Bush strolls through the flowered streets of Heaven with Roberts
“When a president chooses a justice, he’s placing in human hands the authority and majesty of the law.”
This was the second sentence out of Bush’s mouth last night as he announced his decision to appoint Justice John Roberts. Who even uses a word like “majesty?” Christians, of course. “Majesty” is a key buzzword tossed around by Christians and it was obviously Bush’s acknowledgement to Evangelicals that Roberts was going to interpret the law the Jesusy way. In other words, gays deserve zero constitutional rights and Roe V Wade is toilet paper.
Here’s what Bush’s other architect, James Dobson, had to say:

“President Bush is to be commended for keeping his promise to the American people by selecting such an impartial, accomplished jurist to fill this crucial seat on the high court. Judge Roberts is an unquestionably qualified attorney and judge with impressive experience in government and the private sector. He has demonstrated at every stop on his career path the legal acumen, judicial temperament and personal integrity necessary to be a Supreme Court justice… We trust that, in light of these rock-solid credentials, the U.S. Senate will work together over the next several weeks to ensure Judge Roberts gets the up-or-down confirmation vote he is entitled to under the Constitution.”

Can’t you just smell the precum on Dobson’s gay-hating cock? He couldn’t be more excited about the selection. Pundits keep saying Roberts is a “wise” choice. Truth is, Bush wanted a staunch conservative with a limited paper trail. As always, the evangelicals are Bush’s true architects. (Another article on Bush’s “wonder-working” use of religious code terms can be found here.)

Rob Walker knows New Orleans. His travelogue and memoir, Letters From New Orleanss, breathes life into this history-rich city, transporting readers to the dive bars, gospel churches, and back alleys you won’t find in Fodor’s or The Lonely Planet. Walker, who pens the New York Times Magazine column “Consumed”, lived in New Orleans from 2000 to 2003. His book is the culmination of his impressions of the city collected from journal entries and letters to friends. Walker’s first person vignettes are marvelously crafted and richly conceived. But its Walker’s humor that makes Letters From New Orleans truly unique. Musing on topics ranging from celebratory gunfire, to the St. James Infirmary, to used car dealers, Walker will leave you in stitches. We strongly recommend this enlightening, eccentric, and most importantly highly entertaining book. It has temporarily changed our opinion about memoirs. Pick up a copy here.

Cakehead has a great entry on free food samples in New York. She shares our fear of the fish griller who hands out samples at the Whole Foods in Union Square:

You can always count on the fish griller to be lining up plastic ramekins filled with swordfish or wild salmon. But we warned. If you take seconds, he will hate you. Really, with him you can do no right. If you ask what he’s cooking he’ll grumble the answer. If you cower in fear, afraid to ask what you’re eating he will say accusingly, “Don’t you want to know what you’re eating?”

Other free sample suggestions include the free wine at Astor Wines and Spirits everyday from 5-8. Read the whole article here.

We’re happy to see MIA, Bloc Party, and Antony and the Johnsons made the list. Who the hell is K T Tunstall?
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (5/1)
Hard-Fi – Stars Of CCTV (9/1)
Kaiser Chiefs – Employment (4/1)
MIA – Arular (10/1)
The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers (7/1)
Coldplay – X&Y (8/1)
The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning Strike (12/1)
Antony And The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now (12/1)
KT Tunstall – Eye To The Telescope (6/1)
Maximo Park – A Certain Trigger (10/1)
Seth Lakeman – Kitty Jay (14/1)
Polar Bear – Held On The Tips Of Fingers (12/1)
[thanks OneLouder]

Murdoch buys MySpace for 580 mil

From NY Times
News Corporation Buys an Internet Company
By RICHARD SIKLOS
Asked if spending $580 million to buy an Internet company whose chief asset was created only two years ago gave him pause, Rupert Murdoch said: “You bet.”
But after announcing the transaction yesterday, Mr. Murdoch, the chief executive of the News Corporation, said he was won over after meeting the entrepreneurs who run the company, Intermix Media, and studying the surging popularity with young consumers of its prime asset, MySpace.com.
MySpace.com is a social networking site that has grown to more than 16 million monthly users, and features the equivalent of home pages created by 200,000 music groups, big and small. Its users spend hours exploring areas devoted to personal classifieds, music, blogs, video games and chat rooms.

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The fact that Bush Inc and Congress are going to sit back and allow China [who recently threatened us with nuclear attack] to purchase Unocal boggles the mind. This is an administration that talks out one side of its mouth about national security while catering to business interests with the other. Allowing the purchase of Unocal is as dangerous as selling arms to China. China, on the other hand, has the wisdom to prohibit foreign ownership of Chinese companies. Nevertheless, they are publicly endorsing the value of free trade as a bargaining tool. This article from Daily News by Congresswoman Kilpatrick (D-Mich.)encapsulates the lunacy of the Unocal deal.

