TrulySkewed

How to argue with your friend who claims that FOX is no different (two steps)

2009-10-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

Talking Point Joint for this week (sorry it's a little late)If you say that the number of blue whale attacks on America's seniors has risen sharply since Obama's election and I point out that blue whale attacks have remained steady, are we both equally biased?If you think so, then you're probably down with the latest talking point, that FOX is no different than MSNBC. There are two useful steps

Rise of Conservative Media (video)

2009-10-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

There is a fight, and that fight must be met - with words and tactics before the battlefield changes.This video shows how lies become mainstream and why the President needs to fight back. The frame of the video is that Conservative media aims to take down the 'Progressive Agenda'. I actually have no problem with people who argue against a progressive agenda, that's America. I have a problem

A Christian thing to do? (9-12 video)

2009-10-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

You can keep your guns and religion - seriously that's awesome! But would you please rub a couple brain cells together, so that we can have a reasonable discussion in America? Thanks to Flying Rice for linking to this video. How did we get here? I have a theory that might be a bit controversial, which I hope you'll read below.Readers might think that I relish posting videos like this, so that

Week in Review

2009-10-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

Flying Rice joined the conversation with a monster link, which shines a light on the elephant in the room that right-leaning opponents of the healthcare reform refuse to acknowledge so far - the abject dearth of knowledge displayed by the masses of protesters. The link was to a video of a citizen journalist who interviewed a ton of 9-12 marchers. The video will be tomorrow's 'Let's Get Teabagged

Clueless Tea Party Signs Rebutted

2009-10-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

Friday Feature - an album of clueless tea party signs with facts to show why they're wrongheaded. Sources follow album.Truth about czarsWealth in America National DebtHealth Care reform saves moneycommunist?Canadians more satisfied (FOX News)

Good idea for Michael Steele to ask readers why they're Republicans?

2009-10-22T04:41:00.000-07:00

Open thread: What is a Republican?On Michael Steele's first blog post, the big guy asks readers, "Why are you a Republican? Think about that for a minute."Ironically, I think many people nowadays are asking themselves just that. I'm surprised he only received 74 responses in over a week at the time of writing.Michael says he became a Republican because he did some research and found out that

Government takeover of healthcare - paranoid much?

2009-10-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

Let's burn down this week's talking point joint.Gobs of Americans are scared of government, and when they hear that politicians have an agenda to 'fix' health care, they go on quite a bad trip.Some special interest organizations, like the Christian Coalition for America, stoke up the paranoia to raise money on Americans freaking out.And the GOP knows you got the shakes and tries to score

Armed Americans Seize Government Buildings and Officials - Hilarious!

2009-10-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

It's Monday - time for your weekly teabagging!Do you dream of a world where Anne Coulter's "Treason" is required reading in U.S. high schools? Where CIA agents, the true patriots that they are, help lead a rebellion against an Obama Coup and are free to torture former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? And where Sarah Palin and Joe Wilson each lead patriots to victory in battles against domestic Hamas

Week in Review

2009-10-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

If this blog could be compared to an extraterrestrial in its last throes of life here on Earth , then this week was that magic moment, when, just as the little girl thinks E.T. is gone forever and is wondering what to do with a dead alien, she sees the heart-light glow through the sheet and the finger-tip ignite, and is nearly moved to tears by a classic Neil Diamond song. TrulySkewed is back

LGTB: Obama the Evil Snail and Other Nutty Right Wing Tales

2009-10-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

No, it's not a typo. LGTB stands for 'Let's Get Tea Bagged!', a new TrulySkewed feature where I'll do reconnaissance in Nutwingery and bring back the 'intelligence' here. From time to time, I try to find reasonable right wing media outlets - I don't want to live in a bubble - but every time I try, I am stunned. So let's get tea bagged!Let's start off at Pajamas Media, where blogger David Solway

O'Reilly has no clue he's the butt of a joke

2009-10-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

O'Reilly and Wallace wonder if a Conan O'Brien skit is too hard on Michelle Obama (underlying subtext is that the media is too easy on her), all the while completely missing that the joke is on them!

