December 07, 2007
Gratuitous Friday Cheesecake
As long as we're talking about Pearl Harbor, what better excuse to post a photo of...
Posted by: Gary at 11:31 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Friday's Bad Music Video - Pt. 2
Posted by: Chai-Rista at 10:53 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Friday's Bad Music Video - Pt. 1
Posted by: Chai-Rista at 10:45 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Splitting up the Dream Team--It's Time to Say Goodbye to the LLamabutchers
Well folks, with Gary's endorsement of the Rudinator below, it forces my hand.
I've got to break with my LLamabrethern on such an important issue of policy and principle that I'm not sure if our blog alliance will be able to survive the split. I'd like to think that we can remain friends after I swim the Seine, but that might not at all be possible. If that's the case, if our friendship is shattered, I stand and wave adieu with a heart free of malice or bitterness, with nothing but happy memories of our time blogging together. I've got to come out of the closet as they say on a very important issue. It's that I'm...Posted by: Steve-O at 10:31 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Lest We Forget
Explosion aboard U.S.S. Shaw at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.
Posted by: Robert at 10:23 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Endorsement Time
***Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and not necessarily reflective of the senior partners here at the Llama Butchers, Steve and Robbo, nor do they represent those of any of the other contributors to the site. I ask them all for their indulgences in this matter.***
There’s been a lot of chatter amongst the punditry that the Republican base (however you define that) is unenthused about the current crop of candidates vying for the nomination for 2008. To some extent, I think that’s true. Republicans were spoiled with Ronald Reagan, whose appeal across demographics and interest groups made him someone everybody could be enthusiastic about. Of course, at that time, I was a Democrat-in-training so even though I liked him personally I had a loyalty to other “team” to consider. Continued below the fold... YIPS from Steve-O: Geez louise, with a build up like that I thought Gary was going for the Paulnutz. I can live with Rudy/Admiral Ackbar, although it's not the true Republican dream ticket of Plisskin/Ackbar.Posted by: Gary at 09:23 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Aslan Is On The Move
It's the new Prince Caspian trailer.
From a quick viewing, it seems that The Chronicles of Narnia are now more firmly LOTR-ed than ever. (And I don't necessarily mean that in a good way.) Even the Prince himself, who is just a boy in the book, seems to have transmogrified into a hunky young Aragorn type.Posted by: Robert at 08:30 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
December 06, 2007
Where's Robbo?
I'm baaaaaaaack!!!!
Sometimes depos can be exhilarating, but by God sometimes they can be deathly dull. And I'm sure there is some violation of the professional code of responsibility when one finds oneself, toward the end of the last day, constantly looking at the clock and thinking, "Yadda, yadda. Screw the evidentiary merit. Let's end this thing or I'm gonna miss my flight!" As for Cleveland? Well, in the words of a literary character I know, "Is dump."*** More posty after I work out the kinks of having been on travel for four days......***Seriously massive bonus points for spotting the quote. And I'll even give you a clue: Zab and Haddy.
Posted by: Robert at 11:29 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Headlines You Don't Expect To See
Gennifer Flowers Mulls Vote For Clinton
Posted by: Gary at 04:37 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
My Stick Is Bigger Than Your Stick!
I have to admit I got a giggle out of this story:
Vice President Cheney warned in an interview Wednesday that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would invite “further attacks” against the United States and said he has been surprised by the weakness of the Democratic Congress... ...But his implication was clear: When asked if these men had lost their spines, he responded, “They are not carrying the big sticks I would have expected.” Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who as Democratic Caucus Chair is the party’s fourth-ranking House leader, replied: “Some of us were surprised that the president didn’t have a bigger stick when he could have stood up to Dick Cheney.”... ...Pelosi, in a statement responding to the vice president’s remarks, dismissed his comments and called on the White House to spend its time finding compromise. “I am hopeful the president will tone down his rhetoric, put down his veto pen and work with Congress to make progress for the American people.”It's not wise to go around sizing up Dick Cheney's stick in comparison to your own. It's a known fact that Cheney is so mean he once strangled a man with his just for snoring. Heh.
