To those intrepid ones who went across the seas to be the eyes and ears of America ....To those forthright ones who saw the early clouds of war while many of us at home were seeing rainbows ....To those clear-headed ones who now stand like recording angels among the dead and dying ... To the Foreign Correspondents - this motion picture is dedicated ....
Foreign Correspondent-- (Movie Clip) Main Credits
Johnny Jones, aka Huntley Haverstock, must be rolling in his grave.
Word comes today, that the world's most famous non-working-plumber, aka, the Stumblin' Bumblin' John McKKKain campaign's mascot, Joe The Plumber, is going over to cover the conflict in Gaza, for PajamasMedia's, PajamasTV, as a journalist.
Jesus, who over at this "Pajamas Are Us" outlet thought up this earth-shattering idea?
To stay in JTP mode, was it Izzy, the Idea Idiot? ...
Are the Flying Monkeys so stressed out, that, with the worldwide coverage of Israel's bombardment of Gaza isn't capturing the essence of the story, they have to scrape the bottom-of-the-barrel and pull out this fame-seeking fool?
Couldn't they get The Wasilla Whiz Kid, Sarah Palin, to, I don't know, stand on a chair, and look beyond Russia, to see if she could focus in on Gaza and phone in some reports?
Jeff Gannon's gotta be pretty pissed off.
He's just as good as the next fake journalist at lobbing softballs.
And, softballs is what it will be ...
From Think Progress;"I get to go over there and let their "Average Joes" share their story, what they think, how they feel -- especially with, you know, world opinion. Maybe get a real story out there."
There you go ...Professionals, with long careers, covering numerous wars and conflicts, they aren't able to get the "real story".
With the long, twisted history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, covering decades, it comes down to this alleged plumber from Ohio to jaunt over there and dig out the "real story".
And how is he going to do it?
From Steve Benen;Asked if he's concerned about his personal safety, he added, "Being a Christian, I'm pretty well protected by God."
That's it, throw one out to the Jesus crowd ...
No doubt, the Flying Monkeys will be riveted.
And just who is Huntley Haverstock?
None other than the protagonist/hero (portrayed by the great Joel McCrea) of one of Alfred Hitchcock's best film's, 'Foreign Correspondent'.
Here's the trailer for 'Foreign Correspondent'
Here's a themed clip, "Hats"
And this, classic Hitchcock!
1940 - Foreign Correspondent: the assassination
Bonus Joe-The-Joke Riffs
Daniel Nasaw: Joe the War Correspondent ...The media's favourite campaign gimmick heads to Israel for a conservative website
Michael Calderone - Joe the Plumber: war correspondent
Josh Marshall: Don't Get No Respect
Spencer Ackerman: In Defense of Joe The Plumber’s Reporting Cred
Libby Spencer: Right wing assault on internets launched
No More Mister Nice Blog: WHAT -- DID THEY THINK JEFF GANNON WAS OVERQUALIFIED?
Michael J.W. Stickings: Sign of the Apocalypse #62: Joe the Plumber, war correspondent and pro-Israeli propagandist
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Oh God ... He's Back!!!
"It's like hearing my obituaries while I'm still here." ... Nat Hentoff's Last VV Column
We made reference to this last week, about the great Nat Hentoff being cut loose from The Village Voice.
And, yesterday, came his final column
Nat Hentoff's Last Column: The 50-Year Veteran Says Goodbye ... I used to say, 'I've been at the Voice since the Civil War.' But now I'm off to other combatsI've borrowed Woody Guthrie's 1942 song to report that this is my last column for the Voice. I'm not retiring; I've never forgotten my exchange on that decision with Duke Ellington. In those years, he and the band played over 200 one-nighters a year, with jumps from, say, Toronto to Dallas. On one of his rare nights off, Duke looked very beat, and I presumptuously said: "You don't have to keep going through this. With the standards you've written, you could retire on your ASCAP income."
The Village Voice might be dumping him off at the side of the road, but Hentoff isn't going to lay down in any ditch, but rather keep his busy schedule of writing various columns at various other publications, as well as having two new books due out very soon.
Duke looked at me as if I'd lost all my marbles.
"Retire!" he crescendoed. "Retire to what?!"
Go read Hentoff's final VV column (it's good, as usual), and poke around the World Wide Web and keep track of him, you will be well rewarded.
Bonus Links
Nat Hentoff on Wikipedia
Books by Nat Hentoff
Bill Moyers Interview with Nat Hentoff
This Date ... On The Garlic
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
This Date ... On The Garlic ... Top Posts of 2008
Today is one of those rare occurrences, where we went four years without a post on this day.
