Owen Wilson suicide attempt...the worst-case scenario

While it was sad to hear regardless, this post from my favorite gossip blogger makes owen wilson's hospitalization even worse. If it is an OD, is it really a potential career-ender though?

Vick

Wow, Vick's apology seems sincere:

I believe he should have a chance to play again...someday, after facing justice. See Keith Olbermann for more.

Hmmmm, so maybe the roads aren't falling apart after all?

Very interesting commentary here, about the state of the US infrastructure. As usual, it appears the initial panic over the bridge collapse in Minnesota was overblown, underlined by this gem:

as far back as April 1982, The Reader's Digest had an article entitled "Cures for America's Dying Highways". This concern led to a series of Federal acts over the subsequent 20 years that tried to help address safety and efficiency issues by providing additional funding for maintenance of roads and bridges

So its been a 'crisis' for a while. Well if you step back and think about the number of times you read a newspaper article about someone killed by faulty infrastructure, versus the number of times you read about someone killed by a drunk driver, head-on collision, or encounter with a lightpole, you quickly realize this is yet another societal overreaction. I think its probably because we are simply much more concerned when something we trust, something where its reliability underpins our everyday safety fails. While its nice for these stuffy old elitists to think rationally about issues such as highway safety, the fact remains that the average person knows bad drivers are a risk, and goes about his every day business knowing that fact. His world is deeply rocked, however, when the basic foundations of his everyday life (the trust he places in banal infrastructure), is shaken by events such as the bridge collapse.

Latest hilarity

Aboriginal art

Check out this cool aboriginal art from my friend SG:

From this gallery here.

Greece burning

Check out Firefighter Blog for the latest, but this is how bad the wildfires in Greece got:

UPDATE> JR says it looks like the Turks pillaged Greece. Ha.

Slate answers another question I had before I even asked it

As usual, Slate is right on top of the news and has answered a critical question for me about current events. Why was everyone so worked up about the fires in Greece getting close to Olympia? Aren't they just stone? Not so, says Slate, apparently fire can reduce them to dust.

Are all Republicans gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that

Yet another one, Senator Larry Craig from Idaho! Some gems from the undercover cop who arrested him for soliciting sex in a public bathroom:

I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.

“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”

OMG that is funny. I'm still laughing. 'No!' And the smoothness of the cop to just flash his badge under the stall!

Anyway, I thought now would be a good time to nominate a second moment for my Favourite Seinfeld Moments:

Interesting development in Duke lacrosse case

The Duke lacrosse case essentially first introduced me to the blogging world, primarily through the amazing work of professor KC Johnson at his blog Durham-in-Wonderland. Well, straight from the good Professor KC comes this interesting development, the city of Durham had been holding an inquiry into the conduct of the police department during the Duke Lacrosse case.

Well, it turns out that the players' attorneys contacted the city to tell them to retain all documents, as there was a possibility of a civil suit. In turn, the city dutifully carried out the request, and also informed its insurance company, as required by the terms of its coverage agreement.

It appears from the City of Durham's official statement that the insurance company told the city not to investigate itself, because it might incriminate itself during the course of that investigation. The insurance company's letter:

further reminded the City of its contractual duties to cooperate under the provisions of the policy, which would include not engaging in activities that might compromise a subsequent defense of an action against the City.

Oh man, does that make me laugh!

Will it never end?

No, of course not, not until inauguration day 2009. Can you imagine the pardons we're going to get? Kenneth Lay and the rest of the Enron/World Com boys would be a given, I would think Libby too by then, perhaps Gonzalez once he is convicted of contempt of congress?

By 'it' I refer to cronyism, the most disgusting and dominating aspect of this sordid administration. Imagine, if you will, what a McCain government would have accomplished after 9/11 (the alternative, a Gore Presidency, is even rosier)...Afghanistan would've been smashed, and a deft coalition of concerned partners, perhaps even a roundtable of neighbors (including Iran, Pakistan, and China), could've been brought together to minimize the potential disruption and instability. No Iraq, of course, since that was the unique domain of Cheney and co. McCain was simply too much of a realist (in the political science sense of the term). Oh....the dreams. Anyway, I digress.

