The flip side to this DougJ post about those Bainbridge posts (don't worry, I popped a Gravol before writing something that wankerific and nausea-inducing) is that a big part of the Tea Party's success, among non-racists anyway, is the complete lack of a populist appeal from the Dems.
Sure, Obama has managed to get some things done which will directly benefit the lower and middle classes, but none of it was sold as populism. Which leaves a vacuum that the Tea Party has filled, even if they filled it with crap. Deficit reduction isn't populist, but a "get big government off my back" sentiment is -- just as health care reform is populist, but a "let's make sure the insurance companies have a soft landing" sentiment isn't. I don't know whether the Dems are afraid of populism or just forgotten how to use it, but either way what should be a natural argument for them has become a foreign one.
Granted, it's hard to sell your policies as populist when the corporate media has no interest in reporting it as such, but the Dems need to figure out a way to do it. I still think Obama's a lock for 2012 simply due to a lack of competition, but 2014 and 2016 will be on us damn quick, and if they don't pick up the populist banner someone else will.
Who Will Be Canada's Pam Geller?
Looks like the jihadist threat is now targeting Canada. O noes!
You'll notice, I hope, what's missing from the article (and maybe even the intelligence report it's based on): any sense of proportion. How successful have those advocating a Muslim "parallel society" actually been? How many people attended that Mississauga conference, and did any of them have any actual influence in the Muslim-Canadian community?
I suspect these questions didn't come up because answering them would be counter-productive to the Post's fear-mongering...
You'll notice, I hope, what's missing from the article (and maybe even the intelligence report it's based on): any sense of proportion. How successful have those advocating a Muslim "parallel society" actually been? How many people attended that Mississauga conference, and did any of them have any actual influence in the Muslim-Canadian community?
I suspect these questions didn't come up because answering them would be counter-productive to the Post's fear-mongering...
Tucker Carlson Admits He's Not a Journalist
...and instead unleashes his inner wannabe James O'Keefe.
I think from now on, I'm just going to openly mock anyone who calls Tucker, or Breitbart for that matter, a journalist. There are stricter requirements for me to get my film reviews on Rotten Tomatoes than there are for someone to "earn" the title 'journalist' in today's media environment.
(h/t LGF)
I think from now on, I'm just going to openly mock anyone who calls Tucker, or Breitbart for that matter, a journalist. There are stricter requirements for me to get my film reviews on Rotten Tomatoes than there are for someone to "earn" the title 'journalist' in today's media environment.
(h/t LGF)
Look At Me Everyone!
More footage of me butchering songs.
Actually I don't sound bad in either clip - in fact, I wish more of California Uber Alles had made it into the reel. That seemed to go pretty damn well, and I would have been singing it just about when they would have been declaring Governor Jerry's win.
Actually I don't sound bad in either clip - in fact, I wish more of California Uber Alles had made it into the reel. That seemed to go pretty damn well, and I would have been singing it just about when they would have been declaring Governor Jerry's win.
October Travesties
32 different songs this month.
'Lifetime' stats: 413 different songs sung, 634 total.
Aenima - Tool
Back On the Chain Gang - Pretenders
Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Black - Pearl Jam
Borderline - Madonna
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Go With the Flow - Queens of the Stone Age
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
In a Big Country - Big Country
In The End - Linkin Park (duet w/Johnny Priceless)
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
(It's a Long Way To the Top) If You Want To Rock 'N' Roll - AC/DC
Let's Spend the Night Together - Rolling Stones
My Sacrifice - Creed
Nemesis - Shriekback
One Thing Leads To Another - Fixx
Piss Up a Rope - Ween
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Respect - Erasure
Rest In Peace - James Marsters
Right Now - Van Halen
Shake a Tail Feather - Ray Charles
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window - Beatles
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings
Something To Sing About - from Once More With Feeling (duet w/Leah)
Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
True - Spandau Ballet
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
'Lifetime' stats: 413 different songs sung, 634 total.
Aenima - Tool
Back On the Chain Gang - Pretenders
Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Black - Pearl Jam
Borderline - Madonna
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Go With the Flow - Queens of the Stone Age
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
In a Big Country - Big Country
In The End - Linkin Park (duet w/Johnny Priceless)
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
(It's a Long Way To the Top) If You Want To Rock 'N' Roll - AC/DC
Let's Spend the Night Together - Rolling Stones
My Sacrifice - Creed
Nemesis - Shriekback
One Thing Leads To Another - Fixx
Piss Up a Rope - Ween
Raspberry Beret - Prince
Respect - Erasure
Rest In Peace - James Marsters
Right Now - Van Halen
Shake a Tail Feather - Ray Charles
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window - Beatles
Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings
Something To Sing About - from Once More With Feeling (duet w/Leah)
Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
True - Spandau Ballet
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
Speaking Of Swift and Terrible Wrath
The anonymous douchefuckbagtard who sold his not-quite-a-hookup with Christine O'Donnell story to Gawker (which got posted this afternoon, and which I won't dignify with a link) has already been outed.
