Still Alive

Ken AshfordIranLeave a Comment

We were all supposed to die yesterday.  Did you know that?

Here’s a list of gloom-and-doom articles from the right-wing press, foretelling that August 22 was the day in which Iran would wreak nuclear kick-ass on all us Westerners (or, at least, Israelis).

Wall Street Journal: August 22

World News Daily: Iran Cataclysm Forecast Aug. 22

FrontPageMag: Iran’s Day of Terror?

Free Republic: Why Aug 22? Iran Planning To Make A Bigger Splash?

NewsMax: Iran Hints at Aug. 22 Doomsday For Israel

Glenn Beck on CNN (video): Iran v. America

Didn’t happen, of course.

It seems to me that one goal of terrorism is to create terror.  Therefore, I truly believe that these conservative pants-wetters only aid and abet the enemy when they scream (needlessly) that the sky is about to fall.  They’re doing the work of bin Laden.

9/11: The Comic Book

Ken AshfordWar on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Sorry, it’s not a "comic book" — it’s a "graphic adaptation".

Bits of it are being excerpted on Slate, but I can tell you now that if it didn’t cover such a monsterous event in history, it would be unintentionally funny.  Take, for example, this panel showing Bush on 9/11 going to speak to grade school kids in Florida:

911comix

As Wonkette points out, it’s clear that Karl Rove is being protrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.  But what cracks me up is Bush’s Superman-like stature.  I mean, who stands like that?

Oy, These Kids Today

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

The Beloit College Mindset List is an informal study conducted each year of incoming college freshmen.  It gives a snapshot of their world and reference point.

If you want to feel old, check out these items which reflect the mindset of the Class of 2010 (most of whom were born in 1988):

  • The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
  • They have known only two presidents.
  • They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.
  • A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.
  • DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.
  • They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
  • "Google" has always been a verb.
  • Text messaging is their email.
  • Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.
  • Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents’ attics.
  • Reality shows have always been on television.
  • They have no idea why we needed to ask "…can we all get along?"
  • Young women’s fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.
  • They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
  • "So" as in "Sooooo New York," has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.
  • They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it.
  • They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
  • Sara Lee has always made underwear.
  • They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.
  • Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
  • They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die.

I remember, as a freshman in college, being told that they have this "new thing" where the bank gives you a card and you can go to a machine and get money, thereby avoiding the muss and fuss of writing a check and standing in line to see a bank teller.

Restoring Dignity To The White House

Ken AshfordBush & Co.Leave a Comment

Remember how people claimed that Bush would restore dignity to the White House, something supposedly missing from the Clinton years?  Well, this is what we got – a frat boy:

He loves to cuss, gets a jolly when a mountain biker wipes out trying to keep up with him, and now we’re learning that the first frat boy loves flatulence jokes. A top insider let that slip when explaining why President Bush is paranoid around women, always worried about his behavior. But he’s still a funny, earthy guy who, for example, can’t get enough of fart jokes. He’s also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides, but forget about getting people to gas about that.

So is he Beavis or Butthead?

“Beautiful Dead Girls”

Ken AshfordIraq, Web RecommendationsLeave a Comment

Since the media is once again obsessed with the death of adorable little Jon-Benet Ramsey, Kos diarist "hrh" thought he would shine the spotlight on some other beautiful dead girls — the ones the media doesn’t talk about.  Read it.

RELATED: Juan Cole has thoughts of his own, comparing the saturation news coverage of Jon-Benet Ramsey with another case:

But although I mind this pollution of the air waves with something that is not, whatever it is, news, the main thing I mind is the racism.

The case of Abeer al-Janabi, the little fourteen-year old Iraqi girl who was allegedly raped and killed after being stalked by a US serviceman would never be given the wall to wall coverage treatment.

That is frankly because the victim was not a blonde, blue-eyed American, but a black-eyed, brunette Iraqi. Both victims were pretty little girls. Both were killed by sick predators. But whereas endless speculation about the Ramsey case, to the exclusion of important real news stories, is thought incumbent in cabalnewsland, Abeer al-Janabi’s death is not treated obsessively in the same way. In the hyperlinked story above, CNN even calls the little girl a “woman” at first mention, because the US military indictment did so. Only later in the article is it revealed that she was a little girl. The very pedophiliac nature of the crime is more or less covered up in the case of al-Janabi, even as looped video of Ramsay as too grown up is endlessly inflicted on us.

