Rancid, “Time Bomb.”
This song isn’t really Rancid’s best work, but I think it was their biggest hit of the nineties; and if it wasn’t, I like it better than “Ruby Soho.” In high school, my friends and I managed to rack up an absurd ratio of time spent discussing the need to acquire white shoes (we all actually had black coats and hats) to time spent actually seeking white shoes. I also think it was precisely because of listening to this tune that I came to know what “running numbers” entailed.
CBS officially doesn’t care that one of its contributors is a liar; they say they hired him because a rival network hired Glenn Beck, so I guess they decided they needed a fool of their own. This is the kind of thing that makes it a little hard to take seriously the notion that the news biz was all about the unadorned pursuit of truth until bloggers ruined everything.
“In the first 11 days of this month, there have already been 234 bodies – men murdered by death squads – dumped around the capital, a dramatic rise from the 137 found in the same period of April. Improving security in Baghdad and reducing death-squad activity was described as one of the key aims of the US surge of 25,000 additional troops, the final units of whom are due to arrive next month.”
TNT’s NBA studio team is excellent, but I swear to God I just heard Kenny Smith argue that Spiderman 3 was better than Spiderman 2 but “1 was the best.” I liked 3 better than most, but that’s insane; I don’t believe he’s even seen the movies, nobody could possibly think that.
“JoAnn Falletta was doing what a conductor should — concentrating on the orchestra in front of her. No wonder it took her a few seconds on Sunday to realize someone behind her was motioning for a try. President Bush.”
“Smiling at me kind of devilishly,” Falletta said.
She gave him her baton and stepped aside.
Gesturing exuberantly, the president led the orchestra during part of its performance of “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
“We didn’t expect him to know the score so well,” Falletta said afterward. “He was not shy about conducting at all. He conducted with a great deal of panache.” [...]
Just before the music ended, Bush turned to Falletta, who stood on a step below him, kissed the top of her head and left without saying a word.
“Negotiators from the United States are trying to weaken the language of a climate change declaration set to be unveiled at next month’s G-8 summit of the world’s leading industrial powers,” reports the Washington Post today.
Our negotiators oppose “a pledge to limit the global temperature rise this century to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as an agreement to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.” Yet even Governor Schwarzenegger has announced a goal of reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050–that is what even moderate politicians think need to be done.
History will not be kind to this White House, especially if we warm far beyond 3.6°F and suffer widespread drought, desertification, famine, super storms, flooding, and the like.
Our negotiators are so petty and ideological, opposing action is not enough for them–they oppose even talking about the need for action. They propose deleting the following lines:
“We underline that tackling climate change is an imperative, not a choice. We firmly agree that resolute and concerted international action is urgently needed in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and sustain our common basis of living.”
Pretty minimal language given the scale of the problem, no?
This bunch may talk tough about terrorism, but they are wimps when it comes to protecting this nation–and the next 50 generations–from catastrophic climate change.
With thanks to Nick Beaudrot, a chart shedding a bit more light on the casualty rate issue. “As measured by coalition deaths per day, we are now in the most violent twelve-month stretch of the four year occupation of Iraq,” he comments, “However, as measured by injuries per day, things are not quite as bad as the were for the period between April of 2004 and March of 2005, a period that includes the intial outrage at Abu Gharib, rising violence before the ’04 election, and the post-election flattening of Fallujah.”
The media have been giving extensive coverage to the Republican members of Congress who pleaded with President Bush and his senior aides on Tuesday to change course in Iraq.
But these 11 Republicans are not the only conservatives unhappy with the war. Rather, their “unvarnished conversation” with the President reflect misgivings shared by the rest of the party, which is now distancing itself from President Bush. This morning, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) said that their criticism is “just the tip of the iceberg” of conservative dissent. Some more examples:
The heated meeting between the GOP moderates and Bush continued to reverberate through Capitol Hill yesterday, after several Republican conservatives told reporters that they shared the moderates’ fears that the war is wrecking the party. “There is no liberal-conservative divide on Iraq,” said one House GOP conservative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of angering the White House further. [Washington Post, 5/11/07]
But one conservative House Republican with close ties to the leadership said the concerns expressed by the congressmen in the meeting were widely shared across ideologies. “That wasn’t the Tuesday Group speaking,” he said, referring to an organization of moderate GOP legislators. “No, that’s the Republican sentiment.” [Washington Post, 5/13/07]
While it was Republican moderates who took their complaints directly to the president this week, others in the party expressed similar misgivings on Thursday. [New York Times, 5/11/07]
The meeting’s confrontational tone “was reflective of where the whole [Republican] conference is,” said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), a meeting participant. [Washington Post, 5/11/07]
“There is a significant undercurrent that is looking for a reasonable way forward in Iraq,” said Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a conservative Republican of Nebraska, adding that the war is a leading concern for his constituents. [New York Times, 5/11/07]
Several Republicans are considering bipartisan legislation aimed at changing the war’s course. Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have introduced separate proposals aimed at bringing a gradual end to the war. “We are troubled by the current policy,” Ms. Snowe said Thursday. “The White House needs to hear it.” [New York Times, 5/11/07]
Ever-eager to solidify my standing as a “Whippersnapper who’s kind of Fogeyish,” I’ll take Mickey Kaus’ assignment on the whippersnapper factor in the blogosphere. And, even better, I’ll do it bullet-point style:
Call me a snob if you’d like, but there’s something fascinating about the idea of a newspaper so small towney that it’s prepared to report on a MetLife blimp coming to town:
The airship was making its way from Kansas City to Baltimore where it will appear at next weekends Preakness horse race. Crew chief Cory Yglesias said the airship can travel for seven to eight hours before it needs to refuel.
Exciting!
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