Remnants

Pretty much all that's left of Occupy!Denver:

A quarter-block of tarps and sleeping bags along 14th Avenue.

And another little hunk along Broadway.

That's it. No tents.

Sneak in a pic of the new Colorado Supreme Court building across 14th from the occupoopers. Mmmmm, pointy. Still, it's nicer than the old Supreme Court building.

Closeup along Broadway.

Same.

One supposes this is meant as a searing indictment.

Workers have torn out all the old sod at Civic Center, but you can still see where occupod tents were pitched under the trees. It's almost like those sidewalk shadows of people on the streets of Hiroshima after The Bomb was dropped.

In a fine example of the circle of life, however, bodies of occupods were efficiently converted into sod to replant the park.

Update: The recently enacted Denver "camping" ban, by the way, takes effect next Tuesday. It's very compassionate.

Colorado Supreme Court oral arguments set for Churchill case

June 7, 1:00 p.m., somewhere on the first floor of the City and County Building, according to the mustachioed spinsters at the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network, which also has Ward's brief, CU's reply, and Wart's reply to the reply.

Update: Oddly, maybe, neither the Post nor the Gamera has mentioned it.

Quality journalism

Somehow in trying to find out when the annular solar eclipse would begin in Denver on May 20 I ended up at a piece in Huffpo-Denver, which provided interesting facts and figures, but ended like this:

One of the most fun viewing spots on Sunday will likely be Folsom Field at CU-Boulder, where the university is hosting a free eclipse-watching party from 5:30 p.m. until sunset. University officials are expecting 10,000 - 15,000 viewers in attendance, The Denver Post reports.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is also hosting a free viewing party in City Park from 6 p.m. to sunset and will have solar telescopes available, but if you want to observe the eclipse away from the crowds, try one of these beautiful spots:

And that was the end of the story.

Update: Nobody's asked, but yes, I still live! I say nobody's asked, but here's what everybody was thinking:

Hello, hello! My dear Gaaaaawwwwwd,
It must be heeeeem, it must be heeeeem,
Or I shall die . . .

Why my crawlspace is getting crowded

So I was working in the yard and one of the ubiquitous six-year-old girls from a couple doors down stopped by to mess with the dogs.

First, she said there was a fly on my leg, and kicked me in the shin. To get the fly to go away, don't you know.

Next she told me how old her grandmother (whom I've known for like, 13 years) is. Then she asked me how old I am.

How old do you think I am, I asked.

"Seventy?" she replied.

I hate this neighborhood.

Update: I don't look a day over sixty-nine-and-a-half. A really hot sixty-nine-and-a-half. You all go die now.

Update II: Believe the Children!

Mike Wallace

He was, of course, a leftist-media dickhead who pretended to be evenhanded; he was just the oldest leftist media dickhead extant. He was not a pioneer of anything, except media arrogance. And cig smoking. But mostly media arrogance. And cig smoking.

However! Leave us not forget his wonderful turn in the Mirage Tavern scandal. The Daily Beast has what they think are his best interviews, but the one with the Chicago city inspector is inexplicably left out. And I can't find it on Youtube.

Jeez, one of the girls on the show I linked to at the top said 60 Minutes has been on for "more than 60 years."

Anyway, here's Myron in 1939, on the great old radio show Information Please, representing the University of Michigan as the "Spirit of Youth," specially voted on the show by many idiots. His arrogance is apparent even then. (Yesh, I've played this one before.)

Wart's speech

At his alma mammy, the University of Illinois at Spiffled (the former Sangaman (sic) State University). Good God, it's almost two-and-a-half hours long.



Enjoy!

Update: "Does anyone know what 'SangaMON' means?" He emphasized the "MON." I take a small bow.

Update II: He sounds drunk.

Update III: I had the year wrong on the Fort Clark mess. Other people did, too. That's all there was to it.

Update IV: Bill O'Reilly! Drink (yourself to death).

Update V: As is his wont, he accuses somebody else (a guy named Chris Dentro (sp)) of plagiarism. "Cut and paste, cut and paste." Not exactly dispositive, Wart.

Update VI: He attacks "the media." Hahahahahaha.

Update VII: Youtube: "1 views." I assume that's me. Why am I watching this?

Update VIII: I'm not quite a third of the way through. Wartie is discussing his completely warped view of the genesis of the American University. It's only 6:30, and I think I need to go to bed.

Update IX: Koch brothers! You're in the hospital already, so just drink from your IV!

Update X: Can't stand this ass. Gotta feed animals. Maybe I can stand to watch some more tomorrow (if you're lucky).

Since I'm just sitting here with my teeth in my mouth

I should mention that I have a rat snoring gently in the left front pocket of my dungarees. I don't talk enough about the other animals in this house. All Billy Bob, all the time, that's me.

Update: the rat's name is Sun; her companion is Estrella (sorry, kids named them).

Earl Scruggs

At 88. Nothing to add to the AP's obit, except to point out a lovely typo in the piece's penultimate line: "He is survived by two songs, Gary and Randy."

Well, sort of lovely.

Update: somebody fixed it.

That's what we figured

A new letter from my pal Barack. Header: "We had no idea."

Text:

John -- [No "Dear" again. I've had it with this rudeness]

As we count down to another critical fundraising deadline for this campaign, it's important to remember this:

We always knew this election would be about two competing economic plans -- whether we get to build on our progress or see it taken away.

Progress? And it's not about two competing economic "plans," it's about some lying, soft version of socialism (for a while) v. some reasonably mitigated form of capitalism.

But we had no idea we'd also be up against a social agenda that would roll back decades of progress [sic], particularly for women's health.

Women's. health. There it is. No idea if Sandra Fluke is a slut, and to be honest, I aspired to be a slut in my younger days (not much success there), so more power to her. But it's clear she's just another "activist," pushing for others to pay for how she chooses to live. I'll pass, begging your pardon and if it's all right with you. Sir.

That means the consequences of this election will be felt in more ways than we'd counted on -- and what you do this week will help decide what they are.

Will you donate $3 or more right now?

Uhhhh, I'll think about it (snort).

Hi, Barack! (waves)

The cremulation of Labor in Queensland yesterday was better than expected by almost everyone (on the right, of course). From 51 seats to "7 or 8." Wow. (Blair and Bolta are full of other election goodness.)

I like this from a commenter at WUWT, quoting the Courier-Mail (in, one supposes, Queensland):

8.38PM:

A merciless Bob Katter [some LNP muckety-muck] had some harsh words for Anna Bligh tonight, following her defeat at the polls [as Labor PM of Queensland].

“Did you really think people would vote for you?” he said.

“Congratulations Anna – you saved the trees but the people well and truly cut you down.”

And it’s too bad that American politicians & public can’t be more like the following [sic] instead of being distracted by personal hot button issues that have little effect on the nation as a whole: When asked about gay marriage, Mr Katter said: “We’re talking about serious issues.”

Of course, what the commenter doesn't say is that we're allowing the media to distract with these idiotic "hot-button" issues.

Update: WUWT fans (and fans of truth, justice and the Am--er, Australian way), will enjoy this thread.

Here's an account

Of Wart's appearance at his ol' alma mammy, the former Sangaman (again, his spelling in his long-gone self-written CU profile--it's spelled "Sangamon") State University last night.

Favorite line: "The topics Churchill addressed while speaking to a crowd of about 40 people at the University of Illinois Springfield went far off topic from activism . . .

Second fave: "He claimed that plagiarism and fraudulence in the media is expansive and that all phones are equipped with GPS technology and technology users should be wary."

Second point may be true enough. First point: You should know, Wart.

