the bitter shack of resentment

2003-09-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

WE'VE MOVED! While we get the new site in shape for the public, we've moved into the homeless blog shelter over at TypePad. Please change your bookmarks and blogrolls and ... COME VISIT!

2003-09-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Creating a Monster Two more T-shirts you don't need, but that I want you to buy anyway. I get 10% of all sales, and you get to be fashion-forward.

2003-09-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Don't Put Ideas in My Head I thought of this, and suddenly, it's a T-shirt. Buy it.

2003-09-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ashcroft Limits Prosecutors' Use of Plea Bargains Because the last thing you'd want is some pinko left-coast A.U.S.A. dispensing MERCY, for the love of Christ.

2003-09-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

Different Frequencies My Nation article on radio stations that don't suck in the Clear Channel era is now available online via Alternet.

2003-09-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

The Well-Protected Iraq Oil Ministry In an Endless Sea of Total Destruction

2003-09-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Federal Lawsuit Filed Today in Death of Transgender Entertainer A press release forwarded to me by Lee Carpenter, lawyer in this case and guest blogger here at the 'Shack: (Philadelphia, PA) - The Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights and the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Epstein & Messing filed a lawsuit today in United States District Court in connection with the December 2002 death of

2003-09-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Gospel According to Johnny Cash

2003-09-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

brookeforgovernor.com Somebody should have told me!

2003-09-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Johnny Cash Goddamn.

2003-09-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

There is a God Dave Barry printed the American Teleservices Associaton's toll-free number, and all the unwanted calls made them cranky. Divine.

2003-09-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Globalizing Antipathy [T]he age-old tradeoff between security and liberty increasingly involves a third variable: antipathy. The less hatred there is in the world, the more security we can have without sacrificing personal freedom. Assuming we like our liberty, we have little choice but to take an earnest interest in the situation of distant and seemingly strange people, working to elevate their

2003-09-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Georgia to Reconsider MTF Name Change A Georgia judge initially refused a pre-op male-to-female transsexual's request to change her name, but will have an opportunity to fix his error. Originally, he rejected the request because he worried that the "man" would enter women's restrooms where children might be - of course relying on that old myth that sexual minorities are equivalent to sexual

2003-09-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

It's His Parents' Fault A psychologist explains why George W. Bush is who he is - from his drunken self-destructive tendencies to his aggressive anti-intellectualism, do that overall patina of anti-social wacko. Dad was too preppy and mom was too bitchy.

2003-08-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Wha? Recent referral search: "peeling carrots is murder". That's a little extreme, even for me.

2003-08-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

Fucked-Up Fact of the Day This Labor Day, 9.4 million Americans are out of work and 30 million Americans - one in four U.S. workers - earn $8.70 an hour or less, which works out to be $18,100 a year, the current official U.S. poverty level for a family of four. Meanwhile, CEO pay rose again in 2002, up to a median of $3.9 million per year, or a whopping 282 times the salary of the average company

2003-08-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Pot-Smoking, Gang-Banging, Not-Very-Bright Candidate Shannon Campbell provides this link to a 1977 Oui interview in which Ahnold boasts about smoking pot, having a stripper girlfriend, and participating in a gang bang: Schwarzenegger: Bodybuilders party a lot, and once, at Gold's - the gym in Venice, California where all the top guys train - there was a black girl who

2003-08-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Politics and Celebrity I have a nagging question: You remember how all the right-wing punditocracy was whinging about celebrities speaking out on political issues, and how being a movie or music star didn't make anyone an expert on world affairs, or their opinions worth more than anyone else's? You remember, all of the foaming about the Dixie Chicks and Janeane Garofalo and Tim Robbins and Susan

2003-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Kill the Chihuahua Taco Bell's clever, marginally comprehensible new marketing campaign: "Who says you can't buy votes?" asks you to cast your vote in the recall election according to your lunch hankerings. A Big Beef Taco (manly meal) is a vote for Arnold, a Chicken Soft Taco (girlie man meal) is a vote for Davis, and a Grilled Stuft Burrito (totally scary meal) is a vote for anyone else.

