War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
Today starts the first official vacation I’ve had in years — the last a near-decade ago while working for a newspaper — and the feeling is already weird. I’ll not be posting again until most-likely next weekend as this ‘vacation‘ is the first time I’ve been disconnected from the online world for any length of…
Standing on the corner Suitcase in my hand Jack is in his corset and jane is in her vest And me I’m in a rock and roll band Riding in a stutz bearcat jim Those were different times And the poets studied rules of verse And all the ladies rolled there eyes Sweet jane Sweet…
Someone asked why I invited Jon Stewart to be the first guest on the Journal’s premiere in 2007. “Because Mark Twain isn’t available,” I answered. I was serious. Like Twain, Stewart has proven that truth is more digestible when it’s marinated in humor. –Â Bill Moyers A sad state of journalism when its top program and…
“You can’t be afraid of words that speak the truth. I don’t like words that hide the truth. I don’t like words that conceal reality. I don’t like euphemisms or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Because Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth,…
As these modern times gets more complicated, the ability of government to stare way-down into your bowels to catch a terrorist turd has come a long way, baby, and the future of freedom doesn’t appear too inconspicuous, either. In fact, any private aspect of our daily lives is open to be scrutinized, filmed, recorded and…
(Illustration found here via Google Images). As the entire world appears to be going full-steam bat-shit insane, the announcement yesterday of the death of movie icon Elizabeth Taylor most-oddly gives life a more normal feel to it, a reassuring sense that time is still the same, that people grow, mature, and then die. Taylor’s obit…
One giant, DUH! From Media Matters: Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: “I don’t think people would believe it’s as concocted as it is; that stuff is just…
(Illustration found here). Rare for me to not find a specific subject to write about in the early morning — in fact, it’s usually the exact opposite as there’s so much weird shit happening all over the world that’s it’s kind of easy to find a source for a blog. This morning, however, despite surfing…
One of the principal traits of conservatives — that label is not used liberally — and anything GOPish is the great presence of fear: the Republican-upchuck fright-inducing phrase to the ignorant, ‘government takeover,’ has been crowned the 2010 Lie of the Year. As Greg Sargent noted the noteworthiness of the lie: The obvious reason is…
Thirty years ago today Steven Terrence McQueen died. McQueen was only 50. He died one day after an operation to remove several metastatic tumors in his abdomen, the end result of a fight against mesothelioma. An avid McQueen fan as a youngster — I even had a toy replica of John Randall’s featured armament, a…