Third fave:

Activism in America has come a long way since the days of Viet Nam push-back and protests from college students. Churchill says the video-recorders, which members of today’s Occupy movement are more likely to carry than guns are important. But he says for an activist not to arm his or herself is a concession of power.

CHURCHILL: “We could have used a few more recorders [my itals] and some of these assets that you have available; would have been really nice to be able to instantaneously record and transmit things police were doing in those days but availing ourselves of those technologies had they been available at the time would not have supplanted the need for the capacity to engage in armed self-defense.”

Not bothering to link to much of my vetting that bullshit, except for this, but what a liar and cheat and hypocrite this fat self-important fuck is. He has believed for decades that every opinion but his own should be shut down.

By violence, if necessary.

Update: Violence, of course, performed by others. Wart's always been very vague about his own revolutionary activities. Probably because he didn't participate in any, at least physically. Now the sack of shit can hardly walk. He's oooooold.

Hey Wart: Where are those "four books" you were working on before, you know, four years ago, which you had to abandon because the Nazis at CU distracted you?

Gimme eat

Mentioned before that Billy Bob is almost completely deef, but don't think I mentioned that there is one significant exception.

Shupper dime!

When it gets to be, say, five p.m. (too early for him to eat, else he'll be barking the whole house awake about five a.m.), he can be completely passed out, and yet no matter how quietly I try to tread the stairs (using the technique of stepping close to the risers to avoid creaks I learned at age 19 from my first reading of Nancy Dr--er, the Hardy Boys), there he is, right behind me, then in front of me, then turning wild circles at the bottom of the stairs, then barking madly over his food dish.

One of my grandmothers was like that. Towards the end.

Update: Bet that's the longest sentence I ever wrote. Alleged D-blog readers will probably not know which sentence I mean.

Update II: Should explain the "shupper dime" ref, since no one sane will bother to hunt it up in the Heinlein excerpts. But I ain't gonna.

Update III: JWP, how's your ol' lumpy pup?

Update IV: That "Towards the end" is a lie. Grandma was always like that. And she had big nasty teeth.

Gassed

Just heard that the national average gas price is $3.56 or somewhere around there. Here (that is, at the Safeway on the corner), it's $3.01 (at least it was yesterday); including the three-cent-a-gallon break for having a Safeway card: $2.98. Big diff. But a temporary aberration, you can be sure.

Update (24 Feb): Still $2.98, tho it went up to $3.00 and down to $2.97 in between. National average today, according to KOA: $3.65.

Update II (28 Feb): $3.05.

Update III (6 March): $3.15

Update IV (10 March): $3.16.

Update V (13 March): still $3.16. Heard on KOA that Denver has the cheapest gas in the whole USA. Will not attempt to verify.

Update VI (16 March): still $3.16. Honestly, what the fuck is going on? My opinion: George W. Bush, out of office for three years but still a secret force for oil-rape and American hegemony, has invaded yet another oil-rich country (no, I don't know which one) all by himself (yeeeeeeehahhhhhhh!) only to enrich the coffers of Halliburpen. Because Denver's a cowtown, and GWB likes cowtowns, we don't have to pay for it.

Inexorable. Logic.

Update VII (18 March): $3.44. Yikes. Up almost 30 cents in two days. Damn you Booooooosh!

Update VIII (22 March): $3.58. Told you we'd catch up.

Update IX (28 March): $3.63.

Update X (6 April): $3.70.

Okay, this is weird spam

Dear [me],

Today we celebrate our 10th anniversary, and our management decided to made a great gift to all of our customers to acknowledgement our success.

Here is details:

1. For the next 10 days, we will drop our prices between 300-500% for ALL ITEMS(yes, we will offer all products to you between 3 to 5 times less then usual).

2. You do not need to use any discounts or coupons to get market-low prices for the next 10days. Everyone gets discount automatically.

3. This offer will last until February 23rd, but do not wait - items go fast, buy it before our warehouses emptied.

To accept this offer, please follow this link.

Best Regards,

Helen

Allow me to interrupt. "Please follow this link" has no link. There is no company mentioned by name, nor any product. Then there is this:

Disclaimer:

now, when my heart fails me and my mouth feels dry at the mere sight of nothing extraordinary in the capture of Murat. Still, it is better to noticed that the wheels do not supply an explanation and has taken the present itself again. And this very absence of an aim gave him the attention to her severe remark--and began to laugh. She laughed, and in
To console Pierre for these losses the head steward gave him an estimate "Well? Are you satisfied now?" said he. "You\'ve made me quarrel with my her powers since morning had been concentrated on ensuring that they Natasha looked at the fat actress, but neither saw nor heard nor coming home. Denisov was a small man with a red face, sparkling black You need only forget to ask how the will of heroes produces events, and she had feared, order her to be carried away by force but only told her

Are those random words from Tolstoy or something?

Spamspamspamspam

"John, discover the comfort of the Genie Bra!" Oh, I have, I have.

Readers if any know that's a lie.

Friday Night at the Radio!

Early war: 11 January 1942. Sound not great, but: Jack Benny!

One more: "Jack Benny is one of the finest violinists of this earache" (17 January 1943). The wordplay is horrble(ly) funny. And: Oscar Levant!

Oh, and Joe Besser, being all gay. He kind of turns everyone else gay too.

Broncos win!

Is what I wish I could tell you.

Tim Tebow still has oddly flared nostrils.

Football update III!

End of first half, Broncos-Patriots. My mother hated me too.

No, really.

Football update II!

Saints go marching out. Goodness gracious. (The D-blog never swears.)

Football update!

Fucking Huey Lewis sang the Nat. An. for the Saints-49ers game. He's fuckin' oooollllddd. Not too bad a barbershop treatment of the venerable fucking classic, tho Huey was a little fuckin' flat here and there and couldn't quite reach the fucking high notes.

Tebow!

Every single word in the English language, and many in languages unEnglish (including, one supposes, Dogalog (scroll to update)), has been used over and over in the frenzied reams of writing about the guy. So I won't add any.

Update: Okay, maybe I can add one that might not have been used: Tim Tebow has oddly distended nostrils.

Update II: Go Broncos (they haven't got a chance)! Go Broncos (no chance at all)! Go Broncos (go Broncos!)!

Telegraph salutes industry of lower orders

"Thieves dig 100ft tunnel." Wait, what?

Science: Still on the march!

Seth Borenstein, for years the Associated Press's most egregious and ridiculous AGW alarmist, must have blanched at least a little when confronted with writing this story (as it showed up in the Post this morning), mustn't he?

An international team of scientists says it has figured out how to slow global warming in the short run and prevent millions of deaths from dirty air: Stop focusing so much on carbon dioxide.

Stop ffffffffff . . .

They say the key is to reduce emissions of methane and soot — two powerful and fast-acting causes of global warming.

Carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas and the one world leaders [sorry, guess I already used that one] have spent the most time talking about controlling. Scientists say carbon dioxide from fossil fuels such as coal and oil is a bigger overall cause of global warming, but reducing methane and soot offers quicker fixes.

Soot also is a big health problem, so dramatically cutting it with existing technology would save between 700,000 and 4.7 million [there's scientific precision] lives each year, according to the team's research published online Thursday in the journal
Science. . . .

Science, eh? But how do they know all this, Seth, huh? Huh? (Seizing Seth by his no-doubt manly shoulders and shaking.) Tell me! Tell me!

Two dozen scientists from around the world ran computer models of 400 existing pollution control measures and came up with 14 methods that attack methane and soot. The idea has been around for more than a decade, and the same authors worked on a United Nations report last year, but this new study is far more comprehensive. . . .

