Prince Charles pulls a 'Bush-Cheney', bigtime.

During the most awkward photo-op I've ever seen- he and his sons lounge on a rock about 15 feet away from the press- Prince Charles let slip his true feelings about the paparazzi in general, and one reporter in particular. 'Bloody people. I can't bear that man, he is so awful, he really is.', said Charles. Not at all surprisingly, the press's microphones- since, remember, the press isn't allowed within spitting distance- picked up his remarks.

Don't cry for me, Argentina

So, what about the political implications of this whole situation? My Democratic friends have been happily insinuating that the Terri case may permanently split the Republican party, between the religious conservatives and the small government libertarians. I don't think that's going to happen, at least not any time soon, and here's why:

The 'Right' is the only side debating anything and this is no different. The last election saw us debating gay marriage, abortion, immigration, the war and a myriad of other issues and deciding how Bush fit into our personal equations, while Democrats did their best to pretend John Kerry was their dream candidate.

The 'Left' has a much more dire situation than we do. They are supposedly for gay marriage, except that none of their leaders feel the same way and when 'blue' states like Oregon get to vote on the issue, they knock it way down. They are supposedly pro-choice but anyone on the (D) side that wants to run for president has to make the usual 'I personally....' comments against abortion. They are against the war, but most of their leaders voted for it. They are against the Patriot Act but nearly all of their leaders voted for it. They are against the No Child Left Behind act but many of their leaders voted for it. There's no debate on the left, the people decide what they want and then the leaders they choose do the politically expedient opposite.

So, save the glee that a Republican split is coming. It may be, but as I've written before, it will be at the expense of the Democratic party's existence. Yesterday's editorial in the NY Times by Bill Bradley (a great read, by the way), describing the Democrats' reliance on 'the promise of a charismatic leader who can change America by the strength and style of his personality' reminded me of my graduate thesis on Third Parties. That's exactly the way most Third Parties have functioned in the last century. They sprung up around charismatic leaders and would disappear a few years later, unable to sustain the momentum without their chief. If the Republican party does split, one side will pick up conservative, protectionist Democrats while the other will pick up socially liberal, free-marketeers. Democrats can hope for the Republican split, but should understand the consequences.

R.I.P Mrs. Schiavo

A good friend of mine recently married a friend to let him stay in the country. They had an engagement party. They got married, didn't tell her family, and then went home to their respective apartments. If something would happen to her, this man would have control over her fate.

A friend's sister got married. She had work to tie up at her job and her husband went ahead to Europe where they would meet to honeymoon. On the flight over, he met a woman for whom, a year later, he would leave his wife.

Somewhere between 40-50% of marriages end in divorce in America. I know that people get estranged from their parents or siblings, I haven't spoken to my own father in years, but I would wager it isn't half the country.

I realize it is tradition for a spouse to take control, but I feel like we have to face reality: marriage isn't what is used to be. There are often heard stories of 'starter' marriages, unions that last only a few years and produce no children. Infidelity is so common in certain communities that no one blinks an eye. Divorce has gotten so easy that I've actually heard people take the marriage leap with the 'D' word on their tongue, just in case, you know.

I don't blame Michael Schiavo, and I don't think he killed his wife or just wanted her out of the picture so he could move on with his life. I think I know what Michael Schiavo wanted, closure or something like it. But, I have no idea what Terri Schiavo wanted and I wonder if a marriage in which a spouse has two children by someone else can even still be considered a marriage. And if it can, as it obviously was by the courts, what is marriage at all then?

Call me unromantic. Tell me I don't know. But the truth is, marriage is in crisis. It's time to reconsider whether a spouse, with a 50% chance of being an ex-spouse, should have the level of control that they currently do. I vote 'no'.

What am I doing wrong?

I will not rest until I make the NY Press '50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers' list. I want to be among Mr. Kim of Kim's Video, Yankee Alex Rodriguez and Nick Denton on this special list.

The remaining parts of the axis of evil just can't get along

Soccer: Iran wins amid riot in North Korea

Via Doug.

Words

Headline: Prison population in Iraq doubles in 5 months

The growth in the prison population has come amid a lingering insurgency in Iraq and despite the formal transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government last June.

I would've written that differently:

The growth in the prison population has come because of a lingering insurgency in Iraq and because the formal transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government last June has made cracking down on terrorists and criminals a priority.

Bringing out the big guns now

Laura Bush defends gov't role in Schiavo case

The trouble with Europe

We don't hate Jews....we just don't want to be anywhere near them.

More playlist help

Since everyone seemed to have a good time with the 'Gambling' playlist, I present another one. The theme is 'Lost People':

1. 'A Baltimore Love Thing'- 50 Cent
2. 'The State I Am In'- Belle&Sebastian
3. 'Poison Oak'- Bright Eyes
4. 'Atlantic City'- Bruce Springsteen
5. 'Isobel'- Dido
6. 'Famous Blue Raincoat'- Leonard Cohen
7. 'Small World'- Nas
8. 'She's a Star'- James
9. 'Hurt'-Johnny Cash
10. 'Underwear'-Pulp
11. 'Lipgloss'- Pulp
12. 'Exit Music (For a Film)- Radiohead
13. 'Bad Things To Such Good People- Pedro The Lion
14. 'Hard to Find A Friend'- Tom Petty
15. 'Poems'-Nearly G-d

Any other suggestions?

Turn $80 into $350 million in the stock market?

You're not Hillary, you're a time-traveler.

Update: Not everything on Yahoo News is real, this story is fake. Sorry.

NYC

I had dinner with famed commenter Von Bek on the upper west side a couple of hours ago. He's a real person, in NY on business and doesn't talk about James Polk as much as you'd think. He is also impeccably mannered, refusing to sit until I did, telling me I look as young as I did when he last saw me 3 years ago, and not pointing and laughing when I spilled my tea all over both of us. Coincidentally, Eric 'I hate everybody and everything' Deamer actually had a post about Von Bek today, apologizing to him, of all things.

I haven't written about the Saturday night blogger party, mostly because I haven't had time to catch my breath since then. Scott, Dawn and Dorian each make mention (I like Dorian's best, for obvious swollen-head reasons).

Nut flush

In the spirit of Dawn Summer's 'Hookers and Strippers' playlist on her ipod, I'm putting together a 'Gambling' playlist. Here's what I have so far:

1. Have a Lucky Day- Morphine
2. The Gambler- Kenny Rogers
3. Atlantic City- Bruce Springsteen (not exactly about gambling but he does cash out all his money and heads to AC)

I'm sure there are a million others so help me out.

Newsflash: President Bush and the Republican party aren't perfect

I know, I know, it's stunning news. I just recently found out the president can't walk on water. If I had known that before the election.....well, who knows, maybe I wouldn't have traveled across the country to work to elect him and instead would've voted for John 'I haven't had a solid position this entire election season and I don't ever intend to' Kerry.

Jeff Harrell has a must-read piece on the hand-wringing and back tracking happening by some Bush voters because they've found out that no leader is perfect, no party will represent all of their positions and -gasp, gasp- that politicians sometimes make political calculations.

Blogroll Update

-Remember those questions from a Canadian that I answered last week? They were written by Matthew Good and I've been on his site a lot since. Despite my deep irritation at the tone of his questions, and us having near nothing to agree on politically, he's not the worst and in the name of bridging some gap between right-wing Americans like myself and left-wing Canadians like him, I've added him to my blogroll in the 'international' section. He's started a conservative section of his blogroll and is open to adding blogs to it if people drop him an email, so go give him some other perspectives. I'm not the only one who is impressed that he did that. Each one, teach one, right?

-Another new addition to the international list is Julien of The Point. Julien is a French conservative. I often complain about being so outnumbered in NYC. Well, I can imagine it's so much worse for Julien. So go visit and wish him well.

-Wes Roth does the Roth Report, a Drudge-like news compilation site. He also aggregates several blogs.

-Two people that I met in DC at CPAC that I've been meaning to add to the blogroll, both in the DC section, are Cam Edwards and Jim Geraghty of TKS.

-I'm also adding Hit&Run to the DC section, mostly because Julian Sanchez blogs there and doesn't update his own site as much.

Update: Another international blogger who I thought was taking a blogging break (checked a few times and no site was up so I took the link down) is back on the roll: I love America.

My personal last word on Terri

I don't have the capacity to think any more about Terri Schiavo. I have been spared most of the mania because I don't watch TV but bloggers have, obviously, been all over this story and I feel like I have little to add. I'm pro-tubist because I think starving a woman to death is never the right thing to do, not because Jesus tells this Jewish woman that that's the right thing to do.

I have even less patience for the hysteria coming from some quarters that religious fanatics are at the helm of the Republican party. Again, I am not religious yet have come to the same conclusion as the people standing watch outside Terri's room: this woman should not be killed. It's not that complicated. We don't starve dogs, we don't starve killers, why are we starving her? Like I asked a few days ago, what kind of people are we?

Anyway, two of the funniest writers around, Jeff Goldstein and Mark Steyn have excellent, serious pieces on the subject. Jeff is on the political implications while Steyn writes about things that are wrong even when not illegal. Must reads.

I already have one of those, it's called a 'remote'

Drudge: Man Sells Device That Blocks FOX NEWS...

All about perspective

Me (to the usually contact-lensed Peter): Your glasses make you look like a dork.
Peter: That's funny, they make you look like a cute girl instead of a red blur.

Blogger Party, tonight.

