Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #5016

"What this place really needs is a Starbucks."
(Image originally uploaded by Brandon Mechtley; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #8473

Rob Halford: rock singer, heavy metal icon, amateur ichthyologist.
(Image originally uploaded by scottkuo; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Toles, Sunday

There's ironic juxtaposition, and then there's ironic juxtaposition that jams a cattle prod right into your brain. Ow!

That is definitely one of the most magnificently hard-hitting political cartoons I have ever seen. It's being a good week for hard-hitting cartoons, actually; see also "Health Care Reformageddon!"

(I think it would be even better, though, with the "decades of abusive priests" removed; just clericalize the garb a bit more, and I can't believe anyone would miss the reference. That label makes the point needlessly obvious, I think, especially for the gifted Toles. And the qualifier "decades" doesn't really help to make the cartoon a little less controversial, if that was the intention, at least judging by the comments: shame, shame, the liberal media attacks the Church at Easter, it's a sign of Marxism, etc. etc. Bah.)

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Monday, March 29, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #6563

*nash strolls through Louvre, stops before painting*

*nash inspects painting, clears throat*

"Is it just me, or does the guy with the basket look like the product of an unspeakable ménage à trois between John Rhys-Davies, Paul Krugman, and Luciano Pavarotti?"

*other tourists tactfully ignore nash*

(Image originally uploaded by Ondra Havala; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Half Empty? Half Full?

Should I be more happy that CNN actually talked to Amy Goodman? Or should I be more sad that they paired her with vile wingnut apologist Erick Erickson—whom they allowed to run out the clock with the lame "Democrats playing victim" canard?

Hmm. I'll just go with the mildly optimistic hope that some viewers will be inspired to google up Democracy Now!, will realize what they've been missing—and will never go back to CNN again.


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #9773

Well, to be fair, glam was never really about spelling.
(Image originally uploaded by SpreePix - Berlin; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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The D is for Demolition

Alas, Alan Grayson's district is northwest of mine; otherwise, I could take great joy in voting for a Democrat who could give the rest of his party lessons in how to talk back to wingnuts. Check out this four-sentence dismissal of his 2010 Tea Party opponent:

“I read Dunmire’s announcement,” said Grayson. “I then forwarded it to the Guinness Book of World Records, for consideration under the category ‘Most Consecutive Cliches.’ This kind of right-wing drivel gave America $4-a-gallon gas and two endless wars, and drove us all to the brink of national bankruptcy. Was she living in a cave for eight years?”
Those last two sentences in particular just make me all tingly. (h/t digby)


Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0888

Nigeria: Come for the millions of dollars sitting in a bank account with your name on it if only you'll forward a few thousand dollars for taxes and processing fees.

Stay for the hush puppies.

(Image originally uploaded by mudiaga; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Your Bison Now Are Dust!

My friend jules will appreciate Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for today:

shibboleth \SHIB-uh-luth\ noun
1 : catchword, slogan
*2 : a widely held belief or truism
3 : a custom or usage regarded as distinctive of a particular group

Example sentence:
"Taxpayers beware: Don't buy into the shibboleth that more money automatically translates into better schools." (Press Journal [Vero Beach, FL], July 27, 2003)

Did you know?
The Bible's Book of Judges (12:4-6) tells the story of the Ephraimites, who, after they were routed by the Gileadite army, tried to retreat by sneaking across a ford of the Jordan River that was held by their enemy. The Gileadites, wary of the ploy, asked every soldier who tried to cross if he was an Ephraimite. When the soldier said "no," he was asked to say "shibboleth" (which means "stream" in Hebrew). Gileadites pronounced the word "shibboleth," but Ephramites said "sibboleth." Anyone who left out the initial "sh" was killed on the spot. When English speakers first borrowed "shibboleth," they used it to mean "test phrase," but it has acquired additional meanings since that time.

