March 06, 2009

Shoe Pitched At Iran's Ahmadinejad; How Long Before Thrower Disappears?

Everyone remembers when an Iraqi journalist pitched a pair of shoes at President Bush.

Well, now, someone has taken bold to a new level, and hurled a shoe at Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

An Iranian website, Urumiye News, reported that a shoe was hurled at the president as his convoy drove through a central square. Security guards waded into the crowds but failed to find the culprit.

A hat was also thrown in Ahmadinejad's direction before his car sped away.

Of course, this begs the question, how long before the thrower (even if no one knows who he is -- right now) disappears....

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September 23, 2008

Duh....



Clay Aiken
on the cover of next week's People, talking about his decision to "come out."

Duh. As if we didn't already know!

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August 13, 2008

Olympic-sized Ouch!

Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympic Games went horribly wrong Wednesday, when while trying to snatch 148 kg (326.3 pounds) in his third lift in the men's 77-kilogram division, when his elbow popped out of socket. Backward.



Baranyi collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain, as Hungarian coaches and officials rushed to his aid, the barbell forgotten. The athlete lay on the floor, his arm horribly twisted out of socket like a disjointed chicken wing.

He was carried off of the floor on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital for treatment. There's been no word thus far as to how extensive the injuries are to Baranyi's arm. According to medical experts there, if the arm has simply come out of socket, without any damage to surrounding ligaments, bones or other tissue, he should be able to make a full recovery in fairly short order.

In the snatch, the bar is pulled overhead in one continuous motion as the lifter settles into a squat, then rises with arms extended. When Baranyi was injured, he had picked up the weight into the squat position.

I'm sure NBC will refrain from showing video of Baranyi's injury during the zillions of hours of coverage, and as nasty as it looks, I'd be shocked if they didn't hold off.

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July 23, 2008

CNN has just discovered there are blacks in America!

Am I the only one who feels like CNN has just figured out that there are black people in America?

For the past three months, CNN has been practically jumping up and down to promote their two-night event on the state of blacks in America. This is after they realized that no one was watching their 7 p.m. ET hour that tried to push racial issues -- I guess they want to build themselves a franchise.

But I think there are others that I would choose to front said franchise -- even within CNN -- than Soledad O'Brien. She comes across as judgmental, especially when she thinks she knows (but clearly doesn't) what she's talking about. I hate to sound mean, but she's clearly eye candy -- yet another in a long line of eye candy out there.

What's wrong with someone who has more credibility (and I'm sorry, Soledad's three or four years on CNN do not count -- mind you, her first foray into national television was co-hosting with a cartoon figure on the original incarnation of MSNBC; the notion of being a figure of authority is clearly lost on me)? If CNN were serious, they wouldn't treat this as a newly discovered fact, or a novelty. If CNN were serious, they wouldn't schedule this in the middle of the summer, when viewership is at its lowest. And if CNN were serious, they wouldn't put a glorified cheerleader on as the face of said special/franchise/event.

Someone call me when CNN pays more than glorfied lipservice to the true diversity and dicotemy of black America.

Now begs the next question -- how long before they pull the same stunt with Hispanics or Asians in America?

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February 03, 2005

It's all fun & games until someone puts an eye out

After trying to off himself (it didn't work), R&B singer Houston did the next best thing: he gouged his eye out.

According to sources, the singer first attempted to jump out of a London hotel window last Thursday. Prevented from doing so by his security staff, Houston was locked in his room, at which time the injury occurred. No additional details as to his current condition or whereabouts have been disclosed.

Featured in a McDonald's commercial, Houston's 2004 hit single "I Like That" peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart. The song also featured Chingy, Nate Dogg and I-20.

Houston's debut album, "It's Already Written," has sold 208,000 units to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan, having peaked at No. 14 on The Billboard 200.

That's GOTTA hurt.

No word on why he became so self-destructive.

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"Wormer? Dead!"

John Vernon, veteran character actor best remembered as Dean Wormer in the 1978 classic Animal House has died. Saskatchewan -native Vernon played the perennial bad guy in movies from The Outlaw Josey Wales to Dirty Harry to Airplane II and television guest roles up through and including CSI.

Vernon was most recently seen in the special follow-up feature add-on to the "Double Secret Probation" Special Edition DVD of Animal House, which showed where the characters would be today. Dean Wormer was shown as a wheelchair-bound crochety old man in a nursing home.

John Vernon was 72, but nobody picked him; or scored on him in the Dead Pool.

I guess we're finally off of double-secret probation now.

(crossposted at The Dead Pool)

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June 03, 2004

NAACP calls Republicans "terrorists" against blacks

At the "Take Back America" conference in Washington yesterday, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond compared Republicans to the Taliban, the terrorists who used to rule Afghanistan.

"Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side," Bond told a cheering audience. "They've written a new constitution for Iraq and ignore the Constitution here at home. They draw their most rabid supporters from the Taliban wing of American politics. Now they want to write bigotry back into the Constitution."
He offered no proof to support his "bigotry" comment. It's far easier for Bond and others to allow emotion to rule the day.

Bond called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 two of America's greatest achievements. Of course, he neglected the simple fact that the Republicans of the day were instrumental in pushing both Acts through. Had the Democrats of the 1960s prevailed, neither act would have become law, and blacks would have continued to be relegated to the "back of the bus."

"The passage of these two laws in 1964 and 1965 marked the beginning of the dependence of the Republican Party on the politics of racial division to win elections and gain power," Bond said. "By playing the race card in election after election, they've appealed to that dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality. They preach racial neutrality and they practice racial division."

"We have a president who talks like a populist and governs for the privileged," Bond said. "We were promised compassionate conservatism; instead, we got crummy capitalism."

