Recently, Rosie O'Donnell has made a spate of accusations on the mid-morning women's show The View. Some of these allegations are that the British troops being held in Iran currently, were there in Iranian waters to help kick start a conflict between the the west i.e. the US and the UK, and Iran. She also has rehashed the 9/11 conspiracy. I call that beating a dead horse.
While Miss O'Donnell has the right to free speech and can make unsubstantiated claims, she has raised the dander on many commentators, namely Bill O'Reilly. He has spent countless minutes of his evening broadcasts slamming Miss O'Donnell. He also has the right.
Why I decided to comment on this? There are requests - nay, demands - for Miss O'Donnell's head on the proverbial silver platter. She is being vilified. She has been demonized.
My question: Had she been a 1) thin 2)blonde 3) beautiful and 4) straight woman, would this be happening to her? The bias against overweight people is one that is incredibly overlooked and even more difficult to prove. But I can't help wondering because of a woman I love to hate: Ann Coulter.
Miss Coulter spews out enough toxicity to make the Lake Erie of 20 years ago look crystal clear. She has little to add to the Body politic and nothing substantial to add to the discourse promelgating the airwaves. Her vitriolic nonsense is bought by rabid fans who like the name calling and angst that floods out of her. Her calls for women (which she may be.... we aren't sure) to not have the vote notwithstanding....
So, considering the ire that Coulter raises and the fact that she is continually brought on channels like Fox to put forth her insight into the political system, what makes Rosie any different? Maybe it's the fact that she has a real day-to-day job... Ann Coulter just pops up occasionally. She has no permanant outlet on TV. She has her webstie and blog....
Is it because Rosie is a lesbian? I actually don't think this it. In the arena of entertainment (which, let's face it, they are ALL in.... even Bill O'Reilly, which he owns up to), being a homosexual does not work against you.
But being overweight does. Some can make it: Roseanne Barr and Camryn Manheim are a couple. It's rather rare. And when you put your neck out and say something wholly controversial: woe be unto you.
I'm not siding with Miss O'Donnell. I do only so far as this: She has that right. We all do. But lets be honest: would we be calling for her termination if she were a supermodel? And if people can honestly say that it has nothing to do with it, we need to evaluate other talk show hosts and commentators whose shows are also hate-filled and worthless.
While Miss O'Donnell has the right to free speech and can make unsubstantiated claims, she has raised the dander on many commentators, namely Bill O'Reilly. He has spent countless minutes of his evening broadcasts slamming Miss O'Donnell. He also has the right.
Why I decided to comment on this? There are requests - nay, demands - for Miss O'Donnell's head on the proverbial silver platter. She is being vilified. She has been demonized.
My question: Had she been a 1) thin 2)blonde 3) beautiful and 4) straight woman, would this be happening to her? The bias against overweight people is one that is incredibly overlooked and even more difficult to prove. But I can't help wondering because of a woman I love to hate: Ann Coulter.
Miss Coulter spews out enough toxicity to make the Lake Erie of 20 years ago look crystal clear. She has little to add to the Body politic and nothing substantial to add to the discourse promelgating the airwaves. Her vitriolic nonsense is bought by rabid fans who like the name calling and angst that floods out of her. Her calls for women (which she may be.... we aren't sure) to not have the vote notwithstanding....
So, considering the ire that Coulter raises and the fact that she is continually brought on channels like Fox to put forth her insight into the political system, what makes Rosie any different? Maybe it's the fact that she has a real day-to-day job... Ann Coulter just pops up occasionally. She has no permanant outlet on TV. She has her webstie and blog....
Is it because Rosie is a lesbian? I actually don't think this it. In the arena of entertainment (which, let's face it, they are ALL in.... even Bill O'Reilly, which he owns up to), being a homosexual does not work against you.
But being overweight does. Some can make it: Roseanne Barr and Camryn Manheim are a couple. It's rather rare. And when you put your neck out and say something wholly controversial: woe be unto you.
