i put together 20 questions from the message board over at the daily kos would ideally have directed toward mr. bush. what would you add?

1. Will you support a constitutional amendment to ban abortion?

2. Yes or no: Was there any connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Queda? A one word answer, please.

3. Mr. President, do you think Bill Gates deserved a tax cut?

4. Mr. President, now that you’ve had a few months to think about it, what is the biggest single mistake you’ve made in the last four years?

5. Given all of the intelligence failures that you have acknowledged over the past four years, why have you not fired or replaced a single member of your staff? Do you continue to feel that you are well served by everyone who works for you, regardless of their incompetence?

6. How has your presidency compared to Clinton’s?

7. NBC news has reported that before the Iraq war you passed on three opportunities to attack the terrorist camps of Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who was based in the areas of Iraq that were not controlled by Saddam. Why did you not attack these camps when you had the chance, considering that he is now responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks against our forces in Iraq?

8. “Mr. President, in July of 2003 you said if anyone wanted to attack our troops in Iraq, they should bring it on. In March of this year you appeared at a reporters’ dinner and ran a video in which you jokingly stumbled around your office looking for weapons of mass destruction. Can you explain this behavior to the families who have lost loved ones in Iraq?”

9. Mr. Bush, what is 6 times 9?

10. Why is your campaign saying Rather should resign for trusting a bad source, but you shouldn’t resign for trusting Ahmed Chalabi’s lies?

11. During the 2000 debates, you stated that you believed our troops should not be used for “nation building.” Could you explain what our troops are now doing in Iraq and how that differs from nation building?

12. How many times have you been arrested, Mr. President?

13. Given the fact that we are fighting 2 wars, the war in Iraq and the war on Terrorism, why have you been: a) on more vacation than any other president has in a 4 year term b) given only a handful of full press conferences to the American people?

14. Mr. President, you talk a lot about supporting the troops, but then you send Troops into battle without a plan, and then when they make the ultimate sacrifice you do not even have the courtesy to attend their memorial service, can you right now even name the name of one soldier that has been killed in Iraq?

15. In 1988 you said that Vietnam might have been won if National Guardsmen like yourself had been called up. What did you mean by that statement? You supported the war, so why didn’t you volunteer to go and fight in it?

16. What do you consider the best moment of your presidency during the last four years?

17. You recently received a formal intelligence assessment provided by your own agencies, indicating that our mission in Iraq was in great danger of failing. You described this as the CIA ‘just guessing’. and indicated that you did not believe what it said. What intelligence sources do you trust when it comes to giving you an accurate assessment of the situation in Iraq?

18. With over 6000 Soldiers mutilated from the Iraqi war why are you cutting funding to the VA?

19. Why, when General Shinseki recommended sending 200,000 troops to Iraq to win the peace, did you ignore him and send only 100,000?

20. Mr. Bush, would you like another seven minutes to gather your thoughts?

vortexia + buzzmachine + instapundit

the greek theatre

9/23/04

on what couldnt be a more beautiful warm clear perfect indian summer night in los feliz, one of my favorite bands the pixies played their quirky crazed and melodic music under the stars to a sold out house on the second night of their stay here in hollywood.

the crowd of mostly thirtysomethings relived their college salad days as the quartet delved generously into their four albums that were released one a year from 1988-1991, the peak of the alt-rock/grunge era, one of the high points in rock history

1991 Trompe le Monde

1990 Bossanova

1989 Doolittle

1988 Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim

almost like in a vegas nightclub each song was greeted with applause after the opening notes fluttered through the night air.

not nearly as exciting and dangerous as their secret show at the glass house earlier this year, but how are you going to compare a special club gig to a sit-down event like this?

hardly any stage effects or production, hardly any special lights, what i saw last night were three aging bald guys and everyones favorite bassist (who recently chopped off her locks and who now looks ironically like a soccer mom) reel off great tune after great tune effortlessly to a crowd who hasnt heard good music in a very long time.

karisa drove me and my pal ken up the hill to the show and i took a cab back down ($10), i took care of some unfinished business and then watched the tivo’ed apprentice and i was in my nice bed by midnight.

