Last week: President Obama rejects an international treaty banning landmines.
This week: Obama announces massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan.
Next week: Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ludicrous, of course, particularly the Afghanistan part. The absolute bottom line on Afghanistan is that there are no good options. [...]
I’d say that this story was bizarre, if we didn’t see tales like it happening again and again. Activists in NYC had their home raided by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force on October 1, apparently because one of the residents had been sending Twitter messages during the [...]
The “balloon boy” hoax wouldn’t be getting 24/7 news coverage now, if the cable news networks hadn’t given the story 24/7 news coverage back when they thought it was real.
In other news, the United States is still fucking occupying Iraq.
[...]How do you win a peace prize when you’re at war with two countries and are bombing a third?
[...]I’ve got a theory I’m working, haven’t decided yet if it works:
In modern right-wing political rhetoric, “freedom” means “power”, “liberty” means “power” and “justice” means “control”.
Discuss.
[...]The Non-White Gaming Experience
Nice article about depictions of race in video games, most prominently the lack of non-white people as main characters. Covers some of the reasons behind it (race of game designers, presumed race of game audience), stereotypes of gamers based on race, and the fatigue/ambivalence faced by [...]
First of all, I think it’s very sad that the fevered outburst of Senator Joe Wilson is getting more news coverage than the content of the speech he was bursting out about. And many liberals are basking in their outrage that a man would yell at the president during one [...]
Stopping at one of my local gas stations today, I noticed that they were selling advertising space on top of the pumps. As if that was not irritating enough, the ad slot nearest me had a big picture of Uncle Sam warning me that “Proposed ‘Cap and Trade’ Legislation WILL [...]
Let’s say you worked in an office, and the fellow at the desk next to you was always stepping on your toes as he passed by you. Everyone gets frustrated with him for his clumsiness, and despite every assurance that he’ll be more careful, damned if he’s not crushing your [...]
Top story on CNN.com right now:
“Parents seek answers after children abducted”
Yes, I imagine they would…
[...]Jake pontificates/mumbles about:
- Comic Con and “entertainment journalism”
- Gates-gate and the police
- Obama’s “health” “care” “reform”
I also play one Beastie Boys song as a shout out/get well to Adam “MCA” Yauch, who was recently diagnosed with throat cancer (although we’re told he should be fine [...]
Nice article here by radical environmental fella Derrick Jensen- “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change”. I think his core point is extremely important: while politicians and advertising encourage the public to change their shopping behaviors to save the planet, the environmental damage caused by [...]
1) Although America seems now quite taken with the brave political protesters of Iran, until very recently, the country talked quite seriously about killing hundreds of thousands of them in a military invasion because they could, at some point, develop nuclear weapons, which they could then possibly use against the [...]
Wrote an article about American torture on the Axis of Justice website here. Nothing groundbreaking, but I think it puts it all into a simple framework and slices up the torture apologists pretty well (figuratively speaking). If I thought my audience on that site had the interest/attention span, I [...]
About, damn, a year ago, I posted an article about an upcoming video game that might have some troubling, racist imagery. Actually, my article was about how depressing it was that hundreds of video game fans seemed completely unwilling or unable to see how any aspect of the game [...]
I was pretty energized by this video from a recent Bill Moyers Journal. It’s about how people in Boston are organizing with the support of an organization called City Life/Vida Urbana to fight against impending foreclosures and evictions of their homes.
I thought the video did a great [...]
Awesome.
4th-Grader Questions Rice on Waterboarding
In her first public appearance since leaving the White House, Condoleezza Rice had to defend herself from accusations of war crimes from a 9-year old. My hat goes off to you, young Misha Lerner.
Misha’s mother claimed that his original question was “If you would work [...]
Best headline I’ve read in a while:
U.S. defense chief: Military strike won’t halt Iran nuke program
Implies that the US is not going to invade Iran during the Obama administration. Of course, then he goes on to talk about sanctions, which can do just as much damage. Damn, I [...]
From Matt Taibbi:
The reason the [right-]winger crowd can’t find a way to be coherently angry right now is because this country has no healthy avenues for genuine populist outrage. It never has. The setup always goes the other way: when the excesses of business interests and their political proteges [...]
Sometimes a blogger’s most powerful work can be found in their comments section instead of their post. In an already interesting post by Amanda Marcotte about psychology and American eating habits, the comment threads turns to feminist angles on the subject, in which Marcotte knocks this one out of [...]
Imagine there’s this guy you know, who totally wronged you and messed up part of your life. Did some real damage. It was a long time ago, you survived and have moved on. You haven’t talked to the guy in years, but he unsubtly calls you names to other people [...]
(okay, the obvious pun title for this was something like “Hypocritic Oath”. But I didn’t go there, see? Everyone pat my back)
Apparently, when some Americans see shitty doctors, they complain to their friends and neighbors. Sometimes they are so upset about the way their doctor behaved, or the lack of [...]
“My wallet doesn’t care about bipartisanship– it cares about having motherfucking MONEY IN IT.”
