Some stories I've heard recently that just ain't true:
Coincidence Design's rent-a-stalker service? False. (Actually was vaporware -- they've received enough interest in the service, they just might start it up anyway.)
Groom smothered by stripper's breasts? False. (We're going to see more of this sort of thing, now that Yahoo! has the Weekly World News as a news source.)
Cat with its head stuck in garbage disposal? True! (Don't worry, the cat's just fine.)
| Snopes | Hoaxes | Strippers | Cats |
(I keep getting hits.) The best source of information is the DOT and the NYPD. A public service brought to you by Ishbadiddle.
| NYPD | New York City |
Did y'all catch the state of the onion? Kudos to W for pushing volunteerism (and good news for my dad and my aunt, both employed by the Nat'l Corp for Community Service) -- lets hope this goes farther than his dad's 1000 points. Beyond the whole axis-of-evil thing (er, how exactly are we going to go to war against Iran, Iraq, and N Korea? Wm. Safire's got a plan, but sadly it does not involve destabilizing their regimes with our superior use of grammar), beyond the tax-cut-while-raising-spending-on-just-about-everything- but-God-help-the-Congress -if-they-think-of-spending-on-anything-not-in-his-budget -- where was New York? Not even a nod to Rudy. What about the promises to help us rebuild? Where's our fucking money? We have a 16-acre mass graveyard that's now a tourist attraction ("Get the camera, Irv! They found a body!"). Let's see -- the feds will start deficit spending (the only option is to put it on plastic). New York is facing its own budget problems -- after you finish paying off 1199, there's not much left, and we're looking at cutbacks here at Project Renewal -- so the net effect will be to screw us over. New York is always a net exporter of taxes -- we give more to the feds than we take in. Unless we receive the promised aid, we'll probably still export taxes (any economists out there want to back me up?). Meaning we foot the bill. Have a nice day.
Oh, and did you catch the moments when he dropped character? That smirk. Like he's in a school play and mugging for mom, or a frat boy who's delivering the valedictorian speech -- "Look at me! I'm the Prez! I'm delivering the State of the Union! Whoo-hoo!"
While I'm ranting on W, did you miss this one? Here's what he had to say about Ken Lay: "He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she did name him the head of the Governor's Business Council, and I decided to leave him in place just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy."
This is such a lie that even the National Review and George Will called him on it (although both managed to make it seem like it's somehow Clinton's fault.) Sure, Ken Lay gave money to Ann Richards' campaign in '94: $12,500. But he gave $37,500 to Bush in the same campaign, while Enron kicked in $146,000. This is the same tactic the GOP has taken on Enron from the beginning of the stink -- trying to remind everyone that they gave to the Dems, too. Of course they gave to both sides. Every company gives to both sides. It's called hedging your bets. But for every dollar Lay and Enron gave to the Dems, they gave three to the GOP. Hell, before this whole thing blew up in their face, everyone knew that Lay and Bush were tight. To say that he first "got to know" Ken Lay in 1994 -- what a whopper. The equivalent of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" -- it's only true if you change what the meaning of "is" is. Here are some more articles on this one, from Bushwatch, the Houston Chronicle and Progressive.org.
The latest in the Ashcroftian Moral Government? Well, there are the $8,000 togas we bought so he wouldn't have to be photographed in front of a nekkid lady statue. One of the Three Toms (Tomorrow, Toles, and Dancing Bug) hit that one on the head with this cartoon. Now we have to worry about calico cats, which are, of course, demonic:
Shortly after becoming Attorney General, John Ashcroft was headed abroad. An advance team showed up at the American embassy in the Hague to check out the digs, saw cats in residence, and got nervous. They were worried there might be a calico cat. No, they were told, no calicos. Visible relief. Their boss, they explained, believes calico cats are signs of the devil. (The advance team also spied a statue of a naked woman in the courtyard and discussed the possibility of its being covered for the visit, though that request was not ultimately made.)
This from Democratic Party treasurer Andrew Tobias, as recently reported by Maureen Dowd.
I'll bet the merry marketers are simply salivating that the Olympics are coming, because now they can use patriotism to sell products without seeming crass. Speaking of which, two "now more than ever" ads I could do without -- the "Subways: Now More Than Ever" posters the MTA has put up, and Randi Weingarten's "Teachers: Now More Than Ever" TV spot for the UFT. Probably no worse than Chevy's "Keep America Rolling" campaign. (Forget about the death of thousands with zero percent financing!)
By the way, why is Elton John going to the WEF? And has Trip seen him yet?
| State of the Union | Kenneth Lay | New York City | 9/11 | Cats | John Ashcroft | Patriotic Marketing | Your Blank Of The Day |
Only in the Post, only in New York, etc. etc. This is the kind of story that would end up on that god-awful Ally McBeal, prompting me to yell at the TV that such cases never actually reach a judge. Except they apparently do.
| Subway | Crime |
One would think the Radio Program Recorder is the first step on the road to the long-awaited and much clamored-for Radio TiVO, but on further inspection, it appears it’s not. In addition, it looks like you can only record conservative talk radio with it. How’d they do that?
