Live free or die, but not high

Rudy on medicinal marijuana: I don’t think a cancer patient should use marijuana. There are other options.

So women have the right to terminate a pregnancy, but a cancer patient doesn’t have the right to seek natural relief from intolerable pain?

Mitt Romney rises to the occasion

Liveblogging last night’s GOP debate:

Romney’s decided to stand. He’s not going to apologize about becoming pro-standing. He’s been standing, in his heart, for a long time. Really, he’s a lifelong stander.

Starbucks segregates

Yet another example of an American company choosing commerce over principal:

I hadn’t seen a Starbucks in months, but there it was, tucked into a corner of a fancy shopping mall in the Saudi capital. After all those bitter little cups of sludgy Arabic coffee, here at last was an improbable snippet of home — caffeinated, comforting, American.

I wandered into the shop, filling my lungs with the rich wafts of coffee. The man behind the counter gave me a bemused look; his eyes flickered. I asked for a latte. He shrugged, the milk steamer whined, and he handed over the brimming paper cup. I turned my back on his uneasy face.

Crossing the cafe, I felt the hard stares of Saudi men. A few of them stopped talking as I walked by and watched me pass. Them, too, I ignored. Finally, coffee in hand, I sank into the sumptuous lap of an overstuffed armchair.

“Excuse me,” hissed the voice in my ear. “You can’t sit here.” The man from the counter had appeared at my elbow. He was glaring.

“Excuse me?” I blinked a few times.

“Emmm,” he drew his discomfort into a long syllable, his brows knitted. “You cannot stay here.”

“What? Uh … why?”

Then he said it: “Men only.”

Starbucks isn’t alone in bowing to totalitarian regimes:

The “virus of internet repression” has spread from a handful of countries to dozens of governments, said the group.

Amnesty accused companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of being complicit in the problem.

Why do gay voters trust Hillary?

Blame the petty queer establishment, which has sold its soul to the senator from New York. DON’T MAKE THAT MISTAKE! Challenge her obfuscations:

Once again Hillary refuses to admit an obvious mistake. During the Democratic presidential debate on Sunday, she said her husband’s ‘Don’t Ask’ policy was not a mistake and then she tried to rewrite history by spinning ‘Don’t Ask’ as a "first step" toward gays and lesbians openly serving in the military. Just like with the war on Iraq, Hillary still doesn’t get it.

‘Don’t Ask’ has not been a benign "transition policy" as she claims. It was a cowardly political calculation that reaffirmed the military’s unjust discharge policies and resulted in the dismissal of 10,870 dedicated service people since 1993. Discharges for homosexuality actually increased under ‘Don’t Ask’ and cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a billion dollars. How can Hillary complain about the recent discharge of 55 Arab language specialists under ‘Don’t Ask’ and not admit that the policy is a terrible mistake?

During Sunday’s debate, Hillary also downplayed her husband’s responsibility for ‘Don’t Ask’ by claiming that he was hamstrung by "checks and balances" and Congressional opposition.

Bullshit! The policy was enacted via executive order, meaning Bill could’ve resisted so-called compromise. But that wouldn’t scored poorly in Dick Morris’ polls.

Queer-friendly jewelry

Finally, a line of jewelry inspired by "Queer as Folk" and "The L Word." And Lance Bass’-ex has his own titanium collection: "Be bold, be strong, be true to yourself." Oh, and be cheesy.

Slamming Michael Jordan

Charles Pierce goes where few sportswriters dare in an article comparing LeBron James to MJ:

Jordan wrote the book on how to become a wildly popular and successful athlete without demonstrating even the sliver of a public conscience. More to the point, he created a new template for risk-free stardom, whereby involvement in the unruly hurly-burly of the real world is something that a star is not expected to do. Do the public-service ads for the safe issues, but go no deeper into the forces that create those issues in the first place.

I don’t expect athletes to be activists, but Jordan was beyond programmed. Same with Tiger Woods.

Brought to you by Nike.

Late nite ’77

I was a fairly precocious little boy, staying up past my bedtime to watch “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” Never really got into “Fernwood 2Night” (not scandalous enough), but as this clip demonstrates, I missed out.

