POLITICS: Department of things that should be perfectly obvious to everyone: Colin Powell says we should close Guantanamo. “Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don’t need it and it is causing us far […]
Entries Tagged as 'Politics'
Roundup: Green Blood and Near Beer Edition
June 11th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Comics, Culture, Hate Crimes, Heroes, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, News, Politics, Roundup, Tech, TV
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“People Like Hillary”
June 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Journalism, Media, Politics
A big part of the reason I dread the idea of Hillary becoming the Democratic nominee is that during her time in the White House, she never won a single battle with the right wing in the eyes of the media. Whether the subject was healthcare, how to raise children, baking cookies, Tammy Wynette, or […]
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How a Certain Republican President Felt About US War Casualties
June 1st, 2007 · 1 Comment · History, Journalism, Media, Peace, Politics
Over at This Modern World, Jonathan Schwarz quotes a line from The Final Days by WoodwardandBernstein, taken from the phone calls with Nixon that Kissinger secretly taped and transcribed: During another call, Kissinger mentioned the number of American casualties in a major battle in Vietnam. “Oh, screw ‘em,†said Nixon. And as Schwarz observes: An […]
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Copy Rights and Wrongs
May 29th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Books, Culture, Film, History, Law, Lit, Video
This way-clever video, which I found on YouTube, uses short snips from various animated Disney films to provide an entertaining education on the nature of copyright, fair use, and the public domain. The daunting reality is that copyright has way gotten out of control in recent years — where once upon a time copyright […]
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Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators · Activism, Chicago, Culture, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, LGBT, News, Politics
Yesterday Russian homophobes made good on their threat to physically attack gay pride demonstrators in Moscow this year, as they did last year. The haters, who included contingents of nationalists and Russian Orthodox extremists, punched and kicked gay participants, and some wore surgeon’s masks, which they claimed was an attempt to protect them from the […]
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Roundup: Fried Ice Edition
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Fried Ice Edition · Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Politics
Profile of Newtok, Alaska: One of the first victims of climate change, a town gradually sinking into the mud. As the hardest hit of the 180 Alaskan villages suffering from erosion, “studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade.” Iceberg of Yuck: The Consumerist says, “Poison toothpaste, killer cough-syrup, and tainted pet food […]
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Stephen Colbert: Behind the Maniac
May 23rd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Chicago, Comedy, Culture, Fringe, Journal, Media, Neo-Futurists, Politics, Theater, TV, Video
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Colbert in person, this backstage video of him prepping John Kerry before Kerry’s recent Colbert Report appearance is a fun little peek behind the curtain of the character he plays on his show. I think knowing what a charming, mild-mannered, and self-effacing person Stephen is […]
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Roundup: Pottymouth Jar Edition
May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Blogs, Business, Comics, Culture, Foreign Policy, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Macintosh, Music, News, Politics, Religion, Tech, Terrorism, Torture
It’s the foreign policy, stupid: This great post at Crooks and Liars takes apart the simplistic and unhelpful notion that terrorists “hate us for our freedoms.” As Michael Scheuer, former station chief of the CIA’s Osama Bin Laden task force, says: “The fundamental flaw in our thinking about Bin Laden is that ‘Muslims hate and […]
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The Colbert Report: Heated Debate
May 21st, 2007 · Comments Off on The Colbert Report: Heated Debate · Climate Change, Comedy, Culture, Education, Politics, Science, TV, Video
“Professors are forcing our kids to submit to their pro-glacier agenda!” Newsflash: Student traumatized when his university tries to make him learn things that don’t harmonize with his conservative worldview! Fortunately, Stephen Colbert is here to make sense of the situation. Yeah, what Stephen said! Because you should never, ever have to be taught […]
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Why I Love Barney Frank: Being Gay Would Be a Crime “If the Republicans Had Their Way”
May 20th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, LGBT, Politics, TV, Video
This an oldie from last fall, but it’s a classic Barney Frank rant and I got a kick out of watching it again when I happened across it a couple of days ago. When the good Congressman gets going, he just mops up the rhetorical floor with whatever poor hapless soul has the misfortune to […]
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Baffled by the Internet (and How It Really Works)
May 18th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Education, Internet, Law, News, Politics, Tech
I’ve been disturbed for a couple of days now by this story about a judge in the UK who was baffled by the concept of a Web site. A British judge admitted on Wednesday he was struggling to cope with basic terms like “Web site” in the trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism […]
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NYC Ferrets Against Giuliani
May 17th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Culture, LGBT, Nature, News, Pets, Politics, Video
Some ferrets talk smack about Rudy G: There was a time when I used to buy the line that ferrets don’t make good pets, before I’d ever gotten to know any. But in recent years my sister has had a couple of ferrets and they’ve been wonderful companion animals — friendly, happy, gentle, and […]
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Fool MSNBC Twice, Shame on You
May 15th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Blogs, Culture, Internet, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
Funny stuff. Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo roasts MSNBC for mistaking a parody White House site for the real thing in their Falwell coverage. The second time around, the anchorpersonage has a wee bit of trouble understanding the nature of her earlier mistake. MSNBC needs to hire some kids to explain the Web […]
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