8pm, Manhattan Lounge, Second Avenue between East 89+90th streets. All are welcome.

Can a non-religious conservative and a religious liberal be friends?

I'd vote no but I think I'm stuck with her.

Hysteria

'I've been reading and hearing, ever since W's reelection, that the RELIGIOUS RIGHT is in control. The populous is under the thrall of the bible thumpers (of course, not the liberals, who take their anti-thrall medicine, and are the only ones able to avoid the zombie-like affects of the religious right's rhetoric.)'

-Carin at 'Is this blog on' has got a short list of impressive accomplishments proving the relgious right's influence.

Because it worked so well for Zimbabwe

Leader of Venezuela, and hero to leftists everywhere, Hugo Chavez is pulling a Mugabe and redistributing land. What is it about Communist countries that they feel they need to starve large segments of their populations with every wacky new initiative?

Leonard Cohen's 'The Future' reminds me of Terri Schiavo (or 'playing name that tune with strangers online')

I was playing poker online tonight (the free kind before anyone stages an intervention) and a guy kept writing what seemed like jibber jabber.

He wrote: 'Destroy another fetus now. We don't like children anyhow. I've seen the future brother; it is murder' Nobody responded and I thought it was a pro-lifer doing some preaching. But, in an online poker room? That's odd.

Then he wrote 'Things are gonna slide, slide in all directions. Won't be nothin, nothin you can treasure anymore.'

Maybe a Schiavo reference? Has discussion of the situation in Florida reached such saturation that poker isn't even safe from it? Then he wrote 'The vision; the vision of the world has crossed the threshold. And, it's overturned the order of the soul.'

Heyyyyy, I know that line.

karol: are you singing Leonard Cohen?

him: 'You'll see a woman hangin upside down. Her features covered by her fallen gown.'

him: 'And, all those lousy little poets comin round; tryin to sound like Charlie Manson.'

him:'You don't know me from the wind. You never will. You never did. I'm the little man who wrote the Bible. I've heard your stories; heard them all. I've seen your nations rise and fall. But, loves the only engine of survival'

him: 'And, now the wheels of heaven stop. You feel the Devil's riding crop. Get ready for the future; it is murder.'

him: 'When they said, "Repent, repent", I wondered what they meant.'

him: you were first at any site, any level to recognize lenny! god bless ya

him: ny sophisticate

karol: ha

him: gotta go but foist...recognize this guy?

him: 'When we meet again; introduced as friends...please don't let on that u knew me when: I was hungry, and it was ur world?'

him: got him?

karol: yes

karol: Bob Dylan

karol: 'If you see her, say hello'

him: excellent!

him: they are both in the norton anthology of modern american poetry

All that space in my brain being occupied by lyrics could really be better utilized.

'Name-calling just makes you one of the clowns.'

I was going to write about Andrew Sullivan's deep concern about the schism in the Republican party, as it relates to the Schiavo case with small government conservatives v. social conservatives, but Glenn Reynolds gets it exactly right and I have nothing to add.

I've got bad news

The new 50 Cent album, The Massacre, is mediocre. How sad. Well, at least he's still (very) nice to look at:

Not a trick question

You commit the 'crime' of blasphemy in one country and are arrested for it in another. Where are you?

'If you're not dead yet, please come in for an appointment'

Socialized medicine as practiced by our smarter, gentler neighbors to the north.

Just a late-night thought

One of the more amazing aspects of the Terry Schiavo case is the fact on display that the president of the United States, by some accounts the most powerful man in the world, can't pull any strings to save this woman's life. Those who worried that Bush was going to declare martial law and cancel elections, and even those who talk with a wink and a smile about the privileges of power, should be able to see clearly that America is a country where the president does not have any power he wants.

'In the middle of the bath I call your name'

Regular readers know I'm an anti-mushy kind of girl, but Petitedov just reminded me of one of my favorite love songs.

Judgment Day (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

"This member of the government, the court, the judiciary, was at first considered as the most harmless and helpless of all the government's organs, but it has proved that the power of declaring what the law is, by sapping and mining slyly and without alarm the foundations of the Constitution can do what open force would not dare attempt."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1825

The job of the court, according to the Constitution, was simply to apply the laws of the legislature to individual cases. So, how did we start at that time--when the job of the court was drawn vaguely and broadly, like the outline of Cartman on South Park--and arrive at a period of rampant judicial activism on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia?

It started--and forgive me for the backstory--with Marbury vs. Madison, a lawsuit brought to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, one of the fourty-two liberal judges appointed vindictively by John Adams, and rejected by the incoming president Thomas Jefferson, in the spring of 1801. The court ruled with a bizarre and confusing verdict. It effectively stated that it had no authority, under the Constitution, to hear the case in the first place; therefore, the congressional Judiciary Act which brought the case before the Supreme Court was "repugnant to the Constitution," or unconstitutional. In other words, in a power-grab of epic proportions, the judiciary conjured up a verdict that made the Supreme Court the final arbiter of the Constitution.

Today, the congressional Democrats--after four consecutive losing election cycles--are adopting the Marbury vs. Madison strategy of spiriting up rights and public policy from the judicial bench when it's impossible to enact them in Congress. This, of course, requires judges of the same ideological bent. So, the same senators who approved Anton Scalia in a vote of 98-0 have obstructed the Bush nominees to an extent almost, completely, unparalleled in congressional history.

Justice Scalia spoke about this phenomenon a few weeks ago at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and I caught some of his talk on The Rush Limbaugh Show: He took congressional Democrats to task for opposing the Bush nominees who refused to acknowledge "unenumerated" constitutional rights. Why, asked Scalia, did the states and the legislature add a Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, which promised women the right to vote? If "equal protection" could be widely interpreted--and applicable to any situation--then why did the legislature pass a Nineteenth Amendment?

His answer: It was a literal document. There were no secret rights encrypted in the Constitution. There was a Nineteenth Amendment because women's suffrage couldn't be inferred from the Constitution. That was the whole point of having a Constitution, he said. It enumerated our rights. The danger of a mystical interpretation of the Constitution was that it reflected the morality and the political agenda of the judge presiding over a particular case.

The boldest offender in this respect is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. It issues so many ridiculous and politically motivated verdicts that it finds itself overturned 85 percent of the time by the U.S. Supreme Court. Some of the greatest hits of the Ninth Circuit include the rulings that it is perfectly legal to finance and train terrorists--even terrorists openly targeting the United States--but illegal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, because it contains the words, "under God."

Of course, many of the rulings that we consider "judicial activism" are absurd, and somewhat entertaining: There was the Florida Supreme Court's interpretation of the words "seven days" to mean "seventeen days" during the recount in 2000. There was Doris Ling-Cohan's interpretation of the words "husband and wife" to mean "man and man" in the constitution of New York State. It's easy to forget, with amusement like this, that we are talking about serious things.

In the Terri Schiavo case, for example, the judiciary has taken a broader and more sinister power: it has--for the first time--mandated that someone, who is not a convicted felon, die from the slow and deliberate agony of a court-ordered famine. It is barbaric. And legal. And, it begs the question: How did something this awful become legally and morally defensible?

"The worst thing about the living Constitution," Scalia said in his talk at the Woodrow Wilson Center, "is that it will destroy the Constitution." Today, that remains my biggest concern for my own generation: that we will revise, and stretch, and interpret the Constitution until it's a shadow of itself and, eventually, it will not exist.

Google search of the day

Paging Von Bek

Everyone has already seen 'Million Dollar Baby,' Right? (by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

Well, in case you haven't, I'll post the rest below the line.

Apparently, Maggie's trainer didn't have to kill her. She had the right to ask the doctor to turn off her respirator.

In NY tonight?

Keep burning the candle at both ends and come out to the Archives Listening Project, 9pm, 12" Bar (179 Essex St, just below Houston).

QUOTE OF THE DAY (by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

``One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what is going on in America, that Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death ... This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others,''

-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas)

Indeed, exactly the same issue.

via Iocaste

Is there something in the water? (by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

Watching the gaggle of press covering protestors being arrested for attempting to hydrate Terri Schiavo, I can't help but feeling like Florida has become the media frenzy capital of the world.

In the past five years they have played host to:

The Elian riots

The 2000 Election fiasco

The shark attack summer

Arrest of the Governor's Daughter

Boy crashing stolen plane into building

Last year's Hurricane-polooza

and now this.

Sure, California tried to compete with its Scott Peterson/mudslide/Governor recall, but hands down, Florida's got them beat.

Thank goodness I live here, in the peaceful obscurity of New York City.

One of those Dawn Summers conversations.

Dawn Summers: I really need to be nicer. I've been horrifying friends when I say even a fraction of what I'm thinking. I think I'm giving up evil for Lent next year. And, of course, that'll mean no talking to you for 40 days.

Me: Me?! What did I do? I'm not evil! I'm sweetness and light.

Dawn: Yeah, but you're not sufficiently horrified by me.

Me: So I let you be yourself?

Dawn: Yeah, it's a problem.

Hi Canada. I'm doing great, thanks for asking.

A Canadian guy, Matthew Good, has some questions for America. Well, I've got some answers:

1) How come so many of your citizens thought that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11?

That would be because he did. By invading two countries during his reign, he forced a situation where the US would need to maintain a presence in the region. Our presence, in Saudi Arabia, is one of the key problems that bin Laden had with us. But you knew that. I mean, you're Canadian and therefore intellectually superior to Americans. I don't need to explain to you that war is complicated. 9/11 was an event in a series of events that led to war with Iraq. Just like the killing of the Archduke Ferdinand launched World War I without being the only reason for that war. See?

