"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
Moe Lane Or the triumph of hope over experience? Tacitus’ Guest Blogger* Bird Dog has a post up about this WaPo article:China Amends Constitution to Guarantee Human Rights. Good news, right? BEIJING, March 14 — China amended its constitution Sunday to include formal guarantees of human rights and private property, laying down a new marker in the … Read more
…is that, no matter how vicious our political debate can get, it typically remains a nonviolent one. As Lt. Smash points out, the recent impeachment of South Korea’s President Roh Moo Hyun can be a pretty good reminder that things can get worse: After a drama in the National Assembly as pro- and anti-Roh legislators … Read more
The folks at Crooked Timber (who – along with Brad DeLong – don’t need my traffic, as a look at our referrer logs will readily enough show) is talking about the latest “No way! Way!” to hit the buzzosphere: Lord of the Rings musical planned. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I tried to avoid mashing that in with any number of Broadway musicals.
I failed.
(UPDATE: I also failed to say what it was ripped off; the Terrace Duet from the musical Chess, more or less)
Great Googley Moogley:
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) – City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production.
(Via Instapundit)
Please note that I am assuming that our readers here have been sufficiently educated to get the joke right away.
Anyway, this was the last straw: I’m now calling for a Department of Slapping People Who Should Have Known Better in the Face with a Wet Halibut. Much as I hate to increase the size of the government, I’m not a hardshell libertarian. There are times and places, and that’s here and now:
The parliamentary elections for Spain should be closing up right around the time that I post this; there’s some controversy over whether the increasing likelihood that Thursday’s cowardly and vile attack was done by al-Qaeda will be reflected in the final results today. Tell truthful, I’m not willing to bet either way; I don’t know … Read more
One of the posters here has consumed a goodly amount of ethyl alcohol, in the hope that the myriad sad eyes that met his this morning would be closed, or dropped, or something. This has not worked as well as he had hoped, but sleep may actually be possible, which is the important thing. Also, … Read more
The Politboro Diktat had a rave review about RSS readers today. I’m curious about how many of our readers use RSS in one form or another, whether there’s a particular format that all y’all prefer (I posted an Atom[?] feed link earlier), anything we could do to help out our RSS-using guests, etc etc etc…
Topic change. Robotic Legs Could Produce Super Troops: BERKELEY, Calif. – Move over Bionic Man and make room for BLEEX — the Berkeley Lower Extremities Exoskeleton, with strap-on robotic legs designed to turn an ordinary human into a super strider. Ultimately intended to help people like soldiers or firefighters carry heavy loads for long distances, … Read more
2375 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20037. Phone Number (202) 452-0100. Contact information via Glenn Reynolds, who also forwarded these two messages: The Embassy of Spain convenes a silent demonstration tomorrow, Friday, March 12th, to express its outrage for today’s terrorist attack perpetrated in Madrid, in which approximately 200 people have died and 900 have … Read more
We might as well discuss the case here; it’s being discussed everywhere else. Remember, though: (Advice to the Right) The fact that she was involved with the antiwar movement means that she was involved with the antiwar movement. Try to avoid painting with too wide a brush. (Advice to the Left) The fact that she … Read more
I’m sorry to ruin all of your breakfasts, but this looked to be important: 131 People Killed in Madrid Explosions MADRID, Spain – Powerful explosions rocked three Madrid train stations Thursday just three days before Spain’s general elections, killing 131 rush-hour commuters and wounding more than 400 in what officials called the deadliest attack ever … Read more
Seeing as I’m tapped out for the night otherwise, here’s a little pre-emptive disapproval.
Top Ten Reasons Why Moe Lane can’t stand St. Patrick’s Day:
10). Actually, quite fond of the British these days, thanks. Well, just ask the inhabitants of Northern Ireland if they want to leave the UK? Oh, you did? Well, why don’t the ones that do want to leave bloody well leave, then? Some Irishmen did, you know. Some even came to America to get away from that nonsense…
9). Still working out childhood trauma engendered by sight of a drunken clown brutally singing When Irish Eyes are Smiling, with vomiting on a nun as his encore;
8). Constant subjection to Irish cooking has left a permanent allergic reaction to a mere picture of corned beef;
7). Has nothing against green. Green is a perfectly good color. A happy color, even. But feels contrarily reluctant to give in to the expectation of wearing it;
6). When younger, wrote several scathing letters to the editor condemning the IRA, and now wonders every year if this will be the one that the IRA will try to carve out a bloody revenge;
5). Can’t stand James Joyce. HAH! You hear that?!? I CAN’T STAND JAMES JOYCE! AND I WAS AN ENGLISH MAJOR IN COLLEGE, TOO! I’M FREE, FREE I TELL YOU! FREE!!!!!
