Making posts out of nothing at all.

I got a couple of great new CDs: Once (Soundtrack) and Mike Doughty's Golden Delicious. I am revelling in fantastic new music. I miss buying music all the time. I've decided to go back to buying more music, even though it is costly. I will pile them on the floor and roll around in amazing noise!

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I had a date on Friday, with that tricky young man and the long and short of it is that he is a wily bastard and if I am not carefully I will find myself disoriented in Vegas with a ring on my finger.
You see, I had a plan. A plan to make him not like me. It failed.
Miserably.
I wanted to bring up ex's, marriage, politics, religion, my family, and in spite of the fact that looked at my phone 4 times, he was not discouraged.
At the end of the date, nestled in a crowd of people waiting for tables, he asked if he could take me out again. I notified him that that is a violation of the rules; and then I said sure, because people were looking at me like, 'you are a bitch'.
So I guess now I have to dodge his phone calls for the next week until I'm in the clear. If he doesn't leave a voicemail I won't call him back. If he does I'll wait 4 days and then be too busy to hang out with him.
If this doesn't work, I will registering for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and new baking dishes from Crate & Barrel- so cross your fingers. Or it'll cost ya.

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Saturday Paul & I checked out the AMC Best Picture movie marathon in Kent. Starting at 11 am:

Michael Clayton- which I had thought I would have no interest in, but it was incredible and certainly the best narrative film. My favorite of the bunch. I loved the conditional morality and it reminded me in some ways of Wall Street. American capitalism gone mad. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

There Will Be Blood- was very well made. It was a character or maybe mood piece and the acting was amazing, but at the end I was left with a meh sort of 'well that was a movie wherein nothing happened'. I guess there was no standard story structure and it bugged me. 4 out of 5 monkeys for being diverting and having such great acting.

Atonement- I read (see skimmed) the book, so I cheated. The movie was quite good. The costuming and cinematography were excellent. Paul and I were impressed by the casting. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

Juno- I am a killjoy, and while I laughed, I felt like it was overworked, with Juno's every sentence crammed tight with flippant talk and music likings that were pretentious and a bit out of character. So intentionally aiming for that youthful indie audience. Bleh. I still liked it- but I could never love it. 4 out of 5 monkeys.

No Country for Old Men- I also read this (although I didn't spend a lot of brain on it). It was a better movie than a book. It was done very well, but it also did not have a standard narrative format. There was a collective groan and boo when the movie ended. It was very good through. 5 out of 5 monkeys.

Quick Thoughts

1. Last week I dreamt that I was sitting with Dean Kamen on his private island and we were discussing (read kind of arguing) about the Segway, which we were referring to as Ginger, which any nerd will understand. Anyway and finally I bellowed, “Dude [yes I totally called Dean Kamen ‘dude’] Ginger will never revolutionize human transport until it is light enough for me to lift!”

2. Yesterday I had a dream inspired by a cat macro. This is because I am nuts. This is the macro via cuteoverload.com:

This is the dream:
I was on the run from someone and I was with some kid and Addy [hi Addy!] and we needed a house so I used my mammoth amounts of spare cash to purchase a giant brownstone in some decrepit neighborhood. And I bought it because it had a solarium, and in same said solarium was a fat gray cat.

3. I am a bridesmaid in my friend Bonnie’s wedding and the rehearsal dinner was last night, and I noticed that the mother of the bride was sitting on her own. So, for once a tiny kernel of pity welled up in my heart and I went over and said “So are you excited?” and she said, “No.”

Now the twist in the story is that I didn’t give her the back of my hand.

Dear Douche Bag, I'm sorry I went all Chuck Norris on you...

last night at the bar. It was very juvenile, but let me explain my reasoning.

You created the foundation for your assault over the years of our “friendship” (if you can call being hit on, stared at, and begged for sex* a friendship.) It was when I stupidly accepted a ride with you a week ago (thinking other friends would be riding with us) and you yelled at me in the car for hooking up with some other person (with whom I did not hook up) that I got angry. It wasn't that you besmirched my unblemished reputation as a lady, it is that you sincerely were offended that I would have sex with someone and wouldn't with you. That you were so interested in something so completely unrelated to you as people-that-I-would-actually-have-sex-with made no sense what so ever.

The framework for your injury was erected at the bar when you repeatedly pestered me to view a fat chick in little pants. This may come as a shock to you, but laughing and pointing at strangers in a bar on Aurora is neither a brilliant idea, nor is it in my style to openly and cruelly mock strangers. When I grabbed your hand to cause you to stop waving it in my face and you attempted to pull some man bullshit by proving that you are stronger than me, I decided that I would never again exert myself to pretend to like you. I could have gotten my hand free, but I didn't want to crawl down to your level by actually hurting you- yet.

The actual idea that I might have to cause you physical harm wasn't solidified until you told me that you thought it was kind of hot that I had put on some extra weight. I've always thought that it was pretty scummy when a guy puts a girl down in order to use her insecurities to manipulate her into bed, but when this tactic was actually used on me I was so shocked that I didn't take immediate action. It wasn't until you poked at my side for the 5th or so time that I recalled that I would have to tell you to stop it. I did and you didn't stop it. I told you that I was serious and you didn't seem to believe me. So I said don't touch me, but you didn't seem to believe that I was angry (which is partly my fault because I am so very quiet when I am very angry). Well, you didn't believe me until you leaned across my friend to jab me (for the 20th time) and then I grabbed your hand, pulled you close, and bent your finger all the way back while whispering “if you touch me again I will break all your fingers.”

You didn't seem to be terribly upset by my harming you (certainly less upset than when you thought it was unfair that I slept with Bob and wouldn't sleep with you) so I'm sure this is one of those no harm no foul sort of deals. I do, however feel obligated to mention that I actually will break your fingers or worse (probably worse, actually) if you touch me again. It is true, I have put on weight, and it is also true that you are stronger than me; but what you should be aware of is that I am trained in martial arts and I do not have to fight like a man. If you so much as touch my shoulder you will be clutching your crushed testes and wishing you had your teeth back.

So now, where was I? Oh yes. I am deeply sorry that I lost my temper with you. I very rarely do so and rarer still have I resorted to actual physical violence. I shouldn't have done so, it was inappropriate, and I am deeply ashamed.