Just you wait: After Glenn Beck's revolution, we'll separate the wheat-Americans from the chaff-Americans by noticing who says "coke" and who says "pop" and who stands "in line" vs. who stands "on line." And you'd better learn to like ranch dressing if you know what's good for you.


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #8681

Next on Where Are They Now?: After American Beauty, it was all downhill. Stay tuned.
(Image originally uploaded by lone receiver; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Culture of LIFE!

Telling a Congressman to "bleed out your ass, get cancer and die."

Using racist epithets and sending pictures of nooses.

Cutting the propane line to someone's house—someone whose address someone else posted online, obviously to encourage acts of intimidation. Oh, and shrugging off the news that it was actually the intended target's brother's family's house with "Oh, well, collateral damage."

Running away from reporters when questioned about one's violent rhetoric.

Blaming the violence and threats on Obama and the Democrats: By not doing what we want, they're forcing us to threaten them. Or something. (Honestly, there are eight-year-olds who would be embarrassed to be caught using such an excuse.)

Oh, and suggesting that Democrats are just "trying to score political points by talking about the threats in public." Apparently, when Democrats are threatened, they're supposed to take it and like it.

Can't you feel the reverence for life and freedom? It's a good thing that America has people so devoted to these things that they'll wish miserable deaths on people, hurl racist invective at them, cut the propane lines to their houses, etc. and then blame it all on somebody else, huh? Surely we must be grateful to have such paragons of moral and intellectual leadership scattered throughout our land.

I'd like to call this behavior childish, but I fear that would be an insult to children.


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #7808

(Image originally uploaded by jnathanj; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1574

The animal kingdom has much to teach us about a healthy response to cable news.
(Image originally uploaded by monicatzibutis; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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It's Not the Most Inspiring Theory of Government, No

I've heard of social contract theory and divine right theory and whatnot, but an awful lot of people on today's right seem to have embraced the "either gratify my desires or you're EVIL, EVIL!!?!" theory of government. Digby takes off from Mitt Romney's bizarre denunciation of the healthcare bill as an "abuse of power," a "usurpation," etc. (because no Republicans voted for it, see), but his petulant whining is merely an example of a growing genre that I fear we're going to see a lot of for the next three years:

I can't help but recall hearing a whole lot of patronizing advice from these same people a few years back when anyone breathed that President Bush might not have legitimately taken office since he lost the popular vote, his brother manipulated the system in Florida and he was was installed by a partisan supreme court decision. Back then it was all "get over it," and "I've got political capital and I'm gonna spend it!" Now, these same people are all screaming that it's a usurpation if the Democrats win the majority and then pass legislation that they don't like.

It's fairly clear that Republicans don't understand how democracy works. You campaign, people vote, you win elections, you get a majority, you pass legislation. They seem to think Democracy means that that elections are irrelevant, majorities are meaningless and that all legislation is contingent upon the permission of the Republican Party.

I'm sorry these people are so unhappy. I know how they feel. I used to hate it when the Republicans passed some disgusting initiative that went against everything I believe in. But I don't recall having a mental breakdown at the notion that they could do it even though I didn't want them to. The idea that they were obligated to do my bidding didn't actually cross my mind.

As they used to say repeatedly, "elections have consequences." If the people don't like this bill, they have every right to turn the Democrats out of office and repeal it. But screaming hysterically that it's cheating to pass legislation with a majority just proves that these folks' great reverence for the constitution is based more on their love of wearing funny hats than anything that's written in it.

I suppose that the most charitable explanation is that some of them really don't understand the fundamental concepts of democratic/republican government—though that's a pretty scary thought considering that many of the loudest screamers either have held or currently hold public office, e.g., Romney, Michelle Bachmann, Steve King, etc.

