andy2000.org | ANDISHEH NOURAEE

59% of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance.

Bush job rating falls to all-time low: poll

Feb 27, 2006 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's job rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, amid strong opposition to the Dubai Ports World deal and increasing pessimism over the war in Iraq, according to a CBS News poll released on Monday.

Bush's overall job approval fell eight points from 42 percent last month. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance on the job, the poll found.

Read the rest of the story

The good news: I took more good photos at work last night than I've ever taken in a single evening.

The bad news: They were all of former Creed singer Scott Stapp, performing at The Roxy, so after I turn in a photo to the newspaper, I'll probably never look at them again.

Right now I'm watching a show on TLC about this man:



His name is Jesus "Chuy" Aceves and he suffers from an extremely rare disease that causes hair to grow all over his face.

About 10 minutes into the show, there was a break for a commercial -- an unfortunate commercial.

Click here to see the commercial.

It could have been worse. It could have been an ad for Gillette.

"Today in Afghanistan there is a fledgling democracy. Al-Qaeda no longer has run of the country; the Taliban is routed; there's an elected parliament and president dedicated to democratic institutions. (Applause)."

President George W. Bush
January 23, 2006
(full text of speech here)


"The ability of Afghan authorities to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors is limited. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network, and other groups hostile to the government, remain active. U.S.-led military operations continue. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and kidnapping. The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable."

United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Travel Warning - Afghanistan
January 9, 2006
(full text of travel warning here)

1. This week's Scene & Herd (with cheerleaders!)
2. This week's Don't Panic (a two-parter about Afghanistan)

3. Last week's Scene & Herd (featuring the ironic crotch and North Dekalb Mall Idol!)
4. Last week's Don't Panic (about an al-Qaida prison escape in Yemen this month that has the U.S. very worried.

Notice that CL has revamped its web site. So far it seems a lot faster and better-organized than the previous version. Any thoughts?

Some people never learn.

The fine people at WXIA-TV's Atlanta & Company have once again invited me on their show to discuss my work-related social activities.

The show airs Wednesday, February 22 at 11:00 AM on WXIA, right after Martha Stewart!

(WXIA is the local NBC affiliate. Channel 6 if you've got Comcast cable in Atlanta and Channel 11 if you have a good old-fashioned antenna).

The U.S. Supreme Court has backed a religious group in New Mexico that uses hallucinogenic tea in one of its religious ceremonies.

Said Chief Justice John Roberts, the Feds did not meet a burden of proof sufficient to ban "the sect's sincere religious practice."

So, will someone out there please devise a faith whose "sincere religious practice" somehow involves White Rhino? "

And please hurry. Bonnaroo is less than three months away!

From minds that brought you "Town Hall Meetings With the President" where the only people who are allowed to ask questions are pre-screened for friendliness by White House operatives comes . . .

BLOVIATE WITH BILL - An contest whose winners will get an opportunity to "sit on the set of "The Factor" and let Bill O'Reilly have it?!"



This week's BLOVIATE WITH BILL contest winner is Suwanee, Georgia's Christy Mellinger. The AJC describes her as:

A serious O'Reilly fan, she noted her 18-month son, Michael, always calms down when he hears O'Reilly's voice. "I think it's because he heard O'Reilly so much in utero," she said.

I'm sure she'll really "let Bill O'Reilly have it?!" Hats off to O'Reilly for having the courage to debate one of his fans.

And Christy, if you read this, remember to ask Bill about his falafel.

(Due to a glitch in the matrix, this post contains video clips that can't be seen unless you visit andy2000.org )

Last week, I received an e-mail response to my recent comments in Creative Loafing about the North Dekalb Mall Idol karaoke singing competition.

The letter, written by runner-up Rebekah Stork*, takes issue with my less-than-flattering description of her singing. I think she was awful. Pardon my Simon-ness, but her pitch was wobbly and her tone and mannerisms sucked the life and charm from the song she chose.

Thanks to the miracle of modern video technology, you can judge Ms. Stork's performance for yourself.

The first video is of winner Curtis Williamson singing "Wind Beneath My Wings." Not my favorite song, or honestly, my favorite style of singing, but the guy's got a strong, unique voice.



The video below is Ms. Stork's performance.



Incidentally, Ms. Stork challenged me to a sing-off because, in her estimation, someone who doesn't sing shouldn't be judging people who do (an idea to which my father replied something like "You don't have to be a hen to know if an omelette tastes bad." I might take her up on the offer. I don't think that I'd win. I just think it would be fun to be able to start sentences with the phrase "Remember that time I was in a sing-off . . ."

---------------

(NOTE: I misspelled Ms. Stork's last name in my column because I mistook her handwritten "o" for an "a".)



---------------
NOTE NOTE:You can download the two videos in Quicktime format by right-clicking and saving these links:

Curtis Williamson singing video.
Rebekah Stork singing video.

I'm gonna be on Channel 11's (WXIA-TV) Atlanta & Company tomorrow (Wedsnesday, February 8, 11:00 A.M.) again. They like me. They really, really like me.

I'll be doing the same thing I did last week, only with less slouching this time.

It's about time someone in the federal government threw a bone to our nation's struggling oil industry.

Government may waive near $7 bln in oil, gas royalties: report
Tue Feb 14, 2:13 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The government may waive up to $7 billion in royalty payments from companies pumping oil and natural gas on federal territory in the next five years, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing administration officials and budget documents.

The royalty relief would amount to one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in U.S. history, even though the administration assumes oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period, the Times report said.

