Thanks for stopping by

The House is now pretty much vacant, but due to requests, I'm opening the doors back up for whoever wants to look back at the past postings and maybe chuckle at a rant or two. Hopefully, you will read an older, angry post and then look around at this nation and let loose a deep sigh of relief that the Bush years are over.

I never said Goodbye to all my friends, and I've never been good at goodbyes, anyway. So, this will be my fare-thee-well post, 5 months after I quit posting.

This blog (and all of YOUR blogs) saved my life and my sanity many times over the past few years. I haven't been posting because the fire in my gut has cooled somewhat, and I just don't feel like I've had anything worth sharing to impart for a while. I will be content to haunt all of your blogs and listen for awhile and keep my own mouth shut for a little bit. It'll be good for me.

From 2004- 2008, those at the forefront of the Newsblog and Poli-blog movement changed this country. We made a difference. I don't include myself lightly in that "We." I've lost friends and gained friends, traded curses and even fists with a wide array of people over the events that warped and shaped our nation this past half-decade. From arguments with trolls I'll never meet to shouting matches with family members who now grudgingly acquiese because they know they were really and truly wrong. The "trust my gut" era is dead, thank the gods.

When I look back at 2004 in Lubbock when I started blogging, it's almost like looking back at the dark ages. So much has changed, in many ways- but the way I feel is the most important is that I am no longer shouted down when I dare open my mouth in public about ANYTHING. That severe black and white has been merged into a much more manageable grey. And that's a very, very good thing.

So, my work here is done. I've spent all the righteous zeal I possessed. I'll let others, with more nuance, and less in-your-face take over from this point on.

But if ya'll ever need a half-crazy Redneck Liberal to out-smart the fascist white collar ruling class of this country while simultaneously out-white-trashing their bible-thumping racist blue collar pawns- I'll be here... and those of you who know me the best will know it won't take much to recharge my righteous wrath.

Hope for the best and plan for the worst- And don't be bullshittin' the neighbors, now.

Ya'll be good.

I'll try to...

Rise and Shine

Bidding ya'll the Fare-thee-Well-

I have no idea if I can actually stay away this time- but I am going to move on to more important matters than trying to sway my friends, family, (and eventually everyone else who became my blogging family) to my way of thinking. To everyone who has enjoyed my Redneck Liberal ranting, raving, and waxing poetic-like, thanks for the friendship and support!

When I started blogging three years ago, the tubes were a far different place. Believe it or not, the discourse HAS advanced. What used to be the liberal opinions of a small minority has grown to be the pervading mentality of the blogosphere in general. That is a very good thing. The only purpose I had at first was to learn more about what was going on, then to link every important story I found for dissemination to my Texas acquaintances.

I, of course, started adding my distinctive flair ;)

My only real goal was to convert a few of them from the ranks of the bushbots into thinking individuals who took an active interest in the news, the media, and politics. And this is all from the wilds of West Texas- so you can just guess how impossible this task was.

In the end, I succeeded with my friends, made inroads with my dumb-as-dirt relatives, and found a couple thousand other voices who taught me far more than I ever managed to teach... Blogging has been a most rewarding outlet for my frustrations. More than once you people have kept me sane just by allowing me to understand that there were others like me out there- And not just out there- but All OVER America- Stretched from one end of the country to the next. And I hope I let ya'll know that all is not lost, even in a Podunk town that once hoped to be the home of the Bush Library (THANK GOD THAT DIDNT HAPPEN!). This place is bad enough.

Other than a few bad jokes, some creative mixed metaphors, and a few pitiful attempts at graphic artwork- I don't feel like I've got much more to offer as a "Voice" at this moment. I've said my piece.

And gratefully, I look around the 'tubes and realize that there's a LOT more of you out there, some just now voicing your own piece- I welcome you to the patch of internet I used to take up- enjoy yourselves and BE YOURSELVES.

I thank every single person who ever bothered to make their opinion known on this blog- from Progressive Chicano, the first commenter I ever had (back on the Old House of the Rising Sons ) to Targa (who was my first commenter here, back in Nov. 2006) to Fred, to Swan, to Caveman, to Hill to the fans of Ioz's blog who are chewing my ass out as we speak on my Ioz post-

Thank you all.

