Turkmens fear Snark Attack + blogolio

Nothing can snap As Good As News to attention faster than an attack on Turkmenistan. Reduced publication or not, we remain the official blog of Turkmenistan, and while we're at it, here are some other stand outs from the Times.

Turkmenistan - Eight Is Just Enough -Cry the beloved Turkmens - Beautiful Turkmenistan, 5,000,000 Turkmens inhabit its rolling dunes, Southern mountains and Caspian coast. 5,000,000 Turkmens in a country slightly larger than California that sits on a sea of natural gas and petroleum. What could possibly make Turkmenistan better? Doc Gurby's answer is more Turkmens, as he offers a bonus to mothers of eight or more children - free public transportation (Doc is always the environmentalist), free public utilities, free dental care (Doc, a dentist himself, dreams of a smiling populace) and $25. News, blog and comedy outlets are already jumping all over crazy Doc Gurby and reclusive Turkmenistan - the snarky set can't resist noting the obvious fact that $25 will not go far when raising a family of eight, not to mention the all important point that, at an average of $3.12 per child, the minimum wage for labor pains is low in Turkmenistan. Ignore the snark attack and consider the facts. The total package has real value. More importantly, it's a reward not a threat. Unlike China, which enforces a one child limit with penal sanctions, Doc gives people a choice.

Cell Phone Anthology - Want a show featuring Mary Louise Parker as a woman who receives the cell phone of a dead man, see Dead Man's Cell Phone. Want a comedy bit featuring me as a man who receives the cell phone number of a deadbeat, see Let Me Speak To Victor.

Gay marriage reprise - How do you resolve a bitter dispute over the right to "marriage" in California, where that state's domestic partnership law grants gay couples legal status very comparable to marriage and the question is whether the difference between marriage and domestic partnership is mere semantics or a separate but equal second class citizenship? How do you avoid challenges to New York's recognition of Canadian gay marriages? The answer remains - leave marriage to God and limit the state's role to licensing domestic partnerships for qualifying couples, straight or gay.


Frozen Waterfall Climbing seen as key attraction in developing successful retirement communities - OK, I needed a picture - But the guys doing this really are my age.

Oxymoron of the day -Blogging ethics - Dial M for Blog, a recent post here, lobbed some questions at Agency Spy for defending its right to anonymously criticize (and publish anonymous comments dripping vitriol about) a "public figure", while defining public figure as anyone it chose to write about. Contrast this with Cuban cyber rebel Yoani Sanchez, who insist on using her real name while posting on Generacion Y, "in which she has artfully written gentle critiques of the government by describing her daily life in Cuba. Ms. Sánchez and her husband said they believed strongly in using their names with articles despite the possible political repercussions. "

Anthony Weiner Quiz- Barry Bonds, compelled by subpoena to testify under oath before a grand jury, states that he didn't knowingly use steroids although he admits to applying the "clear and the cream". Bonds is indicted for perjury. Roger Clemens demands a hearing from a congressional committee, insists on testifying undeer oath in public, ducks and dodges every specific question and retreats constantly to the unqualified mantra that he never took steroids or HGH despite the fact it contradicts the relatively credible testimony of trainer McNamee, the very credible testimony of Andy Pettitte, medical records about the abscess in Roger's butt and Mrs. Clemens use of HGH. The FBI investigates Clemen's possible perjury. Congressman Weiner writes to A) Bond's prosecutor, urging discontinuation as a matter of prosecutorial discretion because the case is not clear cut and doesn't justify the resources involved. or B) the FBI, urging them to drop the Clemens investigation as an unjustified use of resources despite the fact that it was Clemens himself who demanded, then abused, the opportunity to speak publicly under oath at considerable expense to Congress. Congressman Weiner is running for mayor of A) San Francisco or B) NYC, where Clemens was a popular pitcher. Wake up Congressman. Voters will recognize obvious pandering. If someone deserves a break here it is not the guy who insisted on testifying under oath when he could have just kept his mouth shut, evaded like Mark Maguire, lied when not under oath like Rafael Palmiro or come out with a non-specific apology/admission like Giambi or LoDuca.