4). Ain’t too fond of that damn leprechaun and his double-damned lucky charms, either;
3). No, doesn’t want a Guinness;
2). No, doesn’t care if everybody else in the bar is having one, too. The stuff tastes like roofing tar and the only way that any of these people wearing shamrocks and Kiss Me buttons would actually have any Irish blood would be if I gave them a transfusion. I mean, just look at that guy. Yes, that one wearing the bowler hat and the green suspenders, God help us all. No. NO. You will not start talking about the Pope. You will NOT start talking about the Pope. Damn you, now you’ve started talking about the Pope. No, I will not calm down and drink my roofing tar. Stop laughing at me! This is not an easy day to go through when you’re 15/16th Irish!
And the number one reason why Moe Lane hates St. Patrick’s Day:
A random perusal of ObWi’s bloglists is starting to suggest that possibly we’re all really, really focused on politics right now: findiing less wonkish stuff isn’t as easy as I thought. However, Short Hope Unfiltered has very nicely reminded me that Book Two of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle is coming out next month. I dunno if he gets anything for having the Amazon links up, but far be it from me to interfere with it if he does; it’s only an extra clickthrough.
That last one pretty much drained my political energy banks for a while, so let’s look into some of the more neglected Categories. Starting with this: New Pill Helps With Smoking and Weight. NEW ORLEANS – Tackling two big problems at once, a new pill in development appears to double people’s success quitting smoking while … Read more
Wow. I mean, the new layout for Matthew Yglesias’ site looks great and everything, but the way he hacked the blogroll down… yikes. I was almost expecting faint splashes of red everywhere. Well, OK, maybe not red, but the color of whatever bloglinks use for blood. Well, if they were, like, alive and stuff. (pause) … Read more
Testimony from Karl Rove, which included a flat denial that he was the anonymous leaker in the Plame case… has been anonymously leaked to The American Prospect. Somebody in TalkLeft’s comment section claims that this is perfectly legal, as the attorneys were only requested to keep things quiet, but… I’m sorry, folks, I tried, but … Read more
Opus 163 over at the Department of Louise seems kind of depressed at the low tone of political discourse going on these days – and who can blame her? She pegs it as getting bad with Clinton and much worse, since. Prior to 2000, I would have disagreed: some of the things that were said … Read more
Remember that post I dumped yesterday to go with comity?
Turns out that it wouldn’t have been able to hold the coat of the one written by Donald Sensing on the same topic anyway:
…this is some really freaky sh*t, man. (Via Tacitus’ Bird Dog, curse him. And curse my vampiric eyes*.) Moe *Sluggy Freelance reference. Don’t worry about it.
For she will be able to run for President in 2040, and she will remember all those who dared to oppose her.
Meet Tess Avery Peyton, daughter of longtime Reader Harley (of both here and Tacitus.org). The tired extraordinarily well rested and alert (and happy) father has not yet declared a political affiliation for her, so start your indoctrination programs while you can. Or maybe update your minion resumes.
Congrats, Harley. Now get some more sleep Now keep on doing whatever it was that you were doing, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and supportive of your wonderful and lovely wife about whom you regale us with tales, tales that feature her many, nay, nigh-infinite, stellar qualities*. 🙂
…you’ll understand the title once you click through. It’s another referral log special, so I dunno if it’s for real or not. And now, to sleep. No, I won’t wax poetical this time. Moe
To excerpt would not do it justice. All I can say is, thank goodness for referral logs. Via Crossing the Rubicon2. Moe
In support of von’s implicit call for comity, I shall discard the post I had planned and instead note that the lovely and talented Respectful of Otters has elegantly demolished a meme that I didn’t even know was up and running. Some big, bad VRWC Death Beast I am; this is the blogging equivalent of … Read more
“You” being OpinionJournal: they apparently had so much fun suggesting that Senator Kerry play up the ROTC-on-campus issue that they’re now branching out into Vice Presidential picks for Kerry.
