(The only difference between this and their normal crapfests is that O'Reilly or Hannity would have two loudmouthed right-wingers spouting talking points, and only one timid liberal trying to bring some sanity to the discussion.)
Couldn't watch at work. Was the rude kid the same one that got such major publicity for being at the conservative conference a couple months ago? Poor kid. He's such a prick. And the kids his age must hate him.
I suppose this helps the Spurs. It definitely helps them get a little younger, but even Jefferson's best days are most likely behind him. I guess it's a move they had to make, but the health of the Spurs is what's going to hold them back.
That trade the Celtics offered WAS ridiculous. I just don't understand them wanting to get rid of Rondo. Do they just feel that his value will never be higher? How terrible can he be in the locker room?
Rondo's their best player no? Is it that he doesn't get along with Pierce, Allen, Garnett so much so that their willing to dump a potential HOF point guard. I'm giddy about Jefferson to the spurs (SA fan). I think he could have a real renaissance, doesn't it seem like him and Duncan will really get along?
Rondo is certainly going to be their best player for the next 3-5 years. But best player next season? I'd probably still have to go with Pierce. Who knows, though? The playoffs could have been a real turning point for Rondo. He could be ready for superstardom. But yeah, all things considered, he must have been a massive pain in the ass.
I think that Jefferson makes them better. Mason was clearly not ready for primetime in the playoffs this past year. He will be fine coming off the bench for them. I'm interested to see how the Mavs do this off season, Cuban has made it clear that he is willing to take on big contracts from other teams looking for salary dumps. I'm not so blown away, like you guys, by that Celts proposal. It doesn't seem that lopsided to me. Prince is not the lock down defender he once was, RIP is still productive but I would probably rather have Allen. Rondo has so much potential, and ability I think his upside is considerably higher than Stuckey's. I could see how this deal would work out for both teams.
I think he may have been, yes. "I'm no Kevin McHale, Danny. I'm not looking to hang banner 18 in the Garden." I think Hamilton still has great value, and would fit with the Celtics very well. Prince may not be lockdown, anymore, but I can see him rejuvenated in the Celtics' system, especially with Garnett back there. I think Stuckey has a very good upside, maybe not as good as Rondo's, but on a team like the C's, he'd be very good.
I do think that Ainge was trying to play into Detroit's goal of signing LeBron in 2010. Allen's contract would come off the books, and they wouldn't have to worry about paying Hamilton or Prince. But I think the Pistons can get much more value, in addition to cap relief, for Hamilton and Prince, not to mention the younger Stuckey.
Yeah I think that is reasonable. It's intriguing what role finances will have this offseason. By the way, if Dumars thinks he has a shot at Lebron, well good luck with all that. I find it hard to see Lebron playing anywhere that is not located in New York, Miami, or LA. He could always be money whipped into playing somewhere else,I suppose. I hold hope that Cuban will make him an offer he couldn't refuse...not holding my breath though.
Meaningless trades, although the Spurs benefited the most. Why trade a guy--a proven scorer--like RJ? $$$ The Bucks are just another franchise that is about $$, not winning.
That's why until owners learn from a guy like Dr.Jerry Buss--and like him or hate him, dude has 9 championships--that you put competent people in charge and let them do their thing, then they'll all be bridesmaids. The Lakers are streak winners. They go for back-to-backs, or 3 out of 4, but they build great teams and then in the off years, they rebuild. The focus is always about winning, not getting rich, yet it's a get-rich formula, in the end.
Lakers in 2010...
to carry over for everyone who is invested in the civil-war/abolitionist aspects of this blog check out the book discussion on today's DR show (http://wamu.org/programs/dr/) on the "John Brown" of the South
Read through the google preview section of the book you recomended yesterday. I found it interesting, but I think the author aproaches things from the wrong angle. I got the impression that the author was trying too hard to view the words of Plenty Coups (fascinating museum in Pryor BTW if you ever get the chance to go) through a western philosophical lens. Not that that doesn't have value in a sense but it's best done later after an examination of the oral tradition. I would recomend Stories That Make the World: Oral Literature of the Indian Peoples of the Inland Northwest as a starting point. Then go through and look at the comonalites between Homer and Aesop and the oral tradition as it evolved on the plains. The comonalites are there for anyone to see, but they need to be understood and explored on their own terms first.
