I don’t have cable television. I’m only allowed to leave the house on special occasions, and then only if I have an envelope of coupons somewhere on my person. The last book I was able to finish reading in one sitting involved a bunny and pictures … excuse me, illustrations, that were larger than the Sunday paper. So, you won’t be getting a Best Book/Music/Event That Happened Outside My Immediate Realm of Consciousness list from me. What you will get is … well, just read, and you’ll find out.

Biggest Whoop-Ass of 2004: Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, and Jon. Proof that Mother Nature hates mosquitos as much as she hates bowties.

He’ll win one for the Gipper with God, now. Nothing can bring Republicans and Democrats together like a shared love of jelly beans.

I’m pretty sure the Gipper spoke to the Bambino about this, too.

Best News Stories that Never Happened: Michael Jackson shut out of Olympics, runs to Bubbles the Chimp for comfort, they wed. Paris Hilton found in menage a trois with Rosie O’Donnel and Rupert from Survivor. Hillary Clinton purchases small town in Iowa, renames it I Hate Lewinsky-ville.

Best Idea I Wish I Had Come Up With: Sure, it’s pretty, but can it hold spare change? (Click HERE to see it up close and personal.)

Oh, yeah, and speaking of pussies …

…here’s one who’s clearly going straight to Hell.

And finally, and most importantly: Most In Need of Our Help. Find a relief organization, send whatever you can: money, prayers, yourself. Please.

(*Cross-posted at The Un-Common Tater)

Of all the objects, places, concepts, and titanic forces at play in 2004, the most monumental, influential, and ascendant is surely the blog. Laying total waste to all previous conceptions of what “news” and “media” mean, blogs have completely transformed how we parrot talking points - and have radically altered the world of media in 2004.

It was the blogosphere that single-handedly dethroned Dan Rather, somehow managing to promote the view that an unpopular septuagenarian newscaster had a liberal bias. To topple the iron edifice that was Fortress Rather, intrepid bloggers had to overcome not only the deep vein of public and private support for the nation’s last-place news network, but the remarkable solidarity of the modern news media, which might resist for minutes, or even hours, the urge to devour its own in a Darwinian feeding frenzy. As a triumph of media manipulation, this nearly outranks the feat of making Trent Lott look like an awkward old Dixiecrat.

It was the blogosphere which kept on the George Bush National Guard story long after it was ignored in the 2000 campaign, and while the mainstream media continued to overlook the issue until a casual remark made by Michael Moore in the primaries, it was the blogosphere and the blogosphere alone which used the scandal to cleverly dub Mr. Bush “aWol.”

It was the blogosphere that had the courage, perspective and sense of history to repeatedly note its truly singular role in the worldwide media apparatus. These courageous citizen newshounds doggedly pursued the big story of the year that Big Media didn’t want you to know about: that they were really important. And indeed, of all the news stories, ideas, or “memes” pushed by the blogosphere, this critical news story was broken by bloggers even harder than any other.

The accomplishments of blogs are too exhaustive to examine here, so the Medium Lobster will not bother to more than mention the successful campaigns to influence media coverage on the dangers of electronic voting, the mendacity of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and the pernicious and monstrous embrace of torture as an official policy of the United States.

Congratulations, blogs: you are pioneers of the future. Who cares if you matter in the present?

Today’s the last day to spare Christopher Frankonis (aka The One True B!x) and the blue city of Portland, OR. (And note that Elaine of Kalilily is his Mom, not his Grandma)

Remember, your help today can win him huge bonuses, so let’s all dig in and help, okay?

(On other action items, nominations for the Perranoski Prizes and entries to the poetry contest are closed)

Even in the logical debate about Social Security, General Glut says there’s a missing moral element. He’s made a persuasive case, because politics is not the art of the logical; emotions serve as guides. And the moral dimension he argues we should make? The importance of providing ‘hope’.

Chris Bowers says the ‘War on Terror’ is a conservative frame that can never be won by a Democrat, and urges us to abandon it.

I’d argue that rejection of the way something gets framed has to be done early or it’s too late. It is so established that it can’t be rejected now. The only choice remaining is co-option.

The War on Poverty was failing to deliver by the 1980s so liberals co-opted it, calling it a War on the Poor. Likewise, the War on Terror will eventually require a similar co-option. Perhaps it can be mutated tom The War of Error.

But for the moment, with Al Qaida not attacking our shores for three years, and the most visible annoyance to millions of Americans has been the breast-groping airport screenings, the War on Terror is believed to be a success by the majority. You can’t easily co-opt a perceived success, nor can you dismiss such an entrenched frame.

For now, we can only hammer away at known facts. How many Americans died globally under Carter? Under Reagan? How many died on US soil on their watches? President by President, make the numerical comparisons. Even if no attacks on US soil come, Americans will be terrorized elsewhere Eventually, it may show that Bush is no better at ending attacks on Americans elsewhere on the globe. And it should sink in that he was the worst by far domestically, as the 9-11 attacks exceeded all others, colossally.

The best existing co-option, however, would be tying the practice of torture and sexual humiliation to the War on Terror. Or, if they project larger numbers of terrorists than they eliminate, perhaps it could be labelled the War Against Simple Math, because the numbers say their approach is losing the war.

The bottom line is to always anticipate wars against foreign bogey men to be the basic fear pushed by any GOP candidate for President. Commies, Ayatollahs, and terrorists were the memes they pushed since the McCarthy era. All roved weaker than advertised in the end though the Soviet Communist nuclear arsenal was, at least, an intensely serious real threat.

This war is really a war to protect our energy supply that requires us to prop up repressive governments which inevitably produces a backlash of guerrilla actions defined as terror. Presenting the outcome of the terror those repressive regimes cause to their own citizens is a thankless task. But we created the Shah (and his Savak), Saddam (and his chemical weapons) and others who terrorized their own, which is how we created our greatest enemies. That will never matter to the “America-Right-Or-Wrong” crowd. But as the last few elections showed, we only need to persuade 2% more than we do today.

Prevent new frames from being built and chip away at the dishonesty of this current frame. But refusal to accept the accepted frame risks looking like an abandonment of the fight against dangerous enemies. Continually asking why Bin Laden remains free is by far the better strategy, still. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater in pursuit of persuading just 2%.

Here’s some descriptions of the terror-filled hours as the tsunamis struck at the center of the killing zone.

A 29 photo essay.

The hardest photo to consider.