A less charitable explanation is that many of them are nuts— they suffer from some emotional disorder that makes otherwise grown adults throw tantrums when their will is thwarted. (Hey, many of us have anger issues, but we generally try not to act them out in front of cameras.) The contributions of Fox News, talk radio, etc. to this derangement may not be minor, of course. (Their frequent denunciations of greater access to health care as "tyranny" and "the death of freedom" certain suggests some level of dislocation from observable reality.)

The least charitable explanation, I suppose, is that some of them are just shameless: they'll do whatever it takes to further their long-term project of making America more like a Third-World oligarchy (while disguising this behind a loudly proclaimed reverence for "freedom"), and if that means throwing public tantrums, spreading bizarre lies, throwing around racist and homophobic epithets, turning "social justice" into an evil concept, vandalizing lawmakers' offices and threatening their children, etc., they're game.

I'm not sure what precise of ignorance, insanity, and/or mendacity is behind this madness, but I sure wish these people would learn to take disappointment more gracefully. As Eric Boehlert says, "It's the kind of childish and hysterical reaction I didn't think we'd ever witness from a major political movement."


Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1687

Let's do another threefer for today.

VILLAGE PEOPLE TRIBUTE BAND:

UR DOIN IT WRONG

"My Wonder Woman impersonation is 'a bit flat'? What do you mean by that?"
I still vaguely remember those heady months after 2001: A Space Odyssey came out when schoolkids weren't the only people who couldn't get enough taterliths.
(Images originally uploaded by Tiabla, Mories Fire, and Ray Yu; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Monday, March 22, 2010

James Randi Steps Out

James "The Amazing" Randi has come out of the closet at age 81. Awesome!

I know it makes not a whit of difference re. the value of his lifetime of work encouraging critical thinking and fighting pseudoscience and chicanery.

It's just good to know that he felt free enough to do it after all these years. In fact, it feels great.

He's done an audio interview that I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

(h/t to my good friend jules, who is probably engaged in the horrid process of moving as I type; at the risk of sounding pseudoscientific, let's all send good vibes her way)


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #6045

A threefer for today:

His long quest was over. He had found the fabled Fajita Valley.
"Hey, Bible-thumpers: stone this!"
The baffling Teahouse Terror case resulted in some of the oddest lineups in law enforcement history.
(Images originally uploaded by Oifi74, killerbeauty85, and mclarenfamily; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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"A long overdue step forward in social justice."

I confess, I was busy as heck yesterday and did not follow the last-minute drama as the healthcare reform bill neared a vote; I did not find out it had passed until I awoke this morning to find this from the Times in my inbox:

House Approves Landmark Bill to Extend Health Care to Millions

Congress gave final approval on Sunday to legislation that would provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and remake the nation's health care system along the lines proposed by President Obama.

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House passed the bill after a day of tumultuous debate that echoed the epic struggle of the last year. The action sent the bill to President Obama, whose crusade for such legislation has been a hallmark of his presidency.

Democrats hailed the votes as historic, comparable to the establishment of Medicare and Social Security and a long overdue step forward in social justice.

Kudos to the Times for using the soon-to-be-thoughtcrime expression "social justice." They may have bent over backwards to please the right on the phony ACORN story, but at least they haven't let Glenn Beck completely rewrite the dictionary just yet.

I can't feel triumphant about a bill that

but I'll take the hardfought legislative victory for what is, more or less, "my side." It may not feel like a "monumental accomplishment," as Michael Tomasky calls it, but it's at least a big step in the right direction. And anything that helps to break the "government is the enemy, the private sector is GOD" spell that's held a big chunk of America captive since 1980 is most welcome.
But here's the thing. Community hasn't succeeded very often in American politics, but when it has, it's tended to work better than advertised. Social Security and Medicare (universal coverage for senior citizens) are very popular. Once changes like these are made, well, it takes a while, but most people tend to like them. And maybe that's the real reason Republicans are so unhinged right now.
You betcha.