Thanks for the tip. It is past time that someone researched and wrote a book about this. The Kingdom of Jones was beginning to seem like a Civil War myth made up by starry eyed abolitionists.
dc fem, my pleasure i didn't know this story so was glad to learn of it and was very impressed by the level/depth of the conversation, not always able to take DR, these authors were quite impressive and it reminded me of some of the highlights of the back and forth here over remembering history, esp. of this period.
Sorn, thanks for the book rec. I will check it out, if you get a chance to read more of Lear I would be interested to see what you make of his ideas about adapting vs. going down fighting and what either of these options mean in terms of personal integrity and making compromises for future generations, maybe something here also to think about when trying to make sense of the Prez when he pains us with his willingness to compromise.
Does anybody else think the promotional still of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" looks terrible? I mean, I've long since given up on Burton, but this surprised me to the point where it feels like a bad joke. Like some of the Superman suits that were leaked from all of those failed reboots in the 1990s.
Yeah ... alot folks say he looks like Madonna in that pic. I think he looks like a possessed Bryce Dallas Howard. I've given up on Burton. He's well into self-parody at this point.
A friend of mine made the Madonna comparision to me. I kind of see it. I think the movie's supposed to involve a lot of Mo-Cap, so maybe it's important to withold some level of judgment until seeing these characters in motion, but yeah, this looks terrible.
Bryce Dallas Howard. I actually see that a bit more, but that may be because she looks a bit like a cartoon character, or has in the horrible movies I've seen her in (i.e. Spiderman 3 and Lady in the Water).
That was mostly due to Jon Peters, I think. Kevin Smith has a funny story about when he was brought in to work on the script, and he said Peters told him that Superman shouldn't fly or wear a cape, his suit should be a lot different, and that he should end up fighting a giant spider at the end. If you can find the video of Smith telling the story (I saw it on one of his Evening With ... DVDs), it's worth your time. He's got a pretty good story about Prince, too. Smith's not much of a filmmaker, but he's a good raconteur.
Just saw over at Sullivan that Reuters is saying the Iranian government is calling the shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan to be a hoax. I guess a lot of people probably saw this coming. When I first saw the images on Saturday, I was pretty sure the revolution had found its face.
Quakers got clear of slavery a hundred years before the nation as a whole, but that's a good bit less than opposing it or even avoiding it from the start.
I'm white and in the past few weeks I've had a number of uncomfortable conversations with friends who also happen to be white, and are spouting bullshit about reverse discrimination. These are people who I like and whose opinions I don't always agree with but generally respect, but it floors me when intelligent people are swayed by this... In one case a friend claimed that he wasn't admitted to Cal Tech based on the fact that he's white, in another my friend claims that his brother wasn't made a fireman because the fire department had a quota. Another friend claims that she doesn't like Sotomayor because she's a "reverse racist"... It really frustrates me and I don't have the words when I talk to them to say something like: "you come from a place of privilege and in most of your life you will get ahead because of how you look and no one will tell you."
I assume these are sentiments that would be less adamantly expressed if I weren't white, and that I should say something other that I'm not, I just don't know what it is. Any thoughts folks?
I think the way to approach this is to ask questions. In answering them the people may come to realize how racist they sound, this is a good approach with racist or sexist humor too. If they answer in a way that is racist or hateful just tell them that you think that kind of talk is disrespectful and you thought they were smarter than that. Try to bring up some concrete points as to why you think they were misinformed (particularly with Sotomayor).
I sympathize with your problem. I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do but one thing I would say is that Bakke v California (a case from the 70s) made quotas illegal, so arguing there's a quota is just dumb.
