tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Avedon's SideshowAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger2385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-90627268315032854482024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:002024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00that Mel Torme story gets me every time.that Mel Torme story gets me every time.Steve in Manhattan https://www.blogger.com/profile/16466948226889046395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-40546836737009996792023-12-26T18:46:59.973+00:002023-12-26T18:46:59.973+00:00I'm so glad you're still here. All the tra...I'm so glad you're still here. All the traditional blogs from way back when are gone, except for you and Eschaton.Nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13805426834359052885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-56883784149839512082023-12-24T05:53:26.382+00:002023-12-24T05:53:26.382+00:00I'm back. I just needed the reminder. Bless yo...I'm back. I just needed the reminder. Bless you, bless you. Augustinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03557099734485888973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-34691130844972428512023-11-02T02:36:53.402+00:002023-11-02T02:36:53.402+00:00"Israel exists to keep Jews alive." I r..."Israel exists to keep Jews alive." I remember when I actually believed it gave Jews security. I no longer believe that. And I've also noticed that the harder the public line and the practice that Israel takes, the less safe the Jews in it seem to be. The policy has been suicidal since Sharon and just keeps getting worse.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-14175407112638221532023-11-01T17:39:18.225+00:002023-11-01T17:39:18.225+00:00Hama's exists to kill as many Jews as possible...Hama's exists to kill as many Jews as possible.<br />Israel exists to keep Jews alive.<br /><br />Who has complained that over fifteen years Hamas has fired tens of thousands of rockets randomly at civilians?<br /><br />Who has complained while Hamas has stolen billions of dollars turning Gaza into the roof over their sprawling military complex?<br /><br />Hama's has two million hostages and a history of deploying them as human shields.Neil_in_Chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09062490117473145827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-87969080038005101442023-09-02T22:37:51.372+01:002023-09-02T22:37:51.372+01:00I'd be inclined to agree with you, Brian, but ...I'd be inclined to agree with you, Brian, but it seems to me it started much earlier.<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/aug/01/mytransmission" rel="nofollow">With things like this</a>.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-17051033865334291452023-09-01T21:57:47.248+01:002023-09-01T21:57:47.248+01:00My theory: When Obergefell v. Hodges made gay marr...My theory: When Obergefell v. Hodges made gay marriage legal across the United States, the conservative outrage machine needed some other way to whip people into a frenzy, and it was ready to go with "trans people are going into the wrong bathrooms, invading our children's most private time." I feel like I started seeing those stories online within a week of Obergefell, which was decided in late June 2015...and in fact, Google Trends shows the first major spike in searches for "transgender" in July 2015.<br /><br />But I think this idea worked better than expected, because some people who could shrug off "gay men are coming for your boys" were more vulnerable to "men dressed like women are coming for your girls." That idea can also easily tie into various conspiracies about child trafficking and be part of a larger, more sinister feeling of "there's nefarious deeds afoot."<br /><br />So, long story short: I think transphobia used to be "that lady flirting with you might be hiding a secret," but various groups looking for political and financial power have cynically repackaged it as "that man is wearing a dress so he can corrupt and abuse our precious children."Brian Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07305624852257701050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-78412297230136378802023-09-01T03:24:06.358+01:002023-09-01T03:24:06.358+01:00I like Lavery's review of the anti-trans books...I like Lavery's review of the anti-trans books – thanks for the link.<br /><br />I too am puzzled by the whole thing. My attitude can be mostly summarized as "Who cares?" (except for actual trans people and their friends.) But I've lost an old friend to this garbage, a non-het-normal man. It's not just a matter of the right-wing crankery of the day, it has legs. I have no idea why. Like, we understand that anti-black racism is out there and it only took someone talking it up to make it visible again. But transphobia never was much of a thing before. So why has it emerged?Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-38209581009976856712023-07-18T06:47:21.803+01:002023-07-18T06:47:21.803+01:00"I'm writing...about... A FAKE CASE. IT&#..."I'm writing...about... A FAKE CASE. IT'S INSANE. THERE IS NO FACTUAL RECORD TO DISCUSS BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FACTS. What the fuck kind of Supreme Court IS THIS?" - Elie Mystal, https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/167559069762843443Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-21701729886993424832023-07-10T23:46:18.677+01:002023-07-10T23:46:18.677+01:00Schlimmbesserung, goddammit. "It's not e...Schlimmbesserung, goddammit. "It's not even..."Ulrika O'Brienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222720218715777446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-30857295080428351922023-07-10T23:45:22.840+01:002023-07-10T23:45:22.840+01:00(Reposted for edits)
