It feels strange visiting a country like Morocco and listening to people extol the virtues of a political system my country waged a revolution against. Morocco has a king, and he’s a real one too, not some kind of a figurehead. But I went there, I listened, and after almost ten years of visiting Middle Eastern countries wracked by tyranny, terrorism, botched revolutions, and wars, I was perhaps a bit more willing to hear what they had to say than I might have been a decade ago.
O, Sweet Saint Of San Andreas
Oh, Frack!
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Promised Land – Not only does Image Nation Abu Dhabi finance the “Promised Land,” but the Abu Dhabi government owns the media company that subsidizes Image Nation.
FrackNation – was funded on Kickstarter by small donations from more than 3,000 individuals. No donations were accepted from anyone connected to the oil and gas industry.
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
Today, at the direction of nobody in particular;
“United States forces provided limited technical support to the French forces in that operation, but took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage,” Obama wrote.
“United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed. These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation. The U.S. forces that supported this operation left Somalia by approximately 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 11, 2013.”
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda still decimated.
Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!
CNN, October 2012 – On Tuesday, [American Airlines] said another flight had experienced loose seats, bringing the total to three flights on two planes in a week.[…] Robert Gless, deputy director of the Air Transport Division of the Transport Workers Union of America, dismissed the notion that the problems with loose seats were linked to labor issues as “without any basis in fact.”
Reuters, January 2013 – Boeing Co (BA) made a revised offer to the union representing its 23,000 engineering employees on Friday. The improved offer came on the same day the U.S. government ordered a review of the firm’s 787 Dreamliner following a string of mechanical and electrical problems.
h/t Melinda Romanoff
Reader Tips
In tonight’s entertainment en route to the Tips, a romantic scene from the 1931 musical comedy Be Like Me, a young Ethel Merman leans across the table, looks tenderly into the eyes of her sweetheart, and breaks into…shout.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
The League of Unemployable Bloggers
Just like the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” but sexier.
Strong And Free
5 insane acts of heroism by everyday Canadian citizens.
The Sound Of Settled Science
A forecast the Met Office hoped you wouldn’t see.
|
|
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
Reader Tips
White QBs Can Sprint, or…
…the Colin from Kaepernick. Who knows if relevant.
The pleasure is close to exquisite for a Niners’ fan: aeons ago–Joe Perry, Y.A. Tittle, “Alley Oop” Owens and Hugh MacElhenny.
Let’s stop stereotyping who’s “athletic” and who can do what at each position.
This Is Awkward
Embattled St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson says new Utah Attorney General John Swallow helped broker a deal in 2010 in which Johnson believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid $600,000 to make a federal investigation into Johnson’s company go away.
But when the federal government filed a lawsuit Johnson thought he had paid to quash, he demanded Swallow return some of the $250,000 initial payment. Then, just days before the Nov. 6 election, Johnson engaged in a frenetic but unsuccessful effort to get Swallow to drop out of the race, saying information about what Johnson called a “bribe” would come out and force the Republican’s resignation if he became attorney general.
Just Imagine . . .
Just imagine if the following sign made reference to any other skin colour or ethnic group:
Photo taken by David Akin outside of Langevin Block, on Parliament Hill on 2013-01-11
Why Is There Always A Big Screen TV?
|
“When I was first “warned” about what to expect in Sheshatshui, a lot of it seemed really over-the-top to me, even racist at times. I heard so much trash talk about this town and its inhabitants, and so passionately told, that I wondered if people were hanging onto some kind of “grudge” that I didn’t know about. So many stories preceded my visit there and they all seemed extremely exaggerated. Nevertheless, I took my camera and set out to take some photos.” |
The post is from 2010. You’ll need to agree to a disclaimer before entering.
Deep Impact
 |
The media business was shaken on Friday when it was reported […] that managing editor John Geddes, assistant managing editor Jim Roberts, dining editor Susan Edgerley, former Washington editor Rick Berke, and former Times Magazine editor Jerry Mazorati could all be casualties of the Times’ effort to cut costs. |
In The Mail
|
My Share Of The Task – General Stanley McChrystal In early March 2010, General Stanley McChrystal, the commanding officer of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, walked with President Hamid Karzai through a small rural bazaar. As Afghan townspeople crowded around them, a Taliban rocket loudly thudded into the ground some distance away. Karzai looked to McChrystal, who shrugged. The two leaders continued greeting the townspeople and listening to their views. |
|
Enough is Enough!
This is truly getting insane:
Reader Tips
In 1971 Geddy Lee, lead singer for the recently-formed Canadian rock band Rush, tripped over a cat and struck his head on the corner of a coffee table. When he regained consciousness an hour later, he couldn’t remember his own name nor recognize his bandmates.
Three days later, he vanished without a trace. A private detective hired by Lee’s concerned bandmates found him six months later in France, where he had achieved improbable fame as a pop star named Lally Stot. Here he is on a French television show, still visibly suffering from the effects of his head injury, performing Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
Okay, okay, I made that whole thing up.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
The Loving, Law-Abiding Left on Display
A statue of PM John A. MacDonald was grossly defaced in Kingston, Ontario. Remember folks, this was done by those deemed by Canada’s Media Party to be “heroes”. 🙁