As for Sotomayor being a reverse racist, just explain to them that the vast majority of discrimination cases shes decided have gone against the plaintiff. The Ricci case is really a failure of legalese rather than Sotomayor's personal bias.
As a fellow white guy, I gotta admit, I doubt you'll get very far. You'll probably be called a pussy--I use that term not because I like it, but because that's what I get when I stand up in these situations. I am sorta curious if these guys are conservative or liberal though; it certainly sounds like they are taking talking points straight from Fox.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I usually get into arguments with conservative friends or relatives who go out of their way to make "intelligent" points while stressing that they're not racist before eventually making some stupid welfare joke or talk in some "jivey" or "street" accent about ice or bling-bling.
I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Want to bet some local news crews have staked out the exit to the Atlanta Airport parking garage? (And shouldn't a state security car be locatable? I mean, they were on Alias.)
The AT thing they came up with last night, it evolved, wasn't from talking to the governor....his office just suddenly became aware (carrier pigeon?) that he was hiking on the trail, so couldn't be contacted, couldn't see reporters, etc. Meanwhile his wife and the lieutenant gov both firmly declined to play along, making it clear they still hadn't heard from him, even after he allegedly contacted the office this morning.
Either he's taken to disappearing with no explanation so regularly that they're really not worried, or they both have a good idea where he went and what he was doing, and plan to let someone else break the news.
I hope his wife lets him do the press conference all by himself.
please excuse, but since my mentioning of the School of the Americas in a previous thread drew some interest i'd like to pass this along:
a chance to demand Government Transparency & the protection of Human Rights
Congress to Vote on Amendment to Force the SOA/ WHINSEC to Release the Names of Graduates and Instructors.
SOA Watch has received confirmation that Congress will vote on an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that would require that the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC to release the names, ranks, country of origin, courses and dates attended of students and instructors at the institute.
The amendment will be offered by Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA), Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA), Representative Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Representative John Lewis (D-GA) and we expect the vote to happen on
Wednesday, June 24.
As you may know the School of the Americas, renamed WHINSEC, has a notorious history linked to serious crimes and human rights abuses throughout Latin America. In the past few years under WHINSEC, known human rights abusers have attended the school and WHINSEC instructors have been arrested in Colombia for returning home and aiding the drug cartels. None of this information would be known if the basic information about enrollment at WHINSEC were not disclosed. This information is vital to the work of Congress and human rights organizations who seek protection of human rights and promoting transparency, however all FOIA requests for this information are now being denied.
What is WHINSEC hiding?! Voting YES on the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA)-Lewis (GA) amendment is a vote FOR human rights and FOR transparency. I urge your boss to vote YES!!!
>please contact your Representative TODAY and TOMORROW
He's gone galt. The real way, where you don't announce your intentions and then wait for people to beg you to stay.
Wouldn't it be awesome if the wingnuttiest branch of the right followed Sanford's lead and went galt? Just vanish into the wilds of Argentina and wait to see if a) anyone noticed, b) anyone begged them to return? I'm sure cable news would take care of (a), but I don't think they have the courage of their convictions to bet on (b).
Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?
Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.
This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.
This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's--one of the richest, blackest counties in the country--also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Creepy and so very, very stupid.
http://videogum.com/archives/the-news/fox-and-friends-pays-children_075332.html#more
(The only difference between this and their normal crapfests is that O'Reilly or Hannity would have two loudmouthed right-wingers spouting talking points, and only one timid liberal trying to bring some sanity to the discussion.)
Couldn't watch at work. Was the rude kid the same one that got such major publicity for being at the conservative conference a couple months ago? Poor kid. He's such a prick. And the kids his age must hate him.
Yes. I highly recommend watching it when you can. It's like...the distilled essence of Fox News.
Richard Jefferson to the Spurs for Bowen, Thomas and Oberto. And what about that ridiculous trade the Celtics proposed to the Pistons? Thoughts?
