Republicans don’t care about nobody’s families but their own.

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No, really. From needles.
I just came from the local wellness center (this is the People’s Republic of Mt. Airy, after all), where I went to the low-cost walk-in acupuncture clinic. My upper back was so sore from dropping the IKEA shelf on my neck, it hurt to hold my head up.
You should see this place. [...]

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If he gets any lower, he’ll be a sidewalk. (CNN/Gallup poll, no link yet.)

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This administration is a shame to our nation. They managed to pick them up, but can’t figure out how to get them home?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 30 percent of the Guantanamo detainees have been cleared to leave the prison but remain jailed because the U.S. government has been unable to arrange for their return to [...]

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While walking to work from the train this morning, I see a stocky, nicely-dressed man who raises one hand as if waving hello, and uses his other hand to slap his armpit with a rolled-up newspaper. He continues this for half a block, alternating arms.
God, I love downtown.

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Jus thought I’d mention (since every person I know says, “So, are you going to change the name of your blog now that you’re living in the city? Hah, hah!”) that my new neighborhood was a Philadelphia suburb until around 1860 or so.
So there.

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Republicans are looking for any reason they can to distance themselves from BushCo. Coincidentally, they are suddenly noticing there really is such a thing as global warming!

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They do love their five-point plans. And when this one doesn’t work, why, they’ll come up with another one:
The new chief of staff at the White House, Josh Bolten, has formed a five point “recovery plan” to restore public confidence in President Bush and improve his poll ratings, Time magazine reports in today’s issue.
One important [...]

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I predicted this at the beginning of the war. Fine mess you’ve gotten us into, Georgie:
ANKARA, April 24 (KUNA) — Chief of the Turkish General Staff Hilmi Ozkok said Turkey will conduct military action in northern Iraq if needed.
According to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Ozkok said since article 51 of the UN Charter allows beyond-the-border military [...]

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Pray for northern Australia, ’cause nothing else can help them now.
And remember, kids, there’s no such thing as global warming:
This situation remains dire along the north coast of Australia. It is hard to imagine a worse situation in this area as Australian cyclones almost never reach this strength. Monica is currently much stronger than [...]

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I’d say Howard’s 50-state campaign is starting to pay off:
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which began the cycle more than $11 million in debt, ended March with $23 million in the bank. The National Republican Congressional Committee, meanwhile, ended the month with $24.4 million on hand.
It is the first time in recent memory that the [...]

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It would be ironic if this was the thing that finally took BushCo down:
April 24 (Bloomberg) — To Republicans, the New Hampshire phone-jamming incident is an isolated case of political dirty tricks that took place more than three years ago.
To Democrats, it’s a scandal with echoes of Watergate that may reach all the way [...]

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Bush isn’t the only elected official who needs to be impeached. Josh Marshall talks to the CIA agent featured on last night’s 60 Minutes:
Drumheller’s account is pretty probative evidence on the question of whether the White House politicized and cherry-picked the Iraq intelligence.
So why didn’t we hear about any of this in the reports of [...]

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Link:
WASHINGTON, April 23 — About 50 prominent religious leaders, including seven Roman Catholic cardinals and about a half-dozen archbishops, have signed a petition in support of a constitutional amendment blocking same-sex marriage.

They have no problem at all with the child-rape thing, though.
Oddly enough, these leaders are resoundingly silent on the biblical laws against what [...]

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Howard Zinn points out the problem of citizens who are unaware of a long history of liars who rationalize taking us to war:
It seems to me there are two reasons, which go deep into our national culture, and which help explain the vulnerability of the press and of the citizenry to outrageous lies whose consequences [...]

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See, we need to take out unstable pseudo-democratic regimes with paranoid and resentful state leaders with access to nuclear and biological weapons.
Sound like anyone we know?

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CIA officers are being purged on the basis of their political affiliations. Josh Marshall:
The administration’s response to the ills of the intelligence agencies has been to further politicize them, to put them under more reliable political control. And that’s not surprising either since, from the White House perspective, the failures of the intelligence agencies weren’t [...]

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The same people who have no compunction at all letting market forces work their wonders for the rest of us are going to get a taste of what life is like for the typical American worker. From tomorrow’s New York Times, via Raw Story:
There is fear and moaning in the West Wing these days as [...]

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But you have to admit, Iraq’s much better off than it was under Saddam Hussein.
Yeah, well, everyone knows women don’t count:
The man on the phone with the 14-year-old Iraqi girl called himself Sa’ad. He was calling long distance from Dubai and telling her wonderful things about the place. He was also about to buy her. [...]

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Via Melanie.

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You probably can’t afford it.

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From Duncan:
The inability of much of the celebrity pundit class to understand why people can both be doing relatively well (not all people of course) and also be feeling substantial anxiety about the economy has to do with the fact that they long ago left the “paycheck to paycheck” class.

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While waiting for my clothes to dry, I did something I do much less often these days: Read the Sunday Inquirer - on paper. The front page of the Currents section (the former News & Views, I think) is themed “Can we live without newspapers?” and includes the piece Jeff Jarvis did on the norgs [...]

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Had breakfast at one of the local cafes this morning, then broke down and went to the higher-priced laundramat.
Be still, my heart. They have wifi. (And dryers that actually dry.)

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1. Long Distance Love - Nicolette Larsen
2. Waltzing’s for Dreamers - Richard Thompson
3. The Very Thought of You - Shirley Horn
4. Heal Over - KT Tunstall
5. The Girl from Ipenema - Astrid Gilberto
6. She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
7. Lived In Bars - Cat Power
8. The Walls Came Down - The Call
9. Your [...]

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Ah, memories!
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, [...]

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My friend Brendan went to IKEA with me yesterday to help me pick up some big bookcase for my kitchen. (God, are those things heavy.) Spent most of the day putting it together and did more unpacking last night. I was thrilled to finally find something that’s been missing since the last move - a [...]

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Sometimes I think Aimee Mann is overrated - but most of the time, I think you couldn’t praise her enough:
Oh Suzy, they get to me
They really can be wearying
But he threw me the rope and buoy
Let me use his decoder ring
There must have been some kind of parade
We kissed for a while to see how [...]

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Billmon has some great Photoshop art today.

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I just upped the comment filters because I’m being hit with more spam than usual. So there may be a delay until I approve what you write. Please be patient.

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