IT'S THE CONVERSATION THAT MAKES US BETTER.

I'm gonna shut the fuck up now.

(And put my efforts outside the tubes where my mouth has been.)

Ya'll Have a good one.

Bag em and Tag em

Rules of the game …

*Link to the person who tagged you.

*Post the rules on your blog.

*Write six random things about yourself.

*Tag six random people by linking to their blogs.

*Let each of the six know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment (on each blog).

*Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I was tag-teamed by Freida Bee and Liberality (or is it team-tagged?) Oh well, the more, the merrier, I always say...

I love art, I love drawing, even though I don't do it much anymore. Writing or reading is what I end up spending all my free time doing now. But every once in a while If I do draw something, it's usually for my kids. They all love art, and I get more contentment watching them sketch, paint or build something than most parents get watching their kids play a sport. And every once in a while they need Dad to show them how to draw something. That is the best.

I am known to most of my friends as a very outgoing person. But to people I don't know closely, I appear to be a very quiet, even brooding person. I don't like bringing attention to myself except when I'm in my circle of friends, where I am a twisting Texas tornado. The people who I meet in the "social circuit" who see me out in the "real world" almost don't recognize me. And the people who I've met via work, or other situations who run into me in that mode can't tell me fast enough how boring they thought I was before then. So, that's kind of weird to me.

I cook very well. This surprises people when they have an occasion to partake of a dinner I've made. I don't know why this surprises them. I have been a single dad for most of my life. Someone had to feed my kids. The concoctions I create are a little weird, I'll give you that. Typical man that I am, I almost never use a recipe except as a rough guideline. I also never go to the grocery store just to purchase items for one meal. I just look in the fridge and cabinets and work with what I've got. My kids are very picky, but they will usually eat anything I cook (This drives Lauren crazy!)

I shot my younger brother in the head with a bb gun when I was in fifth grade. He was holding a bucket up through a clubhouse window while we were playing war. I hit the bucket and the bb slid past it and embedded itself in his right temple, about an inch from his eye. I took him back to the house, forced him to take some tylenol (to deaden the pain) and was about to do surgery with an X-acto blade when Mom came home. He got a quick trip to the emergency room. Mom took our bb guns away but we were still allowed to take the shotguns out down the street whenever we felt like it. In her words "At least I know you won't be shooting at each other with THOSE guns"... well, actually Mom...

My older sister cut the tires of the apartment complex manager's car where our parents lived one New Year's Eve. I got blamed. My older brother whooped my ass good. I never narc-ed her out, but I still feel like she should at least admit to the shit after all this time.

If I was to find out I would die tomorrow, I would die satisfied and content. I couldn't always say that, but I believe that I've made up for every bad thing I've ever done and made amends to everyone in my life that I've ever hurt. I'm a good friend, a stand up person, and the best father that I know how to be. I've paid it forward every day of my life, even before I even knew what the hell that meant. That's the only thing to me that matters- that I can look myself in the mirror and not be ashamed of who I am.

Blogger Universe!

Real Name: Unknown
Other Blog handles: Redneck Liberal, Faded
Base of Operations: West Texas, ya'll



First Blog Appearance: Crooks and Liars, 2004
Group Affiliations: MCCS1977, Blue Herald, and Unruly Mob

Topic of Choice: Government is out of control, Right Wing is ruining America

Medals of Valor: Thinking blogger award, thrice decorated, Awarded the coveted Iamsoretarded.com linkage from Archvillain Megabrad.

Special Powers: Fast typing, Profanity Specialist, ability to use True Conservative arguments in the Liberal cause to dismantle the bullshit of Right wingers. Unafraid to piss people off.

Google-Link Ability: Level 10 - Master
HTML Ability: Level 2 - Cut and paster

Weaknesses: Alcohol, Vulgar women , Truly Intelligent people, ability to piss people off.
ArchEnemy: Caveman , destroyed in mid-2007, not seen since.