(As a personal aside, in moments like these, when I consider the prospect of a conscious deity, I am not prone to pay homage but wonder how such a cruel God can be overthrown.)

Jack Balkin on the old memos:

Beyond the simple incompetence of these memos, however, is their misunderstanding of the duties of Justice Department lawyers. The Justice Department does not represent the President. It represents the nation. The Justice Department, and particularly the OLC, is not supposed to tell the President how he can get away with whatever he wants to get away with. Rather, its job is to explain to the President how to ensure that the laws be faithfully executed, as the U.S. Constitution puts it. These memos fail that test. Indeed, they go out of their way to make questionable claims about the scope of the President’s power, arguing at one point that far from having a duty to faithfully execute the laws, the President is not bound by them at all. These memos do not read as if the authors were acting as counsel for the nation. They read as if someone in the White House told them to write a memo that stretched the law as much as possible in order to conclude that the President can do whatever he wants.

These memos make bad legal arguments. But quite apart from their incompetence, they are also bad lawyering; they misunderstand the ethical role of the government lawyer.

For signing off on them, Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee was nominated to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a few other quaint notions of his drew objections.

Clearly, he’s on the promotional path:

Supreme Court Justices William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia held the same position before their respective Supreme Court nominations.

Among other things he’s argued:

- In High-Tech Gays v. Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (F.2d, 1990) Bybee defended a mandatory screening process for all “known or suspected [to be]” gay employees arguing that their participation in “acts of sexual misconduct or perversion [are] indicative of moral turpitude, poor judgment, or lack of regard for the laws of society.”

- He has also argued in a law review article that “homosexuals” are “emotionally unstable” and that banning discrimination based on sexual orientation creates “preferences” favoring “homosexuals,” instead of protecting them. (a)

- As a states’ rights advocate, Bybee argues that because “the federal courts have an affirmative obligation to enhance state powers and limit Congressional power,” acts such as the Violence Against Women Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act are unconstitutional. (b)

- Bybee disagrees with the 17th Amendment, which calls for the popular election of senators, claiming it is a “failed system gone awry” that can only be remedied by “returning to election of the U.S. Senate by state legislatures.” (b)

- In an amicus brief, he supported the tax exempt status of Bob Jones University, despite its discriminatory policy barring interracial dating. (b)

Confirmed in the waning hours before the kickoff of George Bush’s Excellent Adventure in the legendary Quest for the Holy Weapons of Mass Destruction, Bybee’s pro-torture memos were given final review by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez, who now awaits confirmationn to be the next Attorney General.

And a fresh set of rules has just been written:

The Justice Department memo, dated Thursday, was released less than a week before the Senate Judiciary Committee was to consider Bush’s nomination of his chief White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general.

Democrats have said they would question Gonzales closely on memos he wrote that were similar to the now-disavowed Justice Department documents that critics said appeared to justify torture.

The release also coincided with continuing revelations of possible detainee abuse, most recently a series of memos from FBI agents uncovered in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit alleging instances of Defense Department wrongdoing during a variety of interrogations.

The new Justice Department memo sets a far different tone, beginning with this sentence: “Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms.”

The document, again directly contradicting the previous version, says torture need not be limited to pain “equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.”

Imagine Attorney General Gonzalez arguing before the Scalia-Bybee court in behalf of the right of Southern States to secede from the Union…

See? There’s a silver lining in every clown.

The White House has refused comment on whether pointy-hoods would become official accessories to the new judicial robewear line, issuing this statement:

“The President, Colonel Bush, has indicated he’s not to be bothered during his cooking classes with Miss Condoleeza Rice, especially while they’re reviewing her brown sugar recipes.”

Having lost his connection for Giant Sumatran Ratbud just three weeks before the biggest party of his life, he sent his top gangstas, Salt ‘n’ Pepa, into the hood, determined to score ‘the kind’ for his special guests at the January 20th bash.

“Mon, you gotta get me some spliff,” he explained to his emissaries, “otherwise all I have is R-2 for my lady, and the hangover from that always makes her one ferocious bee-yotch.”

Jeb concurred and , turning to the P-Train, said “Rufus, you get me in and out in one piece and we’ll stop in Bangkok for a taste of dat sex slave trade I promised ya, okay, Mr. P?”

Trouble:

The entire staff of the independent electoral commission in the Iraqi northern city of Mosul, amounting to about 700 employees, have resigned amid growing violence in the country.

Staff members said on Thursday their resignation followed threats they received in the past few days. The withdrawal of the Iraqi Islamic Party from the election also figured in their decision, Aljazeera has learned.

In a related move that could affect the 30 January elections, Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s political office announced it was taking legal action against the interim Iraqi government for alleged torture and murder of its members.

Fadhil al-Shara, an al-Sadr official, said the legal action focused on the Iraqi police in Hilla, who are alleged to have arrested 15 al-Sadr supporters in the town and tortured another four to death.

And the candidates for Miss Congeniality are kicking the crap outa the generals. If it gets much worse, this’ll look like an Ohio election.

For more tsunami info, also see Part 1, Part 3 , Part 4, charities that two members recommended, and more photos and descriptions,

First, I should note that the hardest hit areas were Aceh and Sumatra, in Indonesia. Aceh is about the poorest region of the country, which condition helped foster a separatist movement there. And it’s possible that it could take outside relief workers two weeks to get into the area because of Indonesian government restrictions being imposed. At a moment like this, it demonstrates that bureaucrats of corrupt governments are little more than worthless dingleberries serving their master turds. ( :: fume, grumble, grumble, scowl :: )

India’s losses are small enough that it doesn’t require the assistance of outside governments. But Indonesia’s hurting.

Elsewhere, as I noted already (in Part 1), for US charities and some international ones, Charity Navigator’s ratings can help. This site, however, categorizes them, which’ll help you understand what each one does, to a degree. And this one simply tries to list them all, without rating them. Best of all is Benjamin Rosenbaum, who compiled ratings and created a useful chart that’s easily read.

While you’re there, look for ‘on the scene’, ‘Photo Gallery’ for some top notch photos (Note: #6 in that series is the most disturbing and graphic I’ve seen that demonstrates how merciless the tsunami was and what survivors must bear.)

Finally, the Tsunami Help group mentioned in Part 1 also set up this wiki database. Using its sidebar can get you to key info quickly.

The toll now exceeds 125,000 dead.

Now, to the rest…

Photos and solo bloggers

I won’t be posting video sites because many have removed their videos because the bandwidth broke their banks. And others are very hard to surf to at all due to the huge traffic demand. So here’s a few picture sites.