the summer has now officially ended on a high note.

thank you pixies for reuniting, i hope you enjoy your wheelbarrows of cash, you deserve it.

xtracyx + the daily stern returns to the buzzmachine + sweet sweet moxie may never blog again

the professor has racked up at least 15 wins a remarkable 17 years in row.

if i ever did get a job blogging for a corporate web site i would turn the busblog into a sports blog. sorry ladies, and euros.

maddux gave the cubs six strong innings, giving up only six hits and three runs, all earned while striking out six in pittsburgh.

after being replaced by kyle farnsworth, maddux left the game with a total of 201 2/3 innings-pitched for the season thus far.

this is the 16th time in 17 years that the veteran righthander has pitched at least 200 innings. in 2002 he missed this milestone by 2/3s of an inning.

more than just a milestone, if maddux had failed to pitch a total of 400 innings this season and next, the cubs had an option to void his $9 million 2006 contract.

maddux helped his own cause by driving in two runners in the top of the second, capping off a cub four-run inning, which was all they needed as they won 6-3 keeping them tied with the SF Giants for the wild card slot in the national league with ten games to play.

the cubs and the giants have identical records (86-66) but the Giants have a much tougher schedule ahead. tonight they face off against Houston at the formerly-named enron field.

as the next few games go down, dont be suprised if it is the dodgers and not the giants who the cubs will be fighting with for that wild card spot, as LA (86-65) are fading like a cheap pair of jeans in hot water.

the dodgers take on the padres tonight in san diego.

nomar garciapara got his second hit in just as many games since returning from injury earlier this week.

bealle + in search for utopia + anti ups the ante for sure

lucas arts

playstation 2, xbox, pc

george lucas has done it again. proving that it’s impossible to oversaturate the star wars brand Battlefronts hit the market this week to wide critical acclaim, deservedly so.

not only do you get to either be the good guys or the bad guys (who doesn’t ever get the urge to pick off a few ewoks after a hard day at work?) but you get to do it in the snow, on the sand or in space.

its wonderful.

because it’s so good i will now tell george lucas how he can make another best seller.

in battlefronts 2 the imperial empire needs to invade earth and the jedis need to come down to protect us. what this means for the game is that you can have Exactly the same game as you have now, except instead of the snowy tundra as seen in the empire strikes back, i want to see blasting each other on the main streets of middle america as the puny humans run away in fear, milk trucks turned over burning on fire, wal*marts used as alliance headquarters, etc.

instead of sabre fighting on an industrial bridge in the death star, have them duel on the steps of the capital building.

i want battles in strip malls, i want rumbles in the bronx, i want to see dead storm troopers floating in the fountains of caesars palace.

i want there to be a subplot where jedis discover that there are earthling jedi knights who never knew they had the force. i want them to look like uma thurman from kill bill who trade in their japanese swords for sabres.

and like grand theft auto, i want to see roving gangs of wookies carjacking commuters on the 405 and convoying to venice beach for the ultimate battle of the galaxy as that crazy skateboard guy with the turban plays ramones covers and homeless guys ask for spare change.

battlefronts 3: europe invasion, with the At-At walkers marching down the champs-elysees. x-wings vs stealth fighters.

battlefronts 4: compton crips vs the clones. black versus white like in the original film from ’77. get to be ice cube or eazy-e as they take on the empire with ak-47s and molitif cocktails. bonus rounds include breakdancing competitions.

battlefronts 5: springfield surrenders. the rebel alliance needs to first find springfield and then save them after the dark side takes over the home of the simpsons because of their nuclear capabilities. d’oh!

masslive + sk smith + pink cookies

here is most of meeting, accompanied by photos of paris hilton, and a running busblog score.

O’REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I’m Bill O’Reilly. In the “Personal Story” segment tonight, he is the darling of the television critics, the host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, and now has a book called “America: A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction” — ‘inaction,’ one word. Welcome, Jon Stewart, to the no spin zone, everyone.

JON STEWART, “THE DAILY SHOW”: How are you, sir?

