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589,736
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05,August,2004
so ben, do you think you are getting more work done now that you are not bombarded with emails?
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05,August,2004
the ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court - aka 'the spy court' what the fuck? what the hell is this and shouldn't we be worried about closed courts and the justice department having the right to listen to phone conversations and read email without even having to have an investigation against that individual or group? and only the government has the right to appeal? urlLink http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/11/18/wiretap/index.html
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05,August,2004
group: from now on, if you email me, do so to my home address. they're coming down on us at work in regards to outside email usage, and i don't want to push it.
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05,August,2004
How low can a Landlord get? urlLink Landlord Wants $27K From 9/11 Victim
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05,August,2004
actually radiofreerichmond.org
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05,August,2004
ben and i have a new radio show and occasional tv show! we have yet to come up with a name for it so suggestions are welcomed. please watch us on cable channel six on december 5th 10:30-11:30 and listen to our radio show, which may be starting as early as dec 2nd! you can find us at some am station or you can tune in at www.richmondfreeradio.org woo hoo!
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05,August,2004
doesn't the soul ever get tired of trying and wish to extinguish itself? is that what people mean when they say they are 'emotionally dead'?
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05,August,2004
how long till my soul gets it right?
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The bill would allow immunity from liability for companies that make faulty antiterrorism devices or technology, and would make it difficult to sue companies that make smallpox vaccinations if the vaccines cause illness. In one last-minute addition, Representative Dick Armey, Republican of Texas, inserted a provision that was apparently intended to protect Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant, from lawsuits over thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative that some parents contend has caused autism in their children. full article from the ny times : House Approves Domestic Security Bill By DAVID FIRESTONE ASHINGTON, Nov. 13 The House hurriedly approved a revised domestic security bill tonight to reflect a new agreement with the White House on reducing worker protections, brushing aside Democratic objections that Republican leaders had added several provisions benefiting businesses and Republican interests. The bill, approved 299 to 121, would reverse an earlier measure and allow American companies that have moved offshore in order to evade taxes to contract with the Homeland Security Department. It would also extend protection against liability suits for airline screening companies and many other businesses that contract with the department, and adds a similar provision protecting the makers of smallpox vaccines. Most Democrats voted against the bill, with many raising objections to the new provisions and the altering of Civil Service rules. The House voted 215 to 203 along party lines not to create an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 attacks. Several members of both parties in the two chambers said they would try to include the commission in an intelligence spending bill that has still not been passed. But Republican House leaders said the commission needed more planning, drawing complaints from relatives of attack victims that they were trying to hide failures that might have prevented the attacks. Working to conclude the year's legislative business by week's end, the House also passed a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating through January. Many members of both parties had hoped the House would pass at least a few of the pending appropriations bills the government uses to keep operating, but House leaders said they would take up the bills once the new Congress convened next year. As expected, Republican House members elected Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, formerly the majority whip, to the new post of majority leader in the next session. Democratic House members are scheduled to conduct their leadership elections on Thursday, and are likely to choose Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, now the minority whip, as their leader. This morning, however, a new candidate for the job emerged, demonstrating the continuing disagreements among Democrats over how to respond to their losses in last week's elections. Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio said she would run for the position to draw votes from members who object to Ms. Pelosi's emphasis on fund-raising. 'We will never raise more money than the Republicans never,' said Ms. Kaptur, who is known for her opposition to free-trade measures and federal funding for abortions. 'We must elevate the non-money wing of the Democratic Party and create populist symbols to convey our message.' Ms. Kaptur joins Harold E. Ford Jr. of Tennessee in contesting the Democratic leadership election, for which Ms. Pelosi claims to already have sufficient support to win. In the Senate, Republicans chose Trent Lott of Mississippi to be the majority leader in the next term, along with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as majority whip and Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona in the third-ranking job of leading the Republican Policy Committee. Mr. Lott said after today's election that Republicans would focus on national and economic security, mentioning specifically a prescription drug program for low-income older people and making individual retirement accounts easier to use. Senate Democrats also held their leadership elections today, unanimously choosing Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota as chairman of the caucus, along with Senators Harry Reid of Nevada and Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Mr. Daschle will be minority leader in the next Senate, Mr. Reid will be minority whip. Senators also voted 58 to 36 not to block their annual pay raise, which would increase their salaries by 3.1 percent to $154,700 to $150,000 next year. Passage of an energy bill was deferred until next year because of continuing partisan disagreements over regulation and conservation. The Senate began a lengthier process of approving the domestic security bill, which is expected to pass as early as Friday. Senators showed that they remained closely divided on the bill, deciding 50 to 47 to drop the Democratic version of the bill on a closely watched test vote. The new version of the bill will have enough votes for passage, but many Democrats remain upset that President Bush won virtually his entire plan to cut back on civil service protections for workers, making it easier to fire and transfer them. Many Democrats in both chambers were furious today when they read the fine print of the new version of the bill and found that Republicans had inserted provisions that had not been discussed in the six months of debate on the antiterrorism department, or that had been cut in the Senate bill. The new language, for example, allows the administration to reorganize the department after it is created, differing from the Senate Republican version that would require congressional approval of a reorganization. It revises a provision, passed 318 to 110 in July, that prohibited contracts with offshore tax-evading companies, allowing the department to waive the ban in the name of saving American jobs. The bill would allow immunity from liability for companies that make faulty antiterrorism devices or technology, and would make it difficult to sue companies that make smallpox vaccinations if the vaccines cause illness. In one last-minute addition, Representative Dick Armey, Republican of Texas, inserted a provision that was apparently intended to protect Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant, from lawsuits over thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative that some parents contend has caused autism in their children. 'I'm really quite surprised they would put in the fine-print provisions we never saw in any other versions, that never even went through committees,' said Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee.' But Republicans, like Representative William M. Thornberry of Texas, said the additions were minor and paled next to the importance of creating a department to protect the nation's safety.
