ad hoc.

You don't need to be a political expert to know that Alito was confirmed. At times ike this I go into denial mode, and not bother with anything that makes me think of anything outside my own superficial realm. That, or I just read some celeb gossip news. I think I protected by saying to myself that we would just wait out the Bush administration and after 2008, someone would sweep in and just pick up the pieces of the mess and make it all ok again. I like to call this the nursery school method of political thought. Pretty soon I will come closer to being a second class citizen. I don't need to barage you with all the news and editorials out there, but I think this post really says it best.

President Bush had a message for abortion opponents Monday, marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

He told them: "We shall prevail."

snip

By phone, President Bush told a group of abortion opponents, "we're working to persuade more of our fellow Americans of the rightness of our cause."

"And history tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail," he added.

Stance on 'morning-after' pill costs pharmacist her job
By Jo Mannies
POST-DISPATCH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
01/26/2006

Pharmacist Heather Williams believes there's no middle ground when it comes to the so-called "morning-after" pill known as Plan B.

Williams opposes use of that pill, or any other emergency contraception, because they can prevent a fertilized human egg from implanting in the uterus. "For me, life begins with two cells," Williams said Thursday.

As a part-time pharmacist at a Target store in St. Charles, Williams had refused to fill such prescriptions without incident for the past five years. But she also declined to refer physicians or patients to others who would fill such prescriptions.
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"I just can't be a link in the chain at all," she said.

As of Jan. 1, that stance cost Williams her job.

She and her lawyer, Ed Martin, filed a complaint this week against Target with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A suit also is being considered.

Target declined to comment Thursday. But Williams stressed that she blamed Planned Parenthood - not Target - for her predicament. She cites Planned Parenthood's heightened national campaign to persuade major pharmacy chains such as Target to agree to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception.

Paula Gianino, chief executive of Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region, lauds Target's commitment to fill such prescriptions and contends that Williams is at fault because of her refusal to refer patients or physicians elsewhere.

"She could refuse to fill the prescription, but she took it to the next level," Gianino said. "Target has done everything possible to try to fill patients' health care needs and accommodate individual pharmacists."

She noted that Plan B won't affect an established pregnancy.

Said Williams: "I'm not in judgment of anyone. I want my right not to fill something, much as they have their right to get Plan B filled."

That debate is expected to get hotter in the coming weeks.

Williams and Martin are appearing on national and local TV to make their case that pharmacists are being unfairly targeted in the national battle over Plan B.

Meanwhile, Martin is part of a legal team planning to file suit today, in Madison County, on behalf of four pharmacists who lost their jobs with Walgreens on similar grounds.

Martin has publicly debated Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has issued an executive order requiring all pharmacies in Illinois that carry birth control pills to also fill prescriptions for Plan B.

Back in Missouri, Williams plans to testify soon before a legislative panel considering a bill to give legal protection to pharmacists who decline to fill a prescription for Plan B or any other drug they believe could cause an abortion. Gov. Matt Blunt says such legislation is among his top priorities.

Williams, 39, the mother of three, said she thought she already had such protection in Missouri when Target officials asked her late last year to sign a "conscience clause policy."

The matter became an issue among Target pharmacists locally, she said, after last fall's publicity over an incident at a Target in Fenton, where a pharmacist refused to fill a Plan B prescription.

Soon after, Target required its pharmacists to sign a "conscience policy" - in which they agreed to fill or refer such prescriptions.

Williams balked because of the referral requirement. In her refusal letter to Target, dated Dec. 1, Williams explained, "I would be required to do almost everything except count the pills."

On Dec. 21, she said, Target's district pharmacy officials reluctantly told her that her refusal to sign was forcing them to let her go.

The irony, said Williams, was that the St. Charles store didn't stock Plan B and wasn't required to have it on hand.

But with the new policy, she said, all Target pharmacists - regardless of their religious views - were required to help patients or physicians seeking Plan B by locating another Target store where Plan B could be found.

