VENT

What she said...

2008-10-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

A priceless rant by one feisty old lady (from Texas) on the subject of Sarah Palin...

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Couldn't have said it better myself, you betcha! ;-D

Honor a Champion

2008-02-12T15:57:00.001-08:00

So many people assume, "It can't happen here!" -- that Roe v. Wade will protect a woman's right to choose, in perpetuity.

But that's true only so long as the Supreme Court Justices continue to uphold that decision...and the margin of protection is currently both slim and tenuous.

The current Republican candidats have vowed to turn back the clock and appoint "more Scalias." This would be disatrous for decades to come.
So, think carefully before you shrug and say "Oh, it doesn't matter who I vote for--they're all alike."

On that issue, note that Canada's abortion law was struck down in 1988.

In 2008, in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of that legal decision, a campaign has been launched by a group of pro-choice activists to nominate Dr. Henry Morgentaler for the Order of Canada. Dr. Morgentaler was an early and tireless advocate of choice in the abortion battles.

Dr. Morgentaler has been nominated twice already, and passed over both times. He has recently suffered a stroke and his health is failing. The Order of Canada cannot be awarded posthumously.

Read the article here:
http://tinyurl.com/3azcgg

Here's the urgent part. The Globe & Mail is conducting a poll on the question of whether Morgentaler should receive this award. So far, the 'no' side has received 34,030 votes, while the 'yes' side has only 5150.

Please cast your vote. Here is the URL:
http://tinyurl.com/2ahb8b

Thanks!

Florida still counts

2008-01-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you Dan Abrams!

finally, someone in the political media who has noticed the (not-so) subtle smearing of Senator Clinton....cheap shots, condescending statements, remarks that diminish her campaign and her career.... and then ignoring her huge win in Florida?!

The excuse presented by the pundit pack is that Clinton's win doesn't matter because there weren't any delegates awarded.

So what? there were hardly any delegates awarded in Iowa or New Hampshire, but those races were covered with breathless, microscopic analysis. In fact there have been polls that got more attention and discussion by the Pundit Pack than Hillary's Florida win. Considering the voters in Florida had to do a little more than merely answer some questions from a pollster, surely their expressed preferences deserve attention when the Pack is braying about momentum and trends.

Jeez. I didn't really have a preference for any of the Democratic front runners -- just looking forward with great anticipation and bated breath to the end of the Bushista era -- but the way the media has been treating Hillary Clinton has pushed me firmly into her camp.

FWIW.

Pot, Kettle, Ted

2008-01-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

How interesting that Ted Kennedy has decided to “turn the page” on the divisive politics of the past... a past he's a big part of.

I wonder if he’s ready yet to shake Jimmy Carter’s hand? That was one of the nastiest ,most divisive Democratic primaries ever, and when the convention confirmed Carter, Teddy couldn’t bring himself to make even a token show of support for the sake of unity.

And now he’s lecturing Bill Clinton?! Unbelievable...except, most people seem to buy into it. Oh well. Repeat something often enough, and people will believe it to be true.

Really, what race issue?!

2008-01-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

I like all the Demo frontrunners, but I'm getting a little tired of the demonizing of Hillary and/or Bill Clinton...for, of all things, "injecting race" into the campaign?!

Oh, give me a break! while Obama carefully positions himself above the fray (somewhere between a pedestal and a halo), his surrogates have been all over TV, asserting that they are shocked -- outraged! that anyone would mention race.

Excuse me. Isn't that one reason Barak Obama has ignited such excitement? Yes, he's a mesmerizing orator and charismatic campaigner and a savvy politician -- but hasn't the media been trumpeting for months now that Barak Obama is the first African-American candidate with a real shot at the White House?

Ever since before the Iowa caucus I'd been reading/hearing the endless analysis about how South Carolina's black voters would probably vote for Obama.

And heck, why shouldn't they? I don't think it means they are voting "against" Clinton, any more than women who vote for her are "against" Obama. When there are very small differences among the Democratic candidates on the issues, people will tend to vote for someone they can identify most with -- the younger black man, the boomer white woman, the populist white guy.

That isn't a sign of a yawning racial divide, except when the media tries to make it one, and the credulous believe them.

Media makes mountains out of muddy molehills

2008-01-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

I've been following the coverage of the primary campaign at first with interest and now with increasing disgust, as the pundits gleefully make mountains out of muddy molehills in the whole Clinton-Obama thing.

I watch the clips, I hear the ads re-played on different political shows [Hardball, Countdown] and all I see is some tough campaigning and a bit of bickering.

So it's a real surprise to then hear the pundits ranting about how this will tear the Democratic party apart! how can they possibly unite again after all the dirty politics, mudslinging, race-baiting, blah-blah.

"Dirty politics" are lies and character assassination, i.e. the Swiftboating against Kerry.
It's breaking and entering, i.e. Watergate.

