And why the fork not. Now that we've heard from every full-to-the-brim-of-himself-white guy, most of whom, let's face it, ought to be stripped of his Typepad membership and his DSL ... I'm a hell of a lot more interested in why The Hammer has taken up blogging. At least, god have mercy, he's not in Knowledge Management. I have a question. What is Knowledge Management? No, please, only rhetorical. I've never seen anything spawn euphemisms like blogging; serious people dedicate their lives to... Read Full Story

“Why the fuck would the Pope want to kill Lennon? The Pope didn't fucking kill anybody, the CIA killed Lennon, you can't be half-werewolf, that makes no fucking sense, and they aren't aliens, they're Republicans, and they killed Hunter Thompson because he was the only one with solid evidence about the cloning plan and was going to tell the media before he got too old to regularly check the grave site for signs of DNA extraction, thus maintaining the stalemate that was keeping Ted Kennedy... Read Full Story

“By providing more generous benefits for low-income retirees, we'll make good on this commitment: If you work hard and pay into Social Security your entire life, you will not retire into poverty.” –George W. Bush “Social Security is not a poverty program, it is a retirement system people have worked hard for, paid into and have earned.” –Rep. Sander M. Levin, D-MichiganWell, either it is or it isn't. Which must be one of the stupidest observations I've ever made. link: NYT... Read Full Story

The Rude Pundit: “The problem with Gitmo isn't its existence. The problem with Gitmo is that the Bush administration ever allowed Gitmo in the first place. The problem is that Gitmo is a walk in the park on a sunny goddamn day compared with what happens when the prisoners are ‘rendered’ to Egypt or Uzbekistan.”Begin by speaking. Begin by giving voice. Say anything. Read Full Story

Last month, Amnesty International, the human rights group based in London, called the Guantanamo detention center 'the gulag of our time.' Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld characterized the charge as reprehensible.Have I mentioned . . . broken? In connection with the mind of Donald Rumsfeld? I have? Let me mention it again. Read Full Story

I just gotta be a smartass. Don't I. Whereas this is in fact a real thank you, especially to my feed readers, for I have discovered—much to my horror—that the New Blogger spits out a feed entry each time you republish, and republish one does, as one learns the ins and outs of steadfastly remaining Classic in a Semi-Beta world. Which probably makes no sense to anyone not on Blogger; suffice it to say, it's completely nuts here, yet return I did, and from the even nuttier world of WordPress... Read Full Story

Lovely piece in the Washington Post the other day about Paul, his new oratio is it, and of course the writing trailed off into all else that has happened and is happening—then gathered on this marvellous ending note, this opening up into the night but also into what must be, still, a wonderful heart. An antic moment that seemed very much of the Beatles as they were, and perhaps part of McCartney's genius is that this has never changed. I would imagine so. And I would imagine that anyone with... Read Full Story

“This anti-terrorism business is tough, fiendishly so when the enemy is clever, resourceful and patient. I wish our president the greatest success in combating it. We need it. But we need something else. When our president tells us that our security is at risk, that attack is imminent—when the shepherd boy tells us that the wolf is already among us—we need to be able to believe him, without reservation. As I recall Aesop's fable, the shepherd boy survived his mendacity, losing only his job... Read Full Story

Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of MSN Information Services, was asked to comment on the perception that Microsoft is in the defensive position with regard to Google: “It's a great feeling to be in a more underdog status.” Dee-nial? Oh they try so hard to be regular folk. So hard. Not gonna happen. You have to understand, some computer geniuses exemplify, oh, just to pick a condition out of a hat, High Functioning Autistics: visionaries, high-flyers, single-focus . . . and others—hey... Read Full Story

Oh, Tony. Does the term Poor Sod mean anything. . .“Meanwhile, British prime minister Tony Blair mounted an impassioned defence of his decision to take Britain to war in the face of fresh disclosures. A leaked memorandum drawn up after high level Downing Street talks suggested that planning for military action was already well under way eight months before the invasion.” Read Full Story