Thursday, December 30, 2010

I Missed You, So I Tried to Write a Poem or Something

And that didn't go so well. I was going for, "It's been so long since I saw your face, you're kinda blurry in my mind's eye now and that sucks because you and me used to be awesome" but it came out like teen angst, so eff that. Point being there's a lot of folks I've been missing lately and I don't do connecting well, let alone reconnecting, so I'm kinda crabby about it. Especially because a good number of the folks I'd like to reconnect with would probably not be so hot to reconnect with me. Still working on the next step, whatever that's supposed to be.

New Year's Eve!

Fzck you 2010, get the hell out!

***

Awesome, wingnuts, just awesome.

Is Danny Davis completely irrelevant yet? How 'bout now?

STFU, Grandpa.

I have so many opinions on this I don't know where to start. Just like the econ policy vs. identity politics issue earlier in the week, there's no way to have a calm, rational discussion in Chicago about the police force. Problems like this are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

***

Megalist!

Uh, what?

I hereby declare 2011 to be the year of the Tiny Dancing Penguin.

Last Link of the Year: A Gorgeous Retrospective

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

wednesday!

Ross Douthat is a piece of crap. Here's my position on "bipartisanship" and compromise: there was no bipartisan compromise to be had on slavery. You either supported slavery or you opposed it, and there was no way legislation could have been crafted that would have "respected" both positions on the issue. There's simply right and wrong, and we chose correctly in enforcing an outright national ban.  The left needs to start getting a whole lot louder about opinions held on the right that neither need or deserve respect. You don't think women are free people? Refuse to acknowledge that climate change is a problem? Then get the fzck out of the way and let the adults work. To wit: "There is a real price to be paid for sacrificing fundamental human rights in the name of compromise."

***
How You're Being Fzcked Today: one

Looters!

This is long but worth it; I feel a whole lot smarter.

Ongoing: Fzck the TSA

A pretty good argument for putting Wired in the doghouse.

The War on Sick People. And the Hollywood War Machine.

File Under: Inhuman Monster President

More on identity politics: one, two

Some good counterarguments in comments, but yeah.

***
I am totally down with this particular Jesus.

Love these.

Gamers: what is wrong with this kid?

Beautiful Words.

Kitties of the Year.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

tuesday!

It's getting harder and harder to come up with interesting ways to linkbait stories this, this or this. I may just switch to a "How the Rich/Elite Are Fzcking You Today: one, two, three" model, because it's all day-to-day variations on the same theme of 'kill the poor.'

John vs. John

And you, of tender years / Can't know the fears that your elders grew by / And so please help them with your youth / They seek the truth before they can die.

"Nothing is more important to the establishment and continuation of a democracy than a rigorous inheritance tax." More here, but take your blood pressure meds before you click through.

I am overwhelmed by the human empathy on display in comments. And related info that's fueling some of the hostility.

Holy fzckballs do I hate Republicans: one, two

Okay, so does this meet the standard for a lawsuit claiming that citizens are being denied a right to a speedy trial? If not, how many vacancies would be enough for folks to make some noise? The current backlog must be outrageous.

Erasing Labor. If you have a job, you are under attack.

This is pretty much the same response I gave Tom when he brought up how much stuff Obama got done before the end of the session.

***

Daley's greatest hits. You can't go in your pants, guys.

LOL

Latest and best evidence that Comedy is the new Truth.

LOVE this.

BUNNIES: one, two

Sqrls! Catbun! Dolphins!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Baby Steps

Trying to get back into writing more mid- to long-form pieces, mainly to exercise my copywriting muscles and hopefully find a new gig. It's almost unbearable. But I'm working on it.

monday!

Must-Click of the Day: I agree in principle on focusing on a "basic economic worldview" but I don't really see how you can separate that from "identity politics." SPK cites "economic and educational inequality" as one of the "true evils" that needs to be addressed, but how could you craft a philosophy addressing those inequalities that *doesn't* consider the racism and sexism issues he dismisses as boondoggles in the previous sentence? I'm guessing he's thinking of policies like the CPS test balloon floated last year re: shifting public school student placement/distribution from a race-based model to a household-income model. There were instantaneous cries of Racism! that had to be addressed when talking about the policy, so even if racism or sexism aren't directly addressed within a given policy proposal, they'll still need to be acknowledged and discussed at some point. You can't just avoid the issues that make people reactionary when you're talking radical economic policy change. Alternate example: I'd consider one of our bigger problems right now (after the Wars and staving off catastrophic entitlement reforms) to be the huge-and-growing prison industry. How the fzck do you talk about sensible prison reform without talking about racism, immigration policy, and prison rape culture? I don't know if it's possible.

