Friday, March 6, 2009
Film This Weekend at the Movies
Posted by Lindy West on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM
FUCK IT'S BEAUTIFUL OUTSIDE.
Movies, movies, movies:
Cherry Blossoms, I say, is one of those stereotypical festival movies—"sad, pretty, specifically designed to crush you"—but it's almost worth it (there's Butoh involved):
Okay. So. Trudi finds out that Rudi is ABOUT TO DIE and decides, with his doctors, not to tell him (I'm not totally sure that's how health care works, but, um, 'kay). Instead, she just tries to convince him to go do fun stuff. And Rudi's like: "Oh Trudi, we can do fun stuff after I retire next year!" And Trudi is all: OH SHIT, SINGLE TEAR, TRICKLE TRICKLE.
Paul Constant, clearly, is a complete asshole for not liking Watchmen enough:
There's a lot of ambition: Pat Buchanan, Henry Kissinger, Annie Leibovitz, and Lee Iacocca were never characters in a Batman movie. The World Trade Center looms, self-importantly, in the back of quite a few shots. The 163-minute running time passes quickly, and the special effects are beautiful. But without spoiling anything, the ending of the movie, which completely differs from the comic, seems superficially smarter at first, but falls apart under the stress of a few seconds' consideration.
In porno, Kelly O weighs in on cheerleaders vs. HAIR (the eternal battle):
Cheerleaders doesn't need hair extensions or a grandiose story line. Nope. It's got Stoya—ohhh, Stoya!—and superhumanly gorgeous Manuel "Budweiser Can" Ferrara running around in a high-school football jersey and no pants. But Cheerleaders is, of course, ALL about the girls. The cheerleader, as a porn-movie archetype, is predictable, but the I-double-dog-dare-you locker-room bravado, between girls instead of boys, is pitch-perfect.
There is also a movie opening today called Phoebe in Wonderland. Dakota Fanning's little sister plays a girl with Tourette's who forms a special bond with a kooky drama teacher and retreats into an Alice in Wonderland-inspired world of whimsy with Bill Pullman as the King of Hearts. OMG DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE.
In limited runs:
Northwest Film Forum's ByDesign09 series kicks off tonight at 9 pm, and includes Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight, Entropy: New Short Works, MK12: In Person, Psst! Pass It On 3, and Seattle Moves. And, as usual, there's the Sprocket Society's Secret Sunday Matinee.
The Grand Illusion has The Black Gestapo (late-night), and Sanjuro.
SIFF Cinema is screening Babe (Saturday morning at 10), and Five Easy Pieces.
There's a STIFF mini-fest at the Rendezvous, including Frank & Cindy and For Christ's Sake.
Batman and The Toxic Avenger are at Central Cinema.
Tonight's Wallingford Meaningful Movie is Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
And the Egyptian late-night this weekend is Rushmore, hosted by The Stranger's very own Zan and Tommy! Hooray!
Drugs The Last Month on Drugs
Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Today’s Marijuana Report: UW researchers Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert find:
1) Despite recent increases in marijuana arrests, the price of marijuana has dropped; its average potency has increased; it has become more readily available; and marijuana use rates have often increased during the decade of increasing arrests. It thus appears that the goals of marijuana prohibition have not been achieved.2) Marijuana prohibition may … negatively impact society as a whole.
3) There is no evidence that the decriminalization of marijuana by certain states or the deprioritization of marijuana enforcement in Seattle and other municipalities caused an increase in marijuana use or related problems.
"Spending billions of dollars arresting, prosecuting and jailing adults for marijuana use has now been demonstrated to be completely ineffective at achieving any of the government’s goals of marijuana prohibition," says Alison Holcomb, drug policy director of the ACLU of Washington, which sponsored the research. "Specifically, the price of marijuana has dropped and the average potency has increased," she says. "Meanwhile, it had become more readily available and use rates have often increased at the same time we have escalated enforcement." The whole report is in this handy .pdf.
Which Fringe Issue: Is more popular than conservative leaders?
Prices for Coke: Falling.
Planes for Bogota: DEA renting jets, even though it owns 106 of them.
Obama for Ganja: Upholding campaign promises to halt medical marijuana raids.