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05,August,2004
for the fatherland urlLink http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/09/politics/09COMP.html?pagewanted=print&position=top
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05,August,2004
boobies
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05,August,2004
we were all in the deep and starting to thrash. the rest held on to their buoys and i knew that mine had floated away. i enviously watched them, having their heads kept above water so easily as i struggled to swim.
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05,August,2004
About a month ago, I told you all that Paul Wellstone was the only senator to vote against the U.S.A Patriot Act. While fmr. senator wellstone was a hardcore liberal, he did not vote against that act. the lone senator who did was senator feingold. i apologize for whatever rebellions this misinformation may have caused.
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05,August,2004
I am much better than I was three days ago. I am looking forward to three days from now, when I will hopefully be even better still. Thank you for all of your well-wishings. I must nap now. I feel a Judy Garland moment coming on.
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05,August,2004
ipanema will be the restaurant -
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05,August,2004
A reminder for all you frequent readers of the blog: there is a dinner party on dec 14th at 6:30 and all are invited. so far we have these exciting people lined up to attend: ben haley, mir maddux, stefanie conrad, mark (her date), michaux, greg (her husband), the lovely and talented angie, - now wouldn't you love to be a part of this cabal? this time, i'm determined to find us a nice, quiet place to dine.
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05,August,2004
good joke for the first article- i guess you could say those guys weren't 'cunning linguists' - get it? feh. you will after you read the article.
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05,August,2004
important yet infuriating articles to read urlLink http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/11/14/linguists/index.html urlLink http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2002/11/14/orphanage/index.html urlLink http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/11/14/gun/index.html
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05,August,2004
but seriously, angie, i do hope you feel better soon.
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05,August,2004
Glad I could be there for you.
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05,August,2004
angie, i just got the image of you eating like a squirrel. it made me laugh. thank you.
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05,August,2004
Woo-hoo! Lotses and lotses of food! I hope I can eat it by then. I'm REALLY sick of yogurt and cottage cheese and pudding and stuff. I'd love to eat something I didn't have to gum or chew between my front teeth.
589,736
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05,August,2004
Thanksgiving is alway the fourth Thursday in November. So this year it is November 28th. Two weeks from today.
589,736
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05,August,2004
okay, when the heck is thanksgiving? why can't i just die?
589,736
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05,August,2004
today is national teddy bear day
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05,August,2004
yes indeedy
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05,August,2004
do we have a road to glory game this sunday?
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05,August,2004
Tori Amos Scarlet's Walk (Epic) Tori Amos is one of America's most polarizing artists, with each album predictably regarded as a love-it-or-hate-it proposition sure to thrill every fan and aggravate every hater. But she's made good and bad records just like anyone else: For proof, listen to her sublime From The Choirgirl Hotel and her horrid covers album Strange Little Girls back to back. Amos' well-documented idiosyncrasies tend to be reflected in teeth-gnashingly twee flights of fancy just as often as they produce bracing catharsis, making her catalog both rewarding and punishing when taken as a whole. Come to think of it, that just about sums up Scarlet's Walk, her epic follow-up to Strange Little Girls. A characteristically oblique concept album about finding the soul of America in its open roads, the disc marks a vast leap beyond its more gimmicky predecessor. From the pretty ballad 'Your Cloud' to the irresistibly poppy single 'A Sorta Fairytale,' Scarlet's Walk moves through some remarkable terrain. But amid all the elegantly sweeping, minor-key arrangements are the usual aggravating moments, most notably at the end of songs like 'Mrs. Jesus' (yeech) and 'Wednesday,' which each close with a breathless solo a cappella vocal for dramatic effect. The result tends to highlight lines that don't serve her well: Try not to groan when Amos stops the music on 'Wednesday' long enough to wheeze, 'Lost in a place called America.' But on Scarlet's Walk, her audacity is just as often admirable, and the album represents a considerable step up for fans and foes alike. Stephen Thompson not from that album but one of my favorite tori songs She's Your Cocaine She's got you shaving your legs you can suck anything but you know you wanna be me put on your makeup boy you're your favourite stranger and we all like to watch So shimmy once and do it again bring your sister if you can't handle it she says you control it then she says you don't control it then she says you're controlling the way she makes you crawl She's your Cocaine your Exodus laughing and she knows what you are so shimmy once and do it again Bring your sister Bring your sister if you can't handle it If you want me to Boy I could lie to you you don't need one of these to let me inside of you and is it true that devils end up like you do something safe for the picture frame and is it true that devils end up like you so tied up you don't know how she came She's your Cocaine She's got you shaving your legs she got you liking mine back got me takin it in getting mine back lasting mine evil I'm taking my easel and I'm writing good checks you sign Prince of Darkness try squire of dimness please don't help me with this
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05,August,2004
COMIC BOOK NERDS His web shooters are organic?! Worst comic book movie EVER! this is hilarious! where do you find this stuff ben?
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05,August,2004
check this out, you easily amused buffoons urlLink the editing room
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05,August,2004
i want to believe in eden again.
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05,August,2004
My boyfriend/fiance is insane. And I love it. Hee hee hee.
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05,August,2004
man, chris, you are living the sweet life. (i'm going to assume that ben was talking about a missed call from chris) me - i just spent 4 days in a luxurious mountain resort hanging with one of my best friends (stef), relaxing in a hot tub, picking up rich boys, playing monopoly pinball (one of those activities is not true - figure out which one!) - it's been fun. happy new year!
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05,August,2004
here here! sorry that i missed your call yesterday - but it sounds like you had a mondo cool time nonetheless - it is long coming and well deserved! i had a vision from 'Ferris Bueller' when you described the car you got, and then it drifted into something from Shadowrun. ok, maybe it's just my overactive imagination fatigue. regardless, keep us posted on your adventures... good journey!
