text:
INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY —> Tonight!
posted by October 28 at 6:45 PMon
posted by October 28 at 6:45 PMon
posted by October 28 at 6:02 PMon
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's indicted aide, is a writer who published a novel in 1996.
[Libby] is also a literature buff who spent twenty years writing his 1996 novel, The Apprentice, an erotically charged and suspenseful tale about a young man running an inn in rural Japan in the early 1900s who gets caught up in murder.
Neocons are a breed apart.
posted by October 28 at 5:33 PMon
Seattle's world-champion ultimate Frisbee teams are rocking the Ultimate Player's Association tournament in Sarasota, Florida. Sockeye, Riot, and Shazam (our men's, women's, and coed teams) have returned to defend their titles at the biggest tournament in North America, held on bucolic polo grounds. On Thursday, all three teams dominated, with Riot handing Zanzara (from Houston, TX) a crushing 15-4 loss. Friday was less kind to Shazam, which lost to Olio (Triangle Area, NC) and Brass Monkey (Bay Area, CA). Shazam will not advance to the championship bracket, but Riot and Sockeye are advancing to Saturday's championship games without a loss. Riot is the weekend's only undefeated women's team. Sockeye is undefeatedbut so is arch-rival Jam (Bay Area, CA).
The championship games are on Saturday. Seattle has already lost its coed trophywill it keep the other two? Stay tuned…
posted by October 28 at 4:03 PMon
Between you and me, I think the monorail is doomed. But there are plenty of true believers who aren't giving up so easily. On Saturday, monorail supporters are meeting at the two ends of the proposed shortened monorail line (in West Seattle and Interbay, which is south of Ballard) to march toward Pioneer Square, where the two groups will converge. Their message: "Hold the Line." Further details are below.
posted by October 28 at 3:47 PMon
I know you're getting a lot of praise from the local press, but reality check: Read this slam on Seattle published Monday by a brainiac transportation journal in London.
Basically, they want to know what Seattle is smoking.
Infrastructure Journal London
24th October 2005 Seattle Monorail Project when political will…won't
If you want a groundbreaking project to go ahead, then one of the most important ingredients in the recipe has to be political goodwill. And that is precisely where one of the US's most interesting transport projects on the table right now falls down writes Angus Leslie Melville
The focus of the international transport industry is turned squarely on the US and expectations are high for project finance as well as numerous bond-financed design/build projects.
Seattle monorail is one of the few projects that you can pick out from the line-up of usual suspects where it is conspicuously failing to make it off the drawing board despite strong local support.
And the one thing that is acting as the biggest stumbling block is a fundamental lack of support from the mayor's office.
posted by October 28 at 3:25 PMon
Andrew "Party Hard" W.K. has posted a couple new songs on his website (www.andrewwk.com).
You have to click through a slideshow of sorta creepy photos (including zombie make-up, bright red lipstick, and him withgaspshort hair!), but on the last page, there are links to two new songs called "You Will Remember Tonight" (which is sorta a party anthem gone Queen style), and "Kicks & Bricks" (Andrew's version of hiphop).
I've also heard rumors about a Northwest appearance before the New Year… I'll keep ya posted.
posted by on October 28 at 2:05 PM
Seattle broken-beat crew SunTzu Sound recently signed to Giant Step, "a leading concert promoter, music and lifestyle marketing company, and independent record label" based in New York. This is big news for the hard-working local DJ/producers, who for the past few years have been diligently trying to raise awareness about this British-born style of organic, weird fusion of house, drum 'n' bass, hiphop, and soul.
posted by October 28 at 11:55 AMon
Each and every week, The Stranger receives thousands of press releases hyping events throughout the Northwest. Some of these events are thrilling (Arcade Fire at the Paramount!), others are insignificant (new Blizzard flavor at Dairy Queen!). And every once in a while comes that rare press release hyping an event to which we wouldn't send our worst enemy.
Until now.
Meet Cienna Madrid, Stranger contributor and now, officially, Our Worst Enemyâ¢. Throughout the coming months, Cienna will attend those events to which The Stranger would only send Our Worst Enemyâ¢, and report back from the wreckage.
Why Cienna? Why not? She's tall, thin, pretty, and hilarious when she suffers.
Now please welcome the premiere installment of Our Worst Enemyâ¢.
posted by October 28 at 11:43 AMon
While finalizing the plans on a new venue (which will be announced next month), the Vera Project has asked the King County for funding in order to remodel the new location while keeping their programming going strong. To get the money, though, King County needs to hear just how wonderful the venue is. If you have some kind words to say about your experiences at Vera, or if you just want to tell the city how important a place like the Vera Project is, show up to the next public testimony on Wednesday Nov 2 at the King County Council Chambers at 3rd and James in Downtown Seattle. It starts at 7 pm.
And, if you're unable to make it to the meeting, you can file an electronic testiomony here.
posted by October 28 at 11:07 AMon
C-Span 2 is streaming Fitzgerald's press conference starting right now. Click here to start the stream.
posted by October 28 at 11:04 AMon
This morning brought an amazingly rich I, Anonymous submission, filled with bizarrely intricate accusations and chunks of weird Martian language that must be read to be believed.
God only knows what exactly the writer's talking about, exactly, but he/she is an early frontrunner for Stranger Literary Genius 2006.
Representative sample: "Never fuck with a God/dess Childe, moron!"
posted by October 28 at 10:54 AMon
Here is a PDF of the 22-page Libby indictment.
posted by on October 28 at 10:47 AM
People go to see the bands they like live for different reasonsto dance, to sing along with their favorite songs, to get a more tangible energy from the musicians than can be experienced on record. With SunnO))), who took the stage at Neumo's last night, the experience was completely physical. I've never felt such strong vibrations from my chest down through the bottom of my gutit felt like my legs were slowly sinking through the floorboards from the sheer mass of their drone. The men took the stage in brown capes like members of a Star Wars clan, a smoke machine shooting geysers of white plumes toward the ceiling and around the club. The moved their arms in slow arcs like they were performing ancient levitating rituals, or slowly moved their guitars towards the giant wall of amps (Jucifer is the only other live band I've seen rival such a brick house of amplification). Their setup included two guitars and two Moog synthesizersit was a powerful experience standing before them, to say the least. And while it wasn't for everyonethe dynamics in drone are subtle at bestit was such a different, visceral experience I have to recommend it to anyone looking for a healthy sonic massage. Openers Boris were a Japanese powerhouse trio, sinking Sabbath and the Stooges in the thick black sludge of more drone and feedback. And they had a huge gong that the drummer hit intermittently. My overall assessment of the show: fucking heavy.
posted by on October 28 at 10:34 AM
Equal Rights Washington (which has a snazzy new website, btw), announced a handful of carefully chosen endorsements today. The full list including some Tacoma and Burien positions, but in Seattle, ERW urges you to vote for:
Lloyd Hara (Seattle Port Commission, position 3)
Lawrence Molloy (Seattle Port Commission, position 1)
Ron Sims (King County Executive)
Dow Constantine (King County Council, district 8)
Larry Gossett (King County Council, district 10)
ERW also says: Vote NO on I-330 and NO on I-912.
The SECB couldn't agree more.
posted by October 28 at 10:30 AMon
Yes, Scooter Libby is down with five counts, and has resigned his post at the White House, which means The Stranger's INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY is on, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight at the Mirabeau Room. More details after the Fitzgerald press conference….
posted by October 28 at 10:15 AMon
Three days ago, after the monorail agency released its new financial plancutting costs by up to 64%The Seattle Times buried the news and ran a headline story instead about a damning city council study that focused on the monorail's previous financial plana plan the monorail board had already rejected.
Yesterday, the monorail responded to the misleading council study w/ a substantive letter that deserves attentionespecially as voters prepare to take up this issue one more time on Nov. 8. The supposedly objective Seattle Times ignored the SMP letter.
The Stranger is accused of being biased in favor of the monorail. We do support the monorail. However, in an environment like thiswhere major facts in the debate are ignored by the Seattle Timesour open bias simply provides a balance to their embedded bias.
So, in the name of bias (or balance) here's that letter:
October 27, 2005 City Hall 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 2 PO Box 34025 Seattle, WA 98124-4025
Dear President Drago and Councilmember Licata:
We are providing a response to the "Preliminary Review of the Seattle Monorail Project Green Lineâ submitted to the Council on October 25, 2005. First of all, the Report is marred by numerous factual errors. These include, among many, inaccurate statements regarding indemnification, performance standards contained in the Operate and Maintain Contract, capacity of the system, and the means to adjust service. These factual errors could have been avoided had your consultants followed the standard business practice of allowing SMP to review and comment on the preliminary findings.
posted by October 28 at 9:54 AMon
Word is in—Scooter Libby's been indicted.
posted by October 28 at 9:48 AMon
The Associated Press shares this unnerving story about the "strong, sweet smell" that filled the air from the southern tip of Manhattan to the Upper West Side last night.
Some smellers compared the scent to Eggo waffles with maple syrup, others cited vanilla coffee or freshly-baked cake. Was it some waffle-cone promotional blitz? Or has Al Qaeda discovered that you can poison more infidels with honey than vinegar?
Who knows, but NYC officials "are continuing to sample the air throughout the affected area to make sure there's nothing hazardous," said Jarrod Bernstein, an emergency management spokesman. "What the actual cause of the smell is, we really don't know."
posted by October 28 at 9:34 AMon
At least that's what the new conventional wisdom says. At 11 a.m. we'll hear from Fitzgerald himself…
posted by October 28 at 9:30 AMon
Can't anyone in the Bush White House get any respect anymore? From The Onion…
posted by October 28 at 8:40 AMon
Nicole Brodeur is one of my two favorite columnists at the Seattle Timeswell, one of my two favorite local columnists. My favorite columnist on earth (at the moment) is Miss Manners, whose column appears in the Seattle Times on Thursday. Yesterday Brodeur wrote a terrific column on initiative 901, the proposed smoking ban, and its troubling 25 foot rule. (A lot of papers are just beginning to discuss the 25 foot rulethe rule, part of 901, would ban smoking within 25 feet of a door or a windowa story that Eli Sanders broke in The Stranger back in July.)
Two observations: Brodeur confesses to being a smoker herself. She is, however, a particular kind of smoker:
…if I'm in a place with loud music and strong drinks, I may have a Camel Light between my fingers. I smoke a little, then go home and shed my smelly clothes.
