The Alphabet Meme

I've been tagged! Fellow BARBARian Tom at If I Ran the Zoo tagged me with this meme. Like to hear it, here it go:

Accent: Bay Area California (whatever that sounds like).

Booze: I'm currently obsessed with the Sidecar (preferably made with Meyer lemons).

Chore I Hate: Cleaning the bathroom, specifically, the toilet. I totally gag.

Dog or Cat: I am a total dog lover. Some cats, like Sumo, are cool. Except they make me sneeze.

Essential Electronics: iPod (when it works).

Favorite Cologne: I don't wear cologne, I wear perfume. And I'm not telling you.

Gold or Silver: Gold.

Hometown: I was born in San Francisco, CA.

Insomnia: Occasionally.

Job Title: In flux, actually.

Kids: None. Unless you count my inner child, with whom I am often in touch.

Living Arrangements: Apartment.

Most Admirable Traits: I've been told that I make people feel comfortable when they're around me, I have a kick-ass sense of humor, and I'm a great listener.

Number of Sexual Partners: You mean right now? Or of all time?

Overnight Hospital Stays: I think I did once at 5, when I had to have a blood transfusion (courtesy of Dad), because my nose was bleeding way too much.

Phobias: Rats, hair in my food, beets.

Quote: “Character is what you do when you think no one is looking.” (Thanks, Virge!)

Religion: Catholic. Don't judge me!

Siblings: Only child. Don't judge me!

Time I Wake Up: Weekdays: 7:30 a.m. Weekends: 9-10 a.m., or earlier, if my cousin calls me.

Unusual Talent or Skill: I have this bizarre intuition that compels me to look at someone right as they're about to hock a loogie. That, and my gag reflex is entirely absent. Just kidding.

Vegetable I Love: Artichokes.

Worst Habit: Cigarettes.

X-Rays: I've had a few, especially during high school. (Tennis team.)

Yummy Foods I Make: I make a damn fine cheesecake. And fruit crumble. Basically, I kick ass with desserts.

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn, Year of the Rat.

I guess this means I have to tag people, so I choose:

• Virge at so far...
• Erica at Soft Pretzel Love
• Frida at Frida's Poopin' Spot

Colorado Snitches

Those in the know are aware of what the date 4-20 signifies. So do the students at Colorado University - Boulder, who every year take over Farrand Field and spark it up in celebration.

Well, now the CU Boulder police have come up with a way to bring these people to "justice": By posting their pictures up on the Internet and offering anyone $50 for each person they are able to identify. Like, for example, this guy:



Obviously a hardcore drug addict out to ruin the future of our nation.

Of all the utterly ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. What is up with college students being vilified and attacked for protesting these days? Isn’t that what you’re SUPPOSED to be doing when you’re in college? First UCSC and the whole Michelle Malkin debacle, and now this at CU. Ridiculous. I hope it only serves to fan the fire of our nation’s university students, rather than creating a cadre of young intellectuals who are too afraid to speak up for what they believe in. We can only hope.

What’s sad too is that there are quite a few folks on that page who have already been stamped with “identified.” I mean, who are the people who sold their friends out for a measly $50?

(Props to Steve O's post at Bring it On! for the heads up.)

Mug Shots

By now you've read yourself silly, finding out all there is to know about Rush Limbaugh's arrest and resulting settlement. Here's his mug shot:



Which reminded me of this mug shot:


Why are both of these mofos smiling? Both of these mug shots, replete with an aura of smugness, belie the arrogance and "you can't touch me, I have friends in high places" attitude that lies within. Totally disgusting.

It kind of cracks me up too, because these guys think they're being so cool, but seriously, they're dumbasses, because yoo-hoo, YOU HAVE A MUG SHOT.

Although, I do have to say, I kinda dig this particular mug shot. I almost put it on a t-shirt, until I saw that someone already beat me to it.


Now, that's what I call a fucking proper mug shot. I loves me some Hugh Grant.



