Tuesday oddems: vanishing penises; tiny tiny hot tiny; stefan and the hoi polloi; lickspittle bouquets; effervescent candidacies; perfidious pancakes; hulking hope; hot rachel wrapped in the glory; and nothing whatsoever about dori or luke!

~~ Penises Disappear. Excellent commenter Gay Gary sent us this case of Mass Psychogenic Illness in Sudan in 2003. Mass hysteria spread through Khartoum, Sudan caused by rumors via cell phone text messaging of foreigners roaming the city, shaking men's hands, and making their penises disappear. Gary writes, "With the rise of internet-borne consumer generated media, one could imagine the conditions are now ripe for an event of disastrous proportion, especially if intentionally provoked by an organized non-state actor with advanced training in psychology and new media modes and methods."

~~ BlatherMunch, our new Sunday diversion into food and dining, went off with the clamor and uproar of the Phil the Junkie Show (KIRO Sundays, 4-7p) : we thought there'd be gritches and biping from the usual readers who argue that we pay too little attention to either radio, or politics. Not much of a peep out of either side. Our main objective, of course, is to get back on the media A-list for fancy dinners, and restaurant openings.

~~ Can we get busted for this? Seems if you Google, "sex tiny tiny hot tiny boy girl," you get to... BlatherWatch. We know nothing.

~~ Above it all. Stefan "harrumpf" Sharkansky, the stuffy right-winger who owns the official state GOP site Sound Politics.com has returned after a sabbatical. He's posting again, but has turned off the comments;  handing down pronouncements to the quaking believers and hovering over the proceedings like The Almighty. A telling distinction between right and left wing blogs is the way they handle comments: the righties police comments, control the conversation, and tamp down dissension; lefties let it run democratic and free. Stefan has chosen to remain aloof and above reproach.

~~ "If Hillary walked on water, she'd be criticized for not swimming, And if Obama swam, he'd be lauded for being able to do what Hillary couldn't." ~~Chris Lehane

~~ "Talk radio's job is not to get people elected, it's to have listeners and to sell advertising," Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, told Advertising Age and added that IT even any discussion of the impact is "good for business." The harsh anti-McCain rhetoric by Limbaugh et al didn't do much to stop the Arizona senator's presidential nomination, but it sure did help talk radio ratings!

~~ Paper bags not withstanding, ugly women get less sex than ugly men, because they're probably liberals too, according to conservative, Mormon "values" guide Glenn Beck (KTTH m-f, 6-9a). On Valentine's Day, while discussing a Health magazine article about "Surprising reasons you're not having sex," he raised the subject of "ugly people" and said, "If you're a guy, you can get past it. I don't think you ca n as an ugly woman." Beck, who also hosts his own show on CNN Headline News, and had an unsuccessful penis augmentation procedure in 2003, continued: "You've got a double cross [to bear] because if you're an ugly woman, you're probably a progressive as well." Ugly women can take heart, though, he added: "If you believe in God, you'd know that there's going to be another chance for you. You don't have to be ugly in heaven. You're going to be your perfect self, and there will be another perfect somebody waiting for you on the other side." (Just pray it isn't the pencil-dicked Glenn Beck).

~~ Cosmic baseball broadcasting synchronicity. Woo. Woo. After all the speculation about KIRO stealing Mariner baseball back from KOMO, we got this fascinating factoid from a KIR0 insider: "On the 2008 schedule, the evening home games start at 7:10... they used to be 7:05...a sign perhaps?" You read it here.

~~ Hype and glory. "One thing I worry about a lot if Obama is the Dem nominee — and he’s surely the frontrunner now — is that there will be a backlash against Obamamania. Actually, it’s already starting — probably too late to have much effect on the nomination fight, but in plenty of time to affect the general election. I hope I’m just a cynical baby boomer who has never really trusted any politician since
1968. But I just have a very bad feeling about the way things are going." ~~ Paul Krugman 

~~ Obamania picks up Hulk Hogan. Cool. 

(photo: Mr. Hogan assuming hopeful stance)

~~ Al Franken, comedian and former Air America talk host, is running for the Democratic nomination in the race to replace Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and be the first talk show host in the U.S. Senate. According to reports, Franken held a wide 32 to 17 percent lead over his opponent Mike Ciresi in a recent poll. A series of caucuses and local party conventions lead up to the state Democratic convention in June. There, about 1,400 delegates will endorse a candidate for the September primary. Franken and Ciresi have promised not to run without the that endorsement.

