Sunday, October 31, 2004
E Street Veterans for Truth
Link:
...While the real E-Street Band toured the nation and recorded countless hit records and CD's, this Springsteen imposter was wasting time racing in the street, stranded in the jungle, looking for work in refineries and taking a piss at fortune's sweet kiss.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
The Osama Factor
Here's the best summary I've seen of how the Osama tape fits into the puzzle of this election.
Right on the money, I'm afraid (emphasis added):
The only thing that keeps a clear majority of us from recognizing Bush as the worst president in memory is that history has graced him with such an ugly adversary. Bush hasn't had to do anything well. All he's had to do is point out that he's on your side and that the guy on the other side is a mass-murdering lunatic.
For a blissful month and a half, we managed to cut through that shtick and notice how badly Bush has run the country. Now Bin Laden has brought the shtick back. Bush can talk about his values instead of his record. He can stop running against John Kerry and go back to running against people who hate America and murder children.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Vote suppression: Their only hope
Rove and the Rethuglicans are proving themselves capable of astonishing things in their last-minute desperation, but this one (found on Kos) stands out.
Friday cat-blogging
I understand all the cool-kid bloggers indulge in Friday cat-blogging. (NYTimes link, might require you to sign-up for a free login).
Here's a shot of our younger cats, tuff grrl Myra (L) and daddy's girl Pearl, when they were kittens.
Awwwwww!
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Happy Birthday Tom!
Sorry Tom, I forgot to note your birthday yesterday. Welcome to the mid-forties club! Bifocals are just around the corner...
Tom is our good friend, cat nanny, house-sitter, realtor, sometimes-roommate, poker/chess/disc-golf champion, shotgun road companion, sailing crewman, and an all-around good guy. We're lucky to know him.
Come home Bill Buckner, all is forgiven
Just wait till THIS year!
Congratulations to the Sox and their lovely and talented fans, especially Mrs. Joesblog. They couldn't have done it without you.
I've become a naturalized citizen of Red Sox Nation by marriage, so I'm happy too. I must say though, one reason I'm glad they finally won is so I don't have to feel sorry for a team that fields a playoff contender worth rooting for every year. I can save my sympathy now for teams that rarely even get close, like the Rangers and Cubs.
But you still have to admire the way the Sox did it. Letting the Yankees get within three outs of the World Series, then turning them into the biggest chokers in the history of baseball: priceless. Exposing A-Rod as an overpaid playoff bust: priceless. An AL team winning with pitching: amazing and priceless.
Breaking a hex during a lunar eclipse, while Stephen King is writing a book about your season: spooky and priceless.
And since everything has to be about the election... Giving us a good omen for another high-profile Bostonian next Tuesday: priceless.Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Why the Internet is Great
Reason 101:
There's a site devoted to the strategy and culture of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Since everything has to be about the election right now (mustn't lose focus!) I should mention that I found that link in a Slate article on how mathematical game theory applies to Kerry's and Bush's campaign choices this week.
I have a weakness for laymen's-level discussions of game theory. Much of it is counter-intuitive, but upon reflection it makes much sense (while still being far over my head). It provides useful guidance for situations from rock-paper-scissors to electoral vote pursuit.
Interesting point from the Slate piece:
Hey, I can be irrational! Anyone up for a game of Texas Hold 'Em?...Rational behavior tends to be predictable, and in a game of strategy,
predictability will leave you with a decided disadvantage.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Find your own joke in this headline...
...perhaps something about Bush in the National Guard?
From NewScientist.com:
Brain Cells In A Dish Fly Fighter Plane
An array of rat brain cells has successfully flown a virtual F-22 fighter jet. The cells could one day become a more sophisticated replacement for the computers that control uncrewed aerial vehicles or, in the nearer future, form a test-bed for drugs against brain diseases such as epilepsy.
SF Mayor's Wife Is Very, Very Accomplished
You really can't make this stuff up. Viva Democrats!
I understand why the Dems think they have to imitate the Republicans on family values stuff, but sometimes I wonder if they'd be better off just admitting that they're more open-minded. Most Americans are too.
Just a little fantasy of mine.
Along with my new one about the SF major's wife...
Des Moines Register
Excerpt from their Kerry endorsement (found on Andrew Sullivan's blog):
Yes, Kerry is liberal. But what's to fear from a liberal president? That he would run big deficits? That he would increase federal spending? That he would expand the power of the federal government over individuals' lives? Nothing Kerry could do could top what President Bush has already done in those realms.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
What's Really Happening
This election is too important and too close to trivialize what little influence we've each got left with a protest vote. It might have been understandable in 2000, after 8 years of prosperity and slow social progress, to cast a protest vote against the major parties, and to support a new party with an alternative vision to the shortsighted bland corporate uniformity that has drained the meaning from so much of our lives.
Understandable, but tragically wrong. We and the world will long be paying the price of our collective gamble on whether the presidency, and our role in filling it, was relevant any more. Turns out it was. Turns out, people who say the candidates are all the same, so might as well go for someone new or whomever you'd want over for dinner, are liars or at best seriously deluded.
