antigravitas

Rhetoric fail

2009-08-21T13:54:00.003-04:00

Michele Bachmann: "That's why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress, and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions." (TPM)

Errrm....

The Wikipedia approach to conspiracy research

2009-08-18T14:47:00.003-04:00

This World Net Daily article highlighted on Andrew Sullivan's blog is fantastic. Headline:

Obama's MySpace page: I'm 52 years old, not 48
Would place president's birth during time Hawaii was a territory

This is your evidence? His MySpace page also lists Obama as male...and you can't be sure about that one either...at least not on MySpace.

The best passage is:

But a multitude of other records that also have not been released would shed light on the president's past, including his kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and adoption records.

Dude. Published articles in the Harvard Law Review hardly need to be "released."

Belly up

2009-08-13T10:36:00.003-04:00

A potbelly is the new hot accessory, according to my very favorite NYT style writer, Guy Trebay. The editor of Details speculates that Brooklyn hipsters are reacting to our uberfit president by "proudly rocking a gut." But I blame it on all that PBR.

Graham Proposes "Barack Hussein Obama Park"

2009-07-14T14:27:00.001-04:00

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) introduced a resolution today to rename Girard Park in Columbia Heights "Barack Hussein Obama Park." (WP)

Watch out, Jim, this will just draw out the loonies who want to name everything after Reagan!

Culinary side effects

2009-03-24T16:10:00.003-04:00

Celeb chef Anthony Bourdain says the economic downturn may be good for the restaurant business:

There is going to be an apocalyptic shakeout. On the plus side, the bullsh** will be the first to go. (Nation's Restaurant News via The Big Money)

If the recession leads to a purge of derivative, sub-par tapas bars and Belgian beer-and-frites places, maybe it will all be worth it.

Purple people power for DC voting rights?

2009-03-04T15:30:00.005-05:00

So, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sent some apologetic packets of swag to all the Purple Ticket people who were blocked from attending Obama's swearing in. (Politico)

I love this comment someone left on the "Survivors of the Purple Tunnel" Facebook page:

Just received my packet. I will compose a collage with my Metro smart card, purple ticket, inauguration photo and a picture from our Day of Service at the Marvin Gaye Park. Recent good news for DC is that debate will resume to give the District a voting House member. Our experience at the Purple Gate may not be atypical for DC residents whose city has suffered too many years from lack of voting representation and influence in Congress. Maybe the Purple Gate group can help make that finally happen. [emphasis mine]

Damn right! Living in DC is like living one's entire life inside the Purple Tunnel of Death, every single day, until we get fair representation in Congress. Powerless and trapped, we never get to participate in the big event, even though we have tickets. The ticket which every eligible American citizen is granted upon birth or naturalization. The ticket to democracy. Sniff. This is great; I could keep riffing on this one for a while.

Here come the zombies and/or global pandemic

2009-03-03T15:45:00.005-05:00

Scientists Make HIV Strain That Can Infect Monkeys
Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Scientists have created a strain of the human AIDS virus able to infect and multiply in monkeys in a step toward testing future vaccines in monkeys before trying them in people, according to a new study.

Dude. While I fully support the search for an AIDS vaccine, I have definitely seen enough movies to know how this story ends.

I hate it when that happens

2009-03-02T09:29:00.003-05:00

My small but helpful trust fund lost 40 percent all at once, and then another 20 percent, leaving me, practically speaking, destitute. I suddenly needed something more than an Internet writing job (Internet writers need trust funds) at the exact moment when there were no jobs.

...is how Victoria Floethe opens an article about Monaco in Slate today. The article: pretty interesting, actually. The angle for connecting with the audience: not so great.

Hell of a job, Jindal

2009-02-25T13:25:00.004-05:00

Wow. I would ask who picked Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to deliver the Republican rebuttal to the President's speech last night. But the real questions are, who wrote the speech, and who prepped this guy?

Jindal's speaking style reminds me of nothing so much as a member of the Jeopardy Clue Crew narrating a Video Daily Double.

And this passage--unbelievable. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

"Today in Washington, some are promising that government will rescue us from the economic storms raging all around us.
Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina -- we have our doubts."

R.I.P., Zippy: 1999-2009

2009-02-23T20:49:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is true--I am now carless.