(Photo credit: Limbaugh - AP Photo/Palm Beach Sheriff's Office; DeLay - The Smoking Gun; Grant - mugshots.org)

Bush Hearts Dubai

Bush seriously loves him some Dubai:

President Bush is expected on Friday to announce his approval of a deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal, the NEW YORK TIMES will report Friday.
[...]
In this case, the plants in question are owned by Doncasters Group Ltd., a British company that is being purchased for $1.2 billion from the Royal Bank of Scotland Group by Dubai International Capital, which is owned by the United Arab Emirate government.

I couldn't find the NYT link, but I did find this link via Reuters.

Why is he so intent on providing these Dubai companies with lucrative business deals? And we're not talking widgets here, but businesses that have direct implications for our nation's security? WTF? I mean, it's not like I don't know the answer to that question, but you would think that the kerfluffle that came out of the failed Dubai ports deal would be enough for him to, you know, think twice about going through with the deal.

Dude seriously needs to be weaned away from the UAE teat.

(Thanks to Blogenfreude for the heads up.)

The globe is warming

Here's a clip that's making the rounds on the internets of SNL's Will Ferrell doing a dead-on impression of Bush doing a special announcement on global warming.

Doughboy's day in court

As reported everywhere, Doughboy's going to testify --- for the fifth, and unprecedented time ---in front of a federal grand jury today about his involvement in the Plame leak. The Carpetbagger Report postulates that an indictment may follow, and his recent demotion hints that this might be the outcome.

I certainly hope so, because I wanna see this weasel sweat.

More buzz for your buck

Do you really need a $500 vibrator?

UPDATE 4/26: As someone who once spent $250 on a pair of shoes, all I'm saying is that while I'm not averse to the higher end of the product spectrum, there's just got to be a little something "extra" to said vibrator that adds value. Like, if I'm going to pay $500 for this sucker, there's got to be some types of gadgetry or a little somethin' somethin' going on. Like a GPS system. Or a compass. Or a hidden storage compartment. Just something, you know what I'm saying?

It makes the one that I want - a mere $40 one - seem like an utter bargain.

Ahem. Anyway. Carry on.

Oh please.

The soaring gas prices we're experiencing lately are possibly 33% of my decision to bike to work each morning. So you can understand why I feel a bit apprehensive doing a road trip with the family to Yosemite.

But I really shouldn't be worried, because The Decider is right on it:

Bush was working on the speech aboard Air Force One as he flew home Monday evening from a four-day trip to California that ended with a swing through Las Vegas. McClellan outlined part of the speech to reporters traveling on the plane.

McClellan said Bush also will announce that his attorney general and Federal Trade Commission will send a letter to all 50 state attorneys general, who have primary authority over price gouging, to remind them to stay on top of the issue and offer federal help to do so. And he will call on energy companies to reinvest their profits into expanding refining capacity, developing new technologies and researching alternative energy sources.

"I think you'll hear the president say very clearly that he will not tolerate price gouging," McClellan said.

Bush has consistently said that gas prices are high because global demand is rising faster than global supply and that the problem cannot be solved overnight. McClellan said Bush will talk about how experts predict that the price is expected to increase this summer and how the switch to a summer fuel mix is contributing to the problem.

Bush's actions are part of a four-part plan to address gas prices in the short- and long-term, McClellan said. The steps McClellan outlined are:

1. making sure consumers and taxpayers are treated fairly;

2. promoting greater fuel efficiency;

3. boosting gasoline supply at home;

4. aggressive long-term investment in alternative fuels.

Right. I'm sure an investigation into the very industry that made your family filthy rich over the years is going to be anything but hard hitting and objective.

And what's pissing me off right now is that Americans only start to get riled up when gas prices go up. But I guess I should look at the bright side - maybe this'll be the catalyst we need to wake people the fuck up.

UPDATE 4/25: See what I mean?

Snowed in

KRON just reported that Tony Snow accepted the position as White House spokesperson, following the resignation of Scott "I hate my job" McClellan.

Now Fox News will now quite literally BE the mouthpiece of the Bush Administration.

UPDATE 4/25: Reuters link added.