Ten reasons Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

An American living in a non-American time zone, I learned of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize in a last-news-check before bed. Like many, I blinked several times before believing my eyes and brain had correctly decoded the headlines, and I went to bed dreading what the right wing hate machine would do with this new development. Sure enough, I woke up to calls for Obama

Republicans return to lies immediately

2009-09-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

The official Republican response to the President's address is still on TV as I write this. Minutes after Obama admonished the charlatans who have purposely mischaracterized the plans laid out by Obama and/or democrats in Congress, Republican Rep. Boustany immediately lied.The transcript obviously is not out yet, so I'll paraphrase.Replacing your health insurance with a government takeover of

Evil socialist French and British scientists breakthrough on Alzheimers

2009-09-06T20:42:00.001-07:00

It is often feared in America that a reform of health insurance would destroy profit motive thus grinding medical advancement to a halt.So how strange it is that a team of British and French scientists just identified three genes associated with Alzheimer's, possibly leading to alleviation or prevention of suffering for hundreds of thousands. Britain and France both have government-run health

Real death panels discovered by California nurses

2009-09-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Turns out Sarah Palin's instincts are right, but just misplaced. In the first half of this year, 1 in 5 insurance claims were denied, representing a hideous mix of rationing and death panels.But this wasn't the result of a tortuous governemnt beaurocracy; it was the findings of the California Nurses Association (CNA) study of private health insurance plans. PacifiCare and Cigna clocked in with

Silence is not a public option!

2009-09-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

The people must speak now! The United States is on the verge of historic positive change that will begin to loosen the corporate death grip that wrenches American life and governance. I know the people are tired.They spent a year supporting and arguing for change with their free time and spare energy. They voted. But the vote didn't stop right wing radio, the vote didn't stop lobbyists from

After 'reflection' media publishes photos of dying American soldiers

2009-09-04T10:26:00.001-07:00

Funny how the period of 'reflection' just happened to span the entire Bush war years and end exactly in the middle of the time when the Obama war years are just beginning.During the Bush years, did you see a picture like this? What was it that kept the media 'reflecting' on the appropriateness of such images from 2000-08?The notion of a liberal media is a damned joke!I am fully supportive of the

Look! An adorable public option puppy ghost followed Obama home

2009-09-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

We all remember the opening scenes of this movie, when Candidate Obama used the irresistible little mutt as a popularity ploy when he wanted to be president. I mean who hasn't borrowed somebody's puppy and taken it to the park to pick up chicks?But, after the election, he shamelessly kicked it to the curb, and when he saw it's pathetic little mug in the mirror, he backed up over it for good

Dems should use scare tactics too; I offer three

2009-08-19T00:26:00.000-07:00

Support for the public option in June was upwards of 75%, but dropped to below 50% by July. What happened? Did the summer heat melt our brains? Republicans' favorite gloating refrain is, "The more people learn about Obamacare, the more they oppose it." But those who actually read several sources of news understand that the more the right wingers spread misinformation and scared the crap out of

Are you blabbing about health care when you don't know?

2009-08-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

With the dismal coverage of health care who can blame you? You're not sure if Canada's health care rocks or sucks. They must get colds, but oranges don't grow up there, so how do they get vitamin C? This quiz will give you a basic understanding of some world health systems.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mystudiyo.com/act93863/mini/go/

A Modest (and Self-Serving) Health-Care Proposal

2009-08-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

- by William Scott BrowningMy car broke down last week. Turns out it was a relatively minor fix. A new alternator has my 1996 Chevy Cavalier running just fine. The old lady has clocked 160+ thousand miles though so I doubt my woes are done. Guess what all of my enlightened friends suggested as I navigated this latest life-crisis? Cash for Clunkers! Cash for Clunkers! Right…Turns out that

Fox News can't find our troops on a map

2009-07-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Fox News gives us it's version of the facts with this map of the Middle East. Now obviously 'Egypt' is mislabeled, since Egypt is in Africa. But what mislabled country is that? Hmmmm.....anyone have any ideas? To their credit, this is fair and balanced. We need to give equal voice to those who think Egypt borders Iran.