The report cited estimates in the Interior Department's recent budget plan that would allow companies to pump about $65 billion in oil and natural gas without paying royalties.

(Read more)

Those jerks are at it again.

I received this excellent spam via my Creative Loafing e-mail address

Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 19:36: 1 -0060
From: "Rudy Greenberg"
To: and1sheh@creativel0afing.com
Subject: Former President Bill Klinton uses Voagra!

Everybody knows the great sexual scandal known as "Klinton-Levinsky".
After the relations like this Klintons popularity raised a lot!
It is a natural phenomenon, because Bill as a real man in order not to
shame himself when he was with Monica regularly used Voagra.
What happened you see. His political figure became more bright and more attractive.
It is very important for a man to be respected as a man!

See our Voagra shop to enter upon the new phase of your life.
http://esauratno.com/

In this week's Scene & Herd, I go all weak-in-the-knees for The Selmanaires.

In this week's Don't Panic, I review the results of Iraq's December 15 parliamentary elections.

And while I did not conduct any interviews for this year's Valentine's Lust List, I did write all but a small handful of the questions. Why I wasn't credited, I'm not sure. Probably just an oversight.

Today:

1) We learned that on Monday, August 29, the White House learned that Hurricane Katrina had toppled NOLA's poorly-built, under-inspected flood walls. The White House's notification about the flooding came approximately 12 hours before President Bush went on TV and said that NOLA had "dodged the bullet."

2) Yet another top former intelligence official has accused the White House of misusing intelligence to convince the nation to go to war in Iraq. He did so not in Mother Jones or The Nation, but in Foreign Affairs, a very, very, very sober, establishment publication.

3) Several newspapers are reporting that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby blew the cover of an undercover CIA operative (jeopardizing the lives and livelihoods of many of the people overseas who ever helped her/us) with the blessing of his higher-ups.

Hail to the chief!

UPDATE: Cancelled Again! And due to the same technical difficulties with getting their phone line connected to the broadcasty bits.

Assuming they got the technical kinks fixed, this afternoon, I'm going to be a guest on the talk radio program Walking On A Thin Line, hosted by Mike Gault. The show originates in central Florida on WTWB 1570AM radio and is simulcast on the Internet via the "Listen Live" link on the left side of the station's web site.

The subjects I've been asked to talk about are the cartoon riots and Iran's nuclear program.

UPDATE: The station is experiencing some technical difficulties. I may be on tomorrow instead. Watch this space. Or don't.

This afternoon, I'm going to be a guest on the talk radio program Walking On A Thin Line, hosted by Mike Gault. The show originates in central Florida on WTWB 1570AM radio and is simulcast on the Internet via the "Listen Live" link on the left side of the station's web site.

The subjects I've been asked to talk about are the cartoon riots and Iran's nuclear program.

"I wanna eat all the ice cream in the world! I'm gonna get awfully cold though."

Words yelled by eightish-looking year-old girl standing in one of the frozen food aisles with her mother.

Today I was a guest on WXIA-TV's Atlanta & Company. Ryan Cameron interviewed me for a few minutes and then we talked about some events happening around town this week and weekend.



About 30 minutes ago, Sadie at Glinting.com kindly informed me that the interview is now posted on Atlanta & Company's web site.

Here it be, me on TV today.

Link #1: Me on Atlanta & Company

If the video doesn't work on the first link, try this link instead.

You can't just deny it happened then turn around and make fun of it. Have a little integrity!

Iran daily holds contest for Holocaust cartoons
Tue Feb 7, 2006 7:20 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

The Brussels-based Conference of European Rabbis (CER) denounced the idea and urged the Muslim world to do likewise.

The daily paper Hamshahri said the contest was designed to test the boundaries of free speech -- the reason given by many European newspapers for publishing the cartoons of the Prophet.

Actor John Corbett goes country with Nashville album
By Pat Harris

Tue Feb 7, 8:55 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - "Don't quit your day job" is the popular advice for would-be singers trying to break into the music business in Nashville.

So there was skepticism among Music Row executives recently when they settled into the Mercy Lounge, a grungy little Nashville nightspot, to hear actor John Corbett and a band showcase a self-titled album he calls "country rock with a little bit of roll."

Corbett kept them in the room.

And the actor, famous as the philosophy-spouting disc jockey in TV's "Northern Exposure" and the love-smitten Ian Miller in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," is in no hurry to go back to his day job.

"I know people came out to see how bad we were. Then we win them over and they stick around," said Corbett, who plays rhythm guitar.

Read more

On second thought, don't.

I'm gonna be on Channel 11's (WXIA-TV) Atlanta & Company tomorrow (Wedsnesday, February 8, 11:00 A.M.).

I'll be talking a little bit about me, but mostly (I think) about my work at Creative Loafing and some of the odd and interesting events going on around town.

Friend and fellow columnist Hollis Gillespie was on there recently. She was terrific. Here, see for yourself.

Has you ever seen a more Superb Owl?

By popular demand*, here's a link to my Don't Panic article that answers the question What is the Hajj?












*My dad asked for the link.

I just finished listening to a terrific radio documentary (via podcast) about The Hejaz Railway.

The railway was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid and was meant to connect Damascus to Mecca. If you've ever seen , Lawrence of Arabia it's the one Lawrence's blows up.

The line still runs between Syria and Jordan, connecting their respective capitals.

The three-part series is available as a podcast or in streaming audio.

Links to my latest columns:

Scene & Herd -- Includes recollections of Chinese New Year's in Chamblee and College Night at The High

Don't Panic -- Where I answer the question on everyone's minds, why is civil unrest in Nigeria costing Americans money?