More on Spite

Note: I put this post up yesterday and then took it down. It came across all wrong, reading as if I were calling conservatives spiteful and stupid, when in fact I think we’re all spiteful and stupid. What I was really talking about was maturity and childishness, and the pressing need for mature leadership in […]

Oh, for a Sound Social Atmosphere!

Regular readers are aware of my fascination with all things North Korean.  I check the Korean Central News Agency site almost every day, and just this morning found this gem: China Strives to Create Sound Social Atmosphere Beijing, February 20 (KCNA) — China intensified the campaign against yellow culture and illegal publications in order to […]

When You’re Being Pecked to Death by Ducks

Nancy Nall sums it up perfectly: “It’s just as well that the weekend is coming, as I need to unplug from the internet and stop paying attention to politics for a while. I’m starting to feel that old sourness, the simmer I maintained from roughly 2004 through 2008 … no, through now, that pecked-to-death-by-ducks feeling.” […]

Shrieking Serpent-Siren Shreds Star-Spangled Superbowl Sing-Along

Please excuse the silly sibilance of this post’s title.  I couldn’t stop my star-spangled self. At the start of yesterday’s Superbowl game they offered up, in effect, two national anthems. Lea Michele sang America the Beautiful and Christina Aguilera sang the by-now traditional Whitney-Houstonized version of The Star-Spangled Banner (she didn’t quite pull it off, […]

Tubac Car Show

Just back from the annual classic & collector car show at Tubac, Arizona, a retirement boutique settlement near the border town of Nogales.  I really should call it a classic, collector, & enthusiast car show, since there were several groupings of PT Cruisers, new generation (2002-2005) Thunderbirds, and Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice two-seaters.  But there were […]

Banned Books: Peeling the Onion (and Why It’s Worth the Tears)

The difficulty of getting at the truth of a story was increased today by Wonkette, an influential political blog, then multiplied by Fox News, a conservative propaganda outlet. Starting with the onion’s outer layer, here’s the headline and blurb from Wonkette: An American state has decided to promote illiteracy?  What, are they shutting down schools?  […]

I’m a Sucker for Car Shows

I went to the annual Tucson Classics car show at St. Gregory’s Preparatory School this morning.  As usual, I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos.  Last year I concentrated on classic grilles and engines; this year I thought I’d concentrate on automotive lore from rock’n’roll.  Like this: Lincolns were huge, heavy cars; you rarely saw […]