This note has gotten long, so to summarize my points from above:
1. I am sorry.
2. But you deserved it (because...)
3. You are a dick.
4. I have never considered sleeping with you.
5. I will continue to not sleep with you.
6. I will no longer attempt to hide my loathing for you.
7. If you touch me again they will never find enough pieces of your body to send home to your parents in a standard envelope.

Sincerely,

me



*Only by the grace of God did you survive your last birthday party, in which you begged me to sleep with you about 20 times in the 10 minute ride required to unceremoniously roll your disgusting carcass to the curb in front of your home.

Sometimes the 1st Ammendment makes me hulk out

Have you guys been reading about the church in Kansas that is picketing service men's funerals because the military is too lenient towards homosexuals?

Some guy finally sued them for invasion of privacy and emotional distress. Good for him. I hope that the church doesn't win their appeal. There is a special place in hell for people who do evil in the name of the Lord.

It is just this kind of creepy and illogical fundamentalist thinking that makes me so very angry.

The whole thing makes no damn sense. Wouldn't you want more gays in the military if you were interested in them being shot?
Why would you picket a funeral of a dead soldier?
How is it even possible to be that big of an asshole? That ass must be HUGE!

These mysteries continue.

Why I don't want to be your friend?

Hint: you're an asshole.

You guys seemed pretty cool when I met you at a friend's party, but Friends of Friend, you guys are total dicks. I didn't notice until you said the following, "Did you know that such & such is an assistant?"
"Oh my God, I totally thought that she was a real person."

Hint #2: assistants, like receptionists, valets, and waitresses are "real people." Unlike you. You are a bitch.

With friends like Bank of America

I've been selected as a valuable and trusted customer! Hooray!
Bank of America will loan me up to $30,000.

Just look at that esitmated monthly payment schedule, based upon 8.99% APR (which I sould mention is 2% higher than my credit card). Wait, what does it say in the fine print there? "All payment amounts and terms are estimates based on an APR of 8.99%. Yours may be higher. We will set your initial APR between 8.99% and 21.99% based on creditworthiness."

Oh, well 8.99% and 21.99%, that's practically the same thing, right? That sounds ok... wait, what does it say in the fine print just below that? "We reserve the right to change your APR, fees, or other credit terms at our discretion."
Hmmmm... well, that sounds reasonable. Contract terms should really only apply to private citizens and never to billion dollar businesses.

What does that say under there? "Additionally, if you fail to pay any minimum monthly payment by its Payment Due Date, we may increase your APR up to a Default APR of 27.99%"
That sounds *awesome*. I could use some more accountability in my life.

In a final note, this loan is called The Clean Sweep. Isn't that adorable? It is supposed to "Help sweep your debts away." It is like the cute little bunny in Cinderella. Except that instead of helping you make a beautiful ball gown, it eats all your money. And then craps it in your lap.

As an interesting caution to my readers, who are no doubt super-savvy with their money, (yes even the Hollywood Erotic Boutique Google searchers- 2 more over the weekend) always read every single scrap of paper that you receive from your credit card company. Every word on everything.
Credit card companies are allowed to change any terms of your account without your permission as long as they notify you. This includes tiny fine print at the end or even on the reverse of your bill. Recently BOA attempted to raise my interest rate by 8% and add on a yearly fee.
While these companies don't have to ask for permission, they are required to let you opt out, in writing, of changes to your contract. Usually you have a few months to send in a letter rejecting the new terms.

I was going to upload a cute scan of the interesting portions of the offer, but blogger is sabotaging me again.

More noooooooooze.

Sorry, Mr. President, You're All Out of Troops
The President's shortsighted military strategy and the options with which we are presented.
This actually reminds me of when I took my 12 year old cousin Sean to the movies and they showed a commercial for the reserves and afterwards Sean said, "Why didn't they show anyone in the desert?"
"Because they're hoping you wouldn't notice."
"Why?"
"Because they're running out of soldiers."
"Well that sucks."
"Indeed."


With Friends Like Mitt you might want to get a dog.
Actual alternate title from the RSS feed:
Mitt Romney shivs his pal Larry Craig.
Damn you Slate! Alternate titles are my thing! Get your own thing!
-Anyway- Mitt Romney turned on his former campaign chairman in 5 minutes!
Wow Mitt, you're a bad friend in addition to a bad person. I think that's an extra 5 points.

Both stories via Slate.

In other news, I'm pretty sure that this is from the secret squirrel terrorist training camp.

Additionally, a spider was trying to hide in my laundry this morning. (And where is my laundry bag? Next to my shower. This spiders-are-perverts theory is looking fact-ier every day.)

Will someone now add 'laundry bag' to the list of things that I'm scared of please? Thanks.

Getting all Bryn Mawr

I read this article on the Freakonomics blog and a whole slew of people shot straight to the top of my 'find their car and take a dump on it' list.

To paraphrase the article:
Under particular discussion is a pickup technique that Mystery advocates known as “negging” — a move that involves interjecting an insult during an initial conversation with a woman. The motivation behind the insult is, as Esquire’s A.J. Jacobs puts it, to “lower her self-esteem, thus making her more vulnerable to your advances.”

I have run into guys like this and when they insult you and you respond appropriately (drink in lap/testicle removal) they always call you a 'stuck up bitch.' I have since learned that for men like this, any girl who has the ability to resist the will of any man is 'a bitch.' And that any girl smarter than him is 'stuck up.'

Now here is the issue that I have with this theory: if you are just looking for someone to have sex with, you can easily pick up chicks with self-esteem issues without having to be an overt asshole; you can be a covert asshole. There are a whole lot of women so dumb or desperate that you don't even have to trick them to have sex with you mere hours after meeting.

Quiana's Guide for Men Who Want to Get Laid Tonight!
1. Look for the tramp stamp. Lower back tattoo = easy pickings.
2. Pick a less pretty girl out of a group of girls- especially bachelorette parties.
3. Pick up a really young or much older woman in the bar. 21 year olds may not be wise enough to know about guys like you, older women will be flattered by your attention and probably won't care about being used.
4. Find a girl that's alone. If she's at a bar alone, she's looking for exactly what you have available. Or she is a prostitute. Either way it's a win!! (Unless she's a tranny, caveat emptor, my friend.)
5. Craigslist casual encounters.