"We had to make sure it was in stock, and even give directions to the store," Williams said. "I would be a participant."

MuScene Barbie interviews her designer, Nick Verros.

I’m going to get sentimental here. In organizing my CDs I finally found my full London Cast recording of Miss Saigon. Holy shit, this may be the perfect Broadway show (besides Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Assassins, among others). I wonder why this has not been optioned for a movie yet. Wait, I want to hold my tongue. They will probably make it with an Asian cast, none of them Viatnamese (the original lead was Fillipino). I can see it being a good movie, but no one will be able to do it justice. Anyway, here it is, Part 1 and Part 2. I tear up on every listen. There are the usual showstoppers, but my personal highlights are “Please” and “Bui-doi.”

Part 1 here
Part 2 here

And also, the Dresden Dolls are the only band I have heard of that has been labeled “cabaret punk”. Whatever that means. I’ll be honest, I found them annoying at first when I heard their first album, but I am liking their new one much better.

The Dresden Dolls- Yes, Virginia here

Mudhoney was lumped in with the “grunge” revolution that came of the early 90s, but I think they actually have more punk roots. THis greatest of hits of sorts came out recently. I think they actually have a new album coming out soon.

Mudhoney- March to Fuzz here

Before Nirvana broke open the early-’90s grungeathon, Mudhoney were considered the Northwest’s brightest hope. Their first single, “Touch Me I’m Sick,” was an instant classic on college radio and the band’s odd-colored vinyl singles began fetching collectors’ prices before the 1990s even began. Their signature sound–molten guitars hyped up on cheap and noisy effect pedals (like the Superfuzz Bigmuff combination that titled their first EP) with a singer who rasped with a garage band’s untutored authority–was in stark contrast to the polished “hair metal” popular at the time. Collected here are the greatest hits, so to speak. The band never scaled to the Billboard heights of Nirvana, so the choices are purely aesthetic. The highlights are obvious: an overwhelming cover of the Texas hardcore band the Dicks’ “Hate the Police” and a ripping commentary on a certain rock star’s wife, “Into Your Shtick.” The second disc thankfully rescues 30 B-sides and rarities from the dustbin of oblivion. Consider this a grunge primer.

As you can tell from my Peter Sarsgaard soft porn, I am obsessed with youtube.com. There are so many gems on there. I watched some old Roswell promos and fell out of my chair. The best is that someone has also posted a lot of clips from The State, which I have been looking for forever. For those of you who are a little behind, the State was the original sketch comedy group that incudes the creators and cast of Wet Hot, the cast of Reno 911, and Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, etc. The best ones are not on there. I am still on a quest to find “Porcupine Racetrack”.

That first step into my office in the morning is hard sometimes, but it is the little things that keep me going. Like my Daily Show one a day desk calendar. Here are some recent passages from the last few days:

The Captial Rotunda was made famous by the Stephen Baldwin/Pauly Shore vehicle Bio-Rotunda.

Due to an early type, America very nearly became a "Democrazy".

By holding the first contests in the race for the presidency, Iowa and New Hampshire weild enormous power. This makes perfect sense given their size.

Feb. 6, 2006 issue - When you believe the end of the world is coming, you learn to talk fast. On a Friday afternoon the debate team from Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's fundamentalist Baptist college, is madly rehearsing for the tournament about to begin. This year's topic: should the United States increase diplomatic and economic pressure on China. They may just be practicing, but you wouldn't know it from the menacing mosquito-buzz rising as all 20 debaters read their speeches at once, as fast as they can. Policy debate on the college level has become a rapid-fire verbal assault, an arguments-per-minute game, that sounds more like the guy at the end of the car commercial than an eloquent Oxford intellectual. There is tension and more than a little spittle in the air. The Liberty team is currently ranked No. 1 in the country, above Harvard (14th) and all the other big names. But for the evangelicals, there's a lot more at stake than a trophy. Falwell and the religious right figure that if they can raise a generation that knows how to argue, they can stem the tide of sin in the country. Seventy-five percent of Liberty's debaters go on to be lawyers with an eye toward transforming society. "I think I can make an impact in the field of law on abortion and gay rights, to get back to Americans' godly heritage," says freshman debater Cole Bender.

more

The picture is also…priceless.

