Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
Not so, BW - rain, rain, rain from what I've heard. We might be looking at a resumption of play on Weds.
Nature herself recoils at the thought of the Phillies winning the World Series. Hopefully she recoils even more at the thought of the Rays doing the same.
The next commissioner needs to revisit the whole schedule--start the season a couple of weeks earlier (or cut the schedule back to 154 games), get rid of the idiotic extra off days in the earlier series. Baseball should be *done* by October 20th, barring long stretches of rain, a local catastrophe in one of the playoff cities or an outright national disaster. Period.
Is There An Economic Reason Why They Won't Do This? (#132327)
by Harley on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 11:35am
While I wouldn't want to cut back the sked, starting the season three weeks earlier sounds eminently reasonable -- tho' yes, you'd get some snowy games at the start of the season, but that's better than getting them during the World Series -- and I can't figure out a reason why Bud and the rest of the knuckleheads wouldn't see it that way, too. Who wants to see ballplayers -- the Boys of *Summer*, after all -- wearing ski wear in the World Series?
So again. Is there an economic reason? I can't think of one, but since money is pretty much the only thing the owners care about, it seems likely.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
Starting the season three weeks earlier? (#132335)
by Bill White on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 1:12pm
I've gone to some White Sox home openers the first week of April and it is COLD! Once (as I recall) a foot of snow fell the night before the home opener.
March 15th is NOT the right time to be playing baseball in Chicago, Detroit or Boston.
For the good of the game? 154 games AND at least 4 genuine double headers per team per season. But that would mean 12 fewer days of revenue and thus won't happen. Sadly, IMHO.
= = =
PS -- Perhaps there could be an upside to global warming . . .
= = =
Even in April, scenes like this one are bad for baseball (IMHO):
--
Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
Reminding me that I promised to take my son to see the Packers next season, and to get the full ambiance at Lambo Field I want to go as late in the season as I can. Who has ideas on this type of road trip?
The World Series, By Sad Coincidence. . . (#132329)
by M Scott Eiland on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 11:51am
. . .occurs during the early part of the new TV season--which has already led to abominations like the needless extra off-days in the postseason. The schedule seems to be the way it is because FOX and the other networks that show postseason baseball want it that way. I want a new commissioner who thinks like a smarter Peter Ueberroth, who will push back against the TV and cable people and get a schedule that is less destructive to the sport.
But in fact, most of the nets are going for earlier debuts these days, and Fox in particular -- several of my guilty pleasures, Prison Break and Bones among them, started up in the first week of September. The traditional season openers were usually in September in the past, in fact most of them were this year too. (Fully two thirds of the schedule debuted by the end of the month.) Starting the World Series on October 1st shouldn't conflict with that.
But TV is usually the villain when it comes to scheduling craziness.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
My excuse? I do an hour on the treadmill every day -- notice 'do', not 'run' -- and that's seven shows a week right there.
In order of preference. Sorta.
Battlestar Galactica. I'm sold. Best show of the last five years. Soon to conclude. Extra credit for making up their own swear word.
Skins. This is on BBC America, and is basically Gossip Girl for the middle class, with better writing, acting, and story lines. A truly hilarious show, also appalling and touching. It's written mostly by kids, so the adult characters are not well conceived (obvious carboard cut-outs to be kicked), but the high school stuff is as good as I've ever seen. It's a keeper. And I'm going to predict that MTV's American remake is going to blow. (The import DVDs of the show are better as they don't censor language or nudity.)
Dr. Who. Okay, acquired taste. But I love the tone of the thing, the Brit-centric emotional core -- check out those WWII eps -- and I'm eager for it to return for its next season.
Torchwood. Ditto, sorta. X-Files with more sex, same creative minds that brought us Dr. Who. It's got a pretty dark heart, and you can't say that about many TV shows.
The Office/30 Rock. Obvious choices for obvious reason. 30 Rock still gets my award for best dialogue line of the millenium. "Never go with a hippie to a second location."
Mad Men. The show is not half as smart as it thinks it is. And jumping ahead two years every season is both lazy and a bad idea. But when it's good, it's very good. And it's a pleasure to watch a show that doesn't whip thru their narrative as if every viewer suffered from ADD. But again, a little overrated.
Lost. Obvious. Sometimes it's awful. But when it's good it's very good.
Breaking Bad. Same network as Mad Men, not on the air. Vince Gilligan is a great TV writer -- lotta top X Files episodes -- and this is the show he always wanted to make. It feels like that. Very down and dirty, a desert noir about a meth making high school chemistry teacher who has cancer. That is funny.
Sons of Anarchy. This is basically The Sopranos in a biker gang. With a little Hamlet thrown in for good measure. It's very well written, and has grown on me by the week. Also one of the best casts on TV.
Fringe. I'm not a huge Abrams fan, but this is pretty good work. The cast is good, the scripts pretty well written. And while they have one big problem -- connecting every episode to a larger story (The Pattern!) is a mistake, and makes it hard to do stand-alone episodes -- it's pretty smart and enjoyable.
Life. A well written and performed cop show. The only cop show I watch. Damian Lewis is a nicely eccentric TV star, and the show works when he's working.
Supernatural. That's right. Supernatural. Two hip dudes kill a lotta demons. It's frequently funny. I love the heavy metal power ballad music cues. And Ben Edlund is a frequent contributor, and he's one of the best writers there is in TV Land (created The Tick.).
Eli Stone/Dirty Sexy Money. Listed together cuz they're part of the Greg Berlanti empire. Berlanti's sorta like David Kelly without the ego or smarm -- yeah, I'm a hater in this regard -- and the shows are sweet when they need to be (Stone) and funny too (Dirty, Sexy). Nothin' great here. But entertaining enuf.
Life On Mars. Never seen a single episode and never will. If only because the British show is the best thing I've seen in a very long time. Well worth picking up the DVDs and a code free player. Sorta curious about Keitel, though.
Gossip Girl. Watch it with my step-daughter every week. XOXO.
--
To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
although I seem to've missed all the "when it's good, it's very good" parts. I'm sure they're there but the 3-4 episodes I've seen have been stylishly boring. Everyone in my industry's watching it though.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
There are certain shows that fall thru the cracks. That's one. Rescue Me is another. Oh. And I've never seen a single episode of The Wire. Which at this point is almost a badge of (stupid) honor.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
A couple years ago the only thing funny on TV were cartoons or commentary on clips of Bush -- but I've been happy to see Office, 30 Rock, and Sunny come along --
-- and The Adventures of Tim on HBO is a recent boon. Though it's a cartoon so I guess not part of the live comedy revival.
I'm the Big Remote Boss Man at home, so some of these will be substituted for the dross that's on from time to time. Torchwood in particular sounds worth tracking down -I'd never heard of it before.
We watch Lost because it's made here, some of the actors live in our neighborhood, and others get busted regularly for DUIs while driving too and fro between episodes. ("I just got back to civilization and was celebrating, officer" doesn't seem to work.)
I saw The Office once and it was pretty funny, if weird. Their HR person had decided to conduct a sensitivity training class by having everyone stick a post-it note on their foreheads stating which minority they were posing as; the black guy ended up talking to a white guy posing as him, likewise Jewish, woman, etc. Quite a sendup, sophisticatedly Pythonesque.
I'm not sure what they're going to do next. They knocked off a bunch of cast members at the end of the last season. But are planning two-hour specials in England, which will probably be broken up into episodes here.