2) How come so many of your citizens know so little about other places? I’ve met a lot of Americans and only three of them knew that Ottawa was the capital of Canada, and most of them had college degrees.

How come people can only get away with making these kinds of ignorant observations about America and nowhere else? Do people in Mexico know more about Ottawa than Americans? Have you met people from Europe with an abundance of Ottawa knowledge? Maybe you just meet stupid Americans. They do exist, I bet with the same frequency as stupid Canadians. It might be time to switch up your social circle.

3) How come so many of your citizens know nothing about the history of US foreign and covert policy? Why aren’t they taught about American involvement in places like El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Iraq, Iran, and a very long list of other places around the world?

Again with the idiotic generalizations. I'm starting to feel insulted, Matthew, like you don't like us or something. I know plenty about American involvement in all of those places. Some of the involvement I cheer, some I do not. Did America side with bad people sometimes? Sure. Would I rather Communism was the dominant world philosophy right now? Yeah, not so much. Am I happy America kicked a little ass to proxy fight the Russians? You betcha. But hey, a question for you: why is it that in depth knowledge of covert American operations, particularly in central America, seems to be the signature education of America-haters?

4) How come most of your citizens supported the invasion of Iraq? Is it because they didn’t have all the facts or because they just wanted to see someone pay for 9/11 and were open to suggestions?

See, it's the way you're asking the questions that is the problem. It makes you come off as really full of yourself and kind of hateful and it makes me want to be mean to you. I'm guessing you and your friends get a big kick out of the 'stupid America' shtick but someone needs to tell you: your obsession with us gets a little old. We supported the Iraq war for many, many reasons. If you haven't heard of them, it's because you've chosen not to hear them.

5) After the world found out that there weren’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and President Bush announced that he was calling off the search for them, why didn’t your citizens demand that President Bush be impeached? After all, they tried to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job – and no one was even killed because of that.

See, it's nice that you give us a glimpse into your ignorance of us. Clinton was impeached for lying in a sexual harrassment suit. As for the weapons, personally I am concerned about their absence because I fear they will find us before we find them. I understand calling off the search. Our purpose is bigger than the weapons.

6) How come some Americans think these sorts of questions are bad?

It's not that the questions are bad, just that you come off as a pompous....well, it's a family blog, so let's just leave it at 'pompous'. You like feeling some kind of superiority and it shows in your questions. Again, I understand your jealousy and inferiority complex. If I had ended up in Ottawa instead of New York, I might've felt the same.

7) How come your citizens don’t care that the CIA and the Department of Defense don’t have to disclose information to them, even though the Constitution says that they do?

Dude, does Canada even have a constitution? Why are you so crazed with us, our laws and our traditions? What information should I be seeking from the CIA or DOD? We have representative governement so that I don't have to request information or keep up with various governmental agencies. Most people have lives, kids, car payments, responsibilities. Sorry we don't have the leisure time to wonder what the CIA is doing today.

8) You make more weapons than anyone else in the world. How come America?

Oh Canada. My father used to say to me 'I do things for you that you don't even know I'm doing'. It's exactly like that here. You guys want to exist as if there is no evil in the world, as if even in our lifetime we didn't see the ideology of evil (that would be Communism for those that aren't sure) spread and take over. You want to live like no one will ever hurt you. And you're lucky. You do get to live that way. But you shouldn't forget that your protection is something you never need to think about because your neighbor to the south has got your back.

9) How come it’s legal to own an assault rifle but two men or two women can’t get married?

Does that pass for intelligent thinking in Canada? In America we call that a non sequitur (look it up!). What does one thing have to do with another? It's like my asking 'How come Canada has gay marriage but no real economy?' I mean, both are legitimate questions but one has nothing to do with the other.

10) Why do you spend more money on defense than education and healthcare?

Because defense is nearly entirely paid for by the federal government while state governments pay into healthcare and education.

If you need to know anything else, feel free to ask. We Americans are just friendly like that.

If anyone wants to read the 'I'm sorry Canada, you are better than us really' version of the answers, it's here.

Blogger Party. Saturday,8pm. Upper East Side.

All are welcome but please RSVP as I have to give the bar an accurate-ish count.

Please post the button on your blog and invite your New York blogger friends.

Books.

I was starting to feel a little left out that no one had tagged me for that book meme (just because a girl listens to rap music doesn't mean she doesn't read) going around but now that I have been tagged, uh, well here are my answers:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I read this 10 million years ago and don't quite remember the premise. But, if I could be any book I guess I would be 'Girl' by Blake Nelson (don't see the movie, for the love of the lord, don't see the movie). I liked high school and it's about a girl who goes to see bands and dates different musicians. I don't know, sounds ok to me. Otherwise, I would love to be the real deal like Anais Nin or Dorothy Parker.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Probably not. Characters are usually disfunctional, that's what makes good reading, but I tend to stay away from those types of people for coupling. Sure, I loved Holden when I was 15, but a brooding, unstable dude running away from his life these days? No thanks.

The last book you bought is:
Jake bought me three fabulous books by Countess of Romanones Aline which I'm looking forward to reading.

The last book you read:
I read Hugh Hewitt's 'Blog' and Christopher Hitchens' 'Love, Poverty and War' at roughly the same time.

What are you currently reading?
I like to have one non-fiction and one fiction book going at the same time. Currently, it's two fiction and one non. A Dawn Summers recommendation, 'I know this much is true' by Wally Lamb, 'If it's not close they can't cheat' by Hugh Hewitt and The Portable Dorothy Parker. Then am getting started on the Countess of Romanones Aline books.

Five books you would take to a deserted island.
'Life After G-d' By Douglas Coupland. One of my favorite books. Its flaw is that it's very short and I've read it 5 million times.
A Russian-English dictionary. Yes, I'm co-opting this from Dawn but it's a good idea. If I've got nothing but time, may as well learn perfect Russian.
'War&Peace' by Leo Tolstoy. Hey it's long, I've never read it and I may as well get it in Russian since I'll have the dictionary there and all.
'Life is Elsewhere' By Milan Kundera. Kundera is my favorite writer, having never written anything that I did not enjoy. This is my favorite book by him.
The History of the World by J.M Roberts. I may as well get a long book about everything.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why

Ace, because when I told him about it he said 'please don't'. And, he hardly gives anything away about himself so maybe this will force him to.
Cathy Seipp, because she would probably have some interesting answers.
The boys from Slowplay, because I know what they play (poker), what they listen to (rap) but what do they read?

It's not because 'extra boyfriends' are in this season.

Can someone explain to me how this story, about a pregnant/engaged woman meeting and falling for another man, is in the NY Times Fashion&Style section?

Via Dawn Summers.

The unlovely Dawn Summers

Apparently, I overuse the word 'lovely'. I blame it on a few years of living in Britain ('Tea? That would be lovely.' 'We went out for a lovely Indian meal.' 'He's a lovely man.'), but really, doesn't this post just show Dawn's idle hands? Get this woman a job and quick! And a man! We can't take any chances.

Bring Me to Life (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

Wake me up inside
Call my name
And save me from the dark...
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become...
--Evanescence, "Bring Me to Life"

How did we get to the point, as a society, in which some of us oppose the death penalty for convicted felons, but support a two-week death sentence by starvation for an invalid named Terri Schiavo? The liberals and the "right-to-die" advocates talk about Terri as if she was Sonny von Bulow, who hasn't moved, spoken, or shown consciousness in the twenty-five years since she was, quite possibly, helped into a coma by her husband, Claus, as depicted in Reversal of Fortune.

Actually, quite to the contrary, Terri follows objects with her eyes, as many of us saw in that now-famous video of a broken woman following balloons across the ceiling. This has been called "random." But, if it is actually random, it would certainly be one heck of a coincidence that Terri just, randomly, happened to move her eyes in the same direction as a bunch of balloons at the exact moment they were moving across her bed.

For the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about that episode of ER in which Cynthia Nixon guest-starred as a middle-aged woman who suffered a stroke, and lost her speaking and movement skills. She tried to speak, but couldn't. She tried to write, but couldn't. She tried to breathe, but couldn't. They plugged her into a respirator. Her body was collapsed, and devastated, but she was alive. In a voice-over, she said that she was embarrassed about having her pants removed in the Emergency Room. Later, she worried that her kids would be stranded at school if nobody picked them up. And you know what? She got better. Why? Because she--unlike Terri Schaivo--got the medical attention she needed.

Terri is not, in fact, on a respirator. She is not mute. In fact, she makes painfully drawn out sounds, like the ones Matt Drudge posted in an audio clip on The Drudge Report. And, for all of this activity contrary to the idea of persistent vegetation, Terri has never--even once--been given a CAT scan. She has never been given an MRI. And, remarkably, she has never received any therapy whatsoever for physical rehabilitation. In our prison system, we pay for sex changes for convicted felons, but the sick--like Terri Schaivo--are thrown overboard.

Now, the clock is ticking, and Terri is abandoned by her husband, Michael, in the wilderness of her own mind, without food and water. So, I'm closing with a word for the 11th Circuit Court, and the Supreme Court, who might soon be asked to make a decision that is, literally, life and death: help Terri Schaivo die another day--like the rest of us--when our eyes shut and we fall asleep. Err on the side of life.

