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So today's the day. I feel that holding these elections now is a huge mistake. But then again, that's not my call to make. I hope I'm proven wrong, but I know that's being naive.

Anyways, here are some of the details surrounding this historic day in Iraq.

Especially if it's snowy where you are.

That would surely buy a lot of razors.



They're getting a ton of new affiliates. The network is growing, even on ClearChannel stations. And the shows keep getting better.

I am very proud of Air America, and extremely proud of all the hosts who put so much into their shows. The quality shows every minute of every program and the country may be starting to wake up.



Business 2.0 has compiled their 5th annual 101 Dumbest Moments in Business list.




This webpage of a 1960s Brazilian pop fan contains scans of dozens of LPs along with downloadable MP3s of selected tracks. They're amazing. Link (Thanks, f2_600!)
I can't wait to get home and commence ta' downloadin'. Don't know about you, but I love Brazilian pop music.






A fascinating tale of one woman's hatred and ignorance blossoming into tolerance and understanding -- all on the letters pages of the Ridgecrest Daily Independent.





So Dick Cheney went to remember the Holocaust yesterday. Why didn't Bush go? I guess he was busy. Why did Cheney wear a green parka, brown boots, and a ski cap with decorations when the other guests were dressed in all black as a symbol of mourning? That I don't know.

Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood. It is embroidered with his name. It reminded one of the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp. And indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults.

Like other attendees, the vice president was wearing a hat. But it was not a fedora or a Stetson or a fur hat or any kind of hat that one might wear to a memorial service as the representative of one's country. Instead, it was a knit ski cap, embroidered with the words "Staff 2001." It was the kind of hat a conventioneer might find in a goodie bag.

It is also worth mentioning that Cheney was wearing hiking boots -- thick, brown, lace-up ones. Did he think he was going to have to hike the 44 miles from Krakow -- where he had made remarks earlier in the day -- to Auschwitz?
As Lizz Winstead noted on Unfiltered this morning, wearing a cap that says "STAFF" to a concerntration camp has got to be one of the dumbest accessory choices ever. Does one really want to be associated with the staff of human incineration factories?

On a related note, here's another clipping from the Washington Post:
More than two dozen presidents, prime ministers, members of royalty and other leaders sat in the bitterly cold open air into the night to remember the 6 million victims of the Holocaust, most of them Jews.

ELEVEN MILLION. BIG DIFFERENCE. Over 6 million Jews were killed, but over 5 million black people, Gypsies, homosexuals, handicapped, and other non-aryan human varieties were also exterminated by the Nazi machine. How does a major international newspaper get such an important detail so very wrong?

Ms. Olson was featured this morning on Unfiltered's Party Machine. Her flavor and rhythm she injects into her spoken word performances is breathtaking. Awesome awesome awesome.

Cool.





Hayat Benchenaa's hanging alarm clock is a hanging ball suspended over your bed that lights and chimes to wake you up. To hit snooze, you just give it a little smack, causing the alarm to retract on its cord just a little nearer to the ceiling—forcing you to stretch more and more each time until you're eventually swiping at it with a broom, because you have 20-foot loft ceilings. For most people, though, the alarm will retract until it hits the ceiling, where it must be pulled down to its original length to reset.

Someone needs to put this into production—it's brilliant.

Hayat Benchenaa's hanging radio alarm cloc [Core77 via SACM.ZA]

Hey, Hayat went to SCAD. I went there too.

I was listening to this on the subway the other day and felt that it needed to be shared. If you can find a copy of "Youthful Indiscretions" by Jill Sobule, obtain it.
George was at the party in the bathroom with a mirror
Making lines for all the frat-boys all fucked up on German beer
Driving on his way home he saw the red lights flash
The cop gave him a warning said "Say hi to your dad"

Twenty-two years later just across the tracks
Is another boy named George on the corner selling crack
Walking on his way home he saw the red lights spin
The cop pushed him against the car and bashed his head in

Youthful indiscretions
We all make mistakes
We grow and learn life's lessons
Youthful indiscretions

George went on to college continued on way
Still got high and stinking drunk and very average grades
Then he saw a bright light he said that it was God
I think it was father and a fancy job

Now back to our other George who's sitting in a cell
In the company of murderers and rapists bound for Hell
And when I light a big fat joint
I thank the Lord up high
That I was born bleached blonde and white

Youthful Indiscretions
We all make mistakes
We grow and learn life's lessons
Youthful Indiscretions



If you need some new T's, I'd recommend DieselSweeties. Killer pixel designs, and they're all handprinted and distributed by independent companies. Rock!



