for getting straight, a 1970 film starring elliott gould and candice bergen (what's next, 50 cent sampling "papa, can you hear me?" from yentl?).
posted by skippy at
12:15 PM |
0
comments
Monday, September 15, 2003
the war that keeps on giving part one soldier killed in rpg attack, police chief of khaldiya assassinated
centcom reports a u.s. soldier died in a rocket propelled attack today.
one 1st armored division soldier was killed sept. 15 when the soldier’s patrol was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade round in central baghdad.
the soldier was evacuated to the 28th combat support hospital and subsequently died of the wounds received from the grenade attack.
and the uk guardian reports that the police chief of the tiny sunni triangle town of khaldiya was assissinated by gunmen:
three gunmen, their faces covered with red and white arab headdresses, assassinated the police chief of this sunni triangle town monday in an ambush at a traffic circle.
col. khedeir mekhalef ali, 48, the khaldiya police chief, was shot at least 25 times, according to his driver, who was wounded in the attack along with ali's bodyguard…
the three attackers opened fire with a machine gun, shot one of the tires of the chief's car and then approached the vehicle and shot him, said his driver, 47-year-old rabia'a kamash. he spoke to the associated press at the fallujah general hospital were he was being treated for wounds to his head and shoulder.
centcom reports a u.s. soldier died in a rocket propelled attack today.
one 1st armored division soldier was killed sept. 15 when the soldier’s patrol was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade round in central baghdad.
the soldier was evacuated to the 28th combat support hospital and subsequently died of the wounds received from the grenade attack.
and the uk guardian reports that the police chief of the tiny sunni triangle town of khaldiya was assissinated by gunmen:
three gunmen, their faces covered with red and white arab headdresses, assassinated the police chief of this sunni triangle town monday in an ambush at a traffic circle.
col. khedeir mekhalef ali, 48, the khaldiya police chief, was shot at least 25 times, according to his driver, who was wounded in the attack along with ali's bodyguard…
the three attackers opened fire with a machine gun, shot one of the tires of the chief's car and then approached the vehicle and shot him, said his driver, 47-year-old rabia'a kamash. he spoke to the associated press at the fallujah general hospital were he was being treated for wounds to his head and shoulder.
posted by skippy at
12:58 PM |
0
comments
blogging around
the horse links us to a usatoady column wherein christian amanpour admits cnn censored itself in iraq war coverage, due to initimidation by awol and faux news.
the hamster reports that kerry's communication director chris lehane has resigned.
atrios has an interesting take on how one can be a "free-trader" and still be against wealthy-leaning organizations like the wto.
calpundit wonders if the tide is turning.
the horse links us to a usatoady column wherein christian amanpour admits cnn censored itself in iraq war coverage, due to initimidation by awol and faux news.
the hamster reports that kerry's communication director chris lehane has resigned.
atrios has an interesting take on how one can be a "free-trader" and still be against wealthy-leaning organizations like the wto.
calpundit wonders if the tide is turning.
posted by skippy at
12:53 PM |
0
comments
pr for powell
the daily kos has asked his readers for a catchy slogan that colin powell could use in asking the u.n. for help in iraq. his readers came through with plenty of good ideas.
some we liked:
all the playa's in house! put yer hands in the air! c-man, the secretary of funk, here to give you the 4-1-1 about the 9-1-1 yeah boy!" from bob
"join the bush league of nations" from deminva
"resistance is futile...you will be assimilated...from thumb
and our favorite: "all right, who do i have to blow for 15,000 troops?" by tripleg.
we suggest you read them all, and then add your own!
the daily kos has asked his readers for a catchy slogan that colin powell could use in asking the u.n. for help in iraq. his readers came through with plenty of good ideas.
some we liked:
all the playa's in house! put yer hands in the air! c-man, the secretary of funk, here to give you the 4-1-1 about the 9-1-1 yeah boy!" from bob
"join the bush league of nations" from deminva
"resistance is futile...you will be assimilated...from thumb
and our favorite: "all right, who do i have to blow for 15,000 troops?" by tripleg.
we suggest you read them all, and then add your own!
posted by skippy at
12:43 PM |
0
comments
we don't recall
frustrating ah-nold even more than when the make up girl refused to put out on the set of true lies, the ninth circuit court of appeals has ruled today california recall cannot go forward on oct. 7.
the court decided that the punch card ballots used in 6 counties (including los angeles, a pretty darn big county) would be likely to disenfranchise approximately 44% of the state's voters (because, in theory, punch card voting is more likely to be discounted than other kinds of voting). so the recall election cannot go through until those 6 counties replace their voting machines.
watch for angry repubbbs to take this to awol's daddy's friends...er, sorry, we mean the supreme court. and, for a better, more indepth look at how this ruling works and what it means, go to the blogs written by real lawyers, how appealing and talkleft.
frustrating ah-nold even more than when the make up girl refused to put out on the set of true lies, the ninth circuit court of appeals has ruled today california recall cannot go forward on oct. 7.
the court decided that the punch card ballots used in 6 counties (including los angeles, a pretty darn big county) would be likely to disenfranchise approximately 44% of the state's voters (because, in theory, punch card voting is more likely to be discounted than other kinds of voting). so the recall election cannot go through until those 6 counties replace their voting machines.
watch for angry repubbbs to take this to awol's daddy's friends...er, sorry, we mean the supreme court. and, for a better, more indepth look at how this ruling works and what it means, go to the blogs written by real lawyers, how appealing and talkleft.
posted by skippy at
12:29 PM |
0
comments
Sunday, September 14, 2003
the war that keeps on giving part one soldier killed, three injured near fallujah
an explosion on the road near fallujah killed one u.s. soldier and wounded three others, reports the nytimes:
a roadside bomb attack on a convoy in the troubled city of fallujah killed one u.s. soldier and injured three others, the military said.
it gave no further details of the attack, which brings to 155 the number of soldiers to die in iraq since president bush declared an end to major combat on may 1. during the heavy fighting before that date, 138 soldiers died.
an explosion on the road near fallujah killed one u.s. soldier and wounded three others, reports the nytimes:
a roadside bomb attack on a convoy in the troubled city of fallujah killed one u.s. soldier and injured three others, the military said.
it gave no further details of the attack, which brings to 155 the number of soldiers to die in iraq since president bush declared an end to major combat on may 1. during the heavy fighting before that date, 138 soldiers died.
posted by skippy at
8:51 PM |
0
comments
a quick meme the dems can use (free of charge)
we watched a bit of faux news today (because cnn was doing their people magazine special) and we watched bob beckel debate with some rightist repubbblican consultant, about the big dog's appearance in california to stump for gray davis.
the commentator (or "common baiter," because she was only there apparently to bait mr. beckel) opened with a question to bob: something along the lines of how bill clinton, who "lied to the american people" and "dragged the nation through the impeachment process" can now be such hot property in the democratic party.
to give bob credit, he did call the faux anchor on part of her disingenuous intro. "it was the republicans in the house who dragged the nation through the impeachment process." nice job, bob!
however, bob let the "lied to american people" just, well, lie there. come on, bob, this one is sooooo easy!
any democratic pundit on tv that ever gets confronted with this repubbblican meme again, only has to say this:
"lied to the american people? sean, i've got four words for you: 'weapons of mass destruction'. at least clinton's lies didn't kill more than 300 americans and untold thousands of iraqi's. so bite me you sanctimonious piece of excretion."
ok, leave off that last sentence, but you get the idea.
we watched a bit of faux news today (because cnn was doing their people magazine special) and we watched bob beckel debate with some rightist repubbblican consultant, about the big dog's appearance in california to stump for gray davis.
the commentator (or "common baiter," because she was only there apparently to bait mr. beckel) opened with a question to bob: something along the lines of how bill clinton, who "lied to the american people" and "dragged the nation through the impeachment process" can now be such hot property in the democratic party.
to give bob credit, he did call the faux anchor on part of her disingenuous intro. "it was the republicans in the house who dragged the nation through the impeachment process." nice job, bob!
however, bob let the "lied to american people" just, well, lie there. come on, bob, this one is sooooo easy!
any democratic pundit on tv that ever gets confronted with this repubbblican meme again, only has to say this:
"lied to the american people? sean, i've got four words for you: 'weapons of mass destruction'. at least clinton's lies didn't kill more than 300 americans and untold thousands of iraqi's. so bite me you sanctimonious piece of excretion."
ok, leave off that last sentence, but you get the idea.
posted by skippy at
8:49 PM |
0
comments
Saturday, September 13, 2003
posted by skippy at
7:05 PM |
0
comments
the definition of irony
we used to like what steve buscemi said about irony in "con air": a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
however, we have to agree that talkleft may have inadvertantly created a new definition of irony (absolutely not of her doing, let us be clear about that!):
she blogs about freeing tommy chong from prison on charges of selling drug paraphanelia, right before she goes to speak at the california public defenders association conference in the wine country.
no, the irony is not talkleft's fault. indeed, if we may recommend yet another book that makes sense, take a look at "saying yes: in defense of drug use" which posits the idea that responsible use of illegal drugs is no different morally and ethically than responsible use of alcohol.
here's an admittedly biased review from the drug reform coordination network:
but, as [author jacob] sullum shows in several entertaining chapters, voodoo pharmacology -- the basis of our current prohibitionist drug policies -- has little to do with the reality of drug use patterns and more to do with enduring cultural fears encapsulated above by the paranoid mr. forbes. in passage after passage that will be uplifting to those drug users who never lost their jobs, their families, their health or their minds because they smoke pot today or snorted coke in the '80s or tripped on acid in the '60s or rolled on ecstasy in the '90s, sullum explores not only the unharmful but sometimes downright positive effects of drug use for many drug users.
and he finds that just as the wino drunk in the gutter does not represent most alcohol drinkers, neither does the thieving junky represent all heroin users, the twitching tweaker all amphetamine users, nor cheech and chong all pot smokers. quite the opposite. "the silent majority of users," he writes, are "decent, respectable people who, despite their politically incorrect choice of intoxicants, earn a living and meet their responsibilities."
we are pretty darn sure that talkleft would agree with us: it's ludicrous that tommy chong is languishing in prison for selling pipes on the internet while budweiser sponsors the superbowl.
adults who are responsible for their behavior don't abuse drugs...be they smoked or drunk. and they don't drive or operate heavy machinery or baby sit or throw knives or anything else, while they imbibe, if they are responsible.
so why is one drug sold on tv with jiggly models and the others are basis for life terms in prison?
we used to like what steve buscemi said about irony in "con air": a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
however, we have to agree that talkleft may have inadvertantly created a new definition of irony (absolutely not of her doing, let us be clear about that!):
she blogs about freeing tommy chong from prison on charges of selling drug paraphanelia, right before she goes to speak at the california public defenders association conference in the wine country.
no, the irony is not talkleft's fault. indeed, if we may recommend yet another book that makes sense, take a look at "saying yes: in defense of drug use" which posits the idea that responsible use of illegal drugs is no different morally and ethically than responsible use of alcohol.
here's an admittedly biased review from the drug reform coordination network:
but, as [author jacob] sullum shows in several entertaining chapters, voodoo pharmacology -- the basis of our current prohibitionist drug policies -- has little to do with the reality of drug use patterns and more to do with enduring cultural fears encapsulated above by the paranoid mr. forbes. in passage after passage that will be uplifting to those drug users who never lost their jobs, their families, their health or their minds because they smoke pot today or snorted coke in the '80s or tripped on acid in the '60s or rolled on ecstasy in the '90s, sullum explores not only the unharmful but sometimes downright positive effects of drug use for many drug users.
and he finds that just as the wino drunk in the gutter does not represent most alcohol drinkers, neither does the thieving junky represent all heroin users, the twitching tweaker all amphetamine users, nor cheech and chong all pot smokers. quite the opposite. "the silent majority of users," he writes, are "decent, respectable people who, despite their politically incorrect choice of intoxicants, earn a living and meet their responsibilities."
we are pretty darn sure that talkleft would agree with us: it's ludicrous that tommy chong is languishing in prison for selling pipes on the internet while budweiser sponsors the superbowl.
adults who are responsible for their behavior don't abuse drugs...be they smoked or drunk. and they don't drive or operate heavy machinery or baby sit or throw knives or anything else, while they imbibe, if they are responsible.
so why is one drug sold on tv with jiggly models and the others are basis for life terms in prison?
posted by skippy at
7:03 PM |
0
comments
why we love search engines
in the latest attempt to not actually cover stories, but make them up, the media elite are jumping on howard dean's use of a joke that was apparently given to him during the taping of k street, the hbo series starring james carville as george clooney. the nytimes observes:
there is one moment when mr. soderbergh's experiment in symbiosis seems to pay off. for the show, mr. carville's character, aided by paul begala, like mr. carville a clinton-aide-turned-consultant, feeds howard dean, who appears as himself, a snappy retort during a fictionalized debate rehearsal.
in the real-life democratic debate in baltimore last tuesday, dr. dean delivered mr. carville's punch line when asked about the small number of blacks in his home state, vermont. (if the ability to attract black voters were linked to their share of the state's population, he said, "trent lott would be martin luther king.")
in lieu of talking about issues, the media are now trying to "gore" dean by presenting him as a prevaricator. fox news has already started questioning dean's veracity, claiming on a broadcast today that dean's campaign "insisted" that dean himself came up with the line.
howard kurtz, who pretends that blogging and using search engines is journalism, has jumped all over this story.
well, that's what dr. dean gets for being the front runner. trouble ahead, trouble behind, casey jones da da de da de dada crossed my mind.
but what do we like about search engines? look at what google brought up (the very last entry) when we searched for "howard dean martin luther king k street."
in the latest attempt to not actually cover stories, but make them up, the media elite are jumping on howard dean's use of a joke that was apparently given to him during the taping of k street, the hbo series starring james carville as george clooney. the nytimes observes:
there is one moment when mr. soderbergh's experiment in symbiosis seems to pay off. for the show, mr. carville's character, aided by paul begala, like mr. carville a clinton-aide-turned-consultant, feeds howard dean, who appears as himself, a snappy retort during a fictionalized debate rehearsal.
in the real-life democratic debate in baltimore last tuesday, dr. dean delivered mr. carville's punch line when asked about the small number of blacks in his home state, vermont. (if the ability to attract black voters were linked to their share of the state's population, he said, "trent lott would be martin luther king.")
in lieu of talking about issues, the media are now trying to "gore" dean by presenting him as a prevaricator. fox news has already started questioning dean's veracity, claiming on a broadcast today that dean's campaign "insisted" that dean himself came up with the line.
howard kurtz, who pretends that blogging and using search engines is journalism, has jumped all over this story.
well, that's what dr. dean gets for being the front runner. trouble ahead, trouble behind, casey jones da da de da de dada crossed my mind.
but what do we like about search engines? look at what google brought up (the very last entry) when we searched for "howard dean martin luther king k street."
posted by skippy at
6:43 PM |
0
comments
dcombobulated
our bud and regular contributor tekflower sends us this link to a website that that promises to fix ms windows' problems with the dcom patches, thus keeping worms and viruses out of your computer.
disclaimer: we don't know nothing bout fixin' no computers. use this at your own risk!
our bud and regular contributor tekflower sends us this link to a website that that promises to fix ms windows' problems with the dcom patches, thus keeping worms and viruses out of your computer.
disclaimer: we don't know nothing bout fixin' no computers. use this at your own risk!
posted by skippy at
6:26 PM |
0
comments
hey hey ho ho let us into the wto
hundreds, if not thousands of demonstrators are clogging the streets of cancun as they square off against mexican riot police defending the world trade orgination's annual meeting. the nytimes reports:
chanting "down down w.t.o.," some 2,000 protesters tore down fortified barricades today that had been erected by the police to keep demonstrators away from the talks. some protesters, their faces covered with bandanas and pads strapped to their forearms, rolled a battering ram cobbled from garbage cans and a tree trunk, vowing to "tear down the barriers of imperialism."..
police officers made minimal effort to stop the protest. and after accomplishing their goal, w.t.o. opponents from at least 20 countries, many of them students, sat in the street and applauded their solidarity. there were no clashes between the protesters and the police.
canada.com is saying the protesters flung feces at the police...that's subtle!
hundreds of protesters staged an hours-long standoff with mexican police saturday, cutting through metal barricades, throwing feces and threatening to storm a world trade organization meeting.
the demonstrations this time around began on a rather ugly note, as one man killed himself in protest of the wto's policies earlier this week.
as always, the best place to find up to the minute report on gigantic protests across the world is indymedia.
hundreds, if not thousands of demonstrators are clogging the streets of cancun as they square off against mexican riot police defending the world trade orgination's annual meeting. the nytimes reports:
chanting "down down w.t.o.," some 2,000 protesters tore down fortified barricades today that had been erected by the police to keep demonstrators away from the talks. some protesters, their faces covered with bandanas and pads strapped to their forearms, rolled a battering ram cobbled from garbage cans and a tree trunk, vowing to "tear down the barriers of imperialism."..
police officers made minimal effort to stop the protest. and after accomplishing their goal, w.t.o. opponents from at least 20 countries, many of them students, sat in the street and applauded their solidarity. there were no clashes between the protesters and the police.
canada.com is saying the protesters flung feces at the police...that's subtle!
hundreds of protesters staged an hours-long standoff with mexican police saturday, cutting through metal barricades, throwing feces and threatening to storm a world trade organization meeting.
the demonstrations this time around began on a rather ugly note, as one man killed himself in protest of the wto's policies earlier this week.
as always, the best place to find up to the minute report on gigantic protests across the world is indymedia.
posted by skippy at
6:24 PM |
0
comments
do you recall, or remember at all, that wonderful, wonderful year?
