The most important thing we bloggers can do now.

[Code Pink panties, of course]

I'm convinced that if there is one project we in Left Blogsylvania can take on, it's the silencing of the AIPAC/Schumer/Lieberman cartel and the moral blindness it represents. I don't have to link Greenwald for most of you, but here.

Defeating Lieberman should be fairly easy since most of Connecticut hates him now. Schumer has picked up where Hillary left off, and as I've said before, it's clear that her rabid right wingertude on Israel was written for the New York stage exclusively. Her new role isn't as Broadway's tragic heroine failing in the Middle East, as her predecessor played, but a delightful East End romp as Ambassador to Australia and Environs, which suits her just fine (and I'm being completely sincere when I say good on her).

There should be just as much outrage over the continual gang rape of common sense foreign policy, and our excommunication from all hope for peace, as there is over a nine-year-old pregnant Catholic girl south of the border. Meet the stepfathers: IT'S THEIR FAULT.



Oh look, two old Jewish guys have outdated "Israel right or wrong" attitudes. Absolutely it's generational. Gay rights is generational, too, and it's widely acknowledged by thinking people that in less than two generations gay rights won't be a big issue. I hope by that time there's a new generation of Jewish-American politicians who understand that a state of perpetual warfare is NOT good for Israel, it's merely good for Israeli hardliners who love winning elections which, in a parlimentary system, are always just around the corner.

Speaking of generational warfare, there aren't enough Jewish babies in the world to serve in the Israeli army against the Anschluß (yeah, I said it) of Palestinian octomoms who have no "standard of living" to protect via small family size. I predict apartheid. I also predict time will run out on apartheid. That ought to scare some sense into the current cartel, but I have no hope, none whatsoever, for AIPAC kool-aid junkies. It's the saddest thing in the world that they aren't ex-communicated from the halls of power for their vicious crimes against humanity, peace, and political common sense. The end.

More fun with Twitter

A little inside baseball, but actual tweets. If you don't get it and want to, google "blogroll amnesty day."

And memo to Cardinal Ratzinger: That whole "excommunicate the 9yo rape victim's mom and not the pedophile rapist" thing is bound to make people feel all warm and fuzzy about your Church, just like they did about your Führer.

Live chat with Blue Gal and other bloggers

See you next week.

PS Jezebel is joining me at BlogHer. OMG.

Blue Gal Video Blog 3/9/09

And all the while I'm showing off how connected I am to my creative energy, my inner critic was screaming all the negative messages you can imagine. So there.

And I will have a new microphone before I do another video. That much I know.

Salon tonight 9 Eastern. Check here for the link. Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday, PZ Myers.

Photo by BAC, from the AU meetup in 2007.

I love PZ Myers, and not just because he uses charming pick-up lines like, "No, Blue Gal, I really WANT you to lose your faith."

Happy Birthday honey. You're probably busy, but if you show up for Salon tonight we'll make a big fuss. xoxo

And your review of the Watchmen movie is the best review I've read of a movie I have no intention of seeing. LOL.

Actual tweets.

Actually, the entire episode of Meet The Press this morning was downright embarrassing, Gregory showing Newt Gingrich just what a good baby he can be. Shame.

Storms today.

We had a "take the kids to the basement" storm this morning; I'm taking that as a sign to stay close to the radio and away from the computer for the day. We're fine, it's actually bright sun right now but appears to be big wide waves of weather.

Have a happy day of rest, folks.

David Gregory scheduled to follow me on Twitter?

Hmm. How about never? Does never work for you, David?

There's some national correspondent Jamie Gangel at NBC who is starting a CAMPAIGN to get David Gregory to follow her on Twitter? No word on whether:

...he's such a douchebag he won't,
...she's so f-ing annoying he won't,
or it's all a stunt, and she's doing this to drive up twitter attention for Meet the Press, because somehow having Lindsey Graham on for the 3700th time isn't driving up ratings.

Jamie. If this is part of your NBC job, can we send you to cover Gaza instead? Because right now, your manicurist is contributing more to society than you.

For anti-Twitter snobs, let me say how much I like it. Twitter is social networking. It is not a table at Malta, or even Sardi's. I like it better than Facebook. I follow 261 people currently. I get GREAT news tips from the people I follow. Very little of "god i need coffee" or "here's what I had for lunch." If you hang out with people who have some sense of what is relevant, your twitter page will reflect.

I do not follow David Gregory. Decided to follow David Gregory for the "comedy gold" potential.