Creator/writer Russell Davies -- Dr. Who, Torchwood, Queer as Folk -- is the real deal.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
If so, enjoy - you won't be getting that level of care under Obama's health care plan. %^> Actually, it's good because the main character is so quirky, but tires after awhile. IMO it's characteristic of how sophisticated TV has become since the days when only (dare I say it?) Twin Peaks and one or two other shows (like some of the X-Files episodes) avoided cliches, made you think, and had high production values.
So the McCain campaign has one of their classy phone pitches all scripted and ready to go -- about Obama and the Democrats voting to not 'protect children from crime' and 'coddling criminals' -- and they got their telemarketers lined up, in Indiana, and then...?
40 telemarketers walked off the job, and refused to read the McCain lies over the telephone.
Incomplete - and the calls are already being used by Obama. (#132284)
by tomsyl on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 9:17pm
TPM doesn't bother to say what the robo-call (which had to be delivered by real, live people in Indiana) said. Obama has already responded with a defense of his positions on crime, without acknowledging that the specific acts alleged in the robocall were true. A relatively neutral source, responding to a similarly worded Florida Republican Party mailer, aacknowledges that the specifics are true, but brands the statements as misleading in terms of Obama's overall policies relating to crime, drugs, gangs and so forth. Far less simple than TPM made it sound, not surprisingly.
While your neutral source does call some of the GOP claims 'grossly misleading' -- their conclusion, buried in the last sentence that maybe you didn't get to...is that the ad is untrue and its claim, 'false.' Which is different.
Second, the story here is that these folks walked rather than engage in the usual McCain smears. Or usual political smears, if you like. Which seems to match the mood of the country generally. Happily, folks seem to have had enough of this kind of bilge.
Not all folks, of course. Some seem determined to defend it, more out of reflex than anything else.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
So the calls are based on misleading junk, (#132291)
by Jordan on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 10:50pm
and pro telemarketers, folks who get paid to read misleading junk in chirpy voices 10 hours a day, refused to read this misleading junk on principle.
And your point is, what, that the information the calls wildly mischaracterize is true in a limited, trivial sense? Thanks.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
That's not the point. The point is that this is not an ideological argument, it's a fairly simple and moderately interesting event that took place in Indiana. TPM's reporting on it was exactly right. Your attempt to argue the point, however incoherently, says more about late-stage anger regarding an electoral dynamic you didn't see coming (remember your ACORN guarantee?) -- not to mention a willingness to be moderately dishonest about your own links (see above).
But ouch.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
And my *ACORN prominently in the news* guarantee (was it really a guarantee as opposed to a prediction?) came true in spades. To your dismay, apparently. Or did you simply miss it?
"Moderately dishonest about my own links" for fleshing out a story you left un-fleshed? And by linking to a site with a meter (for those non-verbally inclined among us) that clearly said "false", and which you subsequently discovered said "false"?
And okay, yes, I'd like to see the story verified in the MSM, if only becuz I think it's a good one for Obama.
Less certain about ACORN. My memory is that it was going to 'figure prominently in the election.' And as to that? I doubt a single vote was moved, and it was a loser for the GOP. As it is, oddly enuf, every two years.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
Did you? Or did I just pull victory from the depths of de feet? (#132427)
by tomsyl on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 4:09pm
You'll never know.
I may have said something like you said I said about ACORN (I'll sabotage the search function before you can check), but if I did, I meant that . . . well, that it would influence the election by hurting McCain when he over-flogged the story. Yeah, that's it - that's what I meant. Back when I was dating the young Elizabeth Taylor was when I said that. And I am right once again.
which is that a bunch of telemarketers walked off a paying job rather than read some questionable McCain campaign garbage. TPM reported that accurately. Even if the garbage in question were less questionable than it in fact is, TPM's report still would've been accurate.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
How do you know the TRM story is accurate? (#132338)
by tomsyl on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 1:11pm
TPM has been in the bag for Obama since before his nomination, and the story originated with them AFAICT. Are you able to find any MSM link confirming the story? I can't.
No corroboration to Greg Sargent's report I can find. (#132349)
by Jordan on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 2:04pm
However the piece is straight-ahead news, and any journalist could call the individuals/and or Americall and ask for confirmation. I see no reason to suspect the entire story is wrong or bogus.
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
I'm saying it needs corroboration, not that it's false. (#132353)
by tomsyl on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 2:22pm
I consider TPM a left-leaning blogsite, not a source for objective news. And as everyone has said, the idea that telemarketers would suddenly en mass develop a conscience is pretty outre, given the calls I've received over the years. (Some of them are repeated and dealt with hilariously in the net - a good one is here.
That said, props to you for coming up with a sourced one.
The story is "sourced" exactly like the TPM one. It identifies sources and names the company and location involved. Just as with Sargent's reporting, the facts of the story are verifiable and"falsifiable".
There isn't anything that makes the Madison TV news crew any more or less reliable than TPM when it comes to reporting straight news.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
Here one story comes from a doctrinaire MSM news source while the other is from a highly political, openly Obama-supporting blog which is not a news source, and whose only reputation, if any, in the MSM is as a partisan blog. So I don't think they can be compared.
Nor is this a case of "focus on the message, not the messenger" because the medium is the massage here. I didn't follow it, but the story about that women supposedly having a "B" cut into her face probably first surfaced in blogville. Harley mused about the Obama campaign capitalizing on the telemarketer story, but my guess would be that they are cautious enough not to do that until the story is credibly sourced. If the telemarketer who talked to the TPM guy is serious, she should be appearing on CNN sometime soon, just like Joe the Plumber.
Look, there are actual standards of journalism (#132400)
by Jordan on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 3:43pm
and while bias can affect a number of aspects of reporting, the fundamentals of who, what, when & where covered in this story just aren't amenable to bias. The facts reported are either true, or they are false. There's no spin involved.
There's spin in TPM front-paging the story, or making it news in the first place, but the basic accuracy of the actual story as written is credible until otherwise proven. They talked to people, summarized their story, gave details of time, name & place.
These are just facts.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
as opposed to cheerleading? And who would be more likely to bite if the story is a hoax, a TV station or Marshall, who advertises his site as "Commentary on political events from a politically left perspective"?
If the story's a hoax, TPM got took, and their (#132419)
by Jordan on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 3:59pm
credibility will suffer. As it should. Likewise if they distorted elements of the story to spin a particular POV. But there's nothing about the actual reporting of a story (with corroborating sources) that makes TPM any different from CNN or Fox News, is what I'm trying to say here. Facts is facts.
There's no reason to assume TPM's reporting is any more biased than any other news organization. Their bias shows in what stories they choose to cover, and of course in their editorial writing.
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
But still think if it's real it's in an Obama speech. How can they not mention Tom the Telemarketer as he is a symbol for the populace's decision to reject the McCain campaign's negative attacks?
It starts like this...
"A funny thing happened in Indiana yesterday..."
If they don't use it, then I'm guessing they don't have solid verification.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
but very funny. Especially because it's linked through a non-political blog about Medieval art and history. Mcain/Palin: the Bridge to the 13th Century:
Hard to blame conservatives for their silence, with stuff like this making the rounds:
Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin’s critics as “cocktail party conservatives” who “give aid and comfort to the enemy”. He told The Sunday Telegraph: “There’s going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?”
So the GOP, having long since purged their liberals, now intends to purge their conservatives as well. Sounds like a winner.
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The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
The divisions in the McCain-Palin campaign continue to widen with one senior McCain aide telling Mike Allen that Gov. Sarah Palin is "a whack job."
Meanwhile, George Stephanopoulos said this about the "demoralized" McCain campaign on ABC News this morning: "Palin is going to be the most vivid chapter of the McCain campaign's post-mortem... Those loyal to McCain believe they have been unfairly blamed for over-handling Palin. They say they did the best they could with what they got."