If adopted more widely, the scientists calculate the methods would reduce projected global warming by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2050. Without the measures, global average temperature is projected to rise nearly 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the next four decades. But by controlling methane and soot, the increase is projected to be only 1.3 degrees. It also would increase the annual yield of key crops worldwide by almost 150 million tons. . . .

The study even [!] does a cost-benefit analysis to see whether these pollution-control methods are too expensive to be anything but fantasy. They actually pay off with benefits that are as much as 10 times the value of the costs, Shindell said. The paper calculates that as of 2030, the pollution-reduction methods would bring about $6.5 trillion in annual benefits from fewer people dying from air pollution, less global warming and increased crop production. . . .

And so on. Now that I think about it, Seth probably wasn't taken aback at all. See, this new push will be taken up alongside the ongoing push to force taxpayers to pay trillions in carbon dioxide mitigation costs. Great. And all based on the exact same kind of "science."

Take these broken wings . . .

AP story on the front page of the Post right now: "Not as many dead blackbirds in Ark. town this year." Not going to read the story, as it might disturb the euphoria.

Update: Okay, read the story. There was mass blackbird bonkage last year. caused, allegedly, by fireworks. Yes, fireworks. Not Climate Instability. AP has become a radical right-wing organization.

Scary giant potato/pod update

I see that Dave in Texas over at AoS has posted on the photoshopped Nork funeral procession mentioned in the post below. Lots of back-and-forth in comments about whether it is actually a photoshop before everybody starts arguing about Iowa.

Whatever. What struck--and, frankly, frightened--me about this post and its comments is that not a single person mentions the giant potatoes.

Something is radically wrong at AoS.

We're not in Idaho anymore

The Telegraph notes the apparent photoshopping of a pic of the funeral procession for Kim Jong-Il yesterday.


See the guys with the camera to the left in the left-hand pic? Gone in the right-hand one.

Yeah, big deal. Commies manipulate photographs. Tell me something I didn't know.

But take a closer look:


What are those ovoid things lining the street?

I think the answer can be found in this 2009 snippet from official Nork news agency KCNA (second bullet point):

A music and dance performance was given by artistes of the Ryanggang Provincial Art Troupe at the Taehongdan County Cultural Hall on Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of leader Kim Jong Il's famous work "On Bringing about a Signal Turn in Potato Farming". . . .

Trofim Lysenko was right!

Update: Could be I'm overthinking this, of course. Maybe they're just the pods the N. Korean government has been hatching mourners out of.

Workworkworkworkworkworkwork

As everybody knows, the D-blog is no stranger to hard physical labor. He's worked in factories, on the farm, and even, during one of his earlier periods of gender confusion, as a milliner.

But refinishing floors kicks my ass every time. It's not so much the big drum sander you use for the wide-open spaces (though try carrying one up a flight of stairs); those are self-propelled, and while extremely awkward to maneuver, don't necessarily reduce one to a quivering hulk of hacking exhaustion.

No, it's the little disk sander, the one you use to sand around the edges of a room, that kills me. It weighs maybe 40 pounds, which doesn't sound like a lot, but to use it you have to stand bent nearly double, holding on for dear life while the disk rotates at 10,000 rpm (est.) and the thing threatens to rip itself out of your hands and run amuck like, like, I don't know, a mangler that's tasted human blood or something.

And you can't just hold on to the thing while it does the work. You have to use finesse to get the old finish off smoothly while not gouging big holes in your floor or foot or face, all while inhaling clouds of sawdust. I think I inhaled a couple 2x4's worth this go-round.

Oh well, bitching done. Now I'm on the easy part, puttin' down the Varathane. Good thing years of glue-sniffing has inured me to the fumes.

Update: A reader (yeah, sure) asks via e-mail: "Mr. D-blog, darling, why don't you just wear a mask over your fawn-like features to avoid inhaling that nasty sawdust?"

Dear reader: I do, but it doesn't seem to help much.

You running dog capitalist pig war-mong--hey, nice wheels

Wondered this morning what kind of car it was Kim Jong the Second was planking on on the way to his non-dirt nap in this video. Couldn't imagine it was an American car, though it looked like one, but somebody over at AoS says it's a 1960 Lincoln. Mmmm, not so sure of that. Nice flocking, though.

Death becomes Kim

Probably a little too convoluted a pun for youse guys. Never mind. The Telegraph:

Hundreds of thousands of North Korean citizens are expected to turn out on Wednesday for the funeral of Kim Jong-il, the man they have revered as The Dear Leader since he assumed power in 1994.

State media have so far given no indications of how the event will proceed, although it is likely to be similar to the funeral for Kim's father, Kim Il-sung, and underline the achievements of his rule and his commitment to the North Korea people.

The what of his rule? His commitment to what? Not even a hint of irony.

The media is simultaneously playing up the attributes and wisdom of Kim Jong-un, who has inherited his father's role as the leader of the nation, despite his youth. Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 28 years old, was on Monday appointed to the top post in North Korea's Workers' Party.

First I heard, he was in his early 30s. Then he was 30. Then 29. If this keeps up . . .

Meanwhile (as some no doubt long-daid journalism teacher told us never to use as a transition):

Authorities in South Korea have meanwhile [guess this guy didn't have the same journalism teacher] threatened to resort to force to prevent students and supporters of the regime in North Korea setting up altars to mourn Kim Jong-il's death.

Private security guards and officials of the elite Seoul National University have already torn down an altar set up in the grounds of the university and rejected requests from three students to burn incense on an altar in the student union building in honour of the later North Korean leader, Yonhap news agency reported.

"I thought it was the least we could do to show respect to a partner in forging peace on the Korean Peninsula," one of the three students told Yonhap, referring to Kim as one of the participants in summit meetings with former South Korean presidents Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun.

"It is a controversial issue that we do not even have one space to mourn the death in this country," the student said.

The police have issued clear warnings that anyone who attempts to pay tribute to Kim Jong-il is breaking the law.

"Setting up altars to mourn Chairman Kim constitutes crimes against the National Security Law, which bans applauding and sympathising (with the communist North)," an official of the National Police Agency said. "We may even resort to force in order to prevent incense altars."

Applauding. National police finger truncheons. Applauding and sympathizing. Whompwhompwhomp!

Koreans are weird.

'Santa says thank you to his liver transplant team'

That's the title of the video accompanying this Post story on a Denver-area (fake) Santa who (checking notes) got a liver transplant a while ago. No indication that he was a bad Santa, if you know what I mean (makes universally recognized drinky-drinky sign); just thought I'd try to cheer you moribund *ucks up a little.

This is not him:

Occupy Denver winning friends and influencing people

The Post:

A traditionally solemn annual memorial for people who died on Denver's streets was disrupted by a loud Occupy Denver group Tuesday night. . . .

[P]rotesters shouted "fascist," "criminal" and other slurs as Mayor Michael Hancock stepped forward to address the 22nd annual Homeless Persons' Memorial Vigil on the steps of the City and County Building.

Original, as usual.

For about three minutes, the mayor pleaded with them to show civility to the families present and respect for the 136 men and women whose names were to be called, homeless people who died in the past year. The vigil's organizers say the memorial is often the only public recognition those men and women's deaths ever receive.

The first graf, by the way, says the vigil is "for people who died on Denver's streets." One hundred and thirty-six of them? Hard to believe. Note how the paragraph above just says "died in the past year." This piece a couple of years ago from Fox31 breaks that year's number down a little. In short, 136 people did not "die in the streets" this year. Anyway:

Others in the audience shouted back at the protesters with such replies as "show some respect" and "grow up.