The Soviettes- LP

New wave meets no wave on a Twin Cities bus, and the next stop is mid-'90s Kill Rock Stars-style slash and burn girl punk revivalism. They still make bands like this? From the start to its all-too-quick finish, the Soviettes' eponymous debut is a treble-kicking trip to the past in glorious fast-forward. Sturgeon (Maren Mocosko) , Annie Holoien, Susy Sharp, and Y chromosome ringer Danny Henry know it's all been done before — the overdriven, two-minute songs, spazzy drum fills, and Raincoats-style girl group vocals. But their skinny fists are packed with melodies, their socks are striped, and every bassline is lovingly shellacked by slashing, barely tuned guitars that make everything sound like Sleater-Kinney covering Lush on a crappy AM radio station. Of course, there will be naysayers. The bandwagon scuttlebutt in their native Minneapolis has tended to focus more on the girls' ex-boyfriends' bands, and besides this full-length, there's only one measly 7" to ferret out. But doesn't half-assed exuberance count for anything anymore? It certainly did when Yo-Yo's Periscope compilation came out in 1998. The Soviettes is the spiritual cousin to that album's fabulous amateurism, and carries the torch for the "Hey! Let's start a band!" movement that spawned so many inspired combos during the 1990s indie rock boom. "Do you know why they hate us?" sing the Soviettes in "Clueless," a peppy punk-wave rocker that clocks in at a minute and a half. It might be the soundbite before "Land of the Clear Blue Radio" that indirectly proclaims them as the saviors of rock & roll. But then the neck-nodding song starts, complete with a four-four count-off, white noise guitars, and squealing vocals. It's hard to hate full-on when your feet are dancing so fast.

I just wanted to also say that episode 9 of the Ricky Gervais podcast is out today, so if you haven't been listening you'd better 2(*$&$@* start now.

Also, how could you not love Tim's train of thought? Also, Keri has the most amazing analysis of The Karate Kid ever. It may seem like I am being sarcastic about that, but I really do mean it. Liveblogging is the new blogging.

So, many of you know this already, but my plan is to be vegan within a year's time. It is something I have been contemplating for a while, but recent reading and investigation has convinced me. The reason I will be doing it is mainly for reasons having to do with animal rights and a personal response to the mass market of meat production.

I do recognize the privilege that allows me to be vegan. I have the means to buy the organic food and the fancy tofu products. Others are not in a place where they can do that, and I recognize that. In an ideal world, everyone would be vegan of course, but there needs to be major changes in the whole economy and nationwide meat and food industry. I don't see that happening tomorrow, but there's always hoping.

I won't judge anyone who is not vegan, so please sunderstand if you yourself are not vegan or do not plan to be, I will not judge.

I'm not saying it will be easy. I am going to give myself time to ease into it. If I just did it overnight, I will probably get frustrated and fail. Once I finish the large container of yogurt in my fridge, I will eliminate all dairy products. After that, I will make many of my meals be vegan until I am used to it and then eventually have that for all my meals.

I also need to really push myself and learn to cook better. Luckily, I have Brandon as my consultant and spiritual guide through the process. I am also looking for any recipes, ideas, or reading that anyone knows about.

The hard thing will be the fact that I cannot eat wheat or gluten. I have djusted ok to that, so I am sure I can adjust even more. I just need to be more creative and thoughtful about it.

1. The puppy bowl is happening again this year. My predicitions for VIP? Badger or Louie.
2. This week I will see A History of Violence, Match Point, The New World, and The Aristocrats for free.
3. I can listen to the new Neko Case album.
4. Having trouble thinking of more….but this will get me through 7 days, at least.