What She Learned in Prison: Martha Stewart goes to pot a long way for a pun.
One Way to Fail a Drug Test: Vitamin Water.
Some Country for Old Men: Mexico gives out Viagra to guys over 60.
Homo The Gay Brain Drained
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:39 PM
While the "Yes on 8" campaign was telling African Americans that Barack Obama opposed same-sex marriage, the "No on 8" campaign was sitting on a letter by BARACK FUCKING OBAMA that said this:
As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law... And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states. ...Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks.
One of the "No on 8" campaign's highly-paid consultants says now—now—that "maybe we should have" used the letter during the campaign, perhaps in an effort to reach out to African American voters, or black preachers.
YEAH, THAT MIGHT'VE BEEN A GOOD FUCKING IDEA, YOU STUPID ASSHOLE.
Years ago I wrote an essay for Out Magazine called, I think, "The Gay Brain Drain." I can't find it on my many-laptops-later computer, nor can I find it in Out's incomplete and disorganized archives. (Just as incomplete and disorganized as my files, admittedly.) But the gist of the column was this: Discrimination against gays and lesbians meant that gay organizations and gay newspapers were run by, and were able to hire, the best and the brightest out gays and lesbians. But the integration of gay people into the mainstream of American life, which took off in the early 1990s, would result in "our" newspapers and organizations being run and staffed by second-stringers along, i.e. the not-quite-the-best and the not-quite-the-brightest. From what I remember of that column—oh pot, how I love you—I saw the "No on 8" campaign coming a long way off.
Celeb / Books "He is a surprising and powerful new literary voice."
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:32 PM
James Franco has sold a collection of short stories to Scribner. I have to say, I have more hope for this one than, say, Ethan Hawke, if just because Franco's book was championed by Amy Hempel, who is one of the best living short story authors in America right now.
Crime / Drugs Seattle Police Blame University District Crime Wave on Pot
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:09 PM
The Seattle Police Department seems to think it has figured out the root cause of all of the recent violence in the University District: pot.
Yes, pot.
Really.
At two different community meetings this week, SPD’s North Precinct Captain Michael Washburn strongly implied that the cause of the recent rash of robberies and assaults in the U district—which led to an increased police presence in the neighborhood—was the result of a large pot-dealing operation.
On Wednesday night, Washburn told a crowd of about 30 at a meeting of the North Precinct Advisory Council that officers had arrested 13 people for pot, including “seven high level dealers.” He added that “it was our theory a lot of [the violence in the University District] was driven by the drug trade. In case you think [marijuana] is a victimless crime, I beg to differ.”
I know, right?
Obviously, I’m skeptical—Washburn didn’t elaborate on how pot is connected with the robberies—but the next night at a meeting in Lake City, Washburn again brought up the recent UW busts, stating that “if you think [selling pot] is not a violent crime, look at all the robberies in the University District,” which drew jeers from several people in the crowd.
It seems crazy that SPD would be putting so much effort into busting pot dealers—unless, of course, they really are connected to the U-district violence, which remains to be seen—but according to SPD spokeswoman Renee Witt, police are stepping up drug enforcement because of "complaints from the community" about meth and heroin dealing. Witt says SPD's Major Crimes Task Force is now conducting ongoing drug operations in the University District. "Typically, if narcotics are being sold on the street, you can probably expect some violence," Witt says.
I'll have more information on SPD's new war on pot soon.
Film Crazy Like a Fox
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Hacking Netflix links to a report that Fox is going to cut DVD extras from rental DVDs in order to encourage people to buy the DVDs.
The rental DVD of Slumdog [Millionaire], for instance, carries only the movie and trailers, but the retail DVD also has special features including deleted scenes and commentaries. The rental Blu-ray Disc does have the bonus features, but the retail Blu-ray adds digital copy.
This doesn't make me want to buy DVDs—I still have never gotten more than a half an hour into a commentary track before shutting the movie off in annoyance—but I bet it'll work for some folks, and I think it could wind up being industry practice pretty soon.
(Hulk is not a Fox movie, but I just wanted to point out that it takes 3 discs to contain all the Hulky bonuses.)
