Anarchy in the AM

A Perfect Example of How F'd Up American Politics Is

2009-07-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff Sessions, a “former” (wink wink nudge nudge) Klansman with possibly the world’s longest public record of being a racist scumbag, accuses Sonia Sotomayor of being “prejudiced.”

For Those Who Knew Me When I Was Young

2009-07-09T12:13:00.002-07:00

Come and Get Me, Crazy Lady

2009-07-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

You've gotta read this great article with even greater artwork.

Pity Poor Palin

2009-07-06T03:56:00.001-07:00

Apparently she didn't understand that governing = work.

How I Wish I Could Take Credit For This One

2009-07-04T02:31:00.002-07:00

An anonymous headline on reddit.com sums up the Palin debacle:

"For the first time, a Palin actually decides to pull out early."

Sarah Palin Resigns!

2009-07-03T14:32:00.002-07:00

We have some video coming in from Alaska:

A Part of American History

2009-06-28T07:14:00.001-07:00

you might have missed.

How Now, June COW?

2009-06-27T16:07:00.002-07:00

The June episode of Crusty Old Wave is up and available from either COW Central or directly from iTunes (where you can subscribe for free if you haven't already, and thus get every new episode automatically!).

We’re doing something a little different this summer ... sequential episodes! Normally we pick which show tape we’re going to edit/remaster/upload at random, but June’s is episode #73, July will be #74 and August will be #75 in honour of the show’s 18th anniversary (!!!).

Naturally this episode has the same bounty of great 80s music you’ve come to expect, but this one also has a special treat -- a complete Nick Danger adventure from The Firesign Theater! Let iPods everywhere rejoice!

Can America Take Any More “Family Values” Republicans??

2009-06-24T20:44:00.002-07:00

My reaction to the whole Gov. Mark Sanford story:

As others have pointed out, Sanford could have simply resigned last week and thus his family would not have been publicly humiliated in a circus of media questioning about his whereabouts.

Did he really think disappearing for a week wouldn’t attract attention and cause the whole thing to be found out? Did he really think his lying (another “family value” apparently) about hiking was going to wash??

At least one thing is clear: we can’t possibly let gays marry, that would destroy the sanctity of marriage ...

... as soon as people like Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, John Ensign, Charlie “sham marriage” Crist, Jon & Kate and Mark Sanford are done destroying it, that is ...

Art School Bailout Confidential

2009-06-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

The May COW is was here!

2009-06-10T07:31:00.002-07:00

Just a note for non-Facebook fans ... the May episode of Chas’ Crusty Old Wave came out on June 2nd, and is available for free streaming or downloading from either the COW website or iTunes itself.

This is one of the later episodes and I think the variety of music on it is just great. Man I love that guy!

Microsoft and the Law of Unintended Consequences

2009-06-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

This one goes out to my brother-in-law.

Freakin' Awesome!

2009-06-02T17:53:00.002-07:00

Tearing Apart ANOTHER Republican Argument

2009-06-02T04:34:00.001-07:00

Today, the pathetic and cowardly idea that America -- builders of the most awesome prisons in the world -- can’t house a handful of truly dangerous people. Even though we are already doing exactly that.

Sorry, can’t help it -- it’s just too easy!

Quick, Faithful Sidekick!

2009-05-31T15:14:00.002-07:00

Super-Fun-Pak Comix

2009-05-23T08:43:00.002-07:00

Punk Rock (and Chat) in Yer PJs!

2009-05-19T16:46:00.002-07:00

While we wait for the May episode of Chas’ Crusty Old Wave, a special treat ... last month Chas and his buddy Liz were live on WPRK once again, sitting in with DJ Maggie on her Punk Rock in Your PJs show.
We chatted about radio days, about Florida and mostly about Canada, and we also listened to some fun, poppy powerpunk (plus a few surreptitious selections from Chas). Great fun, but rather different than what COW listeners are used to ...

If you’re in the mood for something a little bit different, head to Crusty Old Wave Central or iTunes and get your free copy.

Taking Comments to the Next Level

2009-05-12T04:29:00.002-07:00

I actually made this video myself using a fun Flash tool at xtranormal.com. It’s based on an actual series of comments to my Star Trek critique on Filmmoi.