t's not even the most hon...(Reposted for edits)<br />t's not even the most honest discussion of him I've heard this week. Admittedly, I have long since lost patience with Sam Seder and his shallow, wrongheaded ad hominem approach to disagreement, and in this segment his inability to actually spit out his words is deeply aggravating to me as a listener, but in terms of content he seems far more interested in speculations about Kennedy's motives, imputing mental imbalance or irrational stubbornness, than in any substantive engagement with the studies and data Kennedy cites. So even if we grant "honest," I wouldn't call it either *intellectually* honest or usefully informative. There's a lot of tacit disapproval and condemnation by implication but virtually no engagement with facts. We get a view of Sam's FEEWINGS, and personal impressions, which, absent support by arguments and data, aren't of much interest to me. Ulrika O'Brienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222720218715777446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-8280779636188571672023-07-09T04:38:46.474+01:002023-07-09T04:38:46.474+01:00In the first half of Friday's Majority Report,...In the first half of Friday's Majority Report, Sam Seder starts to interview David Dayen and has the tables turned on him when Dayen asks Sam whether he's ever talked on the show about his relationship with RFK, Jr. It's probably the most honest discussion of him you're likely to hear: <br />https://www.youtube.com/live/HAw--eHhjCUAvedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-773897994299476532023-07-08T16:57:39.808+01:002023-07-08T16:57:39.808+01:00The substance of which seems to be that Kennedy ha...The substance of which seems to be that Kennedy has appeared on the podcast of this guy and said something nice about him at the outset of the interview. Hardly tantamount to endorsing neonazism. This is absolutely of a piece with the mainstream media tactic that was also deployed against Sanders and many others: make the candidate look scary and extremist so you don't even consider listening to what he says or examining his views. Oooh! Lookie! He goes on Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan! He must be an Evil Nazi Racist Fringe Lunatic. Better look away fast before you get infected and we have to deplatform you, too!Ulrika O'Brienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222720218715777446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-46192707282333283822023-07-07T11:29:55.292+01:002023-07-07T11:29:55.292+01:00He also seems to think neo-Nazis are cool. Look he...He also seems to think neo-Nazis are cool. Look here: https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-his-group-are-fans-fringe-streamer-who-claimedRaven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-16996498659228927012023-07-04T00:46:17.873+01:002023-07-04T00:46:17.873+01:00That Jacobin piece on RFKjr is pretty weak tea. I...That Jacobin piece on RFKjr is pretty weak tea. I can pretty much always discount the opinions of anyone who pushes the "zany position on vaccines" line as having done no real examination of Kennedy's arguments and support. This is not the work of someone who looks at science and knows how to interpret it. So what are we left with: RFKjr draws support from the right? Horrorshock. We wouldn't want anyone who has support from both sides of the aisle, those people are all deplorable, aren't they? Ended up kissing up to Israel? Sad, but a bit inevitable. Doesn't support single payer? Okay, I confess that at this point, I'm not sure I do anymore either. Given the appalling degree of capture of public health authorities in the US and worldwide, and the degree of authoritarian creep that has occurred in the name of public health, I don't feel very optimistic about putting more power over my healthcare in the hands of the Feds. I don't know what the right answer is, but it's not clear to me that the concentration of power and control at the federal level is anything like a good idea now.Ulrika O'Brienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222720218715777446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-6803311202713971552023-07-03T21:29:00.562+01:002023-07-03T21:29:00.562+01:00Thanks for the note about homelessness in LA; with...Thanks for the note about homelessness in LA; with all the sturm und drang, I didn't see it, and I'm glad I have.<br /><br />So far as Corey Robin is concerned, I gave up on him when he was saying that Trump was no threat. :-(Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42420004228795382742023-07-01T17:21:31.379+01:002023-07-01T17:21:31.379+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Mark Gislesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264508885194574116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-75494485564523121532023-06-12T22:20:26.035+01:002023-06-12T22:20:26.035+01:00Barbara Feldon is still around, although she didn&...Barbara Feldon is still around, although she didn't rank up there with Diana Rigg and Nichelle Nichols.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-11421423033528807112023-05-31T03:16:16.601+01:002023-05-31T03:16:16.601+01:00I remember there was some media push on Nutbush Ci...I remember there was some media push on Nutbush City Limits (pretty sure that was the album River Deep was on in the US as I had it on 8-track). For my money, Nutbush City Limits is Tina's finest song IF you see her perform it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07249JX8w4 <br /><br />She takes another piece of my heart with her. Of all the women I loved (on TV) in the '60s, I think only Barbara Eden is still with us. Mark Gislesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264508885194574116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-9916737450542815482023-04-29T06:16:37.911+01:002023-04-29T06:16:37.911+01:00Yeah, that's what I meant about his track reco...Yeah, that's what I meant about his track record.Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-50927217696369752962023-04-28T19:53:15.238+01:002023-04-28T19:53:15.238+01:00Pretty Leary of Jeff Gerth after his failure in th...Pretty Leary of Jeff Gerth after his failure in the Whitewater investigation. Its a bit rich his complaining about bias in reporting as if its a new thing.