Payday Loans= Most Evil Possible Thing in the Universe

So today when I made a payment to my Bank of America credit card I decided that I would purchase nothing for myself this month. This will enable me to move the $100 for 'shopping' into 'debt reduction.'
This is because I want to pay off BOA as soon as I can so that I can discontinue my tacit support of payday loans.

According to the National Consumer Law Center's report: Utilities and Payday Lenders: Convenient Payments, Killer Loans both of the banks which hold my two credit accounts are the owners of exploitative lending centers.As you can see on this cute little chart. (Should expand if you click it. Via consumerist.com)



In case you are saying to yourself, caveat emptor, I would like to remind you heartless bastards that the interest rates on these loans are about 390% to start.

Here is a breakdown of these ridiculous loans via All Financial Matters:

Let’s say times are tough and Jack needs $100 to fix his car. Jack goes down to the local payday loan company and they agree to give him a loan. So Jack writes a check for $125 and gives it to the payday company and they give him $100. Two weeks later, Jack gets paid and the payday loan company cashes Jack’s check, closing out the deal.

Now, take a wild guess as to how much the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is on Jack’s loan…

How about 651.79%!

Here’s how that’s figured:

APR = i × (365 ÷ n)

where…

i = periodic interest rate, which is 25% in this example ($25 fee ÷ $100 = .25 or 25%)
n = time period of the loan, in this case 14 days

Filling in the numbers, our formula looks like this:

APR = .25 × (365 ÷ 14)

APR = .25 × 26.0714

APR = 6.5179 or 651.79%

OUCH!

Here you will find a payday loan branch manager telling the fine folks at The Center for Responsible Lending about tricking poor people into exploitative loans.

And, lest you forget, as was discussed before (and in Congress, and on TV, and on every website ever) payday loan centers target the poor and those on fixed incomes, most specifically: soldiers and their families, minorities, recent immigrants, the elderly, the infirmed, and of course single mothers.

Finally, if after all of this, you need a fuzzy story to make you not hate the universe and all in it- here you go: a man described as the "internet batman."

By request: Worst Date Ever

I have been on numerous horrible dates, a trend which I am sure is not abating anytime soon. But three really exceed the others in general horribleness.

When I was living in Japan this Japanese guy that I knew from a friend of a friend asked me out. He happened to be a drug dealer, which I knew, but I had seen Go and Timothy Olyphant was hot and this guy was hot so I thought I could be like Katie Holmes. Not the case. He picked me up on a motorcycle (I was not appropriately dressed), we had dinner (cheap tacky Hawaiian food), then he insisted that we go back to his place and have sex. I said no. He then ditched me in the middle of some neighborhood in Tokyo and I was reduced to having to hail a taxi to the train station where I rode the train back to my stop and ran into a British kid who I had a crush on, which was embarrassing since I was uhm, teary.

Another terrible date was also in Japan. His name was Omar. He was a black frat boy from Louisiana. We went to dinner and it was exactly like having dinner with my dad. "Let me tell you about...." "Do you know what your problem is...." Anyway after dinner we walked though cute little shops and then he insisted on walking me home. At my home it promptly started to pour and he just invited himself to crash at my house. Galvin, my roommate, offered to kick him out, but I figured Omar could rip Galvin to tiny tiny Chinese pieces so I declined. I made Omar sleep on my floor. In the morning I woke up and he was taking my picture! He posted that picture on his frat house website as some chick he had bagged. I hope his frat brothers find girls in polar bear and penguin footie pj's sexy.

And my worst date, domestically, was with some kid in my History class at Haverford. It was the last two weeks or so of class and this unprepossessing but smart and seemingly nice (like George in Grey's Anatomy) kid from class slipped me a note. I read it and it was all, 'Quiana you are so pretty and smart and awesome and I hear that you broke up with your boyfriend and I wish I could take you out, even though I'm sure you're not interested.' So I call him and ask him if he wants to hang out. He excitedly arranged to pick me up and take me to dinner and a movie. We had a nice Italian dinner; he wasn't really my type, but things were pleasant.

We missed getting into the movies, so we decided to go to King of Prussia Mall (the largest mall on the East coast). And who do I see going down the escalator as we were riding up? Some schmuck guy I had been out with a few times, pretty recently. And what is he smooching? Apparently his fiance. So, now I am very flustered. But not as flustered as when the kid from class casually mentions, as he is dropping me off, that oh BTW he also actually has a girlfriend. Then he tried to kiss me. Unbelievable. But wait!! There's more.

So Scmuck's fiance is graduating from Villanova on the same day that I graduated from Bryn Mawr and chooses the same damn restaurant in which to have her family graduation celebration dinner. I got to sit across from Schmuck and poor future Mrs. Schmuck and make small talk with my Granny. Very very unimpressive.

News Alert: Donald Trump is a disgusting pig!

Yes, it is time for me to weigh in on the Rosie VS Pigman scandal.

Tara Conner, Miss USA, started the whole situation through underage drinking and general whorishness. Trump, no doubt a huge fan of whorishness decided to let Tara keep her crown- I'm sure the people of Kentucky are proud.

Now let me make something clear. You can go out and get drunk even if you are underage. You can have sex with 4 men at once, on camera. You can make out with drunk underage Miss Teen USA. You just can't do these things and be Miss USA. Though Donald Trump thinks you can....

Rosie stepped over the line on her show, The View, and commented on Trump's finances and business practices, calling him a snake oil salesman (like on Little House on the Prairie). Though in her defense, he is and being compared to a LHOTP villain is not the strongest of insults....

Trump then threatened to sue (at the same time as he is suing a town government that has fined him for building a super sized flag pole - without permits. He is calling it an assault on patriotism. Dude, just get the permit. Oh and might I add Donald Trump should be fined a ton of cash for wasting the Justice System's time. We have actual criminal cases to deal with. Hey, how about some Tort Reform, please!) and has been defaming her sexuality, appearance, etc. at every opportunity.

If you would like to view the footage of Trump vomiting hate it is up on YouTube or you can catch it on Bulletproof Bracelets.

