Posted 6/22/2002 10:41:18 PM by Edward Driscoll
YES, MY BALLS ARE THIS BIG. And apparently, so are Donald Rumsfeld's.

Posted 6/22/2002 10:38:54 PM by Edward Driscoll
NPR GETS SLAPPED UPSIDE THE HEAD, courtesy of Tres Producers.

Posted 6/22/2002 05:55:27 PM by Edward Driscoll
ANN LANDERS DIED. Here's the AP report.

Posted 6/22/2002 10:50:05 AM by Edward Driscoll
AMTRAK WARNS ABOUT LOOMING SHUTDOWN according to this Washington Post article. Outside of the Northeast Corridor, I suspect this "warning" is being taken with a collective yawn. Inside the Corridor, I'm sure that Septa, NJ Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and other commuter lines can temporarily boost traffic to make up the slack of shutdown trains. And while commuters would face some shuffling of their plans, wouldn't it be worth some temporary discomfort to have come out of it with the federal government out of the railroad business?

Posted 6/22/2002 10:43:46 AM by Edward Driscoll
GREASE IS THE WORD: Fans of John Travolta's late 70s and early 80s dance films Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Urban Cowboy and Stayin' Alive, will soon be able to experience disco bliss at home, because they're coming to DVD, according to The Digital Bits. And Flashdance, the film that made the luscious Jennifer Beals a superstar (for a time) and sweatshirts pulled down to the shoulder a fad (for a time--thankfully one that has passed) is also coming to DVD.

Posted 6/21/2002 11:10:41 AM by Edward Driscoll
CHRISTOPHER CROSS DOESN'T WANT TO BE LINKED TO. Sorry Chris.

Posted 6/21/2002 11:07:41 AM by Edward Driscoll
THE NEW MODERATES? Patrick Ruffini sees a change coming in black elected officials. Sorry Cynthia.

Posted 6/21/2002 11:04:22 AM by Edward Driscoll
WHY AREN'T THERE ANY DECENT AIR FORCE MOVIES? Paul Palubicki wants to know.

Posted 6/21/2002 10:57:03 AM by Edward Driscoll
A BRIEF HISTORY OF YASIR ARAFAT, by David Brooks. Click over and read that lying is not something that's new to Arafat.

Posted 6/21/2002 10:44:28 AM by Edward Driscoll
I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS: But apparently, PriceWaterhouseCoopers' consulting division does, according to Lionel Mandrake--who also notes that they forgot to register the UK URL of their new name--and hilarity ensues. (Make sure to visit the .UK URL that GC Mandrake links to.)

Posted 6/20/2002 10:58:55 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE REPORT ON MINORITY REPORT, by Captain Scott, broadcasting from his Electric Love Bunker. UPDATE: From the (hopefully) slightly more staid Weekly Standard, Jonathan Last also weighs in.

Posted 6/20/2002 09:32:45 PM by Edward Driscoll
TEAMSTERS--they're not just for Democrats now, according to this article by Donald Lambro. By the way, Lambro writes, "Mr. Hoffa never made it to first base with Miss Reno in his crusade to end the government's 13-year oversight of the Teamsters". Is it just me, or is the natural reaction to putting "first base" and "Miss Reno" in the same sentence something along the lines of "ewwww!"?

Posted 6/20/2002 04:27:39 PM by Edward Driscoll
BLOW-UP is the The Internet Movie Database's film of the day. Here's Andrew Sarris's 1966 review of it and unlike much produced from that period, this film (and Sarris's review, curiously enough) have aged pretty well. (Which is probably why Mike Myers' Austin Powers have repeatedly ripped off their iconic imagery. Anyone for tennis?

Posted 6/20/2002 03:26:32 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE JAPANESE SCHOOLGIRL/BURGER KING/NYMPHOMANIA CONNECTION: Found by Asparagirl.

Posted 6/20/2002 02:07:34 PM by Edward Driscoll
GROUND ZERO: The Les Paul Forum, one of whose members died in the 9/11 attack on the WTC, has photos taken this week of Ground Zero.

Posted 6/20/2002 02:02:00 PM by Edward Driscoll
RUSSELL KIRK AND WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY will be featured on CSpan's American Writers series next Sunday. Follow the link for times to program your VCRs, Replays, TiVos or UltimateTV boxes. UPDATE: There's a slight possibility the Brothers Judd will be taping this show. (Folllow their link, if you by chance you don't know who Buckley and/or Kirk are.)

