From the NYT.com "Recommended for You" box:

1. Irving Adler, Author of Science and Math Books for the Young, Dies at 99

2. Billy Barnes Dies at 85; Helped Revive Revues

3. Chris Economaki, Rumbling Voice of Auto Racing, Dies at 91

4. Herbert Lom, Frustrated Boss of Inspector Clouseau, Dies at 95

5. Robert Newton, Maker of Racing Tires, Dies at 85

6. Maurice H. Keen Dies at 78; Redefined Chivalry

7. Dr. Griffith Edwards, Addiction Specialist, Dies at 83

8. John Silber Dies at 86; Led Boston University

9. ORDINARY PEOPLE A Life Distinguished by Enthusiasm, Not Disability

10. TEXAS MONTHLY GTT

Suddenly, I'm not feeling so well.

Teabags Go Fleabag

At the Idiot's Corner, John "Thumb" Fund forwards a report on the conditions of the FEMA Camp hotel to which wingnuts were "assigned" by the DNC:

The Knights Inn was the worst hotel I have ever seen, and I've stayed in many bad motels in my life. Two guys were dealing drugs in the room next to me, and a prostitute was working out of the parking lot. And this was in the early afternoon. The room itself was dirty, full of other people's stuff, etc.

I have never requested a hotel change in 3 years at NR. This was the first time I felt absolutely compelled.

Morgan Pillsbury reports on the kind of accomodations John Fund prefers:

His apartment, she reports, was full of "dirty dishes, unopened mail, and bottles of alcohol from hotel minibars"; the floor was "covered with piles of black socks and dirty underwear."

Perhaps the Knights Inn doesn't stock its rooms with booze.

Roger's Pedagogical Corner

During my daily review of popular "Mommyblogs," I came across series of queries:

Filling out the lists of “summer reading” their teachers required as the school year began, my children and I ran across a quandary of our own. For school reading purposes, do books listened to, as audio books, count as books read?

Whether listening to an audio book counts as reading it has long been debated on blogs and at book clubs. I’m torn; I enjoy absorbing my books one way (words on a page, please), but as far as the content goes, I don’t see any difference in listening to it, although I admit to perceiving the reader/listener differently depending on the circumstance and the choice. (Maybe I shouldn’t, but there it is.)

But here we’re talking about something slightly different: for a student, is there a difference between reading and listening to a book? Should a listened-to book go on a “books enjoyed over the summer” list? If a student is required to read “The Hobbit” over the summer, does a student who listens to all 11 hours and 6 minutes of it, unabridged, fulfill the requirement?

We’ve resolved the question for back-to-school purposes (we went for disclosure), but it’s sure to come up again. Is it a different question for different ages? What about for a book report — can a student listen to the book rather than read? What about the student who wants to do both?

Which raises an interesting question. (I'll be the judge of that.)

When did schools start issuing summer reading lists? I never had one in grade school or high school, either as a suggested or mandatory list. Is this something fairly new, or did I just go to crappy schools? (Or both.)  Is this limited to schools populated by the children of the kind of overachieving wankers who live to get their brats into  prestigious colleges?  Is it just a way for schools to get parents to buy the books?

As for audiobooks, back in the day, the audiobooks would have been on cassette, rather than mp3 or CD, so it probably would have been more expensive to go the audio route.

Our Benevolent Masters, Part One

The SCL New York Times op-ed page gives us a new hero for social justice: Henry Ford:

IN the rancorous debate over how to get the sluggish economy moving, we have forgotten the wisdom of Henry Ford. In 1914, not long after the Ford Motor Company came out with the Model T, Ford made the startling announcement that he would pay his workers the unheard-of wage of $5 a day.

Not only was it a matter of social justice, Ford wrote, but paying high wages was also smart business.

The only thing missing is a tribute to Ford's visionary efforts on behalf of racial equality, religious tolerance and workers' rights.