From Penang, Malaysia.

Another from Penang.

Vincent Thian’s AP photos from Sri Lanka.

67 impressive photos from Phuket Thailand.

First day photos, via an Australia paper.

An award-winning American travel-writer with a top-notch tsunami photo-collection from Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.

An American in Java, Indonesia.

A Chinese lady in Penang, Malaysia, adds a few noteworthy links and photos.

Brand New Malaysian exhibits a lot of heart in his blog entries.

AlwaysWow! is another technologically astute Malaysian or Singapore blogger worth your purview.

The American site, BoingBoing, has posted at least one dailu entry with useful tsunami relief info.

An excellent Thai newsfeed with good photos, too.

Sri Lanka blog with sidebar links useful if looking for survivors and victims.

Regular SMS reports from a Sri Lanka blogger reporting whatever he observes and discovers, which has moments of intensity.

Jeff Ooi’s blog is one to visit often, for its broad coverage. Here he provides background on the founders of the SEA-EAT blog, which permits me to segue onto the collectives I mentioned.

ABC News blogger and photographer Kevin Sites is now blogging from Thailand, and is always worth a read.

And Mitch Wagner of InternetWeek has been covering a lot of the blogs and sites in use as a response to the tsunami.

Finally, Technorati can be used as a newsfeed such as this.

In addition to all these sources, there’s been a movement afoot to build social networks that wed blogging technology to humanitarian and philanthropic efforts. For any truly bleeding hearts, here’s a few noteworthy ones where you can invest yourself, with a brief explanation of each:

Read the rest of this entry »

I hate typical year-end roundups. I�€™m fonder of atypical versions. Let�€™s try one. Coming into 2004 was a lot more pleasant than leaving it. This was the year Americans awoke to the horrors of conservatism and the new era in liberal politics arrived. This was the �€œmost important election of our lives.�€� Hey, we got it half right. Democracy did triumph over a shadowy cabal of secretive leaders intent on subverting the will of the people, just not in this country. It was to Kiev that people were planning to immigrate after our own grotesque failure, wasn�€™t it?

Well, anyway, here we go, my best effort at heterodoxy.

Words
Joe-mentum
Recess Appointment
527
Spider Hole
Swift Boat
Loofa
Abu Ghraib
Intelligent Design
Permanent Moon Settlement

Quotes
�€œNews is what powerful people want to keep hidden; everything else is publicity.�€�
–Bill Moyers

�€œI think it speaks very much to the health of the nation that 70-plus percent of Americans want to abolish the death tax, because they see it as fundamentally unjust. The argument that some who played at the politics of hate and envy and class division will say, ‘Yes, well, that’s only 2 percent,’ or as people get richer 5 percent in the near future of Americans likely to have to pay that tax.

�€œI mean, that’s the morality of the Holocaust. ‘Well, it’s only a small percentage,’ you know. ‘I mean, it’s not you, it’s somebody else.’ �€œ
–Grover Norquist, comparing taxation of the wealthy to the holocaust

“There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a gathering threat to America and others.�€�
–Dubya

�€œI promise you this, if George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election, it’s that simple.�€�
–Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma

�€œLet me tell you, we�€™ve just begun to fight. We�€™re going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I�€™ve ever seen. It�€™s scary.�€�
–Kerry, on Bush (presciently), in March

“Already, the Kay report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.”
–Dubya, 2004 SotU

“Go fuck yourself.”
–Dick Cheney, to Democratic Senator Pat Leahy

“If they don’t have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, `I don’t want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers … if they don’t have the guts, I call them girlie men.”
–The Governator, to California Dems

Numbers
1200 - US troop deaths in Iraq, 2004 (through 23 Dec)
42 - Percent who still believe Saddam was involved in 9/11
3.4% - Amount unadjusted median incomes have fallen since Bush took office
1,535 - Dollars that translates into
120,000 - Minimum number of deaths due to the Indonesian Tsunami
4.3 million - Number of Americans falling into poverty since Bush took office

There are many agencies ready and waiting to take donations for tsunami relief. I have posted a list of these agencies, with links, at my personal website. Sri Lanka and Indonesia are likely to have the greatest need for humanitarian support. In Sri Lanka alone, over one million people have been displaced. Among them are tens of thousands of pregnant and nursing women, who are especially susceptible to waterborne diseases and require emergency medical attention and trauma counseling.

I want to make readers aware of one of those agencies, which is called MADRE.
MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works in partnership with women’s community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide. MADRE specializes in assisting displaced women and families, offering them crucial trauma counseling which will help them cope with the deaths of their children and other loved ones, gradually heal from their trauma, and begin to rebuild.

MADRE has chosen to partner with INFORM. They are part of a regional network of women’s groups that can reach out immediately to many different communities at at time such as this.

MADRE can be found on several websites (including Charity Navigator and GuideStar) that rate the business practices and overall effectiveness of charities.

Donation information can be found HERE.

Say hi to Limerick Savant, who posts breaking news in limerick form. On 12/28, his take on the lack of warnings given for the tsunami was:

Wave of indifference

Tens of thousands have gone to their grave,
Whom a warning might easily save.
A child cries for mommy
When, like the tsunami,
We dismiss her with simply a wave.

Brilliant.

And on that note, tonight at midnight ends our poetry contest, so be sure to get your entries in!

Death total now: 114,000 with nearly 80,000 in Indonesia alone.

In light of the deadliest tsunami in recorded history, the capacity of technology’s best and brightest to add to disaster relief efforts was an expressed concern of AnonyMoses here.

Since 5 am Monday, about 2/3rds of my posts have covered breaking news, needs, and groups trying to help with the tsunami relief effort. This will be a comprehensive overview of immediate ways to help, and longterm solutions being devised by tech-heads, along with some history of their work.

The latter deserves attention because well-meaning people around the globe are setting up sites solo, when united efforts are better able to deliver (no knock intended to Arun Balaji; I hope he reads this post and brings his effort to the groups I’ll describe).

Info for Hands-on Volunteers in Stricken Countries

From Alexandra Olson at Salon:

Dec. 29, 2004 | Dead bodies cannot cause disease outbreaks, the Pan American Health Organization said Wednesday, hoping to avert mass burials of tens of thousands of unidentified victims from the tsunami in Asia and Africa.

There is no danger of corpses contaminating water or soil because bacteria and viruses cannot survive in dead bodies, said Dana Van Alphan, an adviser to the organization’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief.