Posted 6/20/2002 01:47:28 PM by Edward Driscoll
TRES PRODUCERS has lots of stuff on Ted "Terrorist" Turner's outburst earlier this week, including this post and a letter to Ted from Ed Koch.

Posted 6/20/2002 01:05:56 PM by Edward Driscoll
ANOTHER GOVERNMENT CAUSED FOREST FIRE, this time in Alaska.

Posted 6/20/2002 12:34:41 PM by Edward Driscoll
"COLLAPSE INTO COOL": Found via VodkaPundit, take a look this Starbucks ad and tell me if you see what I see. Fortunately, it was quickly yanked, and one possibly ill-concieved ad campaign isn't enough to make me consider drinking coffee made by these guys.

Posted 6/20/2002 10:44:45 AM by Edward Driscoll
PRIVATIZING AMTRAK: Reuters says that "the Bush administration plans to embrace limited privatization as a long-term option for high-speed rail service now operated solely by Amtrak". UPDATE: Patrick Ruffini has some thoughts on breaking up Amtrak.

Posted 6/20/2002 10:39:46 AM by Edward Driscoll
SOCIALIZED BASEBALL? A tongue-in-cheek solution in Tech Central Station.

Posted 6/19/2002 11:09:38 PM by Edward Driscoll
EBAY: BUY, SELL, AND FIND LAWYERS? You too can sue Borden over String Cheese, if the price is right!

Posted 6/19/2002 05:00:44 PM by Edward Driscoll
GREAT DRUDGE JUXTAPOSITION:

FBI Warns of Possible Terror Attacks on July 4... Martha Meets The Press...

Posted 6/19/2002 04:09:29 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHO SHOULD CONGRESS BLAME FOR 9/11's INTELLIGENCE FAILURES? Themselves, according to this article in Human Events.

Posted 6/19/2002 03:43:39 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE MIRAGE OF MODERATE ISLAM is an excellent essay (and apparently the first of a series) by Eric Raymond. Found via Stephen Green's VodkaPundit blog, who also links to this essay by Larry Miller on the marage of a Palestinian homeland. If you're looking for an good double feature on what makes the Middle East such a powder keg (literally), this is it.

Posted 6/19/2002 03:31:42 PM by Edward Driscoll
SPEEDY GONZALES IS BACK! In a (very) minor triumph over the dark forces of political correctness, FOXNews.com is reporting that the little fellow is back on Cartoon Network. Here's our previous Speedy story. And I'll bet Speedy could kick the Pets.com sock puppet spokesthing's polyester butt six ways to Sunday.

Posted 6/19/2002 03:11:42 PM by Edward Driscoll
A CODEBREAKING SUMMER: This must be the summer of WWII secret code movies. Earlier this month, I posted my review of Enigma. Here's VodkaPundit's take on John Woo's new Windtalkers.

Posted 6/18/2002 11:41:48 PM by Edward Driscoll
JAMES BOWMAN didn't review Star Wars: Episode II, but one of his readers did--and Bowman evidently liked the review enough to post it on his home page.

Posted 6/18/2002 11:01:27 PM by Edward Driscoll
LILEKS ON THE PLO:

Just passed the TV downstairs; a PLO rep was talking to Spock Jr. about the latest suicide bomber, and was asked if he condemned them. “Of course we do,” he said, “because they strengthen Sharon who wants to bring more settlers into Palestinian lands.” BUZZZ. Wrong answer, O killer-shiller. Actually, right answer, since it’s accurate, but you’re just amazed to hear a PLO spokesman say something that honest. He is opposed to blowing apart high-school girls because it will increase support for Sharon. Not because it is evil. Not because it tells the world that his cause has descended into utter depravity, and embraced the death of children because his people’s children go to heaven, and the other people’s children go to hell. (They’re just pigs and dogs anyway, right?)

Posted 6/18/2002 10:36:45 PM by Edward Driscoll
ISRAEL TO SEIZE PALESTINIAN LANDS, according to this AP report. Steve Den Beste thinks that any hope of a Palestinian state is over: old news, bye bye, forgetaboutit, and that the Palestinians have only themselves to blame.