Drugs "A Century of Manifest Failure"
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:03 PM
The bomb-throwing, bong-sucking radicals at the Economist call for an end to the war on drugs—legalize all of 'em, tax 'em, regulate 'em, put criminal syndicates out of business, treat addiction as a health problem and not a criminal problem, and stop pretending that "harm-reduction" models—"prohibition-lite"—will solve the problem.
[The fear of legalization] is based in large part on the presumption that more people would take drugs under a legal regime. That presumption may be wrong. There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug-taking: citizens living under tough regimes (notably America but also Britain) take more drugs, not fewer. Embarrassed drug warriors blame this on alleged cultural differences, but even in fairly similar countries tough rules make little difference to the number of addicts: harsh Sweden and more liberal Norway have precisely the same addiction rates. Legalisation might reduce both supply (pushers by definition push) and demand (part of that dangerous thrill would go). Nobody knows for certain. But it is hard to argue that sales of any product that is made cheaper, safer and more widely available would fall. Any honest proponent of legalisation would be wise to assume that drug-taking as a whole would rise.There are two main reasons for arguing that prohibition should be scrapped all the same. The first is one of liberal principle. Although some illegal drugs are extremely dangerous to some people, most are not especially harmful. (Tobacco is more addictive than virtually all of them.) Most consumers of illegal drugs, including cocaine and even heroin, take them only occasionally. They do so because they derive enjoyment from them (as they do from whisky or a Marlboro Light). It is not the state’s job to stop them from doing so.
Read the whole thing. Thanks to Slog tipper Justin.
Politics Your Death Day
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Fresh from my inbox:
Republican standard-bearer Rush Limbaugh made an announcement this morning that clarified the party’s strategy for the time being:Republicans are now in the habit of issuing death dates to prominent liberals.
1) predict the imminent death of leading liberals2) say no to everything
3) hope for the worst
If you’re wondering why the country is in such bad shape, remember that these people were in charge for eight years. No further explanation needed.
Rush Limbaugh: “Kennedy will be dead by the time health care bill passes.”
Olympia A Cautionary Tale
Posted by Erica C. Barnett on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:38 PM
About a week ago, I got a panicked email from an advocate for midwifery in Washington, who wanted to get the word out that the only state body that provides liability insurance to midwives—the Joint Underwriting Association, or JUA—was about to be shut down, a victim of Gov. Gregoire's effort to save money by "eliminating outdated programs." The email read, in part:
Without the JUA, midwives will not be able to get liability coverage, and therefore their services will not be covered by your health insurance. This will put midwives and birth centers immediately out of business.We need you to call and email your representatives and senators in Olympia TODAY to tell them that this move will cost far more money than it saves, whilst also eliminating a much needed resource for women and their families. A recent Department of Health study found that midwives save the state $250,000 per year, and (if you include private insurance too) that number climbs to $1.3million per year. So clearly it makes no sense to eliminate midwifery in the pursuit of saving money.
In response to pressure from the Midwives Association of Washington, the JUA was removed from the board-abolishing bill. However, it hardly seems inconceivable that other boards that serve an important purpose—and that, like the JUA, indirectly save the state money—might be on Gregoire's rather hastily thrown-together list. Among the boards that are likely to be eliminated: The bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee; the Birth Defects Advisory Committee; the Family Literacy Advisory Committee; the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Advisory Committee; the Sex Offender Treatment Program Advisory Committee; the Citizens Advisory Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction; the Breast & Cervical Health Program Advisory Board; and the Water Supply Advisory Committee.
Crime Charges Filed Against Seattle Man For Anti-Semitic Threats
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:22 PM
King County Prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against a Seattle man for a string of threatening, anti-Semitic incidents.
According to prosecutors, the first incident happened on August 22nd, when 33-year-old Hebah Ibrahim showed up at the Jewish Federation building on 3rd and Virginia.
Charging papers filed in King County Superior Court this afternoon say Ibrahim pressed the Jewish Federation’s call box button and screamed “2000 bodies, you cunts” before he began spitting on the building. This incident, prosecutors note in charging documents, coincided with the Gaza invasion.