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05,August,2004
Good for you, Chris. And good journey.
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05,August,2004
A quick note, kids: Life has a funny way of working out (to paraphrase Alanis), and the irony of it all is a balm to sooth even the deepest hurts. For those of you who don't know, I spent seven long, dark, dismal months looking for a job. For those of you unfortunate enough to have lived through an extended period of unplanned joblessness, you know the drill. Darkness. Dispair. etc., ad nasuem, without end. I finally landed one in October, and was happy to begin the long process of rebuilding my work self-esteem. It's a job, even if it is a contract job. Even if the contract ends 31 December. It's a job. With a paycheck. I am happy. So it was with the most wonderful sense of irony and wonderment at how Life can sometimes work out that I found myself yesterday driving a candy apple red Camero convertable down the Nimitz Highway toward my hotel on Waikiki Beach on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Honolulu for New Year's Eve. Yes, kids, through no effort of my own, I made a withdrawal from my burgeoning account at the Karma Bank. And the icing: the per diem rate here is $78 a day. If someone has a place to post them, I'll send pictures of Pearl Harbor when I go. Happy New Year to all. P.S. The wierdest part was going from 20 degrees and 24' of snow in New Hampshire to 78 degrees and sunny in Hawaii in less than 24 hours.
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05,August,2004
the eve draws nigh
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05,August,2004
i live! now on to... zzz...
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05,August,2004
The harder I grit my teeth The brighter the sun
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05,August,2004
urlLink ah yes, the evil is flowing... urlLink http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/12/27/offbeat.childrens.book.porn.ap/index.html
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05,August,2004
yay!!!!!! my white magic works again! now, back to the dark side... muahahhahahha.
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05,August,2004
Thanks Mir, it worked! Julie came back home for another week on the couch. Phew.
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05,August,2004
good thoughts.... good thoughts...
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05,August,2004
Ok everyone, we're off to the doctor again (weekly visits from here on). Julie is convinced she will be admitted. Let's please have some good thoughts that she won't!
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05,August,2004
My eyeballs feel sticky. CNN almost totally lacks credibility for me. What a sad sack of sensationalist crap. And today I will mourn all the music videos of mine that will never be shot by the late and inimitable Herb Ritts. I am in sooooooo much pain.
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05,August,2004
cold justice indeed, this devious riddle of steel
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05,August,2004
i totally agree with your four agreements, ben. thanks for sharing your wisdom.
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05,August,2004
It is, isn't it?
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05,August,2004
To be dug by someone you dig is one of the greatest joys of life.
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05,August,2004
I agree with John's comments re: TTT. I also had issues. But as a movie, I daresay Joe Moviegoer gets his motherf*ing money's worth in terms of images. Fabulous visuals. A shame the story is veering from Tolkien now not only in terms of tone, but now of plot. Note that the former issue (different tone) was my only complaint re: FotR. Though I suspected slippage might kick in somewhere in the second movie. I still maintain that Tolkien wrote a mythology, a history, and a travelogue, with heroic elements -- *not* an adventure story. Which is what Jackson appears to have decided to film. Which begs the question: is this a book, or a film? Clearly a film -- and as such, while it is a similar animal, it is truly another species than a book, with its own rules and expectations. To put people in the seats, you don't film a book -- you pull the film out of the book, even if you have to alter it to do so. One can film a book, and do it beautifully -- but you better resign yourself to the art circuit. We'll be glad to see you, but we ain't gonna give you box office.
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05,August,2004
Merry Christmas Eve! Watch out for Snow Bear. He hasn't slept in days...
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Karma Police, arrest this man, he talks in maths He buzzes like a fridge, he's like a detuned radio Karma Police, arrest this girl, her hitler hairdo, is making me feel ill And we have crashed her party This is what you get, this is what you get This is what you get, when you mess with us Karma Police, I've given all I can, it's not enough I've given all I can, but we're still on the payroll This is what you get, this is what you get This is what you get, when you mess with us And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself For a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself
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For those that have not seen Two Towers yet, read carefully. Nothing I consider a spoiler, but you may disagree. As a Tolkien purist, I have several complaints. As a movie fan, not so many, but, lord help you if you have not read the books or sat next to someone who could explain the finer points that are glossed over. My biggest complaint is the fact that because they expanded on the Battle of Helm's Deep greatly (1/3 of the movie revolves around it - where it was one chapter out of about 12 in the first half of the book) and that they added the romance between Aragorn and Arwen plus a skirmish between the Rohan and Warg riding Goblins, they really only got through about 2/3 of the book. Given the amount of fighting left to be shown in Return of the King, you can see that they will cut out several parts of the story. Because of some of the modifications already seen, it does not appear that Aragorn will take the Path of Dead and bring the naval fleet up to break the siege. They will also probably not address what becomes of Saruman and what happens to the Shire. The greatly enhanced roles of Merry and Pippin (with Rohan and Gondor) do not appear to be occuring either. Who will kill the Witch King? I also think the tried to hard to set up the sequel. The emphasis on Gollum's discussion of 'she' in regards to getting the Ring are totally transparent to those who have read the books, but not really sold well if you have not.All said and done, I enjoyed the movie, and intend to see it again (hopefully with Mr. Haley when he is back among the living), but am disappointed with the lack of trueness compared to FotR. BTW, New Zealand is indeed a beautiful country. I never would have thought they had the terrain and vistas they do.
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05,August,2004
Happy winter solstice!
