New blogs, new blogs, new blogs!!

Well, one new blog so far, anyway--The Kitchen Illiterate (that's me). The library blog isn't set up and running yet, but it will be, I promise! I still can't think of a name...Mr. X suggested Drink Like a Librarian, but I'm not sure my life as a lush needs to be advertised that blatantly. Instead, I set up a food blog.

The Kitchen Illiterate is far from complete, and I might end up switching it over to Blogger eventually, if I find it's easier to edit CSS in Blogger. Yes, that's right, I'm teaching myself CSS. Well, that's the plan anyway. I tend to start these kinds of projects and then forget all about them. Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted on the haps. In the meantime, you can find out what I ate last night. Exciting, I know.

So, it has been a long, long while since I last posted here. See, politics started to sicken and frustrate me. I couldn't read newspapers without breaking into fits of apoplexy. I gagged when I saw pictures of politicians. Suddenly it seemed clear that a blog that had been largely about politics was no longer going to see much action. What to do, what to do.

Well, I decided to start a new one. I'm applying to Library School, and I thought it might be entertaining to document the larnin' process, and the library-ing, and how I turn myself nerdier about books and organization than I already am. It will be a cornucopia of information about libraries and library school and dorkiness (because anything I'm involved in is going to be dorky).

Only trouble is I can't think of a name. Any suggestions? (Who am I kidding? No one actually READS this blog...)

I'll still post here, from time to time, about non-library related things, and as soon as I get the Library Lady blog up and running, I'll let you know.

Ok, the man just creeps me out. And what's up with holding a press conference that's only open to conservative journalists?

Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening' - washingtonpost.com

I do think it's interesting to ponder the seemingly large Christian revival happening in the US in light of history. But it's only interesting in the context of disinterested scholarship. It's smacks of zealotry coming from this man. And that's just scary.

I love the way, whenever anyone tries to do anything good, Republican leaders start shoutin' "It's bad for business!!!" As though that were the sole and only important thing, trumping all other considerations in this world.

Too bad so many legislators listen to them.

Calif. Unveils Anti-Global Warming Plan

Some heartening research:

"The committee also reviewed information about patterns of doctorates awarded to women and to individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups relative to the 'scholarly quality of program faculty.' Overall, the committee found essentially no relationship between 'quality' and patterns of enrollment and degree attainment for women. Although top-rated programs in most fields enroll and graduate many more students on average than lower-rated programs, women tend to be represented in the same percentages across quality groupings within a field. An exception appears to be certain subfields of Engineering in which top-rated programs are slightly more likely than lower-rated programs to enroll and graduate women. However, the total fraction of women remains quite low in those fields in comparison to other fields included in this study. "

Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change (1995)

Oh gross! I thought we already figured out that plunking kids in front of televisions was, ermn, less preferable than perhaps just teaching them to behave in public.

Publix Testing TV Karts for Kids

Hey, Democrats! Here's an Iraq strategy for you: Get our military out of there, as that's obviously inciting some anger. Take some of that money we're currently spending on troops and weapons, and use it to help them re-build their infrastructure. And then let them run their own country, instead of implicitly assuming that they're children, and need our help. Just a thought. But then, what do I know?

House Incumbents at Risk, Poll Finds

Sketch, sketch, sketch! Republicans are dastardly, man. They give me nightmares. Literally. The kind that make me wake up in a panic.

An Estate Tax Twist Reverses Party Roles On Minimum Wage

I'm having a hard time why understanding quite how lunch delivery keeps the economy going. Why can't these guys just carry their lunch to work everyday, like I do? It seems a bit inefficient to have two train rides involved for one lunch, rather than one. Other countries are weird.

BBC NEWS Business India's tiffinwalas fuel economy

There are a ton of classes out there in universities across the country about Women in Literature, and Women in Politics, and Women in History, and Women in the Automative Industry and what have you. As though the sheer phenomenon of Women Doing Things is so mind-boggling that we have to have whole separate special classes just about that (er, and to continue to academically ghetto-ize women's cultural accomplishments). I want to start teaching classes on Men in Literature, and Men in Politics, and Men in History. To turn the tables and make it really strikingly clear how bizarre it is to think this way, and teach this way. Maybe it would be an interesting endeavor in its own right, to look at men in the world of Literature or History, not as the standard bearer, but AS men. Hmmm....

