drat fink

Wednesday, November 29, 2000

power of attorney

"Welcome to lawyer paradise. Many Americans find the Florida election battle a depressing spectacle of hyperpartisanship, legal technicalities, and false piety, but for the lawyers streaming in from around the country, it's the best thing ever. Sure, lawyers have played prominent roles in other recent high-profile slugfests--O.J., impeachment, Eli�n, Microsoft--but never before have they picked a president. And, not surprisingly, they deem this turn of events a sure sign of the enduring greatness of American democracy. "We are so lucky to live in this country," Fink sighs as he reflects on his work. "I wish my grandparents were alive to see this."

times at 11

"Ending years of speculation and brainstorming, The New York Times is narrowing in on a deal to launch a nationwide 11 p.m. nightly newscast on the Public Broadcasting System. The goal is to produce a smart but hip evening news program, one that would offer an up- market, Times-ian alternative to the shrill blood �n� guts found on local TV."

third verse same as the first

"George W. Bush's premature declaration Sunday night laid down a chilling marker: Bush is trying to unilaterally make his presidency a fact, rendering irrelevant both the legal system and a credible counting of Florida's voters. Whatever you think of Al Gore, this bare-knuckle usurpation of political due process over the last several days has raised the stakes far beyond the interests and limitations of the Democratic presidential candidate."

unlaw flees

"During the nation�s last great political crisis, Republican politicians and pundits repeated a certain phrase over and over again, as if they were droning their guru�s favorite mantra. Whenever anyone thought to question their zeal for impeachment, they would draw themselves up and intone those four righteous words: "the rule of law."

tipped off

"I felt so comfortable with her, with her red woolen gloves, the fingertips worn away. She was about love and understanding and comfort, and that night I had an erotic dream about her. But it wasn�t demonstration energy. Across the street, the energy was ragtag and ferocious, something wild and ungovernable in the rib cage, something hating government and big media, something romantic and fearful, born in Impeachment or born in 1890."

political rant of the day

"Yes, I�ve become a partisan�not out of any admiration for that patronizing robot Al Gore, but because of the infuriating arrogance and self-righteousness of the Bush-Baker-Harris operation. Their smarmy piety about �the rule of law� until the law rules against them. Their willingness to use the Big Lie (�I have exercised due discretion�; �The votes have been counted and re-counted and re-counted again,� when in fact the issue in dispute are the tens of thousands of votes that demonstrably inadequate machines failed to register). And, as the Nassau County episode demonstrates, their willingness to countenance outright theft."

nida break

i bitched about this report a few weeks ago but here is another take on reefer monkey madness. also check out the collusion between the drug warriors and the scientists who love them.

letter boxing

Open Letters

college boreds

another way to fix the electoral college without entirely junking it, remove the two free votes each state is given for its senators while retaining the representatives apportionment. wont happen but its a nice idea.

Tuesday, November 28, 2000

foreign objectives

the newly appointed foreign secretary for mexico is an nyu political scientist with very progressive views toward the drug war. check out this enlightened pov.

gehryatrix

Guggenheim Gets Backing for New Museum in NYC

times two

eutheneurasia

supremes say no to drugstop checkpoints

wash your ands

political perspective of the day

hysterium

lots of antidrugs in the news lately. ritalin is the new gateway drug. and ecstasy is up while marijuana is down among todays teens. check out some of their fuzzy math. and whats up with robert downey has the concept of discretion creeped across his blurried brow? apparently not.

sad nest

"STAFFORD, Calif. �� A thousand-year-old redwood tree which served as a pulpit for environmentalist activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill has been cut by a chainsaw, authorities said. Hill drew worldwide attention for two years as she perched on top of the tree she called Luna � 18 stories high � to protest timber logging. She descended last December after its owners, Pacific Lumber, agreed to spare the tree and a surrounding buffer zone. One of Hill's supporters discovered the damage over the Thanksgiving weekend. Humboldt County sheriff's deputies said the chainsaw had cut a quarter of the way through the trunk. The tree is still standing, but Hill's organization, Circle of Life Foundation, said the cut had left Luna vulnerable to windstorms. Hill described the vandalism as a personal blow. "I feel this vicious attack on Luna as surely as if the chainsaw was going through me," she said in a statement Monday. "... I am as committed as ever to do everything in my power to protect Luna and the remaining ancient forests." A spokeswoman for Pacific Lumber did not return a telephone call from The Associated Press."

Monday, November 27, 2000

needlenosed

Dissent Is Gaining in the War on Drugs

grinch is long on green

'Grinch' Helps Get Hollywood Back on Record Pace

back in the ussr

long and whining road for paul maccartney

defense d'afficer

May 1968 Graffiti

supreme teem

Court Takes Medical Marijuana Case (washingtonpost.com)

crick in his shorts

Salon.com People | Sex speech by Nobel laureate shocks audience