~~ Swinish talk show host Michael Savage (KTTH m-f, 6-8p) lost more major advertisers after a campaign by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). ITT Technical Institute, Chattem, Inc. (owners of Gold Bond, Icy Hot, and Selsun Blue), Union Bank of California, Intuit (parent company of TurboTax and QuickBooks), and GEICO Insurance joined US Cellular, Sprint Nextel, Sears, Universal Orlando Resorts, AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JCPenney, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart, and AT&T”- dropped their commercials.

~~ Talk radio quotables:

    “The big loser in South Carolina was, in fact, talk radio: a medium that has unmistakably collapsed in terms of impact, influence and credibility because of its hysterical and one-dimensional involvement in the GOP nomination fight.” [Michael Medved, 1/19/08]

    “Sean Hannity said a moment ago that he has his finger on the conservative pulse. The conservative talk radio and activist pulse. Immigration is the top issues for conservatives, for conservative Republicans. I just think there’s no evidence that’s the case of most voters and in most of the country.” [Bill Kristol, Fox News, 2/5/08]

    “Can we please stop pretending that immigration is a good issue for Republicans? The restrictionist side can’t even produce a victory for their man in a Republican primary.” [David Brooks, 1/30/08]

    “Mr. McCain’s emergence as the dominant candidate in the Republican field has generated an outcry from some of the party’s conservative stalwarts; Rush Limbaugh says a McCain nomination would destroy the Republican Party. We think Mr. McCain…would save the party from some of its worst and most self-destructive instincts.” [Washington Post, 2/6/08]

    “Their [Limbaugh and Coulter’s] claim that Mr. McCain is not a conservative…is ludicrous, but it’s damaging to a party bloodied by eight years of the politics of George Bush and Karl Rove.” [New York Times, 2/6/08]

~~ policy wonk hottie? Nerds became the hunks in the '90's: we've been waiting for the day when policy/politics wonks get to be the sex objects. (and even Goldy could get a date) Well, that day may have arrived: Our Rachel (KPTK m-f, 3-5p) made the the Washington Post's list of Cable News's Latest Hotties,
which would be only trite and disgusting if wasn't Rachel, and it weren't such a cultural break-through.

"Every election cycle brings a crop of cute new talking heads to our TV screens. We introduce you to the breakout eye candy of '08:

Who: Rachel Maddow
Day job: Air America radio host
Spotted: MSNBC
Age: 34
Status: Living with partner, artist Susan Mikula
Dress code: Jeans and T-shirts; reluctantly wears suits for TV. "I feel like I'm dressing up like a high school principal."
Fan e-mails: Straight guys who write, "Does it make me a lesbian if I have a crush on you?"

Comments

[Duffman]

"Fan e-mails: Straight guys who write, "Does it make me a lesbian if I have a crush on you?""

Come on fess up was that from Gay Gary?

[wutitiz]

My favorite story along these lines remains the "love gum" rumors in Egypt reported on by Douglas Jehl in the NYT (7-10-96). Rumors spread like wildfire that the Israelis were exporting gum laced with aphrodisiacs "capable of transporting the most innocent female into a sexual frenzy."

Several young women interviewed by the Youth and Sports Affairs Dept admitted to having sex after chewing the gum. "We women are very weak," said one. "Anything like that gum could affect us."

In Mansura, 81 miles NE of Cairo, "loudspeakers affixed high on the minarets of mosques blare[d] warnings against chewing gum...."

A 20-year-old female is quoted as saying,"We are no longer safe... Women should be more prudent. I now use a brand of gum that is made in Egypt. It is not very good quality, but at least it is safe."

Health minister Ismail Sallam put the gum thru lab analysis and found nothing "that could stimulate sexual arousal." Nonetheless, authorities in Mansur conducted massive sweeps, arresting retailers with stocks of the gum.

[joanie]

Wouldn't it be nice if our regulators were as diligent? Maybe thousands of school kids wouldn't have ingested downed cow meat in school lunches.

And I was working public safety building when the whole building had to be evacuated because a lunch was left by an employee on the counter.

Can't be too safe now can we.

[Gay Gary]

"Come on fess up was that from Gay Gary?"

LOL! OMG, I prefer pretty boi's who read Frithjof Schuon and Robert Heinlein rather than butch girls who read Noam Chomsky and Jack Kerouac!

"Excellent commenter Gay Gary sent us this case of Mass Psychogenic Illness ..."

My second mention in less than a week! Haaaaay!

[rev]

Whether the Mariners end up on KOMO or KIRO, this is great news: Dave Niehaus has been named to the broadcasters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

[stoopidory]

ironic how dory spends an hour ranting about DEM CANDIDATE PLAGARISM!!!

when his show is a total rip off of Limbaughs. and his talking points come straight from freeperland.

real original, dor.

