December 04, 2004
i'm totally serious about this. Totally serious. Let's look at Elton John's qualifications, shall we?
- He couldn't be any worse than Kofi Annan.
- He's British, and Great Britain is in the United Nations.
- Even if he's not necessarily anti-American, he is sufficiently anti-Bush.
- He sometimes wears funky sunglasses.
- He's friends with Tim Rice.
- He can sing good.
- People seem to really like him.
- i think he's met the Queen.
- He knows how to play the piano.
- He could ask Dionne Warwick (who knows a bunch of psychics) to be one of his advisors because... well... that's what friends are for...
- He's got spunk.
- He probably looks good in a blue beret.
- It's the way that he move, the things that he do, wo-o-o.
- And i'm sure there's a bunch of other things that make him qualified for the job, which i can't think of right now.
Please join me in this crusade. Now that Dan Rather is quitting, i need a new crusade. You can help. Next time the subject of the United Nations comes up at work, mention to your co-workers that you think Elton John would make an excellent Secretary General. Word will undoubtedly spread to the right people. Also, if you like to call radio talk shows, why not mention it on the air? That'd get the word out even faster.
If you have a blog, feel free to copy and post my sidebar ad, which you'll find if you scroll down my main page. And i guess the best way to help would be to email the United Nations itself. Their address is inquiries@un.org.
The motto of my new grass-roots movement will be "Why the 'ell not you bloody sons-a-bitches!" Which is what i would imagine Sir Elton would say if he were on board with this whole thing. Or if he knew about it at all. Which he doesn't, since i have no idea how to contact him. But i'm sure he'd be okay with it, because the idea is sure to catch on like wildfire.
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Interesting. He likes eBay, by the way.
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December 02, 2004
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December 01, 2004
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You know his story. Born in Germany, lived in San Pedro, brutally funny poet and story writer, drunk, total mysogynist, the polar opposite of PC.
Long before Dr. Laura came up with the idea for her book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, Charles Bukowski knew the score:
She Saidwhat are you doing with all those paper
napkins in your car?
we dont have napkins like
that
how come your car radio is
always turned to some
rock and roll station? do you drive around with
some
young thing?you're
dripping tangerine
juice on the floor.
whenever you go into
the kitchen
this towel gets
wet and dirty,
why is that?when you let my
bathwater run
you never
clean the
tub first.why don't you
put your toothbrush
back
in the rack?you should always
dry your razorsometimes
I think
you hate
my cat.Martha says
you were
downstairs
sitting with her
and you
had your
pants off.you shouldn't wear
those
$100 shoes in
the gardenand you don't keep
track
of what you
plant out therethat's
dumbyou must always
set the cat's bowl back
in
the same place.don't
bake fish
in a frying
pan...I never saw
anybody
harder on the
brakes of their
car
than you.let's go
to a
movie.listen what's
wrong with you?
you act
depressed.
More: i found this poem on a Bon Jovi fan site. Does anybody know if Bon Jovi set this to music? That would be odd in the extreme.
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November 30, 2004
Blogging should be light, but you all know how i am. i'm addicted. So i'll probably post stupid shit once in a while during study breaks or whatever. i've got a few blogger interviews in the works which you'll want to stay tuned for as well. Actually, i'm gonna post a fun interview with Ginger of Candied Ginger on Thursday, so be sure to check that out. Then another really special annie-conversation later on in the month, just to keep you visitors visiting.
P.S. Speaking of interviews, Matt Rustler did mine a couple of weeks ago and i know the whole blogosphere is awaiting that posting with feverish anticipation.
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November 29, 2004
As for tonight's game, i need a winner to offset last week's faulty prediction. Although, if you watched the first quarter of last week's game, you probably were wondering if your girl might just have some inexplicable insight into the game of football. But then New England's ass-kicking began. That Rodney Harrison interception at the end of the second took all the fight out of the Chiefs.
So tonight it's the Rams and Green Bay at Lambeau Field. i picked Green Bay correctly for the Monday night opener back in September, but i blew my prediction when Green Bay lost to Tennessee on October 11th. That was the last time Green Bay lost, and they've fought back to a 6 and 4 record by winning their next five in a row.
i think the Packers will make it six in a row tonight and they're favored by 6½. This will be Brett Favre's 200th regular season game in his consecutive game streak, so he should be on. But with Ahman Green hurting, i wonder if the Packers will cover the spread? The weather figures to be bad and both teams will need to run the ball more. With Marshall Faulk, i think the Rams can keep it close. So i'm going to make another leap and pick the Rams plus 6½.
Update: Packers won 45 to 17. Okay, i suck. Mostly i suck. But sometimes i get lucky, and when i do expect me to call it genius. Last night was not one of those times, though.