No, really this time.

So, the lovely C and I have been planning to plan to throw a blogger party. And, it was slow going with the dates and the places. But, I think we have a date now (this Saturday) and I am actively working on a location (which we should know today/tomorrow). Does that work for most people?

C designed this excellent graphic. Let us know if you can make it (leave a comment here or over at C's) and also click over there to get a button to post on your site. We appreciate you spreading the word.

You are what is wrong with this city.

I violently hate the NY City Council.

Quote of the Day

This is one of those cases that doubtless gets Thomas Frank's goat. (Look at all these silly working and middle class conservatives getting worked up about a pointless cultural issue!) But until the Democratic Party understands why an issue like this -- you know, life and death and all that jazz -- matters more to a lot of people than, say, defeating tort reform, they'll be pitching their tents in the political wilderness.

The architect and me

It's a really bad picture of me but I thought some people would get a kick out of this.

Tomorrow

A group called the Mayflower Compact, that aims 'to pick up the mantle of responsibility and leadership of an earlier era' and define 'a new vision for how to strengthen black families and black communities in this century' will be launching in DC tomorrow. If you're a blogger and would like to come cover it, drop me an email. I have a couple of friends marginally involved with the group but my personal interest in this is seeing a successful, black, conservative group take root.

Ruler of a decrepit country in South America v. the most powerful woman in America

John Hawkins cracks me up.

That was quick

March 8, 2005: PLAYGIRL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OUTS HERSELF -- AS REPUBLICAN...

March 21, 2005: 'PLAYGIRL' EDITOR FIRED AFTER OUTING SELF AS REPUBLICAN...

Request

Does anyone have an mp3 of Johnny Cash's 'The Man Comes Around' (the song, not the whole album) that they can email me? I would buy it on itunes, I really would, but they don't have it. And yes, I can (and probably will) buy the whole album but I just want it now.

Partial-Birth Abortion 'so-called' no more.

It's one of several new words being added to Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

Love on a Sunday

It's true. When I was a teenager, the love of my life was Lloyd Dobbler. I would quote 'Say Anything' all the damn time and wished I could give Lili Taylor's character love advice (rule #1: Joe will never love you back if you write and perform songs about him in public with titles like 'Joe Lies'). So, I love this piece about 'fake love' by Chuck Klosterman that I found via Ken Wheaton's phenomenal non-dating series.

Klosterman writes 'It appears that countless women born between the years of 1965 and 1978 are in love with John Cusack. I cannot fathom how he isn't the number-one box-office star in America, because every straight girl I know would sell her soul to share a milkshake with that motherfucker. For upwardly mobile women in their twenties and thirties, John Cusack is the neo-Elvis.'

As I wrote above, Lloyd Dobbler was the love of my life, operative word being 'was'. Who are these women that still dream of Lloyd and his boombox playing Peter Gabriel's 'In your eyes'? That stopped being me circa age 17.

These days, I would run screaming from Lloyd Dobbler. A guy who won't stop calling because he believes we need to be together? Creeeeeepy. Decides to follow me to another country as I pursue my own dreams? Looooooser. Really does show up with a boombox? 'Hello, police? Yes, there is a man trespassing on my property.'

'The main problem with mass media is that it makes it impossible to fall in love with any acumen of normalcy.'

How true. Read the whole thing about how we buy into the fake love sold to us by movies, tv and books. We're not going to be Harry & Sally, Monica & Chandler, even Woody Allen & any beautiful woman. We're going to be messy, inconvenient, confused, unhappy, bored and we're just going to have to find someone we can be less so with.

My two favorite lines in the piece:

'Every relationship is fundamentally a power struggle, and the individual in power is whoever likes the other person less'.

This is the ultimate in love advice. If you can't actually like the other person less, at least pretend. This may seem like playing games but in fact is just taking human nature into consideration when making decisions of love. People always want what they can't have and they always take for granted what they can. This is the truth. You can live with it and learn to use this knowledge or you can cry in your soup about your rejections.

'In the nineteenth century, teenagers merely aspired to have a marriage that would be better than that of their parents; personally, I would never be satisfied unless my marriage was as good as Cliff and Clair Huxtable's (or at least as enigmatic as Jack and Meg White's).'

Cliff&Clair do have the marriage I envy most. Good interaction, a comfortable life, a large extended family, respect for each other, their own successful careers. Jack&Meg? Well, I can live without divorcing my spouse and then forming a band in which we pretend to be siblings, thanks. But really, I'll take it if I can have a marriage better than my parents. 'Cause that's reality and the rest of this is just not.

UPDATE: Jeff Harrell calls me cynical in the cutest way possible.

Two years in history

THE HEROES:

THE NAYSAYERS AND THE STATISTS:

THE RESULTS:

Democracy's Middle East Groundswell

Saudi Arabia sees glimmer of reform

Lebanon:

Saudis vote in landmark election

First Palestinian municipal elections in 28 years

First ever multi-party elections in Egypt

ASSOCIATED PRESS: "Arabs Mesmerized by Iraqi Elections."......

One of those out of leftfield posts

In an effort to both restore the indie cred lost through incessant rap listening (although, really, I think 'indie' music is so mainstream now that I should get real indie cred for listening to people with bullets lodged in their face) and also to prove that not every politically idiotic performer is talentless, I bought, 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning', one of the two new releases by Bright Eyes.

Conor Oberst, essentially the only permanent member of Bright Eyes, and I have had a complicated relationship. I fell deeply in love with his last album 'Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground'. Songs like 'Lover I don't have to love', 'Bowl of Oranges' and my personal favorite with a silly name 'You will? You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.' rounded out that stunning album. I've seen him perform twice, once at Townhall in New York, easily one of the best shows I've ever seen, and once at the 'Field Day' festival, a day I remember for the rain that would not stop more than for the music.

But, oy, his politics. It's not that I can't listen to leftist musicians, if that was the case my music selection would be rather limited, it's just that Mr. Oberst makes it all about politics and it's hard to ignore. He was part of the troupe that toured for Kerry, he has a song about hating Fox News, he's running a contest with PETA and notes on his record label's website that 'Saddle Creek and Bright Eyes are proud to support Amnesty International's Music For Human Rights, without human rights we couldn't sing and you couldn't listen'. It gets exhausting and one can't help think the common thought 'seriously, dude, shut the hell up and sing', or some variation on that theme.

In between their last release and the current ones, I downloaded a song by them called 'One Foot In Front Of The Other'. It isn't entirely an anti-Bush song, it's more of a story about a relationship on the eve of the Iraq war, but still annoyingly political. A lyric: 'We made love on the living room, with the noise in the background from a televised war, and in that deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say, if we walk away, they'll walk away. But greed is a bottomless pit. And our freedom's a joke, we're just taking a piss and if you're still free start running away, cause we're coming for you.' Because his voice is hauntingly beautiful and because his music is interesting, I love this song. But, again, how can one really overlook that he considers Iraq before we invaded 'free' and that our freedom is a joke?

Anyway, the new album just isn't good enough to ignore the political insanity. The song mentioned above is renamed 'Land Locked Blues' and features a female vocalist singing along with Conor. So bad. The first song, 'At The Bottom Of Everything' is something of a protest song with lyrics like 'to the ear of every anarchist who sleeps but doesn't dream, we must sing, we must sing, we must sing.' The rest of the songs aren't so much political as just uninteresting. I always think that art is corrupted by an abundance of politics and I can't help but think that is what has happened to Conor Oberst. The two standout songs on the album are 'First Day of My Life' and 'Poison Oak'. Download them for $2 off itunes and forget the rest of the cd.

Moms don't thumb wrestle with their friends

Conversation with my friend on an unusually warm March day, sitting on a bench on Columbus Avenue, watching families walk by.

Her: Is there no part of you that wishes you had kids already?
Me: No, I like that my biggest concern today is whether or not to get a manicure, seeing as MR broke my nail yesterday while thumb wrestling.

Peggy Noonan Knows How to Handle Schiavo Case (by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

Physical violence.

Florida Police Too Busy to Handle Schiavo's 'Murder' (by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

After all, there may be a five-year-old child somewhere throwing a temper tantrum.

Assistance

Can a better googler than I confirm this story (via Dawn Eden):

Attorney Barbara Weller was with Terri earlier today. She told the media that, during her visit with Terri, she explained to her what was happening. According to Weller, Terri began to cry and could not be quieted. She tried to coach Terri to say "Let me live" but she simply was having too much difficulty.

Who is running for president in '08?

Drudge: BIDEN RIPS KERRY OVER 'TERROR STRATEGY'...

What are we?

Long-time readers know that the issues of importance to me are things like foreign policy, taxation, government growth, immigration, gun rights. I don't think about so-called 'social' issues much, and write about them even less. I've been planning a post about the politics of 'life' for months now, but the fact that it is still unwritten shows its place in my issues totem pole.

I have been thinking a lot, though, about Terry Schiavo.

The Terry Schiavo case is not a right to die issue. This isn't about morality. This is not a terminally ill woman stating that she can not go on in her condition. In fact, she's not stating anything at all. Nor has she ever stated anything in writing or to anyone except for, supposedly, her husband. This is murder.

Even weirder, the way that Terry will be killed is to have her feeding tube removed, starving her to death. Are you kidding me?! We don't do this to prisoners on death row who rape and kill children and we're going to do this to a sick, innocent woman? Dawn Summers is ranting that our Congress is dealing with the Schiavo issue. I have to disagree. This situation has spiraled so wildly out of control that as a society we have accepted that one of the options of what happens to this woman is that she starves to death. I don't want Congress to legislate morality, but if we don't know murder when we see it, it may be time for them to step in.