O’REILLY: OK. You know what’s really frightening?

STEWART: Uh oh.

O’REILLY: You know what’s really frightening?

STEWART: You’ve been reading my diary.

O’REILLY: You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary.

STEWART: If that were so, that would be quite frightening.

O’REILLY: But it is. It’s true. I mean, you’ve got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night, OK, and they can vote.

STEWART: Yeah.

O’REILLY: You can’t stop them.

STEWART: Yeah, I just don’t know how motivated they would be, these stoned slackers.

O’REILLY: Yeah, it just depends if they have to go out that day.

O:1 S:0

STEWART: What am I, a Cheech and Chong movie? Stoned slackers?

O’REILLY: Come on, you do the research, you know the research on your program.

STEWART: No, we don’t.

O’REILLY: Eighty-seven percent are intoxicated when they watch it. You didn’t see that?

STEWART: No, I didn’t realize that.

O’REILLY: Yeah, we have that there.

STEWART: We come on right after, I believe, puppets that make crank calls…

O’REILLY: Yeah.

STEWART: … so we are, I think, the appropriate follow up…

O’REILLY: Yeah, and that’s a great lead-in for you.

STEWART: It’s a wonderful show, by the way.

O’REILLY: Puppets can’t vote, but these dopey kids who watch you can.

STEWART: They actually can — in Florida, they can.

O’REILLY: Puppets can vote in Florida.

STEWART: As long as they vote Republican.

O:1 S:1

O’REILLY: And they haven’t committed a felony.

STEWART: And they haven’t committed a felony, that’s exactly right.

O:2 S:1

O’REILLY: But you do have some influence. Now, how do you see that? You have influence. John Kerry bypassed me and went right over to you. You’re only four blocks away. He said, “O’Reilly, I don’t think so. Stewart, I’m going to go talk to you.”

STEWART: Well, I have to tell you — and again, I mean no disrespect, but the snack selection backstage, quite frankly…

O’REILLY: Yeah, it’s…

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know, I don’t want to shake Guantanamo Bay, but it’s a little sparer back there.

O’REILLY: It’s close, it’s close. We want people to be hungry when they come out.

STEWART: I think that’s wise. We have, what I like to call, snack- size Three Musketeers, some Snickers, some Milky Ways. If I were a presidential candidate and I had to choose, I think a place that had an energy pick-me-up might be the place I would go.

O:2 S:2

O’REILLY: Do you think that Kerry does himself any good talking to you? Because I think most of your audience is going to vote for him anyway, aren’t they?

STEWART: If I thought…

O’REILLY: The stoned slackers.

STEWART: If I thought honestly that their strategy hinged upon his coming and talking to me, I would suggest that they were in some deep trouble. I don’t know. I feel like, you know, we don’t have an agenda of influence. If we have influence, it is peripheral. And I don’t imagine that people who watch the show are watching it to make up their minds in terms of who they think would best prosecute the war on terror. I think they watch to see who would maybe have the best jokes on the war on terror.

O:2 S:3

O’REILLY: No, here’s what I think. I’ve been on the show a couple of times. I mean, you obviously make fun of everybody. You know, I’m making fun of your show now. But you get everybody.

STEWART: We are, in fact, crass and immature.

O’REILLY: But you are a show that your target audience is younger, left leaning, so you have to play to the choir sometimes.

STEWART: But the real estate is younger, just because it’s Comedy Central.

O’REILLY: And it’s at 11 o’clock at night.

STEWART: I don’t know if it’s left leaning. I mean, would you suggest that — you know that blue collar TV show that does all the — like Foxworthy and all that? You’d consider that a red state show — you know, Foxworthy and — (UNINTELLIGIBLE)…

O’REILLY: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

STEWART: OK. They’re our lead-in on Monday nights, and there’s really no difference between…

O:2 S:4

O’REILLY: But even so, younger people tend to be a little bit more, you know…

STEWART: When you say younger, are you talking 9, 10? What are you talking here?

O’REILLY: No, I’m talking 18 to 25, you know. The people who are on your intellectual level.