She said it was important for survivors to be allowed to identify loved ones and urged authorities in tsunami-stricken countries to avoid burying unidentified corpses in mass graves.

“I think that psychologically, people have to be given the chance to identify their family members,” she said. “Whatever disease the person has while still alive poses no threat to public health in a corpse.”

Van Alphan warned, however, that rescue officials handling recently deceased bodies should wear gloves to avoid contact with blood. But she emphasized that any bacteria or virus in the blood would die almost immediately in the open.

The greatest impediment to relief at the moment is transportation into stricken areas. Relief supplies are piling up in some locations, but with roads washed away, moving the relief is the hardest to achieve. (Known relief orgs can move volunteers for free via these India airlines.)

In the comments sections of blogs set up to coordinate info, it’s also clear there’s many willing hands ready to head to the scene, but they’re looking for info on how to achieve that. Helicopters, four wheel drive vehicles and boats are obviously the transportation needed most. Considering the size of the societies involved and their technology at hand, it would seem that India, Thailand, and Indonesia should be working on that first and foremost. And don’t just wait for the governments; if you live within a day’s drive, and have these conveyances, head to the scene and offer to chauffeur. And pack a few 5 gallon cans of petrol or gasoline; supplies of these may be thin in the areas of devastation.

And pack enough food and water for yourself for at least a week. Most hungry people can hold out for a week without food, if they can stay hydrate, so extra water will probably help, too. Cellphones and extra batteries for them would be advisable, too.

Who needs the help most? In pure fatalities and destroyed infrastructure, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives fared the worst. Myanmar/Burma’s repressive government may be shielding its real damages from outsiders, but it’s unlikely amateur relief providers would even want to work there. But faalities alone don’t tell the story. Nearby India and Thailand took serious damages, but so did faraway Somalia, where some estimate 50,000 are homeless. Malaysia, Bangladesh and Tanzania round out the ten with the likely greatest needs, though the top three to seven likely need all the help they can get.

Mark Schapiro of Salon provides the best report on the Maldives that I’ve found.

Major sites for all kinds of info useful to anyone concerned

The top continues to be the hastily organized The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog, also called the ‘SEA-EAT’ blog. Check this one often. Though the information ranges all over the place, it’s a vital source.

For Indonesia specifically, try Indonesia Help or SEA-EAT’s last Indonesia-specific post.

For Thailand specifically, SEA-EAT’s post here is a good starting point.

As I noted, SEA-EAT keeps adding useful info like that so check there several times daily. And they publish in the following languages:

German
Spanish
French
Italian
Portugese
Japanese
Korean
Chinese

For India specifically, IndiaTogether also offers useful info, on this page as well. ASHA, an organization dedicated to educating India’s underprivileged children, that has many US chapters, is also doing small-scale relief efforts in numerous villages. They’ve launched ASHA’S Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation blog. You can leave comments there if you have questions or wish to help.

Info for people wishing to donate money, goods, effort or anything

Quickly assembled charities should be treated with suspicion. Though some are likely aboveboard, scammers abound amid disasters. In addition to the map and casualty list noted here, I offered advice for donors. Pay particular attention to the final link there, to Charity Navigator, as their assessment of the groups involved narrows to seven those that measure up best in their ratings.

Info for people seeking to locate missing people

The SEA-EAT bloggers set up the Tsunami Missing People blog. Ask questions or leave info in the comments, or contact Paolo Di Maio via this form. She’s a London based engineer and publisher who seems to be posting most of the info at the TMP site.

General breaking news sites

Besides SEA-EAT, an older humanitarian relief blog exists. It culls news stories, reports from UN and government agencies, and publishes as ReliefWeb. For the tsunami info, that aggregated info is here. Be sure to check their sidebar links as well.

HEWS (Humanitarian Early Warning System) provides a daily look at natural disaster events occurring globally.

There are several news aggregator sites you could supplement these with. Anything from Google News: tsunami to Indonesia: NewsTrove to NewsTrove: tsunami should provide plenty.

Individuals and Collectives, short and long-term

There’s many an individual blogger covering this. There’s also some collectives with a past record and longer-term goals in this, that extend beyond this disaster. I’ll cover all the most useful ones I’ve found later today, in ‘Tsunami Blogs, Pt. 2′.

This helps in the comprehension of what happened and who got hardest hit.

So what should you and I be doing at this point?

1) Flood your congressional reps and the White House with phone calls and emails. Insist they push to get aid moving FASTER. Now is not the time to direct blame at anyone. Make that clear and push them to hurry instead.

2) Contact your local Red Cross to see if there’s a demand for donated blood. If so, go donate.

3) Monitor relief sites to see what’s needed. And give. I still think Mercy Corps is the list topper in terms of practical impact coupled with low overhead operations. Here’s their ‘latest news’ page. And here’s a way to evaluate them all. (Click on each to see how they stack up- all seven of these they listed get the highest ratings between 62 and 65).

In some areas of the tsunami-ravished, volunteers are getting in to spread relief while governments dither.

In fact, as these comments show, there’s many wishing to travel there to volunteer hands-on, with little to direct them who to speak with and how to get there.

Maybe it’s because bureaucrats don’t understand hunger? I bet if we ordered them not to eat till at least one village has received their aid, they’d gain the motivation that they’re lacking now.

An unparallelled relief response is necessary right now, and the early signs say it’s not there yet.

With people already falling ill in Sri Lanka and Indonesians desperately hungry in the hardest-hit areas, it doesn’t appear to be money that’s in short supply.

What’s needed is the political will and muscle to exceed what was done in Berlin a half century ago: a massive airlift of food, water and medical supplies, with medical personnel helicoptored in.

But where’s the political leader ready to call the shots and make it happen? Of the world’s four biggest countries - China, India, the US and Indonesia - representing nearly 3 billion people, it seems someone must emerge to save tens of thousands of lives.

Or do today’s leaders fall short on the talent and will? Ultimately the world will judge the outcome: can they walk the talk?

87,000 dead and the counting not done….

Louis Farrakhan sends his condolences to the tsunami victims, then adds:

Unfortunately, these are the things that were prophesied to come as a sign of the end of this system of things. Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars, and nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, pestilence and famine; and these are the beginning of sorrows. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come.

When did Reverend Louis become a red state evangelical? As long as his condolences style ranks him among the most sacred of schmucks, I thought I’d add my own, for him and the folks living with one eye on the Rapture Index.