Posted 6/18/2002 10:32:16 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE BODY BOWS OUT: John Fund says American politics will be duller without Jesse Ventura. That's a given. But Fund also adds:

A genuine American success story, Mr. Ventura was swept into the governor's mansion when, four years ago 37% of state voters decided they'd had enough of blow-dried politicians who produced little beyond platitudes. Voters laughed when Mr. Ventura ran campy ads portraying a Jesse action figure battling "Evil Special Interest Man." They cheered when he proclaimed "I'll fight to get those Democrats and Republicans to return the $4 billion in excess taxes they took from you. That's $1,000 for every person in Minnesota." At first the bond between Mr. Ventura and Minnesota voters grew stronger when he appointed talented managers and succeeded in pushing through modest tax rebates. But three years later, Mr. Ventura sounded more like a traditional tax-and-spend politician. In January he called for $2 billion in tax increases to close a budget gap. The proposed hikes included increases in gasoline and cigarette taxes along with an extension of the sales tax to more items. The Legislature eventually plugged the budget gap with a combination of spending cuts and accounting gimmicks but, to Mr. Ventura's embarrassment, no tax increases. For all his anti-big-government rhetoric, Mr. Ventura was never willing to make truly tough budget decisions. The state budget has grown by 33% during his years in office, easily outstripping inflation. The Tax Foundation reports that despite his modest tax cuts, state revenue is still growing faster than personal income in Minnesota. In other words, government is still gaining ground at the expense of taxpayers.

Posted 6/18/2002 10:18:24 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID INKBLOT TEST: In between updates on the Colorado forest fire and the Federal employee accused of starting it, Diana Mertz Hsieh has a fascinating link explaining how the Rorschach Test works and what responses psychiatrists look for when giving it.

Posted 6/18/2002 06:53:44 PM by Edward Driscoll
WHY PHILLY NEEDS A MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: Patrick Ruffini makes a very good case for having a conservative think tank in liberal Philadelphia.

Posted 6/18/2002 01:31:32 PM by Edward Driscoll
THIS YEAR'S CINDERELLA NFL TEAM? The Cleveland Browns, according to this Sporting News essay.

Posted 6/18/2002 12:36:40 PM by Edward Driscoll
ONE HAND CLAPPING AT HARRISON FORD: Donald Sensing, the blogger previously known as Gunner20 (I think I first discovered him on the original Sgt. Stryker Web site) recently added me to his list of links, and posted my thoughts on why the trailers for K-19: The Widow Maker, Harrison Ford's upcoming summer potential-blockbuster used recycled music instead of a score from the actual movie. Nice to know the cup of coffee I had at film school has paid off!

Posted 6/18/2002 11:19:18 AM by Edward Driscoll
TED, MEET JONAH. HE WORKS FOR YOU. I noticed this paragraph on the Brothers Judd's link to Ted Turner's astonishingly boneheaded rant (even for Turner) about "Israeli terrorism":

"The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis, they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. ... So who are the terrorists?" he told the Guardian newspaper.

The most annoying argument made by apologists for these massacre-bombers is the one which begins with something like, "the Palestinians don't have American-made tanks and helicopters, 'suicide bombers' are the only weapons the Palestinians have...." The reason this argument is so annoying is threefold. First, the explicit assumption in this formulation is that if indeed the Palestinians had helicopters and tanks, they would in fact use them. In other words, to make this argument is to concede that the Palestinians are at war with Israel which would put all of the peace rhetoric in a very different light. Which leads to the second issue. Nobody who makes the "the Palestinians don't have tanks" argument will ever concede the logic of their assertion. If you say to them, "So if they had tanks they'd use them? That doesn't really sound like a desire for peace." You get eye-rolls as if you just don't get it. And, lastly, contrary to what this argument implies and the assertions of countless Arafat apologists, the Israeli military was not designed nor intended to be aimed at the Palestinians. It was designed to fight wars with actual nations which, several times in the past, tried to destroy Israel. To suggest that the Israeli military is a weapon intended for the Palestinians is a form of moral equivalence. It assumes that Israeli weapons were intended for murder just like Palestinian bomber belts. And that's a lie.

Posted 6/18/2002 10:57:27 AM by Edward Driscoll
JERUSALEM BUS BOMBING KILLS 20. Here's a news article if you're not up to speed with the latest Palestinian-caused horror. Stephen Green links to two excellent essays to put it into perspective.