STEWART: Thank you

O’REILLY: You ask some serious questions too.

STEWART: Very rarely. Every now and again.

O:2 S:5

O’REILLY: Well, you asked me why I was such a bad person, didn’t you, or something like that? Wasn’t that a serious question?

STEWART: Did I ask you why you were a bad person?

O’REILLY: Yeah, I think so.

STEWART: No, I wouldn’t have done that.

O’REILLY: … “scum of the earth, O’Reilly,” I think that’s the way you put it.

STEWART: No, I wouldn’t have put it that way. I think it would have been, why do you have such je ne sai qua?

O’REILLY: Yeah, some French. We’re boycotting France, so I couldn’t answer…

STEWART: By the way, I couldn’t agree with you more about the French thing. They are such an important country, and I think really deserve a boycott.

O’REILLY: Yeah, they do.

STEWART: Because of the influence they wield in the world.

O:2 S:7 (bonus point for going over o’reilly’s head)

STEWART: Do you really believe France is, in any way, worthy of a boycott?

O’REILLY: I do. I think France has really hurt the USA, to be…

STEWART: Really?

O’REILLY: Yes, I do.

STEWART: More than like Saudi Arabia? You would advocate a boycott…

O’REILLY: No, I’m not going to say more than Saudi Arabia. But I’m saying we do a lot…

STEWART: So why not boycott them?

O’REILLY: France is supposed to be our friend. Saudi Arabia is…

STEWART: Since when?

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Since the revolution they haven’t been our friend.

O:2 S:8

O’REILLY: OK, when you get a guy like Kerry on…

STEWART: Yes.

O’REILLY: … and again, he bypassed me, so I took it personally, he went over to talk to you…

STEWART: But you and I are not competitors, let’s be frank about it.

O’REILLY: Well, we’re on our second rerun on THE FACTOR — is now at 11 o’clock.

STEWART: I don’t mean in terms of — we’re not competitors in terms of content. You’re a news show, and we are a comedy show.

O’REILLY: That’s true. But what do you want the audience to get out of your discussion with Kerry? Just yucks, or anything else?

STEWART: First of all, I shall rarely refer to it as yucks, and I think you should reconsider.

O’REILLY: OK, I’m sorry about that arcane term.

STEWART: “Shnicks,” we call it shnicks — shnicks and giggles.

O:2 S:9 game point

O’REILLY: What do you think Kerry wants to get out of coming on your show?

STEWART: He wants to get what any politician does: access to a new constituency. He wants to get…

O’REILLY: The stoned slackers.

STEWART: … that’s exactly right, because the stoned slackers, this election is going to rely on the undecided. Who is more undecided than…

O’REILLY: Than the stoned slacker, right.

STEWART: … the people who are high. Right now, they’re thinking to themselves, ice cream or pretzels, ice cream or pretzels.

0:2 S:10 stewart wins

bonus round:

O’REILLY: Don’t you think that these guys want to be hip, when McCain was on with you — Bush hasn’t been on with you, right? You would remember that…

STEWART: George Bush?

O’REILLY: Yeah.

STEWART: I don’t recall the president stopping by the program.

O’REILLY: But McCain’s been on.

STEWART: Yes.

O’REILLY: OK. Kerry’s been on, as we mentioned.

STEWART: Yes.

O’REILLY: I’ve been on. So you’ve had the three most powerful people beside him on.

STEWART: That’s probably right.

O’REILLY: What do you think Kerry wanted to get out of it?

STEWART: A hug — just a sweet hug. I’m sure what he wants out of it is, again, that access — it’s the same thing that Budweiser wants out of it. It’s the same thing that Dell computers…

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: No, it’s access to this market that may be untapped, an untapped potential, a reserve, an ANWAR, if you will. He wants to drill in an area that has previously been un-drilled. And don’t make a dirty remark about that, because I see it coming.

O’REILLY: All right, your book is…

STEWART: But what do you think he wants out of it?

O’REILLY: I think he wants to be hip. I do. I think going on your show is a cache, and he’s considered the hipper candidate than the square.

