Ramblin' Around and About/Open Post

Open Post. Either you know what to do or you don't. If you don't, drop me a comment to that effect and I'll try to help. First up, a couple from TMH's Bacon Bits: Light Up? Yer Out! Scotts Miracle-Gro, the people that bring you nice healthy plants, is now working on making its plant healthy. The workers that produce the stuff have been told to stop smoking or they will be fired. [Didn't G.K. Chesterton say something in reference to Prohibition that, after taking our beer away, they'd come for our smokes, next? heh. We all know how well Prohibition worked, eh?] And, The MaryHunter was waving his hand in the air yesterday and I never called on him. *tsk-tsk* Shame on me, cos Guard the Borders: A Mathematical Answer? is an awefully good read. Don Surber notes that War Is Less Deadly In Iraq Incredible. As tragic as the deaths of 30,000 people over a nearly three-year period is, it is less deadly than the 25-year regime of Saddam Hussein. Baathists murdered 1 million people in that time, an average of 40,000 per year. [Heck, it's not that much more dangerous to live in Iraq than in California, if one goes by murder rates. And per capita, it is barely less safe living in Iraq than living in in Washington D.C... (~10,000 violent deaths per year in a country of 26 million as opposed to 198 murders last year in a city of 572,059. That's a violent death rate in Iraq of 3.84 (deaths divided by pop) for Iraq vs. 3.46 for Washington D.C. Gee. And it's getting progressively safer faster in Iraq than in D.C., though even D.C. seems to be turning a corner... *whew*! We may not have to pull out of D.C. after all! What a *cough* relief... ] Apparently a "stealth" member of the Guard the Borders blogburst, freedom folks posts: Mexican Standoff Both of our political parties are stuck on stupid these days. Specifically as regards illegal immigration. [Isn't that redundant? "Stuck on stupid" and "political parties" in the same sentence?] Freedom folks also notes a troubling (to anyone not a "raze Western Civilization" cultist) piece of news with: Blurring the Line on Immigration Officials who promote the rights of Hispanics at state level may form a new, national organization aimed at bringing to Washington their perspectives on the challenges of illegal immigration. [Disturbing? Yes. Surprising? No. *sigh*] The Real Ugly American found someone MUCH uglier than he to rail against: Ted Rall Scumbag / Liberal Reaction To His Bile I was going to post a blistering screed calling Rall every name in the book and pointing out once again what was wrong with the left today. After I had cooled down I thought it might be more interesting to hear what bona fide liberals thought of this a... [Some nice enough answers from some faux liberals, but none of them seem to understand the issues very well. Naturally. And where's the "Ted Rall, roast in hell" that ought to be coming from left as well as right?] Making sense of feminism, Liberal Common Sense asks, Do we need feminism in America any more? Lauren at Feministe and Jeff at Protein Wisdom among other bloggers have been having a discussion on the various parts of this issue which ended with the simple question Lauren posed last night. [And the answer is.... no.] Diane's Stuff asks, WWJD? And what do YOU think? I really would like some input on this one. The Arizona Supreme Court denied James Hamm admission to the bar Wednesday due to a lack of "good moral character". The ruling can be found HERE. [I am not going to speak for Jesus on this one (I think his actions speak for themselves), but I'd forgive the dude... and then fry his ass.] Bloggin' Outloud has a Christmas Caption Contest Charlie Brown Christmas Caption Contest (and Open Links) at Bloggin' Outloud. Plus some required reading at third world county, TMH, bRight & Early, Jo's Cafe. ["Required reading"? OK, test on Friday. Bring your own Blue Books; I trust you. :-) Oh, and I still think the tree was 7' before taxes... ] Stuck On Stupid does the "Dog Bites Man" story: Pope Benedict From Reuters ...Pope Benedict on The Christmas Spirit: In today's consumer society, this time of the year unfortunately suffers from a sort of commercial 'pollution' that threatens to alter its real spirit... He said Christmas should be marked with ... [Sure, it's not "news" but until the message gets through... ] Stuck On Stupid also notes Riviera Beach's Eminent Domain Land Grab The Riviera Beach land grab for commercial development continues. City officials claimed the property to be seized was blighted, a condition for eminent domain to be enacted. The official city report has been discredited by citizens who did their own investigation... [More at Boudicca's Voice here and here on this one folks. Up close and personal, as it were.] The Florida Masochist is handing out one of these every day, it seems. Must have a huge backlog of them :-) The Knucklehead of the Day award Goes to Michael Crowley...And a few random thoughts... I think this has some application to Academia Nuts who think they have something worthwhile to teach, Mass Media Podpeople who pretend they have some news to impart and politicians in general: "A man whose head is made out of butter shouldn't become a baker."-Chesterton. Buh-bye Tookie! Good riddance to bad rubbish. "Mice Created With Human Brain Cells" the future of congresscritters? How would this be an improvement over the hamster-brained congresscritters we now have? Orson Scott Card seems to be in agreement with another reviewer who is much more familiar with CS. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles (Lovely Daughter :-) that the characterization of the children in the movie is better than the books. Lovely Daughter also notes the apparent homage paid to Barbara Kellerman's portrayal of The White Witch in the Wonderworls TV production of The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe by the current movie's White Witch, by Tilda Swinton's portrayal. And apropos of Narnia, et al, this lil article some time ago in my fav mag: C.S. Lewis Dude. "...Lewis, with all his failings, was orthodox, and not a modern. We hope that we have the wisdom to imitate his virtues and avoid his errors." heh. indeed. :-) Open Post. Link and Trackback at Will. He won't mind. Shamelessly flogged at Right Wing Nation, Macstansbury's, and Is it Just Me? (who has a real "gas" of a post up).