[ed. note: could we get our headline writer to make references to something more recent than the gary moore show?]
nathan newman reminds us that the cal legislature passed a number of progressive bills, the kind that might get vetoed should a "non-democrat" (in his words) get into the governor's office.
as of now, that seems to be only a 50/50 chance, according to the latest latimes poll, which has the recall itself approved by only about half the voters polled, according to the desert sun:
the separate vote on the oct. 7 ballot on whether or not to recall democratic gov. gray davis was split, with 50 percent saying yes and 47 percent saying no. the poll's sampling error margin was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(don't ask us why we can't find the poll results in the latimes and had to go to the palm desert desert sun...sometimes net search engines make no sense whatsoever...but then, neither do politics!)
davis' chances are moving up slightly. but it's tom mcclintock who is surprising everybody. the supposedly "moderate" vote that peter ueberrothh gave up when he pulled a "simon" (dropping out, as opposed to pulling an "issa," where you drop out and cry about it on tv) has not drifted over to ah-nold, but apparently over to mcclintock, instead.
the same latimes poll we couldn't find on the latimes website has tom mcclintock gaining on ah-nold, 17% to 25%, a mere 8% behind the immigrant who is against illegal immigrants.
(even though the san jose mercury news suggests that ah-nold himself may have been guilty of stretching the visa rules back when he was just a poor austrian body builder trying to make money in this country...something his visa did not allow him to do!)
ah-nold refuses to debate mcclintock for bragging rights of who's the real repubbblican. the contra costa times reports that when surprised by mcclintock on a conservative radio talk show, ah-noldamiabley said he'd debate tom. but when tom pressed him for an actual debate, ah-nold rebuffed the state senator.
meanwhile, arianna needs money.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to california rough and tumble politics for links to several of these stories!)
[ed. note: could we get our headline writer to make references to something more recent than the gary moore show?]
nathan newman reminds us that the cal legislature passed a number of progressive bills, the kind that might get vetoed should a "non-democrat" (in his words) get into the governor's office.
as of now, that seems to be only a 50/50 chance, according to the latest latimes poll, which has the recall itself approved by only about half the voters polled, according to the desert sun:
the separate vote on the oct. 7 ballot on whether or not to recall democratic gov. gray davis was split, with 50 percent saying yes and 47 percent saying no. the poll's sampling error margin was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(don't ask us why we can't find the poll results in the latimes and had to go to the palm desert desert sun...sometimes net search engines make no sense whatsoever...but then, neither do politics!)
davis' chances are moving up slightly. but it's tom mcclintock who is surprising everybody. the supposedly "moderate" vote that peter ueberrothh gave up when he pulled a "simon" (dropping out, as opposed to pulling an "issa," where you drop out and cry about it on tv) has not drifted over to ah-nold, but apparently over to mcclintock, instead.
the same latimes poll we couldn't find on the latimes website has tom mcclintock gaining on ah-nold, 17% to 25%, a mere 8% behind the immigrant who is against illegal immigrants.
(even though the san jose mercury news suggests that ah-nold himself may have been guilty of stretching the visa rules back when he was just a poor austrian body builder trying to make money in this country...something his visa did not allow him to do!)
ah-nold refuses to debate mcclintock for bragging rights of who's the real repubbblican. the contra costa times reports that when surprised by mcclintock on a conservative radio talk show, ah-noldamiabley said he'd debate tom. but when tom pressed him for an actual debate, ah-nold rebuffed the state senator.
meanwhile, arianna needs money.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to california rough and tumble politics for links to several of these stories!)
posted by skippy at
1:21 PM |
0
comments
if we're conspiracy theorists, then the 9/11 widows must be oliver stone
we are still smarting from a couple of comments responding to our questions about 9/11 that have yet to be answered to our satisfaction.
a couple of people (who shall remain nameless) have said, among other things, "no one is going to take this seriously," and our comments were "unspeakably vile and well beneath" us, and our favorite, "this is just silly, silly, silly skippy." (3 "silly's"...a record for our blog!)
we steadfastly maintain that simply asking questions (and wondering aloud why the administration does not answer those questions) does not make us conspiracy theorists...that would entail proposing a ridiculous conclusion, and then pointing to circumstantial evidence that might support that conclusion if you were drunk or high or crazy, or all three (or "silly," speaking of 3!)
and we maintain that position, because we are not alone in asking questions about the administration's actions before, during and after 9/11. as much as we loathe chris matthews, we were happy to see him give time to a couple of the 9/11 widows...patty casazza and kristen breitweiser, who have been very active in promoting an investigation (here's an excellent profile on their work) into the events of that fateful day (hardball transcript here...scroll down past peggy noonan if you want to keep your lunch).
mrs. breitweiser said on hardball:
when you have a president of the united states remaining seated, listening to second graders read to him for 25 minutes after the second tower was hit, certainly that could have been run more smoothly.
when you have a secretary of defense remaining at his desk at the pentagon, and unknown to him was the plane that hit the pentagon until the plane hit the building, you know, that’s a problem.
the plane that hit the pentagon hit an hour after the attacks in new york. what exactly was the secretary of defense doing at his desk? he should have been in the war room. he should have been making decisions. he should have been protecting me and the 3,000 others who were in the towers.
mrs. casazza said on the same program:
well, when we looked at, when we investigated standard protocols and procedures of, let’s say, norad, who was supposed to scramble jets to accompany planes that were off course or whose transponders were turned off, those policies and procedures happen on a daily basis.
and on 9/11, no jets were scrambled until after the pentagon was hit. that was at 9:38. the first plane was declared hijacked between 8:13 and 8:20. that’s an hour and a half time which norad had to scramble the jets.
in the case of payne stewart, they scrambled jets within six minutes. and that was a well-documented rescue attempt.
matthews: patty, do you think there was enough time, if we had quick witted people who knew what was up, who had good instincts, could they have scrambled the jets and diverted those planes in time to divert the disaster?
casazza: i’m not saying that we could have prevented the disaster. but because those planes were not scrambled, we will never know. we will never know if the hijackers would have been deterred by being accompanied by those fighter jets.
these two ladies asked many of the same questions we asked earlier this week:
matthews: ok. if you-i’m sorry to interrupt. [ed. note: yeah, right!] if you were sitting with vice president dick cheney now, who’s the real powerhouse in this administration, and could you grill him and he was under sodium pentathol, what would you want to know from him?
breitweiser: i would want to know exactly where he was on the morning of 9/11, at exactly what time the jets were scrambled, why was there a failure of the city of new york to effectively evacuate those buildings?
i would want to know why certain members of the bin laden family and certain saudi individuals were flown out of the country a few days after the attacks, prior to them being asked questions by the fbi.
i would want to know whether the fbi was, in fact, investigating any of the 19 terrorists.
i would want to know why 28 pages of the joint inquiries report are not being released to the american public.
i would want to know why the american public is not being fully informed as to what went wrong on the morning of september 11 and why there seems to be no sense of concern on behalf of the administration to assure the american public that things have been fixed and that they are safe living in this country.
read the transcript. then come join us for a tin-foil hat fitting.
we are still smarting from a couple of comments responding to our questions about 9/11 that have yet to be answered to our satisfaction.
a couple of people (who shall remain nameless) have said, among other things, "no one is going to take this seriously," and our comments were "unspeakably vile and well beneath" us, and our favorite, "this is just silly, silly, silly skippy." (3 "silly's"...a record for our blog!)
we steadfastly maintain that simply asking questions (and wondering aloud why the administration does not answer those questions) does not make us conspiracy theorists...that would entail proposing a ridiculous conclusion, and then pointing to circumstantial evidence that might support that conclusion if you were drunk or high or crazy, or all three (or "silly," speaking of 3!)
and we maintain that position, because we are not alone in asking questions about the administration's actions before, during and after 9/11. as much as we loathe chris matthews, we were happy to see him give time to a couple of the 9/11 widows...patty casazza and kristen breitweiser, who have been very active in promoting an investigation (here's an excellent profile on their work) into the events of that fateful day (hardball transcript here...scroll down past peggy noonan if you want to keep your lunch).
mrs. breitweiser said on hardball:
when you have a president of the united states remaining seated, listening to second graders read to him for 25 minutes after the second tower was hit, certainly that could have been run more smoothly.
when you have a secretary of defense remaining at his desk at the pentagon, and unknown to him was the plane that hit the pentagon until the plane hit the building, you know, that’s a problem.
the plane that hit the pentagon hit an hour after the attacks in new york. what exactly was the secretary of defense doing at his desk? he should have been in the war room. he should have been making decisions. he should have been protecting me and the 3,000 others who were in the towers.
mrs. casazza said on the same program:
well, when we looked at, when we investigated standard protocols and procedures of, let’s say, norad, who was supposed to scramble jets to accompany planes that were off course or whose transponders were turned off, those policies and procedures happen on a daily basis.
and on 9/11, no jets were scrambled until after the pentagon was hit. that was at 9:38. the first plane was declared hijacked between 8:13 and 8:20. that’s an hour and a half time which norad had to scramble the jets.
in the case of payne stewart, they scrambled jets within six minutes. and that was a well-documented rescue attempt.
matthews: patty, do you think there was enough time, if we had quick witted people who knew what was up, who had good instincts, could they have scrambled the jets and diverted those planes in time to divert the disaster?
casazza: i’m not saying that we could have prevented the disaster. but because those planes were not scrambled, we will never know. we will never know if the hijackers would have been deterred by being accompanied by those fighter jets.
these two ladies asked many of the same questions we asked earlier this week:
matthews: ok. if you-i’m sorry to interrupt. [ed. note: yeah, right!] if you were sitting with vice president dick cheney now, who’s the real powerhouse in this administration, and could you grill him and he was under sodium pentathol, what would you want to know from him?
breitweiser: i would want to know exactly where he was on the morning of 9/11, at exactly what time the jets were scrambled, why was there a failure of the city of new york to effectively evacuate those buildings?
i would want to know why certain members of the bin laden family and certain saudi individuals were flown out of the country a few days after the attacks, prior to them being asked questions by the fbi.
i would want to know whether the fbi was, in fact, investigating any of the 19 terrorists.
i would want to know why 28 pages of the joint inquiries report are not being released to the american public.
i would want to know why the american public is not being fully informed as to what went wrong on the morning of september 11 and why there seems to be no sense of concern on behalf of the administration to assure the american public that things have been fixed and that they are safe living in this country.
read the transcript. then come join us for a tin-foil hat fitting.
posted by skippy at
12:17 AM |
0
comments
Friday, September 12, 2003
back from vacation!
it's big james capazzola of the rittenhouse review! welcome back, james! (and happy birthday!) and, he's wondering if norah vincent is on an extended vacation herself.
it's big james capazzola of the rittenhouse review! welcome back, james! (and happy birthday!) and, he's wondering if norah vincent is on an extended vacation herself.
posted by skippy at
11:55 PM |
0
comments
liberals never draw an audience on tv
sure, that's why they moved crossfire to the afternoons on cnn. because, as media life magazine.com reports on the debut of "anderson cooper 360":
the audience for “cooper” on monday was down 47 percent in the 7 p.m. time slot occupied last year by “crossfire,” to 319,000 people...
sure, that's why they moved crossfire to the afternoons on cnn. because, as media life magazine.com reports on the debut of "anderson cooper 360":
the audience for “cooper” on monday was down 47 percent in the 7 p.m. time slot occupied last year by “crossfire,” to 319,000 people...
posted by skippy at
11:51 PM |
0
comments
mad's birthday gift
yesterday was mad kane's birthday, and so here's her gift...not to her, but from her. it's a song parody and, in her words, "this one dubya might like because it makes fun of lawyers." it's called "that's what the law's about."
yesterday was mad kane's birthday, and so here's her gift...not to her, but from her. it's a song parody and, in her words, "this one dubya might like because it makes fun of lawyers." it's called "that's what the law's about."
posted by skippy at
11:40 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part 8 iraqi's killed by u.s. fire; two american troops killed in separate incident
in an incident that is under investigation, u.s. forces mistakenly killed several iraqi policemen who were chasing a suspect near fallujah, says the voice of america.
witnesses say iraqi security officers were pursuing a vehicle carrying suspected highway bandits, when they came close to a u.s. military checkpoint and were fired upon by mistake. the wounded were taken to a nearby jordanian field hospital, which reportedly also came under fire during the incident. u.s. military officials in baghdad said they are investigating.
meanwhile, two american soldiers died in a vicious firefight in the town of rimadi, reports kfdx tv:
two us soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded in a shootout early today in the town of ramadi. a total of 291 u.s. soldiers have died in iraq since the war began.
in an incident that is under investigation, u.s. forces mistakenly killed several iraqi policemen who were chasing a suspect near fallujah, says the voice of america.
witnesses say iraqi security officers were pursuing a vehicle carrying suspected highway bandits, when they came close to a u.s. military checkpoint and were fired upon by mistake. the wounded were taken to a nearby jordanian field hospital, which reportedly also came under fire during the incident. u.s. military officials in baghdad said they are investigating.
meanwhile, two american soldiers died in a vicious firefight in the town of rimadi, reports kfdx tv:
two us soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded in a shootout early today in the town of ramadi. a total of 291 u.s. soldiers have died in iraq since the war began.
posted by skippy at
9:12 PM |
0
comments
rip cash and ritter
just as god called home a pair of buddy's last month (ebsen and hackett), apparently the "j's" came up on the final summoner's list, as we lost two great entertainers, both named john.
john ritter's light touch in modern tv comedy belied his range. everyone will remember him as the goofy and perpetually horny jack tripper on "three's company," but he was equally strong when playing dramatic roles as well (his supporting turn as the drug store clerk in slingblade is cited as an example).
a relatively young 54 when he fell ill yesterday onstage of his current abc sitcom 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter, ritter will be sorely missed by hollywood and america. he was known to be a devoted family man and an easy person to work with. he died late last night in the hospital.
johnny cash, the man in black, was 71 when he died. writer and singer of numerous songs everyone recognizes, cash was a major force in country music, as well as modern rock and roll.
friend and colleagues alike loved him, not for his talent alone, but his generosity and plain spokeness. he won 11 grammies during his career, and topped it off with an mtv award this year for the video hurt.
the world will miss both great entertainers.
just as god called home a pair of buddy's last month (ebsen and hackett), apparently the "j's" came up on the final summoner's list, as we lost two great entertainers, both named john.
john ritter's light touch in modern tv comedy belied his range. everyone will remember him as the goofy and perpetually horny jack tripper on "three's company," but he was equally strong when playing dramatic roles as well (his supporting turn as the drug store clerk in slingblade is cited as an example).
a relatively young 54 when he fell ill yesterday onstage of his current abc sitcom 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter, ritter will be sorely missed by hollywood and america. he was known to be a devoted family man and an easy person to work with. he died late last night in the hospital.
johnny cash, the man in black, was 71 when he died. writer and singer of numerous songs everyone recognizes, cash was a major force in country music, as well as modern rock and roll.