I'm not siding with Miss O'Donnell. I do only so far as this: She has that right. We all do. But lets be honest: would we be calling for her termination if she were a supermodel? And if people can honestly say that it has nothing to do with it, we need to evaluate other talk show hosts and commentators whose shows are also hate-filled and worthless.
Hey, new blogger. Let's see what this looks like and if its worth the hype.
I do however, want to comment on something.
Well, Somethings!
First, I really let myself get away from doing this.... again. My apologies.
Second, I do not like Ann Coulter. And its not because I'm liberal and she ain't. I have no problems with people who completely oppose me politically. I have a quite a few close freidns who do. My problem with Ann is she is way smarter than what she uses. But she relies on swagger and elitist shananigans to get her point across. Very rarely (if ever) have I seen her use the proper debate skills in an argument. I suppose her education in law included how to win a fight without proving anything. She also has a hard time being able to look into the camera when replying to people. She can stare arrows into it when she's waiting to be called on but when speaking she tends to look up randomly and frequently. She also tends to use extraneous information against people that have little to no bearing on the argument in question. I suppose this is also the trick snarky lawyers learn in Sleeze 101.
My qualm of late with Ms. Connecticut and never had to work for anything I have is her "joke" against Edwards. My qualm isn't use of the word faggot or the connection to Isaiah Washington. Its how she could connect it to John Edwards. She says that is the joke; that he is a married man with kids so it doesn't apply. That doesn't make it ironic... or any form of humor actually, that I know of. In other words, it was stupid. She says it was a joke, but honestly, I think it was an insinuation she is not willing to stand by.
Now, Bill Maher made comment about the VP and how he'd be happy (?) if he were dead. That a lot of people would be happier. That certainly makes Ann Coulter seem like a bad day at the circus. Bill! Come on!!!! Save that for the playground. To wish that the second in line dead is pretty serious and I wouldn't be surprised if men with guns weren't following your every move. Ya know, secret service agents waiting for you to prove them right. Watch yourself!!! In this day and age with a Patriot act and unchecked powers, who knows where you could end up. Guantanamo?
I do however, want to comment on something.
Well, Somethings!
First, I really let myself get away from doing this.... again. My apologies.
Second, I do not like Ann Coulter. And its not because I'm liberal and she ain't. I have no problems with people who completely oppose me politically. I have a quite a few close freidns who do. My problem with Ann is she is way smarter than what she uses. But she relies on swagger and elitist shananigans to get her point across. Very rarely (if ever) have I seen her use the proper debate skills in an argument. I suppose her education in law included how to win a fight without proving anything. She also has a hard time being able to look into the camera when replying to people. She can stare arrows into it when she's waiting to be called on but when speaking she tends to look up randomly and frequently. She also tends to use extraneous information against people that have little to no bearing on the argument in question. I suppose this is also the trick snarky lawyers learn in Sleeze 101.
My qualm of late with Ms. Connecticut and never had to work for anything I have is her "joke" against Edwards. My qualm isn't use of the word faggot or the connection to Isaiah Washington. Its how she could connect it to John Edwards. She says that is the joke; that he is a married man with kids so it doesn't apply. That doesn't make it ironic... or any form of humor actually, that I know of. In other words, it was stupid. She says it was a joke, but honestly, I think it was an insinuation she is not willing to stand by.
Now, Bill Maher made comment about the VP and how he'd be happy (?) if he were dead. That a lot of people would be happier. That certainly makes Ann Coulter seem like a bad day at the circus. Bill! Come on!!!! Save that for the playground. To wish that the second in line dead is pretty serious and I wouldn't be surprised if men with guns weren't following your every move. Ya know, secret service agents waiting for you to prove them right. Watch yourself!!! In this day and age with a Patriot act and unchecked powers, who knows where you could end up. Guantanamo?