History: Born in a trailer, raised in the projects while simultaneously living on weekends with his millionaire father, Fade is a man of contradictions and exceptions. May possibly be the only member of Who's Who with multiple college scholarships prior to entering high school who was a gangmember and frequent incarceree of the Lubbock jail system.

Leaving West Texas for the Big D, he escaped the confines of the bible belt and expanded his mind in college. However, his criminal side resurfaced and he became a young Republican. Returning to Lubbock, he became a board member of the corporation his father was President of. Dark days of dittoheadness followed.

Days after championing W in the 2000 elections, Fade discovered something was very wrong. He realized his political views and life were a complete hypocritical self-serving pile of shit.

Then he discovered the intertubes. He fell under the tutelage of Blog Master Actor212, who took him under his wing and tried to hone Fade's pathetic lack of html skills. After Actor212 showed him the ways of the tubes- Fade opened his zen blog temple, House of the Rising Sons.

Fade became a junior member of the Justice Blog of America (aka MCCS1977) sometime in 2006, where he learned much at the feet of Frederick, Navyswan, and Bacchus. Fade then struck out on his own again with a new House and to this very day fights crime and Republicans from this stronghold.

Come Sweet Oblivion

May the Higgs Bosun be with you
personal note : What a crock of shit.

Wild Wild Key West
personal note: Be Kinder to your employees

Jewish marathoners conflicted by diet options
personal note: Today's national tragedy brought to you by: Matzo's

Historians agree: Worst Prez ever.
personal note: And he's not even done yet...

Rachel Maddow
personal note: Yes, I like her, but does she have to cultivate the appearance of a right wing chicken hawk male, down to the hair part? All she needs now is a bow tie.

Alternet Asks can Feminism and Porn co-exist? An article so stupid, I won't bother linking... But it's an easy opening for a smartass answer: Only if it's girl on girl.

It's always darkest before dawn. Betmo offers this glimmer of hope

Fairlane has this interesting take on dealing with wingnuts

Anything but fkn Politics

A prominent Feminist blog posts about the joys of Competitive Cheerleading.



No, it's not a joke. It's like important, and stuff. A girl, raised by veggies and yoga instructors, with a blue streak in her hair even, like wrote it. YAY Feminism! Gimme an F!

(and just so you know, I hate ALL teenage sports equally. I don't even want my son to play football, but his mom is convinced that he's going pro... I'd rather him study and learn than roll around in the dirt and glorify such inconsequential bullshit)

The Adrenaline post in honor of my upcoming nuptials...






I am soooo addicted to this song. 'Tube didn't have the Radiohead cover of Rhinestone cowboy. Too bad...




A poem for 5 years of hell

Life
They bruised my soul with a proverb,
They bruised my back with a rod,
And they bade me bow to my elders,
For that was the word of God.

They pent up my soul and bound me
Till life was a living death,
They struck the wine from my fingers,
The passion from my breath.

I reached my hands to living,
They hurled me back into school,
And they said, "Go learn your lessons,"
You innocent young fool."

They yowled till they woke the trumpets --
And the sword blade rent the plow,
And they said, "It is your duty"
"To die for your elders now.

"They cowered far from the battle
As I went into the strife,
And I spilled my guts in the trenches
In the red dawn of my life.

And the elders named me hero,
But more than their words and ire
Was the scent of a strange wild flower
There where I died in the mire.

Robert E. Howard


This one's for Angry-



okay, maybe a little politics... Neocons in Star Wars? of course they would be living on a planet that they made into a wasteland ...

God aborts the child of a sinner - Old skool God wasn't Pro-life.

And What's a Good Friday without a Pagan fertility rite? Procreate, Fornicate, Multiply. Do it with love. or at least a modicum of enthusiasm.