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05,August,2004
a tad bit more important than the whole trent lott controversy: The department wisheswithout having to establish any evidence of a crimeto record names from organizations' mailing lists and petitions, photograph and videotape protesters, and plant undercover agents inside groups and events, according to its court filings. Among the requirements police want wiped from the Handschu agreement: routine oversight; paper records of surveillance; internal reviews of investigations; and publicly available summaries of basic information, such as the number of new probes opened in a year. urlLink http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0251/lee.php
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Having grown up in Mississippi, I can say with some certainty that I agree with my future husband about his assessment of Lott. He is intelligent and charismatic -- and ignorant as Mississippi Mud. And I believe he, like many whites (and blacks, for that matter) from the Deep South, have latent issues with racism. But I also agree that it's a social, not political issue. Mississippi & Alabama really are almost different worlds from what goes on closer to the Mason-Dixon. I had never seen such unconscious segregation until I moved there. I am very happy to be further north now. Remember also, Chris...that while Lott was attempting (poor thing) to cover his ass on BET (once again, having grown up in MS...BAAAAAHAAAAA! you have no idea how funny THAT was for me)....he was asked why he voted against making MLK day a national holiday...and he responded by saying (this was voted on in 1983 or so, mind you) something to the effect of having not realized MLK's social-political-historical significance at the time. What a jackass. As for his future in the Senate, I don't really shive a git. I don't live in MS anymore and am no longer directly affected by his decisions. If government is what it was built to be, i. e. an accurate representation of its constituents, then Lott is a perfect representative for Mississippi and its beliefs. So there ya go. I'm done.
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chris, i compared strom thurmond to adolf hitler, not trent lott. actually, i wasn't really comparing hitler to anyone in particular; i was showing an example of how a person can say something that is not overtly racist but could easily be perceived that way. i agree for the most part with everything that jls said. this controversy about trent lott really is just a form of misdirection: so we aren't discussing real problems and coming up with solid and practical solutions. and like i said in my post, i knew it was an extreme example - it was mostly for fun.
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It seems to me that neither Republicans nor Democrats ever really discuss what I would call politics. For the record, I do not define the Lott issue as politics. It's more like idle parlor talk. Ideological masturbation. I see no social or economic problem to solve by applying governmental political theory. To me, it means nothing politically. Emotionally, sure -- I can see it on that level. Sociologically, certainly -- race is a fine subject for sociological study. But politics? I just don't see any point worth making on either ideological side. Note that this is only only my opinion. However, in the interests of idle parlor talk, I will toss this in the ring: I perceive two kinds of racism. First, conscious racism. This is proactive, goal-oriented. Extreme examples include hunting someone down and killing them, or burning crosses in yards. It's fairly easy to spot, if only for its focused malignancy. The second kind is similar in theme, yet very different. I'll call it, for lack of a better term, unconscious racism. Here, the person does not seek the destruction or expulsion of the group; he or she just sort of doesn't think about them much. In fact, there isn't much thought at all. This describes most of my immediate ancestors. My grandmother, for example, would talk of 'colored' people in a way that meant no harm, but something in the tone suggested she unconsciously judged them by race. There was no desire to actively seek out the race and destroy it; she was just -- well -- for lack of a better word -- naive and ignorant. This does not make it right, but it is an important distinction. Because in terms of Trent Lott, I have never perceived him as consciously, actively racist. However, I have followed various biographies of him over the years, and heard him talk, and I have always felt comfortable that he fits well in the second category. Not that he uses the word 'colored,' perhaps -- but there is a certain...well, naivete and ignorance in his words. Case in point: the birthday speech. It seems to me that the words he chose revealed that mindless (rather than mindful) naivete and ignorance often exhibited by those who really haven't given the matter all that much thought. This is not to say he is unintelligent, or evil, or good -- it's just an observation of his person. Note that this is not observation of his *character*, which, for me, would not come into play unless he was in the first category, that of the conscious, ill-willed racist. It seems to me that this is a man who isn't entirely on the ball about the whole race issue, and revealed his ambiguity (ambivalence?) through a naive and ignorant choice of words at the wrong time. I do not condone what he said, nor do I praise it. Ultimately it had absolutely no immediate impact on me. I just watched the clip and thought 'Huh. What an unfortunate place to utter such poorly thought-out words.' All that said, to return to my original point -- it seems to me that so much more could be accomplished in this country if both Republicans and Democrats spent less time yammering on with all this ideological parlor talk and intellectual posturing, and focused all that mental energy on applying the broad range of available political philosophies to the immediate, tangible social, economic, and international issues that we as a society, a government, and a country would do well to confront. There are real problems all around us. Let's butt heads in a dialogue that matters, and work towards solutions that piss off all ideological sides just enough to the point that we're as close to the Truth as we can get. I mean, come on, citizens. Surely we're smarter than this.