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
It was always a pretty neat trick. Keeping the party's conservative thinkers and the social wingnuts happy under the same big tent. And maybe they'll continue to do so in the future (I personally have predicted this bloodbath at least forty-three times, and am yet to be correct to my satisfaction). But tards like Nuzzo are certainly worth listening to. Limbaugh is also calling for a house cleaning -- *even* if McCain wins. In fact, it looks like McCain, even in victory, would not be allowed to select the next head of the RNC. Which, btw, is where the war will be fought at the start.
And that's what bears watching. If the next head of the RNC is Michael Steele? Then the good guys won. But if it's a mouthbreather who gets a tingle every time Sarah Palin drops a 'g'?
Heh.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
Q. What are the odds on Palin appointing herself as his replacement?
Assuming of course, the Democratic tsunami doesn't reach AK by Nov 4th and he gets reelected only to then resign in order to spend more time with his new found cellmates.
Sentencing is not until January, then there's a likely motion for a new trial and the usual appeal. I don't expect him to resign before Nov. 4th. So there's a very strong possibility given we are talking about AK, that he will be reelected.
Oh puh-leeze. Freezer Jefferson is on the ballot this year (#132252)
by BlaiseP on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 6:23pm
and he got re-elected even after his bribery conviction. Stevens isn't automatically out just because he's got a felony conviction. The Senate has to vote him out. Which they might, but they might not, either, if the Freezer Jefferson episode is any guide to these matters.
assuming he get's reelected, will there be pressure within the Republican party for Stevens to resign, given that Palin is the one who will appoint his replacement? Especially if Palin herself and her supporters within the party come to see the Senate as a better launch pad for a bid for the Presidency in 2012?
There is precedent.
The last AK to resign his office did so after running for and winning the Governorship and as Governor he appointed his own daughter to replace him in the Senate.
There'll be big pressure for him to resign (#132261)
by tomsyl on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 7:20pm
from within the Party; look at Larry Craig, whose transgressions were far less serious.
AFA Palin appointing herself, anything I say would be a guess. But can a governor appoint someone shortly after a new six-year term begins without a mandated special election before that term is up? You can't do that in this state - two years is the max without a special election IIRC.
Maybe Stevens will feel the pressure a little more: I wouldn't count on it, though, not unless he gets hauled away to slam in handcuffs (and it's chancy even then!).
I must have heard the "not running for reelection" statement and thought it was something better. Anyway, he'll be gone shortly.
This is doing it the hard way, but I can't be the only one who thinks that the dinosaurs from both parties need to be shown the door. And that includes Hawaii's own Dan Inouye as well. I think the odds of Congress ever morphing into something that actually will be focused on what the country needs are slim, but they are zero as long as the place is run by career politicians.
I can think of a number of career politicians who are above suspicion, and it often takes a number of terms for a politician to become effective. A politician is either honest or dishonest, and the amount of time one spends in office is of little significance, imo. I believe that calls for term limits are basically dishonest and benefit the right more than the left side of the aisle.
My observations are that the majority of honest career politicians tend to lean left, perhaps hard left, but there are bound to be exceptions.
It does seem though, that Stevens is so corrupt that he's thoroughly convinced himself that he's done no wrong. I can also think of a bunch of Dems who've also been convicted that think the same way.
I recognize there are some good old timers in both the House and the Senate. But I think career politicians tend to go from being responsive to thinking whatever they decide to do for their own benefit is per se good for their constituencies. And it's a short step from there to "you just don't know how hard things are in Washington, I always have to compromise, nothing is ever as clear as the voters think" type of condescension.
Regarding your comment about politicians being either honest or dishonest, I don't think a significant number of them are actually dishonest people like Stevens. But I'll turn the question around and ask whether you've ever been at the ground floor when someone you knew and really had faith in got elected, maybe with your help. And then met him/her again ten-fifteen years later and observed that they were not the same person. And that the person they'd become isn't someone you would back, or even particularly trust, if meeting them for the first time.
I think the political environment corrodes peoples' mores. Nothing is ever a clear choice, there's always an excuse to surrender, or trade on, your principles, and long-term success rewards many of the wrong kinds of people. If you want multiple terms in the House, you'd better start your reelection campaign the second month after you get to Washington.
I know less than most about the Founding Fathers, but I thought none of them believed a career in Washington was meant to be permanent.
The ATF has busted up a skinhead plot to assassinate Obama. Located in Tennessee and Arkansas. That's all the headline offers so far.
EDIT: Weirder and worse. Here's the AP paragraph:
The ATF says it has broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree.
In court records unsealed Monday, agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target an unnamed by predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads.
The 'court records' referred to suggests this may be old news. Sorta.
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To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
Will this be treated as a terrorism case, like that of those idiots in Florida who "planned" to blow up the Sears Tower?
Killing one hundred and one people plus the president of the US sounds like terrorism to me... adding the "significant" white-power numbers to your killing plan especially makes it seem like they wanted to terrorize.
According the ATF agent's sworn affidavit these bozos were busted after shooting out the window of a church - and were, apparently, busted by the local sheriff pdq.
Read the whole thing: these asshats were assuredly the short-bus SS; one can only hope the ATF, not to mention other security agencies, will be just as efficient nabbing any more intelligent/efficient wannabe massacre-mongers.
Quick thought about the Obama website's lack of fraud protection (#132202)
by stillnotking on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:17pm
that has The Corner so exercised. This is an issue I know a little about, since I spent several years working on fraud protection for a major telecom company. (For example, I know that The Corner's allegation that most companies cross-check names on credit card payments is utterly false. No company I've ever heard of checks names or street names. Most check ZIP codes, and some of the more stringent check the 3- or 4-digit number printed on the card. More diligence than that becomes counterproductively burdensome to the legit consumer.)
From a payment fraud standpoint, there may be an issue. It is irresponsible of the Obama site not to check ZIP codes, at least, when accepting credit card payments; an enterprising fraudster could easily make a lot of small donations from other peoples' cards that would likely pass undetected. Of course, it is unlikely that a fraudster would choose to do this rather than buying something for themselves -- one does not normally encounter altruistic criminals, in politics or otherwise.
That brings us to the real point. From an electoral fraud standpoint, it's hard to see that there is any issue here at all. While it is true that anyone could make a donation to Obama this way -- even carving up a single large donation into hundreds of smaller ones -- why would they? The purpose of making large political contributions is not merely to influence a race, but to flex political muscle; the FEC's exemption of small donors from reporting requirements is not a feckless abandonment of oversight, but a reflection of common sense. If George Soros (or the NRA or the sugar lobby etc. etc.) decides to give a million bucks to a candidate, you may be sure that they want the candidate to know who's giving it. Small donors have a very different motivation: they just want "their guy" to win, and don't expect any gratitude, access, or policy influence.
So what, exactly, has the Cornerites' underwear pinching them so uncomfortably? Do they really think that, say, Hamas or Hezbollah is contributing large sums of money to Obama in $200 chunks? It's hard to imagine their motivation in doing so, since the gift would be hidden even from the beneficiary (also, I'm pretty sure they have better things to spend the money on, from a rational-self-interest standpoint).
Verdict? One more episode of wingnutty hingelessness in an election season that's been chock full of them. And they wonder why the mainstream media doesn't take them seriously.
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The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
Most credit card companies are on top of things (#132210)
by stillnotking on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:37pm
American Express in particular is really good about coming down on the cardholder's side in any disputes. I don't worry about using credit cards for online payments, though I always check my statements.
Using debit cards or checking accounts is another matter. Fraud perpetrated on a checking account can be extremely difficult to resolve, even impossible if it took place more than 30 days in the past (after that, reversal of the charge is at the receiving bank's discretion).