I don't care if someone is rude to you. I don't care if they down right insult you on national television. But you never ever get to act the way Trump is acting. You don't get to spew hate speech, ever. I don't care who you are.

Donald, you're a pig and I hope you get your comeuppance. I wouldn't watch The Apprentice if featured Matthew McConaughey and John Stewart jell-o wrestling. Your inability to behave in an adult fashion and overwhelmingly terrifying frothing at the mouth makes me think you may be a wee bit unhinged. And also have The Rabies.

More Judith Regan Malarky

Two more articles on Judith Regan.
The first is a Seattle PI article where Judith is alledged to believe in an zesty Zionist Conspiracy. Surely getting fired had nothing to do with the bad press and crazed attitude- blame the Jews. They're out there and they're are not eating bacon. GASP.
The second is from the NY Times and is simply an interesting and funny reading on the situation.

Publisher allegedly cited 'Jewish cabal'
By HILLEL ITALIE
AP NATIONAL WRITER

Regan, was fired Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, her sensational, scandalous tenure at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. ending with the tersest of announcements.

NEW YORK -- In an explosive telephone argument that led to her firing, publisher Judith Regan allegedly complained of a "Jewish cabal" against her in the book industry and stated that "Of all people, Jews should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie."

A spokesman for Regan's former employer, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., told The Associated Press on Monday that the remarks were based on notes taken by HarperCollins attorney Mark Jackson, with whom Regan was discussing the future of a controversial new novel about baseball star Mickey Mantle.

The spokesman, Andrew Butcher, released the comments in response to a threatened libel suit from Regan's legal representative, Hollywood attorney Bert Fields, who had called earlier reports of anti-Semitic remarks "completely untrue" and added that the publisher "didn't have an anti-Semitic bone in her body."

If you told me that Judith Regan said something nasty about Jewish babies, I could only assume that she was implying that black babies are less stringy and have a less-like-chicken, more-like-pork flavor. I wouldn't put anything past this woman.

Since 1994, Regan had headed the ReganBooks imprint at News Corp.'s HarperCollins. She was fired Friday.

The allegations first emerged earlier Monday when The New York Times, citing two unnamed News Corps officials, referred to unspecified anti-Semitic comments.

Regan, one of of the book world's most successful publishers, already had tense relations with HarperCollins and News Corp. Last month, Murdoch cancelled "If I Did It," her planned O.J. Simpson book and Fox television interview.

Simpson's book, said to have described how he theoretically would have committed the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, had been scheduled for release Nov. 30 following the airing of a two-part Simpson interview.

Simpson was acquitted of murder in 1995 but later found liable for the killings in a wrongful-death suit filed by the Goldman family.

This Time, Judith Regan Did It
By DAVID CARR
Published: December 18, 2006

When the News Corporation killed Judith Regan’s multimedia rollout of O. J. Simpson’s “hypothetical confession,” Rupert Murdoch called the project “ill-conceived.”

The phrase he should have used was “ill-received.”

The “If I Did It” book and television package was shelved not because it was in bad taste or because it was bad for the culture at large, but because it was bad for business. The News Corporation, after all, was riding with Ms. Regan every step of the way as she bolted together the multiplatform deal for “If I Did It.” It was only after an outcry that included two dozen Fox affiliates that the HarperCollins project was junked.

And now Ms. Regan’s career at the News Corporation is in the same trash bin. Why now?

No one woke up Friday morning and discovered that Ms. Regan had bad, if lucrative, taste. But when her O. J. Simpson deal went south, she refused to go away quietly even though Mr. Murdoch had already taken a bullet, then continued to complain that she was being undermined long after the story had quieted down.

The News Corporation had profited handsomely from Ms. Regan’s tendency to shoot from the hip, but when she started firing inside the corral, well then, that was another matter.

If she did it, here’s how: Ms. Regan first responded to public opprobrium over the Simpson project with an unhinged eight-page defense of her interview. And then, after the plug was pulled on Nov. 21, she failed to accept the decision. (When Mr. Murdoch says something is dead, put away the paddles and pull up the hearse.)

Instead she railed against HarperCollins, the News Corporation book division that owns her ReganBooks imprint, while taping her Sirius Satellite Radio show, according to Ron Hogan, an editor at GalleyCat, which is a book-oriented blog. And finally, she made offensive remarks in a phone call to one of the company’s lawyers on Friday, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.

“I think someone looked a little bit down the road and saw train wrecks everywhere,” said a HarperCollins executive who declined attribution because the case might end up in litigation.

That someone was Jane Friedman, the head of HarperCollins, who gave Ms. Regan the gate last Friday night in a two-sentence statement. It was made in a hurry — there were no expressed accommodations for the authors and 40 employees of the ReganBooks imprint — which suggests that the decision was made in a hurry, as well. (The company said on Saturday that the division will continue operations under Cal Morgan, the editorial director of ReganBooks.)

None of this was part of the plan when Ms. Regan moved her hugely successful publishing operation to Los Angeles this year. In announcing the move, she suggested she was switching to the left coast to form a literary salon of sorts, seeking out interesting folks from the entertainment and publishing worlds to form a kind of “cultural center.”

In therapeutic circles, her move to Los Angeles is called a geographic cure. A person up against the consequences of bad decisions and bad judgment — her affair with Bernard B. Kerik, the disgraced former police commissioner and ReganBooks author, was made all the more interesting to the media when it emerged that she was one of two women on the side — decides to switch ZIP codes for a fresh start.

Instead, she found O.J.

Ms. Regan’s strategic shift to California put her more closely in touch with an entertainment culture that was of a piece with her approach to publishing. Her big television project, after all, was “Growing Up Gotti.” Those who found “If I Did It” to be a patently offensive title need only remember that she also published the very successful “How to Make Love Like a Porn Star.” (It might have been subtitled, “Making do with vacant eyes, stage moans, and anonymous co-stars.”)

But then, Ms. Regan has actually been in the celebrity business her whole career, with her ability to sell the tatty and salacious elements of contemporary culture. She formed those skills as a reporter for The National Enquirer, but in a world where many office workers spend their days surfing for a shot of Britney Spears sans panties, that work history was a credential, not a knock.