According to our embedded reporters in Heaven, Margaret Bourke-White and Ida Wells Barnett, “on Sunday, December 26th, the Rapture occurred. The Lord God, Yahweh ‘Allah’ Buddha-Vishnu, sends his condolences to those who didn’t measure up, but promises to send clearer instructions to the next universe he plans to build.”

NAGAPPATTINAM, India (AP) - Residents fled their homes after authorities in southern India advised coastal areas to evacuate Thursday, warning there could be fresh tsunamis.

The alert was issued following information that several aftershocks in the region had pushed up the water level, said an official at the emergency control room set up by India’s Home Ministry in New Delhi. An estimated 5.7-magnitude underwater earthquake was recorded by the Hong Kong observatory at 5:18 a.m., northwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, close to the epicentre of last Sunday’s temblor. Other quakes were felt in Thailand and Myanmar.

Residents panicked at the warnings.

If they really wanted to be safe, they should have set up a system like our terror alert one. Then everytime they flashed an orange alert, their residents would immediately vote for Bush, who has only has had one tsunami occur on his watch, and won’t let gay tsunamis marry.

In his first public appearance since losing by 129 votes to Gregoire in the statewide hand recount, Rossi brushed aside the suggestion that he was a sore loser and said the uncertainty in the prolonged electoral battle undermines trust in the state election process.

“The people of Washington deserve to know that their governor was elected fair and square,” he read from a letter he had sent to Gregoire. “A revote would be the best solution … and would give us a legitimate governorship.”

Gregoire, who is to be certified this morning as the winner, had not seen the letter Wednesday evening, but her spokesman said that she rejects the idea.

“There is no good reason to spend $4 million of taxpayer money on a new election just because you do not like the results of this one,” Gregoire spokesman Morton Brilliant said.

At 10 a.m. today, Secretary of State Sam Reed will certify the election results. Gregoire, who will be sworn into office Jan. 12, was expected to make a statement following the certification.

The Nov. 2 election was the closest race for governor in state history. Rossi emerged with a 261-vote lead after the first tally and a 42-vote lead after a machine recount. But in the hand tally, Gregoire enjoyed a reversal of fortune, picking up enough votes to win by 129.

No more ballot counts are allowed under state law.

While Rossi can legally challenge the results, he admitted Wednesday that he and his advisers have not found any evidence of the fraud that would be needed to force setting aside the results and holding a new election.

You know the drill. The world’s smallest violin. You can hear it, right? Unlike the 2000 election, there’s no evidence of fraud. And percentagewise, her margin of victory is bigger than Bush’s was in 2000.

Illegit guvnor? Sorry, Mr. Rossi, she’s clearly got a mandate. In fact, if Oregon doesn’t quickly destroy its chemical munitions at Umatilla, I believe she has the right to kill at least 50,000 of us based on an email she got from Nigeria.

I think Mark Kleiman should get the contract to do this, at about $5 billion on a no-bid contract. His tsunami warning system is way too sensible for a government to attempt though.

And you thought you had a dysfunctional family Christmas….

Geeze, they sure didn’t look like Texans. Of course, Texans all look the same to me: maniacal and drunk, pounding their bare chests.

(my apologies to my Texan friends, though I keep warning them the pod people will get them, too, unless they flee to New Mexico.)

Verdict: “Total devastation.”

Needs: “Tents, blankets, clean water and emergency medical supplies.”

Immediate assessments of costs for relief efforts, by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): $127,470,000. Principally for the three hardest-hit countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

MSNBC blogging journalist pitches for more US aid.

From the land of good chocolate and cuckoo clocks, there may come the next terror detaineee we can torture:

Some detainees used the lawsuits and hearings to claim they were victims of torture. Others claimed the only evidence against them was gathered by torture.

Though denying there has been torture at Guantanamo, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Brian Boyle acknowledged the military panels would consider evidence gathered by torture in foreign countries even though such statements have been barred from U.S. courts for 70 years because of unreliability.

Once described by the government as “the worst of the worst” of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, the detainees turn out also to include drivers, cooks, religion teachers and others.

Some claim they were coerced into helping the Taliban or were involved in charity work unconnected to al-Qaida or the Taliban. Some were picked up in Europe and Africa.

Government attorneys warn that al-Qaida gives its trainees innocent cover stories to use if captured.

But Boyle acknowledged that the U.S. military’s worldwide effort to seize al-Qaida supporters hypothetically could detain a “little old lady in Switzerland” who donated money to a charity that she didn’t know was an al-Qaida front group.

This leaves open all sorts of possibilities. Will we be detainees for giving money to Greenpeace or Earth First? Or to the funds that support the group with WMDs that launched a war of aggression against millions of innocents (you know, the RNC and the IRS)?

America: land of swiss cheese justice, with holes galore.

We can see the ghostly glove of The Uncensured One in the tactics of the opposition forces in the Ukraine. Delay in choosing their new President is because our hand-picked puppet (instead of Russia’s) was schooled in some advanced American political methods. But the incumbent has thrown a new curve ball which may comfort those still crying over spilled ketchup here at home.

No doubt you recognized the tactic of the crowds which surrounded the government and intimidated their highest court into overturning election results they didn’t like. That’s right, it’s what The Exterminator sent his minions to do to local election officials in Florida in 2000. And who better than that pesticide promoter himself to inspire the first-round loser’s medical judo in the re-run? Not even The Rovinator was as clever. After Our Noble Lame Duck’s wardrobe malfunction was spotted in the first debate, he only planted the easily deniable tale that it was a radio receiver, knowing no one would claim to have fed the candidate those answers. This desperate measure worked as a cover, since it was much better than admitting we had two heart patients on the ticket.

Yush The Lush topped even this for chutzpah. When his vodkaphilia sent him fleeing to jet set desiccators, they cleverly blamed it instead on medically absurd claims of poisoning. This wrapped him in a winding sheet of martyrdom without the bother of actually deceasing, thus letting him have his own murder and avenge it too at the polls. But now the Kremlin’s catspaw has devised an insidious argument to trump that:

Mission of observers CIS-EMO (autonomous non-commercial organization of election process observance in CIS Member States) contains about 150 persons from Byelorussia, Moldova, Russia and Tadjikistan. At to-day�€™s press conference representative of the mission Roman Tkach among violations has distinguished election propaganda, which is prohibited during the voting day, in the form of numerous orange marks in the streets.