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The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
How does that work? It is a service I have not heard of ? (#132209)
by Davinci on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:34pm
nt
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Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers. Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to intense skeptical scrutiny. Be aware of human fallibility. Cherish your species and your
Where is everybody? Dammit, if I don't see any petty bickering by the time I get another coffee refill ...
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I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
They made a dessert and called it pizza. (#132199)
by BlaiseP on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:05pm
Forvm is getting way too high strung and everyone's trying to be good, with a few regrettable exceptions, and nobody wants to break an E string. Sending off Hank and the others was just, I never let my kids argue with the ump, told them he was part of the game and the roughest position on the field. But the place hasn't been the same, since.
What's really left to say? I've been trying to write stuff that's more germane to what others are thinking, and my last one went over like a lead balloon. I though to write something about what a reformed Republican Party would look like, and threw it in the bit bucket. Who wants to hear about Whigs and the New York antislavery crew who would later put Lincoln in the White House.
We live in parlous times. But we always lived in parlous times. Nothing's working out.
Tell you all what I've been up to this morning.
So I get back from the Dunkin Donuts, got my bagel and cream cheese and my coffee, read the paper. Walking back to the hotel room to get some work done. Out comes a guy I met, white guy, sorta stuck in this hotel, no car. His wife is black, she's working at some greasy spoon, he's not working at all. His wife needs to go to the emergency room. She's at a walk-in clinic, they gave her something, her blood pressure went through the roof, she collapsed in terrible pain. They can't afford the ambulance so I end up climbing in my truck, forgot my wallet and everything, just happened to have my money clip and my car keys in my pocket.
Got up there to the clinic, my truck won't start up again. Get it jumped off, get almost all the way there, truck starts dying again. Just limped into the ER parking lot, got her on a gurney and she's there now.
So I have to get my truck towed. Just happened to have the 58 dollars cash needed to get it towed. Take the husband down with me in the tow truck, only a few miles to the Pep Boys, where they diagnose a bad battery. I hadn't moved the truck for weeks during the gas shortage. So they fix the truck, doesn't take long, they let me go back to my hotel and get my credit card, bless their hearts.
So I come back, get my bill paid, and now I'm just slowly decompressing. It's been a hell of a morning. Lost five hours of billable time to take this woman to the emergency room. Doesn't make me an especially wonderful person, I'm pretty sure any of you, confronted with that situation would have done the same thing. I can't see any of you walking past that desperate man.
And maybe that's what I'm trying to say here. As angry and fearful and confused as we've become the closer to the election we get, maybe we ought to just take a little breather. There's a particularly horrible truism, "When things are bad, look around and realize how good you've got it, things could be worse". That sounds like something Stuart Smalley would say. That's like saying you're glad you're not broken down 50 miles from the repair shop instead of two miles like I was.
Maybe what we ought to see is how bad we all have it, and how much of it we share, though we'll never admit it. Which might seem depressing until you realize when people's backs are up against the wall, we share that wall. Some guy who didn't know me from Adam let me drive back to get my wallet so I could pay him for the repair work. I managed to make it to the ER parking lot, and Aretha is still alive, not that she's doing all that well.
Anyway, that's my little contribution, make of it what you will.
He doesn't have a supernatural bone in his body, but he sure helps people gratis a lot more often than many religious and/or idealistic types I've known. A few times it annoyed me, stopping on the highway to help some random old dude change a tire or whatever, but now I appreciate it.
He'd never heard the phrase "pay it forward" or probably understood the somewhat related concept of karma, but he always describes what he does as a way of making the world a better place. Do someone a good turn, then they're likely to do someone else a turn, etc. etc.
Anyhow, he's right, and so are you.
--
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
In that bad things happen to bad people (Ted Stevens!), but not necessarily that good deeds get rewarded. IMO, good deeds are often trivial, the feel-good feeling is transitory, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Here's a fun game that will cost nothing: next time someone asks for a handout, see if you know within $5 how much money you have in your wallet. If you don't, give the guy/gal $5. Doesn't matter to you because that money wasn't even really there.
Sad to say, giving money to people who ask for it sometimes pisses off the occasional conservative friend. I get the "how do you know he isn't going to spend that money on drugs or drink??" and the beady eye; asking him when the last time was that they bought good drugs for $5 doesn't lighten things up, either.
How many people who fear that FISA etc. will encroach on their privacy rights have cell phones, and talk on them in public where anyone can hear their side of sometimes intimate conversations?
Not sure where I heard it. Some Asian potentate asks a sage (#132207)
by BlaiseP on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:27pm
as they always do, in these stories, for the best possible fate.
The sage replies. "You will die, and your son will bury you. Your son will die after you, his son will bury him. His son will die, and his son will bury him"
Enraged, the Asian potentate says "This is absolutely horrible. What can you possibly mean?"
The sage mildly replied: "Would you prefer this in any other order? Sons should bury fathers."
Update: I have just been summoned once again for chariot duty. Aretha has just been released from the ER.
This is what happens when **YOU** ban HankP! HankP, we repent! Jordan's the one! He's the evil-doer!
--
I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
I Wondered What Happened to Hank...Say it Ain't So....! (#132185)
by Traveller on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 1:10pm
...so I go away to ride some elephants, climb some mountains, thrash my way through some jungles and I come back to....Hank being banned?
Not a chance.
And even if so, it would only be for a week...the shorter ban period, down from the Tactius automatic 30 days, was one of the few positive contributions of my tenure. So that time period would have long run.
Well...now that the subject has come up, where is Hank?
Dunno where Hank is...we emailed him to say (#132186)
by Jordan on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 1:30pm
his banishment is over & he can come back, but we haven't heard from him.
Could it be he's found better things to do with his time? Maybe he's chasing younger women, or he took up drag racing. Maybe he's lobbying the government for some bailout money for The Forvm. Could he be writing a screenplay, or teaching hang gliding to the blind?
--
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
out in his driveway, underneath the Porsche, changing the oil. 9 qts.-that's gotta' take a long time to drain! Or he's out buying the latest fall lineup of Hawaiian shirts!
--
I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
All white tuxedos & top hats. These skinhead nimrods were gonna dress like Cab Calloway and go on a millenarian racist kill spree. The Tennessee Republican Party compares the plot to an LA art installation in which Gov. Palin is hung in effigy, thereby earning the score Epic Fail on their SAT analogies.
The screenplay pretty much writes itself, eh Harley?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1027081obama2.html
h/t John Cole
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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)is a travesty.
Tomorrow shall be 49 and sunny. Play a bleeping day game!
That said, playing baseball indoors at Tropicana is a travesty as well.
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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)Not so, BW - rain, rain, rain from what I've heard. We might be looking at a resumption of play on Weds.
Nature herself recoils at the thought of the Phillies winning the World Series. Hopefully she recoils even more at the thought of the Rays doing the same.
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )Are you happy now, Bud the Spud?
The next commissioner needs to revisit the whole schedule--start the season a couple of weeks earlier (or cut the schedule back to 154 games), get rid of the idiotic extra off days in the earlier series. Baseball should be *done* by October 20th, barring long stretches of rain, a local catastrophe in one of the playoff cities or an outright national disaster. Period.
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| parent )the season should be shorter - maybe they should match the NBA or (in my dreams) the NFL.
--I blame it all on the Internet
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| parent )While I wouldn't want to cut back the sked, starting the season three weeks earlier sounds eminently reasonable -- tho' yes, you'd get some snowy games at the start of the season, but that's better than getting them during the World Series -- and I can't figure out a reason why Bud and the rest of the knuckleheads wouldn't see it that way, too. Who wants to see ballplayers -- the Boys of *Summer*, after all -- wearing ski wear in the World Series?
