The Truffle

This blog has just GOT to be bogus. (Via Running Scared)

There's another heat wave rolling toward the northeastern US. Why should California and the midwest have all the fun? Surely NYC is up for a few more days of 100-degree weather. Right? Man, am I nervous about the coming week. Especially with Kevin "Denial Ain't a River in Egypt" Burke as the man ultimately responsible for this city's power grid. Note this little nugget of comedy gold: Burke says despite the failure of 10 out of 22 feeder cables in northwest Queens, the area's power network has a better performance record than others around the city. "Despite the failure of 10 out of 22 feeder cables." BWAH! The NY Daily News weighs in on the matter, faulting the Public Service Commission along with Con Ed. It points to a report by attorney general Eliot Spitzer that Con Ed's feeder cables have had a tendency to fail; seven cables went down in 1999. Spitzer has said that if elected governor, he'd whip the Public Service Commission in...

So sayeth Charles Barkley, who wants to run for governor of Alabama in 2010 as a Democrat.

Kevin Burke, Con Ed's CEO, is trying to do damage control. Uh...Kevvie? It's nice that you want to win back our trust, but don't you think you should try to UPGRADE YOUR COMPANY'S INFRASTRUCTURE first?

Yes, I needed that extended weekend. Le Sweetie and I joined friends at their cabin and spent the time hiking, horseback riding, swimming, and visiting an amusement park. The hiking, swimming, and horseback riding were cool. The amusement park...well, it wasn't Great Adventure, but hey. Last time we were there, we went to a different water park that was really nice, so perhaps one day we'll go back there. I came home to find that the electricity was still here. A good sign!

On Thursday, I leave for the Poconos, where friends have a cottage. Out in the picturesque wilderness, where things are usually dark for a reason (i.e., it's night and you're out in the middle of nowhere). After camping out at Le Sweetie's for four days, I get to spend more quality time with Le Sweetie (and friends) without having to follow the Con Ed follies on NY1. Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Northwest Queens may have spent a whole week suffering in the heat and darkness, but it seems we're not alone. See Parenthetical Remarks for more. Meanwhile, Dusty over at It's My Right to Be Left of Center is experiencing brownouts and oppressive heat over in central California. Misery shore loves company, don't it?

Yes, NYC's power company, Con (Artists) Edison spent about a week bungling and lying and bungling some more before they finally got all the power back up in northwestern Queens. For some, the power first went out on Monday, 7/17. As mentioned earlier, this blogger gal noted that something was, well, not right on Tuesday as her AC grumbled its way through the night in 100-degree weather. Boy, was that fun. As it turns out, my apartment was experiencing a brownout, and the power grew dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. Wednesday, the power was almost gone, Astoria was in the dark, and I came home to a fridge full of spoiled food and melted frozen spinach. With cooking not an option, I found one restaurant that was still open. I walked there and back with a flashlight in hand. It felt like camping, only without the s'mores and Girl Scout leaders singing folk songs. No, there was no looting or burlary. Just a lot of really pissed off people walking around on a humid summer night....

For one thing, there's no electricity to make said blogging possible. That said, my neighborhood of Astoria, Queens was in the dark for about a week. I had a brownout in my own apartment starting on Tuesday, meaning that my 60-watt light bulbs were operating at 10 watts and all my food was ruined. And this dragged on from Tuesday until Sunday or so. AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGH! There are still about 3,000 people in Woodside who still haven't gotten their power back, and it's been over a week. Luckily, I had Le Sweetie to provide me with a place to sleep that had electricity and A/C, but it still sucked to see my neighborhood (along with four others) in the dark. I'll offer more opinions on the con artists at Con Ed and the mayor's response to this fiasco later...

Can't Bush just keep his mouth shut for the rest of the presidential term? Here's the scoop from CNN: During a joint news conference Saturday in St. Petersburg, Bush said he raised concerns about democracy in Russia during a frank discussion with the Russian leader. "I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same," Bush said. To that, Putin replied, "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq, quite honestly." I imagine Putin desperately trying to keep a straight face as he spoke. Via Mockingbird's Medley.

Peter Coors, former GOP Senate candidate and scion of the family that makes crappy beer, has been arrested for drunk driving.

Spent yesterday in the sun in fun, sunny, funky, exciting Coney Island! Le Sweetie and I were there for the Village Voice's Siren Music Festival, a free event starring cool indie bands on two different stages. We met up with several friends and spent the afternoon listening to music, eating hot dogs, and, of course, going on the rides. The Siren Festival is set right in the middle of Coney Island's Astroland amusement park, home of the world-famous Coney Island Cyclone. Every time I visit Coney Island, I take a few minutes to gaze longingly at the Cyclone. The coaster seems to beckon silently: "Come on...jump aboard! You know you want to!!!" Le Sweetie doesn't quite share the coaster love. In fact, he needs someone (usually me) to hold his hand. He also needs to keep his eyes closed. In fact, this time he decided to pass on riding the Cyclone and I jumped aboard with a friend. C'mon, doesn't this picture make you want to head for the nearest amusement par...

