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"For straight up monster-stomping goodness, nothing makes smoke shoot out my ears like Brilliant@Breakfast" -- Tata
"...the best bleacher bum since Pete Axthelm" -- Randy K.
"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
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Monday, November 04, 2013
Blogrollling In Our Time: Are You SURE You Want This Man To Be President? edition
Hello, kind readers,
It's been a tough four weeks, as I'm sure you can imagine; weeks in which the important developments in the world just don't seem all that important to me when there is constant business to attend to involving death certificates, letters of administration from the county, certified mail, transferring car titles, and that's all without getting back to work and going through stuff so I can have a massive yard sale. All of this punctuated by otherworldly wailing that upsets the cats a great deal. Most of the time I am so exhausted that I can hardly function, let alone write in a coherent, enlightening and entertaining way about the nightmare that is today's Republican Party.
But I wanted to add a new blog to the blogroll, since much of what I've been doing lately where that's concerned is purging blogs that no longer exist (though I'm happy to report that TBogg, one of our oldest links, could not stay away from the siren song of ranting and is now ensconced over at Raw Story with a new name, Panic in Funland.
Jersey Jazzman's fifteen minutes of fame started when he received a report from one Melissa Tomlinson, a teacher from south Jersey, about her encounter with Joe Scarborough's true love, Chris Christie:
Click over to see the photograph of the monster that is Chris Christie -- a hothead who thinks he's always right, will not countenance any dissent, and refuses to acknowledge errors even when presented with facts. And in case you think this is just an anecdotal story from a blog, here's the Star-Ledger's article on this confrontation.
So because Chris Christie is, thanks partly to a cowardly and craven Democratic Party that refused to support his opponent (and indeed had planned not to even try), going to be re-elected in a landslide on Tuesday, and because the inevitable presidential timbre blowjobs from the media will begin immediately thereafter, we are adding Jersey Jazzman to the blogroll under "Brilliant New Jersey Blogs" so that the two dozen or so of you who still read this blog can tell all your friends who only hear what Joe Scarborough tells them about Chris Christie what the man really is.
It's been a tough four weeks, as I'm sure you can imagine; weeks in which the important developments in the world just don't seem all that important to me when there is constant business to attend to involving death certificates, letters of administration from the county, certified mail, transferring car titles, and that's all without getting back to work and going through stuff so I can have a massive yard sale. All of this punctuated by otherworldly wailing that upsets the cats a great deal. Most of the time I am so exhausted that I can hardly function, let alone write in a coherent, enlightening and entertaining way about the nightmare that is today's Republican Party.
But I wanted to add a new blog to the blogroll, since much of what I've been doing lately where that's concerned is purging blogs that no longer exist (though I'm happy to report that TBogg, one of our oldest links, could not stay away from the siren song of ranting and is now ensconced over at Raw Story with a new name, Panic in Funland.
Jersey Jazzman's fifteen minutes of fame started when he received a report from one Melissa Tomlinson, a teacher from south Jersey, about her encounter with Joe Scarborough's true love, Chris Christie:
Well, I was in a crowd of all Christie supporters with my sign. They were all eyeing me apprehensively. A few tried to stare me down. Some of them even blocked me from the crowd.
When his bus arrived one of his henchmen went on the bus to speak to him. I was right at the door. It was like he was told to deliberately turn away from me when he got off of the bus.
I went to listen to him speak. I stood in the front of the crowd that was standing towards the back. I know he caught sight of me. He stared at me a few times during his speech. I left right as his speech was over to position myself right at the door of the bus. He came out, shaking everyone's hands as he was getting on the bus. I asked him my question, expecting him to ignore me but he suddenly turned and went off.
I asked him: "Why do you portray our schools as failure factories?" His reply: "Because they are!" He said: "I am tired of you people. What do you want?" I told him I want money for my students. He fought back with the amount that he has spent on education. My response was along the lines of the fact his amount was not actually an increase from the previous years, given the rate of inflation and other factors.
Click over to see the photograph of the monster that is Chris Christie -- a hothead who thinks he's always right, will not countenance any dissent, and refuses to acknowledge errors even when presented with facts. And in case you think this is just an anecdotal story from a blog, here's the Star-Ledger's article on this confrontation.
So because Chris Christie is, thanks partly to a cowardly and craven Democratic Party that refused to support his opponent (and indeed had planned not to even try), going to be re-elected in a landslide on Tuesday, and because the inevitable presidential timbre blowjobs from the media will begin immediately thereafter, we are adding Jersey Jazzman to the blogroll under "Brilliant New Jersey Blogs" so that the two dozen or so of you who still read this blog can tell all your friends who only hear what Joe Scarborough tells them about Chris Christie what the man really is.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, Chris Christie
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Around the blogroll and elsewhere: Maybe I'm back? edition
I'd like to be able to tell you that I'll be back here on a regular basis. The traffic stats tell me that regular updates are needed, and as bang-up a job as jurassicpork does during my frequent absences, he can't do all the heavy lifting alone. Besides, I think I bring a somewhat lighter touch to the outrage. This is no knock on JP, but rather, a reflection of thousands of years of Jewish history, during which we learned to laugh even at the biggest crises because it's the only way we can get through the day. Even now, my stock answer to "How are you doing?" is "Compared to what?" Yes, there are days when I can hardly get out of bed. There are nights when I beg the Goddess to let me die in my sleep. But on the 95% of days when I'm functioning more or less normally, if I can make someone laugh, it's been a good day. Sometimes little things are all you've got.
So maybe I'm back, at least a bit more often. Or not. But please stay tuned; we're not going away, and since July 2014 will be our tenth blogiversary and so many have called it quits lately (most notably Pam and TBogg) or died (most notably, and sadly, Doghouse Riley), or moved on to Facebook or Twitter, where the demands are for only five minutes of your time to appear to be "engaged in the world around you", I think it's important for us relatively old-timers to keep on chugging away. I've made too many good friends, both in virtual and meat worlds, to let it all go in favor of 140 characters. Call me a Luddite, I don't care.
