Category Archives: politics

roundup of rando ny times stories.

I’ve been neglecting the blog for a few days, but there have been several NY Times articles that I’ve wanted to post about. Let’s just do a roundup of the best ones:

  • It’s insulting — and unhealthy — to call elderly people by demeaning terms like “sweetie” and “dear.” Stick to the traditional, factual labels like “John McCain.” [NY Times]
  • An a cappella group from Indiana University has been reunited after ten years to sign a five-album record deal with Atlantic Records. Craig Killman, the chairman and chief executive of Atlantic, discovered the group on YouTube and smelled potential. The group, called Straight No Chaser, will be coming out with a holiday album at the end of October, and they may be touring with headliners like Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Not too shabby for a group of guys who thought they’d never sing again. I’m not one of those ex-coeds who is obsessed with a cappella, I swear, but this story is worth reading. [NY Times]
  • Seriously, WHY ON EARTH would it be a bad thing for our president to be “elite”? I want my president to be about a million times smarter than me. I tend to have mixed feelings about Maureen Dowd, but she had a great column a few days ago. This paragraph alone is pure snarky genius: “Darn right. And that, doggone it, brings us to a shout-out for the latest virtuoso of Frontier Baroque, bless her heart, the governor of the Last Frontier. Her reward’s in heaven.” You betcha. [NY Times]
  • And a few days ago, this was the “On This Day in History” thinger at the end of my daily headlines: “On October 5, 1947, in the first televised White House address, President Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe.” I’m not going to pretend to know a lot about anything, really, but there are still lots of starving people in the world, and still a lot of livestock in America that eat shit tons of grain each day. Basically, people around the world starve because we think it’s more of a priority to feed animals that we can slaughter and eat. Yes, I know it’s not quite that simple, but it’s worth thinking about. (And no, I’m not a vegetarian, but I’ve cut back my meat-eating by about 75% in the past month.) Just take a look at this fact from the 2004 book The New Consumers, by Norman Myers and Jennifer Kent: “If each American cut his or her meat consumption by just 5% (roughly the same as eating one less meat dish a week), that would save enough grain to make up the diets of 150 million malnourished people.” Chew on that one.
[Posted by Mallory]

5 Comments

Filed under animals, music, news, politics, thoughts, YouTube

mccain sneers “that one”, misquotes TR.

Man, that was boring.  Awkward and uncomfortable jokes by McCain all went flat.  Insulting Tom Brokaw, jokes about hair plugs and balding (was that a swipe at Joe?).  The zingers were mediocre.  Then John McCain has the audacity to call B “that one”. OH NO HE DIDN’T.  I’m sorry, but I prefer audacity to come in the form beautifully bound hardcover book called “The Audacity of Hope”.  Ahem.  Here is the video:

What did he mean by “that one”?  What a demeaning term.  On top of flawed policies and rampant lies, John McCain lacks the manners and professionalism required to be the President of the United States.  Just picture him at the table with leaders from around the world.  Is he going to call someone he disagrees with “that one”?  Or perhaps he’d like to use another one of his favorite words, cunt.  He makes me so mad.

And he messed up a TR quote.  Again, OH NO HE DIDN’T.

“My hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly, talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly.”

Ugh.  Get it straight.

And for the love of all things good and pure in this world, Johnny, please stop calling me your friend. I am NOT your friend.  I wouldn’t even be your Facebook friend.

The majority of pundits and polls show that Obama won this debate.  I agree.  He holds the American agenda, and I will be so proud to call him our president.

Also, this is totally unrelated to the debate, but I find it to be an important fact since the candidates’ personalities seem to be on a pedestal in this election. Today, while Joe Biden was at the funeral of his mother-in-law, Sarah Palin was criticizing him on the campaign trail.  She’s a jerk.

Twenty-seven days until this election is ovvvvvah.

[Posted by Kathleen]

1 Comment

Filed under celebrities, news, politics, pop culture, random, TV, YouTube

blog: yes we can (hold babies)

Say it ain’t so Joe, here I go again blogging about other people’s blogs.  (Hardy har har)  As if Saint Barack could not get any more perfect, now you can look at sickeningly adorable pictures of him with non-voters.  That means babies and other mini humans.  Yes, you can.  Yes, you want to.  Yes we can (hold babies).  Love love love.

Make this man president. DO IT.

[Posted by Kathleen]

2 Comments

Filed under babies, blogging, celebrities, crushes, politics, pop culture, random

bird pulls a “gotcha” on reporter.

