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June 27, 2009
Man on wheels.
My Pops is back on the bike, now in Boulder. He's ready to do the work.
June 26, 2009
The only thing you really need today.
June 25, 2009
Can y'all forgive him?
Gail Collins, on Mark Sanford:
On behalf of the people of Illinois and New York, I’d like to thank South Carolina for giving us Mark (“I’ve been unfaithful to my wife”) Sanford. Finally, a governor who’s weirder than Rod Blagojevich and less responsible than Eliot Spitzer...Until Wednesday’s unpleasantness, Sanford was chairman of the Republican Governors Association, otherwise known as the Association of Possible Presidential Contenders Plus Arnold. Over the past few years, he has tried to woo the party’s base with antics like bringing two piglets into the Capitol to protest political pork and refusing to accept $700 million in federal stimulus money aimed at preventing massive layoffs of public school teachers.
For a state with an unemployment rate above 12 percent, that ranks 39th in public school performance, that last caper might not seem all that entertaining. But it did draw the attention and affection of right-wing commentators, who nudged Sanford right up the potential-contender ladder.
However, all that is in the past. Although his wife issued a statement holding out the possibility of reconciliation, the press conference made it clear that sexual indiscretion is less the big problem here than the fact that Mark Sanford is a complete loony. “I won’t begin in any particular spot,” he said, rambling on about his “love for the Appalachian Trail” (where he didn’t go) and his fondness for “adventure trips” (clearly a personal specialty).
Then Sanford apologized to his wife, his sons, his friends, his staff, his in-laws, “anybody who lives in South Carolina” and people of faith “across the nation.” At this point, I had the terrible feeling that I was the only person in the entire country to whom Sanford was not conveying his personal regrets...
...before this search for a presidential nominee goes any further, I’m thinking it’s time for the Republicans to apologize for putting us through the Clinton impeachment. We seem to have pretty well established that sexual stone-throwing is a dangerous sport.
"The Love Party" (Gail Collins, NY Times)
A taste of the nuttiness:
June 22, 2009
Sometimes it's just too easy.
On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives as a prime way of attracting “working class white Democrats.” The discussion ridiculed Judge Sotomayor for the fact that she studied children’s classics to improve her grammar while attending college. The panelists also suggested that, without English as the official language, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish.One salient feature of the event was the banner hanging over the English-only advocates.
Earlier grammatical/punctuation miscues on the right:
Guns, god, and grammatical errors
Yes, this is America. So learn your fucking "punctuation."
June 21, 2009
It's the smoke, it's the smoke.
I can't abide Auto-Tune in music (R. Troutman's talkbox did it better), but I'm solidly in favor of Auto-Tune the News.
June 20, 2009
Stop clicking and start making.
Merlin Mann on telling your inner editor to shut the fuck up so that you can get some creative work done:
Via Boing Boing.
June 16, 2009
Poser.
This is Walter feeling sexy in his summer haircut, in case you didn't know.
He's only pretending to be unaware of the camera.
June 15, 2009
Meet your vermin.
What's the only problem with adopting a composting lifestyle?
The appeal of the compost bin's contents to the local wildlife, that's what.
If I were Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men, I'd probably shoot them. But since I'm Peter Weller in Naked Lunch (without the William Tell routine), I'll just stare at them in numb horror and hope that Mr./Ms. Owl takes care of them eventually.
These pests are known for their destructive powers, and I can only hope they don't have a taste for the peppers and tomatoes in a certain nearby vegetable bed.
Bastards.
June 12, 2009
Points for honesty.
You have to give credit when a Fox News personality acknowledges on-air that plenty of their viewers are bat-shit crazy:
June 4, 2009
LOLturd.
Angelo R. Mozilo, the self-made man from the Bronx who built Countrywide Financial into the nation’s largest mortgage lender before the credit squeeze hit, has been charged with securities fraud and insider trading in a civil suit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.Citing e-mail messages in which Mr. Mozilo referred to Countrywide loan products as “toxic” and “poison,” S.E.C. officials said that he had misled investors about growing risks in the company’s lending practices from 2005 through 2007. During this time he also generated $140 million in profits by selling stock in the company, the S.E.C. said.
“This is the tale of two companies,” said Robert Khuzami, enforcement director at the S.E.C. “Countrywide portrayed itself as underwriting mainly prime-quality mortgages, using high underwriting standards. But concealed from shareholders was the true Countrywide, an increasingly reckless lender assuming greater and greater risk.”
S.E.C. Accuses Countrywide’s Former Chief of Fraud (NY Times)
June 3, 2009
How to put (fat) asses in the seats.
BK Homman and I caught the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game on Monday night. L.A. tried to make it interesting in the bottom of the ninth, but still managed to lose to one of the weaker teams in baseball.
The game wasn't action-packed, but our seats were very good and that made it well worthwhile. The Dodgers claimed an attendance of 32,304, which as you can see from the photo above proves that their front office is full of lying liars.
Little did I know that L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez was at the game as well, in much worse seats but with a better story. He was hanging out in the right-field bleachers, where the Dodgers offer an all-you-can-eat ticket for $25.
Lopez reports from the scene of the crime:
Daniel Tzec, a Pomona housekeeper, had eaten six hot dogs and one order of nachos by the second inning. He also had quaffed three beers, which cost extra, unlike sodas or water. Tzec looked like he was running out of gas, but he insisted otherwise."It's just a little rest," he said, and he may not have been kidding. Four more dogs, on very short leashes, were cradled next to him on a cardboard tray.
As I talked to Tzec, I began questioning my support for universal healthcare. Do I really want to take on the burden of medical care for someone who's inclined to eat six hot dogs in two innings? According to the Farmer John website, a Dodger Dog has 240 calories, 200 of them from fat, as well as more sodium than the Salton Sea. Do you get a souvenir defibrillator with your 10th dog?
...[Paul] Galle, a schoolteacher from Chino Hills, explained that he gets the maximum allowable four hot dogs on each trip to the concession stand, then throws away two of the buns and stuffs the extra dogs into the remaining buns. With less bread, he's able to eat more meat.
Galle has it down to a science at the condiment station, where he nimbly makes the dog transfer, tosses spare buns, and loads up with ketchup, mustard and relish.
"That's unfortunate," he said as one bun split under the weight of two dogs, and he substituted with a backup bun.
In Dodger Stadium, a bleacher of girthly delights (Steve Lopez, LA Times)
