MOsanthrope

In order to address the grave threat posed by “Mission: Impossible III” promotional materials, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arson squad blew up a newspaper rack yesterday.
I am not making this up.
Feel free to insert your own Tom Cruise joke.

Filed under: Culture, U.S., Psychosis

After spending the better part of the day inhaling 120-year-old attic dust and piercing my skull with rusty roofing nails while doing some electrical work, I found myself exhausted and in a very sour mood.
Fortunately, Dara directed me to the new Salon.com Garrison Keillor piece and, as usual, I feel better for having […]

Filed under: Politics, Culture, U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court’s approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

Wow. That’s a lot of terrorists. I wonder if I’m a terrorist.

It was the first time the Bush […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Law

Updated on April 29, 2006 at 10:58 am.
Not long ago, conservatives were up in arms because some guy in California didn’t want his kid to hear her class recite the Pledge of Allegiance phrase under God in school. The whole thing was silly, really. Who cares if your kid’s class says the word […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Media

Rush Limbaugh cut a sweetheart deal.
It’s really not worth mentioning.
I understand that small-time Florida drug offenders typically receive this sort of arrangement, despite Limbaugh’s frequent gassy protestations.

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Law

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
 
That’s House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R - IL) exiting a hydrogen powered vehicle before climbing into his SUV for the short ride back to the Capitol after a gas station photo-op.

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Environment

If you’re a middle-class American with a surname like “Smith,” you should probably not hold your breath while waiting for the Republican Congress to enact meaningful healthcare, education or lobbying reform.
On the other hand, if you’re one of a select few who descend from a line named “Nordstrom” or “Walton,” you enjoy the best representation […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

Now that the “national security” party has secured America’s airlines against the grave threat posed by nail clippers, its work, apparently, is done:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A House of Representatives committee on Wednesday rejected a Democratic proposal to require physical inspection of all U.S.-bound marine containers but approved a separate plan that may lead to […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

The Cunningham defense contractor bribery scandal was just anther esoteric Republican corruption scheme — until now:

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two contractors implicated in the bribery of former Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham supplied him with prostitutes and free use of a limousine and hotel suites, pursuing evidence that could broaden their long-running inquiry.
Besides scrutinizing the […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

A MOsanthrope tradition since February!
As always, if you’re looking for obtuse political commentary and trite observation, I suggest that you skip to the next post using the scroll bar at right. There’s no one here but us shenanigans.“Who Invited Dick?”
 

MiniMetallica is better; but don’t download their music.
Lame ass excuse. (Thanks: Steve).
Why does your […]

Filed under: Humor

Why it’s called a dream:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - America may still think of itself as the land of opportunity, but the chances of living a rags-to-riches life are a lot lower than elsewhere in the world, according to a new study published on Wednesday.
* * *
He also found the United States had one of the lowest […]

Filed under: Politics, Culture, U.S., Economy

The mission, I now understand, was to make me choke back vomit.

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Media

Our backyard deck is covered with quarter-sized cinders and every digital clock in our house is flashing 12:00 because of this:

(Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
 
It’s too bad. The development looked promising and construction was coming along nicely.

Filed under: St. Louis

Republican politicians have one solution for every problem:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.
However, the GOP energy package may face tough sledding because it also includes […]

Filed under: Politics, Business, U.S., Environment

He’s no Jack Abramoff, but he knows how the game is played:

Charles E. Polk Jr., 45, of the 3400 block of Tiverton Drive in St. Charles, made the pleas in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of interstate transportation of funds obtained by fraud and one count of tax evasion.
In […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Law, Missouri

Offered, without comment, by my wife:
Scientists are reporting dramatic advances in the area of legume technology.

Filed under: Science, Food & Drink, Biology

According to FDA officials, contraceptives may lead to adolescent sex cults. I am not making this up:

Former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford, Dr. Janet Woodcock, deputy operations commissioner, and Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA’s drug evaluation center, are to testify in court-ordered depositions to be taken by attorneys for the Manhattan-based Center for […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Medicine

FOX News pundits are no longer merely honorary Presidential Press Secretaries:

Fox News commentator Tony Snow was named White House press secretary today after top officials assured him that he would be not just a spokesman but an active participant in administration policy debates, people familiar with the discussions said.
* * *
Snow will become the […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., Media

It’s official: Barring a Constitutional amendment, less than 1,000 days remain in George W. Bush’s presidency.
Other noteworthy milestones:

1,682 days have passed since the President vowed to get Osama Bin Laden “dead or alive.”
1,091 days have passed since President Bush stood before a “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared the […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

Updated on April 26, 2006 at 11:06 am.
My wife and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary at a Nostalgic Place, a charming 1880’s-vintage bed and breakfast inn located in Arcadia, Missouri.
We’re having a great time, despite the rainy weather.
My wife is in the shower and unaware of my brazen violation of […]

Filed under: Sports, Food & Drink, Travel, Missouri

You remember Katherine Harris:

In her dual role as Florida Secretary of State and Bush-Cheney campaign co-chair, she dutifully and notoriously delivered Florida to Bush in 2000.
She’s also that self-indulgent wacko who periodically spouts delusional theories of a media conspiracy involving photos manipulated in an attempt to make her look wacky.
I […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

A MOsanthrope tradition since February!
As always, if you’re looking for obtuse political commentary and trite observation, I suggest that you skip to the next post using the scroll bar at right. There’s no one here but us shenanigans.So many caption possibilities; so few which don’t guarantee express-line admission to Hell:
 
Note to aspiring bloggers:
 
Don’t waste […]

Filed under: Humor

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) is not afraid to tell her constituents how she really feels:

WASHINGTON - Nobody expects to get a letter from a member of Congress that ends with an expletive.
But thats what happened when Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., recently corresponded with a resident of her southeast Missouri district.
The letter ended with […]

Filed under: Politics, Humor, Missouri

War! (Huh!) What is it good for? Well, there’s this:

An American businessman who is at the heart of one of the biggest corruption cases to emerge from the reconstruction of Iraq has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money-laundering charges, according to documents unsealed yesterday in federal court in Washington.
As part of the plea, […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

I hope to never find out whether I possess this kind of mettle.
Heroes, every one.

Filed under: Politics, Culture, U.S., Ethics

Updated on April 20, 2006 at 8:23 am.
CNN is reporting that a woman in Los Angeles has tested positive for the bacterium which causes BUBONIC PLAGUE!!!
BUBONIC PLAGUE killed a third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages!!!

Criminy and great jumping Jehoshaphat, this stuff gets old.
As always, thanks, CNN.UPDATE: Dara links to the related […]

Filed under: U.S., Health, Media

AOL’s The Daily Pulse has a Dubbya performance evaluation poll up. The numbers do not look good for the President.

Filed under: Politics, U.S.

Firedoglake’s Jane Hamsher has an excellent post up about the obliviously worthless silver spooners pervading the neoconservative right.
Here’s the teaser:

This is exactly the kind of second-generation junk thinking being produced on the right by people like Ben Domenech, Jonah Goldberg and George W. Bush — people who vault into to highly paid, influential positions […]

Filed under: Politics, Culture, U.S., Media

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, historian Sean Wilentz ponders “whether [George W. Bush], in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history”:

By contrast, the Bush administration — in seeking to restore what Cheney, a Nixon administration veteran, has called “the legitimate authority of the presidency” — threatens […]

Filed under: Politics, U.S., History

I have two sons.
She has six.
That poor, poor woman.
(Via Hey,you).

Filed under: Family, Children, Humor