Casting a larger shadow

Liberality tagged me with the Book Meme. The instructions for this meme are as follows:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

This book was on my nightstand, I am reading it for the second time. It's George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings, book two of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. I don't know why I'm re-reading this series, because I have thrown the last two books of the series across the room through various parts of the story... I don't know if he kills ALL of the main characters off in horrible ways in ALL of his books, but ... shit. These books are fricking depressing. He's got my attention though, if he'd just hurry up and finish the next book so he can kill off the final living member of the hero's family AND his family pet so I can quit hoping that somehow, someway this story manages to end up with a happy ending. Awesome books, but it's like: hell, if I wanted to see a neverending story where the bad guys win in the end I'd blog about politics or something...

"You are too kind, more wine?"
"No, no, truly I ... Oh, gods be damned, yes. Why not? A bold man drinks his fill!"

And the five people I tag are: Greg, Ryan, Everett Eugene, Bobby jr, and Lauren.

I sorta like the whole randomness of it, but chaos yields somewhat lackluster results. If I could have picked and chosen, I would have gone with this passage:

"Why are you so helpful, my lord Varys?" he asked, studying the man's soft hands, the bald powdered face, the slimy little smile.

"You are the Hand. I serve the realm, the king, and you."

"As you served Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark?"

"I served Lord Arryn and Lord Stark as best I could. I was saddened and horrified by their most untimely deaths."

"Think how I feel. I'm like to be next. "

"Oh, I think not," Varys said, swirling the wine in his cup. "Power is a curious thing, my lord. Perchance you have considered the riddle I posed you that day in the inn?"

"It has crossed my mind a time or two," Tyrion admitted. "The king, the priest, the rich man- who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It's a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword."

"And yet he is no one," Varys said. "He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel."

"That piece of steel is the power of life and death."

"Just so. . . yet if it is the swordsman who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?"

"Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords."

"Then these other swordsmen have the true power. Or do they? Whence came their swords? Why do they obey?" Varys smiled. "Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law. Yet that day on the steps of Baelor's Sept. our godly High Septon and the lawful Queen Regent and your ever-so-knowledgeable servant were as powerless as any cobbler or cooper in the crowd. Who truly killed Eddard Stark, do you think? Joffrey, who gave the command? Ser Ilyn Payne, who swung the sword? Or . . . another?"

Tyrion cocked his head sideways. "Did you mean to answer your damned riddle, or only to make my head hurt worse?"

Varys smiled. "Here, then. Power resides where men believe it resides. No more, and no less."

"So power is a mummer's trick?"

"A shadow on the wall," Varys murmured, "yet shadows can kill. And oftimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow."
...

And for those of you out there who may consider yourselves writers more than bloggers, you might relate to this : Don't Blog. Write.

Opinions you should have

From the Dept. of What goes around, comes around:
Spitz, Don't swallow the bullshit

From the Dept. of Vortex of Unchanging Violence:
Blood in,Blood out

From the Dept. of It's about M-F-ing time:
A Judge with Balls

From the Dept. of Popular Amerka Sports Deities:

I'm a lot like you, Dad

From the Dept. of God's people doeth the funniest things:

Bathroom Art critics and Let there be light!

6 word memoir meme - Passed to me from Liberality ... Not sure if there are rules, if so, I ain't found em... My fate:

Children- the only immortality you'll possess




(for my Steel, my Amethyst, my Amber, my Mercury... and ... something new. I'm afraid minimalism is something I have in short supply)

Burnt outtie

The past two weeks have been wild, politically. I usually would be drinking myself through the harder bits. "Hillary said what? Obama did not just go there! Quick I need a bottle of rotgut whiskey before I lose faith in mankind!"

But, since I promised my health nut fiancee' that I would go on a diet until I get my abs back, I am no longer allowed my food group of choice- Anheuser Busch. So while I am "enjoying" the first week of workouts and sobriety, I probably will be too depressed to blog in my normal good spirits.

Anyway, while I take the week off, take a spin through my Bad Influences and warp yourselves further.

and here's a few of my Favorite blogs that you need to add to your Blogroll NOW!

The Doctor is in

My Favorite Antisocial Socialite

A Distant Ocean

Da Guys - and check out their individual blogs as well

Moon of Alabama - still miss the Whiskey bar...

Enjoy your weekend-

I'll still be haunting your blog comments, I'm sure -see you around

All Hail Excellence in Award giving!

