Majikthise

Lee Siegel perv update

Saucepan lid reflection (perv style?), originally uploaded by Steffe.

The shorter Lee Siegel: I didn't rape the 16-year-old Uma Thurman, I blame myself.

POTUS requested HOV closure for Allen fundraiser, 22,000 commuters be damned

Julia spots a story that gives a whole new meaning to "executive privilege":

The White House tried to shut down the HOV lanes of I-395 for six hours on a work day so Our Fearless Leader would have empty roads when he drove to and from Sen. Allen's fundraiser at 6:30.

On one day's notice.

On a work day.

Six hours encompassing rush hour.

Yes, the Secret Service asked Virginia traffic authorities to shut down the high occupancy vehicle lanes of Interstate 395 from 1- to 7pm so that the president could scoot over to George Allen's fundraiser:

The request came into Virginia's Smart Traffic Center on Tuesday morning, one official said. "We were sort of dealing with it all day," the official said.

All day because they couldn't shake the image of what closing the HOV lanes would do: Buses that normally use the high-speed lanes would have to be rerouted or canceled; commuters who hitch rides in carpools would be stranded; and thousands of cars would be added to the congested regular lanes of I-395.

An e-mail prepared by state experts who monitor traffic captures the issue:

"There will be approximately 8,600 cars using the HOV lanes over a three hour period (4 to 7 pm). This equates to approximately 20,000 to 22,000 people. If the HOV lanes are closed, according to the District's estimate the back up of traffic in the general purpose lanes will not be cleared until 10 p.m."

In other words, a nearly endless traffic jam. [WaPo]

According to the article, the traffic nightmare was averted only because Virginia traffic authorities spent hours entreating the Secret Service and the White House not to go ahead with their stupid plan.

Kudos to the Smart Traffic Center for standing up to the president and averting disaster. Other officials could learn a lot from their example.

Dangerous Dogs

Dangerous Dogs, originally uploaded by coffeedog.

Today's FlickrFind.

Watch out for the grabber

Watch out for the grabber, originally uploaded by abielskas.

Having found an appropriate illustration, we now are pleased to bring you Robert Farley with your weekend Lee Siegel perv update.

Be cool, stay warm, and do watch out for the grabber.

New York's oldest bartender turns 90

The bartender at the Algonquin Hotel celebrated his 90th birthday on Wednesday. Many happy returns to Mr. Hoy Wong, who's still mixing classic cocktails after 58 years on the job.

[Hat tip to A Full Belly]

Bush tells war widow he's "not going to have a philosophical debate over politics"

War widows take note, when the president deigns to give you a private audience, know your place. Your job is to be hugged, and that's it.

Be warned that you must not, under any circumstances, take advantage of your face time with the prez to ask serious intellectual questions.

"He said, `Terrorists killed three thousand people, we had to go to war.'" Halley continued to me. "I said, `Well, who put the Taliban into power? The United States did.' He said, `I'm not going to have a philosphical debate over politics.'

Obviously, if the Big Man wanted an abstract moral discourse, he would have gone to your husband's funeral and listened to the pastor.

Remember, grieving widows, even if the president gets you alone in a room, it's not about you, or your "arguments" about the duties Christians who commit nearly unforgivable sins but who retain the power to mitigate harms to innocents, if only they can transcend their bitter egos and walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

You're hugmeat. Got it?

Joe Lieberman refuses to back Democratic House candidates

Joe Lieberman has been a Republican for a long time.

Lieberman was taking calls from Karl Rove on primary night. He's been endorsed by Republicans, he campaigns with Republicans.

Now, Holy Joe refuses to endorse Democratic Congressional candidates Diane Farrell, Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy.

Lieberman the self-professed loyal Democrat told the New Haven Independent that he wasn't going to back Democratic House candidates because they endorsed Ned Lamont.

Of course they did, they're loyal Democrats. At minimum, loyal Democrats support the winners of Democratic primaries.

Pakistani gender-equity advocate shot

A Pakistani journalist and women's rights advocate is in critical condition after being shot in the mouth by unidentified assailants, Wednesday. The victim was probably targeted for his opposition to the Hudood Ordinance, a set of restrictive Islamic laws enacted in 1979. The Ordinance sets out extremely severe punishments for blasphemy and sexual "immorality"--including the death penalty for rape victims, who are deemed to be guilty of adultery.

Recently, an official government commission recommended that the Ordinance be repealed. This is not the first time that the Pakistani government has attempted to revoke these brutal and sexist laws, however, previous attempts to modernize the legal code were met with violent opposition from religious fanatics. This week's assassination attempt suggests that retrograde elements are stepping up the bullying campaign again.

Ali Eteraz, a feminist blogger and Islamic legal scholar has a very interesting essay about the Hudood ordinance and the anti-reformer backlash.

She notes that Manzoor-ul-Hassan, the journalist who was shot, is part of a powerful reform Islamic reform movement that challenges the fundamentalists' warped views about Islamic morality and law:

Even as the fundamentalists try and speak in the name of the Quran and Sunnah, the reformists too are speaking up in the name of Quran and Sunnah. Bolstered by a rock-solid foundation of reasonable Islamic interpretations, put forth by men such as the aforementioned editor, Musharraf and his supporters are turning Islam into a force for good [...]

Personally, I have my doubts that General Musharraf is committed to using Islam for good. (An update to Ali's post notes that Musharraf is not cracking down hard enough on the latest wave of fundamentalist intimidation.)

However, it is important to support rational and humane religious people who challenge oppression by challenging the defective theology of their co-relligionists. It always enrages when fundamentalists portray themselves as the most Islamic (or the most Christian, etc.). For some reason, observers are often taken in by this cheap fundamentalist marketing ploy. There's simply no good reason to assume that the most retrograde interpretation of a religious doctrine is the most authentic, the most authoritative, or the most rigorous. By playing into that stereotype, we inadvertently give fundamentalists a lot more credibility than they deserve and inadvertently delegitimize their religious opponents in the process.

T-Rex puts the "T" in "Party"

Normally, I don't share dirty vlogs. I support publicly-funded vlog exchange programs and other forms of harm reduction. But T-Rex's snark is irresistible.

I figure I'll join Rational Recovery when the time comes.

Food photography, a photo essay

An intimate look at a commercial food shoot furnishes further proof that food porn is real porn:

Are we seeing enough chicken? Try propping it up and or spinning it. A little more tree please.

I'm going to start incorporating phrases like "a little more tree, a little less plant" and "the stand-in chicken" into casual conversation.