Big Pharma and the AIDS Epidemic

Big Pharma sucks. From Reuters:

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Researchers are closing in on a breakthrough microbicide gel to help prevent HIV infection in women, scientists said on Monday, but a lack of funding by major pharmaceutical companies is hampering research.

I know Big Pharma is concerned with generating profits, and that the HIV drug industry translates into big bucks for them. But if researchers are on the verge of coming up with an effective pre-emptive barrier to the infection, how can this be a bad thing? There’s certainly money to be made there, right? And in the Bush era favoring pre-emptive anything, I mean ... c’mon.

How can these people go to bed at night, knowing that they are willingly putting a damper on progress in fighting this epidemic? And if this is a step toward slowing down the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa – not to mention the worldwide implications – why not just do it? I’d think being hailed as a hero – rather than the evil, greedy villain – would be favorable.

I mean, if we were to think like a big corporation here, why wouldn't they want to capitalize on the awesome PR opportunities?

Hike Recap: Fall Creek Unit

Today’s hike was a hike of firsts: This was my first 8-mile hike. This was also the first hike I’d done in which everyone was a much more experienced hiker than I. What’s more, I fell into the creek and got my boots and socks soaking wet.

But most importantly, this hike was the first time Am was able to pee outside. Okay, me too. I’ve dubbed ourselves the “Urethra Franklins.” (Sorry, no pictures.)

I’ll give you a moment to process all of the feelings of awe you must be feeling right now at the cleverness of that statement.

So the hike.

I loves me some redwoods!

Santa Cruz (okay, Felton) has got to be the most beautiful place I’ve hiked this year. While this hike was longer than the notorious Mt. Tam hike, Fall Creek Unit didn’t FEEL like a death march, although there were some very steep sections of Lost Empire trail that I cursed every so often.

Climb, climb, climb!

As we climbed, we noticed that the ground was seemingly covered in forget-me-nots, which provided a nice splash of color as we meandered up and down the forest trails. Jane Huber of Bay Area Hiker describes Fall Creek Unit as “rugged territory, and it is somehow appropriate that the trails correspond.”

I couldn’t help but think how right she was. On Fall Creek Trail, large redwood trees lay across the trails, forcing us to either climb over or duck under them; crossing sections of the creek required us to climb over makeshift bridges created out of fallen logs – some stable, some not. It was during the second creek crossing in which I pretty much fell into the water. It was a good thing that we only had about 1.5 miles left to go, because had that happened in the beginning of the hike, I would have turned around, threw on my flip-flops, and vowed never to partake in 8+ mile hikes ever again.

Beautiful chaos

But.

I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I was able to finish this hike. I even ran a few (very short) sections of Fall Creek trail. I know. I don’t know what got into me either. There’s something very uplifting about tackling some very steep and tough terrain – and successfully making it through. I feel almost like David, conquering Goliath. I didn’t have to dig down deep to find inspiration, for it was all around me – the rushing creek; the soft, padded earth beneath my feet; the curious rock formations with ferns growing all over them; the large patches of forget-me-nots; this natural beauty was so intense that it provided me with the fuel to trek on.

We’re very lucky to live where we do, where glorious hikes like this are possible within a 1-2 hour drive at the most. And I intend to take advantage of this until I’ve conquered them all.

(Cross-posted on Let's Go Hiking!)

UPDATE: Photos added 4/25.

Dear Mr. President

He sure has come a long way from whiskey and cocaine, hasn't he?

Check out Pink's performance of her song, "Dear Mr. President."



This song makes me like Pink again.

(Thanks to AMERICAblog for the heads up.)

Off the wall

To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to the immigration protests going on lately, because this issue is pretty personal to me - I'm the child of immigrants, so I can't help but take this anti-immigration sentiment personally. Nor can I help thinking there is an element of racism embedded in it. I guess I should have been paying attention - you know, to be a responsible citizen and all of that - but because of my personal feelings about the topic, I find it hard to be impartial, let alone listening to both sides of the argument. But this story just pissed me off.

Apparently those Minutemen who are guarding the border are posing an ultimatum to Bush: Build a wall, or we will.

"We're going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise," [Minuteman Border Leader Chris] Simcox said.