Plus i'm 4 and 8 in the Blogger Bowl. That really hurts. And Victor is number one! Victor! A man who'll drive 400 miles for a rat is winning the Blogger Bowl. i just don't understand it.
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November 28, 2004
AAAaaaaaH!!! WaaaaaaaAAAhhH! AAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAhhh! AAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! AAaaaaaaHHH!!! AAAaaaaaH!!! WaaaaaaaAAAhhH! NNoooohohohohonnnnononono!!!! AAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAhhh! Pleaaaaseeenonononnhohono!!!!! AAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! AAaaaaaaHHH!!! AAAaaaaaH!!! WaaaaaaaAAAhhH! AAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAhhh! AAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!
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November 26, 2004
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November 24, 2004
i'll leave you with a very nice holiday poem about the historical Thanksgiving, by 19th Century American poet, Hezekiah Butterworth.
The Thanksgiving in Boston Harbor"Praise ye the Lord!" The psalm to-day
Still rises on our ears,
Borne from the hills of Boston Bay
Through five times fifty years,
When Winthrop's fleet from Yarmouth crept
Out to the open main,
And through the widening waters swept,
In April sun and rain.
"Pray to the Lord with fervent lips,"
The leader shouted, "pray;"
And prayer arose from all the ships
As faded Yarmouth Bay.They passed the Scilly Isles that day,
And May-days came, and June,
And thrice upon the ocean lay
The full orb of the moon.
And as that day, on Yarmouth Bay,
Ere England sunk from view,
While yet the rippling Solent lay
In April skies of blue,
"Pray to the Lord with fervent lips,"
Each morn was shouted, "pray;"
And prayer arose from all the ships,
As first in Yarmouth Bay;Blew warm the breeze o'er Western seas,
Through Maytime morns, and June,
Till hailed these souls the Isles of Shoals,
Low 'neath the summer moon;
And as Cape Ann arose to view,
And Norman's Woe they passed,
The wood-doves came the white mists through,
And circled round each mast.
"Pray to the Lord with fervent lips,"
Then called the leader, "pray;"
And prayer arose from all the ships,
As first in Yarmouth Bay.Above the sea the hill-tops fair—
God's towers—began to rise,
And odors rare breathe through the air,
Like balms of Paradise.
Through burning skies the ospreys flew,
And near the pine-cooled shores
Danced airy boat and thin canoe,
To flash of sunlit oars.
"Pray to the Lord with fervent lips,"
The leader shouted, "pray!"
Then prayer arose, and all the ships
Sailed into Boston Bay.The white wings folded, anchors down,
The sea-worn fleet in line,
Fair rose the hills where Boston town
Should rise from clouds of pine;
Fair was the harbor, summit-walled,
And placid lay the sea.
"Praise ye the Lord," the leader called;
"Praise ye the Lord," spake he.
"Give thanks to God with fervent lips,
Give thanks to God to-day,"
The anthem rose from all the ships,
Safe moored in Boston Bay."Praise ye the Lord!" Primeval woods
First heard the ancient song,
And summer hills and solitudes
The echoes rolled along.
The Red Cross flag of England blew
Above the fleet that day,
While Shawmut's triple peaks in view
In amber hazes lay.
"Praise ye the Lord with fervent lips,
Praise ye the Lord to-day,"
The anthem rose from all the ships
Safe moored in Boston Bay.The Arabella leads the song—
The Mayflower sings below,
That erst the Pilgrims bore along
The Plymouth reefs of snow.
Oh! never be that psalm forgot
That rose o'er Boston Bay,
When Winthrop sang, and Endicott,
And Saltonstall, that day:
"Praise ye the Lord with fervent lips,
Praise ye the Lord to-day;"
And praise arose from all the ships,
Like prayers in Yarmouth Bay.That psalm our fathers sang we sing,
That psalm of peace and wars,
While o'er our heads unfolds its wing
The flag of forty stars.
And while the nation finds a tongue
For nobler gifts to pray,
'T will ever sing the song they sung
That first Thanksgiving Day:
"Praise ye the Lord with fervent lips,
Praise ye the Lord to-day;"
So rose the song from all the ships,
Safe moored in Boston Bay.Our fathers' prayers have changed to psalms,
As David's treasures old
Turned, on the Temple's giant arms,
To lily-work of gold.
Ho! vanished ships from Yarmouth's tide,
Ho! ships of Boston Bay,
Your prayers have crossed the centuries wide
To this Thanksgiving Day!
We pray to God with fervent lips,
We praise the Lord to-day,
As prayers arose from Yarmouth ships,
But psalms from Boston Bay.
i'll be back Sunday. Enjoy your turkey!