Quote of the Day

People often accuse Americans of being insular and ignorant of the rest of the world, and while I think that people who tout that line are pretty ignorant themselves, I do think Americans are generally ignorant in one respect: Unless they have travelled extensively, most people who were born and raised in the US do not realise just how good they have got it and what a unique abundance of the benefits of capitalism they enjoy.

Good advice

For all you Ipod owners who are considering doing the Napster $15/month thing, Jeff Harrell has one word for you: don't.

Or any day that causes this much traffic.

Me (stuck in standstill traffic because of the parade during a 45-minute cab ride that usually takes 10 minutes): I hate St. Patrick's Day.
Dawn Summers: Really? I thought a bunch of redheads getting drunk would be right up your alley.

To support terrorists or to not support terrorists

Apparently, the anti-war movement is having a bit of a divorce.

Hat tip: Che of CFK.

Last night

Last night I went to see Julia Gorin and Robert George perform their last Republican Riot comedy show. They were joined by the 'most entertaining performer in the world' Ivan Lenin. It was great to see visiting blogger Gib and his fabulous wife. Also in attendence Yaron, Dorian, Judith, Mary, Zelda, and Kommander Gene of CFK. Dawn Summers dropped in for drinks afterward.

Jessica's got a good post with highlights, Mary is feeling that two drink minimum, Judith was semi-amused and Ivan is thankful.

But I thought it was all happiness and kite-flying

Jeff Goldstein, guesting at Vodkapundit, notes the 17th anniversary of Saddam Hussein's chemical attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja. 7000 civilians were killed.

Temper, temper

Dawn Summers: Terry Mcauliffe will be hosting Hannity&Colmes.
Me: Hey! That may not be a bad job for him, replacing Col..
Dawn (angrily cutting me off): Yeah, because he's sooooo great at convincing people, let's pay him to do it some more.

Court

Dorian Davis has a great post on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which considers it 'perfectly legal to finance and train terrorists--and harbor them--but illegal to say the Pledge of Allegiance. '

How not to stage a war for oil:

Oil surges to new high of over $56 per barrel

I want one!

So cool:

Via Protein Wisdom.

You made her get in front of that tank!

Rachel Corrie's family sues Israel, IDF

And, hey, while we're at it who else can we sue? Ah yes, the manufacturer of the tank, because, really, how dare those Israelis even possess them to defend themselves?

Rachel Corrie family sues Caterpillar Inc.

Via Right Nation.

That's my Bush

Bush disses Gerry Adams of Sein Fein during the latters annual St. Patrick’s Day trip to the United States.

Ted Kennedy finally does something right in his life by doing the same.

To clarify

Julian Sanchez, libertarian extraordinaire, IMs that he is 'wounded' by my comment in Julia Gorin's article that libertarians are just Republicans that have not admitted it yet. His take on the piece is here.

It's true that there certainly are libertarians who are not, and will never be, Republicans, and will remain libertarians for their entire lives, hating both the Republican and Democrat parties with equal passion.

But, I can only speak from what I know and what I know is that in NY, libertarians and Republicans are part of the same clique. Julian admits there is some truth to this because 'NY is so lefty, they need to huddle for warmth. Whereas we [libertarians in DC] mostly see Republicans in positions of power.'

Furthermore, while in other parts of the country people become Republicans because they may have been raised socially conservative and Republicans best represent those positions, most New Yorkers tend to focus more on the fiscal conservative philosophy that Republicans advocate (even when they don't act on it), and, these days, terrorism. People my age (27, for the record) spent their formative years living in a dangerous, decrepit New York City and a bankrupt, failing New York State, both under Democratic leadership. It's natural for your political philosophy, and more specifically your voting, to reflect the reality of that situation. Maybe if we lived elsewhere we may be libertarians who don't vote, or vote third party (which we still may do sometimes out of frustration with NY Republicans), but we know that doing that leads us back to Dinkins/Cuomo days, so no thanks.

Update: A little story I always tell about the libertarian step to becoming a Republican concerns my good friend SMVP. A Democrat who used to disrupt my registering of Republicans by giving them his pro-Democrat argument (his major beef always concerned what he felt was the forcing of religion onto the public) had a change of heart after 9/11. To be fair, I never really bought SMVP as a Democrat. He's a fan of business and Capitalism and isn't much into the nanny state. He's also quite hawkish. Not ready to become a Republican, he declared himself a libertarian. This seemed about right until a trip to DC where he met real libertarians Gary Leff and his lovely girlfriend Shanna. They're both brilliant but they lost SMVP right around their argument about no government funding of anything, including defense, and their proposal of community militias that will be self-funded and not part of a larger defense strategy for the country. SMVP now identifies himself as a Republican.

Soon.

Senator Rick Santorum is going to be on my friend Niger Innis' radio show, 'The CORE Hour', today from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST at www.RIGHTALK.com.

Two serious questions for my readers

1. I've had a splinter in my finger since Saturday. Attempts to take it out have only resulted in me breaking it and a tiny piece remaining below my skin. I have used a needle and tweezers and prodded and poked. I can't get it out. Am I going to die from some infection due to foreign objects under my skin?

2. My tea kettle has stopped whistling. What's up with that? Am I supposed to guess when the water is done? Can anything be done to restore the whistle or do I just have to get a new kettle?

Today, tomorrow

I'm mentioned in Julia Gorin's article on Libertarians today over at Opinion Journal.

If you're in NYC, Julia is performing tomorrow night in a comedy show called 'Republican Riot' also featuring the NY Post's Robert George and Mr. Ivan Lenin. It will be at Don't Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St., between 8th and 9th Aves, $10 cover and two-drink minimum (cash only). Reservations recommended: 212-757-0788 (call after 4pm). You can see other right-leaning NYC events at my other blog, Right Events.

If you're planning to go, leave a note in the comment section and I'll make a reservation.

I can't begin to imagine a smoke-free Atlantic City

Proposed N.J. smoking ban includes casinos

I'm not holding my breath

The Observer's Politicker blog is reporting that Eliot Spitzer is having problems courting the African-American political establishment in NYC. Among other problems, it looks like Spitzer will endorse Freddy Ferrer, a Hispanic, over Virginia Fields, who is black, for the Democratic nomination for mayor.

My bets are:

A) black people will still vote overwhelmingly for Spitzer over whomever his Republican challenger will be, even if it is black Secretary of State Randy Daniels and

B) even if they don't, and instead sit the race out, it won't matter. The NY GOP isn't lifting a finger in this race yet and Spitzer has a really tight campaign that has a huge warchest and manages to get his face in the paper daily. Barring some unforseen scandal, I will be surprised if Spitzer is not our next governor.

Disclosure: Spitzer's campaign manager, Cindy Darrison, was a teacher of mine at NYU as was Fields' advisor Joseph Mercurio, who is mentioned in the article.

Sit down for this one

Headline: Study Shows U.S. Election Coverage Harder on Bush

'Too sexy for this song'

To dispel any vicious 'brown haired' rumors swirling around and also to stand in solidarity with girls who post glamour shots, I present to you Ivan Lenin and I getting our groove on, Saturday night at Miss Ari's shindig:

Update: I forgot to credit the beautiful Jessica for taking this shot. She's got other pictures of cutie girls over here.

Seriously.

Say what you will about my future son D'Artagnan, Dan Rather's son has the weirdest name around.

'Bad things to such good people'

It's not that I feel so bad about being hungover after attending not one, but two, birthday parties last night (one of which was the lovely Ari's), it's just that I don't understand how Lisa is out with her family going to brunch, Doug is doing some moot court project at his school that had him awake at 7am, Dawn Summers is running around accusing people (ok, me) of stealing her ipod headphones only to then find them in her car, Ace is posting up a small storm, and Ari is seeing a show on Broadway, while I feel like a truck ran over me. How am I the only one feeling the effects of last night? My only solace is Ivan's post at 8:20 this morning on needing a beer. Otherwise, the hope is that drunky excuse-maker Ken Wheaton is curled up in a ball somewhere sleeping off his first drink since Ash Wednesday. Or, maybe Jessica and Petitedov aren't answering the phone because they too have spent the early part of the morning swearing they will never drink again. As for the rest of the crew that was there, is it terribly mean that I hope Steve Silver, Yaron, Esther, C, Chris and Fish haven't posted yet because they're in a hangover hell of their own?

There is nothing wrong with wearing cashmere to the grocery store

I used to see Tim Burton and his (now ex) honey Lisa Marie around town years ago, mostly at parties thrown by Billy Beyond, and now Dave Friedman reports they have broken up and she is selling belongings that remind her of their relationship. Too bad I don't live in LA, because it sounds like they have some pretty cool stuff.

Would you do this?

An Iraqi born man who had lived and been a dentist in Britain for over 20 years, returned to Iraq to check on his mother after the war. He ended up staying, becoming mayor then governor of the province of Diyala, with a population of 1.8 million. 'Local insurgents have paid his leadership the ultimate backhanded compliment: They have tried to kill him 14 times and have put a $10,000 bounty on his head.' A fascinating read.

Hat tip to John.

Well, there goes that idea.