Why the free market doesn't provide quality health care as it does bread and lap dances

2009-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

In America, if a high school Econ. class convinces the students that the free market rocks and communism is evil, kids pass and everybody's happy. Students must know that an invisible hand in free markets create a wonderful world of low prices and variety, and that communism takes away people's will to live, let alone produce anything.This is true in the bread and lap dance markets (the latter

Republican's ludicrous metaphor to try to scare you about health care

2009-07-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

After all this time as the head of the Republican committee to think of Republican solutions to America’s health care woes, find out what brilliant idea Roy Blunt came up with. Plus at the end of the video, you can find out if elephants are really scared of mice or not.

My response to Bill Maher's imploring Obama to be more like Bush

2009-07-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

I think I'm getting better at the YouTube video thing. My video about Iraq oil took a lot more effort than the Limbaugh one, but didn't get nearly as many views. The secret I guess is to include a celebrity in the title. Sad, huh? But this one is already is taking off on YouTube. So I take Bill Maher to task here, while trying to educate the viewer at the same time. Let me know what you think.

Glenn Beck's guest hopes Bin Ladin strikes U.S. again

2009-07-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

A former C.I.A. analyst, who unbelievably is crazier than Glenn Beck (I'm seriously beginning to wonder about the C.I.A) tells Beck that, "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it’s gonna take a grass roots, bottom up pressure." Believe it or not, they were discussing the Mexican Border.I got this

Week in review on TrulySkewed

2009-06-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

I know it's not the end of the week, but some tell me that people don't hang out in front of their computers on weekends. So I thought I'd give my heartfelt thanks to readers of this blog by light-heartedly calling out some of the major events.Grant accuses founding father John Adams of being a conspiracy theorist and plays 52 card pick-up with the health care deck of cards because Obama is

TrulySkewed call to action!!!

2009-06-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Mission: The dream of TrulySkewed is at the same time simple and elusive. People love to go to social events, watch TV programs, and visit websites where their own notions are validated. Imagine a place where people of different viewpoints, affiliations, and faiths bravely spoke their minds and eagerly listened to each others' ideas! I believe we can agree more than we do and move our country

The C.I.A. crucified a prisoner to death - is that in the handbook?

2009-06-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of detainees have died in U.S. custody and that's only the ones we know about. Three died during C.I.A. interrogations. One of them froze to death chained naked to the floor overnight, and one was essentially crucified. They are described here in the New Yorker.No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved inthe torture program, despite the fact that at

Why do you watch Fox? Let's look at a segment

2009-06-28T03:25:00.000-07:00

Fox News cuts out a tiny clip of an Obama answer at a townhall on health care, and pundits go to town scaring people about how government is going to kill us in our old age. In reality, the clip was taken from a highly nuanced and, I think, painfully honest answer to a tough question posed by an elderly lady in the audience.If anybody gets their news from Fox 'News', I would honestly like to know

Limbaugh blames Obama for Sanford's cheating on his wife

2009-06-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Limbaugh tells us that Obama and Democrats have killed the 'spirit' of many Americans, including Mark Sanford, and that he just said 'screw it' and cheated on his wife. I can't believe I have to do this, but let me debunk this idea with a few facts. Dittoheads, you might want to stop reading right now or your heads might explode. Obama's approval rating is 62% today with only 32%

Mark Sanford reveals undisclosed location on 'Appalachian Trail'

2009-06-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the EconomyGovernor of South Carolina Mark Sanford apologized in a press conference for cheating on his wife with a woman in Argentina and putting his staff in the unfortunately comedic position of explaining his disappearance by saying he was on an undisclosed part of the Appalachian Trail - on Father's Day weekend!I'm going to poke