friend and colleagues alike loved him, not for his talent alone, but his generosity and plain spokeness. he won 11 grammies during his career, and topped it off with an mtv award this year for the video hurt.
the world will miss both great entertainers.
posted by skippy at
8:04 PM |
0
comments
direct from baghdad
skippy happens to have an old college buddy who is a civilian working for one of the companies involved in the iraq reconstruction. his friend, whom we shall call "skippy's friend," is over there now, working under dangerous conditions to help bring baghdad back up to speed after (during?) the war.
the company will remain nameless, as will skippy's friend himself, at his own request. but here is the first of what we hope to be several "direct from the front" missives telling of life in a war zone:
yep, it's as fucked up as it seems. however, it's not hopeless. we can fix this place up and frankly we have an obligation to do so. however, it's going to be immensely difficult and really, really expensive in blood and treasure. 87 billion is just a down payment. but our idiot son broke it, so we bought it. even if it costs him his presidency (please, please!), we'll still be left with the hornet's nest he stuck his face in.
i'm pretty safe, as long as i stay in our camp. when i go out, i wear body armor and a kevlar helmet and hope that they don't go for me. i've now been shot at a couple of times and it's a most unpleasant feeling.
i've made a promise to myself that this is the last time i'll accept a job in a war zone.
and yes, we do have electricity (we have a generator in the camp).
signed,
skippy's friend
skippy happens to have an old college buddy who is a civilian working for one of the companies involved in the iraq reconstruction. his friend, whom we shall call "skippy's friend," is over there now, working under dangerous conditions to help bring baghdad back up to speed after (during?) the war.
the company will remain nameless, as will skippy's friend himself, at his own request. but here is the first of what we hope to be several "direct from the front" missives telling of life in a war zone:
yep, it's as fucked up as it seems. however, it's not hopeless. we can fix this place up and frankly we have an obligation to do so. however, it's going to be immensely difficult and really, really expensive in blood and treasure. 87 billion is just a down payment. but our idiot son broke it, so we bought it. even if it costs him his presidency (please, please!), we'll still be left with the hornet's nest he stuck his face in.
i'm pretty safe, as long as i stay in our camp. when i go out, i wear body armor and a kevlar helmet and hope that they don't go for me. i've now been shot at a couple of times and it's a most unpleasant feeling.
i've made a promise to myself that this is the last time i'll accept a job in a war zone.
and yes, we do have electricity (we have a generator in the camp).
signed,
skippy's friend
posted by skippy at
7:35 PM |
0
comments
letters...we get letters...we get lots and lots of letters...
let's open up the ol' skippy mailbag and see what's here today!
mike of left is right has a rant about the gullible american public still believing saddam was connected to 9/11...
walter of idols of the marketplace brings our attention to a paul kennedy piece about how overstretched our military is at this point...
regular reader and contributor sbmail tells us to tune into now with bill moyers tonight for an indepth look at 9/11...
moveon.org wants everyone (as do we) to register to vote in the recall election in california...
so does working assets.
let's open up the ol' skippy mailbag and see what's here today!
mike of left is right has a rant about the gullible american public still believing saddam was connected to 9/11...
walter of idols of the marketplace brings our attention to a paul kennedy piece about how overstretched our military is at this point...
regular reader and contributor sbmail tells us to tune into now with bill moyers tonight for an indepth look at 9/11...
moveon.org wants everyone (as do we) to register to vote in the recall election in california...
so does working assets.
posted by skippy at
7:22 PM |
0
comments
Thursday, September 11, 2003
we salute the veterans of our nation
we especially salute skot pierson, an army veteran from juneau, alaska, who wrote a letter to the editor of the juneau empire.
mr. pierson has done some "on line research," as he put it, and came up with some interesting facts:
fully one-third of the $3.9 billion per month cost of keeping u.s. troops in iraq is going directly to halliburton.
$1 billion has been paid halliburton through mid-august alone, plus ...
$705 million for an initial round of oil field work.
$142 million for base camp operations in kuwait.
$170 million for logistical support for iraqi reconstruction.
$28 million for construction of pow camps.
$39 million for base camps in jordan.
$183 million for afghanistan.
a staggering $300 million jumbo contract for the navy, and (brace yourself) ...
an eye-popping $7 billion to put out non-existent fires at iraqi oil wells.
the sheer size of halliburton's incredible windfall from bushco is breathtaking - and, there's no end in sight!
do the math: can there be any doubt why we are in iraq?
mr. pierson then goes on to enumerate the bin laden-bush ties, and wonder aloud if our brave men and women in uniform are being killed because of men like awol and cheney, who have turned us into a "nation of greedy invaders."
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to the smirking chimp for the link to mr. pierson's letter!)
we especially salute skot pierson, an army veteran from juneau, alaska, who wrote a letter to the editor of the juneau empire.
mr. pierson has done some "on line research," as he put it, and came up with some interesting facts:
fully one-third of the $3.9 billion per month cost of keeping u.s. troops in iraq is going directly to halliburton.
$1 billion has been paid halliburton through mid-august alone, plus ...
$705 million for an initial round of oil field work.
$142 million for base camp operations in kuwait.
$170 million for logistical support for iraqi reconstruction.
$28 million for construction of pow camps.
$39 million for base camps in jordan.
$183 million for afghanistan.
a staggering $300 million jumbo contract for the navy, and (brace yourself) ...
an eye-popping $7 billion to put out non-existent fires at iraqi oil wells.
the sheer size of halliburton's incredible windfall from bushco is breathtaking - and, there's no end in sight!
do the math: can there be any doubt why we are in iraq?
mr. pierson then goes on to enumerate the bin laden-bush ties, and wonder aloud if our brave men and women in uniform are being killed because of men like awol and cheney, who have turned us into a "nation of greedy invaders."
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to the smirking chimp for the link to mr. pierson's letter!)
posted by skippy at
11:45 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
11:28 PM |
0
comments
how to kill a repubbblican meme
the next time someone dredges (or drudges) up that tired old media meme that a lefty radio network or lefty tv news show wouldn't draw any audience, we have two words for them:
the daily show (with jon stewart).
well, technically, that's six words, we suppose. if you don't like it, we've got another two words for you.
the next time someone dredges (or drudges) up that tired old media meme that a lefty radio network or lefty tv news show wouldn't draw any audience, we have two words for them:
the daily show (with jon stewart).
well, technically, that's six words, we suppose. if you don't like it, we've got another two words for you.
posted by skippy at
11:26 PM |
0
comments
happy belated birthday
talkleft reminds us that, on this day of most somber thoughts, there are times for celebration too. happy birthday to the daily kos and mad kane (the people, not the web sites).
talkleft reminds us that, on this day of most somber thoughts, there are times for celebration too. happy birthday to the daily kos and mad kane (the people, not the web sites).
posted by skippy at
9:10 PM |
0
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posted by skippy at
9:03 PM |
0
comments
tinfoil hat time
sorry to irritate our good friend conrad, but if it's tinfoil hats he wants, we've got plenty of questions about two years ago...
thanks to several posters over at atrios' comment section, we found tons of sites asking those crazy, loony questions (like, was the bin laden family allowed to fly out of america shortly after the attacks? come on, michael, that's just crazy!)
911 truth alliance: unanswered questions about sept 11.
slate: what you think you know about sept. 11...but don't
the memory hole: bob graham asserts at least one foreign country assisted the terrorists
the center for cooperative research: the complete 9/11 timeline [ed. note: pay special attention to the september 11: minute by minute time line. it addresses one of our main questions, shouldn't american military planes have been scrambled within mere moments at the first sign of trouble on that day?]
here's one we found ourselves, and it's not a conspiracy nutjob web site: the philadephia daily news - why don't we have answers to these 9/11 questions? (here again, they ask about the lack of military planes reacting to hijackings).
and finally, if you think you know it all anyway, why not take the 9/11 quiz? you'll flunk!
sorry to irritate our good friend conrad, but if it's tinfoil hats he wants, we've got plenty of questions about two years ago...
thanks to several posters over at atrios' comment section, we found tons of sites asking those crazy, loony questions (like, was the bin laden family allowed to fly out of america shortly after the attacks? come on, michael, that's just crazy!)
911 truth alliance: unanswered questions about sept 11.
slate: what you think you know about sept. 11...but don't
the memory hole: bob graham asserts at least one foreign country assisted the terrorists
the center for cooperative research: the complete 9/11 timeline [ed. note: pay special attention to the september 11: minute by minute time line. it addresses one of our main questions, shouldn't american military planes have been scrambled within mere moments at the first sign of trouble on that day?]
here's one we found ourselves, and it's not a conspiracy nutjob web site: the philadephia daily news - why don't we have answers to these 9/11 questions? (here again, they ask about the lack of military planes reacting to hijackings).
and finally, if you think you know it all anyway, why not take the 9/11 quiz? you'll flunk!
posted by skippy at
4:10 PM |
0
comments
a lott of mistakes
tim lambert sends us a link to his latest debunking of john lott's re-working of history. apparently instead of just admitting that ayers and donahue proved that lott's findings (in "more guns, less crime") were full of mistakes, lott has simply reworked his model, without bothering to factor "clustering" into the equation (or without bothering to even tell anyone).
ayers and donahue's model used lott's own data to show that more guns actually equals a bit more crime, not less.
"clustering" is too complicated to explain here (mainly because we haven't got the foggiest idea what it is), but worse (and easier to understand) than that, lambert has caught lott in rewriting his results chart on his website (johnlott.org), and misdating the corrected version to sometime early next year.
somehow john lott not only has proven that more guns equal less crime, but has invented a time machine to go write new web site entries several months in the future.
time travel! gee, now we bet mary rosh is creaming in her pants!
tim lambert sends us a link to his latest debunking of john lott's re-working of history. apparently instead of just admitting that ayers and donahue proved that lott's findings (in "more guns, less crime") were full of mistakes, lott has simply reworked his model, without bothering to factor "clustering" into the equation (or without bothering to even tell anyone).
ayers and donahue's model used lott's own data to show that more guns actually equals a bit more crime, not less.
"clustering" is too complicated to explain here (mainly because we haven't got the foggiest idea what it is), but worse (and easier to understand) than that, lambert has caught lott in rewriting his results chart on his website (johnlott.org), and misdating the corrected version to sometime early next year.
somehow john lott not only has proven that more guns equal less crime, but has invented a time machine to go write new web site entries several months in the future.
time travel! gee, now we bet mary rosh is creaming in her pants!
posted by skippy at
3:23 PM |
0
comments
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
ampoljo isn't a restaurant chain where you get fried clams
got to thank the kids over at american politics journal, who have linked to our humble blog not once, not twice, but three times in the past week. we like their work too, and suggest a daily reading!
if you're here from ampoljo, scroll on down to the post entitled 9/11/03...that's what you're looking for.
(the rest of ya, go here...we know what you're looking for!)
got to thank the kids over at american politics journal, who have linked to our humble blog not once, not twice, but three times in the past week. we like their work too, and suggest a daily reading!
if you're here from ampoljo, scroll on down to the post entitled 9/11/03...that's what you're looking for.
(the rest of ya, go here...we know what you're looking for!)
posted by skippy at
10:16 PM |
0
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alas, poor rummy i knew him, horatio
sounding rather like king claudius telling hamlet to forget that hamlet's father was dead, in spite of being the one who killed him, awol has called for an end to past bickering amongst the allies in an attempt to get some help in iraq, says the nytimes:
"let us not get caught up in past bickering, let us move forward," mr. bush said at a brief question-and-answer session with reporters at the white house. "a free iraq is in everybody's interest. a peaceful iraq is in the world's interest. and i'm confident we can work together to achieve that."
the president also brushed aside any suggestions that the extra $87 billion he is seeking for peacekeeping in iraq and afghanistan may require tax increases. "that's an absurd notion," mr. bush said. "you don't raise taxes when an economy's recovering. matter of fact, lower taxes will help enhance economic recovery."
uh, you don't commit a nation to an open-ended simultaneous war/nation-building project either, especially when there's no imminent danger or immediate threat, col. cathcart!
oh well, we liked the csmonitor's head line: what bush left out of his address.
we know, we know, awol thought his address was 1600 pennsylvania avenue. but the editors at the monitor are laying the blame for the whole iraqi mess squarely on rummy's shoulders:
let's be frank. many key members of the un security council would find it hard to lend their troops, the un's name, and the enormous legitimacy that the un enjoys around the world to a venture headed by rumsfeld, a man who has gratuitously denigrated many friendly countries in public.
it would be easier to reach the needed agreement if rumsfeld were no longer secretary of defense. but there are other reasons, too, that bush should consider letting rumsfeld go. it was, after all, his decisionmaking at key points in the past two years that led the us into the present mess in iraq.
this might not be soon enough for the monitor, but if they wait about 16 months, rummy will be out of a job.
sounding rather like king claudius telling hamlet to forget that hamlet's father was dead, in spite of being the one who killed him, awol has called for an end to past bickering amongst the allies in an attempt to get some help in iraq, says the nytimes:
"let us not get caught up in past bickering, let us move forward," mr. bush said at a brief question-and-answer session with reporters at the white house. "a free iraq is in everybody's interest. a peaceful iraq is in the world's interest. and i'm confident we can work together to achieve that."
the president also brushed aside any suggestions that the extra $87 billion he is seeking for peacekeeping in iraq and afghanistan may require tax increases. "that's an absurd notion," mr. bush said. "you don't raise taxes when an economy's recovering. matter of fact, lower taxes will help enhance economic recovery."
uh, you don't commit a nation to an open-ended simultaneous war/nation-building project either, especially when there's no imminent danger or immediate threat, col. cathcart!
oh well, we liked the csmonitor's head line: what bush left out of his address.
we know, we know, awol thought his address was 1600 pennsylvania avenue. but the editors at the monitor are laying the blame for the whole iraqi mess squarely on rummy's shoulders:
let's be frank. many key members of the un security council would find it hard to lend their troops, the un's name, and the enormous legitimacy that the un enjoys around the world to a venture headed by rumsfeld, a man who has gratuitously denigrated many friendly countries in public.
it would be easier to reach the needed agreement if rumsfeld were no longer secretary of defense. but there are other reasons, too, that bush should consider letting rumsfeld go. it was, after all, his decisionmaking at key points in the past two years that led the us into the present mess in iraq.
this might not be soon enough for the monitor, but if they wait about 16 months, rummy will be out of a job.
posted by skippy at
10:10 PM |
0
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can you say "light at the end of the tunnel"?
a car bomb, thought to have been meant for the us intelligence office in northern iraq blew up in the kurdish section of that country, killing one and injuring at least 50 others, reports the nytimes.
a suicide bomber killed a young boy and wounded 50 people, most of them iraqis, when his minivan filled with explosives detonated on tuesday night as he sped toward a house used by american officials, officials here said.
the attack was the first on the american occupiers here in the capital of the kurdish-controlled region, which has been the the most peaceful and pro-american part of iraq.
like the other car bombs in iraq this week, the results have left iraqi's with more resentment than anything else towards the american occupi -- er, sorry, we meant to say liberators.
why was this c.i.a. house in a family neighborhood?" asked lana dizayai, whose windows were shattered by the explosion, more than 70 yards away. "i am very angry to think of all the children injured. tell the americans to take the oil and leave us in peace."
others, though, said the attack would not change their feelings toward the united states. "we won't stop liking the americans," said zyad umar, who was wounded by flying glass. "this was the work ansar or al qaeda."
a car bomb, thought to have been meant for the us intelligence office in northern iraq blew up in the kurdish section of that country, killing one and injuring at least 50 others, reports the nytimes.
a suicide bomber killed a young boy and wounded 50 people, most of them iraqis, when his minivan filled with explosives detonated on tuesday night as he sped toward a house used by american officials, officials here said.
the attack was the first on the american occupiers here in the capital of the kurdish-controlled region, which has been the the most peaceful and pro-american part of iraq.
like the other car bombs in iraq this week, the results have left iraqi's with more resentment than anything else towards the american occupi -- er, sorry, we meant to say liberators.
why was this c.i.a. house in a family neighborhood?" asked lana dizayai, whose windows were shattered by the explosion, more than 70 yards away. "i am very angry to think of all the children injured. tell the americans to take the oil and leave us in peace."
others, though, said the attack would not change their feelings toward the united states. "we won't stop liking the americans," said zyad umar, who was wounded by flying glass. "this was the work ansar or al qaeda."
posted by skippy at
9:43 PM |
0
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patriot act ii, scene 4 - - later, that same war...
our buddy talkleft alerts us that awol will be making a speech today to announce that everyone in america who's not white and makes over $250k a year will be reduced to "indentured servant status."
ok, ok, it won't really be that bad...but he will be announcing the patriot act ii...which will, among other things, allow "law enforcement authorities to bypass a judge or grand jury and issue "administrative subpoenas" in terrorism investigations where 'time is of the essence'."
talkleft urges everyone to protest loud. and she gives names and numbers to help you do it.
