Whoa, Nellie!

Hang on there! You mean to tell me they did a press conference about the nipple ring caper and actually demonstrated the horrible ordeal?

Attorney Gloria Allred (L) and her client Mandi Hamlin pose with a mannequin and nipple rings in her Los Angeles office after a news conference March 27, 2008 in this photograph provided by Allred. Allred on Thursday said Hamlin was forced by the Transportation Security Administration to remove her nipple rings before she was allowed to board a flight in Texas on February 24, 2008. The TSA gave a pair of pliers to Hamlin in order to remove the rings, according to Allred.

Yep. You know, I get the feeling that this story got so much play, not because of the outrage, but because it gave people a chance to say "nipple rings" over and over. The Villagers are such children.

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Virgin Post

The other night we were watching The Colbert Report and the founder of DEKA Research was on.

He was displaying one of these machines. (The actual episode is the one linked to and worth checking out.)

Husband and I mused about investing in the company (not that we have anything to invest) – Dean Kamen seemed pretty amazing and that was long before I saw all of the other fabulous things that he has invented.

I could not have imagined what I would actually be investing in.

It is a damned good thing that he has invented this water purifier: now that it has been deemed that water is not a basic human right.

People are drooling (well, the ones who are not dehydrated) at the opportunities that the privatization of water affords them.

Unfortunately, many people will not be able to afford the water that they are selling.

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"We're all suckers"

Digby points to this article in the Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi and I thought the excerpt she used matched my observations exactly:

Now, no one is suggesting that there shouldn't be some reaction to genuinely toxic ideas, or that all criticism of racist or unpatriotic comments is unfounded. But what we're getting with all of these scandals isn't a sober exchange of ideas but more of an ongoing attempt to instill in the public a sort of permanent fear of uncomfortable ideas, and to reduce public discourse to a kind of primitive biological mechanism, like the nervous system of a squid or a shellfish, one that recoils reflexively from any stimuli. And the campaign is where you really see this process at work full-time. It's something I noticed while spending so much of the last year (and, before, so much of the years 2003 and 2004) on the campaign trail talking to prospective voters, listening to their complaints and their fears and their (often fleeting) enthusiasms. During this time, I started to notice a pattern, comprised of several elements.

The first is a truly remarkable tendency of seemingly intelligent people to work themselves into genuine outrage over information they didn't even know about twenty minutes ago, until they heard it on television, or coming out of the mouths of a candidate.

Digby adds "Or a blogger, perhaps?" Yep. Or a blogger. Or two.

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My favorite things

I'm not sure what the rules are for nabbing pics off other people's sites, but I visit Dependable Renegade several times a day for the funny. It's quick, it's easy, and there's always something for everyone! I like the wrestling kitty one, too. Watertiger's one of my fave commenters, too...

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Loathing and Sorrow in Iowa City

By now, it's probably national that a wealthy banker in Iowa City killed his family in a gruesome fashion and then rammed his car into a bridge to commit suicide. The banker had been arrested last month in a half-million dollar embezzlement case.

I can't bring myself to read more than a graf into the stories before my revulsion of the killing and the shameful pandering of the news media in this case make me want to throw up. And my local news media is certainly at fault. Wednesday's headline in the Register was, "Banker Bludegons Family After Car Exhaust Fails."

I, like my friend Nonpartisan, love the Progressive Era of history. I particularly love muckraking journalism where ever it can be found, either on the Internet or in small independent journals. These publications give me hope for our future while the large media disgusts and disappoints me day after day.

The Yellow journalism - the sensational, bloody, gory, freakish focus we have of the facts and not the context - I desperately wish we could kill and bury Yellow Journalism forever. Perhaps we can't have muckraking without yellow, but by dog, if we can, we should.

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Los Lobos - Hearts of Stone

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Lurch

Mr. Bush explains what we've been doing in Iraq for the last five years.
h/t Jeff Huber, Pen and Sword

It's not often you can say of blogging friends, "I've met that person, we had beers, we talked about blogging and blogsites, politics, music interests, they came inside my house and met my family." I was fortunate enough to meet D.J. Moonbat 2 years back. A few weeks later, Lurch, of Main and Central stopped by. Unfortunately, Valentines Day of this year I learned that he had passed away.

I find myself going back and remembering where I first encountered Lurch. I know we first talked at Jo Fish's place, Democratic Veteran. Upon stopping by Jeff Huber's place today, I remember reading his comments there as well. I was just getting my blogging legs then, coming out from being a lurker. With the help of Jo Fish, he started Main and Central with some other Veterans. I was always amazed at how prolific he was. Story after story... sometimes, 6 in one day. I have a tough time putting out one or two pieces a week. It wasn't only how productive he was, his articles had substance. I think Lurch was the best at reporting on the lack of equipment (such as Body Armor) the troops had in Iraq. His commentary on the War of the Bridges in Iraq was simply outstanding!

I'm glad he took the time to visit. I was able to go all out because it was a weekend when he stopped by. We had a large Mexican feast in his honor. That's what we do in AZ in early summer, Bar-B-Que some marinated chicken and beef for tacos, all the trimmings, some Corona or Dos Equis all poolside, laughing and talking. He loved it. Easy going, smiling the whole time. He spoke lovingly of his late wife. That's how I'll remember him...

In short, I miss my friend Lurch... RIP. He, like Steve Gilliard, leaves a "blogging void" of which few can replace. I find myself visiting Veteran websites for a glimpse of Lurch. He would have laughed at that picure and comment of bu$h...

Crossposted at LEFT is RIGHT

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