Evil Sarah Palin commanded her one of her bird minions to drop some shiz in the mouth of a liberal “gotcha” mainstream media reporter.  Hilarity ensues.

Sarah and her birdie friend:

If I can make a Disney reference, I’m going to…alright?

[Posted by Kathleen]

1 Comment

Filed under animals, blogging, celebrities, humor, news, politics, pop culture, random, YouTube

palin and biden, according to snl.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Tina Fey strikes again.  Happy Sunday.

[Posted by Kathleen]

Leave a comment

Filed under celebrities, crushes, news, politics, pop culture, random, TV, Uncategorized, YouTube

the best moment of the debate.

This is the shining moment of the debate.  This is where Biden won it.  He is just so genuine.

I keep thinking about this moment over and over.  And here is what struck me.  Without even meaning to, Biden did something very important for women in this election.  Palin plays the “mom” thing over and over again.  She’s just a hockey mom, she’s got kids, blah blah blah.  She talks about hardships.  These are things that resonate with women.  He showed that these are things that resonate with him as well.  He was a single parent.  He had to be a father, and a mother, at the same time.  So really, what he did, was show that women don’t have to vote for another woman to get someone who understands those experiences.  That’s huge.

And Sarah Palin didn’t even acknowledge what he had said or what he did.  She could have said something nice, but she didn’t.  Heartless.  Mean.  Unqualified.

[Posted by Kathleen]

2 Comments

Filed under crushes, news, politics, pop culture, random, TV, YouTube

live blogging the vice presidential showdown.

9:01 –  Hi Gwen!  Looking foxy in teal.  We get it, we get it.  Let’s just get to it.

9:03 – Ooooh the bail out.  Joe is on message.  YESSSSSS.  I’m mesmerized by the chart at the bottom of the screen.  The positives soared for Sen. Biden.  Oh, here goes Sarah talking about parents at a soccer game. Do you have kids?  I had no idea!  But I thought you were hockey mom?  GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT, LADY.  Both candidates went to bat for the top of the ticket right away.  Not surprising.

9:08 – She whipped out the maverick card.  “Git down, to gitting business done.”  Ugh.  She threw in the “all due respect” line, which we all means with no respect at all.  I don’t think that inferring Biden’s been in the Senate for too long is a good approach, Sarah.  Have you met John McCain?  And stop trying to steal the term change from the Change Master.

9:14 – She’s not going to answer the questions the way the moderator wants? If I were Gwen, I would have given her an eye roll and snapped my fingers in her face.  Straight talk, Sarah?  Answer the straight questions.  I’ve got a question for you.  Did dinosaurs and humans exist at the same time?  But we digress.

9:17 – Sarah, government isn’t the problem.  YOU are the problem with government.

9:21 – Biden made a funny about the bridge to nowhere!  And a great rebuttal about the health care system.

9:29 – Yawn.  I want to see them take the gloves off.  Maybe I’ll make myself a glass of chocolate milk.

9:30 – Oh goody!  CLIMATE CHANGE.  Well at least she acknowledges that it exists.  Biden corrects his coal gaffe of last week.  Thatta boy, stick it to them.

9:35 – Palin says the word “rape” and the ticker is showing a drop in favorability among women.

9:41 – Biden is hitting this war question out of the park.  I cannot believe that she just called Barack’s plan a “white flag of surrender”.  The fact that both of these candidates have children in the military and in the Middle East is huge.  It prevents cheap shots, for sure.  I’m staring at Palin’s potentially tatooed lip liner.  I’m kind of freaked out.

9:49 – Ever notice that sometimes Sarah Palin sounds like a leprechaun?  Where is she from again?

9:54 – Yawning again.  But wait!  A question about the Bush administration.  STOP GIVING THE CAMERA SEX EYES PALIN.

9:56 – Every time Biden said “George Bush’s”, I chuckled.  It sounded like George Bushish.  Which, in my mind, was twisted to George Bushit.  Teehee.

10:02 – Come on guys, get spicy.  But right now, Biden talking about helping Darfur is really inspiring.  He’s showing that he really knows what he’s talking about with foreign policy.  This guy knows what’s going on.  I wonder if Sarah Palin could point out Darfur on a map?  Stop talking about Alaska.  Nobody cares.

10:07 – My friend just said Palin is really into these “mom pep talks”.  Well put, sir.  Mom pep talks are not what we need though.  We need ideas.  We need someone who understands what’s going on.  Someone that reads the newspaper, perhaps.

10:17 – Defending Dick Cheney is not a strong position for Sarah Palin.

10:21 – Did Biden just choke up a bit while talking about being a single parent?  Awwww!  Make fun of him for running his mouth all you want, but this guy is genuine.

