tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9904954775161442622024-03-13T23:04:32.678-04:00some thoughtsas we burn awaybradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-38762687885378432202012-02-21T05:06:00.002-05:002012-02-21T05:11:09.742-05:00Oh Yeah, Thismaybe I'll try to get back to some shit stirring. Probably not, but I feel like it'd do whatever it is in me that religious folk try to call a soul some good to do so. I'm just almost at the edge of emerging from what has unquestionably been the worst year and half or so of my life, tweaking Ann Althouse, an identity I still remain distinct from, or flinging poop at Megan could be a nice way of easing back into what used to be normalcy.<br />Or maybe I'll just revive FMM as the less well written, more jackass-y version of the franchise Susan has taken over so capably. <br />Anyway, yeah, I miss these waters, I should probably swim in them again.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-47837801916709864322011-03-07T20:30:00.005-05:002011-03-07T20:35:33.020-05:00Also, This<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6feSei8Gkl5PeX5pERvoTeIztswBkqVoaY6bnqgYxSK3uK6WEDbATNlAquXmZtfke81YiPh1M6mT_axO9O-EjU3ZyvWy5JziOP-xxbNi9wvQXkaokx_60HRO4upRYd8Eqy3l2HNyVcpY/s1600/ghrMs.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 274px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6feSei8Gkl5PeX5pERvoTeIztswBkqVoaY6bnqgYxSK3uK6WEDbATNlAquXmZtfke81YiPh1M6mT_axO9O-EjU3ZyvWy5JziOP-xxbNi9wvQXkaokx_60HRO4upRYd8Eqy3l2HNyVcpY/s320/ghrMs.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581516636905672706" /></a><br /><i>(via <a href="http://wonkette.com/439962/1-real-america-grocery-list-discovered-in-walmart">Wonkette</a>)</i>bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-41260626570605859442011-03-07T19:40:00.007-05:002011-03-07T20:10:28.170-05:00An Experiment<marquee scrollamount="13" behavior="scroll" direction="right"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/t8ndip.gif" border="0" height="150" /><img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/a5byw9.gif" border="0" width="75" /><img src="http://roflrazzi.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/whitepeople.gif?w=320&h=236" border="0" height="120" /></marquee><br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://houseofsubstance.blogspot.com/2011/03/professional-advice.html">Substance McGravitas</a> for making it possible.<br /><br />I know it doesn't make much sense. Doesn't have to.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-91625706391469497652011-03-06T17:37:00.002-05:002011-03-06T17:45:52.463-05:00Holy Crapsticks<a href="http://www.theawl.com/2011/03/who-were-those-folks-at-the-madison-budget-address-ann-althouses-husband-for-one">This</a> is one for the ages. Ann Althouse's hubby shows up in the comments and... well, if you ever wondered who could possibly choose to marry and spend large amounts of time with Ann Althouse, who I am not, you have your answer. I tried to pick an excerpt to blockquote, but it's just too good to rip any one piece out of context. Read it.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-10266146623075438232011-02-28T21:34:00.003-05:002011-02-28T21:38:17.914-05:00Random ThoughtGoing on the basis of everything a movement conservative accuses their opponent of doing is actually something they're doing on a far worse scale, is it possible that conservatives actually are communists?<br />Maybe some rogue element of the Soviet empire moved to Wall Street after the Iron Curtain fell. <br />Yeah, probably not, but at this point I wouldn't be that shocked.<br />And no, I'm not high right now.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-932700997098598682011-02-24T14:53:00.003-05:002011-02-24T15:11:04.084-05:00Rhetorical Questionare all fundamentalist Christians repressed homosexuals?<br />(Oops, oops, oops. I forgot Christwire is satire. Doy.)<br /><br /><a href="http://christwire.org/2011/02/comic-book-girl-nerd-panties-trend-on-facebook-is-your-daughter-next/">The funny</a>, it burns;<blockquote>Only weeks ago, we looked into a dangerous new trend where school girls were taking pictures of themselves in Batman panties and sharing them with millions of strangers on Facebook.<br /><br />Was there a comic book writer’s nerdy scheme behind the uncouth antics? Or was it a deeper cultural impact these fetishized fantasy characters are having upon America’s youth?