Whatever, stop teaching classes on Women in Literature. It's weird.

This is one of the most endearing comics I've read in awhile. Sweet, but still caustic, and a little bit weird.

What a useless, waste of time resolution. Congress basically spent 11 hours debating a non-resolution, a measure that effectively resolves nothing, says nothing, does nothing. Can we just can the whole lot of them and start over?

House Approves Iraq War Resolution

Oh no. This is terribly addictive. And I've got work to do. Sigh.

Grant Robinson : Guess-the-google

I love that for football players, the main criteria for being allowed to play somewhere is that you haven't killed anyone yet. Ahh, football.

Players N.F.L. Banished Find Refuge in Canada - New York Times

Ask a Hill Staffer: Speaker ?Sergeant? Slaughter - Wonkette:

"Think about Clinton's Presidency vs. Bush's Presidency: Clinton got laid all the time, the economy boomed, and we didn't go to war for 8 years. Bush goes to bed at 10, and even Laura has said she's not getting satisfied in the private quarters of the White House. Economy in the shitter, fighting two wars... the correlation is obvious."

Ahh yes. My kind of political analysis.

This apalls me. So little forsight.

Poll: Most Americans Support NSA's Efforts

Well, chicks do like fine, fine theories.

qwantz.com - dinosaur comics - May 11th 2006

I'd like to see the assfuck who said this when his wife says "Sorry sweetie, we're never having sex again, I don't want anymore babies.":

"Many social conservatives say, however, that contraceptives have limitations and that the only way a woman can ensure she will not have an unintended pregnancy is to refrain from sexual intercourse until she is ready to have a child."

Unwanted Pregnancies Rise for Poor Women

Politicians never paid attention to science before. Why would they start now?

Study Reconciles Data in Measuring Climate Change

This guy takes gorgeous pictures of New York.

joe's nyc ? 26 April, 2006 ? forsyth street

Ok, the comic isn't quite as funny as the NASA statistic offered in the commentary. Heh heh. Heh.

Overcompensating: Actual Things That Happen to Jeffrey Rowland: Stop Being Mean To Women

It often seems as though we really know nothing about Iraq's already existing internal politics, or its history, or its people. Oh, that's right. Because we don't.

(Ahem, or rather, the people in charge of fighting this war don't seem to have collaborated with the people in the US who actually do know anything about Iraq.)

Rice Says Progress In Iraq Might Aid Efforts on Turkey

San Francisco is obsessed with itself? I had no idea...

Frisco: It Has Its Faults

These are incredible.

Virtual Street Reality

Who knew Avocados had to be so heavily promoted. I'm tempted to order a roll of Ripe stickers, and do a little grocery store commando action. Just for kicks.

California Avocado Commission

Ok, these people just make me giggle out loud in my cubicle. Someday I'll learn how to write stuff.

Cartoon Violence Doesn?t Get It, Okay? - Wonkette

There is nothing funnier than a dinosaur playing loose and fast with language.

qwantz.com - dinosaur comics - April 20th 2006

So, they essentially admit that this "shake-up" is really just a big PR move:

"At the same time, the changes made public so far mainly have moved around figures who have been inside the Bush orbit for years, and White House officials made clear yesterday that no major shifts in policy are envisioned. With midterm congressional elections looming, strategists said the main goal was to make public gestures that would restore faith in Bush's ability to lead."

In other words, "Well, we're basically just throwing up a lot of smoke and mirrors, shifting people around so it LOOKS like we're making significant changes. But, nothing, really, is going to be any different." Awesome. I love politics.

Rove Gives Up Policy Post in Shake-Up

PS--Christ, this quote is even worse. Did he really say that?
""People have been watching this TV series for a long time, and it helps to plug in some new characters from time to time," said Bush political adviser Mark McKinnon. "Gets folks to tune back in and take a fresh look.""

