To the “cultural upbringing” justification nonsense that Whoopi and Terrell Owens and other shameless are using to excuse Michael Vick on dogfighting even while they claim they’re not excusing him:
Here's my problem with the "cultural-upbringing card" as it relates to Vick and dogfighting. It used to be part of Southern culture to hang black men from trees because there was a rumor that we may have made eye contact with a white woman. It used to be part of Southern culture to burn crosses, torch churches and kill black people because black people wanted to vote, sit in the front of the bus, take a sip of water and a shot at a decent education.
No one I knew was all that interested in understanding that part of Southern culture. We just wanted it to change. Vick's culture needs to change. I'm not comparing dogfighting to the mistreatment and abuse of human beings. There's no comparison. I'm saying you don't need to understand someone's culture to recognize and reject cruel/criminal behavior.
Jason Whitlock, FOX Sports
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Great Response
Tip for the Day
Uh, if you’re going to yell this--"If you're looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale”—out your dorm room window, look first to see if there are any cops around outside.
Weather, Water, Energy 9-6-07
Okay, sit down. Praise for China coming. They’re dumping on Australia’s idiot PM’s attempt to end-run UN efforts on global warming to engage a smaller group that Australia could influence better (AKA, stall doing anything meaningful). The US, of course, supported the idiot PM, can't hurt the economy by saving the planet, you know. And knock me back with a feather—China is coming down hard on liquid coal fuels and Japan is swearing that China will be more proactive post-Kyoto. Folks, if China is getting these things and we’re not . . . . Speaking of Japan, it’s trying to get people to commit to fighting global warming by getting them discounts on Big Macs????? I’m not making this up. . . . Classic case of looking at the costs of not doing something but not the costs of not not doing something, this time the clean-up of the Great Lakes. . . . Skeptical Science explains the very small number of glaciers that are growing rather than shrinking, but the brainless ones who have been hooking onto the growing glaciers as proof of their wisdom don’t understand words bigger than two syllables so it’s probably another waste of time. Always keep in mind the high degree of overlap between these people and the folks selling us that Big Business was pushing energy deregulation so consumers could keep more of their money. (And remember how our brilliant legislators on state and fed levels bought the BS then and will likely buy it now.) . . . From Science Daily, word that global warming will likely increase cholera in Africa and birch trees stomping out aspens across northern forests. Sad that this kind of news is so common now that it can’t excite the way it should. . . . Over at Climate Progress, good news (maybe anyway, that bad weather has driven movie profits up this year), bad news (that Australia and its idiot PM (see above) are facing a permanent, Dust Bowl-like drought by mid-century), and no surprise but evil news (that Bushnev has buried a climate satellite that would have enabled us to plan better for the warming). . . . While at Climate Progress, also check this great catch on a 1972 study (yes, that’s 1972) accurately forecasting the global temp increase by 2000. As we’ve been saying about virtually everything the Repubs have fvcked up while Dems have kept their thumbs up their a-ses since Tip O’Neill first blighted the Congress, all the crap we’re going through has been known for almost 4 decades now, global warming, energy, water, economy, degeneration of our media, creeping imperialism, loss of our Constitution, all of it. To hear even the best bloggers talk as if they just woke up to this stuff in the 90s is one of the most depressing things I unfortunately get exposed to. Living these last 35 years watching this all happening in slo-mo and seeing no one paying needed attention or, worse, calling me a doomsayer and the evil “pessimist” when all it was was reality has been even worse. We could have stopped all this sh-t, all of it, by taking it seriously and not admiring ourselves Oprah-style and MisterRogersing everything and all the destructors for so long. Our ignorance of history, humanity’s as well as American, will be our crowning achievement when history finally gets to bite our a-ses good.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
They've looked at a map.
Mannion walks through exactly why these next 500 days will probably even more disastrous than the last 500 days.
Oh, and I happened to be flipping through to MSNBC last night just as Olbermann's Special Comment began. Intense, to say the least. The only thing more frustrating than what Olbermann is talking about, though, is the fact that everybody can say whatever they want...it's going to happen anyway, and the same people who folded five years ago are going to fold again. Wouldn't want to appear weak or unpatriotic, blah blah blah...
At roughly the same time when...
...a new iteration of the iPod is introduced, a music god says the future of music doesn't include the iPod.
"You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home."Now...Rick Rubin's been right about most music-related things for almost 25 years now (sans the Slayer and Mel C albums), so I somewhat believe what he's suggesting here. It makes sense to me, and honestly I welcome the thought. Sounds good to me. But...do you really think Apple won't be ready for this? You already can plug a "Walkman-like device" into your speakers at home. It's called the iPod. And more importantly..."Walkman-like device"? Is this 1986, Rick?
