I just saw in Slate that Barack Obama has been sending a messenger to Canada to tell them (who he has to tell, Slate doesn't specify) that his whole Anti-NAFTA thing is just a show to impress the yokels in Ohio. Don't worry, he's really a free trader just like us. He just needs to say these things to get elected so that he can protect NAFTA.
It reminds me of LBJ sending messengers back to Houston to tell his financial backers that he didn't really believe in Civil Rights, that he only said these pro-civil rights things so that he could keep control of the Senate from the Northern Liberals and Republicans. Really he was a segregationist just like them. Really.
He has taken a page from the Master, while Clinton is sampling Walter Mondale.
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
I don't know why this makes me happy, it just does. I didn't even see the White Castle movie. Maybe the fact that this looks like a major motion picture which is absurdist and political. Actually, best not to think about it too much.
At least for New Yorkers:
A great plan for Governors Island and the return of the 2nd Avenue Deli!
Merry Happy Xmas, Solstice, Kwanza, (Eid) al Adha, Boxing Day, and New Years!
So the Mayor of San Fran wants to tax sugary soda. How do we feel about that? Kinda regressive. But city kids are getting fatter every year and that will put a strain on the health system of SF and the nation. But where will this slippery slope end? Taxing everything that CAN be bad for you if taken in large quantities? And if these drinks are so bad for kids why not just outlaw them? They have already banned them from some schools; why not pass a "no soda under 17" law? At least that way parents will control what their children drink.
This headline, from CNN.com, sums up the hypocrisy of Americans, politicians, and almost all religious people. Basically he said yesterday: I believe something, but don’t worry because what I believe doesn’t affect the way I behave. I will always act in accordance with your beliefs, whatever they are. ALL of you, regardless of what crazy thing you believe. Even if they contradict each other. Because deep down I know we all have the same core belief: we are religious only when it is convenient.
When women friends ask me about men, I am prone to joke “what you don’t know about men could fit on a fortune-cookie slip. Specifically ‘Men will f**k anything!’ ”
Now science proves me right:
Women of all the races we studied revealed a strong preference for men of their own race: White women were more likely to choose white men; black women preferred black men; East Asian women preferred East Asian men; Hispanic women preferred Hispanic men. But men don't seem to discriminate based on race when it comes to dating. A woman's race had no effect on the men's choices.
And "yellow fever" seems to be a reality, but not because of men, but because of Asian women themselves.
Two wrinkles on this: We found no evidence of the stereotype of a white male preference for East Asian women. However, we also found that East Asian women did not discriminate against white men (only against black and Hispanic men). As a result, the white man-Asian woman pairing was the most common form of interracial dating—but because of the women's neutrality, not the men's pronounced preference. We also found that regional differences mattered. Daters of both sexes from south of the Mason-Dixon Line revealed much stronger same-race preferences than Northern daters.
Does anyone know why almost half of the Democrats voted to continue funding for the war? They were all on board with Webb's amendment the day before (which would cause a drawdown in troop levels by mandating longer times between Iraq tours for soldiers). I can't figure it out.
Hours after the announcement, The Onion already has the street's opinion on Gonzalez's resignation. Do you think they have been going out everyday and asking people "What do you think of the AG's resignation today?" secure in the knowledge that one day they would be right?
I just got back from Philadelphia and I noticed an ad for Ishkabibbles’s, home of the original chicken cheesesteak. I rembered there being some discussion of this blogs name (but an internal search showed no mention of “iskabibble”. A yahoo search had many hits, including this one:
ISHKABIBBLE A dismissive statement. This slang expression came into existence in the USA quite suddenly around 1913 with the ostensible meaning “I should worry!”, which means, of course, “Don’t worry!” or “Who cares?”. It had quite a vogue for a decade or two and was the name of a character played by Merwyn Bogue on a 1930s radio show called Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge (they don’t make titles like that any more).
Mike, maybe your grandparents got Ishbadiddle from here. Maybe they really invented the chicken cheesesteak?
Does anyone use "noise reducing" headphones that use "circuitry in the device creates a sound wave 180 degrees out of phase with [outside] sounds" . I am thinking of splurging on a pair (350 dollars for something I will use everywork day for years justifiable, I think). Has anyone ever used these? On the subway? Do they work?
What could go wrong!
According to yesterday’s Wikipedia’s this day in history. May 29th 1453 was the day the Ottomans (Ottormen?) took over Constantinople. This was the end of the middle ages, meaning that today is the anniversary of the first day of the Renaissance, which of course led to the great civilization we live in today.
Is no broadcast racist safe?
There are so many jokes that go with this story, where to begin?
I'll start with this one: Hamas, watch out, Mossad is a bunch of wimps compared to the law firm of Lipshitz, Fein, and Schwartz.
I'm still hung over from Loyalty Day, and Mother's Day is next week. When will I get a break?
"Lauren Nelson, 20, of Lawton, Oklahoma, worked with police in Suffolk County to target would-be Internet sexual predators, taped for an episode of the TV show "America's Most Wanted."
She posed as a teenager and lured men into chatting online and meeting her at a home, where police and crews were waiting. Eleven men were arrested in the sting."
Not only is Lauren Nelson clearly not a minor, she is undeniably beautiful. In fact, she is...Miss America!
Take that Sister Olga!
Of course that assumes she doesn't commit any mortal sins in her life time. Do we still believe in those?
We blogged a few years ago about the 100 dollar computer, and how it will revolutionize 3rd World life. I was skeptical then.
Well, the 100 dollar computer is back in the news. For 150 dollars. Guess what?
Giving kids (I thnk back then we thought it would somehow help farmers) in the 3rd world really cheap computers is still pretty worthless.
Imagine Garrison Keillor, Lindsay Lohan, and Robert Altman in a horse drawn carriage together. Now add a marching band.
-- Patrick
Patrick writes:
Lost among the Libby Indictment, the Miers resignation and the self-outing of George Takei was this breaking news. I know where I will NOT be with my son, daughter and wife on November 19th.
Patrick writes:
I remember reading a year ago in the New York Press (a lefty free publication in New York City) that, according to scientists, the world's supply of oil was near it's end. OPEC nations had for various reasons overstated the supply in their deposits and the growing need of India and China was catching everyone by surprise. Within a generation all known oil deposits would be empty. I saw the same story, and a few rebuttals, over and over again after that, but always on environmental websites or lefty publications. Now the New York Times magazine is basically saying the same thing and Wall Street firms are starting to put this fact into their long term financial forcasts. Maybe it is true.
