Deadline Hollywood: “Some of the approximately 300 stores are reaching the end of their lease and others are closing based on overall performance,” company spokesman John Hall says. Blockbuster put any number of local video stores out of business in rural areas, and now the Blockbusters are closing. I know if you want to rent […]
Paul Constant
Posted inReligion
Mark Driscoll on President Obama’s Inauguration
Mars Hill Pastor Mark “God’s Tool” Driscoll tweeted about the inauguration this morning: Hey, Pastor Mark: Go fuck yourself. (Via Christian Nightmares.)
Posted inTech
Mourning Father Says Aaron Swartz Was “Killed By the Government”
The Chicago Sun-Times says: Aaron Swartz was “killed by the government,” his father, Robert Swartz said at a memorial service Tuesday morning for the 26-year-old tech genius who killed himself in the face of felony charges he’d stolen millions of files from MIT. Swartz said his son was “hounded by the government, and MIT refused […]
Posted inTransportation
Because It’s Never to Early to Learn About the Pleasures of Security Theater
Behold the Amazon page for the Playmobil Security Check Point, which comes with an adorable metal detector, little plastic x-ray machine, two FAA agents, some luggage, and a highly suspicious “passenger.” But don’t miss the delightful reviews: I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 […]
Posted inFood and Drink
If You’re Not a Hip New Restaurant, You’re Probably in Trouble
Josh Ozersky at Time says last year was a tough one for restaurants: It’s been a rough stretch for restaurants. While gastrocrats continue to support supper high-end tweezer-food palaces, the middle-of-the-road places have been hit hard by the recession. According to the market research company NPD Group, restaurant visits in the U.S. fell from 62.7 […]
Posted inPolitics
Joe Biden Will Make His Gun Control Recommendations on Tuesday
Vice President Biden has met with the NRA and Walmart, and he’s preparing his gun control recommendations for the president. He’ll announce them on Tuesday, Huffington Post reports: “There is really a very tight window to do this,” [Biden] told the press corps during his announcement Thursday. The recommendations are expected to address a number […]
Posted inMedia
Glenn Beck Thinks He’s Now the Great Libertarian Hope
Yeah, sure: Glenn Beck announced plans Tuesday during his online television program to expand the news operation in his media company, The Blaze, and refocus it as a libertarian network, opening three foreign bureaus, debuting a nightly newsmagazine show, and relocating his New York staff to showy new offices. Glenn Beck is about as libertarian […]
Posted inMovies & TV
It’s Twilight‘s Year at the Razzies
Tomorrow is the day the Oscar nominations are announced, which means today is the day the Golden Raspberry Awards, which “celebrate” the worst Hollywood has to offer, announce their nominees. I think this is going to be the year for Twilight to sweep the Razzies, in much the same way that Return of the King […]
Posted inPolitics
What Happens If Republicans Breach the Debt Ceiling?
Ezra Klein at The Washington Post says the Bipartisan Policy Center is predicting that the “debt ceiling doomsday” will happen sometime in the second half of February. From there, unless congressional Republicans play nice, it will get ugly: Imagine we hit the debt ceiling Feb. 15. The BPC’s analysis suggests that federal spending over the […]
Posted inPolitics
What Do You Think of the Trillion-Dollar Coin?
Last Thursday, a new whitehouse.gov petition urged President Obama to mint a trillion-dollar coin to avoid the next debt crisis: With the creation and Treasury deposit of a new platinum coin with a value of $1 trillion US Dollars, we would avert the absurd-yet-imminent debt ceiling faceoff in Congress in two quick and simple steps! […]
Posted inPolitics
I Guess We Should Be Grateful He Didn’t Use the Word “Orientals”
Media Matters noticed that Bill O’Reilly decided he had a lot to say about Asian-Americans yesterday. Here’s video: The money shot is this: “…Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They’re usually more industrious and hard-working.” There is so much wrong with those two sentences that I don’t even know where to begin. […]
Posted inPolitics
Joe Biden’s Greatest Hits
ThinkProgress assembled a compilation of Joe Biden’s schmoozing highlights from earlier today. It’s charming and creepy and funny and cringe-worthy, all at once: Joe Biden 2016: He’ll whisper softly in your ear until he wins your vote!