And you thought you had a sketchbook. Link




This company is manufacturing and selling Hiëronymus Bosch action figures! Link (Thanks, Mack!)



The rights of companies are eclipsing the rights of citizens under Michael Bloomberg. He pretends he cares about New Yorkers, but he doesn't care about anything other than cash. Who's surprised?

Join the Drinking Liberally chapter in your area for Chimpy's SotU address. Find out where here.



Read the HRC Press Release here.

One of the very first acts of the new Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, has been to denounce PBS for a cartoon show that featured two lesbian couples. Take action today to denounce her intolerance.

Here's what you can do:

1. Click here to send a message to Secretary Spellings to voice your disapproval.

2. Then, call the Department of Education to make a comment. Call 1-800-872-5327, and press 5 for an operator to make a general comment.

3. Show your support for PBS. Contact PBS and urge them to air the episode.

"Postcards From Buster" is a PBS show, and a planned episode called Sugartime! took Buster to Vermont to see farms and maple sugar. Along the way he met two lesbian couples.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings denounced the episode, requested that PBS refund a federal grant that was used to pay for part of the show, and demanded that PBS remove any links from DOE to the show.

She began as Secretary of Education on Monday, January 24 and one of her very first acts is to attack the GLBT community. Take action today!

This particular HRC notice struck me for two very personal reasons: 1) I am a strong supporter of GLBT rights, and 2) I'm an animator working in children's programming. I've already sent my letters to Margaret Spellings and PBS. I urge you to do the same.

UPDATE
Buster's blog. In case anyone's interested.




Dubya always seems to try to show that he's a personable guy by making stupid jokes in public places. (i.e. "Got any wood?") Instead he further confirms my thoughts of him. My grandmother already vehemently hates the man, and you can be assured she thinks he's an even bigger ass after she heard this bash against seniors:


Q: I seem to remember a time in Texas on another problem, taxes, where you tried to get out in front and tell people it's not a crisis now, it's going to be a crisis down the line -- you went down in flames on that one. Why --

THE PRESIDENT: Actually, I -- if I might. (Laughter.) I don't think a billion-dollar tax relief that permanently reduced property taxes on senior citizens was "flames," but since you weren't a senior citizen, perhaps that's your definition of "flames."

Q: I never got my billion --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Because you're not a senior citizen yet. Acting like one, however. Go ahead. (Laughter.)

Q: What is there about government that makes it hard --

THE PRESIDENT: Faulty memory. (Laughter.) Go ahead. (Laughter.)
NOTE: Terry Moran of ABCNews says Bush was joking about the reporter's poor memory, i.e., this was an Alzheimer's joke, or at best, a senility joke.


You may read the rest of the transcript here.



For the first time since the Radio 1 listen-again player's debut (which allows you to listen to any show on Radio 1 whenever you want) on my birthday a couple years ago, the design and functionality receives a well-deserved overhaul.


CHRISTIAN RIGHT – NO MORE FOLLOW THE LEADER?: Heady off the success of their threats of the chairmanship of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), an alliance of conservative Christian groups have a new target in their crosshairs: President Bush himself. Calling in their debts, the coalition, "known as the Arlington Group," is now questioning how Bush is choosing to spend his political capital and threatened that his priorities would not pass unless he prioritized theirs: a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The letter's signatories, who include Jerry Falwell and Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, also call for the creation of "a top level official to coordinate opposition to same-sex marriage."




Maybe McClellan meant "we are on crack?"
Another year, another record deficit. The federal budget deficit will reach a record $448 billion this year, exceeding last year's record of $412 billion. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), "the long-term outlook for the US budget deficit has deteriorated since the end of last year." For most Americans these enormous, persistent deficits would be cause for concern. But not for White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. According to McClellan, the new numbers show "we are on track."