It's casual, situational smokers like Brodeur who have been shown to quit smoking in droves once a smoking ban in bars, restaurants, and clubs goes into effect. Smokers like Brodeur light up in bars and clubs because they're nervous, or so that they can have something to do with their hands, or because they're around other people who are smokingheck, some of `em may even smoke because they enjoy it. But it's been proven that making smoking even a little less convenient for smokers like Brodeur, even when that inconvenience only means having to step outside, prompts many of them stop smoking entirely.
Please note: In places that have already enacted smoking bansCalifornia, New Yorkthere's no 25 foot rule. Just making smokers have to step outside at all is enough to get many to quit. You don't have to send them into the middle of the steet.
Observation Two: Brodeur quotes the owner of Le Pichet, one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle.
Le Pichet owner Jim Drohman seems to have hit middle ground in his Parisian place. Smoking is allowed at the tables outside, but forbidden in the bar during the dinner hours: 5:30 to 10 p.m. After that, the air is everyone's.
Not really, Jim. When the smokers start lighting up at Le Pichetwhich is a tiny, tiny placethe air belongs to the smokers exclusively. Le Pichet is so small that even just two or three people smoking is enough to fill the whole place with smoke. I've gone elsewhere as early as 9 PM because I didn't want to have to flee Le Pichet before I finished my meal because the place was filling up with smoke. (And I've been in Le Pichet before 10 and found people smoking.) If I'm hungry and on First Avenue late at night I skip Le Pichet and go to the smoke-free Virginia Inn next door.
Drohman is, however, voting for 901:
Drohman is going to vote for I-901 because it will simplify things: no smoking at all. But he had to say, the 25-foot rule "seems more punitive than practical."
Agreed: the 25-foot rule is punitive and impractical. Its presence in the text of 901 cost it the Stranger Election Control Board's endorsement. 901's case wasn't helped by the weaselly/dishonest spinning of the initiative backersrepeat after me, Nick Federici: "We fucked up." But as I wrote yesterday, I'm personally voting for 901. I want the air at Le Pichetand every other bar and restaurant in townto truly belong to everyone, and that means going smoke-free.
posted by October 28 at 8:36 AMon
On this, perhaps the last day of speculation in the CIA leak case, we are presented with two reputable reports that offer strikingly different predictions. It seems one of them is wrong, and in a few hours, we should know which it is…
* First up in the multiple-source smack-down is The Washington Post, which says the end is nigh:
Though there was considerable speculation among lawyers for witnesses in the case that Fitzgerald could choose to empanel a new grand jury and extend his investigation, two legal sources said he has indicated he does not plan to take that route and will wrap up the case today.
* And next we have The New York Times, which says the end is not nigh:
Karl Rove, President Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday.
posted by October 27 at 6:19 PMon
Last night I went to my first-ever neighborhood meetingI live in Greenwood. This meeting was held by the Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors to address crime in the neighborhood, which, according to GAIN, has been steadily rising for the past couple years. The meeting was packedthere weren't enough chairs for everybody. City council members, police, a county prosecutor, and some guy who represents the mayor (I should probably know his name by now) were there to listen and provide feedback to the neighbors' complaints. And, my god, the stories I heard!
posted by October 27 at 4:13 PMon
In the current issue's Stranger Suggests, we recommend the Disco Blood Bath dance party on October 31. Please note that the candy-fueled funk-up will take place at the Re-bar (not the Baltic Room).
posted by October 27 at 3:31 PMon
…and freshly out. From the Advocate (via Rex Wockner):
Star Trek star George Takei comes out
Actor George Takei, best known as Mr. Sulu on the classic TV series Star Trek, comes out of the closet in the new issue of Frontiers. Or rather, as he tells editor Alexander Cho, "it's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen." In the interview, the 68-year-old actor also discusses his childhood in a Japanese-American internment camp, his 18-year relationship, his siblings' inability to accept his homosexuality, and the upcoming Los Angeles production of Equus in which he stars.
posted by October 27 at 2:10 PMon
How many ways can you say "no news until tomorrow"? Let us count the ways…
* The New York Times says: "The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak inquiry is not planning to make any public announcement on the case before Friday."
* The Washington post says Fitzgerald is "expected to announce a final decision on charges in the two-year-long probe tomorrow."
* The LA Times says "no announcements today on possible indictments."
I could go on… But I won't. For more speculation than a person can reasonably stand, the best bet, as always, is Raw Story.
Meanwhile, what does this mean for The Stranger's INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY? It means it's probably going to happen tomorrow night. But keep checking back.
posted by October 27 at 1:42 PMon
Someone just dropped off a case of beerHenry Weinhard's HefeWeizenat the office for me. There's a cryptic note, the text of which I won't reproduce here, but I'd love to know what the hell this is about.
If you dropped off the beer, or know anyone who did, please contact me ASAP.
posted by October 27 at 1:38 PMon
…has changed its background from purple to black, and now features a candle with a burning flame. Sniff.
posted by on October 27 at 11:50 AM
I'm a huge fan of good pop art—especially when it involves icons turned inside out using unusual materials (such as the gum guy mentioned earlier this week). Two other talented pop artists worth a mention—local ubertalent Jim Blanchard, whose artwork adorns our cover this week, and whose sticker paintings (made of packaging stickers that you can notice the wording of up close) and San Francisco's Rene Garcia Jr. who makes giants images of celebrities, statuesque broads, and serene scenery out of wood, glitter, and suede.
posted by October 27 at 11:36 AMon
David Irons's mom took a polygraph to back up her claim that Irons assaulted her in the early '90s. HorsesAss has the exclusive.
posted by October 27 at 11:00 AMon
Four days after New Times announced it was buying the Village Voice Media chain, which owns Seattle Weekly, New Times head Michael Lacey singled out Weekly managing editor Chuck Taylor as an example of how things will be different under the new management.
From today's Nashville Scene - one of six former Village Voice Media papers being bought by New Times - courtesy of hot tipper Sean Nelson, in Nashville:
"I think if people had to choose what was different between the New Times management style and the Village Voice management style, I'm probably more hands on," [Lacey says.]… We take no glee in publishing an admonishment of a colleague, but just as an example, Lacey offers a choice critique about a recent column by Seattle Weekly writer Chuck Taylor, who offered a skeptical rumination about the rumored merger. "Well, the entire thing was pasted together from clips and press releases,â he says. "…I'm not all that hard to run down. He never called, he never wrote, and I think that's just lazy. [Under New Times management, t]here won't be any kind of lazy journalism going on. Chuck will pick up the phone and call people.â
(In his story, Taylor says Lacey did not return his call.)
posted by October 27 at 10:00 AMon
My brother Bill Savage, lifelong Cubs fan (he has the teams logo tattooed on his arm), baseball scholar (he was interviewed on Morning Edition today), and occassional Stranger contributer (what's a brother for?), sent me this note concerning the White Sox 4-0 sweep of the World Series:
Just shoot me.
That's all he has to say at the moment. This is a dark day for fans of the Chicago Cubs, and I don't want to risk pressing Billy for more at the moment. This is a time for healing. A time will come for comments, excuses, threats, deals with God, etc., but for now, all is despair on Chicago's North Side.
posted by October 27 at 9:30 AMon
Citizens for a Healthy Economy, the big business PAC that has raised $115,000 to support status quo candidates in this year's Port Commission races, sent out a glossy campaign mailer last week. In the mailer, which cost $84K to send out, the PAC endorses John Creighton, Pat Davis, and …. Rich Berkowitz.
Berkowitz, a union guy, has played himself as a reformer in the election, so it's a bit weird that Citizens for a Healthy Economy has his back.
However, I got my hands on an email exchange between Port CEO Mic Dinsmore and one of Citizens for a Healthy Economy's biggest contributors that may shed some light on the PAC's pro-Berkowitz position.
The big contributor is Robert Wallace, CEO of Bellevue real estate company Wallace Properties, who has given $5K to Citizens for a Healthy Economy.
The e-mail, written last July, when Berkowitz was seen as a threat to the status quo, appears to show Wallace, the developer, telling Dinsmore, the Port Exec, that Berkowitz aint such a threat.
(BTW: I think it's a little sketchy that a major contributor to an "independent" political group is talking about a port campaign with the port CEO)
Anyway, here's the e-mail exchange:
"I met with Berkowitz today," Wallace wrote. "[He] says he would not support dumping [you]."
Dinsmore wrote back the following morning (sounding a bit like Harriet Miers to George Bush): "You are such a great…..You will be repaid in another life….Have a wonderful week and THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I asked Berkowitz wether he pledged to retain Dinsmore. He said he did, and then explained that while he has disagreements with Dinsmore (particularly over Port plans to prioritize real estate development at Piers 90 & 91 rather than prioritizing maritime work), he doesn't think it would be "appropriate" to fire Dinsmore. Berkowitz points out that Dinsmore only has 2 years left on his contract and it would be "useless" and a waste of tax payer money to get into that "legal morass."
posted by October 27 at 7:06 AMon
Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the Supreme Court. Speculation is the President will announce a new nominee as early as tomorrowthe same day that indictments could be coming down on his administration.
posted by October 27 at 2:00 AMon
If you want to know why I'm awake at 2 a.m., blame Joseph Wilson, who gave a fantastic speech to a packed Town Hall several hours ago. My take on it is here.
Meanwhile, I just want to post one bit of…
* This is just to show what a speculative peak things have come to in the absence of real information: A blog is posting a transcript of a reporter for a weekly magazine who was talking on cable news and offered a "likely scenario" for what happened Wednesday in the CIA leak case. For those keeping score at home, that means: one reporter + one tiny bit of speculation + three mass mediums = no one knows what Fitgerald is really up to.
And keep checking back to find out if tonight will really be the night for celebratory drinks at The Stranger's…
posted by October 27 at 1:00 AMon
This from the Borowitz Report is hilarious:
DEMOCRATS SEEKING WAYS TO SQUANDER HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY `We Will Manage to Screw This Up,' Vows Dean
Given a Republican president with plummeting approval ratings and a Republican congressional leadership that is being investigated, indicted, and in at least one case fingerprinted, Democratic party leaders said today that they are "actively seekingâ ways to squander their historic opportunity.
At a press conference in Washington, D.C. today, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean reassured the party faithful that the Democrats would stick to tradition and find some way to blow this golden opportunity.