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Oh, Mir -- it's nice to see that things haven't changed! As offended as you might be because Lott stepped up at the birthday party of a man who has lived ONE HUNDRED YEARS and said something vaguely nice about his past, I am 300% MORE offended that you have just compared Trent Lott to Adolf Hitler. There're extreme examples and then there are examples that are so extreme as to make them irrelevant. Exhibit A, your response below. Once my breathing exercises kicked in, I was able to conjure up a response. Here's a counter-example that is a little closer to home: It's Ben's 60th birthday party. We're all gathered around, munching on fried tofu strips and organic vegetables. I raise my glass to my old friend. 'Ben,' I say, 'you've lived a long and fruitful life. We have all watched with a little envy as you have lived a life imagined and been true to yourself. Now, I was sure that Leslie would turn out to be your one true love, and if you'd snapped her up before she turned legal, your life would have certainly turned out differently. You might even have had enough money to afford to retire by now, instead of mooching off us for so long.' [cue polite laugher from the crowd] Does this mean that I am advocating a romatic relationship between a 28-year-old adult and a 16-year-old minor? Am I coming out in favor of statutory rape? Hardly. What I am doing is speaking some comforting words to a dear friend of mine, trying to get him to reminisce about days gone by and success won and lost. Now, I am deliberately choosing a less extreme example. Segregation is wrong. Slavery is evil. There is no defending the southern white politicians or the white mobs of the 50s and 60s. But Trent Lott was toasting an old man at his BIRTHDAY PARTY, praising his past efforts, trying to make said old man think back on his life and feel content. Instead of a nice comment on an old man's accomplishments, this has exploded into a racial issue -- and the press has been pumping the bellows and tossing the gasoline cans with reckless abandon for 10 days. Read the direct quote: '''I want to say this about my state,' Lott said at the party. ''When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either.''' (Washington Post, 7 Dec 02) Where in that statement does Lott praise segregation? Where is the racist in the white sheet? Where does he say that the country would be better if we shipped all those dirty negroes back to Africa? Hell, the man didn't even once say 'segregation' -- much less say that the overtly segregationist policies of the Dixiecrat party were right and good and embodied all that made America great. But you wouldn't guess that reading the news stories today.... Now, here's what the press has been reporting for the past two weeks [emphasis added]: 'Senate Republican leader Trent Lott (Miss.) last night apologized for suggesting that the country would have been better off if segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.' (Washington Post, 10 Dec 02); 'Faced with an uproar over his remark that the nation would have been better off if Strom Thurmond had won the presidency when he ran on a segregationist ticket in 1948, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott apologized Monday night, saying he misspoke.' (USA Today, 10 Dec 02); 'Republicans are trying to regroup from the uproar caused by the segregation statement by Lott, of Mississippi, at an event marking South Carolina Sen. Thurmond's 100th birthday.' (Reuters, 15 Dec 02); '...Lott said Mississippians were proud to have voted for the one-time segregationist when he sought the White House.' (AP, 16 Dec 02); '...when Lott praised the South Carolina Republican's segregationist run for president in 1948.' (Boston Globe, 19 Dec 02). And my personal favorite: 'Gore, speaking on CNN's 'Inside Politics,' said the Senate should censure Lott. 'It is not a small thing for one of the half-dozen most prominent political leaders in America to say that our problems are caused by integration and that we should have had a segregationist candidate,' he said. 'That is divisive, and it is divisive along racial lines.'' (AP, 7 Dec 02) WHERE DID LOTT SAY THAT INTEGRATION CAUSED OUR PROBLEMS???????? What we have here is not a suddenly outed racist. What we have is a feeding frenzy, started by Democrats still stinging from the thorough trouncing they received in the mid-term elections and facilitated, even egged on, by a decidedly liberal press that has already convicted a man of racism. Yet again, I am disgusted by the blatant leftward leaning of our nation's media....
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05,August,2004
all right, john - i'll use an extreme example but they are always the most fun :) let's say, for whatever reason, that hitler had immigrated to america, and soon all of his nazi past was pretty much forgotten, he had been elected to the senate by the fine state of south carolina multiple times, and hell, he even had some jews on his staff. okay, it's hitler's 100th birthday. trett lott gets up and says 'you know adolf, things would have been very different if you would have won world war II, we could have avoided alot of the problems we have now.' now you could assume that trett lott was referring to the autobahn, the volkswagon, the revived german economy, the growth of industry, but you know, no matter how you look at it, you can't get past the idea that one of hitler's main objectives in world war II was to kill all the jews. some people would find it offensive that trent lott would even conceive that the idea of oppressing/killing a group of people as part of your political platform would be appropriate. i think that's why people are offended about his comments to strom thurmond.
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05,August,2004
Ok. I'll bite. For the sake of this argument, let's say that Trent Lott DIRECTLY said he was in favor of segregation and all the other race garbage from the South of 50 years ago. Bottom line, he is entitled to his opinion, politically correct or not. The last I checked, the First Amendment was still in force. Why does he have to resign his post? If the Republicans want him as their leader, that is their choice. Keep in mind that, according to a black radio show host I saw on TV the other day (Tom Joyner?), 98% of the black vote in this country goes to the Democrats. Odds are, the voters who would vote based on only the issue of Civil Rights, already voted for the Democrats because of the perception (wrong in my opinion) that the Democrats are more dedicated to that issue. So, what damage is there to be done by taking the black vote away? Politically, none.
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05,August,2004
because of the karl and maggie show exposing trent lott's record, he is resigning from his leadership post. you're welcome, citizen.
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05,August,2004
ZZZZZZZ!!!!!
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05,August,2004
I have nothing interesting to say, but I wish good things to all.
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05,August,2004
actually on the 27th at any time.
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05,August,2004
T - the only time that i could participate in some type of coffee thing would be on the 27th during the day -
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05,August,2004
Hi & welcome, CK. Congrats to D. Fingers crossed for Julie & J. B, I talked to you already, but I'll say it again: I'm glad you're okay. This is what I get for not checking the blog since Thanksgiving: BACH's smash-up, Dave's enlistment, John's brood, Chris' arrival.... Thank goodness the ladies are okay. Stay safe, all y'all. Have been working days making costumes for a dance group at a community center in the South Bronx; Hans Chrstian Andersen's 'Snow Queen' with elementary & middle school kids & some young guest artists from Dance Theatre of Harlem. Also still wardrobe supervisor at 'Salome' down in Brooklyn. Aidan Quinn has joined the cast as our third & newest John the Baptist. (My co-workers are the people I see in onscreen in cinemas! Weird.) Four more performances, then home to RVa on x-mas eve for the holly-day. Who's around? Should we have a coffee klatch next week? I just found a recipe for macadamia-cranberry cookies. Allen - I'll be in VA until the 27th or 28th, then back up to QNS. Call me when you're up: 917-514-7237. Do you have plans yet for new year's eve? I have an option available. And for the record, last weekend I was in Brooklyn, working.
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05,August,2004
urlLink Free Speech -- Virtually Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many 'Bloggers' Late last year, John Stanforth posted to his personal Web site a reminiscence about software he had developed for internal use by a former employer. It was a minor project, he said, one he never thought would warrant any secrecy. So he was bewildered when, about two months later, he received a cease-and-desist letter in an e-mail from his old company. It said that by mentioning the project, he had violated the nondisclosure agreement he signed when he joined the firm in June 1997. Can we say 'ACLU,' kids?