10:01
We start with the two blondes confronting the ambiguously ethnic brunette and calling her out on stealing time with Travis on the jetski. They make her break down and cry and exclaim "my wall is down. Are you happy now?"

10:04
Travis actually calls them women, not girls. Wow. It's funny how something like that, on this show, seems like the women's suffrage movement.

10:07
Travis takes Jeha on a date in downtown Paris. They show a man wearing a beret and carrying a bag with a bagette. I'm not fucking with you. They bumble through some stores, demanding everyone speak English. I hate Americans.

10:12
Jeha has a secret! I'll bet she's a man. She has a kid. She's actually a PhD'ed professor, not a "vitamin saleperson" like her bio says.

10:13
Ok, she was married before. Travis lets his mouth catch some flies. She then tells the other women, and this is the most! shocking! news! ever! They were appalled and can't believe she even DARED come on the show. God forbid she has been tainted and not pure for the Bachelor to deflower and own.

If I actually drank, I would create a drinking game for this show. Everytime someone says connection, fairy tale, girl, or every girl's dream, I would take a shot. 20 minutes into the show I would drunker than an old French whore.

10:20
Douchechill alert! Travis is taking them bikeriding, and he says he is taking them on a "Tour DAY France" date in finger quotes.

10:30
Moana (the ethnic) one actually acts proactive and talks to Travis instead of waiting to be noticed by him, and the other girls call slut. They hang around in the pool and kvetch "how does no one in the house like her and he does?" Well, hun, I think you just answered your own question.

10:35
Ok, here's the shit-talking about Moana. The producer tips her off and they have the typical reality show face off. Despite hating everyone, I actually am impressed by the way she handled it. Also, she's got amazing hooters.

10:45
"When I saw you across the room, I knew you could get me. And I can just let go. From this moment on I am forever Changed." Ok, I am paraphrasing, but this is what one of them said to Travis after about a total of 97 minutes with him on chaperoned, televised dates.

10:50
Awkward speech by Travis to the ladies. You can almost see the shadows of the cue cards.

10:55
The tears of the women who did not get a rose mix the tears of the loss of diginity I have experienced by watching this.

11:00
Someone shoot me.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) — Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.

Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion.

Stevens is one of the court's most liberal members.

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said. "That's just a joke, for you in the media."

Coulter has made a career of writing and lecturing on her strongly conservative views.

At one point during her address, which was part of a lecture series, some audience members booed when she cut off two questioners. "I'm not going to be lectured to," Coulter told one man in a raised voice.

She drew more boos when she said the crack cocaine problem "has pretty much gone away."

I'm posting these because…well, I think it's obvious. It's from some UK fashion magazine or something.

HOLY SHIT I JUST GOT AN ADVANCE COPY OF THE NEW PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES ALBUM. My life just moved up from complete shit to rather shitty.

I finally dragged myself into the shelter today and holy crap they treat their volunteers so badly. It's a wonder I come back. They did have a 3 month old rottweiler I almost snuck back into my car. The best part was then this one complete asshole that works there is back in the staff kitchen, cooking himself up this huge omlette with bacon. Maybe it was a form of protest against his job.

Good news at the gym: all those people who made new year's resolutions have given up. Good riddance, Also, I finally got confirmation that the mirrors in the locker room are fixed to make one look thinner. I had suspected it all along. Sneaky!

So I can't help it. I continue to be obsessed with the whole James Frey thing. I'll admit, I got sucked in. Plus, I am fascinated with all the stuff surrounding how this affects the media and journalism world. Before I went away I bookmarked a whole bunch of stuff to read. I won't get into it, but here's some interesting tidbits.