<br />Buzzcookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466134753394910191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-46793014302551429722023-04-14T05:32:58.342+01:002023-04-14T05:32:58.342+01:00These guy might be a small part of the reason kids...These guy might be a small part of the reason kids are listening to classical music.<br />https://www.youtube.com/@twosetviolinBuzzcookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10466134753394910191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-85518180147819720912023-03-26T17:35:05.582+01:002023-03-26T17:35:05.582+01:00Arizona imposed term limits in 1992. What has happ...Arizona imposed term limits in 1992. What has happened is perpetual campaigning for the next level, and lobbyists and RW organizations like ALEC writing the bills, and the rise of the insane RW legislators, because the Republican party (which has dominated the Legislature for over 50 years) very rapidly ran out of whatever bench of competent pols very quickly. This circus of the damned is where the likes of Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar came from...and where the current crop like Wendy Rogers are busilly lining up congressional runs.Bruce.desertrathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10434042422376320562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-47275489274521532752023-03-18T12:20:35.719+00:002023-03-18T12:20:35.719+00:00Andrei at The Saker just "retired" a wee...Andrei at The Saker just "retired" a week or so ago so the site isn't publishing new stuff. The links a year ago were all to accurate accounts of what was happening in Ukraine*.<br /><br />The Saker is pro Russian Orthodox which means it is (by Western standards) very sexist. In addition to criticizing US foreign policy, they mirror Russian society by loving low brow American culture and criticizing the identity movement. They are not easy to read and I resisted recs to do so for well over a decade but due to the obscene amounts of anti-Russian propaganda being shoveled by Western news media, I finally started reading them.<br /><br />Coverage of this war has been atrocious and I finally had to break down and start listening to podcasts and watching videos (the two slowest forms of news intake imaginable; neighborhood gossip is faster and more reliable). The difficulty is that much of the accurate war coverage comes from very sexist sources. Gonzalo Lira for example has been in Ukraine the entire war, has reported what's being said locally and has been right about most of the breaking developments but occasionally unloads some very sexist crappy jokes on his audience.<br /><br />Tbf, the algorithmic jiggling on my account (it's not "shadowbanning" but that's a very weaseley technicality used by some to obfuscate the issue) probably is not due to anything in Taibbi's investigation. My Twitter account never took off despite having lots of active mutuals and I abandoned it for years. In retrospect, I now suspect that whoever hit my old blog with a DDOS attack in early 2005 had friends high up and that "things" were done to dampen my social media presence. These things would be in addition to my years of nonstop cussing, disparagement of others and general negativity stemming from the obvious suppression of my blog's reach (having your own domain and full access to your data makes it pretty easy to see the impact of what these fuckers have been doing -- you don't take a Village Voice Media altweekly from 40,000s on Alexa to 5,000 rank in three months and then bleed out most of your readership with the same content, not without "help").<br /><br />* I think it's important to comment on all the "failed" predictions the pro-Russia crowd made (and that I passed on to others). This is how the non-Western world views the last year:<br /><br />Russia absolutely crushed Ukraine in the first month. While their 40-mile long "stalled" convoy head fake mesmerized the western media, Russia took complete control over Ukrainian air space. After one month, Ukraine was defeated. Period.<br /><br />NATO then poured in troops and materiel to prop up Ukraine and for the past year the West has given enormous amounts of war materiel to Ukraine which has mostly been blown up, sold on the black market, or captured by Russian forces.<br /><br />The entire Western military might and economic power has been destroyed by this war. Not only has Russia crushed Ukraine, they have bankrupted us with their incremental war of attrition. The world has realigned and the US Dollar is about to resemble the British Pound after WWII. BRICS is the future (BRICS + Mexico? !!!) and the US is going to enter a long sustained period of decline as we realize that most dollars are held by foreigners. <br /><br />The UK and Europe are economic basketcases as a result of US perfidy, the same perfidy now propping up what's left of the Dollar. Payback is going to be ugly.Mark Gislesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264508885194574116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-33168798231754354212023-03-18T02:11:00.026+00:002023-03-18T02:11:00.026+00:00Yeah, I've noticed the reappearance of a few f...Yeah, I've noticed the reappearance of a few favorites on Twitter, though I had to look for your name to see your posts, so you might be right about still being shadowbanned.<br /><br />I think Taibbi screwed up delivery on the Twitter Files story, but yes, it's not unimportant that he found the security state in their pants. Still, that's a story that started the minute Bush convinced ISPs to break the law and spy on Americans wholesale, and he shouldn't have gone along with the pretence that it's just Democrats, although it is *also* Democrats. He also shouldn't have gone along with the pretence that the only people being banned and shadowbanned were conservatives, either.<br /><br />I looked at The Saker and can't figure out what's in it that made Twitter ban you. Care to explain?Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com