Broadcast & Cable
Ted Turner called Fox a propaganda tool of the Bush administration and indirectly compared Fox News Channel's popularity to Adolf Hitler's popular election to run Germany before World War II.

Turner made those fiery comments in his first address at the National Association for Television Programming Executives' conference since he was ousted from Time Warner Inc. five years ago.

The 66-year-old billionaire, who leveraged a television station in Atlanta into a media empire, made the comment before a standing-room-only crowd at NATPE's opening session Tuesday.

His no-nonsense, sometimes humorous, approach during the one-hour Q&A generated frequent loud applause and laughter.

Fox wasn't laughing, however. "Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network, and now his mind," said a Fox News spokesperson. "We wish him well."

From this post on the (incredible lack of) neuroscience related to sex, I meandered over to the O'Reilly (the publisher, not the dick) page on the book Mind Hacks. PDF samples are provided for a few sections. I'll be purchasing it this week along with Perfectly Legal.




This "self-destruct button" fits in a standard PC tower bay and can be used as a power-key for your PC. Link (via Gizmodo)



How many tomorrow?


The U.S. Senate voted 85-13 to confirm Condoleezza Rice as U.S. Secretary of State. This is still breaking news, so I don't have a link for you yet. It's looking more and more grim. I am proud to report, however, that my home-state senators (Kennedy and Kerry) were two of the thirteen who voted nay. I feel like bringing back 1973's anti-Nixon bumper sticker, "Don't Blame Me: I'm From Massachusetts."

UPDATE



Here are the details.

During Rice’s nomination debate Tuesday, one of the most outspoken Democrats was Mark Dayton, D-Minn., who described her as a liar and an apologist for Bush administration failures in Iraq.

“I don’t like impugning anyone’s integrity, but I really don’t like being lied to,” he said. “Repeatedly, flagrantly, intentionally.”



A new report co-published by the Center for American Progress warns that global warming is quickly approaching the point of no return, after which "widespread agricultural failure, water shortages and major droughts, increased disease, sea-level rise and the death of forests" will become irreversible. The findings were a product of a taskforce co-chaired by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Stephen Byers, a close confidant of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who called on world leaders "to recognize that climate change is the single most important long-term issue that the planet faces." The task force urges G-8 countries "to agree to generate a quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and shift agricultural subsidies from food crops to biofuels."




The Nation responds to its cartoon featuring "Babe Lincoln." Very few found it funny.



Fark has a great Photoshopping competition up. Join in the crazy hilarity. Your assignment is to use sex to sell a product that would not normally be sexy.



Screw the Oscars. They don't mean anything and the best films aren't even honored this year. The Razzies are the important film awards and their noms came out today as well.


Yushchenko [...] said today that the European Union strategy must include the prospect of Ukraine's membership.

Yushchenko was in Russia yesterday and is to address the European Parliament in Brussels on 27 January.

In his inaugural address on 23 January, Yushchenko said that his country's place is in the European Union.


The internet's most popular search engine, Google, is testing a service that promises to extend its reach from web pages to television programmes.

Google Video scans through television shows by analysing the subtitles provided for people with hearing difficulties. The company hopes that exploiting this niche service will prove a simple yet effective way to identify the content of a programme automatically.


Oh, except for Poland. And if you watched the debates, you'll already know how important Poland is.


The gulf between how Americans view themselves and how the world views them was summed up in a poll last week by the BBC. Fully 71 percent of Americans see the United States as a source of good in the world. More than half view Bush's election as positive for global security. Other studies report that 70 percent have faith in their domestic institutions and nearly 80 percent believe "American ideas and customs" should spread globally.

Foreigners take an entirely different view: 58 percent in the BBC poll see Bush's re-election as a threat to world peace. Among America's traditional allies, the figure is strikingly higher: 77 percent in Germany, 64 percent in Britain and 82 percent in Turkey. Among the 1.3 billion members of the Islamic world, public support for the United States is measured in single digits. Only Poland, the Philippines and India viewed Bush's second Inaugural positively.




Video of Steve Jobs introducing the Macintosh computer in 1984. Torrents and web links in the post.



You must take the A train F train, connect to the Q at 34 St., then catch the 2/3 at 42nd St.

