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Thursday, May 08, 2003
delay tactics
"Coming out of the election, everyone thought impeachment was dead," Congressman King told me later. "I didn't hear anyone discuss impeachment. It was over. Then DeLay assumed control. In most districts in the country, a majority was against impeachment, maybe a majority of Republicans. But a majority who voted in Republican primaries was for impeachment. When you put individual members under the gun, a lot of them could get killed in a primary. That was the way he did it. I heard of Christian radio stations going after Republicans. Right-wing groups were stirring it up in parts of the country outside of the Northeast. Most of the pressure went through the Christian right network. It happened over a ten-day period. The whole world changed. I remember talking to people like Rick Lazio and Mike Forbes [both Republicans of New York] and they were saying this is nuts. Then suddenly they were holding news conferences saying their consciences were torn."
wondertwin powers
"ET - "So we're hanging out ... The Bushes were underage drinking at my house. When I checked outside, one of the Secret Service guys asked me if they'd be spending the night. I said no. And then I go upstairs to see another friend and I can smell the green wafting out under his door. I open the door, and there he is smoking out the Bush twins on his hookah."
wail of the century
"My novel, set at a fictitious magazine called The New Century, is called "The Fabulous New Century." It's been kept under such tight wraps that my publisher, HarperCollins, doesn't even know it exists. I've sent several bookstores hard-bound copies, each with a different byline and a different title, accompanied by a note reading "Don't tell anyone about this, or I'll kill you." I wrote the entire thing longhand, then typed it out, then copied it back out to longhand, then typed it out again. Man, it's a lot of work writing a novel about yourself!
Over the course of the next few days, or until I get bored, I'll present excerpts from this book, which serves both as my confession and my damnation. I'm sorry for all the terrible things I did at The New Republic, but I also curse the memory of those I knew there. They treated me so horribly, and they didn't even know how or why. Their names have been changed to protect them, but mine has remained the same to vindicate me."
staggering geniuses
"As for the title of the piece—"The Snarky, Dumbed-Down World of Book Reviewing"—Ms. Julavits said that "you should know that people give you titles, and titles happen to you," she said. "Titles are different from the animal—and you know that."
Perhaps Mr. Eggers wrote the headlines to juice up the cover?
"No," she replied, "all I’m saying is headlines serve a different purpose than the piece."
Finally, she confessed to having written it herself: "I’m guilty of doing it, yes."
lets go to the hop
hop on over to the pond and lick some frog 'n' blog. and much obliged for the bogrollink to the cowboy.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
sub sonic
i thought sub pop wasnt happening after the mid nineties but theyve released alot of good stuff lately which i would label alt.folk. i see theyve called some of it urban folk. maybe its a little bit dream pop too. whatever it is, i like it, especially Fruit Bats, The Shins, Iron and Wine, the Baptist Generals, Beachwood Sparks and Holopaw. Ugly Cassanova an offshoot from Modest Mouse are more straightforward janglepop while Postal Service mix in 80s lofi keyboards with their indiepop but theyre also a pretty good listen. this link heads to a list of the bands but each individual page has at least one mp3 on it. i going to see Fruit Bats and Holopaw at The Mercury Lounge on Sunday if anyone is interested.
entheogenesis
"What I did that day should not be illegal. Adults seeking solace or insight ought to be allowed to consume psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. U.S. laws now classify them as Schedule 1 drugs, banned for all purposes because of their health risks. But recent studies have shown that psychedelics—which more than 20 million Americans have ingested—can be harmless and even beneficial when taken under appropriate circumstances."
view from abridged
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
pearly gates
"In "Health, Wealth, and Bill Gates," a NOW with Bill Moyers special edition, airing Friday, May 9, 2003 at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local listings), NOW provides a fascinating look into the mind, motivations, and philanthropy of Bill Gates. Recorded in front of a live audience at an event presented by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the Bill Moyers' interview provides a rarely seen view of Gates and traces the journey of discovery that led him to dedicate his fortune to sharing advances in health with the global community. The 60-minute broadcast features the interview with Gates and includes produced segments that provide context to major public health issues facing the globe."
uss columbia
"MIAMI -- Opening a new front in the war on terrorism, Colombian soldiers trained by the US military have killed or captured at least six guerrilla leaders as part of a ''decapitation strategy'' to defeat the country's rebel groups and strike a blow against the drug trade, American military and intelligence officials told the Globe.
A new commando unit began tracking rebel commanders in the jungles of Colombia about three weeks ago and carried out some of the attacks in recent weeks. It is the first unit in the Colombian Army to receive US special-forces training under a new program approved by President Bush expanding US military assistance from fighting drug cartels to battling insurgent groups that the administration considers ''narco-terrorists.''