"Ann Coulter not only once again went out of her way to use a nasty epithet, she pushed her offensiveness up a notch," Amy Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research, said on Sunday.Coulter made the comments on Friday during a speech at the influential American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference, calling Edwards a "faggot."
"We conservatives have enough trouble overcoming the false things that are said about us without paying for a platform upon which we shoot ourselves annually in the foot," Ridenour, whose group helped sponsor the conference, said in a statement on the center's Web site.
Coulter said the comment was a joke and on her Web site she carried the speech with the comment, "I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing." She then said Edwards' campaign chairman's main job was "fronting for Arab terrorists." [READ MORE]
Related links:
Bob Cesca responds to Coulter's comments for The Huffington Post in "I Like to Use the F-Word a lot."
From the New York Times, via The Huff Post, Top GOP Candidates Denounce Right Wing Harpy.
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average
Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006. [LINK]
Sports
Texas sign free agent RB Ahman Green away from Packers
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Houston Texans agreed to terms with free agent running back Ahman Green on Sunday.
The 30-year-old former Green Bay Packer will likely become the starter for a team that struggled at the position last season after Domanick Williams -- formerly Davis -- missed the year with knee problems.Green, an Omaha native who played at Nebraska in 1995-97, will be introduced at a 1 p.m. news conference in Houston on Monday, said Texans vice president of communications Tony Wyllie. Terms of the contract were not immediately available.
Houston also has a trio of inexperienced running backs in Wali Lundy, Chris Taylor and fellow former Green Bay player Samkon Gado. They also hope to re-sign free agent Ron Dayne, the 1999 Heisman Trophy winner, who excelled late last season after years of struggles.
Green had 266 carries for 1,059 yards last season after returning from a torn right quadriceps in 2005. He missed two games last season because of lingering effects from the injury[...]
[...] Going into the offseason, Green had indicated he preferred to stay in Green Bay. He was scheduled to appear at the Packers' annual fan fest next weekend.
With Green out, the Packers are left with Vernand Morency, an inexperienced but quick back who was obtained for Gado in a trade with the Texans last season. Morency gained 434 yards on 96 carries last year.
Green Bay also could look to address their running back needs with the No. 16 pick in the NFL draft next month or obtain another running back through free agency [SI.com].
Jamal Lewis, Anthony Thomas, Dominic Rhodes, and Travis Henry are about all that's left on the free agent market for decent running backs, so I doubt that the Packers are going to find their starter there. I do like Travis Henry and after that, A-Train, and am hoping the Packers make a bid for one of the two to compliment their drafting of Marshawn Lynch, should he still be available at Pick 16. Having lost TE David Martin to the Dolphins, the Pack will also need help at TE because Bubba Franks simply cannot get it done anymore. Luckily the draft is pretty deep in that position.
Music
Featured Album: The Decemberists Live from SoHo EP
Live from SoHo is a live EP by The Decemberists, released exlusively for the iTunes Store on January 16, 2007. It features six tracks from the band's performance at the Apple Store in SoHo, New York in November 2006, and is the first in a series similar to iTunes' Live from London series.
The Decemberists - "July July"
The Decemberists - "We Both Go Down Together"
The Decemberists - "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)"
Featured Artist: Kaspar Hauser
Long-time midwesterner Thomas Comerford started Kaspar Hauser while living in Iowa City in 1999. Though he’d played guitar, written songs and played in bands since the age of ten, with influences ranging from the Beatles to the Meat Puppets to Will Oldham, his only releases were hand-held tape recordings handed out to friends. Upon moving to Chicago in 1999, he began to assemble various lineups to do sporadic shows and recordings. Kaspar Hauser was still a part-time activity, however, as Comerford (who teaches film at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) was producing 16mm films and touring the country with them.
It was in making the Quixotic/Taxidermy record from 2004-2006 that Comerford felt he was finally achieving a level of musical artistry that fully fleshed out his songs. For recording, he drew on a number of friends and previous contributors, including Stephen “the kid” Howard (Pinebender, Ambulette), Johnathan Crawford (ex-Head of Femur, William Elliot Whitmore) and Kent Lambert (Roommate), among others. Kris Poulin, a Chicago engineer (Pinback, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billie, Love Story in Blood Red) who has recorded and played with Comerford over the years, recorded and mixed the bulk of the record.
Quixotic/Taxidermy makes songwriting its focus, and every element -- from the Kinks-inspired harmonies of “King Pop” to the Stones-y slide guitar of “Without a Word” -- draws upon Comerford’s range of influences to serve the mood and fragmented narratives in each song. The songs’ narrators, much in the tradition of J.D. Salinger and Flannery O’Connor, are alienated and often deluded, yet they attempt to make some sense of the situations in which they find themselves.
Chicago label Backwardmasking Records, home also to Love Story in Blood Red, has issued the record in February 2007. Kaspar Hauser, with a new live lineup, will be playing shows around the midwest in winter/spring 2007 and touring the United States in summer and fall 2007.
Kaspar Hauser - "King Pop"
Kaspar Hauser - "Fossil"
Kaspar Hauser at Myspace