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November 23, 2004
Bill at INDC Journal has more:
Unfortunately, it only smells like victory, because ...If you're so inclined, i think its an excellent time to hit CBS with another round of e-mails calling for Mapes' and Heyward's1. Rather's still working for 60 Minutes.
2. The findings of the independent investigation are overdue.
3. No action has been taken against Producer Mary Mapes or CBS News President Andrew Heyward. In contrast, the CBS News producer that dared to interrupt the final minutes of 'CSI' was canned within a few days. That says a great deal about their priorities.
resignations.
As before, you can contact CBS News by clicking here.
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November 22, 2004
The reason i haven't written about the incident until now was because i was still working out my own mixed emotions about what i saw on that video. Well, my emotions were mixed until this afternoon, that is. Now i just feel manipulated and angry. Here's why.
When i first saw the shooting video, i had not yet heard the story, so i watched it without having heard any spin from the right or left. i have to admit, when i heard the shot and the marine saying "he's dead now," i was appalled. My first gut reaction was that something was not right about the way things went down.
Since the time of my initial reaction, i've been able to put the event into its proper context. i understand how the marine was justified in shooting the terrorist under the rules of engagement. i understand that these enemy were not prisoners, and had not surrendered. i understand that marines are not cops. i understand that the act of feigning death is inherently threatening, and any marine who perceives such a threat must protect himself by killing it. But the words "he's dead now" continued to bother me. They sounded like something a sadistic Quentin Tarantino villain might say.
i had assumed that the marine who shot the terrorist was the same marine who said "he's dead now," but i was wrong. Since the day the story broke i've seen the video dissected many, many times on various TV networks, including "fair and balanced" Fox News, and not once have i heard anyone mention that the marine who shot the terrorist was not the same marine who said "he's dead now."
To me, that fact is critical to understanding what happened, and its omission from the news "coverage" of the shooting completely skewed my own perception of what happened. Strange that i learned this crucial piece of the story only by reading the embedded reporter's own website this afternoon. In his pathetic non-apology/explanation to the Marine Corps, Kevin Sites retells what he saw:
While I continue to tape, a Marine walks up to the other two bodies about fifteen feet away, but also lying against the same back wall.i’m pissed because i’m at the mercy of the gatekeepers in the mainstream media yet again. They wanted to portray this marine, who deserves a medal by the way, as a modern version of Kerry’s “Winter Soldier,” ravaging the countryside in a manner reminiscent of “Jinjiss” Khan. So they deliberately replayed the video without the proper context or explanation, in effect superimposing their anti-military and anti-American bias onto the objective facts in the most sneaky, despicable way.Then I hear him say this about one of the men:
'He's fucking faking he's dead -- he's faking he's fucking dead.'
Through my viewfinder I can see him raise the muzzle of his rifle in the direction of the wounded Iraqi. There are no sudden movements, no reaching or lunging.
However, the Marine could legitimately believe the man poses some kind of danger. Maybe he's going to cover him while another Marine searches for weapons.
Instead, he pulls the trigger. There is a small splatter against the back wall and the man's leg slumps down.
'Well he's dead now,' says another Marine in the background. [emphasis added]
My outrage doesnÂ’t end there. This punk, Kevin Sites, apparently wants the marines to not hate him for endangering their lives by providing the enemy with propaganda, which they will use to prolong their futile resistance. Make no mistake, Kevin Sites and his superiors have the blood of U.S. marines and soldiers on their hands. HereÂ’s how he tries to explain himself to the marines of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment with whom he had been embedded:
As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.Shocked, shocked I say . . .This week I've even been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist.
It's time you to have the facts from me, in my own words, about what I saw -- without imposing on that Marine -- guilt or innocence or anything in between.Then a few paragraphs later, Sites does exactly that. He imposes guilt on the marine, by way of this not-so-subtle sarcasm:
The Marine then abruptly turns away [After killing the insurgent] and strides away, right past the fifth wounded insurgent lying next to a column. He is very much alive and peering from his blanket. He is moving, even trying to talk. But for some reason, it seems he did not pose the same apparent ‘danger’ as the other man -- though he may have been more capable of hiding a weapon or explosive beneath his blanket.It seems reasonable to assume that a terrorist who looks like he’s “faking he’s dead” is more threatening due to the element of subterfuge, than a terrorist who is only moving and trying to talk. At worst, this shooting was a justifiable mistake of combat - one which no American should lose sleep over. Even Sites admits to this reality of wartime:
No one, especially someone like me who has lived in a war zone with you, would deny that a solider [sic] or Marine could legitimately err on the side of caution under those circumstances. War is about killing your enemy before he kills you.But SitesÂ’ justification for the videoÂ’s release conveniently ignores the harm he has done to our war effort, and to the safety of the Marines whose cameraderie he seems so afraid of losing.