Congress has been debating immigration reform for several months. One bill, approved by the U.S. House in December, calls for nearly 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. The fence proposal has angered Mexicans, with President Vicente Fox calling it "shameful."

It's amazing that these Minutemen think that the answer to America's immigration problem is to build a wall along the border. Not only is it a simplistic, band-aid solution, but it only highlights how they're blinded by their xenophobia.

And who do they think is going to build this wall anyway? You know they're going to drive up to the corner and pick up a truck full of journaleros. Don't EVEN.

Give 'em hell, Ned

As I'm sure you all know, Ned Lamont plans to challenge Joe Lieberman’s seat in the upcoming election. And he was at Oakland’s Uptown Bar last night to raise money and reach out to people at the grassroots level.

I asked him what would be the first thing he’d do once he’s elected, and he told me that he’d advocate strongly to get our troops out of Iraq right away. Left-wing bloggers have long excoriated Lieberman for his increasingly right-leaning positions, particularly on the war in Iraq, and it’s Lamont's hopes that, by reaching out to folks outside of Connecticut, he can help change the discourse away from “Joe sucks” to “Hey, check out Ned Lamont, he looks like he can do a better job.” He also said that he would actively challenge the Bush Administration, aligning himself with Harry Reid. Good job, you're telling me everything I want to hear, I thought to myself.

So who is Ned Lamont? According to this Feb. 19 article in the New York Times, Ned Lamont is:

A mince-no-words, unreconstructed left-of-center liberal who said he strongly believed that Senator Lieberman had drifted far to the right and had become too cozy with the White House, and that when it comes to the people who put the senator in office, fallen way out of touch.

I got a fairly good impression of Lamont after meeting him, and was impressed by the fact that he’s not a politician – he’s a businessman who happened to get just pissed off enough after reading Lieberman’s November WSJ op-ed in which Lieberman supported Bush’s “stay the course” strategy that he decided to enter the Senate race.

That’s not to say that Lamont has an easy road ahead – he’s facing a three-time incumbent and still needs to make it past the primary in August. And I don’t really know how the people of Connecticut think, but I’m hoping that this war, our bumbling president, and his crew of hacks are enough reason to get people to really examine the candidates and where they stand. Because that’s going to be the key to getting this country back on track again.

So here I am, trying to do my part to help spread the word.

(Photo credit: www.nedlamont.com.)

Art Imitating Life

Didn't I just watch this on "House" last night?

I must be ovulating ...

... or really hungry, because this is sounding pretty good right now. I don’t even care if it can’t make chocolate:

On the machine's front is a computer screen running on a Linux operating system. It displays menus of possible flavors and allows the user to create any combination, such as low-fat coffee ice cream with Oreo cookies. If the machine runs out of a flavor, it stops putting it on the menu and sends a message to MooBella asking for a refill.

So far, so good, until:

[MooBella President Bruce] Ginsberg raises the idea that Starbucks could fit a MooBella machine in most of its shops. “We could make Starbucks the largest ice cream chain overnight,” he says.

How's it taste? USA TODAY's Edward Baig wrote: “My sample scoop of low-carb vanilla with cookies 'n' cream was tasty.” Fortune's Peter Lewis wrote: “The machine delivers a freshly made scoop that, based on my exhaustive testing, tastes delicious despite a slight gumminess.”

But then again ... ice cream via vending machine at an SBUX seems somewhat fitting.

Ciao, Scotty

From the AP:

"I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity," the president said. "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

My reaction? Meh. Although it was fun to call him "Scott 'I hate my job' McClellan," I really won't be happy until Bush and Cheney are outta here.

Also, Doughboy is giving up his oversight of policy coordination in order to "focus more on politics with the approach of the midterm elections."

Yawn. See what I mean? More of the same.

Me and my brilliant ideas

As part of my efforts to get in better shape, I rode my bike to work today. It's about two miles each way, which isn't so bad, except why the HELL did I have to pick an apartment at the top of a hill?

