Keeping a jaundiced eye on the corporate media.
Posted in General on Dec 29th, 2004
LEADERSHIP
Juan Cole points out how Bush wasted yet another opportunity:
As John F. Harris and Robin Wright of the Washington Post cannily note, US President George W. Bush has missed an important opportunity to reach out to the Muslims of Indonesia. The Bush administration at first pledged a paltry $15 million, a mysteriously chintzy response to […]
Posted in General on Dec 29th, 2004
GOD BLESS OUR RIBBONS
This is cool. I stare at these things all day while driving the turnpike, and now you can order your own customized magnetic ribbon.
Slogan options include: “God Bless Jingoistic Ribbons” and “I Temporarily Support the Troops.”
Posted in General on Dec 29th, 2004
SETTING THE STANDARD
Well, you know, contempt and indifference to others starts at the top:
Faye Wachs said she was impressed by the efforts of the Thai government and the International Committee for the Red Cross, but “she was appalled at the treatment they got” from the U.S. government, her mother said.
At the airport in Bangkok, other […]
Posted in Politics As Usual, The Regime on Dec 29th, 2004
Hey, he’s on vacation - and we all know how sacred that is to Bubble Boy:
After a day of repeated inquiries from reporters about his public absence, Bush late yesterday afternoon announced plans to hold a National Security Council meeting by teleconference to discuss several issues, including the tsunami, followed by a short public statement. […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
Doing the math on Social Security:
The idea is broadly accepted. That’s why the administration’s plan to partially privatize the system sounds appealing to many. But that better return won’t always happen.
Just ask Stanley Logue of San Diego.
For 45 years, the defense-industry analyst paid into the system until his retirement in 1994. But with all […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
YOU LOST, GET OVER IT
I can just hear the whining now:
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a decision that determined a disputed legislative race was tied, likely giving Democrats control of the state House of Representatives.
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
ZEN AND THE ART OF VEHICLE MAINTENANCE
A male friend once told me I was “the perfect woman. You have all the right priorities: Music, baseball, politics and sex.”
“What else is there?” I said, amused.
Tonight, I remembered. Cars. I love cars.
When I picked up my Toyota from the mechanic’s tonight, we had a nice long chat. […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
R.I.P.
Susan Sontag is one of those public intellects who will be honored more in her absence. (I remember reading “Illness as Metaphor” and being so profoundly disturbed, I didn’t go near her again for a long time. Which is good - real art should disturb.)
I remember she surfaced again during the war in Bosnia, and […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: “Love Gets in the Way,” Dayna Kurtz, “Postcards from Downtown.” One of my very favorite songs (because I don’t think there’s anything that requires more bravery than love), I can’t listen to it without thinking of… oh, never mind.
I’ve made love with one eye on the doorAnd I’ve left good rooms […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
PROPOSAL
You know, Duncan’s got a good point.
So why don’t we ask them to cancel the $40 million in inauguration festivities and send that money to the tsunami victims? It would not only be the Christian thing to do, it would go a long way toward repairing our tattered image.
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
HOW THOUGHTFUL
Bush’s tax proposal:
And corporations would be allowed to immediately deduct — or “expense” — from their taxes a portion of the cost of business investments, instead of having to slowly write off those costs based on complex depreciation allowances.
To cover the cost of the tax changes, the plan would tax the value of an […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
GOODY
I noticed this years ago: Cause of death seems to run in families. There’s almost no cancer in my family - everyone dies from strokes or heart attacks.
So I got that going for me, which is nice.
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
RUNNING GOVERNMENT LIKE A BUSINESS
“Safe” is really a state of mind anyway, don’t you think?
WASHINGTON — The government agency responsible for protecting the nation against terrorist attack is a dysfunctional, poorly managed bureaucracy that has failed to plug serious holes in the nation’s safety net, the Department of Homeland Security’s former internal watchdog warns.
Clark Kent […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
THE RICH GET RICH
And the poor get poorer:
This year’s bonuses do not quite reach the heights touched by star bankers and traders in the heyday of the late 1990’s technology bubble. But they are rich enough to persuade many of Wall Street’s elite to rediscover conspicuous consumption.
One senior trader is building a sports complex for […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
HELP IF YOU CAN
Here are some of the many agencies helping the tsunami victims: Action Against Hunger 247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201 New York, NY 10018 212-967-7800 http://www.aah-usa.org/
American Jewish World Service 45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor New York, NY 10018 800-889-7146 http://www.ajws.org/
ADRA International 9-11 Fund 12501 Old Columbus Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 […]
Posted in General on Dec 28th, 2004
AMEN
From Salon’s review of two new books on the New York Times:
Seen in this light, the Jayson Blair case was an embarrassing sideshow, nothing more. With the bogus WMD stories reported by Miller and approved by various editors, the Times — which, for all its flaws, remains the last, best hope for American journalism — […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
FINALLY
Kerry’s people filed today in Ohio to protect election evidence:
This afternoon, an attorney representing the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign filed two important motions to preserve and augment evidence of alleged election fraud in the November election. The motions were filed in the matter titled Yost et al. v. Delaware County Board of Elections and J. Kenneth […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
AFTER THE DELUGE
Amazing:
The underwater quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey put at magnitude 9.0, was the biggest since 1964, when a 9.2-magnitude temblor struck Alaska, also touching off tsunami waves. There were at least a half-dozen powerful aftershocks, one of magnitude 7.3.
Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy’s National Geophysics Institute, likened the quake’s power […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
NOT ONE DAMN DIME
From an email I just got:
Since our religious leaders will not speak out against the war in Iraq, since our political leaders don’t have the moral courage to oppose it, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is “Not One Damn Dime Day” in America.
On “Not One Damn Dime Day,” those who […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
EYEWITNESS VIDEOS
Two dramatic videos of the tsunami - one in Sri Lanka, the other in Thailand.
UPDATE: LInk fixed.
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
BUT MARTHA STEWART WENT TO PRISON
News from the Department of “Justice”:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director Chris Swecker of the FBI announced today that America Online, Inc., (AOL) […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
OUTSOURCING TORTURE
Washington Post:
The airplane is a Gulfstream V turbojet, the sort favored by CEOs and celebrities. But since 2001 it has been seen at military airports from Pakistan to Indonesia to Jordan, sometimes being boarded by hooded and handcuffed passengers.
The plane’s owner of record, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., lists directors and officers who […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: “Thing Called Love,” John Hiatt, “Bring The Family.
And you ain’t some icon carved out of soapSent down here to clean up my reputationAnd baby, I ain’t your prince charmingNow we can live in fear, or act out of hopeFor some kind of peaceful situationBaby, don’t know why the cry of love […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
DE-FUMING
I just got back in from dropping my car off at the mechanic’s and man, I can’t believe so little snow makes so much trouble. I passed one accident on the boulevard where a Dodge Ram Charger slammed into the rear of a Miata convertible, crushing the back and pushing the car to the top […]
Posted in General on Dec 27th, 2004
LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION
Since I’ve lived in my town, I’ve met a few people living in $350,000 houses who are on the verge of losing them. The unemployment’s run out and they’re scraping to get by, selling off their possessions. So I can only imagine how bad it is everywhere else:
Fear and hunger walk hand […]
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