<br /><br />Reviewing the tale of Batman, we found a story that fit the model of exploitation and degradation. As reviewed, Batman is the story of a middle-aged man who fancies forcing a boy to wear tight see-through stocking.<br /><br />The Batman is a character who represents child exploitation and gay adoption. Taut muscles bounding as they spend the night being thrashed and bound by criminals, only to overcome impossible adversary through neatly placed gadgets and groping one another, Batman and the young, supple Robin return to their ‘batcave’ where they have wounds nursed by a male butler named Alfred.</blockquote>Btw, there is nothing comparable here to the story of Christ, who spent all his time in the company of 12 other men and died a violent, bloody death which the re-enactment of causes fundies to experience an ecstasy so intense they weep. Nothing phallic or homoerotic about being poked with a spear, neither, so shush.<br />(Apologies to any sane Christians who chance by.)bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-9686624146035844552011-02-23T20:58:00.002-05:002011-02-23T21:07:56.773-05:00Questionsince a (very small) number of you are being kind enough to stop by here, imma ask for a little feedback. What, if anything, would you like me to write about? Should I give Megan a visit, rant about the follies of drug policy, try to explain why I love Radiohead so much, spend several thousand words wandering through what I see as the cultural/philosophical underpinnings of the left and right today and why I so strongly choose one side?<br />Or I could just keep being random and see where it takes me, anything is an option.<br /><br />Well, I'll keep being random, too, no matter what. To thine own self be true, etcetc.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-45512239485313659702011-02-23T00:51:00.003-05:002011-02-23T01:00:16.372-05:00Cat Porncuz Binkley is still one beautiful ball of fuzzy love.<br /><br />Lap cat;<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZRBo1Y5_brp4_jh31DoYRgHwH1cxTP5YU169T33igxDWUB7cAfe2aVsjJNAGGXJ6lUYZ3u3nuXSS-VnAZtbTDZyExf4701-5wBt3IrPNCFol5nBUltUOZm6hEo97NoiUB-rLzMz31HE/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZRBo1Y5_brp4_jh31DoYRgHwH1cxTP5YU169T33igxDWUB7cAfe2aVsjJNAGGXJ6lUYZ3u3nuXSS-VnAZtbTDZyExf4701-5wBt3IrPNCFol5nBUltUOZm6hEo97NoiUB-rLzMz31HE/s400/photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576759621239379170" /></a><br />Under the bed cat;<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmkJR3CVeuHKjf6h3euU0fW411lju3sAUK9mOG5mRULLMq2ePes5XbdTcuW1fHWVKUhILKBvDDOPLqupIHaod9PAJn2CX5a_u-5LCwT22sAmDgfSneVxPZvD1D73o7JpaNYZtZKHb_kI/s1600/.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmkJR3CVeuHKjf6h3euU0fW411lju3sAUK9mOG5mRULLMq2ePes5XbdTcuW1fHWVKUhILKBvDDOPLqupIHaod9PAJn2CX5a_u-5LCwT22sAmDgfSneVxPZvD1D73o7JpaNYZtZKHb_kI/s400/.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576759626473386594" /></a><br />I can't really take a pic of his current cutest activity, which is curling up in a ball next to my shoulder under the covers and providing me with a warm pillow. That'll end come spring, tho.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-59093814471242056972011-02-21T22:46:00.006-05:002011-02-21T22:55:28.240-05:00Irony And/Or HypocrisyPart 1;<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWUbavjSIGUox6QWABkTfPd-66VvMrpxBjJYRtTYwxMu8WVce7mCm8b_XPAwNwZGN8RBgtFE2RUM8LytqPJ7Av4NB_dpxpmgXhItJxCWU0CPkc_q6SYjGlqbhyphenhyphenx7qfnmeO5goEUNi3RKw/s1600/Capture.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWUbavjSIGUox6QWABkTfPd-66VvMrpxBjJYRtTYwxMu8WVce7mCm8b_XPAwNwZGN8RBgtFE2RUM8LytqPJ7Av4NB_dpxpmgXhItJxCWU0CPkc_q6SYjGlqbhyphenhyphenx7qfnmeO5goEUNi3RKw/s400/Capture.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576355905700105842" /></a><br />Part 2;<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcy4NleTBS0UwlCY6FoW36r0KiljdiGy3_amcfUMF-JGyhgleUDdngby6TqN1Ok34RPZXrn0kNoIodHWs-zU2OifBAc2uT8fi0oRggzZZfXbqh7Gd2VnaAc4TQfwSUjsDPJ_W-OWP61c/s1600/hawkinsheadshot291.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcy4NleTBS0UwlCY6FoW36r0KiljdiGy3_amcfUMF-JGyhgleUDdngby6TqN1Ok34RPZXrn0kNoIodHWs-zU2OifBAc2uT8fi0oRggzZZfXbqh7Gd2VnaAc4TQfwSUjsDPJ_W-OWP61c/s400/hawkinsheadshot291.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_557<br />6356022031426066" /></a><br />'Nuff said.<br />Or maybe not. Just in case you don't know who he is, scan his <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/johnhawkinsrwn">twitter feed</a> a little, you'll get the idea.