-- spidermoon cobweblog --
blog of the futurepast
2004-07-23
2004-07-20
there's a new democratic convention blog that started today called hardblogger. so far it's just some msnbc hardball journalists introducing themselves to begin the blog.
i posted a comment on it:
aloha from oahu to andrea mitchell.
of all the people listed on this list of hardbloggers so far you are my favorite. i can't wait to hear what you've got to say here.
if you get the chance to notice, i would be particularly interested in how the wheelchair access is at the convention, as i am a wheelchair user and am always interested in accessibility. maybe even republican vs. democratic handicapped access compared. i wouldn't be surpised if there were a big difference.
if you need any convention(al) reports from the pacific ocean area, feel free to drop me a note. i will respond poste haste.
i have plenty of experience, as i'm a journalism grad-school dropout with plenty of political time on my hands.
andrea's stringer in honolulu,
jezebel tiphareth
spidermoon cobweblog
http://spidermoon.net
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tonight's op-ed treat is the latest from maureen dowd. she's become one of my favorite journalists in the past few months. i have a sneaking suspicion she will remain on my list of "to reads" for a long, long time.
-jvt
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Right Axis. Wrong Evil.
July 22, 2004
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON - The capital has plunged into satire.
There's the bizarre investigation of Sandy Burglar, as the respected former national security adviser has now been dubbed, pulling a Fawn Hall and smuggling stuff out of the National Archives in his fine washables.
And just when you thought the Bush foreign policy couldn't sound more chuckleheaded, revelations in the 9/11 commission report being released today elevated the Bush doctrine to an Ali G skit.
The most astute prophet of the administration's Middle East muddle is Sacha Baron Cohen, the hilarious British comedian whose Ali G character is an uninformed gangsta rapper interviewing unwitting V.I.P.'s.
This Sunday, HBO will run Ali G's interview with Pat Buchanan, in which he presses the broadcaster about why no "B.L.T.'s" were found in Iraq. Mr. Buchanan plays along, but it's not clear if he actually thinks there were B.L.T.'s in Saddam's arsenal. (Mr. Cohen speculated in The Times later that Mr. Buchanan might have thought it was argot for "ballistic long-range-trajectory missiles.")
Last year, Ali G asked James Baker III, the Bush I secretary of state, if it was wise for Iraq and Iran to have such similar names. "Isn't there a real danger," the faux rapper wondered, "that someone give a message over the radio to one of them fighter pilots, saying 'Bomb Ira-' and the geezer doesn't heard it properly" and bombs the wrong one?
"No danger," Mr. Baker replied.
Well, as it turns out, the United States did bomb the wrong Ira-.
President Bush says he's now investigating Qaeda-Iran ties, and whether Iran helped the 9/11 hijackers.
Whoops. Right axis. Wrong evil.
It's like Emily Litella -
"What's all this fuss I hear about making Puerto Rico a steak?" - except the U.S. can't simply shrug "Never mind" because 900 American troops are dead.
The Bush administration had no good intelligence, so it decided to invade the Ira- that was weaker.
The war was based on phony W.M.D. analyses and fallacious welcome scenarios drummed up by the neocon Chihuahua Ahmad Chalabi.
Mr. Bush should have worried about the Axis of Evil in the order of the threat posed: North Korea, which has nukes; Iran, which almost has nukes; Iraq, which wanted nukes.
Now American forces are so depleted that the Pentagon is pulling forces out of South Korea to go to Iraq. And, given the huge National Guard deployment in Iraq, states say they don't have enough manpower to guard prisoners, fight wildfires or police the streets.
Besides excoriating the C.I.A. and F.B.I. and chronicling as many as 10 missed opportunities to pick up on the 9/11 plot - in the Bush years and in the Clinton era - the 9/11 commission report has new evidence that Iran may have helped up to 10 of the hijackers with safe passage from Osama's Afghan training camps.
