Saturday, November 05, 2005

Strange Washington police are advising residents not to get in the car of purple bra-wearing man (The Olympian) (Via Fark.) 9:16:18 PM    comment []

Humiliation and stench of the ancien régime. William Greider thinks what's happening in Washington is more shattering than Watergate: Amid the smoke and stench of burning careers, Washington feels a bit like the last days of the ancien régime. As the world's finest democracy, we do not do guillotines. But there are other less bloody rituals of humiliation, designed to reassure the populace that order is restored, the Republic cleansed. Let the perp walks begin. Whether the public feels reassured is another matter... ...We are witnessing, I suspect, something more momentous than the disgrace of another American President. Watergate was red hot, but always about Richard Nixon, Richard Nixon. This convergence of scandal and failure seems more systemic, less personal. The new political force for change is not the squeamish opposition party called the Democrats but a common disgust and anger at the sordidness embedded in our dysfunctional democracy. The wake from that disgust may prove broader than Watergate's (when democracy was supposedly restored by Nixon's exit), because the anger is also splashing over once-trusted elements of the establishment... How will the shake-up affect the media? The elite press, like any narcissistic politician, tells a heart-warming myth about itself. Reporters, it is said, dig out the hard facts to share with the people by locating anonymous truth-tellers inside government. They then protect these sources from retaliation by refusing to name them, even at the cost of going to prison. That story line was utterly smashed by this scandal. (Via Prairie Weather.) 8:47:23 PM    comment []

“Another shocking accusation” by Lawrence Wilkerson: “On NPR yesterday, the former chief of staff to the secretary of state said that he had uncovered a ‘visible audit trail’ tracing the practice of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers directly back to Vice President Cheney’s office.” (Via Think Progress.) 5:16:24 PM    comment []

Summit of the Americas: Then and Now 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina: Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of this seaside resort Friday chanting “Get out Bush” as the U.S. president sought to promote free trade at a divided Summit of the Americas. Protests turned violent with about 1,000 people shattering shopfronts with clubs and pelting riot police with stones. … Demonstrators took to the streets hours before the summit started, shouting insults about Bush and chanting “Fascist Bush! You are the terrorist!” [AP, 11/4/05] 1998 Summit of the Americas in Chile: At one point, Clinton walked in hazy sunshine down Gran Avenida, a busy commercial street lined with thousands of people, including schoolchildren in blue and white uniforms, many of them chanting “Clinton, Clinton.” A few bystanders chanted “Kennedy,” apparently in reference to the popular former U.S. president. [CNN, 4/16/98] To be fair, there were also protesters when Clinton arrived in Chile, but we have yet to witness any indication that there is any popular support for President Bush in Argentina. Wonder why that might be. (Via Think Progress.) 5:15:14 PM    comment []

The least of these... Next time you want to ask "Who is my neighbor?" don't ask these people unless you're ready to be ashamed. (Via On the Other Foot.) 3:21:49 PM    comment []

City says no but 'godfather of monorail' still thinks yes This is a great profile of my old friend, Dick Falkenbury, godfather of the latest plans for the Seattle monorail -- plans that look, alas, to be foundering. Falkenbury -- a voracious reader who talks a torrent, tromping all over a conversation -- is an idea machine. Thoughts crash around in his head like bumper cars on an oil slick. A quote from Mark Twain can lead to a joke by Zero Mostel, a mini-treatise on Dick Nixon to a shout at a baffled waitress. From the looks of things, Dick hasn't changed a bit in the last 30 years, and the article really nailed him. Some of my favorite stories and memories from my college years involve this guy. I think even if you didn't know the guy this story is great reading. (May be behind a password, but bugmenot worked for me.) (A tip of the hat to Gary G for sending me the paper version of the article.) 3:19:34 PM    comment []

Old age according to Woody Allen (now 70) Approaching his 70th birthday on December 1, Allen complained that ageing was a “terrible thing”. “It’s all just bad news. You deteriorate physically and die!” he said. “All the crap they tell you about — you know, dangling your grandchildren on your knee, and having a kind of wisdom in your golden years — it’s all tripe,” he said. “I’ve gained no wisdom, no insight, no mellowing. I would make all the same mistakes again, today.” Source: "Sex scandal was my luckiest break, claims Woody Allen", Sunday Times, November 2, 2005 (Via Philip Greenspun Weblog.) 9:22:37 AM    comment []

Spot the Differences See if you can find the differences in these two photos. It took me a few minutes to find all three. (via Reality Carnival) (Via Cynical-C Blog.) 9:15:50 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Steve Michel. Last update: 12/2/2005; 7:08:19 PM.