Just to be clear: I think O'Donnell has no place in the US Senate, and I think guys who sell hookup stories to gossip rags should be castrated. And not chemically. I'm talking with a meat tenderizer.
Just to be clear: I think O'Donnell has no place in the US Senate, and I think guys who sell hookup stories to gossip rags should be castrated. And not chemically. I'm talking with a meat tenderizer.
King For a Day Decree #623
All electrical towers will be re-designed so as to appear as giant roboty things, as they were in my imagination in my youth.
So decreed on this day of the Reign of Our Benevolent Overlord, Anton the Terrible, May His Wrath Come On Swift and Merciful Wings
So decreed on this day of the Reign of Our Benevolent Overlord, Anton the Terrible, May His Wrath Come On Swift and Merciful Wings
Welcome to Quahog?
Rob Ford's election as mayor of Toronto tonight has the local Twitterati in a tizzy. He's apparently George Bush, William Harrison Hays and Eric Cartman all rolled into one, a bloated jackanape who will single-handedly destroy the arts community and public transit in the city.
From where I sit, he's more buffoon than bastard, and the structure of the municipal government (not to mention Ford's own ego) should prevent him from working with city council and actually accomplishing any of the stuff he campaigned on. But it does beg the question: which fat, comedic character should be attached to Ford to belittle him?
Peter Griffin and Cartman have already been floated, but I'm leaning more towards Tommy Boy right now. Johnny LaRue is also a possibility, and has the benefit of being distinctly Canadian.
I may need to ponder this one for a while.
From where I sit, he's more buffoon than bastard, and the structure of the municipal government (not to mention Ford's own ego) should prevent him from working with city council and actually accomplishing any of the stuff he campaigned on. But it does beg the question: which fat, comedic character should be attached to Ford to belittle him?
Peter Griffin and Cartman have already been floated, but I'm leaning more towards Tommy Boy right now. Johnny LaRue is also a possibility, and has the benefit of being distinctly Canadian.
I may need to ponder this one for a while.
Concert Season Is Upon Me
Wow, there are actually bands I want to see playing in town over the next couple of months.
The Flowers of Hell have the release party for their new album & DVD on November 13th, then Fang Island come back to town on the 16th.
And at the beginning of December, my favorite band from the early '90s Toronto indie scene, Lowest of the Low, stagger back out for a couple of shows at Lee's Palace (the only venue they should ever play, in the interest of moribund nostalgia).
UPDATE: Figures. The Flowers of Hell show is up against the roller derby finals, which I've already told a couple of people I was gonna attend.
The Flowers of Hell have the release party for their new album & DVD on November 13th, then Fang Island come back to town on the 16th.
And at the beginning of December, my favorite band from the early '90s Toronto indie scene, Lowest of the Low, stagger back out for a couple of shows at Lee's Palace (the only venue they should ever play, in the interest of moribund nostalgia).
UPDATE: Figures. The Flowers of Hell show is up against the roller derby finals, which I've already told a couple of people I was gonna attend.
People Who Should Lose Their Jobs
No, this has nothing to do with Juan Williams.
Today's PWSLTJ is Jim Pasco, head of the Fraternal Order of Police, who recently said the following about the explosion in private surveillance and recording of police officers:
Now I realize that Pasco, as head of a police union, is supposed to have the backs of the cops. But "I'm afraid something terrible will happen"? Dipshit, terrible things have already happened. They happen basically every fucking day, because you and your kind let your profession be infected by a military mindset rather than a public service one.
Hell, if your union brethren weren't doing terrible things already, you wouldn't have to worry about being scrutinized so much.
Oh, and by the way? Fretting about civilian surveillance of the boys and girls in blue isn't even like worrying about the horse after its already escaped the barn, it's more like worrying about the horse after it's already been made obsolete by the automobile.
I suggest to the Fraternal Order of Police that they need someone running their union who isn't quite as ignorant of what's actually happening in the world, and might actually be able to help you figure out how to navigate the new environment you find yourselves in, rather than just pissing into a hurricane.
Today's PWSLTJ is Jim Pasco, head of the Fraternal Order of Police, who recently said the following about the explosion in private surveillance and recording of police officers:
The proliferation of cheap video equipment is presenting a whole new dynamic for law enforcement. It has had a chilling effect on some officers who are now afraid to act for fear of retribution by video. This has become a serious safety issue. I'm afraid something terrible will happen.
Now I realize that Pasco, as head of a police union, is supposed to have the backs of the cops. But "I'm afraid something terrible will happen"? Dipshit, terrible things have already happened. They happen basically every fucking day, because you and your kind let your profession be infected by a military mindset rather than a public service one.
Hell, if your union brethren weren't doing terrible things already, you wouldn't have to worry about being scrutinized so much.
Oh, and by the way? Fretting about civilian surveillance of the boys and girls in blue isn't even like worrying about the horse after its already escaped the barn, it's more like worrying about the horse after it's already been made obsolete by the automobile.
I suggest to the Fraternal Order of Police that they need someone running their union who isn't quite as ignorant of what's actually happening in the world, and might actually be able to help you figure out how to navigate the new environment you find yourselves in, rather than just pissing into a hurricane.
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