Anyway, the true legacy of Bush, is not, I think, the fall of the grand 'conservative' coalition that has been tossed around in many circles since Rove's resignation. It is not even this bizarre set of foreign adventures. It is simply a legacy of sheer, unadulterated, mind-numbing, jaw-dropping incompetence. To be sure, incompetence might have contributed to both above legacies, but I think it all started with incompetence. I never thought I would long for a principled, small-government, isolationist, tax-cutting Republican....at least I can trust them to do what they claim they will do.

Where is MAR going with this rambling rant? Here. With the demise of one of the top 2 or 3 most egregious examples of nepotistic, cronysitic, myopic administration hiring practices (Gonzalez), the rumor is that Bush and co. have masterminded a new potential nominee for Most Nepostic and Cronyistic Bush Hire Ever.

Who is this Grand Master of Ass-Kissing you ask? Rumor is Clay Johnson III might be nominated as Homeland Security Secretary (I went to a private, elite, Southern university, and I am proud to know only one individual who is a III anything [although he is a pretty good guy]).

Let's take a look at this Clay Johnson III (he is currently Deputy Director for Management at the OMB). First sign of lip-puckering...this guy not only went to Yale with Bushie....he was in the same frat... and he even went to Andover too! He fawns over Bush in that interview, although he falls short of claiming the President ever was a decent student, or even interested in politics through college (how many leaders of democratically elected countries weren't into politics in college? Probably one -the US).

The man Bush wants to install as Homeland Security Secretary has absolutely no qualifications for the job...none at all. This is Harriet Myers all over again. Why do I say that? What kind of experience does he have? Well.....he is a businessman, with a masters in management from NYU's Sloan school, no direct shame in that. He's worked for:

• Citicorp,
  
• Frito's,
  
• Wilson sporting goods,
  
• and a mail order company.

Not too bad, but certainly nothing relevant. He's done some reasonable non-private sector work, is should give him credit there as well:

• running the Dallas Museum of Art
• teaching at the UT business school in Austin
• serving as a board member for some charitable organizations.

Then of course, he has been climbing up the Sycophant/Crony/Old-frat-buddy-career track that has given us Gonzalez, Harriet Myers, that moron blonde from Liberty University who told congress she swore an oath to the President not the Constitution, and that idiot horseman who 'ran' FEMA during Katrina.

• Deputy Director for Management at the OMB - read: in charge of keeping everyone in-line with Bush Party Line and generally politicizing the OMB
  
• Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel - read: in charge of keeping everyone in-line with Bush Party Line and making sure new hires are sufficiently sycophantic
• Executive Director of Busch-Cheney Transition - read: in charge of keeping everyone in-line with Bush Party Line during Transition and making sure new hires are sufficiently sycophantic
• Gubernatorial Chief of Staff - I don't know enough about his governorship to slam this, but it can't have been illustrious

So....can anyone tell me what in that CV possibly qualifies this man for Homeland Security Secretary? Someone with law enforcement experience?...or maybe someone with an in-depth knowledge of the country's infrastructure?...an expert in counter-terrorism?...a life-long bureaucrat with experience navigating Washington's notorious red tape and back rooms? Even a truck driver with transportation-industry experience? Does he have any of these?

Oh!!! I've got it. Clay Johnson III is qualified to be the man primarily responsible with securing the United States against another terrorist attack.....because he once worked at a mail order company and therefore has in-depth knowledge on how to counter nefarious Jihadist plans involving the mail system! oh wait, his experience was back pre-internet, you know....when people actually used the mail. oh wait, the anthrax mail-terrorism was home-grown, not islamist. Well, there aren't many of Bush's frat brothers left by now, are there?

Today's sign of the apocalypse

This is a true gem, brought to us today from Miss Teen South Carolina.

This is my single favorite segment "I believe that's because some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and I believe that our education...like such as in South Africa, the Iraq, and everywhere like, such as."

What? WTF!!!

Oh dear....my favorite part is "the Iraq"....even a dumb southern blonde doesnt know the fucking country is IRAQ. Even daddy swilling beer on the couch and watching NASCAR knows the war is in Iraq...not 'the Iraq.'

Hat Tip: DG