*CHOKE* *COUGH* *GASP* KIEV, Ukraine (CNN) — Ukraine’s election commission declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner of a hotly contested presidential runoff, but U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell quickly dismissed the contest as marred by fraud. MORE

This article from PopMatters, authored by Mark Anthony Neal (Associate Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Program in African and African-American Studies at Duke University), represents an absolutely fascinating look at race and American popular culture. Between the Terrell Owens/Nicolette Sheridan skit leading into Monday Night Football, the doings at the Vibe Awards, and the Pacers/Pistons dust-up in Motown,

Cool. create your own visited states map

sirpaulsbuddy offers a brief reply to my earlier missive on the Pistons/Pacers debacle here. Downward spiral, indeed…

After my brief post yesterday I got a line from the fine folks at Criticult, who concur with my sentiments on this new GD CD. Good to see I’m not the only one paying attention…. For that matter, their whole site is worth a visit.

Nicholar Kristof is calling out some Biblically-challenged hypocrisy this Thanksgiving Eve. I think my new catchphrase is going to be “Who’s your Jesus?”

NBC correspondent writes about the killing of an injured Iraqi This is complex, to say the least. I can understand how a Marine might be a little off in a situation like this, especially having been shot the day before, if I understand the story correctly. In no case is this another Abu Ghraib. I also very much respect the

I bought the new U2 and Green Day’s American Idiot today. I’m still trying to parse the U2, but I can tell you right now that this Green Day record is nothing short of brilliant. Has there ever been a punk rock opera before? This AMG review is dead on, and in some ways I’m not sure they even do

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Government Accountability Office plans to investigate complaints of several systemic problems with this month’s elections, a group of Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday. We’ll see where this goes, I guess….

Nicked from gibsonfeed – Economic “Armageddon” predicted Understand, this isn’t some shrill liberal pansy screaming that the sky is falling because Bush won. No, this is the chief economist at Morgan Stanley: Roach sees a 30 percent chance of a slump soon and a 60 percent chance that “we’ll muddle through for a while and delay the eventual armageddon.” The

In the aftermath of the election we were hearing all kinds of speculation about possible voter fraud, and much of what was alleged sounded pretty compelling – if it was accurate, anyway. You had reports of counties that were 85% Dem voting overwhelmingly for Dubya, for instance, and it seemed that all these anomalous counties were the ones using the

Buff AD Tharp resigns!!!

House Republicans last week voted to change their rules so that Majority Leader Tom DeLay won’t have to step down from his post if he’s indicted by a Texas grand jury on political corruption charges. Ever since the move was announced, Dems have been pitching a running hissy fit, flogging the GOP at every turn over the hypocrisy of the

Thanks to rarkrarkrark on for pointing us to this one: Conservatives Urge Closer Look at Marriage “If those initiatives are part of a broader effort to reaffirm lifetime fidelity in marriage, they’re worthwhile,” he said. “If they’re isolated, if we don’t address cohabitation and casual divorce and deliberate childlessness, then I think they’re futile and will be brushed aside.” Umm,

If I’m a deer, I’m enjoying the hell out of this.