***

Yeah, the west side's pretty nice, sure would be a shame if something happened to it. Better get behind Rahm now or suffer the consequences.

Post-mortems on the Net Neutrality compromise: one, two

YES PLS

Re: the notion of a "statute of limitations"--fzck you, Howard Kurtz. The experience and wisdom that comes with age means you have even LESS of an excuse to be a bigot, not more.

The phrase "doubling paid maternity leave" really stuck out for me. I can has, pls?

CRAP

Of *course* he did. And "of course" part two.

***

Somebody put something in Pat Robertson's coffee.

Whoever put this video together had to have suffered brain damage, right?

This doesn't strike me as comprehensive but it's a nice overview.

STFU conservatives is one of my new favorite sites: one, two

Ooh, I want one of these.

This looks really, really good.

***
I have puppy fever something fierce. Should we get a dog, perhaps specifically this one or this one? I love both their wee faces.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

Merry Christmas, freaks!!

I totally thought this song was by Jason Mraz or something. I don't know if Train makes it better or worse. Also, to put on the Grouchy Old Person Hat for a second: Sweet Jebuddha is that a breathtaking Top/Bottom Twenty. Scott Stapp covering Fortunate Son might literally be the worst thing I've ever heard, and I'm including that time in high school when my mom took me to the ER with abdominal pain and they brought in a dude who was in a motorcycle crash and screaming from the road rash. Yeah, I'm committing to that: Scott Stapp is worse than road rash.

I demand to see this Photoshopped immediately.

I am maybe not totally opposed to this idea. Is that nuts?

WTF indeed.

I hope so, it was on my wish list to Santa this year.

It's a Christmas miracle: Mike Huckabee says something not-crazy.

I have no idea what I'm looking at here, but I like it.

And I have absolutely no idea what this is about.

Christian love and charity.

lol ur dead butt.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

tuesday!

Must Click of the Day: "We know that later abortions are necessary because we know why they are requested." The article's a bit long and I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one, but if nothing else, the table at the end of the article is worth a quick read. It's a solid reminder to TRUST WOMEN to know and do what's best for their bodies and their families.

***

Peeling back the onion layers. Related.

Big Money hypocrisy.

File Under: Oh, Grandpa... (Related here and here)

Terrible Ideas: one, two

I signed!

Charming. More wacky racism here and here. (And here!)

Holy sh1t: if this happened in *my* kid's daycare, there would be terrible violence. It wouldn't even have to be my kid, if I just overheard some a-hole say that, sh1t would go down.

WTF

/doomed

***

Awesome Randy Quaid news.

Sweet St. Irony...

Dreamy. I want to go to there.

Wow.

Hey, I am a cool duck. Thank you baby!

WINNAR

Monday, December 20, 2010

monday!

Must Click of the Day: "A Serbian man reportedly has become a hero in Egypt -- by accidentally killing a shark with his butt while drunk."

***

I have a very simple question about this story that it does not address--how the fzck did people think it was OK to hand over their insurance card to some random stranger in a mall? You should never provide your insurance info to anyone other than a doctor or pharmacist, that's how medical ID theft (or fraud, in this case) happens. Morons!

I honestly don't know if I'm more terrified or appalled. The message implied in giving Bachmann Joe McCarthy's old chair is staggering.

I hadn't heard about the child marriage house bill before, and Jill's totally on point about how completely fzcked up it is that the Legislature is all but void of human decency at this point.

Holy crap this makes me want to be violent.

Okay, at least our evangelicals aren't burning Santa in effigy.

***

Your Back to the Future reunion does not include Crispin Glover, your argument is invalid.

Top Science of 2010

Simple sheer genius.

A roundup of Ricky Gervais to improve your Monday. Pug pug!

Cool!

Snowkitties!

There's a new Don Hertzfeldt cartoon! And it is unraveling my head!

Friday, December 17, 2010

happy friday!

Morning Music.

When do we get say "Enough" with this? Who or how many has to die?

Holy crap. Yeah.

WAR: one, two

'Merika!

File Under: Stupid Evil Tech

Sorry, Lifetime Ban, Aszface.

I can't wait to be old and starving.

Oddities: one, two

Funnies: one, two

File Under: Totally Not Gay One Bit

SANTA

Thursday, December 16, 2010

thursday!

Your Must-Click of the Day.

That sounds downright Chinese, yes?

Short Answer: They Can't.

