Rhetoric fail

Michele Bachmann: "That's why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress, and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions." (TPM)

Errrm....

The Wikipedia approach to conspiracy research

This World Net Daily article highlighted on Andrew Sullivan's blog is fantastic. Headline:

Obama's MySpace page: I'm 52 years old, not 48
Would place president's birth during time Hawaii was a territory

This is your evidence? His MySpace page also lists Obama as male...and you can't be sure about that one either...at least not on MySpace.

The best passage is:

But a multitude of other records that also have not been released would shed light on the president's past, including his kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and adoption records.

Dude. Published articles in the Harvard Law Review hardly need to be "released."

Belly up

A potbelly is the new hot accessory, according to my very favorite NYT style writer, Guy Trebay. The editor of Details speculates that Brooklyn hipsters are reacting to our uberfit president by "proudly rocking a gut." But I blame it on all that PBR.

Graham Proposes "Barack Hussein Obama Park"

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) introduced a resolution today to rename Girard Park in Columbia Heights "Barack Hussein Obama Park." (WP)

Watch out, Jim, this will just draw out the loonies who want to name everything after Reagan!

Culinary side effects

Celeb chef Anthony Bourdain says the economic downturn may be good for the restaurant business:

There is going to be an apocalyptic shakeout. On the plus side, the bullsh** will be the first to go. (Nation's Restaurant News via The Big Money)

If the recession leads to a purge of derivative, sub-par tapas bars and Belgian beer-and-frites places, maybe it will all be worth it.

Purple people power for DC voting rights?

So, Sen. Dianne Feinstein has sent some apologetic packets of swag to all the Purple Ticket people who were blocked from attending Obama's swearing in. (Politico)

I love this comment someone left on the "Survivors of the Purple Tunnel" Facebook page:

Just received my packet. I will compose a collage with my Metro smart card, purple ticket, inauguration photo and a picture from our Day of Service at the Marvin Gaye Park. Recent good news for DC is that debate will resume to give the District a voting House member. Our experience at the Purple Gate may not be atypical for DC residents whose city has suffered too many years from lack of voting representation and influence in Congress. Maybe the Purple Gate group can help make that finally happen. [emphasis mine]

Damn right! Living in DC is like living one's entire life inside the Purple Tunnel of Death, every single day, until we get fair representation in Congress. Powerless and trapped, we never get to participate in the big event, even though we have tickets. The ticket which every eligible American citizen is granted upon birth or naturalization. The ticket to democracy. Sniff. This is great; I could keep riffing on this one for a while.

Here come the zombies and/or global pandemic

Scientists Make HIV Strain That Can Infect Monkeys
Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Scientists have created a strain of the human AIDS virus able to infect and multiply in monkeys in a step toward testing future vaccines in monkeys before trying them in people, according to a new study.

Dude. While I fully support the search for an AIDS vaccine, I have definitely seen enough movies to know how this story ends.