...because I'd rather be called a Libertarian asshole than a Democratic hypocrite.

Today's Source of Political Anxiety: Sam Smith's essay regarding John Edwards failed presidential bid and his brutal critique of snooty liberals.

If you read this blog, he may be talking about you.

Too bad.

Sometimes, the truth hurts - Progressive Review [Link] - Excerpts below.

- - - -

One of the delusions of elite liberals is that that they lack prejudice. To be sure, they treat black, women and gays far better than once was the case. But if you are poor, uneducated, own a gun, weigh a lot, come from the South or mainly read the Bible it is another matter. Class and culture have replaced the genetic as acceptable targets.

The 28% of the American adult population with college degrees defines the country's values, its policies, its laws, what is stylish and how you get to the top, including the White House. And what it has defined has exacted no small price from the remaining 72%. For example, just in the past eight years, the following have gotten significantly worse:

Median income
Number of manufacturing jobs
Number of new private jobs
Percent of workers with company based health insurance
Poverty
Consumer credit debt
Number of housing foreclosures
Cost of heating oil & gas
Number without health insurance
Wages in manufacturing
Income gap between rich and poor
Wealth of the bottom 40% of Americans
Number of older families with pensions
Number of workers covered by defined benefit pensions
Hunger
Use of soup kitchens
Personal bankruptcies
Median rent

Edwards' problem was that he made the smug set of American liberalism extremely uncomfortable. He showed them what they should really be thinking about and what they might do about it. And they didn't like it. Far better to relax in the self-righteousness of choosing between a Harvard Law School black and a Yale Law School woman.

This vintage Lucy Van Pelt footage explains an entire generation's need for antidepressants. It's also worth noting that Ms. Van Pelt would be a fantastic gossip blogger.

How To Make Fire Balls - video powered by Metacafe

Because I cannot make this shit up: children learn how to fight Satan in church...with a grown man dressed like a ninja...who twirls nunchucks and flings Japanese throwing stars....

Video from GodTube.

Bono's business manager had this to say today about people gooching music online:

I suggest we shift the focus of moral pressure away from the individual P2P file thief and on to the multi billion dollar industries that benefit from these countless tiny crimes – The ISPs, the telcos, the device makers. Let’s appeal to those fine minds at Stanford University and Silicon Valley, Apple, Google, Nokia, HP, China Mobile, Vodafone, Comcast, Intel, Ericsson, Facebook, iLike, Oracle, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, Tiscali etc...

They have built multi billion dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it. It’s probably too late for us to get paid for the past though maybe that shouldn’t be completely ruled out...

They have a moral obligation to be true, trustworthy partners of the music sector. To respect and take responsibility for protecting music. To work for the revaluation, not the devaluation of music. To share revenues with the community fairly and responsibly, and to share the skills, ingenuity and entrepreneurship from which our business has a lot to learn.

...our talented clients deserve better than the shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age.

U2 spent years never paying taxes on the royalties of their music.

You may recall that in 2006 - Bono and his ilk moved a significant portion of their $450 million business empire from Ireland to the Netherlands in order to forgo paying taxes. [Link] and [Link].

You see kids, the Irish government used to not tax artists for earned royalties, but in 2006, they decided that artists who earn more than 250,000 euros a year should fork over a little cash, you know, to
"share revenues with the community fairly and responsibly..."

Except if you're Bono, of course...

What a trifling, cheapskate hypocrite...

Instead of watching the State of the Union, I typed "Pile of Crap" into the YouTube.

Curious results, indeed:

Paris-based fashion designer John Galliano is very quickly identified as "L'Anglais" (English) in this article from Rue 89.

No wonder - his Fall 2008 collection featured a heartless homage to Abu Ghraib, with bloody and bruised men, wearing nooses and black hoods that carefully match their $153 jacques-staps. [A portfolio of the entire collection is here].

While I have been a fan of Mr. Galliano's theatrical style for well-over a decade, I find this "provocative" pantie presentation nothing more that a callous gimmick, one that reeks of bigoted bourgeoisie bullshit.

So, in keeping with the spirit of Mr. Galliano's runway show, here's a couple of my suggestions for his forthcoming print campaign.

Stench: The New Fragrance from Galliano:

Torturess: Galliano Foundation and Lipstick

Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) took thousands of photographs between 1939 and 1944. Hundreds of them have been preserved by the Library of Congress and have been posted on Flickr for archival and cataloging purposes.

See the collection here: Library of Congress photos on Flickr.

Clownvis, photographed by: More Drew's Than You

Clownvis makes me so very, very happy...

Because DJ gigs don't pay like they used to...

For more info about this wonderful item -- see comments by reader Marty (below).

At the beginning of the year, I reformatted my camera's SD card, thinking I'd downloaded all of last year's photos onto my hard drive.

Well, I hadn't.

Did you hear the screaming and desperate pleas to the holy forces to Control-Z the past two weeks?

Well, my antics and protestations just made the plates rattle and the neighbors worry, so I turned (mostly humbly) to the Beneficent Boolean and lo and behold - I found a FREE program that rescued the photos I'd deleted!!!!

And I've learned my lesson re:Romanesque remonstrance....