A great and generous blog lord gives freely to his vassals...




May the peace and love of the Ape-Human Renaissance continue unabated.



Dr. Z at home, listening to Irene play Skynrd and perusing the papernet blogs...

Thank you for the accolades. Carry on your valuable research, good sir.

Edwards and Obama

Edwards Meets Obama - From John Nichols at Common Dreams (and The Nation)

EXCERPTS
So Barack Obama jetted out of Wisconsin, where he is battling for a big victory in Tuesday’s primary, for a Sunday meeting in Chapel Hill with John and Elizabeth Edwards. The Illinois senator left reporters behind to make what he hoped would be a secret trip, but a North Carolina television station was tipped off and got footage of Obama leaving the home where he met with the Edwardses.

Obama asked for an endorsement. But he also provided the former senator and his wife with detailed arguments about why he would be a stronger Democratic candidate in November, and an outline of how he would seek to implement progressive economic reforms as president.
A key part of the discussion focused on a priority of John Edwards: writing a Democratic platform that outlines a genuine change agenda.

“The meeting with John, we just wanted to talk about how we can move the party in a direction that focuses on middle-class issues, relieving poverty, reducing the influence of special interests in Washington,” Obama acknowledged Sunday night.
...
Obama has framed his Wisconsin campaign against Clinton as a fight over trade policy, but Obama’s record is not a whole lot better than Clinton’s on this issue. Edwards, who ran for the Democratic nomination this year as an ardent advocate for fair trade policies, has earned credibility with key unions — especially the United Steelworkers and to a lesser extent the United Auto Workers.

If an Edwards endorsement were to help break loose endorsements from those two unions, which remain powerful players in Ohio, it would be a dramatic boost for Obama.

Additionally, Edwards remains a particularly popular figure in rural and southern states. In Oklahoma, for instance, the former senator took more than 10 percent of the vote on February 5, after he had withdrawn from the race.

Parts of Oklahoma are a lot like parts of Texas, and Obama would love to have Edwards take a swing through the Lone Star state before the March 4 primary.

Will it happen?

Thoughts?

I notice my No-Civil-War post hasn't made anyone more civil by the way... More political name-calling by progressives on both sides. Bushbots, and Hillbots, and Obamabots, oh my! From Kos to No Quarter, there is some ugliness out there. I was going to link the specific posts, but I decided not to give the divisiveness any more publicity. Forward, not backward, guys and gals...

Again, progressive posts that viciously attack Obama OR Hillary and insult the people who support them with derogatory terms are just self-defeating. And to use the "Repubs will say this, too" defense is ignorant, as well. Watch where you guys are chucking those stones, after all, we all have to live in this big glass house in the end.

Keep your eye on the prize, people- Hillary AND Obama are both iffy candidates that could mean a close election in what should be a landslide. What makes either of them electable is that the Republicans have destroyed their credibility on the economy and the war (two matters intrinsically tied together, by the way...) and being all attack and no substance, time and again.

Namecalling Obama and Hillary supporters isn’t going to help your chosen candidate, it just demeans the Democratic side as a whole.

This is the only real chance Republicans have to win in 2008: that the Progressives fall into infighting. I hate to see this shit on No Quarter, from people who have seen firsthand just how bad the Repubs are, and what lengths they will go to. I can't say much about Kos, I rarely visit that site...

Hillary isn’t some super liberal, as you well know. Neither is Obama. But both are better than the alternative. The more attack posts there are among progressives, the closer we are to having McCain as a President. Please, PLEASE focus on the positives on the candidates, if you can, and refrain from attacking the Democrats who have thrown their support to 'the other side'.
If the only “support” you can dredge up for your candidate are these attacks - then you will end up helping another piece of shit Republican get elected. Please, take a minute before you go into attack mode. If you are just mudslinging on another Democrat, who you don't like as much as your candidate, - or worse, ridiculing progressives and liberals who support the other Dem, then maybe it's not worth posting.

VD and link love

Happy VD! Valentine's day, that is-

The Grinch who shanked Cupid (Batocchio) lets us know how he really feels about the manufactured moment that is Valentine's...

