A Bunch of Computer Equipment Bites The Dust

Very emotionally satisfying. And now you know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.

Monkeywrench in 2008 Election

Dirty pool or fair game? A GOP power-player in California may have found a way to ensure--or at least greatly boost the chances for--a GOP win in 2008. I'm not sure which way to feel about this one. Obviously, I think a GOP win next time is, to say the least, the wrong way to go. And I think this play smells a bit of desperation. Read on, and see what you think.

[Excerpt]

Votescam
by Hendrik Hertzberg
August 6, 2007

Two weeks ago, one of the most important Republican lawyers in Sacramento quietly filed a ballot initiative that would end the practice of granting all fifty-five of California’s electoral votes to the statewide winner. Instead, it would award two of them to the statewide winner and the rest, one by one, to the winner in each congressional district. Nineteen of the fifty-three districts are represented by Republicans, but Bush carried twenty-two districts in 2004. The bottom line is that the initiative, if passed, would spot the Republican ticket something in the neighborhood of twenty electoral votes—votes that it wouldn’t get under the rules prevailing in every other sizable state in the Union. [snip]

Nominally, the sponsor of No. 07-0032 is Californians for Equal Representation. But that’s just a letterhead—there’s no such organization. Its address is the office suite of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, the law firm for the California Republican Party, and its covering letter is signed by Thomas W. Hiltachk, the firm’s managing partner and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal lawyer for election matters. Hiltachk and his firm have been involved in many well-financed ballot initiatives before, including the recall that put Arnold in Sacramento. . . .

Read on at: NewYorker.com

Excellent Post on the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Photo from source, PopularMechanics.com

While listening to Air America Radio today, I heard about this story in Popular Mechanics. It's quite good, so I'll just shut up and show you.

[Excerpt]

By Stephen Flynn Published on: August 2, 2007

It will take time to determine why the Interstate 35 bridge collapsed, so tragically, during the height of a Minneapolis rush hour on Wednesday night. But investigators will likely find that two factors contributed to its failure: age and heavy use. Bridge 9340 was constructed in 1967, 11 years after the launch of the Eisenhower Interstate System. Until it plunged into the Mississippi River, it served as a transportation lifeline for the growing Twin Cities population, carrying across its 14 spans many of the SUVs, cars and trucks that accounted for the 42 percent rise in Minnesota’s vehicle traffic from 1990 to 2003. [snip]

The fact is that Americans have been squandering the infrastructure legacy bequeathed to us by earlier generations. Like the spoiled offspring of well-off parents, we behave as though we have no idea what is required to sustain the quality of our daily lives. Our electricity comes to us via a decades-old system of power generators, transformers and transmission lines—a system that has utility executives holding their collective breath on every hot day in July and August. . . .

Read the rest at: PopularMechanics.com

Impeachment Talk Heats Up

Photo from source, RawStory.com


I'm sure partisans of the opposite party of a sitting President have always bandied about "impeachment" as a wish fulfillment fantasy. It wouldn't be shocking to find out that people were talking about it in Adams or Madison's time. When they actually did it, however, it really changed everything.

The impeachment of Bill Clinton seemed so ridiculous to many of us. It was an impeachment in search of a reason. I'm sure if Clinton hadn't slipped up so famously by getting caught in a lie, they would have kept looking, and tried something else. I also believe they knew that it would be difficult to try the procedure again for a while, because it would seem like nothing more than retribution.

So now that the very next administration has committed not one but several impeachable offenses, Congress and much of the American public is squeamish about it. The question I'd like to pose is, if this administration hasn't done anything worthy of impeachment, what would it take, exactly?

Fortunately, it seems like the idea is starting to gather some steam. And they're going after Cheney.

[Excerpt]

Kucinich receives pro-impeachment petitions with more than 120K signatures

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said his push to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney is gaining support among the American people as he collected petitions with more than 100,000 signatures supporting the effort.

"I made it very clear that I was not alone," Kucinich said. "Today I am proud to see that hundreds of thousands of Americans have joined this effort."

Read more at: RawStory.com

But wait, there's more!

[Excerpt]

Impeach Cheney Now!

