Heroism Stumbled on this and found a reference to one of our favorite books. It became somewhat of a cultural cliche with a placement in "Annie Hall" but Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death" held for us some existential truths.  ¶ 9/30/2006 03:34:00 PM 0 comments

  "We are now officially living in a dictatorship" Not quite, yet, but damn close. Keep in mind all the despots that are elected.

Glenn is linked to from the above post and seems somewhat hopeful as he responds to the many concerns in his comments. Some of the folks there, wearied and despondent over the political process, offer social movements as an alternative.

"He [referring to Glenn] may be right, if we act right now. If not, within three years, I predict that Americans will be fighting Americans on American soil. Just a hunch. An eerie feeling of deja vu from someone who has seen the same signs fifteen years ago."

A while back Penheaded abandoned the notion that "it couldn't happen here". If we are lucky enough to have an effective opposition coalesce then that violent alternative can be avoided. On the other hand, revolution is the ultimate hybrid of social and political action.

We need to gird our loins and get done what must be done before we have destroyed this country.

  ¶ 9/30/2006 10:49:00 AM 0 comments

  Social networking sites expand their election role   ¶ 9/30/2006 09:48:00 AM 0 comments

  Our nearest neighbor Fortunately, our cul de sac is not an intellectual one.

Update: After thinking about this we remembered this joke in several other instances. Google "EOTI" and you'll discover this page isn't even the first instance of a somewhat obvious bit of irony.  ¶ 9/29/2006 11:44:00 PM 0 comments

  Elvis has left Mars   ¶ 9/27/2006 01:44:00 AM 0 comments

  Amanda games the system Jarvis had a great deal to do with Amanda's rise in popularity so this interview, with the accompanying linkfest, is as good a way as any to start her new venture.

We'll see but in part II of the Jarvis interview expect some kind of self-promotional nuclear reaction between Jarvis and Amanda.

Amanda's camera presence was always a large part of her appeal but the quizzical/goofy expressions when asking a question just aren't part of that appeal. Jarvis could be of some real service to Amanda by reviewing the tape and offering some objective advice on her interviewing style.

By the way, they even have horse apples in New England. How New York centric can you get?

Update: The second part of the interview failed to attain the synergy we expected, however, still a snoozer of a suck-up. Even dragged out the Jarvis kids. We hope Amanda finds a direction in her travels. We have previously liked her work.  ¶ 9/26/2006 01:15:00 AM 0 comments

  E&P's Mitchell: Comma karma It just doesn't usually seem wise to pretend to know which way the scales of justice should tip in the judgment of our existence. That being said and with full knowledge that judgment will be visited upon us:

For all the hubris, hypocrisy, arrogance and just downright dishonesty that preceded this war and, most damning of all, continues to this day; here's hoping that the big picture of karma comes to that little schmuck Shrub for all the lives that have been prematurely ended.  ¶ 9/25/2006 11:27:00 PM 0 comments

  Bravo, Bill It was a legitimate question by Wallace as was Clinton's of the newsman. Wallace's view that Clinton was simply reactive ignores the Repug dodge of responsibility for their actions.  ¶ 9/25/2006 01:01:00 AM 0 comments

  Dawkins overstates but not by much "My American friends tell me that you are slipping towards a theocratic Dark Age. Which is very disagreeable for the very large number of educated, intelligent and right-thinking people in America. Unfortunately, at present, it's slightly outnumbered by the ignorant, uneducated people who voted Bush in."

Just the crew we don't need to deal with Muslim fanaticism.  ¶ 9/23/2006 01:33:00 PM 0 comments

  A better world without Saddam? There goes the latest thin excuse for this debacle.  ¶ 9/22/2006 05:53:00 AM 0 comments

  China and US destined to compete for control of cyberspace Some parts of the plan are surely wishful thinking but it is a likely arena.  ¶ 9/21/2006 09:41:00 PM 0 comments

  Child pornography the teaser It cannot be said enough that this initiative on the part of AG Gonzales is just a warm and protective sounding disguise for a further step towards a Big Brother government.