Wiley Southern Baptist Pastor (imprecatorily) prays for Obama's Death

2009-06-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Pastor Wiley Drake (former vice pres of the Southern Baptist Church) was on Alan Colmes radio show awhippin' up a firestorm about how he prays for President Obama's death.He also boasted about how he performed similar imprecatory prayers for the death of recently deceased Dr. Tiller. He made clear that he didn't pray for his murder, but that in the end, he got what he wanted.Honestly, I had never

Ahmadenijad supporters; let's play name the analogous American political group

2009-06-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

I've been criticizing NPR for the last couple of days, but obviously I listen to them quite a bit, because you find information there that you won't find anywhere else.The 'Tell Me More' show found a staunch Ahmadenijad supporter on Facebook and interviewed her from Iran. I was suddenly struck by the obvious comparison between her (and Ahmajenidad's causes) and a certain American political group

More on NPR bending truth to concede to right wingers

2009-06-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

Diane Rehm and her guests agree that even if there were massive protests in the streets in every state, we still wouldn't get single payer health care - not even a bill in Congress!Then a guest mindlessly repeats the right wing talking point that people fear regulation will stifle innovation that helps people. A miffed caller asks for an example of recent financial innovation that helps people

NPR: the art of rolling over

2009-06-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

When in doubt, NPR radio hosts always skew towards Republican talking points. Is it because they've been hit with the 'liberal' moniker so many times that they instinctively roll over like scared dogs? It's especially frustrating when they don't present the facts.Here's Diane Rehm and guests telling the public that we should be lucky to get any climate change bill, let alone one that makes any

Caller from Alaska: the craziest or smartest radio show call in ever

2009-06-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Is this radio show caller crazy or really smart? The Alaskan called into a show about same-sex behavior in the animal kindom.He didn't get to finish his point, but after listening to it a few times, I think I know where he was going.

Diane Rehm swallows right wing cool-aid

2009-06-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

There is an entire industry devoted to keeping FOX news honest, i.e. Media Matters. But when NPR puts forth half-truths and talking points from the right wing memo, I think it deserves pointing out.I was listening to the Diane Rehm show and heard her and her guests talking about how Obama may be popular but his policies aren't.The WSJ/NBC poll that they reference shows overwhelming public support

Released due to lack of evidence; detained at age 14, subjected to 7 years shackles and sleep deprivation

2009-06-12T04:06:00.001-07:00

A Chadian citizen, Mohammed El Gharani, was released without charge, fully five months after a federal judge ordered him released, due to the failure of the U.S. government to provide any evidence of his guilt.Gharani was captured in a Pakistani security force raid on a mosque, and later turned over to the United States, who accused him of – according to Reuters:staying in an al Qaeda-affiliated

People want health care choices; what are the choices before us?

2009-06-11T07:00:00.001-07:00

Health care will be a major focus on TrulySkewed in the weeks to come. However, I'm going to give the floor to Cenk Ugar for the time being, because I couldn't give a better introduction. What kind of health care system do you prefer?Technorati Tags: health care,poll,single payer,public option

17 Gitmo detainees to be relocated to Palau; oooh me too!!

2009-06-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration has negotiated for the relocation to Palau of 17 innocent Chinese Muslims presently held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They won't be incarcerated there, but rather helped to resume a life as normal as possible. "Dear me! They're not going to be incarcerated?" you ask. No, because eventhough they have been held in captivity for years, they have committed no crime according to

Best animations explaining economic meltdown on Youtube, maybe

2009-06-09T02:42:00.001-07:00

I spent about an hour on Youtube trying to find the best video explaining the financial meltdown. There were a lot of great ones, but I tried to pick the one that was the clearest, and most comprehensive - but still simple. I chose one that was very informative, one that was cheesy and informative, and at the end I added one that represents MSNBC's attempt to make you stupider.Here's my #1 pick.

