I automatically download Onion video podcasts on Itunes. This is beyond doubt the funniest I’ve seen:
In The Know: Is The Government Spying On Paranoid Schizophrenics Enough?
Be warned, 30 second commercial at the end, but you can just stop it.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
I read this article in this morning’s Day (Killer had been living in Hartford) from beginning to end this morning, my puzzlement mounting. The thrust of it is that a person was convicted of murder here in Connecticut, served his sentence, was released, successfully completed a term of probation (five years), and then legally moved to New Hampshire.
Why is this news?
Saturday, February 2, 2008
When I read this morning’s Zippy, I thought it would be a good one to add to my wife’s collection of bath oriented comics (including another one of Zippy) and pictures that she has-guess where? That’s right, in the bathroom. Here’s today’s comic:
She didn’t remember even having an old Zippy in there, but I did, and here it is:
There seems to be more than a superficial resemblance between the two. I can totally relate to this sort of thing. There are days when I feel like I’m recycling old blog posts, so why not recyle old artwork, especially because the trenchant yet meaningless political comment is entirely original.
The musical genius of the Beach Boys.
God Only Knows:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jMKeB8qc4[/youtube]
Surfin’ USA
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yMR53VcUSk&feature=related[/youtube]
And here’s someone’s homemade video, a short snippet with Brian and Bruce Springsteen:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dlmQwN64c[/youtube]
We Grotonites fondly remember Walter Kerr, who was Joe Courtney’s field co-ordinator here in our area. Walter worked out of our Groton headquarters. He was able to extract maximum effort out of the motley crew that is the Groton Democrats. We didn’t win Groton, but we narrowed Simmons previous margins enough to be able to claim a share of the glory for Joe’s win. It wouldn’t have happened without Walter.
I got an email from him today telling me that he has started a blog. It will not be a political blog, at least not completely. He will be studying in China, and the blog will be a journal of his experiences. I’m sure my readers from Groton will want to keep up with Walter, which you can do here. Put him on your RSS feeder.
I am veering back and forth between Obama and Hillary. During yesterday’s debate one of the questions from the public raised the question of dynasty. I think it’s a serious issue. We can’t allow our highest office to become a hereditary entitlement. That, along with my reluctance to see endure another 8 years of Clinton hating bile from the right had me thinking I’d go with Barack.
Then I saw this, and I’m back on the fence. I don’t mind Barack attacking Clinton, but doing so by validating a right wing talking point is dangerous stuff. It’s also frustrating that Barack insists on making a virtue out of the one feature of his health plan that would practically guarantee it would fail if enacted. This is not the first time he’s attacked an opponent by adopting a right wing frame.
What do I find in my inbox today, but a missive from Nancy DiNardo, telling me how shocked, truly shocked she is at that fact that Joe Lieberman is not a man of his word:
“I continue to be disappointed beyond words with Joe Lieberman, as are a lot of Connecticut Democrats — saddened, surprised, and truly disheartened by just how completely he has abandoned the Democratic principles that have guided him over the years and the Party whose members have supported him and helped him achieve his goals. As recently as 18 months ago, Senator Lieberman was telling us Democrats that he shares our values, and with the exemption of Iraq, that he agrees with us on the issues we care so much about — critically important issues like a woman’s right to choose, tax and economic policies, healthcare and education. Moreover, in July of 2006, Senator Lieberman even stated that he intended to work to help a Democrat get into the White House in 2008. His endorsement of Senator McCain means he either doesn! ’t care about the issues noted above, or he’s putting politics ahead of people. If you look at Senator McCain’s voting record, and campaign platform – on these, and many other issues we care about – you’ll understand why I am saying this. This is a man, Senator McCain, who proudly says he was a “foot soldier” in the Regan Revolution. Senator McCain is wrong on the issues we Democrats care so much about—and he’s wrong by a lot. I am proud to stand with my fellow Democrats and announce that we as a Party will grow stronger and do everything in our power to make sure a Democrat is elected in November, “ said Nancy DiNardo, Chairwoman, CT. Democratic Party.
Gosh Nancy, there are a lot of us who aren’t at all surprised by what Joe did. We were the ones who didn’t attend his party in Washington the day he was sworn in after the 2006 election. You remember that election. It was the one where you and “a lot of Connecticut Democrats” quietly subverted the Democratic candidate to help Joe. Had you bothered to ask us we could have told you he would stick the knife in when he got the chance. In fact, we were saying it at the time.
Every once in a rare while, the government does something cool:
NASA will send the Beatles song “Across the Universe” across the universe on Monday, the agency said. At precisely 7 p.m., E.S.T. the song will be beamed by the agency’s Deep Space Network of antennas at the North Star, Polaris, which is 431 light years away. The transmission is to mark the 40th anniversary of the recording of the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of both NASA and its first satellite, Explorer I, and the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network, which carries out communications between NASA and its far-flung fleet of spacecraft. In a message to the space agency, Paul McCartney, one of the two remaining Beatles, said, “Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.”
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Via Americablog, this is something of which everyone should be aware:
A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country’s rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after “liberation” and under the democratic rule of the West’s ally Hamid Karzai.
The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.
If you’re going to run an Empire the least you can do is do it right. Who allowed these people to set up religious courts with the power to impose death sentences?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
We turned our TV on for the first time in months to watch Clinton and Obama debate in California. For my own part, it made me feel great about the party, because I got the impression that each of them is ready to take it to the Republicans and either of them would make a fine president.
Just one little thing. Clinton is still exposed on Iraq, and it’s really a shame she just can’t admit she blew it when she voted for war. At one point she channeled Condi when she said: “No one could have fully appreciated how obsessed this President was” about starting a war in Iraq.
Well, I guess I’m no one. I guess thousands of people who took the time to educate themselves on the issue were nobodies, and I guess all of us who realized that we were watching the world’s biggest con job were nobodies. Add to that the millions who knew that there was zero chance that there would be no war after that vote, despite the pro forma claim that war was a last resort. I give Clinton too much credit for intelligence to believe that she really believed she was giving Bush the tools to negotiate. She knew she was voting for war.
In all other respects, I thought she did a great job as did Obama. Each one of them appear to have found a way to properly package realistic thinking. I thought Obama was better responding to Wolf Blitzer’s outrage at the prospect that his taxes would be raised. Hillary was a bit too wonkish on that, though they both made the same basic point: Wolfie, you’ve had 8 years of a tax cut you didn’t deserve; you can’t complain if we put you back where you belong. It was truly refreshing to see two politicians not run for cover when a questioner accused them of “raising” taxes.
Interesting too that the crowd erupted at the prospect of the two of them on the same ticket. That would be something.
