Ten Gallon Liberal
I hope he's well-grounded
How do you spell "holy shimoly"? Because this is cool on about 15 levels simultaneously: By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech...Somewhere in Texas
Sometimes chatting with friends at the close of a decade brings up the craziest snippets of the past. Like the fact that here I am blogging under a big hat in 2009, and somewhere in Texas–probably stuffed in a closet between an Alice Cooper Slurpee cup (not a...Maybe Cheney needs his vacuum tubes serviced again
The current handling of the accused in the attempted airline bombing is turning out to be an interesting test case for how the Obama administration will deal with terrorist suspects, and for how the GOP will respond. The Brits are a prime example of the success of...Arts, liberal
From a 2008 New York Times Book Review piece: “I don’t review books very often,” [Richard Russo] said in an e-mail message, “which is odd because I love to talk about them. The problem is that I don’t have much interest in discussing...Darwin's enchiladas
My fellow Texans have an unusual influence on your kids' textbooks, it turns out. If Texans could do this with food, we'd really be getting somewhere–you know, force enchiladas Suizas onto the menu at fancy New York French restaurants just to curl the...The Lost Alpaca civilization?
Satellite technology turns up an honest-to-goodness lost civilization in the Amazon region: "This hitherto unknown people constructed earthworks of precise geometric plan connected by straight orthogonal roads. The 'geoglyph culture' stretches over a...Draconian Troll Hammer to the rescue
Around these here parts, we often have an entertaining comment section. It's got it all: pure insult, straw man arguments, ad hominem arguments, nonsense, insight, comedy, unintentional comedy, heck, even poetry sometimes. Personally, I see the whole thing as...Airport security: not designed to detect plastic explosives
An expert on airport security offers an interesting take on the Christmas Day bomber: With all the talk about the failure of airport security to detect the PETN that the Christmas bomber sewed into his underwear — and to think I've been using the phrase...A Scanner Darkly
When it comes right down to it, if you place me in a line of strangers to walk through one of those weirdly lit passages to an airliner, likewise full of a hundred or more strangers of unknown mentality and motivation, I sweat. There are many things I would rather do,...Odds and Ends
Herewith, a few cool things clogging the Intertoobz, rotorooted for your edification.First: Would you like a complete (120 hours) video introduction to modern physics from a Stanford professor? How about for free? It's the sort of thing that (all too literally)...The chair's chair
I just interviewed Northampton poet James Haug about his most recent book. He is an exceptional poet. Here's one of Haug's poems for your enjoyment (more at this link): GARDNER EXCHANGEIn a field I was overtaken by a conviction that another field lay just...Runnin' with the Devil
Why does Pat Robertson show up every time there's a disaster to tell people why he thinks it happened? It's like he's a compulsive nut who wants to make sure everyone thinks Christianity equals insanity. This time, Haiti was hit by an earthquake for the...What would Woody Allen do?
The best take I've seen on tomorrow's special election is below, quoted from an email (forwarded to me by theater critic Chris Rohmann) penned by Peter Vickery. I am not a Green Party member nor do I share every one of Vickery's priorities–for me the...This week on The Invertebrates: Oops, I Did It Again
The narrative about yesterday's election in the mainstream press is likely (who knows–maybe they'll surprise us yet) to be the timeworn critique of Democrats that always surfaces–they aren't being conservative enough. It is a remarkable thing...The Lice of Main Street
Every time I run into an Objectivist, I get the urge to back up and run into them again. An urge, paradoxically, that Ayn Rand would likely approve of. Rand's philosophy is pretty much the opposite of the parts of Christianity that I value most from my own very...Quit yr damn cryin'!: a post-election RANT
Get over it. All this doom and gloom and whining and moaning I’ve heard last night and today in the bar, in the café, on MSNBC, NPR, WHMP, just PATHETIC. One badly-run campaign, one lost senate seat, one successful fit of...This Congress brought to you by Wal-Mart
Oh boy! There's yet worse news than the absurdist story of Democratic crybaby-ism and disintegration. Here's some party-trumping gloom–today the Supreme Court appears to have turned over the government to the highest bidder in a real and direct way. This...Sympathy for “Some”
My favorite new quote:"For too long, some in this country have been deprived of full participation in the political process," [Republican Senator Mitch] McConnell said. "With today’s monumental decision, the Supreme Court took an important step in...Slime Molds mimic Tokyo
I'm not sure what this means, but I'm pretty much inclined to think it somehow means we're in for it, ala one of those '50s sci-fi movies with bullet bras and scary laboratories.So, until tomorrow then.It's Hard Out Here for a GOPimp
State of Union: windy, with chance of rhetoric.I think Bob Herbert in the New York Times nails the tenor of tonight's big speech by Obama. And, remarkably, it certainly seems there's a lot of unanimity on far left and far right about the opinion Herbert's...Magritte at the Meet 'n' Greet
My favorite headline of the day: Ceci N’Est Pas Un Terrorist It does bear asking–when are militants who, according to the indictment, planned to kill a cop, then kill more cops at the funeral using weapons of mass destruction not terrorists? Would they be...Take Me Back to Tulsa
Howard Zinn being optimistic–I hope he was correct: So what I'm saying is there is a hard core of Americans whose nationalism, whose loyalty to the establishment is so engraved, who find a way of rationalizing whatever they see. They find a way of...Relax: No Black Holes!