According to Drudge, Condi has confessed to being 'mildly pro-choice'. I will wager with anybody who is willing that nobody 'mildly', or otherwise, pro-choice will make it out of the Republican primary in '08. If you've been around Republican primaries, or primaries on either side, you know that the people who come out and vote are the biggest ideologues. They're not party-line voters, they focus on individual issues of importance to them. That issue, on the conservative side, is often abortion. Condi has joined Rudy, Pataki and Romney in the 'aint' gonna happen' category.

Via Condi-lover at all costs, Dorian Davis.

The un-blogger party

The only bad thing about last night's party was that Lisa and Jessica were behind the bar and couldn't fully hang out with their crowd of onlookers. There were a ton of bloggers there (I'm sure I will forget somebody so I'm sorry in advance). I saw Ivan Lenin, a sober Ken Wheaton, Peter, Mr. Slantpoint, ex-blogger Mike D., Judith, Yaron, Acey Spadesy, Ari, Doug, Zelda, Dorian Davis, Asphnxma, Dawn Summers and Mary.

Some bloggable moments of the night:

--Dorian Davis, Ivan Lenin and my non-blogging friend MR (formerly MKID) all competing for the affection of one Dawn Summers. She showed up late sporting the classic, timeless look of white sneakers, purple sweater, red scarf with matching hat and refused to remove either her coat or her extra large backpack. I guess crazy makes men hot. Who knew?

--I asked Ivan Lenin where the other Communists for Kerry were that evening (if you haven't met them, too bad for you, they're some of the funnest people around) and he acted (maybe 'acted') mock (maybe 'mock') offended and said 'I don't know who you want but I am here'.

--Apparently, I missed some sexy conversations, but you know, I'm ok with that.

--Ivan had been to Illinois recently, the current home of commenter Von Bek. A lot of people are curious about Von Bek and were surprised to learn he's a young man of 30. Several people quizzed Ivan as to whether they had spoken about President Polk or farm subsidies in the 1800's but it turns out they had not. BTW, Mr. Bek will be in town in just a few weeks so get ready to meet the man behind the rants.

--A few people asked me where the after-party would be. I said I didn't know of one. All of them kind of gave me a smile and a wink like 'suuuuuure, just let me know, ok?' I think I've concluded that I give off a much more 'happening' vibe than is the reality of my life.

--At the end of the night, the party shifted to my place (I guess this is how the reputation develops) and dwindled as the hours progressed. Close to 1am, remaining on my couch were Doug, Peter, Jessica, Ivan, and Lisa. I hope I'm not insulting any of them by noting that the 5 of them, with the exception of maybe Jessica, are newish to the rightwinging thing. We got to talking about dealing with people at work or school when they find out you're not much into groupthink. Jessica brought up comments she gets when she says she watches Fox News (usually people think she's kidding or being ironic). Lisa said 'Fox News is tough. If news stations were men, I'd want my man to be Fox News. Fox News would protect you. Fox News would take the other guy outside.' I begged Lisa to come out of her blogging semi-hiatus and post that but as of now, she has not.

Update: Ivan has got his highlights up.

Update: Dawn's post is now up though it contains no links (she claims it's a blogger issue that she will resolve when able). Almost any mention of me contains either a lie (my hair still very much red) or an exaggeration (at no point did I attempt to distance flick my cigarette). Just a note.

Update: Ari has a brief party description in her list of other confessions.

Smarter? Sure. Favored? No way.

Study says older siblings are favored, smarter

Numbers

Blogpulse has a really interesting paper that examines the degree of interaction and behavior among top conservative and liberal political bloggers during the November Presidential election. Some findings:

Even though numbers of blogs were fairly balanced, conservative blogs showed a greater tendency to link to other blogs (84% linked to other blogs, 82% received a link) compared to liberal blogs (74% linked to other blogs, 67% received a link).

Conservative blogs tended to rank higher overall than liberal blogs, with the top 20 conservative blogs falling in the 44 most-cited blogs while the top 20 liberal blogs fell in the top 77 most-cited blogs.

59% of the mentions of John Kerry came from right-leaning bloggers, while 53% of the mentions of George W. Bush came from left-leaning bloggers.

Read the whole thing.

Gangsta in Gaza

Think our rap wars are bad? Go read about the hip-hop squabbles in Israel.

Via Steve Silver.

I need to understand

I know this question has and will be asked a million different ways with a million different answers, but, really, what is Michael Jackson thinking:

It's like being a battered wife(by guest blogger Dawn Summers)

Oh, the tribulations of being a liberal Democrat.
First, my party jumped feet first and arms flailing into the Patriot Act.
It hurt.
But very quickly they apologized.
"We're so sorry, Dawn. We were angry and scared. You know, we would never intentionally hurt you. Please, forgive us."
Ok, I said.
I covered the black eye with makeup and explained that I was just clumsy and fell down some stairs, whenever anyone asked about the swollen lip and cracked ribs.
Then came the parroting of the old canard that marriage should just be between a man and a woman. But this time, they weren't sorry. Instead, they sneered and dared me to leave.
"Where are you going to go, huh? You think anyone else even wants you?" They gulped down the last of the whiskey and laughed spitefully.
It was true.
I had to make this relationship work. Think about the early days when we were dating and Jimmy Carter believed we could change the world through good example.
Anyway, it's probably just stress, I told myself. After the election, everything will be better.
But I was wrong.
Days after the results came in, they were back pedaling on abortion rights and first amendment freedoms.
"It's your fault we lost, you stupid cow!" They said slamming the door on their way out, leaving me in a heap in the hallway asking them to come back.
"Don't go!! We can work this out. Please!" I cried, begging them not to leave me.
But it was too late.
In just the last few months they've confirmed Alberto Gonzales and approved the practice of withdrawing funds from universities that protest the military's exclusion of openly gay candidates.
Now, they are cheating on me publically.
Getting in bed with the likes of Rick Santorum, no less.
We live in silence now.
I know where they've been, not that they even care enough to lie to me anymore.
Eventually, I'll pack my things in the middle of the night, maybe when they're out at church burning violent videogames and throwing rocks at gay people, and move back to my mother's house.

Be there

You know where all the cool kids will be tonight, right?

6-9pm-ish Overlook Lounge, 44th between Second and Third Aves, in case you needed reminding.

Mugger, come home.

I'm not the only one lamenting the loss of a great NY paper, the old New York Press, Steve Silver and Cathy Seipp have more on the way things used to be.

Just in time to tour together for their recently released albums

50 Cent, Game hold press conference, declare truce.

Associated Press notes 'Perhaps selling 1.1. million copies of his latest album in less than a week has softened the heart of 50 Cent.' Perhaps. Or, as Dawn Summers says: 'door still open to feud should sales begin to lag'.

The truth.

Resolved. Dawn Summers has the worst taste in music of anyone on the planet.

With Ari's help, I realized yesterday why I listen to so much rap. Ari calls it 'doing stuff music', which makes sense. It usually has a thumping beat and bad-ass lyrics. It's perfect music to which to run errands or get somewhere.

Anyway, following Dawn's lead on picking up an old meme, below is my top 25 most listened to songs on my ipod. I should qualify this list a little bit by saying that I'm sans laptop at the moment and so haven't updated my ipod in awhile. The four songs I've been playing non-stop, not on the ipod, are 'Hate it or love it' by Game, 'New York, New York' by Game, 'Truth' by Handsome Boy Modeling School and 'Hate it or love it (remix)' by G-Unit. My most frequently played 25 songs:

1. Intro- 50 Cent
2. Many men (wish death upon me)- 50 Cent
3. In da club- 50 Cent
4. High all the time- 50 Cent
5. Heat- 50 Cent
6. If I can't- 50 Cent
7. Back Down- 50 Cent
8. P.I.M.P- 50 Cent
9. Poor Lil Rich- 50 Cent
10. Gotta make it to heaven- 50 Cent
11. U not like me- 50 Cent
12. Patiently waiting- 50 Cent
13. Blood hound- 50 Cent
14. Georgia on my mind- Billie Holiday
15. 99 Problems- Jay Z
16. Tennessee stud- Johnny Cash
17. Going back to Cali- Notorious BIG
18. A boy named Sue- Johnny Cash
19. Big things- Nas
20. Hurt- Johnny Cash
21. Ten crack commandments- Notorious BIG
22. Cocaine blues- Johnny Cash
23. Another- Notorious BIG
23. Teach you how to stunt- 50 Cent
24. I'm going to Jackson- Johnny Cash

Interestingly, everyone on the list is black, except for Johnny Cash though Dawn notes he's the 'man in black' so it still counts. I can't say that I'm not a little embarrassed about my list. I never thought I would be listening to rap, especially not this excessively. Peter will shortly be rescinding any remaining indie cred I may have left. Sigh.

So, ipod owners, go ahead and give it up in the comment section, what are your top 25 most played songs? Can't be much worse than mine and, well, definitely can't be worse than Dawn's.

Violence works

If you visit Greenpeace's website, you can read the report about them halting trading on the global oil market by occupying the International Petroleum Exchange in London last month. What they don't mention on the site is the rest of the story. I read about it in the last issue of the 'dead tree' version of National Review. Apparently, the traders weren't going to let the anti-business zealots run amok. To quote one of the protestors, 'the violence was instant'. From a story in the Independent:

What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.

"We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs," one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. "I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view."

I think it should be expected that if you come into someone's place of business and disrupt their ability to perform their job, you should get your skull cracked. Maybe it's just the Brooklyn in me.

