I am sick to death of hearing about Barack Obama's "team of rivals". Sure, it's good for the sale of Doris Kearns Goodwin's seriously flawed account of the Lincoln presidency, but it is otherwise devoid of meaning. While pleading on behalf of Joe the Lieberman - who should have lost his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee not out of ( Read more... )

I just noticed in the current Cialis campaign that one of the listed interruptions that could ruin the possible moment for, say, mere Viagra users is "an unexpected visit home from college ( Read more... )

So Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is the new Premiere of Cuba - at the age of seventy-seven. Damn - he's older than McCain. I guess he won't be trotting his aged mother out to public events like his American equivalent, though. She died in 1963. Whatev - looks like it's going to be pretty much business as usual under the "new" regime. Raúl may be less ( Read more... )

Adapted from a question in the current New Yorker's 2008 Campaign Quiz:

Who said what?

1. John Edwards

2. Hillary Clinton

3. Barack Obama

4. John McCain

5. Mike Huckabee

6. Bill Richardson

7. Mitt Romney

8. Rudy Giuliani
a. "Americans are looking for a change."

b. "Our time for change has come."

c. "I believe deeply in change."
d. "Look, what ( Read more... )

Okay, I suppose it's finally about time to explain the lengthy hiatus. Or start explaining it, anyway. The only problem is where to begin. Probably with where I am.

I find myself in my (deceased) parents' rather unwieldy house in the middle of Pennsylvania, living with Sean, and running a cave. Yeah, a cave ( Read more... )

Voting machine key cut from photo on Diebold's web site. And, as an added bonus, the same key opens all Diebold voting machines.

US Vice President meets with failed Israeli leader to plot World War III,

Quetta, Islamabad, and Lahore shut down by general strikes,

Iran flouts punitive UN Resolution,

Congress to ignore the economy, immigration, lobbying reform, prescription drug relief, and the 2007 budget in order to address non-existent terrorist threat,but the big story ( Read more... )

"I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."
George W Bush, April 28, 2006

"At least 389 different versions of our anthem have been produced over the years, in many musical styles. But ( Read more... )

It looks like the GOP can't even do internal elections without irregularities. According to Roll Call, "House Republicans are taking a mulligan on the first ballot for Majority Leader. The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting." Is there an election they don't try to fix??

I've just come from Syriana, which is quite good, though maybe not as good as it could have been - had it been longer and more complex. But what I don't get is what all the critics are going on about. They keep going on and on - even in the good reviews (which is an overwhelming majority of them - 86% of RottenTomatoes' Cream of the Crop critics ( Read more... )