"I’ve shaken things up with a redhead. I learned my lesson."

What would Don Draper do?

Via Gawker.

UPDATE: In other Mad Men news, they've doubled their audience this season and Kyle Smith proclaims "there is no way it’s going to be canceled in the next couple of years." So when they cancel it, we can all know who jinxed it.

Quote of the Day

"If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody any more, thank God, and evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue."

-LAPD Chief William Bratton in opposition to a proposal by Councillor Dennis Zine to enforce a 'personal safety zone' between celebrities and photographers.

The possibility that I'm going to the RNC convention in Minnesota...

...just plummeted.

By the by, whose bright idea was it to kick off the convention on Labor Day Monday?

No, please don't

The other night over dinner (sidenote to New Yorkers, Restaurant Week ends tomorrow), Ari mentioned the new "suit with shorts" look that she's seen around the city lately. The other ladies in attendance, PN and Lady Mathematician agreed: nightmare.

Song of the Day

"When I'm 64" by the Beatles.

I've had the Beatles on my mind lately, more their early stuff like "She loves you" and "I feel fine" but today I've been thinking about this song, one of my favorites of all time. The video is from the film Yellow Submarine, and super trippy:

Can anyone spare a gall bladder?

My Dawnie Summers is in the hospital (but I'm happy to report she was well enough during my visit yesterday to give me the middle finger twice). I got all sad rereading her post about our last adventure at the Museum Mile festival back in June:

On our way back we spotted a sign that said “Race advisory” which we took as a warning that black people may be in the area.

We then spotted a chalking that said “there is no such thing as race,” which I assumed was written by a white person.

We saw another chalking that said “A man torn between two women, will lose them both.”

I raised my eyebrow and said “that is so not true.”

Karol then said “they forget to write ‘in the white community.’

Buuuurn. Who is the most racist person in the post? That’s right.
Whitey.

Good times. Get better soon, Dawn.

Rear view

The View's Elisabeth says she won't be seeing Oliver Stone's "W" movie because she can tell what it's going to be about from the trailer. Her dummy co-hosts actually argue with her that there's really no way they can tell anything at all about a film from the trailer. I mean, really. That poor girl has to deal with chit-chatting with 3 of the dumbest women alive every day. With straight faces they're arguing that we can't know what Oliver Stone's portrayal of George W. Bush will be like. Dumb.

The coolest thing about the vid linked above, though, is that Elisabeth mentions Evan Coyne Maloney's awesome movie "Indoctrinate U." If you haven't seen it, make sure you do.

He can't write good either.

Remember how Obama's prayer was stolen out of the Western Wall and published? Yeah, not so much.

Of course you do

"I have friends in America who are Marxists and they're working for Obama."

Song of the Day

"Hey that's no way to say goodbye" by Leonard Cohen.

This guy was almost president

Say what you will about George W. Bush, he's unlikely to be photographed at a party with drunk college girls drinking beer through penis-shaped straws. Laura would never stand for that.

Rest of the pics at TMZ.

Hat-tip Dana Superstar.

Sizzle

Ken Wheaton sends along a review for the new global warming film called "Sizzle". Apparently, Sizzle began as film about the "present dangers" of global warming but didn't quite turn out that way:

This is where "Sizzle" shifts into a direction that perhaps Olson didn't intend or foresee: The skeptics actually begin to win the day, at least onscreen, and Julia Bovey, spokeswoman for the environmentalist Natural Resources Defense Council, comes off as far less convincing than Olson may have hoped.

I do public relations work for a really great debate series in New York called Intelligence Squared U.S. (check out the Fall season here, and if you're in the NY area I recommend snapping up tickets now, all the previous seasons have sold out). Before I began working for them, they held a debate on the motion "Global warming is not a crisis." The audience votes before and after each debate and this particular debate saw a huge shift in audience opinion. Before the debate 29.8% of the audience agreed with the motion while 57.3% disagreed. 12.8% were undecided. After the debate 46.2% agreed with the motion, 42.2% disagreed and 11.5% were undecided. You can listen to the debate here, read the transcript here and see images from the debate here.

Global warming panic seems to be at an all-time high these days with everyone trying to get in on the "green" action. But the more people are exposed to other opinions on the earth's warming and the human role in the phenomenon, the less they believe the conventional wisdom. More information=less hysteria.

Yep, sounds like the Democratic electorate

Edwards, Clinton are Top Favorites -- and Top Unfavorites -- For Obama Veep Slot

Dawn, get yer gun

Anti-gun nut Dawn Summers went shooting while I was in Italy. And she found that she quite liked it:

I was so surprised about how calming shooting was. I always imagined guns to be weapons of furious anger. It’s how they’re portrayed in all the shoot em up movies, anyway. Someone pisses you off, you get your gun and you give them what for. But the real life thing is just the opposite. You’ve got to be perfectly still, your eye trained on your single spot in the distance, and you’ve somehow got to squeeze the trigger without moving an inch. Anger could never shoot straight. Standing at the head of the range, a rifle on my shoulder, earphones blocking out the noise of the world, I marveled at how well suited shooting was to my temperament. I could wait, watch, and then, when everything was just right, I could destroy.

A short list of not-so-random thoughts

**The fabulous John Hawkins was in NY this weekend and I got a chance to lunch with him and Ms. Pamela Atlas. John has the round-up on his site and calls me "sweet"! I never get "sweet"! Other funny things about John's post: he considers the Lincoln Tunnel a landmark (whereas I consider it the necessary evil that leads me to Atlantic City) and was alarmed at NY's lack of refills, something I've blogged about before here.

**If you are a regular reader of my blog and a dedicated follower of my flickr photo page, and I know this, you can't pretend not to know me when we run into each other on the street as that will make me feel all embarrassed for you. Just. Saying.

**Artichoke, the best pizza place in Manhattan, gets bad press for its long lines and sporadic hours, but we went there yesterday, for the second time in its short history, and had not a problem. The pizza really is unbelievable. Finally, a Manhattan pizza place that rivals Brooklyn.

**The hype around the new Batman movie is such that we keep hearing how it's a 2-month wait to get tickets to see it in Imax in Manhattan. Except, I guess, if you'd like to see it today. Or tomorrow. Or any day really. Don't believe the hype.

Fark headline of the day

Those Farkers are funny::

Islamic group vows more attacks during 2008 Olympics. Clearly, China needs to get out of Iraq.

