My pal Robert points out to me (by way of Andrew Sullivan) that over at Little Green Footballs, Charles Johnson has - as I write this - literally filled the blog's front page almost entirely with story after story of himself being utterly dumbfounded at the skyrocketing levels of batshittery coming from the part of the American Right that's managed ( Read more... )

Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon hits the panic over the Obama-corrupting-the-youth thing square on the head:
We laugh at the wingnuts pulling their kids out of school, and we point out that Obama’s speech is perhaps the most bland, inoffensive, apolitical thing he’s ever written. But that’s exactly what the wingnuts are afraid of. They can just imagine ( Read more... )

Boy do I have a bad feeling about this.

This is probably the first time I really have to ask what usually strikes me as a lame question: can you imagine what would have happened if anyone pulled this shit around our previous president?

When I get a call from my parents' house at an unusual hour, I worry that this will finally be the call when I learn that one of them has died.

After I hear the voicemail, which is invariably just a request to call back about one minor family matter or another, I worry about having to talk about the Obama administration with them.

My selfish hope is that the events in Iran bring out positive - if not painless - changes in both that country and this one. In the Iranians, we Americans of all political colors see a sympathetic entity who has not just been wronged but outraged, by any objective standard ( Read more... )

Add Carney Vale to the list of "totally worth five bucks" Xbox 360 games. This is a Community Games title developed by the Gambit game lab, whose Kendall Square offices I've had the pleasure to visit by way of the various local events they host. It's a fine morsel, gleamingly polished, where you use minimal controls and simple 2D physics to fling ( Read more... )

"Good job everybody."

Also:

• Is this the first time a sitting U.S. president gave a shout-out to nonreligious Americans in a major speech? (He used the word 'non-believers', which I also approve of.)

• I was glad that there didn't seem to be much chanting after his speech. The time for that stuff is done; now is the time to get to work.

• I am really excited about Obama's staff picks, because demonstrating astute and practical team-building skills helps validate his ability to lead ( Read more... )

I just realized that I didn't check in on any righty-blogs since before the election. Inspiration struck to not visit the obvious (and stoopider) sites, but instead to drop in on my favorite Internet Lost Soul, James Lileks. And he had this to say (emphasis mine):
I’m approaching the new administration with a blank slate. I have no desire to walk ( Read more... )

So, the country is set to walk a sane path again - can you believe it? - and I had my last PT session today, as well as a flu shot. My hip isn't popping (nearly as much) any more and I'm told the relevant muscles are much stronger than they were a month ago. Yay ( Read more... )