Casey Anthony trial, Part I

I haven't been addicted to a good murder trial since Phil Spector's... and I blame my daughter for calling me on the phone to warn me I was missing Casey Anthony's crocodile tears (at left) and I'd surely regret it. So I turned it on and... yeah, you know what happened. I've been tuned in ever since opening arguments. Typically, Casey is blaming daddy for her messed-up mind, and the defense is asserting that her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, drowned...

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Fanaticon!

Fanaticon 2 was today in Asheville, NC... phantastic, phantasmagorical photos below! At left: Superheroes welcome us to the con.1) A very nice ewok welcomed us too, although her friend seemed rather hostile and just pointed weapons at everybody.2) Ashtoberfest table, the Asheville Zombie Walk. 3) T-shirt reads, "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be eaten."4) From 2nd floor of the Asheville Art Museum (at Pack Square). 5) and 6) Attractive con...

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Friday linkorama

Graphic comes courtesy of YELLOWDOG GRANNY!:: Voter ID Bill made law in South Carolina -- If you have no photo ID, you can't vote. Obviously intended to sock it to certain groups of people; guess who?:: Millions for Marriage Equality -- Everybody sign up!:: Powerful and Primitive -- In light of recent events concerning Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Maureen Dowd poses the question of the hour: Why do powerful men insist on groping...

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Joe Bageant 1946-2011

I'm so behind in my reading, I didn't know Joe Bageant, patron saint of rednecks, had passed. (on March 26) I can't improve on what others have already written about the amazing author of Deer Hunting with Jesus and Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir, so I will quote from them.From Michael Loughnane: "Poet", "prophet", "hillbilly revolutionary", "progressive redneck with a conscience" — these are some of the descriptive terms that have been conferred...

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Wordless Wednesday: Mimefield

Mimes at Artisphere on Sunday. I don't know their names, because of course, they don't say anythi...

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Haley Watch: Transcript of Haley on ABC's THIS WEEK

Last Sunday, our very popular governor took time off from posing for magazine covers to talk to Christiane Amanpour on ABC's THIS WEEK. A mostly predictable interview, Governor Haley nattered on about what is appropriate and sounded like a veritable Mother Superior, whilst assuring us that she is NOT running for Vice President, like that other Lady-Tea Party-governor who didn't finish her term. I figure I'll just give it to you straight; here is...

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Love, Devotion, Surrender... and other stuff

The hits on Amanda Knox's infamous "Foxy Knoxy" photograph are coming in, so that's how I know there is something happening with Amanda... as I've said before, I don't even need Google alerts. And yeah, there sure is. The Italian police are suing her for slander, since she claimed they roughed her up during interrogation. Cops can sue perps and convicts? Oh, wait, this is Italy. You know, where the Vatican is. Their justice system appears to...

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Retro politicians

Listening to the Retro Rock channel on Music Choice, I am startled to learn what is considered Retro these days. Marilyn Manson is "Retro"? Holy shit, who knew. (The kids, I guess, knew.) And there is now "Hip-Hop Classics"... wait, what? Didn't hip-hop start, like, last Tuesday or something? How can there be classics already?Yeah, aging can be perpetually culturally dislocating and ... sometimes, just plain weird. It certainly provides for...

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Dead Air Church: Our Facebook era

Meditations today concern the rise of our social networking. I was asked a question in response to my post about the late Ben Masel (in one of the comments later eaten by Blogger): Did I have any contact with Ben in recent years? And this made me think about The Rise of Facebook. I had only re-established contact with Ben on FB rather recently. And far too soon, he passed away. It was painful, more painful than if I'd heard about his death...

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Ben Masel 1954-2011

Lots of other people have memorialized Ben Masel, most of them far better writers than I am. But I was unsatisfied. There is a word missing in these obituaries, from Daily Kos, to NORML, to TalkLeft and everyone in between.That word is YIPPIE. Ben was a YIPPIE. Why are the lefty honchos avoiding the word in the obits? Because the "serious" leftists never liked us, that's why. But they loved Ben, who was extremely lovable. So, they avoid the...

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Fox News Republican debate in Greenville

... last night at the Peace Center, was rowdier than I expected. I refer to the action outside the venue, where us scruffy anarchists and sign-carriers were assembled under the watchful eye of Greenville's Finest. In addition, it was Cinco de Mayo and downtown Greenville was packed with inebriated revellers. I was verbally assaulted upon arrival, as a drunken right-winger asked me if I knew what L stood for????? He was leering/grimacing at me,...

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