I WILL SMITE THEE!!

2009-05-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

My pal Jim turned me on to Bob The Angry Flower a while ago, and I've been looking for one that I thought would introduce the concept to newbs. Maybe this one:

Serious bonus points for the spelling of “hijinx.”

The Faulty Logic of Teabaggers

2009-05-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

(Credit to Crooks & Liars for this)

About Star Trek

2009-05-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

I just posted a very, very long and involved (and spoiler-rific!) review of the new film at my film blog, so if you'd like to read 4,800 words about it, click here.

In Praise of George W Bush

2009-05-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that headline right -- I’ve found something I can give Dumb-ya unfettered compliments on -- and that, according to stats-wonk Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com, is Bush’s creation of a huge generation of lifelong Democrats.

Using Gallup’s polling on partisan gaps based on age, we can see that (to put it as Silver did) the view of how “good” the president was when you were around 18-21 (when you could first vote) strongly shapes your political view for the rest of your life. This is not quite the same thing as saying “vote for a Dem when you’re 18 and you’ll vote Dem for the rest of your life,” but it does indicate a strong leaning in that direction.

Apparently, a lot of people only become politically aware shortly before they’re going to vote for the first time. I was politically aware way earlier (our family followed the ups and downs of the Nixon administration most carefully). In my case, I’d say Nixon did to me what Bush is going to do for generations to come.

For the record, my first eligible US vote was for John Anderson in 1980. I don’t have any recollection of why I voted for him in the first place, but I’m pretty sure I voted against Reagan and just couldn’t get behind Walter Mondale, so it was probably a protest vote (in hindsight, that sure sounds right).

The quick guide to reading the chart above is as follows: where you see high points, that indicates a strong preference for Democrats, and where you see low points, that indicates a weak preference for Democrats (the reason the chart is all positive for Democrats is that the majority of Americans identify as Democrats -- only the lowest points on the graph indicate periods when Republican identification was close to Dem identification).

Thus, you can see that the 18-25 group really, really, really hate George W Bush, whereas people who were 18 back when Reagan was in office (who would now be in their mid-40s) don’t feel that animosity so much, even today.

Assuming President Obama completes his first term as a popular and generally-well-regarded (despite his socialist hamburger-condiment choices) leader, we can expect an entire generation of people who turned 18 across a eight-to-16-year swath to be generally pro-Democrat supporters (and, from the looks of the current generation, much more politically active).

Looks like those “in the wilderness years” for the GOP really are going to be years. Of course, perhaps some unbelievably smooth-talking snake-oil salesman will emerge, or perhaps Obama will fumble (hey, look at Edwards!) or both, but assuming BHO can get from here to retirement with his rep intact, I think we’re looking at a generally blue future.

Who To Blame

2009-05-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Finally, someone has come out with a list of the 25 financial institutions most responsible for the economic meltdown which has devastated the financial security of millions of Americans and put the rest of the world into a crisis more effective than any terrorist attack.

The list is here, but interestingly there’s a name you would expect (if you’re stupid enough to believe Faux Noise) would be on there an isn’t: Freddie Mac (or Fannie Mae, for that matter).

What? The Republicans have lied to us?! Shocking.

5 Down, 45 to Go

2009-05-06T15:59:00.002-07:00

Maine becomes the fifth state to legalise gay marriage.

Ironically, I think the states you would least expect to have a problem with this are going to be among the last to see the light (I’m looking at you, Florida and Cally-fornee-a!).

And as for Oklahoma, go ahead. Secede. Please. And take that crazy, global-warming-denier, racist/sexist boob you laughingly call a senator with you (wouldn’t miss the other one either). Let me see now -- that would make 98 senators with 60 Democrats and 38 Republicans. Yep, sounds good to me.

Actually, I have a much better idea: if Oklahoma tries to secede, Obama should declare the state to be the property of Native Americans and give it to them wholesale. Then they (with help from the US military) could “escort” the white interlopers back out and take back what is rightfully theirs. Might settle a whole lot of shamefully broken promises and rid us of one of the most gawd-awful backward states all in one fell swoop.

Dear Cable-News Pundits:

2009-05-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, looking at an actual expert’s track record -- and then comparing it to your own -- will yield some insight on who the public should be believing.