I do first want to thank some people who have been my absolute rock during these troubled times. What's left of my family have been wonderful. Special mention goes to my amazing sister, who having emerged from a decade of dealing with our impossible mother and a year of absolute hell with her during her final decline, has stood steadfastly by me, arranging visiting nurses when necessary, listening to me as I sit in the car screaming, being on call 24 x 7 when I need her, and all this on top of settling our mother's affairs, including getting rid of an incredible amount of STUFF from the house, remodeling it from the ground up to sell -- and all this while running a business. To my friend and neighbor Maryann, whose containers of meatballs, sausage and peppers, and eggplant parm, as well as her insistence on getting me out of the house for nice dinners have helped keep me sane. To our other neighbor John, who has kindly offered to drive Mr. Brilliant to Big Cancer Center on chemo days so that I can return to the office, because in the middle of a reorganization, you don't want them to forget you work there. My manager, who loads me up with an impossible amount of work but has trusted me enough to put in a full work week, even here and there, so that I haven't had to take family leave. Melina, who is just always THERE and always offers a haven of refuge if I just need to get away for a day or two. Special mention to The Wifely Person, who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall, but has been on this spousal cancer journey and stepped right in, checking in every week without fail to see how I'm doing and just being there and offering friendship when I desperately needed someone who gets it. The wonderful people at the BCAN community, especially Jon N. who also doesn't know me OR Mr. Brilliant, but is fighting his own brave battle with the bladder cancer beast while only in his thirties, but still finds time to also check in weekly. And oddly enough, to Mike Bridavsky, who brought his internet rock star kitteh, Lil BUB, to Ridgewood, New Jersey for a book signing so I got to experience some BUB magic first-hand. I do not know what it is with this strange little cat, but I do have to say that no matter how bad my day is, a photo or video of this magical creature always helps. And since meeting Lil BUB in "person", I really have felt better.
Mr. B. continues to do well. I think he still has a couple of stitches left behind that we will need to take care of, but his scar is hardly visible. He has some supposedly temporary paralysis of one of the muscles that controls his right eyebrow, which gives him a rakish perpetually skeptical look -- sort of a one-sided Colbert. He's having some side effects from the radiation but nothing terrible up to this point. In early November, Dr. Chess Club will work his magic on the left side, which probably won't be as comical because we know now what to expect, but if it is funny, you'll hear about it. Then it's just follow-ups and hope the beast stays away.
Anyway, while my world has been pretty small, the rest of it keeps on turning...
Betty Cracker is pragmatic...but is she right?
The great Charlie Pierce on The Things They Will Not Allow.
Here's the difference between Us and Them: Even though we have been fortunate enough to have top-notch care for Mr. Brilliant's illnesses, not everyone does, and that's an outrage. Obtaining health care for those who do not have access to Big Prestigious Hospitals is becoming more difficult. Alison Kilkenny on how New York City's neighborhood hospitals are disappearing. James Wolcott on Tbogg's departure from Blogtopia(™ Skippy).
Laffy on another Republican talking point biting the dust (not that they'll let FACTS get in the way...)
Bob on the fire in Seaside Park. And at Blue Jersey, musings on GOP Patron Saint of Presidential Hopes Chris Christie's photo-op against a backdrop of what was supposedly stronger than the storm.
And let us not forget Fukushima Diary, which is still keeping the world updated on the nightmare that is still going on in Japan, even though the major media won't touch it.
So maybe I'm back, at least a bit more often. Or not. But please stay tuned; we're not going away, and since July 2014 will be our tenth blogiversary and so many have called it quits lately (most notably Pam and TBogg) or died (most notably, and sadly, Doghouse Riley), or moved on to Facebook or Twitter, where the demands are for only five minutes of your time to appear to be "engaged in the world around you", I think it's important for us relatively old-timers to keep on chugging away. I've made too many good friends, both in virtual and meat worlds, to let it all go in favor of 140 characters. Call me a Luddite, I don't care.
I do first want to thank some people who have been my absolute rock during these troubled times. What's left of my family have been wonderful. Special mention goes to my amazing sister, who having emerged from a decade of dealing with our impossible mother and a year of absolute hell with her during her final decline, has stood steadfastly by me, arranging visiting nurses when necessary, listening to me as I sit in the car screaming, being on call 24 x 7 when I need her, and all this on top of settling our mother's affairs, including getting rid of an incredible amount of STUFF from the house, remodeling it from the ground up to sell -- and all this while running a business. To my friend and neighbor Maryann, whose containers of meatballs, sausage and peppers, and eggplant parm, as well as her insistence on getting me out of the house for nice dinners have helped keep me sane. To our other neighbor John, who has kindly offered to drive Mr. Brilliant to Big Cancer Center on chemo days so that I can return to the office, because in the middle of a reorganization, you don't want them to forget you work there. My manager, who loads me up with an impossible amount of work but has trusted me enough to put in a full work week, even here and there, so that I haven't had to take family leave. Melina, who is just always THERE and always offers a haven of refuge if I just need to get away for a day or two. Special mention to The Wifely Person, who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall, but has been on this spousal cancer journey and stepped right in, checking in every week without fail to see how I'm doing and just being there and offering friendship when I desperately needed someone who gets it. The wonderful people at the BCAN community, especially Jon N. who also doesn't know me OR Mr. Brilliant, but is fighting his own brave battle with the bladder cancer beast while only in his thirties, but still finds time to also check in weekly. And oddly enough, to Mike Bridavsky, who brought his internet rock star kitteh, Lil BUB, to Ridgewood, New Jersey for a book signing so I got to experience some BUB magic first-hand. I do not know what it is with this strange little cat, but I do have to say that no matter how bad my day is, a photo or video of this magical creature always helps. And since meeting Lil BUB in "person", I really have felt better.
Mr. B. continues to do well. I think he still has a couple of stitches left behind that we will need to take care of, but his scar is hardly visible. He has some supposedly temporary paralysis of one of the muscles that controls his right eyebrow, which gives him a rakish perpetually skeptical look -- sort of a one-sided Colbert. He's having some side effects from the radiation but nothing terrible up to this point. In early November, Dr. Chess Club will work his magic on the left side, which probably won't be as comical because we know now what to expect, but if it is funny, you'll hear about it. Then it's just follow-ups and hope the beast stays away.
Anyway, while my world has been pretty small, the rest of it keeps on turning...
Betty Cracker is pragmatic...but is she right?
The great Charlie Pierce on The Things They Will Not Allow.
Here's the difference between Us and Them: Even though we have been fortunate enough to have top-notch care for Mr. Brilliant's illnesses, not everyone does, and that's an outrage. Obtaining health care for those who do not have access to Big Prestigious Hospitals is becoming more difficult. Alison Kilkenny on how New York City's neighborhood hospitals are disappearing. James Wolcott on Tbogg's departure from Blogtopia(™ Skippy).
Laffy on another Republican talking point biting the dust (not that they'll let FACTS get in the way...)
Bob on the fire in Seaside Park. And at Blue Jersey, musings on GOP Patron Saint of Presidential Hopes Chris Christie's photo-op against a backdrop of what was supposedly stronger than the storm.
And let us not forget Fukushima Diary, which is still keeping the world updated on the nightmare that is still going on in Japan, even though the major media won't touch it.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, personal musings
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Blogrolling In Our Time: I Sedionisti edition
Say good morning (well, it IS morning in Japan) to Big Bad Bald Bastard. Because those who are old Morning Sedition listeners are always welcome. And because every day can be Blogroll Amnesty Day. Especially if it means we can have cake.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, Morning Sedition
Saturday, February 09, 2013
Around the Blogroll and elsewhere: Now with additional commentary.