So, rather then leaving you dry and empty, and also, to break the string of goose-eggs, we follow the other tradition of early January, in presenting our Top Posts for 2008.
Not quite a proper "Year in Review", but it will serve as a good substitute.
Top Posts of 2008
We Looked In the DIY Section, But Bob Vila Didn't Have A Handbook On It ...
The Bob Dole For The New Millennium
Hillary's Smelling Burning Rubber! ...Or: The Garlic Was Right - Hillary Has Built Her "Field of Voices"
There's Sucker's Born Every Minute ...
"Can we have our $40,000 back?"
Tinkerbell Meets Norma Rae - The Daily Kos Strike
Oh Ronnie, How I Long For You ...
No Doubt, Lou Dobbs Will Go Absolut-ely Apocalyptic
Heston Dead; Coroner Can't Pry Gun From Cold Dead Hands
Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked
She's Stalking Donuts Now!
Life Imitates Art ... Or, Did Burt Lancaster Invent Google Earth?
Forget The Green-Screen, Why Show Him Throwing Out Garbage?
Retro Garlic: Bush Is Batman? ... Holy Batshit!
The "B" List
McCain VP Confusion; Staff Had Canadian Actress Sarah Polley In Dayton Hotel For Three Days
Handstands, Falling, and Frozen Strawberries ... A Respite
Don't Wink At Me, Sarah Palin
Top Ten Cloves: Things About Citigroup Keeping Stadium Sponsorship After Getting Government Bailout
Remembering THE GAME ... Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
Meet The Freakshow Defender
A Safety Valve, Dressed In Jay Leno's Timeslot
Monday, January 05, 2009
Editor's Note: Eureka!! ... Fixed, Finally! ... But No Joy In Mudville ...
Phew!
As you may know, if you've been reading The Garlic the past few days, we have been mired in Computer Hell, nailed (ironically, researching some articles for a post) by a Pop-Up Ad, containing the Vundo Trojan, last Friday, leaving us to a weekend of tunnel-visioned obsession with getting rid of it.
Especially after some funky things began occurring.
While MacAfee, and Microsoft security programs whacked away at it, the Trojan persisted, so today, we searched out some alternatives, testing a few with downloading and scanning, still to no avail.
That is, until we stumbled upon Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.
Scan, about twenty-minutes later, Trojan Be Gone!
Reboot ... All clear, no dreaded pop-ups from MacAfee that they "blocked and removed" said Vundo Trojan.
And, one of the nasty byproducts, that Microsoft Security Alert, of the Automatic Updates being turned off - Solved!
Thank You, Malwarebytes!!!
The "No Joy In Mudville" part
So, now that we have our system back, up-and-running, properly, and with a bevy of juicy news out there, begging to be riffed on, we have to say it will probably be Wednesday, when we will resume normal posting.
For, as I launched on my recovery mission early this morning, and email dropped in that our old Ding Ho alum, Bob Lazarus, had lost his battle with Leukemia last night, passing away at his home.
If you may recall, we helped promote the benefit show for Laz, late last spring, to help chop down the mounting medical costs, sending the dreaded illness into remission, allowing Laz to return to the stage and start making audiences laugh again, as well as earn his living.
Sadly, the remission was short-lived, and last month, Laz started failing, bucking up for one major stage appearance, at the Steven Wright Hall of Fame show.
You have to go over to Barry Crimmins, and read his incredibly poignant remembrance and tribute to Laz.
Nick Zaino, over on Boston Comedy - Funny Grown Here, also has a post up on Laz, and it includes some great links, including one from Mike Donovan, one of Laz's best friends.
The services are tomorrow, which we plan on attending, and with such, we have one of those intersections life springs up on us.
For tomorrow is the birthday of the Aunt I write about so often, her 96th.
So, while it is not written-in-stone that I don't get a post, or two, up tomorrow evening, I wouldn't rush out to Vegas and lay down any cash on it either.
We look forward to Wednesday.
Jimmy Tingle sitting. Warren MacDonald, Bill Campbell, Mike McDonald and Bob Lazarus
R.I.P Laz!
This Date ... On The Garlic
5 January 2008... On The Garlic
What A Difference Four Years Make ... Howard Dean
5 January 2007... On The Garlic
Twelve Days of Dubya ...The Twelfth Day
5 January 2006... On The Garlic
Fox News Agrees With Letterman; O'Reilly Factor Now Only 40% Fair and Balanced
Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard In White House Meeting of Former Secretaries of Defense and State
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Editor's Note: Just When I Thought It Was Fixed ...
