Fareed Zakaria returns an ADL award (the Hubert Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize, no less) over the Ground Zero(-ish community center that contains a) Mosque mess.
(via mistermix at BJ)
My Vote For Funniest Wingnut Insult
"Alinskyite". As in:
It's like something out of a Classics Illustrated version of 1984. It barely makes sense as an adjective, much less a pejorative, and is a dead giveaway that the person using it has been completely swallowed by Teeper Madness and is lost to reality forever.
ACORN. Ayers. Alinsky. The three A's of the Apocalypse. Know their names and tremble, for they bring DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM to us all!
One key difference between American and European socialists is that the American variety resorts far more often to deliberate stealth. This is particularly true of Alinskyite community organizers.
It's like something out of a Classics Illustrated version of 1984. It barely makes sense as an adjective, much less a pejorative, and is a dead giveaway that the person using it has been completely swallowed by Teeper Madness and is lost to reality forever.
ACORN. Ayers. Alinsky. The three A's of the Apocalypse. Know their names and tremble, for they bring DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM to us all!
OK, This Is Just Weird
I mean, it's pretty funny, but it's very disconcerting to see Goldberg engaged in this kind of snark. Snark is supposed to be something in the purview of the young, and not for Our Sober Elders.
It's like that time you realized that not only did your Deadhead uncle know who Fang Island were, but that he liked them.
It's unseemly.
It's like that time you realized that not only did your Deadhead uncle know who Fang Island were, but that he liked them.
It's unseemly.
Wyclef Finds His Niche
I've got approximately zero respect for Wyclef as a musician, but he might be a perfect fit as president of Haiti. He's a natural successor to pretty much every other president the country's ever had: he's egotistical, and already has a track record of syphoning money out of the country to line his own pockets. Plus, we've already seen a glimpse of the kinds of fuckery he'd be up to if he had that kind of juice.
I'd start calling him Papa Jean, but people might get confused and think he was starting a pizza chain.
I'd start calling him Papa Jean, but people might get confused and think he was starting a pizza chain.
Who Let the Rational Guy In the Room?
Joe Posnanski, who's never been afraid to be contrary, highlights a new piece of work that fairly comprehensively takes apart the idea that steroids = home runs.
It's utterly ridiculous to throw terms like "McCarthyism" around in reference to sports, but the steroid/PED hysteria that gripped baseball in the last 15 years is a disgrace. If I thought the various sports "journalists" who fed the flames were capable of feeling shame, I'd say that there was a great reckoning coming someday over the reputations that were sullied and destroyed. But they don't, and so there probably won't.
It's utterly ridiculous to throw terms like "McCarthyism" around in reference to sports, but the steroid/PED hysteria that gripped baseball in the last 15 years is a disgrace. If I thought the various sports "journalists" who fed the flames were capable of feeling shame, I'd say that there was a great reckoning coming someday over the reputations that were sullied and destroyed. But they don't, and so there probably won't.
That Queasy Feeling Is Back
I'm not sure what makes my skin crawl more: a carnival game in which you get to shoot at Obama, or the sheer number of people in the comments to that article trying to justify as acceptable a carnival game in which you get to shoot at Obama.
I keep telling myself that things like this are just the death throes of a cultural legacy that should have been buried with those that fell during the Civil War. Then I worry that in those death throes, that cultural legacy is going to take someone down with it.
The country does not need another martyr.
(h/t Steven D at Boo)
I keep telling myself that things like this are just the death throes of a cultural legacy that should have been buried with those that fell during the Civil War. Then I worry that in those death throes, that cultural legacy is going to take someone down with it.
The country does not need another martyr.
(h/t Steven D at Boo)
TIFF Docs
They put together a heavyweight doc lineup for this year's TIFF:
- Errol Morris finds another odd soul, Joyce McKinney, to spotlight in Tabloid
- Werner Herzog explores the Chauvet cave paintings - in 3D! - in Cave of Forgotten Dreams
- La danse director Frederick Wiseman takes what appears to be a similar approach with a different physical discipline in Boxing Gym
- Smartest Guys in the Room director Alex Gibney tackles the Eliot Spitzer case in Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
- Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley points his lens at the Philippine B-movie industry in Machete Maidens Unleashed!
- The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town digs up old footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the studio, at or around their peak. I'm crossing my fingers we get a take of Because the Night in there somewhere...
- Game of Death re-casts the Milgram experiments in a game show setting, which kind of defeats the original purpose but might make for some interesting viewing
- last one to catch my eye is Cool It, which already has the early lead in the 'Film I'm Most Likely To Shit On' category, as it appears to be a positive portrayal of discredited climate change skeptic Bjorn Lomborg
I'm sure there are a few others on crazy subjects like vigilante gangs of Indian feminists, or yet another Secret History of Rock doc, or one of the 83 docs on the Israel-Palestine conflict, that might end up being good too.
- Errol Morris finds another odd soul, Joyce McKinney, to spotlight in Tabloid
- Werner Herzog explores the Chauvet cave paintings - in 3D! - in Cave of Forgotten Dreams
- La danse director Frederick Wiseman takes what appears to be a similar approach with a different physical discipline in Boxing Gym
- Smartest Guys in the Room director Alex Gibney tackles the Eliot Spitzer case in Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
- Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley points his lens at the Philippine B-movie industry in Machete Maidens Unleashed!
- The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town digs up old footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the studio, at or around their peak. I'm crossing my fingers we get a take of Because the Night in there somewhere...
- Game of Death re-casts the Milgram experiments in a game show setting, which kind of defeats the original purpose but might make for some interesting viewing
- last one to catch my eye is Cool It, which already has the early lead in the 'Film I'm Most Likely To Shit On' category, as it appears to be a positive portrayal of discredited climate change skeptic Bjorn Lomborg
I'm sure there are a few others on crazy subjects like vigilante gangs of Indian feminists, or yet another Secret History of Rock doc, or one of the 83 docs on the Israel-Palestine conflict, that might end up being good too.