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-44354476868709674222011-02-20T13:52:00.003-05:002011-02-20T13:55:08.743-05:00Mhm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezdaKoiA5YJkPV1dOwpZlZFFMTvWUCyfG1LySWYNKEVBcgXkztgbMQVbiPJv_SLHqzLZV3vBiFUBYJDz5jhahOEPQVAmtHM6Jxka2IwsZGEtD2gaE92AsMNwN3fRQskQjjgmLyItCL1w/s1600/tories.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 396px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezdaKoiA5YJkPV1dOwpZlZFFMTvWUCyfG1LySWYNKEVBcgXkztgbMQVbiPJv_SLHqzLZV3vBiFUBYJDz5jhahOEPQVAmtHM6Jxka2IwsZGEtD2gaE92AsMNwN3fRQskQjjgmLyItCL1w/s400/tories.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575846804287025698" /></a><br />Technically he's talking about the Tories in the UK, but the point holds. Stanley Donwood is a talented artist, even aside from his association with my favorite band of my lifetime. <br /><br /><i>(<a href="http://www.slowlydownward.com/nonews.html">source</a>)</i>bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-17959541246783699772011-02-19T02:37:00.005-05:002011-02-20T14:03:34.996-05:00Also Worth HighlightingJohn Cole is <a href="http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/02/18/under-assault/">so very, very shrill</a>;<blockquote>The fundamental thing you need to understand when talking to deficit hawks is that when they say something is painful or that cuts will hurt people, you need to recognize that what they really mean is that the cuts will be painful TO SOMEONE ELSE and hurt people THEY DON’T KNOW AND WILL NEVER MEET. That’s why it’s so easy to be a condescending asshole about the budget. That’s why it takes nothing to suggest raising the retirement age for Social Security. That’s why, after taking a month off from writing on the internet to recover from a cold, he can tell people who work back-breaking manual labor every day of their god damned lives for much less money than he or McMegan earn that they should “contribute” more to their health care costs.</blockquote>A-fucking-men.<br />("He" = Andrew Sullivan, who'sgoodontortureblahfuckingblah but also a Bell Curve defender aka polite racist. Plus he wants poor people to die so his tiny, vestigial conscience isn't pricked by them. And there's the whole anti-war protesters were a third column line which he pretended to apologize for.)bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-38470362023302155072011-02-18T12:05:00.003-05:002011-02-20T14:03:14.119-05:00Radioheaaaaaaaaaaaad<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="1280" height="750" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cfOa1a8hYP8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Me happy.<br />(And yes, I realize that vid doesn't fit. Don't care.)bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-61276025878926405532011-02-16T01:24:00.003-05:002011-02-20T14:02:41.340-05:00Worth HighlightingThers is <a href="http://whiskeyfire.typepad.com/whiskey_fire/2011/02/no-sky.html">fucking smart</a>.<blockquote>I suppose a more basic point would be that if your favorite ideology is threatened by someone else's freedom, your favorite ideology sucks.</blockquote>If only he didn't have such a filthy fucking mouth, maybe he'd be a serious thinker.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-43377183692270332582011-02-12T13:46:00.001-05:002011-02-12T22:08:27.144-05:00An Unnecessary (And Untimely) Rantwhich may well be offensive to one or two of the three or four who eventually read it, but I feel a need to vent. <br /><br />The response of some of the more dedicated feminist elements of the American left to the Julian Assange rape case truly bothers me. Rape is bad, duh, and if any elements of the accusations against Assange are true he's a misogynist asshole who deserves no pity. If the worst is true, he is a rapist, full stop, and deserves to be punished for it. However, the horrendous nature of rape does not excuse us from approaching this case rationally. If anything, the emotions involved demand we be even more careful, as it is too easy for pre-rational bias to blind us to the nature of this individual case. And, to me, part of being a lefty is a belief in the necessity and value of the phrase "innocent until proven guilty", even if it may not have full legal weight in this particular instance, as I am not familiar with Swedish law.