STEWART: So you think he’s not looking for votes. This is middle- aged crisis?

O’REILLY: No…

STEWART: This is a mid-life crisis…

O’REILLY: No, he just wants to get that tag…

STEWART: … buying a Corvette.

transcript via wonkette + jon stewart’s new book is called America (the book) + paris hilton also has a book

9/11/04

cambria, ca

at the crossroads of rock in hollywood stand shannon and justin who were married two weeks ago on the beach of cambria, north of santa barbara, where citizen kane once lived and where love will never die.

in the wake of hair metal, years after grunge, weezer and tsar rule the school on the sunset strip; one nationally, one locally.

tsar are the homegrown underdogs, wildly creative, sensual and mighty. fearful of nothing, ready and willing to plant the flag of a new generation, a calling from another time, married to no mistress.

while weezer are the godfathers of emo, transplants from the east coast, poets posed as popsters, nerds disguised as nerds.

everyone knows that the seventh weezer is justin. best friend to everyone. bassist of nerf herder, main main in psoma, and left winger of the weezer soccer team.

justin met shannon in a dream come true. they lived together in the amherst house. the most famous alt rock home on the west side of la. the place where the blue album was created. the garage of “in the garage” was once justin and shannons room.

shannons first boyfriend ever was the blogospheres own matt welch, original bassist of tsar, guitar and vocalist of many of the santa barbara mafia bands, best friend of all, provider to emmanuelle.

so when justin and shannon got hitched this month there was parry from nerf herder, there was solomon from tsar, and welch of course, and matt sharp, and rivers and kate sullivan the rock blogger and rabbit from rabbit blog, and paolo and bonnie and charlie and barney and ken and basart and heather and laura and coulter, and os, and etc.

and whenever the corvids are playing your wedding youre doing real good.

and my lawyer (pictured, above, lookin hot) asked tony, why werent you there, didnt you want to camp out with us, sleep on the beach and wake up and celebrate? i said no, that date is a freaky one for me and even though i love all the people who were there and even though justin competes with solomon and ben in the nicest guy in the world contest and even though shannon and nicolette helped hire karisa into the dot com we all worked at, that day in september, my grandmothers birthday, and what should be a national holiday, was pretty much the only day i couldnt get into celebrating.

i had to mourn a little.

cuz im dumb.

but after looking through mc browns pictures,

it sure looked fun.

justinandshannon.com + laura’s pics + laynes pics + bonnies pics + barney‘s huge pics

i hate to do this bro, but im gonna have to call you out.

you’ve got the sorriest best team ive ever seen in my life. and im old.

im so old i remember when the cubs really sucked.

when you didnt have a lineup so deep that sammy sosa was batting sixth, like you had yesterday

so deep that you had guys like nomar garciapara batting sixth, like you had tonight.

so powerful and productive where four guys hit over 30 home runs (sosa, ramirez, lee, alou)

and the leadoff hitter smacked 25.

so deep that the catcher is batting .300

too bad hitting is just ten percent of the game.

im so old dusty that i remember when the cubs didnt have any pitching.

my boss’s boss today, a cub fan, came up to me and said

yeah

clement is down

so i guess we’ll have to go into the playoffs with a rotation of just

wood

prior

zambrano

and maddux

a rotation that nobody in the big leagues has right now

except for you

as you know.

i was in five fantasy baseball leagues this year and in none of them did anyone have a rotation like that or close to five guys hitting that many homers.

and thats why i have to call you out.

cuz im very old.

i know im old because im more confused than ever right now.

im watching your team struggle against the pittsburgh pirates right now. it’s 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, zambrano (pictured) is pitching his big macho ass off

literally throwing behind people with a crazy accuracy intended to make you stain your home whites.

and yet your mighty lineup capable of generating hundreds of rbis has a skinny number on the scoreboard with only six outs left in the game and i wonder to myself why you arent breaking some bats in rage to incite these motherfuckers as they slouch toward bethlehem to be destroyed.

im so old i can not remember a time when the general manager and owner of the cubs delivered to a manager a team as talented and productive and deadly as this years club.

