Had my last visit to the dermatologist this morning, now that the eczema is finally fading from my legs. He said I shouldn't be surprised if it crops up again when the weather cools in late autumn, but I'm fine for now. Well, except for my spring allergies, which seem to occur earlier and earlier every year. And the OTC allergy pill gives me dry mouth, which makes me thirsty no matter how much I drink, so I might as well forget all that and plunge into the blogosphere:
• I think some of the bloggers supporting Obama so enthusiastically aren't getting what some of us are saying, which is not that Hillary Clinton can do no wrong (many think she's done a fine job of putting that notion to rest this past week, even without the usual sexist bashing) but that Barack Obama really isn't that different from her, both in terms of human foibles and, more importantly, policy plans, so supporting one over the other to the point of cult-of-personality makes no sense. The main difference is in the way each has inspired others, not in what each will actually do once in office. It's all part of what Susie identifies as the game. I think Clinton might have the edge on the main task at hand, which is undoing the tremendous damage wrought by the radical reactionaries currently in power (damage which will only increase if McCain gets into office), simply because she was around for the damage control last time. But I suspect Obama is equally up to the task of halting this country's backward movement. The only thing that saddens me is how many people seem to believe there's going to be the slightest chance of forward movement societally after one of these centrist Democrats gets elected. I just can't see that happening any more in my lifetime. Meanwhile, as Mary so eloquently puts it vis a vis the internecine Demo-squabbles, "Can we just stop the crap now?"
• It's so cute the way John Amato thinks the pundits who appear on Countdown are exclusive to Keith Olbermann, rather than part of MSNBC's stock of company players who appear pretty much on everyone's shows! The sooner liberal bloggers get hip to the fact that Olbermann (like Obama) may be more eloquent than his peers very often but the similarities between him and his "rivals" like O'Reilly are greater than their differences, the better off we'll be in the media analysis department.
• Cathie from Canada doesn't get the whole institutionalized racism thing so prevalent in the US.
• Via Petulant at Shakespeare's Sister, Sir Ian McKellan answers email about Lord of the Rings. My favorite quote is about "the fevered imaginations of slashers" (as in slash-fiction fanfic writers).
• More cool stuff from Shakesville -- your pareidolia of the day, and a truly romantic tale that doesn't surprise me at all, since I knew both Steve and Robin before we ever met, Steve via his subscribing to INSIDE JOKE and Robin via the Usenet comic book newsgroups.
• The continuing crisis: Tristero weighs in on anti-American creationists and the nonsense surrounding Expelled, PZ Myers and at least one cephalopod; and Peter David eloquently points to a Bible passage which must have gone over the heads of the parents of poor Madeline Neumann who murdered her with their selective superstition.
• More continuing crises: Kilauea, Antarctica, Arkansas... I know many people don't believe our planet is alive and ever-changing because they don't see those changes happen fast enough for our limited lifespans, but that doesn't mean we have to try to speed them up with our carelessness!
• The world's first pregnant man. Isn't this another sign of the impending apocalypse?
• It's a stupid thing, I guess, but it really upsets me that NASA is being forced to shut down a perfectly good Mars rover, which has worked far beyond what anyone initially expected, because of budget concerns.
• Brave, brave Theresa Tschetter takes on Miss Bimbo, complete with LOLspeak. And Bully pictorially wonders what if Clark Kent worked for Barry White instead of Perry White.
• Nobody, but nobody, writes food porn like Tony Bourdain. My oh my, someone pass me the smelling salts.
Lastly, RIP Richard Widmark. Between this and Neil Aspinall, I'm just tired of famous people dying this week; can we have a moratorium or something?
• I think some of the bloggers supporting Obama so enthusiastically aren't getting what some of us are saying, which is not that Hillary Clinton can do no wrong (many think she's done a fine job of putting that notion to rest this past week, even without the usual sexist bashing) but that Barack Obama really isn't that different from her, both in terms of human foibles and, more importantly, policy plans, so supporting one over the other to the point of cult-of-personality makes no sense. The main difference is in the way each has inspired others, not in what each will actually do once in office. It's all part of what Susie identifies as the game. I think Clinton might have the edge on the main task at hand, which is undoing the tremendous damage wrought by the radical reactionaries currently in power (damage which will only increase if McCain gets into office), simply because she was around for the damage control last time. But I suspect Obama is equally up to the task of halting this country's backward movement. The only thing that saddens me is how many people seem to believe there's going to be the slightest chance of forward movement societally after one of these centrist Democrats gets elected. I just can't see that happening any more in my lifetime. Meanwhile, as Mary so eloquently puts it vis a vis the internecine Demo-squabbles, "Can we just stop the crap now?"
• It's so cute the way John Amato thinks the pundits who appear on Countdown are exclusive to Keith Olbermann, rather than part of MSNBC's stock of company players who appear pretty much on everyone's shows! The sooner liberal bloggers get hip to the fact that Olbermann (like Obama) may be more eloquent than his peers very often but the similarities between him and his "rivals" like O'Reilly are greater than their differences, the better off we'll be in the media analysis department.
• Cathie from Canada doesn't get the whole institutionalized racism thing so prevalent in the US.
• Via Petulant at Shakespeare's Sister, Sir Ian McKellan answers email about Lord of the Rings. My favorite quote is about "the fevered imaginations of slashers" (as in slash-fiction fanfic writers).
• More cool stuff from Shakesville -- your pareidolia of the day, and a truly romantic tale that doesn't surprise me at all, since I knew both Steve and Robin before we ever met, Steve via his subscribing to INSIDE JOKE and Robin via the Usenet comic book newsgroups.
• The continuing crisis: Tristero weighs in on anti-American creationists and the nonsense surrounding Expelled, PZ Myers and at least one cephalopod; and Peter David eloquently points to a Bible passage which must have gone over the heads of the parents of poor Madeline Neumann who murdered her with their selective superstition.
• More continuing crises: Kilauea, Antarctica, Arkansas... I know many people don't believe our planet is alive and ever-changing because they don't see those changes happen fast enough for our limited lifespans, but that doesn't mean we have to try to speed them up with our carelessness!
• The world's first pregnant man. Isn't this another sign of the impending apocalypse?
• It's a stupid thing, I guess, but it really upsets me that NASA is being forced to shut down a perfectly good Mars rover, which has worked far beyond what anyone initially expected, because of budget concerns.
• Brave, brave Theresa Tschetter takes on Miss Bimbo, complete with LOLspeak. And Bully pictorially wonders what if Clark Kent worked for Barry White instead of Perry White.
• Nobody, but nobody, writes food porn like Tony Bourdain. My oh my, someone pass me the smelling salts.
Lastly, RIP Richard Widmark. Between this and Neil Aspinall, I'm just tired of famous people dying this week; can we have a moratorium or something?
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