Karloff, Gods and Monsters, and the Horrors of War

You know how I like horror movies and Arthur ties it into war itself.

"The films added a mythic layer to the stories -- of course, Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein is a modern retelling of an ancient myth (remember the full title: Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus) -- but the impulse to tell these stories anew in that particular time arose in significant part from the transformed world that resulted from The Great War...read on"

He's also having a donation drive because his health has been so bad that he can't work. It forced him to leave blogtopia for a while.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

via Suburban Guerrilla

Bioethicist Arthur Caplan decries what he sees as "the growing influence of right wing conservative foundation[s]" on bioethics, and reprints a finding that "many of the attorneys, activists and organizations working to keep Schiavo on life support all these years have been funded by members of the Philanthropy Roundtable."

There is something full of awesome about a blog that purports to be a "definitive collection" of "Bea Arthur plus pizza plus mountains" images.

Open thread below...

The Art of the Possible: Let's look at the question of Vice-Presidentialism on the Democratic side.

Once Upon a Time: Arthur continues to demonstrate why he's considered by many of us to be one the best.

The Moderate Voice: ESPN fires Mark Madden for Kennedy assassination remarks. Apparently sports fans are more discerning than the pea-brained dittoheads who listen to wingmutt radio. Rush Limbaugh got that message in a hurry a few years ago.

skippy the bush kangaroo: Time to stop buying donuts - an action alert

Best wishes to Libby Spencer

HOLY CRAP: Pentagon-connected ministry is electioneering and Obama-bashing...Who profits from "Biblical Capitalism"?...A traditional news outlet finally notices the religious elephant in our political living room...The real impact of the Hagee-McCain divorce...Faith Factor Factbox...The General's Ride...Louisiana dragging science ed. back into the swamp...Beyond Belief...Clinging to the Crucifix...Bible study for atheists

Reality Principles: A branding & marketing professional noticed something important about John McCain's new ad: He is not being marketed as a Republican. Apparently, Republicans realize their 'Brand' is toxic.

The Daily Dish: The War Criminal President

Obsidian Wings: Another quality BUSHCO appointee going down...

The Big Picture: Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Arthur Levitt says the Bear 'bailout' raises new regulatory issues.

ANNALS OF JOURNALISM: FCC opens inquiry into Siegelman report blackout...A gay hero soldier and the Wapo...NPR News: National Pentagon Radio underreports Iraq deaths...and they're in the tank for McCain...Frameshop on the Wright stuff...Obama guilty once again...Venezuela vs. WaPo...Where was the media when the subprime crisis unfolded?...Reality TV kills

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves:

While grappling with MSNBC and CNN for viewers, Fox News has also been battling a smaller, more insidious enemy closer to home: bed bugs in its Midtown Manhattan newsroom. In an interview on Monday, Warren Vandeveer, senior vice president for operations and engineering at Fox News, said the cable channel had realized it had a problem a few weeks ago, when an employee “caught a bug and showed it to us.” An exterminator determined that the incursion was limited to a “very small area in the newsroom.” But the source of the bugs was not determined until the exterminator inspected the homes of about 20 employees. Mr. Vandeveer said the exterminator later described one employee’s home as having “the worst infestation he had seen in 25 years in the business.”

Open Thread below... and rest in peace, Anthony Minghella and Arthur C. Clarke.

TS here. Goodbye, you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England! And a genuine thanks for all comments and tips, and -- most especially -- your tolerance. Anyway, here are a few keepers from round the Internetz.

“Around 1994, someone called me up to complain about being the victim of a stock fraud. Since representing such folk is my business, I asked him who he wanted to sue. He said he didn't know anyone's name. He explained there was this place called the "internet' where people promoted stocks. The client apparently wanted to sue the internet, or possibly usenet, itself.” -- Arthur

“What I do remember about the Bork hearings, since I was an adult at the time and not a doughy adolescent dreaming of icing those cinnamon buns on either side of Princess Leia's head, is that Bork was forced under oath to allow for "organic development" of that Constitutional text he insisted was inviolate, thereby giving up the game, something the last twenty years of utter failure to redefine the concept into something workable has double underlined.” – Doghouse Riley

“For all Bush has done right, tax cuts, Afghanistan, Iraq, Roberts and Alito, torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, etc., his lack of discipline on domestic spending, especially the Medicare boondoggle are going to be a black mark on his presidency. Well, at least he tortured that guy. Nobody can take that away from him.” – Belle Waring

“All that work by those staff writers to advocate invading Iraq and Iran and now all they have to show for it is 3,800 dead Americans in Iraq rather than the key to the executive pisser.” -- Clif

“Heck, I didn't even know there was mule racing!” – John Hawks

“Guys, I don’t know what conservatarians did to you in your past, but clearly it’s affected you. I suggest yoga or tai chi or something. If that doesn’t work, go find a self-described “libertarian” blog where torture and detention without trial is enthusiastically supported, and go vent at them. But this isn’t one of those blogs.” -- Thoreau

You can get me at instaputzen [at] gmail [dot com].

Arthur Silber: Will No One Rid Me of This Meddlesome Man?

WaPo via SJ Mercury News:

A special court that will pit scientists against activists in the debate over whether vaccines have caused autism in many children begins hearings today with the first test case, involving a 12-year-old Arizona girl.Although science has weighed in heavily on the question - with strong evidence that vaccines are not linked to the disease - a very vocal group of people remains unconvinced.

More than 4,800 cases are pending, filed by parents who believe their children have autism that was caused by vaccines. The little-known US Court of Federal Claims has set up an omnibus hearing in Washington, DC, with the first case expected to last three weeks.

The parents are seeking payment under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no-fault system that has a $US2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) fund built up from a 75-cent-per-dose tax on vaccines.

I don't pretend to have any special medical knowledge, so I will link both sides on the thimerosal debate: Robert Kennedy, Jr. pointing to causation and suspected cover up and Arthur Allen on why thimerosal is safe in his opinion.

Arthur Silber:...All Propaganda, All the Time

E&P:

Saturday’s New York Times features an article, posted at the top of its Web site late Friday, that suggests very strongly that Iran is supplying the “deadliest weapon aimed at American troops” in Iraq. The author notes, “Any assertion of an Iranian contribution to attacks on Americans in Iraq is both politically and diplomatically volatile.”

What is the source of this volatile information? Nothing less than “civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies.” Greg Mitchell highlights Michael R. Gordon, the same Times reporter who, on his own, or with Judith Miller, wrote some of the key, and badly misleading or downright inaccurate, articles about Iraqi WMDs in the run-up to the 2003 invasion....read on

Why does this man still have a job at the NY Times? Jonathan Schwarz: Michael Gordon Actually Voice-Activated Tape Recorder