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Teaser trailer for the Scenes From Oblivion spin-off web series: Oblivion.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=223910&title=pirate-rescue-simulation John Oliver creates a sophisticated simulation of the chain of events that led to the liberation from pirates. |
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Jul. 14th, 2009 @ 01:50 am
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I'm pretty excited that this is finally happening. Now, every time you buy an mp3 of my song, "Hetero-Strike," on amazon.com or itunes, half of the proceeds will go to the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The NCLR is one of the leading organizations in the fight against Propostion 8 and they need money to pay lawyers. Lots of lawyers. So let's give them some money, eh?
Amazon:
http://amzn.com/B002B2XTHQ
iTunes:
http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=rhune+kincaid
Of course, if you want to preview the song, you can always check it out at my website:
www.rhunekincaid.com
or check out the classic video that has been seen all over the net, but mostly by Prop 8 supporting bigots who leave nasty comments. :/
http://www.youtube.com/v/rxOeA1TNzK0 |
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[I don't watch Rachel Maddow or even MSNBC as much now as I did before the election, but I found myself riveted to a little editorial Maddow read on her show this evening regarding Sarah Palin's recent resignation. Since I have a Comcast DVR, I was able to pause and rewind endlessly while I transcribed the following (which I bet she has at her site, but oh well, it's still good enough to share).]
Rachel Re: Sarah-Nara
by Rachel Maddow (as broadcast on her show on Monday, July 13, 2009)
And in American politics whose name is not Barack Obama or Michelle Obama is, of course, Sarah Palin--like it or not. I realized this weekend that it was not even yet a year ago when I, as a panelist on the late-lamented show, "Race for the White House," brought up Sarah Palin and the Troopergate investigation as almost a side-bar, human-interesty distraction from our daily speculation on who would be the Vice Presidential choices of senators McCain and Obama. I thought at the time that Troopergate probably was enough of an ethical question mark over the governor of Alaska to keep her out of any serious contention as John McCain's vice presidential pick. Three and a half weeks later, she WAS McCain's vice presidential pick, and I was wrong--BIG TIME--which of course is an occupational hazard of the predicting-the-future part of the pundit job.
But as Governor Palin's life was turned into the most amazing show on cable over these past 11 months--through the presidential campaign and the tumultuous months for her since then--it turns out now that it actually has been the ethical question marks in her life, and the basic problems in handling elected office appropriately, that seem to have brought her career as a public official to an end.
Sarah Palin announced she was resigning as Alaska governor on the Friday before the July Fourth holiday weekend. It was a move that surprised everyone thought to be close to the governor's political thinking. And frankly, it surprised everyone who knows anything about politics. And that's because the thing that you do when you're eying a race for president, is you won't seek ANOTHER term as governor; see, for example, Tim Polenti. You don't announce that you're quitting in the middle of your first term when your only other experience is being the mayor of a small town.
That Politics 101 truism, and frankly, that verbose, frenetic, disorganized nature of her resignation statement itself, and the many, many interviews she has done since then, are why the governor's resignation has only heightened the already extreme fascination with her.
What's the real reason she's resigning? Is there a major new Palin scandal about to break that she's trying to get out ahead of? Is this some politically advanced shrewd move for the presidency that's too clever for Politics 101 students to grasp? What role does she want in Republican politics in the future, and will she get to play that role?
In a landmark of Palintology published in today's New York Times ("Palin's Long March to a Short-Notice Resignation"), some of those questions are now answered.
Bottom line: She resigned because her governorship in Alaska has turned into a disaster. Leaving office was not a shrewd move by somebody picking a better political option among a range of political choices available to her. It was a jump off the political cliff to avoid being pushed off that cliff.
Among the chief causes of her downfall: She was unable to stop herself from picking fights with her critics, and from responding when critics picked fights with her.
When David Letterman made an ill-advised joke about the governor's daughter, Governor Palin tried to stoke an ongoing feud with him by accusing him of advancing the sexual exploitation of girls by older men. A Republican state legislator in Alaska then called Palin's bluff on that, saying, "If she were really so concerned about that issue, she should fully fund anti-sexual abuse programs in Alaska." Palin responded by asking state public safety officials to issue a statement praising her polities about reducing sexual assaults on children. How's that for a good use of state employees' time?
The governor's official press office also put out official press releases denouncing Alaska bloggers who had accused her of ethical missteps. She had lawyers and her political action committee threaten legal action against people who spoke out again her on daytime cable television.
The governor's official press office put out multiple press statements denouncing her daughter's 19-year-old ex-boyfriend--which of course made him a hotter ticket than ever for interview opportunities to talk trash about his almost mother-in-law.
That lack of self-control and of boundaries between the personal and the political and the petty is the flaw that had drawn her into earlier ethics scandals like Troopergate. You remember Troopergate. That was where a state legislature had found that she had abused her office by firing the public safety commissioner who wouldn't fire her brother-in-law. And that one was even before she got picked to run for vice president.
It has been an incredible year of watching Sarah Palin. And we should all know better than to suggest that we know what she's going to do next--me in particular. But waht is now able to be reported about the catastrophic unraveling of her govenorship, tells us what this isn't. There isn't an exotic political scheme for even a higher office here. There isn't a dramatic shoe waiting to drop in some new criminal investigation. This isn't even about how Sarah Palin's life has changed since she has been subject to the national spotlight. Sarah Palin's career as an elected official is now over because of a proven inability to govern.