Live free or die, but not high

Rudy on medicinal marijuana: I don’t think a cancer patient should use marijuana. There are other options.

So women have the right to terminate a pregnancy, but a cancer patient doesn’t have the right to seek natural relief from intolerable pain?

Mitt Romney rises to the occasion

Liveblogging last night’s GOP debate:

Romney’s decided to stand. He’s not going to apologize about becoming pro-standing. He’s been standing, in his heart, for a long time. Really, he’s a lifelong stander.

Starbucks segregates

Yet another example of an American company choosing commerce over principal:

I hadn’t seen a Starbucks in months, but there it was, tucked into a corner of a fancy shopping mall in the Saudi capital. After all those bitter little cups of sludgy Arabic coffee, here at last was an improbable snippet of home — caffeinated, comforting, American.

I wandered into the shop, filling my lungs with the rich wafts of coffee. The man behind the counter gave me a bemused look; his eyes flickered. I asked for a latte. He shrugged, the milk steamer whined, and he handed over the brimming paper cup. I turned my back on his uneasy face.

Crossing the cafe, I felt the hard stares of Saudi men. A few of them stopped talking as I walked by and watched me pass. Them, too, I ignored. Finally, coffee in hand, I sank into the sumptuous lap of an overstuffed armchair.

“Excuse me,” hissed the voice in my ear. “You can’t sit here.” The man from the counter had appeared at my elbow. He was glaring.

“Excuse me?” I blinked a few times.

“Emmm,” he drew his discomfort into a long syllable, his brows knitted. “You cannot stay here.”

“What? Uh … why?”

Then he said it: “Men only.”

Starbucks isn’t alone in bowing to totalitarian regimes:

The “virus of internet repression” has spread from a handful of countries to dozens of governments, said the group.

Amnesty accused companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of being complicit in the problem.

Slamming Michael Jordan

Charles Pierce goes where few sportswriters dare in an article comparing LeBron James to MJ:

Jordan wrote the book on how to become a wildly popular and successful athlete without demonstrating even the sliver of a public conscience. More to the point, he created a new template for risk-free stardom, whereby involvement in the unruly hurly-burly of the real world is something that a star is not expected to do. Do the public-service ads for the safe issues, but go no deeper into the forces that create those issues in the first place.

I don’t expect athletes to be activists, but Jordan was beyond programmed. Same with Tiger Woods.

Brought to you by Nike.

Late nite ’77

I was a fairly precocious little boy, staying up past my bedtime to watch "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Never really got into "Fernwood 2Night" (not scandalous enough), but as this clip demonstrates, I missed out.

“I’m going home and I’m going to bite my pillow”

Classic films, classic scenes: Corky St. Clair excoriates the bastard people, from “Waiting for Guffman.”

“Candy, any surprises?”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Anderson? Let’s see: 9/11, Ronald Reagan, family values, terrorism, 9/11/, Ronald Reagan … Every candidate stayed on script, addressed all the talking points, and kissed the ass of the Christian right.”

Pity me for watching parts of the GOP debate (though Jim Gilmore’s charisma kept me riveted). What a predictable lot. You could say the same about the Democrats, but they’re on offense now. They don’t have to be as creative — they’re not Bush, and right now that’s enough.

Some questions I would’ve asked: “Gov. Romney. You’ve been a stalwart supporter of a woman’s right to choose. Now, you’ve changed your position. What exactly led to your conversion? Was it a personal experience? Were you convinced by a friend or an adviser? Was it something you saw (say, a sonogram)?”

“To all of the candidates. You say ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is working. Based on what? Should the military be discharging Arab linguists who happen to be gay, particularly at a time when we don’t have enough translators? How is that effective? Was Bill Clinton right?”

Another observation: The pundits are saying John McCain won the debate, and he had some good moments. But it made me sad watching him pander. In 2000, he was anything but canned. He didn’t drone on about family values, or other Republican cliches. He preached reform, and the unrepresented responded. Now deducing — perhaps correctly — that one gets elected by offending as few people as possible, McCain too often sounds like a Stepford Republican. (And what was with his conclusion: “We won’t surrender. They (Muslim extremists) will.” Huh?)

I don’t know whether to blame him, the media or the electorate. How ’bout all three!

Back to you, Anderson.