The message US cable news is sending by this privileging of some such stories over others of a similar nature is that some lives are worth more than others, and some people are “us” whereas other people are “Other” and therefore lesser. Indeed, it is precisely this subtle message sent by American media that authorized so much taking of innocent Iraqi life in the first place. British officers have repeatedly complained that too many of those serving in the US military in Iraq view Iraqis as subhuman (one used the term Untermeschen). Where did they get that idea?

NOAA Doesn’t Do Debbie

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy1 Comment

So far this hurricane season, we had tropical storm Alberto, tropical storm Beryl, and tropical storm Chris.

The next one was supposed to be named "Debby", giving me an obvious tie-in to "Debbie Does Dallas".

But for some reason, NOAA is calling the recently-formed tropical storm "Tropical Depression FOUR".

DebhurricaneUh, guys?  What about Debby?

UPDATE:  Oh, I see.  Tropical Storm FOUR is only a depression.  It won’t become a "Debby" until it’s upgraded to an actual STORM (which isn’t expected through Wednesday).

UPDATE AGAIN:  On the other hand, CNN has the headline "Depression in Atlantic may become Tropical Storm Debby"

Pictured at right: Tropical Depression Four and Debbie Benton (insert)

Stuff I’d Get If I Had Too Much Money

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

(1) You’ve heard of player pianos . . . how about a player violin?

Violin_1l

Cost: $17,000

(2)  A Deligh Table

Delightable01

The table, which allows you to create nifty visual effects by simply touching it, uses a rather simple, but elegantly implemented technique. An opaque liquid is sandwiched between a transparent plastic film and a light source. When touched, the liquid moves away and lets the light shine through.  Cost: $2,270.00.

It looks better in video:

More “Debbie Does Dallas” Reviews

Ken AshfordPersonalLeave a Comment

These are comments left on Heather’s (aka Debbie’s) myspace blog, courtesy of Heather herself:

"Awesome job. I loved it."

"Hey! Great job last night in the show! I wanted to say hey afterwards, but we had to leave. It looks like yall had an awesome time! "

"Woo Hoo Heather! You were highly entertaining in DDD! I always enjoy watching you perform!"

"hey my mom and I went to the show tonight we really enjoyed it!"

"hey Heather. I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed "Debbie" last night. I was thrilled for you. I had no idea what to expect with this show and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I’m even trying to work it out to come back next weekend. You were just so much fun to watch. And the singing….OMG! The entire cast was just having the best time and that made all the campiness work for the audience. I couldn’t have made it through any of the scenes without laughing. I can only imagine how much fun rehearsals were. Anyway good luck and break a leg with the rest of your run. Hopefully I’ll see you next weekend. "

My Culture Of Destruction

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

We’ve never heard of this punctuation and grammar-impaired conservative columnist before, but we’re going to keep an eye on him.  His name is Ken Hughes, and his column is entitled "The Democrats Culture of Destruction".  Note the lack of an apostrophe in the title.  Yup, it gets better:

Is The "Culture of Destruction" practiced by Democrats a winner or will it destroy them?

Look at me!  I coined a phrase!

Democrats are out to destroy those things that won them elections in the past and now are going to bury them.

Yes — we’re going to bury those "things" in a shallow grave.  And then dig them up again — that’s the beauty of a shallow grave!

They seem to be directed by political neophytes, such as Michael Moore, George Soras, Cindy Sheehan and an accumulation of persons who make their living reading Teleprompters and scripts written by others.

Michael Moore?  George Soras [sic]?  I haven’t heard from them in ages.

Liberalism is being murdered in the voting booths and Democrats want to charge George Bush with its murder.

I guess Ken is referring to the victory of liberal Ned Lamont over his far-more-conservative opponent, Joe Lieberman.

I prefer to call it justifiable homicide, or better yet prolonged suicide. Democrats can’t seem to grasp there’s a new group of voters who don’t necessarily follow the party line any longer. They’re more sophisticated and understand the issues clearer than their parents. They’re called thinkers not followers the old screaming down at them tactic isn’t working any longer.

The "use of punctuation" tactic isn’t working too well either.