Just added a comments field, courtesy of Yaccs. Needs a bit of design tinkering but looks like it works. So go on, say sumthin'.
White House Downplays Veep's Influence Over Seasons
Washington, D.C. -- Vice President Dick Cheney emerged from his secure, undisclosed location to make the rounds of the morning news programs this Sunday, but then immediately returned to his hiding place -- indicating that America may be in for six more weeks of winter, according to experts.
While appearing with Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press," observers say, the Vice President seemed distracted, looking over his shoulder repeatedly as if trying to see his own shadow. A review of the broadcast indicates that Vice President Cheney, in fact, appeared to locate his shadow towards the end of the program. He then abruptly concluded the interview, cancelled an appearance with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and returned to his secure, undisclosed location, which is believed to be underground.
Experts were divided as to impact of Cheney's brief appearance and sudden disappearance upon the duration of the current winter season. "You can read anything you want into Cheney seeing his own shadow and going back underground," one Cheney-watcher said. "Yes, it may mean six more weeks of winter, but it may just mean that he's trying to stay as far away from this Enron mess as possible."
At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer attempted to downplay the increasingly widespread impression that Vice-President Cheney can influence the seasons. "Vice President Cheney is a respected voice within this Administration, but he does not control the weather," Fleischer told reporters. "Only the President can do that."
From Nancy!
| Dick Cheney |
Since I can only post in one place in a timely manner about the goings-on of the WEF, I’ll be writing more at my own personal blog, Bleahh, for the next five days or so.
But one thing needs to be thrown up here, to wit, the news about the virtual WEF sit-in taking place beginning tomorrow. Check out the Electronic Civil Disobedience’s site for more on what and how.
[NB: You should also check out the somewhat-more-cogently-written rtmark. Hey, they pointed to this cool tool, which generates the path of least surveillance between any two points in Manhattan. Don't you wish Vindigo could do the same?]
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In case you ever wondered where you stood in the grand Geek Hierarchy ... now you can check.
| Maps |
From the Washington Post (by way of MetaFilter,) a thoughtful piece about the future of global capitalism:
The question is: Do we maintain the status quo and hope that the genuine magnificence of the American experience is persuasive to those for whom it is but a remote video image? Or do we recognize the challenges we face? Granted, the specter of communism no longer haunts us. Instead, there are only seeds growing in far-away fields, perverse seeds that thrive when neglected.We must begin by recognizing that the genius of capitalism is not, as Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill suggested recently, that it allows companies to die, but that it continually reinvents itself. Democracy shares this genius. We have made American capitalism work here and other brands of capitalism work elsewhere in the developed world. But we must recognize that we have notcome close to perfecting global capitalism. We must create stakeholders in globalization, in capitalism and in democracy by reforming local systems so that the disenfranchised have access to the capital, education, legal institutions, market efficiencies and other benefits that can only come when the grasp of the elites on limited national assets is loosened and the opportunity to own and build wealth is genuinely offered.
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This telnet show is the web equivalent of a wayang kulit, Javanese shadow puppetry. Except instead of Hindu epics, it's Star Wars. And instead of Java, it's ASCII. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.)
(via prolific.org.)
Update from Trip:
You didn't mention that it's Telnet ASCII art! That's the best part! [NB: OK, you're right. Now I've mentioned it.] That, and that there's no sound, so you can put on whatever you want as background. Though it doesn't sync up perfectly, I put on Hükser Dü's Land Speed Record, a nonstop ultracore live set from '79.
| Star Wars | Wayang Kulit |
So we’ve got a veep with a bad ticker, a prez with loose wiring in general and in particular a bad ticker. Who’s third in line? Hastert? What are his health problems?
WEF or WTF?
A friend in a building several blocks from the Davos-Astoria got a memo from her company about the upcoming summit. In particular, it’s good to know that:
The New York City Police Department will be enforcing street closings and will be taking other initiatives designed to protect the city against potentially violent disruptions by opponents of the WEF. The NYPD is taking these precautions in order to prevent possible injury and property damage, which unfortunately have taken place at previous demonstrations in other cities.It sounds quite reasonable, but is it not disappointing that “preventing the exercise of democracy” is now synonymous with “taking other initiatives designed to protect the city”? That the assumption is that neither protestors nor police can be trusted to make a distinction between vehement protest, even disruptive protest, and aimless violence?
| NYPD | Dick Cheney |
From public radio station KPCC in Pasadena:
President Bush has a heart arrhythmia called sinus bradycardia that makes him more prone to fainting when he gags or chokes. It's why he passed out January 13 in the highly publicized pretzel incident. . . .