Ms. Regan always lived her public life as if it were one big MySpace page, which she filled with outrageous personal and professional behavior and intemperate words. Part of it seemed like shtick, but she seemed to cross a line bordering on mania after her motives in interviewing Mr. Simpson were questioned.

First, she issued a statement that compared her own alleged victimization as a battered woman with that of the murdered Nicole Brown Simpson. “The men who lied and cheated and beat me — they were all there in the room. And the people who denied it, they were there, too.” (It sounded a little crowded in there.)

Instead of saying sorry about that, Ms. Regan went ballistic in a statement that read like an autopsy on an open deadly wound. Her nonapology apology approached absurdity, a biblical Act of Contrition written (at times) in the voice of a young girl.

“I made the decision to publish this book, and to sit face to face with the killer, because I wanted him, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives. Amen.”

Ms. Regan then reflected on her time with Mr. Simpson: “Thought process disorder. No empathy. Malignant narcissism,” she wrote as if she had been looking in a mirror, not conducting an interview.

Her decisions made quick enemies of almost everyone, including some of her colleagues at the News Corporation. To his credit, Bill O’Reilly (a man who knows a thing or two about riding out bad press) called the Simpson project “simply indefensible.” Even Geraldo Rivera’s journalistic principles were offended.

She might survive those two but, in 2006, Mr. Murdoch is another matter. He has done a fine job recently of repositioning himself as media baron who is both a friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton and yet again a pioneer in the evolving media space. One of the cardinal rules in business is to protect the king, but after the Simpson affair, he found himself dragged into the muck of his tabloid past.

In The Los Angeles Times, Tim Rutten invoked that past, assailing the “predatory Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who has devoted his life to making money by making sure that news and entertainment are as coarse and vulgar as can be imagined in as many places as possible.” That kind of public reframing, combined with Ms. Friedman’s antipathy for a renegade West Coast office, made Ms. Regan’s firing a matter of when, not if.

Ms. Regan will change addresses, but not disappear. The best-seller list in any given week attests to the fact that she has a talent for identifying and filling consumer needs. And it is the job of media corporations to satisfy the market without regard to taste or rectitude. That’s no altogether a bad thing. We wouldn’t have “The Simpsons” — another News Corporation product — without it.

But stars, even the biggest-earning ones, become expendable when they begin to embarrass someone besides themselves. Just ask Tom Cruise.

Look both ways, OJ.

So here is a link to the article about how HarperCollins has sacked the woman responsible for the OJ Simpson book deal.

Would-Be O.J. Publisher Fired
by Natalie Finn
Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:23:00 PM PST

The sensationalist literature maven who tried to play ball with O.J. Simpson has been sacked.

News Corp. announced late Friday that HarperCollins publisher Judith Regan has been fired, a move many are viewing as punishment for the shellacking the company took when she revealed her plans for an exclusive interview with Simpson to promote his hypothetical tell-all, If I Did It, which was going to be released under the ReganBooks imprint.

The book was due out Nov. 30; the two-part interview was slated to air Nov. 27 and 29 on Fox, and News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch slammed the brakes on the whole project Nov. 20, about a week after the free world found out what Regan had up her sleeve.

"Judith Regan's employment with HarperCollins has been terminated effective immediately," HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said in a statement. Per various reports, Friedman and Regan had a tempestuous relationship over the years, and, according to Variety, Friedman also took a lot of heat for her silence surrounding the Simpson debacle.

In the meantime, the ReganBooks label will continue under the HarperCollins General Book Group. Regan moved her eponymous group, also responsible for Jose Conseco's steroid-fueled memoir Juiced and Jenna Jameson's instructional bio How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, from New York to Los Angeles earlier this year.

According to the New York Times, HarperCollins issued the two-sentence press release with the terse headline, "Judith Regan Terminated," even before her employees on the West Coast were aware of the move. ( HA!)

After Simpson's deal was scrapped (not until after he had been paid a reported $3.5 million, however), the erstwhile murder suspect told a Miami radio station that the title of the book and TV special was not his idea and that a ghost writer was responsible for much of the book's lurid details about how Simpson would have killed ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, if he had done it.

I see, if it is ghost written, it is totally not your problem. Additionally, I cannot believe that he got 3.5 million dollars for this!!!

Simpson also criticized Murdoch, who called the former footballer's deal "ill-considered" and apologized "for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson," (Did OJ forget he is supposed to be Nicole's family? I'm pretty sure if my mom was brutally murdered, my dad -in spite of their divorce- would not take advantage of her death in such a spectacularly revolting fashion. He has their kids, what the fuck is wrong with him?) saying the multimedia mogul shouldn't be "taking the high road either."

Not like OJ, who probably killed someone, then got away with it because justice does not outweigh a race riot in LA. On the other other hand, I am positive that Murdoch knew what was going down and only weighed in when popular opinion swung against the book.

Too late on all counts. Brown Simpson's sister, Denise Brown, said Nov. 21 on the Today show that News Corp. offered her family "millions of dollars" under the table to step aside when If I Did It hit shelves and airwaves.

While the company admitted discussing money with the family, a spokesman denied that there was any stipulation requiring the Browns to keep quiet.

Regan, meanwhile, defended the project in an eight-page statement released across multiple media channels, saying that the book deal money went to a third party to ensure that Simpson himself didn't profit from it.

Right. A third party- who, Kato?

The memoir-peddler labeled her position as being on the side of justice, saying, "I made the decision to publish this book and to sit face to face with the killer because I wanted him, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives."

What a bitch. What a colossal excuseless, remorseless, bloodless cunt.

If it was a line, no one was biting, including multiple Fox affiliates, who said prior to News Corp.'s ultimate decision to scuttle the project, that they wanted no part of it.

And if this tells you anything, the book didn't even encounter a warm reception from the Internet, the place where everyone assumed the tome would end up anyway.

Booksellers alibris.com and biblio.com both removed listings for the book last Friday, and eBay also knocked at least eight copies from the auction block—although not before at least one inquiring mind picked up a copy for $50, USA Today reported this week.

"It's a disgusting book, and we don't want to sell it," even if "people may have a right to sell it," Alibris CEO Martin Manley told the newspaper.