2003-08-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Bush Administration Relaxes Air Pollution Rules Okay, I'm starting to develop a theory on this. First, we had the "War on Terror," which appears to have had the bracing effect of making several more people hate America than usual. Now we're on the receiving end of a rollback of air pollution regs. What's the common denominator here? Gas masks! Clearly, someone in this administration is

2003-08-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Times That Try My Soul The prison murder of notorious pedophile priest John Geoghan is one of the occasional tests of my capacity for pacifism. I have been sitting here for an hour, after hearing of it, trying not to be happy at this development. This is one of those times where I have to ask myself, WWGD? (What would Gandhi Do?) We could start with protective custody that actually protects

2003-08-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Man Behind the New Iraqi Constitution ... is a "onetime Boston yeshiva boy' named Noah Feldman. He is one of the people advising the new Iraqi council on its in-progress constitution. How about this for chops? He's fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, French, ancient Aramiac and some Korean, and has a Ph.D. in Islamic Thought from Oxford. Oh, and in his spare time, he's a assistant professor of law at

2003-08-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

9/11 Families Keeping Administration On the Ropes So afraid is the Bush administration of what could be revealed by inquiries into its failures to protect Americans from terrorist attack, it is unabashedly using Kremlin tactics to muzzle members of Congress and thwart the current federal commission investigating the failures of Sept. 11. But there is at least one force that the administration

2003-08-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

With Friends Like These... I keep hearing people - gay people, even - saying Arnold Schwarzenegger might not be all that bad: after all, he's pro-choice, pro-gay-rights, and pro-gun-control. Yes, he is those things in the same way I am a professional tennis player because I once played tennis with my Dad. He has said some less-than-completely-offensive things (and a few patently offensive things,

2003-08-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye, Bobby, Bye Bye San Francisco weeps.

2003-08-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

How To Avoid a Shark Attack "Don't swim with shark food." Why is that so darkly funny?

2003-08-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

More Opposable Than Thou A British scientist says gay people are the "pinnacle of evolution." OK, he goes on to support his claim by saying that we gay peeps remain more infantile into adulthood by favoring imaginative professions and seeking copious physical affection (stereotype alert: sounds like 'sex-obsessed' to me). But he says we're more evolved, so nyah nyah nyah.

2003-08-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Just Don't Panic Great posts from MetaFilter on the Great Blackout of 2003: "I welcome our new Amish overlords." "Let's make some babies." "I just got a papercut but there was no evidence of terrorist activity." "We have power in Georgia. Also indoor plumbing, some of us." "DEFCON 1, Bears over the Pole. God bless you Richard Nixon, wherever you are." "Unconfirmed reports of a plauge of

2003-08-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Pope Says You Suck Catholics are also dealing with the ramifications of recent moves by their church leaders, specifically the directive from the Vatican against same-sex marriage and parents. The strong wording against gay marriage and gay parents has caused Catholic Charities of Chicago to rethink its adoption and foster care policies. But Catholic Charities, like many church-related

2003-08-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Labor Leaders Arrested (from a press release I just received...) On Saturday, August 2, at 11:30 p.m., Baghdad local time, U.S. occupation forces arrested Qasim Hadi and fifty-four other Iraqi leaders and members of the Union of the Unemployed in Iraq who had been engaged in a five-day sit-in protest of the treatment of unemployed Iraqi workers by occupation forces and U.S. corporations

2003-08-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Different Frequencies My article on radio stations that don't suck in the Clear Channel era is in the current issue of The Nation. But as my piece is not online, you'll have to buy it to read it. I'll love you for it.

2003-08-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's the Water Frank Rich's clever "Queer Eye for the Straight Marriage" column this weekend was marred by one particularly curious quote from George Chauncy, a University of Chicago historian whose brief figured large in the Supreme Court's recent sodomy decision. Says Chauncey: "[M]ore and more Americans have gay people in their families." Is that right? We've been hatched and raised in labs

2003-08-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Omigod Omigod Omigod Please No...

2003-08-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Because the U.S. Has Nothing Better to Do ... The Treasury Dept. is suing a woman who went to Iraq before the war as a pacifist "human shield" to make it difficult for the U.S. to carry out its illegal war. That's like a purse snatcher suing a good samaritan who retrieves a victim's belongings. Absurd.

2003-08-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

On The Ground in Baghdad I may have a chance to go to Baghdad in the next couple of months, a prospect both frightening and thrilling. My amazing friend Scott Fleming, who in real life is an amazing criminal defense attorney, is there now. He is sending dispatches home from the front lines. You can read the most recent two on Anita Roddick's site here and here.