your only weakness is that your closer has a habit of losing leads in the ninth.

i say let glendon rusch close

but what do i know. im in the camp that thinks you should be scoring eleven runs a game against teams like that pirates, not barely winning 1-0 thanks to a bases loaded walk.

wtf dusty?

you were a foul ball away from the world series last year with a team worst than this.

youre not going to get a better team than this in chicago or anywhere any time soon.

let the fellas know it’s ok to take it up a notch now.

as in now.

see you next month in the sports pages,

tony

angelina + bunnie + how to avoid getting raped in jail part 2

here are my new answering machine messages.

they start off with one that you might have heard last time, ashley trying to trick me into calling her.

these tricks dont work. try all you want ladies, but trickery and tomfoolery never works. the truth works.

break up with your dumb men and send me letters of longing.

that will work.

keep your finger on the Volume button because our old pal danielle sure can be loud on the phone (and in person), so you might want to do some audio mixing there.

so with no futher adeui, heres the new messages.

1. ashley seeing if i called her at work. i didnt

2. karisa driving home in traffic asking about my root canal.

3. linda singing to me

4. my truest asking about the cubs

5. danielle being really loud

6. jeanine calling on thirsty thursday

7. oscar de la hoya calling about his fight

8. danielle telling me that “chump change” is being made into a movie

9. jeff from tsar telling me my computer is in

10. linda waking me up this morn

gekkeanna + everything is wrong + <3 bluecad <3

brought about some interesting debate in the comments section

Abner sez:

Never, never, use any word that could represent a negative connotation during a job interview. Never give an honest opinion about how you really feel about politics, sex, drugs or rock and roll. As an applicant your job is to strictly sell your services in a competent and business like manner. Sometimes applicants are deliberately provoked to see how they handle themselves. Who’s gonna pay you? Your job is to get paid.

As a former HR recruiter I have many many many opinions about resumes, interviews, and follow-ups.

Even though we will find ourselves working for more companies and more places than our parents did, we should still look at future empoyers the same way we look at any future relationships.

I couldnt disagree more with Abner. The job interview is a way for Both parties to get to know each other. The concept where the interviewee would be concealing things I think is dishonest and foolish, and vice versa.

If a hiring manager or a prospective boss really doesn’t want anyone on their staff who disagrees with them on political issues or work-habits or musical tastes, it’s in the best interest of the prospective employee to know these things.

You have not “scored a killer job” if you get the gig but find out that you’re working for someone you’re not going to get along with. What you have scored is a new nightmare.

Similarily if you keep your like/dislikes/personality close to the vest during the interview process then you are not giving your new boss any reason to trust you in the future.

I have no problem being 100% honest with people I work with. I want the same out of them and I realize that they probably won’t give it back, but who the heck am I if I dont start the ball rolling?

By 100% honest, I mean about things that have to do with work. Personal lifestyle choices and beliefs shouldnt matter, therefore you dont have to reveal them in a job interview because you probably wont be revealing them on the job.

This is an abundant world. At least in the USA. theres no reason to deceive people who you are trying to begin a relationship with. if a hiring manager or boss asks you about politics (something that in some states is as illegal to do as asking about age/religion/sexual bent) then i would have no problem telling them because it’s obviously going to come up in the future.

when the dude flipped around the bush picture i knew i could have said something like, “i did vote for reagan and bush sr.” but i figured why bother, the guy didnt seem like someone i would want to bust my ass for, and i probably wasnt the guy he was looking for either.

it’s ok to identify a non-love connection and leave it at that.

you dont have to “get” every job you apply for, because not every job is perfect for every person.

i would much rather interview a lot and find the right fit than to try to trick someone into saying yes. and judging from some of the people i have worked with over the last 100 years, i sorta wish that some of them would have seen that their uptight ways weren’t right for the fun companies that i worked for, and it would have been better for all of us if they would have passed on the job offer.

these arent desperate times for good employees. keep searching till you find your right job. dont settle. dont lie. be yourself. rock.

terra shmerra + lower east side stories + paige six