Posted by: Gary at 12:08 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Nice
The shot against the Huckster is nice, but do we really want to see a Fred! versus Chuck Norris showdown? Come on folks, we're making Baby Jeebus cry here! Seriously, though, I think one slick liberal former governor of Arkansas from a town cahld Hope is enough for one lifetime, thank you very much.
Posted by: Steve-O at 07:33 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
December 05, 2007
Utterly Cartographic Geeky Coolness
One of the two greatest maps of mystery is going on public display for the first time in the US December 13th at the Library of Congress:
WASHINGTON (Dec. 3) - The only surviving copy of the 500-year-old map that first used the name America goes on permanent display this month at the Library of Congress, but even as it prepares for its debut, the 1507 Waldseemuller map remains a puzzle for researchers.The other map in this category is the Piri Reis map. Of course, any discussion of the Piri Reis map, and its accurate drawing of the coast of Antartica without glaciers!!!! is just the pretext to show this trailer: Do you think the President's Book of Secrets would include Grover Cleveland's recipe for BBQ Ribs? Also, why don't conspiracy theory movies like this focus at all on the successful plot to assassinate William Henry Harrison?
Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific? "That's the kind of conundrum, the question, that is still out there," said John Hebert, chief of the geography and map division of the Library of Congress. The 12 sheets that make up the map, purchased from German Prince Johannes Waldburg-Wolfegg for $10 million in 2003, were mounted on Monday in a huge 6-foot by 9.5-foot (1.85 meter by 2.95 meter) display case machined from a single block of aluminum. The case will be flooded with inert argon gas to prevent deterioration when it goes on public display December 13. Researchers are hopeful that putting the rarely shown map on permanent display for the first time since it was discovered in the Waldburg-Wolfegg castle archives in 1901 may stimulate interest in finding out more about the documents used to produce it. The map was created by the German monk Martin Waldseemuller. Thirteen years after Christopher Columbus first landed in the Western Hemisphere, the Duke of Lorraine brought Waldseemuller and a group of scholars together at a monastery in Saint-Die in France to create a new map of the world. The result, published two years later, is stunningly accurate and surprisingly modern. "The actual shape of South America is correct," said Hebert. "The width of South America at certain key points is correct within 70 miles of accuracy." Given what Europeans are believed to have known about the world at the time, it should not have been possible for the mapmakers to produce it, he said. The map gives a reasonably correct depiction of the west coast of South America. But according to history, Vasco Nunez de Balboa did not reach the Pacific by land until 1513, and Ferdinand Magellan did not round the southern tip of the continent until 1520. "So this is a rather compelling map to say, 'How did they come to that conclusion,"' Hebert said. The mapmakers say they based it on the 1,300-year-old works of the Egyptian geographer Ptolemy as well as letters Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci wrote describing his voyages to the new world. But Hebert said there must have been something more. "From the writings of Vespucci you couldn't have prepared the map," Hebert said. "There had to be something cartographic with it."
Posted by: Steve-O at 11:19 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
It's funny because it's true
The Fabulous Chai-Rista will get a kick out of this article, as she nominated to succeed her as chair of the Women & Gender Studies committee and I lost by one vote.
Of course, I wasn't in attendance, which is why she nominated me, but the possibilities, they would have been endless...Posted by: Steve-O at 03:11 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
That's My Church! - Steve-O Edition
Or should that be Steve-O Sedition? You make the call.