"People look at the mess the Republicans find themselves in and ask, `How could the Democrats possibly screw this up?'â Gov. Dean said. "I am here to say, don't worry, we will find a way.â
The DNC chief said that the Democrats have already convened a top-level brainstorming session of strategists from the Dukakis, Mondale, and Kerry campaigns to formulate a plan for squandering the opportunity the Republicans have handed them on a silver platter.
According to those familiar with the strategy session, the Democrats have already settled on a new slogan for the 2006 midterm elections, "Read our lips tons of new taxes,â and that most of that new tax revenue would be used to promote the legalization of crystal meth.
While it is still early to be planning how to lose the 2008 election, Gov. Dean said that most preliminary discussions have revolved around nominating the Rev. Al Sharpton for President.
"We're only going for Sharpton because our first choice, Jacques Chirac, was unavailable,â Gov. Dean said.
posted by October 26 at 10:31 PMon
I just saw a bunny — head to toe, a bunny — riding up to the intersection of Pine and Broadway on a bike, stop at the light, go at green, pedal across the intersection, hold out his white arms, and — no hands! — fly down Pine Street toward, city-wards.
posted by October 26 at 5:10 PMon
Another hurricane, another Bush apologizing for crappy aid efforts.
posted by on October 26 at 4:15 PM
From today's Willamette Week, in Portland:
Phil Busse, managing editor at the Portland Mercury for five and a half years and a mayoral candidate in 2004, is moving on. Busse says he won't run again for office but will freelance for the Merc and complete work on a documentary about baristas; he hopes to open a politically oriented summer camp for college-aged kids. Amy Jenniges, a reporter at Mercury sister paper The Stranger in Seattle (who has enjoyed a sham marriage to Stranger ed Dan Savage), will replace Busse, who departs Nov. 8.
It's true. I'm moving to Portland. I'll be sticking with the Stranger's news team through Election Night (I wouldn't want to miss Nickels' sure defeat at the hands of Runte, would I? Or the monorail's continued success!), then hitting the road.
(Something the WW missed: The new Merc News Team isn't just me. I'll be joined by Scott Moore, who's been kicking ass as a freelancer for the Merc's city section for the past year.)
It's been swell.
posted by on October 26 at 3:59 PM
But for my own sake? I can't stand smoking in bars and clubs and restaurants and I want it to stoppersonally, I hope the police the don't abuse 901, but I can't say as I much care. I think smoking should be banned on streets, in parks, on beachesI'm the original anti-smoking Nazi. But mine is the minority opinion at the Stranger.Dan, I'm not sure if you are in the minority (as far as the Stranger goes) on this one…Dave Segal and I have been very vocal in the forums about wanting a smoking ban to go into place in this city. I wouldn't ban it on the streets, parks, etc. but I agree with you in that I hope both that the police don't abuse the rule and I hope we get a smoking ban in place here ASAP. I've been back and forth on the issue of how 901 was written, and I've been thinking about both sides there, but not wanting to get sick from being in so much cigarette smoke in contained spaces (rock clubs) is a big issue for me.
posted by October 26 at 2:52 PMon
Our own Charles Mudede and director Rob Devor (the writer/director team behind Police Beat) have announced their new project, a documentary to be produced by Scott Macauley in association with Michael Seiwerath and Northwest Film Forum. The movie called In the Forest There Is Every Kind of Bird (a statement that, though obviously untrue, is quite beautiful) and it will be about a favorite topic of this here Slog: the famous perforated colon of the man (a Boeing engineer) who died after being penetrated by a horse.
But Charles will protest: It is not merely about a colon. From the press release:
The documentary's essential goal will be to humanize the man who was killed by having sex with a horse. "In no way is this intended to be a sensationalistic film,â states Devor. "At the center of this story is a man with human relationships, strengths, frailties, regrets and dreams. We want to reverse his alien status and return him to the human community.â Also a priority to the filmmakers is creating a documentary that is equal parts crime reporting, poetry and philosophical essay. "We wish to examine the nature of desire,â says Mudede. "The fact that one human can desire intimacy with a horse means all humans are capable of desiring the same thing. Desire is universal.â
Another topic the film will discuss, according to Charles: the parallel obsolescence of equine travel and American manufacturing. Another topic the film should discuss, according to me: the mechanism by which a stallion is persuaded to mount a human being. This is the only question that will draw throngs of viewers to this movie.
posted by October 26 at 2:10 PMon
Tonight you must do what ever you can to see the documentary on experimental jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, which screens at Northwest Film Forum at 9 pm. The last third of Ayler's short life (he died at 34) was committed to the mad dream of creating a whole new musical language out of the blues and soul of jazz. He never achieved the super fame of John Coltrane (who was his ally) or the stable, academic recognition of Cecil Taylor (another ally), but he did release several wonderful (in both sense of that word) records on major jazz labels. The documentary does not get too deep into the life of Ayler, but it does capture the magical, halo-like, Benjaminian aura that surrounded his being, face, music, and voice. The director of the documentary, Kasper Collin, will be in attendance tonight only. (The movie screens through this Sunday.)
posted by October 26 at 1:55 PMon
No, they're not. Via Drudge:
A Dallas cab driver is in big trouble for getting caught on tape sprinkling dried feces on pastries. 49-year-old Behrouz Nahidmobarekeh is on trial for allegedly throwing fecal matter on pastries at a Fiesta grocery store.
Police said they found a pile of human feces by his bed. He would dry it, either by microwave or just letting it sit out and grate it up with a cheese grater and then sprinkle it at the store, officials said.
It's the bit about the cheese grater that lifts this story from the horror column and plops it into the mind-numbingly-horrifying-puking-nightmare column. Eesh. I'm going to go back to obsessing about Plamegate now, if no one minds.
posted by October 26 at 1:43 PMon
Mike McGavick, a Republican, is promising the people of Washington "a different kind of leadership."
After 14 years of Patty Murray and six years of Maria Cantwell, perhaps Mike is promising the people of Washington some of that matriarchal-style leadership that Skip Berger, Chuck Taylor, and Terry Coe have provide over at the Weekly all these years.
posted by October 26 at 1:41 PMon
For the week of October 20-26, 2005
The Stranger: 132 pages (regular issue)
Seattle Weekly: 128 pages (special issue)
posted by October 26 at 1:30 PMon
"Mike McGavick today declared his candidacy for United States Senate, promising the people of Washington State a different kind of leadership," says the press release.
posted by October 26 at 1:24 PMon
Check out this cartoon on how to become Republican. I got the link at AndrewSullivan.com, where I also ran across this bit of wisdom on Plamegate:
At this point, we should simply wait for the facts, no?
Perhaps Eli and I should take Andrew's advice.
posted by October 26 at 1:15 PMon
While the Seattle Weekly is Seattle's matriarch, The Stranger is Seattle's black paper.
First of all, we have one black staffer on editorial.
More important, Publisher Tim Keck and I share an enthusiasm for late '50s and early '60s jazz music. (I thought Ken Burns's PBS documentary on jazz gave short shrift to that era, and I was incensed. PBS's institutional racism obviously informed that decison.)
I also own a collector's edition Time magazine with MLK Jr.'s first cover appearance.
And although The Stranger Election Control Board endorsed Dwight Pelz instead of Richard McIver, we did so because while we weren't convinced that Pelz shared our enthusiasm for excellent jazz music, Pelz is an outspoken fan of early '70s NBA stars like Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Archie Clark, and I think he even posted in our forums once as Bill Russell.
posted by October 26 at 1:09 PMon
So my boyfriend's on strike. There will be no clean laundry, no home-cooked meals, and no happy endings until I make this public admission on the SLOG:
I'm voting "yes" on 901, the anti-smoking initiative.
The Stranger Election Control Board, of course, has endorsed a "no" vote on the smoking ban, pointing to the troubling "25' rule." This initiative not only bans smoking in bars, restaurants, and clubs, but also within 25 feet of a door, a window, or an air intake901 bans smoking on city streets and, more troubling, places a new stick in the hands of the SPD that they can use to beat up on bars and clubs.
So if I'm voting for it (see how much I hate smoking, Maggie?), how come the Stranger urged its readers to vote no? It's like this: the Stranger's Election Control Board is made up of a half a dozen editorial staffers. (The paper's publisher also sits on the board but he only votes in case of a tie.) We interview candidates, backers and opponents of initiatives, etc., and then we vote. Not every vote is unanimous. Some times, as with the smoking ban, the vote is split. I was on the losing side of the 901 vote, i.e. I was for it, but I helped to articulate the paper's case against 901because the paper's took the opposite position.
Why make this confession now? Well, my boyfriendhe who shall not be namedfeels very strongly about the smoking ban, for one, and he also hated reading my defense of the "noâ vote position when he knew for a fact that I was voting "yesâ on 901.
Is this a case of "do as I say, not as I do"? No, it's not. The Election Control Board frequently is divided on issues and candidates, and anyone who knows how a board like this works understands that. The Election Control Board dispenses the Stranger's collective wisdom, for what it's worth, and the majority rules.
But for my own sake? I can't stand smoking in bars and clubs and restaurants and I want it to stoppersonally, I hope the police the don't abuse 901, but I can't say as I much care. I think smoking should be banned on streets, in parks, on beachesI'm the original anti-smoking Nazi. But mine is the minority opinion at the Stranger.
posted by October 26 at 12:40 PMon
If the web rumors are correct, today will be the last day of pure speculation regarding the CIA leak case, and tomorrow we will actually know something. Please God, let it be so. If I have to read one more Raw Story "DEVELOPING HARD" report without a climax soon to follow, I'm going to call Fitzgerald and admit to the crime myself, just to get some closure.
Also: Am I the only one having flashbacks to Election Day 2004? Today feels eerily similar, with its congealed conventional web wisdom, the way that this web wisdom points toward bad news for Bush, and the way liberals are so giddy with anticipation. I'm just sayin. And now…
* Let's start with the mainstream media speculation, which is now about 12 hours old. The New York Times, fresh from pointing the finger at Cheney's office, today says Fitzgerald is turning his attention back on Rove. The LA Times concurs and includes the first mention I've seen in the MSM of the explosive Italian forgeries angle. And the Washington Post says Fitzgerald had FBI agents out questioning Plame's neighbors last night, perhaps a sign that Fitzgerald does intend to indict someone on the charge of explosing a CIA agent's identity. (How you feelin now, Sen. Hutchison?)