Fat chance.

After a few minutes, Hancock surrendered the podium to allow the vigil to go on.

"This mayor evicted homeless people to die last night," said a woman who refused to give her name but was prominent in shouting at police during Monday night's clash with protesters. "He does not deserve to be heard or respected."

Occupods, homeless? Their moms and dads wish.

"It's disgraceful," said Cynthia Ingram, who had traveled from Buffalo, N.Y., for the event to honor a cousin on the list.

"This isn't about their political agenda; it's about our family, some sympathy and showing just a little bit of respect for the dead. I am so angry right now."

Ingram said she had previously agreed with the Occupy mission on corporate greed but did not respect the outbursts at the memorial.

"Totally classless," she said.

Pretty much.

Tantrum Time

The Post on the final eviction (mebbe, and after three or four previous tries) of the Occupy Denver protesters from Civic Center Park:

At midnight today, they Tebowed.

Take me now, Jeebus.

Occupy Denver protesters took a knee at Broadway and West 13th Avenue as Denver police officers lined up at the Denver Public Library, corralling them after pressing them from their weeks-old encampment.

But protesters managed to pull one more I'm-gonna-hold-my-breath-till-I-turn-blue tantrum:

When the Tebowing was over, "God Bless America" rang out before the crowd of about 40protestors retreated south on Broadway, shouting pledges that the occupation was not over.

The clash had been intense and swift, with police shoving protestors and journalists alike with their batons, but it appeared only one protestor was taken into custody.

Afterwards, White said officers had hoped to ask the protestors a final time to remove their belongings, but when two prostestors began setting the shelters aflame, officers and firefighters had to move it.

A firetruck moved in to douse the flames as a battery of police closed ranks shouting, "Move back!" to allow firefighters access. Police said two protestors were arrested on arson charges and two were arrested on charges of failing to obey a lawful order.

According to a later story, nine ended up arrested. No journalists among them.

White had issued an ultimatum Monday afternoon to Occupy Denver protesters, saying that time was up and the city would forcibly dismantle their encampment near Civic Center at any moment.

The notice given at a meeting behind closed doors at police headquarters was the latest development in the battle between the Occupy Denver protesters and the city over the permanent demonstration on sidewalks that border Broadway between Colfax and 14th avenues. . . .

Protesters have built shelters, arranged tarps, set down sleeping bags and even tied a kayak to a tree, against [sic] violating a city ordinance that forbids "encumbrances" on public rights of way. They've tried to state their case in federal court, to no avail.

"A decision was made that that needs to occur. They were asked to do it. And they decided they weren't going to do it," White said earlier Monday. "Now it is on us to make that happen."

Mooches to the end:

The protesters left the meeting disgusted, calling the meeting "incredibly unproductive" and asking if they could take the crackers, fruits and veggie trays that were provided back to their protest.

From the later story:

During a joint news conference, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Police Chief Robert White said they remain committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of Occupy Denver protesters — but they will no longer tolerate structures on the sidewalks.

"If it goes up today, it goes down today," White said.

We'll see.

Update: Ace, of course, had it before I did, and a commenter on that post asks a plaintive question that should have occurred to me: "Is the Mayor Shelby, the Dog okay?" My guess: He was burned alive, screaming in a voice almost human, in one of those melting tents. Good doggie.

'Kim Jong the Second'

According to the Telegraph, that's what Rick Perry called the malevolent dwarf in a press release. Gad.

The MD, by the way, is lookin' stylish in his commie-preferred airtight (?) glass box:


His funeral isn't until the 28th, almost two weeks after he croaked. Mmmmm, rotty.

The Telegraph, by the way, is breathlessly live- (sic) blogging the shitstain's death, including a link to news.com.au's roundup of allegedly funny internet reactions ("As we speak, George Lucas is digitally adding Kim Jong-Il to the celebration scene in Return of the Jedi," one wag tweeted. Meh.).

Merry Christmas, stoners

Found stuck in the front door last week:


Sinister Santa sez: Toke up, dude!




There are at least half a dozen medical weed dispensaries within a half mile of here. The handy-dandy Weedmaps.com shows that the Denver metro area has tons of them; the Denver Channel said a couple of years ago that they outnumbered Starbucks by almost two to one--390 to 208. (This doesn't seem to be borne out by the weedmap, which shows many fewer than that. Stoners.)

If the d-blog were that type of person, he would point out that the medical marijuana biz is a total scam, a (fig?) leaf to cover pot sales to anyone at all, and thus an encouragement to disrespect of the law in general and etc. But since he's not that type of person, the d-blog also won't urge Colorado to just legalize the shit, already, collect the tax windfall, pay off the deficit, and STFU.

Update: Funny how Santa looks just like a biker I used to see hanging out at the Love to Drink Inn.

North Koreans 'chocking with grief' at death of Kim Jong-Il

So what killed the murderous little bastard? According to the (North) Korean Central News Agency, it was

an advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock, on train on December 17, Juche 100 (2011) for a great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the building of a thriving nation.

Every possible first-aid measure was taken immediately but he passed away at 08:30 on December 17.

Rats. Here's video of the North Korean people "choking with grief," as KCNA put it. One must (to coin a phrase) have a heart of stone to watch this without laughing.

Update: I want a multiplexer appreciation room! With modern stereo sound facilities!

Update II: "National Funeral Committee Formed"

Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- National funeral committee will be made up of following persons:

Kim Jong Un, Kim Yong Nam, Choe Yong Rim, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Yong Chun, Jon Pyong Ho, Kim Kuk Thae, Kim Ki Nam, Choe Thae Bok, Yang Hyong Sop, Kang Sok Ju, Pyon Yong Rip, Ri Yong Mu, Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Yang Gon, Kim Yong Il, Pak To Chun, Choe Ryong Hae, Jang Song Thaek, Ju Kyu Chang, Kim Rak Hui, Thae Jong Su, Kim Phyong Hae, Kim Jong Gak, U Tong Chuk, Kim Chang Sop, Mun Kyong Dok, Ri Thae Nam, O Kuk Ryol, Kim Chol Man, Ri Ul Sol, Jon Ha Chol, Kang Nung Su, Ro Tu Chol, Jo Pyong Ju, Han Kwang Bok, Paek Se Bong, Ri Yong Su, Choe Hui Jong, O Il Jong, Kim Jong Im, Chae Hui Jong, Kim Ki Ryong, Jang Pyong Gyu, Kim Pyong Ryul, Hong In Bom, Ri Man Gon, Ju Yong Sik, Kwak Pom Gi, O Su Yong, Ro Pae Gwon, Pak Thae Dok, Kim Hi Thaek, Kang Yang Mo, Rim Kyong Man, Kim Kyong Ok, Kim Myong Guk, Kim Won Hong, Hyon Chol Hae, Han Tong Gun, Jo Kyong Chol, Pak Jae Gyong, Pyon In Son, Yun Jong Rin, Jong Myong Do, Ri Pyong Chol, Choe Sang Ryo, Kim Yong Chol, Kang Phyo Yong, Kim Hyong Ryong, Ri Yong Hwan, Kim Chun Sam, Choe Kyong Song, Ri Myong Su, Jon Hui Jong, Ri Yong Gil, Hyon Yong Chol, Choe Pu Il, Yang Tong Hun, Ri Pong Juk, Kim Song Chol, Pak Kwang Chol, Ri Pyong Sam, Jon Chang Bok, O Kum Chol, Kim In Sik, Kim Song Dok, Ryo Chun Sok, Pak Sung Won, Ri Yong Chol, Pak Ui Chun, Kim Hyong Sik, Kim Thae Bong, Jon Kil Su, Ri Mu Yong, An Jong Su, Ri Ryong Nam, Ryu Yong Sop, Pak Myong Chol, Kim Yong Jin, Jang Chol, Song Ja Rip, Kim Jong Suk, Kang Tong

End communique.