<br /><br />I'm not a lawyer, and I don't want to try to pass my own judgment on his guilt or innocence. The details are murky, depending on whose reporting you read and trust, and there appears to be misinformation on both sides regarding the specific Swedish laws regarding the kind of rape(s) of which Assange is accused. Instead what I want to look at is how the case has been received by, in my opinion, too many feminists on my side of the Atlantic. The charge of rape seems to wipe away the hope of a rational response from many, which is not me saying "crazy bitches", but rather that we all have buttons which can be pushed which cause us to be less than our best selves. For many on the right that button is Islamic terrorism, and if someone is accused of being a terrorist the burden of proof is shifted to the accused to show their innocence, if there even remains the possibility of doing so. For me, the whiff of eliminationist violence can lead me to assign blame somewhat presumptively. Unfortunately, for some feminists the accusation of rape has a comparable effect. The opening argument of <a href="http://tigerbeatdown.com/2010/12/15/mooreandme-on-dude-progressives-rape-apologism-and-the-little-guy/">this post</a> at a blog which I otherwise am unfamiliar with and recognize is not about or for me, is, unfortunately, a good example.<br /><br />There can be no disputing the facts cited there regarding how rape in America is treated by our legal system, although their relevance to a case in Sweden is debatable, but their aggregate truth does not create a presumption of guilt in the individual case. I went to boarding school, and my loathing of the kind of prep jock asshole who plays lacrosse is second only to those women who genuinely have suffered at their hands, but the fact remains that the Duke LAX team was not guilty of the particular charges levied against them, and any black man accused of raping a white woman, particularly in a southern state in the previous century or earlier, likely has limited hope for a fair trial. That's not to deny that Assange is an asshole who likely treats women badly, and that he is the type of man who may well be capable of the acts he is accused of, but his being a dick doesn't mean he used his as a weapon. <br /><br />What's lost in focusing on the horrid nature of rape in this case is any recognition of the particulars of the case. And these particulars should give any thinking person serious pause. The first prosecutor in the case declined to press charges, the investigation was only resumed after Wikileaks once again embarrassed and angered powerful interests, and for Interpol to issue an international warrant leading to the incarceration and isolation of a suspect based on the prosecutor's desire to interview him a second time, an interview the suspect expressed willingness to submit to freely, is, to my knowledge and opinion, unprecedented and highly disproportionate to the circumstances. The only way to ignore this context is to believe either that Assange deserves whatever he gets because of the acts of Wikileaks, or because, as seems to be the argument in the blog post I cited earlier, to be accused of rape means you probably did it, and thus, again, deserve whatever you get. I'm not presuming cause and effect, there may well be legitimate reasons why the second prosecutor resumed the investigation, and perhaps Assange's reputation as a shadowy figure who keeps in motion across the globe to make it hard to pinpoint his location justifies the extreme nature of his treatment, but considering the context and his expressed willingness to cooperate with the investigation to prove one or both of those is a high bar to reach. <br /><br />To say again, because it's worth highlighting, none of this is to defend Assange as a person or deny the seriousness of what he's accused of. I'm not standing with Michael Moore and calling this a baseless witch hunt. Perhaps the best comparison I can think of is the classic case of the ACLU defending the American Nazi Party's right to march in Skokie. To extend your values even to those who you find odious is to show your true commitment to them. Were Assange a doctor accused of performing abortions in a nation where it's illegal to do so many of those preemptively standing against him would be championing his cause. If you let the nature of the charged crime determine your response I have to question your commitment to justice, and it saddens me that many who I fundamentally agree with would let the accusation outweigh any other considerations. <br /><br />And I don't mean to create any straw-women