Blue Armadillo weblog

Saturday, June 16, 2001

I loved Electra Woman and Dyna Girl when I was a kid, and I was really excited when I heard that the WB was considering airing a new version of the classic. Well, they didn't pick up the show, which is too bad. But until someone else picks it up, I can ease my pain with this terrific Electra Woman and Dyna Girl fan page. (Link via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Also via PCJM: Timothy McVeigh's death certificate. The certificate lists the "manner of death" as "homicide." Reminds me of something Nixon said once: "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal."
posted by John Heaton 12:48 PM | link

I am a member and an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I am also, as I have noted before, a dirty hippie liberal. Therefore, I am very pleased that the General Assembly has recommended that the Church repeal its policy forbidding the ordination of homosexuals. The recommendation still needs to be voted on and approved by a majority of the 173 presbyteries, but the vote in the General Assembly was fairly decisive, so I am reasonably optimistic that it will be approved.
posted by John Heaton 12:23 PM | link

Friday, June 15, 2001

I did not know Earl Miller, but now I wish I had. (Link via medianews.org)
posted by John Heaton 9:52 PM | link

The next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary will include the word "d'oh!". For some reason this makes me very proud. (Link via the Obscure Store)
posted by John Heaton 9:38 PM | link

Josh Marshall raises some good points about the Washington DC press corps as he reflects on his interest in the Chandra Levy case. In case you're unfamiliar with the case, here's a brief summary by Marshall from a salon.com article he recently wrote about the case:

Late last April, Levy had just completed a six-month internship at the Bureau of Prison Affairs. She packed her bags, contacted her parents by e-mail about her travel plans and promptly disappeared. When police entered her apartment several days later, they found her bags packed, her keys missing and no other sign of what might have happened to her.

Almost from the beginning, though, questions were raised about a possible romantic relationship between Levy and Condit, the 53-year-old married congressman from her home district surrounding Modesto, Calif. The evidence of such an affair is sketchy and circumstantial, and there was no evidence whatsoever that Condit played a role in Levy's disappearance. Tidbits pointing to a Condit-Levy affair kept dribbling out, but suspicions were fanned more than anything by Condit's refusal to squarely deny an affair.

The point Marshall makes in his weblog is that the press corps in Washington has been reluctant to fully investigate the Condit angle because they know and like Condit. This is pretty typical of the Washington press corps, frankly; conservatives like to complain about a liberal bias in the media, but the truth is that the Washington press is biased mainly toward (a) themselves and (b) their powerful friends. Condit is well liked, so the press corps is treading lightly. The odds are high that if the politician linked to Levy had been, say, the mayor of Friendship Heights, Maryland, or even a less popular member of Congress like Jim Traficant, the press would have been much more aggressive in pursuing the story.

Consider, for example, the strange case of Bob Dole's affair. For years, rumors abounded in Washington that Bob Dole had had an extramarital affair. But nothing was ever reported about it. Then, in 1996, during the Presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported the affair in the 26th paragraph of a long profile of Dole that ran on a Saturday. (They also said they had confirmed the story several weeks earlier but had chosen not to report it at the time.) Keep in mind that Dole was running against a man whose own extramarital affairs had been so widely reported in late 1991 that he had to go on 60 Minutes to try to diminish them.

Of course, who in the Washington press corps knew who Bill Clinton was in 1991? They didn't know him other than as a governor of a hick state who gave a really long keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Bob Dole, on the other hand, they knew very well. Socialized with him even. Bob Dole got a pass from the press because they liked him.
posted by John Heaton 9:33 PM | link

Rock legend and nutjob Ted Nugent says Janet Reno deserves to die for the actions of the Justice Department at Waco and Ruby Ridge. Ted, maybe you should stick to singing and bowhunting.
posted by John Heaton 12:05 PM | link

Thursday, June 14, 2001

General Bob of Uncle Bob's Army ordered me to wish his fellow diarist Weetabix a happy birthday. I failed. I'm probably going to be drummed out of the Army for this. But that's beside the point. The point is that her essay today about local news in Wisconsin is damn funny.
posted by John Heaton 10:35 PM | link