China’s third-largest oil producer has made an $18.5 billion bid for Unocal, America’s ninth-largest oil company. The move by China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC, marks the Communist nation’s most ambitious attempt yet to acquire a Western company, setting the stage for potential national security issues.
Do we really want to assist China in meeting its energy needs, allowing it to compete against our interests? I say no. That’s why I attached an amendment to a spending bill prohibiting the Treasury Department from approving CNOOC’s takeover bid. The House approved the measure 333-92, sending a message to the White House and Treasury Secretary John Snow to take a serious look at China’s interest in purchasing critical U.S. assets important to America’s energy security, as well as its national and economic security.
When the Defense Department released a 2001 review following the 9/11 attacks, it highlighted the rise of a “military competitor” in Asia with a vast “resource base.”
The Pentagon was referring to China.
China is ascending as an economic power as well as a geopolitical military force, and its economic transition within the past 20 years is to be admired. The country’s aggregate Gross National Product has grown by approximately 10% each year since the 1970s, compared with U.S. annual growth of 3.5%. But the prospect of China’s economy surging ahead of the U.S. by 2050 is startling. The U.S. economy is approximately twice that of China, $11 trillion versus $6 trillion-plus. U.S. per capita income is nearly eight times higher than China’s.
To fuel China’s economic growth, it must demand more of the world’s energy resources. It is this demand that has forced oil prices to soar. To supply its energy needs, China is acquiring oil fields in Kazakhstan and securing strategic energy supplies from Iran and Sudan. CNOOC has invested $699 million for the purchase of a liquefied natural gas field in Australia, $592 million for oil assets in Indonesia and is now seeking to acquire Unocal. China’s rise must not be fueled at the cost of America’s security.

Friday, July 15th, 2005
ROOFTOP FILMS in Williamsburg:
8:30 – Live music by Honeychild (details below)
9:00 – Communities on the Edge
On the lawn at Automotive High School
50 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
In the event of rain the show is indoors at the same location.
Click here for the schedule
Saturday, July 15th, 2005
Siren Festival is hot, crowded, and the sound always sucks. Plus the Voice is run by a bunch of douchebags. This year’s line-up sucks too. We recommend this FREE event at Summerstage instead.
Celebrate New Orleans
3pm at Central Park SummerStage (Rumsey Field at 72nd St)

From Flavorpill:
The glory of New Orleans’ music is on display today, beginning with a brass band that cranks to 11 ‚Äî tubist Phil Frazier and headliner Kermit Ruffins co-founded the wily and playful ReBirth Brass Band, so when ReBirth turn the party out with their contemporary sousa-funk, don’t be surprised if Ruffins joins in. A favorite son of the Crescent City, he’s a trumpet-playing superman, a professional barbeque entertainer whose group swings like there’s no tomorrow. The underappreciated Donald Harrison is also on hand ‚Äî as comfortable in the fantastical garb of a Mardi Gras Indian as he is playing alto with Art Blakey ‚Äî as are the crowd-riling, high-stepping Lady Buckjumpers. Perfect for everyone who isn’t hearing the Siren song

And if you aren’t burned out on music and as drunk as we plan on being, check out Ruins at a Todd P event in Bed Sty.

Interview by Monte Holman

You’ve heard their name sprinkled across blogs and music nerd sites like rainbow sprinkles on soft-serve for months now. But until recently Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was still mailing CDs to record stores from Alec Ounsworth’s home in Philadelphia. Now, they’re shopping for a label after selling out of their original pressing of their self-titled debut.
We’re taught to be skeptical of bands that receive as much hype as quickly as these guys have—they’ve only been playing altogether for about a year. But after hearing the album, and especially after having the chance to converse with Ounsworth about real music icons like Axl and Tool, we’re completely drained of skepticism.
They’ve been branded by Pitchfork’s steaming hot prongs as this year’s Arcade Fire. And for good reason. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah backs that shit up.
We talked to them about their music, Philly, and and found out about Alec’s first concert and rumors about a Guns and Roses tribute band.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are Alec Ounsworth (vocals, guitars), Tyler Sargent (bass), Robbie Geurtin (guitar, keyboard), Lee Sargent (guitar, keyboard), and Sean Greenhalgh (drums)
MP3s
In This Home On Ice
Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood
Over and Over Again (Lost & Found)
Some rarites at Philebrity
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FREEwilliamsburg: Area code 215, where am I calling?
Philadelphia, that’s where I live.
FREEwilliamsburg: Does everyone else live up here in New York?
Yeah, everybody else lives up in Brooklyn.
FREEwilliamsburg: How does that work for practice?
It’s, uh, you know. (laughs) It’s good for them, bad for me.
FREEwilliamsburg: I really, really like the first song on the record. Why’d you choose that one to kick things off?
I don’t know-I like the idea of trying to challenge people a little bit on an album, and it seemed like that was the only place we could put that one. I wrote it as an introduction to the whole idea of the band, so it seemed like the ideal place to put it.
FREEwilliamsburg: Have you been playing the songs from the album live long? How old are they?
I wrote a few five or six years ago. Some are pretty old, and I’ve rearranged them a bunch of times over the years and rearranged them while the band was working on them. Yeah, most of them are pretty old.

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Check them tonight at 7pm at Pier 54. This is the first of ten free shows to be put on by Fusion Flash.
Pier 54 is located at West Street and 13th Street.

From Drudge: White House Should Suspend Deputy Chief of Staff’s Security Clearance Information While Investigation is Pending, Until Plame Leak Is Resolved
In Light Of Time Reporter Matt Cooper’s Confirmation That Rove Was a Source In the Leak of CIA Agent Valerie Plame’s Identity, Schumer and Wilson Call For Suspension of Rove’s Security Clearance
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and Ambassador Joseph Wilson will hold a press conference at 3:00pm TODAY, July 14, 2005 in the Mansfield Room of the U.S. Capitol to call for the suspension of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove’ security clearance until the investigation of the leak of CIA Agent Valerie Plame’s identity is resolved.