Though the "who do you think you are, a Kennedy?" line is pretty good

The trailer for the Oliver Stone film "W" is out, and it's a doozy. You're not going to believe this but it looks like President George W. Bush might've been a bit of a slacker party boy in his youth. And, AND, it looks like he might have had a bit of a drinking problem! I know! I couldn't believe it either! He's been president for nearly 8 years and this is brand new information just coming to light now. Man, if only we'd known this around the 2000 and 2004 elections, how different things might have been.

Song of the Day

"Shot to the heart"-Lil Wayne

Though never officially a Song of the Day, I mentioned this song twice last summer. I've just been thinking, again, how much more I liked last summer's music, and this song is the perfect illustration of that. This is Lil Wayne last summer coming out with this great tune while this summer's Lil Wayne are completely annoying songs you hope won't get stuck in your head. Or maybe things just always seem better in the past.

Ex-media darling annoyed at new media darling

Cool ad by the John McCain camp:

UPDATE: Video pulled due to copyright claim, see updated version here.

Big in Japan

Or, something.

Empty man in Berlin

David Brooks on Barack Obama:

"When John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan went to Berlin, their rhetoric soared, but their optimism was grounded in the reality of politics, conflict and hard choices. Kennedy didn’t dream of the universal brotherhood of man. He drew lines that reflected hard realities: “There are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin.” Reagan didn’t call for a kumbaya moment. He cited tough policies that sparked harsh political disagreements — the deployment of U.S. missiles in response to the Soviet SS-20s — but still worked.

...

Much of the rest of the speech fed the illusion that we could solve our problems if only people mystically come together. We should help Israelis and Palestinians unite. We should unite to prevent genocide in Darfur. We should unite so the Iranians won’t develop nukes. Or as Obama put it: “The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.”

...

Obama has benefited from a week of good images. But substantively, optimism without reality isn’t eloquence. It’s just Disney."

A short list of not-so random thoughts

1. Why do king size sheets come with king size pillow cases? What the hell is a king size pillow and who actually has these?

2. Why do so many tea kettles have plastic parts? I mean, I'm going to melt it off, it's going to happen, it always does.

3. Seamless Web, an online service that lets you order food from restaurants in NY and other major cities, is giving away $100 in free food to anyone who blogs about why they love Seamless (they have some rules about what kind of blog so read those before you do it). I love Seamless, and I'm not just saying that for the free food (although, yes, I'm saying it here for the free food). Their selection is good, they keep your credit card on file and there's little chance for error. But my favorite thing about Seamless is that I don't have to talk to anyone when placing an order. Click, click, submit. Awesome.

***Update: Alarming News readers get a 20% discount. Enter code:
ALARMINGNEWS. It expires on 12/31/08

4. My delicious boyfriend is taking me to Babbo tonight. I've never been, mostly because it's near-impossible to get in, and am very excited.

5. I can't believe Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman broke up. I thought those two crazy kids were going to make it.

Numbers

Poll: McCain closes in on Obama in some states

What's interesting about the 4 states in which McCain is gaining (although how they include 50-30 Wisconsin in this I have no idea), is that three of them were "blue" states last time. I'm still liking my gut prediction, with my popular vote qualifier, even with (or maybe especially because) the European fawning over Obama this week.

That's 2 minutes of my life I'll never get back

It has a sexy title, "Is marriage for white people?", but this article (part of CNN's "Black in America" series) bemoaning being a well-educated and still single woman, could have so easily been written by, well, a white person. In fact, this article is often written by white women. The "yes there have been some men who wanted commitment and I didn't" part. The "I may have been focusing on other things like traveling the world" part. The "will I ever meet him" part. What part of that is exclusive to race? And therein lies the problem with the CNN series. Being black in America is most similar to being white in America, as opposed to being, say, black in Africa or Asia or Europe. I guess that wouldn't make for sensationalized programming.

It goes without saying that the sticker is also "racist"

Woman loses plot after seeing a 'Calvin pissing on Obama's name' sticker on car:

McKain told the officer he and his wife were driving home when they noticed a female motorist looking closely at his truck. The couple drove home then pulled into their driveway.

"Mr. McKain said shortly later the same person (Ms. Gragg) pulled up to his residence (blocking his driveway behind his truck.) Mr. McKain said Ms. Gragg began to rant and rave about the sticker on the back of his truck," the court document states.

McKain told police Gragg shouted numerous profanities at him and his wife.

"Mr. McKain said Ms. Gragg said she (would) get someone to take care of him later," the report said.

Gragg was issued a trespass warning and then arrested on the threat charge, a misdemeanor. She was released Wednesday from the Fort Bend County Jail on $500 bond.

I bet we'll be seeing more of this Obama-rage as the election nears. How dare everyone not realize he's the Messiah!

Via Fark.

Question of the Day

From Gawker on the alleged John Edwards affair:

More to the point: When is an affair while your wife is dying of cancer NOT a political career killer? Is there a "he needed to get through the pain" angle? Or is it more "he needs to not show his face around here again, ever" situation?

Or, really, the question of the day is: when is it ok to believe the National Enquirer?

Do you know what time it is?

It's four days away from Mad Men's return, that's what time.

UPDATE: Are they kidding using one of my favorite songs ever, "The Truth" by Handsome Boy Modeling School, in their promos? Are they?!

But then, of course, he got to Israel and said something different

No, no, he's totally on Israel's side:

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged staunch support for Israel on Wednesday in Jerusalem, describing the Jewish state as a miracle and holding only a low-profile meeting with Palestinian leaders.

Here's a weird quote:

"I'm here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to its security, and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a ... senator or as a president, in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region," he said.

The Illinois senator, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres, described Israel as a "miracle that has blossomed" since its founding 60 years ago. Wearing a Jewish skullcap, he later laid a white wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.

Is he being humble or does he really think he's not going to be president?

By the way, if Bush referred to something as a "miracle that blossomed" it would be that day's Bushism.

Obama assures Arabs he's on their side

Oh goodie:

A member of the king’s inner circle who attended the chicken-and-rice dinner with King Abdullah and Queen Rania said that Obama had gone a long way toward assuaging their fears that he would be so eager to run away from his paternal family’s Muslim roots and to woo skeptical American Jews that he would not be “the honest broker” they long for after W.’s crazed missionary work in the Middle East.

“The guy gets it,” the Jordanian official said after dinner with Obama. “Sharp, aware and a very good listener. He doesn’t seem stuck in preconceived positions. He said he would get straight to the Palestinian issue as soon as he becomes president.”

And lest you think that's some rightwing blogger recounting the events, it's actually Maureen Dowd.