The sniping between Clinton and Obama? is just campaigning -- it would barely register if the media didn't make such a big hoo-hah about it.

I've actually been impressed that the Democratic frontrunners have said such nice things about each other on occasion, considering they're all competing for the same job.

It's a campaign. They are competitors. They *should* draw comparisions and distinctions.
They *should* call each other out on half truths or misleading accusations.

But they shouldn't have to go around and around in circles over the same relatively insignificant comments just b/c the media keeps analyzing it ad nauseum.

It would be really helpful to the electorate if journalists could focus on the policy issues and plans presented by the candidates, instead of drumming up a phony frenzy.

The "race issue" wasn't one until after New Hampshire, when the pundit pack started wondering, endlessly and almost unanimously, about the so-called Bradley Effect -- just a theory, unproven (and maybe unprovable), but suddenly everything from the Clinton camp that could be interpreted as less than positive about Barak Obama was labeled racism.

Just FYI, I'm a Barak fan, but I like all the Demo candidates, and I'll be happy to vote for any of them. But I'm still trying to understand how Bill Clinton saying it would be a "gamble" to vote for Barak Obama because he has less experience than Hillary, could possibly be considered racist....

...whereas Obama can suggest that he'd need to see Bill Clinton dance before he could fairly evaluate whether Bill is a "brother."

Now, that was a very funny comment, imo (and by the way, I'd pay big bucks to see *that* dance contest! the Democrats should consider it as a possible fundraising event) -- but wasn't Obama making a direct link between race and a racial stereotype? (i.e. blacks are good dancers)

Can you imagine the uproar if someone from the Clinton camp said anything like that?

I realize analyzing the nuances of economic proposals or health care plans or mid-East policy requires much more thought than just repeating the same blather about strategy and is Bill hurting Hill and should Barak have gotten down off his pedestal to reveal (gasp!) he's a politician! etc. etc. etc. -- for one thing, such analysis doesn't lend itself readily to endless sports metaphors.

But I wish the political shows would leave the exaggerations and blowhard stuff to Fox Noise.

Oh, and would someone PLEASE retire the oh-so-cute references to "singing Kumbaya"!? It was clever and amusing and apt the first 5 or 10 times it was used, but now it's really, really stale. Find something new.

What's up, Doc?

2006-12-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

With all the trauma going on in the world, in order to maintain sanity it can be vital to just kick back and laugh once in a while. With that in mind, enjoy the 50 Greatest Cartoons :-)

Evolution of Dance

2006-10-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sure, everyone has already seen this vid clip -- but it is so funny and so well-done it deserves another look. Check out the masterful gyrations and comic timing of comedian Judson Laipply as he demonstrates The Evolution of Dance: 50 years in 6 minues.

The Senator George Allen Insultinator

2006-10-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

In the past several months, Senator George Allen (R-Virginia, but hopefully not for much longer) has been performing with remarkable dexterity, inserting his foot in his mouth while simultaneously spewing his particular brand of ignorant racism far and wide -- all during a re-election campaign!

Blacks, Jews, people of color -- Allen has an insult for everyone! just take a spin on the Senator George Allen Insultinator (courtesy of the fine folks at Salon) for a taste of the Allen Attitude.

Allen's racist proclivities are nothing new but the fact that the coverage finally percolated into the national media is a relief to those people who long ago saw through Allen's phony "Virginia Country Boy" schtick (he was raised rich and privileged in California, which might still be a shock to those credulous local voters who bought into his "I'm just a nice simple country boy like y'all" routine).

There was the "mohawk-macaca" flap, wherein Allen called an opponent's campaign volunteer by a racial slur -- then claimed he'd really said "mohawk" because of the guy's haircut (which wasn't) -- and then said he'd just "made up" the word and had NO idea that it was really a deragatory term used towards people of color in the French-Colonial region of Mediterranean North Africa! and it was only a coincidence that Allen's own mother is of French-Tunisian descent, and presumably was familiar with the term and perhaps it is not inconceiveable that she used it around the impressionable Allen often enough for him to dredge it up and casually and publicly insult a young man of Indian descent (who, by the way, happens to be a native Virginian, which is more than Allen can claim).

Speaking of Allen's mother, there was also the revelation that she was Jewish, which apparently was a shock to Allen. His defensive reaction was bewildering and creepy -- asserting vehemently that he'd been raised Christian and liked ham sandwiches.

Ooooo-kay...... and then that was followed by the story of the fun 'n' games with other good ol'boys, in college and on hunting trips, and did he or did he not ever use the "n" word? and how and why did a deer head end up in the mailbox of a black family?

Senator Allen might possibly be the one Republican in Congress right now who is relieved to see the national media spotlight turned to focus on the smarmy escapades of Congressman Mark Foley (R-Florida) and the revelations of the dishonest, rampantly hypocritical, politically self-serving cover-up led by the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois).