Well, since Robbo is enjoying getting his tongue getting unstuck from that school yard flag pole in Cleveland that I double-dog dared him into licking, I guess it's up to me to document the further comings and goings in the Episcopal Church in the US. In all seriousness, I'm a bit of a poor correspondent to chronicle this story: since I took the opposite route of Robbo and crossed the Tiber the other way (by one of the many convenient bridges built for the purpose over the ages) to Canterbury ten years ago to follow The Dear One, I'll confess to meager and insufficient knowledge of issues of hierarchy above the level of the parish. But, as a political scientist, I do know signs of political trouble when I see them, so I'm going to stay away from the theological dimensions of the saga and just talk about it from an organizational and political perspective. Case in point: if you're a religious domination based on the structure of the diocese, having one of your dioceses bolt the fold isn't a good sign.CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church faces major tumult this week when an entire California diocese with more than 9,000 members decides whether to secede in an unprecedented protest over gay issues.Will the Steve-O (S)edition or revival of That's My Church! Episcopal Mash-up Spiral continue? I have no idea, but probably not, since I don't really know enough to offer an opinion. What pains me about this though is that there are a lot of people who I'm sure are practically sweating blood in discernment on this on all "sides," but that there is a lot of egging on here from those with a wide variety of agendas that are not necessarily related to the health and mission of the Church who seem to have a variety of vested interests in splitting the Church. At times like this it seems that the Quakers have the much better model for self-government in religious matters.
The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno and consisting of nearly 50 churches in 14 counties, would be the first diocese to bolt from the U.S. branch of the 77-million-member global Anglican Communion if Saturday's final vote passes. The U.S. church and Anglicanism generally have been in upheaval since 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than four centuries of church history. Dissent over that as well as the blessing of same-sex unions practiced in some congregations has caused a number of defections by traditionalists in the U.S. church. The 2.4 million-member U.S. church says that out of 7,600 congregations 32 have left, meaning that a majority of members of those congregations have departed and the churches are now considered closed. Another 23 have voted to leave, meaning that significant number of members have said they want to leave. None of the church's 110 dioceses, however, has taken the final step to depart so far. Dioceses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Fort Worth, Texas, have also taken preliminary votes to leave, but their final decisions are a year away. Bishop John-David Schofield, head of the San Joaquin Diocese, says leaving the U.S. church is "a sensible way forward" and one that could later be reversed if "circumstances change and the Episcopal Church repents." In the meantime his diocese has received what he calls a "welcome" invitation to realign itself, should the vote be affirmative, with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America headed by conservative Archbishop Gregory Venables of Argentina. That, he said, will allow members to remain part of the global Anglican church.
Posted by: Steve-O at 03:09 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
On A (Somewhat) Serious Political Note
We're finally (in my opinion) getting to the point where it's time for voters affiliated with one of the national parties to start making their decision as to whom they will support for their registered party's Presidential nomination. Starting this process way back to the beginning of this year has been an unprecendented development that I personally think is silly. But having had almost a year to evaluate candidates may have an historic effect on the outcome. Or not. It'll be interesting to see.
That being said, I feel the time is close to being right for me to endorse a candidate. I don't do so because I think anyone particularly cares or that it carries any weight with the opinion of others. I feel like I kind of need to get it out there because, once committed, I'll be "in the tank" for that candidate - until they win or concede. And I can feel free to aim criticism towards any or all the candidates without playing some kind of cutesy "oh, just see if you can guess who I'm for" game. Steve and Robert will have their own opinions and if they each end up supporting someone different, it'll make for a lively give and take here which will hopefully remain light-hearted in spirit. I started blogging just after the last Presidential election. And while I've tried to keep from letting politics dominate my share of posts here I know I won't be able to keep myself in check for what will no doubt be another polarizing, rancorous election year. So as soon as I can get my thoughts together, I'll share them and you can start calling me "[insert name here]'s shill". That is all. YIPS from Steve-O: I've got no such compunctions:
ACKBAR FOR AMERICA 2008
Because isn't it about time for an asexual fish-headed space admiral dude to become president? I'll be willing to settle for Huckabee/Ackbar.