Their love and 2 dollars will get me on the subway

AOL Travel has a list of 10 countries who still like Americans. Places like Ghana and Tanzania but also, supposedly, England, Ireland and Canada. Personally, I don't really care if they like Americans or not as long as they don't tell me about it and expect me not to react. Like, it's fine for a French person to hate America and Americans, even fine for them to tell me how backward we all are, but then they can't get all pissy when I tell them they'd be speaking German if it weren't for us and ask them why the Champs-Élysées is lined with trees (this exchange actually happened). Alls fair in irrational nationality hatred, after all.

I should also point out, as I always do when the "George Bush has ruined our international reputation" meme comes up, I lived in Scotland (twice) during the heyday of the Clinton administration. From there I traveled to Holland, France, Germany and all over the Great Britain. Before that, I spent a lot of time all over western Europe. And if you think they loved Americans then, I've got a lovely bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

I must note, though, that we had nary a problem in Italy. Everyone was very friendly to us and beyond helpful. We heart Italians.

Song of the Day

"Rooms on Fire" by Stevie Nicks

There is nearly no rhyme or reason to my SOTD feature. It's pretty much the first song I think of when I wake up. This morning, still on Italy time and waking up at 6am, I thought of ole Stevie's raspy voice belting this one out. My lack of access to a computer while in Venice spared you all the SOTD being Sheena Easton's "9 to 5 (Morning Train)". You're welcome.

I'm so rude

I don't know how I forgot to thank my awesome guest bloggers who did such an awesome job while I traipsed around Italy. Also, a big thanks to Peter who approved comments and posted the posts when I didn't have access to a computer. You guys rock.

And not just on the field

Terrell Owens is a hero.

Bringing an ad to a knifefight

Britain to run ad campaign designed to stop a recent spike in stabbings. No, really.

But I'm still not getting a rose tattoo on my butt

I grew up hearing that if I got a tattoo (something I would never do anyway because the idea of doing something permanent to myself doesn't fit with my flighty-ish personality) I couldn't be buried in a Jewish cemetary. Turns out, totally false. Funny sidenote, the guy attached to the tattoo pictured here is mentioned in the article.

Hat-tip both Gerard and Jamie.

Quote of the Day

"“Crackhead” is an embarrassing line item to have on a résumé. If meth tweakers had not come along and made a grab for the crown — meth makes you crazy and toothless — crackheads would be at the bottom of the junkie org chart."

-David Carr, the NY Times writer not the cute football player, from a fascinating article on his days as a junkie.

The last "what I did on my summer vacation" photo post before I come back to the real world

This branding doesn't seem wise:

Snacking in the room because 4pm is an unpopular time to grab a bite in Italy. Look at those tomatoes. Look:

The IC and I are both quite into food so this trip had a definite foodie vibe. We got a lot of recommendations, some were amazing, some less so. One of his co-workers referred to a meal he had in a small hamlet in Chianti as the best meal of his life. He was not exaggerating. Bottega del 30 really was just the most outstanding meal either of us have ever had. This was one of the unforgettable dishes, a ravioli with spinach and ricotta and an egg in the middle covered in shaved black truffles. As they say in Brooklyn, it was off the hizook:

The window at Bottega del 30:

Me in Radda in Chianti:

Sunflower field off the Autostrada. I loved the sudden burst of color:

Graffiti in Rome:

Graffiti in Rome:

La Scaletta was a casual pizza/pasta place in Rome and the only place we frequented twice during our trip. The food was great and it was in a cute, non-touristy area:

Waiting for Gilad in Rome:

They love their Mary over in Italy. We'd be walking down a random street, look up and see her image over the street sign. This one was in Rome but we had the same experience all over Italy:

All in all, a magical, incredible trip.

Thirty glorious years

When I was a child I asked my parents "what was the first thing you saw when you arrived in America?" I imagined it would be the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Perhaps the New York skyline coming into view as their ship sailed through the mist of the Hudson river. What? There's always mist in the movies.

"JFK airport" came the reply.

Not exactly the romantic image I had pictured.

Before we arrived in the US, many Soviet Jews had first stopped in Italy. We spent three months in Ladispoli, near Rome. From Wikipedia:

Since the Soviet Union and Israel did not have diplomatic relations, Italy agreed to serve as a staging ground for Jewish refugees to Israel from the Soviet Union. Upon entering Italy, refugees would file a petition with the Israeli consulate and await approval. Many Jews took advantage of this opportunity to petition the U.S. consulate for asylum to let them enter the United States on religious persecution grounds.

We left Italy on July 20, 1978, 30 years ago today. By coincidence, I took that same path today, the flight from Rome to New York. I loved every second of Italy, and I could not be more appreciative that they let my family through when we so needed it. They have my gratitude and affection. And America, as always, has my love and devotion.

Previous July 20th posts:

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

It should have been my guy, Hillary Clinton, but now I’m voting for Barack Obama by Dawn Summers

Or translated for the conservative Alarming News readership…it should have been my demon Monica Lewinsky’s ex-boyfriend’s wife but now I’m voting for devil incarnate Hussein Osama.

I actually thought the choice for Clinton was the safe one. She had already shown ability to be the watered down liberal Democrat that wins elections but leaves Michael Moore saying that Bill Clinton was the first Republican he ever voted for in a Presidential race. She was well liked in the Senate on both sides of the aisle. And, as demonstrated by her landslide reelection, she seemed to leave most of her husband’s baggage behind. She knows how to legislate, she knows how to govern. At sixty years old, she’s spent more than half her life in and around politics. She’s smart, she’s tough and yes, she went to Yale. I heard her speak during the primary season and she said she loved coming home because New York was the best state in the best country in the world. And come on, isn’t it though. I remember thinking that she looked like what a politician is supposed to look like.

And then she proceeded to run the worst national campaign since Al Gore circa 2000, adding herself to the ranks of hapless Democrats who manage to furiously snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Yeah, I mean you Mark Green.

So here we are.

Obama ’08.

Um…and as to the why…um…as to the why I am enthusiastically, whole heartedly super duper supporting Obama now…um…well…and we’re sure he has enough delegates right? No chance for the whole Clinton brokered convention dealie? No? Okay, yeah, so as I was saying Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate for President that’s why.

I’ve had quite enough of Bush and Cheney and John McBush would just be a cheap, older imitation of those two.

Obama = change!

I’m all about CHANGE! And hope. Let’s not forget he’s all about hope. So, I’m going with the half white hope change guy. And you should too.

---
Dawn Summers blogs at Clareified.

