One of my favorite on-line tea merchants, Adagio Teas, is offering a new special blend: OSAMA IS DEAD.

This tea, in honor of this great news, is comprised of red, white, and blue. Red raspberries, white coconut, and blueberry. What a great time to share a great cup of tea, and commemorate our Americanness. I am PROUD to be an American.

Hmm. Perhaps a bit distasteful - in a couple of ways!

In Adagio's defense, customers can create their own custom blends and have them displayed on the site; and this is one of those. It isn't an official Adagio product. Whew. Tea and politics just don't mix.

I honestly thought this article about Ben Stein's defense of the alleged IMF rapist was one of those "shorter" things, where one blogger sarcastically paraphrases another blogger in order to make the latter look stupid.

1. If he is such a womanizer and violent guy with women, why didn’t he ever get charged until now?
2. This is a case about the hatred of the have-nots for the haves, and that’s what it’s all about.
3. So far, he’s innocent, and he’s being treated shamefully. If he’s found guilty, there will be plenty of time to criticize him.
4. Can anyone tell me any economists who have been convicted of violent sex crimes?
5. Maybe Mr. Strauss-Kahn is guilty but if so, he is one of a kind, and criminals are not usually one of a kind.

Etc..

But, it's not a "shorter". Those are actual lines from a piece that Ben Stein actually wrote and signed his name to. And it's only half of the list. Go read the rest.

Wow.

Mexican town’s pointy boots craze

Gingrich said:

I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history. You realize how many of our high school graduates because of the decay of the educational system, couldn't pass a citizenship test.

Yglesias, and others jumped on this as a racially-motivated remark. Yglesias calls it "a straightforward call for the revival of the kind of techniques that were used to prevent African-Americans (and many poor whites as well) from voting in the Jim Crow South."

Maybe. But, you have to remember that "conservatives" tend to claim that they are the only people who know US history, the only people who know the Constitution. And, they believe that the Constitution holds the keys to dismantling the wicked liberal welfare state. If everyone just read the Constitution and learned the history of the hallowed founding fathers, the theory goes, they'd see that much of what our government currently does is clearly illegal. And then we'd be able to return to that glorious pre-New Deal era of small government and free markets.

Newt calling out for us to "learn history" is evangelical - spreading the good word of the Constitution so that all may learn how wicked we've become, see how far we've strayed from the Founders' intent, and that we may at last gaze upon the beautiful light of small government. And those who refuse to see the light, well, they should not be allowed to partake in the bounty it offers.

Or, maybe he's just a racist prick.

1 iz waiting fur teh ceiling cat; tearz is on mai cheekz an he sez "oh, hai!"

2 he lifts mi out of durty litturs box an putz me on teh kichun florr

3 he putz new meow in mai mouf, meow of praiz fo’ he. allz will see an leep an curlz up in da lap of he.

4 warm is teh cat who make he hiz lap, doez no fear teh dogz, t’ tho wo purrz to ‘tend sky hol.

5 mahni, o cat mi cat, ar teh wonderz yeh hav dun. teh th’ngz yeh plan’d fer uz no un can recon to yeh; wer mi to meow an tellz of tehm, tehy wud be too mani meowz.

6 let looze an offer’ng yeh didnz desire, buh mi nailz yeh haf clip’d; burnt ofr’ngz an s’n offer’ngz yeh didnz make rulez ov.

LOLCat Bible Translation Project

Check it out, Google has apparently scanned and indexed all of Spin magazine's issues.

Here's May 1985, with Madonna on the cover, articles on U2, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Fela Kuti, Stryper, Bryan Ferry, Bronski Beat, Sade, Run-DMC, The Replacements, Del Fuegos and "Death Rock".

The tag on the U2 article is

"Bono Vox writes songs that are politically daring, intelligent and risky - like the man himself. A conversation about God, leather pants, Blade Runner, war, makeup, Catholics and music as sweet as sex."

Remember when Bono had a fake last name? Remember when Spin was the cool, no BS alternative to crusty, old, Rolling Stone? Remember when you could come here and not be reminded how old you are?

Inside, there's an article from Robert Fripp about guitars. David Lee Roth has an article about lowriders. There are ads for phonograph cartridges, tape decks and graphic EQs - all done in that spare, black-and-white, "If You Are Serious About Your Hi-Fi System...", 70s, hi-tech style. The past was a blast.

And then, on the back page:

Hall and Oats, sexing up a fucking Pontiac Fiero! I thought those little death traps were the coolest thing ever, in 1985.

Wonder what else Google's hiding. (yes, they have Playboys)

Definitely Not What I Meant!

All the kids from day care are in dreamland.
The froggie has made his last leap.
Hell no, you can't go to the bathroom.
You know where you can go? The fuck to sleep.

It's a book by Adam Mansbach. And it looks awesome.

"Go the Fuck to Sleep" is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, it captures the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. Beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny, "Go the Fuck to Sleep" is a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.

“Even applying to a school, even if you get rejected, says a lot about you,” Mr. Krueger told me. He points out that the average SAT score at the most selective college students apply to turns out to be a better predictor of their earnings than the average SAT score at the college they attended.

Therefore, if you want to make a lot of money after college, your best bet is to simply apply to, but do not attend, colleges which attract kids with high SAT scores!

Right?

via

NOTHING is to be written on this side except to fill in the data
specified. Sentences not required should be crossed out. IF ANYTHING
ELSE IS ADDED THE POSTCARD WILL BE DESTROYED.


   I am well                               (sick     -(serious
   I have been admitted to hospital as     (wounded  -(not serious
   Am getting on well. Hope to return to duty soon.

                                (Letter dated _____________________
   I have received your         (Telegram dated ___________________
                                (Parcel dated _____________________

   Letter follows at first opportunity.

   I have received no letter from you
              (for a long time.
              (lately.


Signature __________________________________________

Date _____________________

Postcard US service members were allowed to send home immediately after the Pearl Harbor attacks.

wiki.