ImpeachCheney.org is a Project of AfterDowningStreet.org

54% of Americans want Cheney impeached.H. Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney, is sponsored by the following Members of Congress: Jan Schakowsky, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Keith Ellison, Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee, Albert Wynn, William Lacy Clay, Dennis Kucinich, Yvette Clarke, Jim McDermott, Jim Moran, Bob Filner, Sam Farr, Robert Brady, Tammy Baldwin, Donald Payne. Please thank them and encourage them to whip their colleagues. These Congress Members have recently said they support impeachment, but have not yet signed onto any bill: Jesse Jackson Jr., Maurice Hinchey. Please ask them to sign onto H Res 333 or introduce their own articles of impeachment. Talk is cheap.

See the video and sign the petition: AfterDowningStreet.org

Body Fuzion: SNL Video Short

This is just silly. I know it. I don't care. Saturday Night Live can be hit or miss, but they got it on this one. This video captures the bad 80s videos so well and in so many ways. First, is the bad video noise and VCR tracking problems. Then, the harsh soap opera-style lighting. The bad 80s hair, the ridiculous exercise techiniques.

Anybody who ever had a workout video in the 80s, or even any video produced in the 80s will recognize how well they captured these artifacts. GOD, I feel old. . .

More Greg Palast: On Data Mining

Greg Palast is overdue to burst through to the public consciousness. If you haven't read his stuff yet, do so now.

[Excerpt]

Busted & Crimes of The Times
Published August 1st, 2007 in Articles
By Greg Palast

Cutely buried in the 18th paragraph in a story about Alberto Gonzales on Sunday was a slyly-worded updated confession by the New York Times that, in 2004, the Bush Administration leaned on its editors to spike a story about illegal invasions of citizens’ private records (”data mining”). The Times editors smothered the story. They finally ran it - a year later - after Bush was safely re-elected.

As a journalist, this makes me want to throw up.

For two reasons:

To find out the reasons, you must visit: GregPalast.com

Guilty Pleasures: Soap

As you've seen in previous posts, I was a kid of the 70s, addicted to ABC, in their heyday. One of the best of the era (and it still holds up) was Soap. I didn't get all the jokes back then, which only makes it better now. Check out this clip of the first appearance of "Chuck" and "Bob," Bert's son and his son's puppet. Inspired silliness. Enjoy.



And because I can't stop with just one, here's a clip of Jessica's possessed grandson.

Nation Punk'd!

I want to wake up to this reality: Ashton Kutcher pulls of his greatest prank. Al Gore actually won the 2000 election! It's all a great big joke! Gore's real term commences immediately.

Rove Refuses to Testify

Picture from LowCulture.com

That pig. Seriously.

[Excerpt]

Rove refuses to testify on role in prosecutor firings

White House senior adviser Karl Rove has rebuked a Senate Judiciary Committee subpoena and will not appear Thursday to testify about his role in the firing of nine US Attorneys, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said late Wednesday.

The Senate Judiciary chairman chided the White House for allowing Rove to give public speeches about the attorney firing scandal but not permit his testimony under oath.

Read more at: RawStory.com

Progress in Iraq?

Much has been made of the oped piece in the New York Times from O'Hanlon and Pollack, asking "is this a war we might just win?" Skeptical, I went looking for some sort of analysis of the piece. One of the best, oddly, is from of all people, Christopher Durang. He's got a pretty terrific oped of his own up over at Huffington Post. Take a look.

War Correspondent Responds to the Suddenly Famous O'Hanlon/Pollack

[Excerpt]

So, to say the obvious, we're building up Sunni forces just as we once built up Saddam (who was Sunni) so he could oppose Iran. But once we leave, how will our having built up Sunni militias IN THE LONG RUN help Iraq to be at peace, and help the Sunnis and Shiites stop wanting to kill each other? Doesn't sound promising to me...

This is just a snippet. Read more at: HuffingtonPost.com

Drunk, Crossdressing Baptist Minister Flashes Kids, Offers Cops Sex

Photo from source, Towleroad.com

My feelings on religion, and particularly on religious hypocrisy are probably already known. I don't have a lot of use for either. As more and more of these stories keep piling up, I don't believe I'm going to change my view anytime soon.