View from Italy II

Venice at sunset:

We did not do a corny gondola ride:

Pigeons in San Marco Square, Venice:

5-0 in Venice:

Eva Longoria hawking ice cream:

One of two favorite dishes I've had in Italy so far, black spaghetti with clams and mussels in Venice (the other was an unforgettable blueberry filet steak in Florence. If you're going to Italy and need a few restaurant recommendations, email me and I'll give you the goods):

Eh, might as well post a pic of that blueberry filet, since I have of everything else:

This is a photo of the Tuscan countryside near the shopping outlet where the IC bought me some hot shoes (so far, 2 bags, 3 pairs of shoes and counting):

One of the aforementioned bags and shoes, both Furla, 'cause I know the ladies want to know (and also me on Lido Beach in Venice):

Bologna:

Bologna:

Graffiti in Bologna:

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence:

Selling fake bags under a "no fakes" sign. Isn't it ironic. Don'tya think:

Florence:

Florence at night:

It should've been my guy, Mike Huckabee but now I'm voting for John McCain by Claudio Simpkins

I liked Mike, but now I like Mac.

So, I guess I can stomach a vote for McCain.
I was one of the few folks who backed Gov. Mike Huckabee when he was still a nobody. A long-shot governor from a red state more famous for losing pounds than finding support for his campaign for the presidency. But I felt a sense of urgency. The Republican party, and more distressingly, the conservative movement, is at a crossroads. In much the same way we're now suffering from the application of Cold War foreign policy, strategy, and war tactics in a new world of global terrorism, the party and the conservative movement are suffering from the continually wrong-headed leadership of what I like to call the "Old Guard" conservatives – old white men, usually veterans of the Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush I eras.
Now, don't get me wrong. I respect my elders. I have a deep-rooted respect, awe, and appreciation for the way young activists (what I am today) backed Goldwater, brought the movement to the masses and achieved great victories in electing Reagan twice and attaining a Congressional majority in the Nineties. That said, it is time to move on. We can no longer run on "God, Gays, and Guns." Surely these issues – protecting the role of religion in the public sphere, the preservation of the sanctity of marriage, and the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution – still hold weight and deserve a prominent place in our party's platform and campaign messages. But it's time to move on. There are other pressing issues in the world, outside of even global terrorism – America's educational crisis and how it is feeding into the decline of our international hegemony, our dependence on foreign energy which is quickly becoming a national security threat (see Russia and China purchasing American assets by the billions), and more. It's not like there aren't conservative principles that would guide conservative solutions to these problems. But we don't talk about them. The Old Guard conservatives act as if the American public is too stupid to understand the policy benefits of conservative proposals addressing these issues. And as a result, Americans are instead being swept up in the rhetoric accompanying the "historical significance" of a Black man in the White House – an inexperienced and shiftless Black man at that.
Gov. Huckabee was my pick in the primaries because he wasn't afraid to talk about these issues – education, infrastructure, taxes, energy. Admittedly, he wasn't the most polished candidate (and his Confederate flag flip-flop had me fuming), but that wasn't what drew me to him. I don't want Republicans to win if it means turning into something we're not. I'd rather a Democratic White House for eight years if it gives us young conservatives an opportunity to make the movement our own, to fashion our own platform, revamp the coalition and properly utilized all the new technological tools at our disposal. It was a great triumph that Huckabee was able to pick up Iowa and make a strong showing in a few other states. But more than securing the nomination, I wanted Huckabee to push the party outside of its comfort zone. And maybe he did.
Now I'm supporting John McCain. Let me put it this way – it's a marriage of necessity, not one of passion. McCain suffers from many of the Old Guard afflictions – he's an old white guy who is big on foreign policy but has little economic or domestic policy strengths. Then again, he's an improvement over much of what the party has offered this election cycle as he, at the very least, realizes that being a racist fear-mongerer doesn't make much sense when the Bush II won 40% of the Hispanic vote in the last election and Hispanics continue their steady march towards being the dominant minority group in America. Bottom line: a McCain Administration would do this country better than an Obama Administration. But that's not saying much; neither candidate presents us with the complete package. McCain has the experience Obama needs; Obama (policy positions, whatever they are today, aside) presents young conservatives with the prototype of a candidate we need to put forth in future elections.
This election means little to me, so long as Obama realizes what it takes to protect America from terrorism abroad and at home. More important is the effort of young conservatives, such as myself and probably most of Karol's readership, to retake this movement and make it our own. The Old Guard has had its moments, but now its our time. We cannot allow the movement and the party to be set back another ten years because the old timers didn't know it was their time to go and we were too timid to take the reins. It is time for young conservatives to step up and utilize our God-given resources – whether you be a blogger, policy wonk, strategist, or future candidates for office – and help this movement adapt to the times and challenges. We need a new conservative policy platform. We need new candidates and new campaign strategies. We need to utilize new technologies. We need to build a new coalition.
We need a new conservative movement. And it starts with us.

---
Claudio Simpkins is a former blogger and is one year away from getting his JD!

It should have been my guy, Fred Thompson, but now I'm voting for John McCain by Alex Brunk

I was a Fred guy in the primaries. I worked for the Fred Thompson campaign before there was a Fred Thompson campaign. I flew down to Atlanta on my own money to help run a Draft Fred effort at the Georgia GOP Convention last May, and then moved to DC to volunteer for the campaign full time for more than a month before they finally put me on payroll. I spent last fall and winter in South Carolina running the ground game in much of the state.

I believed that Fred was the answer to the vacuum of leadership in the conservative movement. I felt, like many did, that his entry into the Presidential race and surge to the top of the polls were meant to be. He was, and is, a great leader, and a solid conservative.

When Fred lost, I was devastated. Not that I didn't see it coming, but even when in late December it became apparent that there was almost no way we could win, I still held out a shred of hope that things could somehow turn around. Part of that was probably that I needed to to keep doing 80 hour workweeks.

But even before it was over, I knew that once Fred was out McCain was my man.

If you had told me four years ago that in 2008 I would be enthusiastically supporting McCain for President to the point that I cut a check to his campaign, I would have told you you were crazy. But I have come to believe that he is the answer to the Republican party's current doldrums.

McCain has been at the forefront, in many ways, of the fight to return the GOP to the core principles it has swayed from. He's been out in front on curbing earmarks, he's been a leader on entitlement reform and budget balancing. He voted against the 2003 prescription drug bill. He is the single most responsible person in Washington for garnering the political support to turn things around in Iraq.

And of course, he is an American hero. I challenge any Republican to watch his "Man in the Arena" ad and not be proud to have this man as the standard bearer for our party.

Now, I don't agree with him on a lot of things. But I know where those differences lie. I'm not voting for him because I think he'll be a down-the-line conservative. I'm voting for him because I know where he stands and what he believes in, and I'm comfortable with our differences of opinion. There are others who could have been the Republican nominee whom I could not say the same for.