Update III: Kim Jong-Il's successor Kim ("Sonny Boy") Jong-Un:


Unlike Daddy, he has kissable lips.

How to coil an extension cord

One of the D-blog's aims when he started this dismal bog was to post helpful little how-tos for you DIYers out there. After nearly seven years (I forgot), here's my first. Well, it's not actually mine, but you know what I mean:



Amazingly, this worked for the D-blog the very first time he tried it.

Okay, that was pretty simple. Let's try something a little more advanced:


Comment from a grateful Youtube watcher: "why do I have the urge to punch this guy in the face??"

A technique for rolling cable:



Yes, none of these videos has any relevance to the lives of D-blog readers if any. Here's one that does:


Remember, this might take a little practice.

Update: Jeez, how could I forget?


As we have learned: they're doing it wrong.

Christopher Hitchens

Well, it wasn't like we didn't know it was coming. The Telegraph's Toby Young: "The Cicero of the saloon bar"; the Guardian; the Mail (which also has a piece by Hitchens' brother Peter on becoming a Christian and coming to terms with his brother's atheism); Vanity Fair (which also has a surprisingly unamusing video compilation of some of Hitchens' "immortal rejoinders"); the Huffpo (just because it notes the NYT stopped its presses to run Hitch's obit on A1); and, for completeness, the NYT.

I've read only a couple of his books (Why Orwell Matters and Hitch-22), and his strident atheism got old in a hurry, but I've read many of his essays, and the one I'll always love him for is his appreciation of one of my longtime favorite comic novels. Here it is, as it appeared in The Atlantic in 2002: "The Man of Feeling: Lucky Jim, Kingsley Amis's comic masterpiece, may be the funniest book of the past half century."

It is. And much more than Hitchens' nearly traitorous (to the left) warnings of the danger posed by Islamofascism, or his support of the Iraq war, his love for that book made me feel like I really knew, and liked, the man.

Glottal fry

Everybody's talking about it, but the D-blog noticed it post-election three years ago during an interview by the rancid Amy Goodman of Democracy Now with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (see update III).

(Henry Kissinger voice: Yes, I'm wonderful. Now you, tell me how wonderful I am.)

On the bright side

Can't believe I haven't seen this over at AoS, especially since it's a couple of days old: "NJ woman charged in penis silicone injection death."

"10 minutes to save the world"

Hang on while I throw up in your mouth. A lot. Accounts from the Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Independent on the last-minute deal at Durban.

It's Sunday morning, and I don't feel much like hurling (or even slow-tossing) invective. If you do, go over to Watts Up With That and have a ball. But God how I hate these fools, these liars, these smug unelected bureaucrats, these professional suckers on the taxpayers' teat, these science-killers, these whimpering victims and arrogant purveyors of the greatest mass delusion in history.

Whoops. Think I'll go out and kick Billy Bob around like a half-deflated (or, alternatively, inflated) football.

Denver judge: Funding for Colorado schools must increase, big-time

This stuff is above my brain grade, but it doesn't sound good. The Post:

In a ruling that could have profound consequences for Colorado's budget, a Denver judge Friday said the state's school-funding system is not "thorough and uniform" as mandated by the state constitution.

The state's school-funding system "is not rationally related to the mandate to establish and maintain a thorough and uniform system of free public schools," District Judge Sheila Rappaport said in a 183-page ruling in which she called the system "unconscionable."

"It is also apparent that increased funding will be required," Rappaport wrote. . . .

But, but, I thought Amendment 23 was going to take care of things for eber and eber . . .

The case, Lobato vs. State of Colorado, was filed in 2005. It originated with a group of parents in the San Luis Valley but expanded to include districts from across the state.

Lawyers for the state, represented by Attorney General John Suthers' office, argued that the question of how much should be spent on education should be left to the legislature and voters. They also said more money alone is not necessarily the solution to better schools.

Demncrats argued this. Wow.

But Rappaport clearly disagreed.

"There is not enough money in the system to permit school districts across the state to properly implement standards-based education and to meet the requirements of state law and regulation," she wrote in her ruling. "This is true for districts of every description. . . . There is not one school district that is sufficiently funded. This is an obvious hallmark of an irrational system." . . .

"There is not one school district that is sufficiently funded . . ."? Not even Cherry Creek, the rich kid district that is freqently compared to districts that have to school their kids in old nuclear-bomb shelters? Wow.

Eric Brown, spokesman for [Democratic] Gov. John Hickenlooper, said the state will almost certainly appeal the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court​.

"The court clearly invited an appeal, and we believe an appeal is likely," Suthers spokesman Mike Saccone said. "It was clearly very tempting for the District Court judge to wade into what is a public policy debate." . . .

The lawsuit doesn't seek money. However, one consultant hired by Halpern and Gebhardt estimated the state's current funding system falls short by as much as $4 billion a year.

The state now spends more than 40 percent, or $3.2 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year that ended in June, of its almost $7 billion general fund on K-12 schools.

Wow.

Coloradans in November, by a 2-to-1 margin, shot down a $3 billion tax-increase measure for schools.

When times are good, Coloradoweenians will vote "yes" on almost any spending measure; when times are bad . . .

Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, a former schoolteacher and State Board of Education member, hailed the decision. "It makes a statement about the necessity of adequate school funding."

Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, a witness in the case, also was shocked, but not so ecstatic.

"Wow," he said. "Wow. Wow. This ruling is extremely disappointing."

Bastard took my "wows." Like I say, this is too wonky for me. Maybe Ms Linda Seebach, who used to write about (among much other stuffs) education stuffs for the Rocky Mountain News, will try to make sense of it. The policy ginks at the People's Press Collective (of which, believe it or not, the D-blog is a founding member) will surely have multiple somethings. I'll keep my face peeled.

Update: The overly modest Ms Seebach responds in comments:

Thanks for the memories, but I've been away too long to wade into this. Sounds as if the judge is way over her head, too; whatever is wrong with schools, it isn't lack of money. School spending has doubled or tripled (yes, adjusted for inflation!) over the last several decades with virtually nothing to show for it.

Hell, even I knew that.

Update II: Randall Smith at the People's Press Collective is suitably restrained: "Denver judge blows up Colorado education spending."

Fracking hysterics

Josh Fox, maker of the eco-freako doco Gasland, in the Guardian today on the EPA's finding that fracking polluted groundwater in Wyoming:

Anyone who lives in a gas drilling area can tell you: fracking contaminates groundwater. Citizens have been shouting this at the top of their lungs in fracking areas since shortly after the process of hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005, paving the way for the largest gas drilling boom in domestic history. The exemption, known as the "Halliburton Loophole", allows fracking companies to inject toxic chemicals under the ground in huge quantities and not report it to the EPA. But with this much fracking going on, with thousands of wells being drilled and fracked in 34 states, and with thousands of reported cases of contamination, the gas industry just can't keep their secrets buried; they keep bubbling up through
the ground. . . .

So, when the EPA now says, "When considered together with other lines of evidence, the data indicates likely impact to groundwater that can be explained by hydraulic fracturing," that is something quite new. What is also clear is that the aquifer in Pavillion will never be cleaned. The contamination there, for the foreseeable future, is permanent. And considering that the permanent contamination of huge areas of groundwater in the US is now a scientifically proven risk, the Pavillion investigation, as extensive as it was, must become the new standard for investigating fracking complaints worldwide.