I had wanted to write about the Chris Christie weight fracas this week, but since I already covered the fat beat recently, I figured anything I had to say would be redundant. I did feel reassured this week when I walked up to the third floor of the building where I work without feeling like my legs were falling off during the last three steps, and I'm not in Christie's league, but I don't think doctors should be generalizing about someone's weight without an examination any more if they are obese than I do if they are in a permanent vegetative state. But now here comes Susie Madrak, with some good old common sense about how what we already KNOW about Chris Christie's health means there's no way he could handle a presidential campaign.
I did a lot of snow shoveling today too and didn't die from a coronary. So there.
Driftglass on the Fall of the House of Bircher. Every time I think of the John Birch Society, I remember the day that guy from that august group appeared in my 11th grade history class to talk about how gun control was tyranny -- the same day I had learned earlier that morning that one of my friends had been shot point-blank in the head by her own father.
Lynn looks at America's gun craziness through a planetary lens. And I don't want to read any snickering in the comments about how Uranus is in Aries. Yes, BNJ, I'm talking to you.
Howie Klein introduces what appears to be another strong young progressive emerging in Massachusetts. I'm always happy to see young players in the minor leagues. It means the major league team has depth and more importantly, a future.
PhysioProf's Blizzard Bolognese looks delicious, but a) I don't eat veal; and b) there is a wonderful smelling beef stew, redolent with cremini mushrooms, red wine, halved multicolor fingerling potatoes, and most importantly, BACON!!!! in the crockpot.
Princess Sparkle Pony critiques George W. Bush's oeuvre artistique narcissiste. YOU read it. I want to scrub my eyeballs with Brillo just imagining the mindset that we endured for eight years and then went home to paint these.
I missed this earlier because of dealing with things like mortality, but Konagod got all philosophical and musey about, well, things like mortality.
Ramona on the Return of the Transvaginal Ultrasound. Seriously, what is with Republican men? They're obsessed with guns and ladyparts. And yet when someone is found to have actual sex with an underage girl, or is caught in a hotel room in a diving suit with a dildo stuffed somewhere, or advocating an abortion for his girlfriend, or "hiking the Appalachian Trail", it's always a conservative. Why can't these men just get some therapy and leave us be?
I did a lot of snow shoveling today too and didn't die from a coronary. So there.
Driftglass on the Fall of the House of Bircher. Every time I think of the John Birch Society, I remember the day that guy from that august group appeared in my 11th grade history class to talk about how gun control was tyranny -- the same day I had learned earlier that morning that one of my friends had been shot point-blank in the head by her own father.
Lynn looks at America's gun craziness through a planetary lens. And I don't want to read any snickering in the comments about how Uranus is in Aries. Yes, BNJ, I'm talking to you.
Howie Klein introduces what appears to be another strong young progressive emerging in Massachusetts. I'm always happy to see young players in the minor leagues. It means the major league team has depth and more importantly, a future.
PhysioProf's Blizzard Bolognese looks delicious, but a) I don't eat veal; and b) there is a wonderful smelling beef stew, redolent with cremini mushrooms, red wine, halved multicolor fingerling potatoes, and most importantly, BACON!!!! in the crockpot.
Princess Sparkle Pony critiques George W. Bush's oeuvre artistique narcissiste. YOU read it. I want to scrub my eyeballs with Brillo just imagining the mindset that we endured for eight years and then went home to paint these.
I missed this earlier because of dealing with things like mortality, but Konagod got all philosophical and musey about, well, things like mortality.
Ramona on the Return of the Transvaginal Ultrasound. Seriously, what is with Republican men? They're obsessed with guns and ladyparts. And yet when someone is found to have actual sex with an underage girl, or is caught in a hotel room in a diving suit with a dildo stuffed somewhere, or advocating an abortion for his girlfriend, or "hiking the Appalachian Trail", it's always a conservative. Why can't these men just get some therapy and leave us be?
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Blogroll Amnesty Weekend 2013
Actually, it's Blogroll Amnesty Weekend, but I'm a bit late to the party. As regular readers who pay attention to tags know, here at B@B, every day is Blogroll Amnesty Day. This has become ever more important as blogging has become something of a dying art, replaced by Twitter, which limits the expression of ideas to 140 characters. I know that English teachers everywhere may have thought that anything which encourages brevity is a virtue, but unless your name is "Oscar Wilde", you can't really be clever, or witty, or informative in 140 characters. Twitter has its place (thought I still haven't found it, despite having finally succumbed and signed up), Facebook is a good place to pontificate in short-form to your friends and colleagues, but for me, the writing's still the thing.
Besides, Blogroll Amnesty Day is a nice subversive way to poke fun at Atrios, who's sort of the John McCain of blogging -- a guy who got there early on, built a reputation off of being one of the few shows in town, and then pulled up the rug behind him, purging his blogroll of all but his own puffed-up, artificially-important other early adopters, and then not maintaining the blogroll he has left.
But perhaps most importantly, Blogroll Amnesty Day is a way to remind the world that the late, great Al Weisel existed; a guy that some (alas, not me) knew personally and others knew from his own ferociously funny blog, which still stands today as a testament to a man whose generosity of spirit knew no bounds. It isn't that Al is the only one of the fallen that should be memorialized; not a day goes by that I don't wish fervently that Steve Gilliard were still around with enough ranting about the last four years to fill a book. But in creating Blogroll Amnesty Day -- a day (or in this case an entire weekend) to share a Blogger Beer with others who despite lack of traffic and often lack of time, continue to toil away in long form, Al left a greater mark on the blogosphere than Atrios ever will. So here are some selections from our own still-expanding (and yes, occasionally contracting as people move on) blogroll, as well as some new additions.
Bob Rixon is sort of a Bruce Springsteen of New Jersey blogging. With his penchant for vintage postcards and other images, interspersed with musings on life, politics, and the personal, no one better encapsulates the Garden State than The Rix Mix.
I've known Elayne Riggs longer than I've known anyone outside my family, and that includes Mr. Brilliant. Elayne was a macher in 'zine culture long before the word "blog" even existed. For sheer dogged persistence in tracking down Teh Silly every single day, nothing beats Pen-Elayne on the Web. And do NOT miss Friday's posted video, it's hilarious.
I can't say that this is a "smaller" blog, because Pam Kueber is making a living off of it, but for those of us trying to marry Arts & Crafts style into our 1958 homes, Pam's unadulterated love for midcentury modern decor at Retro Renovation is contagious.
Now this is my kind of blog. Channel Surfing's subtitle is "A blog about politics, poetry, sports and music."
Again -- not exactly linking down, but she's my sister and don't argue with her. Astrology is a lot more than Jeane Dixon's horoscope in the New York Post. I never bought this stuff either, but for the last two years, Lynn has been running my planetary charts and has been pretty spot-on about everything, including the approximate time of our mother's demise (only missed by about a month). Last time she ran my chart (last summer), she predicted some unresolved grief coming to the surface probably around March of this year, which is exactly when I sense that our mother's death will hit me then and I will probably be unable to drag myself out of bed for a week. Astrological Musings also says that Mercury turns retrograde on February 23. So back up your computer before then.