Let's just say that I'm not good at negotiating the inclines as of yet. And don't even tell me to stand up on the bike. See that sweaty girl panting heavily and walking her bike up the hill? That's me, looking silly as all hell.

And seriously, these bike helmets? Not cute.

Thankfully, the area in which I live is bike friendly, although one driver did honk his/her horn at me on the way home today. Maybe he/she was mocking me and my badonkadonk; maybe he/she was signaling to me that he/she was there; or maybe he/she was flirting with me (this is Oakland, after all). All I have to say was that I was too tired to muster a reaction, which I guess is a good thing.

Thank Jah, I managed to get home safely, and now my right arm is twitching (wtf?). The experience was both frightening and exhilarating - kind of like how I felt the first (and only) time I went skiing. I've put off riding my bike to work before because a) my old neighborhood was also situated on a hill, b) I wasn't motivated, and c) I'm deathly afraid of riding my bike in the street.

But for some reason, today I was just UNafraid enough to give it a shot. We'll see how I feel the same way tomorrow morning, but I have to admit, I'm feeling quite accomplished today. Yay me.

The Starbucks Effect?

If it’s not love, then it’s Starbucks that will bring us together (sorry, Morrissey). At least that’s what Bryant Simon and Jonathan Morris, British historians, seems to think.

According to Morris, coffee culture unites us while enabling us to continue to self-isolate:

Starbucks and other coffee houses, he believes, fill "some kind of deep desire for connection with other people."

But unlike the coffee houses of 18th century London or the bohemian java dens of 1950s New York, "Starbucks makes sure you can be alone when you're out if you really need to be," he said. "You get the feeling you're out in public, but you don't need to talk to anyone."

Simon’s conducting a study of the globalization of 21st-century coffee culture, and has visited more than 300 SBUX locations throughout the world. Through his observations, he believes that SBUX provides a glimpse into “what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization.”

Can it be that the popularity of SBUX transcends the quality of the coffee that they sell?

Simon believes Starbucks succeeds by "selling comfort" in an anonymous, often dislocating world. He says he has lost track of the number of times people have told him that when they traveled to a strange country, "the first thing I did when I got off the plane was go to Starbucks."

"There's a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability," he said.

And with predictability comes more marketability, and with more marketability comes the inevitable entry into pop culture.

Starbucks's chairman, Howard Schultz, told shareholders at their annual meeting Feb. 8 that the company is focusing on "the Starbucks effect" — that is, putting a bigger emphasis on music sales, movie marketing and other non-coffee products.

From a corporate perspective, does the “academia effect” mean that you’ve “arrived” as a company?

In terms of their study, I think it’d be better if these historians looked at café culture as a whole, rather than focus on one brand. But then again, I can see that they probably want to limit to one brand, precisely because it is so pervasive.

And what does this say about our society as a whole if one of the places by which we derive a sense of community from is a huge coffee chain? And what does it say about our society that this one brand has become so inextricably a part of our lives? (Well, for some of us, anyway.) This brand is even the subject of an upcoming movie starring Tom Hanks, for Jah's sake.

It’s certainly easier to focus on SBUX because they’re everywhere – but how about focusing on selling a quality product rather than getting a larger share of my wallet?

Sunday Evening Walrus Work Out Blogging

No, seriously. This walrus will get a six-pack before I do.

Pants on Fire

So you see, there were these two trailers in Baghdad in 2003 that Bush said was proof that they found the WMDs, right?

According to the Washington Post, it turns out that a fact-finding mission determined that these trailers weren't the biological warfare labs Bush had thought they were. Oops.

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.

The three-page field report and a 122-page final report three weeks later were stamped "secret" and shelved. Meanwhile, for nearly a year, administration and intelligence officials continued to publicly assert that the trailers were weapons factories.