2003-08-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

How to Sell a War A couple of good reads on the Bushies' use of PsyOps and guerrilla marketing to dupe the public and cow the international community. • An excerpt from "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq" by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber from In These Times: Consider, for example, the remarks that public relations consultant John Rendon—who, during the

2003-08-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

Unocal To Stand Trial for Burmese Human Rights Violations A US court has ordered that Unocal stand trial in a US court to answer charges of gross human rights abuses (rape, torture, forced labor, murder) in its pipeline business in Burma. Unocal says it should be subject to the laws of the country where the abuses occurred. The judge begged to differ. This is huge. This strips away the common

2003-08-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

US Has 'No-Fly' List of Peace Activists The Transportation Safety Administration has admitted the existence of a list - separate from the suspected terrorist no-fly list - of hundreds and perhaps thousands of American anti-war activists. Those names appearing on the list are pulled aside for extra scrutiny in airports. Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams, work for a small pacifist magazine called War

2003-08-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Honey, Let's Process An online dating service for activists. Oy.

2003-07-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

Darn Now I'll have to cancel my exotic vacation to Gulfport, Mississippi.

2003-07-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Bush Vows to Fight for Passage of Law that Already Exists George Bush has once again exceeded his maximum capacity for stupidity, by proudly stating that he has his lawyers working long and hard to try to figure out a way to codify marriage as being exclusively for heterosexuals. One small problem - there already IS a law. It's called the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and it was passed all

2003-07-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well I, For One, Feel Lots Safer Hmm. Let's see. Bush has credible, compelling evidence that some terrorists are fixin' to hijack a few airplanes and get all Sept. 11 on our asses again. This calls for a color-coded terror alert, right? Guess not. Why not? Could it be .... because they don't work and they only freak people out and make them not travel and that hurts airlines? Of course not. Wait

2003-07-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

Bush Calls Threat of New Attacks 'Real' Wow, I'm really glad that he's making clear now when what he says is true and when it's complete horseshit.

2003-07-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Terrorism Futures Redux Wired magazine says the now-defunct Terrorism Futures idea is a smart one we're poorer for having axed. Because, the theory goes, these kinds of "ideas markets" tend to actually be good at predicting stuff. But here's the part that bothers me, and presumably all the senators in both parties who have objected noisily: betting on and profiting from terrorism is sick. Even

2003-07-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome, Lee The dangerous Lee Carpenter, Esq. is the first official guest editor of the Bitter Shack of Resentment. My fear is that she is both funnier and more insightful than me. Please do not notice, if this turns out to be the case.

2003-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Borders Book & Music Bans Woman Who Says Bush has 'Chicken Legs' I shit thee not.

2003-07-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

Pentagon Screws American POWs The White House and Pentagon sure do appreciate those American soldiers who went over to Iraq because they were told there was an imminent threat to America in the form of WMDs (which never materialized) and ended up being captured and tortured by the Iraqi Army. So when the ex-POWs sued the deposed Iraqi government and won a verdict that could be paid out of frozen

2003-07-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

" target="_newWindow">Next: TAG, You're Evil! My pal Lee weighs in on the Pentagon's Terrorism Futures Market: "The news today is just unfuckingbelievable. I mean, I appreciate this idea on a statistical level, but it's the kind of idea you THINK about, not ACT on. Reminds me of this idea I had once, 'No Ambulance Fridays,' which was designed to end overpopulation by just, as the name suggests

2003-07-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is Your Country on The Drug War America's prison population grew again in 2002 despite a declining crime rate, costing the federal government and states an estimated $40 billion a year at a time of rampant budget shortfalls. The inmate population in 2002 of more than 2.1 million represented a 2.6 percent increase over 2001, according to a report released Sunday by the Bureau of Justice

2003-07-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Directions: Forget History. Repeat. Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon would release the gruesome photos of Saddam Hussein's dead sons. This seems to me a violation of the Geneva Convention, parading the dead corpses of your enemy in front of the press. It was Rumsfeld who begged the media not to air images if American POWs earlier in this same war, and threatened to have those who had paraded

2003-07-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

If You Ain't Got The Do-Re-Mi "Woody Guthrie was what folks who don't believe in anything would call an anomaly. Admittedly, the intersection of space and time at the corner of July 14, 1912, and Okemah, Oklahoma, was a long shot to produce anything like a national treasure." - Steve Earle in The Nation.