I suppose this helps the Spurs. It definitely helps them get a little younger, but even Jefferson's best days are most likely behind him. I guess it's a move they had to make, but the health of the Spurs is what's going to hold them back.
That trade the Celtics offered WAS ridiculous. I just don't understand them wanting to get rid of Rondo. Do they just feel that his value will never be higher? How terrible can he be in the locker room?
Rondo's their best player no? Is it that he doesn't get along with Pierce, Allen, Garnett so much so that their willing to dump a potential HOF point guard. I'm giddy about Jefferson to the spurs (SA fan). I think he could have a real renaissance, doesn't it seem like him and Duncan will really get along?
Rondo is certainly going to be their best player for the next 3-5 years. But best player next season? I'd probably still have to go with Pierce. Who knows, though? The playoffs could have been a real turning point for Rondo. He could be ready for superstardom. But yeah, all things considered, he must have been a massive pain in the ass.
Do you think Joe Dumars acted offended by the offer?
I think that Jefferson makes them better. Mason was clearly not ready for primetime in the playoffs this past year. He will be fine coming off the bench for them. I'm interested to see how the Mavs do this off season, Cuban has made it clear that he is willing to take on big contracts from other teams looking for salary dumps. I'm not so blown away, like you guys, by that Celts proposal. It doesn't seem that lopsided to me. Prince is not the lock down defender he once was, RIP is still productive but I would probably rather have Allen. Rondo has so much potential, and ability I think his upside is considerably higher than Stuckey's. I could see how this deal would work out for both teams.
I think he may have been, yes. "I'm no Kevin McHale, Danny. I'm not looking to hang banner 18 in the Garden." I think Hamilton still has great value, and would fit with the Celtics very well. Prince may not be lockdown, anymore, but I can see him rejuvenated in the Celtics' system, especially with Garnett back there. I think Stuckey has a very good upside, maybe not as good as Rondo's, but on a team like the C's, he'd be very good.
I do think that Ainge was trying to play into Detroit's goal of signing LeBron in 2010. Allen's contract would come off the books, and they wouldn't have to worry about paying Hamilton or Prince. But I think the Pistons can get much more value, in addition to cap relief, for Hamilton and Prince, not to mention the younger Stuckey.
Yeah I think that is reasonable. It's intriguing what role finances will have this offseason. By the way, if Dumars thinks he has a shot at Lebron, well good luck with all that. I find it hard to see Lebron playing anywhere that is not located in New York, Miami, or LA. He could always be money whipped into playing somewhere else,I suppose. I hold hope that Cuban will make him an offer he couldn't refuse...not holding my breath though.
Meaningless trades, although the Spurs benefited the most. Why trade a guy--a proven scorer--like RJ? $$$ The Bucks are just another franchise that is about $$, not winning.
That's why until owners learn from a guy like Dr.Jerry Buss--and like him or hate him, dude has 9 championships--that you put competent people in charge and let them do their thing, then they'll all be bridesmaids. The Lakers are streak winners. They go for back-to-backs, or 3 out of 4, but they build great teams and then in the off years, they rebuild. The focus is always about winning, not getting rich, yet it's a get-rich formula, in the end.
Lakers in 2010...
to carry over for everyone who is invested in the civil-war/abolitionist aspects of this blog check out the book discussion on today's DR show (http://wamu.org/programs/dr/) on the "John Brown" of the South
DMF
Read through the google preview section of the book you recomended yesterday. I found it interesting, but I think the author aproaches things from the wrong angle. I got the impression that the author was trying too hard to view the words of Plenty Coups (fascinating museum in Pryor BTW if you ever get the chance to go) through a western philosophical lens. Not that that doesn't have value in a sense but it's best done later after an examination of the oral tradition. I would recomend Stories That Make the World: Oral Literature of the Indian Peoples of the Inland Northwest as a starting point. Then go through and look at the comonalites between Homer and Aesop and the oral tradition as it evolved on the plains. The comonalites are there for anyone to see, but they need to be understood and explored on their own terms first.