Not afraid to ask tough questions

Prince Charles:

He then headed north to Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt, where he chatted with patients, doctors, nurses, volunteers and gardeners.

"Who has to shovel all the manure?" he asked a gardener.

"Is it tiger's doo?" he asked when told it came from the zoo.

Or, alternately, visit his wish list.

It's fabulous guest blogger Dorian Davis's birthday. I think he's turning like 16 or so. Go wish him a good one (or, since he doesn't have comments, just visit his site and give him the gift of hits).

Thank him.

Ace of Spades reads the ridiculous media bias piece in the New Yorker so you don't have to.

One of those Hold 'Em posts

I had the worst beat of my life today, fortunately in a really low stakes game. It was $.50/$1. I had pocket kings. I pre-flop raised and had two callers. The flop was Ks6d8s.

I worry about a flush draw. I'm first to act and I raise. First guy calls, second guy reraises, putting himself all-in. I call as does the first guy. The turn is 9s. I'm really sweating the flush now but am pot committed and unwilling to lay down my three Ks. I raise. Guy calls. The river is a 6h, giving me a full-house. I raise and guy calls. Then, the all-in guy flips over his pocket 6s, crushing my beautiful full-house with his four of a kind. I won the side pot from the crackhead guy calling me to the river with Ace high. Great.

But, whatever, what're you gonna do, can't hold on to bad beats, that sort of thing. And, I placed second in a tournament tonight so I'm well on my way to being over my bad, bad beat.

As opposed to quitting like I do.

Manhattan Transfer has a great post about the post-college years and the way to get over the Sunday back-to-work blues.

How evil is she?

On the phone with Dawn Summers. My cell phone rings in the background.

Me: Oh it's 'S' (guy with unreasonable crush on me). Should I get it?
Dawn: No, let the machine get it so we can laugh at his message later.

It's not a blogger party (we're still working on setting that up) but....

The beautiful Lisa and Jessica (no, really, they're hot, see here) will be guest-bartending at Overlook Lounge, 44th between 2nd and 3rd Aves, on Thursday from 6-9ish. Don't do anything crazy like miss it and then have to feel sorry for yourself as you read about our exploits on our blogs the next day. Just sayin.

Hope

I used to wait for Wednesdays to pick up the New York Press, a weekly paper in NY. I remember the first time I came across it, sitting in front of Kim's Video on Bleeker waiting for a friend to get off work. I had just moved back to NY and I was blown away that the editor of this funky newspaper, Russ Smith (aka MUGGER), was a Republican. In addition to him, the paper sported Christopher Caldwell, wacky Taki, John Strausbaugh writing on music, Toby Young, Cathy Seipp, and guest appearances by phenomenal, new-to-me writers like Jay Nordlinger. Even the leftists wrote well, I read Alexander Cockburn despite thinking he couldn't write a correct word. It was smart and interesting. The paper was different, too edgy and pornographic to be conservative, too funny and smart to be liberal.

Then the paper got sold. Strausbaugh was fired that day. The rest of the writers disappeared slowly. Russ Smith still wrote for the paper but the new editor, Jeff Koyen, was just a disaster. Koyen seemed to want to perfect the art of navel-gazing. He wrote about his really not-that-interesting life and hired wackos like Christopher Brodeur (last written about here for being the jackass who interrupted Giuliani's 9/11 testimony). It became a parody of itself and tried to out-crazy the Village Voice. With their latest Pope cover, they have come damn close to winning the competition for crazy (just that the Voice has several decades head-start).

But, the silver lining: Because of that cover, Jeff Koyen is gone and there is a glimmer of hope that the next editor won't be a total clown, will understand the greatness of the old Press and maybe will seek to revive it. Come back, Russ Smith, we'll deal with your Red Sox-loving and stories about your boys. Bring back the NY Press.

Genius

Get your grubby, little hands off my Fitty

Just when you think he's said and done every single stupid thing possible: Al Sharpton Proposes Music Ban

The Reverend Al Sharpton says it may be time for major media companies to start censoring violent music.

When's good to start taking away the right to free speech? How's now?

Sharpton is proposing a 90 day ban for any performers who use violence in their music to make money.

And after 90 days, if no one is shot in any major urban city, we make it a permanent thing.

Sharpton says urban airwaves are being used to romanticize violence.

Whereas he prefers just romantic like 'I believe I can fly', by accused child molestor R. Kelly, the theme song to Sharpton's failed attempt in the NY mayoral primary back in 1997.

He condemned the shooting outside the Hot 97 studios last week during an appearance by 50 Cent.

Whereas everyone else is reported to have been just thrilled about it.

Sharpton says you might not be able to stop the shooting, but you could stop anyone from profiting.

Let's just put a band-aid on the busted knee-cap and hope that it all goes away. Sounds just like ole Reverend Al.

Via Dawn Summers.

'1,2,3,4 hey you! get back here!'

NYC to try to count homeless in streets

More on NY Pizza

3 days and 30 slices sampled; my favorite pizza place wins the taste-off.

Don't get too excited or anything....

...but I think I just fixed (all by myself!) my comment section so not every single comment is held for my approval. I'm sure some still will be, but it's an improvement over 'all will be'.

And this guy was almost president

From the same interesting Robert Novak piece below, that outs Howard Dean as not entirely nutso and which also contains advice from Trent Lott to Rudy Giuliani about how Giuliani's gay marriage views will play in Mississippi, comes this gem:

Sen. John Kerry is sponsoring a resolution honoring black activist W.E.B. Du Bois, who officially joined the Communist Party late in life after faithful support of the Soviet line in world affairs.

Du Bois praised Soviet dictator and mass murderer Joseph Stalin as ''great'' and ''courageous'' and defended Communist North Korea for its 1950 invasion of South Korea. Du Bois was a founder of the NAACP, but was later expelled from the civil rights organization for opposing racial integration. A winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, Du Bois ended his life as an exile in Ghana (where he died in 1963 at age 95).

Kerry's resolution lauds Du Bois, a longtime socialist, for having ''played an intricate role in the development of the entrepreneurial spirit, capitalism, and economic independence in the African-American community.'' The resolution is also sponsored by Democratic Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Carl Levin, as well as 36 Democratic House members and one Republican, Rep. Dave Hobson of Ohio.

With the election long over, I've forgotten about Kerry's yes means no and white means black tendencies. Du Bois was a dedicated Communist who also played a role in the development of the 'entrepreneurial spirit, capitalism, and economic independence'? Sure.

Is Howard Dean a disloyal Democrat?

The Daily Kos-ites are up in arms over Joe Lieberman's 'disloyalty' to the Democratic party for 'expressing a willingness to work with President Bush to change Social Security'. The Kos people believe that Bush is lying about Social Security's problems and that we should just leave it alone. The big phrase used by them and their elected leaders is 'there is no crisis'. It's one thing to be against privatization, I feel reasonable people can disagree about this, it's another to believe there is no problem with Social Security and that everything will be just fine. Interestingly enough, their hero of heroes disagrees:

Dean's candor

Howard Dean, who has minimized media exposure since his election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, departed from the party line in telling a college audience that there are problems with the Social Security program.

Speaking at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., on Feb. 23, Dean totally opposed President Bush's advocacy of personal accounts as part of Social Security. However, he did not follow Democratic insistence that nothing need be done about the program. If Social Security is left alone, he said, benefits after 30 years would be 80 percent of what they are now.

Dean's divergence from the party line was reported only in the Cornell student newspaper.

No proof? No problem.

It's easy to forget, with the recent rush of good news out of the Middle East and the media actually covering it, how hostile to our efforts in Iraq the press remains. Take the story of freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena. This 'journalist' (actually a Commie propagandist) is taken prisoner in Iraq. It's very likely that Italy paid the jihadi terrorists money for her release. Forget that this increases the likelihood that more people will be kidnapped. Forget that she is alive, while many other hostages are sans heads.

She gets released and her car is shot at by allied troops. Of course this is awful and of course we should look into how and why this happened. But, the media's absolute swallowing of her preposterous story that this incident was on purpose is really too much. The Reuters version: 'Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena, shot and wounded after being freed in Iraq, said Sunday U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers. She offered no evidence for her claim, but the sentiment reflected growing anger in Italy over the conduct of the war, which has claimed more than 20 Italian lives, including the secret agent who rescued her moments before being killed' (emphasis mine).

Yet, her hunch is all over the news. Relations between Italy and the U.S are strained. All because some dummy made up a conspiracy theory to explain an unfortunate accident. And our complicit press can't get enough of it.

Help find Dawn a man

Dawn Summers has decided to settle down. Her criteria is, well, somewhat challenging. In order of importance:

1. Catholic
2. Rich
3. Irish-accent
4. Black

What is it called when people set up obstacles to happiness for themselves?

UPDATE: I should've mentioned, just so everyone understands the extent of her crazy, is that the old criteria was Catholic (that's a constant) and either rich or wears a uniform to work.

Monty Python in Foreign Policy

“All right, all right. But apart from liberating 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, undermining dictatorships throughout the Arab world, spreading freedom and self-determination in the broader Middle East and moving the Palestinians and the Israelis towards a real chance of ending their centuries-long war, what have the Americans ever done for us?”

Read the whole thing.

Via Instapundit.

All class.

Daily Kos to go after Alan Greenspan's family in an attempt to smear him.