[Duffman]

How Cute Is This

TBTL time! :)

[joanie]

I heard the beginning of Monson today after listening to Ross. I usually give Monson a try. Sometimes his topics are interesting.

But, I heard he was rehashing his vitriolic condemnation of Obama's speech and turned the dial.

I mean, who really cares except of bunch of rabid white guys with nothing else to talk about.

[wutitiz]

Luke just got done talking about BW. I can't quote him verbatim but he says that the 'comment section' here represents the darkest places of the human heart. He says the comments are sometimes valid but unnecessarily mean, and that he does not bother to read them anymore.

[J.Hova]

Burbank is obviously a fraud, I suspect his feelings would be hurt in Yakima, if his show could get on after the swap and shop. But then we're going by what wha? shitz tells us.

[recalcitrant iconoclast]

I can understand why Luke doesn't want to go to the dark side.

[joanie]

He's in the wrong business then. Maybe he wants to be loved?

[recalcitrant iconoclast]

I made a Star Wars joke. Get it?

I personally like his show. And for those of you who don't, you have to at least credit him with having the courage to do a show that isn't based on the issues of the day.

I like that BM's doing Blathermunch. Tom Douglas' show is actually my favorite show on KIRO. If you've never listened, give it a try, even if you're not a foodie. Yeah, it's a show about food, but I think you'll really enjoy TD's sense of humor.

[joanie]

Hey, rhode island, what exactly do you like about his show? If he's not talking issues or food, what's he talking about that entertains you? What topics? What's the lure?

Tom Douglas? I like but usually listening to AA.

[joanie]

Star Wars? yeah,yeah

Vader...cheney...Burbank?

[sparky]

nah...he will check back every day, just like the Two Bwyans do, just to see if we are still talking about them.

[recalcitrant iconoclast]

To me, TBTL is like a morning television talk show, but on the radio. When two hosts have a good rapport with each other, sometimes it can be fun to listen in. It's just occasional mindless fun, that's all.

[sparky]

speaking of the Two Bwyans...

www.RadioactiveSeattle.blogspot.com has vanished....

[sparky]

oh I spoke too soon...it came back, just like Brigadoon...

[Tommy008]

Hillary took an old-fashioned asswhooping last night and this is disastrous for her. As the pundits said ,she should have won Wisconsin or at least stayed competitive. David Gergen and Donna Brazille wee on CNN last night and both were dismayed and shocked over Hillary's weak and inept campaign and her own crappy campaigning and speeechifying skills and instincts. Their diagnosis- she's toast unless she dramatically changes her speeches, admits the spot she's in, makes an emotional connection with her base and starts fighting for it like Obama has been. Arrogantly choosing not to concede to or congratulate your opponent in public but instead droning on with boring policy points, after you just took it up the poop shute, as she did in her post-defeat speech again last night, is not only a sign of poor character- it's just plain stupid. Maybe hse's just too arrogant to deserve to win.

[Duffman]

Now Tommy, keep the faith my man. Mrs Clinton knows what she's doing and is being guided by the brightest minds in the DNC. She knows she just needs to 'keep it close' and the super delegates will do it for her. You'll see that she is the one who will do the a**-kickin in the two upcoming debates and she is currently leading in the polls in both Texas and Ohio. One thing she has to be careful on is her stance on NAFTA (especially, as reported in Ohio).
BHO is quite the orator, but he doesn't have the political clout that the Clintons have and he doesn't have the 'pay backs' due him that are due them from the critical super delegates. She will not only win the nomination but she will be regarded as the greatest 'come-back kid' of all time. Thanks for your support. :)

ps: and after that, McCain will be but a slight speed-bump on her express-way to the White House.

[Gay Gary]

I just listened to TBTL (on fast forward, of course) to hear the mention of this blog and it was a little disturbing. If I had known Luke and June were reading these I would not have been so critical in the things I have said in the past, for which I now feel remorseful. At one point he erupted into a hysterical tirade saying his critics had “the heart of the guy who’d pull the levers for the gas chamber at Dachau”. He then followed it by having a phoner with a supplicant. It was not a funny segment and it hurt me to know I may have hurt others.

In view of this I am setting up a blog called TBTL Watch and I will limit all of my TBTL criticisms to that because I think the hosts of that show should feel free to read this very informative blog without feeling personally assaulted by me everytime they do so. (Out of netiquette, I'm not posting a link. It will probably just end up being a three-way between me, Oculus Bleu and our neighbor, Arrowhead, anyway.)