Posted 6/18/2002 10:50:10 AM by Edward Driscoll
WHAT ABOUT THE HEISENBERG COMPENSATORS? Group Captain Mandrake take a look at the current state of teleportation. In a nutshell, don't hold your breath waiting for Star Trek's transporter system.

Posted 6/18/2002 10:38:45 AM by Edward Driscoll
VIACOM AD REVENUES UP: As someone who's income is very much determined by ad revenues in printed media (more ad space equals more space for print content--i.e.: articles), I'm happy to see this story, about television ad revenues, I suspect they're a pretty good leading economic indicator.

Posted 6/18/2002 09:54:11 AM by Edward Driscoll

Posted 6/18/2002 09:42:37 AM by Edward Driscoll
BOATLOAD OF AL-QAIDA RUMORED TO BE HEADED TOWARDS L.A., or already in L.A., or docked nearby, according to this Washington Times article. Asparagirl has appropriate advice for her Hollywood-based beau.

Posted 6/18/2002 12:41:19 AM by Edward Driscoll
REALITY CHECK: Found on the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web Today page:

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice gave a commencement address at Stanford University, where, according to the San Jose Mercury News, "protesters held signs with messages such as, 'Security: Too High a Price with Condi Rice,' and 'We Don't Want Your Racist War.' "Blogger Bo Cowgill has photos of the protesters, all of whom appear to be white.

Posted 6/17/2002 07:06:25 PM by Edward Driscoll
TOUGH CHICKS: This is a couple of months old, but if you haven't read it, it's a classic, by Mike--probably no relation to Jimi--Hendrix. I just have one point of contention. Mike writes "A Tough Chick would do Angelina Jolie in a hot second, and doesn't care if even her mother knows it". I'd like to think a proper Tough Chick would spot Jolie as a collagen-lipped Hollywood phony who makes really lousy films and move on. But that's a minor quibble about an otherwise very enjoyable essay. Tough chicks. Bellicose Women. Sensible-shoed libertarians. It's a fun ol' blogosphere!

Posted 6/17/2002 05:47:35 PM by Edward Driscoll
HOW A NEW JERSEY WEDDING BAND WOUND UP PLAYING AT PAUL McCARTNEY'S NUPTIALS, from the New York Daily News.

Posted 6/17/2002 03:47:34 PM by Edward Driscoll
CIRCUIT CITY DUMPING VHS FOR DVD. Found via The Digital Bits:

Here's a funny story that defines irony (as our old buddy Andy Patrizio said when he e-mailed me the news this morning): Circuit City is no longer going to be carrying VHS. Yes, the company that tried to shove the DIVX pay-per-view competitor to DVD down your throats now apparently realizes that (gasp!), "Consumers want DVD, and we want to meet that demand." You can't see it, but I've got one helluva grin on my face right now. And it's gonna be a while before it comes off.

Posted 6/17/2002 01:01:28 PM by Edward Driscoll
STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN wrestled with his wife this weekend, according to this police blotter report from The Smoking Gun. Gee, and I thought all this "rassling" stuff was just an act. Nice to see these dignified, highly seasoned professional athletes living the life outside the ring as well.

Posted 6/17/2002 12:41:08 PM by Edward Driscoll
BEIJING CLOSES INTERNET CAFES, after one was destroyed in a fire, which killed 24 people, according to this AP report:

A spokesman for the Beijing city government said Monday that the capital's 2,400 Internet cafes were ordered shut down on safety grounds. Only 200 will be allowed to reopen, said the spokesman, who would give only his surname, Fan. "This is done purely to save people's lives and property," Fan said.

Posted 6/17/2002 12:26:46 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE WATERGATE GUN IS STILL SMOKING, causing the CIA's failure to prevent 9/11, according to this article by Mark Riebling in National Review Online. Meanwhile, The Brothers Judd, as well as John Dean, are each hot on the trail of Deep Throat. UPDATE: Joshua Marshall seconds Judds' opinion on Deep Throat's identity.

Posted 6/16/2002 11:17:47 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE MANY LIVES OF LES PAUL: My profile of the father of the electric guitar is now online here. Or, if you stop by today (Monday), you can click in through Catholic Exchange's homepage. FLASHBACK: Here's my blog entry from the day after I interviewed him. Think I sound excited?