Warning: if this works, we should expect The Ketchup Consort’s frustrated Recount Revenge Rangers to adopt a variant of this Spectrum Strategy in Ohio. We can imagine the J’Accuse we’d hear from Jackson père et fils:

Democratic voters were subliminally intimidated at polling places across the country. In every case they had to drive by intersections where they saw huge government-posted signs or lights that were all bright red. This color cleverly crept into their consciousness and caused committed ceruleans to cast crimson ballots instead. Hide those hues which tinted the contest, and make the scarlet streets color-blind again.

While people debate how much aid the US should give to the tsunami-decimated countries, stock market speculators are cleaning up:

10:23am 12/28/04
Shares of companies seen benefiting from quake surge (CLWT, ANLT, BTHS, SDIX, NYER, NGRU, TAYD, ARTL) By Mark Cotton
NEW YORK (CBS.MW)– A number of companies expected to see a surge in demand for their products after the weekend disaster in South and Southeast Asia, saw their shares soar in morning trading Tuesday. Hong Kong-based Euro Tech Holdings (CLWT) was the biggest percentage gainer on the Nasdaq as investors anticipated a jump in orders for its range of advanced water treatment and power generation equipment. U.S-listed shares were last up 44 percent, at $6.29. Nyer Medical Group Inc (NYER) , which distributes equipment and medical supplies to emergency service companies, saw its shares rise 41 percent, to $4.14. Also, shares of Analytical Surveys Inc (ANLT) rose 27 percent, to $3.23. The company offers data and management services for the water and waste water industries and oil and gas utilities. Elsewhere, shares of Strategic Diagnostics (SDIX) , which provides test kits for food safety and water quality, climbed 12.3 percent, to $3.84. Meanwhile, Benthos Inc (BTHS) shot up 40 percent, to $21.77 on expectations of increased demand for its inspection equipment used to evaluate the quality of seals in food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical packages. The Aristotle Corp (ARTL) , which supplies teaching aids for medical staff and health products such as sterile sampling containers, climbed 16 percent, to $8. Finally, shares of Taylor Devices Inc (TAYD) extended a 170 percent gain in the prior session, climbing a further 26 percent, to $8.50 on expectations of a jump in orders for its earthquake protection technology.

More info here.

If you like making money off technology in emergency applications, you might also want to consider IRSN for its thermal viewer, potentially an alternative to night vision goggles. Or howzabout IMX for its explosives detection technology that will revolutionize airport screenings?

It’d be nice to speculate that folks getting rich off this stuff will donate a portion to charitable organizations as well. Personally, I tend to lag in pursuit of profit that comes as a result of other peoples’ grief.

Updating something I posted this morning …

In today’s Washington Post that grumblings from us peasants have somehow reached His Majesty’s ears.

As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in morning television appearances, chafed at a top U.N. aid official’s comment on Monday that wealthy countries were being stingy with aid. “The United States is not stingy,” Powell said on CNN.

Although U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland yesterday withdrew his earlier comment, domestic criticism of Bush continued to rise. Skeptics said the initial aid sums — as well as Bush’s decision at first to remain cloistered on his Texas ranch for the Christmas holiday rather than speak in person about the tragedy — showed scant appreciation for the magnitude of suffering and for the rescue and rebuilding work facing such nations as Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia. [emphasis added]

Having been clued in that he’s supposed to at least pretend he cares, His Majesty has ordered ses courtiers to orchestrate some caring-type activities. Read the rest of this entry »

Over at Corrente, The Farmer covers a report about a modern day genesis belief: if you eat too much fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, you’ll abandon religion.

What isn’t pointed out is that claim did not arise from the Bible but from priests. They recognized 2000 years ago that their hold on the faithful required a certain level of ignorance. ‘Only priests know the God-honest truth’ was the meme they propagated. Had they not, they might have been forced to choose a more honest profession, like selling used cars.

On another note, there’s a complaint that’s been propagated for the past few months, that university social sciences and humanities depts are unfairly tilted to liberals. Though some use numbers to debate that point, I’ve heard no one discuss the other imbalance. Or isn’t it equally unfair that Business Management and Engineering departments are weighted with too many conservatives?

I propose a few trades. Get a socialist or communist adjunct teaching business management and we’ll let a Friedman devotee adjunct come in and teach women’s history. The survivor gets tenure.

At Lawrence Lessig’s, Geof Stone has been guesting since 12/15. He’s the author of a new book, In Perilous Times, which is a history of the US government’s infringements on civil liberties in wartimes.

His intro.

The Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798.

Why Suppress Dissent?

The Civil War.

World War I.

The ‘Good War’.

He took a break to discuss an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show, followed by a discussion of the hostile email he’s received due to that. That latter one resumes his previos narrative and delves into McCarthyism though.

He finished with Vietnam and the series on 12/18.

I wish I’d found it earlier; I would have enjoyed the discussion. But even for the latecomer, it’s a good overview to consider when reviewing The Patriot Act.

(Note: I posted this on my blog yesterday, and this morning I’m told it’s being flamed on the right blogosophere, notably on Wizbang. Encouraged, I am crossposting.)

The death toll from the tsunami continues to climb. Reuters UK is reporting 63,000 dead. The World Health Organization estimates that as many people could die of infectious disease in the aftermath of the disaster.

A prominent reinsurer estimates the economic cost at $15 billion, which seems low to me considering the vast area impacted.

President Bush has shamed our nation by pledging only $15 million for disaster aid. His upcoming coronation is expected to cost more than twice that. So, as want and disease and famine and grief spread over much of the earth, the Boy King will be whooping it up in grandly austentatious style. A statesman, a person with any class at all, would be scaling back the pomp and re-directing some of the inauguration money to Asia.

As I keyboard, I hear someone on television saying that survivors are digging graves with their bare hands.

The impact of this disaster is beyond calculation. The earth was knocked off its axis. Islands have changed locations. Entire families, probably some entire communities, are lost. Surely this is a time for humans to pull together as a species, as fellow inhabitants of our planet, and do whatever we can. It’s not the time to throw a big party.

Clink here for links to organizations accepting money for disaster relief.

Ray Sweatman went with Charles Bukowski and I certainly can see why:

Pull a string, a Puppet Moves

each man must realize
that it can all disappear very
quickly:
the cat, the woman, the job,
the front tire,
the bed, the walls, the
room; all our necessities
including love,
rest on foundations of sand -
and any given cause,
no matter how unrelated:
the death of a boy in Hong Kong
or a blizzard in Omaha …
can serve as your undoing.
all your chinaware crashing to the
kitchen floor, your girl will enter
and you’ll be standing, drunk,
in the center of it and she’ll ask:
my god, what’s the matter?
and you’ll answer: I don’t know,
I don’t know …

At last count, over 68,000 people have died from the stealthy tide in Southeast Asia, in 11 countries, including African ones far from the quake. Tens of thousands are still missing. It’s now being estimated by the vice-president of Indonesia that the death total on the island of Sumatra alone may reach 40,000 (the count’s over 32,500 now), with Indonesia suffering perhaps 65,000 deaths alone.

