Year: 2008

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh? Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?

— Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview on CNN, on the problems of the Republican party.

Bush Is Target in Shoe-Throwing Incident in Iraq

Jon Ponder

At a news conference yesterday during George Bush’s surprise visit to Iraq, a man identified as Muntadar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi television reporter, threw a shoe at Bush after yelling, “This is a farewell kiss, you dog.”

The shoe narrowly missed Bush, and after he tossed a second shoe, the man was forcibly removed from the room by Iraqi security.

Bush quipped, “All I can report is a size 10.”

Showing the sole of a shoe is considered an insult in many Middle Eastern cultures.

Gay Marriage Protests at Suspected Gay Governor’s Wedding

Trish

The protest of Gov. Charlie Crist’s (R-Fla.) wedding to glitzy just-divorced Halloween costume mogul Carole Rome went off as planned Friday. The candlelight vigil organized by Impact Florida went largely ignored in the fawning press reports on the nearly royal wedding, in which the bride wore virginal white and declared that although this would be a total of three marriages between the two of them, it’s the only one that counts. Guess that makes her two daughters whose home was recently wrecked illegitimate.

Is this what they call, “protecting marriage?”

“This is my one and only wedding in my view,” Rome said in a telephone interview. The 39-year-old New York socialite’s divorce became final earlier this year.*

43 percent of heterosexual first marriages end in separation or divorce within 15 years

The Crist-Rome wedding will go down as Florida’s highest-profile example of the biggest change in marriage mores since the mother of manners herself, Emily Post, advised second-time brides that gray was an example of appropriate dress.

That was 1922. Remarrying brides, or “encore brides,” as they’re now called, have been able to wear white and receive the blessing of society’s taste makers since the mid 1990s. They may get married in Christian churches if they are Jewish, as Rome is. They may also have big receptions and, even, feature the same attendants from their first weddings [as Rome also is]…

“Customs change, and, as long as they don’t offend people, that’s OK,” said Peggy Post, Emily’s great granddaughter-in-law, who updates the Post wedding etiquette volumes and lives in Southwest Florida…

The reason why Rome will be able to carry off a white second-wedding is that manners are defined based on how the majority of people feel about them. They are things that can be lobbied for, and the lobby is growing.

Of the 2.4 million marriages performed annually in the U.S., nearly half are remarriages, according to the census. The National Center for Health Statistics found that 43 percent of first marriages end in separation or divorce within 15 years.

And so, the white dress first worn by England’s Queen Victoria and interpreted by all as a sign of chastity, is now considered a sign of joy.

That’s joy until next time, anyway. So the question we and the protesters would like answered is, if mores change, and Jews can be married in Christian churches, and white symbolizes whatever we want it to, and half of heterosexual marriages end in divorce, and half of those heterosexual marriages are the second, third, fourth, etc. for the partners, then tell us again why can’t gay people get married too?

* Nine whole months ago, to be exact

No Wonder We Can’t Fit Into Our Old Jeans

Trish

New research on the television watching habits of Americans could shed light on the obesity epidemic. The results: we sit on our asses a lot. And by “a lot,” I mean pretty much most of the time.

Nielsen has announced the results of its second annual media consumption survey, which found that television and Internet usage continues to increase…

The measurement company said the average person in the U.S. watched 142 hours of TV a month, up 4% from last year.

The average American watches 142 hours of TV a month, up 4% from last year

People who used the Internet were online 27 hours a month, up 6%, and those who watched video on mobile phones watched three hours a month, unchanged compared with a year ago.

“Americans keep finding more time to spend with the three screens,” Nielsen vice chairperson Susan Whiting said. “TV use is at an all-time high, yet people are also using the Internet more often — 31% of which is happening simultaneously.”

But who could blame us? Between the two-year presidential campaign, the Olympics in China, watching one wheel at a time fall off of the economy, the horrific siege of Mumbai, and all the other news, there’s just a lot to keep up with. And with 4.43 million of us unemployed, what else have we got to do?

All That Republicans Want for Christmas is a Good, Old-Fashioned Obamagate

Trish

Ed Kilgore, in his column at the Democratic Strategist, wonders why the mainstream media is trying so hard to link the pay-to-serve scandal for the Illinois senate seat to Barack Obama.

After all, every single indicator points to the lack of involvement by not only Obama, but all those who sought to replace him. That no one would attempt to buy the seat is what left Gov. Rod Blagojevich a-sputter in four-letter words. But does that keep such media outlets as Time magazine from running stories titled, Can Obama Escape the Taint of Blagojevich? Nah.

The basic media dynamic is to find some Republican to say it’s a problem for Obama, and thus they have a “story” manufactured out of thin air and partisan malice

…as BarbinMD shows at DailyKos today, none of this has kept political reporters from darkly suggesting that the Blago scandal is casting some sort of giant shadow on the Obama presidency. As she explains, the basic media dynamic is that reporters find some Republican to say it’s a problem for Obama, and thus they have a “story” manufactured out of thin air and partisan malice.