I usually try to excerpt only portions of other blogs' posts, but as this one is so short, and contains links to so many other sites, I decided to post the whole thing. I found it at Towleroad.com, one of my favorite blogs. The site is billed as "a premium site for modern gay men." So keep that in mind if "teh gay" makes you squeamish.

[Excerpt]

Drunk, Crossdressing Baptist Minister Flashes Kids, Offers Cops Sex

A Baptist minister from Bristol, Virginia was arrested in Tennessee and charged with driving under the influence and indecent exposure, according to the Associated Press.

Pastor Tommy Tester, 58, drew attention to himself after relieving himself in front of children at a car wash in Johnson City, Tennessee: "A report also accuses Tester of offering police officers oral sex and says an open bottle of vodka and empty oxycodone prescription bottle was found in his car."

Oh, yeah. He was also wearing a skirt at the time of his arrest.

"Authorities identified Tester as the minister of Gospel Baptist Church in Bristol and an employee of Christian radio station WZAP-AM, also in Bristol. WZAP issued a statement asking for prayers and saying Tester has been suspended during an investigation."

When those Baptist ministers go, they really go.

Minister In Skirt Charged With Indecent Exposure [AP via WGAL](via queerty)

From: Towleroad.com

The Latest from Succubus-Incubus Ann Coulter

Photo (no kidding) from source, AnnCoulter.com

Call her what you will, noted transsexual plagiarist, junk-toting stick figure, succubus/incubus (all ® Stephanie Miller), Ann Coulter knows how to self-promote. Rattling off insults like a machine gun, her nastiness gets her coverage, even right here. As counter-productive as it might be to even give her some attention, I think it is worthwhile to give you a taste of the venom still leaking out (eww) from this harpy. From her latest column:

[Excerpt]

DID I MISS THE 'HIP' PART?

August 1, 2007

CNN commentators keep telling us how young and hip the audience was for last week's YouTube Democratic debate, apparently unaware that the camera occasionally panned across the audience, which was the same oddball collection of teachers' union shills and welfare recipients you see at all Democratic gatherings.

Noticeably, Gov. Bill Richardson got the first "woo" of the debate — the mating call of rotund liberal women — for demanding a federal mandate that would guarantee public schoolteachers a minimum salary of $40,000. So much for the "younger, hipper" audience.

Maybe CNN meant "hippier," as in, "My, she's looking a bit hippy these days.". . .

Read more (or don't) at: AnnCoulter.com

But, hey, if that Don Rickles-esque screed turns you on, check this out. It's from: http://etransgender.com/pictures/ann_coulter.jpg, which is funny in itself. Click for a clearer view.

Rupert Murdoch Gets Wall Street Journal

I confess, stocks and bonds, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, bears and bulls. . .it's a foreign language to me. I've had smart people try to explain it to me, but I just don't understand it.

I don't have to be a financial genius to understand this one though: Rupert Murdoch owning the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones is a bad thing. This modern-day William Randolph Hearst (without the cool house and Hollywood mistress) tarnishes everything he touches. The New York Post was once a respected newspaper. Rupe's version is only slightly above the now defunct Weekly World News in credibility. FOX "News" is seen by most sane people to be barely more than a subsidiary of the Republican Party.

It doesn't bode well. And since I am out of my depth when it comes to the details of why this is bad for America (just a gut feeling, like Michael Chertoff), I'll give you a taste from somebody who knows.

[Excerpt]

Murdoch: Bad for Journalism, Bad for Democracy

Today's news that the Bancroft family has agreed to News Corp.'s $5 billion dollar buyout offer for Dow Jones, is a powerful reminder of how media consolidation is constantly eroding the foundational structures of our democracy.

America's founders understood that a truly free press -- enlivened by diverse perspectives and beholden to the public interest -- is the keystone to a flourishing democracy. With the purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and its flagship Wall Street Journal another vital voice is brought under the umbrella of one conglomerate -- and one man -- that already controls too much of what Americans see, hear and read every day.

When is Enough, Enough? Since Rupert Murdoch's offer was made public, volumes have been written on what this historic deal might mean to journalism in America. A fair bit of the criticism and concern surrounding News Corp.'s bid for Dow Jones has focused on Murdoch himself and his well-documented penchant for employing his media outlets to advance his personal and business interests.