Had the press known that President Bush has sinus bradycardia, and that fainting is a common symptom of bradycardia, the story might have been reported much differently. But the press didn't ask the right question, and the White House didn't volunteer the right answer. Instead, the Bush White House focused on the pretzel, and the press swallowed the story whole.
| Pretzels | Food |
Those of you who had a good time with the pseudo-EC that was perpetrated for Matt and Jessie’s honeymoon postcard may get a thrill out of a planned 1000-panel comic strip Exquisite Corpse that waferbaby is running. The rest of you will probably just shake your heads slowly.
| Distributed Culture |
So for the last few weeks our neighbors Lynn, Colin, Chris, and Rozie have been making plans to see our latest DVD arrival, L'Avventura. Schedules were coordinated, dinner plans made, watches synchronized. Last Wednesday the party gathered, ready to chow down on my guacamole and Lynn's excellent picadillo. Now why eat Mexican food during an Antonioni film? Well it makes perfect sense -- if you think you're about to see Aventurera, the 1950 Mexican cabaretera/musical/melodrama, which they'd seen at Film Forum a number of years back. Somehow watching a "haunting study of contemporary alienation" didn't quite go with the mood, so we went and rented Blow Dry instead. Which turned out to be quite enjoyable, in the tradition of Strictly Ballroom and Best in Show -- big competition, strange subculture, quirky characters. Proving you can make this movie about anything, this time it's British hairdressers and their annual competition. Well written, funny, great cast (incl. Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, and Rachel Griffiths) -- a perfect popcorn movie. Goes well with guacamole too.
On a completely unrelated note, I've just finished reading I Thought My Father Was God, a collection of stories edited by Paul Auster. Auster went on NPR and asked people to send in stories -- they had to be true, and they had to be short. The book is a selection of the 4,000+ stories he received. They are, quite simply, amazing. Ranging from heartbreaking to heartwarming to eerie to funny to thoughtful, the stories stay with you. As if you just got off the bus, where the person next to you told you their story ("Here is my story, the story I tell you when I know you well enough.") The good folks at Rain Taxi have a review too. Check it out.
| Antonioni |
My office is at 50th and Lex, right across the street from the Davos-Astoria, site of the World Economic Forum, scheduled to start in two days. Giving new definition to the word retrograde, the NYPD (remember them? they’re heroes) is planning to enforce an 1845 law that prohibits gathering in groups of three or more and wearing hoods or masks. Can I post bail via Blogger? The Voice has your guide to some of the planned uproar. (Uproar, but not ruckus. They’re officially staying home.)
| NYPD | New York City |
From today's NYT featured wedding:
"Ms. Gray, an acting coach, whose clients include Mariah Carey and Julianne Nicholson, said she usually has to work for months to develop that mix of confidence and vulnerability in actors. She hesitated, then gave Mr. Bagdade her phone number."
| Dating |
’Parrently the Mac turned voting age yesterday, and Blog of Note at Blogger happened to point to someone who points us to the story of the fantastic first advertisement for the original Banana Jr.
UPDATE: CBS is going to run a program called Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials II, and the ad for it indicates that the “1984” spot will be on it, but the web page doesn’t confirm.
| Apple | Advertising |
A short/interesting article below. For those who wonder how I do what I do (i.e., corporate communications) without yakking on a daily basis, well, this won't clear up that mystery any...
Full op-ed from the NYT is here; excerpts below:
January 19, 2002
Enron's Vision (and Values) Thing
By JAMES S. KUNEN
Well, at least Enron's leaders thought it important to produce a statement of values. Imagine what they might have done had they found themselves without this moral compass.
Then again, maybe adherence to ethical conduct really should go without saying. Every company's statement ends up rehashing the same things, anyway: We will maintain the highest ethical standards, treat our employees with respect, encourage teamwork, make quality products, respect the environment. . . . As opposed to what? We will maintain fair- to-middling ethical standards? Treat our employees like old shoes, foment backstabbing, make shoddy products and lay waste the environment?
I know one writer who, while struggling to draft one of these corporate credos, threw up her hands in despair and observed: "Why not just come right out and say it? 'We will strive to make as much money as we can without going to prison.' "
She was joking, of course. But had Enron's leaders adopted her statement and lived by it, their employees and shareholders might be a lot better off today.
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On Trip's site, he's been reviewing independent, non-corporate web-sites that are worth checking out: the Realm of Redheads, Evolt.org, Need to Know, UnosUnosYUnosCeros.com, Exploding Dog, and Linkdup. I'm sure he'll have lots more for us.
