Eugene David ...The One-Minute Pundit |
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Saturday, June 26, 2010
I guess the upscale urban dwellers of both coasts are sad that "our" fuuutballlll team lost. (I put "our" in quotations because the team is no more mine than the planet Neptune.) I will confess though when I saw that picture of Slick sharing a Bud with that guy with the tattoo running halfway down his arm (and who reportedly would be paid zillions for a GOOOOOOOOOAL that no longer matters) my non-existent patriotic fervor became a contemptuous laugh. Nor did it help that thousands of Blutonians swarmed around the nearby Rendelis to revel in their superiority. In the old days snobs showed their disdain in top hats; now they do it with beer bongs. I will say this: there are few ways to congratulate Ghana without condescension, but to have won twice against "us" in two consecutive affairs says something good for them.
To those who mourn this usurpation of American might, be not sad; America corners the world in sports AAAAAAAAAATTITUDE. If only we were good at something else, something posterity could proudly remember us by.
In SLIMEDOM: We are surprised to learn He owned Beliefnet.com. We are not surprised to learn He sold it. On those few occasions we saw it (always through a link) it struck us as wishy-washy; if Beliefnet had beliefs it carefully cloaked them. By rights this is the beginning of its ride into oblivion.
Also: The destruction of the Times of London begins. (Both links via IWantMedia)
Hey EZ, it was YOUR stupid idea to start that listserv, and it was YOUR stupid idea to make it exclusively left-leaning, and it was YOUR stupid idea to make it a self-selecting self-serving cabal, and it was YOUR stupid idea that it be completely closed from public view, and it was YOUR stupid idea that your hoity-toity club couldn't suffer from LEAKS.
Given how much you've EARNED thanks to your CLAQUE I have NO SYMPATHY FOR YOU. And besides that enough effete news-hack snobs will be grief-stricken enough to start their OWN listserv. And for all these reasons and more we will continue to call you MR. JOURNOLIST. (Via WOLFFMAN!!!!!) Friday, June 25, 2010
God, if only I could audition for Dave Weigel's job -- but to do that I'd have to be a) an Ivy Leaguer, b) an uppity snob, c) a member of JOURNOLIST and d) a worshiper of BROCCOLI. That said here's how I'd open my first post:
I am a conservative. By any measure I'm so. I hate PC; I deplore abortion on demand (excepting after rape and incest); I believe in fiscal rectitude, public and private; I oppose Obamacare, that quagmire to end all quagmires; I'm for a strong national defense; I back Israel and a foreign policy that can meet strength with strength. But I also endeavor to be independent in the best sense. Too often conservatives have let their mouths do the talking, with dread results; say the word conservative and even some on the right must first think wincingly of Rush or Glenn Beck, men more famous for their publicity-fraught bellowing than their reason. Rep. Barton's idiotic remark shows that too many conservatives worship big business and the hyperrich, the kind of worship that helped get us into trouble. Too often in wanting to persuade a hip young crowd the right apes the left; Jonah Goldberg is but a starboard Frank Rich, an uncritical pop culture savant who descends to glibness. Being a conservative should mean standing on principle, and conservatism's principles are good sound timber; it shouldn't mean having to stand against yourself. I hope that comes through in the posts ahead.
BREAKING: Weigel Resigns
Good for him -- and JOURNOLIST. But who's going to knock conservatives now? I guess even ST. WARREN has His limits. P. S. The Post appears to have hired Weigel, a liberal blogger, under the false impression that he's a conservative. PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!! (First link via -- oh well -- JONAHDOM; second link via the usual Romy)
Why we MUST have FORBESLIST:
The Davie Brown Index, which measures attributes of celebrities, found Woods' "aspiration" scores (that is, the masses aspiring to be him) to be on par with those of Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs. You know, VERY LITTLE MALCOLM, maybe people would aspire more to be YOU if you had more money -- and one way you COULD get it is by putting your rag BEHIND A WALL TOO. And the thing is this not-bad article didn't need it.
Senate Democrats began their investigation of for-profit higher education here in earnest Thursday, holding the first in what they promise will be a series of hearings aimed at better understanding the sector’s value to students and taxpayers.
TRANSLATION: Another Democratic kangaroo court, and Republicans bolting their mouths shut.