* But fast forwarding to now, and to the blogs, Raw Story has the juciest news, reporting that when the grand jury convened today, Fitzgerald asked it to indict both Rove and Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice, and Libby for outing a CIA agent. Also, Raw Story says Rove turned down a plea deal yesterday, and that two people outside the White House are likely to be indicted along with Libby and Rove.
* And Richard Sale, who is said to be very reliable, concurs with the notion that indictments are coming today, but says Fitzgerald is far from finished, and that he's asked for a new grand jury to be empaneled when this one expires.
*Meanwhile, back in the MSM world, the AP reports that the grand jury has now adjourned for the day.
After the grand jury left for the day, federal prosecutors conferred for about an hour in the grand jury area of the federal courthouse.
There was no word on whether Fitzgerald planned to make any announcement or when the grand jury planned to meet again.
Keep checking the Slog to find out what this all means for The Stranger's…
posted by October 26 at 11:57 AMon
In this week's "Mossback," Seattle Weekly editor Skip Berger refers to the Weekly as the "matriarch of Seattle," bragging that when New Times first courted the Weekly - in 1997 - the paper was a "matriarchy… because a majority of readers (not to mention many senior managers) were women."
What Berger doesn't mention is that under his leadership, the Weekly fired or demoted nearly every woman in senior management. Before Berger's most recent stint as editor, the Weekly's publisher, assistant publisher, editor, and managing editor were women. Now three of those positions are held by middle-aged men, leaving just two women (art director Karen Steichen and recently hired deputy managing editor Lynn Jacobsen) in senior management. (The assistant publisher position was eliminated; meanwhile, former Weekly calendar editor Michaelangelos Matos was re-hired to replace the two young women who were filling the role of music editor). Now only four writing and editing positions at the Weekly - Jacobsen's, plus three lower-level staff writer positions - are filled by women.
Sorry, Skip - being a "male feminist" doesn't qualify you as a matriarch.
posted by October 26 at 11:38 AMon
After a couple years of relative silence, disgraced figure skater-turned-disgraced celebrity boxer Tonya Harding is back in the news. According to the Associated Press, this past Sunday Harding "tussled in her home with a man she described as her boyfriend, prompting an emergency call by the figure skater-turned-boxer and an arrest of the man."
According to the boyfriend27-year-old Christopher Nolanthe brawl started after he told Harding that she'd had too much to drink, after which Tonya allegedly threw him to the floor and bit his finger. (I love a good debate.)
Now that I've re-whetted your appetites for the trashy allure o' Tonya, check out her deeply impressive website, containing an array of delights, and kicking off with this million-dollar sentence:
For good or bad, Tonya Harding has been the most influential person in Figure Skating history, and in all sports history, second only to Mohammad Ali.
posted by on October 26 at 10:46 AM
I used to contribute to Stylus and I like some of its writers, but after reading these reviews of new albums by Danger Doom (one of the best hiphop albums of 2005) and Ashlee Simpson (trite, assembly-line pop that lasted five minutes in my player), I've given up taking seriously the site's judgments.
posted by on October 26 at 10:23 AM
A couple notable notes about goings-on in the local metal world: Grievous are finishing up their new record this weekend with producer Paul Speer (Himsa) and added guitarist/vocalist Timm Trust's heavy growls to the band. In not so good news, Joe Axler from Skarp, Book of Black Earth, Splatterhouse, and Closed Casket is undergoing major wrist surgery today for an ongoing injury that puts his ability to play drums on hiatus for a couple months at least—he says he hopes to be back behind a kit by next spring.
posted by October 26 at 9:52 AMon
No public announcement todayat least according to CNN and the AP. From Americablog:
Indictments expected still, unclear who, but no public announcment today. That surely won't prevent leaking….so soon we'll see who really had the best info. and the best sources.
posted by October 26 at 9:32 AMon
From my brother Bill Savage, English prof and baseball scholar, on last night's White Sox victory over the Houston Astros:
In my attempt to figure out the appropriate way to interpret the White Sox dominance over Houston, I turn for guidance to America's fundamentalist preachers. Just as Hurricane Katrina was God's wrathover somethingso too must this unnatural disaster-in-the-making be God expressing something. The possibilities: God hates Cubs fansbut, no, God expresses that annually by having the Cubs either suck totally, or be just good enough to get our hopes up and then suck.
God loves White Sox fans? No, look at their trailer parks, their mullets, their assaults on innocent coaches, umpires, and visiting players' wivesGod does not love White Sox fans.
But I think I have the answer: God hates Texas. This has deep baseball roots: when owner of the Texas Rangers, George W. Bush traded Sammy Sosa. In Houston, both artificial turf (cause of countless unnecessary athletic injuries) and domed stadiums were invented. No Texas team has ever won the World Series. High School football is more popular than baseball in Texas, for crissakes. And, finally, God gave Texas George W. Bush, first as Governor, then as President of the rest of us.
Hmmmm. Maybe God hates America?
And I'm not even tempted to say it isn't over. It's over.
posted by October 26 at 9:10 AMon
So while the Plamegate probe gets ever closer to Dick Cheney, and while Cheney spends what little political capitol he has left defending George W. Bush's taste for torture, Mary Cheney is going back into the private sector. Mary, of course, is Cheney's carpet-munching daughter, the lesbian Cheney, the one who use to work for Coors, promoting their beer to the gay and lesbian community. Despite the Bush administration's terrible record on gay issuesincluding the administration's support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriageMary Cheney stuck by her father's side, managed his campaign during both the 2000 and 2004 elections.
Which lead to a surreal moment: Bush won, in part, by beating up on gays, scare-mongering on gay marriage, and making common cause with gay bashers on the religious right who believe that gays and lesbiansparticularly gay and lesbian couplesare a threat to the family, the country, even the survival of the planet. And who was up there on the stage with George when he made his election-night victory speech? Why, Mary Cheney and her bull-dyke girlfriend, that's who. Twenty million gay Americans have wanted to slap some sense into Mary CheneyI'm speaking figuratively, of course, as actually slapping Cheney would be a crimefor the last five years.
So what are we to conclude when Cheney picks this moment in time to take a job with AOL?
Time Warner's America Online has hired Mary Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, an AOL spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.
Mary Cheney will work closely with Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of America Online and head of the unit whose function it is to increase AOL's Internet audience via Web-based programming and products, AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
Does Mary, who has been an aide to her father throughout his time as VP, know something we don't know? Is dad about to lose his job? Has, who by her silence condoned the GOP's campaign against gay and lesbian Americans, suddenly found her scruples and can't stand by dad now that she knows him to be a crime-committing, torture-happy felon? Or, more likely, is Mary getting out while the getting out is good, and lining up a nice paying job for herself at the same time?
I think it's telling that Mary Cheney is bailing now. It half-convinces me that it's not just Libby who's facing indictment. Mary Cheney deserted gays and lesbians when she moved from shilling for Coors to shilling for Bush, and I don't doubt that she would do the same to her father. She may be the first rat coming off this sinking, stinking ship.
posted by October 26 at 8:58 AMon
The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.
"Bush Aides Brace for Charges"
"Leak Case Is Said to Focus on Rove Role"
"Leak Inquiry Focuses on Rove"
posted by October 25 at 3:55 PMon
Actually, the announcement of the indictments is allegedly set for this Thursday, so we're provisionally setting the INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY for Thursday starting at 6 p.m. at The Mirabeau Room.
(Plus, Ambassador Joseph Wilson is speaking at Town Hall on Wednesday night, and we wouldn't want to tempt the INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY crowd to miss that event.)
ALSO, Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott has kindly pledged to offer a toast at our party. Our thanks to the Congressman, and to the rest of you, stay tuned to see exactly who McDermott will be toasting….
(Click here for a pop-up image of the Congressman that is so large it frightened our editor, who then demanded it be hidden in a pop-up window.)
posted by October 25 at 2:50 PMon
The Indictment Night Party is on for TOMORROWat least according to The Washington Note.
An uber-insider source has just reported the following to TWN:
1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end.
2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters.
3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and "filed" tomorrow.
4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday.
The shoe is dropping.
posted by on October 25 at 2:09 PM
Now that Frizzelle's mentioned it, there was one other piece on cocaine that ran in the Stranger a couple years back that I still love (and think is relevant)—no, it wasn't by me or Kathleen Wilson.
posted by October 25 at 2:00 PMon
After a brief hiatus spent ironing out the details of The Stranger's INDICTMENT NIGHT PARTY, today marks the return of….
And not a moment too soon, either, as The New York Times, now fully back on its game in covering the CIA leak case, breaks what insiders think may be historic news:
* Cheney, The Times says, was the first to tell his top aide, Lewis Libby, about the CIA agent at the center of the inquiry. (And Libby, as we already know, then told reporters about the CIA agent.) Almost all other speculation today flows from this story.
* Bloomberg News looks at the "fissure" now opening up between Cheney and Libby
* Andrew Sullivan, who has now turned his web site into a veritable clearinghouse for informed speculation on this case, says it seems increasingly obvious that Cheney played an active role in outing the CIA agent, and then spins some interesting scenarios from that assumption
* Meanwhile, over at La Republica (that's right, La Republica, in Italy), another big scoop has journalists on this side of the Atlantic rushing for the Italian-English dictionaries. Joshua Marshall, over at Talking Points Memo is all over this story, which ties the White House to those forged documents that supported the Niger-Iraq-Uranium link. (Will third-rate forgeries be this decade's third-rate burglary?)
* Meanwhile, this is the first paragraph of an Op-Ed in the LA Times today. It restates points that the writer, a former right-hand man to Colin Powell, made last week, but take a minute to just step back and consider that these words are being published in a major American newspaper, and that they sound more credible than not as an explanation of what's been going on these past five years:
IN PRESIDENT BUSH'S first term, some of the most important decisions about U.S. national security including vital decisions about postwar Iraq were made by a secretive, little-known cabal. It was made up of a very small group of people led by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
* Meanwhile, the number of soldiers dead in Iraq has hit 2,000 and the Bush administration is casting around for models on how to deal with such a bad moment.
That should keep you busy for a while. And don't forget:
posted by October 25 at 1:53 PMon
Slate's Dahlia Lithwick filed this story on emergency contraception in April. Choice paragraphs:
First, there is a whole lot of medical yardage between an abortion and birth control. In fact, there is a whole lot of yardage between abortion, a morning-after pill, and birth control. Contraceptiveseven emergency contraceptivesare nothing like surgical abortions, although the pro-life movement continues to conflate the two. Emergency contraception inhibits ovulation, fertilization, or implantation. The accepted medical definition of abortion is that it can occur only after implantation. Whatever visceral appeal the "Life Begins When Sperm and Egg Walk Into a Bar" position may hold, it remains factually inaccurate; only a fringe of the medical community accepts the notion that emergency contraception is an abortifacient.