Billion Dollar Moonies

The Korean Sheldon Adelson, the Wingnut Messiah, the spiritual father of Wes Pruden and the man you don't want to borrow a towel from, has died:

Building a business empire in South Korea and Japan, Mr. Moon used his commercial interests to support nonprofit ventures, then kept control of them by placing key insiders within their hierarchies. He avidly backed right-wing causes, turning The Washington Times into a respected newspaper in conservative circles.
...
In the church’s view, Jesus had failed in his mission to purify mankind because he was crucified before being able to marry and have children. Mr. Moon saw himself as completing the unfulfilled task of Jesus: to restore humankind to a state of perfection by producing sinless children, and by blessing couples who would produce them.
...
Mr. Moon struggled against bad publicity. He was sent to prison on tax evasion charges and accused of influence-buying and maintaining ties to the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. He denied both allegations. In the late 1970s he was caught up in a Congressional investigation into attempts by South Korea to influence American policy. There were battles with local officials over zoning for church buildings and tax-exempt status.
...
Prominent people were paid to appear at Moon-linked conferences. The first President George Bush did so after he left office. Others, like former President Gerald R. Ford, Bill Cosby, Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Jack Kemp, attended banquets and gatherings, sometimes saying afterward that they had not known of a connection between Mr. Moon and the organizations that invited them.
...
The extent of his holdings was somewhat of a mystery, but one figure gives a clue: Mr. Moon acknowledged that in the two decades since the founding of The Washington Times, in 1982, he pumped in more than $1 billion in subsidies to keep it going.

The Moonie Times, such as it is, has a sanitized send-off for the convicted criminal and right-wing sugar daddy, complete with a tear-stained tribute from Neil Bush, a lover of all things Asian. Among other things the Moonie e-rag forget to mention: Moon's divinity, his anti-semitism and his unusual laundry practices.

Allow Me to Blow Your Mind

A hack who has been canned by every news outlet and temp agency that has employed her writes:

[Megan] McArdle occupies the opposite pole. "Overall, I wildly underestimated Obama's arrogance and inexperience," she says. "I don't think he's the Antichrist or anything, but his presidency certainly hasn't contained much to please me on the policy front."

At first blush, this comment is standard Meeeegan idiocy -- Somoene who has accomplished nothing criticizing someone accomplished. But it's really an admission of McArdle's own stupidity and journalistic incompetence. How can someone underestimate the experience of a public figure? "I thought Obama had been a Senator for forty years and was Secretary of the Treasury in the Carter Administration, but it turns out I was way off. How could I have known?"

McArdle also laments that she lowballed the Senator's uppityness, which apparently clashes with her kitchen decor.

Confidential to HBO and Aaron Sorkin

Leaving the "e" off of Richard Clarke's name isn't nearly as embarassing as including Tim Russert in a list of great newsmen. Or a list of newsmen.

Money Can't Buy Happiness

'Twas Beauty killed the Painter of Light:

[Thomas] Kinkade, 54, was found by Pinto-Walsh dead in his bed the morning of April 6. The coroner determined he died of a lethal level of alcohol after a night of heavy drinking and popping Valium. In an interview with this newspaper shortly after his death, Kinkade's brother, Patrick, said that the artist had been an alcoholic, and while he had made an effort to remain sober for the previous few months, he relapsed. Patrick Kinkade also said his separation from his wife and four daughters two years earlier had taken their [sic] toll as well as criticism from the fine art world that his fairy-tale images of pastoral scenes and lampposts were kitsch.

Anything that I could say about this story would be in such poor taste that I could get rich selling it to Kinkade's fans.

Encounter at Farright

Via Sadly, No!, we learn that Instacracker's other half, "Doctor" Helen Smith, is penning a tome:

In my upcoming book with Encounter Publishing entitled “Male Strike: Why Society's War Against Men is Suicidal and What to Do About It," I discuss these Uncle Tim types (those who put down other men) whose life is [sic] made easier by pandering to women and other men who are either Uncle Tims themselves or White Knights trying to save a damsel in distress.