Here's a little love for some bloggers I recently rediscovered. I think Blogtopia (SKIPPY owns the copyright on that term) is a lot like living in a small town- sooner or later you run into everyone you may have lost track of ... I love my fellow blogtopians, so if I haven't got you linked or you've gotten kicked off the blogroll during my frequent brawls with blogger layouts, let me know-

Here are a few bloggers who I ran back into recently-



Bob at Mad in the Middle



CJ of Current Jam





And I don't link thepoetryman of A Poetic Justice (who I'll always think of as MP from back in the day) as much as I should- but surfing randomly around his blog is never wasted time...

So, enjoy your manufactured moments today!

Hill today, gone tomorrow

Here's to those Hill Country breezes... may many more come my way...

Day late and a Dollar short

PSoTD recommends we highlight the blogrolls of others in an actual post for more link-love.

Here is the Blogroll for the esteemed physician, Dr. Zaius...

The Accordion Guy
Alien Loves Predator
AlterDestiny
Anaïs Nohant
Angry Ballerina
The Aristocrats
All Hat No Cattle
Atomic Romance
Aunt Dahlia
Badtux the Penguin
Beautiful Day Rule
Beginning to Bird
BenettonTalk
Betsy Devine
Bella Rossa
Beware of the Blog
Bitch Ph.D.
Blue Gal
Bob Geiger
bradblog.com
Brainshrub
The Bree Walker Blog
CalPundit
Cap'n Dyke
Capitol Punishment
Carnival of the Liberals
Chapter 56
Chicken Head
Circle Jerk/Square Dance
Common Dreams
Comrade Kevin
Crooks and Liars
Culture of Life News
Cyberography
The Daily Howler
Darkblack
Darwin's Dagger
The Dean's Office
Devilham's Attic
Dictionopolis in Digitopolis
DistributorCap NY
Down With Tyranny!
The Dubya's Media
Dump Michele Bachmann
Electronic Cerebrectomy
Eli Lyons
Evangelical Right
Evil Mad Scientist
Eyeteeth
Five Public Opinions
FOX Watch
Fragmentia13
FranIAm
Freida Bee
Germaine
Get-Your-Zs
Gledwood Vol 2
The Great Endarkenment
Johnny Yen Again
The Hill
The Huffington Post
I Am Bossy
I Am Jacks Non-Blog
Ice Station Tango
Illustrated Daily Scribble
I Miss Fafblog, Spot!
I, Splotchy
I Make No Promises
Impeachment Dreams
The Inconvienent Truth
Indecision 2008
Indexed
Infidel753 J
Jess Wundrun
Jesus' General
Jon the Intergalactic Gladiator
Jon Swift
Jonestown
Jossip Cable Quotables
Kelly the Little Black Dog
Kimonomomo
Knock Knock
Kommandos Project
L'ennui mélodieux
Lady, That's My Skull
Last Turn B4 Hooterville
Left 'Toon Lane
Les Enrages.org
The Liberal Coalition
Liberality
Like Kryptonite To Stupid
The Lippard Blog 2
Luminiferous Ether
Mental Detritus
Mercury Rising
Midnight/Noise
Mock, Paper, Scissors
Mondo Marco
Monkey Muck
Morning Martini
My Two Sense
MWB's World
naladahc.com
Neural Gourmet
Neccoland
The Needs of the Few
Nine Pearls
No Smoking in the Skull Cave
A Noble Undoing
Old American Century
Omnipotent Poobah
the Opinion Mill
The Otherwhirled
Pam's House Blend
Patriotboy
Phydeaux Speaks
Pidomon's Posts
PoliTits
pollster.com
Political Arithmetik
Princess Sparkle Pony
PR Watch
Rabbits, Toyen, and so forth
Republic of Sestakastan
The Quaker Agitator
Qwerty's Qoncepts
Quit Your Day Job
Scholars and Rogues
Shakespeare's Sister
Shelley the Republican
Silly Humans
Skippy the Bush
Sleestak
Some Guy's Blog
Spocko's Brain [ 2 ]
spiiderweb
Stardragon the Canadian
Stump Lane
A Sunny Thought
They Get Letters
This Is It
This Modern World
Threading Water
Tiamat's Friends
Two Minutes In The Box
Übermilf
Unruly Mob/Les Enrages
Vagabond Scholar
Vigouruex Artiste
The Yes Men Yikes! [ 2 ]
What I Like/Universe
Wink Studios
Witches and Scientists
Westcoast Walker
Wondertrash
Wyldth1ng