Second, whatever you may think of the morality of taking a morning-after pill, the incontrovertible fact is that it loses efficacy after 24 hours and becomes virtually useless after 72. So, one pharmacist's refusal to dispense them can rapidly morph into an unwanted pregnancy. That meansparticularly in isolated or rural communitiesthe religious objections of the pharmacist can trump the mother's legal rights. This may well leadas noted recently by the St. Petersburg Timesto an increased number of later-term abortions. Which would be ironic, were it not so sad.
(Thanks to Wonkette for the reminder.)
posted by October 25 at 1:39 PMon
A rape victim in Tuscon, Arizona, was given a prescription for emergency contraceptiona.k.a. "the morning-after pillâbut she couldn't get it filled. The 20 year-old woman called dozens of Tucson pharmacies trying to find one that carried the drug.
When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections.
The moral of the story? Don't get raped in Tuscon, I guess.
And, excuse me, but why the fuck is a pharmacy that won't dispense EC keeping the drug in stock? Do they keep it around just to torment rape victims? "Sure, we've got some right herebut you can't have any. You'll just have to bear your rapist's child, you young hussy.â
Want to do something about this? Well, it may be too late to get EC to the young woman who was rapedthe drug has to be taken within the first few days to be effectivebut it's not too late to call the pharmacy in question and give them a piece of your mind: Fry's Pharmacy in Tuscon, Arizona. Their phone number is 520-323-2695.
posted by October 25 at 1:12 PMon
It's not every day that I find myself agreeing with Bill O'Reillybut then again, it's not everyday that O'Reilly comes out for spanking.
But we're not in 100% agreement. Unlike O'Reilly, I oppose the spanking of children.
posted by October 25 at 1:03 PMon
My new favorite politician? This guy from Quebec. Check out how hot he is. He's 39, he's gay, he banters about his sexuality on TV, and his political popularity soared after it was revealed that his past is full of heavy drinking and booger sugar.
Truth be told, in the last few hours, I've fallen in love with Mr. Boisclair. (Nice name, huh?) Is it obsessive to search the web (god love Google image search) for pictures like this one and this one and this one and this one? This old blog of his is all in French, but you can get Google to translate it for you, like this, manufacturing some odd constructions, like "I smell myself today ready to become head." (More fun with Google: On that last link, notice how the phrase "about me" above Boisclair's profile, which is in English on his original site, becomes "butt me" when Google translates what's already English into English again).
For fellow obsessives (welcome to the club), here's Boisclair's new blog, in French and in (partial) English.
Oh, and since I now have you thinking about cocaine, remember this from a few years ago in the paper?
posted by on October 25 at 12:14 PM
Last night I attended Soul City featuring the Circle of Fire breakdancers for the first time since they relocated to the War Room on Monday nights. With DJ Bles One and others laying down killer tracks all night (including Can's immortal "Vitamin Câ), an impressive array of B-boys and B-girls whirled, twirled, and hot-stepped with a mercurial dexterity that filled me with agility envy. This night is truly inspirational and an ideal antidote to Monday-night blahs.
posted by October 25 at 12:06 PMon
For an idea of what New Times' corporate cookie-cutter alt.-weeklies look like around the rest of the country:
From the New York Times: "Another criticism of New Times has been the development of a consistent design that Mr. Lacey described as a template aimed at appealing to travelers…"
Well, at least the Seattle Weekly under New Times will appeal to someone.
posted by October 25 at 11:58 AMon
This week, Danger Doom, a hiphop CD by veteran rapper MF Doom and new jack producer Danger Mouse, entered the American pop charts at 41. This is bloody impressive! Rarely do underground (college radio) hiphop acts enter the billboard's top 200, and I have no recollection of one act cracking the top 50. This may signal a new age or turn for hiphop, because Danger Doom is not a pop record by industry standards; it's as intelligent and experimental as hiphop can get. Music execs must be on some "what's going on" shit.
posted by October 25 at 11:26 AMon
Gillian, you don't have to go as far as Europe to see men in Capri Pants. Try the sidewalk outside of Manray, any time from June to August….
I just returned from a trip to Europe where I witnessed a disturbing fashion trend: capri pants for men. I'm against it.
posted by on October 25 at 11:18 AM
As my colleague Charles Mudede can also attest, Common Market pretty much killed it last night. With a warm up crew of DJs and MCs keeping the crowd hyped before they stepped on stage (you've gotta love a hiphop show where they don't let the momentum slip for a second) the CM duo brought the beats, the positivity, and the presence to the stage at Chop Suey. Gushed one local music industry friend beside me, "These guys are going to be the next big thing in Seattle hiphop." He's not the only one to think that—KRS-One himself came out and rapped with the Market, as their sets segued together flawlessly.
posted by October 25 at 11:15 AMon
We've now lost 2000 men and women in Iraq. CNN reports…
Among the latest casualties, an American soldier was killed Saturday by a roadside bomb, and a roadside blast killed two Marines in combat Friday near Amariya in the western Anbar province, according to the U.S. military.
As perhaps the only professional sex advice columnist in America who supported the invasion, I feel awful about this. As I've said before, no one is angrier with George W. Bush for his miserably incompetent prosecution of this war than liberals who alienated their friends and families by supporting the removal of Saddam Hussein. Bush's incompetence has made the war longer, bloodier, and deadlier than it needed to be. One disappointed liberal hawk, the New Yorker's George Packer, has a new book out, The Assassin's Gate.
posted by October 25 at 11:02 AMon
"He's a vile, detestable, moralistic person with no heart and no conscience who believes he's been tapped by God to do very important things…"
A left-wing slap against the President? Nope, the latest Republican talking points on special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.
posted by October 25 at 10:51 AMon
I just returned from a trip to Europe where I witnessed a disturbing fashion trend: capri pants for men. I'm against it.
posted by October 25 at 10:27 AMon
John Dicker, author of The United States of Wal-Mart, gave SLOG a nice mention on the Huffington Post yesterday. Discussing the sale of VVM to NT, Dicker said…
What's more troubling about this new union is that the Phoenix-based New Times crew will impose its editorial template on the newly acquired papers. The template? Well, it's like this; Cut your freelance staff. Keep the writers in-house, except for the film reviews, which are syndicated chainwide. And most significantly: Shrink The Editorial Content… In short, with New Times there's less there there. Not to mention that unlike the Village Voice and its sister papers, New Times doesn't host blogs or create interplay between its web and print versions. Aside from the letters section, there's no forum for readers to dialogue.
This is no small point since readers, especially the almighty youth market, continue to regard newspapers like herpes on a stick. The ones who don't expect their pubs to be web based and interactive.
For a good example of how a weekly can meld its print and web versions go here: The Slog: http://www.thestranger.com/blog/
Full Disclosure: I was in Denver last week on my book tour, and in addition to dropping by New Times' corporate HQ for a tour, I had a drink with Mr. Dicker and some of the folks who put together Colorado Spring's Toilet Paper, the best new alt-weekly in the country.
posted by October 25 at 10:20 AMon
The Seattle Times just called to apologize for the error and to thank us for pointing it out. They say they will correct it online and run a correction in the paper.
Sounds good.
posted by October 25 at 10:17 AMon
The latest skewed article from the "objective" Seattle Times completely reverses the Monorail agency's numbers. In its story "Report Warns Monorail Finances are Risky" the paper writes: "Monorail brochures this week say a 10-mile line would take 31 years to pay off if growth is 5 percent, and 38 years at 6.1 percent."
NO. It's exactly the opposite: the brochure says: The monorail would take 31 years to pay off at 6.1% and 38 years to pay off at 5%.
This may sound like nitpicking, but in a debate that has been about the details (especially about these exact MVET growth rate details), this is significant, and it's important for the Times to do accurate reporting.
The agency's 5% estimate is what the city has demanded. The SMP did it and came up with a completely reasonable bond payment scheduleone that city code endorses (although not hypocritical mayor Gridlock.) The Times misrepresentation makes it look as if the SMP is trying to fudge the numbers. The Times mischaracterization also makes the 6.1%, the SMP's preferred option, look like the worse choice.
But I guess I shouldn't expect much from the Seattle Times when their lead article on the monorailthe day after the agency released a finance plan that brings the $11 billion down to $3.9 billionplays up the negatives. Jesus, the SMP cut costs by 64%.
posted by October 25 at 10:10 AMon
Not this Savagethis Savage loves Seattlest. (Well, as much as a Cubs fan can love a Sox fan.) This is a note from my older brother Bill Savage, a respected baseball historian, NU prof, and Cubs fanatic. He responds to a scolding note Seattlest sent me the other day about the low regard in which Cubs fans hold White Sox fans:
Seattlest editor Dan Gonsiorowski's reasonable attitude aside, the real reason that true Cubs fans cannot root for the White Sox in this World Series is based not on urban geography, the racial/ethnic makeup of the team, relative amounts of fan homophobia, or dislike for all things Texas..
Real Cubs fans cannot root for the White Sox because Sox fans are so ardently anti-Cub. In today's Sun-Times (paper, not online, as far as I can find—page 14A of the special section) there's a photo which sums up the issue. A bunch of Sox fans sitting in a skybox—all white by the looks of them, but that's neither here nor there—went to the trouble of producing a sign to hang off the front of the box, presumably to express their deepest feelings at this high point of their lives. The sign reads: "White Sox Tickets $185/Cubs fans at home priceless." Besides the derivative ripoff of credit card ads, think about what this means: they don't write a sign praising the athletic prowess of their Sox heroesKonerko, Crede, Contreras, Jenksor the brilliance and foresight of their Latino manager or black GM. No, they write a sign fucking with Cubs fans. So, I won't root for them. And if they winand if I had to bet, I'd say they willSox fans will never let Cubs fans hear the end of it.
And then there's another angle: future urban divisiveness. Besides the story (linked in the previous post) in last week's Sun-Times about how demographically similar Cubs and Sox fans are, if the Sox win the World Series, Sox and Cubs fans will no longer have the one thing they have in common, the one thing that can unite them: their loserhood. While the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908, the Sox haven't won one since 1917the second longest championship drought. Chicago fans have long been united in defeat, and if/when the Sox win the Series, that unifying force will disappear. Maybe the South Side will secede from the city. And perhaps that would be worth it …
And to put this all in Seattle demographic terms: how would all you Mariners' fans feel if the Tacoma Tigers were a major league team and were about to win the World Series, giving that shithole town something to lord over you?