My last few moments with Zippy, my beloved 1999 Civic.

Dear Zippy,

Today I sold you to a car dealer named Moses. Because of the large amount of work required to get you into saleable shape, you weren't worth that much money. But that's ok, because you were always more valuable to money than me. You have done so many things for me--and the environmental movement. Think about it. In your ten years of loyal service, you have:

o made countless 12-hour nonstop drives between Johnson City and Princeton.
o traveled across the continental U.S.--twice--to take me to and from organizing assignments.
o scouted all the best turfs in Little Rock, Arkansas.
o driven hundreds of CMDs worth of canvassers around Little Rock, Nashville, and even DC.
o trolled across the eastern Oregon desert and, once, coasted 50 miles from Bend on a completely empty gas tank.
o carried groceries, kittens, books, IKEA furniture strapped to your roof, and all my worldly possessions to and from new and old homes.

But it wasn't all hard work. You've also:

o made a million trips to the Quaker Bridge movie theater with my college buddies.
o climbed halfway up Mt. Hood.
o swooped through the Badlands.
o made many beautiful trips around Shenandoah NP.
o cruised the East Coast, from Cape Cod to Atlanta.

It's nothing personal, Zippy. You've been broken into and harassed too many times here in Mt. Pleasant. The recent attempted hotwiring was just the last straw. I don't drive you enough to give you good exercise. You'll be better off with someone else, someone who shares a similar appreciation for your incredible turning radius and solid gas mileage, but can offer you a safe, good home.

So Zippy, Godspeed. I hope you end up in greener pastures.

Love,
Your owner,
Waage

Hate

2009-02-23T10:50:00.003-05:00

You know, I don't believe in hell. But if I did, I'd say that these folks may be in for a bit of a surprise when they kick the bucket.

Why NYT fashion writer Guy Trebay always lights up my day

2009-02-19T17:14:00.003-05:00

Oh, Guy Trebay, thank God for you. I'm not sure anyone else shares my appreciation for your work, or at least not in the same way. But kudos.

This passage in your Fashion Diary today is unparalleled.

Can we agree that most Twitter posts are about little beyond the fact of their own occurrence? Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that something existential is afoot? [Guy: I do not think it is!--ed.] Is the sum of human knowledge much advanced by learning, instant by instant, that Marc Jacobs is having his hair dyed black, that Marc Jacobs is eating a McDonald's burger and drinking a Diet Coke, that the beautiful Patti Smith look-alike model Jamie Bochert just got engaged, that the handsome and heavily-inked hairdresser Lorenzo Martone is not Marc Jacobs's boyfriend?

Phelps calls 3-month suspension from swimming "fair"

2009-02-06T16:51:00.001-05:00

Was only smoking weed, hooking up with chicks anyway. (AP)

AP not learning music industry's lesson

2009-02-05T12:47:00.003-05:00

Interesting. The Associated Press is seeking compensation from Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obama "Hope" poster, claiming the poster is based on an AP photo of Obama. Fairey is defending his work as fair use of the image. (USA Today)

You may remember that AP created another copyright kerfuffle last year by cracking down on blogs who quote AP stories. (NYT Bits blog)

Dear Mr. Daschle

2009-02-03T17:27:00.003-05:00

Sally Jessy Rafael called.

She wants her glasses back.

Get over your imaginary culture war, David Brooks

2009-02-03T10:15:00.003-05:00

Brooks writes in the NYT today,

Rich people used to set their own norms. For example, if one rich person wanted to use the company helicopter to aerate the ponds on his properties, and the other rich people on his board of directors thought this a sensible thing to do, then he could go ahead and do it without any serious repercussions.

But,

Now lifestyle standards for the privileged class are set by people who live in Ward Three...a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., where many Democratic staffers, regulators, journalists, lawyers, Obama aides and senior civil servants live...they [now] get to insert themselves into the intricacies of upscale life, influencing when private jets can be flown, when friends can lend each other their limousines and at what golf resorts corporate learning retreats can be held.

This blogger says, great! What's the problem?

But Brooks thinks this is an issue because the bobos of Ward Three are jealous of rich people. Since they don't really make a lot of money in comparison to their social status, and have to spend it all on housing and private school tuition.

Right.

