Michelle Obama: Funny and Truthy

For the record, I do not recall any of my law school professors being this...er...lovely. From last night's Colbert Report:

[N.B. Nothing bookish here...but I wager she will write one in the not too distant future...it is, thus, proto-bookish.]

Revenge of unintended consequences...

Mix technology (in this case, stock footage and the web) with politics and what do you get? Further proof the Ed Tenner was right with his rather brilliant book, Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. Great read...very funny video.

Addendum rant: Sex, violence and forfeiting civil liberties...

Ok, I'm still annoyed and have found solace in the intellectual arms (and humor) of Henry Rollins. I offer for your enjoyment two of the gems from the past: his Letter to the FCC (sex bad, violence good) [N.B. there are some bad words used in these clips...if such offends you, go elsewhere]


This one is Henry feeling a bit annoyed about the assault on civil liberties that has been a major theme of the White House for the past several years.



I don't know about you...but I feel better after listening to Henry. Remember, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin)

Annoyed by stupidity today.... [Warning: Rant]

We have Congress about to cave on yet another fear-mongering attack on privacy and on the Constitution (and a simultaneous broadening/gutting of FISA), Bernanke is poised to cut rates yet again in an attempt to stave off a recession and the House has approved contempt citations against Bush minions amid teeth gnashing...but what is getting the most focus by the press: Jane Fonda said the word "Cunt" on the Today show.

Fonda, 70, is part of the the 10th Anniversary performance of "The Vagina Monologues." She is reading a monologue *titled* "Cunt" and said the name of the piece on air. That the piece revolves around de-mystification of its subject matter and female empowerment and getting *beyond* pejorative linguistic associations appears to have been COMPLETELY LOST on Meredith and the Today Show folks. They issued a public "apology" for the "remark" and people have been blathering about it ever since.

Mind you, according to that fount of knowledge Wikipedia

the Vagina Monologues has been translated into 45 different languages and performed in over 119 countries. Celebrities who have starred in the play include: Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Idina Menzel, Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey. Ensler [the author] was awarded the Obie Award in 1996 for ‘Best New Play’ and in 1999 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship Award in Playwriting. She has also received the Berrilla-Kerr Award for Playwriting, the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and the Jury Award for Theater at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

What the hell is going on in this country when no one apologizes for the ongoing rape of our Constitution over the last 7 years or so but public apologies are required for stating the title of a monologue. No one seems to be apologizing for fiscal mis-management that my great-grandchildren will still be dealing with...but people are prostrating themselves to make amends for the "damage" done by a word. Truly, this country is doomed if we can't do any better than this in vetting the wheat from the chaff as to what actually MATTERS in this country.

[Mind you, it is an offensive word and one that I generally avoid. However, it is the nature of its burden and weighted meaning that *gives* it such power in this context....the irony of the apology is sadly rich...]

ADDENDUM: Apparently, this catastrophic embarrassment to the core of the American ideal has also fallen to the wayside... While it is clear that "dirty words" trump government sponsored torture, recessions, undermining the 4th Amendment and nearly all other minor issues....*nothing* beats a mass shooting at a college. The US media pigs will be feeding at NIU's trough for days. I guess I should be thankful that international news streams are so easy to follow these days (CNN's front page is focused on the shooting with supporting tales of a 10 year old who shot his sister over chips and Valentine's Day "moolah"....BBC's lead story is "

Bush defends US record on Darfur" and Hezbollah's current threat to Israel, etc....you know, news). It is really bloody sad that the best source for news *about* this country come from *outside* this country....except of course for the violent or prurient, that we do better than anyone. I'm going to bed, maybe it will be better tomorrow....or at least I'll be less annoyed.

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin

Today is Darwin's 199th birthday. Only 365 days to plan for his big one next year.

I wonder if Mike "I don't believe in evolution" Huckabee is celebrating...

Morning, heading out and Obamerama...

