The ‘Thriller’ Dance is Not a Panacea

As you may have noticed (but probably didn’t), I haven’t been around much lately. The reason for this was that I was out of the range of internet for most of the past week or so, due to being in airports, and also spending a lot of my time in Peru in forced exile from the internet, save for the occasional non-texted Twitter update and clearing my inbox.

While on internet holiday, I realized something: 24-hour broadcast news, when it is your only source of information, is about as reliable as a perforated brake line.

Today’s Quickies and…the Return of Quickies

Obama’s Little Helper: Sex Scandals – Jonathan Alter runs down all the ways the President has benefitted from OPOPP (Other People’s OPP), but I was particularly amused by his take on the ripples of the Lewinsky affair, a kind of Venus Butterfly Effect. (h/t Scoop44)

Joe the Plumber is Back! – The money quote is about having Sen. Chris Dodd “strung up,” but I was more amused by his Terminator-esque take on our Founding Fathers, who apparently came from the future to stop communism and socialism.

Is Wall-to-Wall Jacko Coverage “Off the Wall?” – This guy thinks so.

Stop the Presses! Democrats Undercutting Selves! – In other news, Sky Rumored to be Blue.
HuffPo’s (Unintentional?) Gay Porn Headline – But not as bad as their hed on passing the budget, “Government Gets Money Shot.”

What the Unemployed Have to Watch While You’re at Work Dicking Around on Youtube – HuffPo’s hilarious roundup of The Week in Hoda & Kathy Lee, “America’s most useless hour of news.”  Better than SNL.

HuffPo’s (Unintentional?) Gay Porn Headline

The front page editors at Huffington Post getting a little cute with their headlines?  Here’s the actual headline to the article they linked to:

San Diego Sheriffs in Gay Panic Attack at Democratic Fundraiser

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department brought the heat when a neighbor claimed that gay congressional candidate Francine Busby was bringin’ the noise.  According to the candidate, the neighbor was hurling anti-gay epithets over the fence during her speech, which occurred at 8pm, an hour and a half before the noise complaint.

Some highlights:

Francine Busby says she will demand an explanation from the Sheriff’s Department about deputies breaking up a fundraising party held for her in Cardiff and arresting the host.

The party was Friday night (at) the home of Shari Barman, a Busby supporter.

It ended with Barman, 60, being arrested and jailed on suspicion of battery on a peace officer, and resisting, delaying and obstructing a peace officer.

Pam Morgan, …one of the guests, also was arrested…

…Other partygoers were doused with pepper spray, and seven deputies, a sergeant and a helicopter were dispatched to the neighborhood of expensive homes.

A helicopter?  Some homophobic crank calls in a noise complaint, and these guys turn it into Apocalypse Now?