...
"Either all the record companies will get together or the industry will fall apart and someone like Microsoft will come in and buy one of the companies at wholesale and do what needs to be done."
Cowardice on Warming
It’s not just for US media anymore.
These words literally came out of a BBC guy’s mouth:
"It is absolutely not the BBC's job to save the planet," warned Newsnight editor Peter Barron at the Edinburgh Festival last month.
There you go.
What Does It Say . . . ?
about this society when these are the headline links on MSN’s “Entertainment” section this morning?
· Gossip: Pitt's 'scary moment' with fan
· Birkhead-Stern tryst alleged; each eyes suit
· Berry announces pregnancy in e-mail
· Goldberg defends Vick in 'View' debut
· Jerry Lewis apologizes for anti-gay slur
Well, actually, we know, don’t we.
Water or Nuke?
Here’s the thing, folks. Nuclear power requires large amounts of water in a wide range of ways. It only makes sense what little sense it does if there will be abundant water available in the future. That doesn’t look likely. Especially in the frickin’ West. Is there a Stupid Competition going on out there?
Sorry, Mr. Pope, Sir
Until you back off your stands on procreation, your “worries” about global warming are as credible as you are. You've done as much to bring on Hell for so many people as anyone.
Wanna Bet Your Heart . . .
that global warming doesn't exist?
Global warming may be melting glaciers and forcing polar bears onto land, but doctors warn it could also affect your heart. "If it really is a few degrees warmer in the next 50 years, we could definitely have more cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, of the department of cardiology at Sweden 's Karolinska Institute.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Today's Startling Headline
Men want hot women, study confirms
Despite what we might say about the qualities we look for. Women are more real. (Is it just me, or does this whole story make men sound a little, you know, superficial and overly impressed with themselves?)
Weather, Water, Energy 9-4-07
I love when this happens. Over at Grist, they’ve caught the obstructionists among the coal types admitting that the value of “sequestration” is political, not economic or technological. It’s too expensive and complicated to work, but it buys off the lazy, hopeful, or naïve while coal goes merrily along building those new plants that will seal the deal on our horrendous future. No consolation really for what’s going to happen as a result, but it’s nice to have your beliefs about the evil of the people we’re dealing with confirmed in hard copy. (And Joseph Romm affirms the problems here and then goes on to smash up “liquefaction” as a technology here, quite a two-fer.) . . . Speaking of Joseph Romm, he rips a Consumer Digest report on hydrogen cars and their “economy,” which turns out to be more costly and complex than most of its alternatives. (While you’re at Climate Progress, discover why Target is planning to start hyping swimsuits in January.) . . . Skeptical Science gives you more reason to be, well, skeptical about the, well, “science” of the latest deniers and obstructionists here. . . . Proof that the insurance crisis for coastal states due to fear of global warming induced disasters is growing—Stateline.org, the Pew site on state news, has a feature on the subject now. . . . Imagine that. The Chesapeake Bay could be endangered by the increased growth of corn crops as we feed the ethanol frenzy. Not like it’s important or anything. . . . It’s Getting Hot in Here has been connecting dots on extreme weather and global warming and noting how the crisis is finally reaching the blogosphere, although none of our “leaders” appear in the discussion. I guess they’re still too busy gatekeeping and appearing with Colbert. If only they had young children who would suffer for their inattention. And it’s not like we’re watching for the first time in recorded history two Category 5 hurricanes come ashore in the same season or that two hurricanes could be hitting Mexico and Central America at once. . . . oh, wait. . . . Finally, one last note from Joseph Romm's Climate Progress. He has a couple of posts up on ice sheet melt and on more severe hurricanes. That's not news, but his point in both of them is: These things are happening much faster than the climate models have been predicting. IT'S TIME TO STOP SCREWING AROUND, FOLKS.
Lord
First Obama proclaims Coburn his BFF, then we find out that Hillary is part of that truly scary Christian Reconstructionist branch in Congress, and now Richardson is proclaiming IA’s first caucus God-given. Doesn’t matter what the details are. These people are ready for prime time, the best we can do???
Monday, September 03, 2007
Superbad
Next to my appreciation of telenovelas, infomercials, and Shannon Tweed late night flicks, I'm probably one of the world's oldest fans of teenage sex comedies, although few of them really have much actual sex. I've thought for years that "The Sure Thing" was one of the best movies ever made, seen "Mean Girls" three times, thought Kate Bosworth was as painfully miscast in "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" as in "Superman Returns," and had the words "One time, at band camp. . . " appear randomly in my head on a fairly periodic basis. So, when "Superbad" came out with the great reviews, by the same guys who did "Knocked Up," well, had to go.