Catherine England, a spokeswoman for eBay, echoed the sentiment, citing the auction site's "murderbilia" policy.

"Out of respect for murder victims, eBay may remove items closely associated with murder cases dating over the last 100 years," England said. "We reached out to the publisher who holds the copyright; they said they did not intend to distribute this book."

Actually, HarperCollins vowed last month to destroy every copy. According to early estimates, about 400,000 were printed, but there's no word on how many still exist.

Then there's the bookseller, who wished to remain anonymous, who told USA Today that he had snatched up 11 copies for about $12,000 from "a guy who knows a guy who works in a bookstore."

He told the paper he doesn't believe in destroying books, but he does believe in free speech. However, he didn't want to be identified for fear of being labeled "evil" for profiting from the Simpson book.

I love how free speech is such a nice excuse to be a nauseating piece of shit.

Of course there's no accounting for the taste of the guy who buys from the guy who met the guy who knows a guy.

Oh and just in case you forgot the evidence in the trial (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• DNA analysis of the blood found in, on, and near Simpson's Bronco revealed traces of Simpson's, Nicole's, and Ronald Goldman's blood.
• DNA analysis of bloody socks found in Simpson's bedroom showed the blood to be Nicole's.
• Simpson's hair was found on Goldman's shirt even though Simpson claimed not to have been at the home and never to have met Goldman.
• DNA analysis of blood on the gloves was proven to be a mixture of Simpson's, Nicole's, and Ronald Goldman's. The gloves also contained particles of Goldman's hair and carpet fibers from Simpson's Bronco.
• Arrest records indicate that Simpson had been charged with the beating of his wife Nicole. Photos of Nicole's bruised and battered face emerged. Simpson was sentenced to 3 years of community service for the crime.
• Police discovered that the dome light in the Bronco had been removed. A search of the vehicle revealed the light was carefully placed under the passenger seat and was in good working condition. Puzzling blood smears on the passenger floorboard indicated that Simpson may have purposely removed the light and placed it under the seat before the murders (assuming he had indeed murdered Brown Simpson and Goldman). Then after the murders he may have unsuccessfully tried to find it to put it back in the socket. Police on stakeouts routinely remove the dome lights from their vehicles to avoid detection when the car doors are opened.
• It was discovered that one set of keys to Nicole Brown Simpson's home were missing. She had indicated to several family members and friends that she feared Simpson had stolen them to gain entry into her home. The keys were later found in Simpson's home.
• Paula Barbieri indicated that she had broken up with Simpson the day of the murders. She indicated he seemed very disturbed at the news. Phone records proved that Simpson attempted to contact her shortly before the murders from his Bronco's cellular phone.
• The left-hand glove found at Nicole's home and the right-hand glove found at O.J.'s home proved to be a match. They were also proven to be Simpson's size. Even though Simpson claimed under oath that he did not own a pair of Aris Isotoner gloves, several media pictures emerged showing Simpson wearing these exact gloves.
• Bloody footprints in Nicole's home were identified as being made from a pair of Bruno Magli shoes. These shoes are expensive and rare. The size 12 prints match Simpson's shoe size. Simpson claims under oath that he does not own such shoes and in fact indicates that he thinks they "are ugly." A photograph was introduced showing Simpson wearing the exact shoes at an NFL football game. Simpson claimed under oath that the photo is a forgery and is backed up by an expert witness. Later, another photo taken by a different source, also showed Simpson wearing the same shoes at another NFL football game.
• Friends and family indicated that Nicole claimed that Simpson had been stalking her. She said that everywhere she went she saw Simpson there watching her. She was afraid because Simpson had already told her he would kill her if he ever found her with another man.
• Ross Cutlery provided store receipts indicating Simpson had purchased a 12-inch Stiletto knife six weeks before the murders. A replica of the knife was purchased by the police and provided an exact match to the wounds on Nicole and Ronald Goldman.

And to be fair (well, as fair as I get) opposing evidence and alternate theories:

• The murder of Ron and Nicole was among a string of murders of people associated with Simpson, Ron, and Nicole. Casmir Sucharski, a friend of Simpson, was murdered two weeks after Ron and Nicole. On March 19, 1995, Simpson's friend, record company promoter Charles Minor, was murdered. On July 30, 1993, eleven months before the famous double murder, Ron Goldman's friend Brett Cantor was killed with a knife in a manner identical to Ron and Nicole: from behind and across the throat and stabbed repeatedly on the arms and chest. Michael Nigg, a waiter at the Mezzaluna (where Ron Goldman was also a waiter) was shot in the head and killed. Another Mezzaluna waiter barely survived a car bombing.
• Many working at Mezzaluna were involved with the Mafia and/or the drug trade.
• Photos of Nicole with known criminals of the drug trade in a hot tub and on a bed were shown on the news. Simpson said he was upset when he saw his children associated with the drug scene with which Nicole had apparently become involved.
• Barry Hoestler, a private investigator hired for the Simpson case by Robert Shapiro, said Nicole talked about the idea of opening a restaurant with Ron Goldman as her partner, and financing it with cocaine profits. Hoestler said Nicole and her friends were "over their heads with some dope dealers".
• Nicole's best friend was Faye Resnick, a cocaine addict. Someone broke into Resnick's apartment to take documents and photographs. Later, Resnick skipped town. Simpson's defense team said Nicole and Ron may have been killed by drug dealers to scare Resnick into paying her drug debt. Prosecutors said there was no evidence to back this theory.
• There was an unexplained DNA mix on the steering wheel column of the car. The DNA was neither Simpson's, nor Nicole's, nor Goldman's.
• The "car testimonies" of Park and Kato, which suggest unexplained movement of vehicle/s, were suppressed from the trial.
• Al Cowlings once served as a bodyguard for convicted drug smuggler Joey Ippolito. Ippolito escaped from a Florida jail three weeks before the murders and made many calls to Simpson. According to the theory, Ippolito probably hired a hitman to commit the drug related murders. Frankie Viserto is one hitman known to be close to Ippolito. In the past, Viserto has tortured and beheaded his victims with a knife.
• Nicole's sister Denise Brown was often seen and photographed with ex-Mob enforcer and FBI informant Tony Fiato, a recruit of Ippolito. Denise denied that Fiato was her boyfriend.
• Police detectives broke state law and their own policy when they waited hours to summon the county coroner.
• In violation of policy, evidence remained in the processing room for three days before the first piece was booked in the secure ECU. The evidence was on a tabletop, and could be handled by anyone with access. 70 to 80 police personnel had access.
• Someone broke into Robert Shapiro's office, forced open a locked filing cabinet, and stole confidential papers related to the case.
• Simpson said that only once, in 1989, had he and Nicole got into a fight that injured her. Nicole used makeup in one of the photos showing her with facial bruises after the fight. He said Nicole's written statements of domestic abuse were a plan to get out of a prenuptial agreement.