America... Fuck Yeah!
Weirdly, I meant that unironically.
Bloomberg takes a rhetorical baseball bat upside the head of the bigots opposed to building the "Ground Zero mosque" (actually a community center which includes a mosque, and which is a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero). Transcript here.
UPDATE: It just occurred to me that if this is the opening gambit in a 2012 third party presidential run, it's a hell of a start.
Bloomberg takes a rhetorical baseball bat upside the head of the bigots opposed to building the "Ground Zero mosque" (actually a community center which includes a mosque, and which is a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero). Transcript here.
UPDATE: It just occurred to me that if this is the opening gambit in a 2012 third party presidential run, it's a hell of a start.
How Dare Those Bureaucrats Earn Their Salaries?
Sully (naturally) links to someone who sees California's decision to treat Tweets and Facebook status updates no differently than campaign ads as a First Amendment infringement, under the headline "Save the Tweets" (no exclamation mark afterwards though, sadly). But Sherman's statement:
is disingenuous at best. "Apparently"? It's their job, you maroon. The law of California states that political advocacy speech gets regulated. The media by which that advocacy is carried to the public is completely irrelevant.
If he wants to argue that political speech should be totally unregulated -- a bridge even the Roberts court didn't cross in the Citizens United case, which acknowledged the need for some regulation, if not the specific regulation in front of them -- then fine, make that argument. But expressions of faux outrage over a government agency doing the job its supposed to do is just blinkered, ideological idiocy.
I wonder if Sherman also applauds the non-job various government regulatory agencies did that contributed to the BP spill. The exact same logic applies.
Their primary concern, apparently, is that the regulation of political speech be as comprehensive as possible.
is disingenuous at best. "Apparently"? It's their job, you maroon. The law of California states that political advocacy speech gets regulated. The media by which that advocacy is carried to the public is completely irrelevant.
If he wants to argue that political speech should be totally unregulated -- a bridge even the Roberts court didn't cross in the Citizens United case, which acknowledged the need for some regulation, if not the specific regulation in front of them -- then fine, make that argument. But expressions of faux outrage over a government agency doing the job its supposed to do is just blinkered, ideological idiocy.
I wonder if Sherman also applauds the non-job various government regulatory agencies did that contributed to the BP spill. The exact same logic applies.
WaPo Is Now Officially On My Verbotenlist
I don't link to Politico, primarily because getting links is the only reason they exist, but from this point forward I refuse to link to, or otherwise recognize the existence of, the Washington Post for so long as they continue to employ Marc Thiessen.
If any person on the planet has earned a good waterboarding, it's that piece of shit. His brain is diseased, and it leaks poison. As such, he and his employer must be quarantined.
If any person on the planet has earned a good waterboarding, it's that piece of shit. His brain is diseased, and it leaks poison. As such, he and his employer must be quarantined.
Sammi Sweetheart Is Gonna Be Soooo Jealous
Apparently, I missed the single stupidest political scandal evah when it broke a couple of days ago.
At least it seems stupid on the surface, but dig a little deeper. What possible motive could Obama have for denying that he even knows who Snooki is... unless...
OMFG OBAMA IS HAVING AN ILLICIT MISCEGENATION WITH SNOOKI!!!!11!!1!eleventyone!
That's right, the only logical conclusion that can possibly be drawn from this earth-shaking scandal is that Obama and Snooki have been secretly doin' the nasty.
Congress can't ignore this any longer! Impeachment proceedings MUST begin immediately!
At least it seems stupid on the surface, but dig a little deeper. What possible motive could Obama have for denying that he even knows who Snooki is... unless...
OMFG OBAMA IS HAVING AN ILLICIT MISCEGENATION WITH SNOOKI!!!!11!!1!eleventyone!
That's right, the only logical conclusion that can possibly be drawn from this earth-shaking scandal is that Obama and Snooki have been secretly doin' the nasty.
Congress can't ignore this any longer! Impeachment proceedings MUST begin immediately!
July Travesties
29 songs.
All Apologies - Nirvana
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Ballad of John and Yoko - Beatles
Band On the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
Common People - Pulp
Dragula - Rob Zombie
Fly At Night - Chilliwack
Freak On a Leash - Korn
Freeze-Frame - J Geils Band
Going Underground - Jam
Keep Your Hands To Yourself - Georgia Satellites
Last Night - Strokes (w/live band)
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Little Green Bag - George Baker Selection
Little Red Corvette - Prince
New Orleans Is Sinking - Tragically Hip
New Rose - Damned
Panama - Van Halen
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
Respect - Erasure
Roundabout - Yes
Say It Ain't So - Weezer (w/live band)
See Emily Play - Pink Floyd
Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top
The Last Time - Rolling Stones
Under the Milky Way - Church
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Beatles
All Apologies - Nirvana
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Ballad of John and Yoko - Beatles
Band On the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
Common People - Pulp
Dragula - Rob Zombie
Fly At Night - Chilliwack
Freak On a Leash - Korn
Freeze-Frame - J Geils Band
Going Underground - Jam
Keep Your Hands To Yourself - Georgia Satellites
Last Night - Strokes (w/live band)
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Little Green Bag - George Baker Selection
Little Red Corvette - Prince
New Orleans Is Sinking - Tragically Hip
New Rose - Damned
Panama - Van Halen
Radio Radio - Elvis Costello
Respect - Erasure
Roundabout - Yes
Say It Ain't So - Weezer (w/live band)
See Emily Play - Pink Floyd
Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top
The Last Time - Rolling Stones
Under the Milky Way - Church
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Beatles
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