and say all feminists are being irrational, I'm not saying this out of some underlying desire to discredit feminism as a cause, quite the opposite. I cherish the values feminism champions, and want it to succeed. I'm ranting because I think it does the cause a disservice when some, and by no means all, let passion overwhelm their reason. (And to say again, that's not a coded assault on women, but a recognition of a universal human flaw.) To me, feminism is a part of humanism, a valuing of all humans equally, and believing we all deserve equal rights and opportunity, even assholes, provided they don't harm others. In closing I'd like to point to <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsmill.se%2Fartikel%2F2011%2F02%2F11%2Ffeministerna-i-assange-h-rvan-g-r-v-ld-p-feminismen&act=url">this piece</a> by a foundational Swedish feminist, pointing out some of the many problems in the Assange case, shared with me by a female Swedish friend. (Apologies for the clunky Google translation, but the gist remains clear.) This is not Naomi Wolf glibly speaking of the "rape police", but someone who knows Sweden and its laws, and who finds real flaws in the case. Rape is a poorly treated and largely unhealed wound in human society, but that does not excuse a lack of reason and rationality in response. If anything it demands the opposite, lest we let the wound fester. I know it is... impolite to mention, but the Duke case gave rape apologists ammunition, and shows, to me, the need to always keep justice as the first goal in response to any crime, even the worst.<br /><br />And that's my first real post here, wow.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-26232968050476272222011-02-09T20:28:00.003-05:002011-02-12T22:17:23.410-05:00Yes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_xIhl32pRtYHZHhvJ5ZHxy_wyogO2wSI6NS5s8ilytl6xWvsAATfskUY2NETJxwxDCjmicrtf8ktv-CFhRybEBlGPtt5zlO8fnthJJmsBFX5sNiHMTgfPRahWN8xVfkF817bBwCwPGs/s1600/FoxPresidentBristol.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_xIhl32pRtYHZHhvJ5ZHxy_wyogO2wSI6NS5s8ilytl6xWvsAATfskUY2NETJxwxDCjmicrtf8ktv-CFhRybEBlGPtt5zlO8fnthJJmsBFX5sNiHMTgfPRahWN8xVfkF817bBwCwPGs/s400/FoxPresidentBristol.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571867005220864002" /></a><br />Please.<br /><br /><i>(<a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102090010">via</a>)</i>bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-15416078848940495312011-01-30T03:17:00.004-05:002011-02-12T22:17:51.410-05:00Still Laughingfirst, read <a href="http://bigjournalism.com/jburns/2011/01/29/washington-university-bans-bristol-palin-spreads-oppression-bigotry-and-hate/">this</a> about how choosing not to have Bristol Palin speak about teenage abstinence is equivalent to racial discrimination, or as much as you can manage between the guffawing. <br />Then scroll down to the comments, because there you will find the following;<blockquote>DouglasBender - January 29th, 2011 at 5:27 am<br /><br />Mr. Burns,<br /><br />An excellent description of the hypocrisy and bigotry exhibited by another elitist university, Washington (St. Louis). I would have liked to link to your article on Facebook, but I'm afraid I cannot due to your unnecessary choice to use light profanity in two cases ("damn" and "hell"). While I'm sure it's nice to "vent" a bit (and I absolutely agree the treatment of Bristol by Washington University at St. Louis deserves some "venting"), you should consider that doing so by using profanity or foul language might limit your audience.<br /><br />Other than that, kudos on looking like a Russian James Dean.</blockquote>Mr. Bender,<br /><br />Bite my shiny metal ass.<br /><br />Other than that, kudos for brightening my evening.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-69415203505456048092011-01-28T17:36:00.001-05:002011-02-12T22:07:58.440-05:00SorryI really am going to do something here, but life at the moment is not giving me the chance to sit down and really dig into my thoughts, at least not on topics that would be relevant to others. Maybe, hopefully, fingers crossed, next week some bullshit will end/be dealt with and I'll have the peace of mind to write. But right now I'm just too pissed off and scattered to manage.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-2209533775953801542011-01-20T14:58:00.001-05:002011-02-12T22:14:18.937-05:00Read Thisif you haven't already.