UPDATE: How asleep was I when I originally wrote this that I neglected to mention that the great Skippy is now the keeper of the B.A.D. flame. So go visit him for a complete roundup of the roundups.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Friday, January 25, 2013
Mama's got a brand new bag
With Blogroll Amnesty Day fast approaching, it's exciting to see that Ramona of Ramona's Voices is starting a second blog, Common Commoner. In light of my battle against Daniel Callahan, the breakfast for this addition will be eggs scrambled with onions and peppers, lomticks of bacon, and whole wheat toast with real butter. And we're going to enjoy every damn bite of it.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Blogrolling In Our Time
Blogroll Amnesty Day isn't officially until next month, but here at B@B, ANY day can be Blogroll Amnesty Day. Put some leftover Chinese food in the microwave for The Poor Man's Huffington Post, by the erstwhile proprietor of the late Boiling Mad.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere: Again and again and again edition
Patricia on the hidden health crisis of mental illness.
Ashley Miller agrees that there's a mental health crisis, but makes the good point that since mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of crime, it's counterproductive to tie the issue to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Bridget Magnus correctly notes that since the guns used in Newtown were not purchased by Adam Lanza, it's not clear that stricter gun control would have prevented what happened. She's on Team Mental Illness.
Margaret and Helen are on Team Guns.
(For the record, I'm on both teams, particularly if, as has been reported, Nancy Lanza was a bit of a doomsday prepper, getting ready to protect herself from the marauding hordes when It All Falls Apart. I'd also be interested in knowing from whence she get these ideas and about her television and radio listening habits. OK. Carry on.)
Ramona doesn't need to know their names to give them faces.
Jayhawk attributes the increase in gun-related violence to our fascination with violence and death, from unjust wars to government-sanctioned assassinations to eliminationist rhetoric.
Walk a mile, etc. Via Susie Madrak comes this post by Lisa Long about living with a mentally ill son.
Digby notes that if we have a 50% jump in the number of guns since 1995, why isn't "More Guns" proving to mean less violence, as the right continues to promise?
(In closing, just a note: When I do these, I just click around my blogroll at random, then check out Facebook looking for interesting links. Usually these compendia consist of mostly male bloggers. No particular reason, it just works out that way. Today it's almost all women. Does the mass death of female public school teachers and six-year-olds resonate more with women because we are wired that way? Discuss.) .
Ashley Miller agrees that there's a mental health crisis, but makes the good point that since mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of crime, it's counterproductive to tie the issue to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Bridget Magnus correctly notes that since the guns used in Newtown were not purchased by Adam Lanza, it's not clear that stricter gun control would have prevented what happened. She's on Team Mental Illness.
Margaret and Helen are on Team Guns.
(For the record, I'm on both teams, particularly if, as has been reported, Nancy Lanza was a bit of a doomsday prepper, getting ready to protect herself from the marauding hordes when It All Falls Apart. I'd also be interested in knowing from whence she get these ideas and about her television and radio listening habits. OK. Carry on.)
Ramona doesn't need to know their names to give them faces.
Jayhawk attributes the increase in gun-related violence to our fascination with violence and death, from unjust wars to government-sanctioned assassinations to eliminationist rhetoric.
Walk a mile, etc. Via Susie Madrak comes this post by Lisa Long about living with a mentally ill son.
Digby notes that if we have a 50% jump in the number of guns since 1995, why isn't "More Guns" proving to mean less violence, as the right continues to promise?
(In closing, just a note: When I do these, I just click around my blogroll at random, then check out Facebook looking for interesting links. Usually these compendia consist of mostly male bloggers. No particular reason, it just works out that way. Today it's almost all women. Does the mass death of female public school teachers and six-year-olds resonate more with women because we are wired that way? Discuss.) .
Labels: 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, guns, mental illness
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Around the blogroll and elsewhere: Waiting for Sandygeddon and Slouching Towards Wingnuttia edition
Tom Degan on A Nation in Ruins.
Jeff Feldman on The Drowning Man. (We can only hope.)
David Sirota is contrarian. But this is the difference between liberals and wingnuts: We fragment, they fall into line and become good soldiers on Election Day. We'll see which approach is better.
Tata's weather preparation tips.
Driftglass is telling you...he's not going.
Dave Johnson on How Romney Will Do Business as President.
Howie Klein: Plutocracy Dominant in America? (Answer: Yes.)
Margaret and Helen wonder, When Did Hating Women Become a Republican Platform?
Charlie Pierce on The Real Cost of Citizens United.
If you work for a company where your boss is telling you to vote for Romney or else, it could be worse. You could work for Tepco in Japan.
Grung_E_Gene on The 3 R's of the Republican Party.
Good wishes to all my fellow East Coasters in the next couple of days. We're going to need all the luck we can get.
Jeff Feldman on The Drowning Man. (We can only hope.)
David Sirota is contrarian. But this is the difference between liberals and wingnuts: We fragment, they fall into line and become good soldiers on Election Day. We'll see which approach is better.
Tata's weather preparation tips.
Driftglass is telling you...he's not going.
Dave Johnson on How Romney Will Do Business as President.
Howie Klein: Plutocracy Dominant in America? (Answer: Yes.)
Margaret and Helen wonder, When Did Hating Women Become a Republican Platform?
Charlie Pierce on The Real Cost of Citizens United.
If you work for a company where your boss is telling you to vote for Romney or else, it could be worse. You could work for Tepco in Japan.
Grung_E_Gene on The 3 R's of the Republican Party.
Good wishes to all my fellow East Coasters in the next couple of days. We're going to need all the luck we can get.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Around the blogroll and elsewhere: Is it really less than two months till the election? edition
I'll be spending my weekend in front of a glowing screen going slowly insane again, so here's some tidbits to keep y'all busy.
I hadn't stopped over at Tom Degan's Rant lately, so I went over this morning, and found a lovely post on another September 11, this one fifty years ago this year, and how it changed the world in a very different way. And stay and visit there a while as long as you're in the neighborhood. It's one gem after another.
Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money reminds us of why public school teachers are deserving of our support. And at this time of educational crisis, I'd like to thank in particular my eighth grade English teacher, Bertram Nussbaum, who taught me: a) never end a sentence with a preposition; b) never use "have to" in formal writing; and c) never use "get" (or its derivatives such as "got" or "gotten") in formal writing unless you are talking about a Jewish divorce. I'd also like to thank my ninth grade Ancient and Medieval History teacher, Frank Nolde, who instilled in me a lifelong fascination with the ancient world, Elisabeth Gromlich of 10th grade geometry fame, who presented me with ONE branch of math at which I was not a complete fuckup. And by the way, check out Charlie Pierce on this while you're at it.