See that guy? That is New Mexico's very own Bill Richardson. He was born in Pasadena, California to a half Hispanic father and a Mexican mother. This, of course, leads many to believe that the Hispanic governor is pro-illegal immigrant. We'll eveluate that later.But first, I want to discuss a particular moment in time. Some time ago, some classified data pertaining to nuclear energy went missing in the form of hard drives. At the time, Bill Richardson was the Secretary of Energy under 2nd term Bill Clinton. You can imagine how things were going for that man... Due to wrangling involved, during the senate investigation into espionage and what have you, (it really is too complicated to get into. I remember some of this from when it went on. But really, this government investigations are really good at 1. Destroying whole swaths of forestland due to the tonnes of paper needed for everything; 2. Digging up everything on a person like when they got a haircut, walked the dog, sold secrets to China... you know, little things; 3. Digging up actual people: Alive and Dead; 4. Taking an infentesimal time to accomplish ABSOLUTELY NOTHING; 5. But look good in the process, prove to those slack-jawed wankers at home that you indeed "work" and therefore, will get re-elected.) Richardson came to the senate to yabber about his non-responsibilty to the Senators old and dying (Strom was there). Richardson shrugged off a Senate appearance before finally coming in to testify. His reasoning was that he wanted all the facts in hand before coming before them. True, that might be good. But thats if you believe this is really going to accomplish something (see above). Senator Byrd (another old dude) said to him "You had a bright and brilliant career, but you will never again receive the support of the U.S. Senate for any office you seek. You have squandered your treasure." The Coda: Richardson won New Mexico's gubernatorial election in 2002.
How does this bode for the highest office in the land? Richardson has in fact announced that he has put together an exploratory committee for a possible bid for the White House in 2008. If he wins, he'd be the first Hispanic President. That would be cool but I know what some detractors are saying. That is why I included the fairly innocuous but relatively important biographical information. One might assume from this pedigree that Richardson would be for the illegal immigrants swarming over the borders. But the man declared a state of emergency in November of last year as he felt the problem had reached an intolerable threshold. Illegal Immigration, though a burden for the country as a whole, is a particularly acute pain for border states such as Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico. In fact, this is how Richardson feels on the illegal... thing:
* Declared state of emergency on Mexican border. (Nov 2006)
* Path to legalization if illegals pay taxes & learn English. (Nov 2006)
* Reduce immigration; no automatic citizenship for kids. (Nov 1996)
* Guarantee human services to illegal immigrants. (Nov 1996)
(Go to the site On the Issues for anyone for that matter. Great site!!!) In the end, Richardson is a candidate who can be bipartisan rather partisan and unilateral. Hell, I live with republicans and they'd vote for him. And that is saying something about my Dad.
If you'd like to see other candidates or "explorers", go to this site. Its a wikipedia which means it updated fairly quickly whne news breaks which should start picking up. I'll keep covering and do some more tidbts on probable, possible and confirmed candidates and those who help them on the campaigns. Elections are exciting and halfway point in a presidential term is when things start solidifying. People start raising funds like mad and drawing lines. Good Times!!!
(Speaking of funds, its likely candidates will need to raise $100M by the end of this year alone to run a strong campaign. The combined funds of cadidates may break $1B...)
On this day in 1525, the Anabaptists re-baptised each other in Swizterland. O....K.
In 1793, Louis XVI gets guillotined.
On this auspicious day, the new USSR lost Lenin and gained the egotistical madman known as Stalin, His real name was Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; a Georgian name. In Georgian it looks like this: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი. And in Cyrillic: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Джугашвили. Yeah...
And in 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardons most (most) Vietnam war draft dodgers.
नमस्ते
If you read this and were annoyed that I stopped blogging, I apologize. Several things happened and I shall break them down as succintly as possible:1. FINALS! Yes, there was finals and I was stressed beyond all measure. But I got out with an A, 2 B's and a C. I call that a good semester. I can do better, however.
