Weblog Entry for 30 April 2002

Teresa’s not only updated but upgraded her blog.

[ permanent link ]

I was reading through recent Savage Love columns and I came acr- er, found this righteous rant on virginity by one of the owners of Seattle sex-toy shop Toys in Babeland, nestled in between items on women butt-fucking straight guys:

Claire not only believes that virginity isn't real, but she thinks the whole idea of "virginity" oppresses women. "The concept of virginity does not belong in these brighter times," Claire said, apparently unaware that there's a Bush in the White House again. "Now women can find self-esteem and confidence through sexual expression, be it masturbation or sleeping with whomever we want, however we want to."

Dan disagrees, protesting that we do need a word for the state of not having had sex, but I see Claire’s point. I know plenty of people who obsess over virginity. Lots of people treat it as if it were some precious irreplaceable jewel, and are then so eager for sex that they wind up in lousy marriages that they wind up breaking up a few years later. (Why do you think the divorce rate is so high in Bible Belt states?)

[ permanent link ]

More about Crossfire — Eve has posted a lovely little exchange between Begala and Novak, with the former bringing up Saudi anti-Americanism and latter trying to defend the Saudis:

NOVAK: [...] Tom Lantos, the ranking Democratic on the House international relations committee, calls Saudi Arabia, one of our best friends in the Middle East, a medieval theocracy and dictatorship.

BEGALA: That's probably just an insult to medieval theocracies and dictatorships.

And Tom Tomorrow linked to this lovely bit of satire from WhiteHouse.org — Bush talking about his visit from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah:

Of course, my administration remains firmly committed to preserving the appearance of friendliness with the Saudi Arabiac royals. Never mind that they nurture and support the very terrorists I have pledged to destroy. They also keep the tank of my beloved 3-ton ivory white pickup perpetually topped off, and for that I honor them. I also honor their millions of explosively volatile subjects, whose talents are limited exclusively to extracting oil from beneath the arid, scorched wasteland that is their entire nation. And I sincerely feign respect for their religion, and hope that its peaceful adherents will prevail on that inevitable day when the Saudi oil deposits are tapped out, and a panicked and newly impoverished populace wastes no time in ritualistically disemboweling the entire royal family. So let's hope Prince Picnic Basket can hang on for awhile, OK? (Laughter.)

[ permanent link ]

Some links Chris, who will soon have her own blog (I’m trying to convince her to use blosxom), directed me to on the Make Them Accountable site. First, this description of the new Crossfire, while long on invective and short on substance, makes me actually want to watch the show:

What Republicans understand, and what Carville and Begala understand, is that the public is always going to respond to political conflict by blaming both sides. In fact, the aggressor usually gets points for having strong convictions, while passive victims like Michael Dukakis are ultimately blamed for the negativity. This signals a green light for political headhunting, assuming that the will exists. Carville and Begala are wonderful role models for Democratic candidates, which explains why the Republican Party desperately wants Crossfire to be cancelled.

It’s not that Novak and Carlson aren’t doing their best, but it’s just harder to make a case when the truth is against you…unless your opponents are doormats. The conservatives gamely try to defend their fact-free positions with the lies and ad hominem tantrums that work so well against other liberals. Unfortunately for these right wingers, Carville and Begala actually believe in the liberal philosophy, and are therefore too busy advocating the truth to notice they are receiving the traditional cue to capitulate. Inevitably, Novak and Carlson become overwhelmed by reality, helpless to do anything except shriek about the incivility of it all. There’s a distant déjà vu to the show, because you’ve seen it all before on Saturday Night Live: It’s The Hand versus Mr. Bill.

And this satrical summary of the week’s past political shows is hilarious:

THE O’REILLY FACTOR: Bill O’Reilly welcomed former drug czar William Bennett. Bennett said that he thought Bush was delivering a tour de force performance in the War Against Terrorism. O’Reilly replied that he had been raised in a working class home and could therefore identify with his blue collar viewers. Bennett countered that Bush was doing a fine job on the economy. O’Reilly, sensing an opening, said that he used to walk five miles to school, even in the snow. Bennett congratulated Bush on some really nifty recess appointments. O’Reilly recalled never receiving Christmas presents as a boy. Bennett stated that his love for Bush was more than just platonic. O’Reilly admitted that his family was so poor that he had to walk around naked until he was fourteen. Bennett admired Bush’s manly bulge. O’Reilly claimed to have been born in a dumpster.

[ permanent link ]

Patrick’s quoted an amazingly insane opinion from Jamie Kellner (chairman and CEO of TBS) on devices like the TiVo:

It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming.

...which makes me wonder if Kellner’s gonna sic the cops on my ass for going to the bathroom. Besides, if we’re inventing contracts and pretending the other guy’s signed them, I’d like to pretend that Fox signed a contract promising to show me new Futurama episodes instead of football all last fall and winter, so I can sue them for breach.

While hunting around on Daypop for a link (Patrick neglected to provide one), I found one on Vitally Important Information. Kellner spouted off in an interview with CableWorld, and apparently my bathroom-going ass is safe:

I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it easy for someone to skip a commercial.

Yeah, yeah. I didn’t buy this argument when people were claiming that ad-blocking was going to destroy the web, and I don’t buy it about TV.

[ permanent link ]