(ps, we wonder how the lovely talkleft can find time to help defend our civil rights, because everytime we turn on the tv, there she is, talking about kobe bryant! doesn't she ever sleep?)
our buddy talkleft alerts us that awol will be making a speech today to announce that everyone in america who's not white and makes over $250k a year will be reduced to "indentured servant status."
ok, ok, it won't really be that bad...but he will be announcing the patriot act ii...which will, among other things, allow "law enforcement authorities to bypass a judge or grand jury and issue "administrative subpoenas" in terrorism investigations where 'time is of the essence'."
talkleft urges everyone to protest loud. and she gives names and numbers to help you do it.
(ps, we wonder how the lovely talkleft can find time to help defend our civil rights, because everytime we turn on the tv, there she is, talking about kobe bryant! doesn't she ever sleep?)
posted by skippy at
11:55 AM |
0
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hey rumsfeld what do you say we stole this rhyme from lbj
somebody goofed up and let an american citizen have freedom of speech at a national event today! heads will roll!
rummy rumsfeld was talking to (or at) the national press club this morning, when two hecklers interrupted his pr campaign, says jennifer loven of the associated press:
defense secretary donald rumsfeld, during a speech at the national press club on the war on terrorism, was interrupted by a small group of hecklers, one of whom shouted, "mr. rumsfeld -- you're fired ... the war in iraq is unjust and illegal" while unfurling a banner that read "bloody hands."
a person in the audience shouted to the protester to "go home," but the woman then was joined by a small group that chanted "hey rumsfeld, what do you say? how many soldiers did you kill today?" the protesters then were led away by security ofifcers.
rumsfeld was heard to remark later that this sort of thing has happened to him before.
well, buckle up, bucko, it's going to happen to you again!
somebody goofed up and let an american citizen have freedom of speech at a national event today! heads will roll!
rummy rumsfeld was talking to (or at) the national press club this morning, when two hecklers interrupted his pr campaign, says jennifer loven of the associated press:
defense secretary donald rumsfeld, during a speech at the national press club on the war on terrorism, was interrupted by a small group of hecklers, one of whom shouted, "mr. rumsfeld -- you're fired ... the war in iraq is unjust and illegal" while unfurling a banner that read "bloody hands."
a person in the audience shouted to the protester to "go home," but the woman then was joined by a small group that chanted "hey rumsfeld, what do you say? how many soldiers did you kill today?" the protesters then were led away by security ofifcers.
rumsfeld was heard to remark later that this sort of thing has happened to him before.
well, buckle up, bucko, it's going to happen to you again!
posted by skippy at
11:44 AM |
0
comments
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
open thread
hey, we've got our comment section back! thanks, hossein!
have at it, kids! comment away!
hey, we've got our comment section back! thanks, hossein!
have at it, kids! comment away!
posted by skippy at
6:03 PM |
0
comments
9/11/03
we at skippy will never forget 9/11. we are very lucky that no one close to us was lost on that fateful day; however, people close to people close to us were indeed victims of those horrific acts.
one of mrs. skippy's cousins, working for the nypd, walked down from center street to watch the burning towers...another one of her cousins over by tompkins square watched the smoke billowing as he stood on the roof of his apartment building. and skippy's own aunt and her family were a mere 6 miles away from where flight 93 crashed in pennsylvania.
two years ago america was shook to its core. and we banded together, unlike anything ever seen in our generation's time.
we must always remember 9/11. we will always remember 9/11.
like, remember how it took at least 25 minutes from when boston ground control lost contact with flight 11 until they actually contacted norad? 25 minutes of no contact, and flight path deviation?
remember how the flight attendant on flight 11 called on her cell phone to let american airlines know they were hi-jacked, with a passenger's throat slashed, yet norad still wasn't contacted yet?
remember how funny it seemed that no military planes were scrambled during that 45 minutes the hi-jackings were taking place?
and, remember how the previous august, awol had that memo that al qaeda and bin laden were going to try something funny with air planes?
and, remember how ashcroft was told to stop taking commercial flights the summer of 2001?
and, remember that same summer, how the administration was in negotiations with the taliban, the same group that supported al qaeda?
remember how warren buffet was having that big shindig at the nebraska air force base for the ceo's that would have otherwise been in their offices in the world trade center, in fact, the very same air force base awol flew to later in the day when he was going everywhere except washington, dc?
we could go on and on with other inconsistencies and questions, but we are exhausted. instead, we suggest you read cheryl seal's smoking gun, and paul thompson's the complete 9/11 timeline part one and part two and a timeline for the day of 9/11
and always remember.
addendum: and thanks to poster jk over at kos's comments section, remember to watch mark fiore's marvelous cartoon about 9/11 remembrances.
we at skippy will never forget 9/11. we are very lucky that no one close to us was lost on that fateful day; however, people close to people close to us were indeed victims of those horrific acts.
one of mrs. skippy's cousins, working for the nypd, walked down from center street to watch the burning towers...another one of her cousins over by tompkins square watched the smoke billowing as he stood on the roof of his apartment building. and skippy's own aunt and her family were a mere 6 miles away from where flight 93 crashed in pennsylvania.
two years ago america was shook to its core. and we banded together, unlike anything ever seen in our generation's time.
we must always remember 9/11. we will always remember 9/11.
like, remember how it took at least 25 minutes from when boston ground control lost contact with flight 11 until they actually contacted norad? 25 minutes of no contact, and flight path deviation?
remember how the flight attendant on flight 11 called on her cell phone to let american airlines know they were hi-jacked, with a passenger's throat slashed, yet norad still wasn't contacted yet?
remember how funny it seemed that no military planes were scrambled during that 45 minutes the hi-jackings were taking place?
and, remember how the previous august, awol had that memo that al qaeda and bin laden were going to try something funny with air planes?
and, remember how ashcroft was told to stop taking commercial flights the summer of 2001?
and, remember that same summer, how the administration was in negotiations with the taliban, the same group that supported al qaeda?
remember how warren buffet was having that big shindig at the nebraska air force base for the ceo's that would have otherwise been in their offices in the world trade center, in fact, the very same air force base awol flew to later in the day when he was going everywhere except washington, dc?
we could go on and on with other inconsistencies and questions, but we are exhausted. instead, we suggest you read cheryl seal's smoking gun, and paul thompson's the complete 9/11 timeline part one and part two and a timeline for the day of 9/11
and always remember.
addendum: and thanks to poster jk over at kos's comments section, remember to watch mark fiore's marvelous cartoon about 9/11 remembrances.
posted by skippy at
5:59 PM |
0
comments
let's open the ol' skippy mailbag!
we've got some letters from some friends of ours...
annatopia talks about the special election upcoming in texas and why it's important to defeat prop 12...
mad kane has written a song parody about rumsfeld's take on traitors...
quaker in the basement talks about colorado's elected officials are trying to force that state's universities into hiring more conservative teachers...
moveon.org wants your help to make the congress roll back the fcc regulations this week.
we've got some letters from some friends of ours...
annatopia talks about the special election upcoming in texas and why it's important to defeat prop 12...
mad kane has written a song parody about rumsfeld's take on traitors...
quaker in the basement talks about colorado's elected officials are trying to force that state's universities into hiring more conservative teachers...
moveon.org wants your help to make the congress roll back the fcc regulations this week.
posted by skippy at
5:23 PM |
0
comments
by-pass paperless voting fraud machines...vote absentee
mr. and mrs. skippy have been voting absentee ballots for years...mainly for the convenience.
but now, with allegations of fraud and the lack of a paper trial from touch screen voting machines, voting absentee makes more sense than ever.
if you are in california, visit the secretary of state's page for instructions on how to get an absentee ballot. or call the state registrar's office at 1-800-345-8683.
make your vote count, and make them count your vote!
mr. and mrs. skippy have been voting absentee ballots for years...mainly for the convenience.
but now, with allegations of fraud and the lack of a paper trial from touch screen voting machines, voting absentee makes more sense than ever.
if you are in california, visit the secretary of state's page for instructions on how to get an absentee ballot. or call the state registrar's office at 1-800-345-8683.
make your vote count, and make them count your vote!
posted by skippy at
12:46 PM |
0
comments
col. cathcart is at it again
the national guard and reservists who are stationed in iraq got some pretty depressing news...their tour of duty has been extended to a year, says abcnews.
with the army stretched thin by the iraq campaign, the global war on terror and other duty around the world, officials ordered that guard and army reserve troops now in iraq and surrounding countries serve 12-month tours.
how's that sitting with the troops? the bosglobe reports,
''we were told we were going home. for many it's a lark but some will take it a lot harder because they have families. one of the soldiers hasn't seen his baby daughter yet. my wife is the head of a group that supports the families of our company members. she was told by people back home that we will return no later than dec. 24, and she onpassed that to the spouses. when she heard about the possible extension, she told me, `what am i going to tell them now?''' 1st sgt. thomas bercher, 38, of west fork, ark.
that darn col. cathcart!
the national guard and reservists who are stationed in iraq got some pretty depressing news...their tour of duty has been extended to a year, says abcnews.
with the army stretched thin by the iraq campaign, the global war on terror and other duty around the world, officials ordered that guard and army reserve troops now in iraq and surrounding countries serve 12-month tours.
how's that sitting with the troops? the bosglobe reports,
''we were told we were going home. for many it's a lark but some will take it a lot harder because they have families. one of the soldiers hasn't seen his baby daughter yet. my wife is the head of a group that supports the families of our company members. she was told by people back home that we will return no later than dec. 24, and she onpassed that to the spouses. when she heard about the possible extension, she told me, `what am i going to tell them now?''' 1st sgt. thomas bercher, 38, of west fork, ark.
that darn col. cathcart!
posted by skippy at
12:39 PM |
0
comments
the war that keeps on giving part one soldier dead in convoy attack
one u.s. soldier was killed on the road north of baghdad today when an exploysion hit his convoy, reports agence france-presse:
a us soldier driving a tanker full of liquefied petroleum gas was killed today when an explosion hit his convoy as it passed between two underpasses on the main road north out of baghdad, an iraqi policeman on the scene told afp.
the blast happened shortly after 5pm (11pm aest), 15km north of the capital on the road towards the northern city of mosul, sergeant dhaser farhan told afp.
this brings the total number of coalition forces dead since the beginning of the war to 340.
one u.s. soldier was killed on the road north of baghdad today when an exploysion hit his convoy, reports agence france-presse:
a us soldier driving a tanker full of liquefied petroleum gas was killed today when an explosion hit his convoy as it passed between two underpasses on the main road north out of baghdad, an iraqi policeman on the scene told afp.
the blast happened shortly after 5pm (11pm aest), 15km north of the capital on the road towards the northern city of mosul, sergeant dhaser farhan told afp.
this brings the total number of coalition forces dead since the beginning of the war to 340.
posted by skippy at
12:34 PM |
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rush to write a letter
aside from signing the petition to boycott espn for hiring rush limbaugh, you may want to consider writing a letter of protest to:
steven m. bornstein, ceo espn, 605 3rd ave., new york, ny 10158
aside from signing the petition to boycott espn for hiring rush limbaugh, you may want to consider writing a letter of protest to:
steven m. bornstein, ceo espn, 605 3rd ave., new york, ny 10158
posted by skippy at
12:28 PM |
0
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Monday, September 08, 2003
they go down down down...into the ring of fire
hey, pop on over to daily kos and take a look at those arrows indicating poll movement for awol...what do you know, they're all pointed downward! every single one!
nobody likes col. cathcart! (see post below)
hey, pop on over to daily kos and take a look at those arrows indicating poll movement for awol...what do you know, they're all pointed downward! every single one!
nobody likes col. cathcart! (see post below)
posted by skippy at
7:36 PM |
0
comments
col. cathcart vs. yossarian
as we listened to what awol had to say last night to the men and women of this country, as well as the men and women in uniform serving in iraq, one of our copy writers mentioned how much like catch 22 this whole mess had become.
catch 22, for those of you who think graphic novels are really novels, was a great book by joseph heller, one of the greatest to come out of world war two, depicting not only the horrors, but the insanity of war.
let us encapsulate the premise: yossarian was a pilot stationed somewhere in the mediterranean during wwii. he wanted to go back home to the united states and get out of the war. the only way a pilot could be released and sent home, according to doc daneeka, the base physician, was if the pilot was crazy. so yossarian tried to claim he was crazy.
however, anybody who wanted to leave war and go home to peace was definately not crazy. ergo, yossarian had to stay. that was the catch. catch 22.
(any resemblance between yossarian's plight and jamie farr's cross-dressing klinger character on m*a*s*h is pure plagarism, and we often have wondered why heller has never sued larry gelbart for stealing a damn fine metaphor and well as literary device. but we digress, as we often do, because it's so darn much fun.)
but the actual craziness of catch 22 is not what we thought of last night as we listened to awol drone on and on. no, what came to our minds (aside from the ineffectual character major major major major, who became a ruthless bureaucrat that thwarted logic and reason) was yossarian's commanding officer, col. cathcart.
col. cathcart (played deliciously by martin balsam in mike nichols' movie version) was continually upping the number of fly over missions the pilots had to complete before they were allowed to go home. at first it was a small number, like 20. as soon as any pilot got close to completing 20 missions over enemy territory, cathcart raised the minimum to 25. then 30. and on and on and on, till it got to an absurd number of missions that nobody could complete, because chances were good they would get shot down and killed.
thus, yossarian wanted to go home. but, darn that catch 22!
and last night, listening to the speech, it suddenly came to us: awol has become col. cathcart!
first, it was weapons of mass destruction. "we've got to stop saddam! let's go kick his butt!" said awol. so, we did. we sent many armed forces over to iraq, and chased saddam away.
whoops! no weapons of mass destruction! too bad! "well, it was about liberating iraq!" said awol, upping the mission. "we'll find those weapons sooner or later, but now, it's about bringing democracy to an oppressed people."
"wait," said our troops. "you said the way home was through baghdad. we took baghdad, we kicked ass, we want to go home!"
"not yet," said awol. "we must establish democracy in iraq."
cut to last night. "it's about fighting terrorism on that front," he said, again upping the mission. "better the terrorists fight our soldiers than attack us in macdonald's here at home."
"wait, no way, you said take out saddam, mission accomplished!" demand our troops. "we want to go home!"
"can't do that yet," said awol. "we must fight terrorism all over. and we need $87 billion to do it. and we need to make those tax cuts to my wealthy buddies permanent. and trust me about cutting the deficit in five years."
upping the mission. he is cathcart. nobody will ever come home. ever.
well, we have an idea just where awol can up his mission.
update/addendum/errata correcto: our good friend the democratic veteran gently reminds us that yossarian was not a pilot, but rather a bombadier on those missions, which, in the demvet's words,
sitting in the nose of those bombers was about the worst place to be, the least defended, most vulnerable spot on the ship. don't you just hate annoying people like me?
no we don't, jo, we appreciate the facts from good friends like you!
as we listened to what awol had to say last night to the men and women of this country, as well as the men and women in uniform serving in iraq, one of our copy writers mentioned how much like catch 22 this whole mess had become.
catch 22, for those of you who think graphic novels are really novels, was a great book by joseph heller, one of the greatest to come out of world war two, depicting not only the horrors, but the insanity of war.
let us encapsulate the premise: yossarian was a pilot stationed somewhere in the mediterranean during wwii. he wanted to go back home to the united states and get out of the war. the only way a pilot could be released and sent home, according to doc daneeka, the base physician, was if the pilot was crazy. so yossarian tried to claim he was crazy.
however, anybody who wanted to leave war and go home to peace was definately not crazy. ergo, yossarian had to stay. that was the catch. catch 22.