122 MILLION TAX DOLLARS LATER:
The new $122 million home of the Philadelphia Union features few architectural flourishes. For now it promises to be only this: A damn fine place to watch a soccer game. But what would make it perfect would be to vaporize its home town CHESTER! Thankfully Jeff Babbitt (oh, that's not his last name?) does enough of his part that we can give him a NEUHARTHISM OF THE WEEK AWARD!
AP NEWSALERT!!!!!
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Official says Pakistan to monitor 7 major websites, including Google, for anti-Islam content. League of NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAtionnnnnnnnnnnnnns!
HOW APT: GOD'S SERVANTS now virtually own WHINER BROTHERS -- a most fitting conclusion. Megalomania meets its match in megalomania.
(Via VULTURE!!!!!)
Some profs fear that a mere journalist won't be smart enough to do their views justice [Romy link]
Which neglects that, despite their salaries, all JERNALISTS are mere.
In light of The Daily Kaplan's increasing role in the high-tech secret public-be-damned cabal called JOURNOLIST we are pleased to see KAPLAN, INC. has lost all of its foolish "DIRT-CHEAP!!!!!" Barron's premium, and is now back on the way to below $400, a number we hope it will meet very soon, however unlikely.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
When all the ads in the world, all the publicists, all the clever machinery for turning the public into fanbots, can't prevent a celebrated chanteuse's sales collapse (in the U. K. anyway), that is VERY good news.
Of course this tantruming pundit should have apologized -- for being a proud member of that secretive gaggle of know-it-alls called JOURNOLIST.
(Via the usual Romy)
Let's see.
Oil is still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the global economy is shaky, millions of Americans remain unemployed -- and now the military commander in Afghanistan has been sacked because of comments he made in Rolling Stone magazine, of all places. Not a good time for President Obama, and the polls are starting to reflect it. [Emphasis added] What Web sites have you been following? Obviously not YOURS, as this content-free ad is supposedly your number-one hit. GanNETtoids! Put OKAY!!!!! BEHIND THE WALL!!!!!
When 'Twilight' fandom becomes addiction
When teenagers become morons.... Oh, we forgot -- most of them are born that way.
The thing with ads like this is that their readers instantly dismiss them because their perpetrators aren't expected to tell the truth, and frequently they don't. Who needs truth with NUMBERS?
Remember the sad story "The Man Without a Country"?
The junk food generation: British children getting fatter at twice the rate of Americans Doesn't that rather thoroughly describe Merrie Olde Englande these days? Although the reverse is true as well.
In my continuing soap opera of build or buy I am now sniffing around those refurb HP PCs. Yes, yells the DIY brigade, home-built is cheaper -- but it's cheaper only when compared to comparable pre-builts; in my case it may not be comparable with a model with a 950 chip, 12 gigs of memory and a Blu-Ray burner. Yes the HPs have the questionable Truckee boards -- but the DIYs come with the danger of one defective part zapping your whole creation, or at least setting you back a few hundred bucks to buy anew. Someone out there who knows computers and knows the parts business has the answer, but I've given up on sites like Tom's Hardware because they're the chatter of people who mostly don't know what they're talking about -- and boast of it.
5 reasons not to buy the iPhone 4 [Yahoo! home-page link]
...have been overwhelmed by the 20 TRILLION REASONS the HACKS have SCREAMED through their ADS.
If the notoriously misgoverned (and largely ungovernable) New Jersey considers itself better off in a few years' time—if businesses are moving back to the state, if unemployment is down, if the budget deficits are under control, if the balance between taxes and services is more reasonable—Chris Christie will deserve most of the credit. If not--and there's reason to think that might be the case....
We've stopped reading "insider-politics" columns because when they're not CW they're veering one way. Most hacks do not realize many of their turnips do not read one graf after another -- they SKIM (one wonders if JonBoy knows that yet; his CIRC suggests there's reason to think that might NOT be the case), and when they skim they come across very LEADING LINKS like this. Enough rats have abandoned Zeitgeist's leaking ship to prove the old model of telling it from the mountain won't work anymore. And a DOUBLE-DEMERIT to ANDY for linking to an article behind a PAY WALL. Wednesday, June 23, 2010
As President Obama concluded his Rose Garden statement revealing that he had replaced Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top American commander in Afghanistan, a reporter shouted an impromptu question. "Can the war be won?" he yelled. The president didn't answer — perhaps because he doesn't know.
