11.29.06

U.S. To Kim: “No iPod For You!”

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:03 pm by kevin

U.S. bans sale of iPods to North Korea

This really reads like an Onion article.

Is the crux of our North Korea really to annoy Kim Jong Il into submission? And do we really think that he won’t be able to obtain iPods, Jet Skis, et. al. on the sly?

If countries can evade sanctions on friggin’ nuclear materials, I suspect North Korea will be able to sneak in a few bottles of Hennessy.

All this isn’t to say that there’s any harm to trying (other than potentially pissing Kim off even more, which seems pretty irrelevant anyway given current attitudes); I just really hope there’s more to our policy than restricting toys.

11.28.06

New Focus For Christian Coalition Derailed

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:08 pm by kevin

Christian Coalition pres.-elect leaves

The president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America has declined the job, saying the organization wouldn’t let him expand its agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

Very interesting. I’m not sure what to make of this - I suppose it depends on whether the Christian Coalition or Hunter (the erstwhile president-elect) is more indicative of the mainstream. To put it another way: the meaning of this is dependent on whether the CC represents the stalwart majority, or the desperate minority of the American evangelical community.

11.25.06

What’s Good For “Law and Order”…

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:26 pm by kevin

Despite Fewer Lockups, NYC Has Seen Big Drop in Crime

There’s always a question of correlation vs. causation, but it’s interesting nonetheless - particularly since the trend in most of the rest of the country has been a deeply disturbing dose of self-congratulations at crime reduction via mass incarceration.

11.16.06

Pahrump This

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:05 pm by kevin

US town bars foreign flags in swipe at immigrants

So, yeah, as the guy quoted in the article points out, there’s no way this is constitutional.

My theory? Parhump (which, incidentally, has a flashly splash page to an altogether dizzying web site) was just getting jealous of their less-than-stellar portrayal on the soon-to-be-canceled Studio 60, and so decided to “change the story” by passing a law that can only be described as, well, stupid.

11.15.06

“If I Did It”

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:17 am by kevin

O.J. Simpson to discuss killings

I know I haven’t been posting as much lately, which is mostly the fault of work being rather busy. But this story actually caused me to do a spit-take.

Apparently, O.J. - yeah, that guy - has a new book coming out, called “If I Did It”… and, of course, an interview to promote the book (on Fox, natch).

All I can say is… seriously? WTF?

11.02.06

OMG Really?

Posted in Uncategorized at 6:10 pm by kevin

Big Tobacco’s Anti-Smoking Ads Boost Teen Smoking

Seriously? You mean tobacco companies aren’t looking to self-immolate?

Man. Who would’ve thunk it?