Hit ‘Im Again

Harder. Thompson is finally going after McCain. I’ve been thinking that he was going to hold off on this until after the Michigan primary, but maybe he thinks that’s pretty much over now, so he’s finally softening him up for the election in South Carolina on Saturday.

And as he says, the notion that he’d go through all this just to be a stalking horse for McCain is indeed “ludicrous.”

Hit ‘Im Again

Harder. Thompson is finally going after McCain. I’ve been thinking that he was going to hold off on this until after the Michigan primary, but maybe he thinks that’s pretty much over now, so he’s finally softening him up for the election in South Carolina on Saturday.

And as he says, the notion that he’d go through all this just to be a stalking horse for McCain is indeed “ludicrous.”

Hit ‘Im Again

Harder. Thompson is finally going after McCain. I’ve been thinking that he was going to hold off on this until after the Michigan primary, but maybe he thinks that’s pretty much over now, so he’s finally softening him up for the election in South Carolina on Saturday.

And as he says, the notion that he’d go through all this just to be a stalking horse for McCain is indeed “ludicrous.”

Gluttons For Punishment

Christopher Hitchens wonders why anyone would want to once again place the ongoing and corrupt soap opera that is the Clintons back at the center of our national politics.

What do you have to forget or overlook in order to desire that this dysfunctional clan once more occupies the White House and is again in a position to rent the Lincoln Bedroom to campaign donors and to employ the Oval Office as a massage parlor? You have to be able to forget, first, what happened to those who complained, or who told the truth, last time. It’s often said, by people trying to show how grown-up and unshocked they are, that all Clinton did to get himself impeached was lie about sex. That’s not really true. What he actually lied about, in the perjury that also got him disbarred, was the women. And what this involved was a steady campaign of defamation, backed up by private dicks (you should excuse the expression) and salaried government employees, against women who I believe were telling the truth. In my opinion, Gennifer Flowers was telling the truth; so was Monica Lewinsky, and so was Kathleen Willey, and so, lest we forget, was Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who says she was raped by Bill Clinton. (For the full background on this, see the chapter “Is There a Rapist in the Oval Office?” in the paperback version of my book >No One Left To Lie To. This essay, I may modestly say, has never been challenged by anybody in the fabled Clinton “rapid response” team.) Yet one constantly reads that both Clintons, including the female who helped intensify the slanders against her mistreated sisters, are excellent on women’s “issues.”

Poor Bill. All those people always lying about him.

[Update a few minutes later]

Is Obama the new Bill Clinton?

In some of the most unfortunate ways, the Barack Obama phenomenon

Lost Art Found

Some news from late last week that I’d missed–a previously unheard early recording of The Beatles has been discovered.

This 15 track set was recorded at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany a short while after the Ted Taylor recordings and boast different and perhaps better takes of “A Taste of Honey” and “Hippy Hippy Shake” (using Tony Sheridan as a 5th Beatle). These are the only two songs found on the original Star Club releases with which this recording should not be confused.

This is an historical recording because it was the very first time that Ringo Starr actually played with The Beatles “live” after replacing Pete Best on the drums.

Other tracks make good use of Kingsize Taylor’s Band “The Dominoes” who utilize their piano on such Beatles favorites as “Money,” “Twist and Shout” and “I Saw Her Standing There” all of which were subsequently used on The Beatles’ first studio recordings for E.M.I.

What makes this album truly unique are the eight songs not available on any previously released L.P.s or singles — which include Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” and George Harrison vocalizing Maurice Williams’ “Do You Believe.” One of the most outstanding tracks on this album must be “Ask Me Why” showing just how John Lennon and Paul McCartney became such a winning combination.

Wonder how long until the download is available?

Debating Human Spaceflight

I interviewed Steven Weinberg who has replaced James Van Allen as the most prestigious and eloquent direct critic of human spaceflight (unlike Barack Obama who may be the most effective passive-aggressive de-funder of space activities since Nixon).

I faced a fundamental media ethics issue. Weinberg’s opinion on the likelihood of nuclear war with Russia in the next twenty years (“more likely than not”) puts him in a tiny minority. By publicizing his view on this, it delegitimizes him as a spokesman against human spaceflight without discrediting directly his arguments against human spaceflight on the merits. I chose to carefully transcribe his words on this point, confirm that he stood by them, then released them.

What would you have done?

Continue reading Debating Human Spaceflight

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!