Attention voters: will you please get rid of these guys?

Virtuoso juggling!

2006-09-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Just for fun and because it's impressive and delightful: check out Chris Bliss and his amazing juggling routine.

Congressional Salaries

2006-09-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

What a great site Legistorm is! at last, information on Congressional staff salaries, which used to be accessible to the public only in D.C., is finally available on-line, for free!

Hmm, interesting -- Senator George Allen (R), whose severe case of foot-in-mouth disease may finally induce fed-up Virginians to give him the boot, paid speechwriter Todd Weiner $2000 in September...guess that's the going rate for trying to spin racist and ignorant commentary by the Senator...

My favorite was the explanation by the Senator's staff that, when Allen called a young man from the opposition campaign "Macaca" he really said "Mohawk" -- because the kid had a mohawk-style haircut.

Not because the Virginia-native college student was of Indian heritage, and "macaca" is a common Mediterranean-North African racial slur for those with brown skin, which Allen might reasonably be expected to know, as his own mother was from French Colonial Tunisia.

No, it was the haircut. And "mohawk" and "macaca" sound SO much alike!

Nice try.

Bush on Global Warmings....

2006-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

...or to be more precise, Will Ferrell's inspired rendition of Bush on global warmings[sic].

Visit the Pres as he hangs out on his ranch! be awed by his athletic prowess and fast reflexes! See why he's afraid of books with 'facts'! You'll laugh! you'll cry!

Test Your T.Q.

2006-07-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

OK, this is just fun....look at the 11 photos and match them with their location.

http://www.whirlpad.com/test/tq/

Yes, they are photos of toilets.

No, the "T" in "T.Q." doesn't stand for "toilet," it stand for "travel."

The fun-loving folks at WhirlPad have come up with this rigorous scientific test to determine travel knowledge (or guesswork abilities)

I don't mean to brag, but I will, with my score of 152 :-)

(and I haven't even been to most of these places, and now that I've seen
their facilities I don't want to go...)

"Do you feel loquacious? ..."

2006-07-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

".....Well, do you, punk?!

The winners of the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest have been announced.
The contest honors the absolute worst opening paragraph for a novel in several categories (the title quote is a sample) Congratulations to the winners -- it takes some good writers to create such fabulously dire paragraphs.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

2006-05-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Now, from the producers of the tender love story, Must Love Jaws,
comes the high school comedy 3,000 years in the making.....

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

Coming soon to a theater near you.....if only :-)

Look Who's Looking

2006-05-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Kinda neat: Google has a new search toy, Google Trends. You can look up who's looking at what, where.

For example: Who's looking for love? According to Google Trends, that would be Philadelphia, which searches the term "love" more than any other city. Maybe that's because Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, or there are a lot of Courtney Love fans in Philly? Who knows, but Philadelphians search for love (at least on Google) more than people in LA or Sydney or Houston or Seattle.

Now let's look up "wasting time...." And....it's Rochester by a long shot, beating out 2nd place 'wasting time' searches from....Philadelphia! Maybe if Philadelphia wasn't wasting so much time searching for love it could take the lead away from Rochester.

Anyway, you get the idea. Have fun :-)

Colbert Skewers Press Corps

2006-05-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colbert was in fine form at the White House Correspondent's Dinner on April 29th. The Comedy Central pseud0-pundit, in his guise of a right-wing administration supporter, lavished (or ravished) the Shrub with obsequious mock praise, complimenting the President for ability to maintain unswerving (i.e. stubborn) beliefs simply by disregarding inconvenient, contradictory facts.

Colbert's sharpest barbs, however, were aimed at the White House press corps -- that elite pack of journalists who have, with only a few exceptions, spent the past 6 years in servile pandering to the Bush White House. Colbert begs Bush to consider him for press secretary, saying he'd be "perfect for the job -- I have nothing but contempt for these people" [the White House press gang].

And then he rolls the 'audition tape' -- skewering a spiritless, somnolent press corps, which only starts to ask the hard questions when the indomitable Helen Thomas pipes up with "Every reason you've given turned out not to be true -- Why did you really want to go to war in Iraq?"

Good question.

Got answers? Got 23 minutes? want to laugh? maybe cry? check out C-SPAN's video of Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

The Heat Is On

2006-05-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sneak peek here at "An Inconvenient Truth," a Paramount film based on Al Gore's awesome multimedia presentation on global warming. Preview audiences have been moved to tears by the film, which also presents one of the clearest explanations of global warming.
"Take the Pledge" to see the film on opening weekend, May 26th - 28th.

I'm the Decider (Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo...)

