trouble brewing on "the continent".

slate has a good fukuyama piece today. interesting analysis of the strains/flaws within the european conception of pluralism. he makes some interesting points that euro-loving lefties like ourselves might not usually hear.

any reaction from our in-house european?

R.I.P., Shake it back man.

A tragicomic tale from the realm of indigent defense

I recently was in court with a man who had pretty severe mental problems. To quote Rushmore, he "was in the shit" back in Vietnam. During our conversation in court that day his emotions ranged from tears to rage with several stops in between. Near the end of court, with only his case remaining to be called, he expressed a need to urinate. I told him we were almost done and asked if he could hold it. After thinking about it, he declared that he could "shake it back" in order to stave off the need. He proceeded, there in the court pew, to hunch over and rythmically thrust his pelvis for the next ten minutes, much to the humor of various courtroom observers. I know little of this technique or its success. In the end he relented and was taken to the bathroom.

Less than 24 hours after being released from jail he was found dead on his porch, apparently of natural causes. Whatever you're drinking, pour a little out for the shake it back man, and hope he's in a place where your bladder's never full and your obstruction charges are always dismissed.

my friend Donald R.

...this is a very interesting document... go to www.outragedmoderates.org and read the following two posts: (1) "DoD Staffer's Notes from 9/11 Obtained Under FOIA", (2)"CBS Report on Rumsfeld's 9/11 Notes Under Scrutiny"

so those interviews are real.

fans of the daily show have often wondered whether or not the interviews transpire as shown. occasionally the editing makes it unclear whether all the questions aired are actually asked of the interviewee. a separate issue is whether the interviewee's actual response is shown following the corresponding question.

as to the first issue, this story would seem to indicate that the questions are at least asked. i have no idea how a prominent politician, and a relatively young and liberal one at that, could not know what the daily show is.

mary kate and ashley...

... are all grown up. in the words of KB, "sesameseedville"!!

saucy tidbits (part 2)

did you know...

the sauce felt compelling empathy for the "bill maplewood" character in happiness.

must-read material:

check out this piece from the upcoming edition of foreign affairs. it's written by paul pillar, who served as "national intelligence officer" for the middle east region from 2000-5. do you wanna understand what exactly went wrong with our pre-war use of intelligence? read away. these issues have been adressed, ad nauseum, but rarely so succinctly and thoroughly.

4KS valued at $2918.50!!

this has to be one of the most inane things i've ever seen.

Upsetting Olympic Games TV Coverage

NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games is terrible. I just sit there sometimes and cannot believe it. With the exception of some totally uninteresting stuff they don't show anything live. Instead you can watch what Bode Miller likes to eat for breakfast and what makes him such a rebel...I'm outraged!

Sports without the participation of Americans often don't get any coverage or are simply mentioned in side notes (I realize we are in the USA here but why the hell do you have to show every single training and qualifying event of some snowboard chick while some great sportsmen compete for gold in another event at the same time...).

Another problem is the never ending advertisement. It seems like you have to watch 156 spots just to get through an hour of the Olympic coverage. The main problem, however, is indeed the lack of live coverage. Why does NBC think they can show all this uninteresting stuff all day while building up the excitement for the main events in prime time? By the time they finally show the event everyone knows what happened (they call it the internet) and the prime time coverage is not worth watchin any more. How exciting is that!? I guess I only keep watching it in the hope to see the "Emerald Nuts" advertisement again.... I am not surprised that the television ratings for "American Idol" were twice as high as the ones for the Olympics last Wednesday.

Here is my proposal: Show the Olympics on public television with no or just a little advertisement. Show everything live and run summaries of events throughout the day and have a 3 our prime time special with all the highlights of the day in ALL the events. The problem with this proposal: No advertisement money. This is when you realize that a media system that doesn't have a healthy public television system (why, for example, do many European countries cover the games in their public channels without interruptions by unnecessary advertisements, which, by the way, leaves more time for actual coverage?) will produce what NBC produces right now: The worst coverage of any big sports event I have ever seen!