The NAACP claims to be a non-partisan organization -- they have to remain non-partisan in order to retain their tax exempt status.

After similarly partisan statements by Bond at their convention last summer, a number of critics of the civil rights organization called for the removal of their tax exempt status. In an interview on MSNBC's Scarborough Country last July, I pointed out (much to the chagrin of fellow guest Roland Martin) that Bond's statements would make it easy for the federal government to withdraw that exemption.

Bond's statements make it crystal clear that the NAACP has no desire to work together with Republicans to make things better for all people.

The NAACP's 2004 National Convention is July 10-15 in Philadelphia. I'm sure we will hear much more in the way of venomous rage and true hate speech from Bond and his cohorts then.

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May 23, 2004

Greedy link whorage - it's "a long story," you had to be there

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

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May 21, 2004

Hey, Taco Bell! Yo quiero up yours!

Taco Bell has just openly declared war on conservatives.

They've got a new contest (don't they always?); this one is for contest entrants to put their "sauce wisdom" -- quick little sayings & witicisms -- on their sauce packets.

Sounds good, right? But get this.

From May 19 to June 18, customers can enter the national contest by registering their “sauce wisdoms” at www.tacobell.com. Taco Bell defines a sauce wisdom as a humorous look at reality through the eyes of the Taco Bell brand. The message should be simple, left of center and provide insight on the little things in life – anything from going on a date to eating a meal -- and it should not exceed 70 characters. All sauce wisdoms will be judged according to humor, originality, length and suitability of use.
Hmmmm. I guess it's OK to exclude conservatives, huh? Perhaps conservatives should excluding going to Taco Bell to partake of their artery-hardening meals, too.

They are going to have to come up with an awful lot before I and a lot of other conservatives darken their doors again...

UPDATE (3:45P): Amy Ridenour at The National Center for Public Policy Research (parent organization of Project 21) dropped a note in the talkback; keep in mind that Taco Bell's parent company is also the parent of KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut. (damn! I just had some fish from Long John's first of the week; and I was about to order pizza tonight!)

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Some people just need killin'

Some rocket scientist manager at a Hooters location in Florida has come up with an idea that makes me physically ill.

Now I'm all for going to Hooters and chugging down a beer or three along with inhaling a few wings (and yes, even stealing a gander at the tightly clad wait staff -- at least when She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is looking in the other direction, lest I get smacked), but some people are just dead between the ears.

The sign on the verge advertising the Little Miss Hooters contest is, however, beyond the pale. We called this evening, asked for details. The contest is for girls 5 and under, and will require they be dressed in little orange spandex shorts, and a tied up Hooters t-shirt.
Not just no, but hell no!

Dim bulbs like these make me want to get in the car, track 'em down and punt their gonads up into their throats.

Morons like this are what the Southern phrase, "He just needed killin'," was invented for.

Stacy Tabb (who originally saw this in her home town) has alerted her local media, and I'm sure the local constabulary has been alerted as well. Hmmmmm. I wonder if any federal laws regarding child endangerment are in potential violation here...

Oh, by the way. Hooters corporate offices are here in Metro Atlanta. Their e-mail address is: hooterspr@hooters.com.

UPDATE: Some folks bring up a good point (and one I happen to agree with): any parents would dare put their little ones into any sort of depravity like this need to be dealt with. Harshly. And with extreme prejudice.

UPDATE (3:15P): In an update, Stacy says that the Lakeland Hooters, where this was going to be held, has quietly changed their tune, and their sign.

The sign now promotes a swimsuit contest, and has no more mention of the "Little Miss Hooters" contest.

Here's hoping they changed their manager as well.

Oh, and a Hooters PR lackey e-mailed Stacy back:

Thank you for expressing your concern regarding the contest in Florida.

A store manager decided to host an event for the employee's childrenwhich is not a part of Hooters National Marketing promotions, and has been cancelled.

Best regards,

Alexis Aleshire
Marketing
Hooters of America
1815 The Exchange
Atlanta, GA 30339

And like Stacy, I think that's a load of hooey. But for what it's worth, it's over and done with.

Good job puttin' the heat on 'em, folks!

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May 19, 2004

Andy Kaufman? Bull.

Someone claiming to be the late Andy Kaufman surfaced this week, 20 years after the comic's death.

Before he died, Kaufman claimed he'd return "twenty years from now" -- which would be May 16, 2004.

Well, someone is following through on Kaufman's stunt.

Sorry about faking my death. I always knew my biggest supporters would play along until it was the right time for me to return. Yesterday, being the 20th anniversary, was a long enough time to go away. No one has ever gone away that long before. I've been documenting my adventures for the last twenty years in journals and will be posting some of the best stories from here. Mostly though, I've just been practicing transcendental meditation throughout various parts of the world while working odd jobs and keeping a low profile.

Now for your obvious first question. "How can I know this is the real Andy Kaufman, and not some prankster punk kid?" Well, all I can say is that definitive proof that I am the real Andy Kaufman will be forthcoming. For now, you'll just have to trust me.

It's good to be back.

I dunno. Stranger things have happened.

But color me beyond skeptical.

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Santa? Can I have one under the tree?

This puppy was seized along with a batch of other weapons in a raid by Australian Customs officials in Sydney yesterday.

The four-bladed knife has a silver-studded cuff wrapping around the wrist while the hand grasps the handle.

The handle is connected to two small flick-knife sized blades and two 25cm larger knives, with a total length of 50cm.

It is believed the knives were bought over the internet.

On the net!?

Where!?

I want one!

Actually, with myluck, I'd cut off something vital if I got ahold of one of those things...

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