"I'm the decider"? What, is he 5? Is decider even a word?

Bush Picks Trade Envoy as Budget Aide - New York Times

More evidence of the administration's total disconnection from reality.

Bush Declares Full Support for Rumsfeld - New York Times

That first little piece is, uh, disturbing.

Whites Take Flight on Election Day

Is this really news? Really?

Stray Shot at Hunt Reported to Have Hit Cheney in '90s

Wow. Just...wow.

Bush Authorized Secrets' Release, Libby Testified

Ok, I have major problems with this Massachusetts bill, legally requiring people to have health insurance. Its first premise, for one, is completely irrational. Yes, insurance is legally required for cars, but not everyone is legally required to have a car. If you can't afford insurance, you can opt not to have a car. But if you can't afford health insurance, you can't opt not to be alive. Second, deciding to base low-cost plans on the poverty level assumes that the poverty level is a gauge that actually has meaning in this country. A family can live above the poverty level and still be extremely poor, living paycheck to paycheck as is, without the added cost of even a low-cost health plan. (And, um, $250 a month isn't really a low-cost health plan.)

Criminalizing those who don't have insurance is NOT the way to solve the huge health care problems that face this country. Dammit. Grrrr.

Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage

Brilliant.

Puff Piece

Ok, I'm blogging another blogger blog, which is a level of referentialness that might cause the interwebs to collapse, but this was too, too awesome. These are the kinds of things I dream about...

THE NEWS BLOG

Bush Sets Target for Transition In Iraq

Curious that they seem to have decided finally on an "end date," right when we appear to be gearing up for action against Iran. Curious.

There's a pretty significant point that Rounds's argument rests on: that unborn children are the most vulnerable members of our society.

I would have to say that that is completely untrue. First of all, they're pretty nice and safe in those wombs there, probably more so than they'll ever be for the rest of their lives. The only real threat is the woman who wants an abortion, and chances are she wants it because the child won't be very well off once it comes out of the womb. Thereby contributing to that part of the population that is, actually, vulnerable and threatened.

Then again, I guess it's asking too much to expect these people to use logic in their legislation.

S.D. Enacts Ban on Nearly All Abortions

The more of these kinds of articles I read, the more I feel like I'm sinking into some nightmare.

It occurs to me that I want to see a study showing how many women died from illegal abortions before 1973, combined with child abuse records, child abandonment records, and cases of child poverty, and compare them to comparable post-1973 information. Any takers? Any one already done this? Perhaps I'll have to do a little sleuthing.

Oh, and thanks mom and dad, for getting me out of that state when I was young.

Vote Due on South Dakota Bill Banning Nearly All Abortions - New York Times

Ohhhh. So cooool. I'm the biggest dork in the world.

Cut Out + Keep Blog ~ By Cat Morley

I just had this very odd moment, when I actually considered that dinosaurs did exist, and weren't just something made up for the movies, a la King Kong or Godzilla.

Scientists Find Oldest Ancestor Of T. Rex

Oooh, pretty pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurapants/

Heeheehee.

Overcompensating: Actual Things That Happen to Jeffrey Rowland: A Lot

"You can't spell science without s-i-n."

TIME.com: Viewpoint: The President and the Minotaur -- Page 1

New funnies. (At least, new to me.)

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

Ok, this is maybe my new favorite thing ever. Not only can you buy the most random ass stuff imaginable, but they write funny copy, too.

American Science & Surplus: Incredible Stuff at Unbelievable Prices

Ok, I'm becoming ridiculously obsessed with the crafting. I just keep thinking of stuff I want to make. This might become a problem. Of course, we'll see if I actually MAKE anything...I can be terrible about moving from inspiration to...er...actually doing stuff. Yeah....

But craftster is my new favorite.

Wait--when did Hugo Chavez become a dictator? I believe he was democratically elected?

Through The Ropes

Yes, this is my general life plan, too. Except I keep getting distracted by all the frivolous distractions.

Scary Go Round :: Monday-Friday Comic by John Allison

So, they had to go to Randolph, Utah, population 480, to find people who still like the president?