(any resemblance between yossarian's plight and jamie farr's cross-dressing klinger character on m*a*s*h is pure plagarism, and we often have wondered why heller has never sued larry gelbart for stealing a damn fine metaphor and well as literary device. but we digress, as we often do, because it's so darn much fun.)
but the actual craziness of catch 22 is not what we thought of last night as we listened to awol drone on and on. no, what came to our minds (aside from the ineffectual character major major major major, who became a ruthless bureaucrat that thwarted logic and reason) was yossarian's commanding officer, col. cathcart.
col. cathcart (played deliciously by martin balsam in mike nichols' movie version) was continually upping the number of fly over missions the pilots had to complete before they were allowed to go home. at first it was a small number, like 20. as soon as any pilot got close to completing 20 missions over enemy territory, cathcart raised the minimum to 25. then 30. and on and on and on, till it got to an absurd number of missions that nobody could complete, because chances were good they would get shot down and killed.
thus, yossarian wanted to go home. but, darn that catch 22!
and last night, listening to the speech, it suddenly came to us: awol has become col. cathcart!
first, it was weapons of mass destruction. "we've got to stop saddam! let's go kick his butt!" said awol. so, we did. we sent many armed forces over to iraq, and chased saddam away.
whoops! no weapons of mass destruction! too bad! "well, it was about liberating iraq!" said awol, upping the mission. "we'll find those weapons sooner or later, but now, it's about bringing democracy to an oppressed people."
"wait," said our troops. "you said the way home was through baghdad. we took baghdad, we kicked ass, we want to go home!"
"not yet," said awol. "we must establish democracy in iraq."
cut to last night. "it's about fighting terrorism on that front," he said, again upping the mission. "better the terrorists fight our soldiers than attack us in macdonald's here at home."
"wait, no way, you said take out saddam, mission accomplished!" demand our troops. "we want to go home!"
"can't do that yet," said awol. "we must fight terrorism all over. and we need $87 billion to do it. and we need to make those tax cuts to my wealthy buddies permanent. and trust me about cutting the deficit in five years."
upping the mission. he is cathcart. nobody will ever come home. ever.
well, we have an idea just where awol can up his mission.
update/addendum/errata correcto: our good friend the democratic veteran gently reminds us that yossarian was not a pilot, but rather a bombadier on those missions, which, in the demvet's words,
sitting in the nose of those bombers was about the worst place to be, the least defended, most vulnerable spot on the ship. don't you just hate annoying people like me?
no we don't, jo, we appreciate the facts from good friends like you!
posted by skippy at
7:33 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
12:30 PM |
0
comments
it was an honor just to be nominated
thanks to the funny farm (who, by the way, gives the dates of their posts in both the gregorian and hobbit calandars) we found out our brett bursey update had been nominated by the kids over at open source politics for one of the best posts of the week or last 10 days or something.
and funny farm brings that same bursey post in at number 5 in the best posts of the week.
we are honored and humbled to be mentioned in the same sentence as tbogg and hullaballoo and uggabugga, because anyone who actually says that sentence out loud without sounding like a two year old reciting edward lear nonsense rhyme deserves the award, not us.
thanks to the funny farm (who, by the way, gives the dates of their posts in both the gregorian and hobbit calandars) we found out our brett bursey update had been nominated by the kids over at open source politics for one of the best posts of the week or last 10 days or something.
and funny farm brings that same bursey post in at number 5 in the best posts of the week.
we are honored and humbled to be mentioned in the same sentence as tbogg and hullaballoo and uggabugga, because anyone who actually says that sentence out loud without sounding like a two year old reciting edward lear nonsense rhyme deserves the award, not us.
posted by skippy at
12:27 PM |
0
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mecha mountain out of a mole hill
scrambling to deflate the front runner in california's recall elelction, many rightists have painted cruz "bust a move" bustamante as a racist, because he once belonged to mecha, a latino organization, to which the rightist incorrectly attribute a mistranslated slogan that might be interpreted by some as being racially exclusionary.
the slogan in question is "por la raza todo. fuera de la raza nada," which, when translated by crackers, comes out to be "for the race, everything, outside the race, nothing." however, when people who actually speak spanish as a language translate it, it's more like "one for all and all for one." in other words, literal translations from one language to another do not take into account idioms (or in this case, idiots) or indigenous phrases specific to the language. (thumbs up in the middle east, anyone?)
for instance, in our third favorite paper named after an insect, the fresno bee, (right after the sacramento bee and the modesto bee), we find maria aguilera, the president of the fresno chapter of mecha, offering a different translation:
[faux news commentator michelle malkin] condemned mecha for its slogan: "por la raza todo. fuera de la raza nada." her translation: "for the race, everything. outside the race, nothing."
but la raza also can mean "our people."
"they are strong words, but they are uniting words," current president aguilera says. but in fact, aguilera says, this is not her group's motto anyway. it is: "with unity comes strength."
but we'd even concede the crackers (caucasian racists against civility, knowledge and equal rights) their point that the phrase could be considered exclusionary, if...and we stress if...it was even mecha's slogan.
according to latimes associate editor frank del olmo, who actually was a member of mecha in his misguided youth, the slogan belongs to other latino groups. in his op-ed piece today:
some of these claims [of racism] are based on genuine confusion, such as attributing offensive political slogans once used by other chicano groups ("for the race, everything. outside the race, nothing") to mecha.
but even if we conceded that point to the crackers, and turned a blind eye to ah-nold's association with col. klink, sorry, we mean, kurt waldheim, and the just-as-exclusionary group u.s. english, we'd side with dan walters, in the sacramento bee (our first favorite...etc. etc....insect) who writes that we should all just forget who cruz marched with and who ah-nold screwed when they were young and energetic and naive...and just concentrate on the question, are they good at governing?
enough already.
aside from a few absolutist zealots, it's doubtful whether many californians care what schwarzenegger or bustamante did three decades ago -- if for no other reason than any real human being has done youthful things that he or she would just as soon not have dredged up in middle age. that's what human maturation is all about; as you age, you learn and evolve.
an office seeker's proper response to some opposition researcher's revelation of youthful indiscretion should be something like this: "when i was young and foolish, i was young and foolish. i've learned from my mistakes and as a mature adult i'm now seeking office. end of story."
well, not quite the end. keeping the racist question alive is ah-nold himself, who, aside from being disinvited to the boyle heights mexican independence day parade, is demanding an apology from "all the leaves are brown and the sky is" gray davis, who quipped yesterday that "you shouldn't be governor unless you can pronounce the name of the state."
and they say lefty's have no sense of humor!
scrambling to deflate the front runner in california's recall elelction, many rightists have painted cruz "bust a move" bustamante as a racist, because he once belonged to mecha, a latino organization, to which the rightist incorrectly attribute a mistranslated slogan that might be interpreted by some as being racially exclusionary.
the slogan in question is "por la raza todo. fuera de la raza nada," which, when translated by crackers, comes out to be "for the race, everything, outside the race, nothing." however, when people who actually speak spanish as a language translate it, it's more like "one for all and all for one." in other words, literal translations from one language to another do not take into account idioms (or in this case, idiots) or indigenous phrases specific to the language. (thumbs up in the middle east, anyone?)
for instance, in our third favorite paper named after an insect, the fresno bee, (right after the sacramento bee and the modesto bee), we find maria aguilera, the president of the fresno chapter of mecha, offering a different translation:
[faux news commentator michelle malkin] condemned mecha for its slogan: "por la raza todo. fuera de la raza nada." her translation: "for the race, everything. outside the race, nothing."
but la raza also can mean "our people."
"they are strong words, but they are uniting words," current president aguilera says. but in fact, aguilera says, this is not her group's motto anyway. it is: "with unity comes strength."
but we'd even concede the crackers (caucasian racists against civility, knowledge and equal rights) their point that the phrase could be considered exclusionary, if...and we stress if...it was even mecha's slogan.
according to latimes associate editor frank del olmo, who actually was a member of mecha in his misguided youth, the slogan belongs to other latino groups. in his op-ed piece today:
some of these claims [of racism] are based on genuine confusion, such as attributing offensive political slogans once used by other chicano groups ("for the race, everything. outside the race, nothing") to mecha.
but even if we conceded that point to the crackers, and turned a blind eye to ah-nold's association with col. klink, sorry, we mean, kurt waldheim, and the just-as-exclusionary group u.s. english, we'd side with dan walters, in the sacramento bee (our first favorite...etc. etc....insect) who writes that we should all just forget who cruz marched with and who ah-nold screwed when they were young and energetic and naive...and just concentrate on the question, are they good at governing?
enough already.
aside from a few absolutist zealots, it's doubtful whether many californians care what schwarzenegger or bustamante did three decades ago -- if for no other reason than any real human being has done youthful things that he or she would just as soon not have dredged up in middle age. that's what human maturation is all about; as you age, you learn and evolve.
an office seeker's proper response to some opposition researcher's revelation of youthful indiscretion should be something like this: "when i was young and foolish, i was young and foolish. i've learned from my mistakes and as a mature adult i'm now seeking office. end of story."
well, not quite the end. keeping the racist question alive is ah-nold himself, who, aside from being disinvited to the boyle heights mexican independence day parade, is demanding an apology from "all the leaves are brown and the sky is" gray davis, who quipped yesterday that "you shouldn't be governor unless you can pronounce the name of the state."
and they say lefty's have no sense of humor!
posted by skippy at
12:00 AM |
0
comments
Sunday, September 07, 2003
secretary of state emily latella: never mind
maru the crankpot over at wtf is it now? sends us an alert to a uk independent piece which reports that the u.s. and britain are now changing their story completely about why we went to war with iraq:
britain and the us have combined to come up with entirely new explanations of why they went to war in iraq as inspectors on the ground prepare to report that there are no weapons of mass destruction there...
the 1,400-strong iraq survey group, sent out in may to begin an intensive hunt for the elusive weapons, is expected to report this week that it has found no wmd hardware, nor even any sign of active programs.the inspectors, headed by david kay, are likely to say the only evidence it has found is that the iraqi government had retained a group of scientists who had the expertise to restart the weapons program at any time.
whoops! was that egg on ah-nold's jacket meant for awol's face?
maru the crankpot over at wtf is it now? sends us an alert to a uk independent piece which reports that the u.s. and britain are now changing their story completely about why we went to war with iraq:
britain and the us have combined to come up with entirely new explanations of why they went to war in iraq as inspectors on the ground prepare to report that there are no weapons of mass destruction there...
the 1,400-strong iraq survey group, sent out in may to begin an intensive hunt for the elusive weapons, is expected to report this week that it has found no wmd hardware, nor even any sign of active programs.the inspectors, headed by david kay, are likely to say the only evidence it has found is that the iraqi government had retained a group of scientists who had the expertise to restart the weapons program at any time.
whoops! was that egg on ah-nold's jacket meant for awol's face?
posted by skippy at
10:46 AM |
0
comments
Saturday, September 06, 2003
losing jobs is job one
awol had better get concerned over the number of jobless in this country. after all, he'll be joining their ranks in about 16 months.
the la daily news says last month's jobless report (93,000 positions lost in august) is historically significant:
not since world war ii has employment failed to grow for so long during a recovery. just over 1 million jobs have disappeared over the last 22 months, on top of the 1.78 million lost in the preceding eight-month recession. all told, the national payroll has shrunk by almost 3 million jobs since march 2001.
yahoo says awol is on the defensive about the jobless situation under his watch:
mr. bush shot back at his critics, defending his tax cuts in particular as the right medicine at the right time.
"tax relief means new jobs for americans," the president said.
but as john kerry intimated thursday night: the new jobs are probably only for one of these 9.
awol had better get concerned over the number of jobless in this country. after all, he'll be joining their ranks in about 16 months.
the la daily news says last month's jobless report (93,000 positions lost in august) is historically significant:
not since world war ii has employment failed to grow for so long during a recovery. just over 1 million jobs have disappeared over the last 22 months, on top of the 1.78 million lost in the preceding eight-month recession. all told, the national payroll has shrunk by almost 3 million jobs since march 2001.
yahoo says awol is on the defensive about the jobless situation under his watch:
mr. bush shot back at his critics, defending his tax cuts in particular as the right medicine at the right time.
"tax relief means new jobs for americans," the president said.
but as john kerry intimated thursday night: the new jobs are probably only for one of these 9.
posted by skippy at
10:23 PM |
0
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posted by skippy at
2:50 PM |
0
comments
esp-u!
thanks to atrios, we find this excellent piece by roger cadenhead on workbench enumerating the reasons he (and most of us at skippy) won't be watching rush on espn's pre-game countdown.
of course you'd expect a few of them: he's a racist, he's an idealogue, etc. but we really agree with roger's third point: he's a bore.
read the interview he gave sports illustrated and try to find any point at which he has something interesting or amusing to say about a sports-related subject. as far as i can tell, he has only one joke -- his penchant for unabashed self-admiration -- and that "talent on loan from god" shtick is so tired and overdone he could trade notes with chris berman.
the kansas city star doesn't think much of espn's new line up either:
for all his bluster, limbaugh didn't have much to offer thursday. espn certainly needs more fine-tuning of his role. maybe limbaugh should be paired with liberal james carville for a football discussion. now that would be an interesting segment.
and george e. curry in the wilmington journal does a fine job of pointing out some of rush's recent lies as a reason not to tune in, (aside from the irony of espn "hiring a color commentator who became famous and wealthy by bashing people of color.")
all in all, we'd like to remind everyone to sign the on line petition to boycott espn until they fire that fatuous jerk.
thanks to atrios, we find this excellent piece by roger cadenhead on workbench enumerating the reasons he (and most of us at skippy) won't be watching rush on espn's pre-game countdown.
of course you'd expect a few of them: he's a racist, he's an idealogue, etc. but we really agree with roger's third point: he's a bore.
read the interview he gave sports illustrated and try to find any point at which he has something interesting or amusing to say about a sports-related subject. as far as i can tell, he has only one joke -- his penchant for unabashed self-admiration -- and that "talent on loan from god" shtick is so tired and overdone he could trade notes with chris berman.
the kansas city star doesn't think much of espn's new line up either:
for all his bluster, limbaugh didn't have much to offer thursday. espn certainly needs more fine-tuning of his role. maybe limbaugh should be paired with liberal james carville for a football discussion. now that would be an interesting segment.
and george e. curry in the wilmington journal does a fine job of pointing out some of rush's recent lies as a reason not to tune in, (aside from the irony of espn "hiring a color commentator who became famous and wealthy by bashing people of color.")
all in all, we'd like to remind everyone to sign the on line petition to boycott espn until they fire that fatuous jerk.
posted by skippy at
2:48 PM |
0
comments
riddle me this batman
q) how are awol's job approval numbers like world war two?
a) they're both in the 40's!
the daily kos points out that zogby's latest has awol's numbers have hit a new low (obviously, to keep up with his administration's deeds). only 45% give his job performance a positive rating!
and, thanks to chales eicher of disinfotainment over on atrios' comment section, we get the professor pollkatz graphic showing awol's disapproval line crossing up over his falling approval line. a beautiful sight.
the kos also talks about zogby's latest poll for the dem candidates, and everyone's treading water, except kerry who moved up a bit.
q) how are awol's job approval numbers like world war two?
a) they're both in the 40's!
the daily kos points out that zogby's latest has awol's numbers have hit a new low (obviously, to keep up with his administration's deeds). only 45% give his job performance a positive rating!
and, thanks to chales eicher of disinfotainment over on atrios' comment section, we get the professor pollkatz graphic showing awol's disapproval line crossing up over his falling approval line. a beautiful sight.
the kos also talks about zogby's latest poll for the dem candidates, and everyone's treading water, except kerry who moved up a bit.
posted by skippy at
2:26 PM |
0
comments
hey, msnbc: fox news called, they want their mission statement back
imagine how pleased we were at skippy international headquarters to see cnn cover dr. howard dean's remarks at a gray davis press conference here in california this morning.
cnn carried dean's remarks, en toto (and sans dorothy) as the good doctor enumerated the four attempts the "right wing of the republican party" have made to "undermine" the democratic underpinnings of this great country:
1) conservative supreme court stopping the florida state court-sanctioned recount of the ballots of 2000;
2) unconstitutional congressional redistricting in colorado;
3) congressional redistricting in texas by a simple majority rather than the state constitution's 2/3 requirement; and
4) ah-nold.
cnn then broadcast gov. davis's remarks for a while before fading back to the screeching head anchor (we can't really blame cnn for not boring its audiecne with all of davis's speech; as bill mahrer said on real time last week, gray davis makes al gore look like roberto benini).