Since a decade of Republicans flogging the deaths of almost 3000 people for political gain and fearmongering have left a sour taste in my mouth about the whole thing, I went to Driftglass for perspective, and even he has 9/11 fatigue, but he does, however, link to an earlier one, which is one of the best posts about it that has ever been posted.
The New York Crank has some advice for Willard. (And by the way, there's Gap, Starbucks, and Dunkin' Donuts in Cologne, Germany too. Why anyone would go to Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts in the kaffee-and-pastry capital of the world, I have no idea.)
And since someone will undoubtedly give me crap for not including any women bloggers this week, I suggest you go visit Tata, who has been canning up a storm. Ess ess, mein kind.
I hadn't stopped over at Tom Degan's Rant lately, so I went over this morning, and found a lovely post on another September 11, this one fifty years ago this year, and how it changed the world in a very different way. And stay and visit there a while as long as you're in the neighborhood. It's one gem after another.
Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money reminds us of why public school teachers are deserving of our support. And at this time of educational crisis, I'd like to thank in particular my eighth grade English teacher, Bertram Nussbaum, who taught me: a) never end a sentence with a preposition; b) never use "have to" in formal writing; and c) never use "get" (or its derivatives such as "got" or "gotten") in formal writing unless you are talking about a Jewish divorce. I'd also like to thank my ninth grade Ancient and Medieval History teacher, Frank Nolde, who instilled in me a lifelong fascination with the ancient world, Elisabeth Gromlich of 10th grade geometry fame, who presented me with ONE branch of math at which I was not a complete fuckup. And by the way, check out Charlie Pierce on this while you're at it.
Since a decade of Republicans flogging the deaths of almost 3000 people for political gain and fearmongering have left a sour taste in my mouth about the whole thing, I went to Driftglass for perspective, and even he has 9/11 fatigue, but he does, however, link to an earlier one, which is one of the best posts about it that has ever been posted.
The New York Crank has some advice for Willard. (And by the way, there's Gap, Starbucks, and Dunkin' Donuts in Cologne, Germany too. Why anyone would go to Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts in the kaffee-and-pastry capital of the world, I have no idea.)
And since someone will undoubtedly give me crap for not including any women bloggers this week, I suggest you go visit Tata, who has been canning up a storm. Ess ess, mein kind.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Thursday, September 13, 2012
What I miss most is time
I'm sitting here this morning, rapidly succumbing to the Office Cold that's going around and has had everyone at work, even those not juggling three projects at once and dealing with teams with conflicting priorities who don't seem to understand the meaning of the word "deadline" and being told I have to "have patience", complaining of incapacitating, crushing fatigue. I was awake at 4:45 AM and will probably just go to work early today, not just to catch up on work but because, well, what the hell else would I do with an extra half-hour? And that's AFTER vacuuming up the cats' eating areas, which these days are all over the first floor, because I now have two old, sick cats and I'll get food into them wherever they'll eat it.
Maggie's had her methimazole transdermal gel dose (for hyperthyroid), which I hope gets her to eat, because if she doesn't start eating more she's going to have to go to the Hypurrcat clinic in the city, where for just shy of $2000, they will inject radioactive iodine into her, keep her there for 3-5 days, and assuming the treatment works and doesn't destroy so much healthy tissue that she ends up on meds for HYPOthyroid, should return her thyroid to normal state. This whole thing brings back too many memories of Certain Family Crises of 2000, which also involved old sick cats and separately, radioactive iodine treatment that did nothing for the person who had it and which I will always believe was administered erroneously because the cancer being treated wasn't really thyroid cancer. But that's just me.
I'm at a point where I don't even know what I like to do anymore. On weekends these days, I find myself leaving HGTV on all day while I'm sitting in front of a glowing screen working just to remind me of the home projects I want to do if I ever have a spare moment. Characters from my unfinished novel still live in my head, their stories still not fully told. And the less said about the cleanliness of my house, the better.
I really miss having time -- especially time to read. I have all five George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire books sitting in a basket by the front door and I wonder if I'll ever have time to read them. I have a blogroll as long as my arm and rarely get a chance to read those, except when I skim them enough to put up a link post. But this morninig I decided, just for the heck of it, to pick a random blog to check out and ended up at the site of my old Cinemarati buddy, Vern. Well, actually that's one of TWO old Cinemarati buddies named Vern, but this is the one who's been doing movie reviews forever.
I've always suspected that Vern is someone like The Rude Pundit or the late, much-missed Jon Swift* -- a pseudonymous persona with varying degrees of resemblance to the actual person. But while Vern's specialty is reviewing tough-guy movies, he's also one of the best ranters around. And today's fortuitous random blog landing allowed me to read his response to the appearance of his hero di tutti heroes, Clint Eastwood, at the RNC this month. It's worth your time, not just because Vern is a hell of a writer, but for what it says about the dissonance between the people we see in the media and what they are in reality, how people will twist themselves into pretzels to avoid facing reality when their heroes turn out to have feet of clay, and how we try to work it all out.
A sample:
Go. Read more.
Maggie's had her methimazole transdermal gel dose (for hyperthyroid), which I hope gets her to eat, because if she doesn't start eating more she's going to have to go to the Hypurrcat clinic in the city, where for just shy of $2000, they will inject radioactive iodine into her, keep her there for 3-5 days, and assuming the treatment works and doesn't destroy so much healthy tissue that she ends up on meds for HYPOthyroid, should return her thyroid to normal state. This whole thing brings back too many memories of Certain Family Crises of 2000, which also involved old sick cats and separately, radioactive iodine treatment that did nothing for the person who had it and which I will always believe was administered erroneously because the cancer being treated wasn't really thyroid cancer. But that's just me.
I'm at a point where I don't even know what I like to do anymore. On weekends these days, I find myself leaving HGTV on all day while I'm sitting in front of a glowing screen working just to remind me of the home projects I want to do if I ever have a spare moment. Characters from my unfinished novel still live in my head, their stories still not fully told. And the less said about the cleanliness of my house, the better.
I really miss having time -- especially time to read. I have all five George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire books sitting in a basket by the front door and I wonder if I'll ever have time to read them. I have a blogroll as long as my arm and rarely get a chance to read those, except when I skim them enough to put up a link post. But this morninig I decided, just for the heck of it, to pick a random blog to check out and ended up at the site of my old Cinemarati buddy, Vern. Well, actually that's one of TWO old Cinemarati buddies named Vern, but this is the one who's been doing movie reviews forever.