And any article that contains this line must be worth reading:
"Dijon mustard," Louderman says as the woman drives away. "I don't know what Dijon mustard is. Don't care to find out, either."

Can I move there? Please?

Utah Town Has Question About President: 'What's Not to Like?'

Um, is it April Fools' Day? Is this really for real?

MediaGuardian.co.uk Media BBC's Jesus sings Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Heh heh, it's an especially good one this morning...

Questionable Content: New comics every Monday through Friday

Interesting...very interesting. The man who commodified irony is a staunch Republican? You learn something new everyday...

As if I needed another reason to loath Urban Outfitters...

pw: philadelphia weekly online

Democrats Split Over Filibuster On Alito: "Some Republicans poked fun at Kerry -- the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, who may make another White House bid -- for allowing others to announce the filibuster plan earlier in the day while he was attending an economic conference in Davos, Switzerland."

Er, I'm not understanding where the fun-poking comes in. "Haha, you were in Switzerland!" Whaaat?

I spent a great deal of time yesterday updating my del.icio.us links. There are lots of sites on here. I'm a nerd. Thanks to Mr. X for introducing me to this very cool thingymabobber.

Dude, I'm way too tired to be awake right now.

del.icio.us/lkrier

Hm.

saki store blog: Best Buy BS

Oh man, I always wanted to go here. And I didn't even know about the hillavator!

Cooking For Engineers - Dining Out: Shadowbrook Restaurant (Capitola, California)

You might have thought there was nothing to laugh at about Islamic extremism and hotel bombings. You were wrong.

The inner workings of a terrorist's mind (You have to register with the New Republic to read this, but it's free.)

It's good to know that corporate lobbying has taken such a hit with the whole Abramoff scandal.

Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference

Of course, this argument relies on unquestioned ideas of economic efficiency and "a better life."

Why America Has to Be Fat

Ok, let me rephrase. I don't just feel chills. I feel nauseating fear and disgust in the pit of my stomach. Did it only take 30 years for people to forget what it was like in a pre-Roe America? Are people really so ignorant about abortion that they believe it doesn't happen when it's illegal?

Most importantly, is the "pendulum" really swinging against Roe, or is this a media-generated story without a solid basis in reality, as too many reporters' stories are? I can only hope...

Protesters See Mood Shift Against 'Roe'

These things give me chills. And wait--people who are antiabortion, and yet wear t-shirts that say "sex is good, the pill is bad"? Errrr...

Serious, serious, fearful chills.

Protesters See Mood Shift Against 'Roe'

The funny of the day.

Cat and Girl

The funny of next Tuesday: The State of the Union address. I'm all about getting some peeps together for watching and drinking and lamenting. Who wants to help me come up with the 2006 rules for the SOTUA drinking game? Good times, good times.

Call me ignorant, but I hadn't realized that someone actually invented smallpox blankets, as an intentional attempt at biological warfare. I thought it was just kind of a gross oversight. We're worse than I thought.

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, I guess winter had to come sometime. I can't really complain, considering that for most of January we had awesome 50 and 60 degree days, but I thought we were only supposed to get "light snow"?

And I definitely slipped on the Icy Walkway of Death outside my house this morning. That was awesome.

Local Weather Forecast for Boston, MA (02116) - weather.com

Mostly, I just think this headline is really funny.

Politics Alleged In Voting Cases

Oh so terrible. So very terrible.

Paris Hilton Deposition

Oooh. This is where my book fetishism could get out of control. I think...yup, I'm salivating.

Book Details

A woman is fired from her job as school bus driver when the school district finds out she's a practicing pagan. Ok, so this story is about some very serious things, like civil rights, religious freedom, and bigotry, but there are too many humorous elements here for me to leave it alone, and not just because practicing pagans are inherently funny.

I mean, her vampire husband is running for governor? "Being a witch involves a complex of actions that puts children in jeopardy?" The best part? The school district doesn't feel that she can be a good role model, as a witch bus driver. Since when is the school bus driver meant to be a role model?