but as dean and davis were chatting/ranting on cnn, one of our interns wondered aloud, "hey, whats on the other cable news networks?"
we switched to faux news. some screeching heads screeching about terror. no surprise there.
but, insult to injury, over on msnbc, a panel was discussing the california recall. of course, a panel on msnbc consists of the right wing host, a right wing expert, and, to balance things out, a wimp.
but what really chaffed our britches was the idea that msnbc could rant about the recall, but couldn't deem to turn a camera onto a lefty news conference by the governor whose job is the subject of the recall at that very moment.
who needs britt hume when you've got keith oberman? (hey keith, was sports casting too fair for you?)
imagine how pleased we were at skippy international headquarters to see cnn cover dr. howard dean's remarks at a gray davis press conference here in california this morning.
cnn carried dean's remarks, en toto (and sans dorothy) as the good doctor enumerated the four attempts the "right wing of the republican party" have made to "undermine" the democratic underpinnings of this great country:
1) conservative supreme court stopping the florida state court-sanctioned recount of the ballots of 2000;
2) unconstitutional congressional redistricting in colorado;
3) congressional redistricting in texas by a simple majority rather than the state constitution's 2/3 requirement; and
4) ah-nold.
cnn then broadcast gov. davis's remarks for a while before fading back to the screeching head anchor (we can't really blame cnn for not boring its audiecne with all of davis's speech; as bill mahrer said on real time last week, gray davis makes al gore look like roberto benini).
but as dean and davis were chatting/ranting on cnn, one of our interns wondered aloud, "hey, whats on the other cable news networks?"
we switched to faux news. some screeching heads screeching about terror. no surprise there.
but, insult to injury, over on msnbc, a panel was discussing the california recall. of course, a panel on msnbc consists of the right wing host, a right wing expert, and, to balance things out, a wimp.
but what really chaffed our britches was the idea that msnbc could rant about the recall, but couldn't deem to turn a camera onto a lefty news conference by the governor whose job is the subject of the recall at that very moment.
who needs britt hume when you've got keith oberman? (hey keith, was sports casting too fair for you?)
posted by skippy at
2:03 PM |
0
comments
i'll be back -- to harrass you gals later
code pink, the women's group that, well, dresses in pink, protested ah-nold's inappropriate behavior with the opposite sex outside his election headquarters yesterday. inside, meanwhile, ted kennedy's neice stood up to come to her man's defense, says our favorite newspaper named after an insect, the sacramento bee.
dozens of protesters on friday angrily accused arnold schwarzenegger of past actions that showed disrespect for women, while his wife, maria shriver, responded in a speech to campaign volunteers that he is "one of the most gracious, supportive, open-minded men i have ever met."
tammy wynette, er, we mean, maria shriver, almost actually confronted the allegations about her husband:
he has encouraged me at every step of my life," said shriver, a television journalist. "i've known him since i was 21 years old, and i know that i would not be where i am today in my career, as a woman, without his support."
and ah-nold scored a major coup earlier when he picked up the endorsement of the california chamber of commerce:
spokeswoman sara lee said the 14,000-member organization, one of the most influential voices for business in the state, does not normally make endorsements in gubernatorial elections, but made an exception in this case.
"everybody doesn't like something. but nobody doesn't like sara lee," she said.
ok, we made that last part up. but we do wonder why gray davis is in the hot seat for his budgetary gaffs, considering ah-nold's specifics for fixing the crisis are a little fuzzy:
he once again took issue with critics who have pressed him for more detailed proposals for what he would do if elected.
"details, details, details," he said. "sacramento is filled with warehouses of details, but the thing they are lacking is leadership. the thing that sacramento is lacking is backbone."
and steroids. perhaps pat morrison, who never met a hat she didn't like, sums it up best in our second favorite newspaper named after an insect, the modesto bee:
i was talking about this over the weekend with a friend who wondered whether this is just the way schwarzenegger deals with women: "maybe maria doesn't care," she said, "but i do."
we do, too, pat. nice hat!
code pink, the women's group that, well, dresses in pink, protested ah-nold's inappropriate behavior with the opposite sex outside his election headquarters yesterday. inside, meanwhile, ted kennedy's neice stood up to come to her man's defense, says our favorite newspaper named after an insect, the sacramento bee.
dozens of protesters on friday angrily accused arnold schwarzenegger of past actions that showed disrespect for women, while his wife, maria shriver, responded in a speech to campaign volunteers that he is "one of the most gracious, supportive, open-minded men i have ever met."
tammy wynette, er, we mean, maria shriver, almost actually confronted the allegations about her husband:
he has encouraged me at every step of my life," said shriver, a television journalist. "i've known him since i was 21 years old, and i know that i would not be where i am today in my career, as a woman, without his support."
and ah-nold scored a major coup earlier when he picked up the endorsement of the california chamber of commerce:
spokeswoman sara lee said the 14,000-member organization, one of the most influential voices for business in the state, does not normally make endorsements in gubernatorial elections, but made an exception in this case.
"everybody doesn't like something. but nobody doesn't like sara lee," she said.
ok, we made that last part up. but we do wonder why gray davis is in the hot seat for his budgetary gaffs, considering ah-nold's specifics for fixing the crisis are a little fuzzy:
he once again took issue with critics who have pressed him for more detailed proposals for what he would do if elected.
"details, details, details," he said. "sacramento is filled with warehouses of details, but the thing they are lacking is leadership. the thing that sacramento is lacking is backbone."
and steroids. perhaps pat morrison, who never met a hat she didn't like, sums it up best in our second favorite newspaper named after an insect, the modesto bee:
i was talking about this over the weekend with a friend who wondered whether this is just the way schwarzenegger deals with women: "maybe maria doesn't care," she said, "but i do."
we do, too, pat. nice hat!
posted by skippy at
1:21 PM |
0
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Friday, September 05, 2003
faux news network - fear and ballast
we cannot contain ourselves at the rightist drivel that oozes off our tv screens when faux news channel is on. talk about spin!
last night one of their screeching heads (forgive us for not keeping them straight, it wasn't britt hume because he wasn't pompous enough) was talking about the democratic debate in new mexico.
the faux screeching head announcer said that john kerry sent the democrats into fits of "giggles" with a remark. then they showed kerry making the remark:
when asked if, as president, he would direct his attention to the southern hemisphere rather than exclusively the middle east, kerry said something along the lines that it was about time to have a president that could find countries in the southern hemisphere.
at this point, the crowd erupted - erupted - into loud thunderous applause and raucous laughter.
faux news clipped the segment as the applause rose.
there was definately no "giggling." faux news can't even stand a democrat getting huge applause at a joke.
and who says lefty's have no sense of humor?
also noticable spin: slate says dean stumbled at the debate, while newsday said dean will "likely benefit" from the performance.
we cannot contain ourselves at the rightist drivel that oozes off our tv screens when faux news channel is on. talk about spin!
last night one of their screeching heads (forgive us for not keeping them straight, it wasn't britt hume because he wasn't pompous enough) was talking about the democratic debate in new mexico.
the faux screeching head announcer said that john kerry sent the democrats into fits of "giggles" with a remark. then they showed kerry making the remark:
when asked if, as president, he would direct his attention to the southern hemisphere rather than exclusively the middle east, kerry said something along the lines that it was about time to have a president that could find countries in the southern hemisphere.
at this point, the crowd erupted - erupted - into loud thunderous applause and raucous laughter.
faux news clipped the segment as the applause rose.
there was definately no "giggling." faux news can't even stand a democrat getting huge applause at a joke.
and who says lefty's have no sense of humor?
also noticable spin: slate says dean stumbled at the debate, while newsday said dean will "likely benefit" from the performance.
posted by skippy at
9:04 PM |
0
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leave a comment
oops, the joke's on you! yaccs comment system is still off line. don't worry, though, it looks like it should be up and running by next tuesday, according to the administrator hossein sharifi.
until then, go to another forum to leave your comments.
oops, the joke's on you! yaccs comment system is still off line. don't worry, though, it looks like it should be up and running by next tuesday, according to the administrator hossein sharifi.
until then, go to another forum to leave your comments.
posted by skippy at
8:55 PM |
0
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posted by skippy at
8:48 PM |
0
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action alert: bug the marts!
reader and regular contributor tekflower noticed she could not find a copy of al franken's book lies and the lying liars that lie about lies lying around whatever it is, when she went to both sam's club and wal-mart.
so she suggested that everyone go to the sam's club web site and send them an email complaining about the lack of franken's book on their shelves.
tekflower also provides wal-mart's complaint number: 1-800-walmart (there's a surprise!)
call up and complain!
reader and regular contributor tekflower noticed she could not find a copy of al franken's book lies and the lying liars that lie about lies lying around whatever it is, when she went to both sam's club and wal-mart.
so she suggested that everyone go to the sam's club web site and send them an email complaining about the lack of franken's book on their shelves.
tekflower also provides wal-mart's complaint number: 1-800-walmart (there's a surprise!)
call up and complain!
posted by skippy at
4:45 PM |
0
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top ten reasons awol doesn't read top ten lists
thanks to cursor.org, we found yahoo's op-ed piece why george w. bush can't win, outlining ten reasons awol won't get re-elected. (we like number 10: he lies a lot).
thanks to cursor.org, we found yahoo's op-ed piece why george w. bush can't win, outlining ten reasons awol won't get re-elected. (we like number 10: he lies a lot).
posted by skippy at
4:27 PM |
0
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blogging for president update
archpundit emails us that he's updated his presidential candidate blog roll, and added a substantial number of new ones. check them out! (what? no carol mosley braun blog?)
archpundit emails us that he's updated his presidential candidate blog roll, and added a substantial number of new ones. check them out! (what? no carol mosley braun blog?)
posted by skippy at
4:23 PM |
0
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the war that keeps on giving part one more civilian killed in iraq
an employee of halliburton subsidiary burton & root was fatally shot in baghdad on wednesday, reports yahoo news.
the employee, who was not identified, worked for halliburton subsidiary kellogg brown & root and was assigned to a team supporting army mail delivery, said halliburton spokeswoman wendy hall.
"the employee was fatally shot this morning in baghdad," hall said wednesday. "our employee was driving a vehicle that was escorted by military personnel. the employee was evacuated to a nearby combat support hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival."
yahoo reminds us it was the second fatality of civilian employees of halliburton in less than a month.
also this week: a british bomb disposal expert was killed in an ambush near mosul yesterday, reports the bbc.
an american soldier was killed in a helicopter crash south of baghdad on tuesday, reports australia's news.com.
two military police brigade soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over an exploding device south of baghdad on monday, according to centcom.
while the staff at skippy international was on vacation during the last week in august, we regret that the war in iraq was not. unfortunately, we were unable to keep abreast of the specific hostilities that week, and we ask our gentle readers to keep checking lunaville's iraq coalition casualties chart on a daily basis to help comprehend the vastness of the horror facing our troops in iraq.
an employee of halliburton subsidiary burton & root was fatally shot in baghdad on wednesday, reports yahoo news.
the employee, who was not identified, worked for halliburton subsidiary kellogg brown & root and was assigned to a team supporting army mail delivery, said halliburton spokeswoman wendy hall.
"the employee was fatally shot this morning in baghdad," hall said wednesday. "our employee was driving a vehicle that was escorted by military personnel. the employee was evacuated to a nearby combat support hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival."
yahoo reminds us it was the second fatality of civilian employees of halliburton in less than a month.
also this week: a british bomb disposal expert was killed in an ambush near mosul yesterday, reports the bbc.
an american soldier was killed in a helicopter crash south of baghdad on tuesday, reports australia's news.com.
two military police brigade soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over an exploding device south of baghdad on monday, according to centcom.
while the staff at skippy international was on vacation during the last week in august, we regret that the war in iraq was not. unfortunately, we were unable to keep abreast of the specific hostilities that week, and we ask our gentle readers to keep checking lunaville's iraq coalition casualties chart on a daily basis to help comprehend the vastness of the horror facing our troops in iraq.
posted by skippy at
3:56 PM |
0
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more on bursey
the only other blog in blogtopia (y!wctp!) who seems to be following the brett bursey case is peace tree farm, and they have a bit of news that we missed in our updates.
although we at skippy international have reported that bursey was denied a trial by his peers [ed. note: old obstinate hippies?], peace tree farm points to this article in south carolina's the state.com that judge marchant did so because " the right to a jury trial doesn't include petty offenses such as the one Bursey is charged with."
in peace tree farm's opinion, this order was indicative of judge marchant's opinion of the flimsiness of the whole case, as is also evident by the magistrate's recent and adamant order for the prosecution to turn over all documents relating to awol's security plans for the original incident in question:
"don't pick and choose,'' marchant warned prosecutor john barton about the records. "bring it all."
we can only hope peace tree farm is correct in their assesment of the judge's opinion of the whole fiasco.
we here at skippy international headquarters believe this case to be landmark in its testing of the entire (false) idea of "free speech zones." if people with pro-awol signs can stand in the same room as awol, then peaceful, legitimate citizens with anti-awol signs are allowed to do as much, also. the administration is not allowed to cherry pick which folks have a right to free assembly, and which don't.
in the meantime, if any of you are anywhere close to columbia, south carolina, wander on down to pulaski street tonight for a brett bursey benefit:
free speech benefit: 8 tonight at the columbia music festival association located on pulaski street next to amtrack. featuring drink small, doug allen, merll truesdale, danielle howle, rob crosby, margie hicks, amazing buddy ray, frank smoak and more. admission is whatever you think free speech is worth ($10 minimum). proceeds will go toward the brett bursey defense fund.
frank smoak and margie hicks? all the big ones! if we were on that side of the country, we'd be there!
the only other blog in blogtopia (y!wctp!) who seems to be following the brett bursey case is peace tree farm, and they have a bit of news that we missed in our updates.
although we at skippy international have reported that bursey was denied a trial by his peers [ed. note: old obstinate hippies?], peace tree farm points to this article in south carolina's the state.com that judge marchant did so because " the right to a jury trial doesn't include petty offenses such as the one Bursey is charged with."
in peace tree farm's opinion, this order was indicative of judge marchant's opinion of the flimsiness of the whole case, as is also evident by the magistrate's recent and adamant order for the prosecution to turn over all documents relating to awol's security plans for the original incident in question:
"don't pick and choose,'' marchant warned prosecutor john barton about the records. "bring it all."
we can only hope peace tree farm is correct in their assesment of the judge's opinion of the whole fiasco.
we here at skippy international headquarters believe this case to be landmark in its testing of the entire (false) idea of "free speech zones." if people with pro-awol signs can stand in the same room as awol, then peaceful, legitimate citizens with anti-awol signs are allowed to do as much, also. the administration is not allowed to cherry pick which folks have a right to free assembly, and which don't.
in the meantime, if any of you are anywhere close to columbia, south carolina, wander on down to pulaski street tonight for a brett bursey benefit:
free speech benefit: 8 tonight at the columbia music festival association located on pulaski street next to amtrack. featuring drink small, doug allen, merll truesdale, danielle howle, rob crosby, margie hicks, amazing buddy ray, frank smoak and more. admission is whatever you think free speech is worth ($10 minimum). proceeds will go toward the brett bursey defense fund.
frank smoak and margie hicks? all the big ones! if we were on that side of the country, we'd be there!
posted by skippy at
3:22 PM |
0
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posted by skippy at
12:25 PM |
0
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skippy update
hetty, our international correspondent, has let us know that skippy the free kangaroo who has been wandering around the belgian state of limburg (how cheesy!) has been captured alive and safe, and will be treated well!
thanks for the news, hetty!
hetty, our international correspondent, has let us know that skippy the free kangaroo who has been wandering around the belgian state of limburg (how cheesy!) has been captured alive and safe, and will be treated well!
thanks for the news, hetty!
posted by skippy at
12:18 PM |
0
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Thursday, September 04, 2003
letters...we get letters...
and we've got a couple in the ol' skippy mailbag today.
the first is from mike at left is right who alerts us to his apology...or, maybe not...then again, sure...no, wait...anyway, he's got a couple of interesting posts up about the saudi's leaving right after 9/11 and the number of injuries increasing in iraq, so we recommend a good read of left is right.
