Politics

Deep Throat Old News to Student

Now that Mark Felt has owned up to being Nixon nemesis Deep Throat, I hope the media tracks down Chase Culeman-Beckman. As recounted in Slate, Culeman-Beckman made news six years ago by claiming that he learned Deep Throat's identity 10 years earlier at summer camp. The 19-year-old college student broke one of the biggest news stories of the 20th century in a paper for his school, which Slate quotes: I was in the "Herons" group along with about fifteen other 8, 9, and 10 year olds ... One ... (read more)

2005/05/31

He'd Rather Fight Than Switch

This morning's Guardian has an amazing transcript of a joint interview with the writers Christopher and Peter Hitchens, brothers who hadn't spoken in four years. I love this exchange between an audience member and Christopher Hitchens: Female audience member: Excuse me. I'm not usually awkward at all but I'm sitting here and we're asked not to smoke. And I don't like being in a room where smoking is going on. Christopher Hitchens (smoking heavily): Well, you don't have to stay, do you darling. ... (read more)

2005/05/31

Jacksonville blogger Joe Dougherty made Howard Kurtz's column this week with his reaction to the Senate filibuster deal: ... starting today, I will now do everything in my power to see that John McCain's chances at the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 are non-existent. In fact, I'd like to help out if there's anyway we can get another Republican to run against him for his Senate seat. This man is not a Republican or a conservative. He is a curse on the party and the movement and he ... (read more)

2005/05/27

David Asman is Damn Right

Media Matters and a few liberal bloggers are spreading a gotcha moment for Fox News anchor David Asman, who accidentally revealed his we-ness while interviewing Sen. Trent Lott about the filibuster deal: So, Senator, if we should have done it and if we had the votes to do it in the Senate -- if you guys in the Republican Party did -- then why did you need a compromise? It's funny to see the guy talking like a Republican homer, but anyone who knows Asman's biography doesn't need to be told where ... (read more)

2005/05/26

I've Been Owned

I live in a neighborhood governed by a community association, which means I pay several hundred dollars a year for the privilege of being ordered by strangers to drag my trash cans into the garage. Like any government, the association has found it much easier to expand its authority than to occasionally unclench, review the rules, and get rid of the more nettlesome ones. In some ways, it's kind of entertaining, like having a busybody in-law who can't repress the desire to micromanage your life. ... (read more)

2005/05/16

My Friend the Warblogger

Michael Bolduc, one of my college pals from the University of North Texas, grew up to become a warblogger. This was, of course, a source of distress for mother and I. You do everything you can to raise them properly, but ultimately all you can do is love them, cherish every day together, and hope they make the right decisions. When Mike ventures into political subjects on his weblog, I'm pretty sure that we'll pick opposite sides whence comes the War of the Bloggers, then meet in a trench where ... (read more)

2005/05/14

Take a Bite of the Apple

Michael Moore is swimming in money after Fahrenheit 9/11, according to a Slate analysis that describes how the filmmaker and Disney rode the controversy over the movie all the way to the bank: Under normal circumstances, documentaries rarely, if ever, make profits (especially if distributors charge the usual 33 percent fee). So, when Miramax made the deal for Fahrenheit 9/11, it allowed Moore a generous profit participation -- which turned out to be 27 percent of the film's net receipts. ... (read more)

2005/05/06

Give Me an E!

The Texas House has approved legislation to ban sexually suggestive routines by school cheerleaders: "Girls can get out and do all of these overly sexually performances and we applaud them and that's not right," said Democratic Rep. Al Edwards of Houston, who filed the legislation. Edwards argued that lascivious exhibitions are a distraction for high school students that result in pregnancies, high school dropouts, contraction of AIDS and herpes and "cutting off their youthful life at an early ... (read more)

2005/05/05

I'd Buy That for a Dollar

A stamp machine at the post office gave me dollar coins back as change -- five Sacagaweas and two Susan B. Anthonys. I gave some to my kids, who had to be convinced they were legal tender, and freaked out a clerk at an Arby's by using one. "Are you sure you really want to spend this?" he asked, marveling at the golden coin honoring a woman so obscure there's no record of her appearance. A coin can't be doing very well when people think you spent one by accident. Last week the House of ... (read more)

2005/05/02

Close But No Cigar

I publish several web sites that run advertising sold by BlogAds, a broker that has been a financial boon to hundreds of weblogs. I rejected an ad today from a site that sells Cuban cigars. The site claims that it's legal for Americans to import two boxes, but the language of the site's frequently asked questions page gives me the willies: The original embargo on Cuban products has been revised by the US Dept of Justice to allow importation of small quantities when returning from a licensed ... (read more)

2005/04/29

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