Princeton 'witch' disputes her firing

Besides that this case just generally fascinates me, notice John G. Roberts's ruling, which contradicts his previously stated propensity to protect states' rights. Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas were the dissenting judges. This bodes well, don't you think? Sigh.

Justices Uphold Oregon Assisted-Suicide Law

While I'm not about to argue that Alito is my first choice for the Supreme Court, or that I'm in any way satisfied with his selection, I am a little bit frustrated by the knee-jerk liberal reaction against him. I don't think they're really wrong about him, but the point is that I don't know, and neither do they. It's just another wedge in the increasingly hostile and sometimes blind divide between the politically rabid right and left.

No matter who Bush nominated, it was guaranteed that MoveOn.org was going to freak out and demand daily that we block the nomination. What does this accomplish? How can it help to start your attack on a nominee before he's even spoken a word? All is does is make the liberal side look reactionary and dogmatic.

I don't know if Alito was sincere during his hearing. I have no way of knowing that. But because of they way our system works, I have to believe that he meant every word he spoke, and that, as an intelligent man, he IS capable of putting aside his personal feelings and making judgments based on fact. If we don't believe that Alito can do it, how can we believe that anyone can do it? And if it's not possible, what does that say about our judicial system?

I'm just so exhausted by ignorant politics, no matter what side the ignorance is coming from.

Whoa. Alright, Russia. This reads like something you might read in the Onion, but no, it really is Russia's primary newspaper. Oookaay.

Condoleezza Rice's anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems - PRAVDA.Ru

I think Mr. DeLay has a persecution complex. Yup, he's a little bit paranoid. And delusional. Everything, obviously, is because the Democrats are after him.

I really love, too, that his "internal polls" show that he's doing better than the Houston Chronicle poll. Really. You don't say. Now that's just crazy.

I am really looking forward to watching his slide into powerlessness and, if I'm lucky, the madhouse. Heh.

Texas Redistricting Is One More Hurdle for DeLay - New York Times

I think Mr. DeLay has a persecution complex. Yup, he's a little bit paranoid. And delusional. Everything, obviously, is because the Democrats are after him.

I really love, too, that his "internal polls" show that he's doing better than the Houston Chronicle poll. Really. You don't say. Now that's just crazy.

I am really looking forward to watching his slide into powerlessness and, if I'm lucky, the madhouse. Heh.

Texas Redistricting Is One More Hurdle for DeLay - New York Times

Hm. Maybe I should move to Vermont.

A fictional kingdom in Vermont - ExploreNewEngland.com

More comics. But hey! I did something useful today! I made a form...a beautiful, beautiful form.

Cat and Girl

Cat and Girl Battle International Communism

This article rocks.

Pop Comfort Over Ambition - New York Times

"'When Americans learn to speak a language, learn to speak Arabic, those in the Arabic region will say, 'Gosh, America's interested in us. They care enough to learn how we speak,' ' Bush said."

What a freakin' moran. :-)

Foreign-Language Learning Promoted:

I want to fight the War on Esoterics.

Don't Iraq The Boat - Wonkette

This picture (in the link below) just reminded me of an analogy Susan Faludi makes between headwear and maturity (in the excellent book Stiffed). Her point is that a cap is a sign of boyishness, and that prior to WWII, it was expected for men to eventually graduate to man-hat-wearing status. The fact that men no longer tend toward man-hats, and continue to wear caps pretty much until death, signifies an inability for contemporary men to, uh, grow up.

It's a pretty compelling argument in the context of the book. Read the book. Yeah, it's a thousand pages long, but it's really, really good.

Abramoff Plays Ball - Wonkette

Barista bandits? Only in Seattle.

"I bet they were strung out on something other than caffeine," said Michael Chiu, a spokesman for the police in Bellevue, east of here, which is working the "barista bandits" case, as it is known among the authorities, with the Seattle police and several other police departments.

Espresso Huts Are Target, and Barista Tips Police - New York Times

Ha! My family are not the only strange people who drink this. Reading this has convinced me that it's about time I introduce it to the Empress. Whether she'll like it is another story entirely...

