Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
News for Ducks
"A man who pleaded guilty Tuesday to ripping the head off a duck in the lobby of a St. Paul, Minn., hotel is not a horrible person, his attorney said."'He's really a nice young man, he's humble, he's hard-working, he was a good student and worked hard to get the job he did,' said attorney Michael Colich. 'Nobody's been willing to look at what good things he's done in his life and what good things he'll do in his life.'
"At the time of the crime, Scott Clark was an auditor with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has since been terminated.
"While pleading guilty to felony animal cruelty, Clark told Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan he was 'extremely sorry' and had never hurt an animal before.
"Marrinan said it appeared Clark, 26, had 'a substantial amount to drink' before the incident. He will be sentenced next month, the newspaper reported."
- AP: Man apologizes for killing hotel's duck -
The Crat Pack
vs.
"I just had the weirdest thought watching the Las Vegas debate. The three remaining candidates all more or less agree with one another on policy, are all superstars in their own right, but have very different styles. Tonight they look as if they are all even having a bit of fun. They are like the three core members of the rat pack.
"Hillary is Sinatra, huge celebrity, major scrapper. Obama is Dino, cool and smooth as silk. John Edwards is Sammy, the all around entertainer. (MSNBC wouldn't let Joey on the stage tonight.)
"Clinton's new theme song: My Way. Obama: That's Amore. Edwards: I Gotta be Me.
"Does this make Bill Clinton Ava Gardner? Strangely, I think it works."
- digby: The Crat Pack -
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Mitt Romney is a Coldhearted Cocksucker (the musical)
"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side."
- Aristotle -
I Feel So Much Safer Now
"A controversial Virginia lawmaker is trying to introduce new legislation to ban rubber testicles from being fitted to the back of trucks. "Lionel Spruill, known for his failed attempt in 2005 to ban baggy pants, says the motivation for his latest idea came from a constituent.
"The man complained that he had been left speechless when his six-year-old daughter spotted a pair and asked him what they were.
"Mr. Spruill agreed to act: 'I said, 'Sir, I'm going to be the laughing stock, but I'm going to do it,' he told the Virginian-Pilot.
"Truck drivers who sport fake testicles on the back of their vehicles would risk a $250 fine under his proposal."
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Kentucky Fried Assholes
KFC slaughters 850 million real life chickens every year, but apparently they draw the line at gore on film. C.L. Gregory's slasher movie The Kentucky Fried Horror Show hasn't even begun filming yet, and he has already run into trouble with the venerable patriarch of fast-food poultry. Apparently the movie's artwork and website look to be a real appetite-killer.Though KFHS doesn't have anything to do with KFC, that hasn't stopped the latter from sending a letter threatening a lawsuit and stating their intention that this film never sees the light of day.
Gregory mentioned in a Fangoria interview that the letter doesn't just lodge an complaint against his movie, but against horror films altogether: This is the first time that a corporation has literally stated in a written letter that they intend to censor a privately funded film simply because it's a horror movie. They stated that they had no issues with a comedy film [John Landis' 1977 cult fave The Kentucky Fried Movie received no flak from the chain], but they detest horror."
Gregory doesn't seem to be fazed by the threat, planning to continue production as scheduled. While it's obvious why KFC would protest an unsavory association with murderous hillbillies, their ire has all but guaranteed that more people than ever will hear about this movie and want to see it. KFC may want to rethink their approach. If there's a secret ingredient to instant publicity in showbiz, it surely isn't eleven herbs and spices.
Posted by Tom Blunt to monsterfest
The Forgotten Iraqi Exiles
The war in Iraq has killed hundreds of thousands, and caused the one of the greatest flights of people in the history of the Middle East. Sixty thousand people flee their homes each month.
But when they are reported on at all, they are seldom individualized. Rather than photographing hundreds of Iraqi refugees to illustrate the epic size of the exodus, I want to follow, for an extended period and in an intimate way, just a few - I want to take the journey with them, to live the aftermath of war with them, and to relate their experiences as if it were happening to me, to understand the experiences that drove them into exile, where they are often viewed with suspicion and even as the enemy.
- BAGnewsNotes contributor Lori Grinker -
"In response to an inattentive domestic media and the lack of visual documentation, Lori Grinker has been pursuing the story of Iraqi civilians fleeing the war.
"In April, and again in September 2007, she traveled to Amman to photograph Iraqis forced to leave their families, homes and livelihoods for a life of cramped, substandard living conditions, inactivity, and waiting for the time when it will be safe to return to Iraq, or hear that they have found sanctuary in another country. And those are the lucky ones. Many of her subjects are in Amman to repair their bodies, only to be to be repatriated to a war zone after they are healed.
"In the case above, the young man (call him Amer) was burned in an explosion while walking past a fuel truck in Baghdad. We see the 16-year old coming out of the recovery room after having surgery to fix the contracted fingers on his right hand. He faced the same surgery on his left hand a couple of month later.
"For the past two years Amer's father has taken him to Egypt to treat his burns, then to Iran and he is currently in Jordan where he is having surgery on his hands with MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) at the Red Crescent Hospital in Amman.
"In collaboration with Lori, well known for her documentation of the effects of war, the goal of this site is to bring this situation to a larger, concerned audience. Moreover, it is an opportunity to throw more light on the moral failure of the United States in failing to humanely and adequate assist the exiles, especially those who have worked directly for the U.S. occupation.
"Since fiscal year 2007, only 1,608 of a promised 7,000 refugees were admitted into the U.S. The government has now set a goal of bringing in 12,000 Iraqi refugees in fiscal year 2008, with an additional 5,000 visas to be granted among the more than 100,000 Iraqis employed by the U.S. or U.S. Government contractors. Although the plan passed Congress, however, it has yet to be signed into law.
"Over the coming months, it is our goal to apply the immediacy and the serialized nature of the blog medium to visually pursue this subject, as well as to personally follow the odyssey of specific refugees in the process of creating a new life.
"Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of terror."
- George W. Bush -
Air Car
"Tell me if this sounds too good to be true - a car that can be filled up for $3, can go 125 miles between fill-ups, and is non-polluting. That's what we could see as a result of a new partnership between French company MDI, and Tata Motors. Tata is the company that is about to launch a $2,500 car.
"This particular marvel of efficiency will be called the Mini CAT, and it will achieve such efficiency because it will be powered by compressed air. This is no amateur show, either - the car is designed by a former Formula One engineer (though I doubt it will go that fast).
"Additional power beyond the compressed air is captured using brake power recovery. This seems like a bit of a dream, but the cars will reportedly start to appear in India and Europe later this year at a cost of around $7,000. Not bad. The granola set will be thrilled with this car, and even happier about a plan for future models - a body made out of varnished hemp."
- T.O. Whenham : A compressed air car? Could be here sooner than you would think -
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