Two of the city's subway lines - the A and the C - have been crippled and may not return to normal capacity for three to five years after a fire Sunday afternoon in a Lower Manhattan transit control room that was started by a homeless person trying to keep warm, officials said yesterday.

The blaze, at the Chambers Street station used by the A and C lines, was described as doing the worst damage to subway infrastructure since the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. It gutted a locked room that is no larger than a kitchen but that contains some 600 relays, switches and circuits that transmit vital information about train locations.

The A line will run roughly one-third the normal number of trains - meaning that riders who used to wait six minutes for a train might now have to wait 18 minutes - while the C train will cease to exist as a separate line, at least for the time being. The C will be replaced by the V in Brooklyn. Long waits and erratic service are likely to be the norm on the two lines, which have a combined ridership of 580,000 each weekday.

Riders on the West Side of Manhattan and in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of East New York and Ocean Hill-Brownsville will find the available trains more crowded, and will likely seek alternate subway lines, crowding them as well.

"This is a very significant problem, and it's going to go on for quite a while," said Lawrence G. Reuter, the president of New York City Transit. He estimated it would take "several millions of dollars and several years" to reassemble and test the intricate network of custom-built switch relays that were destroyed in the blaze, which officials believe began when the homeless person - who has not been found - set fire to wood and refuse in a shopping cart in the tunnel about 50 feet north of the Chambers Street station.




Remember the Calvin and Hobbes strips where Calvin made snowmen that appeared to have been hit and cut in half by his dad's car, or eaten by "snow sharks?" A snow-sculptor has created real-life versions of these and posted photos to the Web. Link (via Waxy)



The Bush administration is seeking about $80 billion in new funding for military operations this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the total for both conflicts to almost $300 billion so far.

Administration and congressional officials said the new request, expected to be announced on Tuesday, would come on top of the $25 billion in emergency spending already approved for this fiscal year.

That means funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will total nearly $105 billion in fiscal 2005 alone -- a record that shatters initial estimates of the cost.

[...]

The funding request comes as the U.S. Army said it is now planning to keep at least 120,000 troops in Iraq for the next two years to train and fight alongside Iraqi forces against insurgents [which now number over 200,000]. The Army total is part of a force of 150,000 American soldiers, Marines and other troops now in Iraq.



The foundation run by Microsoft magnate Bill Gates has announced it is dedicating $750m (£400m) to a worldwide infant vaccination programme.

Mr Gates said the donation would help save millions of children's lives. "Supporting children's immunisation is undoubtedly the best investment we've ever made," he said in a statement. At the same time, it was announced that Norway was donating $290m to the same organisation, the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (Gavi).

Mr Gates' pledge is to run over 10 years, and Norway's over five.

[...]

"Gavi will use the funds announced today to support national immunisation programmes in 72 of the world's poorest countries."

The commitment was welcomed by Gavi chairman Dr Jong-wook Lee, who said it would "prevent immense suffering and disability over the coming years". The Gates Foundation said current vaccination efforts were failing to reach an estimated 27 million children in developing countries every year, leading to millions of deaths.




Torture is still going on in Iraq? Conditions are worse than under Saddam's regime? Get out.

BAGHDAD - Twenty months after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled and its torture chambers unlocked, Iraqis are again being routinely beaten, hung by their wrists and shocked with electrical wires, according to a report by [Human Rights Watch].

Iraqi police, jailers and intelligence agents, many of them holding the same jobs they had under Hussein, are "committing systematic torture and other abuses" of detainees, Human Rights Watch said in a report to be released Tuesday.

Legal safeguards are being ignored, political opponents are targeted for arrest, and the government of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi "appears to be actively taking part, or is at least complicit, in these grave violations of fundamental human rights," the report concludes.

A spokesman for Allawi declined to comment Monday and said "I will put this report on the prime minister's desk tomorrow to see if he has any reaction."





When President Bush flew to Canada in his first international trip following his reelection, the White House portrayed it as the beginning of a fence-mending tour to bring allies back into the fold after a tense first term. But after Bush left, the Canadians were more furious than before.

They were stunned when Bush leaned across a table in a private meeting and lectured Prime Minister Paul Martin about opposing the U.S. missile defense system. And they were later taken aback by a speech filled with what they considered the same "old Bush" foreign policy pronouncements that opened the divide with the allies in the first place [...]