All hail, Lord ZAR!

- - -

ZAR - Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery - Free Photo Recovery Tool

Robert Scheer has a few words about the Clinton-Obama Feud: Tuthdig

Yes, it is important for the health of our democracy to break barriers that have held back a majority of our citizens, and for that reason it would certainly be an advance to have a black or female president. But that alone is not enough to justify a vote. What we need far more than a change in appearance is one of perspective. Otherwise, Condoleezza Rice would make the ideal candidate.

Congratulations to much beloved Alison Arngrim for being honored on Mr. Blackwell's Worst Dressed List.

Ms. Arngrim (who has spent her years post-prairie as an advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS) provides an official statement regarding this auspicious honor on her website:

Well about time!! I have been trying to get on this list for years!

Mr. Blackwell (and his wonderful husband Mr. Spencer), are dear friends of mine. I admit to shamelessly lobbying poor Mr. Blackwell to put me on his "Worst Dressed list" - every time we are scheduled to be at the same event, I do my worst.

I've tried everything: feather boas, bustiers, platform shoes, bad hair extensions, plunging necklines, low rise jeans, ugly hand bags, - you name it! And every time, he just laughs and says, "Yes, but you mean it as a joke! Therefore, it's a fabulous fashion statement!"

Finally it seems that a particularly ghastly "western ensemble" I wore to a Little House fan event in Tombstone, Arizona, has finally pushed him beyond all tolerance. (It was for a "hootenanny", where ridiculous cartoon western get ups were encouraged. I have always avoided hootenannies for this very reason!)

I am so honored to be included among such a list of incredibly famous women performers. I take this listing as an enormous compliment to the longevity of my career.

And I solemnly swear never to wear that horrid outfit again!!

Thank you,
Alison Arngrim

...there was World Wide Magazine!

World Wide Magazine Fan Page [Link - www.diabetoboy.com]

Special thanks to Tim for sending this to me!

Given that any criticism of Hillary Clinton is inherently misogynistic, lets take a few moments to consider this race place called taupe.

...or at least veteran news person John Hockenberry thinks so -- and illuminates several examples of NBC at its worst in a seven page story in the current issue of
Technology Review.

Hockenberry, winner of four Emmy awards; three Peabody Awards; an Edward R. Murrow Award and a Casey Medal, offers a glimpse into nine years at Dateline NBC (You know "News stories about crime, celebrity and health").

[Television news] reassured the audience by telling it what it already knew rather than challenging it to learn. This explains why TV news voices all use similar cadences, why all anchors seem to sound alike, why reporters in the field all use the identical tone of urgency no matter whether the story is about the devastating aftermath of an earthquake or someone's lost kitty.

[Link - Technology Review] - from PRWatch.org

Bill Moyer's Journal - you can read the transcript or watch the video. [Link - PBS]

Our ruthless and illegal invasion of Iraq has resulted in increased numbers of families selling their children.

Mission Accomplished!

Iraqis resort to selling children

Omar Khalif, vice-president of the Iraqi Families Association (IFA), an NGO established in 2004 to register cases of those missing and trafficked, said that at least two children are sold by their parents every week.

He said: "[The] numbers are alarming. There is an increase of 20 per cent in the reported cases of missing children compared to last year."

"In previous years, children were reported missing on their way home from schools or after playing with friends outside their homes. However, police investigations have revealed that many have been sold by their parents to foreign couples or specialised gangs."

According to police investigations and an independent IFA study, Iraqi children are being sold to families in many European countries - particularly the Netherlands and Sweden - Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

"Taking advantage of the desperate situation of many families living under poverty conditions in Iraq, foreigners offer a good amount of money in exchange of children as young as one-month old and up to five years of age," Khalif said.

...because everything is w-r-o-n-g!!!!!!

Amy Fisher Promoting Sex Tape

Fisher said her husband, Louis Bellera, sold the sex tape to Red Light District video of Los Angeles in August when he and Fisher were divorcing. They have since reconciled, and Fisher said she took a six-figure payout rather than fight to have the video pulled from the Internet.

Talk about a showdown!

It was New Year's Eve and once again I was at The Royale, carrying on with friends.

Last year's hat (see below) had been a great success - and I spent most of December feeling a tad anxious and apprehensive about what to do for this year's hoo-hah at my favorite hipster haunt.

And it was while I was heading home to Kentucky that a particularly creepy Christmas carol by Liberace provided inspiration for this year's get-up.

Black and white was the theme for The Royale's party - and I wanted to make a white fur coat ($30 bucks in fake fur and $15 in sewing machine needles) and a sparkly tuxedo.

I told my mom about my idea and she gave me a white coat she'd never worn. She told me she loved Liberace and that she was thrilled that, for once, I was not dressing like a woman.

Ahem. Yeah.

Meanwhile, a family member died (I was a pall bearer) and I only had 24 hours to whip us the outfit (also see below). I think it turned out pretty well, if I may say so myself.

Funny thing - it was supposed to be an homage to America's Glitter Man - but most folks just thought it was just me dressed like...me!

I don't know whether to be flattered, appalled...or both!

More photos here (my Flickr) and here (Ryan's Flickr)