If his stated need for the retention of customer data is the pure motive for the retention then it should be written into the legislation that the data will only be used for that purpose.  ¶ 9/20/2006 10:24:00 PM 0 comments

  The price of plagiarism "You lose your job; your offense is publicized in Romenesko, the sex-offender registry of journalism ethics ... your career may be over."  ¶ 9/20/2006 10:00:00 PM 0 comments

  US holds AP photographer Seems he was picked up on a warrant issued by the Keyboard Kommandos.  ¶ 9/19/2006 12:11:00 AM 0 comments

  Rush and "Feminazi's" to form alliance? Naw. They're desperate to sell another war but he has his unprincipled principles.  ¶ 9/15/2006 06:19:00 AM 0 comments

  Powell opposes Bush tribunal plans Finally showing the strength of character we had all hoped for. Unfortunately, entirely too late to help BushCo.  ¶ 9/14/2006 07:58:00 PM 0 comments

  "Guess What?" Rove reads a book and Shrub has some kind of religious epiphany.

Now if only this crew could awaken from their delusions.  ¶ 9/13/2006 11:54:00 PM 0 comments

  Iraq: For all the marbles?   ¶ 9/13/2006 06:04:00 AM 0 comments

  $500 for a Logitech remote control? Another $150 for the whole house range extender.  ¶ 9/13/2006 12:15:00 AM 0 comments

  Takes one to know one   ¶ 9/12/2006 11:37:00 PM 0 comments

  More good news to die for   ¶ 9/12/2006 11:37:00 PM 0 comments

  Entertaining and enlightening. Learned a little but laughed a lot.

I had scanned Joel's blog before but added it to the current list after this.

And it should be said, Bob Wright was a hoot with the dry humor. Bloggingheads has been on the current blog list  ¶ 9/11/2006 09:38:00 PM 0 comments

  9/11- The time of the blog The need for a conversation propelled blogs to what they are.

And Osama is still loose. A fat lot blogs did. Jeff Jarvis (as titular head of the Blog Boosters' Club he'll due for a citation, although there were others more virulent) vents and thousands of more Americans die unnecessarily.

We were sucked into a war that had little or nothing to do with what happened on that day due in large part to a mindset that blogs served to cultivate. The blog variant of web vigilantism took care of any chance of cooler heads prevailing (in all fairness, that was helped tremendously by the weenie state of Democratic politics).

To all the Keyboard Kommandos that find this somewhat treasonous (blogwise, too): Even as great a country as America is, we find ourselves with finite resources. If common sense didn't tell you that back then, there has been enough evidence since. A certain bloodlust enabled a neocon agenda that thwarted the needed response. When Bin Laden, the proud perpetrator of the heinous acts of 9/11, did not get the smack-down of the century, well, that emboldened our enemies more than a thousand Cindy Sheehan's ever could. Way to go, idiots.  ¶ 9/11/2006 04:11:00 PM 0 comments

  GOP planning negative barrage Guess the reports of Rove having lost his mojo were wrong.  ¶ 9/11/2006 05:01:00 AM 0 comments

  Brother Jess is back at WWOZ Gospel in a very special New Orleans way.  ¶ 9/10/2006 09:59:00 AM 0 comments

  China clamps down on foreign news sources Xinhua will be the official outlet for all distribution.  ¶ 9/10/2006 09:12:00 AM 0 comments

  Senate report says no al-Qaida link to Saddam No WMD's and now this.

The war in Iraq has now cost about the same number of lives as died on 9/11. Maybe we'll have better luck finding Shrub.  ¶ 9/09/2006 01:17:00 PM 0 comments

  HP hacked journalists' phone records   ¶ 9/09/2006 01:15:00 AM 0 comments

  Your tax dollars work for good Conservatives wouldn't like this use of tax money but a VISTA volunteer to work on Tor seems a good thing.  ¶ 9/09/2006 01:02:00 AM 0 comments

  Giuliani in trouble already Mayor ignored warnings and sent others into a deadly environment. Seems to be a Repug thing.

Wrap this in 9/11.  ¶ 9/08/2006 01:37:00 PM 0 comments

  Still alive: net neutrality- the greed and the need This discussion needs to stay alive. We admit to some evolution in our thinking on this matter. We also see this connected to the issues of web privacy and government surveillance of the internet. The three issues are fundamental to the character of the web as we know it and that set it apart from all other media sources. We are convinced that what folks are willing to accept now will have a long reach.