So again. Is there an economic reason? I can't think of one, but since money is pretty much the only thing the owners care about, it seems likely.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )I've gone to some White Sox home openers the first week of April and it is COLD! Once (as I recall) a foot of snow fell the night before the home opener.
March 15th is NOT the right time to be playing baseball in Chicago, Detroit or Boston.
For the good of the game? 154 games AND at least 4 genuine double headers per team per season. But that would mean 12 fewer days of revenue and thus won't happen. Sadly, IMHO.
= = =
PS -- Perhaps there could be an upside to global warming . . .
= = =
Even in April, scenes like this one are bad for baseball (IMHO):
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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| parent )Reminding me that I promised to take my son to see the Packers next season, and to get the full ambiance at Lambo Field I want to go as late in the season as I can. Who has ideas on this type of road trip?
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent ). . .occurs during the early part of the new TV season--which has already led to abominations like the needless extra off-days in the postseason. The schedule seems to be the way it is because FOX and the other networks that show postseason baseball want it that way. I want a new commissioner who thinks like a smarter Peter Ueberroth, who will push back against the TV and cable people and get a schedule that is less destructive to the sport.
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| parent )But in fact, most of the nets are going for earlier debuts these days, and Fox in particular -- several of my guilty pleasures, Prison Break and Bones among them, started up in the first week of September. The traditional season openers were usually in September in the past, in fact most of them were this year too. (Fully two thirds of the schedule debuted by the end of the month.) Starting the World Series on October 1st shouldn't conflict with that.
But TV is usually the villain when it comes to scheduling craziness.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )What do you think of House? My son's a big fan, and now he wants to go to medical school, which appalls me.
Anyway, list your faves for TV, please. I actually watch now and then and want to seperate the wheat in the draft.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )My excuse? I do an hour on the treadmill every day -- notice 'do', not 'run' -- and that's seven shows a week right there.
In order of preference. Sorta.
Battlestar Galactica. I'm sold. Best show of the last five years. Soon to conclude. Extra credit for making up their own swear word.
Skins. This is on BBC America, and is basically Gossip Girl for the middle class, with better writing, acting, and story lines. A truly hilarious show, also appalling and touching. It's written mostly by kids, so the adult characters are not well conceived (obvious carboard cut-outs to be kicked), but the high school stuff is as good as I've ever seen. It's a keeper. And I'm going to predict that MTV's American remake is going to blow. (The import DVDs of the show are better as they don't censor language or nudity.)
Dr. Who. Okay, acquired taste. But I love the tone of the thing, the Brit-centric emotional core -- check out those WWII eps -- and I'm eager for it to return for its next season.
Torchwood. Ditto, sorta. X-Files with more sex, same creative minds that brought us Dr. Who. It's got a pretty dark heart, and you can't say that about many TV shows.
The Office/30 Rock. Obvious choices for obvious reason. 30 Rock still gets my award for best dialogue line of the millenium. "Never go with a hippie to a second location."
Mad Men. The show is not half as smart as it thinks it is. And jumping ahead two years every season is both lazy and a bad idea. But when it's good, it's very good. And it's a pleasure to watch a show that doesn't whip thru their narrative as if every viewer suffered from ADD. But again, a little overrated.
Lost. Obvious. Sometimes it's awful. But when it's good it's very good.
Breaking Bad. Same network as Mad Men, not on the air. Vince Gilligan is a great TV writer -- lotta top X Files episodes -- and this is the show he always wanted to make. It feels like that. Very down and dirty, a desert noir about a meth making high school chemistry teacher who has cancer. That is funny.
Sons of Anarchy. This is basically The Sopranos in a biker gang. With a little Hamlet thrown in for good measure. It's very well written, and has grown on me by the week. Also one of the best casts on TV.
Fringe. I'm not a huge Abrams fan, but this is pretty good work. The cast is good, the scripts pretty well written. And while they have one big problem -- connecting every episode to a larger story (The Pattern!) is a mistake, and makes it hard to do stand-alone episodes -- it's pretty smart and enjoyable.
Life. A well written and performed cop show. The only cop show I watch. Damian Lewis is a nicely eccentric TV star, and the show works when he's working.
Supernatural. That's right. Supernatural. Two hip dudes kill a lotta demons. It's frequently funny. I love the heavy metal power ballad music cues. And Ben Edlund is a frequent contributor, and he's one of the best writers there is in TV Land (created The Tick.).
Eli Stone/Dirty Sexy Money. Listed together cuz they're part of the Greg Berlanti empire. Berlanti's sorta like David Kelly without the ego or smarm -- yeah, I'm a hater in this regard -- and the shows are sweet when they need to be (Stone) and funny too (Dirty, Sexy). Nothin' great here. But entertaining enuf.
Life On Mars. Never seen a single episode and never will. If only because the British show is the best thing I've seen in a very long time. Well worth picking up the DVDs and a code free player. Sorta curious about Keitel, though.
Gossip Girl. Watch it with my step-daughter every week. XOXO.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )No "Venture Bros."!!! For shame!!!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )although I seem to've missed all the "when it's good, it's very good" parts. I'm sure they're there but the 3-4 episodes I've seen have been stylishly boring. Everyone in my industry's watching it though.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )Why not get Setanta and watch their sports too?
Soccer - I'm sure you've heard of it, most watched sport in the world.
Rugby - like American football, but with a lot more action and a lot less of the annoying commercialism.
Cricket - like baseball but ...well? more... refined.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )Including my two favorite shows of the last many years -- Green Wing and Life On Mars.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )nt
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent )There are certain shows that fall thru the cracks. That's one. Rescue Me is another. Oh. And I've never seen a single episode of The Wire. Which at this point is almost a badge of (stupid) honor.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )A couple years ago the only thing funny on TV were cartoons or commentary on clips of Bush -- but I've been happy to see Office, 30 Rock, and Sunny come along --
-- and The Adventures of Tim on HBO is a recent boon. Though it's a cartoon so I guess not part of the live comedy revival.
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent )I'm the Big Remote Boss Man at home, so some of these will be substituted for the dross that's on from time to time. Torchwood in particular sounds worth tracking down -I'd never heard of it before.
We watch Lost because it's made here, some of the actors live in our neighborhood, and others get busted regularly for DUIs while driving too and fro between episodes. ("I just got back to civilization and was celebrating, officer" doesn't seem to work.)
I saw The Office once and it was pretty funny, if weird. Their HR person had decided to conduct a sensitivity training class by having everyone stick a post-it note on their foreheads stating which minority they were posing as; the black guy ended up talking to a white guy posing as him, likewise Jewish, woman, etc. Quite a sendup, sophisticatedly Pythonesque.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )I'm not sure what they're going to do next. They knocked off a bunch of cast members at the end of the last season. But are planning two-hour specials in England, which will probably be broken up into episodes here.
Creator/writer Russell Davies -- Dr. Who, Torchwood, Queer as Folk -- is the real deal.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )have been released thus far and is now on her 3rd time through the entire series.
And when she learned episode(s) might be preempted by baseball she stomped her foot and pouted as only a young teenager can do.
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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| parent )If so, enjoy - you won't be getting that level of care under Obama's health care plan. %^> Actually, it's good because the main character is so quirky, but tires after awhile. IMO it's characteristic of how sophisticated TV has become since the days when only (dare I say it?) Twin Peaks and one or two other shows (like some of the X-Files episodes) avoided cliches, made you think, and had high production values.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )I entered "Philadelphia weather" into Google and the little box that says "49 and sunny" is for Wednesday. My apologies.