Months later, during Rosh Hashannah on October 22, prosecutors say Ibrahim appeared outside of a University District synagogue pulling a small suitcase. Synagogue security contacted Ibrahim and he told them he wanted to speak with the rabbi. Security staff searched Ibrahim and let him in to the building. Instead of speaking to the rabbi, court documents say, Ibrahim walked up to the synagogue’s second-story auditorium and “began looking for items” before he was asked to leave.
On February 2nd, prosecutors say Ibrahim showed up at the Jewish Federation Holocaust Education and Resource Center on 3rd Avenue and the threw a boom box at the building, shattering a window.
Then this last Wednesday, police contacted Ibrahim at a Home Depot store after he told employees he was planning on making a silencer for a shotgun and a zip gun, a homemade firearm. Police searched Ibrahim and found blueprints for a zip gun, a flashlight—often used in the construction of a zip gun—fifty .22 caliber bullets and a knife. During his arrest, court records say, Ibrahim pointed to one officer and asked "who is the Jew?" and told police that "Jews are nigger lovers. I never did anything to them, and what about the Jewish Federation nigger lovers?”
While he was being transported to the precinct, Ibrahim told officers that he'd tried to buy a firearm but was unable to due to past domestic violence incidents and restraining orders. He stated that if he were released from custody, he “it would happen very fast.”
It appears prosecutors believe Ibrahim was threatening violence against the Jewish Federation. In 2006, a shooting at the Jewish Federation building killed one woman and injured six others.
Ibrahim’s bail is set at $500,000.
Politics She's Got Legs
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:04 PM
The young man is David Upchurch; the young woman is Michelle Robinson. The year is 1982, and he is her prom date.
Now a customer service representative and divorced father of three living in a modest house in Colorado Springs, [Upchurch] said that their romance went nowhere."I was a screw-up, plain and simple," he told the Enquirer magazine.
He claimed he had "pretty much forgotten" their prom date together and couldn't even recall if it ended with a kiss.
Let's be suspicious. Did that night end with not even a kiss, or is he lying (hiding something) because history has suddenly caught him in a photograph with one of the most famous married women in American history? Is this a strange and unexpected case of history telescoping infidelity back in time? There he is with the future First Lady, and he is not the future First Dude, and his mind is completely in the gutter. The shame. The snake. The slimeball. He should have known she was Obama's wife to be. He should have sensed it somehow. History has made Upchurch a negative creep.
Sex I'm Not Alone!
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Chow Thanks but No Thanks, Kettle Chips.
Posted by Lindy West on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 3:54 PM
I appreciate the offer and all, but I don't want to go on "a Mediterranean vacation in a bag." I want to go on a Mediterranean vacation IN THE FUCKING MEDITERRANEAN. That bag doesn't even have windows. Yeah, best vacation ever. I'm in a dark, slimy bag, covered with powdered cheese. "But you're in the Mediterranean!" No, fuck you. I'm IN A POTATO CHIP BAG. Oh wait, I'm dead now. I suffocated. It's your fault. And I hope there's no cheese in heaven because I hate cheese now. Worst vacation ever.
Olympia This Means War!
Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 3:35 PM
The Faith and Freedom Network, a group "committed to preserving traditional Judeo-Christian values," is using its blog to wage a war on the domestic partnership bill. The Family Policy Institute of Washington is also crusading against the measure.
Earlier today, I posted about how conservatives are threatening the bill in the senate—and included links to contact your legislator. But now the FFN is upping the ante in a blog post urging folks to target swing-district senators:
While calls have been being made to Washington State lawmakers, it is time to increase the number of calls to specific senators, urging them to oppose and vote no on SB 5688. They will be voting soon on this matter and it is very important they hear from as many of you as possible.Here's why.
The citizens of Washington are being misled by the activist homosexual lawmakers and their colleagues who are also either misled or unwilling to support traditional marriage.
The Faith and Freedom Network blog goes on to list the following phone numbers:
They need to hear from you.Dale Brandland, district 42 — 360-786-7682
Curtis King, district 14 — 360-786-7626
Cheryl Pfluge, district 5 — [(360) 786-7608, corrected from FFN post]Secondly, these Democrats will be up for election next year. Ones with an asterisk (*) by their names have one or more Republican seat mates.