Thanks for the tip. It is past time that someone researched and wrote a book about this. The Kingdom of Jones was beginning to seem like a Civil War myth made up by starry eyed abolitionists.
dc fem, my pleasure i didn't know this story so was glad to learn of it and was very impressed by the level/depth of the conversation, not always able to take DR, these authors were quite impressive and it reminded me of some of the highlights of the back and forth here over remembering history, esp. of this period.
Sorn, thanks for the book rec. I will check it out, if you get a chance to read more of Lear I would be interested to see what you make of his ideas about adapting vs. going down fighting and what either of these options mean in terms of personal integrity and making compromises for future generations, maybe something here also to think about when trying to make sense of the Prez when he pains us with his willingness to compromise.
Does anybody else think the promotional still of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" looks terrible? I mean, I've long since given up on Burton, but this surprised me to the point where it feels like a bad joke. Like some of the Superman suits that were leaked from all of those failed reboots in the 1990s.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/johnny-depp-as-mad-hatter_n_218747.html
Yeah ... alot folks say he looks like Madonna in that pic. I think he looks like a possessed Bryce Dallas Howard. I've given up on Burton. He's well into self-parody at this point.
A friend of mine made the Madonna comparision to me. I kind of see it. I think the movie's supposed to involve a lot of Mo-Cap, so maybe it's important to withold some level of judgment until seeing these characters in motion, but yeah, this looks terrible.
Bryce Dallas Howard. I actually see that a bit more, but that may be because she looks a bit like a cartoon character, or has in the horrible movies I've seen her in (i.e. Spiderman 3 and Lady in the Water).
It's the gap in the front teeth that really makes him look like Madonna.
It should be pointed out that the Superman suits in the 1990s were also a product of this self-indulgent hack.
That was mostly due to Jon Peters, I think. Kevin Smith has a funny story about when he was brought in to work on the script, and he said Peters told him that Superman shouldn't fly or wear a cape, his suit should be a lot different, and that he should end up fighting a giant spider at the end. If you can find the video of Smith telling the story (I saw it on one of his Evening With ... DVDs), it's worth your time. He's got a pretty good story about Prince, too. Smith's not much of a filmmaker, but he's a good raconteur.
It's on Youtube, too, IIRC, I saw it there.
And I have to confess that the leaked Smith Superman script was pretty decent, even with the stupid 'death of Superman' story.
But I think the James Carson images come from after Burton had signed on to the script.
Just saw over at Sullivan that Reuters is saying the Iranian government is calling the shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan to be a hoax. I guess a lot of people probably saw this coming. When I first saw the images on Saturday, I was pretty sure the revolution had found its face.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55F54520090623?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
New Nixon tapes and another priceless addition to the Nixon quote book
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding: “Or a rape.”
Where is this from?
Sorry! Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html
Besides cries of "They's miscegenated!" he also not-so-obliquely blames the Jews for the Holocaust.
Well thats a Quaker for ya!
LCrawfty,
Does being a Quaker have anything to do with it?
(I know nothing about Quakers except that they opposed slavery from the start)
Quakers got clear of slavery a hundred years before the nation as a whole, but that's a good bit less than opposing it or even avoiding it from the start.
Here's Roger Ebert's joyous takedown of the latest Transformers crapfest:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090623/REVIEWS/906239997
Oh, and have any of you heard/read about these characters in the movie? This is fitting, in some weird way, for the ongoing discussion about PC here:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/19917/1/TRANSFORMERS039-LITTLE-BLACK-SAMBOTS/Page1.html
Holy crap. I had seen a couple reviews making reference to the annoying twins, but I haven't gone to chud in a long time. That is fucking amazing.
In the ironic parlance of the film geek, God Bless You, Michael Bay.
That was pretty amazing. Oh, Spongebob, how could you do me so wrong?
One review on a geek site referred to the twins as Car-Car Binks. Yeah, I think that's a win.