2. I had things to worry about like the holidays.
3. I worked a ton during the break.
4. I really didn't care but I did remember. I cannot use the lame excuse of forgetting.
5. I rediscovered my love for all things Galactica, Firefly and Science Fiction novels in general.
So as you can see, I just wasn't ready for running a blog of this nature. Speaking of "nature", I want to add that nature is fucking cold right now. It's like 10 and were happy for 10 here in Minnesota.
Besides that, I want to ask what is the nature of this site? I must reiterate that I basically posted a mission statement right at the top of this page. See it up there? I will, however, restate it now in a different form. I will try, to the best of my ability, to distill local, state, national and international politics, economics and downright newsiness for you my loyal reader (as in there is 1 of you). I aim to add my own opinion (when I feel warranted) and to analyze pertinent facts and events surrounding a particular story, developing or otherwise. I will not let my own political bias hinder my ability to attack those who need attacking, i.e. politicos who just plain screw up. Or CNN or Fox for being media... well, the media. The media just sucks anyways...
I'll admit that I have a healthy fascination for the weather (and weather reporting... there's some real comedy in that, let me tell ya), spies, International bodies like the United Nations, Anderson Cooper, weird crimes, idiocyncrasies that bother me, stupid politicians and history. I like to ground each entry in "back in the day" sections. I feel knowing what others were experiencing on this day in yoner year (oh, alliteration...) is helpful and also reminds us that others trod this grund before. Sometimes there are startling acheivements, disasters, battles or just plain oddness. I like the oddness.
There are some bits of news I failed to make any comment over the intervening 43 days. This was an oversight on my part. Here is a list of news items I failed to make a comment on and may try to make up for my apathy/lack of time:
1. Saddam Hussein was executed. The Iraqi government hung the former dictator in a fashion unbecoming to most western nations. His corpse was danced about by Shiites celebrating his recent demise. On Fox, a particularly amusing graphic was displayed showing his corpse. On the left side of the screen was Saddam "Alive", and on the right, his "dead" body. I couldn't help but be befuddled and amused by this. It reminded a friend of a moment in a film when someone was sorting dead rats and saying "alive"... "dead". We believe it was Transylvania 6500.
2. Gerald Ford died. He was never elected President, but nevertheless, led our country througho ne of its darkest periods. He also open the military academies to women. And pardoned Nixon. The flags will remain at half mast for another week or so. (Yes, I said half mast not half staff...)
3. Barbara Boxer v. Condoleeza Rice. What?
4. Donald Trump v. Condoleeza Rice. Double What?
5. Trump v. Rosie. eh....
6. The Next Harry Potter will be "The Deadly Hallows". That's hallows like hallowed ground, hallowed be his name and hallowe'en.
7. Pinochet, Chilean dictator, died at age 91. No one cared and it only rated below Harry Potter and The Don.
8. Tim Johnson, a US senator, was hospitalized with a mild stroke. Before he was even evaluated, US news outlets were already discussing the possible return of power to Republican hands. They weren't even waiting to see if he died.
9. Ex Russian Spy turned British citizen and author (and Muslim), Alexander Litvinenko, was finally covered in depth by 60 Minutes. About bloody Time!
10. Denver shut down for snow: $Billions. Holiday travellers stranded in terminals on stiff, smelly cots: ^#$^ %&#!!!! Laughing at my sister for moving there and claiming they hardely get any snow there: Priceless.
Back in the year 1265, The English parliament convened at the Palace of Westminster for the first time.
In 1892, the first game of basketball was played at a YMCA in Springfield Massachussetts.
And the Nazis, in 1942, agreed on the "final solution" to the European Jewry. The result was the holocaust the significant impact on world politics, culture and geography.
That's it from my end.