"Grimly, what the new 9/11 report makes clear is that nearly three years into the war on terror, America is still not close to understanding the enemy," Michael Isikoff and Michael Hersh report in Newsweek. "And Washington seems less able to force Tehran to change its ways, especially since Bush has removed one of the chief threats to the mullah regime, Saddam Hussein, and is now bogged down in Iraq. As one intel official said before the Iraq war: 'The Iranians are tickled by our focus on Iraq.' "
Just as the invasion of Iraq was "a Christmas gift" to Osama, as the C.I.A. official who wrote a book as "Anonymous" put it, in terms of recruiting in the Muslim world and diverting the U.S., so it may be a gift to Iran. U.S. military officials say Iranian agents have been helping Iraqi insurgents as a way to shape Iraq into a Shiite fundamentalist satellite.
Though the 9/11 panel found no "collaborative" relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda, it found one between Iran and Al Qaeda - but no evidence that Iranian officials knew in advance about the 9/11 attacks.
The report concludes that "Al Qaeda's relationship with Iran and its client, the Hezbollah militant group, was far deeper and more longstanding than its links with Iraq," according to The Washington Post.
Mr. Bush vowed to deal harshly with any country that harbors terrorists or assisted the 9/11 plot. But our military is so overextended from invading Ira-, we'd be hard pressed to go after Ira-.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/opinion/22dowd.html?ex=1091509427&ei=1&en=472302f3d2fe70a9
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jezebel 19:36 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2004-07-17
ON THIS DAY -
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon when he stepped out of the lunar module.
new york times, july 20, 1969, front page
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i watched neil armstrong step onto the lunar surface as it happened in 1969. at the time my family was living in springfield, mo. we were at home, watching it on tv. i was about ten years old.
people say "i remember exactly when kennedy was assassinated," like that's some defining event in human culture. i'm a couple years too young to remember seeing jfk get shot, thank goodness.
but i do remember the lunar landing, and i think that was the defining event of our times for humanity. the irony is, jfk began the space race.
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jezebel 03:21 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2004-07-16
currently i'm "reading" the talking book "lies and the lying liars that tell them, a fair and balanced view of the right." it's engrossing, hilarious and excellent, wonderfully narrated by al franken, the author of the book. so it's all from the heart, and even more refreshing, from the mind, a logically functioning mind i might add.
one funny thing, it makes me want to go and watch these people and shows on fox-tv he's talking about, just to see if they really do act like that and do all those things franken says.
i did. the answer is "yes." it's almost funny to watch because you see it from franken's perspective. but it's still too sick and disgusting to watch for more than a few minutes at a time.
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jezebel 04:32 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2004-07-14
RIP... from billboard
Update: New York Dolls Bassist Dies
New York Dolls bassist Arthur Kane died last night (July 13) in Los Angeles due to complications from leukemia, the group's manager confirms to Billboard.com. He was 55. A memorial service will be held Saturday at the Westwood chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The reunited Dolls were fresh off a well-received appearance at Morrissey's Meltdown Festival in London last month and had also opened some of Morrissey's concerts in May in New York. It is unclear if the David Johansen-led group will still perform next month at Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival in New York.
"During rehearsal and the shows I was blessed to work with the Arthur I first met and loved 30 years ago," Johansen said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "The reunion was a source of great happiness for him, and the dynamic between [guitarist] Sylvain [Sylvain], Arthur and myself was brimming with unimaginable love. It's good to know that he went out on a high point in his musical life, but he will be sorely missed. His bass playing and presence were the heart & soul of the New York Dolls and the secret ingredient of our sound."
The Dolls are scheduled to release an album for Morrissey's Attack imprint in September, but no details have been revealed. "He was a very gentle soul and I know he lived for many years with the hope of a Dolls reunion," Morrissey said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "When this happened -- at the Royal Festival Hall in June -- I know Arthur was thrilled to be back with David and Sylvain playing the music of the Dolls to such enthusiastic crowds over two nights. I will always remember the look of bashful happiness on Arthur's face as people in the audience constantly called out his name. He was finally back where he belonged."
Kane is the fourth member of the pioneering glam rock outfit to pass away, including guitarist Johnny Thunders, who died of a drug overdose in 1991.
