Deconstructing the Brady Bunch
Jeffrey Breinholt reflects on a "Deconstructing Islamaphobia" conference at Berkeley, presumably aimed at deconstructing the myths of Islamophobia and wonders if they will actually deconstruct Islamaphobia and thus prove it does not exist. Along the way, he provides this amusing example of textual deconstruction: Remember the Brady Bunch? What did we know about them? It was a story about a man ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 6, 2008 07:55
Obama, Clinton Appear at Dinner Honoring Racists
Yesterday, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spoke at a Jefferson-Jackson Dinner sponsored by the Indiana Democrats. As it turns out, this is merely one of many Jefferson-Jackson dinners attended by the candidates. I am shocked and outraged. As you may not be aware, the Jefferson-Jackson dinners are hosted to honor and celebrate the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 5, 2008 12:43
Mistaken Identity
Like many people, I've set up email alerts for various search phrases, to keep up with mentions elsewhere of myself, this blog, the Atlantic Council, and a handful of research subjects that I keep up with. Occasionally, this produces some amusing results, like this one I received overnight: NATIONAL BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES 2008 BOARD OF DIRECTORS [...] James, Joyner, Norris, Roach ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 23, 2008 07:11
Pope Benedict Our German Shepherd
Henry Farrell recounts getting stuck in pope-security-related traffic, contrasts the differences between this trip and John Paul II's 1979 visit to Ireland, and takes this photo: Henry muses that it "seemed to me to have dark undertones that were presumably not intended by the person who was waving it about." Personally, I find the canine overtones amusing enough.Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 16, 2008 13:22
What Makes Someone an Elitist?
The rule of thumb for American politics in the media appears to be classifying politicians as being on the "beer-track" or "wine-track", or, in the alternative Hillary Clinton formation, "Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts". In other words, if you prefer wine over beer or Starbucks over Dunkin' Donuts, then you are an "elitist", and if not, you're just a "regular ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 14, 2008 14:32
Simpsons Quote of the Day
"Slavery it is, sir!" - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (In honor of Confederate Heritage Month, naturally.)Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 3, 2008 20:19
BBC Discovers Flying Penguins
Whoever said that penguins can't fly?The BBC will today screen remarkable footage of penguins flying as part of its new natural history series, Miracles of Evolution. Camera crews discovered a colony of Adélie penguins while filming on King George Island, some 750 miles south of the Falkland Islands. The programme is being presented by ex-Monty Python star Terry Jones, who said: "We'd ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 1, 2008 10:08
Gmail Custom Time
Gmail has finally come up with something useful: Heh. UPDATE (via Techcrunch): Google Australia has come up with an even better technology: gDay™ with MATE™, "enabling you to search content on the internet before it is created." The core technology that powers gDay™ is MATE™ (Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation). Using MATE’s™ machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques developed in Google’s Sydney offices, we ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 1, 2008 08:29
Solution to Florida and Michigan Problem
Steve Clemons offers an inspired solution: "I just saw No Country for Old Men. Perhaps Hillary and Obama should flip a coin?" For those who haven't seen it, this video will provide some context:Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 20, 2008 11:39
The Many Faces of Hillary Clinton
Danny Glover marvels at Hillary Clinton's adaptability. Hillary Clinton adopts a new persona for every setting. She is alternately a lover, a fighter, a mocker, a whiner and a crier as she competes with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Whatever it takes! As I recall, the same was true of Bill Clinton in the 1992 contest. Goodness, even his ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 26, 2008 15:30
McCain Beats Clinton in November, Diebold Reveals
In an embarrassing technical glitch, Diebold has accidentally released the 2008 election results early, revealing that John McCain will win with 48 percent of the vote. ONN has the video report: Of course, I told you this months ago. via ThoreauPosted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 26, 2008 08:10
Hillary Clinton’s Next Television Ad?
Jay Tea offers "A Free Ad Suggestion For Hillary" which goes something like this: Play video of Barack Obama saying "I'm the insurgent." Play video of news anchor saying something like "Insurgents killed three Americans in Iraq today." Sadly, reductio creep will likely kick in before next week's Texas and Ohio primaries.Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 25, 2008 07:42
Celebrity Endorsement Face-Off Obama vs Clinton
David Schmader takes a clever look at the celebrities endorsing Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: via roving correspondent Richard GardnerPosted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 12, 2008 07:32
McCain 10,000 Years Music Video
This parody commercial, putting John McCain's speeches about the war in Iraq into a song a'la the Barack Obama "Yes We Can" video, is pretty funny. It's already going viral, with quite a number of bloggers in my Google Reader list posting it today. Josh Marshall terms it "Genuinely Hilarious." Hilzoy and Matt Yglesias merely give it a "Funny" rating. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 11, 2008 13:30
What If the Beatles Were Irish?
The humorist Roy Zimmerman asks and answers the question, "What If the Beatles Were Irish?" Via Michael via Jim HenleyPosted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 10, 2008 19:45