Maybe MLB should just call the game after 5 innings -- erase Upton's run -- and give the Phillies the title. ;-)
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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| parent )- Login or register to post comments
)World's Toughest Milkman. Which coincidentally is my favorite comicbook. Highly recommended - almost as cerebral as a Diplomacy game.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )I've often thought it would be fun to find a rye distiller and make a hundred cases of Owl's Roost and put 'em on the market.
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| parent )Owl's Roost. And Here's where it's made. Though I bet they'd franchise it out, even to the likes of us.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )So the McCain campaign has one of their classy phone pitches all scripted and ready to go -- about Obama and the Democrats voting to not 'protect children from crime' and 'coddling criminals' -- and they got their telemarketers lined up, in Indiana, and then...?
40 telemarketers walked off the job, and refused to read the McCain lies over the telephone.
Heh. When you're too dishonest for a telemarketer?
Think this will find it's way into an Obama speech soon?
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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)TPM doesn't bother to say what the robo-call (which had to be delivered by real, live people in Indiana) said. Obama has already responded with a defense of his positions on crime, without acknowledging that the specific acts alleged in the robocall were true. A relatively neutral source, responding to a similarly worded Florida Republican Party mailer, aacknowledges that the specifics are true, but brands the statements as misleading in terms of Obama's overall policies relating to crime, drugs, gangs and so forth. Far less simple than TPM made it sound, not surprisingly.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )While your neutral source does call some of the GOP claims 'grossly misleading' -- their conclusion, buried in the last sentence that maybe you didn't get to...is that the ad is untrue and its claim, 'false.' Which is different.
Second, the story here is that these folks walked rather than engage in the usual McCain smears. Or usual political smears, if you like. Which seems to match the mood of the country generally. Happily, folks seem to have had enough of this kind of bilge.
Not all folks, of course. Some seem determined to defend it, more out of reflex than anything else.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )and pro telemarketers, folks who get paid to read misleading junk in chirpy voices 10 hours a day, refused to read this misleading junk on principle.
And your point is, what, that the information the calls wildly mischaracterize is true in a limited, trivial sense? Thanks.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )or anyone quoting only it.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )That's not the point. The point is that this is not an ideological argument, it's a fairly simple and moderately interesting event that took place in Indiana. TPM's reporting on it was exactly right. Your attempt to argue the point, however incoherently, says more about late-stage anger regarding an electoral dynamic you didn't see coming (remember your ACORN guarantee?) -- not to mention a willingness to be moderately dishonest about your own links (see above).
But ouch.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )And my *ACORN prominently in the news* guarantee (was it really a guarantee as opposed to a prediction?) came true in spades. To your dismay, apparently. Or did you simply miss it?
"Moderately dishonest about my own links" for fleshing out a story you left un-fleshed? And by linking to a site with a meter (for those non-verbally inclined among us) that clearly said "false", and which you subsequently discovered said "false"?
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )And okay, yes, I'd like to see the story verified in the MSM, if only becuz I think it's a good one for Obama.
Less certain about ACORN. My memory is that it was going to 'figure prominently in the election.' And as to that? I doubt a single vote was moved, and it was a loser for the GOP. As it is, oddly enuf, every two years.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )You'll never know.
I may have said something like you said I said about ACORN (I'll sabotage the search function before you can check), but if I did, I meant that . . . well, that it would influence the election by hurting McCain when he over-flogged the story. Yeah, that's it - that's what I meant. Back when I was dating the young Elizabeth Taylor was when I said that. And I am right once again.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )which is that a bunch of telemarketers walked off a paying job rather than read some questionable McCain campaign garbage. TPM reported that accurately. Even if the garbage in question were less questionable than it in fact is, TPM's report still would've been accurate.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )TPM has been in the bag for Obama since before his nomination, and the story originated with them AFAICT. Are you able to find any MSM link confirming the story? I can't.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )However the piece is straight-ahead news, and any journalist could call the individuals/and or Americall and ask for confirmation. I see no reason to suspect the entire story is wrong or bogus.
Meanwhile here's a similar story from Madison:
http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9209904&nav=menu1362_2
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )I consider TPM a left-leaning blogsite, not a source for objective news. And as everyone has said, the idea that telemarketers would suddenly en mass develop a conscience is pretty outre, given the calls I've received over the years. (Some of them are repeated and dealt with hilariously in the net - a good one is here.
That said, props to you for coming up with a sourced one.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )The story is "sourced" exactly like the TPM one. It identifies sources and names the company and location involved. Just as with Sargent's reporting, the facts of the story are verifiable and"falsifiable".
There isn't anything that makes the Madison TV news crew any more or less reliable than TPM when it comes to reporting straight news.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )Here one story comes from a doctrinaire MSM news source while the other is from a highly political, openly Obama-supporting blog which is not a news source, and whose only reputation, if any, in the MSM is as a partisan blog. So I don't think they can be compared.
Nor is this a case of "focus on the message, not the messenger" because the medium is the massage here. I didn't follow it, but the story about that women supposedly having a "B" cut into her face probably first surfaced in blogville. Harley mused about the Obama campaign capitalizing on the telemarketer story, but my guess would be that they are cautious enough not to do that until the story is credibly sourced. If the telemarketer who talked to the TPM guy is serious, she should be appearing on CNN sometime soon, just like Joe the Plumber.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )and while bias can affect a number of aspects of reporting, the fundamentals of who, what, when & where covered in this story just aren't amenable to bias. The facts reported are either true, or they are false. There's no spin involved.
There's spin in TPM front-paging the story, or making it news in the first place, but the basic accuracy of the actual story as written is credible until otherwise proven. They talked to people, summarized their story, gave details of time, name & place.
These are just facts.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )as opposed to cheerleading? And who would be more likely to bite if the story is a hoax, a TV station or Marshall, who advertises his site as "Commentary on political events from a politically left perspective"?
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )credibility will suffer. As it should. Likewise if they distorted elements of the story to spin a particular POV. But there's nothing about the actual reporting of a story (with corroborating sources) that makes TPM any different from CNN or Fox News, is what I'm trying to say here. Facts is facts.
There's no reason to assume TPM's reporting is any more biased than any other news organization. Their bias shows in what stories they choose to cover, and of course in their editorial writing.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )But still think if it's real it's in an Obama speech. How can they not mention Tom the Telemarketer as he is a symbol for the populace's decision to reject the McCain campaign's negative attacks?
It starts like this...
"A funny thing happened in Indiana yesterday..."
If they don't use it, then I'm guessing they don't have solid verification.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )but very funny. Especially because it's linked through a non-political blog about Medieval art and history. Mcain/Palin: the Bridge to the 13th Century:
http://gotmedieval.blogspot.com/2008/10/daily-show-goes-there.html
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| parent )What we should be talking about at formv.org is the Palin litmus test.
Will Sarah Palin become the de facto GOP party leader come November 5th or not?
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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| parent )an omerta amongst our brave righties on this site regarding palin.
No one wants to say nuthin'...
I think the most commentary I've heard about her from a rightie was "She's the last straw" and "she has as much experience as obama"
Strong stuff. Heh heh heh.
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| parent )Hard to blame conservatives for their silence, with stuff like this making the rounds:
So the GOP, having long since purged their liberals, now intends to purge their conservatives as well. Sounds like a winner.
--The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
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| parent )Clearly a big-time mover and shaker in the Party. Where he goes others follow etc.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Uh.
--The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
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| parent )Here come the Fundies!!