In Sri Lanka, the death total now exceeds 22,000. India lost 4,400 but there’s another 8,000 unaccounted for. Nearby, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Bangladesh, and the Maldives also suffered scores of fatalities and the tsunami waves -some moving at 500 mph, reached Africa, killing more in Somalia, Tanzania and the Seychelles.

Not only is it possible the immediate death total exceeded 100,000 overall, but rotting bodies, lack of food to remote areas, unsafe water and broken sanitation systems have the potential to double the Grim Reaper’s take.

The worst natural disaster in history? Not even close. Droughts, floods and earthquakes have been the biggest killers though.

A drought in China from 1876-1879 led to the deaths of 9 million. In the early 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Africans - particularly in Ethiopia - died of starvation from a similar drought. It was a BBC crew in 1984 that woke up the world to that one after hundreds of thousands had already perished.

Read the rest of this entry »

Towards a Poor Theatre

TSUNAMI

These seem like end-times. The eschaton. Amerigeddon. There are locusts in Egypt, trihurricanes, megaquakes, floods, brothers killing brothers, death on a mass scale.
Howard Zinn and others have suggested that America become a “humanitarian superpower”, and what better time than the present? The big natural event that could unite all people…has occurred. Are we mobilizing? Are we going above and beyond the proverbial call of duty? Or are we giving lip-service, and tossing out a few painless dollars?

And what are “painless dollars”?

PAINLESS DOLLARS

In order to support my life of heady leisure, I sometimes do work for a well-to-do family here in town. Some of it is painless, but some of it is quite painful. It is impossible that my pay causes any pain whatsoever to the payer, and the other day, I was ruminating on how it would be if people exchanged pain for pain. Pay ’til it hurts. In equal degree. Wouldn’t that be nice! So 10k for a day’s work makes you cringe? Well carry these barbells to the attic, and then let’s talk.

My New Year’s wish is that people start considering such matters, and, at least occasionally, act on it.

THE PHILANTHROPIC CLASS

Speaking of pain…I have noticed that, in America, the truly philanthropic class, as strange as it sounds, are the poor. The poor will give their entire fortune that another may live, and then trust that they will somehow get along without it. Who, in the upper stratophere even gives ’til it hurts? No one, that’s who!

I am reminded of the story of Indra and the Ants. The ants will be king, and the king will be an ant. What is full empties, and what is empty gets filled.

But who lives like this…other than the poor?

MICROPHILANTHROPIES

It is good to give. Brings good karma. And many poor folks would like to be able to help when others suffer much greater tragedies, such as in the case of tsunami. And yet, there may not be an easy way for them to participate in global relief. This is where microphilanthropies come to the rescue. Who knows? The totals may well exceed that given by those with means. Recall Dean and MoveOn, and how they were able to generate massive funds for good causes…a dollar here and a dollar there.

BLOGS

BlogAid. As I said after the election loss: Just because we lost, doesn’t mean we cannot still do things. Well, here’s something to do…and fashion it after a flashmob, or Ed Cone’s instaconference. Time is of the essence.

An enterprising blogger can create a portal for bloggers and non-Bs to… give ’til it hurts. Maybe even have a quick tutorial on Paypal, or some other useful e-payment system. Networks, such as the Street can tie in with ProgBlogs and other groups and networks.

If ever there were a place where bloggers are needed…it is in the heart of the inundation. Cannot a flashmob of sorts convene at ground zero and offer their blog up for bulletins?

Will someone create an aggregator for ground zero blogs?

GROUND ZERO BLOG AGGREGATOR

We need one.

Some places to give

Why do I think this will never go to press?

From the Amazon listing:

John Kerry: Our Forty-fourth President (Our Presidents)
by Michael Burgan

Product Details:

* School & Library Binding: 48 pages
* Publisher: Child’s World (January 1, 2005)
* ISBN: 1592964958
* Amazon.com Sales Rank in Books: #523,476

I mised this, but it seems Vonnegut must be trying to put Christ in Christmas.

The death total has now exceeded 55, 000. Put that in perspective: in the draining ten year war in Vietnam, we lost 58,000. Scroll to the update below and give what you can to help the grieving countries. Without fast aid, illness will kill more.

Condolences to the family and friends of a giant of moral intellect, Susan Sontag, gone at 71.

This particular Washington Post editorial laments the vast degree of Congressional oversight over that bizarre government agglomeration called “the Department of Homeland Security”. In particular, it laments the fact that no less than one hundred separate committees or subcommittees have some aspect of jurisdiction over the Department, with all senators and at least 412 of 435 Congresspersons involved in the show.

Well, well, well. The Post now feels that the DHS spends too much time answering to Congressional overlords and not enough time spent… securing the nation. Ya’ think?

Lookit: to his credit (for a rare change), the President opposed this department initially, until he saw the immense political feather-bedding opportunities at which point he warmly embraced it. Sure, our “homeland security” functions (we couldn’t call it “domestic” security, or “internal” security… could we?) were spread over numerous bailiwicks before,
but did anyone seriously think anything would change? Why are we, for example, falling for the piffle put forth by the 9-11 Commission, just because they play on emotions. Bad policy is bad policy. Frankly, with over 20 times as many people dying this week as we lost on 9-11 and counting, one wonders if, perhaps, their moral authority should, hopefully, finally be at an end. But I digress.

Democrats’ answer to things for far too long as been “create a new cabinet level agency”. Bad answer. Less is more. Our founding fathers started this country with four cabinet departments: Justice, Treasury, War (n/k/a Defense) and State. I propose that we model are new government into just five cabinet agencies, each representing around the 20% of the federal budget spent on them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Susan Madrak passes on the story of the Homeland Security Inspector General discussing the major security loopholes that still exist.

Am I the only one to wonder exactly what Tom Ridge actually did? I mean, I liked his pretty color Crayola alerts, which proved especially effective at keeping folks focused on invisible terrorists with superhuman powers who kept not attacking, just because they were afraid of crayons.