No one is united All things are untied Perhaps we're boiling over inside They've been telling lies Who's been telling lies? There are no angels There are devils in many ways Take it like a man The world's a mess it's in my kiss The world's a mess it's in my kiss You can take it back Pull it out of the fire Pull it out In the bottom of the night Pull it out Chords of red-disease Drag on the system Drag on my head and body There are some facts here That refuse to escape I could say it stronger But it's too much trouble I was wondering down at the bricks Hectic, isn't it? Down we go Cradle and all From "The World's a Mess (It's in My Kiss)". Words and music by John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Recorded by X. Mind you, X guitarist Billy Zoom has since become a born-again Limbaugh listener (sigh), but it's still a great--and very appropriate--song for the beginning of the twenty-first century. Even if it was recorded in 1980.

Apparently, the Young America Foundation refused to issue press credentials to a reporter from CampusProgress.org and said they'd also deny credentials to The Nation and Alternet. Here's the whole story. What's YAF afraid of, anyway? It's all over again deja vu as the American people decide the GOP has overstayed its welcome. And just twelve years after that great GOP sweep. That long-term Republican majority didn't last long, did it? This is just stomach-wrenching. Even the tabloids think it's repulsive. (Via Debsweb ) What can I say about the Israel/Lebanon/Hamas/Hizbollah conflict that hasn't been said before? It's really making me nervous. Best case scenario? It's one of those Israeli/Arab conflicts that doesn't last longer than a few days. Worst case scenario? Don't ask.

"I and my former colleagues trusted the government to protect us in our jobs." So said Valerie Plame yesterday, at a press conference with her husband, Joe Wilson. They have now filed a civil suit against Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. For three years, Plame has remained silent while her husband took her case against Bushco to the American people. Lest anyone think this is a victimless crime, I should add that Plame specialized in nonconventional weapons and had extensive contacts in the Middle East--contacts who may well be dead by now. Novak, the guy who blew her cover, even admitted as much. And yes, wingnuts, she was indeed a covert operative. The CIA said so. Former CIA agent Larry Johnson has more, for anyone non-Kool Aid drinkers. Amazing how the extremists will go into a homicidal rage over The New York Times but conveniently overlook the outing of a CIA agent. Gee, you don't think that outing a CIA agent specializing in WMDs somehow hurts national security...

That's Ms. Liberal Airhead to you. (Via The Green Knight )

Tucker Carlson weighs in on immigration: Tucker Carlson: Those may be -- nationally those stats may be correct. You may have -- you may be counting Hispanic immigrants from Puerto Rico or Cuba, but those two countries make up less than 1 percent of the Hispanic immigrants in Dallas, Texas. For the kazillionth time, Puerto Ricans are NOT immigrants. Puerto Rico is NOT a foreign country. It's a US territory; hence, Puerto Ricans are US citizens. This is common knowledge...or at least it should be. Maybe wearing those bow ties interrupted the blood flow to Li'l Tucker's brain all those years. First Paste-Eating Pete, now this. (Via Eschaton )

Well, he might read a story in The Onion about a lady named Caroline Weber and how thrilled she is to be getting an abortion. And he just might blow a gasket. He might then respond with a strident, rather humorless post. Something along the lines of: Miss Weber, you have killed your child, which you admit is a baby/human being, intentionally. That does make you an admitted murderer. I'm not going to "condemn you to hell", I'm going to pray for your forgiveness and for the suffering which you will endure when you realize what you have done. Every baby you see from that moment on is going to wake you up to the realization that you killed your child. Needless to say, he might then get a flood of comments, all seeking to educate him as to the facts: namely, that the article was a humorous piece in a paper that specializes in humor, that Caroline "Yippee, I'm Having an Abortion!" Weber does not in fact exist. Confronted with these undeniable facts, he wou...

...Hence this blog's sunny new look. I was just in a really summery mood.

So why Homeland Security cut NYC's funding by 40 percent? Well, it seems this city doesn't have any assets worth protecting, while other states do. That's right, the Empire State Building is not a national asset, but our country's petting zoos, flea markets, and popcorn factories are. See, there's something called the National Asset Database, and according to this database, Indiana is one big ol' bullseye for terrorists, with 8,591 "assets." What kind of assets? Well, it has Amish County Popcorn. I didn't know the Amish even made popcorn. The company's owner could come up with only one explanation: "Maybe because popcorn explodes?" Le Sweetie suggests, "I think they should also delist 1600 Pennsylvannia Ave as a threat since they're obviously not doing any defense for this country."