We all knew it was a complicated story, and if not handled responsibly, could have the potential to further inflame the volatile region.That is exactly what is happening. Two words: al Jazeera. And he knew the risk, too:
I knew NBC would be responsible with the footage. But there were complications. We were part of a video 'pool' in Falluja, and that obligated us to share all of our footage with other networks. I had no idea how our other 'pool' partners might use the footage. . . .i disagree, see above.When NBC aired the story 48-hours later, we did so in a way that attempted to highlight every possible mitigating issue for that Marine's actions.
We wanted viewers to have a very clear understanding of the circumstances surrounding the fighting on that frontline. Many of our colleagues were just as responsible. Other foreign networks made different decisions, and because of that, I have become the conflicted conduit who has brought this to the world. [emphasis added]One thing that puzzles me is this, every time i see footage of our brave soldiers and marines in combat, there’s always a few shots of the dirty terrorists firing of their AKs. And the video is always shot from behind the terrorists, as if there are journalists who are embedded with the enemy. Who shoots that video? i assume it’s al Jazeera photographers. Since al Jazeera is part of the “pool” that shared the marine shooting video, no one could reasonably believe that foreign journalists who actively consort with the enemy would use the video in a neutral way. In fact, al Jazeera and the foreign press have used it to fuel anti-American hatred and embolden our enemies while we are engaged in defeating them. This will only lengthen the resistance, which can only lead to more American deaths.
Sites concludes his non-apology letter like this:
So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera -- the story of his death became my responsibility.And i am reminded of Jack NicholsonÂ’s final words from the movie A Few Good Men:
All you did was weaken a country today . . . That's all you did. You put people in danger. Sweet dreams, son.Yeah, sleep well Sites.
More: Read Chris Roach's post about why this shooting was not a "war crime."
Still more context: Via Dean Esmay, this slideshow about "what really happened in Fallujah" should be required web viewing for everyone. John of Argghhh! has more commentary, here and especially here.
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Does this open up the passing game for KC? Is Trent Green good enough to win against Belichick's defensive genius? Can Derrick Blaylock put together two great performances in a row as KC's stand-in back? Is unstoppable New England ripe for their second loss of the season? Should i pick KC plus the three points?
Yes. Maybe. Possibly. I don't know. i think i will.
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November 21, 2004
Go for 'The Incredibles.' Speculate on what sex between Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl must have been like. Discuss the paradox of being a woman who basically is her own condom.Upon reading that comment, i was impelled to guffaw most heartily. Like this:
Dahahahaha!So Kevin Kim has earned his second oak leaf cluster. Congratulations, Kevin!
Those of you with strong stomachs might want to check out Kevin's new line of Christmas cards.
P.S.: i might humbly remind everyone that annika's journal merchandise also makes a great holiday gift.
_______________
* We saw The Incredibles, which was a whole lot of fun, and i highly recommend it.
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November 19, 2004
Which animated feature should the b/f take me to see this weekend?
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November 18, 2004
. . .While Bill on the podium dropped trou,
Making sounds like an amorous cow,
A fat intern walked by
Catching ClintonÂ’s glazed eye;
“I’m the piglet, and there goes my sow!”So the Horn Dog rolled off of the stage
(For his belt did his ankles engage).
As he crawled on the floor,
Up came Al “Mad Dog” Gore,
And the stick up his ass he called Rage.. . .
Cameron's site is full of political and topical poetry, if you like that kind of stuff. i'd nominate him as the Mark Russell of the blogosphere, except nobody knows or cares who Mark Russell is, since nobody watches PBS anymore.
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November 17, 2004
You Are a Pundit Blogger! |
 Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few. |
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Is it too early to judge Clinton's presidency? Well, i didn't quite get a Ph.D. in history, but i'm ready to call it right now.
Clinton should be rated somewhat higher than Jimmy Carter, probably nearer to the only other president to be impeached, Andrew Johnson. Dangerously ineffective and misguided in foreign affairs, we will be dealing with the mess Clinton left us for decades.
And my opinion of Bill Clinton has improved since he left office. Nice guy, nice library, bad president.
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My November GuestMy Sorrow, when she's here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She's glad the birds are gone away,
She's glad her simple worsted grey
Is silver now with clinging mist.The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise.
As a Californian, it's difficult for me to fully "get" Robert Frost, because i don't know snow and i don't know seasons. But i've always loved November. It's the most thoughtful month, i think.
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