Most rational progressives understand this. Former hero Ralph Nader has made himself a pariah by willfully, obtusely refusing to see it. Committed lefties like Michael Moore have gone so far as to support Wesley Clark, and then Kerry, anyone who might have a shot at stopping the ongoing disaster. Everyone understands we have to keep our eye on the ball this time around.
Having said that...
The most far-reaching and frightening political development in our lifetimes is even bigger than this election, bigger than the current economic situation, bigger than the threat of foreign and domestic terrorism. The Democrats are as affected by it as anyone and are certainly doing little about it. The press is no help whatsoever.
Eventually (not right now!), with the Dems or without them, we have to figure out what to do about the corporate takeover of politics in America.
I'll never cease to be amazed at how otherwise-rational people can be made to vote against their own economic interests by red-herring issues like gay marriage, school prayer, abortion, and now fear of terrorists. The corporate interests that increasingly govern our lives and set the limited options that remain to us have learned to use the media to sway socially-conservative voters to vote against their own well-being.
If you are inclined to vote for the candidate most against gay marriage and most tough-talking on defense, your candidate will surely also be for corporate breaks that end up raising your taxes, and for gutting of health and safety regulations that make your kids safer, and for taking away your right to sue a company that runs roughshod over you.
Why do those positions all have to go together? It might have something to do with the ease of convincing some people that things that are inconvenient for corporations are bad for them too.
It helps to be with those folks on issues they're emotional about. Most corporate honchos couldn't care less about abortion, unless fetuses could be sold at a profit. But if backing an anti-abortion candidate also gets them someone who will be with them on deregulation and tort reform, then guess who they're for?
Take a very brief step back from the current election (mustn't get distracted!), to be reminded by Molly Ivins of what's really going on, and what is at the root of our current political dilemma:
There used to be two basic remedies that the citizen had against an evil-doing corporation. One was government regulation -- the government had the power to step in and stop its depredations, whether against public health, public safety or the environment. But now the government is effectively a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate power, in the hands of people to whom "regulation" is a dirty word. The Republicans took over Congress promising to drastically reduce the terrible "burden of regulation" that afflicts our poor corporations.
A citizen's other option was to use his Constitution-given right to sue the slime balls. If a corporation sold you something that killed your child or dumped its toxic waste in your backyard, you could get your day in court. But now the corporations are mounting an all-out assault on this remedy as well. They spend millions to influence public opinion in favor of "tort reform," a charming euphemism that simply means "citizens lose their rights," particularly our right of access to our own courts.
None of this is to say that corporations are intrinsically evil. They are simply legal entities to create profits, and they are genetically programmed, as it were, to increase profits -- increasingly in the short term. This is neither good nor evil -- it simply is.
The question is what we the people, who have spent more than 200 years working slowly toward greater liberty and justice for all, should do with these powerful entities now shaping our lives and our polity. Corporations are not concerned with economic justice or with social justice -- it's not their job. It is our job. And we need to start thinking hard about how we integrate these strange legal entities into the scheme.
Red Sox Watch
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Los Lonely Boys
If you haven't bought a new CD in a while you might want to check out Los Lonely Boys. Sort of a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughan and Los Lobos, with maybe a little Santana and Hendrix in the mix.
The brothers Garza are from San Angelo, TX, out in the general area I hail from, and one of them is a dead ringer for my favorite old college roommate so I might be biased. I still think most people I know would love this CD though. (And hey, it's on sale!)
We caught them at the State Fair last week, where I got some decent pix. They were as great live as in the studio. Check them out if they come to town.
The Old Rugged Crossfire
If you haven't seen Jon Stewart administer an epic ass-whippin to Tucker "Sucker" Carlson and Paul Begala last Friday on CNN, don't deny yourself.
The funniest part is, these guys are so clueless about their own mediocrity they don't even realize that The Daily Show isn't there to satirize politicians. Politicians are only an incidental target. The show is a satire of the media, in particular self-absorbed blowhards like Carlson.
Possibly even funnier was Stewart's follow-up on his own show last Monday. "Tomorrow I'll go back to being funny, but you'll still blow."
Triumph in Spin Alley
I'm not that big of a Conan fan, but I love the dog. He should have his own show.
Follow the mirror links from this Wonkette item to get to the clip. Warning: may induce incontinence.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Absurd quote of the year
From The Note:
... corporate spokesguy Eric Anderson regarding his company pulling ads from Sinclair stations:
"Burger King wants to maintain neutrality during this election."
Well thank goodness for that.
The Sinclair Broadcasting smackdown has been a beautiful thing. Someone pointed out that Sinclair isn't listening to us; they're listening to Wall Street, who is listening to us. It ain't over, but the coordinated effort has been effective for once.
U.S. finishes a 'strong second' in Iraq war
Back from the dead
OK, so that little blog-break lasted longer than I meant to. Vacation, too much work waiting for me when I got back, yada yada.
Also, when we left in early September Bush was on the ropes. We got back, Kerry had somehow become a lost cause. I was too depressed to even read about politics, much less talk about it. Things are better now.
Last, it would be nice if I could keep up the posting pace I was keeping before, but I'm too dang busy. It'll be easier to maintain this pleasant hobby if I don't try to put something up every day.
Thanks to those who inquired. You suggested an interesting question: If I really had died, would this site have just stayed out there forever, frozen as-is? It's gonna happen someday...