The good ship 'Homosexuality is Unnatural' sinks

2009-06-08T03:51:00.000-07:00

The ship is sunk and those who were on deck are denying that they were ever on board. As scientists are publishing and popularizing hoards of evidence that members of the animal kingdom (some 1500 documented species) regularly display homosexual behavior, supporters of gay rights are celebrating an argumentative victory.It's much harder to use the old line, "Being homo ain't nat'ral. I ain't ever

American journalists sentenced to 12 years hard labor in N. Korea

2009-06-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Two female American journalists, who were working for Al Gore's Current-TV at the time of their arrest, have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering the country.I guess that's one way to deal with your illegal immigration problem! North Korea is a living embodiment of exactly what you don't want your government to be.If you are a journalist, the most badass beat you could

Gay penguins raise baby in love cave

2009-06-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

The sanctity of marriage is threatened as news breaks of a pair of zoo penguins, not surprisingly in Germany, that has lovingly and protectively hatched and raised a chick. The chick, who was abandoned by its parents while still in egg form, is visibly confused.Go take a look at the picture of the gay couple and ask yourself - if you didn't already know these parent penguins were gay, could you

Obama considers executing prisoners without full trial

2009-06-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is considering a proposal that would allow prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to be executed without a full trial. The proposal would ease what has come to be recognized as the government's difficult task of prosecuting men who have confessed to terrorism, but whose cases present challenges. Much of the evidence against the men accused in the

Which of Obama's lines got applause in Cairo? Which didn't? Any patterns?

2009-06-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

I was listening to President Obama's earth shattering speech in Cairo last night, and I was moved by its honesty, humility, and the audacity of the whole event. But I couldn't shake off an underlying feeling of anxiety.I realized that that feeling was related to the lines that were receiving applause - and the lines that weren't. See if you can spot a pattern (I've only included the first half of

HBO looks inside radical anti-abortion group Army of God

2009-06-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

HBO has a documentary called 'Soldiers in the Army of God', which features interviews with members of a radical anti-abortion group that has been tied to many acts of violence and terror. Some of their heroes are in prison, and interviewed in this film. I only put # 2/7 on this page, but you can see the rest on Youtube. (update: since the time of writing, I have finished watching the whole piece.

Cheney and Palin vying for 2012 GOP spot?

2009-06-03T07:25:00.001-07:00

I was reading an AMERICAblog post called ‘Dick Cheney couldn’t get the Republican nomination in 2012. He’s too Gay-friendly’, and trying to figure out how I could not steal their story. After reading AMERICAblog’s sources,I found the real story in the comment of the section of a U.S. News & World Report article entitled ‘Cheney for President in 2012?’. The first comment:Former V.P. Dick Cheney

How about this comment system?

2009-06-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

Ok now I changed to another comment system. This one is really going to juice up TrulySkewed. Try it and tell me how it goes. Thanks.

Republican party has gone hip hop; how does it sound?

2009-06-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

Yo, Conservatives in the hizzouse!!!!! The Young Cons take up Michael Steele’s call to hip hoppify the Republican party. Y’all think this new Young Con Anthem is dope or whack? Which lyrics would you keep or scrap? The full lyrics are here and this isn’t a parody. Check out the lyrics and tell me your opinion. Here are some of my favorite lines and rhymes: I rep the Northeast and I’m

Context of Sotomayor’s infamous statement; nuanced and honest or racist?

2009-05-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

I knew that the comments by aspiring Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor were taken out of context by her opponents, so I read through all five pages of her 2001 speech at Berkeley. Do you think I'm going to trust Newt Gingrich to tell me who's a racist? Please!!I’m not sure if the context of her statement will quell the rage or stoke the fire, but her statements are definitely blunt and honest

Cool law quote

2009-05-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him fromlynching me, and I think that's pretty important. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Former Rep. Bonilla claims conservative attack on Sotomayor ‘nothing different than what comes from the liberal side’

2009-05-29T18:46:00.001-07:00

On the right side of the screen, you’ll find a video compilation of the right wing media moguls attacking Sotomayor as a racist. Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have added their voices to the chorus. Former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo went so far as to call her a member of the ‘Latino KKK’. This rhetoric has got some in the Republican party worried, not that their colleagues are being

Commission finds Massachusetts universal health mixed bag; recommends bolder steps like in Cuba

2009-05-28T18:04:00.001-07:00

Massachusetts has not waited for the country to come around to support universal health care. For two years, they have boldly experimented with their own plan to get everybody covered. The system is something similar to what Obama has pushed, an optional government subsidized plan. After two years, the results of a comprehensive study are in, and the results are what you would expect, mixed.