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05,August,2004
go julie! i hope everything goes well, john.
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05,August,2004
that trent lott card is fucking hilarious! you should send that in to his office. and i'm sorry - did you say strong bad sucks? those are fightin' words mister!
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05,August,2004
So what have I missed?... / sarcasm Ben -e-ha-ha... Sorry to hear about your accident. Even more sorry to hear about the treatment you're receiving from the insurance company. Hope you're feeling better. Dave - Conrgats (late, but still.. Congrats) Tree - We're going to be NY the 26th -1st. You in town? John - Hope things are going well. I can pretty much guarantee that I can think negative thoughts better than anyone else in the circle, so count on me to my part. Takers? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Props to Mir and Jimi for making appearances at our Holiday Partay of Festivities last weekend. The rest of you get a big fat finger. (Guess which one?) Ben, of course, is excused due to his unfortunate accident, and Tree, simply since there's no way our partay could compete with an evening in Manhattan. All right, enough procrastinating. Back to work! PS - For the record, Strong Bad sucks.
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05,August,2004
Congrat Dave!!!!! FYI! I too am a confirmed bachelor. Though I am the new guy to the 'group' so I don't really count. ;-)
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05,August,2004
i like to think of myself as the diane keaton of the group. hee hee. i'm crazy!
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05,August,2004
Oops. Sorry Ben. I don't know why you slipped my mind. Probably related to the shock of Dave's announcement...yeah, that sounds good. BTW, Julie did come home last night. Hopefully, she won't end up in the hospital again until the boys are delivered.
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05,August,2004
that is so sweet that Whiteside has proposed to his girlfriend. and right around christmas. and yes, for the love of satan, mr. haley is truly the warren beatty of the group. (ie confirmed bachelor until age 55, then proceeds to get married to a much younger woman and have several children - denies he was ever a 'womanizer')
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05,August,2004
I HATE GERUNDS!!!!
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05,August,2004
*ahem*.
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05,August,2004
Topping our news today, Satan has reported that he is opening an outdoor skating ring in Hell to take advantage of a sudden change in climate (see related story 'Hell Freezes Over'). It appears that the climate change was brought about by a native of Richmond, Virginia getting engaged. Mr. David Whiteside has proposed to his girlfriend of almost two years. The date for the nuptuals has not yet been set. I guess that leaves Jimi as the last dedicated bachelor out there.
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05,August,2004
my god, it's after midnight on a weekday and i'm still awake and talking to a computer screen. i should be stumbling around with a half-finished bourbon in my hand. perhaps wearing a chanel suit and lamenting about how i traded love for success. and success has been nothing more than a cold, harsh slap in the face.
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05,August,2004
i love strong bad.
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05,August,2004
btw, what the hell happened to triebley?
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05,August,2004
come on everybody! let's entertain the handicapped boy!
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05,August,2004
the latest, for all who care: my car was declared a total loss by the INS company, so i get a payoff to use against the $ i owe on the loan i originally took out to buy it. it will cover it and then some, but that 'sum' is pretty low. i expect i will buy another Insight, as it's still the best car on the market as far as i'm concerned, so expect to see 'moondog 2.0' within the next 30 days or so. i have a lawyer now, and he is taking my case forward. i should only say so much about all that, but i'll speak up as events warrant. my recovery is slow but sure, and i still do not know when i'll return to work, or to normal life; i still can't sit for anymore than 15-30 minutes without needing to eventually lie down, but the pain i'm having has decreased somewhat. which is a real drag, considering how badly i want to see certain movies that are out right now, but they will have to wait. once again, i thank everyone in the circle for their kindness and patience since last wednesday. apparently, you find out who your friends are when you have a health emergency as well as when you move! you've all been very supportive and i will not forget. feel free to email me at home whenever you like; calls are OK too, but it's generally easier for me to concentrate on the written rather than the spoken, per my fatigue and pain. plus, since i'm sleeping at odd times, you may inadvertently awaken me in the daylight hours; typically i turn my ringer off when i go to sleep, but these days i need to leave it on during the day to get calls from my doctor(s), lawyer and INS folk which tend to be timely and must be taken ASAP. well, enough of me. somebody talk about politics or something.