The results of my experiment (see last post) are in: my neighbor got his mail yesterday, just as I said he would. Ergo, he is a dillhole. Also, I made it rain. Other leading scientists have made news with their experimentation today. Over in one of my favorite places,...Into the Hornet's Nest
Obama is often a frustrating figure, embracing policies put into place by his predecessor and refusing to take strong stands for civil liberty. But I have to hand it to him for one thing–walking directly into the Republicans' camp and taking questions. That...So what now?
Glenn Greenwald explains how Obama is, at his worst, as bad as Bush: While torture and aggressive war may have been the most serious crimes which the Bush administration committed, its warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens was its clearest and most undeniable...The Word Doctors (take two and don't call back) and Calvin and Hobbes
The Republicrat struggle, the ongoing tempest that has consumed our system of governance, has, it seems to me, two main escape valves. One is what Obama just did, trying to engage both parties–although I'm sure as we speak, the Republicans he spoke to are...Wisecracking Robots and the Kitchen of the Future
Cinematic Titanic is the new incarnation of Mystery Science Theater 3000, that very fine convergence of sarcasm, bad movies and robot puppets. I just had the pleasure of interviewing Joel Hodgson, who invented the show. In knocking around the Internet Archives in...The boring reliability of not-torture
While the usual folks are going apoplectic about the lack of testosterone-boosting torture of the Christmas Day airline bomber, it turns out the old-school, non-medieval approach is apparently working out extremely well. From the New York Times: “With the...Ogg my Vorbis
I should have known. Let yourself be pulled into watching an actual network television show (although they seem to be calling them television “events” now, which gives drooling in front of the screen a whole new sheen of excitement to enjoy as you reach...A modest truth
How about a refreshingly adult view of the political situation? Lawrence Lessig pretty much nails it, as far as I'm concerned. From an article that's well worth your time in The Nation: …Obama once spoke for the anger that has now boiled over in even the...Boy, Dick Cheney's really gone downhill
Lose the presidential gig, and things really go south. The above-pictured fellow is accused of putting pipe bombs in mailboxes because he’s angry at the government. (So no, it’s not Dick Cheney, but nobody’s seen them both at the same time, either.)...What we did to Binyam Mohamed
Bush and then Obama threatened our closest ally with the withholding of intelligence information regarding terrorism if the U.K. released the following paragraphs about what happened to Binyam Mohamed in Guantanamo. What I find most disturbing about such things is the...Wild and crazy guys
Saith the Washington Post: Anger over the health-care overhaul has led to a nearly threefold increase in recent months in the number of serious threats against members of Congress, federal law enforcement officials said. The lawmakers reported 42 threats in the first...Very small rocks, great gravy
When Al Gore intoned "bridge to the 21st century," he was very wrong. Thanks in part to the religious cartoon of fundamentalism and to the opportunism of opinion manipulators, we appear to be busily building a bridge to the 12th century. Yep, we've got...My Window Faces the South
Lots of talk about the role of the South in the GOP is bubbling up. Joe Conason: Anyone who has wondered where the Republicans would take America if they regain control of Congress and the White House could learn much from what has been happening lately in Virginia...Science does not equal belief
It's probably not surprising that the last post lit a fuse. But there are some bigger, non-political questions behind my mocking of a Fox News commenter's declaration that big snows in the South have destroyed global warming claims. His claim brings to mind...Congress=Wall Street?
