Abram Sauer Online

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Left: NPR Marketplace reports: “Just being [at Davos] is a heady experience, says Lord Digby Jones a former British Trade Minister.”

Right: “Yes, it’s the surprising adventures of me, Sir Digby Chicken Caesar!”

The trailer alone makes me want to punch something twee in the face.

It’s like Ben Stiller’s character in this is just the older dickface Ben Stiller character from Reality Bites.

“They want to come into the community like it’s a spectacle,” he said, “when for us, it’s like the circus is coming to town. We hope people have more of a life than to be suckered into that sort of scam.”

That’s spokesman Willie Jessop, commenting on plans for exiled members of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saint) church to operate “a guided tour through what promoters bill as ‘the largest and most secluded polygamist colony’ in America.” “The Polygamy Experience: A Guided Tour of Colorado City” will take place in St. George on the Utah/Arizona border. Tours depart on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. from the Fairfield Inn in St. George. $69.95 for “adults” includes transportation, four-hour tour, lunch and drinks (probably not beer).

Oh my, this isn’t the charming Canada we all know and love mock:

“Martin Macias Jr., an independent media reporter from Chicago travelling to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC, has been rejected by Canadian border agents… He was travelling with political organizer Bob Quellos of No Games Chicago, who was allowed to enter Canada. They were both to be picked up by Chris Shaw, a member of the Olympic Resistance Network, local Olympic critic, and author of ‘The Five Ring Circus’…”

It appears that there is one “nation” that is not all rainbows and sunshine about the Olympics.”First Nations” (knows as Native Americans in the US) are upset that, despire signing partnership agreements with Games organizaers, they are not seeing the promised development money being spent to improve the quite poor living conditions for most First Nation peoples:

“…controversy continues as to whether the inclusion of First Nations iconography is simply propaganda to make the Games appear “Indian approved” or a sign of sincere cooperation”

But First Nations aren’t the only ones upset about the Vancouver games. It seems that despite making up a significant portion of the population, society and economy of the region, Asians are upset, having largely been shut out of any recognition:

“Usually in any Olympic Games, the host city will use the opening ceremony to show the world what that city is all about,” said Peter Kwok, a civic leader in the Chinese community. “They did a good job telling the early history of Canada - then they forgot about today’s Canada, which is multicultural.”

“The point is, if you were watching the opening ceremonies on television, you wouldn’t even know that it took place in the most Asian city in North America. Have any of the producers been to a high school in Vancouver?”

It’s hard not to see their point. Those with Chinese and South Asian heritage comprise one third of the area’s population (about 2 million).

Here is a post on “North Dakota’s Most Popular Political Blog” Say Anything which underscores just how polarized and paralyzing the online political discourse is. The post is by Rob Port, who during a recent trip to DC, pretended to be an investigative reporter.

During a tour of the White House, Port spied copies of several books he deemed “socialist,” including The Populist Revolt. The subsequent post? “Photo Evidence: Michelle Obama Keeps Socialist Books In The White House Library.” The post was picked up by First Things’ very popular Gateway Pundit blog, which wrote, “Figures. Michelle Obama Stocked White House Library with Books on Socialism.”

Of course, The Washington Post’s Short Stack pointed out that the books were put there by the Kennedys and that they’ve been in the library through every administration since (yes, Reagan’s too). Port put a small update in the piece itself but chose not to update the headline. The Gateway Pundit posting remains with no update.

Port rules by fiat and very clearly styles himself after Hannity or Limbaugh, though he shrewdly makes a point to disagree with them from time to time as an “independent.” He’s low-rent and local but fat with charisma and wit. Twenty years ago guys like Port made very good livings selling pieces of shit used cars to suckers. Then came the AM talk radio revolution and the Internet.

Does Port even care that his post was a lie? No. The goal of online partisan outrage factories like Say Anything is to find content, any content, to fire the machine. If that information turns out to be untrue, who cares. Post first, update (or not) later. A truth that makes right-wing accusations of inaccurate mainstream media reporting hypocritical and sad. And it makes my personal dealings with Port, including his decision not to speak with me due to concerns of my interview being all about “gothca’ journalism,” ironic and pathetic.

Think Progress’ Matt Yglesias looked at the story and came away with this conclusion: “Rob from the Say Anything blog is an idiot.”

Weather or not Port truly buys what he sells is unclear, but unlikely. Because the other focus of blogs such as Say Anything is to make a name for the owner regardless of collateral damage. Indeed, when The Post asked Port about his mistake, he said, “… I guess it is what it is.”

The Magnum Desert Eagle handgun’s unique, triangular-barreled profile makes it perfect for highly stylized film violence. In turn, this exposure, none of it paid for by the brand, is invaluable. Its (maybe phallic?) appearance also makes it the favorite for heaving-bosoms heaving handguns roles.

This week: 2010’s The Losers

Left: A current “blue” branding campaign

Right:  A current “blue” branding campaign

Chloe, a small thriller, is big on Apple. While the husband and wife clearly don’t see eye to eye on their marriage they do agree on computers.