The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Ramona's picture

    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Jesus toasters, Gray Panthers, Raging Grannies, and Fun with Medicare

     

    WARNING:  Hot graven images ahead.  Turn back if you believe Jesus' image on toast should remain a miracle and not be used as a promotion by clever, sacrilegious Vermonters for a Made in China toaster.  (It's International Blasphemy Rights Day today but I swear I didn't know that when I chose this segment.  Not that I'm not okay with it.  I am.)

    Ramona's picture

    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Butter, Blankets, and Beauty. Then There's That Cartoon.

     

    I can't believe it's not butter!  In Wisconsin there is a law on the books that forbids restaurants, schools, hospitals and prisons from serving margarine instead of butter.  This weaker version of a 1897 law has been on the dairy state's books for 44 years but most restaurants can get around it, since the interpretation of the law these days is that if a customer asks for margarine it's okay to give it to them.  No mention of how the margarine is delivered to table -- in plain sight or disguised as something else.  (The bovine version of "Don't ask

    Ramona's picture

    FRIDAY FOLLIES: Tea Party Games, Rabid dogs, Sweet Old Fools, and Stories that Soothe.

     

     I swear, the weirdest thing going last week was the Tea Party debate hosted by Ted Turner's brainchild gone wild.  (When I heard that the once-venerable CNN was going to give free air-time and thus a large dose of credibility to yet another crazy bunch hell-bent on taking back every single right and privilege afforded us by hundreds of years worth of struggle by our more forward-thinking ancestors, this is what I said out loud:  "Waaaaaahhhhhtt??"  (Mo

    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Comic-Con and the GOP Primaries

    I spent a lot of the summer driving U-Haul trucks instead of blogging, so I didn't keep up with the early Republican jostling. Tonight, I'm going to do something useful with my time, so watching the Republican debate is out of the question. But the New York Times published a great piece about the Republican's political situation three months back. It simply didn't use the words "republican" or politics. It was a piece about movie studios and Comic Con.

    Topics: 
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Fixing College Football: Pay the Kids, or Don't

    It's college football season, and that means corruption and scandal. (Margaret Soltan at University Diaries blogs superbly and tirelessly about that corruption.) We've actually gotten to the point where Sports Illustrated, not the Chronicle of Higher Education but Sports Illustrated, has called for a major university football team to be disbanded.

    Ramona's picture

    Friday Follies: On Kardashian, Condi, Lust, Larceny and Love in the Air

    How jealous are we of that lavish, over-the-top Royal Wedding the Brits got to celebrate this year?  So pathetically jealous we had to pretend we're capable of having one of our own by latching onto the lavish, over-the-top Kim Kardashian-Kris Humphries wedding.

    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    Palin's Goal: Looking for the DQ

    Although it's been crowded out by actual news, there's been another uptick of interest in whether or not Sarah Palin will attempt to run for president.

    Topics: 
    Ramona's picture

    FRIDAY FOLLIES: The Worst Writer Ever, Abercrombie's scam, and the Eagle Has Landed

     

    A few weeks ago, when I wrote about the Bulwer-Lytton contest for the worst first sentence of a novel, I had no idea there was actually a worst novel in the world, too.  The consensus, from what little research I've done on the subject, is that Amanda McKittrick Ros is the author who wins, hands down.  (A literary group that included Tolkien and C.S.

    Donal's picture

    Cenk Uygur explains

    I can't believe they prefer Al Sharpton to this guy.

    Topics: 
    Ramona's picture

    In Our Own Voices: Getting it Right While Blogging

     

     Once there was a post by Simon Dumenco called, "Poor Steve Jobs Had to Go Head to Head With Weinergate in the Twitter Buzzstakes. And the Weiner Is ...."  It appeared online on June 8.  The next day The Huffington Post published a piece by Amy Lee called, "Anthony Weiner vs.

    Topics: 
    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    The One where Cal Thomas, Judith Miller and James Pinkington admit they are paid Hackensteins

    Picking on Fox News stopped being fun a long time ago. It's a right-wing propaganda station, period. Hell, books have been written on the subject.

    But I do admit to enjoying seeing when Fox News "journalists" so plainly admit that they are hacks and paid shills. Like in this off-camera moment from this weekends Fox Show "News Watch," which did handstands to avoid mentioning Rupert Murdoch and News Corps crimes in the UK:

     

    Topics: 
    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    The Last White Gangster

    The FBI has caught Whitey Bulger, after a mere sixteen years. The arrest made national news because of the FBI's well-earned embarrassment and because of the mythology around Bulger. As a crime boss, Bulger was not nationally significant. He was a formidable gang leader with firm control over one slice of Boston's organized crime, but it was only a slice.

    Doctor Cleveland's picture

    No Privacy. Just Privilege

    The media can't resist talking about Congressman Weiner's penis. That's no surprise. The American entertainment industry exists to talk about penises and the things various penises like. And our news media is only a minor subsidiary of that entertainment empire.

    Ramona's picture

    Men, power, reckless sex: Why? What are we missing?

    I don't always read or agree with Maureen Dowd, but I do have her on my blogroll and now and then a title grabs me.  Yesterday she wrote "Your Tweetin' Heart".  Yes, I knew it was going to be about Anthony Weiner, but I read it anyway because sometimes her take on odd things like that is refreshingly different. 

    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    For God's Sake, Sarah! Tell us what you're doing!!

    Speaking as a some-time member of the corporate media, let me just say that Sarah Palin's recent Bus Tour has been driving me nuts. Not only won't Palin tell the Media what the main purpose of the tour is, aside from the hazy patriotic gibberish, but she hardly gives the "Lamestream Media" the time of day!

    Now, I understand that Palin quit her job as Governor of Alaska half-way through and that it's highly unlikely she'll ever hold a political office again. But what is the bus tour about!?

    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    The Yes Men & Coal Cares to Peabody Energy and Coal Industry: Stop Killing Kids

    Since my previous post on the satirical Web site CoalCares.org, there have been several interesting developments. First off, the infamous Yes Men have been outed as the masterminds behind the site.

    Topics: 
    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    What's in a name?

    Over the course of the day, I've come across three stories from major media outlets that shared two things in common. First, all three stories were trivial. Second, all three of these trivial stories were based on comments from anonymous sources.

    First up, Derek Thompson at the Atlantic:

    GOP Aide: Republicans Not 'Intellectually Honest' on Taxes

    Topics: 
    William K. Wolfrum's picture

    Are U.S. Veterans freeloaders? John Stossel will be the judge of that

    If you need more proof that Libertarianism is an ideology of the soul-less, let John Stossel finish the deal:

    After my FBN show last week, where I let critics of my FREELOADERS show talk back, I got this e-mail:

    Dear Mr. Stossel,

    I am a veteran who is rated and compensated as 100% disabled.

    Do you, and Libertarians in general view me as a “freeloader;” and should I not be compensated according to your views of this situation?

    Topics: 

    Pages