And yes, my html ability is that of a 3rd grade Dubya. This is as purty as I can make it. I can't even figure out how to use all the damn space on the left side of the blog.

Diversions, part 621

The Greek Mythology Personality Test

(hat tip: The Poor Blogger)

My Score: The Oracle

33% Extroversion, 100% Intuition, 44% Emotiveness, 80% Perceptiveness

Heuristic, detached, and analytical to a fault, you are most like The Oracle. You are able to tackle any subject with a fine toothed comb, and you possess an ability to pinpoint nuances and shades of meaning that other people do not have and cannot understand. Accomplishment and realization of ideas are, for you, secondary to the rigorous exploration of ideas and questions -- you are, first and foremost, a theorist. You hate authority, convention, tradition, and under no circumstances do you accept a leadership role (although, you will gladly advise leadership when they're going astray, whether they want you to or not). Abstraction and generalities are your interests, details and particulars are usually inconsequential and uninteresting. You excel at language, mathematics and philosophy. You are typically easy-going and non-confrontational until someone violates one of the very few principles that you deem sacred, at which point you can fly into a rage. Although you possess a much greater understanding of process and systems than the people around you, you are always conscious of the possibility that you've missed something or made a mistake. You don't tend to become attached to particular theories, and will immediately discard mistaken notions once they're revealed to be incorrect (but you don't tolerate iconoclasts who try to discredit validated theories through the use of fallacies and bad data). Despite being outwardly humble, you probably think of yourself as being smarter than most other people. That's because you are. In fact, in your dealings with people your understanding of their motives is so expansive that you know what they're going to say before they say it, and in world affairs, you usually know what is going to take place before it actually does. This ability would make you unbeatable in debates if only you were a little less pensive about your own conclusions, and a little more outgoing. Famous people like you: Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, John McWhorter, Ramanujan, Marie Curie, Kurt Godel

Stay clear of: Apollo, Icarus, Hermes, Aphrodite
Seek out: Atlas, Prometheus, Daedalus

Love me or hate me-

But I'd really prefer if you would just exonerate me of all wrongdoing, perceived or otherwise...

Blogger Something day coming up...

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Mad on the Mike Biologyst

frum Ze Swiffer:

"have reminded me that this February 3 is the first anniversary of one of the darkest days in the blogosphere, Blogroll Amnesty Day, the day that Atrios of Eschaton intitiated his bloody blogroll massacre, cutting a number of fine smaller blogs from his blogroll, including my good friend skippy, and a number of other big bloggers followed his lead. But a funny thing happened on the way to the bloodletting. A number of smaller bloggers decided they were tired of being pushed around by the A-Listers and decided to fight back by banding together and making their own blogrolls more inclusive instead of more exclusive. So I hope you will all join me, skippy, Barefoot Bum and anyone else who wants to get on board in remembering this great and terrible day and turn the weekend of February 1-3 into a celebration of the power of all the little blogs out there who deserve our support."

Blogging your own epitath...

Final Post

Andrew Olmsted, RIP

from an earlier post of his:

Asking the Hard Question

I have been reliably informed that my posting of late has been rather dark. That's probably true, in no small part because it seems that no matter where I turn, I end up reading things like this:

The goal of Democrats -- and their allies -- over the next two years should not and cannot be to stop the war cold turkey. The goal should be to politicize the issue in preparation for 2008.

I may not agree with the assessment of the far left, but at least they're honest. They think we've lost in Iraq and that we should get out now. Contrast that with those who see in Iraq a wonderful opportunity to win more seats for their party, like publius. It pleases me to no end that if I end up getting killed in Iraq, at least my wife can take comfort in knowing my death may help the Democrats win the White House in 2008. Really, that makes it all worthwhile.

