The recurring wow

Paula is fab over at the House of Toast -- her wander of Monday does a great job of capturing the beauty, the wonder, in everyday things. Something should all strive for -- it's a far deeper well than any pile of cute kittens could aspire to offer.

(thanks, Mom, for the reminder to check)

Held to his own standard

Joe Lieberman, being haunted by his own promises back when he was a challenger. Ah, how quickly they forget . . . (Have you chipped in for Ned Lamont yet?)

The Foley effect

Americans are completely justified in their disgust that Republican leadership sat on knowledge of Foley's pedophilia for some years, as classes of pages came and went. I guess I just wasn't sure how much even that could really dissuade the True Believers, but these numbers are quite impressive, putting some truth to the initial claim that one-third of voters say they're less likely to vote Republican because of the scandal.

Anyway, it's hard to know how generic ballot results carry over into real races with real regional candidates, but it's certainly noteworthy. Perhaps it blunts the "moral superiority" that some of those GOP candidates have been claiming... Only November will tell.

That's a really big number

On NPR this morning I heard that a new study estimates that our action in Iraq has led to some 600,000 civilian deaths in its three years. Ouch, I think that's about the size of the population of Philadelphia (inside the city limits). That's a lot of people in a country that small, and no end in sight.

Did I say ouch already?

More of the magic of archived video

This is Peter Sellers? He's doing a fantastic job of schooling some interviewer on the inanity of asking for "an English accent" as though there were only one -- and he has them all down by intonation and geography. Wonderful, and wonderful that such things can be found online; call me an old fogie, but I think we live in a miraculous age in that regard.

Good point

Digby points out that Secretaries of State may be the key to safe and reliable elections of the future -- s/he also links to a site that's supporting some SoS's that have a commitment to voter rights. Worth checking out.

Headline of the week

Foley scandal has Republican politicians running for cover-up
heh...

(via DemFromCT at dailyKos)

Fun with science!!

• A suspicious-looking device, specifically designed to make people nervous with its beeps and vibrations, but doing nothing else whatsoever. Brilliant.
  (via boing boing)
  
  
• A commuter car powered by sun and wind -- crazily futuristic!
  (via Blinq)

Too much ink

I hate to be judgemental, but this guy is over the top -- I don't think I'd ever just feel like I was talking to a person, rather than a... sculpture? clown? walking distraction? I just don't know -- that's a lot of visual field action!

(via boing boing, of course)

Wow, thin skin much?

Apparently criticizing Cheney constitutes assault. Pooooor baby.

(via This Modern World)

Friday cat-blogging: The whole mess of 'em!

A shot from August, our household cats squeezing into the morning sun in our bedroom. Looks like a good model for weekend relaxation to come...




Past feline goodness (reverse order): 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0

Just say No to Joe!

Sure, I'm ready to lay aside the sanctimonious treatment of Bill Clinton. I could even understand a misguided vote for the war. But there are just so many reasons to vote against Lieberman if you're a Democrat, or really anybody who wants Connecticut to have intelligent and principled leadership. Exactly what has this guy done right? Certainly not recall his own standards of decency when considering current leaders who've shown their irresponsibility. This man is only looking out for himself, and Connecticut needs somebody who's thinking about the rest of them. I think Ned Lamont's the guy.

Remember Iraq?

Pretty much all that needs to be said about our priorities and the waste is said in this post: What can you do with $2 billion a week? It's almost unimaginable.

(via Medley)

Quote of the day

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.

- Eleanor Roosevelt,
diplomat and writer (1884-1962)

(via A.W.A.D.)

Hard to imagine

As of today, this blog is 2 years old. That's like 30 in dog years. Still a small undertaking, but it continues to be an outlet I need and appreciate, with a handful of readers I know and admire. No plans to give it up, although having two blogs may someday prove unsustainable... Thanks to those who showed me the way, and thanks to all who drop by, however briefly.
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Priorities unmasked

Pro-life groups like to claim that their goal is to reduce abortions, but their reaction to a recent "compromise" proposal (which would work to reduce the demand for abortions by providing better support at many levels) reveals otherwise. The lifers immediately began dismantling the bill:

In other words, Ryan’s “allies”, when they realized that he was serious about a pragmatic program to reduce the abortion rate, flipped shit and started taking out the very things that will be effective, from sex education so that women know how not to get pregnant in the first place to actual female-controlled contraception.

Amanda gets the take-home lesson exactly right here:

Guess they actually like having a high abortion rate, right? Well, not exactly, of course. But when given a choice between lowering the abortion rate and disempowering women, they’re going to pick the latter every single time, which demonstrates where their priorities lay.

It turns my stomach.

(via Medley)

And one other thing

I was going to post another depressed bit about this additional deconstruction of the Constitution (this time the First Amendment)...

... but really, enough despair for the day! How can I worry about petty politicians when Twisty is again taking on the entire patriarchy!?! I wallow gratefully in her wordsmithing magic, this time with regard to an intra-circular battle over popular feminism.

... How am I supposed to take that? What’s the hidden cryptic subtext?

That she shall be roundly chastised who threatens, with ideas, the peace and harmony of the other feminists, even as they graze placidly on the patriarchal green?

That I should resign my membership in the Society of Dissident Spinster Rhetoricians?

Wonderful, wonderful. Read it all, enjoy the deft turns of logic and phrase. Peruse the thoughtful and pithy comments. Be refreshed!

Thoughts for Yom Kippur

A column in the Philadelphia Inquirer gives a personal reflection on forgiving one another, making peace with the past, and starting afresh.

When my patients ask me whether they can fully heal without forgiving those who abused them, I tell them that "forgiveness happens." It is not a decision. It is not related to reconciliation nor speeded by the atonement of the perpetrator. Once you heal your wounds and enrich your life, the abuser's reprehensible behavior becomes irrelevant to your own current identity.

An appropriate contribution to the season.

Happiness chases out the roaches

Dangerous cuteness warning: It's no kittens, but pink hamster toes!
Le faint!...

Update: in a different vein, Hoarded Ordinaries presents festival of the trees -- what could be a better rebalancing (other than kittens and hamster toes, that is) than a wander through misty woods?
(via gingko)

Quote of the day

History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.

- Thurgood Marshall,
US Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993)

(via A.W.A.D.)