Bush did confront Martin and used the sort of language that sets Canadians on edge. "He leaned across the table and said, 'I'm not taking this position, but some future president is going to say, 'Why are we paying to defend Canada?' " said the senior Canadian official who was in the room and noted that he had been assured by Rice and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell personally that Bush would avoid the subject.

"Most of our side was trying to explain the politics, how it was difficult to do," the official said. But Bush "waved his hands and said, 'I don't understand this. Are you saying that if you got up and said this is necessary for the defense of Canada it wouldn't be accepted?'"




Embryonic stem cells, hailed as a potential treatment for a range of diseases, are contaminated by an animal molecule, researchers suggest.

The molecule's presence would lead the human immune system to attack the cells.

The University of California team, writing in Nature Medicine, says this means such cells could not be used.

They say the only solution is to create new stem cell lines without using animal-derived products.

In related news, our President is an idiot:

The White House is shrugging off a new study that suggests contamination of the existing lines of embryonic stem cells could bar their use in treating disease.

Press Secretary Scott McClellan says the president is satisfied those existing lines are "adequate" for the "basic research that needs to be done."
Yes, that's exactly what the highly controversial and rare stem cell lines are for: basic research.
[Scott] McClellan says Bush knew about the issue in 2001, but agreed with the view of top government scientists that it wouldn't prevent research into potential breakthrough disease cures.
So, not only are those "top government scientists" idiots, but if Bush knew about this issue in 2001, and then in 2004 agreed to keep these lines open while not funding any new ones, he knew he was shutting the system down completely since the current options are now corrupt.


Pew has just released an amazing-looking study on Internet search behavior. Two factoids from the exec summary left my jaw hanging:
Nearly half of searchers use a search engines no more than a few times a week, and two-thirds say they could walk away from search engines without upsetting their lives very much....

Only 38% of users are aware of the distinction between paid or "sponsored" results and unpaid results.

Link


Lots of photos of killer gear.




REP. THOMAS: Well, it was one of my ways of getting people to focus on the issue of age. To move from 65 to 68, which we did in 1983, was a benefit cut. But it also creates hardships based upon the occupation that you have, and it creates inequities on who you are and how long you live. You could just as easily have a discussion about occupations as to when would be a fair or an unfair time to require. We also need to examine, frankly, Tim, the question of race in terms of how many years of retirement do you get based upon your race? And you ought not to just leave gender off the table because that would be a factor.
Joshua Micah Marshall weighs in...
Does Thomas want the SSA actuaries to dust off the old racial classification systems from the Old South or limpieza de sangre codes from colonial Latin America with their comic and hideous lists of "mulattoes" (one-half) and "quadroons" (one fourth) and even "octoroons" (one-eighth) depending on one's precise mixture of white and black 'blood'?

What about Hispanics and Asians? And will those clean-living Mormons be adequately penalized for living so damn long? Perhaps some folks could lock in early retirement in advance if they signed binding SSA contracts agreeing to smoke and booze it up through their middle-years.

Yes, sure, this is a reductio ad absurdum. But really, it's pretty absurd. And these are the folks who can't brook the concept of affirmative action?

Matt Cooper, a 21-year-old college student at UC Davis, is planning on running for president in 2020 (the first year he is old enough to do so). This kid's got some balls. It will be interesting to see where his career goes.

Bandwidth density.



I want Vanilla!! What do you mean you're out?

Is he saluting us? Oh dear... Bobby, Bobby! Turn away! Don't watch the bad man! Thomas, how could you let this happen? I never want this internets machine on in the house ever again.


It's as if ten planes from Colombia done cracked open over Boston. Dayumn.


The Iraqis seem to be getting a raw deal with this freedom and democracy invasion and occupation. Who knew they'd have to supply their own utilities when another country takes over? Not them, because now they're out of the little things that make life worth living: water, food, electricity, transportation, and their brothers, sisters, moms, dads, children...

Most of the Iraqi capital - particularly the western districts - has been without water for the past seven days.