A thin skin about criticism, distorted priorities that result from having that thin skin, and an inability to judge the difference between what bugs her as a person, and what's an appropriate use of an elected official's time, and the public's resources.
Governor Palin will be a private citizen again by the end of next week. Who knows what untold millions await in her book contract, and the inevitable broadcasting deal or professional conservative show job. She may well continue to be the most entertaining Republican on the planet by a mile.
But she will not be an elected official again.
And after the disaster of her governorship in Alaska, I would guess she will not ever risk that fate by ever running again.
That said, if you're a fan of the Democratic Party, pray that I'm wrong--again.
[Cross-posted to my own LJ.] |
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Where in Austin can I find lime powder? I've looked in a couple of groceries and haven't been able to find it, so rather than continuing to waste time and gas driving wound looking for it, I thought I'd ask here.
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 Beirut is among the 50 most expensive cities in the world, jumping from 80th place last year to 41st in 2009, according to a global survey released by consultants Mercer. Beirut scores 81.6 points as opposed to 80.8, according to Mercer's annual Cost of Living survey of 143 cities.
The survey uses New York as the base city with an index of 100 points when comparing the cost of 200 items, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
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As may be apparent for anyone monitoring this town's manic agenda of cultural events, Beirut has been named Unesco's World Book Capital 2009. Presumably the Lebanese capital was cherry-picked for this title because of the city's mythic place in the cultural production of the Arab world, in which books were written in Cairo, published and Beirut and read in Baghdad and not as a vote of confidence from the international community after a harrowing few years.
Among the ceremonial apparatus erected in honour of the Book Capital festivities is that of cinematic ambassador for Beirut World Book Capital 2009, an honour that has fallen to the respected Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab. |
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Jul. 13th, 2009 @ 09:55 pm
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Is there any "inspiration point" kind of place that's accessible to the public in the Hollywood/Hollywood Hills/Studio City area?
I'm not looking for a place to bone down, but rather a place with a good view where I can sit with my girl.
Thanks :) |
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My cat is suddenly showing signs of having a urinary blockage or a urinary tract infection, and the interwebs basically say to find a vet asap.
I haven't lived in Austin very long, haven't needed a vet until now, and am not sure where to go.
I am very short on cash until Friday, but am not one to wait when it comes to the health of my cats. Can anyone recommend a vet that operates on a sliding scale, or a payment plan, or isn't too expensive, or something? I don't have credit cards, and would not be able to get care credit or anything like that.
I live just a little NE of the UT campus. I'm willing to drive a bit if it means a good, trustworthy vet.
That said, has anyone had a male cat with a urinary tract infection or blockage, that can give me advice/tips/stories? |
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Hey Folks,
Looked in the memories and couldn't find anything on this. I'm looking for a service or company that does move-out cleanings for apartments. Essentially something to make sure it's spic-and-span so I will definitely get my security deposit back.
So yah, anyone have any suggestions for a housecleaning service that is both cheap and good? Any suggestions or stay-aways would be much appreciated.
Thanks! |
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I've searched through the dentist tags and found somethings that were helpful to me, but nothing that was helpful to my boyfriend.
I have Guardian dental insurance through my job, he has Assurant through UT. Ideally we'd like to go to the same dentist, but searching through his "find a dentist" thing is pretty limited. Does anyone have any experience with:
Omni Dental Group
ALAN C WILLIAMS DDS
ROSE DENTAL GROUP
JAMES T CORDERA?
I've read nothing but terrible things about Castle Dental so they're not even included on my list.
Thanks. |
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When I was a kid, I remember reading in The Weekly Reader or some other free periodical handed out to schools of the horrors of the Soviet Union. In one story that listed many terrible absurdities, I read that a person with mild retardation was sent to prison for spilling ink on a newspaper that had featured a photo of Stalin. (This wasn't a story contemporary to the 1970s or early 1980s, when I read it.)
Meanwhile, here in 2009 in the US:
On Oct. 15, 2004, Mary Elizabeth Schipke entered the Oracle post office to buy a 47-cent stamped envelope. When she got frustrated with the clerk behind the counter, she told her: "God, I pray a bomb falls on your stupid, fucking head."
Almost a year later, Schipke was convicted of threatening a federal facility with weapons of mass destruction. Schipke describes what she told the clerk that day as an "imprecatory prayer"—basically, a simple curse—but that defense didn't keep her from serving a four-year prison sentence, with the last two years at Carswell, a women's federal medical prison outside of Fort Worth, Texas, that has been the subject of allegations about the questionable care of prisoners with physical and psychiatric conditions.
One of the things I noted immediately: "WMD" has been dialed down to apparently mean any bomb at all. That'll be handy for the next round of preemptive invasions, eh?
A couple of other interesting things. Schipke is kook in her own right (see November 7, 1998). Also, she looks forward to the day when the Chinese military frees their children from George Washington since the American people are utterly brainwashed by their masters. She certainly seems to count as mentally unbalanced, perhaps in a way not so dissimilar to our poor Soviet ink-spiller.
But real threats with WMDs? Nah. |
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You know, as in the folks who sit up in the little booth at the back of the theater. Seems like there is a union, but I couldn't figure out where one might go to get training.. any insight much appreciated..
Cheers :) Current Mood:  curious |
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