I've always suspected that Vern is someone like The Rude Pundit or the late, much-missed Jon Swift* -- a pseudonymous persona with varying degrees of resemblance to the actual person. But while Vern's specialty is reviewing tough-guy movies, he's also one of the best ranters around. And today's fortuitous random blog landing allowed me to read his response to the appearance of his hero di tutti heroes, Clint Eastwood, at the RNC this month. It's worth your time, not just because Vern is a hell of a writer, but for what it says about the dissonance between the people we see in the media and what they are in reality, how people will twist themselves into pretzels to avoid facing reality when their heroes turn out to have feet of clay, and how we try to work it all out.
A sample:
I’m not saying he did a good job, and I’m definitely not saying I agree with him. His main point, which is not unreasonable, was the idea that “when somebody does not do the job we gotta let them go.” I disagree with his conclusion that Obama hasn’t done the job, and even if he’d done worse I don’t see how that leads to wanting to put Romney in his place. The part that made me cringe the most was when he said “maybe it’s time for a businessman.” Not because of Clint’s aside making fun of Obama for being a lawyer, apparently forgetting that Romney is also a lawyer, but because he’s gotta remember that Bush was supposed to be the businessman, the guy that was gonna run the country like a business. You saw how that shit worked out, Clint! You’re mad at Obama for not fixing the economy well enough, but you want to repeat the thing that broke the economy in the first place?
It’s been pointed out that all of the Republicans who ran the country for the 8 years before Obama were carefully hidden away during the convention. Not like you would hide a laptop that you were leaving in your car, more like you would hide the bong when mom is visiting. They elected Bush and Cheney two times and they called us traitors for criticizing them and they hated us for disagreeing with their wars and now, well, you know what, let’s not have them speak or show them or mention that they exist.
So maybe they have buyer’s remorse, but then why are they not repudiating the Bush philosophy? They’re just saying the same shit – “maybe it’s time for a businessman.” They’re just not pretending it’s “compassionate conservatism” anymore. They dropped the compassionate.
In the speech Clint also says he doesn’t want to close Gitmo because it was expensive to build, and that the idea of trying terrorists as criminals (at least if it’s in downtown New York City) is “stupid.” He’s against wars but also against prosecuting it as a crime. But I’m not gonna argue with Dirty Harry on that one.
The whole premise of speaking to an empty chair, pretending that Obama is there and telling him to go fuck himself is too obvious of a symbol for the way they’ve been handling Obama from the beginning. They hate some guy they made up who’s a socialist and a Muslim and also an atheist and who cut work requirements for welfare and who closed an auto factory before he was in office and who’s so arrogant and looks down on them… I don’t know how they look at the actual guy and see all that, so they have to just pretend he’s sitting in a chair there.
Go. Read more.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, chickenshit weasel Republicans, movies
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Around the blogroll and elsewhere: Dispatches from Wingnuttistan
At Addicting Info, a screenshot from the Being Liberal Facebook page demonstrating that for an alarming number of gun nuts, it's not at all about deer hunting or protecting their TVs.
At Media Matters: Rush Limbaugh sez Robin Hood was a Tea Party activist.
Americablog: Fox News decided Gabby Douglas wasn't patriotic enough.
Down With Tyranny: It isn't just coming from Republicans: The DCCC is participating as well in the War on Women.
Raw Story: Rep. Steve King says "Why do it piecemeal?" Let's just repeal in one fell swoop everything Obama has done." Also, this.
The General on Jerome Corsi's latest fever dream about Obama.
The New York Crank on Texas Republicans' quest to outlaw the teaching of critical thinking in schools in their state.
At Vagabond Scholar: No, both sides DON'T do it.
OK, back to trying to meet impossible deadlines, which is how I spend all my waking hours these days.
At Media Matters: Rush Limbaugh sez Robin Hood was a Tea Party activist.
Americablog: Fox News decided Gabby Douglas wasn't patriotic enough.
Down With Tyranny: It isn't just coming from Republicans: The DCCC is participating as well in the War on Women.
Raw Story: Rep. Steve King says "Why do it piecemeal?" Let's just repeal in one fell swoop everything Obama has done." Also, this.
The General on Jerome Corsi's latest fever dream about Obama.
The New York Crank on Texas Republicans' quest to outlaw the teaching of critical thinking in schools in their state.
At Vagabond Scholar: No, both sides DON'T do it.
OK, back to trying to meet impossible deadlines, which is how I spend all my waking hours these days.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, wingnuttia
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere: I Can Has Sleep Nao? edition
Most days I really don't feel my age. I have pretty good energy, and despite my girth, I climb up to the third floor of my place of employment every morning with a backpack stuffed with a behemoth of a Lenovo StinkPad in it strapped on my back. One thing I simply cannot do anymore is stay up late and function in a sleep-deprived state, which is why, when I was up working Thursday night till 1:30 AM Friday, the four hours of sleep I managed to get was not enough to keep me from babbling like an idiot by noon on Friday. All of this meant that I was too tired yesterday to enjoy a rare 75-degree day in July.
So what's going on in the world?
Juan Cole writes about the individual in U.S. Government who actually IS tied to the Muslim Brotherhood -- and her name is "Michele Bachmann".
Tom Degan looks at the Aurora massacre from the perspective of personal loss and finds nothing has changed since then.
Driftglass looks at the entirety of David Brooks' career -- and takes no prisoners.
Oliver Willis gives a history lesson to a Fox News guy.
This week I had the unmitigated joy of discovering that one of my European colleagues is secretly a major, major geek. For those who aren't, here's ComicCon by the Numbers (via Elayne).
If you're thinking your 401(k) is going to fund your retirement, or if you've fallen into the trap of believing that you'd get a better return letting Wall Street handle your Social Security, Nathaniel Downes at Addicting Info will set you straight right quick.
Laffy makes me wish my Senator, Frank Lautenberg, could live forever.
Charles Johnson presents evidence that Willard Rmoney is so disliked he even has to buy Twitter followers. (And I will never stop marveling that I can link to LGF...) Also, too.
Comradde Physioproffe on how conservatives misinterpret the Constitution.
Ted Frier on The Party of Intolerance and Hate.
So what's going on in the world?
Juan Cole writes about the individual in U.S. Government who actually IS tied to the Muslim Brotherhood -- and her name is "Michele Bachmann".
Tom Degan looks at the Aurora massacre from the perspective of personal loss and finds nothing has changed since then.
Driftglass looks at the entirety of David Brooks' career -- and takes no prisoners.
Oliver Willis gives a history lesson to a Fox News guy.
This week I had the unmitigated joy of discovering that one of my European colleagues is secretly a major, major geek. For those who aren't, here's ComicCon by the Numbers (via Elayne).
If you're thinking your 401(k) is going to fund your retirement, or if you've fallen into the trap of believing that you'd get a better return letting Wall Street handle your Social Security, Nathaniel Downes at Addicting Info will set you straight right quick.
Laffy makes me wish my Senator, Frank Lautenberg, could live forever.
Charles Johnson presents evidence that Willard Rmoney is so disliked he even has to buy Twitter followers. (And I will never stop marveling that I can link to LGF...) Also, too.