2006-04-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

All together now! a rousing chorus of Bush the Decider:

"I am me and Rummy's he, Iraq is free and we are all together
See the world run when Dick shoots his gun, see how I lie
I'm Lying... "

"Sitting on my own brain, waiting for the end of days
Corporation profits,
Bloody oil moneyI'm above the law and I'll decide what's right or wrong
I am the Egg Head...
I'm the Commander...
I'm the Decider! Koo-Koo-Kachoo ....."

And that's only the first verse...Click here for more of the song :-)

Demagogues, not underdogs

2006-04-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo tired of that particular breed of self-proclaimed Christians-with-a-capital-C who preach intolerance and bigotry and hatred, grabbing more and more power, and still complain loudly about being 'under attack.'

Bill Maher put it pithily with his recent bit on HBO the other night [March 31, 2006]:

People who run everything can't complain that they're underdogs. To whit, this week, there was a highly-attended conference in Washington called "The War on Christians." Because nothing quite says "I'm oppressed," like the opulent Regency Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel.'

and:

....'Thomas Jefferson called the type of Christian who trumpets his own belief in the divinity of Jesus rather than the morality of Jesus "pseudo-Christians." And that's who's running our country today. And since they thrive so much on turning water into "whining"—and get off on their endless pretend persecution, this Easter season, let's give them what they want. Let's go to the zoo, get some lions, and feed them Tom DeLay.'

Heh. Now, there's a way for Tom DeLay -- one of the nastiest politicos to ever stalk the corridors of power -- to demonstrate his oft-vaunted Christianity. Very traditional, and facing down a lion would be much more convincing than his nauseatingly sanctimonious assertion that he sought guidance from the Lord regarding his decision to drop out of the race his poll numbers showed he was losing.

Check out the full transcript of Maher's monologue.

Road hogs

2006-04-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Chevrolet's online ad contest unleashed some creativity they didn't expect.
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6056633.html?tag=ne.vid

Chevrolet provided the background images, and asked consumers to create ad content for its Chevy Tahoe SUV. The contest attracted a flood of satire ads and the wrath of Chevrolet.

The rules say any attempt to "undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws."

Hmm, I wonder which laws those would be? something that supersedes the 1st Amendment?

Anyway, here are some Tahoe clips from the contest you won't see on TV.

Quick, watch them before they're yanked!
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6056633.html?tag=ne.vid

Once in a lifetime

2006-04-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Worth staying up late for?

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning, the time and date will be

01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't happen again in any of our lifetimes.

Thank you...
You may now return to your (normal?) life.

Pentagon delays - Troops die

2006-02-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

A new, high-tech vehicle that destroys roadside bombs has passed a series of military tests, but still hasn't been sent into battle, thanks to bureaucratic delays at the Pentagon and Department of Defense. (See LA Times report February 10, 2006 by Mark Mazzetti)

More than half of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq have been caused by the makeshift (but devastatingly effective) bombs known as IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

Two years ago, the top commander in the Middle East, General John Abizaid, called for the development of a "Manhattan Project" to address the deadly problem.

A remote-control vehicle called the JIN (Joint IED Neutrlizer) has finally been built -- the prototype knocked out 90% of the bombs in testing -- and yet still the Pentagon delays deployment, claming that more testing is necessary.

Why? it works NOW! Why not send a bunch of these life-saving vehicles to protect our troops in the field NOW? If the thing needs some refinements, fine, tinker around with it some more -- but meanwhile use the prototypes we've got! It's already 90% effective, it could save a lot of our troops from being blown up by bombs in paper bags.

The Pentagon brass is harrumphing that Iraq isn't "the place to test unproven technology" [Army Brigadier General Dan Allyn, deputy of the IED task force] -- funny how they don't mind sending unproven troops to be shredded by makeshift bombs.

The Marines got impatient, jumped the testing schedule, and sent some JINs to the Anbar province in western Iraq. They used the JIN vehicle in combat situations, and it worked.

What is the Pentagon waiting for?

Bush-Speak Review

2006-02-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the the top Bush-isms of 2005

(These would be funnier if we could only dismiss Bush as an idiot -- unfortunately he's the leader of the free world.....)

1. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." To FEMA director Michael Brown, who resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his handling of the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Mobile, Alabama, Sept 2, 2005

2. "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." Explaining his Communications strategy. Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

3. "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" A note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting. September 14, 2005

4. "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005

5. "In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible - whatever that means." On his timeframe for Social Security Legislation. Washington D.C., March 16, 2005

Bonus: "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." On Illegal Immigrants or Undocumented Workers Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005

You Go Girl

2006-02-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

Republican Representative Heather Wilson, whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency, broke ranks with the White House and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

The congresswoman, who is a veteran and was a member of the first President Bush's national security council, told the New York Times, "The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too." She's the first Republican on either the House or Senate Intel committee to call for an investigation, though she doesn't have the power to start one.

Full story here.