TOM AND JERRY Recipe at Epicurious.com

Sometimes it's amazing to realize how much books can be worth:

Abebooks Search Results - darwin, charles

Jon Stewart to Host Oscars - New York Times

Brilliant.

Gasp! People like their electronic devices? I never would have guessed...

CJR Daily: Electricity: For Real, or Fleeting Fad?

Oooh, good Andrew Bird news. He's not coming to Boston again, but reissues! reissues!

Pitchfork: Daily Music News

Why does he always look so cartoonishly evil and weird? What's with the grimaces, and the staring eyes? I wonder is small children have nightmares about him?

(Picture from WP)

(Oh, and the beginning of this article in the Post basically says Cheney's a big fat liar. What a shocker.)

I think the most annoying aspect of the Abramoff guilty plea is the way everyone is acting as though they didn't know this kind of shit went on. As though they're fooling anyone. Abramoff's public apology, his declarations of atonement and pleas for god's forgiveness...it's disgusting. He's not sorry he did it, and no one could possibly believe that he is--he's sorry he got caught.

What is saddening is that everyone knows the political system is corrupt, but no one cares. These "revelations" aren't surprising anyone. We've just accepted for so long that this is how politics works. It's disgusting. Can it be changed? I'd like to believe so, but the truth is, no one cares.

Bush to Give Up $6,000 In Abramoff Contributions

What a profound truth...heehee.

[Boy on a Stick and Slither]

It's not too often you're going to find a slang word that continues to be used for over 100 years.
From the OED:

cushty, a. (and adv.)
DRAFT ENTRY Sept. 2002
Brit. slang.
Brit. /kti/, U.S. /kti/ Forms: 19- cushti, cushty, kushti. [< Romani (in Britain and Scandinavia) kushto, kushti good, perh. influenced by CUSHY a. Cf. Hindi khush, pleasure.]
Good, wonderful; fine; brilliant. Freq. as a general term of approval or agreement. Also as adv.

[1889 A. BARRÈRE & C. G. LELAND Dict. Slang I. 528/2 Kushto, koshto, good.] 1929 E. MCCARTNEY Additions to Vol. on Slang & Idioms World War in Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. 273 Cushty, smart, good. 1937 ‘J. CURTIS’ There ain't no Justice xx. 226 Him and Tommy'd manage them cushty. 1972 Guardian 9 Oct. 16/5 ‘Kushti little trailer, you know,’ he mused. 1985 J. SULLIVAN Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 4th Ser. Episode 5. 235 (Del is on the phone.) Del. No, no, no, everything's cushty! Yeah, no, no, no, you've got nothing to worry about! 2001 Daily Tel. 4 Apr. 22/5 Jamie Oliver has shot to culinary fame with almost indecent speed, but not everyone is a fan of his ‘cushty’ cuisine.

Because I didn't come across anything particularly interesting today, and because no one really reads this, so I can definitely indulge myself: the last 20 songs that I've heard on my iPod:

Girl Inform Me, The Shins
Hands Off, Old 97s
Turning Japanese, Liz Phair
Knives Out, Radiohead
Title Track, Death Cab for Cutie
It Hurts 2 C U Dance So Well, The Pipettes (It hurts me to type that title)
Ck86, Sweet William
Papa Was a Rodeo, Magnetic Fields
Amitryptyline, John Vanderslice
You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby, The Smiths
By The Way, Built to Spill
What You Are, Drill
Stable Song, Death Cab for Cutie
This Is Love, PJ Harvey
Trailer Trash, Modest Mouse
Immigrant, Sade
Sister Anne, Green Pajamas
Running Up that Hill, Kate Bush
Violent Love, Oingo Boingo
Offline P.K., Pinback

If you like that stuff, you should go to last.fm, sign up, and then search for username lkrier. Then you can listen to what I listen to. Or something. It's a cool site, even if you don't like what I listen to.

Craparagus.

Whaaat? Good god, I'm just glad I didn't have to write THIS story.

Down on the Ranch, President Wages War on the Underbrush

Heeheehee. Back to work, back to the internet comics. This one is especially for Crystal...scrabble. Heh.

Questionable Content: New comics every Monday through Friday