The actual name of the "Doctor's" publisher is Encounter Books, shrunken organ of the Roger Kimball media empire.

The "Doctor" shouldn't feel too bad about misidentifying her wingnut welfare officer, though, as Encounter Books hasn't even heard of Smith. Oh, but they will, when she shows up at Kimball's office, screeching "I will ... NOT ... BE ... IGNORED!

Smith's book will appear in bookstores, propping open the back door while employees take their cigarette breaks, sometime in 2013.

Rich Lowry Regrets His Own Existence

Standards at the National Review have sunk even lower since the mag sacked racist John Darbyshite.  Witness this abortion from Katherine Trinko, whose motto is, defame first, ask questions never:

I took down my earlier post on Elizabeth Warren plagiarizing from the book Getting On the Money Track. On Amazon.com, the Warren book All Your Worth is listed as having been published January 9, 2006. As it turns out, that is the paperback publication date; the hardback book was published in March 2005. As such, it appears that Getting on the Money Track (published in October 2005) plagiarized from All Your Worth, not the other way around. I apologize for the error.

And by error, she means getting caught.

Darb Overboard

John Derbyshire has been keelhauled from the National Review Cruise.

Thank G-d William Saletan is available to tell us where Darb went wrong. (Hint: The first rule of White Club is.... )

Mess of the Darbyphiles

Those wishing to comment on Darbyshite's dismissal from National Review can address comments to G-Man Rich Lowry here. My screen is asking me to enter the verification code "ace of spades" before posting. Purely random, I'm sure.

Right now, the criticism of Rich Lowry is divided (unequally) between the opinions that Lowry caved to P.C. pressure and that National Review is a tool of the Jews. One member of Team Pasty wonders if Darb was on drugs (presumably not crack), and there is a difference of opinion as to whether Darb is Juan Williams or Joe Sobran. Why can't he be both?

Farting Stays

As Michael Kinsley didn't once say, "A gaffe is when John Darbyshite says what the National Review was founded upon."

The 'shite has been shat out.

The Daily Choler and FOX Talk Radio have their checkbooks ready.

p.s. -- Is this going to make the National Review cruise in November incredibly awkward or what?

Grand Old Police Blotter: White Power Edition

Via Jalopnik, here's the story of an entitled Teabagger who thinks the laws don't apply to him:

Stanislaus County prosecutors Friday charged Riverbank City Councilman Jesse James White with drunken driving and causing an injury to his 4-year-old son, as well as hit-and-run driving and resisting a police officer in connection with a Feb. 20 traffic accident.

Prosecutors allege White's blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent, three times the limit at which a driver is considered to be under the influence.

White, 23, wrecked his Corvette about 1 a.m. Feb. 20 in Oakdale. Police claim he crashed into a parked car on F Street and then tried to flee before being tackled and held by bystanders until officers arrived.

His 4-year-old son was in the Corvette and suffered a bloody nose. White, who is not in custody after posting bail, entered an alcohol abuse treatment center this week, according to his attorney. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 21.

"He is going to be in court for his arraignment and plead not guilty to all the charges," said Modesto attorney Mary Lynn Belsher, who represents White. Belsher said prosecutors have overcharged her client.

...

He was arrested in May 2010 on drug possession charges after sheriff's deputies said they found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine during a probation search of White's apartment and car. He resolved that case by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor last year. He also was required to complete a 20-hour drug-and-alcohol education class, which he did in the fall.

White has survived two attempts to recall him from office.

In his most recent case, he is charged with the felonies of driving under the influence, causing an injury and making an unsafe turn; hit-and-run driving with an injury; and permitting a child to suffer under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death.

He also is charged with the misdemeanors of hit-and-run driving and resisting a police officer by means of threats and violence. Bystanders and police have said White told them he was Jesse James White and they would regret their actions.