Or perhaps He does know but He doesn't want to clue the peons in on one reason He fired His insubordinate yakety-yak general.
ARCHDaily!
No matter how you dice it and slice it, it's still an ugly old garage in a dying town. A barbers' museum -- complete with the world's biggest collection of combs!
When does WOLFFMAN, the ELIOT SPITZER of the WEB, finally link to one too many ads like this that he finally exposes himself as the mirror image of SLIME?
P. S. Skimming the PEOPLE WARNER ad -- what we could of it -- we are more convinced than ever THE TONY HAYWARD OF MEDIA has this as His home page -- on EVERY computer He uses.
“Larry King has always been a bit of a punch line, but you don’t want him to become a joke.”
Why not? We've been laughing at him through gritted teeth for years. And PERFESSER THOMPSON, you entered JOKE TERRITORY long ago. CARLOS THE JACKASS! The wall!! THE WALL!! (Via the always annoying AHTSJournal)
Arizona Democrats urge Obama not to sue over controversial immigration law
Hmmm -- is there an election going on? Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Purchases of U.S. Existing Homes Unexpectedly Fall (Correct) [SIC!]
People don't have jobs, they're still abandoning their houses and we expect prices to rise without aid from Uncle Sucker? Only in the Wall Street Casino and Fairyland.
How often do the modern old-wives' tales, the exclamation points of medical research studies that point to this magic elixir or that, get overturned?
Caveat: MS. GLOBAL WARMING WILL DESTROY THE EARTH!!!!!
What makes us wish MORT ZUCK would find a leak in his portfolios is that he MUST run PR like THIS that only gets people mad because these HATED!!!!! athletes are cussing a blue streak all the way to the bank.
And now His Omnipotence can add a new name of the Gods and legends he "resembles" -- HARRY TRUMAN!
There is no excuse for insubordination among generals but there is no excuse for this PEACE-PRIZE-WINNING PRESIDENT either. CAVEAT: ANONYMOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which reminds us: How many of the Americans who are EXTREMELY PROFOUNDLY DELIRIOUSLY ECSTATICALLY following the WORLD CUP voted for HIS OMNIPOTENCE?
You'd think He and RAHM would be organizing WORLD CUP PARTIES to gather their votes! Monday, June 21, 2010
TRANSLATION: Congress is about to change the world again, after threatening not to.
FURTHER TRANSLATION: ANOTHER mess. What is so sacred about auto dealers?
Aren't there enough teenage sensations we geezers could call "dorky"?
And the younguns shouldn't be using such words to describe their favorites -- they've launched too many dorky careers.
Elsewhere in Zeitgeist.com:
Lately, some high-profile women are acting like mean girls. Is the fault theirs or ours? [Sub-hed] I don't know. Is it our fault or Zeitgeist's that we must pay attention every time JonBoy has a brain cramp? It's almost as if this rag is begging to be put out of its misery.
Don't Believe the Hype: Rahm Emanuel Not Having Problems With Obama
We don't believe hyperpartisans like Head-Scratchin' Jonny -- so why shouldn't we believe the hype? Another example of something that may be true that becomes false thanks to WHO TELLS THE TRUTH.
Thankfully the rest of the world has the screaming meemies only once every four years.
(As opposed to the League of Nations, where it has them all the time.)
We wonder if Andrew doth protest too much. Every time a president makes a speech it costs money, especially when he travels to places he'd otherwise like to avoid, because his entourage has to create a five-hundred-square-mile frozen zone. And yet it does seem a little off-putting when His Omnipotence does it, because he flew to our rescue like Superman, and now has to make do with Air Force One.