Some clips from the official show site
The Frekonomics guys do more research and still can't find any records of his girlfriend's suicide
Gawker's liveblog of the show
NYT arts coverage
Did Nan Talese lie?
The ritual cleaning of a talk show host.
Questions for others in Frey scandal
I think whatevs sums it up best: The right thing to do would've been to begin the show with her apology, followed by an extended conversation with the Frank Rich's and MoDo's and Nan Talese's of the world about the difference between memoirs and autobiographies and, more importantly, about why the truth matters. That would've set the stage to bring out Frey for the last 15 minutes or so of the show. Which, frankly, would've been MORE than enough time to admonish and scold the man for hornswaggling millions of zombified housewives. Instead, she paraded a slew of self-righteous inquisitors on stage to berate the visibly shaken author for ONE FULL HOUR, all the while presiding over the situation in a manner eerily reminiscent of Lyndie England. It was almost as if she was revelling in Frey's flagellation. It was scary, it was sad, and it was wrong. Oprah should know better. After all, her hair is WAY more fake than anything Frey put on the page.

The Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovlier You
This is a bit mellower than my usual tastes, but I can't ignore good songwriting.

Elefant- The Black Magic Show
This actually isn't officially released yet. Could be considered another trendy New York Interpol-esque band, but they are acually good (more like Interpol and less like The Bravery. Right here.

Yea, I don’t know what is going on here. It’s Ewan McGregor in a kilt. Doing some sort of performance art. Cutting haggis. As an aspiring vegan, I should be apalled, but goddamnit, I wish I was that haggis.

Scottish star EWAN McGREGOR was spotted doing some research for a new movie last week when he visited a BEATRIX POTTER art exhibition in London.

The STAR WARS actor, who will star alongside RENEE ZELLWEGER in biopic MISS POTTER, visited the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London on recommendation from his co-star.

A member of staff says, “He dropped in on his own, wearing leather trousers.

“He said he didn’t want any fuss made and was happy just to wonder round on his own for an hour or two.”

McGregor was given his own souvenir on leaving the gallery - a PETER RABBIT notebook which read, ‘You may go into the field or down the lane, but don’t go into MR McGREGOR’s garden.’

I finally found clips of the Strokes’ performance from SNL last Saturday. Here’s Juicebox and You Only Live Once. It doesn’t hurt that Peter Sarsgaard introduces them. My you know what did you know what at you know what in front of the you know what when I saw it.

As a bonus, here’s the super rad “juicebox” video featuring David Cross.

Did I mention I absolutely adore The Strokes?

I can't wait.

If I had to name my top ten favorite albums of all time, I am sure this would be there.

Nada Surf- The Proximity Effect
Here for only seven days.

Did anyone see James Frey on Oprah today? I snuck home from work to watch it. Wow. I did gain some respect for Oprah. She could have gotten all high and mighty and talked about how she felt betrayed and her soul could not be healed, but she looked him in the eye and said "You made me look like a fool in front of million people. How dare you lie." I was really impressed with how she handled it. It was probably one of the most tense moments on television. So tense I was squirming. Turns out in real life, "Lilly" did not hang herself. There was a Lilly, and she committed suicide, but it was after he was in jail, and he was just hanging around before he went to go see her.

He was trying really hard not to break down during the show. To his fairness, he handled it as best he could. After each commercial break, Oprah brought out another guest or commentator who ripped him a new asshole.

Ok, this whole scandal is not keeping me up at night, but I am thinking about it a lot. Why did he let this happen? I don't doubt that he went through rehab, and writing about it is therapeutic, even if you choose to embellish. But why did he label it as a memoir? Did he think it would sell more copies that way? He could have easily just labeled it "based on a true story." And even so, was it his idea or his publisher's? At first, I didn't think it was a big deal. If people enjoyed it, they enjoyed it. But I picked up my copy and started browsing it (the last time I read it was the summer of 2004) and then I realized how much it affected me when I read it. I did get very emotional while reading it and after thinking about it for a while, and even after I heard him speak about it at a reading (the time when I had an awkward convo with him). I also became a bit hopeful, [not to compare his situation to mine] that someone with major issues was able to overcome. And I guess I did feel a bit cheated. I just don't understand the motivation, However, in the sequel that he wrote (and who knows if that is even true), he started writing A Million Little Pieces after moving to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. Did he already have dreams of turning it into a blockbuster?

