I need to stop reading the news. Every single headline pains me, and makes me fear for my future.

What? Come again? Am I losing my mind?

Conservative Author Is Seeing Red in America (WP)

I watched Bush's Brain last night--another one of those documentaries that I assume won't teach me anything I don't already know, but it turns out I'm not as smart as I think.

Anyway, it's highly worth watching, although probably more chilling than it really needs to be. They definitely play up the "evil mastermind" aspect of Rove...but hey, maybe that's not that far off. He does creep me out.

And causes huge internal debates in my brain: Would I rather he were on our side, or are his nefarious ways so despicable that it's better to walk the moral high road, or something? Hmmm. I really can't decide on that one.

The most frustrating part: the movie concludes on a kind of "karma will get him" note. Which just underscores the way a lot of liberals seem to be thinking in these dark, dark times: they'll get theirs, this can't go on forever, people will come around eventually, yadda blah stuff.

Tonight, I'm watching a much more innocuous movie.

Oy.

The Globe and Mail: Journalist death toll exceeds Vietnam

Awesome. I love starting my day with good news.

Access to Abortion Pared at State Level (WP)

This is the scariest part:

Three states have passed bills requiring that women seeking an abortion be
warned that the fetus will feel pain, despite inconclusive scientific data on
the question. West Virginia and Florida approved legislation recognizing a
pre-viable fetus, or embryo, as an independent victim of homicide.

"Questioned about the Sheehan protest, White House officials invoked words Bush used after Sept. 11 to stress the importance of current overseas operations.
'On September 14, 2001, [the president] stood at the National Cathedral and told all of America that this was going to be a very long and difficult war, and that there were going to be some very trying moments, but that because of what happened on 9/11, that we had to view the world in a different way,' White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.
He added that the Sept. 11 commission had concluded that the nation cannot take any steps backward in its anti-terrorism efforts without risking the terrorists coming '50 steps closer to our own shores.' This echoes Bush's words earlier this week, in which he said any withdrawal from Iraq would 'embolden' terrorists."

Gargh!!!! I don't even know what to say. I've lost words. All language has become meaningless. You cannot logically argue with a side that refuses to answer to logic, or even to acknowledge reality. It hurts my brain.

Standoff Continues in Crawford

Yup, it's still amusing me.

WIGU: A COMIC ON THE INTER NET

Good god am I bored. Is it time to go home yet?

And more. Heh. Heh heh.

WIGU: A COMIC ON THE INTER NET

This rocks. I am laughing at my desk. Yes, this is what I do at work.

WIGU: A COMIC ON THE INTER NET

Awesome. I may have finally found something I can have faith in.

Open Letter

Why are we such bullies? I don't want to be part of the bully country. I love it: "Well, I don't care that the rest of the world would like to focus on international poverty reduction; we want free markets! And no Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty!"

And we always get what we want.

U.S. Wants Changes In U.N. Agreement (WP)

Oh, and? If you pre-order the soon-to-be released Death Cab record "Plans" from amazon, you can listen to the whole thing digitally now. And it rocks.

Amazon.com: Music: Plans

Aside from the fact that they're taking this news brief from Rollingstone.com, which seems a strange journalistic tactic, at the very least, whoohoo! New B & S album! And something to make me sad, only because I can't go to London on September 25:

"Rolling Stone also notes that Belle and Sebastian will be touring the U.S. next spring. For now, your only chance to see Stuart Murdoch shake his lil tush on the catwalk Stateside will be at the Across the Narrows festival in New York City in October. Or you can trek to London on September 25 to see the band perform their classic If You’re Feeling Sinister in its entirety as part of All Tomorrow’s Parties’ “Don’t Look Back” series. Or you can sit in your room and weep into your diary until the flowers bloom again."

One of my favorite albums. In it's entirety. Performed live. Le sigh.

Belle & Sebastian news (Pitchfork)

Why are we regressing back to 1952?

A Perilous Journey From Delivery Room to Bedroom - New York Times

Drawn to reading this article by the promise that it revealed HST's not-so-nice side, I was ultimately disappointed by the kind of "uncovering" Ambrose takes. These paragraphs in particular kind of pissed me off:

The fact is they [drugs and alcohol] did not work for him. The drugs and alcohol - an immovable, prominent fixture in his social philosophy and life - appear to have ruined him. His writing lost its verve; sometimes, in the later years, it seemed little more than the work of someone stumbling toward being average. His health deteriorated. I can't know how happy his life was, but some press reports indicate a miserable, unholy shambles at times.

The way he finally ended that life - sticking a .45-caliber handgun in his mouth and pulling the trigger while his wife was on the phone with him and his son and grandson were close by in the same house - bespeaks a horrifying moral degradation.

All Ambrose is doing is showing his own opinions on what constitutes good writing, a good life, and moral certitude. That HST's writing might have "lost its verve" is a highly subjective statement. And Thompson's choice of a way to die doesn't inherently show any moral degradation: one could look at it as dignified, courageous. I'm not necessarily saying that I look at it that way, or that I'm familiar enough with HST's later work to say whether it had "verve." I just want to point out that what touts itself as an examination of Thompson's life doesn't really reveal anything by Ambrose's own thoughts about Thompson's life. There isn't anything objective, or compelling, about it.

The Cincinnati Post - The dark side of gonzo

This picture is awesome. Apparently, this veteran wore his specially-designed ear flaps during one of Bush's "Rally the Heartland and Defend the War" speeches this week.

I think I should get a set to wear around the office. I mean, what? Did I say that?

Holy buddha. Really? Yes, really.

Amazon.com: Books: Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed

I find it more disturbing that this program is receiving federal funding at all than that it has a religious component. On what grounds did "Silver Ring Thing" get a grant? To do what? Do I really live in a country where the Department of Health and Human Services considers this a valid way to deal with reproductive health issues?


Federal Funds For Abstinence Group Withheld (WP)

More proof that the trickle-down theory is nothing but a fanciful dream of the neo-cons. Actually, I'm sure they know it's crap, they just like to talk pretty to get the votes. Higher corporate profits do not equal better living for all.

Why a booming economy feels flat | csmonitor.com

What a smarmy, snarky jerk face. Now I'm even more appalled at the lack of real resistance to this guy. I wish that this information was enough to deny this man confirmation, but unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely to be the case.

Roberts Resisted Women's Rights (WP)