According to his website, J.J. is all about "sticking to my guns for less taxes, less government, personal responsibility, and your Second Amendment right to keep your guns too." (Those felonies might make that a little more difficult for you on the last one, J.J.) J.J. is also known to associate with criminals like James O'Queef.

Hit-and-run drunk driving, drug possession, child endangerment, resisting arrest and threatening police officers -- and he's still walking around. Talk about White privilege.

You Don't Shake Your Moneymaker

The question of whether National Review will fire John Darbyshite is laughable. "Darb" brings money to the magazine. He's a featured speaker on National Review next fundraising cruise:

John Derbyshire's columns appear in National Review and New English Review and cover a broad range of political-cultural topics, including immigration, China, history, mathematics, and race. Derbyshire's 1996 novel, Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, was a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year". His 2004 non-fiction book, Prime Obsession, won the Mathematical Association of America's inaugural Euler Book Prize. A new political book, We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism, was released in September 2009.

If Derb could stay on the NR cruise all year 'round, he'd occupy the racial utopia of his dreams.

Derb will become the latest poster boy for conservative victimhood, and the National Review can't afford to lose such a prize to the Daily Choler.

National Review Makes The Case For Polygamy

Writing at NRO.com, Kevindy Williamson delivers an impassioned demand for equal rights for polygamists:

[Lawrence] O’Donnell denounced Romney as a guy who belongs to a church that

was created by a guy in upstate New York in 1830 when he got caught having sex with the maid and explained to his wife that God told him to do it. Forty-eight wives later, Joseph Smith’s lifestyle was completely sanctified in the religion he invented to go with it, which Mitt Romney says he believes.

Thanks for the Muppet News Flash, Larry. The exact nature of Smith’s polygamy is contested  (his only children were from his first wife, leading some to believe that his polygamy was of a non-sexual nature), but, yes, he was a polygamist. So was Solomon. So was Abraham. And, oddly enough, Lawrence O’Donnell plays a polygamist’s attorney on television — there’s nothing quite so satisfying as profiting from the prurient interest in a subject you denounce. Charlemagne was a polygamist.

I agree completely, Kev. If polygamy is good enough for Abraham, Charlemange and the fictional client of a fictional character played by Lawrence O'Donnell on HBO, it's good enough for America.
Kev, it's not only your right but your responsibility to make things legal between yourself and Maggie Gallagher and her hubby.

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Fucker Carlson's Photoshop Fail

Fucker Carlson's Photoshop Fail

At the Daily Choler, Tucker Faye Carlson fiddles with a photo of George Zimmerman until a "laceration" is revealed, along with a glowing white aura surrounding both Zimmerman and a police officer. What Fucker thinks he has proven is that Zimmerman was injured during his attack on Trayvon Martin. What Fucker has actually proven is that Zimmerman and the police officer are ghosts, and thus appropriate sex partners for Matthew Boyle.

Meet Your Right Wing Media

From a rightwing clownblog called Twitchy:

Recognize these two people? If you don’t, we’ll help you out. The man on the left is George Zimmerman, the man accused of murdering the boy on the right, Trayvon Martin. The mainstream media won’t show you these two photos because they convey a message that no one else wants to take into consideration.

Correction, 8:56 pm ET March 25, 2012: We made a mistake. The photo on the right is not of the Trayvon Martin who was shot by Zimmerman. We apologize to our readers and to the Martin family.

No link to the slanderers.

It also should come as no surprise that the photograph used to slander Trayvon Martin depicts neither illegal activity nor violent activity. The message the clownblog wants the EMESSEM to convey is a simple one: Black-skinned teenagers deserve to die.

Story via ThinkProgress.

Dicky Dick-er

The good news is that former Vice President Dick Cheney successfully underwent heart transplant surgery on Saturday.

The bad news is that the donor was Andrew Breitbart.