2003-07-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Little White Whopper Joe Klein says Clinton knowingly lied about Monica Lewinsky, whereas George Bush probably was too stupid to know he was lying about the uranium thing, so that's not so bad. This from the guy who repeatedly lied to the public and his own employers about the fact he wrote the book Primary Colors. Note to Joe: "I'm telling you, I did not write it" (what he told the Washington

2003-07-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

As Our Souls Shrivel There is much glee in Washington and among some of the Iraq-based American leadership about the apparent political assassinations of two of Saddam Hussein's sons. This is what we have become, people. Not only a nation that commits political assassinations without compunction (and with merchandising spin-offs, like those most-wanted playing cards), but we have little parties

2003-07-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

God, Your Silly Putty Toy Mark Morford on Pat Robertson's Supreme Court "prayer offensive": God is customizable. God force-fits into whatever narrow little channel of bilious self-righteousness the world's fanatics and their medicated perspective want Him to. This is the nature of God. He is supremely convenient. He can be used to back up almost any claim. He is rubber and you are glue and

2003-07-18T02:45:00.000-07:00

Love. American Style Thank you, Retromedia.tv!

2003-07-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

" target="_newWindow">Let's Play A Little Game I Like to Call "Vietnam" Tag, America! You're France! (Shamelessly ripped off from Lee Carpenter, Esq.)

2003-07-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wesley Clark The only Democrat who can beat Bush, a war criminal, or just a pompous, lying, brown-noser? Perhaps all three.

2003-07-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

Take Me Back Retromedia has all of your childhood memories. Clear your schedule - it's a time-killer. H.R. Pufnstuf, how we loves ya ... "Speed of lightning, roar of thunder ..." ElectraWoman and DynaGirl! "ElectraWoman and DynaGirl, fighting all evil deeds / Each works for a magazine, loving the life she leads ..." Zooma Zooma Zooma Zoom

2003-07-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Carol Shields "She had many books left to write."

2003-07-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Awfully Convenient Just as California's budget crisis threatens to cut funding for child-care centers for low-income working parents, a study comes out saying that day care might be bad for kids. Which makes you wonder who the hell does these surveys - hmmm, wealthy academics with nannies at home? I mean really, how is day care worse for you kid than the alternative for millions of working poor

2003-07-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

You Dumb Iraqi Ingrates "It's going take more than 90 to 100 days for people to recognize the great joys of freedom and the responsibilities that come with freedom," says President Bush. Among the great joys of freedom: no clean water, no electricity, no control over your own country's only valuable resource, no self-governance, widespread looting, toxic pollution including radiation leaks from

2003-07-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

I, Too, Shall Pass A couple weeks ago, my ex and I were wandering down by the newly refurbed San Francisco ferry building and lingering around the street vendors, when I noticed off to our left, in Justin Herman Plaza, a big circus tent. The banner outside it said "Take the Colossal Colon Tour!" and had the logos of evil pharmaceutical companies. Inside, there was a massive fiberglass colon

2003-07-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Note to Iran Seems to me like the discovery of massive new oil fields might just be a piece of information you'd want to keep to yourself. Here come the American fighter jets of democracy!

2003-07-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Tasteless Patriotic Kitsch Craptacular. Thank you Total Obscurity for collecting such a magnificent sampling of mindless consumerist warmongering ... for profit!

2003-07-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile ... Attempting to read less New York Times and more anything else, I've got some recommendations for good current non-fiction based on recent rollicking good reads: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (you don't have to like horses or care about racing, trust me) Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser Go. Read.

2003-07-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Self-Inflicted Exile Got to take a mental health break again for a while. Bear with me ...

2003-07-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

He Started It The dust-up about Bush's bogus claim in the State of the Union that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase "yellow cake" uranium from Niger (and might have tried or be trying to buy similar stuff from other African nations) has yielded an interesting adolescent subplot. Bush's claim was based on British intelligence (which was old and which the administration should have known was

2003-07-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

And God Said: 'Shut Up Already, You Fraud' AP reports: A guest evangelist was preaching at the First Baptist Church in a small Hardin County town Tuesday night, emphasizing penance and asking for a sign from God. At that moment, the church's steeple was hit by lightning, setting the church on fire and blowing out the sound system. "It was awesome, just awesome," said church member Ronnie

2003-07-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

You Write Like a Girl An Israeli scientist says he can tell a piece is written by a woman by the use of pronouns and certain other patterns.