Claudia Kaufman, district 47 — 360-786-7692
Steve Hobbs, district 44 — 360-786-7686
*Chris Marr, district 6 — 360-7867610
Eric Oemig, district 45 — 360-786-7672
Rodney Tom, district 48 — 360-786-7694
*Derek Kilmer, district 26 — 360-786-7650
*Tracey Eide, district 30 — 360-786-7658The following two senators are not up for reelection next year, but have Republican seat mates.
Jim Kastama, district 25 — 360-786-7648
Mary Margaret Haugen, district 10 — 360-786-7618
You heard what they said: "They need to hear from you."
"I think the message for legislators is about the reality of the lives of gay and lesbian families," says state senator Ed Murray (D-43), prime sponsor of the DP bill in the senate. "Or it might be about the person who says his or her sister deserves to be treated like they do. That is what changes hearts and minds."
Thanks for the tip, John.
Hetero Every Child Deserves a Mother—Oh, Fucking Hell. Another One?
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 3:31 PM
A French couple who kept their seven-year-old son locked in a dark, cell-like room for years have been arrested for child abuse, officials said on Thursday. The 42-year-old builder and his 35-year-old wife had kept their son hidden from the world, apparently since his infancy, in a shuttered room in their home in the southern French town of Millau."The child had been locked up for several years in a room that contained nothing but a urine-soaked mattress, with no furniture or toys," said the state prosecutor in Millau, Patrick Desjardins.
Savage Love Savage Love Letter of the Day
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 3:27 PM
So my boyfriend and I have arrived at the 6 month slump. I care about him a lot and want to give it my best, but our sex life has plateaued. He goes down on me, we fuck, we come, and it's over. Not that it's bad, it's just not great. One problem that has come up in the past few weeks has been my unwillingness to go down on him or ride him. I have always HATED both. I feel insecure on top and, admittedly, I've never been good at it (despite practice) so I find myself only able to focus on that, and get no pleasure from it at all. My reasons for not liking to give BJs are the same (as well as the whole gag reflex thing). Ipso facto, I feel uncomfortable doing both and don't think I should have to just for his pleasure. I have offered a threesome but still feel insecure about the aspect of someone being able to pleasure him more than I can. Given this effort, do you think the "slump" goes beyond our sex life? If not, what are other ways to spice up the female submissive aspect?Hump And Slump
I've never heard of the six-month-slump before—and, I'm sorry, but if you're slumping at six months then this relationship is probably doomed. Might as well cut your losses and go find a guy who hates BJs and isn't interested in being ridden. And I disagree, HAS, with the notion that you shouldn't have to perform completely reasonable sex acts "just for his pleasure." We're talking about reciprocating on oral here, HAS, not letting him shit in your mouth. Of course you shouldn't have to do things you HATE, but if you define "HATE" so broadly that it encompasses sex acts that you're merely indifferent to, or insecure about (that you can get over), or regard as a chore, well, then you're selfishly gaming the system.
And I don't understand what you mean by "spice up the female submissive aspect" of sex. If you're sexually submissive then you should be slightly turned on by the thought of doing things "just for his pleasure"; you're not really submissive if you're only willing to submit to things you find pleasurable. But if by that you mean that there's something inherently submissive about giving head, well, that's true. I don't know of a "spice up" will make the act less sub and therefore more pleasurable for you. But there's nothing sub about riding someone—you'd be on top, for crying out loud.
Homo / Games Roll 7 for Gay Panic
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 3:08 PM
ChroMix has a post up right now highlighting what he perceives as a nasty bit of gay panic in an otherwise innocuous, if exceedingly nerdy, Topless Robot post.
TR is asking for its readers' most shameful role playing game moments, and the paragraph ChroMix points out goes like this [emphasis mine]:
Have you ever got incredibly upset about something that happened in a game of Dungeons & Dragons and freaked out? Have you ever been caught LARPing by someone you knew who was not LARPing? Have you ever had a character who sex with another member of the party, even though both characters were played by guys? And felt horrified about it? Good, you should've, because that's some freaky shit.
