Category Archives: News
Quote of the Day
“Well, I think there was a blind spot. You know, like it or not, if you read the Bible, in the Old Testament, slavery was permitted. You’d go into a nation – or, I shouldn’t say you – a nation would go into another nation and enslave the population, and those people were put to work.”
– Pat Robertson, responding to a question about slavery on “The 700 Club,” while proving at the same time how screwed up he and the Christian Bible are.
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Video of the Day
A baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins at the Ballpark in Arlington Stadium in Arlington, TX, yesterday afternoon was delayed after a major clap of thunder announced the potential arrival of storm. Officials cleared the field for player safety, but as is evident from this clip, some of the players scrambled for cover immediately.
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Pictures of the Day
When students at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, learned that members of the Westboro Baptist Church planned a protest at the funeral of a soldier who was killed in active duty, they formed a “maroon wall” around the church to shelter the family and friends of the fallen soldier. The university’s colors are maroon and white. Lt. Col. Roy Tisdale, a Texas A&M alumnus, passed away on June 28, after being shot during a training exercise at Fort Bragg, NC. The Westboro gang has made it a habit of protesting at military funerals, claiming that troop deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God’s retribution for America’s tolerance of abortion, homosexuality and other sins. In the end, though, they didn’t show up at A&M. One of these days, however, they’re going to protest at the wrong funeral and end up leaving in body bags. Then, we’ll all know that there is a God!
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Picture of the Day
“Shelton” and “Scott” hold a banner showing their opposition on the Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement Act or SB 2109 at the Council Chambers in Window Rock, AZ, on July 5, 2012. Photo courtesy of Donovan Shortey.
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Supreme Court Refuses FCC Bid to Fine CBS for Janet Jackson Incident
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in the second after the traumatizing “wardrobe malfunction.”
Eight years after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the half time show of the 2004 Super Bowl, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s $550,000 indecency fine against the CBS network.
In November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld its earlier ruling that the FCC’s indecency fine against the network was invalid. The court didn’t say whether the incident was indecent but said the FCC’s fine represented an undisclosed change in the enforcement of its policy with regard to “fleeting images” and hence could not be enforced.
I’m so glad that this major issue can finally be put to rest. I recall a Congressional hearing over the matter in the days after the incident and not surprised that the Republican-controlled panel would get so upset over it and not investigate whether President George W. Bush lied about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. Never mind that football is one of the most violent sports and that the Super Bowl features scantily-clad cheerleaders bumping and grinding and ads from Viagra and Cialis warning about 4-hour erections. Never mind also that some Super Bowl commercials show men and boys enduring groin injuries for the sake of cheap laughs. All of that apparently is perfectly acceptable. But, now that it’s over, we can all pick up the tattered pieces of our lives and try to move forward.
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In Memoriam – Ernest Borgnine 1917 – 2012
Veteran character actor Ernest Borgnine has died at the age of 95. Borgnine won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a homely butcher who lives with his domineering mother in Marty. He’s also remembered for unique personages in other films such as From Here to Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Dirty Dozen and – one of my favorite films – The Poseidon Adventure. Born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917, in North Haven, CT, he was the son of Italian immigrants. After a decade in the U.S. Navy, Borgnine pursued an acting career, which began on the Broadway stage and then, transitioned into television and film.
His manager, Lynda Bensky, said Borgnine died of kidney failure Sunday afternoon. His wife, Tova, and children were at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, she said.
“It’s a very sad day,” Bensky said. “The industry has lost someone great, the caliber of which we will never see again. A true icon. But more importantly, the world has lost a sage and loving man who taught us all how to ‘grow young.’ His infectious smile and chuckle made the world a happier place.”
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Picture of the Day
Beau Chandler (left) and Mark Jiminez went to the Dallas County Clerks Record Building on Thursday, July 5, and completed a marriage license application. Since same-gender marriages are illegal in Texas, the clerk refused to honor the men’s application. So the duo handcuffed themselves to one another and refused to leave the building until their request was approved. Dallas police arrested them for trespassing. Each man bonded out of jail and now have court appearances scheduled for next month.
Let’s see, Dallas County has one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the nation, a serious gang problem and an ongoing illegal narcotics epidemic, especially among teens. And, this is what upsets the Dallas Police? Two damn queers want to get married? My own parents – who just marked their 53rd wedding anniversary and in no way feel threatened by Chandler and Jiminez – literally scoffed at the overreaction.
Chief Writing Wolf 