straight up and down blog

On the left side of the new civility.
From the Washington Times:

Howard Dean “…last month did an impression of Mr. Limbaugh for a gathering of Democrats in Minnesota that included the sound of someone snorting cocaine. Mr. Limbaugh became addicted to the painkiller OxyContin while dealing with years of chronic back pain, but entered a rehabilitation center last year and says he is now drug-free.

“Mr. Dean, a doctor, was unapologetic about his parody, even when ‘Meet the Press’ host Tim Russert asked whether it is ‘appropriate for a physician to mock somebody who has gone into therapy and the abuse for drug addiction?’

“’Rush Limbaugh has made a career of belittling other people and making jokes about President Clinton, about Mrs. Clinton and others. I don't think he's in any position to do that. … I will use whatever position I have in order to root out hypocrisy. Democrats have strong moral values. Frankly, my moral values are offended by some of the things I hear on programs like ‘Rush Limbaugh,' and we don't have to put up with that.’

“ In the wide-ranging, hourlong interview, Mr. Dean also said his comments in January that ‘I hate Republicans and everything they stand for’ and that this is a struggle between good and evil, and we are the good’ were taken ‘a little out of context.’

Different elephants.
Reuters: A “restaurant that serves barbecue and other traditional Korean foods was closed for a month for repairs after three elephants rampaged through its plate-glass front. It has just reopened with a new name: ‘Restaurant Where Elephants Have Been.’

“…The elephants crushed tables and stools and also munched on carrots.

“Keum said patrons have been heading to her newly reopened restaurant out of curiosity and sales have doubled.

“‘What can I say about the elephants? Thank you for causing the trouble? Well, that just might be right,’ Keum said.”

iTunes, and what they say about you.
A little while back, on what was apparently a very slow news day, the media revealed what was on President Bush’s iPod. Much was made of what the musical choices revealed about the President. One of the songs, it seems, is “My Sharona,” by The Knack, which was deemed both unPresidential and unChristian by the editor of Spin. True, perhaps, but who the hell cares?

Well, a lot of people do, I guess. Any time a new technology comes along, we can’t just relax and enjoy it, or relax and ignore it, as the case may be, no, it has to reveal something about ourselves.

A group of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Palo Alto Research Center recently came up with a study outlining what iPod use in a work environment tells your co-workers about you. According to their study, what a cubicle-dwellers put on a playlist is selected more to impress co-workers than for personal musical enjoyment.

According to New Scientist.com: “Participants confessed to forming judgements about co-workers based on the taste - or lack of taste - revealed by their music collection. Many also admitted to tailoring their own music library to project a particular persona, and some said they deliberately hid particularly embarrassing tracks from others.”