In related news, the comic that helped me keep sane post-9/11, Get Your War On, closed its doors (panels?) on Inauguration Day. Let’s all raise our clip art champagne glasses for [...]
Guess it’s time to retire one of my alternative LMB logos.
(yeah, I pretty much stole it from Shepard Fairey, but how could I resist?)
What can I say about Bush that I haven’t said here in fury, disgust or tears many, many times over the past eight years? Iraq, [...]
So let’s say I have a man chained up in my basement. Had him there for many months. Then, one day I come down to the basement to give him his daily gruel ration, and out of nowhere, he comes at me with a broken bottle. Do I have a [...]
Apparently right-wing blog-o-nut Michelle Malkin is trying to spin her own “war on [holiday]” franchise (given the massive success of the Fox Corps’ “war on Xmas”), trying to stir up her masses about the way that liberal elites want to make everyone feel guilty for the things they love. I [...]
- I’ll try to do this show weekly– unless I have nothing worth saying
- I talk about Prop 8 and try to comprehend the anti-gay mindset
- Obama = Clinton II?
- Joe Scarborough is a dickhead (but you already knew that, or are thinking “Joe [...]
A number of conservative bloggers and RNC operatives have started a new website to figure out how to rebuild the Republican party after it’s decisive defeat in the 08 election. The site is, not surprisingly, RebuildTheParty.com. The most excellent part of the site is Ideas.RebuildTheParty.com. On this page, [...]
I’m going to go ahead and call the election for Obama at 11:37am PST.
Eh, who cares if I’m wrong, I’m just a blogger.
[...]I actually recorded a short podcast this morning, but it was so scattershot and disorganized that I decided not to waste you guys’ time by uploading it and encouraging you to listen. I’ll put together something better post-election.
Speaking of the election, I’d say that Californians should get out there and [...]
I’m actually going to try to do a short show every week now. We’ll see how that goes. My track record these past few years have been… not good.
Mostly me talking about Campaign 2008 and American electoral politics in general. It’s one big culture war, basically. Also, [...]
I have this great idea for an anti-McCain “ad”, but I have no time and no video editting equipment to make it. If anyone’s interested, drop me a line and I’ll spill.
[...]I do love the Bush economic bailout plan. “We’re gonna take $700 billion and give it to this guy. He’s real smart. He’ll fix it.”
That is really, really, really not a plan. A plan has a “and then we’re gonna to this” and a “and next we’ll do this”, and [...]
The Democrats are going to change everything. We’re going to have gay parents marrying their own gay babies. Obama’s gonna be sworn in on a gay baby. The oath is gonna end ‘’So help me, gay baby.'’
[...]So predictable yet so outrageous. Cops in St. Paul have raided the convergence space for anti-RNC protesters, with some bullshit warrant about “incendiary devices”. Last I’ve heard, over a hundred people had been detained, were being photographed and having their possessions searched. No arrests as far as I know. Updates [...]
I will never ever, if I live to be 350, understand religious people. I just won’t.
For example, these folks are a few beads short of a rosary*.
Focus On Family Pulls Controversial Obama ‘Rain’ Video- right-wing Christian group produces a video asking fellow Christians to pray for torrential, road-swamping rains [...]
Here’s a fun one.
Wal-Mart is apparently forcing its managers to sit through meetings explaining that unions are evil, that if Democrats win the 2008 elections then there might be more unions, and that how much this potential Axis of Labor Evil could hurt Wal-Mart, and possibly bring about the [...]
School locked down after ‘ninja’ sighted in woods
Yes folks, school officials in New Jersey actually felt that an alleged ninja sighting was enough of a security threat to shut the school down.
Ninjas.
Sweet fucking christ.
It reminds me of an interesting essay I read recently which argued that the US has [...]
For, well, years now, there has been plenty of reason to worry that the US was going to embark upon a war with Iran. And when I say “embark”, I mean “launch a full-fledged air assault that would inevitably kill thousands and thousands of innocent Iranians, inviting the retaliation of [...]
In a vital, exclusive, headline story, Hillary Clinton may or may not be conceding the Democratic presidential nomination later today. Or sometime this week. Or never.
In an unrelated story, Hillary Clinton may or may not be vowing to continue her fight to win the Democratic presidential nomination, no holds barred! [...]
Most excellent story I’ve read in a while:
Bolton dodges attempted ‘war crimes’ arrest
Author/columnist/activist George Monbiot shows up at an event where neocon John Bolton is giving a speech, and tries to make a citizens’ arrest, claiming that Bolton has committed war crimes and violated the Geneva Convention. Bolton managed [...]
So you probably heard by now, former White House Spokesman Scott McClellan has released a new book, in which he accuses the White House of doing naughty things during his tenure: lies, propaganda, and that most heinous of crimes, tricking Scott McClellan.
As one would expect, American liberals are seizing [...]
How could a book about dogs, ducks and robots be so sad?
[...]I’ll be doing a live radio show with the Neighborhood Public Radio project this Saturday at 2:30pm PST, live from the Rubber Rose. It’ll be broadcast over the air in San Diego on 103.9FM and also over the air in NYC on [find out what frequency they’re using [...]