Comradde Physioproffe on how conservatives misinterpret the Constitution.
Ted Frier on The Party of Intolerance and Hate.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere: It's Too Damn Hot edition
I've just finished what was reputed to be a week off from work, except that I spent about half of it, well, working. Not on house things, like washing windows or cleaning the bow window screens from the outside, or any big projects, but trying to get two small system mods through the mountain of testing and paperwork required before I can deploy them, get them off my desk, and move onto the impossibility of the next four months. Of course it was too hot to even consider doing anything outdoors, let alone anything constructive like finally deciding what kind of decking to use for the new deck that it's rapidly getting too late in the year to have built, or calling the contractor's references, or anything really important. So it's back to work tomorrow, on 80 hour weeks till the end of October, and the house is still a disaster. But those more organized than I have some things to say.
Today, Chris Ryan takes time out from blaming the baby boomers for everything by musing on how Willard Rmoney managed to skirt IRS limits on IRA contributions.
Steven Andrew on the trainwreck that is MSNBC's new wingnut poster child, S.E. Cupp (who I still think got the job because her Sarah Palin glasses give her that naughty librarian look without the Fatal Attraction crazy, and because her name sounds like a brassiere) (link via TBogg).
The General on a particularly weird specimen of Texas Conservative.
Laffy: Why can't it be like this more often?. In New York all you get is a drunk guy doing an off-key rendition of "No Woman No Cry."
Terrance explains how the power outages in Maryland this last week are a perfect example of Republican corporatism in action.
Margaret and Helen on the Republican obsession with Teh Ladyparts.
The New York Crank is cranky: Oh shut up with that nitpicking blather that a healthcare mandate is a tax. Just shut up, will yuh, Willard?
Rick Ungar: Will Red State Governors Opt Out Of Medicaid Expansion?
Nathaniel Downes on the scam that is the 401(k).
I seem to have an awful lot of relatives in batshit crazy states. Of course I live in a state that's governed by a guy who's clearly auditioning for the next season of Jersey Shore, so what do I know? Liberal Dan lives in New Orleans, and reports on Health Care Reform in Louisiana. Dan is podcasting now too, here.
Today, Chris Ryan takes time out from blaming the baby boomers for everything by musing on how Willard Rmoney managed to skirt IRS limits on IRA contributions.
Steven Andrew on the trainwreck that is MSNBC's new wingnut poster child, S.E. Cupp (who I still think got the job because her Sarah Palin glasses give her that naughty librarian look without the Fatal Attraction crazy, and because her name sounds like a brassiere) (link via TBogg).
The General on a particularly weird specimen of Texas Conservative.
Laffy: Why can't it be like this more often?. In New York all you get is a drunk guy doing an off-key rendition of "No Woman No Cry."
Terrance explains how the power outages in Maryland this last week are a perfect example of Republican corporatism in action.
Margaret and Helen on the Republican obsession with Teh Ladyparts.
The New York Crank is cranky: Oh shut up with that nitpicking blather that a healthcare mandate is a tax. Just shut up, will yuh, Willard?
Rick Ungar: Will Red State Governors Opt Out Of Medicaid Expansion?
Nathaniel Downes on the scam that is the 401(k).
I seem to have an awful lot of relatives in batshit crazy states. Of course I live in a state that's governed by a guy who's clearly auditioning for the next season of Jersey Shore, so what do I know? Liberal Dan lives in New Orleans, and reports on Health Care Reform in Louisiana. Dan is podcasting now too, here.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Friday, June 29, 2012
Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere: Wingnut Nervous Breakdown Edition
You may see more of these between now and October.
TBogg reveals just who at CNN got the Supreme Court ACA decision wrong.
From the "What Was MSNBC Thinking?" file, BlueGal takes on S.E. Cupp (whom I suspect would be doing the weather in Kalamazoo if her last name didn't sound like a brassiere).
Attaturk compiles tweets from wingnuts so upset at John Roberts that they're considering moving to Canada. Where they have universal health care.
Oh yeah, baby. Just go read James Wolcott, who does it like nobody else can.
Heather at C&L shows how the batshittery isn't JUST about the Supreme Court decision.
Digby makes it clear that with these people it always comes down to wanting to shoot stuff, doesn't it.
Pam has yet another compendium of hysteria.
Our very own jurassicpork was so inspired by the pearl-clutching that he didn't even wait till today to put together a special addition of Assclowns of theWeek Day.
Further proof that once you leave the Research Triangle area or Asheville, North Carolina is still full of yahoos: Andy Ostroy reports on actual Republican candidates for the 11th District.
And finally some seriousness...
Comradde Physioproffe warns us not to get excited, for all this decision did was to keep the credibility of the Roberts Court hanging by enough of a thread for it to do some REAL damage in the future.
And Michael J. W. Stickings gives some snark-free analysis from the Land of Universal Health Care.
TBogg reveals just who at CNN got the Supreme Court ACA decision wrong.
From the "What Was MSNBC Thinking?" file, BlueGal takes on S.E. Cupp (whom I suspect would be doing the weather in Kalamazoo if her last name didn't sound like a brassiere).
Attaturk compiles tweets from wingnuts so upset at John Roberts that they're considering moving to Canada. Where they have universal health care.
Oh yeah, baby. Just go read James Wolcott, who does it like nobody else can.
Heather at C&L shows how the batshittery isn't JUST about the Supreme Court decision.
Digby makes it clear that with these people it always comes down to wanting to shoot stuff, doesn't it.
Pam has yet another compendium of hysteria.
Our very own jurassicpork was so inspired by the pearl-clutching that he didn't even wait till today to put together a special addition of Assclowns of the
Further proof that once you leave the Research Triangle area or Asheville, North Carolina is still full of yahoos: Andy Ostroy reports on actual Republican candidates for the 11th District.
And finally some seriousness...
Comradde Physioproffe warns us not to get excited, for all this decision did was to keep the credibility of the Roberts Court hanging by enough of a thread for it to do some REAL damage in the future.
And Michael J. W. Stickings gives some snark-free analysis from the Land of Universal Health Care.
Labels: batshit crazies, bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, health care, wingnuttia
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Blogrolling In Our Time
There's no fooling yourself that you're still a kid when one of your first cousins has a son in his late 30's. Throw some more bacon and eggs in the pan for one of the coolest people in my extended family, Liberal Dan.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Blogrolling In Our Time
It's Mr. Brilliant's birthday, and that means banana cream pie for breakfast! Here at B@B, we're saving a nice slice for The Economic Populist.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day, economic death watch
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Around the blogroll and elsewhere - Special It's Over, Man edition
It was over long before the Wisconsin recall election, but given an ignorant electorate, a willfully blind, clueless, incompetent and equally corporatist Democratic Party, and billionaires coming out of the shadows now that they realize they can, in fact, buy themselves a U.S. government, it's impossible to believe any longer that the country I grew up in can survive. In many ways, the sociopath Willard Rmoney will be the perfect president to preside over the final stage of metamorphosis of the US into oligarchy. So let's take a short drive, shall we?