Ruben Bolling's Tom the Dancing Bug is one of my favorite comics. Recently, Bolling created a recurring feature in TDB: "Judge Scalia, the crusading judge who travels the land doling out tough justice!" It's pretty much a one-joke premise -- but I happen to think it's a funny joke. This week, Judge Scalia presents a guide to golf. Pretty damn funny, especially the Scoring Tip at the bottom of the page.
posted by John Heaton 11:58 AM | link

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Researchers at the University of Washington have released a study suggesting that false memories can be created. After being exposed to a fake ad for Disneyland that included a picture of Bugs Bunny, 30 percent of the test subjects stated they had a clear memory of meeting Bugs during a trip to Disneyland. (Link via The Scene)
posted by John Heaton 2:53 PM | link

Oliver North for Congress? Yes, if Governor Stupidhead has his way. The Washington Times reports that my home state of Virginia is considering redrawing the the state's Congressional districts to put the treasonous criminal North into a district currently held by incumbernt Democrat Rick Boucher. I make this pledge now: If Oliver North ends up representing Virignia in Congress, I will move out of the state.
posted by John Heaton 12:44 PM | link

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

I mentioned Ted Rall as one of my favorite cartoonists the other day, and today the Boston Globe ran a flattering profile of him. Coincidence?
posted by John Heaton 11:03 PM | link

Dahlia Lithwick wrote an interesting and funny report on the oral arguments in Nguyen v. INS, the citizenship case decided by the Supreme Court yesterday.
posted by John Heaton 3:46 PM | link

Monday, June 11, 2001

The Official Peanuts Website has started reprinting what is arguably the greatest series of Peanuts strips in the long history of that comic, in which Charlie Brown starts seeing baseballs everywhere and eventually develops a rash on his skull that makes his head resemble a baseball. As I recall, this continuity lasts three or four weeks, and the site archives keep the strips available for about a month, so check it out at your leisure. But do check it out. If you remember the series in question, read it to remind yourself of what a genius Charles Schultz was; if it's new to you, read it to introduce yourself to one of the best comic strips in the history of medium.

posted by John Heaton 3:23 PM | link

Timothy McVeigh's final statement. My gut feeling is that William Henley wrote the last two lines first and constructed the rest of the poem around them.

For what it's worth, I am opposed to the death penalty, and unlike some death penalty opponents I did not set that belief aside in the case of Tim McVeigh. There is no question in my mind that McVeigh was guilty, and that his actions were thoroughly reprehensible, but I don't believe the government has the right or moral authority to say who lives and who dies.
posted by John Heaton 2:11 PM | link

I think Philip Michaels is a brilliant and hysterically funny writer. In my quotes database, I have more quotes by Michaels than by any other person save Michael Kinsley (thirteen each, if you must know). CNBC recently interviewed Michaels for a piece on Apple Computers; his account of the interview and the events leading up to it on teevee.org is, as one might expect having read the first line of this blurb, brilliant and hysterically funny.
posted by John Heaton 1:58 PM | link

Is it really a surprise to anyone that McDonald's lobster rolls are not as good as lobster rolls available elsewhere? Isn't that statement generically true about everything you can get at McDonald's? "Famous chef" Jasper White is quoted as saying McDonald's misses the "Zen of the lobster roll" with their sandwich. Shut up, Jasper. Next time I'm in Boston I'm going to have one of these lobster rolls just to piss you off. (Link via the Obscure Store)
posted by John Heaton 12:12 PM | link

New York Times columnist Frank Rich speculates that Jenna Bush may be behaving recklessly on purpose, to punish her father for going on a Florida golf trip instead of staying by her side when she underwent an emergency appendectomy last December. I don't think he has any basis for that speculation, but it's kind of amusing none the less. On the other hand, what to make of this photo on firsttwins.com? It seems to pre-date the appendectomy.

While we're on the subject, thesmokinggun.com has an image of Barbara Bush's fake ID. Looks like a pretty good forgery.
posted by John Heaton 11:50 AM | link

/archives/old-weblog/2001_06_10_index.shtml