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Georgia Textbook Evolution Disclaimer Stickers Ruled Unconstitutional

MSNBC reports that “A federal judge Thursday ordered a suburban Atlanta school system to remove stickers from its high school biology textbooks that call evolution ‘a theory, not a fact,’ saying the disclaimers are an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.” I posted about this a couple of months ago, and I’m very happy to see this decision. I only hope this sets a precedent that other school districts heed…

via Slashdot
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W’s iPod Playlist

Recent photos suggest that W is an iPod user. Wonkette jumps on this opportunity to speculate on his playlist:

  • “Brilliant Mistake,” Elvis Costello
  • “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” U2
  • “Search and Destroy” By Iggy And The Stooges
  • “Oops I Did It Again,” Britney Spears
  • “Party At Ground Zero,” Fishbone
  • “Give Me Another Chance,” Big Star
  • “If I Ruled The World,” Nas
  • “Long Distance Drunk,” Modest Mouse
  • “Kill The Poor,” Dead Kennedys
  • “World Of Fantasy,” The Five Stairsteps
  • “My Favorite Mistake,” Sheryl Crow
  • “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” Ella Fitzgerald
  • “I Looked All Over Town,” Magnetic Fields
  • “May The Man Who Has His Finger On The Button Have A Lovely Day Today,” Bobby Bare
  • “Ballad Of The Big Nothing,” Elliot Smith
  • “I’ve Got The World On A String,” Erroll Gardener
  • “Rock The Casbah,” The Clash
  • “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” Tears For Fears
  • “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish,” The Smiths
  • “Sitting On Top Of The World,” Howlin Wolf
  • “Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta,” The Geto Boys
  • “The Fightin’ Side Of Me” Merle Haggard
  • “Let The Idiot Speak,” Old 97’s

Wow, I think she pretty much covered everything there. Any suggestions? 🙂

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RIP WHFS

WHFSThe Washington, D.C. radio station 99.1 WHFS used to be a “modern and alternative” rock station. Now it has suddenly changed formats to El Zol 99.1, a Latino station. If you try http://www.whfs.com, you’ll see their new logo, but I refuse to drive traffic to their site by actually linking to them.

WHFS was one of the few local stations where you could hear cool, interesting, unique music, a welcome change from the typical crappy Clear Channel programming omnipresent on other “rock” stations. It really blows that they’re gone, and although abrupt format changes are apparently the norm in the radio business, the suddenness of this stings all the more…

Update: DCRTV has a nice tribute to WHFS that includes a short history of the station as well as interviews with personalities that worked there.

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Ali G Strikes Again

Ali GI’ve mentioned the Ali G Show before, and I will reiterate my assertion that if you haven’t watched this hilarious show, you really should.

The show’s purported Kazakhstani character Borat nearly got lynched in a recent appearance at a rodeo in which he was supposed to sing The Star-Spangled Banner. He began by announcing his support of the United States’ war on terror, exclaiming, “I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards,” and “And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq.” He ended his act by “[launching] into a butchered version of The Star-Spangled Banner that ended with the words ‘your home in the grave.’” Needless to say, the crowd was just a little bit rowdy after that, and he hustled out of there before he got himself shot.

I so want to see this episode now… 🙂

Update: The New Yorker interviewed Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary for the Embassy of Kazakhstan. In the wake of The Ali G Show, he obviously “wants to clear up a few misconceptions about his country:”

Women are not kept in cages. The national sport is not shooting a dog and then having a party. You cannot earn a living being a Gypsy catcher. Wine is not made from fermented horse urine. It is not customary for a man to grab another man’s khrum. Khrum is not the word for testicles.

The mere fact that the show has actually caused confusion is pretty funny, although I guess I’d be a little chagrined if Ukraine was portrayed in that way. I’d like to think that I could have a sense of humor about it, but…

update link via Happy Robot