Posted by: Gary at 03:00 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Something that will give the 12/7 Truthers and Kimmelites a twist in the shorts
Manuscripts of an autobiography by Mitsuo Fuchida, best known as the pilot who led the air attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 8, [sic]1941, and transmitted the famous signal--"Tora, tora, tora"--that indicated that complete surprise had been achieved, have been kept by his elderly son. The manuscripts describe the briefing on the attacks that his father, then a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy, gave to Emperor Showa, and recount how rivalry among officers affected major strategies--stories that had previously remained untold. Fuchida commanded the air squadron on the aircraft carrier Akagi, which was among the carriers used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The manuscripts were written by Fuchida between the ages of 65 and 73, when he died. After his death, his eldest son, who lives in the United States, kept the manuscripts, not showing them to anyone for about 30 years. Two years ago, however, Seiichi Nakata, a journalist and TV documentary maker, learned of the manuscripts and began work putting the papers in order. According to the manuscripts, 18 days after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Fuchida went with Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano to the Imperial Headquarters to brief Emperor Showa on the results of the attacks, using sketches and photos. The Emperor was fascinated by the photos, looking at them from all angles, according to the manuscripts. The scheduled 30-minute audience was extended to 90 minutes. After the audience, the Emperor left with the photos, saying that he wanted to show them to the Empress, Fuchida wrote. The Emperor, who had been reluctant to attack the United States, must have had mixed feelings on seeing the photos, but displayed his warmheartedness by showing his concern for the Empress, who was worried about the war, Nakata said. To honor the nine servicemen who died aboard midget submarines that were sunk during the attacks, the Imperial Headquarters designated them Kyugunshin (Nine Military Gods), and announced that they were responsible for sinking the U.S. battleship Arizona, which had actually been sunk by the air attack, according to the manuscript. As a result, naval staff officers had to work hard to mollify the air crews, who were angry to be denied credit for their efforts. Minoru Genda, then chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was a classmate of Fuchida at the Naval Academy and directed the air operations in the early stages of the attacks. According to the manuscripts, Genda, who became a lawmaker in the House of Councillors after the war, complained in June 1942, while en route to the Battle of Midway, that there was no time for him to prepare strategies for the battle as he was busy putting the navy in order after the Pearl Harbor attack. The manuscripts attributed Japan's defeat in the war to arrogance and an underestimation of U.S. naval strength. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost four of its main aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway, with the losses turning out to be a major turning point for Japan in the war. Fuchida suffered serious injuries in the battle, but went on to teach at a naval university and later became a staff officer responsible for air operations for the navy, holding the post until the end of the war. After seeing the devastation caused by the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Fuchida converted to Christianity and traveled to the United States to preach his new religion.
Posted by: Steve-O at 11:11 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Happy Repeal Day!!
Huh?
Yeah, 74 years ago today Prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I'd say some celebration is in order:Posted by: Gary at 09:02 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
December 04, 2007
Gary, it's time to don the berets
And rise to the defense of the frogs:
France's artistic elite has turned on American critics who claimed that their nation's culture was dead. Time claims singer Johnny Hallyday is France's only globally-known icon The surge of Gallic pride was provoked by the front page of the latest European edition of Time, which asked readers to name a living French artist or writer of international standing. The magazine itself came up with just one: the singer Johnny Hallyday - who announced this week that he would stop touring in 2009 due to old age. It added that thousands of artists were only able to survive because of the huge subsidies France poured into culture, and few have had any success abroad. Time contended that the country that produced surrealism and impressionism had been overtaken by London and New York for art. Unlike the ground-breaking New Wave movies of the 1960s, it said that the 200 French films made every year were mostly "low budget trifles". Similarly, the falling clout of the French language meant that very few of its novels were published abroad. In addition, Time stated that there were no French composers or conductors to match Debussy or Ravel, and whereas Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf were once heard the world over, the US and Britain now ruled the pop scene. Not so, said Maurice Druon, the novelist and member of the Academie Française - the high temple of the French cultural establishment - who opened the counter attack in a Figaro article yesterday entitled: "Non, la culture française n'est pas morte!" (No, French culture is not dead!). "Here we go again," wrote Mr Druon, a former culture minister. "Every four or five years, the US is seized by an anti-French fever that it takes upon itself to communicate to the universe. "But culture is not determined by the weekly box office. Culture asserts itself over time. Like most of his public, the author from Time confuses culture and entertainment. Can an artist be summed up by his weight in dollars alone?" Another commentator, Didier Jacob in the Nouvel Observateur, said that the problem stemmed from the American definition of French culture. "If it could be reduced to an algebraic formula, it would be: De Gaulle + Sartre + baguette + Sophie Marceau's breasts = the culture of France," he said.Leave it to the idiotards at Time to never have heard of Melissa Theuriau. Yips! from Gary:
French culture is not dead. It's resting. Something to consider: if culture is indeed "determined by the weekly box office", the U.S. is pretty screwed. Then again maybe instead of resting, I should say sleeping. Or at least the French educational system seems to be. As demonstrated by this:
Posted by: Steve-O at 09:05 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
McLieberman On Iraq: Time To Get With The Program
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) (I-CT) [as Ed points out, Lieberman is "technically" an Independent - though to my knowledge I believe he is still a registered Democrat who has yet to officially break from caucusing with that party] and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) have jointly penned an editorial in NH's Union-Leader - taking special aim at the "hurry up and lose" Democrat "leadership" in Congress:
For Congress to fail to provide the funds needed by our soldiers in the field is inexcusable under any circumstances -- but it is especially disappointing right now, coming at the very moment when Gen. David Petraeus and his troops are achieving the kind of progress in Iraq that few would have dared imagine possible just a few months ago. We recently traveled to Iraq, where we saw and heard firsthand about the remarkable transformation that our brave men and women in uniform have succeeded in bringing about this year. As every major news outlet now acknowledges, security has improved dramatically across Iraq since Gen. Petraeus took command and began implementing a bold new counterinsurgency strategy -- the so-called "surge." Today, rocket and mortar attacks have dropped to their lowest levels in 21 months. Car bombs and suicide attacks in Baghdad have plummeted 70 percent. Iraqi civilian casualties are sharply down throughout Iraq. And the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action has fallen for five straight months and is now at the lowest level in nearly two years. Simply put: a year ago, al-Qaida was winning in Iraq. Now we are. Our soldiers know they have seized the momentum in this fight... ...Nine months ago, when Gen. Petraeus took command in Baghdad, people of good conscience could disagree about whether his new counterinsurgency strategy would succeed. After so many mistakes and missteps by the Bush administration in Iraq, many Americans were understandably skeptical about the possibility of success. Now, however, the evidence is unequivocal. The surge is working. Rather than holding hostage the funding for our troops in the field and writing off the hard-won gains they are secured, it is time for Democrats and Republicans alike to recognize the extraordinary progress that Gen. Petraeus' strategy has achieved -- and build a new political consensus around it. Just as we demand Iraqi leaders take advantage of the success of the surge to set aside their sectarian agendas and pursue peace, so too it is time for Congress to stop playing senseless partisan games and instead fund our troops -- who have accomplished so much -- without delay. They deserve nothing less.Hear, hear.
Posted by: Gary at 09:02 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
December 03, 2007
It seemed like a good idea at the time
"Sperm donor" for lesbian colleague hit with action for child support eighteen years after the fact. Via The New York Post and FOX News. Several questions come to mind--"WTF were you thinking, pal?" and "Did your wife agree to this 'donation'?" Family law is one area I have avoided like the plague since passing the bar so I am no expert in the field. Reading between the lines, I wonder if the "donation" was done the old-fashioned way without the intercession of syringe, turkey baster, or anything of that sort. (Remember, the mother was a resident at the time and presumably being worked to death, paid peanuts, burdened by crushing medical school loans, and thus unlikely to afford recreational artificial insemination. A bottle of wine and an hour of "alone time" between the donor and donee is a much cheaper alternative.) If the donation occurred "the old-fashioned way" then it becomes pretty easy to see how the father is liable for child support.
YIPS from Steve-O: My only concern upon reading this (other than for the longevity of my computer monitor, now ensconced in hot decaf green tea) is that it gives the necessary plot twist for a sequel to The Big Chill, which ends pretty much with this happening. Because it's not like Mary Kay Place, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Tom Berenger, Meg Tilly, Glenn Close, or JoBeth Williams are doing much lately. I think I can speak for all of America when I say, "Oh, for the muthabuttloving soul of America, NO!"Posted by: LMC at 01:51 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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