Liberal Talk Radio

The details about the latest free speech in schools battle going on at the Supreme Court are supremely depressing:
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case that has attracted attention mainly because of its eccentric story line: An Alaska student was suspended from high school in 2002 after he unfurled a banner reading “Bong [...]

Did I just hear the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” on an AARP ad? Why yes I did:
Now approaching 50 itself, AARP is heading off a midlife crisis with a new TV ad that celebrates the aging process to the strains of the Buzzcocks’ classic punk song “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays.”
The image overhaul, aimed in part at [...]

Follow up to the Contrarian’s piece on life-extending calorie-restricted diets.
In today’s NYT, there’s a bit about a study involving rhesus monkeys.
Check out the sample diets offered, one demonstrating a calorie restricted menu of 2000 calories, the other the “average” diet of 3000 calories. The diets were prepared by one Mike Linksvayer.
Now, I don’t know [...]

As some of you will know, one of my bete noirs is poor personal hygiene, especially of the kind that leads to spreading illness. I sort of understand why hourly wage workers are reluctant to miss time from work, but it bothers me tremendously to see salaried employees — all of whom have laptops [...]

The other elephant in the room: guns. President Bush spoke about school violence for an hour and never mentioned the word “guns.” This is what happens when you’re bought and paid for by the NRA.
I know I’m supposed to be a good neoliberal and admit that the NRA wars of the 90s are [...]

Yeah yeah, blame it on talk radio*:
Angry telephone calls over her proposal to ban restaurants from using a type of cooking oil blamed for increasing people’s cholesterol levels prompted a New Jersey state senator to close her office early on Friday.
State Senator Ellen Karcher said her Freehold Township office answered about 60 calls from 10:30 [...]

Although I think it’s interesting and important to have a public conversation about the best way to deal with the terrorist threat, I wonder if we would be as vocal about rights, wiretapping, extraordinary rendition and everything else if Bush wasn’t in power.
The issue seems to be boiled down to this:
How the measure will look [...]

Okay, Mr. Contrarian.  Yes, the war is effectively “won” (won like we won Vietnam).  And, yes, the Dems are everywhere on the ascendent … although I’ll believe it when I see it [and, frankly, the likely victory in November will only mask the serious rot in the party's roots -- much like Steve Marucci's 49ers, it's a talented [...]

I have to admit that I’ve passed by Citgo stations on the few times recently when we’ve either rented or borrowed cars**. Apparently 7-Eleven has noticed:
Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel.
The retailer said Wednesday it [...]

It’s the five year anniversary of 9/11 (like, duh), so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by the ubiquity of patriotic spectacle today.
Still, I implore you - don’t remember.  At least, not in the sense of honoring that black day with a national day of rememberance.  Those who lost their lives on 9/11 will always be [...]