Yes there are questions on the war in Iraq and we weren’t told the truth because the truth wasn’t known at the time.

If the truth wasn’t known, then shouldn’t that have been said at the time?

President Bush scarcely had time to scrap the cow manure off his boots and get the straw out of his hair before 9/11occoured.

It takes him six months to do that?

What he did have was a pile of unread intelligence information left over from the Clinton administration. Wasn’t Al Gore responsible for managing homeland security in the Clinton Administration?

Uh, no.

President Bush inherited a multitude of false impression when he took office as did his adversaries.

That’s our favorite sentence in the whole piece.  My goodness, where to begin?

First of all, how does one "inherit" a false impression?  Much less a multitude of them?

Second of all, someone needs to point out to Ken that Bush’s adversaries didn’t take office.

Sounding dumb and being dumb aren’t necessarily synonymous.

But you’re going a good job, Ken.

Democrats are like little children if there isn’t any crap on the surface of the pond they feel compelled to jump in even with the warning signs up around the pond, it’s the alligator below that’s going to get them.

Nothing we can say will improve on the humor of that last sentence.

When pushed George Bush can be an alligator, or a Bobcat neither of which no one wants to tangle with.

Thank you, Marlon Perkins.  Condi Rice is, I think, a cockatoo.

History teaches us the quiet men are nearly always the achievers, it’s the loudmouths who are heard but not listened to who are the underachievers.

What does history say about those who are heard but not understood?

The Democratic Party seems to have more than their share of loudmouths in and out of political office.Scarcely a day goes by that some Democrat doesn’t come up with some failed policy of the President only to have it turned back on them in a few days or weeks.

Such as?

I can’t help but believe God hasn’t assigned the Angel Providence to follow George Bush around brushing all this Democratic demagoguery off him and back on them.

And then, when Bush’s presidency is over, he’ll look back and see only one set of footprints….

It seems every derogatory accusation Democrats come up with fly’s off George Bush and back on them.

Rubber.  Glue.  You get the idea.

Democrats have convinced themselves they’re Darwin’s chosen people.

Darwin?

The select few are destined to rule and the rest become wards of the state. Democrats believe high taxes are the road to prosperity, if one hasn’t studied economic at one of the Liberal Universities one doesn’t have a clue.

Let me guess — Ken hasn’t studied at one of the Liberal Universities.  Just a hunch.

Private property and personal wealth are obscene and vulgar unless its their wealth and their property.

There’ll come a time when Liberalism is put to rest in some isolated place in a coffin made to contain the contamination liberalism infects nations with.

As well as all the prepositions that we end sentences with.

You can bet your voter registration card it’ll be a Republican President who gives the eulogy.

Eisenhower?

If you’re a Democrat and you’re worried about political assassination by your own party come of over we Republicans will protect you, that includes you Hillary.

Because Republicans are conservative, even with their punctuation.

Bush Admits The Truth Three Years Too Late

Ken AshfordIraq, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

This is the document that got us in to the War in Iraq:

March 18, 2003

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I determine that:

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither (A) adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor (B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and

(2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

Sincerely,

GEORGE W. BUSH

In other words, Bush was acting on a statute, having concluded (as he needed to) that Iraq was part of the group of people who "planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."

Today, at a press conference, Bush said something different:

BUSH: The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

QUESTION: What did Iraq have to do with it?

BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing.

UPDATE:  On video

The Prayer Antenna

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

Just in case God has bad reception:

Dafneantenna

Yes, it’s real.  Here’s the description from the inventor:

Prayer20antennaThe Prayer Antenna is part of a series of Religious Technological Artifacts that I am making. The Antenna receives signals from God (yes, your God). The Antenna currently takes the form of a surplus / thrift-store motor-cycle helmet (or similar) that is ornately ordained and fitted with sufficient technology to receive signals. The helmet bristles like a porcupine with many different antennas. The visor is blacked out. Integrated headphones allow the worshipper to experience the signals. Sufficient controls allow the worshipper to tune the signals. The helmet is mounted to the wall on an ornate arm (at around waist level) and a small kneeling stool is provided (like a prayer kneeler). To use the Antenna the worshipper must kneel on the stool and inset their head into the helmet. The wall and surrounding are painted with a decorative pattern.