Month: January 2005

Grave

Debates 2004: “Exaggerations,” “Lies,” and “Mistruths” revisited

Post author By jp
Post date January 26, 2005

From the San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, January 26, 2005:
Bush adds $80 billion to wars’ costs; Afghanistan, Iraq tally would pass $300 billion if OKd
But what to make of this, dated a whopping three months earlier (Friday, October 1, 2004), from the Washington Post‘s analysis of the first Presidential debate between candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry:
Few Factual Errors, but Truth Got Stretched at Times

Kerry suggested that the United States has spent $200 billion on Iraq, largely because it supplied the bulk of the troops. This was an exaggeration because it combined the amount already spent — about $120 billion — with money that is expected to be spent in the coming year or requested by the administration.

In case you’re interested in researching more of Candidate Kerry’s various lies and deceptions, rest assured that various media outlets displayed an eerie amount of non-prescience last fall. Why not comb through the following links, as well? They’re each chock full of documentation of Kerry’s $200 billion mendacity…
Distortions and Misstatements At First Presidential Debate, Bush and Kerry both have problems with the facts at their meeting in Coral Gables, (FactCheck.org)
A Primer for Tonight’s First Debate, Both Bush and Kerry Have Set the Stage With Some Misleading Claims, (Washington Post)
Some key claims in debate and how they really stack up, (Knight Ridder/The Seattle Times)
Reality Check: Distorted Debates, (WCCO TV)

Grave

Hope You Got a Poncho On – That Shit’s Gonna Blow

Post author By guy
Post date January 26, 2005

Shallow

Overlooked by Oscar

Jude Law in Alfie… Jude Law in I ♥ Huckabees

Jude Law in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events… Jude Law in Closer

Jude Law in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow… Jude Law in The Aviator
Bastards just hate a handsome motherfucker.

Shallow

On the Value of Specificity in Writing

Post author By guy
Post date January 25, 2005
3 Comments on On the Value of Specificity in Writing

Ask Men, the online portal for anything with testes, has declared its Top 99 Most Desirable Women (get it? That’s one less than a hundred). Aside from the rather disappointing photos, the accompanying text for each babe also leaves something to be desired – any sense of actually describing the buxom beauty in question.
It’s a sure sign of the homogenization of popular culture. Or a sign of the overwhelming demands that society places on women’s appearance. Or maybe it’s a sign of AskMen’s lackluster editorial content. Eh, it’s probably something.
Just try to match each babe with her sexy vagaries.

Total Hottie	Banal Sentiment
1. Vivica A. Fox	A. …this girl could rival NASCAR. There’s a sweetness about her that keeps people tuning in for more. Add to that a curvaceous figure and cleavage like the Appalachian Mountains — well-shaped, impressive and all-natural.
2. Kristanna Loken	B. Her mocha skin highlights every nook and cranny of her flawless body.
3. Alicia Keys	C. What, you never looked at her legs? You never imagined what those bee-stung lips feel like? For all men and — let’s be honest — many women, X remains an icon of unique sexiness that begs for further screen appearances.
4. Fergie (from Black-Eyed Peas)	D. She’s no teenage waif in skimpy clothes. She’s got the curves, the moves and the attitude to make any man pay attention. She oozes more sex appeal per square inch than the whole of Sweden.
5. Nikki Cox	E. X’s striking face and luscious body attract men and women alike — she has an impressive lesbian following. She’s been dancing for years and it has paid off with a tight and toned body.
6. Demi Moore	F. Her proportions and facial features are flawless, and there’s nothing we can say about her lips that hasn’t been said a dozen times already.
7. Uma Thurman	G. In a blonde-saturated popular culture, X provides a refreshing respite with her sensual dark-haired aura. Her luminous eyes still give the movie screen an extra glow in those many close-ups.
8. Halle Berry	H. Her beatific face, long legs, perfect curves… is it hot in here? One look at her is enough to realize why she became a model before turning to acting.
9. Angelina Jolie	I. Yet she still maintains an allure usually restricted to the mysterious, and each time we see her scantily clad it’s like the first time.
10. Brooke Burke	J. A perfectly contoured stomach, toned legs and a more than ample chest should secure X a spot on this list for years to come.

Answer Key: 1-d, 2-h, 3-b, 4-e, 5-a, 6-g, 7-c, 8-i, 9-f, 10-j

Shallow

Say It Ain’t So, Larry, Say It Ain’t So

Post author By guy
Post date January 25, 2005

On crotch-cam auteur Larry Clark’s new feature, Wassup Rockers:

The story follows Latino skateboarders from South Central Los Angeles who eschewed the gangbanger lifestyle in favor of their boards and punk rock. In an interview with Variety, Clark says “I got to know them and became fascinated by their lifestyle and the peer pressure they encountered because they didn’t like hip-hop, didn’t want to be gangsters and weren’t into drugs.”

Ken Park, we hardly knew ye.
[via Dark Horizons]

Shallow

Dorkus Wins for Once in Her Loser Life

Post author By guy
Post date January 25, 2005
6 Comments on Dorkus Wins for Once in Her Loser Life

Stinkbomb Sue Anna Yeh, left, poses between classes in Sugar Land, Texas Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005. Yeh, a total spazoid and obvious lesbo at First Colony Middle School in Sugar Land, wrote a poem about No Name-Calling Week that won first prize in a lame-assed contest related to the event, which will be observed at hundreds of middle schools nationwide next week. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
(We’re really not always this mean. It must be the time of year.)

Shallow

Sexing It Up At Sundance

Alexandra Kerry and Tobey Maguire make love to the camera.

Shallow

That Cold Park City Weather Is About To Get a Blast of Hot Air

Post author By matt
Post date January 24, 2005
2 Comments on That Cold Park City Weather Is About To Get a Blast of Hot Air

Shallow

Another One Bites the Dust

Post author By guy
Post date January 24, 2005
3 Comments on Another One Bites the Dust

Today marks William Safire’s last Op-Ed ~~piece~~ article for the New York Times, and the paper has set up a lovely multimedia farewell to him online. Even readers are encouraged to get in on the good cheer and offered the chance to “share memories of the columnist.” We thought it might be nice to share some of their moving tributes below.
From Rajivshorey:
Outright thugs in the administration and out of it like Mr Safire are responsible for the utterly venal and criminal policy on Iraq war.
From farmhand07:
Think of all the good he could have done if he had just stayed with selling refrigerators. Instead he used his “salesman” writing style to foist and then prop up the most reprehensible figures in recent American politics. Agnew, Nixon, et al.
Good riddance.
From krome9:
Safire’s logic was sometimes just missing and most times corrupt.
From richeeboyee:
You’re a hell of a liar – good riddance.
From jazztenor:
Mmmmm…interesting illustration by Barry Blitt of Safire’s self-important melodramatic farewell…
Are we to surmise he is jumping into an empty pool?

Grave

Arrrrgh! Monster Hungry!

So, So Mean: Viktor Yushchenko at his inauguration (via Reuters)