The Imagined Oppression Of America
Chris does a damn fine job of refuting Kleinheider’s response to those bloggers who wrote in favor of not deporting Claudia Nunez:
Arguing “because it’s illegal” as a defense of any action is an exercise in circular logic that deflects any real, rational reasoning on the issue. Blind defense of authority is a cowardly act.
Flickr Find
Trisha Yearwood and local blogger Muffy of Karmadgeon.
Uhhhh…
Fess Up
Have you ever rolled someone’s house?
What Kerry Meant
Les Jones, commenting at Knox Views:
I think Kerry’s telling the truth when he said he was directing that at Bush. The conservatives are going ape over nothing.
Don’t We Have Bigger Fish To Fry?
Josh Tinley on the news that the U.S. government is spending money trying to convince unmarried young people to abstain from sex:
While I believe that abstaining from sex until one has made a commitment to a life partner is empowering and beneficial to one’s health, I’m bothered that the government is spending money to tell adults not to have sex. It seems invasive, divisive, and a little rude.
Quote Of The Day
“Some days a girl just needs to hear “Season of the Witch” and not some crappy attempt by Robert Plant, which is so non-creepy that I bet it embarrassed Jimmy Page just to think about it.” –Aunt B, Tiny Cat Pants
So Over It. I Miss The 90’s.
Detatched
“You want compassion then have some for our nation-state. Have some for our Rule of Law because it is those things that are truly suffering in this country.” –Adam Kleinheider, Volunteer Voters
Exploitation By Trackback
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read snarky comments about how Heather Armstrong’s daughter is going to grow up to hate her mother. It’s a common comment, actually. Lindsay writes about the supposed exploitation of children by their blogger mommies, and she thinks the whole debate is dumb:
I’m pretty sure that most of the most well-known mommybloggers out there started off like the rest of us did, with maybe ten hits a day on their sites, an urge to talk about their lives, and the desire to show off their adorable kids to a handful of loyal readers.
Why would their voices and desires change simply because their site traffic grew? Why would we want or expect them to? If the opportunity presented itself to put ads on their site so they could receive some small compensation for the enjoyment they’ve given their readers, why would we want to deny them that? I’d rather die than ask you guys for money, but if an advertiser wants to give me money, well, hell yeah. We’re supporting five (soon to be six) people over here on one income and I’ll contribute anything to the effort I can. And trust me. The notion that any of these women (besides Dooce) are making sh!tloads of money off their ads is laughable. My ad revenue is the equivalent of less than a day’s work in my old job. Sure, the money comes in handy, but it will never take the place of a second income.
…
The children of mommybloggers are not going to grow up angry that their moms found their voices and used them to proclaim their love for their kids to all who would read about it. They’re going to be angry with the *ssholes who tried to shut their moms up.
Ghost Story
Gandalf Mantooth tells a haunting Halloween tale, but not in the way you might think:
By the fall, he wasn’t eating the food I brought, nor much else. The opportunistic illnesses had ravaged his . . . oh just pick an organ. He was having difficulty communicating, and was as likely to be snoozing when I saw him as not. His birthday is in October, so we had a little party, and our aunt sent a clown. How scary. He seemed to enjoy it, him, her . . . and the party. He loved parties. He loved performing.* So liking that lame clown seemed to fit. Besides, he hadn’t had a lot to laugh about.
I was half heartedly job searching at this point, and I had not much else to do but play soccer and help out with my brother. I was pondering how to spring a Halloween surprise for him during the final week of that month. That was probably more for my own benefit. I’m not sure if he knew that it was in fact nearly Halloween, nor cared.
The last time I saw him alive, he couldn’t speak, wasn’t reacting to much except the offer of more pain killers. I walked in the room and he had a burst of life, a recognition of something, perhaps from our past, him babysitting me as I sat there enraptured by Godzilla destroying Tokyo. That was the 28th. He was dead on the 30th.
And He Just Took It
Every day should be Halloween. The big guy just got a pumpkin pie to the face. The winner of the costume contest got that as a prize.
Thuggery Abounds
Thought this was bad? Check out this noise:
B! Final Answer!
A Nashville college-student took a late night flight to California to appear on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” His visit was short-lived. Dude got the very first question wrong.
Think Hard
What is the scariest movie ever? Gimme your nomination in the comments.
Local Spooks On All Hallow’s Eve
The under-bite makes the whole outfit.
This kid’s costume made me laugh out loud.
“I got Halloween candy too. I give out good stuff. None of that cheapo crapola candy from Sista.”
Jag comes correct, or he don’t come at all.
Bribery. Awesome.
“You know you wanna smash it, don’t you, Pumpkin Smashin Man.”
“What is the point of being Uncle Michael if you can’t spoil the kids?”
Isn’t guilt what parenting is all about?
“Perhaps they should perform feats of strength, like on Festivus. One piece of candy to the winner.”
We had one of those, too. I was a judge.
“i have the scariest outfit ever!”
Sweeter Than Any Candy
Ford At Fisk
Alicia notes that Harold Ford, Jr. will be speaking at one of the local universities this afternoon:
Harold Ford, Jr.’s Nashville office has just confirmed that the Congressman will speak today, Tuesday, October 31 at Fisk University, 3–5 p.m. on the steps of the student union. It should be a lively conversation! Since it’s Halloween, maybe Ford will loosen up a bit. He looked almost as stiff as his opponent, Bob Corker, during the debates at Vanderbilt University last Friday night. I don’t know about you, but I like a little fire and passion in a candidate.
Hot Under The Collar
I dare you, Senator Kerry, to come to Lance Cpl. Buerstetta’s funeral and tell that to his parents. Tell them that their son, high school graduate, college student, was just too uneducated and too stupid to avoid enlisting in an all-volunteer military. You tell them that, Senator, you inexecrable, miserable excuse of a public servant.
This You Believe
Mark A. Rose opines on what Democrats–the whole lot of them–believe. Here’s a sampling:
Pages (31): [1] 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE ... LAST PAGE-[L]iberals do not care about illicit sex unless it is committed by a Republican…
-Democrats believe in unrestricted abortion rights, even up to the moment of birth.
-Democrats have patented the cut-and-run strategery in Iraq, whereby we set a deadline for withdrawal, regardless of whether the job is done or not.
-Democrats will lie to sick people in order to win votes.