Read more at: HuffingtonPost.com

Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

Photo from source, AOL.com

I heard about this on the radio on my commute home, and gave it little thought beyond the obvious "oh, geeze." I didn't realize until I got home just how bad it was. It seems (at this hour) that it could have been much worse. Only one to three deaths reported as of yet, which is incredible given how many cars were on the bridge.

Every time I'm stuck on a bridge and feel it bounce, I get queasy. I doubt I'll feel any better about it in the future! Let's hope most of the older bridges in this country are in better shape than this one was.

As far as the news reports go so far, I thought Keith Olbermann did a great job, but with a seemingly limited video feed. I only watched CNN briefly, because the video there was very poor, and Wolf Blitzer wasn't doing very well without a script. FOX "News"--incredibly enough--has a much more varied, and much clearer video. Even Sean Hannity was doing a fairly good job. My only critique is that FOX seemed to air earlier footage without the "taped earlier" notice. This made it look like fires that had been put out were still burning. Just a quibble.

Read about it at: AOL.com

Michael Moore Blasts Rudolph Giuliani

Worth a view, like him or not (I do).

Guilty Pleasures: Cher! Really!

OK, I've never posted anything from Perez Hilton, but I just can't help myself when it comes to Cher. From an early age (eight or so) I've been a Cher junkie. My mom was a fan, and even spirited us away to the Columbus airport one night when it was rumored that Cher and Sonny were going to be landing there (we saw them!). Mom had a (you won't believe this, but it's true) drill team for women out of high school. And they did routines to "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves." I watched Sonny and Cher. I watched Sonny and I watched Cher. I even watched the post-divorce Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

In my pre- "Other Half" life, I enjoyed Cher's One By One on the dance floor. The only bad thing she ever did publicly, for my way of thinking, was the Lori Davis beauty projects. And she made up for that by virtue of Christina Applegate and Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live.

And she's back, post-60, with yet more music for the masses. Good for her. You go, Cher!

[Excerpt]

Cher will be heading to Las Vegas soon, but she’s working on a new album even before then!
The gay icon sat down with Chrome Hearts magazine to talk about her new record, the struggles to make it and what it will sound like.

Says Cher: “The truth is I’ve got this album I’m supposed to be working on. The truth is the songs are great. I’m totally into this album, the songs are the hardest songs. I don’t know why, but I picked the hardest songs that I’ve ever had to do on an album. I just picked them because I love them and didn’t think about actually having to sing them and they are very very difficult.” …. “I haven’t started the album yet, but I have all the songs. I was supposed to start it, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t good enough. I have to really buckle down. I’ve got to do some serious, serious work. I should have done it when I got off the road, but we didn’t have all the songs.” …”I picked the songs song-by-song. It’s not any kind of real music. It’s not a genre. Just great songs. More with a ROCK feeling to them, but not necessarily rock. Just with a GREAT beat and also some of them sound really country.”

Hurry up, diva!!!

From: PerezHilton.com

Blogiversary: 2 Months, 300 Posts!

Greenlee Gazette has reached some more minor milestones. Our second-month anniversary is officially August 2, but the beginning of the month feels a little easier to remember, so we'll back-date by a day. And given my inauspicious goals at the beginning, I'm proud to say we're past 300 posts!

Sure, they weren't all gems. But even what might seem to be filler has been posted for a reason. For the casual (read: accidental) reader, this blog might seem a bit disjointed. I do veer wildly from goofiness to seriousness, from Bush-bashing to Buffy-loving. I know. I'm like that. Fortunately so is my circle of friends, wildly careening from topic to topic, funny to gravely serious. Variety is the spice of life.

I would like to once again clarify my mission here, by giving you an insight into the mind of your friendly Greenlee Gazeditor. One thing you learn how to do when you're single for your first 31 years, is to self-debate. So the following is my internal dialog, as it relates to my blog. I may or may not be crazy.

Your blog is nothing but links to other sites.

Largely, sure. But so are most others. The Drudge Report consists of little else. At least I try to provide context, and elaborate on my reasons for posting. I even often post long editorials on the posts I'm linking to. So there.

You cheat by posting fun videos for no reason.