Here's part of what ChroMix has to say about it:
It seems almost quaint to me, that a nerd’s biggest fear might be being perceived as, “Gay.” This sort of homophobia in geeks is a dissonance that I’ve never understood. I’ve always been of the belief that those marginalized by society (whether by race, orientation, or alignment) share a common persecutor and should naturally ally against intolerance.
I don't know what to say about this, exactly. I've known there to be some gay panic in my encounters with the nerd community, but never anywhere near as much as in the sports fan community. Gay panic does seem to me to be on the rise in the last few months—I'm thinking particularly of Seth Rogen's skit in the Oscars and a heightened use of the phrase on blogs I read. Is it Prop 8 backlash backlash? A rise in a particularly unfunny kind of comedy that hearkens back to 1980s movies, which were awash in gay panic? Or is it in my head? In any case, I'm glad ChroMix is willing to point at it and question whether it's appropriate or whether it's just a very bad joke.
Homo Maybe If We Put Our Money in the Same Bank As the Mormons
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:30 PM
In Argentina bank loans bring people together.
Thanks to Slog tipper Zeitgeist.
City / Nightlife / Olympia State Nukes Seattle Nightclub For $99 TV Dinners
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:26 PM
The Washington State Liquor Board (WSLCB) is working to shut down a Wallingford nightclub for dancing around the state's liquor regulations.
On November 18th, the WSLCB sent a letter to the owners of the Babalu Mambo Lounge—located at 1723 N 45th St—informing them that the state was pulling their liquor license for failing “to act as a bonafide restaurant.”
State liquor laws require all bars—which are technically licensed as restaurants—to prepare and serve full meals to customers for several hours a day.
According to documents provided by the city attorney’s office—which filed an objection to Babalu’s liquor license renewal last April—Babalu’s menu at one point consisted of five “1950’s TV Dinners,” including The Babalu Chicken Pot Pie, Lucy Light Fish Fillets, the Desi Arnaz Hungry Man, the Fred Mertz Salisbury Steak and Ricky Ricardo Spaghetti & Meatballs, all priced at a whopping $99.95 each. State law requires bars and clubs to have a kitchen and a cook on staff, who actually prepares food on site.
Along with the overpriced menu items, the city attorney’s office has also cited several other reasons for objecting to Babalu's license renewal. The city's letter to the WSLCB also notes complaints from neighbors about the club’s noisy and sometimes violent crowds, and a 2007 citation by the city for failing to attain the proper zoning permits for the bar, which is smack in the middle of a relatively quiet residential neighborhood.
Babalu’s owners have appealed the WSLCB’s decision—the bar’s management could not be reached for comment—and the case will have a hearing some time this summer.
Babalu certainly isn’t the first bar to skirt the state’s food requirement laws. I won’t name names, but I can think of at least two or three bars I regularly frequent that don’t have anything resembling a kitchen, and I know of at least two other bars that have also had outrageously priced microwaved food on their menus, presumably in order to satisfy the state’s liquor law requirements.
As I wrote last month, a bill working its way through the state legislature could soon create a special nightclub license, which would allow bars to forgo food service requirements and stay out of sticky situations like the one Babalu is currently in.
TV You Know What TV Show I Love?
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:05 PM
I love Breaking Bad! Granted, I don't have cable, and so I'm watching it on DVD right now, so if things go tremendously wrong by the end of the first season, I apologize in advance. But this whole show, especially the amazing third episode, has been nothing but great so far.
If you're unaware of the series, it's about a bumbling, meek high school chemistry teacher who discovers he has lung cancer and will die within 2 years. He begins making and dealing meth to earn a whole lot of money for his family very quickly. His brother-in-law is a DEA agent, which feels a little stagy, but I hope and trust that things will keep from getting too over-the-top. It's especially great because Malcolm in the Middle's Bryan Cranston, who plays the main character, is a phenomenal actor. I could watch him sit in a corner doing nothing and it would be the most interesting thing in the world. This kind of actor getting this kind of role is a special kind of alchemy.
Here: Instead of working, you should watch the first episode of the first season of Breaking Bad.
So good.
Homo Who Will Speak for the Florists?
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Um, Jonathan? Once we start carving out exceptions where our rights are concerned—excuse me, once we embrace "robust religious-conscience exceptions" where our rights are concerned—it gets harder to draw the line.