If you want to follow Netroots Nation at home, you can do it here.
At The Reaction, The Unwritten Rules of Political Conquest. Richard Barry is far more optimistic than I am; I think we will be beaten about the face and neck with Wisconsin right into November.
Ramona reports on how while Wisconsin is getting all the press, Michigan is under siege.
I don't know about you, but after reading this, I'd pay to watch our good friend Bustednuckles take on Jonah Goldberg in a no-holds-barred steel cage match.
Mochizuki at Fukushima Diary on a public service ad campaign that likens nuclear danger to an angry wife.
Hillary Clinton is a highly accomplished woman in her sixties. Kimberley Johnson reports on how Ed Klein thinks that Clinton's lack of fuckability in his eyes is a genuine campaign issue for 2016.
Physioprof reminds us of what "freedom" meant to the founders of this country.
Driftglass eulogizes Ray Bradbury.
Robert Reich on the billionaires' slow-motion coup.
ShortWoman says there's reason for hope. Any chance she's right?
If you want to follow Netroots Nation at home, you can do it here.
At The Reaction, The Unwritten Rules of Political Conquest. Richard Barry is far more optimistic than I am; I think we will be beaten about the face and neck with Wisconsin right into November.
Ramona reports on how while Wisconsin is getting all the press, Michigan is under siege.
I don't know about you, but after reading this, I'd pay to watch our good friend Bustednuckles take on Jonah Goldberg in a no-holds-barred steel cage match.
Mochizuki at Fukushima Diary on a public service ad campaign that likens nuclear danger to an angry wife.
Hillary Clinton is a highly accomplished woman in her sixties. Kimberley Johnson reports on how Ed Klein thinks that Clinton's lack of fuckability in his eyes is a genuine campaign issue for 2016.
Physioprof reminds us of what "freedom" meant to the founders of this country.
Driftglass eulogizes Ray Bradbury.
Robert Reich on the billionaires' slow-motion coup.
ShortWoman says there's reason for hope. Any chance she's right?
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere
Haven't done one of these in a while.
Gaius Publius on law enforcement's common practice of entrapment of protesters -- and how the media play into it.
It's easy to say you can change one mind at a time, but that assumes that the people have actual minds to change. Driftglass on one that doesn't.
If you're like me, you've been getting a lot of calls lately from the DSCC and the DCCC. What I do is tell them that when the Democrats stop supporting Blue Dogs, I'll consider giving them money -- and tell them to write that down and report it back. Howie Klein explains why it's important to not feed the trolls.
Chris Floyd: Chicago is America's New Normal.
Grung_E_Gene on how Notre Dame's emphasis on morality only extends to what's between women's legs.
Ramona on why staying home in November is just not an option.
The Wifely Person on why we should stop describing our widely diverse group of friends with adjectives.
Rick Ungar on why the Democratic Party's refusal to take off its white gloves in Wisconsin's recall election may come back to bite them in November.
O'Hollern on The View from Planet Beltway.
That ought to keep you out of trouble for a few minutes, at least.
Gaius Publius on law enforcement's common practice of entrapment of protesters -- and how the media play into it.
It's easy to say you can change one mind at a time, but that assumes that the people have actual minds to change. Driftglass on one that doesn't.
If you're like me, you've been getting a lot of calls lately from the DSCC and the DCCC. What I do is tell them that when the Democrats stop supporting Blue Dogs, I'll consider giving them money -- and tell them to write that down and report it back. Howie Klein explains why it's important to not feed the trolls.
Chris Floyd: Chicago is America's New Normal.
Grung_E_Gene on how Notre Dame's emphasis on morality only extends to what's between women's legs.
Ramona on why staying home in November is just not an option.
The Wifely Person on why we should stop describing our widely diverse group of friends with adjectives.
Rick Ungar on why the Democratic Party's refusal to take off its white gloves in Wisconsin's recall election may come back to bite them in November.
O'Hollern on The View from Planet Beltway.
That ought to keep you out of trouble for a few minutes, at least.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Blogrolling In Our Time
I guess we're having Brandflakes for Breakfast today (because we kinda have to for obvious reasons). And while we're crunching, say hello to Mainmati.
Labels: bloggers, Blogroll Amnesty Day
Other Brilliant Bloggers
DriftglassCorrente
Hullabaloo
Hoffmania
Orcinus
Scoobie Davis
Talking Points Memo
World O'Crap
Fact-esque
Liberal Oasis
Oliver Willis
Talk Left
This Modern World
Philip Barron
Rising Hegemon
AMERICABlog
James Wolcott
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Dependable Renegade
The Political Carnival
Astrological Musings
Firedoglake
Spiiderweb
Words of Power
RIPCoco
Kung Fu Monkey
Empire Burlesque
WTF is it Now
Down With Tyranny
Welcome Back to Pottersvillle
Spocko's Brain
The Sideshow
The Ostroy Report
Fallenmonk
Three Wise Men
NewsHoggers
Blue Gal
Blah3
Shadow of the Hegemon
Slacktivist
ShortWoman
Echidne of the Snakes
Jesus' General
My Left Wing
Arthur Silber
Republic of T
Bitch Ph.D
The American Street
Comments from Left Field
Balloon Juice
I Can't Believe It's Not a Democracy
Scholars and Rogues
On My Mind
PhysioProf
The Vulgar Curmudgeon
Monkeyfister
Sasha Undercover
ThePoliticalCat
Fables of the Reconstruction
Talk2Action
D-Day
State of the Day
Just an Earth-Bound Misfit
Bradblog
They Gave Us a Republic
Vagabond Scholar
Seeing the Forest
The Reaction
Orcinus
SteveAudio
Princess Sparkle Pony
Paul Levinson
Politics After 50
The Jed Report
One Utah
Sam Seder
Alternet
The Political Carnival
County Fair
Mudflats
A Feather Adrift
That's Why
Disciples of Joe
No Longer Quivering
Margaret and Helen
Stand With Dr. Dean
All the Good Names Were Taken
Badtux the Snarky Penguin
My Mental Dumping Ground
Legal Schnauzer
Alicublog
Bouphonia
Konagod
The Reverse Spin
City of Angels
The Gospel According to Hate
Menopausal Stoners
Stinque
The New York Crank
BP Oil Slick
Pen-Elayne
Inside-Out the Beltway
Reclusive Leftist
Southern Beale
The Moderate Voice
The Rant
Help the 99ers
Brendan Calling
Matt Taibbi
I Was Told There Would Be Bacon
We Don't Agree, But...
ShortWoman
of mule dung and ash
Cookies in Heaven
The Hunting of the Snark
The Policy Page (Rick Ungar)
Ramona's Voices
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