Like Tom Brokaw.
Tom. Brokaw.
Jesus wept.
…to Kevin Drum, who is apparently going to be one of those nigh-mythical blogger demigods who will be able to actually make a living from this hobby. He’ll be blogging for the Washington Monthly, which will hopefully be a good fit for both him and the magazine. Good luck and good trackbacks, Kevin.
Drudge is definitely started up on the downward arc of his trajectory. I’m sure that some of you folks are muttering either ‘it’s about time’ or ‘Whaddya mean, started?’, but let that pass; this profanity-in-Kerry’s-website ‘exclusive’ is lame-o. So lame-o, in fact, that it doesn’t deserve the teeny-tiny traffic that a link from me would send it. If you really want to see, go read QandO* and/or Wonkette, both of whom were not precisely kind in their commentary (although the latter was just a tad more foul-mouthed about it).
Why, they both call people race traitors!
Well, OK, in Robinson’s case he called Colin Powell ‘an immoral traitor to his race’, but we all know what that means*. I mention this because he’s involved in this Aristide conspiracy theory, and I just felt like reminding everyone of the essential moonbattiness of the fellow. Blessedly for him (and us, of course), he’s now permanently on the island of St. Kitts, where the sun is warm and the Caucasians rare, and it is my fond hope that we continue to have a society where he feels deeply unwelcome. You know, one where a Texas Republican President can make a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Secretary of State and casually note that he and his National Security Advisor were able to avoid detection on their way to Iraq because they looked like a normal couple.
Can I freshen that drink for ya, Randall? No, no need to chug it: you’ve got all the time in the world.
Moe
I wish that I could disagree with the last sentence of this Instapundit post: At any rate, the sad truth is that bloggers, despite their growing influence, probably aren’t worth bribing. Not that I particularly want to be bribed, but it’d be nice to say that I wouldn’t take one and have it actually be … Read more
A Moe Lane’s Impressed point for anybody who can recognize the title and author of the referenced song, btw. At any rate, thanks to Amygdala I’ve been made aware of this Prospect Magazine article (which, fair warning and all that, comes from a New Republic editor) that postulates that the result of a Gore Presidency … Read more
Somehow, I think that a headline like this – Head of UCLA Cadaver Program Is Arrested – makes opening paragraphs like this: LOS ANGELES – The man who oversees the cadaver program at the University of California, Los Angeles, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of grand theft, but authorities would not say what he is … Read more
To everyone wondering why there’s no real buzz about a Hobbit movie, the answer’s simple: yup, you guessed it, there’s a battle going on over who has the rights: NEW YORK (AP) – Peter Jackson won’t be returning to the Shire any time soon. The Oscar-winning director is planning to film “The Hobbit,” the prequel … Read more
How dare David Crosby do such a thing:
NEW YORK – Musician David Crosby was arrested on marijuana and gun possession charges early Saturday at a Times Square hotel, police said.
Crosby, 62, a two-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had checked out of the hotel but left a piece of luggage behind, police said.
A hotel worker found the bag and went through it looking for identification, and called police after finding marijuana, a .45-caliber handgun and two knives, authorities said.
Smoking. He dared to bring smoking materials into a New York City hotel. Oh, don’t try and pretend that he was just bringing it through; he was planning to take big heaping carcinogenic puffs of smoke and release them on an unsuspecting, pristine Manhattan. Yes, at least it was marijuana, not tobacco, but that’s no excuse. You can bet that he keeps some of those dirty cigarettes around him, too: no, he’s got the look of a pipe smoker. Or maybe – horrors! – he does snuff.
Thank God for Bloomberg, that’s all I have to say.
(Via a ‘shocked’, not ‘outraged’ OTB)
Moe
An entire post about the RNC and Moveon and a recent letter sent by the former to target activities done by the latter and campaign finance rules just got flushed into the ether. Grumble, grumble, groan. Anyway, to summarize (because I don’t think that I can summon up the deathless prose that graced the original): … Read more
Steven Taylor has altered the Toast-O-Meter’s format to reflect Kerry’s effective capture of the Democratic nomination; there are some changed categories and a couple of new ones. Personally, I expect that a see-saw will be be a better metaphor than a toaster for this election (up to the primaries, at least), but that’s just me. … Read more