Boo! Congress buckles; rich people swindle you in broad daylight

2009-05-27T21:38:00.001-07:00

When King Charles went on his despotic binge in the 17th Century, the main power the Parliament had to check his ‘Divine Right of Kings’ was the ‘Power of the Purse’. Parliament guarded that power religiously and when Charles tried to circumvent it, by levying his own taxes with out asking, it led to a civil war in England. I only wish our Congress had the same mettle, but ye the merry, under

Conservative radio show host gets water boarded; evokes Emerson

2009-05-27T09:46:00.001-07:00

Erich Muller, a conservative radio host in Chicago, volunteered to be water boarded in order to prove that it was tiddlywinks. After the deed, you can tell in the video that he is very reluctant to admit that he feels it is torture, but that in all honesty he has to.Apparently Muller has spent the better part of a year mocking people for calling water boarding torture, and it must be difficult to

Ex-jihadists paint sunbeams; say they’re better now

2009-05-27T04:14:00.001-07:00

This PBS video aims to dig into the story of this art therapy rehab program for terrorists in Saudi Arabia, including some who have come home from Guantanamo, but it kind of fails in that regard. What it does do is paint a surreal picture of this Muslim nation - pardon the pun. Watch it and you’ll hear a suicide bomber say that it was a miracle that he didn’t die – when twelve civilians died

The Spearsian Doctrine; beginning of end for U.S.?

2009-05-23T00:50:00.001-07:00

I was looking for a timeline of Supreme Court decisions relating to Gitmo, trying to verify my feeling that no matter what they rule, nothing changes (I feel like our checks and balances tricycle has been careening down the road balancing on two wheels for a while now). But instead I found a timeline of everything known to the public Gitmo-wise – from the first few detainees in wire cages and

The only person I can control in this situation is me

2009-05-22T05:29:00.000-07:00

The facts are in from all fronts on torture, and it doesn't look good for its proponents:we've signed up against it in international treatiesour forefathers foreswore it in the Revolutionary War - the birth of our nationwe punished our own soldiers for torturing in Vietnamwe demanded and got the execution of Japanese soldiers who water boarded ours in WWIIour actions have been deemed torture even

Wanna to listen to a 1/2 hour podcast and then understand the economic crisis?

2009-05-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

What have you learned about the financial crisis from watching cable news? You've learned half truths and partial facts that can be cherry-picked and used to blame either Republicans or Democrats - that's what I've learned anyways.Namely, minorities are to blame, or Democrats forced banks to give sub-prime loans, or Republicans pressed for deregulation, or it was all one guy's fault at AIG, or

Bush wouldn’t budge for more than zero; Guess how many centrifuges Iran has now

2009-05-21T03:32:00.001-07:00

U.S. diplomacy is often characterized as the ‘carrot and the stick’ approach, painting the other country as the donkey who is resistant to doing what we want. In an interview with Salon, retiring director of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the Bush administration’s simplistic approach of treating Iran like a donkey - actually he was pissed. But as I read deeper into the interview, I

Why blog?

2009-05-20T04:01:00.001-07:00

If this blog were widely acclaimed and thus my career, I would see fit to shell out for a copy of Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press. But on second thought, maybe reading it could give me ideas for making my blog more successful. Doh! What do you call that again? Oh yeah.....a catch 22. I've hated those since 8th grade English.But mercifully Salon.com has

Ibn al-Shakyh al-Libi, Powell’s tortured justification for war, ‘commits suicide’

2009-05-16T20:06:00.001-07:00

al-libi's forced confession in run up to war Remember when Colin Powell made the case for the Iraq War in front of the U.N. Security Council? He insisted that Saddam Hussein’s regime had helped train Al Qaeda in chemical and biological weaponry. The source of evidence for Powell’s assertions, a captured Al Qaeda operative Ibn al-Shakyh al-Libi, is now dead. Al-Libi’s confessions were

The lesser of two evils?

