Archive for the 'hack' Category
OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES: HIRE SKWIRE, FIRE DOWD.
diane.mcnulty@nytimes.com
Clark Hoyt, public editor: public@nytimes.com
Dear Diane and Clark:
I point you to the following website, associated with the Philadelphia Weekly…
Brendan Skwire is performing an invaluable public service today: The Philly blogger is fact-checking Maureen Dowd — and, by extension, Sen. John McCain — on her characterization of a number of “pork” earmarks in a new spending [...]
Last Call: Georgia’s Blueberries
Unfortunately, i wasn’t able to accomplish all of Maureen Dowd’s homework today, missing the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture by just a few minutes. So instead, I’ll post the letter I sent to him. I hope to hear back from him by tomorrow.
Dear Commissioner Irvin:
My name is Brendan Skwire, and I’m a [...]
Call # 11: Howard Berman’s Earmark for Gang Tattoo Removal; UPDATED WITH RESPONSE FROM BERMAN
UPDATED BELOW
Apparently, Maureen Dowd and John McCain think helping gang members escape their former criminal careers so they can become contributing members of society is an “offensive bipartisan pork” project, but i wasn’t so sure. So I called Congressman Howard Berman’s office to investigate: he;s the one who obtained that earmark.
While I’m waiting for a [...]
Call #10: Polynesian Voyaging Society
It seems awfully silly for John McCain to complain through Maureen Dowd about $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii, when he’s voted for the war in Iraq, the Bush tax cuts, and the Bush bailout, which cost trillions, but hey, who’s counting when it’s other people’s money. I emailed the Polynesian Voyaging [...]
Read More..>>Call #9: The Autrey National Center for the American West
I was unable to find out why the Autry National Center for the American West in Los Angeles needed a whole $167,00 which in comparison to the bailout or the war in Iraq is penny candy, but at least I placed a call which is more than what Maureen Dowd did, I’ll bet.
But i can [...]
Call #8: Actually I Don’t Know Why We Need $2 Million to Promote Astronomy in Hawaii Either. But Neither Does Maureen Dowd,
I have no idea why we need to spend $2 milion dollars to promote astronomy in Hawaii either, but I’ve emailed the beneficiary, the Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, and left a message with Senator Dan Inouye’s office to find out. My bet is that I’ve done more research ont he topic than Maureen Dowd [...]
Read More..>>Call #7: Does Maureen Dowd Understand What “Sustainable”Means?
In her obviously cut-and-paste-no-research-please column today Maureen Dowd claims that Sustainable Las Vegas is an example of “offensive bipartisan pork. So I did a quick google search and placed a call to the Las vegas city government, which runs the program. While I wait for a call back from the nice young man who agreed [...]
Read More..>>Call #6: Dowd Also Wrong on Beaver Management (Snicker).
I think Maureen Dowd is confused about beaver management, which doesn’t refer to proper grooming of her pubic hair, but preventing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to “timber, agricultural crops, homes and other structures, roadways, and ornamental or garden plants” in Mississippi alone, according to Mississippi State University Extension Service, which studies [...]
Read More..>>Call #5: Dowd Also Wrong on Catfish Research
-Sigh-
This is getting silly. First of all, in comparison to the war in Iraq and the bank bailout, $819,000 is not a lot of money, but never mind that: Maureen Dowd is also wrong on catfish research. I know, because I called The Fish Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology Laboratory at Auburn University, and [...]
Call #4: Dowd is Also Wrong on Mormon Crickets
When i first read Dowd’s line item of $1 million for Mormon cricket control, my first though was “why do Mormons care about controlling crickets?” Surprise! It’s actually an enormous species of katydid (picture a bug the size of a mouse) that eats anything and everything in its path, and poses an enormous threat [...]
Read More..>>