2003-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

50 Best Magazines I have a few quarrels with this, but it is refreshingly un-snotty (for example, People IS good at what it does, narrow though that may be. It doesn't pretend to elevate any national conversation.) But ... Esquire better than Harper's ? And left off: AdBusters, Mother Jones, BArK, Boston Review, Foreign Policy,Tikkun, New Scientist, Dissent, The Ecologist, In These Times and [

2003-07-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

"The lawnchair marks are deep on the fat bottom of our country's discontent."

2003-06-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Gay Sex is Legal and Strom Thurmond is Dead It's hard to be depressed under these circumstances, but I'm managing.

2003-06-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Don't Get Me Wrong, I Hate Dubya, But ... Louise Casselman, who was at that White House Yale reunion with her husband, Kirk Casselman and a Bay Area contingent, says that although Yale was still all-male in 1968, one alum has since had a sex-change operation. "You might remember me as Peter when we left Yale," said the woman upon coming face to face with the president. George W. didn't pause for

2003-06-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Not-So-Free Press in Merry Old England Blair is leaning on the BBC about a report it aired alleging that much of the evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was invented or "sexed up" in order to provide a mandate for war. Funny, No. 10 has decided to go after the BBC, while -- as the same allegations (or worse) are aired in the American press -- Bush et al are using the "

2003-06-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Harsh? Cops have been systematically molesting teenagers in Boy and Girl Scout programs intended to introduce the youths to law enforcement. The outrage: • In San Bernardino, California, Freddie Lee Johnson, 34, pleaded guilty in April to having sex with a 16-year-old girl on a scout-related camping trip. According to court records, the girl woke up in her tent and found the officer on top of

2003-06-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Temporary Hiatus Please excuse this brief interlude while we adjust the seratonin levels.

2003-06-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

"Tha dude's message is always do as I be like, not as I do n' shit" The Shizzolator has rendered my last post the shizznit.

2003-06-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

When the WTO Turns to TNT The US is taking its peeve with the EU over Europe's refusal to import biotech foods to the WTO, hoping that body will decide that the EU's policy amounts to an illegal barrier to trade. I keep waiting for this to blow up in the US's face. Sooner or later, the EU is going to join up with Asia and Africa and challenge all of the myriad price supports and tariffs for US

2003-06-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

Land of the Chronically Stupid ... or when I'm feeling more generous, the criminally underinformed. A third of Americans believe we found WMD in Iraq (parhaps because Bush goes around saying this, despite it's obvious falsity). But 22 percent think Saddam Hussein used WMD in the recent war. Huh? Bob Harris over at Tom Tomorrow's blog has pulled out some other harrowing numbers from recent polls

2003-06-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

No Soul? Be a Bishop Phoenix Bishop Thomas O'Brien first covered up the reassignment of pedophile priests, and then he mowed down a pedestrian and drove away as his victim died. He clearly thinks he is above the law - a sense the Church has been reinforcing for years. Jesus forgives, Rome covers up. I am a pacifist, and I want to see this man strung up by his toenails. No, wait, send him to

2003-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Nice Work, If You Can Steal it Halliburton's giant no-bid contract to steal, I mean manage Iraq's oil industry has doubled in price and lengthened in time over the past month. What was originally agreed upon to cost you, the taxpayer, $76.7 million will now cost at least $184.7 million and last longer (no one's saying how much longer) than originally expected. Handy, no? We are giving the Iraqis

2003-06-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing Like A Dame My boss was named a Dame (female equivalent of knighthood, for you Yanks) of the Order of the British Empire this weekend, by the Queen herself. Also honored: Roger Moore, Hellen Mirren, Jane Goodall, Sting, and more. My friend Lee says, "I guess it's inevitable that, after so many years of fighting against animal testing, Anita will finally be turned into a great Dame."

2003-06-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ashcroft's Latest Outrage First, Ashcroft banned the annual party thrown during gay pride month by the Department of Justice's gay and lesbian employee group, DoJ Pride (which begs the question: just how self-hating a gay person must you be to work for John Ashcroft?). Then he backtracked and said DoJ Pride could hold the event, but none of the costs associated with the event would be paid by the

2003-06-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Obit Blog I'm in the process of creating a blog out of an idea I've been carrying around for a long time - a blog of great obituaries. Not just obits of great statesmen and celebrities, but great obituaries of regular people. I remember in J-School being given conflicting messages about obituaries: a) if you pull obit duty, your editor must be mad at you; b) writing great obituaries is a

2003-06-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

R.I.P ... David Brinkley and Gregory Peck. Two class acts, a dying breed.