No. Every YouTube post I've put on has been something I really am interested in. Be it music, politics, or the opening to Laverne & Shirley it is a snapshot of one of the files in my brain. Not only that, my goal isn't only to educate, but to entertain. I want you to have something to do here. Have fun while you're learning. Oops, that sounds too haughty. I don't deign to think that I'm smarter than you. Only that I may have heard something or seen something that may not yet have come across your radar.

You are a far-left-wing lefty moonbat, who has "Bush Derangement Syndrome."

Guilty as charged. But far-left these days means disagreeing with Ann Coulter. Far-left means you ain't drinking the kool-aid. I'm OK with that. And if "BDS" does exist, it has endless reasons, and is therefore a legitimate condition.

You are an attention whore, and this site is nothing more than vanity.

Oh, brain, you don't know me! I hate nothing more than to be the center of attention! But I am finding the relative anonymity of the web to be a comfort. I am enjoying (greatly) the opportunity to express myself and be creative, and to share it with the world. Without y'all staring at me while I do it.

OK, brain, enough from you. Thank you contributors. Thank you supporters. Thank you if you're reading. Bring others! I once again encourage you to comment if a post strikes a chord. Am I way off base? Let me know! Tear me to ribbons, or buff me to a fine glow. I just want to interact and bring the best experience I can to you the reader. Dead serious.

Jon Stewart Tells it Like it Is

This post is basically just to share with you all (particularly friend and contributor, Lesto) the genius that is "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." If you aren't already a regular watcher, watch this and get hooked. You'll get more news, and more information out of this 4-times-a-week show (who knew "Daily Show" was an ironic title?) than you will get out of a full week of cable news. Watch.

Iraq: Military Deaths Down for July. Good News?

Let me start by saying, yes, it's good news. Less death is always good news. But I was disturbed by the banner front-page stories on this topic today, on all of the major news web sites, even though I'm thrilled that the carnage was smaller for July.

But "July" is an arbitrary measurement. A 31-day period on the calendar. If you start on June 14, and end on July 15 is it still better? I hope you get what I'm driving at. We still lost 82 people. And for what? Does anybody know?

We hit the tragic 3,000 number coincidentally right around the beginning of 2007. As of this posting, we've lost 3,653. At this rate, 4,000 will be gone by the end of the year. And that is presuming some sort of mass catastrophe doesn't hit by then.

We elected a new Congress in November, largely to end this war. To be fair, actually doing so would be difficult. They have got a bare majority in the Senate, and a larger but not overwhelming majority in the House. Anything they would vote for would be vetoed, and a veto-proof majority would be a very high bar. My friend (and contributor) Lesto would argue that they should do more. I agree. My only argument would be that Democrats aren't as good at "creating their own reality." They see the numbers, and don't see the point.

They need to screw the point, and just do it. Vote to withdraw. Fight the Hannitys and Limbaughs with cold, hard facts. Don't let the "abandoning our troops" meme float for even a second. Easy enough to shoot down with facts. Give Frank Luntz a run for his money, and squash him like a bug with facts and action. The time has come to shit or get off the pot.

By the way, it isn't true that this was the lowest casualty month of the year--it's tied with March.

Images from Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Bill O'Reilly vs. Daily Kos: No Contest

If you didn't know, there is a fight going on between Bill O'Reilly and the liberal web site DailyKos.com. BO went so far as to declare that Monday night, he was going to post a photo "so shocking" that it would do the site in, that they'd be finished. Said photo was posted by a commenter on the dKos site (I believe), and is only photoshopped insomuch as Joe Lieberman's head has been added.

The first photo is real. I don't know what's going on here, but I do remember a lot of "caption this" contests going on when it was first released. The second photo is the "damaging one" from DailyKos. I don't feel I violate any decency rules here, as the only thing different from the first photo is the head on the third body. The implied dirtiness only works if you have a dirty mind. The third photo, I'm only going to link to. It's no more dirty, as the alterations are benign. But, if you have a dirty mind, the implication is, well, pretty friggin' hilarious.

The third photo (warning: potentially considered dirty, but only to the dirty-minded, who don't really need a warning, so whatever!): http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/1162/groupwanklv7.jpg