Good Evening Garlic Fans
Another lost day, to scanning, and scanning, and scanning, with still, no clear resolution.
Apparently, I had encountered a "Trojan" program, or, a Microsoft Security Program has gone awry, and that is messing with my system, to some degree.
I am not inoperable, however, it does, and is doing, things it should not do.
So, rather scramble to put up something lame, as I have eschewed most of the outside world today, we will continue to endeavor to correct this problem - so I can live in peace again (or, until the next time a Microsoft issue wants to torture me).
There's plenty of items down the left sidebar to chew on, or visit some friends, over on The Reaction, Barry Crimmins, or Boston Comedy - Funny Grown Here.
Peace
JTD
This Date ... On The Garlic
4 January 2008... On The Garlic
Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher
Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard Last Evening At The Iowa Caucuses
Karl Rove: “Be prepared! Find the bastards. And pile on!”
4 January 2007... On The Garlic
Twelve Days of Dubya ...The Eleventh Day
Garlic Special - New Congress Theme Song: Across The 110th Congress
4 January 2006... On The Garlic
Bushapalooza Planned As Abramoff Plea Has Bush, GOP Citing Bad Intel, Reclassifying Donors
Top Ten Cloves: New Tag Lines Rejected By Intel For New Logo
Saturday, January 03, 2009
It Only Took One To Spoil This Soup
Fans (if there are any ...More on that below) of actor/comedian Dane Cook gasped this past week, on the news that Cook's half-brother, and erstwhile manager, ripped him off for millions.
Dane Cook's kin accused of stealing millions from comicDarryl McCauley, 43, is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Woburn District Court on charges of larceny, forgery, and larceny by continuous scheme. He was arrested at his Wilmington home yesterday by State Police.
Surprising (again, more on that coming) that Cook has earned "millions", plural.
The state attorney general's office, which investigated the case, would not identify McCauley as Cook's brother yesterday, only saying that he stole from a national entertainer with local ties.
However, Cook's friends and state documents identify McCauley as his half-brother and as an official with his company, Great Dane Enterprises, Inc.
He was paying McCauley $150G's, per year, and got caught, when he was "recently replaced by a California-based manager. Despite repeated personal requests from Cook, McCauley refused to turn over Cook's financial records ...".
Probably, a little Bernie Madoff paranoia in play, no doubt.
Essentially, this is your average, "happened-before" sob tale of big entertainer/sports hero/otherwise celebrity bringing in the bacon by the truckload and not paying attention to where was being stored.
This writer has never been a particularly big fan of Cooks' "humor".
We never fretted that Cook was over-burdened with the worrisome problem of having "too much talent".
And, it appears, a fair number of others thought likewise.
In both stories that we linked to here, in the Comments section, Cook gets absolutely roasted, with the main themes being he was over payed, and that any money recovered should go to the people who paid money to see him perform.
A few samples;"This man should be applauded. Dane Cook stole the money in the first place by being overpaid and unfunny. It's a modern day Robin Hood story, if you ask me. McCauley was stealing from the rich and giving the money back to the poor moviegoing public that wasted their hard earned money on one of Cooks' films or CD's."
Ouch!!
"Fitting that this has happened to the biggest joke thief in the industry!"
"I youtubed this Cook person. Is there something funny about him? I couldn't find one bit that was funny. It's all so silly and juvenile. Instead of his half-brother or step-brother...whichever, they should go after the people who over-paid him for crap comedy."
Thank God! I love the previous comments about how un-funny this hack is!! People are such sheep, if you tell them someone is funny they just fall in line and gobble up his crappy comedy. Dane must have incriminating pictures of someone that lets him keep "entertaining"
You can read the comments HERE and HERE.
Good luck there, Cook, in making back that lost money.
Editor's Note ... Techinical Difficulties
Sorry, Garlic Fans, for the big goose egg as to posting yesterday.
We got caught up in some major, pain-in-the-ass, computer trouble, perhaps a "Trojan", that somehow cracked through the crack security system (Thanks Microsoft and MacAfee!).
I was, happily, tooling along, writing, reading, putting together a few things, with multiple tabs opens (three), and then, all-of-sudden, things froze up. It took an extremely lengthy time to do any action, liking closing the tabs, either due to this unspecified, possible "Trojan", or that Microsoft decided it was time to "Synchronize" my folders.