Good morning campers. I feel human again. It is quite shocking. I slept well and long. The water pressure here is such that it can be adjusted to "painful" (something that I wish I could do at home). Breakfast was, as promised, a treat. Great coffee, fresh pastries (the little wild blueberry and mandarin orange danishes were amazing), wild mushroom quiche, sausage and a sort of french toast strata just scratches the surface. It was very good.

We were joined at breakfast by one of Suzanne's classmates from HBS. VC, investment banking, smelt breeding research and the book trade makes for fun and strange conversation.

I checked email before heading off to do some booking hunting and found a message from a friend who is doing some work with/for the Obama campaign. I clicked the link included in his missive and was brought to the page clipped above. It is a very good sign, I think, when support for your campaign is such that it manages to overwhelm your rather robust ecomm servers. Doubly interesting that basically at the same time Hillary is having to loan her campaign $5MM, Obamerama's campaign has raised over $7MM. It is going to be a fun few more weeks...

No bookish connection, just a great speech...

After nearly eight years of a leader who can not speak in complete sentences (or pronounce simple words), I am sorely tempted to support Obomerama simply because listening to him speak does not set my teeth on edge. This was a great speech. If you have not listened to it, here is what a politician *should* be able to do...speak well, clearly and on point.

Chaos at W#@$ette leads to a new blog and...

our first foray into web advertising. I have enjoyed and followed Wonkette (sorry, no link, still annoyed) from the early days when it was, you know, still Ana Marie Cox's baby. She basically sold it/moved on and it became part of Gawker Media's clot of blogs.

'ette was notable for its *very* snarky and "insider" DC/politico news. Funny, on point and on pulse with a serious love of the loathsome nature of DC and its resident political sleazebags and their minions. You know, the way news should be...

Anyway, they blew through a fair number of writers post-Ana (all male...at 'ette...urgh). Then the frequent poster, Anonymous Lobbyist, came "out" and revealed herself as Megan Carpentier and let us know that she had quite the lobbying gig and would be full time at 'ette. I had dropped back to check it about once every two days or so until Megan began writing...'ette was back. Sharp, funny, profane and just "back". Hell, Megan literally waterboarded a co-worker for our pleasure and amusement...and then destroyed the tape (luckily, there was a secret camera).

I was back to checking it at least twice a day and clicking through on many/most of the posts (i.e. generating money for the site). Then Ken Layne "came back" to 'ette and, in short order, fired the only 'ette at 'ette (it was not a gender thing, apparently, but a style thing....Megan wanted 'ette to be 'ette and Ken apparently wants it to be back in the "snooze" period). There was much gnashing of teeth (notably here) and much outpouring of support for Megan.

About two days ago or so, Megan, Greg Wasserstrom (also recently axed at 'ette) and Hunter Walker (of Gridskipper) founded a new snarky political blog, Cynics' Party ("Exposing hypocrisy, Espousing Profanity since January 24, 2008."). They are off to a great start from a content standpoint...but the off the blocks GoogleAds monetizing resulted in a horrifying amount of Ann Coulter (care, don't say it out loud or an angle looses its wings) and Newt Gingrich newsletter appeals (clearly a deep and disturbing flaw in AdWords).

Late yesterday they redesigned in a way the pushed AdWords "down" the page and added their own support ads. In support of their new venture (and in response to their *very* competitive pricing), I decided to run a wee banner ad on the site. It is our first online buy. How knows, with a bit of luck, it will drawn a new client or two...hope springs...er...eternal. Best of luck to Megan, Greg and Hunter.

Politics in America...

Ok, I admit, it is early Monday morning and my defenses are down...but I would have less contempt for the political process (such as it is) if all national election material was executed with this amount of creativity, humor and...er...silliness.

I know I've been silent of late. Things have been crazy busy (new collection and 67 lots from a recent auction to be catalogued and writing projects that I could not duck). I'll catch up soon...thank you for the snarky messages.