Having investigated fracking myself for three years, I have heard the same story hundreds of times, from residents in gas-drilling areas from Wyoming to Arkansas, from Pennsylvania to Texas. It goes like this: the frackers move in – and all of a sudden your water turns color, or can be lit on fire, or smells like turpentine or leaves burn marks on you after you take a shower. It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots. . . .

No, not a genius . . .

For the first time, EPA links fracking to groundwater pollution

The totally objective and trustworthy EPA, that is. The Post:

Hydraulic fracturing, a controversial oil-and-gas production technique used in Colorado and across the country, has been linked for the first time to groundwater pollution in a case near Pavillion, Wyo.

The finding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set off calls for tighter rules on the so-called fracking process, which pumps fluid into wells under pressure to fracture rock and release oil and gas.

"This could be a game changer," said Frank Smith, an organizer with the Western Colorado Congress, an environmental group.

As he masturbated furiously into an organic Fleshlight. But read the story. Lots of disputation about what might or might not be going on in Pavillion. The evil oil company spokesman even has the nerve to point out that the origin of the various chemicals found in the local wells is still not certain. Even the EPA is cautious, noting that,

"EPA's draft findings are specific to the production conditions at Pavillion in which fracturing occurred in and below the drinking water aquifer and in close proximity to drinking water wells," Richard Mylott, an EPA spokesman, said in a statement.

This is not usual, as the story points out:

In Colorado, wells are drilled to oil-and-gas zones 6,000 to 12,000 feet deep, except for shallower coal-bed methane wells.

State rules require that surface casing extend below the aquifers, which are usually no more than 1,000 feet deep, and the casing must be surrounded by a cement jacket.

Thought that was called a "cement overcoat." Anyway, in the Wyoming case,

The Wyoming wells were drilled to a depth of about 1,200 feet, and surface casing — pipe to protect groundwater — went to about 360 feet, leaving part of the aquifer exposed, according to the EPA report.

These facts, of course, will be ignored by the envirotards. Oh well. Time to get out the whale-oil lamps.

Update: AP story in the Wapo goes into somewhat more, uh, depth, including the first use of the term (that I've seen, anyway) "fracking community."

Do they still use the pic of the fat twins on minibikes?

Telegraph: "World's oldest dog dies in Japan"

The world's oldest dog according to Guinness World Records has died in Japan at the age of 26 years and eight months.

Pusuke, the fluffy tan Shiba-mix dog, was recognized as the world's oldest living dog dog in December 2010.

This pic, likewise, was taken in December, 2010. Hard to believe.

Owner Yumiko Shinohara said at her home in Sakura, a city outside Tokyo, that Pusuke, a fluffy tan Shiba mix, died on Monday after suddenly falling ill and refusing to eat.

Shinohara told TV network FNN that she "would just like to thank him for staying alive so long." The report said Pusuke's life span would have been the equivalent of about 125 years for a human.

The report (I guess they mean the GWR thing) appears to use the formula that the first two years of a dog's life count as 10.5 human years apiece, with each year thereafter counting as four human years. Using that metric, this calculator comes close.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the dog was born April 1, 1985. Pusuke was recognized as the world's oldest living dog last December. The Guinness record for canine longevity is 29 years, set by Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who died in 1939.

Australian cattle dog, eh? So is Billy Bob! In fact, using the calculator, I see that Billy is only about 65 years old. That sounds about right, poor lumpy thing. Oh, here's the PLT (the D-a-W calls him "GGB"--"Grotesque Growth Boy") at the Pa-in-Law's at Thanksgiving:


Yes, another frisbee shot. Note: GGH (Grotesque Growth House) is not the pa-in-law's. His is much less, uh, magnificent. By the way, you can see one of BB's (harmless) fatty lumps just over his right shoulder. It's about three-quarters the size of a tennis ball. Ewwwww!

Update: The T's sidebar "News Most Viewed" column looks rather inter--well, you decide:

Father's finger bitten off at school nativity (no, it wasn't little Baby Jesus wot dunnit);

Police force invites tenders for £70,000 of sandwiches (your, or rather their, government in action); and

Jane Fonda defies her age with 1980s leotard (One-word D-blog opinion: No, she doesn't).

Update II: Fat twins on minibikes (actually small motorcycles) as they appeared in the Guinness Book of Whatever way back when. Now available on t-shirts suitable for any occasion!

Death penalty off table for Abu-Jamal

One of Ward Churchill's favorite murderers will die in prison. The LAT:

Former Black Panther and convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal will be spared the death penalty, the Philadelphia district attorney announced Wednesday, bringing a quiet end to a racially charged case that spanned 30 years.

Seth Williams, the city’s top prosecutor, said Abu-Jamal will spend the rest of his life in prison. He said the “decision to end this fight [over a death sentence] was not an easy one to make” and that he remained convinced that Abu-Jamal was guilty as charged and deserved to die for his crimes.

Of course he did. And of course this will be hailed as a great victory by all his fellow scumbag rads like Wart. The widow of the cop Mumia murdered sounds pretty philosophical about it:

Maureen Faulkner said she accepted the decision reluctantly.

“My family and I have endured a three-decade ordeal at the hands of Mumia Abu-Jamal, his attorneys and his supporters,” she said. “After 30 years of waiting, the time remaining before Abu-Jamal stands before his ultimate judge doesn’t quite seem so far off as it once did when I was younger. I look forward to that day.”

Ditto. Mumia, of course, more than once defended Wart, and the fat fake Injun has returned the favor, frequently mentioning his support for the "still-caged" Abu-Jamal at the start of his speeches. Can't wait to see his reaction to this news (j/k).

She sures looks better than she did during her Churchill deposition

That's former CU prexy Betsy "Terms of Endearment" Hoffman, who's a finalist for president of the University of New Mexico. She also once said attacks on Ward Churchill betokened a (wait for it) "new McCarthyism."

Wart to appear at Tucson "collective" of some sort

The Dry River Collective, that is, which calls Wart "world-renowned" (and be sure to check out the pdf at the second link):

De-Occupy O'odham Lands!
When: Sat., Dec. 10

Ward Churchill, John Zerzan and Julian Kunnie speak at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10; $10to $20 requested donation, but no one will be turned away. A vegetarian meal is included. The event benefits O'odham VOICE Against the WALL, an organization working to reunite O'odham lands and families split by the imposition of the U.S.-Mexico border.

As usual, a laff riot will ensue. The world-renowned participants can't be getting much, though, since this appears a little down the page:

Dry River Lookin for Birthday $$$(6 years on Nov. 5)

So, we’ve fallen a bit behind in the rent department as of late. If you can drop a donation below to the WEPAY account please ...

Update: D'oh! Completely forgot that JWP had this roughly six years ago.

Last four ms chapters of GWTW found at childhood library

I hated the book, too. It sat on the radiator by the toilet throughout my childhood so each of my thousands of sisters could read it in turn, over and over.

Now the last four chapters have turned up at the Pequot Library in Southport, where they'll be on display for a while. It's a small world . . .

(h/t: Sabra)

Guess the missing term

AP story in the Denver Post this ayem: "Gun rights are tough politics for Obama."

Fffffffffff. Ffffffffff.

Update: Oops, the Post didn't print the whole AP story, which a commenter at the Top Headine Comments at AoS notes did in fact mention Fast & Furious, though not by name, and with no menton of, er, deaths.

Tell! Tell! The scene in Gone with the Wind with my father's first wife and Vivien Leigh

I looked for it before I posted on Marcella Martin's role in GwtW a few years ago, but no luck. Now, magically, here it is:


She has a few more lines than I thought. But: meh.