It is only ironic that NBC might not make a lot of money after all. Apparently they told their sponsors that they will run all the advertisements for free in the second week if the television ratings are less than 12% at average until Sunday. As of Saturday they were at 12.5%.....good luck and good night...

dance motherfucker dance.

this saturday night, k bowman is hosting a dance party at little kings [aka- the shuffle club] in honor of his b-day. i think he's turning something like 43. anyway, the dj lineup is chock full of good folks:

The Frizzly Rooster (aka- newton county's finest educator)
Captain Hook (aka- the birthday boy)
DJ T-Nack (aka- a certain sundance honored filmmaker)

mr. bowman implores you to come "enjoy some good rump shakin". knasslehoff will be behind the bar.

News of the Day:

good news on evolution...
bad news on global warming.

good news on the NSA unwarranted surveillance program...
bad news on the patriot act.

a promising UN report on guantanamo bay...
quickly slapped down by bushy's minions.


ps- the swimsuit issue is out:

god bless america.

Back from Africa:

last night dave chappelle was on "inside the actors studio". other than the unc/duke game, it was the most captivating two hours of television i've seen in many moons. and i watch lots of tv.

it replays tonight: Bravo, 9-11pm. i implore you to watch it.

The new long player...

...by the Scottish Masters of the Hemisphere is their best record EVER. Believe it. It's like they took all the ideas that went into ubersong "Your Cover's Blown" and made a record out of it. It's the best thing to come out of Scotland since 1776's essential tome on the merits of free and unfettered mishchief. Either way, any band that wrote a song about Mike Piazza's bouts with media charges of homosexuality is OK in my book. Sauce thought I was gay when we first met. Apparently he thought I was coming onto him. Nice to know that the 4th or 5th greatest catcher of all time and I have something in common, besides our abilities to, as Sauce would say, regularly hit home runs with the yellow bat.

On another note, Sauce's future ex-husband and I spent Friday night watching the trilogy- concluding Ninja III: The Domination, which really has nothing to do with the first two films, save the reliance on 80s Ninja giant, Sho Kosugi. I know that KB has already written on N3 over at Oceanchum, particularly with reference to the V8 drenched sex scene. I feel compelled to make further comment.

The defining moment of the film comes when the female protagonist poses the following question to Lord Kosugi:

"Is it true that only a ninja can kill another ninja?"

Indeed, "Is it true that only a ninja can kill another ninja?" The question struck me as one of those age old questions that turns the very idea of an age old question on its end, a question for which the answer can only be found with the help of some old Rosicrucian text, or in that church in Nebraska that supposedly contains the gate to hell. I can't stop thinking about it.

The crucial scene for awesomeness comes when a ninja disarms a potential assailant by using a blowgun to fire a projectile into the barrel of said assailant's gun, causing the projectile to collide with the oncoming bullet, destroying the gun and the assailant. Awesome.

Ultimately, the film is kind of like John Boorman's Excalibur, or the 1962 New York Mets, or the first Godz album, or that drunk couple JY and I sat watching for about 20 minutes, completely transfixed, as they threw darts hapharzardly at the pool table, the stairs, and finally, the dart board--a visual and aural experience akin to a slow trainwreck that is simultaneously completely captivating. I'll watch it with anyone that invites me.

Lastly, apparently the Sauce has a new way to get revenge on current Christians, future frat-boys and republicans: he's grading their papers. No more dates via the check out desk.

The bell tolls for thee, Cheney.

i'll just let the esteemed edward kennedy take this one:

"These charges, if true, represent a new low in the already sordid case of partisan interests being placed above national security," Kennedy said. "The vice president's vindictiveness in defending the misguided war in Iraq is obvious. If he used classified information to defend it, he should be prepared to take full responsibility."

