Let's Poke Adam Daifallah Just One More Time

Adam, not only is racism still a problem in the U.S., and not, as you say, an idea held by silly people, but you can be rewarded for being a racist. You just write a book about a U.S. Senator, full of racist code words and fear mongering, get it published by Simon and Schuster, and go to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. And then Larry King will allow you to shill your book on his show, even though you have a history of making racist statements online and on the radio. And, you can go on a radio show described as "the primary radio nexus of hate in America" and nobody will say a word except some dirty fucking hippies*, and who cares what they say.

Not only is racism in the U.S. a serious problem, taken seriously by serious people (note: you are not one of them), but Obama's high profile has allowed all these closet racists to come out and openly display their hate. All in the name of "telling it like it is", or with the "I'm just sayin'" defense. Just because you aren't racist, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.


h/t to reality



*Not entirely true. Many mainstream newspapers, including the New York Times, are debunking the book. But if you think the MSM is a liberal echo chamber, then the point stands.

Moron of the Day

In response to the Globe and Mail article Tories to axe five more arts and culture programs,
Joseph Bloggins had this to say about cutting funding for arts programs:

" As if artists determine the culture of a country. What ignorance. Gee, I wonder how Canada ever survived before governments decided it needed to support such socialistic nonsense."

Teh stupid. You've been soaking in it.

The Original LOL Cat

From the pen of Wallace Tripp.

Comics With Heart

When you get tired of capes and cowls (as if), or if the trials and tribulations of Buffy's lipstick lesbian phase are wearing thin, then you may want to sample Extraction! from Cumulus Press.

Laura Trethewey of exclaim.ca says that Cumulus is:

"...reinventing the [political cartoon] formula by pairing experienced news journalists with acclaimed illustrators to investigate the travails of the Canadian mining industry."


Artist such as Joe Ollmann, Stanley Wany, and Ruth Tait bring their unique art styles to bear in telling the sometime heartbreaking, and sometimes shocking story of how multinational mining companies ply their trade around the world. And Cumulus editor David Widdington is hoping that readers:

"...might get sucked in initially by the artwork...Then hopefully the story will keep them there.”

Ruth Tait

Joe Ollmann

When Doping Isn't Doping

Why talk about athletics and achievement when you can talk about drugs?

U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy was booted from the Olympic Summer Games for using the banned substance Clenbuterol. In what seems to be typical inconsistency on the part of the IOC, some of Hardy's competitors and team-mates are using similar asthma drugs legally. Most notably, Dara Torres, who at 41 is swimming faster than ever. Yet she claims she is as clean as an Irish whistle. I am going to leave it up to your common sense how likely it is that an elite athlete is performing better 20 years after her peak. Unlike Lance Armstrong, I don't believe in unicorns. And I don't believe that so many elite athlete suffer from "exercise induced asthma". They know the drugs work and are taking advantage of this loophole. More power to them, but stop saying that the Games are clean.

And another thing to consider, all of the Olympic athletes are allowed to have more testosterone in their system than is normal. According to the guidelines set up by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), a testosterone/epitestosterone ratio of 4:1 is allowable on the day of competition. This is a reduction of the 6:1 ratio allowed back in 2006. A level which even Dick Pound has stated is ridiculously high and unlikely to be found in most athletes, even elite ones. And as testosterone is a naturally occurring chemical in the body, you can jack up on it in the off-season, and then taper off in time for competition. By then, the power and strength benefits will be manifest in better times or throws. And as most countries are very good at warning their athletes about impending tests, and that missing tests is allowed, skirting the system is not inconceivable. But the main point is that the IOC and WADA allow doping. They allow for higher rates of testosterone, and have no way of telling if the increased level is due to endogenous or exogenous sources.

It is a ridiculous statement on my part, but you could have every athlete in The Games taking testosterone, and beta-2 adrenergic agonists or long-acting beta-2 adrenergic agonists, and still proclaim that everyone was clean.

And people wonder why I'm cynical.

For some mathy cynicism, go and read about the statistics of sports doping.

Wondertrash--It's What's For Breakfast!

There is a new kid on the blog roll, Wondertrash. Slide on over and gaze in amazement at Wonder Woman on the hopper. And the content is really good too. Lots of words all put together real nicey-nice.

"Wild Wild West" So That's What Was Going On

[I am still a little busy and sleep-deprived, so short posts will be the order of the day for now.]

Salon.com has a fun article about the wickedly gay cowboy/spy romp known as "Wild Wild West". Watching as I did back in the early 70s, I had no inkling of the bisexual undertones. Well, orvertones. But then, I had no idea about such things at such a tender age. What I did like was Action! The Trains! The Tight Pants! Jim West was like a cowboy Captain Kirk to me--always rolling around in the dirt with some bad guy, forever tearing his clothes, and able to move like the wind in high-heeled boots and butt-hugging pantaloons. But at the end of the day, his best buddy would be there to towel him off and get him ready for his next adventure. People who worry that "I Kissed a Girl" is going to change a generation of teen girls into lesbians obviously never watched tv in the 70s.




James T. West - A Handsome Man

Funniest Podcast Tangent of the Year

And the award goes to the July 30th episode of Games for Windows Radio. Zip ahead to 32:14 and enjoy.

How funny is it? Let me just say "lactating Yoda".

Listen using iTunes.