Harsh? Absolutely. And I realize that publius' motives are sincere. But while the odds are pretty good I'll live through my trip to Iraq, the fact remains that too many of my comrades will die in Iraq between now and the day a new President takes office in January 2009. If people think that we have lost in Iraq, then they have a duty to say so and do what they can to get us out of Iraq, not position themselves to be in better shape to do so in two years. The idea that Congress cannot stop this war flies in the face of the facts. Congress can quite easily end the war within six months if they so choose. No money equals no war, and while the Democrats aren't strong enough to pass a resolution rescinding the Authorization to Use Military Force, they are certainly strong enough not to pass a budget funding further operations in Iraq. Yes, six months is a long time and more people will die, but that eighteen month window means perhaps 1,000 more dead soldiers and many times more soldiers whose lives will be forever changed by the wounds they receive there.

Of course, doing so would probably be politically devastating to the Democrats. The Republicans would use such a move as ammunition for scurrilous demagoguery, carefully avoiding the questions they've mostly been able to dodge over the past four years about their responsibility for the war. But the war would still end, and while it might hurt the Democrats initially, given that their actions would come roughly a year before the next election, who knows how they might look in the fall of 2008 when American soldiers are no longer coming home in caskets; President George H.W. Bush looked nigh-unbeatable a year before the 1992 election; I assume we all remember how that one turned out.

More to the point, it seems to me that it is the right thing to do, if you believe we should be getting out of Iraq. If you think the surge cannot work and that we've lost, I fail to see how you can justify waiting an additional 18 months because the politics aren't right. John Kerry once asked how you can ask someone to be the last man to die for a mistake. It would appear that for a lot of Democrats, that question is easier to answer than Kerry thought.

Unfortunately, Andrew Olmsted won't be the last good soldier to die for this mistake. Not by a long shot. Political expediency be damned! A Congress that respects our troops and their deaths would have stopped this mistake years ago, may not even have begun it in the first place.

Out of Iraq - NOW. Immediate withdrawal- and if Iraq falls into more chaos, so be it. The deaths belong on the heads of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and every neocon sycophant that profitted off this immoral invasion. It's time for an American presence in Iraq to end. To those of you in Congress, if you don't want more deaths to be on YOUR heads- you will do everything in your power to stop the Republican war profiteering machine.

And I sincerely believe that every one of you in Congress who would continue this "war" at this time, knowing what we all know now- deserves to be imprisoned for the rest of your life as a war criminal and a traitor to our military and our country by squandering them so needlessly.

Bloggers Selling out

Note to all my fellow Blog-Patriots, fighting the good fight and struggling to take our country back:

If Your Blog is sportin' Rush Limbaugh ads, then YOU are part of the fucking problem.

If you are selling hate speech, unknowingly or not, as pop-ups or ads on your sidebar, then You are a two bit hypocrite.

I am tired of seeing ads pimping Ann Coulter's email on top of supposedly Progressive blogs. Is the money from these ads trickling into your credit card worth it If one more American becomes indoctrinated with her vile spew as a result of an ad on your blog?

I don't think so.

I know you can't control what ads you are helping sell- but it doesn't matter. If you CANNOT control which crap YOU are helping to sell, then stop allowing your blog to be used.

I can't take a post about the damage torture does to our own troops seriously when your blog is helping to push the Pro-Torture dialogue.

If even Progressive bloggers can't keep their damn hands out of the corporate cookie jar for fucking pennies, how can you dare demand the same of our main stream media pundits?

Please, take down ads on your blog. I'm probably a lot poorer than most of the damn bloggers out there, but you'll never see an ad on this blog, as long as I can help it!

And for those of you who are on the same page as me- Great- Help spread the word and Boycott the bloggers that are helping keep Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the rest of those slimy assholes marketed all over the damn internet!

Don't help sell hate. If you demand a better democracy, a better life and a better world- you've got to start at home. Don't be a hypocrite.