It took over an hour to get everything closed up, and then I began running the various scans and defrags, which chewed up another couple of hours.
At that point, creativity took the first train elsewhere and I decided best thing was to just chill out (I watched two movies, one that was absolutely, dreadfully awful, 'We Own The Night' - miss it by all means, if you can ... The first 10-minutes show promise, and then if just drops over the cliff the rest of the way).
So, today, we play catch-up.
Peace
JTD
This Date ... On The Garlic
3 January 2008... On The Garlic
'They Shoot Iowa Caucuses, Don't They?
Hey, You Iowans, Read This Before Pulling The Levers!
3 January 2007... On The Garlic
Twelve Days of Dubya ...The Tenth Day
Chopped Garlic ... Oh, The Irony
Minced Garlic - Olbermann: Special Comment About ‘Sacrifice’
January 3 2006... On The Garlic
Schwarzenegger Said To Be In Furious Hunt For Another Stadium Naming
Walmart To Appeal $172M California Fine
Top Ten Cloves: New Year's Resolutions President Bush Is Likely To Break
Friday, January 02, 2009
This Date ... On The Garlic
2 January 2008... On The Garlic
No Wait, It's Not Thompson Who's Going To Save The Country, It's Now Michael Bloomberg ...Or, Bipartisanship: Conservatism In Bloomberg Clothing
D.B. Cooper Is Barbarosa ... Or Is It Barbarosa Is D.B. Cooper?
2 January 2007... On The Garlic
Twelve Days of Dubya ...The Ninth Day
Top Ten Cloves: Things President Bush Is Thinking Of Doing To Have A Better 2007
2 January 2006... On The Garlic
Feliz Año Nuevo! … Bonne Année! … Nuovo Anno Felice! … Ano Novo Feliz!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year!
Voorspoedige nuwe jaar ... Kul 'am wa antum bikhair ... Urte Berri on ... Shuvo noboborsho ... Sun nien fai lok ... Xin nian yu kuai ...Stastny Novy Rok ... Godt NytÅr ... Gelukkig nieuwjaar ... Bonan Novjaron ... Onnellista uutta vuotta ... Bonne année ... Ein glückliches neues Jahr ... Eutychismenos o kainourgios chronos ... Hauoli Makahiki hou ... Shana Tova ... Boldog uj evet ... Selamat Tahun Baru ... Felice Anno Nuovo or Buon anno ... Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu ... Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo ... Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab ... Felix sit annus novus ... Barka da sabuwar shekara ... Godt Nytt År ... Manigong Bagong Taon ... Szczesliwego Nowego Roku ... La Multi Ani si Un An Nou Fericit ... Ia manuia le Tausaga Fou ... Feliz año nuevo ... Heri za Mwaka Mpya ... Gott Nytt År ... Sawatdee Pi Mai ... Chuc mung nam moi ... Blwyddyn Newydd Dda ...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
All things considered, we're not sure just how much happiness is coming in with the sashed-wrapped New Years' baby.
And, where we write from on this new day, it's about 12-degrees, accompanied by 30-MPH winds, producing a -15-degree wind chill, so there's little happiness in walking out the front door (which is adorned with the fresh 6-inches of snow from yesterday).
It "warms up" to about 30 tomorrow.
Enough of that, today's a day of parades, bowl games, polar bear club members jumping into icy waters, Mummers Parade (you have to wait until January 18th for the classic, irreverent, Doo Dah Parade), special concerts, and, of course, for many, the nursing of hangovers.
So, whatever you are doing today, no matter how 2008 played out for you, we have, we believe, the tune that can assuage you for 2009, carrying you forward, a call to perseverance and optimism, of gratitude, and believing in yourself.
It comes via a collaboration between Joe Cocker and The Crusaders, appearing on The Crusader's album, 'Standing Tall', and was nominated for a Grammy in 1981.
Our New Years' gift to you - "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today"
Enjoy! ...
And, Happy New Year!
I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today
{Jazz} Im So Glad Im Standing Here Today - 
This Date ... On The Garlic
1 January 2008... On The Garlic
"We Still Had Manners" ... Barry Crimmin's Year In Review
Something Off The Beaten Track ... How I Introduced the French to Onion Rings
Top Ten Cloves: Other New Years Resolutions President Bush Is Planning On Making
1 January 2007... On The Garlic
Twelve Days of Dubya ...The Eighth Day
Happy New Year!