Mustapha Mond wrote this. What can prevent NUKEMEN from building superraces using genomics? What can prevent a genomics arms race? This path to world destruction is surer than nuclear war.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
I am still trying to decide on a new computer. My deadline is July 30 -- when the Bugmeisters end Bing Cashback. I've discovered the meaning of six of one. I'd prefer building my own computer -- it would make me accomplished despite its simplicity; all you need is an hour and considerable patience, and every part has a warranty, unlike the refurbished HP rigs I've been eyeing on eBay and HP's own site, which give you ninety days. But I've discovered the computer retailers play more tricks with their prices than your average supermarket. It does not help that you're basically stuck with maybe three of four online retailers -- NewEgg, Superbiiz aka Ewiz, Systemax, aka Tiger Direct, aka Circuit City, aka Global Computer, aka.... (I wouldn't buy through those eBay amalgamators; they play tricks with their prices plus a markup.) Going to the Web for advice doesn't help. You will never fully learn whether, say, an I7-875K is better than an I7-930. (The rabid gamers say it is, but I have less than zero interest in first-person shooters, which sums up most video games; and Intel very cleverly added an element of planned obsolescence to its motherboards.) These last few days I've been seeking an answer to a scalding query: can I use 12 gigs of DDR3-1600 in my computer without having to tweak the BIOS? and I get 50,000 different answers, a true demonstration of the blind leading the blind. "What's the best motherboard?" gets you only 15,000. When not getting parts from their suppliers the parts "reviewers" on the geek sites play a game of Julian Hirsch saying as little as possible in as many words as possible. Nonetheless I've pretty well decided on most of the parts, although $140 for a PSU seems absurd, even with a Visa rebate card that allows the issuer to gyp you twenty ways (oh, and that's Power Supply Unit; you must pay through the lingo to play), but it's annoying that it must cost as much as a ready-made -- and that memory prices are twice what they were a year ago and won't come down.
I've mentioned before the trouble with buying a refurb HP. One eBay seller has had a couple of loaded items. But is it worth a tarnished motherboard and a puny warranty? I dream of loading my new rig with a dozen hard drives but are they necessary? Yes an SSD boot drive would be nice but can I afford it? A decent-sized one still coasts ten times its hard-drive equivalent. I don't want something I'll have to replace in two years, but the term "future-proof" is that lunatic asylum business's latest up-to-date version of a hoary old cliché. I just want something good, and powerful, that will last. P. S. And now I learn HP's introduced the HPE-300 series -- its third new higher-end model series in six months. Given their profits in printer cartridges I wonder when the bums in Palo Alto will have their own BP moment.
Our only response to this ad is, quick! What was the Number One Pop Tune this day ten years ago? These ads irritate us because every time a copywriter -- reporter does one his business permits its sister business the recorded...SOUND trade to further burrow into the depths, rather like BP, and we get the sonic equivalent of their GUSHER.
We can safely say Mark C. Toner, whoever he is, has redefined the term blithering idiot.
And so have his bosses, who saw fit to post his idiocy in full. (Via JPOD)
$109 MILLION?!?!? We thought it was supposed to do 120!!!!!!!!!!
One thing for sure: DC Comics Pictures and the Tony Hayward of Media have A BOMB ON THEIR HANDS.
Oh, so Attorney General and Chief Social Engineer Effete Q. Snob will try KSM in a civilian court AFTER the election.
Good luck! “When does an unfulfilled political promise become a lie?” Not when the 2009 winner of the BOOM-BOOM PEACE PRIZE tells it!
It would help the Democrats perhaps marginally if more of their ranks determined "failure is not an option in Afghanistan"; the way they act failure is just something that happens to someone else.
Despite the hope (and the hacks' actively egging it on) that Joe Barton's dummkopf remark will destroy the GOP, we would contend it's just more background noise. People already know Republicans love corporate America and the hyperrich. It might be more difficult for Democrats to overcome their traditional philosophical stench -- especially as they may be running the country right now.
And when it comes to pols saying stupid things, the contempt is BIPARTISAN.
We would say to The Man Who Was Once Jesus Christ that information, like water and like electricity, will simply follow the path of least resistance. As long as people already pay for their Web connection they are extremely unlikely to pay more. They've long grown tired of cable's rate creep. As for the "successes" in setting up pay walls -- SLIME's JOURNALS and the FT -- we answer: 1. GOOGLE; and 2. When did the FT last break a story?
Mr. Moms become more common
Such stories are "WE GET THE MESSAGE" stories, and this type pops up every year around Father's Day. If we could somehow be sure this is reported with complete dispassion and objectivity such is the news biz' aura we must assume it will SAY SOMETHING even when it doesn't intend to say anything. So we read things that may not be there -- because so many things are. Thanks for your P-Ulitzer winning ways, news hacks.
One of AMERICA'S GREATEST SOCIAL COMMENTATORS had better look behind his shoulder:
Before Stephen Colbert, There Was Bob Hope
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