and reader and regular contributor rose sends us this nytimes op-ed piece decrying the administration's strong-arm approach to cutting funds for aids programs in africa to help afford those tax cuts to the upper 1% of the wealthiest among the sky box class.
and our good buddy eric over at the hamster sends us this piece from the melbourne herald sun about skippy becoming the new icon to prevent passport fraud in australia!
the central feature will be a tamper-proof laminated hologram-like image of skippy covering the passport holder's personal details. tamper with skippy in any way and the passport is rendered useless.
moral: don't mess with skippy!
and we've got a couple in the ol' skippy mailbag today.
the first is from mike at left is right who alerts us to his apology...or, maybe not...then again, sure...no, wait...anyway, he's got a couple of interesting posts up about the saudi's leaving right after 9/11 and the number of injuries increasing in iraq, so we recommend a good read of left is right.
and reader and regular contributor rose sends us this nytimes op-ed piece decrying the administration's strong-arm approach to cutting funds for aids programs in africa to help afford those tax cuts to the upper 1% of the wealthiest among the sky box class.
and our good buddy eric over at the hamster sends us this piece from the melbourne herald sun about skippy becoming the new icon to prevent passport fraud in australia!
the central feature will be a tamper-proof laminated hologram-like image of skippy covering the passport holder's personal details. tamper with skippy in any way and the passport is rendered useless.
moral: don't mess with skippy!
posted by skippy at
8:36 PM |
0
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extra! extra! usatoady has unbiased review!
thanks to the horse, we find a pretty straight forward, non-polemic review of joe conason's big lies from, of all places, usatoady!
and, we are pleased to note, we are mentioned in the review!
it's a book tailor-made for a group that has grown increasingly angry in recent years and has been lashing out in a variety of ways, including enthusiastic letter-writing campaigns to media outlets and a zesty variety of weblogs.
well, ok, maybe not mentioned by name, but "a zesty variety of weblogs!" that's us!
and speaking of joe, we'd like to say good job to him debating some neocon or other about getting the u.n. in iraq on cnn this morning.
and while we're talking about liberal bloggers on cable news screeds, a big shout out to talkleft's jeralyn merrit for putting up with inanity and colmes on faux news last night (albeit in a debate about kobe bryant, but you take your liberal appearances where you can get them)!
good job to both bloggers, and keep it up!
thanks to the horse, we find a pretty straight forward, non-polemic review of joe conason's big lies from, of all places, usatoady!
and, we are pleased to note, we are mentioned in the review!
it's a book tailor-made for a group that has grown increasingly angry in recent years and has been lashing out in a variety of ways, including enthusiastic letter-writing campaigns to media outlets and a zesty variety of weblogs.
well, ok, maybe not mentioned by name, but "a zesty variety of weblogs!" that's us!
and speaking of joe, we'd like to say good job to him debating some neocon or other about getting the u.n. in iraq on cnn this morning.
and while we're talking about liberal bloggers on cable news screeds, a big shout out to talkleft's jeralyn merrit for putting up with inanity and colmes on faux news last night (albeit in a debate about kobe bryant, but you take your liberal appearances where you can get them)!
good job to both bloggers, and keep it up!
posted by skippy at
12:03 PM |
0
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another coup for the oasis
bill scher over at liberal oasis has another great interview that is worth your time. he talks with jason burke, who, bill tells us, "is the chief reporter for the observer of london, and his new book al-qaeda: casting a shadow of terror is the outgrowth of his years reporting from the middle east and central asia."
it's a fine and interesting interview, and we recommend everyone take a look at it.
bill scher over at liberal oasis has another great interview that is worth your time. he talks with jason burke, who, bill tells us, "is the chief reporter for the observer of london, and his new book al-qaeda: casting a shadow of terror is the outgrowth of his years reporting from the middle east and central asia."
it's a fine and interesting interview, and we recommend everyone take a look at it.
posted by skippy at
11:48 AM |
0
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Wednesday, September 03, 2003
happy back to school from the bush economic team
many analysts are cheering the fact that the recovery is here for good. yahoo news says
a raft of positive economic news in recent weeks has many economists hiking third-quarter growth forecasts as high as 7 percent -- more than double the 3.1 percent annual growth rate notched in the second quarter.
well, that's nice. but somebody better tell the american consumer. the abc money consumer confidence index fell another point last week.
the consumer comfort index shed one point to negative-18 in the week ended aug. 31, from negative-17 a week earlier.
the index has remained between negative-16 and negative-18 since the week ended july 27.
we wonder if the jobless recovery might have anything to do with consumers' (lack of) confidence. michael mckee of bloomberg news writes:
while hiring always lags recovery, the lag has been much longer than usual this time. hiring typically starts about three months after a recession ends. the country is now in its 20th month after the start of recovery without job growth.
jobless recovery...is that anything like a false pregnancy?
many analysts are cheering the fact that the recovery is here for good. yahoo news says
a raft of positive economic news in recent weeks has many economists hiking third-quarter growth forecasts as high as 7 percent -- more than double the 3.1 percent annual growth rate notched in the second quarter.
well, that's nice. but somebody better tell the american consumer. the abc money consumer confidence index fell another point last week.
the consumer comfort index shed one point to negative-18 in the week ended aug. 31, from negative-17 a week earlier.
the index has remained between negative-16 and negative-18 since the week ended july 27.
we wonder if the jobless recovery might have anything to do with consumers' (lack of) confidence. michael mckee of bloomberg news writes:
while hiring always lags recovery, the lag has been much longer than usual this time. hiring typically starts about three months after a recession ends. the country is now in its 20th month after the start of recovery without job growth.
jobless recovery...is that anything like a false pregnancy?
posted by skippy at
9:19 PM |
0
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remember 9/11, but forget 9/12
turns out that awol did let a bunch of saudi's, including members of osama bin laden's family, fly out of the usa shortly after the terror attack on 9/11. sky news reports:
even though american airspace had been shut down, the bush administration allowed a jet to fly around the us picking up family members from 10 cities, including los angeles, washington dc, boston and houston.
some 140 high ranking saudi officials were also on the plane.
the revelations come from former white house counter-terrorism chief richard clarke.
he said the bush administration sanctioned the repatriation of the family in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to atrios for the link!)
turns out that awol did let a bunch of saudi's, including members of osama bin laden's family, fly out of the usa shortly after the terror attack on 9/11. sky news reports:
even though american airspace had been shut down, the bush administration allowed a jet to fly around the us picking up family members from 10 cities, including los angeles, washington dc, boston and houston.
some 140 high ranking saudi officials were also on the plane.
the revelations come from former white house counter-terrorism chief richard clarke.
he said the bush administration sanctioned the repatriation of the family in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to atrios for the link!)
posted by skippy at
9:02 PM |
0
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don't egg him on
the kos points out somebody doesn't like ah-nold...
of course, ah-nold did refused to show up to tonight's candidate debate in walnut creek, and some analysts think this strategy of ducking and rolling may fail.
the san jose mercury news says:
``it's a metaphor for the campaign,'' said kevin spillane, a republican consultant who worked for former los angeles mayor richard riordan in his failed 2000 bid for governor. ``it's the fantasy of almost every politician alive to be able to go over the heads of the political press corps and talk directly to the voters.''
but spillane said there is still a credibility gap with some voters schwarzenegger needs to reach who ``still view him as nothing more than an actor'' who knows little to nothing about how to run a nation-state like california.
and yahoo news muses:
some political observers say novice politician schwarzenegger's strategy to avoid debating his rivals in the oct. 7 recall could backfire as it might signal to the public that behind his celebrity status is a man with a limited knowledge of how government works.
"the schwarzenegger campaign appears to be based on the assumption that they should not allow mr. schwarzenegger to talk in anything other than very controlled environments," said tim hodson, director of the center for california studies at california state university, sacramento.
"the idea of this hermetically sealed celebrity in my judgment is not working," he said. "if he simply stays behind the bubble of celebrity status, he is going to lose."
recall election rival arianna huffington said, "it seems arnold cannot perform without a script" and davis said more was needed on the campaign trail than "recycled movie lines."
we're not sure. we still endorse georgy russell and her thongs for governor. (see what our favorite newspaper named after an insect, the sacramento bee, has to say about our favorite recall candidate!)
or if you're tired of all the candidates, please join move on.org to endorse not endorsing the recall election.
the kos points out somebody doesn't like ah-nold...
of course, ah-nold did refused to show up to tonight's candidate debate in walnut creek, and some analysts think this strategy of ducking and rolling may fail.
the san jose mercury news says:
``it's a metaphor for the campaign,'' said kevin spillane, a republican consultant who worked for former los angeles mayor richard riordan in his failed 2000 bid for governor. ``it's the fantasy of almost every politician alive to be able to go over the heads of the political press corps and talk directly to the voters.''
but spillane said there is still a credibility gap with some voters schwarzenegger needs to reach who ``still view him as nothing more than an actor'' who knows little to nothing about how to run a nation-state like california.
and yahoo news muses:
some political observers say novice politician schwarzenegger's strategy to avoid debating his rivals in the oct. 7 recall could backfire as it might signal to the public that behind his celebrity status is a man with a limited knowledge of how government works.
"the schwarzenegger campaign appears to be based on the assumption that they should not allow mr. schwarzenegger to talk in anything other than very controlled environments," said tim hodson, director of the center for california studies at california state university, sacramento.
"the idea of this hermetically sealed celebrity in my judgment is not working," he said. "if he simply stays behind the bubble of celebrity status, he is going to lose."
recall election rival arianna huffington said, "it seems arnold cannot perform without a script" and davis said more was needed on the campaign trail than "recycled movie lines."
we're not sure. we still endorse georgy russell and her thongs for governor. (see what our favorite newspaper named after an insect, the sacramento bee, has to say about our favorite recall candidate!)
or if you're tired of all the candidates, please join move on.org to endorse not endorsing the recall election.
posted by skippy at
8:56 PM |
0
comments
brett bursey update
readers of this space will remember the saga of aging hippie brett bursey, the man who was arrested in the columbia, south carolina airport for holding up a sign that said "no war for oil" to protest awol's appearance there.
when told he had to go to the "free speech zone" a mile and a half away, mr. bursey, under the misconception that all of america is a free speech zone, refused, and was thus arrested.
the u.s. district attorney, one strom thurmond junior, has decided to prosecute mr. bursey under the little-used law of entering a restricted area around the president.
that's the background. here's streaming audio of amy goodman's take on the whole thing, from democracy now back in july.
mr. bursey's trial has been delayed, but now there is a bit of movement.
according to wistv channel 10 in columbia, sc, a federal judge wants to review all "security memos, e-mails and other documents relating to president bush's visit to columbia last october."
bursey's lawyers claim the documents could help his defense. surprise, surprise, the prosecution says there's nothing there that could be of any help (perhaps what they mean is that they themselves don't intend to be of any help).
south carolina's the state.com reports:
u.s. magistrate bristow marchant will review the information in private to decide whether lawyers for political activist brett bursey have a right to any of them…
bursey and his backers say his is a free speech case. the documents can help show the secret service has a practice of keeping anti-bush forces away from the president to create "a false illusion of support," said bursey attorney lewis pitts.
marchant seemed skeptical that neither the secret service, the state law enforcement division nor local police had any maps, photographs or memos that spelled out its plans to protect the president during the campaign swing to columbia.
"don't pick and choose,'' marchant warned prosecutor john barton about the records. "bring it all."
stay tuned to this space for further updates...
readers of this space will remember the saga of aging hippie brett bursey, the man who was arrested in the columbia, south carolina airport for holding up a sign that said "no war for oil" to protest awol's appearance there.
when told he had to go to the "free speech zone" a mile and a half away, mr. bursey, under the misconception that all of america is a free speech zone, refused, and was thus arrested.
the u.s. district attorney, one strom thurmond junior, has decided to prosecute mr. bursey under the little-used law of entering a restricted area around the president.
that's the background. here's streaming audio of amy goodman's take on the whole thing, from democracy now back in july.
mr. bursey's trial has been delayed, but now there is a bit of movement.
according to wistv channel 10 in columbia, sc, a federal judge wants to review all "security memos, e-mails and other documents relating to president bush's visit to columbia last october."
bursey's lawyers claim the documents could help his defense. surprise, surprise, the prosecution says there's nothing there that could be of any help (perhaps what they mean is that they themselves don't intend to be of any help).
south carolina's the state.com reports:
u.s. magistrate bristow marchant will review the information in private to decide whether lawyers for political activist brett bursey have a right to any of them…
bursey and his backers say his is a free speech case. the documents can help show the secret service has a practice of keeping anti-bush forces away from the president to create "a false illusion of support," said bursey attorney lewis pitts.
marchant seemed skeptical that neither the secret service, the state law enforcement division nor local police had any maps, photographs or memos that spelled out its plans to protect the president during the campaign swing to columbia.
"don't pick and choose,'' marchant warned prosecutor john barton about the records. "bring it all."
stay tuned to this space for further updates...
posted by skippy at
8:26 PM |
0
comments
skippy...skippy...skippy the belgian kangaroo
reader hetty sends us this notice about a posting on her blog heli's heaven and hell radio:
they call him skippy, and he's an escaped kangaroo that is doing well in the woods of the belgian province of limburg for several months now.
apparently this skippy's life is in peril, if they cannot safely capture him, they plan to shoot him!
here's a petition you can sign to save skippy the belgian kangaroo. but it's in belgianese.
and hey, while you're at heli's heaven and hell radio, take a look around. anybody who likes the burning man festival is pretty high up in our book.
reader hetty sends us this notice about a posting on her blog heli's heaven and hell radio:
they call him skippy, and he's an escaped kangaroo that is doing well in the woods of the belgian province of limburg for several months now.
apparently this skippy's life is in peril, if they cannot safely capture him, they plan to shoot him!
here's a petition you can sign to save skippy the belgian kangaroo. but it's in belgianese.
and hey, while you're at heli's heaven and hell radio, take a look around. anybody who likes the burning man festival is pretty high up in our book.
posted by skippy at
7:51 PM |
0
comments
can you tell me how to get, how to get to damascus gate street?
reader and regular contributor rose sends us this bit of fluff (literally) from the bbc: apparently awol's adminstration has concocted a scheme to use the sesame street characters to promote pro-usa feelings in countries that have a definate anti-usa bent.
[charlotte beers, the former ad executive made undersecretary of state for public diplomacy in 2001] said she was "dazzled" by a co-production of sesame street broadcast in egypt since 2000. "the children are glued to the set. they are learning english, they are learning about american values."
the government's agency for international development (usaid) is now giving $6.26m for sesame street to produce a show for viewers in bangladesh - a nation with a considerable muslim population.
one unnamed official told the daily telegraph newspaper that the project is "aiming to promote greater understanding of american morality and culture".
will this help smooth things over in iraq? will bert & ernie make iraqi's more amenable to being raided in the dead of night by soldiers looking for al qaeda operatives? will the count help explain how the number of dead and wounded since may 1st exceed that of the actual war?
will oscar the grouch replace ashcroft? (it would be an improvement!)
unfortunately, reality has a nasty habit of adding that oh-so-unfortunate grain of salt to the world of tv puppetry:
israeli and palestinian programme makers have tried to combat the negative stereotypes by writing sequences which combine both jewish and arab muppets.
the current intifada has at times interrupted production and seen the show's ambitions scaled down - having muppets from both communities living on the same street seems utterly ridiculous, even to pre-school children.
well, using puppets as diplomats would at least be a step in the right direction for awol...at least he's using someone as diplomats!
reader and regular contributor rose sends us this bit of fluff (literally) from the bbc: apparently awol's adminstration has concocted a scheme to use the sesame street characters to promote pro-usa feelings in countries that have a definate anti-usa bent.