UPDATE: Bill sent this very important follow-up…
Two more facts: Vendors outside of Sox Park earlier this season were selling T-shirts with the Cubs Wrigley Field marquee and the slogan "World's Largest Gay Bar." And what do you call a Cubs fan who's rooting for the Sox? Bisoxual..
posted by October 25 at 10:10 AMon
With indictments reportedly right around the corner in the CIA leak case, The Stranger and The Mirabeau Room are planning a party to celebrate the demise of… Well, we don't yet know whose demise we'll be celebrating, or when exactly we'll be celebrating it, but as soon as there's a demise to celebrate The Stranger, naturally, will be there. And you should be too.
This much we know: The party will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Mirabeau Room, 529 Queen Anne Ave. N. We also know there will be drink specials, and special drinks, including:
The Judith Miller, so strong you'll forget where you ever heard the name Valerie Plame (or, if you actually heard the name as "Valerie Flame," and wrote it down in your notebook that way, making it hard to claim you remember nothing, this drink will cure you of any inconvenient memories of who told you to write the name down that way in the first place)
The Fitzgerald, a straight shot of Irish whiskey, in honor of our straight-shooting special prosecutor
The Scooter Libby (aka The Scooter Shooter), which will of course involve Tequila
The George W. Bush, a non-alcoholic beer followed by "a Texas-sized shot of straight whiskey"
The Valerie Flame, a flaming shot of a fancy, sophisticated, and currently top-secret substance
As you can see, some of our drinks are still in the conceptual stages. If you have ingredient suggestions or ideas for other drinks ("The Ambassador" Joseph Wilson anyone?) post them in the Slog forum and we'll update our drink list in accordance with your good ideas.
In the meantime, stay tuned to the Slog for more party details, such as, oh, the day of the event. And enjoy as things heat up.
posted by October 25 at 10:09 AMon
Hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang posts his thoughts about the New Times buying up Village Voice Media at his blog Cantstopwontstop.
posted by October 25 at 10:00 AMon
Rosa Parks, the feisty bus rider who stuck it to the man, has died. She was 92.
posted by October 25 at 9:25 AMon
On Sunday I slogged about what Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison had to say regarding the coming Plamgate indictmentsplease God, let their be lots of 'emon Meet the Press. She said, basically, that perjury wasn't a crime, or a serious enough crime, to merit prosecution. Kay said:
I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.
Then I reminded you all how the Republicans circa-1998 said it wasn't so much the blowjob that got Bill in trouble (who could be opposed to blowjobs?), it was the lying about the blowjoba.k.a. the perjury. That was the impeachable offense, the Rs said then. A perjury technicality was the reason Bill Clinton just had to be removed from office.
Of course there was debate then about whether or not perjury rose to the level of an impeachable offense, i.e. whether it was a high crime and/or misdemeanor, the constitutional benchmark for impeachment. Many Republicans went on the record saying it was, and I thought about investing an hour or two Googling around looking for relevant quotes, i.e. quotes that would show up the Rs for being hypocritical assholes. The rules don't apply to them, you see, and behavior they'll point to when they wanna impeach a Democratic president they'll excuse in a Republican aide to a Republican president.
Anyway, I was too lazy to look up the quotes but the DSCC wasn't. These treats come to you via Kos, and if any of your Republican friends or co-workers attempt to excuse what Libby, Rove, and Cheney did by waving off perjury, print this out and read it to `em.
Sen. Frist: "There is no serious question that perjury and obstruction of justice are high crimes and misdemeanors…Indeed, our own Senate precedent establishes that perjury is a high crime and misdemeanor…The crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice are public crimes threatening the administration of justice." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Kyl: "…there can be no doubt that perjurious, false, and misleading statements made under oath in federal court proceedings are indeed impeachable offenses…John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, said `there is no crime more extensively pernicious to society' than perjury, precisely because it `discolors and poisons the streams of justice.'" [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. DeWine: "Obstruction of justice and perjury strike at the very heart of our system of justice…Perjury is also a very serious crime…The judiciary is designed to be a mechanism for finding the truth-so that justice can be done. Perjury perverts the judiciary, turning it into a mechanism that accepts lies-so that injustice may prevail." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Talent: "Nobody else in a position of trust, not a CEO, not a labor union leader, not a principal of a school could do half of what the president has done and stay in office. I mean, who would have said a year ago that a president could perjure himself and obstruct justice and tamper with witnesses… and stay in office." [CNBC, "Hardball," 12/19/98]
Sen. McConnell: "I am completely and utterly perplexed by those who argue that perjury and obstruction of justice are not high crimes and misdemeanors…Perjury and obstruction hammer away at the twin pillars of our legal system: truth and justice." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Voinovich: "As constitutional scholar Charles Cooper said, `The crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice, like the crimes of treason and bribery, are quintessentially offenses against our system of government, visiting injury immediately on society itself.'" [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Hutchison: "The reason that I voted to remove him from office is because I think the overridding issue here is that truth will remain the standard for perjury and obstruction of justice in our criminal justice system and it must not be gray. It must not be muddy." [AP, 2/12/99]
Sen. Craig: "There is no question in my mind that perjury and obstruction of justice are the kind of public crimes that the Founders had in mind, and the House managers have demonstrated these crimes were committed by the president. As for the excuses being desperately sought by some to allow President Clinton to escape accountability, it seems to me that creating such loopholes would require tearing holes in the Constitution-something that cannot be justified to protect this president, or any president." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
Sen. Brownback: "Perjury and obstruction of justice are crimes against the state. Perjury goes directly against the truth-finding function of the judicial branch of government." [Congressional Record, 2/12/99]
So Hutchison was against perjury before she was for it. See how that works? Your guy lies about a blowjob under oath, and he's a crook. Our guys out a covert CIA operative working on Wearpons of Mass Destruction during a war ostensibly being waged to stop the spread of WMD in order to smear her husband and then they lie about it under oath and they're not really crooks. They're just victims of a self-conscious prosecutor who needed "something to showâ for his two year investigation. Puh-leeze.
posted by on October 24 at 4:30 PM
I can tell you where KRS-One will be tonight—at the Chop Suey. But can any of you tell me where P.M. Dawn is going to be tonight—or, for that matter, where they were yesterday, last month, last year, five years ago? Who knows and who cares.
I don't care where P.M. Dawn are now; nor do I care that KRS-One will be at Chop Suey tonight. As long as I can play The Utopian Experience any time I please, these are moot points. For that matter, where are the Dream Warriors and Son of Bazerk? I don't really care, as long as I can hear And Now, the Legacy Begins and Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk at my leisure. Damn, 1991 was an amazing year for hiphop.
posted by on October 24 at 3:05 PM
According to this article in today's Seattle Times, smokers are feeling a sense of doom regarding the impending vote on Initiative 901, which would ban smoking in public places and within 25 feet of their doorways in Washington.
Meanwhile, the debate rages on unabated in The Stranger Forums. There's still time to vent your spleen on this hot-button issue before the Nov. 8 vote. Nearly everybody and her brother has done so already…
posted by October 24 at 2:58 PMon
I believe P.M. Dawn still spend weeknights rolling around, fat and naked, in big piles of "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" money…As for KRS-One, he's amazing, and he's still doing it, and hurrah for that. But regarding his shoving of the "faggoty" Prince Be: Kris has issues…and a quick listen to BDP's "Super Hoe," in which KRS spends a whole song intricately praising the sexy lovemaking skills of his partner Scott LaRock (RIP) gives a hint of their possible origin.
I imagine alluding to the possible homosexual urges of, say, Suge Knight is a one-way ticket to the morgue. But maybe KRS-One will be content to merely shove me off a stage sometime…
posted by on October 24 at 2:55 PM
Thanks to Ian Jeffries for passing along the work of Elizabeth Hickok, an incredible talent who recreated San Francisco out of Jell-O. I'd love to see how her city wiggles during earthquakes.
posted by October 24 at 2:42 PMon
I can tell you where KRS-One will be tonight—at the Chop Suey. But can any of you tell me where P.M. Dawn is going to be tonight—or, for that matter, where they were yesterday, last month, last year, five years ago? Who knows and who cares.
posted by on October 24 at 12:59 PM
It's truly amazing what one guy (Jason Kronenwald) can do with a little love of celebrities and a lot of gum.
posted by October 24 at 12:11 PMon
Hurrah for Dave Segal's defense of P.M. Dawn. They made some gorgeous, visionary music (whose success and/or failure as "real hiphop" is none of my concern) and I'm glad to hear someone who was paying attention at the time offer another reading of the KRS-One bullshit.
i've gotten conflicting reports on KRS-One's motives for the shoving of Prince Be, with the sleaziest being blatant anti-faggotism (this is Sean Nelson's version) and the most logical being KRS-One's semi-justified resentment of PM Dawn's vast commercial success, with the shamelessly pop-friendly Prince Be going multi-platinum while landmarks like Criminal Minded struggled to get anywhere near gold (as a BDP lover, this is the version I try to sell myself). If anyone has other theories, please share them with me in the Slog Forum.
In the meantime, thanks, Davestanding up for P.M. Dawn in 2005 is arguably as daring as Prince Be's unapologetically soft hiphop was in '91.
posted by on October 24 at 12:09 PM
Tonight marks the CD release for Common Market, a local hiphop act whose new CD has become a Stranger favorite. Come hear what all the fuss is (rightly) about at Chop Suey (KRS-One headlines).
posted by on October 24 at 11:48 AM
I just got back from a whirlwind trip to New York to visit my sister…and like most people, I return completely inspired by all the energy that city has to offer. I mostly loved hearing about and hitting different clubs nights. We hit a gay bar called Nowhere where not only was the bartender extra friendly (free shots!), but Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields and ABC's David Yarritu co-host a weekly there called Runt. The hilarious concept for the night is that it's for short gay men and the men who love them…one friend who went said all men are given nametags upon arrival announcing their exact height. We also hit the Original Gypsymania at Bulgarian Bar, where, when he's not touring, Gogol Bordello's DJ Hutz spins "transglobal debauchery." Stories of promotional parties held in penthouses and invites to cell phone companies with rock star DJs made the allure of New York that much stronger. It makes you realize pulling off a fresh concept for a regular night is hard work—but when done well, it can really help light up a city. (Of course, the opposite is also true—the Suicide Girl-looking chick gyrating in one LES bar window was as alluring as dog shit on the nearby sidewalk. And lack of interest from bar patrons around her seemed to emphasize the point that that whole schtick has run its course).
posted by on October 24 at 11:45 AM
Charles Mudede's Stranger Suggests on KRS-One implies that the rapper's 1992 beatdown of P.M. Dawn was laudable. I beg to differ.
posted by October 24 at 11:22 AMon
Yes, Mother Nature's on a suicide mission and the U.S. government's on the verge of being paralyzed by indictments, but here's the only news story I can care about this morning: Singer Prince Needs A New Hip.