10:24 – Biden just nailed the Maverick thing.  He pointed out everything that John McCain has voted against.  That’s not being a maverick.  And he tied it back to the issues talked about at the kitchen table, just like Palin was talking about.  BRILLIANT.

10:29 – Palin’s closing statements.  Blah blah blah, Ronald Reagan, blah blah blah, her family.

10:31 – Biden reclaims the word “change” for Obama.  I’m feeling good.  God bless America.

10:40 – Naturally I want to call this for Biden.  And I think issues wise, he won.  He was is the better debater.  And I could tell he was holding himself back from the zingers that he’s so good at.  (On Rudy Guiliani: “There’s only three things he mentions in a sentence — a noun, a verb, and 9/11.”) I sort of wish he had let her have it a little bit more.

But here’s the thing about Palin– she didn’t have any egregious gaffes, which is what we were all wishing for.  Except calingl a U.S. General by the wrong name…and some other minor stuff.  Anyway, the standard was so low for her that all she really had to do was give an answer, use folksy language and bat her eyes.  I wonder what would have happened if she had been forced to do more follow up questions.  She was well-rehearsed, and it showed.  She was, after all, in beauty pageants.  Except that she isn’t really looking for world peace.

What do you think?

[Posted by Kathleen]

3 Comments

Filed under blogging, celebrities, news, politics, pop culture, random, thoughts, TV, Uncategorized

i may not survive until november.

So I have this nightgown. It’s made of flannel. It may or may not be monogrammed. My college roommates may all have the same one. There is a backstory, but whatever, it’s still kind of embarrassing.

Flannel nightgowns are designed to be worn in the following circumstances: when recovering from a hard breakup; when feeling generally overwhelmed by your life and wanting to cry for no reason; when you’re exceptionally hungover; and when Sarah Palin makes you so angry you consider preemptively moving to Switzerland. 

Watch this, and understand what I mean.

Let’s just say I’m wearing my flannel nightgown.

[Posted by Mallory]

6 Comments

Filed under fashion, humor, politics

things have been kinda crazy lately…

Here is a quick news round up.

  • So that bailout thing everyone was talking about?  Yeah it failed.  And people are screaming about Nancy P’s speech.  McCain and company are saying that’s the reason it failed.  Well.  If any congressman changed their vote because they got mad over of a speech from Nancy Pelosi then they lack the mental clarity to be in Congress.  End of story.   But Congress is going to keep working on this.  Hopefully.  But some good news?  The market shot up 200 points this morning.
  • OH MY GOD, THE SCIENTISTS SAW SNOW FALLING ON MARS.  Are aliens real?
  • Have you ever read about those creepy purity balls?  No?  Click here.  So basically, you go to a ball with your dad, sign a covenant with the big guy to be a good girl, and then your daddy signs something saying he’ll be your protector.  Ugh.  It tells the story of one girl who promised not to kiss until she got married. Wowie.  What if her husband is a face licker?  What if he’s a tongue strangler? Dumb.  The headline of the story? “Virginity Pledges Can Work For Some”.  HAHA.  Not most.  Moving on.
  • And finally, shana tova, Jewish friends!  Happy New Year!  Kind of unfair that you get to have two new years and then eight days of presents instead of one, but I’m over it.  In case you haven’t seen this, here is Sarah Silverman’s video asking Jewish kids to get their grandparents in Florida to vote for Obama.  Kind of hysterical.  Could be offensive.  It’s Sarah Silverman.

[Posted by Kathleen]

Leave a comment

Filed under celebrities, money, news, politics, pop culture, random, technology, the hill, YouTube

is this just a goldilocks dilemma?

I just read a balanced Newsweek article that’s worth reading, no matter which side of the fence you’re on. Here’s a quick excerpt:

The three tests of recent weeks—the vice presidential nominations, the conflict in Georgia and now the financial crisis—have raised, in a serious way not always evident in presidential politics, the key question: how would each man lead? Our view is that if you are among the 18 percent or so of undecided voters (the current figure in most national polls), we think you now have more than enough on which to decide. McCain and Obama see the world differently, and you can see how; they behave in their own skins differently, and you can see how. The drama of the autumn has served perhaps the noblest end we could hope for, shedding light on how each man would govern. McCain is passionate, sometimes impulsive and unpredictable; Obama is precise, occasionally withdrawn and methodical.

Do you want Mr. Hot or Mr. Cold as your president? It’s our choice, folks.

[Posted by Mallory]

1 Comment

Filed under news, politics, the hill