The Best Rivalry in American Sports:

tonight at 9pm, UNC hosts duke at the dean down. UNC is looking strong, coming off solid wins against clemson and maryland. meanwhile, duke is coming off an overtime squeaker against FSU in which they were yet again bailed out by a series of bogus calls in their favor (in this instance, the officiating was so bad it actually got the refs suspended; and believe you me, it wasn't just the one call).

duke v. north carolina is the best rivalry in american sports. there are some quality historic rivalries in pro sports [bosox/yankees, giants/dodgers, celtics/lakers, and cowboys/redskins come to mind], but college sports will always be more impassioned. and while there are many great college football rivalries [ohio state/michigan, texas/oklahoma, alabama/auburn to name a few], one college basketball rivalry clearly stands above the rest. both schools are indisputably among the top five programs around, historically and currently. carolina and duke sit atop the best basketball conference in the country, and they play at least twice every year, once on each team's home floor. and they are located eight miles apart.

duke is obviously favored, but i like the heels. i think UNC matches up well against duke. tyler hansborough really likes to bang down low, and he can hopefully get shelden williams in some foul trouble (if the refs will actually call the fouls). meanwhile, reshawn terry has the length and agility to keep a hand in redick's face (taller defenders often really slow him down). i just hope roy doesn't foolishly let wee little wes miller try to check jj, as that most loathsome dukie would shoot over him all night. meanwhile, on the other side look for another huge game from tar heel senior david noel, who's a matchup problem for anybody duke can trot out. also look out for an offensive spark by heels reserve wingman danny green.

tonight, at 9pm, tune in to espn to see duke/carolina, the best rivalry american sports has to offer. and if you need somewhere to catch the game, big pink will warmly welcome any heels fans.

Just A Foolish Beat Of My Heart...

Well....

It seems as if my future 2nd ex-husband known to all as the Sauce has a new cell phone. He's been calling everyone sharing his new phone number....except to the man where he'll be layin' his pipe. I mean what's up with that. I think he's jealous because my "DJ Mahogany" success is outlasting a little known Wilco-esque outfit formerly known as AsTra. I can't believe it. All the sweet things he would say to me..."The blacker the berry, the more sour the juice", "Black don't crack, except in the back where I lay my white ballsak", and my personal favorite "Mark...with your clothes off you look like a pig...but I sure do like to eat the bacon." To quote Diana Ross & The Supremes..."Where Did Our Love Go?" It's so funny how art imitates life once again. I think this VIDEO clip tells the current status of our "love" for each other.

things everybody knows...

ever notice how people tell you very well-known facts as though they are obscure? here are the premises of three of the most universally known pieces of "trivial" information. i will not elaborate, because everbody already knows them:

1. the greenland/iceland thing.
2. the video killed the radio star thing.
3. the "the new millenium actually began in 2001" thing.

what else comes to mind?

It only took five years as president...

We may be exceeding our quota of Bush bashing for today here at 4KS, but this is awesome. After five years, Bush makes the single most obvious observation that you could make about our country:


"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world."


Well done, George, well done.

i've been known to consort with hippies, but i still find this gross.

check out this this guy painting with his fucking beard dread.

the hypocrisy of bushy's signing statements:

bushy uses executive "signing statements" like no prior president. instead of making a general declaration about the intent of the bill, bushy gives notice of his legal objections to the substance of the bill whilst signing it into effect. in the case of the recent torture legislation, he is literally announcing that there are circumstances in which he will violate the law he is signing. this is absurd.

it is also hypocritical. for all the talk of the fallacy of "legislating from the bench", it is easy to forget that it is equally illegal to "legislate from the white house". the executive does not make the law, the executive executes the law. of course there are gray areas here: federal regulations are regularly created and altered by executive agencies. but those agencies are constrained by federal law. and despite his belief to the contrary (buttressed as it is an irrationally expansive interpretation of his constitutional powers), bushy is likewise bound by federal law. he does not have the constitutional right to violate the law, yet here he is openly announcing that he plans to do so.