<br /><blockquote>I'm a lefty. I wish I could pretend that I have the intelligence and the perspective necessary to divide my beliefs from my appraisal of the situation, but I have neither. All I know is that I look out onto an America that seems to me to desperately require a left-wing. American workers have taken it on the chin for thirty years. They have been faced for years with stagnant wages, rising costs, and the hollowing out of the middle class. They are now confronted with that and a cratered job market, where desperate people compete to show how hard they will work in bad conditions for less compensation. Meanwhile, the neoliberal policy apparatus that brought us here refuses even to consider the possibility that it is culpable, so certain of its inherent righteousness and its place in the inevitable march of progress. And the blogosphere protects and parrots that certainty, weeding out left-wing detractors with ruthless efficiency, while around it orbits the gradual extinction of the American dream.</blockquote><br /><a href="http://lhote.blogspot.com/2011/01/blindspot.html">Here</a>.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-72987024326624338132011-01-20T04:46:00.002-05:002011-02-12T22:09:59.940-05:00More Brilliance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wcb_LKz9rUcy9te4zAR3q8XiTW2wJHGIAUu6trxUYA3OH8Hcu_cpYhenbxkQWfg76VO0Ktmq_JSazuLRN-52-_cEzIhnRtNoAxRU0W77Nfwn2gaYup3Fne74Ocqk9Ct83tUCIzC3Crg/s1600/sin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wcb_LKz9rUcy9te4zAR3q8XiTW2wJHGIAUu6trxUYA3OH8Hcu_cpYhenbxkQWfg76VO0Ktmq_JSazuLRN-52-_cEzIhnRtNoAxRU0W77Nfwn2gaYup3Fne74Ocqk9Ct83tUCIzC3Crg/s400/sin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564202238788612050" /></a><br /><i>(via <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/01/start_your_day_with_an_inspira.php">Pharyngula</a>)</i><br /><br />Actual words from me still to come.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-31326476507778107782011-01-18T14:49:00.001-05:002011-02-12T22:10:25.289-05:00Brilliance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf88gqBjji1qzoa6jo1_400.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 474px;" src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf88gqBjji1qzoa6jo1_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><i>(via <a href="http://edroso.tumblr.com/post/2814159781/and-especially-fuck-tom-cruise-and-john-travolta">Roy's tumblr</a>)</i>bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-13796698609903174092011-01-18T00:38:00.001-05:002011-02-12T22:07:32.767-05:00Still Not DeadThanks for the words of encouragement, Andrew. (I hope you're not my Dad, though I doubt he'd have found my online presence without mentioning it.)<br />Between the holidays and travel hell and general very mild depression from cushioned unemployment and legal woes (I might talk about them in a few weeks, or I might not, sorry to be cryptic) I haven't had the time or energy to get into much of anything here yet. I just don't feel... coherent at the moment, so I'm not going to try to vent my longwindedness into the ether. Don't get me wrong, I'm not too down, there are some potential good things in the mix too, and I'm probably about to follow this with a long winded rant on Loughner and Palin and my own response to all that, but in general I don't think I'll be very productive in the here and now. <br />That said, I'm not the type to keep my mouth shut, so expect me to find things to say eventually. Also, since I'm retiring from FMM I'll bring my random thoughts that don't fit into twitter over here. If anything I'll probably feel a little freer to wander, since there isn't Megan's name hovering at the top of the page. <br />Anyway, this is still a going concern, is my point.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-88221501122199904382010-12-09T14:59:00.002-05:002011-02-12T22:15:49.170-05:00Long WeekI haven't given up on this already, just haven't had the chance to finish any of the posts I've started. There will be something more here eventually, just to let those couple people who seem to have found this and for some reason have a desire to read long winded ramblings by me know.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-990495477516144262.post-3814753206711054592010-12-03T23:40:00.000-05:002010-12-04T02:19:20.083-05:00About Thislife is change, as mine is now reminding me. This is a journal of sorts, somewhere for me to write about what's on my mind. I'm making it a blog because the small potential for others reading it will force me to put more effort in, and current computer troubles have taught me the value of not being dependent on my own hard drive(s). (Not that blogger is infallible either.)