It was always a pretty neat trick. Keeping the party's conservative thinkers and the social wingnuts happy under the same big tent. And maybe they'll continue to do so in the future (I personally have predicted this bloodbath at least forty-three times, and am yet to be correct to my satisfaction). But tards like Nuzzo are certainly worth listening to. Limbaugh is also calling for a house cleaning -- *even* if McCain wins. In fact, it looks like McCain, even in victory, would not be allowed to select the next head of the RNC. Which, btw, is where the war will be fought at the start.
And that's what bears watching. If the next head of the RNC is Michael Steele? Then the good guys won. But if it's a mouthbreather who gets a tingle every time Sarah Palin drops a 'g'?
Heh.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Until 2012, of course.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )finally stopped.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )Eight years later.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE
True . . . true . . . .
--All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz and I'm fine.
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)Stevens Found Guilty on All Counts
Q. What are the odds on Palin appointing herself as his replacement?
Assuming of course, the Democratic tsunami doesn't reach AK by Nov 4th and he gets reelected only to then resign in order to spend more time with his new found cellmates.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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)casting doubt on the future of his 40-year political career. Har. Taking a seven-year chunk out of it, more like.
Funny that BlaiseP and Jordan posted on karma not two hours ago. Every now and then the stars line up just right.
The Stevens trial has all sorts of lumps and bumps in it and a prosecutor of only modest competence, so this really wasn't over till it was over.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )Sentencing is not until January, then there's a likely motion for a new trial and the usual appeal. I don't expect him to resign before Nov. 4th. So there's a very strong possibility given we are talking about AK, that he will be reelected.
And you didn't answer the question.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )and he got re-elected even after his bribery conviction. Stevens isn't automatically out just because he's got a felony conviction. The Senate has to vote him out. Which they might, but they might not, either, if the Freezer Jefferson episode is any guide to these matters.
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| parent )assuming he get's reelected, will there be pressure within the Republican party for Stevens to resign, given that Palin is the one who will appoint his replacement? Especially if Palin herself and her supporters within the party come to see the Senate as a better launch pad for a bid for the Presidency in 2012?
There is precedent.
The last AK to resign his office did so after running for and winning the Governorship and as Governor he appointed his own daughter to replace him in the Senate.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )from within the Party; look at Larry Craig, whose transgressions were far less serious.
AFA Palin appointing herself, anything I say would be a guess. But can a governor appoint someone shortly after a new six-year term begins without a mandated special election before that term is up? You can't do that in this state - two years is the max without a special election IIRC.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )He's easy to find: still in the Senate .
Maybe Stevens will feel the pressure a little more: I wouldn't count on it, though, not unless he gets hauled away to slam in handcuffs (and it's chancy even then!).
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| parent )I must have heard the "not running for reelection" statement and thought it was something better. Anyway, he'll be gone shortly.
This is doing it the hard way, but I can't be the only one who thinks that the dinosaurs from both parties need to be shown the door. And that includes Hawaii's own Dan Inouye as well. I think the odds of Congress ever morphing into something that actually will be focused on what the country needs are slim, but they are zero as long as the place is run by career politicians.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )I can think of a number of career politicians who are above suspicion, and it often takes a number of terms for a politician to become effective. A politician is either honest or dishonest, and the amount of time one spends in office is of little significance, imo. I believe that calls for term limits are basically dishonest and benefit the right more than the left side of the aisle.
My observations are that the majority of honest career politicians tend to lean left, perhaps hard left, but there are bound to be exceptions.
It does seem though, that Stevens is so corrupt that he's thoroughly convinced himself that he's done no wrong. I can also think of a bunch of Dems who've also been convicted that think the same way.
--Me: We! -- Ali
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| parent )I recognize there are some good old timers in both the House and the Senate. But I think career politicians tend to go from being responsive to thinking whatever they decide to do for their own benefit is per se good for their constituencies. And it's a short step from there to "you just don't know how hard things are in Washington, I always have to compromise, nothing is ever as clear as the voters think" type of condescension.
Regarding your comment about politicians being either honest or dishonest, I don't think a significant number of them are actually dishonest people like Stevens. But I'll turn the question around and ask whether you've ever been at the ground floor when someone you knew and really had faith in got elected, maybe with your help. And then met him/her again ten-fifteen years later and observed that they were not the same person. And that the person they'd become isn't someone you would back, or even particularly trust, if meeting them for the first time.
I think the political environment corrodes peoples' mores. Nothing is ever a clear choice, there's always an excuse to surrender, or trade on, your principles, and long-term success rewards many of the wrong kinds of people. If you want multiple terms in the House, you'd better start your reelection campaign the second month after you get to Washington.
I know less than most about the Founding Fathers, but I thought none of them believed a career in Washington was meant to be permanent.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )Murkowski was appointed to serve out the last 2 years of her fathers Senate seat, so you may be right.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )The ATF has busted up a skinhead plot to assassinate Obama. Located in Tennessee and Arkansas. That's all the headline offers so far.
EDIT: Weirder and worse. Here's the AP paragraph:
The 'court records' referred to suggests this may be old news. Sorta.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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)Two chuckleheads, neo-Nazis, who had all sortsa plans, and little ability to pull them off. Sounds like drunken ravings that someone overheard.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Will this be treated as a terrorism case, like that of those idiots in Florida who "planned" to blow up the Sears Tower?
Killing one hundred and one people plus the president of the US sounds like terrorism to me... adding the "significant" white-power numbers to your killing plan especially makes it seem like they wanted to terrorize.
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| parent )No.
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| parent )According the ATF agent's sworn affidavit these bozos were busted after shooting out the window of a church - and were, apparently, busted by the local sheriff pdq.
Read the whole thing: these asshats were assuredly the short-bus SS; one can only hope the ATF, not to mention other security agencies, will be just as efficient nabbing any more intelligent/efficient wannabe massacre-mongers.
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| parent )Where will you find a jury of their peers, though? The zoo?
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )that has The Corner so exercised. This is an issue I know a little about, since I spent several years working on fraud protection for a major telecom company. (For example, I know that The Corner's allegation that most companies cross-check names on credit card payments is utterly false. No company I've ever heard of checks names or street names. Most check ZIP codes, and some of the more stringent check the 3- or 4-digit number printed on the card. More diligence than that becomes counterproductively burdensome to the legit consumer.)
From a payment fraud standpoint, there may be an issue. It is irresponsible of the Obama site not to check ZIP codes, at least, when accepting credit card payments; an enterprising fraudster could easily make a lot of small donations from other peoples' cards that would likely pass undetected. Of course, it is unlikely that a fraudster would choose to do this rather than buying something for themselves -- one does not normally encounter altruistic criminals, in politics or otherwise.
That brings us to the real point. From an electoral fraud standpoint, it's hard to see that there is any issue here at all. While it is true that anyone could make a donation to Obama this way -- even carving up a single large donation into hundreds of smaller ones -- why would they? The purpose of making large political contributions is not merely to influence a race, but to flex political muscle; the FEC's exemption of small donors from reporting requirements is not a feckless abandonment of oversight, but a reflection of common sense. If George Soros (or the NRA or the sugar lobby etc. etc.) decides to give a million bucks to a candidate, you may be sure that they want the candidate to know who's giving it. Small donors have a very different motivation: they just want "their guy" to win, and don't expect any gratitude, access, or policy influence.
So what, exactly, has the Cornerites' underwear pinching them so uncomfortably? Do they really think that, say, Hamas or Hezbollah is contributing large sums of money to Obama in $200 chunks? It's hard to imagine their motivation in doing so, since the gift would be hidden even from the beneficiary (also, I'm pretty sure they have better things to spend the money on, from a rational-self-interest standpoint).