2009-05-15T19:05:00.001-07:00

I wish had a nickel for every time I heard somebody say something like, "Honestly I feel like I'm always just voting for the lesser of two evils," or, "Good people stay out of politics." Then I would have enough money to buy something to cheer me up from all that depressing talk. How sad to drag yourself to the voting booth, to exercise your right to choose between the two scumbags who happened

Fuel efficient cars a terrible idea; how about no cars at all?

2009-05-15T04:55:00.001-07:00

You're going to think I'm crazy, and its OK; you're not the first. I hope that reading this will plant a seed that later, watered by daily experience and new developments, will grow into a new point of view. But that probably won't happen; I've been trying it with my friends for years and I have never succeeded, not once! Here's the crazy idea - I strongly believe that the drive for

I reserve the right to sue Keith Olbermann

2009-05-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

Olbermann has debuted his new segment ‘WTF’. I love it. In fact I love it so much that I thought of it first!! Gander at my categories section on the right sidebar and you will notice that I have a category called ‘wtf’, and that there are articles there posted several days ago.Now, I have been tracking my site’s visitors and there are a few I can’t account for. Is Keith staying up late looking

The best argument I’ve seen against water boarding

2009-05-13T07:02:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had someone offer you the torture-false-choice question?“If you knew that a bomb was going to go off and kill thousands of Americans including your family, and all you had to do to avert the attack was water board somebody, would you do it?”A friend of mine actually asked me that question about a week ago. If you answer no you wouldn't water board in that situation, then you're

Why are we spending tax dollars on sending homicidal golfers to Iraq?

2009-05-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Media Matters and many in the blogosphere are in a huff (rightly so) about a hateful statement written by a former pro golfer/occasional CBS sports commentator, David Feherty:From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, ....if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama

U.S. soldier rape conviction; rape in the 'context' of war

2009-05-10T00:56:00.001-07:00

Steven Dale Green was convicted of the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. With the help of two other soldiers, he disguised himself to cast suspicion on Iraqi fighters, killed the girl's family, raped the girl, killed her, and then burnt her body.One of the accomplices, Specialist James Barker testified that while the men were playing cards and drinking, Green raised the idea of killing

Help TrulySkewed / Why subscribe?

2009-05-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Like Truly Skewed? Get notified of new posts and help move the site forward at the same time. Here's how.SubscribeBy a feed reader (by a what??!!!)90% of internet users don't know what a site feed is.... so don't be so hard on yourself.When you subscribe to the feed, you will be notified of new posts right away. Its easy. The easiest way is probably through Google Reader. Just click on the orange

Those living high on the hog tell you what to call 'swine flu'

2009-05-06T03:54:00.000-07:00

Swine flu name change irony (3 of 3)Soon after I started research for this post I knew it wouldn't be easy. My early searches led me to a Yahoo Questions page, where the question was,"Where did pig flu originate?"There was only one lonely reply -- "Besides the current outbreak, there was one in the 70s." ---That's it! Nobody else even attempted an answer.With such a huge public interest in this

We're a center-right country; that's our story and we're stickin' to it

2009-05-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

America is a center-right country! You've heard this mantra countless times, first from the mouths of incredulous right wingers on television after Obama's victory, "We're still a center-right country!" and repeated ad nauseum until news anchors and column writers were parroting it as if it were undeniable truth - no proof required, kind of like a proverb. An early bird gets the worm.The problem

Swine flu name change irony (2 of 3): its from swine!