Yes, it's truethanks to several decades spent funkifying on high heels, the mighty Prince (AKA Little Big Head) is shopping for a hip replacement….I am officially ten thousand years old…
posted by October 23 at 8:06 PMon
It's official: New Times, the Phoenix-based alt-weekly chain with 11 papers, will merge with Village Voice Media (VVM), a chain of six alt-weeklies that includes the Village Voice, LA Weekly, and Seattle Weekly. The combined chain will have 17 papers.
The deal was confirmed by a top-level New Times executive tonight in a phone call. The exec described the deal as a merger. It will take a couple of months for the deal to be finalized, and they won't "have the keys to the carâ until Christmas or the first of the year.
Moments after the phone call, a story went up on the New York Times website about the deal. The NYT described it like this:
The company that publishes the Village Voice and five other alternative newspapers is to announce today an agreement to be acquired by New Times Media, the largest publisher in the market.
Hm… a merger? Not according to the NYT. The VVM chain, including Seattle Weekly, is being "acquired,â says the NYT, which implies that New Times is in control and VVM was in a less powerful position than previously believed.
What's it all mean? Well, the NYT frets that the sale of VVM will "undoubtedly raise questions about whether the Voice and its siblings can preserve their anti-establishment roots as part of a growing corporation.â
Excuse me? Prior to being purchased by New Times, VVM was owned by Goldman Sachs, Weisspeck & Greer, and Canadian Imperial. Prior to being owned by that collection of anti-establishment investment bankers, the Voice and its sibs (including Seattle Weekly) were owned by pet-food magnateand billionaire investorLeonard Stern. Prior to being owned by Stern, the Voice was owned by that right-wing whack-job Rupert Murdoch. With its purchase by New Times, the VVM chain will be owned by a smaller, more anti-establishment corporation than it has been in years.
What's it mean for Seattle Weekly? I know for a fact that the New Times folks don't think very highly of Seattle Weekly`s editorial content, editorial staffers, or the gap between Seattle Weekly`s towering self-regard and Seattle Weekly`s limp product. If I were a Weekly staffer, I would get my resumé out therewhich is something many nervous Weekly staffers have already been doing. But the SW staffer with the dampest panties tonight? SW publisher Terry Coe, who used to be the publisher of Riverfront Times, a New Times paper in St. Louis. There's no love lost between Coe and his old bosses, we hear.
What's it mean for The Stranger? Seattle Weekly tried to spin the merger/acquisition as trouble for The Stranger in a self-serving piece a few months ago:
In Seattle, aggressive tactics by a merged company controlled by New Times could be trouble for The Stranger, the smaller, locally controlled weekly here.
The problem with this analysis is that the Weekly has been bought and sold twice alreadyand both times the new owners and old timers at the Weekly made the same prediction: The sale spelled doom for The Stranger. But today The Stranger is actually the larger weekly in Seattle (not the smaller paperfile that under wishful thinking), and predictions of The Stranger`s demise have been premature. As Josh Feit wrote in The Stranger…
This isn't the first time the Weekly has predicted doom for The Stranger after a larger company bought up our competition: The same thing happened in 1997, when the Weekly was purchased by Stern Publishing, which owned the Village Voice. The result? The "endangeredâ Stranger grew and became more relevant while the Weekly started to slip. Before the Stern buyout, the Weekly averaged 37 pages larger per week than The Stranger. By 2000, three years later, the Weekly averaged only 10 pages larger per week than The Stranger.
In 2000, the Weekly was bought out a second time, when Stern sold his papers to VVM and its investment bankers, including Goldman Sachs and Weiss Peck & Greer. (Goldman Sachs is a huge contributor to George W. Bush, by the way.) The result? The "endangeredâ Stranger grew even more and the Seattle Weekly continued its decline. Today, the Weekly averages 7 pages smaller than The Stranger. Hey, check out last week's papers, when the city's biggest community event, Bumbershoot, fueled a 156-page Stranger and a 112-page Weekly. Every time a larger company has gobbled up the Weekly and tried to prop it up, The Stranger has emerged stronger than before.
Stranger publisher Tim Keck is certainly upbeat about the news:
"On a strictly personal level I think it's going to be better," he said. "I'll have a brand-new competitor with a whole different lineup. Didn't the Globetrotters get tired of the Washington Generals? I know I've tired of the killjoys on Western Avenue. It will be like getting new carpet in my officea refreshing change."
posted by October 23 at 6:33 PMon
It wasn't the blowjob that got him in trouble, it was the lying about the blowjobthat was the impeachable offense, the reason Bill Clinton just had to be removed from office at all costs.
Well, the Rs established perjuryjust perjuryas a high crime and/or misdemeanor, the constitutional requirement for impeachment. And now that it looks like a special prosecutor is about to bring perjury charges against everyone inside the White House `cept Barney, suddenly perjury doesn't seem so terrible. Apparently the Rs are attempting to define criminal deviancy down. On Meet the Press this weekend Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson had this to say:
I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation were not a waste of time and dollars.
Yeah, wouldn't it be terrible if Rove or Libby or Cheney or even Bush were all indicted on "some perjury technicality,â and not an actual crimeyou know, like Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, or Lil' Kim? Clinton got impeached, Stewart was sent to prison, and Lil' Kim is currently serving a year in jail, all on "perjury technicalities.â
So are we all equal under the law? Or are some political animals more equal than others? Will the Republicans who outed Valerie Plame, and then lied about it, go to jail? Or will they get pardons and Medals of Freedom? I don't doubt that Bush would pardon all involvedjust like his daddy pardoned the Iran/Contra crooks. Says Aravosis:
What happens if Bush pardons Rove, Libby, Cheney or anyone else for leaking the name of a CIA agent during wartime? Bush is just cowboy enough to do it. The nation will be in an uproar over it, but he doesn't care. He's King George. Granted, the Republicans will probably lose both houses of Congress if Bush pulls that stunt, but he pulled Harriet out of his hat, to hell with Congress.
So what should the Democratic response be if Bush pardons any of the PlameGate traitors?
posted by October 23 at 5:58 PMon
…and he's not happy with me.
Hey, Dan. I'm the editor of Seattlest.com and I also grew up in Chicago, but in a White Sox family. Just like your family we also had stories about the team across town and its fans, but when I got older I realized that Northsiders probably don't eat their babies or blame their own fans for post-season collapses. I don't know if you have some specific experiences that would lead you to believe that any White Sox fan would find a World Series victory bittersweet because of the racial makeup of the management group, but I suspect that you got sold a bill of goods by your older brother that you should think twice about before propegating. Actually, we're quite proud of the
leadership of the team this year be they black, white, hispanic or Klingon.
I think you should check out this Sun Times article that profles Cubs and Sox fans. We're the same.
You've already half retracted on the Slog, but maybe you should note that while White Sox fans are incredilby happy that the diversity of the city of Chicago is reflected in their manager and GM, those
positions are still just employees like any other in the organization. True progressives should be cheering a team like the Angels who are the first team to be owned by a non white guy. The Sox already beat them, though, and if you're going to pick sides in the World Series based on the political views of the average fan, note that the White Sox are from Chicago and the Astros are from Bush country. And that's not even mentioning the vaious vocal Christian fundementalists that reside on Houston's pitching staff (Clemens, Pettite). I think the choice is clear.
Go Go Sox
Dan Gonsiorowski
Wait a minute, Dan: Cubs fans don't eat babies? Then what the hell was in that stew my mother served every year on opening day?
And sorry about no Sox posts todayI was in an airplane all damn day long… so, like, who won?
Update: I just checked out the Chicago Tribune's website. Apparently the game is still going on. It's all tied up in the 3rd inning, and Harriet Miers is toast.


text:
Tiran Island Cruise and Snorkeling
Review score
Tiran Island Cruise and Snorkeling information and booking
Tour description provided by Viator
Sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling - is there any better way to spend a day in the Egyptian sun? Escape the desert for a day of relaxation around the protected white sandy Tiran Island. Crystal clear blue water, lagoons and colorful coral reefs are waiting to be explored around Tiran Island, located north east of Sharm El Sheikh in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Enjoy sun bathing on the sun deck, snorkeling at the three different spots on the reef and swim with a variety of different colored fishes, on a fantastic day of fun and sun.Bring your own snorkeling equipment, or make use of the boat's equipment which is available to hire (approx. USD5.00). Soft drinks and mineral waters are available throughout the day, and lunch will be served in the afternoon.
What's included
- Cruise
- Lunch
- Hotel pickup and drop off
- Soft drinks and mineral water throughout the day
What isn't included
- Gratuities (optional)
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Snorkeling equipment hire (approximate to hire usd5.00)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Vendors to launch smartphones supporting biometrics recognition
Mobile + telecom | 2h 16min ago
China market: Oppo raises 2016 smartphone shipment target to 100 million units, says paper
Mobile + telecom - Newswatch | 4h 7min ago
Silicon Motion raises 2016 revenue outlook
Bits + chips | 4h 9min ago
Oculus tying up with Asustek to promote Rift, says paper
IT + CE - Newswatch | 4h 10min ago
Taiwan June manufacturing production index down on month, up on year, says MOEA
Bits + chips | 4h 12min ago
Wah Hong Industrial to start Cd-free QDEF production in 4Q16
Displays | 4h 13min ago
Ardentec to buy 75% stake in Giga
Bits + chips | 4h 15min ago
Taiwan server shipment forecast and industry analysis, 2016
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Apr 1, 15:47
Strong demand from the cloud computing market helped Taiwan's server shipments grow 12.5% on year to break 10 million units in 2015, accounting for 90.7% of worldwide shipments and the percentage is expected to grow to 91.1% in 2016. This Digitimes Research Special...