This hadn't been reported until now - almost a full three years later, and well, Scotty "I hate my job" McClellan was forced, yet again, to shovel more bullshit for the Bush administration today:

Q: So, insofar as in May there was a 122-page report filed by DIA that said that these trailers were not bio-weapons, but it was -- or bio-weapons labs, and then we heard from the Vice President and Colin Powell after that period suggesting that they still were -- that information hadn't --

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, intelligence is -- when an assessment is made, it looks at a lot of different intelligence and it takes time to vet that intelligence, go through it, debate it, discuss it with the intelligence community, look at all the different intelligence coming in, whether it's human intelligence or signals intelligence or open-source intelligence. And they pull that all together and the intelligence community makes the assessment. The White House is not the intelligence-gathering agency. And the assessment that the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is the arm of the Pentagon, made initially was that those -- in this report that was released on May 28, 2003, was that the labs that were found were for producing biological weapons. And that assessment remained in place for quite some time, as you just pointed out.

Now, I will point out that the reporting I saw this morning was simply reckless and it was irresponsible. The lead in The Washington Post left the impression for the reader that the President was saying something he knew at the time not to be true. That is absolutely false and it is irresponsible, and I don't know how The Washington Post can defend something so irresponsible.

Bush made an announcement two days after this report came out saying the contrary. There were no WMDs in those trailers, and yet the administration sat on this information - stamped it "secret" and shelved it away for THREE YEARS, while continuing to feed the post-9/11 hordes of fear-addled Americans this lie that Saddam faced an imminent threat to the US.

Another example of manipulating intelligence? Oh no. It's just the media being shit disturbers again.

Earth to the Bush Administration: That's what they're supposed to be doing.

(Thanks to BYO for the heads up.)

Are you down with the Brown?

You have GOT to be kidding me.

More on Nuking Iran

Check out Meteor Blades' post on The Next Hurrah about the implications involved if the U.S. were to use nuclear power to bomb Iran. And even if the post title is "BBC Calls Nuking of Iran 'Improbable'," I'm still not convinced it won't happen.

It's like I'm in 5th grade again, freaking out over "The Day After." Only this time - as proven by Bush's stubbornness in going to war with Iraq - the threat seems all too real. And my feelings of fear and uncertainty stem from the fact that Bush feels like this is his calling, to invoke regime change after regime change, all in the name of spreading Democracy around the world.

And even though the BBC lays out logical bullet points explaining why this notion is improbable, once Bush believes that his decision is the right decision, he won't waver - as we all know, he views this stubbornness as an honorable personality trait.

I just cannot understand how Bush can reconcile his intentions with the undoubted effects of nuclear weapons on human lives, the environment, the planet itself - all in the name of unbridled nationalism, and, as James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly says, "the triumph of hope, wishful thinking, and self-delusion over realism and practicality."

And how can some people, namely, Bush's partisan disciples - as human beings - support this?

BlaKsploitation

For those of you who aren't in the know, Coke came out with a new "carbonated fusion beverage," called Coca Cola BlaK.

I have a bottle of it sitting on my desk, and I'm afraid to taste it. How can this taste good?

Think Coke plus coffee flavor, that froths when you pour it. I'm sure it does NOT equal "crazy delicious."

The website cracks me up with its two music tracks: One jazzed-out smooth, and one pseudo drum-n-bass.

The better to inspire your mind and refresh your mood, yo.

New meme

Courtesy of the Carpetbagger Report:

Cheney needs to hold a press conference.

Pass it on.

It's a boy

Mortimer is dead.

Long live Moses.


(Thanks to Atrios for the heads up.)

Leaker In Chief

From Reuters:

Bush said he declassified parts of the document to answer questions raised about why the United States invaded Iraq.

"I wanted people to see what some of those statements were based on. I wanted people to see the truth. I thought it made sense for people to see the truth. That's why I declassified the document," he said.

I'm with Avedon Carol on this one. Why not just issue a press release? Or hold a press conference? For an administration as PR-savvy as this one (think Doughboy and his "architecture"), why the clandestine behavior?

Nice attempt at spin, guys.

And don't even get me started on Iran. Words fail me at the moment.