Also, there is a rumor that Justin Timberlake and Rachel McAdams will star in the movie version. Um, ok, what? Who knows. I have also heard rumors that Bill Murray will play Leonard. We'll see.

Oprah must be pissed because her endorsement made him a very rich man. And even more ironic, this scandal will now sell another million copies of the book.

Secretly, I am a little relieved that things were exaggerated or changed. As I had mentioned previously, I was kind of perterbed that his life post-rehab was of better quality than my jail-free, drug-addiction life will ever be.

More in this New York Times article.

Things like this make me embarassed of my religion.
http://www.jessiesbatmitzvah.com/

Hah! The annual myspace hairstyle awards.

101 dumbest moments in business.

I am so relieved that James St. James is blogging again.

Do you have a favorite video right now?
Omgomgomgomg. Have you seen the new Beyonce video yet? Holy Mary, Mother of God, how does she get her butt to DO THAT? If I could move like that, I wouldn’t need a goatee, I’ll tell you THAT. It’s the most unbelievable three-and-a-half minutes of television you’ll see all year. Absolutely jaw-dropping. And I love that it’s done in letterbox, too, so that she can pop her coochie the entire length of the screen. And when she SHOVES her big ass in the camera and starts singing about how she knows that we all want to eat it? – WELL, EVEN I’M TURNED ON. It’s TOO FABULOUS. The best thing she’s ever done. Truly, she has entered the Pantheon of the Gods with this one.

OK, finally, what are you wearing right now?
Funny you should ask, I’m wearing my Brokeback boxers, with cowboys and horsies on them, and a She-Ra T-shirt that I’ve been wearing for four consecutive days.

The creepiest man alive.

The Arctic Monkeys release their album. Yawn.

Kimya Dawson is the most annoying human alive.

New baby gorilla!

Bret Easton Ellis – The Duality of an Experiment in Controversy

NBC caves to the right wingers and cancels The Book of Daniel.

Benecio is Che Guevera.

Stellastarr* Leave Sony BMG in the UK

Caroline Bermudez reports:
Defying the classic song, Stellastarr* have shown that you can fight the law (well, corporate bigwigs anyway) and actually win.

Last month, lead vocalist Shawn Christensen announced on the band's message board that Stellastarr* had convinced Sony BMG, the parent company of their label, RCA, to keep their new album free of copy-protection. (Remember the rootkit fiasco?) Now, the band has gone one step further: they've left Sony BMG entirely, at least in the UK.

Stellastarr*'s second album, Harmonies for the Haunted, will instead be released in the UK on the indie 20/20 Recordings. Appropriately enough, it will hit stores February 20. (No stranger to 20/20, Stellastarr* released its first two UK singles on the label.) Keep in mind that the label-shuffling applies only to Britian– in America, Stellastarr* remain signed to RCA, which is owned by Sony BMG. A touch of Wilco here, anyone?

On February 13, 20/20 will issue "Sweet Troubled Soul" as the first UK single from Harmonies for the Haunted. The CD version will include the b-side "She's Gone" and a live version of "Damn This Foolish Heart" recorded on KCRW, as well as the "Sweet Troubled Soul" video for some multi-media fun. Remixes of the song by Richard Morel and former (and possibly future?) Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha will be available in the UK on limited edition 7" vinyl.

1. My gym is now open 24 hours.
2. Project Runway is on tonight.
3. A student of mine just made me a copy of the 2gether soundtrack.
4. I just today remembered that I am presenting at a conference in Bridewater, Mass. over the weekend. Nothing is more fun than staying at a Best Western on someone else's dime!
5. I discovered the wonderful world of earplugs. I am sleeping like a baby.