Update: Actually the end of the scene is kind of funny: "No, but she was ruined just the same."

I have stuff twirling around in my head too!

And I vote!

Cain/Bachmann/Stelazine 2012!

Be sure to watch the schizophrenia slide show! Presented with limited hallucinatory interruptions by Stelazine!

Are you schizophrenic? Take the quiz and find out!

I can't stop using exclamation points! Luckily there's a drug for that! Stelazine!

Update! Actually Cain lost me long ago when the halfwit showed he had no idea what the term "right of return" meant. Good God.

Update II: Stelllaaaaaa!

More OccupyDenver tomfoolery

Had to go to the bank (sorry, credit union) this morning, so I left the car parked there and Billy Bob and I walked down to the OccupyDenver protest at Civic Center.

Billy Bob is kind of a pain on these jaunts, because a) he doesn't understand that his leash becomes a deadly weapon in a crowd; and b) there's lots of food lying around on the ground and he is bound and, yes, determined to eat all of it.

So I thought about leaving him in the car, but didn't on the off chance he might get to meet his newest heroine, Shelby, the border collie/cattle dog mix who last week was elected leader of the OccupyDenver movement (one dog, one vote, one time).

So who do we run into as soon as we set foot in the park? Shelby!


She's already adopted the trappings of an imperial presidency.

Naturally Billy Bob, being a pup of the people, promptly violated protocol in a move so embarrassing I'll probably never be able to show my face at these protests again:


I, I say! It was almost as bad as that time Moochelle sniffed the Queen's butt or whatever she did. Security rushed in to pull BB away, but the damage was done.

Anyway, protesters were already yacking away, complete with mic checks and the small crowd repeating everything the speakers said (no up- or down-twinkles that I noticed, though).


The blonde in green, oddly enough, was going on about how brilliant it was that OD elected Shelby leader of the movement. Sadly, it just reminds me of Ward Churchill and Benjie Whitmer's utterly lame attempt to emulate the also-lame (as well as dead) Abbie Hoffman and run a pig for president (scroll down a yittle).


What the well-dressed anarchist is wearing this season.
The guy in the trench coat and go-to-hell porkpie hat in the pic below was, of course, a truther. Even the Occupods were having none of it.



But check this out. See the big kid on the right with greenish hair? That's the same kid who was arrested with three others a few weeks ago for squatting in the abandoned house right across the street from the D-blog manse. I took him aside and asked how that had worked out. He said they were charged with trespassing and burglary (a class 2 felony, he said), but that he thought that charge would be pled down to a misdemeanor. "As soon as that's over with," he said, "I'm going to be squatting again." And damn me, I forgot to ask who was representing them.

A little signage 'n' stuff:


Hard to read: it says, "Kick Uncle $am Off Indian Land."



"(Neither is Ron Paul)." Then we're left with no one.


Yes, the utterly unnecessary but de rigueur bandana face.




"Yes we kill."



One of the sexiest features of communism is food lines. Coincidentally, I guess, one of those was recreated across the park:




The line of food tables stretched the whole block in front of the City and County building. Biggest potluck I've ever seen, and it smelled fantastic. Maybe communism isn't that bad . . .


On the other hand, the line of people stretched for three blocks. Good. Times.

BB and I were tempted to get in line, but the credit union was closing, so we had to get out of there.

By the way, the D-blog is aware what weak marinara this post is compared to the gripping fillums the Lonesome Dictator of North Denver got of the brouhaha at BlogCon (which the D-blog was unable to attend) yesterday, when Occupods attempted to infiltrate the conservative blogger get-together. You've probably seen them, but if not here they are at their rightful home, the People's Press Collective.

Update (7:47 MST): The Post: "Denver police forcing Occupy Denver to move their property in Civic Center." Again.

Update II: The Washington Examiner has more. The protesters have been acting out. ("This is not Tehran!" Sheeeeit.)

(via commenter kbdabear at the AoS ONT)

Update III (2 December 2011): Believe it or not, I saw Black Flag at the Ogden, way, way back. They sucked, tho Henry looked pretty damn good in his panties.

Listening for the EAS test

Yep, the first nationwide Emergency Alert Squeal test. Wait, here it comes!

That was weird. All I heard was this.

Update: That, of course, was from a list of Star Trek sounds. My fave (not that I listened to them all) is this one, undoubtedly from one of the movies after they figured out that Bones' "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a _______" had comic possibilities.

A pic from the student protest over tuition fees in London

Which police fear anarchists may use as an excuse for violence. From the Telegraph's liveblog:


I did not know Mila Kunis was an anarchist.

Colorado AAUP report: CU treatment of Wart should make it "last resort" for prospective faculty

The American Association of University Professors has been a Wart-defending joke for years, of course. But this time, no doubt in an attempt to maintain their fake evenhandedness, they also mention the completely unrelated case of Phil Mitchell. The Gamera (which calls the AAUP a "professors-rights group"):

In the report issued this month, the Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professors criticizes CU-Boulder for not renewing the 2007 contract of Phil Mitchell, an instructor in the Sewall Residence Program, and for firing Ward Churchill, a tenured professor in the ethnic studies department. CU officials fired Churchill in 2007 after an academic misconduct investigation.

CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard said that Churchill was given full due process during the academic misconduct case and Mitchell's contract was not renewed because he was not adhering to the academic rigor standards that were clearly communited in the program.

Communited? That's not a bad word. Anyway, sometimes I wish Colorado could have its own little Cultural Revolution so we could just send academics up to work the beet farms around Greeley.

Update: The pirate with the parrot who knows all about Cleveland Steamers goes much more entertainingly in-depth on the story.

Sieg Heil!

A piece in the (Trinity University, San Antonio) Trinitonian on Wart's appearance at the school last week, during which he yelled "sieg heil" and gave a Nazi salute to the university president's wife, has some new quotes from said wife, Penelope Harley:

“I just felt that what he said was totally uncalled for and was actually very hypocritical, and this is what I led my comments with [during the after-speech Q & A with Churchill],” Harley said during a phone interview Thursday morning. “The most important message I wanted to get across was that in the first half of his presentation, which seemingly was all about the need for truth and evidence in legal cases having to do with academic freedom, it seemed extremely hypocritical that he launched into this unsubstantiated personal malice against Dennis that I knew was unfounded, with absolutely no evidence and with no regard for the truth.”

Never stopped Wart before. The piece also has some new stuff from hubby Dennis Ahlburg, former head of the CU Leeds School of Business and now prez of Trinity University:

“I would never have invited him myself, I think he’s despicable,” Ahlburg said. “A faculty member invited him and I chose not to rescind the offer because I believe in free speech. I don’t believe you should give a free stage to people like Churchill…I don’t believe Ward Churchill is about free speech. I think he’s about his own public persona.”

Ahlburg’s connection with Churchill seemingly stems from their time spent at the University of Colorado Boulder. However, Ahlburg claims their interaction was virtually non-existent.

“The thing that’s most peculiar is that I’ve never met the man and all of the things that happened to him at Colorado preceded me, so the fact that he would think I would waste a nano-second of my time on him just shows how delusional he is,” Ahlburg said. “I mean he has enough real enemies, he doesn’t have to make one up. I am not his enemy.” . . .

Time to join the club, Dennis!

“His modus operandi is if he can’t argue with you on the merits of the case, he will attack you personally,” Ahlburg said, before also addressing Churchill’s reference to Nazism. “What role does screaming ‘Sieg Heil,’ ‘Sieg Heil’ and giving a Nazi salute to anybody, what role does that play in the academic discourse? That is somebody who has lost their grip on reality and seems to have a mania for anything that has to do with Nazis, and at that point he should have been shown off campus.”