Norm Jenson’s nephew is pretty slick in political conversation, as this Christmas anecdote reveals.

From Daily Kos:

Here are 2004’s top 10 stories, as voted by AP members:

U.S. election
Iraq
Florida hurricanes
Abu Ghraib scandal
Sept. 11 report
Gay marriage
Arafat dies
Reagan dies
Russian school seizure
Madrid bombings

Among the hundreds of comments that generated, some were exceptionally witty. As for me, the first two on the list are so broad that big events within them weren’t broken out, for the most part. Here’s the changes I’d make, starting with an inability to limit to 10 the key stories.

U.S. election
Iraq
The SE Asia tsunami
Russian school seizure
Madrid bombings
War crimes committed by US military, civilian and intelligence personnel
Sept. 11 report and other critiques by Bush defectors
Arafat dies, Palestinians prepare for elections
Gay marriage
Voting systems still not fixed after four years of attention
Media censorship and bias caused by media consolidation and a political morality agenda reach levels not seen in 3 to 5 decades.

Florida hurricanes would be number 12 to me (compare the fartalities to other events), and the death of Reagan was a ceremonial event of little impact.

Janet Jackson’s boob was insignificant compared to Laura Bush’s boob. What say you?

Network for Good offers a complete list of (mostly) US charities aiding the effort.

Wikipedia has a ton of news and sources, and near the bottom, lists mostly international charities aiding the effort.

And as mentioned previously, there’s the SEA EAT blog, which also notes that Asia’s maps will need updating because so many islands have moved from their previous locations.

At the moment, they’ve confirmed 26,000 dead, but estimates of the total fatalities range as high as 45,000.

We’re spending about a billion dollars a week in Iraq, mostly because of nearly 3,000 who died on 9-11 (despite no real connection). Now, faced with at least ten times those fatalities, I wonder how much we’ll spend.

Adam Felber probably has the most accurate poll of Iraqi preferences as they head to Election Day.

As I get ever nearer to completing the update of our State’s Writes link list, I’ve found it necessary to create new categories. For example, as group bloggers often come from multiple states, it rarely makes sense to list them in states.

Here’s what I currently have (sorry, no hyperlinks here).

Group Bloggers

Best of the Blogs SEEING THE FOREST
the left coaster PACIFIC VIEWS
liberal street fight corrente MyDD
RISING HEGEMON AMERICAblog
CROOKED TIMBER first draft Wampum
Znet Blogs THE LIQUID LIST TAPPED

Open Source Politics blueoregon
The Blogging of the President: 2004
The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ
Sadly, No ! The Dead Parrot Society
pandagon.net Burnt Orange Report
Left2Right john & belle have a blog

The Political Puzzle v2.0 Big Picnic
Western Democrat Pub Sociology
THE ALL SPIN ZONE to the teeth
Project For The Old American Century
XX a Fistful of Euros Unfogged
LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY

BlondeSense… THE BOILERYARD
What She Said ! BLOG Reload
Demagogue greater Democracy
NOT GENIUSES.COM Edgewise
Gnostical Turpitude Available Light
ToughEnough.org The Higher Pie

POLITICAL STATE REPORT OxBlog
LIES.COM RADIO FREE BLOGISTAN
Stand Down: reason HIT & RUN
Needlenose The League of Liberals
polis THE LIBERAL COALITION
The Village Gate Common Blog

Political Strategy BAD ATTITUDES
catch.com LoadedMouth New Patriot
A-Changin’ Times (ACT) ROACHBLOG
2 political junkies THE IRON MOUTH
three guys APPROXIMATELY PERFECT
The Quipper The Target Demographic

Here’s What’s Left Obsidian Wings
explananda Rockridge Forums
LOW CULTURE Troppo Armadillo
JREGrassroots.com SurlyEdition
JEWSCHOOL.COM SIVACRACY.NET
MoJoBLOG SCRUTINY HOOLIGANS

Liberals Against Terrorism LIB TEAM
chez Nadezhda worldchanging
WhirledView ibrattleboro.com Ihsan
The Alternate Brain

This list is randomly ordered, so you’ll likely find quality ones even at the bottom. In fact, the excellent commenter Praktike appears to be blogging again at two different blogs in the bottom dozen.

So… what group blogs did I miss?

Okay, fellow liberals, now that the Xmas holiday is over, what’s next on the ‘don’t-say-blank’ agenda?

No, I wasn’t even notified there was a meeting. Yes, I know the password phrase: ‘anti-American commie pinkoes are us.”

Cool. So if we remove ‘year’ we should say “Happy New Day!” I like it.

This will really get them going. This is more fun than yelling “Look! Up there!” and giving them a nose doink at the end. And it’d be even cooler if we could get the singers at the Super Bowl halftime show to sing “and the rocket’s red glare, the bums burping in air, gave proof through the night that the beans were still there…”

by the way, Jay Leno says it’s so cold in New York that Bernie Kerik had to sleep with his own wife.

Yeah, I think that’s a good one, too. What’s that? Take the hearts out of Valentine’s Day? And replace them with large intestines? Great, they’ll be convinced it’s a terrorist plot. I’m in.

Reading an article about the topics that blogs brought forth in 2004, I sense that Norbizness does not quite agree with the selections.

Does everyone understand now? The Bush mental health program is to move guys outa the rubber rooms and onto the op-ed pages, and they pay them handsomely to spout right wing lies.

I wonder when the Left’s gonna pay us sane people to offer a different POV.

As Anonymoses covered the goings on of the Greensboro bloggers, a good synopses comes from an interview with one of its leading movers, Ed Cone.

Portland, OR has not advanced to that level but it’s getting close, as some of its city commissioners are hep to the value of blogs. Here’s a good example.

First, Portland Communique set the stage for me, reminding me that the city has to decide whether to take part in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, a wedding of local police and the FBI brought about by the Patriot Act. Commissioner Randy Leonard has decided how he plans to vote, and has made his case on another blog, BlueOregon. (BlueOregon’s also the other home of our teammate Jeff Alworth, formerly of Notes On The Atrocities).

As you can see by the comments, a constituent had concerns that Leonard’s position was inconsistent with previous statements he’d made. Both Christopher Frankonis (the One True B!x) and Leonard responded to clarify. An interactive forum has occurred.

Then, through other commenters there, I discovered a new blog from Portland called New Frames, who had previously posted about where city officials stood on the issue, and provided contact information for the other city commissioners and the new mayor, so other voters can express their opinions there.

Read the rest of this entry »