It's not the first time he's based an entire piece of writing on a baseless caricature of some hated, liberal group or person. How does this crap keep getting published?

Ahh, NoVA.

2009-02-03T05:34:00.003-05:00

The Post reports today that the Bristow area of Virginia's Prince William County has the longest average commute in the country. (WP)

"Number one, huh?" said homeowner Michael Kasun, 42. "I wish it was for something else, like oil in the ground."

Yeah, that'd be awesome! "Highest density of T.G.I.Friday's locations" would be pretty cool too.

Sorry; I'm not really a 'burb hater. But still.

Plot seemingly inspired by "Office Space" fails

2009-01-30T13:23:00.002-05:00

Insider plot to take down Fannie Mae's servers thwarted

Washington (DC) - On October 29, 2008, a vigilant senior Unix engineer happened across a "logic bomb" that was allegedly planted by a contractor, Rajendrasinh Babubhai Makwana, who had worked in their Urbana, MD facility until October 24, 2008 when his contract was terminated. The script was set to activate on January 31, 2009 and would completely wipe all of Fannie Mae's 4,000 servers. According to engineers, had it done so it would've caused "millions of dollars in damage, and possibly shut down operations for a week."

The audacity of Chris Matthews

2009-01-22T11:17:00.006-05:00

Chris Matthews was in rare form during MSNBC's inauguration coverage on Tuesday. I'm glad that somebody (specifically, Jack Shafer at Slate) captured this particularly incredible interchange:

After noting the many smiling faces in the assembled inauguration crowd, Matthews took a shot at explaining the happiness. Sure, it's the festivities, but it's also the proximity of the crowd to the MSNBC booth, he insisted.
"This is the network that has opened its heart to change, to change and its possibilities. Let's be honest about it. These--these people watch this network out here," Matthews said.
.... Olbermann approached his colleague like a teetotaler trying to talk down a drunk, offering the opinion that people might be smiling about the shared experience of the Obama inauguration. But Matthews wasn't having it.
Matthews: No, this is the network of the 21st century, MSNBC. And I think we're open to it. And that's why this crowd knows us. And I think--
Olbermann: He's Chris Matthews, and he approved that message.
Matthews: We're not crotchety about change, stuffy.

It was soooo weird! And only one of many memorable Matthews moments that day. Was he high? Is he always? I wouldn't rule out powerful stimulants or aggression-promoting steroids, to be honest.

L8er

2009-01-20T13:56:00.003-05:00

From TNR blog.

It's great to live in a two-newspaper town

2009-01-12T22:26:00.002-05:00

This Washington Times headline is pure gold.

Obama climate czar has socialist ties
Group sees 'global governance' as solution

Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

Socialist czars...global governance....the world is indeed turn'd upside down. Cue the black helicopters.

Paging Dr. Gupta

2009-01-06T15:50:00.004-05:00

Howard Kurtz is reporting that Obama has offered CNN's Sanjay Gupta the position of U.S. Surgeon General.

Fabulous! Our first hot Surgeon General. Anderson Cooper for U.S. Ambassador to Iraq!

Back in the saddle

2009-01-05T20:09:00.003-05:00

I've been a little neglectful of the blog over the holidays, but only because I was busy.

We visited my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas:

Adopted kittens!

And had a mellow New Year's Eve with friends.

But regularly scheduled blogging returns now.

Rumble in the Capitol?

2009-01-02T12:48:00.006-05:00

Doubt it will come to this, but Senate leadership is planning to post armed guards to keep Roland Burris out of the Senate, if necessary. (TPM) Rod Blagojevich is a mad, narcissistic genius for this pick.

2009 is going to rock. I can already feel it.

Energy developers "hosed" by Utah activist

2008-12-21T10:10:00.006-05:00

This story just brings a smile to your face.

Utah Activist Disrupts Sale of Leases for Drilling

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- An environmental activist disrupted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases Friday by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars with no intention of paying for them, a federal official said....

The activist, Tim DeChristopher, 27, a University of Utah economics student, said he had accomplished his goal of disrupting the auction. Mr. DeChristopher won the bidding on 13 parcels, auction records show, and drove up the price of several others.

"We were hosed," said Jason Blake of Park City, a consulting geologist who was outbid on a 320-acre parcel. (AP via NYT)