Inside the Blogger's Studio

Or, alternatively, "Friday Afternoon James Lipton Blogging":

1. What is your favorite word? - "Mediocre." (It's just the perfect word for what it's describing.)
2. 
   What is your least favorite word? - "Inspired." (Long story.)
3. 
   What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? - Passion.
4. 
   What turns you off? - Ignorance.
5. 
   What is your favorite curse word? - Fuck!
6. 
   What sound or noise do you love? - Being told I'm beautiful, softly whispered in my ear.
7. 
   What sound or noise do you hate? - Sorostitute-speak.
8. 
   What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? - Reggae DJ.
9. 
   What profession would you not like to do? - Dairy farmer.
10. 
    If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? - "You were right all along - that WASN'T what I meant!"

(Inspiration shamelessly lifted from Kvatch.)

The blog o' love

I must be one sappy mofo, because this tickled me:

Nim proposed to Jen on Eschaton today, and she said yes. But not until after she finished her online Scrabble game.

No word yet on whether there will be live podcasting of the bachlor/ette parties.

What-eva, I’ll do what I want!

True to form, Bush is trying to change the rules in the middle of the game, now saying that the Plame leak wasn’t a “leak,” per se:

The White House refused to comment directly on the court filing, except to point out that Bush's very decision to disclose classified information means he declassified it -- an assessment shared by independent legal experts.

A senior administration official, speaking on background because White House policy prohibits comment on an active investigation, said Bush sees a distinction between leaks and what he is alleged to have done. The official said Bush authorized the release of the classified information to assure the public of his rationale for war as it was coming under increasing scrutiny.

In other words, “It wasn’t a leak, because I declassified the information before I leaked it.” Sounds like an indirect admission that he authorized the leak to me. Changing the classification of a document before disclosing it was a purely tactical move which, according to Nancy Pelosi, was a highly egregious error – not only for Valerie Plame – but for the entire country:

“I served for 13 years on the House intelligence committee, and I know intelligence must never be classified or declassified for political purposes,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “One of the constants in the Bush administration's miserable record on Iraq has been the manipulation of intelligence precisely for political purposes. That has caused our intelligence—which used to be accepted without question around the world—to be viewed with skepticism by the international community.”

Is the beating of the Impeachment Drum getting louder yet? I hear it off in the distance, but I'm hoping the sound will be deafening. And soon.

(Thanks to TPM for the heads up. Cross-posted at Bring It On!)

Merideth Viera: You go, girl

So I watch NBC's Today show while getting ready for work and quickly consuming my [insert toasted bread product here] slathered with butter/glass of water/multivitamin/Claritin every morning. A part of me is somewhat sad to see Katie Couric go - I guess I got a little attached to the Couric/Lauer duo. Don't judge me. I still can't stand Al Roker. And I had a slight girly crush on Ann Curry until she got that stupid bob haircut.

But I digress.

So Merideth Viera from "The View," aka "That Coffee Klatch I Can't Stand to Watch" is going to take her place.

Me: "Whatevs." (Scandal fatigue and writer's block aside, mind you.)

Until I saw this Viera quote from Will Bunch's Attytood:

Check out her handling of Ann Coulter on "The View" in 2003:

Viera: "In your last book you said liberals have been wrong about everything in last half century. You ticked us off over that one, alright. And now in this new book you say that liberals hate freedom...I want to talk about your politics because in Treason you say, yes, that liberals hate America."

Ann Coulter: "Right."

Vieira: "Well, it's stupid. What do you mean liberals hate America?"

Proper.




Let's hope she doesn't check her balls at the door of NBC, eh?

Bring on the swift, sweet justice. STAT.

In light of Scooter's revelation that he got explicit approval to talk to the press revealing Valerie Plame's identity, the time for increased pressure on Bush and Cheney to 'fess up is NOW.

Fitzgerald quoted Libby as saying he was authorized to tell New York Times reporter Judith Miller that Iraq was "vigorously trying to procure" uranium. Fitzgerald said Libby told him it "was the only time he recalled in his government experience when he disclosed a document to a reporter that was effectively declassified by virtue of the president's authorization that it be disclosed."

The process was so secretive that other Cabinet-level officials did not know about it, according to the court papers, which point to Bush and Cheney as setting in motion a leak campaign to the press that ended in Plame's blown cover.

