Shut UP and Take What They Offer You.

More evidence that access to the court is becoming a privilege than a right can be found here. It discusses some of the "Judicial Activism" that is far more prevalent than the sort the right bemoans. The article briefly glides through an alarming practice of nullifying or removing juries from considering issues in court--often actually ignoring the constitution in pulling this off. The author of this piece notes the difference between the more conservative judges that are doing this and the fact that most all are GOP/Bush appointees. While this is noteworthy, it misses the real action going on here: All of these cases involve a judge bending the system to help someone powerful to prevail over someone who is weak or who has been victimized. Let's protect the heinous at all costs.

Let's Discuss Fiction. Shall We Mrs. Clinton?

And by Fiction, i mean the Presidential nomination of Hillary Clinton.

Let's get a few things out of the way. I like Hillary Clinton. I think she has LONG gotten a raw deal by people who often are chauvinistic in their approach. That doesn't mean she's not cold and calculating. Sorry. anyone that gets this far in the game is calculating. you don't have to believe that if you don't want to do so. It makes no difference to me if you want to acknowledge your wrong (!).

Most people i've ever met who 'hate' her have nor real reason. they just "don't like her" or say "she's liberal" without much of anything to substantiate their claims. Actually, there is a lot to like or dislike with this woman. the problem is that the cold in their heart haters out there just don't seem to come up with a good reason themselves. That's because they came along this feeling in the 90s. this was when the GOP lost the Presidency for the first time in 16 years. This was their second loss since the 1964 election. The presidency was THEIRS and they weren't happy to let it go. it became all vilification all of the time. Remember the good ole days when they made a scandal out of the white house firing some of its own staff in the travel office (Travel-Gate, if you will recall). jeez. i long for those sorts of scandals. Well Hillary was part of that wasteland.

I remember seeing George W. Bush proclaimnig in 2000 that he was bringing an 'end' to the politics of personal destruction. this, of course being a hallmark of his own parties activities. it reminded me of hearing older, racist family members complaining that "Martin Luther King was 'non-violent' but violence followed him wherever he went!" ignoring the fact that it was their white racist ilk starting the violence. "If only they hadn't come marching for the vote, we would never have had to turn those hoses on 'em". Oh my, yes.

So back to Hillary. The drudge report headlines the link above as a 'shocker' that in the Iowa Caucus, Hillary is trailing in 4th place. its no shock at all. Hillary is seen by a large chunk of the Democratic left as a calculating triangulator who's views are flexible based on political expediency. Her views on the war are as clearly calculated for a pander to a missing demographic as anything Frist ever threw our way. She's the un-ending boogieman to the republicans who cannot function in any other way after the last 14 years. it has to be all division all the time. pick a side. us or them and SHE is the worst of them. just GLANCE at the volume of commentary from the right foaming for a Hillary run. they WANT her because they know what i know. no matter how good or great or smart or nice she is. there is NO WOMAN disliked by more people in the USA now thank Hillary Clinton. name one other. any woman, any field.

you can't.

Hillary has one other advantage. high name ID. anyone in the polls listed above is only there due to a history of long, strong name ID. Hillary in 4th place? no shock there. Hillary in 1st place? THAT would be the shocking headline!

A Huge Chunk of My Childhood: Dead at 95

Joe Barbara, one half of the Hanna-Barbara team, died today. He's partly responsible for justa about every popular (non Warner Bros.) cartoon you can think of from the 50s on: Tom and Jerry, The Fantastic Four, Scooby Doo, Josie and the Pussy Cats (et. al), Top Cat, The Jetsons, the "Laff" olympics, the Herculoids, the Flintstones, Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles (jesus, what a name!), Harvey Birdman, Johnny Quest, Yogi the Bear, and the ever lovin' Super Friends.

Just to name a few.

I would go so far as to say, as a child, the ONLY cartoons i saw that weren't Hanna-Barbara were either WB, Popeye, or Bullwinkle. perhaps no one else will ever dominate a medium like that ever again.

Like the Weather

I know no one really cares, but jesus...it's been so Foggy here lately. the last 5 days have been so foggy you can barely see a block away!

I am not up to much else today. My Saints lost it in the last minute of the game. ugh.

later this week on this page:

Modern apartheid and New Burnswick.

Let the Sunshine In...

Well, THIS looks great:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped dozens of people Thursday from a major commercial area in central Baghdad, the second mass abduction in the capital in a month.
The attackers drove up to the busy al-Sanak area in about 10 sport utility vehicles and began rounding up shop owners and bystanders. Two police officers said 50 to 70 people were abducted.

Meanwhile, bush has been unhappy with the poor reaction to his decision to wait until 2007 for a change in strategy in Iraq. evidently he's claimed he doesn't want to be rushed.

Cultural Learnings of Make Benefit of Gore Vidal

Over the last few months, I've been thinking about some of the major writers of the 20th century. Particularly those who's work comes after World War 2 and those who's work I have not read. The 3 that have stuck out in my mind, and whom i've been reading for the last few years are: Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Gore Vidal. i've read nothing but very sort pieces by Gore Vidal. I thought about picking up his new Memoir "Point to Point Navigation" (taken from the sort of navigations ships would use when they could see no moon, stars, (and on some days) no sun. I thought a good place to start would be the trusty used/rare book store in my neighborhood, Choctaw Books. They never seem to disappoint. Not only did i get his novel "Empire" for $4 bucks, but they also sold me a SIGNED copy of the NEW book for me at 20% below cover price! He even offered to investigate on just HOW hard it would be to find probably just about the best gift you could give me: a signed hardcover of Mr. Vladimir Orland Key's historical milestone. whoa! The only bad day to go to Choctaw Books would be a day on which it's closed.

On another, slightly local note, I saw the Borat movie last night. I don't know how many of you saw this film, but it is pretty funny. It follows Borat from NYC. through DC, into the South, and on to California. Surprisingly a LOT of it takes place in Mississippi. while parts are actually IN mississippi, a LOT of the footage is taken from Mississippi (and often Jackson, MS) locations. Sometimes this might just be an outdoor shot in a parking lot where the location is irrelevant to the scene, but keen eyes will note the locale! I'd go so far as to say 1/4 or more of the footage you see is in Mississippi.

How Low Can He GO?

I thought it might just be impossible for bush to fall in the 20s when it came to his approval ratings. This may sound cynical to say, but I feel if that many people were willing to overlook his glaring shortcomings, they're willing to stick with him for good. i mean a core of his support and that support is at least 30% of the public.

Well, according to Zogby, he has (in my estimation) only the most faithful still in the stands cheering for him. 30% approval. a new low. the same poll found that 52% of REPUBLICANS disapprove of his handling of Iraq.

Charming...

Well, John Bolton is out as our UN Ambassador. As a parting shot, his UN team has been working hard to block a measure commemorating the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

yay.

His work for our country will not be missed.