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05,August,2004
Damn! Has it really been three weeks since I last posted? As the RTG people know, Julie was readmitted to the hospital a couple of weeks ago. Her test results last week were positive, which, in this case is a bad thing. The latest ray of hope is that the doctor will re-run the test tomorrow to rule out a false positive. If it comes back negative, Julie will probably come home. If it comes back positive, she still might, but her OB and the twin specialist will have to come to an agreement. At this point, she is 30 weeks, and the doctors ideally want her to 'hold out' (like any of this is up to her) until 34 weeks. In the meantime I am still doing my juggling act balancing work, the house, my daughter, and visiting Julie. Is sleep necessary? Everyone please think NEGATIVE! And then to top it off, I managed to arrange for a sitter for Katherine on Sunday (RTG), and Ben has the audacity of stopping at a stop sign / red light in front of a drunk driver, contributing to the cancellation of the session. Way to go dude! All kidding aside, I'm glad you're OK, and that the Honda lived up to its safety reputation
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05,August,2004
Granted, it's unlikely that CIA missiles will begin raining down on Berkeley or other liberal burgs anytime soon. Killing Muslims, even those with U.S. citizenship, is one thing; offing 'ordinary' Americans is another. As has been the case with previous Bushie infringements on fundamental civil rights--electronic eavesdropping, jailing people without trial or a visit by a lawyer--most citizens believe themselves safe simply by virtue of their not being terrorists. They may be right. They might be wrong. It's all in the hands of the executioner-in-chief now. urlLink http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/site/viewru.htm
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05,August,2004
wtf... see karl - this is what we should have been talking about last night instead of this silly trent lott thing. The efforts would thrust the administration into a debate that until now has lingered on the fringes of economic policy: Are too few wealthy Americans paying too much in taxes for too many, and should the working poor and middle class be shouldering more of the tax burden? New Tax Plan May Bring Shift In Burden Poor Could Pay A Bigger Share By Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, December 16, 2002; Page A03 As the Bush administration draws up plans to simplify the tax system, it is also refining arguments for why it may be necessary to shift more of the tax load onto lower-income workers. Economists at the Treasury Department are drafting new ways to calculate the distribution of tax burdens among different income classes, which are expected to highlight what administration officials see as a rising tax burden on the rich and a declining burden on the poor. The White House Council of Economic Advisers is also preparing a report detailing the concentration of the tax burden on the affluent and highlighting problems with the way tax burdens are calculated for the poor. The efforts would thrust the administration into a debate that until now has lingered on the fringes of economic policy: Are too few wealthy Americans paying too much in taxes for too many, and should the working poor and middle class be shouldering more of the tax burden? 'The increasing reliance on taxing higher-income households and targeted social preferences at lower incomes stands in the way of moving to a simpler, flatter tax system,' R. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, warned at a tax forum at the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday. The Council of Economic Advisers' 'Economic Report to the President,' scheduled for release late next month or in early February, is to include a section arguing for new methods to calculate the distribution of tax burdens on various income groups. The Treasury Department is working up more sophisticated distribution tables that are expected to make the poor appear to be paying less in taxes and the rich to be paying more. Answering critics who say the working poor do face high taxes because they pay high Social Security payroll taxes, outgoing White House economic adviser Lawrence B. Lindsey told the AEI tax forum that the 12.4 percent Social Security levy should not be considered when tax burdens are calculated. Lindsey said the Social Security tax is ultimately returned to the taxpayer as a benefit. Lindsey compared the Social Security tax to a deposit in a neighborhood bank's Christmas Club. In such clubs, periodic deposits are returned in a lump sum during the holiday season, and Lindsey said no one would consider such deposits a tax. Early this month, J.T. Young, the deputy assistant treasury secretary for legislative affairs, lamented in a Washington Times opinion article: '[Higher] earners cannot produce the level of revenues needed to sustain the liberals' increasingly costly spending programs over the long-term. . . . If federal government spending is not controlled, then the tax burden will have to begin extending backward down the income ladder.' The tenor of the administration's policy discussions marks a dramatic shift from early in 2001, when Bush sold his 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut as a tool to 'take down the tollgate on the road to the middle class,' emphasizing its beneficial impact on workers 'on the outskirts of poverty.' At that time, the administration fretted over the tax burden on the working poor, which the White House calculated to include federal income taxes, state taxes and the Social Security tax. When administration officials pushed the need to create private investment accounts to supplement Social Security, they specifically warned that taxes paid into Social Security would not necessarily be returned unless the system was reformed. William W. Beach, an economist at the Heritage Foundation think tank, said he was sympathetic to Lindsey's argument that the Social Security tax is not really a tax. But, he said, it was a dangerous argument for a Republican to make. 'Do I allow defense spending to offset my income taxes since I like to be defended? Do I allow road taxes to offset my profits taxes because I use the roads?' he asked. 'If you do start down that road, it's hard to see anything as taxes.' But for the purposes of a tax reform debate, removing Social Security taxes from consideration could have a sizable impact. The top 5 percent of the nation's taxpayers paid 41 percent of all federal taxes, a hefty share, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. But that same group paid from 56 to 59 percent of all income taxes, an even more impressive burden. 'If we take out Social Security, the poor will look very lightly taxed,' said Robert S. McIntyre, of Citizens for Tax Justice, a tax research group backed by organized labor. Democrats say the shift could prove ominous for lower-income Americans. And they appear eager for the fight. 'These people are setting the tone in saying the poor really are not being taxed enough and that the burden is too high on the rich,' said New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. 'We're going back some 70 years.' Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Calif.), a member of the committee, said: 'I don't think there's any question you have a number of extremists in the Republican ranks that would like to see the wealthy do very well. They're going to try to make the case that the average American is overtaxed and subsidizing the poor.' But to some conservatives, the shift is long overdue. Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has argued for two years that the nation is entering a dangerous period in which the burden of financing government is falling on too few people. In such an environment, the masses will always vote for politicians promising ever-more-generous social programs, knowing they will not have to pay for such programs, DeMint warned. 'This issue is coming to a head,' DeMint said earlier this month, just minutes after making his pitch to outgoing Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill. 'You can't maintain a democracy if the people who are voting don't care what their government costs.' DeMint and his allies have called for a national sales tax to replace the income tax. For those below the federal poverty line, sales taxes paid would be refunded, but under the system, at least they will have seen the cost of government, he said. The working poor would accept a higher tax burden because they would be relieved of the need to file a tax return. DeMint called his ideas 'the duck's feet under the water,' propelling his proposals forward invisibly. Conservative thinkers at the Heritage Foundation and other think tanks have begun expressing similar opinions. Last month, the Wall Street Journal editorial page made waves with an article titled, 'The Non-Taxpaying Class.' 'Workers who pay little or no taxes can hardly be expected to care about tax relief for everybody else,' the editorial stated. 'They are also that much more detached from recognizing the costs of government.' But advocates of this new line can expect a furious backlash. Liberal commentators have already reduced the argument to an appeal to tax the poor, and even conservatives worry that the label will stick. 'It's hard to conclude it's anything else,' said the Heritage Foundation's Beach. Michael J. Graetz, a Yale University law professor and tax reform expert, said he could not figure out where the administration's arguments are supposed to lead. 'I would be very surprised if the agenda is to put more people on the tax rolls,' he said. 'That doesn't seem like a good political agenda.' But Democrats say that is exactly where the administration is heading. Matsui said he sees the seeds of a disastrous Republican overreach. 'The president is making the case that people who earn between $50 [thousand] and $75,000 a year should be paying a third more taxes,' Matsui said. 'I'd love to debate him on that.' But McIntyre worried that in the marketplace of ideas, the new argument could carry the day. 'I would hope the public would find it repugnant,' he said, 'but I suppose you never know.'
