Today in the news

1. Hilary's whole "Oh, right, I wasn't actually under sniper fire" thing

a.k.a. The next total fucking non-issue that has been completely seized upon and turned into a huge story and meanwhile we don't even know how she's going to fund universal health care or what her position on gun control is, even though those are actual fucking issues.

Yes, she obviously wasn't coming under withering enemy fire when she got off the plane in Bosnia and played pattycake with an 8-year-old and then had a picnic on the tarmac. Oh whoops. But - and this is coming from an Obama man - who the fuck cares? I just generally assume that politicians are lying about 60% of the time, so I fail to see how this should come as a surprise to anyone. Anyway, she lived in DC for 8 years, so she was basically in gunfire range at all times.

2. The Matches' creepy old guy leader

Joel Selvin (who is a whole 'nother story I'll address at a later juncture) writes about this semi-creepy old guy who seems to be the creative and everything else force behind The Matches, a band from Oakland composed of fairly recent high-school grads. The article explains that he "co-writes all the songs with Matches front man Shawn Harris, produces the band's CDs, directs the videos and basically participates in every creative decision the band makes, down to what to wear or where to take a photograph for a newspaper article."

Now, I've heard some Matches songs and liked them, and I'm all for the kids making the rock music, but isn't it just sort of.... I don't know, un-rock to have a svengali? It's just the kind of thing I associate with boy bands, not bands that, at one point, called themselves "punk." I mean, he tells them what to wear?

3. God finally listened to my prayers