Sunday, March 21, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #9510

Tourists remembered Stefan for his heroic poses but knew nothing of his lifelong struggles with lumbago.
(Image originally uploaded by Fredographie; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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They Want a Free Lunch, Not a Free Market

Dean Baker goes after an NYT story on the Icelandic populace's hostility to a deal requiring them to pay off (to the tune of $65,000 per household) foreign debts incurred by freewheeling financial speculators during a very un-Scandinavian bout of Randian deregulitis:

The issue here is whether private banks can effectively create enormous obligations (the money at stake would be equivalent to $6 trillion in the United States) for taxpayers. There was obviously an enormous regulatory failure on the part of the Icelandic bank regulators. International agencies like the IMF also played a role in failing to call attention to what were obviously very speculative investments. (Frederick Mishkin, a former Federal Reserve Board governor, did his part to promote the Iceland catastrophe, touting the great strength of its economy in a 2006 report. He does not appear to have faced any consequences as a result.)

It is also likely that some of the banks' actions involved fraudulent accounting practices if they concealed the extent of their true liabilities. The question then is whether the taxpayers or the depositors should bear the risk from fraudulent actions by banks. Arguments could be made in both directions, but this issue is never mentioned in the article.

It should also point out how the Iceland makes a mockery of anyone who claims to support leaving financial activities to the market. In almost all cases, actors in financial markets assume that governments will stand behind banks at the end of the day. Therefore when they say want the government to leave things to the market they are lying. They just want to be able to take risks with taxpayers money, without being fettered by regulations limiting the extent of these risks. In short, the finance boys want a free lunch, not a free market.

Amen. Iceland not only want to tell international banksters to sod off; it also wants to become an international free speech haven. I've never cared much for their cuisine, but dang if the Scandinavians don't do furniture and democracy better than the rest of us.


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1149

Clement and the team race against time to stop the tasteless vandal known only as "Gnome Chomsky" from fulfilling his pledge to litter the city with acts of aesthetic terrorism—next on Kitsch Squad.
(Image originally uploaded by riebrown79; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Friday, March 19, 2010

Happy Anniversary?

Hey, I almost missed the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

No, I don't feel like celebrating, either.


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #5839

Yeah, sure, the typical milquetoasty government bureaucrat editor rejected the much snazzier original headline, "Marshall Triumphs, Peenemuende Handed Ass."
(Image originally uploaded by Space Education; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1010

Beginning to think that Charley Rose is not, in fact, coming to interview him about his civilization-changing manifesto.
(Image originally uploaded by gurugu; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0909

Not much time for anything else this crappy week.

"Man, this mosquito netting sucks. That's the last time I shop at a place called Unclear On The Concept."
(Image originally uploaded by zuyen; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1216

I hope today began better for you than yesterday did for me.

I am reminded of an old classical music joke:

Q: Does Itzhak Perlman shit in the woods?

A: Yes, and all over the Bach Sonatas and Partitas as well, according to period-instrument aficionado Jaap Schröder, snark snark.

(Image originally uploaded by fung1981; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Romeo (????-2010)

Romeo was one of my sister's dogs—a very intelligent, friendly, people-savvy little Pomeranian. We put him to sleep early this morning. He had a tumor near his heart and was having increasing trouble breathing as well as long, painful coughing fits that were getting more and more frequent. I can honestly say that he had a very good life as dog lives go; he lived with my sister, a truly excellent animal person, from the time he was a puppy, and he was well loved and well cared for. I was with him as he died. He died in the same place, in the same room, on the same table, as did the delightful Gypsy a year and a half ago. I am starting to hate that place.

No Daily Random Flickr Blogging today. Beware the Ides of March—and don't forget to stop and roll around in the grass every once in a while.


Sunday, March 14, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #5932

Product of an unspeakable ménage à trois between Billy Gibbons, Elvis Costello, and Velvet Jones.
(Image originally uploaded by Captain Smurf; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Odious III

Apropos of the upcoming deaths of Now and Bill Moyers Journal: I'd almost forgotten that a while back, FAIR also noted that PBS had already snagged James (Dow 36,000) Glassman to host a show on "Ideas in Action" produced by "the George W. Bush Institute" (h/t ProRev).