Concerned that the state's new same-sex marriage law would infringe on religious liberties, the Connecticut Catholic Conference today proposed some broad exemptions which it believes are necessary to protect those rights.The law does not require Catholic priests—or any other clergy member—to preside over same-sex weddings.
However, the church is seeking additional exemptions. For instance, it wants to ensure that a florist opposed to gay marriage on religious grounds not be forced to sell flowers to a same-sex couple.
Yes, think of the florists—all those rabidly anti-gay florists out there who would rather go broke than sell flowers to faggots.
UPDATE: Word of the day, courtesy of Andy Niable: homophoboflorists.
Science Not All Bad News
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 1:57 PM
One of the many good things that are happening in our post-Bush world.
President Obama is planning to sign an executive order on Monday rolling back restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, according to sources close to the issue.Although the exact wording of the order has not been revealed, the White House plans an 11 a.m. ceremony to sign the order repealing one of the most controversial steps taken by his predecessor, fulfilling one of Obama's eagerly anticipated campaign promises.
And here is another spot of good news:
...[B]ecause of the budget crises... the New York State legislature is close to scrapping the draconian Rockefeller drug laws which, by imposing mandatory sentences rather than rehab treatment, has kept so many drug users in prison for years.
Economy The M0 of Monetary Policy
Posted by Jonathan Golob on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Quite an expansion by the Fed of the cash floating around in the past few months, eh? Excuse me while I read up a bit more about TIPS.
(Is this a sister to the graph Anthony found way back in August, or what?)
Economy When Jobs Disappear Forever
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 1:20 PM
One side of the story:
“These jobs aren’t coming back,” said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia in Charlotte. “A lot of production either isn’t going to happen at all, or it’s going to happen somewhere other than the United States. There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations..."
The other side of the story:
The United States has been neglecting job training programs for decades, argues Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project in New York. In current dollars, the nation devoted the equivalent of $20 billion a year on job training in 1979, while spending only $6 billion last year.The stimulus spending bill includes $4.5 billion in additional monies for job training. But under current programs, many of those eligible for training are given vouchers that cover only a semester or two at community colleges, while careers in growth industries like biotechnology and health care typically require two-year degree programs.
Jobs for the future? How about green mining?
ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2009) — To slow global warming, scientists are exploring ways to pull carbon dioxide from the air and safely lock it away. Trees already do this naturally through photosynthesis; now, in a new report, geologists have mapped large rock formations in the United States that can also absorb CO2, which they say might be artificially harnessed to do the task at a vastly increased pace.The report, by scientists at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey, shows 6,000 square miles of ultramafic rocks at or near the surface. Originating deep in the earth, these rocks contain minerals that react naturally with carbon dioxide to form solid minerals. Earth Institute scientists are experimenting with ways to speed this natural process, called mineral carbonation. If the technology takes off, geologic formations around the world could provide a vast sink for heat-trapping carbon dioxide released by humans...
A good place see the possible future of work is the fantastic art of Jed Dunkerley. 
This worker is in the rain industry.
The bumper-sticker "I LOVE SPOTTED OWLS FRIED" will not be found on the electric pickup trucks of these forest workers.
News Oregon Elections Division Won't Remove Adams From Office For Lying About Breedlove
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 1:10 PM
The Oregon Elections Division tossed out an attempt to remove Portland mayor Sam Adams from office for lying about his sex life.
Patrick Mulcahy of Beaverton filed complaints with the Oregon Elections Division and the Oregon Attorney General on Wednesday.Mulcahy accused Adams of getting elected through fraudulent means, namely because of his lies to the public about his relationship with teenage intern Beau Breedlove. He said his complaint alleged constitutional violations that should force Adams from office.
Can you imagine the havoc the Oregon Elections Division would've created had it upheld Monsignor Mulcahy's complaint? Any politician who lied about an ugly or embarrassing detail touching on his or her private sexual conduct—perhaps even ones who failed to disclose those details—could be bounced out of office. Also, Beaverton isn't Portland. Once again, the folks angriest with Adams mostly seem to be religious nutters and mega-churchgoing suburbanites, the kind of folks who didn't dig Portland's big gay mayor before this scandal broke.
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