Granted, my decision also has to do with my intense dislike of Barack Obama and his policies, and my belief that Bob Barr is simply not a credible alternative. But the bottom line is that John McCain is a great man, and I believe he has it in him to be a great President.

---
Alexander Brunk blogs at SavetheGOP.com

It should've been my guy Ron Paul, but now I'm voting for Bob Barr by Avery Knapp

Of course it should have been Ron Paul. As the only truly limited-government Republican in the race, the only Republican who believed in a humble, conservative foreign policy (not a Wilsonian one of nation building and wasted money overseas), the only Republican to oppose eliminating the D.O.E., D.O.A., the I.R.S., the 16th amendment, restraining the Fed, and the only Republican candidate to both speak and understand the language of Reagan circa 1975-9, Ron Paul would have been the best choice. But despite late success (coming in 2nd place in 12 states, 3rd in 17) and reigniting a limited-government freedom movement, Paul withdrew on June 12 and ruled out a third party run and went on to found the Campaign For Liberty.

So now I'm left to choose amongst the 2nd tier. Obama, Nader, McCain and Bob Bar. A vote for Obama and Nader is a vote for economic socialism at home and they would probably, despite the rhetoric, continue the Wilsonian foreign-policy of Clinton and George W. Bush, and therefore I cannot vote for them. McCain, while he occasionally sounds conservative, seems as though based on his past instincts and mindset he views the federal government as the solution to every problem - (steroids in baseball, 1st-amendment conflicts [McCain-Feingold], ultimate fighting, interventionalist-nation building, mistakes in advising and consenting to judicial appointments [as one of the Gang of 14]). I don't trust him on the 2nd amendment, the 4th or 5th amendments, the 10th amendment, and he seems to strongly support the 16th amendment and favors a unitary executive. Plus, McCain has basically no chance of winning California, being 20 points down, (or New York), where I vote. Therefore I won't even attempt to decide whether McCain is slightly less big-government than Obama (although he probably is). I will vote my conscience - I will vote for Bob Barr.

Despite changing stances on a number of positions, Bob Barr is promoting a pro-freedom agenda - rather similar to Paul's. He strongly supports economic freedom, in supporting repealing the 16th, eliminating corporate welfare, and drastically cutting government spending. Unlike the other candidates, Barr promotes individual liberty and social freedom - viewing the Nanny State that has so seduced our friends across the Atlantic as weakening the American spirit of freedom. He supports a humble foreign policy of no nation building and no policing the world - things Republicans used to believe in and I still do. He's likely to get more votes than any Libertarian candidate ever (unfortunately though not a high hurdle to jump), thanks to Ron Paul, and in view of the other candidates' strong beliefs that big government can solve most (McCain) if not all (Obama) problems, Barr is the only choice for me.


In these days of politicians promising the world and then delivering more regulation, red-tape, corporate and social welfare, corporatism, inflationist monetary policy, interventionalist meddling nation-building foreign policy, and assaults on the Constitution and on the ideals of individual liberty, it is refreshing to see politicians with somewhat of a mainstream presence advocating a return to the beliefs that made America free and hence great. Ron Paul and Bob Barr.

---
Avery Knapp is a radiologist "and grassroots organizer for the true conservative, Ron Paul."

Notice

The "it should have been my guy" series returns tomorrow with Avery Knapp's Ron Paul to Bob Barr switch.

View from Italy

This is the house we're staying at in Lucca. There are no words that can do it justice.:

I'm not sure what this "Lucca for the Lucchese" sign is about. Perhaps Lucchese feel there are too many tourists or renters of homes in the area. For once, though, I don't think it's a dig at Americans. There are hardly any around and also the Euro symbol in the sign:

Me in Old Lucca:

We drove to a beach town yesterday, Forte dei Marmi. We parked and then on our stroll to the beach passed an amusement park. Among the flags I saw one that was completely bizarre:

The beach was beautiful. Black sand and gorgeous mountains in the distance:

We keep looking at each other and giggling "it's only day 2!" We've already had a full-on vacation and it has been incredible. We're in Lucca for one more night, heading into Florence for a daytrip right now, and then off to Venice.

Worst airport in the NY area

JFK Has 2nd Near Collision in a Week

It should've been my guy Mitt Romney, but now I'm voting for John McCain by J.T. Jezierski

One of Governor Romney's favorite campaign phrases was decrying that "Washington is Broken." He was/is right. The great appeal to many about Gov. Romney was his business acumen and private sector experience. The idea of Mitt Romney doing a top to bottom review of the federal bureaucracy was wildly appealing to many.

John McCain agrees with the same premise and would work to achieve the same results, but with a different perspective. Where Romney was an outsider, McCain would be approaching from the belly of the beast.

The DNC is trying to label McCain as the third term of George Bush. We need a third term because we have seen that the President has failed to embrace both sides of the economic coin. This President mastered the tax cut side, but forgot to see the cutting federal spending side. John McCain will flip that coin.

Even if McCain is a recent convert to tax cuts, there is no doubt about his commitment to earmark reform. Worst case would be a total flip of the coin, cutting spending and taking no action on taxes. Actually, that would not be the worst case. Worst case would be taking the coin and throwing toward another useless government program- which is what Barack Obama would do.

Governor Romney would have streamlined and innovated our bureacracy, but John McCain will bring discipline and accountability. Not a bad trade off in my book.

---
J.T. Jezierski worked on Mitt Romney's presidential primary campaign.

Italia

We've arrived in Lucca. Our friends' home, and the surrounding area, is so unbelieveably beautiful that I won't bother describing it in words and will just take photos that I'll, hopefully, post soon.

Question

Why does Europe still prefer manual cars over automatic ones? This is not a dig, I'm really asking. Are they cheaper to make? "Better for the environment"? Otherwise, why wouldn't they have switched the infinitely easier and more convenient automatic method long ago?

Sidenote: my amazing boyfriend taught himself how to drive stick shift using only instructions off the internet.

It should have been my guy Rudy Giuliani, but now I'm voting for Bob Barr by Todd Seavey

Ideally, there would be no president. I think it's important to make that point first, to make it often, and to make clear that it's not a joke. (Indeed, 2000 may have been my favorite election -- the protracted uncertainty was educational for people, like a first encounter with quantum physics.) The logical fulfillment of America's tradition of property rights and limited government would be to privatize all government functions and peacefully, carefully eliminate the state altogether, leaving behind a privately-enforced law code that enforced property rights and nothing more, with individuals free to go about their business so long as they did not harm each other's persons or property.