[sparky]

Sorry Duffman, Hillary is being advised by the greatest minds of the DLC not the DNC. You remember the DLC..the blue dog wing of the Democratic party that lost in 2000 and 2004. Her campaign has all the signs of a Bob Shrum way of thinking:

"She needs to have a script, that takes her a little off script, that makes her look a little spontaneous. That gives a little energy and life to her presentation. She could say something off-beat, for example…. It would make her look less programmed."....Bob Shrum, giving advice to Hillary before a Democratic debate.

Scripted spontaneity! That’s the ticket.

[Duffman]

Stand by...this is going to get interestinger...and interestinger...:)

[coiler and crew]

Obama did well last night, he had a great speech on restoring Habeas Corpus and funding health care. Looks like he is on his way to victory.

[dave]

Duffman, im no obama supporter however its obvious hillary is sinking more every day, in the polls, financially spending way too much early on in her campaign and now out of money, and in the way she conducts her election. There is no magic left in bills support of her, in fact its more negative than anything, she is wrong on too many issues, health care and freezing mortgage interest rates, and the war. More americans every day want us out of iraq and they see obama as the only candidate who clearly will accomplish that. Obama has broken all the fundraising rules by accepting only small amounts and raising more money than ever online from the broadest number of contributors. That said, im not sure what he specifically stands for or how ultra liberal he will be or how we will pay for the programs he will try to put in place. I know alot can happen between now and november, hillary is already reversing her stand on the superdelagates from michigan and florida, i would not bet the farm on her this year dude.

[Duffman]

This sounds like Dave Ross?...could it be; I was just listening to your show and yes, I found it very interesting about the way BHO raised $money. Indeed it sounds bleak for Mrs Clinton but like I've reiterated many times, I believe she will make the come-back of all come-backs. Thanks for the fair warning tho 'bout betting the farm. :)

[dave, not dave ross]

I will give you credit for loyalty, at the very least duffman. i am a former hillary supporter who feels more like a man without a candidate right now. i wont vote for mccain, ill keep up posted.

[joanie]

Dave, why do you say she's wrong on health care? She probably knows more about it than anyone else. She's probably relived those early days when she tried to change it over and over and over...

Too bad she was a woman who didn't know her place ...

Not my health care but she's putting something out there that could eventually lead to my position on health care.

[Dana]

I'll bet Dori never gets laid.

[storsie]

Wrong, Dana. The CIA has long had it's own network of brothels all over the world in order to relieve agents' stress, and to ensure that they don't get into trouble by tomcatting around. There is one in Seattle, and Dori has full access.

These ultraconservatives don't want you and me to have sex, but they make sure they get all they want.

[Duffman]

More news from the wacko right-wing fanatics...but wait, could there possibly be any truth to NOAA's findings..Hmmmm. Gorebull Warming

[Tommy008]

Dori is outraged!,outraged! and fit to be tied that the Seattle Landmark Board has declared the building formerly known as Denny's Restaurant at 46th and Market as a city landmark, and thus cannot be torn down, in order to build yet another soulless, faceless, highrise condo/mixed retail use building for yet another platoon of soulless, faceless Seattle yuppies. Way to go! Landmark Board. You did the right thing. Monson was sneering (he sneers a lot) over the statement by the board that the building SHOULD BE PRESERVED BECAUSE it is an example of "Googie" architecture, named after Googie's Coffee Shop, in L.A. Denny's, bowling alleys, movie theatres, motels and various other buildings were built in this style in the fifties and early sixties. I gogles Googie and came up with a website that explains this architectural style and has lots of cool pics of the various locales, mostly in L.A. Monson is calling the Landmark Board "thugs" and "criminals" for their correct decision.bwajaahahahaha

[Tommy008]

In the Brave New Seattle of Dori Monson, the Dorrster will cruise in his Jag down the streets of his newly cleansed city, free of any funky colorful structures from the city's past ,or annoying artist's lofts buildings, all of which have been torn down in order to make developers googobs of money, because of course maximum private profit is the only thing that counts. On Sundays after church, he will entertain Star and the girls by cruising the city in the Jag and calling homeless people 'human garbage", through a large, battery-powered bullhorn.

[Tommy008]

Dori has moved on now, and is doing another one of his "flat earth" hours, once again poohpoohing global warming.

[mark]

another "Dori" in LA - didn't bother with permit or according to the FD even shutting off the gas. Hope Downey frys his ass...

[DT]

Tommy, you are a very scary person. You are so obsessed with Dori, I can actually see you wanting to harm him and his family. Have you ever stalked him or driven by his house, or driven by his children's school? I think you are dangerous, and I think someone needs to find out more about your and give the information to the police. Seriously. And I think your picture should go up in Dori's neighborhood and around his kid's schools. I hope Dori owns a gun.