[Warning: A photo heavy piece]
Robert Gates, the replacement for outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, has been confirmed by the senate 95-2. The two votes against Gates were cast by Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Jim Bunning of Kentucky. The senators were critical of Gates. Bunning said Gates was too critical of the action in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also believes that Gates will bring rogue states to the negotiating table. Santorum took to the floor of the senate ot give an hourlong speech in which he said "How do those who deny this evil propose to save us from these people? By negotiating through the U.N. or directly with Iran? By firing Don Rumsfeld, (and) now getting rid of John Bolton? That's going to solve the problem?"In another joint conference with United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and United States President George W. Bush, was conducted this morning. Yesterday, the Iraq War Study Group presented its conclusions to President Bush.He said "Having an international group is an interesting idea", which cracks me up. Wouldn't that be the United Nations?
Earlier today, a tornado tore through Northwest London at around 11 this morning London time. (That would be 5 hours ahead of us if you live on the east coast.) England experiences 50 or os tornadoes a year so this is not a strange occurance. However, it swept through the streets of the Kensal Rise area in London (imagine a tornado in London!), flipping cars over and ripping doors off homes. Many homes were evacuated and several more were damaged. An article on the event at BBC's UK site. The weather has been nasty in the North Atlantic lately.
You've hopefully heard about this by now: Hugo Chavez was democratically re-elected in Venezuela. This is the politician's third win. He was first elected in 1998, and then re-elected to a six year term in 2000. After winning the vote, "It's another defeat for the devil, who tries to dominate the world". He won by a healthy margin and is most popular amongst the country's poor who favor his social policies.
NASA unveiled plans on December 5th to place a permanant settlement on the South Pole of the moon by 2020. This will be the first expedition to the moon since 1972. There is hopes to bring other space agencies into the project. The plan involves week long stays of four person crews to do the construction of the base. After initial materials are brough from Earth, the settlement will use hydrogen and oxygen from the moon for fuel and the obvious: air to fucking breathe!
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has reported that it is dramatically short of 20c coins. This is only weeks after issuing new coins with a new design. Why am I laughing about this?
Yesterday saw the launch of France24. It has been founded with the hope of countering the "Anglophone sphere of influence of BBC World and CNN International" especially as of late. It was created by a partnership between Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions and has an annual budget €80Million. It will be broadcast in English and French. The English simulcast will also feature 4-6 hours of French programming. There are future plans to also utilize Arabic and Spanish programming. It has not been stated whether there will be all-Arabic or all-Spanish networks or merely programs in those languages. It will be transmitted to the US by antenna and sattelite. Comcast plans to carry the network. Regardless, go there just to see it. It's free!James Kim, a senior editor at CNET, was found at noon on Wednesday in a ravine in Oregon. He had been deceased for a couple of days after being stranded in the wilderness with his wife Kati and two daughters, Penelope and Sabine, since beginning a return trip home after Thanksgiving. He had covered 8 miles in inclimate weather in street clothes and tennis shoes. Rescuers are calling the effort it took to cover that land in freezing and near-freezing temperatures "superhuman". CNET has set up a blog for people to post their memories, condolensces or anything they wish to write about James Kim.
On this day , in 1732, the Royal Opera House at the Convent Garden in London, England, opens.
In 1776, the Marquis de Lafayette, tried to enter the US military, who were bogged down in the War for Independence.
In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the constitution. Though this is not formal, it is the de jure first state.
In 1917, we declared war on Austria-Hungary and thereby, entered World War I.
On this day in 1941, Canada declared war on Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Japan. Sort of jumping the gun.
That same day and year, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, in the territory of Hawaii.
The USS Arizona's forward magazines explode.
The Damage can still be seen at Hickam Field at Pearl Harbor. US Casualties:
2,335 military and 68 civilians killed,
1,143 military and 35 civilians wounded,
4 mini-submarines sunk
4 battleships sunk,
4 battleships damaged,
3 cruisers damaged,
3 destroyers sunk,
2 other ships sunk,
188 planes destroyed,
155 planes damaged
Japanese Casualties:
55 airmen, 9 submariners killed and 1 captured,
29 planes destroyed,
4 mini-submarines sunk
In 1966, there was a fire at the Army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey that kills 68.