2009-05-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Picture this. Your car breaks down and you take it to a mechanic, and the mechanic tells you the problem is a F3H5 error? What do you think? You probably think he's a complete loon and go get another opinion. But, what if all the mechanics tell you the same thing?They don't want to say 'your transmission is busted' because they don't want to give the transmission industry a bad name, so you're

Swine flu name change irony (1 of 3): encourages pig cruelty

2009-05-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

The WHO and the United States government have decided to change the name of swine flu, ostensibly to protect pigs from cruelty, citing pig slaughters (culling) in Egypt and elsewhere. News Flash! People slaughter pigs. Do they think there will be a spate of human-on-pig revenge violence? What the casual observer won't see is a discussion of the real reason for the push to change the name, and how

Top ten new WHO names for swine flu

2009-04-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

The WHO is changing the name of swine flu in order to protect pigs from cruelty. Apparently there is no evidence that one can contract the disease from eating pigs or being in contact with them. What should the new name be?My submissions:1. the Mexican flu - you can catch it from them, right? 2. the pig plague - doesn't solve the problem, but has cool alliterationAny more?a2a_linkname="Top ten

CNN Anchor Kyra Phillips apparently sorority hazed on national television

2009-04-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

That is the only reasonable explanation for her opening a segment on the hundredth day of the new administration as follows:"Alright our white cameraman is tryin' to swagga' over there with the camera. Swagga' is like 'swagger' with a little more 'flava'. We were curious to know if Barack Obama has got it...". Swagga' with the camera?If that was the embarrassing rite of passage that her sorority

Is Barack Obama to blame for swine flu?

2009-04-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

I came up with this title a few days ago as a joke example of what I’m going to call ‘questgitimizing’, the media practice of leading with a question based on a premise that is completely ludicrous. Often after the lead, there will be a debate; on one side, a normal thinking person defends him/herself and the country’s decency against the lies, half-truths, and logical acrobatics of the person

You think of a name then smarty pants

2009-04-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Some have expressed less than complete enthusiasm for the name of this blog. And in double-blind studies, certain subjects have been unable to recall the name 'trulyskewed' after several hours of being first exposed to it. I myself have, on occasion, had to scratch my head a couple of times before being able to type the URL. Maybe catchiness is an issue.The name is growing on me. Still I'm

Did you just call me a socialist? Take it back Comrade!

2009-04-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

Remember in grade school when you got angry and called your schoolmate a bastard? And your friend looked hurt and said, "What's a bastard?" You chortled,"Dummy! You don't know?!... um...It's a female dog or something."Yikes! Well done. Narrow escape. Then you probably thought to yourself, 'Next time I call someone a name, I'm gonna know what it means."There's been a lot of talk in the

Iraq war justification; the double sided tennis ball

2009-04-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

You ever notice that when you examine a tennis ball, it looks the same no matter which angle you look at it from? If you can't picture it, then go try it before you read on (some people are more spatially aware than others; no judgments). Some objects, on the other hand, look different when you look at them from a different way, like coins for example.Well aren't issues the same way? The issue of

Michael Moore thinks commies are better than us!

2009-04-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to think that all people should have health care and at the same time appreciate the value of free market competition? If you espouse both of these ideas simultaneously, then you are right in there with the preponderance of the modern industrial world. But if an American supports such ideas in the open, he will be poo-pooed on cable news channels as a naive bleeding heart and a

Would water boarding Sean Hannity be legal?

2009-04-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

Although the highly paid 'journalist' from Fox News certainly made an entertaining spectacle of the subject of water boarding when he agreed recently on his show to undergo the enhanced interrogation technique for charity, it would have been impossible for a viewer of his program to ascertain any facts about the legality of water boarding in the Land of the Free.So is it legal?Historically, it

So you want to understand the economic crisis: are you sure you're smart enough?

2009-04-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

The RollingStone, of all places, is an excellent place to start the demystification. While most talking heads suffice it to complain about how the common person could never wrap their heads around the current problem, Matt Taibbi is out there making a true hero's effort to lay it out for us. If you want to finally know what a credit default swap is, how it screwed us, and who let it happen, read