We've been lied to. People are dying for a lie. What else needs to happen for these two crooks to get impeached? Or censured ... at the very least? C'mon now. Let's keep it real.

Waiting to Exhale

I have scandal fatigue.

And writer's block.

Bear with me.

In the meantime, did you know that this year they're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jarlsberg cheese?

I didn't either.

Boort's Non-Apology

So that right-wing talk radio show host that I've never heard of "apologized" for calling McKinney a "ghetto slut." Although, it only sounds like 25% apology and 75% snark to me:

Actually, I should be horsewhipped for saying something stupid that allowed, to some extent, the attention to shift from the wrongdoing of Cynthia McKinney to my ill-chosen words. The issue here is not how one would define Cynthia McKinney's hairstyle. The issue is whether or not Cynthia McKinney assaulted a law enforcement officer who was merely trying to do his sworn duty. Contrast, if you would, my apology with that of Cynthia McKinney. McKinney has only said that she "regrets" that the incident happened. That is not an apology. So far as I've heard there has not been one "I'm sorry." Instead, McKinney stages a news conference Friday afternoon featuring two of premiere Hollywood leftist jackasses, Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte, two men fresh from their recent appearance giving aid and comfort to America-hater Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. So, there is Cynthia McKinney, standing there with two men who have said some mighty foul things about our country and our president, accusing a police officer of being a racist because he didn't recognize her when she circumvented a screening station. That man spends his days protecting McKinney and her colleagues; and she thanks him by calling him a racist for merely doing his job. Let's see if Cynthia can eventually stand up and apologize for being a fool. I just did. It really doesn't hurt all that much.

I'm glad he addressed the stupidity of his comments, but I am really disappointed because really, it's only a half-hearted apology. He had to bring race into it (AND call her a slut). And if he really wants McKinney to be held accountable for her actions, he should have never, ever brought up her hair. I don't care how well he knows her personally - racism is still alive and well in this country, and by his comments, he's taken us a step in the wrong direction.

(Thanks to Pam at Pandagon for the heads up.)

White House Re-Org

So CNN is reporting that Scott “I’m not constipated, this is just my face” McClellan (along with Treasury Secretary John Snow) may soon make announcements telling us that he's looking forward to spending more quality time with his family, which we all know is code for “I’m quitting/getting fired.”

While some GOPers are saying McClellan’s job is still secure (since he and Bush are apparently really tight), still others are saying that they’re not happy about the job Scotty’s done with regard to selling the war to the media:

"There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the state of communications, the daily communication from the podium, the congressional communications and strategic communications from both in and outside the White House," said one White House insider.

If you ask me, Dubya’s doing Scott a favor. No longer will Scott have to stand in front of the White House press corps, passing along the latest bunch of Bush lies and idealized rationalizations about Iraq or anything else.

Don’t be fooled: This re-org isn’t about breathing new life into this administration – that’s what they’d like you to think. Rather, it’s all about putting in the folks who can provide the best spin. There won’t be any significant changes in the way Dubya runs (and I use this term loosely) the White House – Rove and Rumsfeld’s jobs are said to be protected from the shake up – it’s just going to be repackaged.

The better to blow sunshine up our asses, my pretties.

(Cross-posted at the Bring It On! diaries.)

You forgot Poland!

Call me a narcissist, but I decided to Google my blog to see what ranking I had in the search results. Cocky bastard that I am, I typed in "You Forgot Poland" and hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Needless to say, my ego was brought back down to Earth, because what came up was not my blog, but this listing in Urban Dictionary. Apparently the phrase to which this blog owes its namesake has permeated the American lexicon (no thanks to me), as follows:

What you say to a person when you have been one-upped by said person in an argument or debate of some sort. Pretty much just lets you try to get the last word in when you have no other retort.

Person A: "Oh man! We got jumped by like twelve guys and kicked all their asses!"

Person B: "Actually there were three; Steve McPeterson, Dave Ellis, and that guy that works the Wendy's drive-thru."

Person A: "Well, you forgot Poland."

Actually, there are several meanings - this one happens to be the second one - my personal favorite. I may have to try to work this one into everyday conversation, heh heh.