In 1972, the last Apollo mission, 17, is launched. The famous "The Blue Marble" photograph was taken upon the journey to the moon. Like I said previously, this was the last manned mission to the moon. This also makes it the last time anyone was 28,000 miles from Earth and capable of taking such a photo. The craft was directly between the Earth and the sun so the earth is fully lit.
In 1988, Yasser Arafat, who is now dead, recognized Israel's right to exist.
In 1995, the Galileo spacecraft, launched in 1989, arrives at Jupiter to take lots of pictures of that planet. It enetered in to orbit on this day. Its really sweet radio attenna did not deploy so they could not get as much as they wanted to for its seven year tour ofJupiter. In 2003 it crashed itself into Jupiter.In 2004, Hamid Karzai became president of Afghanistan. Thats good for us, I guess. Our first experiment with Nation building.
Oh yeah, and today.... STS-116 launched at night, no less. Here's a picture of the rollout. Just fucking awesome!
That's all from me.... whew.
Mario Scaramella, the Italian academic who met with the late Alexander Litvinenko on November 1st, has reportedly tested positive for Polonium-210. This is the same highly radioactive element that was discovered in Litvinenko's body. Scaramella had gone into hiding in fear for his life due to the demise of the former Russian spy.Related to this mess is Yegor Gaidar, a former acting Prime Minister and economist who became severely ill in Ireland. He has since been taken to a Moscow hospital where he has reportedly, been recovering. Also, one of three planes removed from service in the UK, has been cleared of radiation. Despite this, a hotel in Sussex, England, was evacuated to search for Polonium-210.
The British government is demanding cooperation from the Russian government into this case. Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of culpibility in his poisoning and Putin has denied any involvement in the matter. However, Russia has pledged that it will cooperate with the investigation.
Though there are many mysteries - even going back to the October 7th slaying of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya - one of these is where the radioactive materials came from. So far, no nuclear labs are reproting any thefts. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state atomic energy agency Rosatom, has stated that only 8 grams of the substance are made a month. He also said it cannot be "obtained illegally there". A lethal dose would be as little as 6.8 picograms (I really went and looked that up and even found out what a picogram is. 1 pg is 1/1,000,000,000,000 of a kilogram. This makes it awfully minute. I'm such a little investigative reporter!). It is also notoriously dangerous to handle but has a half life of roughly 138 days.
In an article posted in CNN yesterday, the Republican party wants a law outlining when fetuses feel pain. It seems the bill is less about actually creating such language in legislature but is actually an act to shore up Republican loyalty. When the Democrats take leadership of congress next year it is likely that few, if any, abortion restrictive bills make it even to the floor of either house. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, even called the Democrats "Hardcore pro-abortion loyalists." I think thats a little generalist. There are some Democrats who are not pro-choice. And to call anyone pro-abortion is demeaning. No one is for abortion. They are for the choice. Hitler was pro-abortion.
Other news today: Typhoon Durian has killed 388 people so far. There are also 75 people missing. The Phillipines has been socked by four such storms in four months. At the same time a real whopper of a storm is pummeling the midwest with rain, snow and everything in between. Fortunately, I'm up north in Minnesota where its a balmy 23 today. Thats warm for this week!
On this day in 1941, New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia signed into action the Civil Air Patrol.
On this day in 1955, Rosa parks was arrested for not getting up and moving to the back of the bus for a white person. It sparked the Montgomery bus boycott which helped catapult Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to his role as Civil Rights Leader.
Back on this day in 1990, while we were gearing up for Gulf War I, The two sides, Anglish and French, met underneath the English Channel to unite both sides of the Chunnel. It would be another 4 years before it actually did business but it made it possible to walk on dry land from England to the mainland for the first time in 8,500 years ago. This was the last ice age.
In 1991, the Ukraine voted to get the hell off the sinking ship known as the USSR. The Soviet Union's days were already numbered.
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