2003-06-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Judge Pryor's 'Personal Views' From today's NY Times: William H. Pryor, Alabama's attorney general, who has gained prominence as an outspoken opponent of legalized abortion and as an advocate for a greater Christian influence in government, told skeptical Democrats on the Judiciary Committee today that his personal views would have no bearing on his performance if he is confirmed as a federal

2003-06-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

Bono Loves Me, This I Know Well, not me, but my book. Here's the testimonial he's given my publisher: "There’s a sleep that can come with freedom ... a drowsy numbness. Music was the alarm clock that woke me out of my slumber as a teenager. It’s brave hearts and rebel spirits that keep me awake." -- Bono, June 2003. How cool is that?

2003-06-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

"An inspiring and sanity-saving book." I might get a big head at this rate. Over at Body & Soul, Jeanne D'Orleans has said some awfully nice things about my book.

2003-06-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Goofy Christians A conservative Christian organization is lobbying to be given an exception the the Department of Transportation's no-fly zone over Disneyworld during this weekend's annual Gay Days at the park so they can tow hateful messages behind turbo-prop planes for the revelers below. How ... Christian. Worst, they are filing suit saying the no-fly zones violate their right to free speech.

2003-06-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

A Review ABCTales.com in the UK has reviewed my book. The verdict: It doesn't suck.

2003-06-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Al Franken, Bill O'Reilly, and the Truth Problem Al Franken took on Bill O'Reilly at the American Book Expo last weekend. Franken, who is promoting his new book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At the Right" (with O'Reilly on the cover), specifically targeted O'Reilly's oft-repeated claim that he had won multiple Peabody Awards at Inside Edition. When Franken

2003-06-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Rich Carmona, Meet Joycelyn Elders Surgeons General still haven't learned that there is no place for reasonable positions on controversial topics. That the tobacco industry was "stunned" to hear Carmona personally supports a ban on all tobacco products is not an indication that they believed he thought tobacco was good for you, only that they thought he was sufficiently cowed by the threat of

2003-06-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

You Can't Make This Up I didn't think the administration would self-destruct like this, but I think we may be seeing the beginning of a meltdown. Honesty has never been the best policy for this crew, and Wolfowitz truth-serum routine is giving his bosses intestinal cramps. Now, not only were WMDs a big smokescreen, the war was really about oil. Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was

2003-06-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Mix-Tape Bible I must have one of these.

2003-06-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

FCC Expedites End of Anything Worth Living For The underreported aspect of this? The extension of Arbitron's monopoly on radio ratings.

2003-06-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

My Hero, The Terrorist Supporters of Eric Rudolph say his actions -- including killing two people, injuring dozens more, and traumatizing dozens more -- were simply the outward expression of his deeply held beliefs, which they share. Funny, when someone doesn't share their beliefs and blows innocent people up, those people are "terrorists." Kids, violent martyrdom ain't just for swarthy

2003-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

SUV Tax Cut Under current tax law, you can write off up to $25,000 of the purchase of an SUV over 6,000 pounds. The Senate is considering raising the maximum deduction to $100,000. Meanwhile, Congress is trying to eliminate the $2,000 tax deduction for buying a fuel-cell vehicle. We are bitter, yes indeed.

2003-05-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Rick Bragg Saga It doesn't take much to see how arrogance infects talented people like Rick Bragg and leads them astray. But the reason you're reading so much about this (and about Jayson Blair) is that everyone in this business knows articles based on some kind of fudging are published every day. Usually, the laziness of "borrowing" of other people's reportage does not skew a story enough to

2003-05-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Laura Bush, Litterissy Maven So I was reading about how the Laura Bush Foundation For America's Libraries has made grants to California schools so they can buy nice God-fearing books. Out of curiosity, I went to her site, and discovered that it seems to have been written by someone who ... um ... can't read, or something. (In case they change it, I have a screen shot of it here.) Verbatim: May

2003-05-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Price of Dissent So the big news here in San Francisco is that the big anti-war protests cost the City $3.5 million. And in cities around the country, similar protests ran up big bills. This fact is being used a) to turn public opinion against protestors, and b) write new laws making punishment for civil disobedience costly for the protesters. Here's what deeply irks me about this line of