There’s a scene in “Bananas” in which Woody Allen’s character is discussing the economy of his new, adopted country, and when he’s told that bananas are its greatest export, he cries, “Bananas, bananas!” in a tone that conveys that he’s heard enough about that particular fruit. (I tried to find a video clip of that, [...]
Bart shares this with me, apparently one of those email things that goes around. As the “why, back in my day” genre goes, this one has a pretty good point: Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to me the other day, that I should bring my own grocery bagsbecause plastic bags weren’t good [...]
Here’s what we have at this hour: Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records (The Guardian) — AP’s top exec calls it a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.” Technically, the intrusion did not actually have mass and therefore couldn’t be “massive” (I once had an editor for whom this was a pet peeve), but you know what [...]
This passage, in The State‘s advance story about Steve Benjamin’s expected announcement that he will seek re-election as mayor of Columbia, struck me: Benjamin will be a latecomer to the race. Already, city council member Moe Baddourah, a restaurateur, and Larry Sypolt, a former FBI analyst, have announced for mayor… Latecomer? Yeah, technically, others had [...]
Sometimes I get releases that really seem to come out of left field, such as this: Dying Pets Prescribed Marijuana Guest Opportunity: Kim Baker, Animal Whisperer and Expert in Holistic Health for Animals The debate over medical marijuana for pets is continuing to intensify as more veterinarians are speaking out about the pros and [...]
Jim DeMint, former far-right kingmaker, isn’t getting a lot of respect in his new role at the Heritage Foundation — even among conservatives. Earlier this week, he put out a report suggesting that immigration reform as envisioned by the Gang of Eight will cost the country $6.3 trillion. The report is, quite understandably, ridiculed and [...]
When I first saw this headline on my iPad this afternoon… Amazon Is Developing Smartphone With 3-D Screen … I thought, what on Earth would I want something like that for? I’ve seen 3D movies. I’m not impressed. Who needs that kind of cheesy distraction on a phone? Then I thought, now what would be [...]
My initial purpose in writing this is to second what Joan Walsh says on Slate — that despite very bad things in Charles Ramsey’s past, including domestic violence, what he did the other day still makes him a hero: In hindsight, maybe Charles Ramsey was trying to tell us something when he insisted to Anderson [...]
Just some quick headlines: Official recounts frustration at Libya response (WashPost) — According to Jennifer Rubin, it was more dramatic than that headline makes it sound. Bangladesh death toll tops 800 (The Guardian) — It just gets worse and worse. Charges in Cleveland Abduction (WSJ) — What a horrific story. Jenny wins; Sanford admits to being in [...]
Of his divorce decree, that is: By BRUCE SMITH — Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newly elected Congressman Mark Sanford and his ex-wife have settled a complaint that said he was at her home without her permission in violation of their divorce agreement…. Under the settlement, Sanford admits he was in contempt of the divorce [...]
Burl brought this to my attention on a previous thread, and I thought I’d share more widely. What a story. And what an amazing interview. That local TV guy really happened upon some gold. Good job, Charles Ramsey! You deserve to be immortalized. The original video, in case you haven’t seen it multiple times already, [...]
Last night before the results were in, a friend shared with me this Facebook update from John Dickerson of CBS and Slate: If Mark Sanford wins tonight it will mark a real evolution for South Carolina as a state where values voters play a big role. Sanford, Gingrich’s win in the SC GOP primary. This [...]
The expected end to the special election in the 1st Congressional District has come: Mark Sanford has won the South Carolina special election in a competitive race for what in normal circumstances is a safe Republican seat. The former governor beat Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert Busch, for the state’s [...]
At 12:52 p.m., the SC Democratic Party Tweeted out the above picture, saying, It’s raining in #SC01 so we need you to get on the call tool NOW!!! Yeah, I’m not sure what that means. “Call tool” sounds like what someone whose first language is not English would call a telephone, but the Tweet included [...]
Our regular Silence, who apparently is way too chipper in the early morning, posted at 7:08 a.m., Here it is folks, the big day, the main event! Who will be the champ, and who will be the chump? To which I responded that most likely, Mark Sanford wins. Again. As he has been expected to [...]
I don’t have much time for blogging today — I was sick all weekend (ran a fever over 100, which for me is high, since I’m normally about 97 degrees) and couldn’t get to some things I wanted to get ahead on, so now I’m way behind. But since the special election in the 1st [...]
Just saw this fund-raising appeal from the Democrats: ROLL CALL: Conservatives Buy Airtime for Mark Sanford If you think Elizabeth Colbert Busch has a clear path to victory on Tuesday, think again. She’s neck and neck with Mark Sanford — 46-46. And now, right-wing groups are throwing everything they’ve got at keeping this seat in [...]
Does Esquire still do its Dubious Achievement Awards? (I ask because, though I was a subscriber back in the ’70s, I haven’t picked up a copy in many a year.) If so, here’s something for the list: The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that it has named Joanne Chesimard to its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, with [...]
Not much time for blogging today, but I thought I’d call attention to the buzz today about a supposed push-poll aimed at smearing Elizabeth Colbert-Busch. Here’s an account from The Atlantic Wire: ThinkProgress spoke with two women in the state, each of whom said they’d gotten a call from someone claiming to be conducting a [...]
Some of y’all have mentioned this development on a previous thread, but here’s a separate post for it: COLUMBIA, SC — Beleaguered former Columbia police chief Randy Scott will return to his former employer, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department later this month at a salary barely more than a uniform deputy. Sheriff Leon Lott announced Wednesday [...]