None of these assertions explains Simpson's behavior following the murders, such as the self-incriminating statement to police, the attempt to flee, the suicide note, the apologies to the police who eventually arrested him, the inability to remember how he had cut his finger to the bone the night of the murders, or his differing statements about his whereabouts during the time of the murders. In addition, none of this explains how Simpson's DNA was at the murder scene and the victims' blood was inside his car and his home.

Jason Simpson Theory

• Jason Simpson had developed a crush on Nicole Brown Simpson, and was angry at the lifestyle she was involved in, which included drug use.

• Jason Simpson had been known to go into violent epileptic rages and would often not remember what he had done. (Yea, epileptic people murder, like all the time.)
  

• Jason was a chef-in-training and would always carry his knife set with him. These knives were more than capable of committing the murders, and inflicting the type of wounds found on the victims.

• Jason had no alibi the night of the murders, as the restaurant he was working at was closed that night. He stated he was cooking in front of 200 people the night of the murders. However, the restaurant that he worked at during the murders could hold a maximum of 87 people at any one time. He also later stated in a civil deposition that he clocked out after the murders had taken place.

• After committing the murders, Jason called Simpson to the crime scene. Simpson struggled with his son to take the weapons from him, thus providing the detectives with the gloves and the blood evidence that would be used at his trial. Dear also believes this is where O.J. received the cut on his hand that prosecutors said was inflicted during the murders.

• O.J. tried to cover up the crime of his son because of the guilt O.J. felt as a result of being a neglectful father.

In the long run, I don't know for certain whether or not he did it. But the way he has handled himself is disgusting. I wouldn't call 911 if I found him bleeding to death in the street. Eh, who am I kidding I wouldn't tap my break if I saw him crossing the street.
Frankly, I am surprised that some crazy hasn't gotten him yet.
Still time though. Plenty of time.

Oh, for Pete's sake.

Iran Holocaust conference draws ire

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 48 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran -

Iran on Monday hosted a conference gathering prominent Holocaust deniers that it said would examine whether the World War II genocide of Jews took place, drawing condemnation from Israel and Germany.

The conference was initiated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an apparent attempt to burnish his status at home and abroad as a tough opponent of Israel. The hard-liner president has described the Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Organizers touted the conference as a scholarly gathering aimed at discussing the Holocaust away from Western taboos, but the 67 participants from 30 countries were predominantly Holocaust deniers. They included David Duke — the former Louisiana state representative and Ku Klux Klan leader — and France's Robert Faurisson and Australian Frederick Toben, who was jailed in Germany in 1999 for questioning the Holocaust.

Also at the conference were two rabbis and four other members of the group Jews United Against Zionism, who were dressed in the traditional long black coats and black hats of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Jews United Against Zionism, which says the creation of the state of Israel violated Jewish law, does not deny the Holocaust occurred but argues that it should not have been a reason for the founding of Israel.

In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on the world to protest the conference, terming it "a sick phenomenon."

German Parliament President Norbert Lammert protested the conference in a letter to Ahmadinejad.

"I condemn any attempt to offer anti-Semitic propaganda a public forum under the pretext of scientific freedom and objectivity," Lammert wrote.

The two-day conference was organized by the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies.

"This conference seeks neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust," the institute's chief Rasoul Mousavi said in an opening speech. "It is just to provide an appropriate scientific atmosphere for scholars to offer their opinions in freedom about a historical issue."

In Germany, Austria and France, it is illegal to deny the Holocaust.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed the foreign criticism as "predictable," telling conference delegates there was "no logical reason for opposing this conference."

"The objective for organizing this conference is to create an atmosphere to raise various opinions about a historical issue," Mottaki said.

"If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt. And if, during this review, it is proved that the Holocaust was a historical reality, then what is the reason for the Muslim people of the region and the Palestinians having to pay the cost of the Nazis' crimes?" Mottaki said.

Ahmadinejad has said that the killing of 6 million Jews by the Nazi German regime during World War II was a "myth" and "exaggerated." He has also repeatedly questioned why the Holocaust has been used to justify the creation of Israel at the cost of Palestinian lands — a view popular among Iranian hard-liners.

Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, condemned the Tehran conference as an attempt to "paint (an) extremist agenda with a scholarly brush."

The leading Israeli novelist and peace activist, Amos Oz, also denounced the meeting.

"I think the conference in Iran is a sick joke, and I hope it will be received with revulsion and disgust everywhere in the world," Oz said.

The gathering coincided with an independently convened academic conference on the Holocaust in Berlin, Germany, where historians affirmed the accuracy of the Nazi genocide data and questioned the motives of those behind the Tehran forum.

The number of Holocaust deaths "is not a figment of the imagination. This comes from the Germans themselves, and therefore any denial of these figures is absolutely senseless," historian Raul Hilberg, author of "The Destruction of the European Jews," told the Berlin conference.

Wolfgang Benz, head of the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at Berlin's Technical University, said people who deny the Holocaust "know perfectly well what happened."

"They want to use what happened — through denying it — to effect something else, to articulate the crude old anti-Semitism against Israel," he said.

Iran has spent months preparing for the conference, even publicizing it during the September visit to Tehran of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who contradicted his hosts by saying the Holocaust was a historical fact and that an exhibition of anti-Holocaust cartoons, then on display in the city, promoted hatred.

