Friday, March 14, 2003

Apparently, people are actually paying attention to our obsessive reportage from the Freedom Fries Front (see the lengthy list of links below). Apparently, the decision by two right wing Congressmen to rename the side dish on Capitol Hill menus has piqued the interest of the world. Forget the AP Roundup; we should start doing a daily Freedom Fry Update. White House Says "Oui" to Freedom Fries This has been the Bush line for a while: Freedom fries and similar wackiness are "spontaneous" expressions by "the American people." Ah, apparently it's not the work of a handful of right wingers and politicians like Dennis Hastert and Bob Ney after all. The word "patriot" is French Here's a good piece from the Cleveland Plain Dealer making fun of Freedom Fries and their congressional champion, Ohio Congressman Bob Ney. Notable for two reasons: The annoucement of Freedom Fries' northernmost penetration so far (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and this delightful quote from the French embassy in D.C.: "We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues, and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes." For the record, the story also says French toast isn't French. The Japanese are still grappling with our renaming of snack foods If anyone can solve this, it's them. Their economy is primarily snack food based, to hear my Japanese correspondent tell it. Another pro-Freedom Fry editorial From the Vero Beach Press-Journal in Florida. The person who wrote this probably went to college. Then again, based on some of the sentences within ("This is kind of symbolic and kind of fun. Kind of American, too."), probably they didn't go to college. A Slightly Less Abstract Option for the Jingo Gourmand At a restaurant in Chester County, Pennsylvania, they're now calling them "American fries." Freedom Corpses: The Final Frontier A U.S. Congresswoman has actually proposed a bill to dig up the American soldiers buried in France and Belgium and have them reinterred here in the states. This would involve digging up more than 81,000 graves, in case you're curious. The congresswoman (from Florida, surprise) actually says the men and women who died on the beaches of Normandy need to be buried "in patriotic soil." Yes, dear reader, it's true: the very dirt of France has been singled out as being objectively pro-Saddam. Well, never let it be said that the Republican Party doesn't stand for anything. In this case, it stands for the unprecedented desecration of U.S. soldiers' graves. - Consider Arms 4:16:11 PM    comment []

This is getting redundant CNN reports that the US may innitiate a pre-emptive strike against Iraq forces moving south toward the Kuwaiti boarder. A pre-emptive strike in anticipation of a pre-emptive war? We've developed one hell of a prefix happy foreign policy as of late. Last time I use these bastards to buy Beanie Babies on Ebay E-commerce giant PayPal recently pulled the plug on indie news site WhatReallyHappened.com's account, and in the process froze their donated funds for 180 days. PayPal sent a typically legal-ese filled form email to the site invoking their right to close any account at their discretion. This article from The Register speculates that given the outspoken nature of the site against the Bush administration and Iraqi situation, PayPal may have had ulterior motives. "Behold a Pale Horse"...The New York Times, same difference In the past, articles that dealt with conspiracy theories were relegated to the apocryphal realm of photocopied newsletters, obscure web sites, and independent book publishers. However, with the recent coverage in the mainstream media of the ill-fated Operation TIPS, TIA's ominous former logo (and its Masonic imagery), and even "spy chips", these days the line between the paranoid fringe and the nightly news is becoming increasingly blurred. Take for example this NY Times Op-Ed piece which discusses the theory that pro-Zionist elements in the Bush administration are behind the push to war with Iraq and that Karl Rove plans to use the war as a means to appeal to Second Coming obsessed, evangelical Christians. Again, I said this was a NEW YORK TIMES piece. Coming soon...FreedomFries.com - M.C. No Shame 3:59:23 PM    comment []

Lesson One: People in the Public School System Have No Rights Some teachers in New Mexico have been suspended for putting up anti-war posters in their classrooms. Some students staged a walkout to protest this, and they were videotaped by teachers and might be charged with truancy. As the head of the local Parent-Teacher Association puts it, "We're not at school to make political statements. We're here to learn." Mark it down: In New Mexico, politics and learning are mutually exclusive. I hope you can read German This is a lengthy article about the true identities of the people behind the annoying "France stinks" and "Germany stinks" web sites. I have no idea if this writer is correct, but as he puts it, "Das ist allerdings der Stand von vergangener Woche." I hope that clears things up a little. Can you spot the "criminal extremist" in this picture? According to the Denver Police it's the woman on the right, a 74 year-old nun named Sister Antonia Anthony. Sister Antonia's "criminal extremism"? Protesting the coming war in Iraq, in accordance with the repeated and explicit statements of the head of her faith, Pope John Paul II. -Consider Arms 3:26:38 PM    comment []

My theory about country musicians is, thankfully, in tatters Hey, good for the Dixie Chicks. They told a London audience they were ashamed of Bush and they refused to back down when people over here got all snippy about it. I guess that shows all country musicians aren't on the Charlie "Snitch" Daniels/Darryl Worley end of the spectrum. Also, the Dixie Chicks have songs I don't hate every time they come on in bars, unlike Charlie Daniels. -Consider Arms 1:59:18 PM    comment []

Maybe we here at the Monster Limo Weblog are missing the point, but check out how hot this protestor is: 1:56:51 PM    comment []

Sorry there was no AP Roundup today. I am working the late shift at the car wash tonight, so I didn't get in until 1 p.m. It's all the same old news anyway: Iraq crisis, bombs in Afghanistan, the world generally going to heck in a handbasket. We need something soothing for the end of the work week, so here's an article about the origins of French fries. -Consider Arms 1:44:49 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Monster Limo Organization.