China smartphone touch-panel industry 2016 forecast
CHINA SMARTPHONE | Feb 6, 17:23
In 2016, China's smartphone panel capacity is expected to increase steadily, with BOE and Tianma expanding 6G capacity and GVO and Truly Optoelectronics increasing their share of handset panel production. This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the key...
Global tablet market – 1Q 2016
GLOBAL TABLET | Jun 1, 14:09
There were an estimated 44.89 million tablets shipped globally during the first quarter of 2016, falling 31.3% on quarter and 12.1% on year.
China smartphone AP shipments – 1Q 2016
CHINA SMARTPHONE AP | May 27, 16:04
First-quarter 2016 smartphone AP shipments in China were slow with a sequential decrease of 16.9%.
TAIWAN MOBILE DEVICE | May 26, 16:04
Taiwan's handset brand vendors and ODMs both saw sharp declines in their shipments in the first quarter of 2016. The brand vendors' shipments will improve in the second quarter due to launches of new models, but the ODM shipments will drop further.
Touch panel makers shift to industrial control, automotive applications
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jul 18, 15:23
Japan telecom carriers reduce number of smartphones for summer
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jul 13, 14:26
June 7W LED light bulb prices down in China market
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jul 11, 22:02
Truly more likely to buy Samsung Display 7G LCD equipment
CHINA FPD | Jul 11, 15:03
Growing popularity of VR/AR devices to boost component demand
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jul 6, 11:28
Samsung Display AMOLED shipments to increase to 560 million units in 2019
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 28, 20:32
Samsung Display, LG Display to keep expanding AMOLED capacities
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 24, 15:07
NFC-based mobile payments will struggle to replace 3rd-party e-payments in China
CHINA SMARTPHONE | Jun 22, 21:23
Tablet AP shipments in China to decrease 2.9% in 2016
CHINA SMARTPHONE AP | Jun 22, 21:21
IoT development faced with problems
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 20, 21:22
Worldwide notebook shipment update - May 2016
TAIWAN MOBILE DEVICE | Jun 20, 15:15
Major notebook vendors and ODMs see over 30% on-month growth in May
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 15, 22:30
Global touch panel shipments for smartphones, notebooks to rise in 2Q16
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 15, 12:22
Tablet AP shipments in China to rise 6% in 2Q16
RESEARCH EXTRAS | Jun 8, 13:59
China makers to ship over 180 million touch panels in 2Q16
CHINA FPD | Jun 6, 15:42
- Blogs
- Press releases
- Fab tool book-to-bill slips
- Wireless charging to become major feature in mobile devices
- Worldwide smartwatch market experiences first decline as shipments fall 32% in 2Q16, says IDC
- Innolux cooperates with Next Biometrics to develop flexible fingerprint sensor
- Micron to acquire Cando plant
- Asustek to raise UK PC prices by 9% in October
- Samsung invests in China-based BYD
- Worldwide semiconductor capital spending to drop 0.7% in 2016, says Gartner
- TWM to cooperate with Nokia in 5G
- PMOLED more competitive than AMOLED for small-size panels, says RiTdisplay chairman
- Taiwan market: Asia Pacific Telecom to introduce Pepper into local market
- Epistar hikes prices for large-size LED chips due to higher DLC standards
- Latin America on track to install 2.7GW of solar-PV capacity in 2016, IHS says
- ASML expects to post record sales for 2016
- Corning unveils Gorilla Glass 5
- Digitimes Research: Technology remains key to MediaTek growth
- Green Energy Technology obtains Taiwan patent for wafer-processing solution
- Chip shipments for VR devices to boom
- Gudeng lands wafer carrier orders from SMIC, says paper
- Epistar AlGaInP LED chip order visibility through October, says paper
- MSI becomes the largest gaming notebook vendor worldwide, says paper
- Wistron slightly reduces 2015 dividend
- Sensor sales keep hitting new records but price erosion curbs growth, says IC Insights
- Foxconn-incubated Ceewa launches sports drone
- Sharp to roll out new smartphone utilizing MediaTek 10-core chip, says report
Industry integration, 5G and IoT applications: Q&A with Qualcomm president Derek Aberle
Qualcomm president Derek Aberle spared his time with Digitimes for an exclusive interview...
Powering the cloud: Intel embraces new identity
The next wave of computing is now beginning to define the IT industry, where the boundaries of computing...
2016 will be the year of USB Type C and DisplayPort is along for the ride: Q&A with Analogix
At this point most consumers are not that familiar with the USB Type C specification but it has the...
The smartphone ambition: Q&A with Asustek CEO Jerry Shen
Buoyed by its ZenFone series smartphones, Asustek Computer has captured a portion of the global smartphone...
- Smartphone and tablet industry: The view from Taiwan - May 2012
Taiwan-based companies have a long and successful history of involvement in the supply chain for mobile devices, which for the purposes of this article consist...
- Taiwan handset overview - Jun 2010
The global handset market did not have a banner year in 2009, with overall shipments of 1.167 billion units representing a drop of 3.2% from the previous year,...
- Taiwan handset industry overview - Jun 2008
The use of handsets continues to grow around the world, both in mature and emerging markets, as the communication devices become ever more ingrained in people's...
- Taiwan handset overview - Jun 2007
Global handset shipments topped 977 million units in 2006, according to Digitimes Research, with Taiwan-based handset makers accounting for 14% of the market on...
25-Jul-2016 markets closed
|TSE electronic
|OTC electronic
- Wireless broadband developments in Southeast Asia markets
As of 2013, the 10 ASEAN nations had a total of over 700 million mobile subscriptions, with the CAGR from 2003-2013 reaching 24%. This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the various mobile broadband markets in ASEAN and looks at the respective trends in 4G LTE development for those markets.
- 2015 global tablet demand forecast
This Digitimes Research Special Report provides a 2015 forecast for the global tablet market and analyzes the strategies of key market players such as Google, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft.
- 2015 China smartphone panel trend forecast
This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the strategies of key China-based major panel makers BOE, Tianma and IVO for attacking the different market segments through technology and pricing, and their relationship to local vendors Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, Xiaomi and Coolpad.


text:
I have two unrelated wordpress installations, both with All in one SEO pack installed.
On one of them, when I go to edit posts/pages (the page that lists the posts/pages), it has 3 extra columns for each post/page which lists the Title, Description and Keywords that have been applied.
However, on the other installation it doesn't, and I need it to. Does anyone know how to get it to do this?
I didn't do anything with the other installation other than activate the plugin, so I'm not sure why it's working on one and not the other.


text:
In preparation for making my Leviathan game engine, i realized I have only researched 2D graphics up to level 3. Are 2D graphics ever better than 3D graphics of the same level, for particular genres perhaps, or is it strictly a cost thing?
Yes they are equal at some levels.
Graphics are calculated as tech level during the review phase. 3D graphics only overtake 2D graphics at V4, and every version after that. 3D V2 and 2D V2/3 are all equal, as well as 3D V3 and 2D V4/5.


text:
Re: A Party… In the Park?
This decision, if it goes our way, is about full civic equality for Washington state's gay and lesbian citizens, and the celebration should take place in a shared civic space, not in a park in the gay neighborhood where gay men have sex in bushes.
Dan, the marriages have to be consummated somewhere.


text:
Entries in 'voice actors' (4)
Voice actors union gives strike the go-ahead
Proposals for video game voice actors to strike have met with major support from members of SAG-AFTRA.
VIDEO: Lego Dimensions shows off laundry list of big-name voice talent
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a new video showcasing the ridiculous amount of voice acting talent gathered for its upcoming action adventure title Lego Dimensions.
Alec Baldwin turned down GTA role, "incomprehensible amount" of money
Actor Alec Baldwin claims he turned down a ludicrous sum of money to voice the role of a mob man in Grand Theft Auto 2.
Grand Theft Auto V voice actors defend title against game violence critics
The three stars behind GTA V protagonists Franklin, Michael and Trevor have justified the violence in Rockstar's hugely successful game.


text:
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet prime minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah on Friday evening in a bid to dissuade him from resigning, a source close to the premier said.
Hamdallah presented his resignation on Thursday, only two weeks after taking office, in the latest crisis for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
"A meeting will be held at 6 pm (1500 GMT) between Abbas and Hamdallah, in which Abbas will try to convince Hamdallah to withdraw his resignation," the source told AFP.
On Thursday evening, Hamdallah met top officials of the president's office and the head of Palestinian intelligence, who tried to "convince him to withdraw his resignation," the source added.
"There they decided to hold a meeting today (Friday) between him and Abbas in the president's headquarters in Ramallah to solve the crisis."


text:
The Blue Springs North Branch of Mid-Continent Public Library is offering the following activities for the month of July. The library is located at 850 N.W. Hunter Drive. All activities are free, but registration is required, call 816-224-8772.
• Kids at the Library, for ages 6 and older, 2 p.m. July 1, 15 and 29. Make crafts, perform science experiments, play games and more.
• Library Magic and Mental Show, for ages 7 and older, 10 a.m. July 9. During Larry MacDonald's unique mental magic show, he'll baffle you as he predicts the unpredictable and knows the unknown. Become a part of the show as his antics keep you laughing.
• Teens at the Library, 6:30 p.m. July 14. Make crafts, watch movies, play games and more.
• Cartooning for Kids, for ages 8 and older, 2 p.m. July 16. Learn the basics of cartooning, from scribble art to sketching, to turning shapes into characters. Kids will learn about texture, contrast, shading, blocking, overlapping and much more.
• How Does the Eagle Soar, for all ages, 10 a.m. July 16. Join Operation Wildlife to meet an eagle and discover their nesting patterns and other fun facts.
• The Magic of Science, for all ages, 10 a.m. July 23. Picture this: A magic trunk containing a magician's handbook and inside the book are magic tricks representing science from chemistry to physics, biology to astronomy and more. Kids will guide Tommy Terrific through a magical adventure.
• Teen Lock-In, 6:30 p.m. July 25. When the library shuts down, it's time for the teens to party it up! Join in this crazy time full of fun, friends and food! Registration and a signed permission form are required.
• Anime Movie Night, for teens, 6:30 p.m. July 29. Call to see what's playing
• Fantastic Fowl, for all ages, 10 a.m. July 30. This puppet show includes some wise crackin' chickens. There will be giggles galore as storytellers share their favorite stories.
– Jillayne Ritchie
Location, ST | website.com