Maybe all this represents sheer journalistic laziness, or the cynical calculation of reporters who know they can get serious ink by linking two big stories–the juicy Blago scandal, and the Obama transition. Or maybe it’s a sign that some folk in the MSM, still smarting from endless claims that they are “in the tank” for Obama, want to prove otherwise by coming up with an “Obamagate” before the man has even taken office.

But at some point, it really needs to stop, or get derisively hooted off the front page and the evening news.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Crime Watch: Signs of the Times

Buck Banks

criminal1.jpg

The economy really sucks right now. How do I know this? By reading the Police Report section of the Miami Herald. See, when times were better, crimes were, well, more glamorous and exciting to read. But now, the Police Report is just kind of sad, what with a string of garbage can thefts and all. You’d think in hard times, crooks would set their sights a little higher, but nooooo.

Here are some examples:

  • Little Havana: A thief shoplifted six bottles of liquor from a store at 99 NW 27th Ave. Oct. 7
  • Brickell Area: A man on a bicycle stole a woman’s bus pass while she waited for the bus at the corner of SW 7th St. and South Miami Ave. Oct. 17
  • Shenandoah: A thief tried to pry open the front door of a house in the 2400 block of SW 15th St. Oct. 22
  • Silver Bluff Estates: A thief grabbed a City of Miami garbage can from the front of a house in the 3300 block of SW 23rd St. Oct. 21
  • Coconut Grove: A thief stole a City of Miami garbage can from a house in the 3300 block of Ah-We-Wa St. Oct. 20
  • Coral Way Park: A thief stole a money clip, a cell phone, a credit card and a driver’s license from a chair during a wedding party at the Big Five Club. Nov. 29
  • Coral Gables: A thief stole three tickets to the Madonna concert from a desk at a University of Miami dormitory Nov. 24
  • South Miami: A vandal smashed a window on a 1992 Ford Explorer in the 6300 block of SW 41st St. Nov. 25
  • Fairway Heights: A thief took a cell phone from an unlocked 1996 Honda Accord in the 16700 block of SW 102nd Court Nov. 25
  • South Miami Heights: A thief drove off with a 2005 Ford F-450 tow truck in the 12300 block of SW 212th St. Nov. 25. “Smart Towing” is printed on the sides of the truck.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

If it isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’ s certainly one hell of a competitor. Even the most cynical agents in our office were shocked.

— FBI special agent Robert Grant, quoted by the Chicago Tribune, characterizing Illinois’ place “in the pantheon of political corruption.”

10 Worst Predictions for 2008

Buck Banks

While we went way out on a limb yesterday and posted Pensito Review’s predictions for 2009, we want to share with you today some of the worst predictions for 2008. Foreign Policy has collected the worst prognostications by the pundits. We predict you’ll enjoy them:

1. “If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.” — William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006

2. “Peter writes: ‘Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?’ “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out. … Bear Stearns is not in trouble. I mean, if anything they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear! That’s just being silly! Don’t be silly!” — Jim Cramer, responding to a viewer’s e-mail on CNBC’s Mad Money, March 11, 2008

3. “[In] reality the risks to maritime flows of oil are far smaller than is commonly assumed. First, tankers are much less vulnerable than conventional wisdom holds. Second, limited regional conflicts would be unlikely to seriously upset traffic, and terrorist attacks against shipping would have even less of an economic effect. Third, only a naval power of the United States’ strength could seriously disrupt oil shipments.” — Dennis Blair and Kenneth Lieberthal, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007

4. “[A]nyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one—especially the worst one since the Great Depression—is making up his own private definition of ‘recession.’” — Donald Luskin, The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2008

5. “For all its flaws, an example to others.” — The Economist on Kenya’s presidential election, Dec. 19, 2007

6. “New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will enter the Presidential race in February, after it becomes clear which nominees will get the nod from the major parties. His multiple billions and organization will impress voters—and stun rivals. He’ll look like the most viable third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt. But Bloomberg will come up short, as he comes in for withering attacks from both Democrats and Republicans. He and Clinton will split more than 50% of the votes, but Arizona’s maverick senator, John McCain, will end up the country’s next President.” — BusinessWeek, Jan. 2, 2008

7. “There is a real possibility of creating destructive theoretical anomalies such as miniature black holes, strangelets and deSitter space transitions. These events have the potential to fundamentally alter matter and destroy our planet.” — Walter Wagner, LHCDefense.org

8. “The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six-24 months.” — Arjun Murti, Goldman Sachs oil analyst, in a May 5, 2008, report

9. “It starts with the taking over of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which has already happened. It goes on to the destruction of the Georgian armed forces, which is now happening. The third [development] will probably be the replacement of the elected government, which is pro-Western, with a puppet government, which will probably follow in a week or two.” — Charles Krauthammer, Fox News, Aug. 11, 2008

10. “I believe the banking system has been stabilized. No one is asking themselves anymore, is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it.” — Henry Paulson on National Public Radio, Nov. 13, 2008