Verdict? One more episode of wingnutty hingelessness in an election season that's been chock full of them. And they wonder why the mainstream media doesn't take them seriously.
--The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
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)for Web payments. The very idea of keying the numbers off my plastic is just more than I want to deal with.
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| parent )American Express in particular is really good about coming down on the cardholder's side in any disputes. I don't worry about using credit cards for online payments, though I always check my statements.
Using debit cards or checking accounts is another matter. Fraud perpetrated on a checking account can be extremely difficult to resolve, even impossible if it took place more than 30 days in the past (after that, reversal of the charge is at the receiving bank's discretion).
--The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
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| parent )nt
--Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers. Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to intense skeptical scrutiny. Be aware of human fallibility. Cherish your species and your
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| parent )Traveller
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| parent )This site explains it better than Citi does
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| parent )Where is everybody? Dammit, if I don't see any petty bickering by the time I get another coffee refill ...
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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)so stop yer kvetching!
Funny, though, to see the Forvm so deserted...
Is it the football, the World Series, or the election?
Or have the Forvmians all switched their screens over to CNBC to follow their investments (into the toilet)?
Except for Bernard G., of course.....
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| parent )Alas, I'm not in 100% cash, either. Still, though, I have to admit these are exciting times! Banzai! Equity Market! Banzai!
--The ultimate result of shielding man from the effects of folly is to people the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer
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| parent )We made a desert and called it blog?
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )Forvm is getting way too high strung and everyone's trying to be good, with a few regrettable exceptions, and nobody wants to break an E string. Sending off Hank and the others was just, I never let my kids argue with the ump, told them he was part of the game and the roughest position on the field. But the place hasn't been the same, since.
What's really left to say? I've been trying to write stuff that's more germane to what others are thinking, and my last one went over like a lead balloon. I though to write something about what a reformed Republican Party would look like, and threw it in the bit bucket. Who wants to hear about Whigs and the New York antislavery crew who would later put Lincoln in the White House.
We live in parlous times. But we always lived in parlous times. Nothing's working out.
Tell you all what I've been up to this morning.
So I get back from the Dunkin Donuts, got my bagel and cream cheese and my coffee, read the paper. Walking back to the hotel room to get some work done. Out comes a guy I met, white guy, sorta stuck in this hotel, no car. His wife is black, she's working at some greasy spoon, he's not working at all. His wife needs to go to the emergency room. She's at a walk-in clinic, they gave her something, her blood pressure went through the roof, she collapsed in terrible pain. They can't afford the ambulance so I end up climbing in my truck, forgot my wallet and everything, just happened to have my money clip and my car keys in my pocket.
Got up there to the clinic, my truck won't start up again. Get it jumped off, get almost all the way there, truck starts dying again. Just limped into the ER parking lot, got her on a gurney and she's there now.
So I have to get my truck towed. Just happened to have the 58 dollars cash needed to get it towed. Take the husband down with me in the tow truck, only a few miles to the Pep Boys, where they diagnose a bad battery. I hadn't moved the truck for weeks during the gas shortage. So they fix the truck, doesn't take long, they let me go back to my hotel and get my credit card, bless their hearts.
So I come back, get my bill paid, and now I'm just slowly decompressing. It's been a hell of a morning. Lost five hours of billable time to take this woman to the emergency room. Doesn't make me an especially wonderful person, I'm pretty sure any of you, confronted with that situation would have done the same thing. I can't see any of you walking past that desperate man.
And maybe that's what I'm trying to say here. As angry and fearful and confused as we've become the closer to the election we get, maybe we ought to just take a little breather. There's a particularly horrible truism, "When things are bad, look around and realize how good you've got it, things could be worse". That sounds like something Stuart Smalley would say. That's like saying you're glad you're not broken down 50 miles from the repair shop instead of two miles like I was.
Maybe what we ought to see is how bad we all have it, and how much of it we share, though we'll never admit it. Which might seem depressing until you realize when people's backs are up against the wall, we share that wall. Some guy who didn't know me from Adam let me drive back to get my wallet so I could pay him for the repair work. I managed to make it to the ER parking lot, and Aretha is still alive, not that she's doing all that well.
Anyway, that's my little contribution, make of it what you will.
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| parent )He doesn't have a supernatural bone in his body, but he sure helps people gratis a lot more often than many religious and/or idealistic types I've known. A few times it annoyed me, stopping on the highway to help some random old dude change a tire or whatever, but now I appreciate it.
He'd never heard the phrase "pay it forward" or probably understood the somewhat related concept of karma, but he always describes what he does as a way of making the world a better place. Do someone a good turn, then they're likely to do someone else a turn, etc. etc.
Anyhow, he's right, and so are you.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )In that bad things happen to bad people (Ted Stevens!), but not necessarily that good deeds get rewarded. IMO, good deeds are often trivial, the feel-good feeling is transitory, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Here's a fun game that will cost nothing: next time someone asks for a handout, see if you know within $5 how much money you have in your wallet. If you don't, give the guy/gal $5. Doesn't matter to you because that money wasn't even really there.
Sad to say, giving money to people who ask for it sometimes pisses off the occasional conservative friend. I get the "how do you know he isn't going to spend that money on drugs or drink??" and the beady eye; asking him when the last time was that they bought good drugs for $5 doesn't lighten things up, either.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )...cool story.
No good deed goes unpunished? Is that the lesson of your dead battery or....just the universal, S*** Happens?
Good Deeds are their Own rewards, even if they are punished....lol
I've heard some additions to the classical Chinese Curse:
1. May you live in interesting times
2. May you come to the attention of the Authorities
3. May your fondest wish be granted
I like all of them....but it is number 2 that grabs me as sooooo essentially true as to be painful to repeat.
Best Wishes, Traveller
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| parent )How many people who fear that FISA etc. will encroach on their privacy rights have cell phones, and talk on them in public where anyone can hear their side of sometimes intimate conversations?
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )as they always do, in these stories, for the best possible fate.
The sage replies. "You will die, and your son will bury you. Your son will die after you, his son will bury him. His son will die, and his son will bury him"
Enraged, the Asian potentate says "This is absolutely horrible. What can you possibly mean?"
The sage mildly replied: "Would you prefer this in any other order? Sons should bury fathers."
Update: I have just been summoned once again for chariot duty. Aretha has just been released from the ER.
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| parent )This is what happens when **YOU** ban HankP! HankP, we repent! Jordan's the one! He's the evil-doer!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )...so I go away to ride some elephants, climb some mountains, thrash my way through some jungles and I come back to....Hank being banned?
Not a chance.
And even if so, it would only be for a week...the shorter ban period, down from the Tactius automatic 30 days, was one of the few positive contributions of my tenure. So that time period would have long run.
Well...now that the subject has come up, where is Hank?
On vacation?
Best Wishes, Traveller
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| parent )his banishment is over & he can come back, but we haven't heard from him.
Could it be he's found better things to do with his time? Maybe he's chasing younger women, or he took up drag racing. Maybe he's lobbying the government for some bailout money for The Forvm. Could he be writing a screenplay, or teaching hang gliding to the blind?
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )for bailout money to teach hang-gliding to blind young women?
Now there's a screenplay!
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| parent )out in his driveway, underneath the Porsche, changing the oil. 9 qts.-that's gotta' take a long time to drain! Or he's out buying the latest fall lineup of Hawaiian shirts!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )How long could that possibly take? The pictures we got gave the distinct impression that his wardrobe is picked by a random-number generator.....
--The ultimate result of shielding man from the effects of folly is to people the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer
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| parent )....most suspicious!
My computer is running out of my quota for exclamation points!
I worry that this is the true Answer....!
Best Wishes, Traveller