And into the nearest sewage pond.

Churchill claims that controversy surrounding [the 9/11] essay led to an unfounded investigation of academic misconduct, insisting that he would not have been under such scrutiny if not for his political views. He also claims that Ahlburg used this controversy as a means to persuade donors to withhold money from the College of Arts and Sciences and alternatively give to the Leeds School of Business, of which Ahlburg was the dean at the time.

“He told every one of those wealthy donors, corporate contributors, basically ‘Ward Churchill is in the College of Arts and Science [sic], you are committing money to that, withdraw it and give it to Leeds,’” Churchill said during the lecture.

Prove it. Oh, wait, for once he has evidence:

Churchill also stated that he had alleged email documentation of Ahlburg using his name to raise money, but refused to provide these emails when contacted.

Sekrit evidence.

Churchill was also contacted by the Trinitonian for a phone interview about the series of events that took place Tuesday. His response, via email, was as follows: “I’m not much interested in something focusing exclusively on 2 sentences lifted out of a 35 minute talk. If you’re inclined to do something with the real story with regard to Dennis Ahlberg [sic] — that Trinity’s board of trustees hired a guy rated 26th out of 27 deans at the University of Colorado in terms of administrative effectiveness to be your president — let me know. I’ll send you a copy of his UCB administrative evaluation and we can go from there.”

There are no depths to which this scumbag won't go. But we knew that. The paper has an accompanying editorial: "Churchill's attacks distract campus discourse." Sample graf:

In all of this commotion over who said what about whom, the glaring question is: why was Churchill invited to Trinity? Out of all the possible speakers available, why choose someone so aggressively divisive? As students and journalists, we at the Trinitonian are the first people to stand up for freedom of speech, and we believe it is important to practice and even test the limits of freedom of speech. However, it is also in the best interest of society to employ reason in our campaigns. Although Churchill’s choice to give Harley a Nazi salute was constitutionally protected, it certainly undermined his argument.

Now there's a ringing declaration.

Update: The pirate with the parrot who donates to Ron Paul notes that the CU Board of Regents is finally going to consider ending the ridiculous policy by which professors fired for anything but "moral turpitude" receive a year's salary as a parting gift. Unfortunately, Wart's already got his.

Possible Fort Collins Occupod* arrested for arson

The Post:

A Fort Collins man has been arrested as a suspect in a $10 million fire along Mason Street in downtown Fort Collins.

Benjamin David Gilmore, 29, was taken into custody Thursday night.

Gilmore appears to be the same person who recently appeared before the Fort Collins City Council to ask that Occupy Fort Collins protesters be left alone. He was arrested for suspicion of first-degree arson, burglary and criminal mischief in the blaze that destroyed a condominium complex under construction and damaged a complex next door.

The alleged arsonist allegedly spoke before the Fort Collins city council Tuesday. He spouted the usual gibberish.

*The Post is careful to note that "Arrest papers available to the public do not connect Occupy Fort Collins to the arson fires, and police made no connection between the group's protest and Gilmore's arrest. Organizers could not immediately be reached for comment on Gilmore." Maybe he was just cold.

Update: 9News has more, with a story from the (Fort Collins) Coloradoan. Gilmore, "a registered Republican" according to the piece, was definitely heavily involved with the Tea Party OccupyFortCollins.

Update II: In comments JWP links to a three-week-old piece from radio station Tri- 102.5 ("The Best Variety of Lite Rock Favorites") which sent a reporter to the Fort Collins protest. The reporter interviewed Gilmore, describing him as "a Fort Collins business owner, war veteran and a member of Occupy Fort Collins." Okay.

It's Arts Week in Denver!

So a bunch of mercifully evitable krep going on. Among the krep is the Starz (blech) Denver Film Festival, which will be featuring movies by "area" filmmakers (whatever that means) in its "Spotlight on Colorado." One of the movies is "Patriocracy." The Post says the doco asks the musical question, "How did the U.S become the politically riven nation it is today?" One look at the lineup of talking deads (sorry, the site won't let me link) tells you where the film's creator, Brian Malone, will be coming from: Bob Schieffer, Eleanor Clift, Roy--sorry--Pat Buchanan, Sheila Jackson Lee, Jared Polis . . .

Area theaters are puttin' on the blitz as well, including Curious Theater's offering, "Collapse," of which the Post's fine arts critic John Moore says, "Though it's inspired by the 2007 Minneapolis bridge disaster, artistic director Chip Walton swears, "It's one of the funniest plays we've ever produced."

There's also Chinese art and Klezmer abusers and Day of the Dead stuff and all like that. The Post's story on this, by the way, was published yesterday and has gotten only one comment thus far, from a "yip cabbage": "Zzzzzzzz."

Not a cowtown.

OccupyDenver tittle and bosh

First, Michael Moo!re is supposed to show up at the Denver encampment around 4:00 p.m. today, according to the Post. He's in town to appear at the Tattered Cover and UC-Denver. Who cares? (The Post and various news crews, that's who.) Saw the round mound of suet a few years ago; don't need to again.

Second, KOA says the Occupods are going to move camp soon from the sidewalk on Broadway to Skyline Park so they won't be in the way of the Veterans Day parade. Mighty thoughty of them. Skyline Park is a block-long concrete hole beloved of skateboarders and nodding addicts. The wind absolutely howls through it.

Update: Apparently the move isn't voluntary. KOA now says some veterans organization has dibs on Civic Center Park, and that the protesters have to move by tomorrow night. The D-blog was a leetle premature in pronouncing the end of the non-Boy Scout jamboree a while back, but again, how is it that this bunch gets to camp in city parks when no one else does?

Update II: Post: "Michael Moore fires up OccupyDenver, says rest of country watching"

Couldn't be happening to a nicer bunch

Copyright scum-sucker Righthaven finds no haven.

Wart "sieg heils" uni prez's wife at speech

The charm, it just never quits. The San Antonio Express-News:

Ward Churchill, a controversial activist for academic freedom, at a speech at Trinity University on Tuesday accused the university's president, Dennis Ahlburg, of a smear campaign against him some years ago in Colorado.

He also invoked the Hitler salute of “Sieg Heil” to Ahlburg's wife, Penelope Harley, as she stormed out of the auditorium after defending her husband in front of the audience of students and faculty.

“This personal vindictiveness in an institution that has welcomed you ... I find very, very hard to listen to. And quite frankly, pretty darn insulting,” said Harley, before leaving for her son's soccer match.

Ahlburg was in New York, but was reached by phone later.

“He comes in and insults me in my absence... and screams ‘Sieg Heil' at my wife?” Ahlburg said. “This is a champion for free speech that America does not need. The only speech he wants to hear is his own voice.”

True, true.

Ahlburg became dean of the UC Leeds School of Business in 2005. Though the two never met, Churchill said some faculty and alumni told him Ahlburg was “bad rapping” him to potential donors, using Churchill's notoriety to convince them to give to the business school instead of the arts and sciences.

“He quietly, back-channel, through personal communications conducted about as vicious a smear campaign against me personally as it was possible to engage in,” Churchill told the audience.

Ahlburg called the accusations “absolutely false.”

“The last thing I would do to try and raise money is mention his name, goodness gracious.”

Goodness gracious. Civility is dead in this country.

To be honest, btw, I don't remember this little incident a'tall. Wonder if it even made the papers back then. I'll look when I has the chancet, or maybe JWP knows.

Update: And by the way, Express-News, it's "CU," not "UC."