Hip-hop MP3 request

Does anybody have the remix of Game's 'Envy Me' with all the rappers in G-Unit declaring themselves 'rap's MVP'? I don't think it appears on any album, the place I normally look for rap MP3s doesn't have it, google has proved fruitless and if I wait for my brother to remember to bring it over I'll be old and gray.

Update: I found it. It's called 'Hate it or Love it', not 'Envy Me' and I got it here.

Free speech for some

More bad news for bloggers as Apple wins a court case forcing bloggers to reveal their sources:

The case raises issues about whether those who write for online publications are entitled to the same constitutional protections as their counterparts in more traditional print and broadcast news organizations.

Turns out, we're not.

99 words but innocent ain't one

Dawn Summers has a 99 word review of 'Law&Order:Trial By Jury' from a lawyer's perspective.

The mess at Harvard

Steve Silver is all over 'Heteronormgate'.

You

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Downfall (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

Saddam's Son Was Poised to Topple Him

In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Peter Arnett, the former NBC News correspondent, dropped a bomb, announcing that Uday Hussein plotted--for almost a decade--to overthrow Saddam. It reminded me of that movie, Downfall, about Traudl Junge's experience as Hitler's secretary during the final days of Nazi Germany. Himmler, like Uday, plotted a coup in the twilight of World War II. And, with this story--a confidante betraying his mentor--I was reminded that rats, when trapped, will knaw at themselves.

Via: The Drudge Report

I'm sure the newspapers will protest this blatant infringement on free speech.

FEC to regulate blogs

How serious is it?

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

No linking?!? Pretty damn serious. I wonder how long before it's illegal to talk to your neighbors about a candidate or put a sign up in your yard. After all, many more people drive by my house (ok, say my parent's house since I live in an apartment) than read my site. And I've got thousands of neighbors in my building.

But, I get it, why should anyone but the major news organizations have an opinion anyway? They've taken away the rights of some groups (but not others, don't get crazy now) to say what they want when they want. And now, they're going to take away the right of individuals to say what they want when they want. The only ones who get to talk and talk and talk right up until election day are the news organizations. And, as we saw last election cycle, sometimes they're willing to say just about anything to get their guy in. Who are we, mere citizens, to challenge their awesome power?

Hat tip Alex Brunk.

The Great Americans, Part I: Todd Beamer (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

History is made of people.

On September 11th, the media--by and large--cushioned the public, omitting "graphic" footage of the dead and wounded, and played, instead, a perpetual loop of that second plane as it ripped a scar across the World Trade Center. On every channel, the bulwarks of civilization fell down, the city crumbled, like Atlantis, into the East River, and Maureen McGovern sang, "There's got to be a morning after." It played like a disaster movie from the old days of the epic catastrophes, in the 1970s: The Hindenburg. The Poseidon Adventure. But, mostly, The Towering Inferno, a movie--inspired by the construction of the World Trade Center itself--that completed its principle photography on another September 11th, in 1974.

It set in, belatedly, that people died; met the pavement--pulverized, incinerated, dismembered and smashed--or vaporized, completely, among the layers of debris. The remains became molecules that floated around in the oxygen, approaching our noses and mouths, and we inhaled them. Was it brutal? Yes. But, why was it edited? Why was it polished? That sensitivity was a national disservice. The attack was a piece of evil that I didn't understand--in its entirety--until afterward, when survivors started telling stories about human beings. The victims. The heroes. They were people, I thought. They were people. One of them was Todd Beamer, who called a GTE operator--from Flight 93, bound for San Francisco--and said he would take back his hijacked plane, before dropping the phone with the gallant words, "Let's roll."

There were hundreds upon hundreds of similar stories. There were 44 more in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. There were 189 in Washington, D.C. And 2,572 in New York City. In all, there were 2,986 stories on September 11th. And that was from the victims alone. There were millions more stories--each of us had one--about where we were, and what we saw, and who called us to be sure that we were alright, and each of us told our story to our friends, and our friends told our stories to their friends, and all of those stories became woven into one big story--our story, the American Story, from Paul Revere to Todd Beamer.

Personal notice re my cell phone

My 917 number is back in action. Please discard the 718 number I've been sporting for the past two months. Don't all 'hallelujah' at once.

The women and the men

MKID and I headed over to meet Jessica at a debate happening on the Lower East Side last night. The topic at the start of the debate: do women belong in the home? The two debaters couldn't form an argument between them. One was a stay at home dad who was less arguing that it should be women staying home and more just saying how good marriage and family can be and if people just knew about the secret goodness, everybody would be doing it. The woman is a high school math teacher who said she likes animals better than babies but admits that maybe, if she found the right guy.... Her funniest line was when she said 'women are not necessarily more maternal than men.'

The best question of the evening came from Manhattan Transfer who asked the guy 'aren't you trying to ruin the best trick ever pulled- convincing women that having a job is actually enjoyable?'

There were about 30 people there, most in their late 20's-early 30's, and the stay at home dad asked for a show of hands to see how many people in the room were parents. A total of one hand shot up. I can't remember who said it but I heard the best expression of this while I was in DC: '30 is the new 25'.

Nevertheless, when the 'debate' was over 18 of the 30 people raised their hands in agreement with the statement 'Women are naturally better suited to remain in the home' (the statement had changed somewhat since neither debater was anywhere near the topic). I was one of the 18. Would you be?

Quote of the Day

'I keep telling you there is a difference between liberals and leftists. Larry Summers is a liberal. The people who want his head are leftists.'

-Steve Silver.

Brooklyn Review

I've been doing Brooklyn research for the aforementioned project (more details to come, promise) and people kept mentioning a pizza place right near where I grew up that I had never heard of. I know I'll probably be ex-communicated from the Brooklyn tribe, especially if the Slice NY guys read this, but I finally went to the famous DiFara's pizza place last night and I didn't fall in love.

First of all, the Slice NY review mentions the wait but there is really no way to ready yourself for it. 'Though we rave about DiFara, there are a couple of minor drawbacks. The first and most annoying is that the place can get very, very busy—we've been there at times when the crowd at the counter has been five people wide and four deep. With Dom as sole pie-maker, that's a problem. We've sometimes waited up to and over an hour for our pie.' Well, I figured late-night on a Tuesday would be quicker. It's not that it was so packed, just that there really is just that one guy (with his daughter handling the money) making each pizza lovingly, slowly. We waited for our pie for well over an hour. My brother and my friend MKID, who got dragged along on my research Brooklyn trip, were a lot more patient than I had expected. That place really limits your ability to show off the New York attitude (we got cut in line more than once) because, as my brother noted, 'who are you going to yell at, the old guy or the little lady'?

The pizza can only be described as 'like they make in Italy'. It's thin crust, a combination of cheeses and olive oil on top. If you've been to Italy and loved the pizza, like my brother had, you will love DiFara's. If you've been to Italy and thought to yourself 'they've got nothing on Brooklyn pizza' (specifically L&B and Totonno's), the hour plus wait will probably not feel worth it.

Using footnotes and metaphors, no less.

Protein Wisdom makes Chris Rock's Oscar monologue actually funny.

Maybe a pick-up game with their staffs can ease the tension between them

From The Note:

At 2:00 pm, the President participates in the ceremony at the Capitol honoring Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson with the Congressional Gold Medal. Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow, accepts the award.

At 3:30 pm ET, Bush is back at the White House for a photo op with World Series Baseball Champion Boston Red Sox.

Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) drafted the legislation honoring Robinson with the award, and Kerry will be on hand for both that ceremony and the Red Sox photo op — the first time he and President Bush may be close enough to interact publicly.

Stop, hey, what's that sound

Did you ever think that people in Beirut would be flying the American flag? Ever? Yaron has that and more from that fearsome Arab Street.

In case you needed another reason to buy the book advertised in my sidebar....

...you should know that my name appears on page 351.

....what it is ain't exactly clear....

2000 Demonstrate at Iraqi Bombing Site:

'More than 2,000 people demonstrated Tuesday at the site of a car bombing south of Baghdad that killed 125 people, chanting "No to terrorism!"'

Bestest

My brother's history class at Hofstra University was asked to submit a list of their top ten 'Greatest Americans' and a top ten list of 'Greatest Living Americans'. Here are the results:

Greatest Americans:

1. Abe Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. John F. Kennedy
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. Thomas Jefferson
7. Benjamin Franklin
8. Theodore Roosevelt
9. Rosa Parks
9. Thomas Edison
11. Susan B. Anthony
11. Henry Ford
11. Ronald Reagan
14. George W. Bush
14. John Hancock
14. Harry Tubman
14. Babe Ruth
14. Albert Einstein
14. Malcolm X
14. Frederick Douglas

Not a bad list, I thought. But the 'Greatest Living American' list is just a travesty:

1. Bill Clinton (by one vote)
2. George W. Bush
3. Rudolph Giuliani
4. Michael Jordan
5. Oprah
6. Donald Trump
6. Mom
6. Dad
9. Bill Gates
10. Colin Powell
10. George Steinbrenner
12. John Kerry
12. Me
12. Arnold Schwarzennegar

I get the Clinton and Bush references. I even could understand the Giuliani and Schwarzenneger votes. But, John Kerry? Donald Trump? George Steinbrenner!?!? There must be better living Americans than these clowns. So, who would make your list?

Blogger for elected office.

Barbara Paden, from the blog Girl in Right, is running for City Council in Golden, Colorado. Will she keep on blogging if she wins?

Via Clay Calhoun.

Yet another NY blogroll update

Forgotten NY

Slicy NY

Politicker