<br /><br />So what will it be? Mostly me talking about myself and how I feel, with occasional political or cultural criticisms thrown in. The odds are I'll let this die quickly, but I need to get back to writing as a habit and not a task, and this is the best way I can think of to do that at this particular moment. I'm not going to write about my day or what I had for dinner or how I feel about the last date I went on, I'm not so self-involved as to think that's of any potential importance to others. Instead I want to draw reflections from myself on what it means to watch the American dream's corpse circling the drain of a toilet like a discarded pet goldfish, albeit from a generally cushioned perspective. Hunter Thompson used to wonder aloud in his work what the events he was chronicling were doing to those of us growing up during them, how they were shaping and warping us. For me, the effect, particularly since Bush was installed in the White House, is best summed as a distrust of success and happiness. While I don't mean to disparage everyone who has found wealth and achievement in the hideous decade that, hopefully, will come to be known as the Zeros, the question I keep wanting to ask many of my peers, my friends, even one or two women I've loved is "how can you participate in this?". <br /><br />And bear in mind, I don't say this out of envy. I am a child of privilege, my family is not in that top 1% that increasingly rules the world, but I've had every advantage and mostly either fucked them up or chosen not to fully embrace them out of a self-indulgent attempt at honorable self-loathing. I'm not proud or bragging, but that is where I come from. I'm used to having things given to me, but I have enough of a shred of a soul not to do as so many of my peers have and go into finance or the corporate ladder or marketing and remain entirely in the bubble of our economic class. Instead I'm a cranky loner, hiding in a bubble of my own making.<br /><br />So why do you care? Fuck if I know, you probably shouldn't. If this blog turns into anything, maybe I'll find an answer. If not, well, not many will likely ever read it anyway. Self-promotion isn't my thing, and I'm not even going to mention this over at FMM until I've satisfied myself that there's something here worth pointing others to. The truth is this blog is about me because it's for me, at least right now, until I find another purpose for it. A body in motion tends to remain in motion, and right now all I'm trying to do is give myself a push, and start moving in a slightly different direction. <br /><br />The next few posts will be me rambling about general topics which I can't help but obsess over, primarily the political and cultural values which currently rule the roost and are, in my view, pushing our society towards collapse. This will inevitably involve me talking about my own personal history, both because my experiences shape my beliefs and because I find them relevant. I grew up with and went to boarding school with children of even greater privilege than mine, and it gives me insight into the mindset of the banking and corporate class which, like it or not, is firmly in control today. It also gives me the chance to look at myself and challenge those elements of that mindset which I've internalized. I'm <b>very</b> open to feedback here, especially of the critical kind. All I ask is you try to say more than "fuck you, rich boy" if possible, not to deny the validity of that response. I might not agree, but I promise to listen.<br /><br />I also hope that this will be the most self-involved post I make here, and the most serious in tone. When I'm at my best I'm some combo of outrageous, amusing, and enlightening, and I hope I can bring some of that to this. I'm not going to drone on about the many ways I loathe myself, nor will I lecture about Why I'm Right. My goal is to explore, and move myself forward. Hopefully a few others will find reason to check in on my journeys, but for now I just want to please myself. Diogenes the Cynic was reported to have literally pleasured himself in public, I take some comfort in knowing that no matter how self-indulgent I get, I haven't gone that far. <br /><br />And that's enough me, my, and I for tonight, oof.bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.com4