“Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this lazy land.” – Bender Like a lot of people, I’ve been riveted by the goings on in Egypt over the last few days. It’s one of those very rare events when the term “reality television” actually applies. The outcome is completely uncertain and the participants [...]
Archive for January 2011
Nile Gazing
Domodedovo and the Ethos of Keep Calm, Carry On
“Well, a lot of companies would put in a pretty system that looks good but doesn’t provide any real protection.” – Ex-Con Home Security Guy “Ohh, let’s get that!” – Homer Simpson Between the State of the Union and the riots in Egypt, Monday’s bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport is already fading from the international [...]
Institutional Cruelty
“What the hell are you doing?” – Kyle Broflovski “We’re playing Lambs.” – Eric Cartman There was high drama in Virginia today when uber-blogger Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake tried to take David House to visit presumed Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning in the brig at Quantico. Hamsher’s full write up is here, and it’s well worth [...]
It’s Alive! It’s Alive!
“We are Trapper Keeper, we are one.” – Trapper Keeper Hot on the heels of the FCC’s near complete abandonment of net neutrality, even on the old fashioned “wired” internet, comes this week’s announcement of more or less total capitulation to Comcast’s acquisition of the National Broadcasting Company and its various subsidiaries and divisions. This [...]
The Fear Complex
“There’s a UFO outside my window, seriously.” – Bart Simpson “Oh, Bart, it’s just an old golf umbrella stuck in a tree.” – Marge Simpson “Ahh! Can I sleep in there with you guys tonight?” – Bart Simpson “No.” – Marge Simpson “Can I sit on the roof with a baseball bat in case a [...]
Schrodinger’s Prank
“Chris, everything I say is a lie, except that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that.” – Peter Griffin Banksy, masked artist and media darling, gave an interview last month (via) in which he attempted to defend the veracity of his movie Exit Through the Gift Shop. Basically, [...]
Second Amendment Remedies
“Hey, who cut something out of my paper?” – Homer Simpson “Not me.” – Lisa Simpson “Not me, I’m more of a mail tamperer.” – Bart Simpson “Well don’t look at me, just because I’m holding a pair of scissors.” – Marge Simpson Like most popular, tech oriented websites, Boing Boing affects a relatively neutral [...]
They All Laughed at Hillary Clinton
“Take a look at this, Lisa, you don’t see any ‘Homer is a Dope’ t-shirts, do you?” – Homer Simpson “We sold those out in five minutes.” – T-Shirt Vendor It was nearly thirteen years ago that Hillary Clinton, speaking about the witch hunt then being pursued by Kenneth Starr, uttered perhaps her most famous [...]
When Wars Are Old Enough to Vote
“Time was you’d send a boy off to war. Shootin’ a man fixed ’em right up, but there’s not even any wars no more, thank you very much Warren Christopher.” – Moe Three hundred and sixty three days from now the last regular American troops are supposed to be out of Iraq. That will be [...]