This is maybe not a terrible idea. It certainly won't help or hurt any of us, since we're all good and poor (comparatively, anyway).

Really, bigots? You're going to "reclaim the rainbow"? AHAHAHAHAHA.... Seriously though: I hate to use the term "death throes" but isn't that sort of what's happening with things like that, or even this? It just seems like grasping at straws while the world moves on without you.

Nononononono! Sex tapes have officially jumped the shark.

Evidence of the multiverse. Whoa.

Rowr! Dig those foxy mutton chops.

This made me choke up a little in the good way. Live together, die alone, people.

Tiny violins for Dee Snyder.

Tumblrama! Destroy the rest of your day.

Snowpuppers! And II.

I want to go to there. (full menu also here)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

wednesday!

Science!!

Well of course the Emperor's got no pants on, DUH.

Ding Ding Ding! That's the magic legal citation that makes me bust out the pitchfork. Also this.

Alternatively, New Trier could try to own the fact that occasionally fancy rich-kid schools matriculate inhuman monsters who try to destroy civilization.

THIS

The cold marble hearts of the rich.

Ugh, I feel sick.

Uh, what?

Oh Central Illinois, you so crazy.

Our brains are so easy to trick it freaks me out sometimes.

Ugh, it's like my inner child got kicked in the stomach.

How 'bout that?

Hot Chicks in Batman T-Shirts. (slightly NSFW) You're welcome.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

tuesday!

The 112th GOP House is nutty with extra nuts on top: one, two

And speaking of nuts... (related number fun here)

RON PAUL: one, two

What Bernie Sanders talked about.

$12.3 trillion is incomprehensible all on its own.

Womb warriors, come out to play-ay...

I'll see B@B's $50...

Mmm, exploitative.

Put Illinois to Work was not a perfect program by any means, but it's still going to be a huge loss to see it go, and lots of states are letting similar plans sunset as well, because we're all screwed.

I think maybe everyone is in the wrong here. We are not funding or staffing our police forces in a way that makes any sort of sense any more, or providing services appropriately to residents. Related.

I am seriously considering voting for a Republican. I've had it with this sh1t already.

On impending retirement.

Pow!

I love frogmouths.

Cathelmet! Catmovie! Interspecies LOVIES!!!

Monday, December 13, 2010

monday!

If you only click one link today, click this one. Sorta related here; needless to say I'm pretty damn fed up.

Hey, y'know what? Fzck the Pope.

The young Europeans continue to make our youth look like lazy sh1ts. Related.

Follow Up: The Line of Love

All I can think about is how much money it's going to cost to fix this rather than being spent on something useful.

I love it when the commenters at Chicagoist throw down.

Hey, we win lose! Fzck!

Corruption, globally and locally.

FYI: Spoofing shenanigans.

This is interesting, does anyone know someone who's tried it?

Christian Nightmares.

This.

I continue to be skeptical of the potential quality of the Tempest reboot.

A highly subjective list of music.

Ooh, ooh, I'd like a fancy pencil.

WHY

Snowfun.

I support this "sea kitten" notion.

Friday, December 10, 2010

happy friday!



Who wins A-hole of the Day? This guy. More here.

Oh, it does. And related to this topic: has anyone pointed out how markedly (and dare I say, conveniently) differently the Assange rape charge circus has been handled versus, say, the Polanski rape circus from earlier this year? At what point do we totally lose all illusion regarding political expedience as the primary and sometimes sole driver for government action?

Particle X sounds downright handy.

You have got to be kidding me with this sh1t.

Awesome. Where is my check for $125,000? I figured that's about what I'm owed in lost potential wages over the last ten years due to a rigged economy that allowed a handful of rich fzcks to feel charitable. Pay me.

Sweet!

Hotness from Aaron Sorkin.

This is genius but also terrifying.

This is just stupid.

Words, words, words

jump!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

thursday!

I am not a fan of trigger laws in any form.

Hey, how 'bout that?

Republicans are manipulating the economy for political gain, full stop.

Holy CRAP am I glad I'm not on this jury.

Medicine vs. non-medicine.

/headdesk

WHAT THE FZCK. This better be one of those wacky ideas and not an Actual Thing, or we might have to rename Chicago the Personal Injury Lawsuit Capital of the World.

Glenn Beck does not understand movies. Also the Green Dragon thing continues to amuse.

Jerry Lewis is to France as David Letterman is to Saudia Arabia. Weird.

Cue the Mission: Impossible theme...

Aw, worst ever.

squee!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

wednesday!

FACT. Related here.

I feel so safe. Related here.