I note that in order to make it clear that I never really get what I want out of any election -- it's always a question for me of picking the least-bad option. Early on, then, when New York thought it might see a New York-centered presidential race, Clinton vs. Giuliani, I was just starting to get comfortable with the idea of rooting for Giuliani, for all his authoritarian flaws, since he'd clearly absorbed some anti-spending, anti-taxing impulses during his time as mayor here and is tough enough to stand up to whining interest groups.

Then Ron Paul entered the race on the Republican side and was so thoroughly libertarian that I figured I owed him my support at least until the inevitable moment when his campaign became manifestly untenable -- around the New Hampshire primary, I figured. By that time, though, Giuliani was tanking and, more alarmingly, ideologically-vague McCain and explicitly anti-libertarian Huckabee were ascending, while Fred Thompson continued napping.

By the time of the New York GOP primary, casting a Romney vote as a strategic anti-McCain statement was about the only relevant option that seemed left to me, so I cast one, and that soon became irrelevant as well. What I really wanted, though (absent anarcho-capitalism), was some figure to reunite the right's factions in a libertarian-conservative fusion.

And then Bob Barr decided to try picking up the Ron Paul mantle. He's a former Republican social conservative running as the Libertarian Party candidate for president, ostensibly converted from his old religious-rightism to a consistent government-limiting philosophy by the excesses of the Bush era, as he explained at one of the two bar gatherings I host each month, where such topics are often discussed (join us).

Barr's not perfect -- and I can sympathize with right-leaning people in toss-up states not wanting to help elect Obama -- but as an inhabitant of solidly-blue New York, at least, I think the time has come to make the loudest Libertarian noise possible (especially if I can do so using a candidate who may draw the attention of disgruntled conservatives as well, at a pivotal time when plenty of conservatives are disgruntled and might be willing to consider a shift to a more anti-government philosophy). The long-term health and freedom of our society demand it, and if I have to risk looking like a fringe radical in the process, so be it -- I am, as I often say, a proponent of a sort of "conservatism for punks" anyway, rather than a flag-waving, bourgeois complacency, much as I look forward to the day when we can all afford to be complacently bourgeois.

___
Check out Todd's blog at ToddSeavey.com

A home to come back to

The table and chairs are here. And they're marvelous:

It should've been my guy 'anybody but John McCain', but now I'm voting for John McCain

I won't rehash it because Alarming News readers already know: I predicted a John McCain win throughout the entire primary process. My official position was "Anybody But McCain" (which later became "Anybody But McCain or Huckabee"). People scoffed. Why oppose a guy who has no chance anyway? I was called naive. I was called silly. I was called blind. I was told I didn't know anything at all. Ok, fine, I'll rehash just a little my being right.

I didn't want McCain to win. That's being charitable. I wanted Rudy Giuliani to win but knew, way back, that that was never going to happen. I've been around Republican primaries in several states now. The pro-choicer very rarely wins. It happens, sure, but not in presidential primaries, not in my lifetime (I wasn't born in 1976, ha!). So I looked around for another candidate. I loved Fred Thompson but he just never caught steam. I voted for Mitt Romney when the primaries reached NY and he was the only candidate not named McCain or Huckabee left standing.

The entire time I was predicting a McCain win, and specifically a Giuliani flame out, I would preface it by saying "I want to be wrong." Nothing would have made me happier than to have Rudy be our guy right now. He would know how to handle Obama. I believe he could handle anyone.

But that's all in the past now and McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. Elections come down to actual choices, there's no idealism, it's this guy or that guy. I want this guy. I'm voting for John McCain.

My reasons are pretty simple. For all of McCain's faults, and yes he has many, he is a million times closer to my political philosophy than is Obama. I think. Because, really, who knows what Obama believes? He ran on the idea that he'd pull out of Iraq asap. Now, not so much. He's not going to raise taxes, except on the "rich", a definition he keeps changing. He wants to talk to Iran, but maybe he just said that. He's a man of the people but he's not accepting government funding instead letting Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities take him to the top.

I may not agree with McCain on everything, but there's little doubt to where he stands on most issues. He's going to have a tough foreign policy where no, we won't be talking to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We're going to support Israel because, yes, it is the "frontline of civilization" (hat-tip on the linked article, Pretty Numbers). He likely won't raise your taxes. He'll at least try to curb spending.

No, he's not perfect and I won't recap all the ways he's failed conservatives. But he comes much closer than Obama at living up to conservative principles. If that matters to you, as it matters to me, vote John McCain.

Up tomorrow: Todd Seavey's "It should've been my guy Rudy Giuliani, but now I'm voting for Bob Barr."

Quote of the Day

"Don't worry about immigrants speaking English, make sure your child can speak Spanish."- Barack Obama.

Video here.

He's also embarrassed that Americans only speak one language while Europeans are mostly bilingual. Someone should tell him that he and his wife should stop saying how embarrassed they are by the country he seeks to represent.

Dear Republican party, if you don't have that clip on permanent repeat in the general election I will be very, very annoyed.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey quotes this from a Salon article:

There’s nothing particularly exceptional about Obama’s position, unless you are an English-only partisan cowering in fear of your cultural identity being swamped by funny-looking people from strange lands. Or one of the similarly insecure patriots who believe any criticism of the U.S. is a sign of “blame-America-first” treachery. And I suppose the whole comment about “going to Europe” opens Obama up to more charges of elitism, and disconnection from the lives of those who, right now, can’t afford to even think about going to Europe.

But to most people who actually grasp the fact that we live in a complex, interconnected global economy, being able to speak more than one language just makes a lot of sense. Maybe those of us who do feel threatened by Spanish-language signs in government offices would sleep a little easier if we understood what they they were saying.

As a multilingual immigrant (English, Russian, enough Hebrew and Spanish to get by) I'm not exactly worried about those strange people from strange lands. I'm one of those people! But yes, I'm an English only partisan and here's why: it's better for the immigrants. I know this from experience and I know this for a fact. Sure, government offices can have their Spanish signs to make it easier for immigrants. But their local supermarket probably won't. The job they want will likely be in English. I really believe it's anti-immigrant to not help them assimilate. The Russians I know who never had to learn English because the signs on Brighton Beach are in Russian, they have RTV and listen to a Russian radio station are so much worse off than the Russians I know who learned English and adapted to their new country. The former have such limited opportunities it's not even funny. The latter, well, they're Americans and have every door open to them that someone American-born would have. I don't want to deprive new immigrants of America's promise.