It was good. Not something I'll buy the video of to go next to "Say Anything," but good. I usually go to these things by myself (but I get looked at funny) or with The Boy, but this time The Wife went with me. The Boy and I have long classified movies as those we'd take Mom to and those we wouldn't. This was a "wouldn't," although she was a good sport about it (I thought, since she liked "Knocked Up," she'd give this a pass). She doesn't like loud people, cussing people, or gross people. And that's about what the first half hour is. Well, actually, most of the movie until the end. But it's definitely a movie The Boy and I would have attended satisfactorily.
The story line is straight from teen comedy land, as are the leads. Two nerds, one fat and squat, one skinny and tall, friends forever, senior year, last chance to score with their crushes, facing their own "breakup" as they look at different colleges after summer. Along with an uber-geeky sidekick who manages to get a fake id and then only puts one name on it, they have the adventure of their lives over one night just before graduation. Most of the conventions, including the school bullies, humiliation, threats of beatings, plenty of puke, cute girls with cuter bodies.
But that's where the movie actually turns most teen comedies on their heads. Very little is done conventionally with these conventions. The inevitable liquor store clerk is a tough-looking young black woman who ends up being a veterinary student. The cops who dominate the second half of the movies aren't hardassess, but party animals. (I found them one of the weaker parts of the movie, but The Wife liked them so to each his/her own on this point.) The love story isn't between the boys and their crushes, but the heroes themselves (but not to the "Brokeback" point). The requisite striptease is funnier than sexy and ends up sad and bare boob-less. And most and best of all, the girls are not your conventional teen movie chicks, not even "hot" so much as wholesome. These are two girls you as a nerd yourself might even be lucky enough to have a chance with, so you can believe that the two knuckleheaded leads might have a chance, too. The "smart" one ends up being the stupidest, and the "party" one ends up not even being a drinker. And the ending with them and the leads is believable and warm, even as it brings touching closure to the point of the whole movie. One of the key things in a genuinely good movie is how well it lands the dismount, how well it completes everything that the performance previously provided. "Superbad" surely gets at least 5.8s and 5.9s, except for that damn Czech judge.
Will this be the classic that other reviews and box office totals have indicated? I liked it better than "American Pie" and it's much deeper than "Porky's." (Ever thought you'd hear "deeper" and "Porky's" in the same sentence?) It's not "The Sure Thing" or "Say Anything" but they had Cusack. If you like bodily fluids (did I mention the menstrual blood?), nerds winning, and love (between friends as well as between genders), then you'll get what you want here. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth . . . wait. Random words coming in. "One time, at band camp . . . ."
Weather, Water, Energy 9-2-07
Slow news day but here's a story you might note. The anti-tax people in Britain are monkeying with figures to support their religious views against paying their share of their community's upkeep and preparation for future generations. It's important for us over here to be ready for this BS because, as we've noted regularly, there will be similar arguments from obstructionists, making it impossible for the quick and severe action necessary to deal with global warming to be taken. Meaning, these people will screw us and posterity big time. But they'll save their $27.13 a year.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
When You Know You're Sliding
When "serious" columnists argue that, to be free, we need government invading our privacy. (Yes, it's the moron Zuckerman in the right-wing US News, but memorize it because it's what you'll hear as they justify every authoritarian move they make in destroying this nation's freedom and legacy.)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Nothing for Him Left to Claim
. . . And the war was coming.
The earth was shaking.
And there was no more room
In the garden of Allah.
"Today I made an appearance downtown.
I am an expert witness, because I say I am.
And I said, 'Gentlemen . . . and I use that word loosely . . .
I will testify for you.
I'm a gun for hire, I'm a saint, I'm a liar
Because there are no facts, there is no truth,
Just data to be manipulated.
I can get you any result you like.
What's it worth to ya?
Because there is no wrong, there is no right.
And I sleep very well at night.
No shame, no solution,
No remorse, no retribution.
Just people selling t-shirts.
Just opportunity to participate in the pathetic little circus.
And winning, winning, winning."
It was a pretty big year for predators.
The marketplace was on a roll.
And the land of opportunity
Spawned a whole new breed of men without souls.
This year, notoriety got all confused with fame,
And the devil is downhearted
Because there's nothing left for him to claim. . . .
"The Garden of Allah"
Don Henley, Stan Lynch, John Corey, and Paul Gurian
(c) 1995