This "Black Robe" nonsense makes them sound like Dementors or Nazgul, I can't decide which.

The Dumbening, part XIX.

Your (shrinking) rights.

BOOM. I do not envy the ballistics guys who have to figure out how to do that safely.

#6 is my favorite. Kitty hates Santa!

Unsettling...

I'm with the bona fide folks on this one.

I love love love the Adopt a Dot program.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

tuesday!

"America's prison system is now studied largely because of its failure — the result of an expensive approach to criminal justice shaped by fear-driven ideology." AND PROFIT. The op-ed fails to mention that current conditions are the inevitable result of for-profit corporate prisons treating incarceration of criminals as a market.

WOW. I am overwhelmed by the compassion and stuff.

Hey, so this is terrifying.

This proposal blows my mind. I feel like I'd have to re-learn how to drive.

A monument to our collective paranoia.

Exciting! Related here.

This is fzcking ridiculous. And possibly animal abuse.

/wanttopunch

I think that's actually a mooncake but still, lucky squirrel.

Other people's jobs are more fun than yours.

Monday, December 6, 2010

monday!

I don't know what to say anymore.

Hateful Agendas: one, two, three

Giving up hope: one, two, three, four

This is weird. Not necessarily surprising, but a little weird.

Then give me a reason not to, you a-holes. I am not a junkyard dog and I do not subsist on scraps.

Provocative. I just like the idea of "foodtubes", they remind me of Patton Oswalt's LunchGun.

Minnesota constituents: we've had quite enough, thanks.

I love free speech. And Conan.

Malfunction of the Day.

Ooh, I'm going to use that CNN one.

I need that bumper sticker.

Duckies and kittehs and puppers win the Internets again.

Friday, December 3, 2010

happy friday!

RIP Ron Santo, my mom's favorite Cub.

"Where on earth did people in America get this idea, that we only have a system of justice when it happens to be convenient?"

New blog in my 'roll: The BGA Investigator's Notebook

MayorWars! The new reality show airing in 2011 following the antics of Chicago machine politics! Now featuring forgery, homeless sex offenders and Rahm! Rahm! Rahm!

Good. This is another one of those times when the Taser was used to try to force compliance rather than address an immediate threat, and that's not what they're intended for. (And I'm glad they caught the kid, besides. He sounds delightful.)

This Photoshop job is haunting.

Me too, me too! I'll be the best sister-wife evar.

File Under: Justice, Nostalgia

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh Irony, I love you so.

Oh man, talking about how much Bob Seger sucks never gets old.

Points to Johnny Marr.

lol "nuts"

"looking at the kitchen cabinet" is my obvious favorite.

Mm, sacri-licious. And some tasty bipartisanship.

I love the Muppets. And I love burlesque. But I do not love them together. Get yer tasseled nips off my childhood, pls. (NSFW)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

thursday!

Steve King is one dumb motherfzcker: one, two

What is there to be "torn" about, exactly? Millionaires are the only people left with actual money to tax.

This sounds suspiciously like Joe Scarborough thinks *he* should be the first TeeVee President. There's no reason to call her out so publicly like that unless you're either challenging her, or planning a dramatic pivot to the left and he wants the manufactured drama to call attention to the affiliation switch, but I can't believe that good ol' Dead Intern Joe is going to jump the GOP ship.

ACTION ITEM: Support Net Neutrality and Title II Classification for Internet Providers. Anything else is a joke and we know it. Call the FCC Chairman: 202-418-1000 and save the Internets. (hat tip to Sam Seder) More info here.

Cute. I can't wait for him to go to prison.

The factchecking in this Anderson Cooper segment is gorgeous. More like it, pls.

Continuing yesterday's theme of Racists Be Racist, Yo.

Love this new formatting standard.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

wednesday!

Smart things we won't do.

This interview with Julian Assange is fascinating (particularly this), and the implications of the latest megaleak for HRC seem dire. More items here and here.

Delightful. Shouldn't the headline read, "Boehner's CoS meets with terrorists"?

WHAT

Kill the death penalty.

Semantics: one, two

Strength in numbers.

So this makes us what, dragonlovers? That sounds kinda cool, actually.

Smirking conceit aside, a Tycho Brahe biopic would be freaking sweet. Or better: an HBO/Showtime miniseries, a la Rome.

omg THIS

Squidworm!

I like the idea and execution in these. I'm not a bored sophomore, though.

Initially this set off my feminist alarm, but then I had to check myself and say, "Dude, you're watching GWAR."

I want to squish Cricket the kitten.

/frolicking

lol awesome