And I just can't hide it

I don't know about all y'all but I'm going to Italy today with my man!

While I'm gone I've got guest-bloggers coming in to write a very specific post. Each one will write on the subject: "It should have been my guy ______, but now I'm voting for _________." I've got a fairly wide range of before and after choices so it should be interesting.

I'm hoping to get my own post on this up before we leave at 2pm but it's another crazy day of furniture deliveries, packing and other insanity so I might not be able to do it. Will try though.

That white voice she use on the phone when she handle business

Sounding black may reduce your earnings by 10%.

Sounding Southern isn't that great either.

Home update

Couch- The new couch arrives today. I am completely giddy. Have you seen that thing? The only bad part about it is that we leave for Italy tomorrow and won't get to enjoy it. And that's the bad part!

Bed- The Kluft didn't work out. It was just too firm for me. We exchanged it for a Shifman Reviens Belize. It arrives tomorrow so I won't know how it works out until I get back.

Table- I realize I never asked your advice on this or anything (I know, I know, how do I do anything without the advice of my commenters?) but we bought this cool Chinese table and funkier-than-we-thought-we'd-get red chairs at ABC (my favorite furniture store in all the land). The bronze plates on the table are a prologue to a Chinese poem about living a happy life. Table and chairs also arrive tomorrow. Dinner on it will have to wait until our return.

There's still a lot to do so if you've got Home suggestions, stores, websites, general tips, leave them in the comment section.

UPDATE: I have never felt more love for an inanimate object than I do right now:

Ode to Dawn

It seemed natural, for some reason, to start this post with the line "Dawn Summers and I have had a checkered history" because it sounds like it might be true. But actually, it isn't.

Sure, we have nearly nothing in common. Except bananas. Man, neither of us can get enough of bananas. We also both supported and support the Iraq war, although her cockamamie reason is so wacky I can barely follow it (it's a variation on the flypaper theory). Of course, supporting a war does not a friendship make.

Still, checkered we were not. Until about 2 years ago we had had only one fight, in our entire friendship, [added for clarity: and that was back when I was a freshman in high school]. I was staying at my grandmother's house which was near where Dawn lived. For some reason, though, while Dawn's schoolbus would pick me up from my parent's home far away, an entirely different schoolbus would come fetch me from grandma's. Dawn talked me into skipping the schoolbus and taking the public bus with her. I waited for her for nearly two hours, convinced she wouldn't just not show up. In the days before cell phones and beepers (that would be next year), Dawn's mom had caught her heading for the regular bus and layed down the law. And well, Dawn's mom is no joke so maybe Dawn didn't deserve my telling her that she had the "common sense of a billygoat" (it's from "The Outsiders") when I finally saw her at school.

Things got a little tense around the 2000 election ("why are your people trying to steal the election?" "why are your people trying to steal the election?") but even then we both shrugged off our differences and kept on laughing together at the world.

Those who read Clareified along with this site might know that we've had some problems. She posted about some of them. I'm not going to link the actual posts because I feel like they're already in the past. Instead I'll just link a story, the relevance of which might only make sense to Dawn: Our current problems remind me of when we both tried to claim Bill O'Reilly for our respective political sides. Eventually we both just laugh at how silly we were and move on. And we will.

Happy birthday, Dawn. After all the years we've been down, ain't no way no how.

And no, I'm not just trying to win the "person who wrote the last blog post" award. Much.

Song of the Day

"Doin' It" by L.L.Cool J

NSFW. Let me repeat, there is nothing about this song that is safe for work. Not the video, not the lyrics, nothing. It's L.L. Cool J and a girl describing how they're going to sex each other up. I'm listening to it today because I heard it last weekend in the car with my I.C. and we giggled at the "I represent Queens, she was raised out in Brooklyn" line. Cause he does. And I was.

You're never going to guess which religion is involved

Police Say Georgia Man Killed Own Daughter to Protect Family Honor

Hat-tip Jamie.

Am I not supposed to comment that it's a "joint" social at the "420" bar involving snack foods?

In momentous New York Republican news, the two NY Young Republican Clubs (whom I had previously referred to--second to last paragraph-- as reminding me of the last 2 Jews in Kabul who, of course, hated each other) will co-host an ice-cream social together. I'm going to try to be there for this historic event (yes, mostly because it's 12 blocks from my apartment):

July 9, 2008, 7:00pm: NYYRC Joint Ice Cream Social! Join both Young Republican Clubs for a Summer Ice Cream Social in the downstairs private room of 420 Bar - 420 Amsterdam Avenue at 80th Street. Come mix and mingle with other Young Republicans and enjoy "make-your-own Sundaes" - what could be better on a hot summer night? Get their early for drink specials and stay late for Karaoke upstairs! There's no cover and our socials are open to members and non-members alike so bring your friends!

I'll have more July rightwingish NYC events up on RightEvents.com soon.

Man, where can we get us some more government?

We don't want Britain to win the award for most useless, huge government, do we?

The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

This could include a child of as young as three who says "yuk" in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food.

The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.

Via Fark.

Oh, Yossi

Borat's alter ego dupes a former Mossad agent:

It got worse, Alpher acknowledged: "Then the interviewer declared, 'Your conflict is not so bad. Jennifer-Angelina is worse.'"

Alpher and his Palestinian partner exchanged puzzled glances at the comparison of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie fighting over Brad Pitt, but because they had both received a fee for their appearance, and still hadn't completely internalized that their interviewer was not exactly who he seemed, they soldiered on.

"We played it straight and square... We smiled at the idiotic questions and answered them patiently... We knew something ludicrous was happening but couldn't quite figure it out," Alpher wrote. "Our rock-star host concluded with a mind-boggling song about the epic Middle East conflict between 'Jews and Hindus.' At the crescendo, he grabbed our hands and joined them with his."

Hard to blog when...

Conversation I just had on IM:

Huck-obsessed commenter Larry: have u been impressed with mccain lately?

Me: I haven't been paying attention. I've been buying Chinese tables and planning Italy.

I knew my tomatoes didn't do anything wrong

It was the peppers that done did it! (Via Fark)

Investigators are seeing more signs that the salmonella outbreak blamed on tomatoes might have been caused by tainted jalapeno peppers and have begun collecting samples from restaurants and from the homes of those who have been sickened, according to health officials involved in the probe.

There already is war

Live from Englandstan:

Two boys were punished this week for refusing to kneel on prayer mats and worship Allah during a class demonstration on Islam, the Daily Mail reported.

Irate parents said a religious education teacher at the Alsager High School in England told students to wear Muslim headgear during a lesson on Tuesday. "But if Muslims were asked to go to church on Sunday and take Holy Communion, there would be war," the grandfather of one of the students said.