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05,August,2004
woola woola woola
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05,August,2004
i don't know chris. ben said you had personal experience with that type of two way. he also said you were obsessed with wa wa.
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05,August,2004
Mir -- I AM familiar with THAT kind of two-way (and no, not from personal experience, thank you!). That's not going to be a 'two-way' that she can wear..... The other line from this song that I really like is: 'She likes the Godsmack, and I like Agent Orange, Her CD changer's full of singers that are mad at their dad' What an apt description of much of what passes for modern rock these days. Don't get me wrong -- I love aggressive music. It certainly has it's place. But the likes of Disturbed and System of a Down belong on the underground scene -- not on mainstream radio!! There is nothing that can turn a bar full of drunks ugly faster than spinning one of those songs at about 1:00am (and THIS I know from personal experience!)....
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05,August,2004
I love you, Johnathan.
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05,August,2004
Halle Berry may emerge from the ocean in a bikini with a knife, but make no mistake: she ain't no Ursula.
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05,August,2004
apathy is the opposite of love.
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05,August,2004
Deanna is also in serious need of some Oil Of Olay Intensive Repair under-eye cream. Two words, madam: sag-gy.
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05,August,2004
It just occurred to me...with Data's consciousness contained within this new (old) prototype, it is easy to explain the character (Brent Spiner) gaining weight and changing in appearance over time. It's a new body, so it's ok that he looks so different now. Riker, on the other hand, needs to lay off the cheeseburgers. Meanwhile, Deanna seems to be taking beauty tips from Christine Aguilera.
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05,August,2004
i am going to eat a candy bar not just any bar a *candy* bar a bar made entirely of candy nothing else just candy in the shape of a bar a bar of candy a candy bar all candy nothing but candy shaped like a bar bar-shaped candy pure candy molded into a bar a candy bar a bar which consists entirely of candy a candy bar
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05,August,2004
i have an idea what a two way refers to - but i won't mention it in a public forum. email me personally chris.
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05,August,2004
Greetings from the West Coast -- wanted everyone to know that I woke our little Benjamin up to make sure he was OK. I found him groggy and cute when he's sleepy -- not to mention sore and not a little grouchy. Been in LA for the past 2 weeks, training 600 security screeners. The Admiral who's the Federal Security Director here has gone on record saying he wants a total of 1100 trained by the end of the year, so doing the math, that means that there's another, um, carry the one, er, 500 screeners to cycle through in the next 2 weeks. Wheeeee! Thought I'd write a bit about my day off for Benji's bene -- I was able to pull off one of my favorite things today: the Movie Theater Hat Trick!! Paid money for 'Drumline,' used my free pass (see details below) to get into 'Die Another Day,' then walked across the hall into 'Nemesis' -- an altogether entertaining way to blow an entire day!! My butt's asleep and my eyes are still adjusting to the light, but it was good to get a movie fix. So it started at 11:00 this morning with 'Drumline.' The movie was 30 minutes late starting because the moved the theater but forgot to tell the projectionist. Oops. The entire audience was up in arms, to say the least (they didn't even turn off the flood lights in the theater until 10 minutes after the showtime) and the manager avoided a riot only by offering refunds or free passes to the entire crowd. Serendipitously, the 30 minute delay worked perfectly, as the Bond film was starting at 1:30. Once done there, 'Nemesis' was only 10 minutes from kickoff, so it was an easy jaunt across the hall! Opinions Drumline: A marching band geek's wet dream. Nearly half an hour of drumline battles, marching band formations, and get-down moves. It would have been very comical if the Lee-Davis marching Confederates tried to do what these bands were hammering out, but it was fun to fantasize about belonging to a band like that. They nailed the internal band politics, too. Definitely worth matinee price, or video viewing at JS' with his monster sound system. A must see if you salivate at the sound of a drumline cadence. Die Another Day: I can't say enough how much I enjoy Pierce B.'s James. He manages to make him human, and gives him an edge that Connery had in the early films but Moore could never find. I truly believe that his JB is a cold-blooded killer. Halle Berry, however, never quite convinced me that she was cut from the same cloth. Not that I'm complaining, but she swishes when she moves and it prevents me from believing that she's a hard-edged operative. And Rosamund Pike makes me feel all funny inside and (heh, heheh) my pants got tight when she was on the screen.... Nemesis: Solid, but not filling. Action-packed, but not 'Khan.' I think my lack of enthusasim is a result of a good thing -- that is, I've seen all the battle scenes on TV -- they aren't breaking ground in that department. Good, since I can get my ship-to-ship action fix on TV, but bad because it leaves me wishing I would be blown away on the big screen. Great villan for this one, but I HATED the whole Data thing. If the next one is 'Search for Data,' I quit (and you know they set that up, too)! I just can't help but think that Berman has wrung the franchise dry. Anybody keeping up with 'Enterprise,' please contradict me and convince me that I'm wrong. That's all from the Left coast. Hope everyone has a Peaceful holiday!
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Eight o'clock Monday night, and I'm waitin' to finally talk to a girl a little cooler than me Her name is Nona, she's a rocker with a nose ring she wears a two-way, but I'm not quite sure what that means. Anybody got an idea what the said 'two-way' refers to?
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had a great time at the dinner party! thanks to all who came! we missed you ben! and allen hates me now because i made a comment about him being a sexual slave in front of his mother. damn, i can't tell you how many times i've done that to people.
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i have a plan as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed 'Professor Of Cunning' at Harvard