Saturday, March 31, 2007

links a-plenty

Jon Town's lost VA benefits
this is truly disgraceful. the VA is telling him that the wounds he suffered in 2004 weren't of a physical nature - he lost his hearing - but rather his wounds were actually caused by a "personality disorder." Town was then booted from the Army and told that under a personality disorder discharge, he would never receive disability or medical benefits.

Rufina Amaya, the only survivor of the massacre in El Mozote, El Salvador, passed away.

San Francisco bans plastic bags from large supermarkets.

Republican Texas state senator Dan Patrick has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies. yeah, you read it right. unfuckingbelievable.

rare tiny owl spotted in Peru - he's as big as your fist!

the handlebar moustache club: The qualification for membership is: "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities" and, in addition, we specify that beards are not allowed.


president bush attends the radio and television correspondents' annual dinner. he's not remotely amusing.

Happy Birthday to the late César Chávez.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

new ozomatli - can't stop




their new album, Don't Mess With the Dragon, comes out in 8 (yay!) days. BUY IT.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

some books

1) Drop by Mat Johnson
2) Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster
3) You Suck: a love story by Christopher Moore
4) Let the Northern Lights Erase your Name by Vendela Vida
5) The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: a memoir by Bill Bryson
6) The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer
7) You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Letham
8) The Long Road Home: a story of war and family by Martha Raddatz
9) On Call in Hell: a doctor's Iraq War story by Richard Jadick
10) Anything Goes by Madison Smartt Bell (yes, there are 2 t's)
11) Hard Men Humble: Vietnam Veterans who wouldn't come home by Jonathan Stevenson

Saturday, March 17, 2007

links and more links

amnesty international ad "Ted Bundy was accused of torturing, raping, and assassinating at least 100 women, including a girl. He went through 3 trials and countless appeals before his case was resolved. He had due process of law. Why does a Guantánamo prisoner not?"


rudy guiliani's law firm lobbies for Citgo Petroleum Corp., a unit of the state-owned oil company controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who calls President Bush a "madman" and a "devil."

lavena johnson's parents question their daughter's mysterious death in Iraq

dealing with criticism: russian style

are injured soldiers being sent back to Iraq?

chlorine bombs used in Falluja today kills 8 and injures hundreds

is john mccainTHIS uninformed about HIV-AIDS prevention??! if you click on no other link, do yourself a favor and read this one. my jaw is STILL hovering on the floor...

possible caves found on Mars

a senior Iranian army commander warned the united states and other western powers not to make any "stupid moves" over Tehran's nuclear program. at this point, are there any other moves our fearless leader is capable of making?

F1 mclaren rookie starting 4th in melbourne

also, i'm reading Frank Rich's book The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina and i found this gem from barbara bush to diane sawyer about watching the war on television: Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's going to happen?" "It's not relevant, so why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" that was 4 years ago. unreal.

well, i'm going to see 300 today - i was supposed to go yesterday, but the snow storm shredded those plans. now i can even see my street!

****UPDATE****
Hamilton, the McLaren rookie finished in a very respectable 3rd place. the best part of F1 this season? no Schumacher!

300. well, all i can say is that it looked really good and gerard butler is the manliest of men. aside from that, not much in the substance department.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

links and other things

by 2008 we'll all need internal passports to be able to board an airplane.

steven spielberg and a stolen Norman Rockwell?

a Kuwaiti diplomat and his abused hired help - says he's untouchable because of his diplomatic status.

osama NOT the leader of al-qaeda? so says tony snow(job)

is that a grenade in your grocery bag?

clocks to be removed from post office in an attempt to trick customers on line into thinking they haven't been standing there for a decade.

fired U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias says lawmakers pressured him to speed up a probe of democrats just before the november elections.


my employer has done it again. turned something not directly involving her into a showcase for her self involved-ness (yeah, i made it up.) a close friend of hers told her that his brother's wife just gave birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome. instead of saying something empathetic, she tells the friend how completely devasted (her word) she is. NOT for their situation, but of course, for how it made HER feel. i swear some days i'd just like to smack the shit out of her. she was miffed (her word again) when his response was to end the call.
also, after the snow we had last week her husband and the kid go make a snowman. cute, right? yeah, until i saw the SNOWMAN KIT sitting on a shelf. seriously.

i read this on Overheard in NY: Earnest student giving presentation: I was going to talk about Freud, but I decided he was tanGenital to the discussion. how HI-larious is that? well, it made my day.

anyhow, it's gorgeous out and the dog wants to play outside.
enjoy the day, people.

**update**
ann coulter and what she said about john edwards. the link is to edward's site. it's great. you can watch the video and contribute to his campaign all on the same page! i love the interweb!
here's some more linkage...
the houston chronicle
yahoo news
media matters
elizabeth edwards comments