They may take our lives, but they'll never take our television

Plasma, LCDs blamed for accelerating global warming

Via Perezells.

Happy 4th!

Let freedom ring.

Flip

Flop: Obama opens door to altering his Iraq policy

News

I just got my blogger credentials to attend the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

Anyone else yet?

"Rich people problems"

Actual title of a NY Times article: It’s Not Easy Picking a Path to Enlightenment.

Of course, it's in the Fashion and Style section cause like, finding spiritual enlightenment is really in this season.

Being "friends" with Madonna will do that

A-Rod, Wife Reportedly Splitting Up

Pants on fire

Also via John's Tumblr, turns out Obama's first ad, which is biographical, is almost entirely fiction. A must-read.

Song of the Day

"How Soon is Now?" by Tatu. You can see the video here.

While Tatu is mostly ridiculous, this Smiths cover is pretty cute, in particular when she sings "you shut your mouth" in that Russian accent.

On a sidenote, I can't get enough of John Carney's tumblr, where I found the Tatu cover. That boy has so much going on, in his life and in his head, he should have like 3 blogs (and with his twitter and dayjob he pretty much does). Anyway, he's one of the most interesting people ever (I once heard him argue for teaching intelligent design in schools, something I thought I opposed, and he pretty much blew my mind and changed my opinion. I wish he'd post his argument somewhere so I could link it. He also delivered the best question ever during the debate "is a woman's place in the home?", which I note in the 3rd comment down here) so check out his multiple sites.

One for the ladies

This is a random little post that I feel ok doing right before the 3-day weekend. I recently become completely obsessed with a mascara. It's called "Kiss Me" and I randomly picked it up at Sephora. I like the way it looks and feels on my lashes but the ultimate benefit of it became evident when I got in the shower one time having forgotten to take it off. It just slid right off my eyelashes, no black marks all over my face, no paint, just glided right off. It was amazing. I was amazed. So amazed in fact that I thought "I must blog about this" and now I have.

Uh, eww.

"Welcome to the era of the gyno spa."

Summer music

NY Mag says almost exactly what I said about this summer's music, only about a week later.

Like, New York has gotten so clean and boring, maaaaan

From a NY Mag article on East Village street kids:

Punk, says Suvy, is “the only view that makes sense to me.” Work is for yuppies. Rent is for yuppies. Shelter is a basic human right. The government is bullshit. Corporations are bullshit. He “fucks capitalism” by pissing in the corner of the Dunkin’ Donuts.

“No one has a right to tell anyone else what to do,” Greg says. “Like, it’s your life, you should be in control of it. I don’t pay for anything—just drugs. They don’t tax drug dealers.”

In my teens I hung out with squatters in the East Village. They were almost all from Connecticut and had parents that drove their Benz in to see them on weekends, completely embarrassing them of course. They were living on the streets of New York because they couldn't like, deal, man.

I wasn't much better, (though I did love coming home at the end of an exhausting city trekking day to a bath and a mom who made me wholesome Russian food), cutting out of school and going to hang out in Tomkins Square Park because the kids there had blue hair and bolts through their noses. I didn't do it to shock my parents, they were nearly impossible to shock as I found out when my mom thought my drag queen friend was just the coolest, it was that I found them more interesting than the Fendi and Gucci'd out white kids I was supposed to be friends with.

Of course, I was 14 or 15, what the hell did I know.

And the street kids of my youth were taking a real risk. Tompkins Square and St. Mark's were no joke. Now, big joke. Huge, haha joke. It was filthy and scary back then making it just right for punk kids who wanted to buck some system somewhere.

Today these privileged kids are squatting on a commercialized, police-patrolled street full of tourists. Even the St. Mark's Hotel, which, in my teens, was a $13/night kind of joint for hookers and junkies, now gets rave reviews over on TripAdvisor. They should find a slum somewhere and do it for real if they find their clean moneyed backgrounds such a burden. It probably won't be in NYC, though. We've come to like a piss-free Dunkin Donuts.

Listen

Shawn Macomber sends along a link to his friend's band Subject Bias and, well, I love them. They sound like some cross between Wilco, Pedro the Lion and Bright Eyes. Check them out.

Yep, cute puppies outrage me too

Ad Featuring Popular Police Pup Sparks Anger in Scottish Muslim Communities:

Muslims in the Scottish district of Tayside are outraged by the appearance of a wide-eyed, 6-week-old puppy on postcards distributed by the local police force, according to the Daily Mail.

Hat-tip Jamie.

Getting over it

If, like me, you have a not-so-secret soft spot for personal blogs, check out Eleanor's Trousers. She recently discovered that the guy she was about to marry was sending "I love you" texts to another girl. She's doing the right thing (and not the Carrie Bradshaw thing) and leaving him behind (I don't need to tell longtime readers of this blog, one of which happens to be my boyfriend, that my man better not be texting "how's the weather?" to a girl I've never heard of). She's a good writer too, much better than those mediocre ones who write the "Modern Love" columns in the NYT. I don't know her, at all, but I wish her luck and love anyway.

If you're into the praying thing

I got this on Facebook, no reason it should be limited to just Jews, though:

On Wednesday, July 2 (29 Sivan), the Hebrew calendar date of the second anniversary of the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, we are calling on all Jews throughout the world to recite one chapter of Tehillim (Psalms 121) to beseech G-d's mercy to have Gilad Shalit released. By reciting this chapter of Tehillim (121) at the same time the power of solidarity and oneness can have a much greater impact on our prayers. Please recite the chapter of Tehillim at the following time on Wednesday, July 2:

6:00 PM - Israel Time
5:00 PM - Paris Time
4:00 PM - UK Time
11:00 AM - East Coast Time
8:00 AM - West Coast Time

HELP SPREAD THE WORD.
Let your friends and neighbors know so they can take part.

Here is the paragraph you need to say:

1. A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains-from where will my help come? 2. My help will come from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. 3. He will not let your foot falter; your guardian does not slumber. 4. Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. 5. The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protective shade at your right hand. 6. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7. The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul. 8. The Lord will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time.

Especially if you've only been a fan for 12 minutes

The perils of Patriots fandom, by Dawn Summers.

Song of the Day

"You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart" by Sinead O' Connor

I don't like when Sinead gets all political, other than in "Black Boys on Mopeds" because that song is so beautiful even with the Margaret Thatcher dis. This song, though, is from the movie "In the Name of the Father", a Daniel Day Lewis flick I had on repeat in high school, and so I love it too.