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
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jezebel 03:22 - [Link] - Comments ()
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... i posted this at oitribe
small-minded actions like these against kurt and bon, whether innocent or not, by this new generation of "the moral right -- gone wild" is one of the many reasons why i realized years ago why i was becoming an outside of society misanthrope. and as the years pass i become more and more cynical and misanthropic -- embarrassed of my own species.
kurt and bon are disabled and they are artists. this is a killer combination irresistible to conservative zealots, and unfortunately in these days of the disappearing identity, the zealots are supported in their insane destruction of any growth or evolution in society. they are supported by the members of that same society they so stupidly destroy.
they eat us all and then themselves from the inside out like worms feeding on the flesh of corpses. yes it's sad but very human.
the fears of daily life faced by those immersed in the values of illogic invariably cause the destruction of other things most innocent and creative.
c'est la vie ...
(pardon my french)
jezebel 19:01 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2004-07-11
E-mail message
From: pattismith-
Subject: greetings from Patti Smith (The LOST greeting)
greetings
well the first leg of our tour is winding to a close but i have kept a few notes to send in the following days. past tense, it's true, but i am still figuring how to get my greetings out on the road. i know i could go into some inner-net cafe but it's against my principles to mix my java with technology. a notebook is all i will haul into a cafe. an old nineteenth century notion of mine which i do not choose to alter.
It is presently 9:14 in the morning and we are heading to madison, wisconsin. i am excited as we will possibly pass through sauk city, home of arkham house. this nobly obscure house is the essential publisher of h.p. lovecraft and i am certain to find some exciting volume in the vicinity. I am already reeling from the acquisition of a fine copy of the dunwich horror with dust jacket published in 1963.
ethiopian coffee beans are being ground for a java run. we have a five hour drive and i will be preparing a little tour diary to send out before we leave for england. i have been snapping away with my polaroid land 250 to offer a visual record of all the exciting spots along the way. you will be receiving the heart stopping fruits of my labor early next week. these exclusive images will include the two best lampshades seen on the tour. as well as the catering tent at bonnaroo and the latrine in the gypsy tea room.
well i've got to sign off. the aroma of ethiopian sidomo calls and i've got to check the atlas to see if we will actually pass through sauk city. the rain is getting pretty heavy so i think i shall retire to my bunk and delve into my copy of fortean times. this canadian based periodical sports lovecraft on the cover and a profusely illustrated piece entitled dreamer in the dark.
i will be writing again soon. accept no substitutes. for as i only got 4 hours sleep (i was foolishly drawn into a two part X File episode at two in the morning) i am merely a substitute for myself already.
but all is well. i have lost no socks on this tour. i have my coffee and can settle in and contemplate this line... the dreams come from an alien monstrosity...oh boy!
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Patti Smith and her Band will be touring the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada in August.
See the pattismith.net We Got To Fly page for dates and venues at pattismith.net/wegottofly.html
Latest Souvenance: Marcel Proust: pattismith.net/souvenance.html
Patti Smith's new album, trampin':
pattismith.net/trampin.html
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jezebel 03:13 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2004-07-06
E-mail message
Subject: Chess Books:Old Chess Books
Jan has posted the following to the Chessworld.net forum called: Chess Books
Message Heading: Old Chess Books
Message: Hi!
This is my share on the bookshelves...
* The Chess Mind (Gerald Abrahams)
* The Adventure of Chess (Edward Lasker)
* Modern Ideas in Chess (Richard Reti)
* Hastings International Masters' Tournament 1922 (Alekhine - the winner)
* Common Sense in Chess (Emanuel Lasker)
* New York International Chess Tournament 1924 (annotated by Alekhine)
* Masters of the Chess Board (Richard Reti)
* World's Championship Matches 1921 and 1927 (Capablanca)
* My Best Games 1929-1976 (Arnold Denker)
* The Chess Tournament London 1851 (Howard Staunton)
* Lasker's Manual of Chess (Dr. Emanuel Lasker)
* The Chess-Players Handbook (Howard Staunton)
* The Joys of Chess (Fred Reinfeld)
* The Chess Companion (Irving Chernev)
* The Psychology of the Chess Player (Reuben fine)*
And in Dutch...
* Euwe's Opening Monographs, published before WW III.
All in descriptive notation and that's -for me- a great pity, if not to say, a great handicap~ :-(
Cheerio!
Jan:-bigwink
Visit:- Letsplaychess.com for great chess content!
correspondence chess online
jezebel 18:46 - [Link] - Comments ()
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it seems the posts i've posted since the beginning of july have disappeared. i wonder where they went?
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jezebel 03:49 - [Link] - Comments ()
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