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...unless you've got some time on your hands; a seriously cool webtoy. Thanks to i.s.o. labs for the pointer.
| Games |
You have until Monday to comment to the DOJ on the Microsoft anti-trust settlement. Do it now.
| Monopoly | DOJ | Anti-Trust |
| AudioGalaxy |
via blogdex.)
| Crime |
Ron Taylor, the man behind BGM, was also the man behind Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway.
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This article in the SF Chronicle reveals that Ashcroft "vigorously urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of Information Act requests made by American citizens" in an Oct 12 memo. Link via randomWalks.
| Civil Liberties | FOIA |
From today's Nothing Personal on Salon.com:
In what can only be called a coup for drape-headed actors everywhere, a production company called Five Mile River Films has bought the screen rights to "Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City," a biography of New York City's former mayor by Andrew Kirtzman. Actors including Robert Duvall and James Woods are said to be under consideration to take the lead role in the TV movie. According to the Associated Press, Five Mile River has backed such TV classics as "Abraham," "Moses," "David" and "Jesus." Maybe they'll call this one "God."
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Last week’s Voice describes the plight of Jones Diner, “one of the last great original hash houses in lower Manhattan”. Support your local (or regional) greasy spoon!
| New York City |
For those of you who missed it, there was a small piece in the NY Times a couple months ago about two guys who photographed the defacement of Britney Spears subway posters, the ones advertising her then-upcoming gig in Las Vegas to be broadcast live on HBO. I finally got around to seeing the web page they put up with their results, and it isn’t as interesting as it seemed from the Times’s piece, but it’s still worth a quick look. (You’ll probably get redirected to the main page from the link above, but look in the nav on the left frame of the main page.)
[NB: It's been a while since I visited Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, host of the Britney site, but it's worth looking at in its own right -- a mapping of stories to the grid of the city. Andrea's kind of thing. Also, you should check out the illuminating reactions to the Britney posters.]
| Britney Spears |
Ooh, and I just heard on WBGO that today is National Measure Your Feet Day and tomorrow is National Compliment Day (confirmed at HolidayInsights.com). What’re the lobbying organizations that pushed these through our estimable national legislative assembly?
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More on the selectively Ashcruftian moral government: Wired news says that we are punishing Ukraine, but just bumpin’ our gums about China when it comes to policing software piracy.
| China | Pirates |
January's XP Surprise: The Giant Paperweight
| Windows |
Spinsanity is always worth checking out, if only to see what lies the pundits are spreading these days. Currently considered: The GOP straw man, "Daschlenomics," and the Dem's straw man, "Enronomics." OK, I'm biased, but I just have to quote this WSJ op-ed piece on Enron:
Rather, the ultimate lesson may turn out to be that Enron was able to play fast and loose in a financial boom and Clintonian moral climate, and was called to account in a recession when the moral climate has turned Ashcroftian.
Oh yes, and ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery, etc.
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Had a good discussion with my father this weekend about the nominal status of the Afghan prisoners, be it POWs or “Unauthorized Combatants”. Today’s Washington Post has excerpts from the relevant portion of the Geneva Convention, but I’d love to see what the non-excerpted portions read.
Whoa there! Found it. The little-known full title is the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and the parts not excerpted by the Washington Post are illuminating. Apparently there’s a touch too much nuance in them for the Post’s readers.
| POWs | War on Terror | Guantanamo | Afghanistan | Law |
In an effort to get everyone watching CNN twenty-four hours a day, the folks at AOL-TimeWarner have given us a report entitled How Prepared Is Your City? and I’m glad to note that New York city is given the title of Most Devastated Most Prepared. That way, if those dang terreristas try to attack a tall building in New York again, we’ll feel safer having ignored the fire drills in our office building. (Trying to be nice, CNN didn’t give a Least Prepared; but it seems that you are in tough shape if you live in Detroit, Boston, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, or Philadelphia.)
And, since it seems that today is Enron day at Ishbadiddle, I’ll point out that CNN also reports on Veep Dick Cheney’s dunning India for money owed to Enron. It doesn’t feel better to hear that “no one at Enron asked Cheney to raise the issue”.
| Dick Cheney | New York City | Terrorism |
Want to buy the Enron Code of Ethics? How about their Risk Management Manual? (Bidding stands at $1000). Or an "Ask Why" Enron Stress Ball? I am sorely tempted to bid on the Enron Values "Tangle Puzzle" -- the irony must be worth at least $20.
| eBay |
To go along with NS’s post of faux Bollywood posters, there’s a site with real Rare Bollywood LP Cover Art.
| India | Design |
Mmm . . . meta Pong. For those on a corporate-type connection.
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Want to see how Enron's board is connected to the military-industrial complex, where their donations go, and how Sam Nunn is at the center of the corporate universe, all using Flash? Go to They Rule.
| Web Tools | Enron | Corporate Governance | Interlocking Directorates | Big Business |
It's official - according to