For the punditocracy, there are no penalties for being wrong--only for being wrong in the wrong way. Be wrong in the right way—e.g., make howlingly wrong assertions about the stock market, about the justifications for a war, etc.—and even "public broadcasting" will beat a path to your door.

How long before PBS replaces Nova with a show hosted by Rick Warren? Bets?


Saturday, March 13, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0724 (v. 2.0)

I didn't like the rushed version I posted last night, sorry.

*black velvet teleprompters cropped out on right*

*dogs being interviewed by Chris Matthews cropped out on left*

*sad clown that looks like Mitch McConnell already sold to insurance lobbyist*

(Image originally uploaded by Barack Obama; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #3066

I'm entering this in the Obscure Joke of the Year contest.

Q: What do you call a chest-hugging garment for a warrior queen who hangs around helping others attain enlightenment?

A: A boudiceattva.

(Image originally uploaded by Patcave; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Odious II

So PBS is looking to replace Now and Bill Moyers Journal with a show co-hosted by lame conventional-wisdom spouter Jon Meacham. Given PBS's programming proclivities, I can't say I'm surprised. A Meacham-led show would be to journalism what Celtic Softcore Woman is to music. Once they replace Nova with Deepak Chopra, their devolution will be complete.


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #7416

Sometimes, when you're pressed for time, you've just gotta go with the first thing that pops into your head when you see an image.

"Jane, you ignorant slut."
(Image originally uploaded by KimonBerlin; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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RIP Granny D (1910-2010)

When she was around 90, she walked all the way across America—10 miles a day. Man, there are otherwise healthy people half her age in this country who don't walk 10 miles a month. Unless maybe you count the aisles at Wal-Mart.

Rest in peace.


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #4765

The Force comes in especially handy on Bourbon Street.

"You don't need to see our tits."
"I don't need to see your tits."
"These aren't the tits you're looking for."
"These aren't the tits I'm looking for."
"We can go about our business."
"You can go about your business."
"Move along."
"Move along."

(Image originally uploaded by Styggiti; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Messages from the Merchant Caste

That's what it's all about, ennit?


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0952

Das View
(Image originally uploaded by 4svetla; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Monday, March 08, 2010

Normalizing Torture

I'm busy as heck this week but will try to post some DRFBs at least; meanwhile, let me use a time-honored blogosphere copout and just say What Digby Said about the what-took-them-so-long recent media attention to the growth of tasering:

It's all part of the great normalizing of torture in our country, a slow but steady erosion of the moral consensus that people in authority cannot force others to submit to their will using physical pain. Police brutality wasn't fought only because it caused lasting injury. Many people, after all, survived the beatings they took by police. It was determined that it was illegal for police to use pain ("excessive force") to get people to comply. Shooting people with electricity is inflicting excruciating pain and should, therefore, by definition be called excessive force. Instead, in true Orwellian fashion it's touted as a alternative to excessive force and praised for the fact that it can be used on anyone with few ill effects. Huzzah, a torture instrument that everyone loves.
I've often thought that was the whole point of the horrors of Guantanamo, Bagram, Abu Ghraib, etc.: not to collect intelligence(don't make me laugh), but simply to get people used to shrugging, or even laughing, when they hear about people being shocked, frozen, sleep-deprived, threatened with vicious dogs, or even beaten to death while in custody. Get people used to torture in the name of security, and the better easier it will be to use it on Americans who aren't of The Body when the time comes.

If you think that's unthinkable, then read Naomi Klein. It's pretty clearly been thought every other place people working (supposedly) for the USA have schooled people in pain.


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #7406

Q: What did the role player say to the executioner?

A: I only regret that I have no life to give for my country.