As it usually goes, economics and market forces will have the final say (technology will have quite bit to say, though). The above linked Ars Technica article links to this decent position paper from a business perspective. A hunch here is that the broadband providers will in a few years find themselves very much in the same position as POTS service is now.  ¶ 9/08/2006 12:47:00 PM 0 comments

  Actually, this mess can be traced to Reagan The chatter on the left about the ABC docu-drama isn't anything like it would be if the shoe was on the right foot: Just imagine the wailing about the liberal media.

Back in the 80's the Repug's sainted pope decided to spend money on backing Saddam instead of spending it to influence the situation in Afghanistan. As has been noted, these Repug's have a thing for brutal dictators.  ¶ 9/08/2006 07:47:00 AM 0 comments

  Third judge rules against NSA   ¶ 9/08/2006 07:08:00 AM 0 comments

  Lawyers' money flowing into '08 elections   ¶ 9/08/2006 06:51:00 AM 0 comments

  Feeling the sting of being a non-blog   ¶ 9/06/2006 10:53:00 PM 0 comments

  RSF condemns killing of Sudanese editor   ¶ 9/06/2006 09:33:00 PM 0 comments

  Repug rifts are just a tired riff- Rummy will get a reprieve There are at least a hundred ways that would be a better outcome but cynicism is in order here. It certainly would be great if somebody did something heroic but don't count on the likes of Sen. Specter. It just ain't gonna happen.

You might, also, want to take this article as just more of journalistic inside-the-beltway inside-baseball. You have to move past the flurry and fluff to the pragmatic. There just happens to be a metaphor that readily jumps to mind.

The Repug ship has taken on enough water that they are manning the lifeboats. There won't be a bunch of gallantry, it will be everyone for themselves. They'll be looking hungrily at each other but won't want to shoot a hole in the boat to get it done.

The wiretapping matter is one float in a three part legislative life jacket for BushCo. Shrub also needs license on the detainees and would like absolution on the war crimes issue. Rove (his appeal is supposedly down but not his down and dirty power) will convince enough to row together to the drumbeat of national security.

Everyone will act in their collective political self-interests to pull this out. A good guess is that some easily circumvented bone will be thrown to the privacy concerns on wiretapping to grease the works on that. The legal status of detainees adjustment, along with protection from international prosecution for war crimes, can be easily sold by appealing to the base.

The protection from war crimes prosecution will be what will enable BushCo to convince Rumsfeld to stay in the quiet state they'll want him to take his sacrificial departure.  ¶ 9/06/2006 07:43:00 PM 0 comments

  Wiretapping legal because Shrub says so? I caught the AP story from two sources, somewhat lessening the chance this is a matter of editing.

It seems to me that the issue is not whether or not Shrub needs to check with Congress but rather whether or not he is willing to follow the law and check with a FISA judge.  ¶ 9/05/2006 10:51:00 PM 0 comments

  Hurrah for Labor Day The holiday and the rest are greatly appreciated: Back to the grind tomorrow.

Workers are still taking it in the shorts and nothing has changed since the linked three year old post. We're not just phoning this in. It is important to note all that was intimated years earlier.  ¶ 9/04/2006 09:30:00 PM 0 comments

  Foxconn subsidiary drops suit against Chinese journalists.   ¶ 9/04/2006 11:00:00 AM 0 comments

  Amen It feels as though the world is being swept along into endless turmoil by groups of people arguing over which figment of their imagination is the truth. It has been noted before in sarcasm that the usual result of these militant religious differences was sending so many believers to death and a final resolution of that matter.

Unfortunately, the madness afoot in the world means far too many are welcoming that resolution. Nor is this silliness solely on the part of jihadists; the world-wide "clash of civilizations", a favorite of the Repugs, means a little bit more than resolving the matter of whether there is a designated hand for wiping your butt.  ¶ 9/03/2006 10:53:00 PM 0 comments

  Your anti-terrorism tax dollars at work (again)   ¶ 9/02/2006 07:05:00 PM 0 comments

  Pat Robertson was the one to declare war   ¶ 9/01/2006 08:35:00 PM 0 comments

  Islamo-fascist hurricane   ¶ 9/01/2006 05:20:00 AM 0 comments