Added to a lack of electricity - the national grid is off more than it is on - a crumbling mobile phone network, endless lines to get fuel and a daily dose of bombs and mortars, it has made it next to impossible to even think about the coming election. "This is everyone's biggest problem," according to Alaa al-Din Saad, 32, a father of two who lives in the southwest district of Saidiya. "We haven't had water for nearly a week. We used up all our reserves and now I haven't had a shower for three days."

Iraq's national election, just seven days away and expected to bring its own set of problems amid fears of a surge in violence, has taken a back seat to the need to find a water source in a country that is mostly desert but also has two of the world's major rivers.

"Nothing works - there's no power, no water, no fuel, no phone service. It's a disaster," according to Namidh, a security guard who said his family had been without water for a week.

I don't think this whole "Iraq" thing is going all that smoothly.


Park Slope, Brooklyn, under the cover of powder: January 22 & 23, 2005.

This... is Blizzardblog.


Union St. & Fifth Ave.



Fifth Ave.



President St., right outside my apartment.



My car somehow managed to escape impactment.



Fourth Ave.



Eastward on President St.



Westward on President St.




Union St. subway stop



Union St.



Union St.

For photos of Manhattan (where I decided not to go today since it's around zero outside) and a few other locations, the NYT has a nice roundup.



View from the living room.


Can you find the car in this picture?


How about the fire hydrant?


The front of my house.


Those were garbage cans.


Dad and the trusty snowblower.


My street.


Why do I live here?!

Over two feet in the Boston area so far. And it's still snowing.

I'll be out with my digital camera once it dies down a little bit. Photos will be up later tonight.

A co-worker sent this article to me, regarding America's stance on torture, and it's definitely something worth sharing with all of you.

This is very exciting indeed! The trailer went up yesterday, so be sure to take a look.

Gee, what a surprise! The vast majority of people in the middle of the country said they voted for Dubya based on moral values (i.e. they don't wanna give those darned gays marriage rights). But now it appears that he is flip-flopping on that very issue. So, are you kicking yourselves yet?

Once again the religious right feels the need to blame someone (or something) for homosexuality. In the 90s it was Tinky-Winky. Now they've shifted their sights on SpongeBob Squarepants. Why, you might ask? All because of a video that teaches children about tolerance.
Nile Rodgers, who wrote the song and is founder of the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) which released the new video, says it is intended to help teach children the values of co-operation and unity.
That means teaching them to be gay, apparently.
C'mon people!! What were y'all smoking?!

You know, if they were in fact the "God-loving" group they claim to be, you'd think they'd preach tolerance. Ohhh, but that's right: God loves everyone... except the gays.

Liquid methane on Titan! Good for scientists, bad for vacationers...

The dramatic photos of Saturn's moon Titan, taken by Europe's Huygens spacecraft, show drainage channels filled with liquid methane rain.

Scientists said liquid methane, the lightest hydrocarbon gas known, feeds river channels, lakes, streams and springs on Titan's surface, the BBC reported Friday.

"We have evidence of many Earth-like processes (on Titan) such as (rain), erosion and abrasion but with very exotic materials," said Marty Tomasko.





The size of a credit card. *drool*




Fourth of July Address, 1821...

Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will {America's} heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. She might become the dictatress of the world. She would no longer be the ruler of her own spirit!


Mr. Wolcott sums up the events of the day as presented to the nation through a lens, wireless microphones, and commercial breaks.

Despite the fact that there was no specific terrorist threat, the security was unprecedented even for these unprecedented times, with FBI snipers on rooftops, clusters of antiaircraft missiles, layers of police and checkpoints, video command centers monitoring every spilled cup of coffee (CNN's Kelli Arena provided an inside peek), and rows of empty bleachers. The commentators noted this clampdown with a sigh of regret, and mentioned the "irony" of President Bush using the words "freedom" and "liberty" dozens of times in his address while the city was under such tight constriction. But this has gone past way irony now into total cognitive dissonant breakdown. Commentators refuse to recognize the ominous import of the stepped-up militarization of the parade and pageantry, and increasingly of civilian life in this country under a president who likes to wear neat little uniforms that say, "Me commander-in-chief."




Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage. Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and progressives 17 to 6 on FOX, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featuring Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC. Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives.


The "President's" motorcade was hit with snowballs as it went past protesters. That makes me happier.

That is what theocracy looks like. THIS is what democracy looks like.