[charlotte beers, the former ad executive made undersecretary of state for public diplomacy in 2001] said she was "dazzled" by a co-production of sesame street broadcast in egypt since 2000. "the children are glued to the set. they are learning english, they are learning about american values."
the government's agency for international development (usaid) is now giving $6.26m for sesame street to produce a show for viewers in bangladesh - a nation with a considerable muslim population.
one unnamed official told the daily telegraph newspaper that the project is "aiming to promote greater understanding of american morality and culture".
will this help smooth things over in iraq? will bert & ernie make iraqi's more amenable to being raided in the dead of night by soldiers looking for al qaeda operatives? will the count help explain how the number of dead and wounded since may 1st exceed that of the actual war?
will oscar the grouch replace ashcroft? (it would be an improvement!)
unfortunately, reality has a nasty habit of adding that oh-so-unfortunate grain of salt to the world of tv puppetry:
israeli and palestinian programme makers have tried to combat the negative stereotypes by writing sequences which combine both jewish and arab muppets.
the current intifada has at times interrupted production and seen the show's ambitions scaled down - having muppets from both communities living on the same street seems utterly ridiculous, even to pre-school children.
well, using puppets as diplomats would at least be a step in the right direction for awol...at least he's using someone as diplomats!
posted by skippy at
7:49 PM |
0
comments
blogging for president
we here at skippy have talked highly about the dean blog and the kerry blog, and even a bit about bob graham and dennis "the menace" kucinich's efforts.
if you want to keep up on all the presidential candidates' blogs, a great source is archpundit, who has them all blog rolled under their very own category. (plus, archpundit is a pretty damn fine blog in its own right!)
we here at skippy have talked highly about the dean blog and the kerry blog, and even a bit about bob graham and dennis "the menace" kucinich's efforts.
if you want to keep up on all the presidential candidates' blogs, a great source is archpundit, who has them all blog rolled under their very own category. (plus, archpundit is a pretty damn fine blog in its own right!)
posted by skippy at
7:23 PM |
0
comments
open thread
your turn.
ok, ok, it's a joke, and a cruel one, at that.
as jeff of speedkill has noticed, our comments section has been down for several days, and apparently, the server holding the data base of yaccs/rate your music comments has failed permanently. the administrator, hossein sharrif has left a message telling everyone that a new server should be on line sept. 7.
can you wait that long? we must admit our disappointment that our comments section hasn't blossomed into the political debating forum that you can find on kos or atrios. the biggest threads with the most comments we ever got were when we talked about gun control, pay pal buttons on blogs, and the league of extraordinary gentlemen, in that order. otherwise, it's usually 2 or 3 comments per post (not that we aren't apprciative of them, mind you).
so please, dear readers, have patience, and hopefully we will have comments back up and running early next week. in the meantime, there are plenty of forums on other places in blogtopia (yes! we coined that phrase!) where you can leave your thoughts (but as always, be civil about it, no matter where you go).
now, just because we are basically nasty little elves that like to tease people:
we think sean connery and petra wilson should buy uzi's and shoot anyone who uses pay pal buttons!
go ahead, comment away...
your turn.
ok, ok, it's a joke, and a cruel one, at that.
as jeff of speedkill has noticed, our comments section has been down for several days, and apparently, the server holding the data base of yaccs/rate your music comments has failed permanently. the administrator, hossein sharrif has left a message telling everyone that a new server should be on line sept. 7.
can you wait that long? we must admit our disappointment that our comments section hasn't blossomed into the political debating forum that you can find on kos or atrios. the biggest threads with the most comments we ever got were when we talked about gun control, pay pal buttons on blogs, and the league of extraordinary gentlemen, in that order. otherwise, it's usually 2 or 3 comments per post (not that we aren't apprciative of them, mind you).
so please, dear readers, have patience, and hopefully we will have comments back up and running early next week. in the meantime, there are plenty of forums on other places in blogtopia (yes! we coined that phrase!) where you can leave your thoughts (but as always, be civil about it, no matter where you go).
now, just because we are basically nasty little elves that like to tease people:
we think sean connery and petra wilson should buy uzi's and shoot anyone who uses pay pal buttons!
go ahead, comment away...
posted by skippy at
7:13 PM |
0
comments
posted by skippy at
7:01 PM |
0
comments
freep the beard
as atrios points out, wolfie's going to need a stiff drink after this one (left hand side bar).
as atrios points out, wolfie's going to need a stiff drink after this one (left hand side bar).
posted by skippy at
6:59 PM |
0
comments
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
posted by skippy at
9:41 PM |
0
comments
do not fear, people of earth, we will use our power only for good
we still don't know exactly what this means, but memeufacture lists our blog as the fifth most influencial blog on the left.
we still don't know exactly what this means, but memeufacture lists our blog as the fifth most influencial blog on the left.
posted by skippy at
5:47 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to open source politics, a group blog co-ordinated by kevin hayden of reach'm high cowboy noose network.
osp promises to be an "open exchange of ideas" amongst progressives, and, we assume, any one else who wants to be civil about their discourse. the regular contributors include many fine writers, some of whose individual blogs we have proudly linked on our permanent blog roll.
we highly suggest that everyone check out open source politics, and welcome this group effort to blogtopia (y!wctp!).
also, while you're at it, say hello to corrente, lambert's blog (he who did such a fine job filling in for atrios during the european break).
and, on that same subject, say hello to no more mr. nice blog.
to open source politics, a group blog co-ordinated by kevin hayden of reach'm high cowboy noose network.
osp promises to be an "open exchange of ideas" amongst progressives, and, we assume, any one else who wants to be civil about their discourse. the regular contributors include many fine writers, some of whose individual blogs we have proudly linked on our permanent blog roll.
we highly suggest that everyone check out open source politics, and welcome this group effort to blogtopia (y!wctp!).
also, while you're at it, say hello to corrente, lambert's blog (he who did such a fine job filling in for atrios during the european break).
and, on that same subject, say hello to no more mr. nice blog.
posted by skippy at
1:49 PM |
0
comments
open thread
your turn.
your turn.
posted by skippy at
12:42 AM |
0
comments
Monday, September 01, 2003
krugman at the oasis (put your camel to bed...)
our buds over at the liberal oasis scored a coup with this interview with paul krugman, noted economist and curmudgeon for the nytimes.
a couple of interesting points mr. krugman makes:
the best estimates say we got a fundamental shortfall of about 4.5 or 4.6 percent of gdp. the bush tax cuts are actually about 2.7 percent of gdp.
so the truth is, even if we rolled them all back, we would still have a hole in the budget.
and our favorite:
but american policy in the first bush administration was wildly sensible and responsible compared to anything that’s been happening in the second bush administration.
go read the interview, it's well worth it.
our buds over at the liberal oasis scored a coup with this interview with paul krugman, noted economist and curmudgeon for the nytimes.
a couple of interesting points mr. krugman makes:
the best estimates say we got a fundamental shortfall of about 4.5 or 4.6 percent of gdp. the bush tax cuts are actually about 2.7 percent of gdp.
so the truth is, even if we rolled them all back, we would still have a hole in the budget.
and our favorite:
but american policy in the first bush administration was wildly sensible and responsible compared to anything that’s been happening in the second bush administration.
go read the interview, it's well worth it.
posted by skippy at
8:41 PM |
0
comments
cleaning out the in box
here's a couple of interesting items skippy found waiting for him once he got back home from vacation:
regular contributor tekflower sends us a link to grand theft america.
and regular contributor rose alerts us to a wisconsin woman whose obituary in the paper endorses "the removal of bush." skippy hopes he doesn't have to go that far to make his points!
mrs. skippy was in charge of the photos for the skippy's vacation, so we have no pictures to share with you (we are html morons, and do not know how to embed images on our blog. as many rightists have pointed out, we still have trouble with the caps key). however, reader larry schless has no such problem, and has an entire web page devoted to his alaska vacation, which was not really like the skippy's.
and irregular columnist ayn clouter reminds us she's still keeping america safe from free thought.
last but not least, a big thank you to our good buddy talkleft for the warm welcome back! (and while you're over at her fine blog, check out jeralyn's coverage of an alaska appeals court ruling that personal possession of marijuana cannot be considered a crime. and this happened while the skippy's were in that state! too bad nobody offered to share a celebratory smoke!)
here's a couple of interesting items skippy found waiting for him once he got back home from vacation:
regular contributor tekflower sends us a link to grand theft america.
and regular contributor rose alerts us to a wisconsin woman whose obituary in the paper endorses "the removal of bush." skippy hopes he doesn't have to go that far to make his points!
mrs. skippy was in charge of the photos for the skippy's vacation, so we have no pictures to share with you (we are html morons, and do not know how to embed images on our blog. as many rightists have pointed out, we still have trouble with the caps key). however, reader larry schless has no such problem, and has an entire web page devoted to his alaska vacation, which was not really like the skippy's.
and irregular columnist ayn clouter reminds us she's still keeping america safe from free thought.
last but not least, a big thank you to our good buddy talkleft for the warm welcome back! (and while you're over at her fine blog, check out jeralyn's coverage of an alaska appeals court ruling that personal possession of marijuana cannot be considered a crime. and this happened while the skippy's were in that state! too bad nobody offered to share a celebratory smoke!)
posted by skippy at
7:31 PM |
0
comments
ah-nold update
reader a. mills alerts us to the eclectic links about the california recall page, which includes a link to this picture of ah-nold smoking a joint.
and buzzflash (who still doesn't link to this blog, who do they think they are, tapped?) offers this editorial about ah-nold entitled "governor gang bang."
reader a. mills alerts us to the eclectic links about the california recall page, which includes a link to this picture of ah-nold smoking a joint.
and buzzflash (who still doesn't link to this blog, who do they think they are, tapped?) offers this editorial about ah-nold entitled "governor gang bang."
posted by skippy at
7:21 PM |
0
comments
top 20 reasons we were late on this post
all 20 reasons have to do with alaska...but, to continue...
john hawkins of right wing news published his survey of left-wing bloggers select the greatest figures in american history.
yes, we know he had this on line back on wednesday, but sorry, skippy was in juneau alaska spotting humpback whales, so sue us.
all 20 reasons have to do with alaska...but, to continue...
john hawkins of right wing news published his survey of left-wing bloggers select the greatest figures in american history.
yes, we know he had this on line back on wednesday, but sorry, skippy was in juneau alaska spotting humpback whales, so sue us.
posted by skippy at
5:17 PM |
0
comments
big news for big lies
one of the best pieces of mail skippy found waiting for him after his trip to alaska was a copy of joe conason's big lies. and one of the best pieces of news skippy got in his email was that joe's book will enter the nytimes best sellar list at #11 on sunday, sept. 7!
to quote from joe's advance man, aj:
with no billionaire benefactors to create phony bestsellers through bulk orders, progressive authors rely on grassroots activists like you to even the odds against what big lies calls the right-wing propaganda machine. it's encouraging to see the evidence that they can compete so successfully through the one medium that still remains independent.
good work, aj, good work, joe, and good work to everyone who bought a copy of big lies, helping to disprove the repubbblican meme that liberal thought doesn't sell in america!
watch this space for skippy's review of the book, and a posting of joe's book signing appearances.
one of the best pieces of mail skippy found waiting for him after his trip to alaska was a copy of joe conason's big lies. and one of the best pieces of news skippy got in his email was that joe's book will enter the nytimes best sellar list at #11 on sunday, sept. 7!
to quote from joe's advance man, aj:
with no billionaire benefactors to create phony bestsellers through bulk orders, progressive authors rely on grassroots activists like you to even the odds against what big lies calls the right-wing propaganda machine. it's encouraging to see the evidence that they can compete so successfully through the one medium that still remains independent.
good work, aj, good work, joe, and good work to everyone who bought a copy of big lies, helping to disprove the repubbblican meme that liberal thought doesn't sell in america!
watch this space for skippy's review of the book, and a posting of joe's book signing appearances.
posted by skippy at
5:09 PM |
0
comments
say hello
to jusiper, a blog we believe we have mentioned before, but one we'd especially like everyone to take a good look at!
to jusiper, a blog we believe we have mentioned before, but one we'd especially like everyone to take a good look at!
posted by skippy at
4:59 PM |
0
comments
mad kane update
whew! while skippy and the staff were on vacation, our favorite blogger who writes song parodies, mad kane, was a busy little blogger!
aside from her parody in honor of the patriot act spying days are here again, she was also quoted in usatoady about the big blackout of 2003! good going, mad!
whew! while skippy and the staff were on vacation, our favorite blogger who writes song parodies, mad kane, was a busy little blogger!
aside from her parody in honor of the patriot act spying days are here again, she was also quoted in usatoady about the big blackout of 2003! good going, mad!
posted by skippy at
4:56 PM |
0
comments
back from alaska
the skippy's have returned safe and sound from a wonderful vacation in the southeast inside passage and seward/anchorage areas of our proud 49th state, alaska.
alaska is a beautiful region. skippy saw many bald eagles, and even saw one catch a salmon from the chilkat river near haines. the skippy's also saw the eagle's babies in their nest, waiting for their dad to kill the fish and bring them lunch!
wildlife was so plentiful, that the skippy's saw too many beluga whales to count while on a bus ride to anchorage. that's right, whale watching on a bus! unfortunately, some beluga's got stranded during low tide in the cook inlet, and died, the day before the skippy's made the trip.
the skippy's breath was taken away watching a huge chunk of ice fall of the glacier ("calving" as it's called) in glacier bay state park. they watched the sun set at 9:30 in the evening over anchorage after a walking tour of that fine city. they saw puffins swimming along and two sea otters sleeping on a floating iceberg in college fjord. they wandered through sargent preston's curio shop on the streets of skagway. they learned the meaning of clan poles in totem bight state park near ketchikan. and they marvelled at the condoms on sale at the red dog saloon in juneau.
they had a marvelous time, and skippy wants to make sure that, if there are any alaskan readers of this blog, please accept the skippy's warmest thanks for being such a friendly and helpful state. the skippy's found that every alaskan citizen was happy to help, with information and stories and points of history and interest, and even just a sympathetic ear to listen. thanks, alaska!
the skippy's have returned safe and sound from a wonderful vacation in the southeast inside passage and seward/anchorage areas of our proud 49th state, alaska.
alaska is a beautiful region. skippy saw many bald eagles, and even saw one catch a salmon from the chilkat river near haines. the skippy's also saw the eagle's babies in their nest, waiting for their dad to kill the fish and bring them lunch!
wildlife was so plentiful, that the skippy's saw too many beluga whales to count while on a bus ride to anchorage. that's right, whale watching on a bus! unfortunately, some beluga's got stranded during low tide in the cook inlet, and died, the day before the skippy's made the trip.
the skippy's breath was taken away watching a huge chunk of ice fall of the glacier ("calving" as it's called) in glacier bay state park. they watched the sun set at 9:30 in the evening over anchorage after a walking tour of that fine city. they saw puffins swimming along and two sea otters sleeping on a floating iceberg in college fjord. they wandered through sargent preston's curio shop on the streets of skagway. they learned the meaning of clan poles in totem bight state park near ketchikan. and they marvelled at the condoms on sale at the red dog saloon in juneau.
they had a marvelous time, and skippy wants to make sure that, if there are any alaskan readers of this blog, please accept the skippy's warmest thanks for being such a friendly and helpful state. the skippy's found that every alaskan citizen was happy to help, with information and stories and points of history and interest, and even just a sympathetic ear to listen. thanks, alaska!
posted by skippy at
4:27 PM |
0
comments
happy labor day from the bush economic team
we have to direct you to nathan newman's great blog for a comprehensive look at unions and (un)employment in awol's america on this labor day.
to name but a few stories nathan talks about: a gallup poll showing broad public support for unions; the worst job slump since the great depression; labor protesting in iraq is a crime ; and how the wto ignores workers' rights.
nathan is also starting a new series this week called "why unions?" and, as a proud union man, skippy urges everyone to follow nathan's work on this issue.
addendum: other fine posts nathan wrote while we were on vacation: arnie's connection to the racist u.s. english organization (previously delved into by jeanne d'arc at body and soul),
minimum wage in the spotlight,
and faux news smearing bustamante with the "racist" tag.
you're a workaholic, nathan! take a vacation! (try alaska, it's great!)
we have to direct you to nathan newman's great blog for a comprehensive look at unions and (un)employment in awol's america on this labor day.
to name but a few stories nathan talks about: a gallup poll showing broad public support for unions; the worst job slump since the great depression; labor protesting in iraq is a crime ; and how the wto ignores workers' rights.
nathan is also starting a new series this week called "why unions?" and, as a proud union man, skippy urges everyone to follow nathan's work on this issue.
addendum: other fine posts nathan wrote while we were on vacation: arnie's connection to the racist u.s. english organization (previously delved into by jeanne d'arc at body and soul),
minimum wage in the spotlight,
and faux news smearing bustamante with the "racist" tag.
you're a workaholic, nathan! take a vacation! (try alaska, it's great!)
posted by skippy at
4:13 PM |
0
comments
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