Ha!
I'm white and in the past few weeks I've had a number of uncomfortable conversations with friends who also happen to be white, and are spouting bullshit about reverse discrimination. These are people who I like and whose opinions I don't always agree with but generally respect, but it floors me when intelligent people are swayed by this... In one case a friend claimed that he wasn't admitted to Cal Tech based on the fact that he's white, in another my friend claims that his brother wasn't made a fireman because the fire department had a quota. Another friend claims that she doesn't like Sotomayor because she's a "reverse racist"... It really frustrates me and I don't have the words when I talk to them to say something like: "you come from a place of privilege and in most of your life you will get ahead because of how you look and no one will tell you."
I assume these are sentiments that would be less adamantly expressed if I weren't white, and that I should say something other that I'm not, I just don't know what it is. Any thoughts folks?
I think the way to approach this is to ask questions. In answering them the people may come to realize how racist they sound, this is a good approach with racist or sexist humor too. If they answer in a way that is racist or hateful just tell them that you think that kind of talk is disrespectful and you thought they were smarter than that. Try to bring up some concrete points as to why you think they were misinformed (particularly with Sotomayor).
I sympathize with your problem. I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do but one thing I would say is that Bakke v California (a case from the 70s) made quotas illegal, so arguing there's a quota is just dumb.
As for Sotomayor being a reverse racist, just explain to them that the vast majority of discrimination cases shes decided have gone against the plaintiff. The Ricci case is really a failure of legalese rather than Sotomayor's personal bias.
As a fellow white guy, I gotta admit, I doubt you'll get very far. You'll probably be called a pussy--I use that term not because I like it, but because that's what I get when I stand up in these situations. I am sorta curious if these guys are conservative or liberal though; it certainly sounds like they are taking talking points straight from Fox.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I usually get into arguments with conservative friends or relatives who go out of their way to make "intelligent" points while stressing that they're not racist before eventually making some stupid welfare joke or talk in some "jivey" or "street" accent about ice or bling-bling.
good luck.
I mean that in a non-sarcastic way. You're going to need a lot of patience, empathy, a dash of chutzpah, a few decent anecdotes, and a lot of luck.
May the force be with you.
Sanford was spotted in ATLANTA - quite aways from his 'hiking trail.'
Ok, I'm taking back the underaged illegal named Pedro.
HER name is Shaniqua.
LMAO
This is getting better and better.
When your White, Proper Southern Political Wife continues to SHIV you....you know your days are numbered - politically.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA
I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Want to bet some local news crews have staked out the exit to the Atlanta Airport parking garage? (And shouldn't a state security car be locatable? I mean, they were on Alias.)
The AT thing they came up with last night, it evolved, wasn't from talking to the governor....his office just suddenly became aware (carrier pigeon?) that he was hiking on the trail, so couldn't be contacted, couldn't see reporters, etc. Meanwhile his wife and the lieutenant gov both firmly declined to play along, making it clear they still hadn't heard from him, even after he allegedly contacted the office this morning.
Either he's taken to disappearing with no explanation so regularly that they're really not worried, or they both have a good idea where he went and what he was doing, and plan to let someone else break the news.
I hope his wife lets him do the press conference all by himself.
please excuse, but since my mentioning of the School of the Americas in a previous thread drew some interest i'd like to pass this along:
a chance to demand Government Transparency & the protection of Human Rights
>please contact your Representative TODAY and TOMORROW
If we are going to do the ultimate morph, everybody has to serve somebody.
So did TNC go "hike the Appalachian trail"?
He's gone galt. The real way, where you don't announce your intentions and then wait for people to beg you to stay.
Wouldn't it be awesome if the wingnuttiest branch of the right followed Sanford's lead and went galt? Just vanish into the wilds of Argentina and wait to see if a) anyone noticed, b) anyone begged them to return? I'm sure cable news would take care of (a), but I don't think they have the courage of their convictions to bet on (b).