Well, this isn’t emblematic or anything: From anonymous midlevel workers to former House and Senate majority leaders, more than 125 former Congressional aides and lawmakers are now working for financial firms as part of a multibillion-dollar effort to shape, and...Time differential, engage
Back in the non-political world, I'm in the middle of one of the best pieces of, as the fancy set like to call it, "speculative fiction" I've ever read. And I've plowed through an alarming number of such novels since the age of 10 or so, so I...Remarkable photos
Here’s a fascinating rundown of photos that made a huge cultural impact. It’s worth reading for the photos alone, but it’s also got lots of the details of what’s behind the photos. My favorite of the lot is Salvador Dali in mid-air, as captured...A truly inspiring piece of journalism
Sometimes subject matter and writerly abililty conspire to create the kind of journalism that resonates on many levels and becomes something far more affecting than a mere piece of reporting. Chris Jones, writing in Esquire about Roger Ebert and his cancer-related...Tea Partier reverses course due to inclement facts
Enter the maze of the Tea Party mind: Tea Party supporters’ fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are...The other war
Interesting things continue in Afghanistan. Obama has messed up plenty when it comes to continuing some of the worst offenses of the Bush administration regarding civil liberties. But things seem to be going well for him in the other war Bush started, the one that...Round and round she goes
Sarah Palin, speaking at a religious gathering in Kentucky, unwittingly summed up what is, for me, the biggest reason her ignorance is so dangerous: Really, it is our solemn duty. Praying for true spiritual awakening to overcome deterioration. That is where God wants...Friday accent blogging
Having recently reconnected with an old friend from Wales, I've felt the need to get up to speed on the intriguing subspecies of English spoken in the far reaches of the British Isle. Welsh is itself a fearsome Celtic language, and gives the Welsh a distinctive,...Comrade Miley
Please enjoy some excerpts from my favorite wingnut article I’ve seen in some time, keeping country music safe from the liberal threat of… Miley Cyrus?: The left in this country has a problem. Well, they have a lot of problems, many of which involve...When Turrism isn't Turrism; new comment changes
The similarities are striking: two politically motivated suicide plane crashes into symbolic buildings, both resulting in deaths, and both hoping to ignite sentiment against the government of the United States. The differences appear to be twofold: clearly, the scale...How many McNuggets for one brain surgery, doc?
Nevada Senate candidate Sue Lowden (R) has certainly raised the bar in the health care reform debate. She said this: “You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would...A wine bar?
American Studies Prof. Harry Targ: According to these sociologists [Robert Perrucci and Earl Wysong] the diamond-shaped distribution of wealth, income, and power that existed during the “golden years” of U.S. capitalist hegemony after World War II began to...I'll see your McNuggets and raise you one turnip for that brain surgery
Weird–is the GOP building a bridge to the 19th century? What’s next? Bargain removal of the stone of folly? For their sake, I hope so. From a debate in Tennessee, via the Nashville Scene: With a straight face, Rep. [Mike] Bell [R-Riceville, Tenn.] went on...For your lunar holiday
Though this appears to chart the weak spots in the Death Star, in fact it marks the spots in the polar region where there’s water on the moon: I guess astronauts can set up a wet bar? ADDITIONAL: The Chile earthquake was pretty powerful all right–it...The future without jetpacks
I remember well the sense of anticipation we all felt about our future jetpacks, an item, I maintain, that we were virtually guaranteed as young Americans. It’s engendered such angst that few people of a certain age can manage to think about the future without...Our Dumb Media
When is it a story–it’s even the headline here–that Obama’s advisors are “set to recommend” something? If he takes this incredibly stupid bit of advice (aka political hari-kiri), I will trot out all the usual annoyance that surfaces...Rolling snake eyes
If someone has been in a plane crash, what are the odds they will be in two crashes? Shouldn’t you fly with them to be safer? And if a plane crashes, shouldn’t you take the next plane out–what are the odds two planes in a row will crash? Such strange...Too conservative even for Texas
Back in my old stomping grounds, Texans narrowly rejected Don McLeroy, the fundamentalist nut who’s threatening to turn textbooks into God first, Reagan second conservative hymnals. Well done, folks! The other guy is a moderate Republican who believes God...Swingin' It, Western-style
Not long ago, I had the pleasure of sitting in for a Sunday afternoon gig at the flea market in Northampton as a trio with steel guitarist Rose Sinclair and guitarist Lyon Graulty, doing Western Swing ala Bob Wills. That is, as the above logo may indicate, some of my...Springfield pastor went to Uganda to support anti-gay fervor
An American anti-homosexual preacher traveled to Uganda to join in the fervor for passing anti-gay laws. And he’s based in Springfield, Massachusetts. (The first pastor mentioned, it bears noting, is Ugandan): Standing onstage in black velvet robes, despite the...A case of Gretsch envy…
Since we’re talking Western Swing and it’s a busy Friday when politics ain’t on my radar, here’s some audio fun of at least a related sort–Chet Atkins in the 1950s doing a Gypsy jazz standard, “Dark Eyes” in a very non-Gypsy...Of Fantasy and Literature
Robert Redick is the Valley-based writer of both an epic fantasy and works of more standard literature. I just interviewed him for a story for the next Advocate, and I’m finding his Chathrand Voyage Series an interesting mix of fantasy tropes and very nice...Handy check for when you think you've discovered perpetual motion
Here’s a particularly absorbing site that’s a sort of museum of failures to invent the permanently elusive “perpetual motion machine”–sort of a monument to the stubborness of those who think they will magically discover that physics is...E-Edition
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