(Image originally uploaded by Clare Selley; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Vulture Funds

They serve no useful purpose so far as I can see; they're just ways for people with piles of money to pile up new piles of money while while doing or creating nothing of value.

Dang Randroids oughta be looking here for leeches.


Sunday, March 07, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #6769

"I can't believe you wore corduroy."
(Image originally uploaded by topmat; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Saturday, March 06, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #9189

We now return to Animal Planet's Scarface. "First, you hatch the workers. Then, you find the flowers. Then you get the pollen!"
(Image originally uploaded by yrichon; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Friday, March 05, 2010

Yes. Yes Yes Yes.

Diane Ravitch on today's Democracy Now! (emphasis added):

I believed always in a strong curriculum. That was considered very conservative. If you believed that children should study history and geography and real things, you’re conservative in the academic world, because you’re not supposed to believe in a real curriculum. I believe that it’s not conservative; it’s actually very liberal and empowering to have real knowledge. So this has always been my shtick, is kids of all backgrounds should have lots of knowledge. If you want to empower people, you give them access to the knowledge of the world.
It turns out that No Child Left Behind is a big fraudy failure. Gosh, who could have seen that coming?


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0641

The zoo vet had seen this before. "That hippie volunteer must have snuck something into the feed again. Gentlemen, Flash the Cheetah here is, like, totally baked."
(Image originally uploaded by JulioSantos; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Foxy

You have to wonder whether Fox executives consciously think thoughts like "Our audience of angry white males won't care if an anchor has little intellectual acumen, basic honesty, or journalistic integrity as long as she makes them tingly down there."

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Anchor Management
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Reform

Yeah, that "hard news" portion of the Fox broadcasting day is just a festival of fairness and balance, I tell you what.


Thursday, March 04, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #8190

Man, this intersection's been a nightmare ever since the CHUDs got a Starbucks.
(Image originally uploaded by rocketjim54; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #5088

It was probably just coincidence, but Sprockets always seemed to be staring ominously at the Russian Blue next door.
(Image originally uploaded by Travis Nelson; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Odious

It's like the word was invented for "journalists" like Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas, who are dutifully filling their Newsweek role of trying to get Americans to blame everything but their corporate-government overlords for their corporate government's problems: it's your own fault! you're greedy! you refuse to sacrifice! you feel entitled to things like health care and social security paid for with your tax dollars! but then how will we fund the wars and the bank bailouts? tsk tsk tsk. It's time to take one for the team, America. etc.

I struggle not to feel hatred for these people. For the most part I manage to hold at a level of simmering contempt, but I'm not sure how much longer that can last, I swear. Grrrrrr.


Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #0718

You can keep your Burghers of Calais and your Thinker and your Laocoön and his Sons; as far as I'm concerned, no work sums up the human condition quite like Hurry! We Have to Fix It Before Dad Gets Back.
(Image originally uploaded by Chris.jpg; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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Monday, March 01, 2010

Hypocrisy Wears Hornrims

FAIR takes a look at George Will's conveniently relativistic attitude toward Senate filibusters:

1993, with Republicans in the minority: the filibuster embodies the sacred constitutional right of a minority to obstruct legislative action!

2003, with Republicans in the majority: the filibuster is a coup against the Constitution!

2010, with Republicans in the minority: the filibuster embodies the sacred constitutional right of a minority to obstruct legislative action!

I just had a flashback to when I was a kid and actually thought I should respect people who had syndicated opinion columns. After all, only individuals of great knowledge, thoughtfulness, and character could possibly merit such positions of cultural and political influence, right?

Then I grew up, went to college, and learned the meaning of the word sophist.


Daily Random Flickr Blogging, #1777

As he watched the huge mantis systematically dispatch every other insect in the garden, Dave began to get ideas about his neighbor's yappy chihuahas.
(Image originally uploaded by goblirschrolf; Random Flickr Blogging originally invented by Tom Hilton.)

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