I will readily grant that the Holocaust should not have resulted in the Allies butting in and redistributing The Holy Land all higgly pigly. And I am damned tired of constantly supporting Israel with my tax dollars at the expense of American lives, commerce, etc. Especially given that, considering Israel's size, they have the best trained and I believe best funded army in the world. If my Wayback Machine was working I would journey back in time and stop the whole stupid business.

And while I'm at expressing unpopular opinions, I also think that if we stopped being so damned cuddly with Israel now, they would work a hell of lot harder to gain peace. God promised them The Holy Land, I didn't. I'm pretty sure that God's way doesn't involve acting like a dick all the time, then running to your big brother to prevent you getting your just desserts.

I don't think there can be peace in Israel. There will be no peace in The Holy Lands until all sides can get their religions out of their governing.

However, denying that the Holocaust actually occurred is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. There is a very special place in hell for these assholes.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the stuff nightmares are made of- if you want to know what keeps me up at night, there you go.

The only way I could hate O.J. more was if he was stuck to the bottom of my shoe.

Now O.J. Simpson has written a book called "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." A book exploring how he would have murdered his ex-wife, if he did it.

O.J. taught me a few important lessons: if you can make people believe that you are being harassed because of your race, you can kill someone- two someones, actually. Cops couldn't catch and convict Colonel Mustard, if he was in the library with the candlestick. You should always use your Miranda rights, no matter what. Don't talk, except to ask for your lawyer, even if you are obviously innocent. The system cannot be trusted.

O.J. Simpson, you may have killed two people and got away without jail time, but you are guiltier than Michael Jackson in a daycare, and I guarantee that you will be punished somehow.

Adam Corolla actually reports real news- so long as the news includes anal sex.

What is Ted Haggard up to?

This morning on 107.7 The End, Seattle’s Original Alternative, which normally I would never listen to, Adam Corolla was interviewing Mike Jones, the gay escort who outed Ted Haggard. Corolla, beyond poo jokes, actually had insightful questions, including why Jones outed Haggard, and specifically did he plan it for the election?

Jones basically explained that he found out who Haggard was when he was watching the History Channel about 6 months ago and Haggard appeared on screen explaining the end times. The next morning at the gym Haggard appeared on TV again, this time on the crazy religious channel. After researching Haggard, Jones became a bit ticked off. So he outed him, admitting on air that he did do it before the election on purpose; but that it is his prerogative to do so. Revealing information before an election on purpose does not make it untrue.

Additionally, now his entire family knows that he was a prostitute and he basically unemployed and unemployable.

I kind of respect Jones for taking a stand. And I kind of respect Corolla for putting effort into being a halfway decent interviewer.

Put them together and you have a whole respectable person.

Favorite Headline in Recent News:

Evangelist admits meth, massage, no sex (AP)
For those of you who haven't heard about this and are far too lazy to click the link, Ted Haggard the (now former) president of the National Association of Evangelicals (and mega-church pastor) has apparently paid a 39 year old male prostitute for monthly visits for 3 years. Let me mention his stance is that while he was tempted to have sex, instead he ONLY got meth and massage.
The National Association of Evangelicals, in case you are unaware, are a conservative group that appears to have its main focus on the subjugating homosexuals. They are big-time movers in terms of trying to influence supreme court nominations. Their goal is to prevent the "renegade" justices from giving homosexual people equal rights.
That makes them "bad guys" and I am immensely smug to see Haggard take it in the ass in both the literal and the figurative. I do feel bad for his 5 kids and wife though. I fear that they were probably completely fucked up already anyway, though.

I got nuthin.

Sorry about the silence. I've been pretty busy with family things.

Some deep thoughts:

1. I recieved a postcard from buddy and expert christmas tree carrier, Charles that shows a cat with its mouth full and has a long sentence in German. It says something about finding a bird according to a coworker. I have hung it in my cubical.
Hopefully it doesn't say anything about cocks.

2. Recent circumstances have dramatically increased my interest in dog ownership. However, in order to own a dog I need to live within 10 minutes of work (to take him out at mid-day) or I need to have a yard. Unfortunately, this means I would have to live in Lynnwood. Which would be fine, except that I would have to live in Lynnwood.
In order to stay in Seattle and have a yard, I would have to marry an old rich man and have him killed or make more money. However, if I make more money I am at work longer and now the dog is alone in the yard 12 hours a day.
Anyone know any rich old men with heart conditions?

3. Sting has released a lute music album. Dustin Diamond has released a porn video. Why is the world all fucked up?

4. This a bird eating a waffle.

Dear man at work who sucks at adultery,

Not only do you suck at adultery, you suck at your job too.

Imagine the look on my face when I received from you a box containing hundreds of legal affidavits and related papers that appeared as though they had been collated by drunken tap-dancing pandas who had attached the papers to their feet whilst dancing across a bed of hot coals and broken glass.

A mere 3 weeks before the legally mandated deadline to have the papers available for audit, I was forced to return all the forms to you and rat you out to your boss.

The only way I could hate you more is if you were entirely constructed of popcorn, seafood, melons, and nuts and were taking a shit in my favorite Coach handbag whilst singing Who Let the Dogs Out.

You are so ridiculously useless that the only purpose you could possibly have on this planet is as a paperweight.

Oh George Allen, You're Going Down, Bitch.

The Republican Senator from Virgina has stepped in it again. First the confederate flag scandal, now the Macaque scandal (note: this is the second macaque reference in this blog). Apparently his opponent, James Webb, sent one of his staffers, SR Sidarth (an native Virginian of Indian-American descent) over to videotape Allen's campaign event.

Allen said:
"Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

Allen said this on video. The video his opponent was making. What a moron. Webb couldn't have planned anything better than this. At least now the party knows that he is not their guy for the next presidential election.

Interestingly, Daily Kos is reporting that in spite of Allen's claims to not know what Macaque means, he is an excellent French speaker and in fact his mother is an Afrikaner who speaks fluent French. So there is no chance in hell that a rich white guy in Virginia isn’t aware that calling a dark skinned man a monkey is a sign of, let’s just say disdain. And there is no chance that he doesn’t know that macaque means monkey.

Furthermore, just because you aren't white, doesn't mean you aren't an American, you asshole.

In parting, I don't want to speak too far out of turn, but Virginia isn't the real America, much less the real world. Certainly less so if he gets elected to any other political office.