PS. One wise tweeter points out that when you email Meet the Press, the autoreply comes back "Thank you for sending your comments to MEET THE PRESS with Tim Russert." Ask Jamie to take care of that, will ya, David?

Saturday Song

If I have a chance, I'm going to take seven minutes and thirteen seconds just to listen. Memo to self: that means don't click on another tab while you're listening.

Good luck with that, Mom. :) Happy Saturday, folks.

Yes, it's too nice to blog, but...

Blogmother sez: you can use the nice weather as an excuse in seven weeks or so. And even if today feels like May, it doesn't count. Blog first, lie in the grass later. By the way, that grass you think you see is actually mud. But I'm going outside anyway.

Happy Birthday, Glenn Greenwald. I wrapped up three links for you: [Twitter, Facebook, Blog].

Michelle Bachmann no longer makes me miss Katherine Harris. Katherine would never be able to, ahem, "articulate" the terror that probable Democratic success exacts in Republicans.

Shorter Bachmann: Americans liked it when FDR gave them Social Security, and LBJ gave them more Social Security. And now with Obama, it's like, omigod, MORE Social Security and helping working people stuff! And we'll have to run against that? We'll never win elections after that!

PS Michelle, if you're a Republican, then likening Democratic policies to evolution is really really a bad idea. It reminds people of the chimperor we don't want to go back to. Ever. It also makes us look, oh, I dunno, pro-progress, and you not.

Anyone think she's a Comedy Central plant? If so, she's worth every single frakin' dime.

Blog Against Theocracy - The Video

Feel free to steal.

Geesh, even my DAD is piling on poor Rush!

Love the halo/cross thing going on there, Dad. xoxo

Comment of the year so far

Over at that Facebook group I mentioned earlier:

I dare each one of you who calls themelves "pro-sex" feminists to watch mainstream EURO or US porno for 3 + hours straight without feeling a little sick, angry, a little ruined self-esteem here and there... I also need an explanation from "pro-sex" feminists why most of them are into "alternative" pornograghy... are you blind or in denial? or insulting my intelligence?

I promise you, I have never watched porno for 3 + hours straight. Twelve minutes, tops, usually does it for me. And no I'm not blind. That whole "until I needed glasses" joke works here.

More importantly, I've never needed to question or even examine the sex lives or proclivities of any other consenting adult* in order to inform my feminism.

*And just to be clear, "consenting adult" excludes rape victims and children. Duh.

And I do think adult women can consent to all kinds of things that I would not find pleasurable. I mean, three different women married Rush Limbaugh. Nuff said.

Good morning, girls!

Today is "anti-procrastination" day, so I plan to get that crack in my windshield looked at, finally.

In the meantime, I'd like to dedicate this video to my gal pals at Evil Slutopia, the sex-positive feminism Facebook group, and the divine Susie Bright.

And yeah, this video is a real WTF moment.

Honesty and the GOP...

As the late George Carlin would say, that's kinda like "military" and "intelligence."

As I pointed out at another better blog, there is an easy fix for any Republican who doesn't like the whole Rush Limbaugh leadership meme:

"I won't contradict Rush Limbaugh directly by name because people who do that have their phone lines jammed for three days, six hundred calls an hour, and I have neither the staff nor the stomach for that kind of attention. My constituents are my primary concern and responsibility, not the members of an admittedly devoted national radio audience."

Then of course, you'll have to turn off your phone for three days. Really.

How hard was that? Well, you would have to be honest to say that. Nevermind.

Gawd. I'm underpaid, and I wouldn't take money to make them look good anyway.

Tennessee GOP bumper sticker makeover!

The Tennessee GOP has a new bumpersticker, which, ahem, calls for some translation.

BEFORE:

h/t Andrew Malcolm via Utah Savage

AFTER:



If anyone has another better version, I'd love to hear it--feel free to blog it or leave something in comments.

Hey, we've all got problems (obligatory anti-standardized testing post)

When I get a note from the teacher "Tuesday is standardized testing day. Please emphasize to your child the importance of yadda yadda ya," it's like being on a computer chat line with customer service. Teacher only has a limited range of responses in her menu, and she doesn't really believe any of them, but can only select one. Just like the multiple choice tests my kid is taking today. And tomorrow. And the next day.

I don't get a customer service survey on whether my kid is well-educated because, well, ensuring my child gets a quality education is my job as a parent. Some days it's rewarding, and some, like the last 24 hours, are exhausting. I'm a failure as a mom and I'm in wonderful, excellent company with every other mom on the planet, so at least there's no peer pressure -- we can all feel the gargantuan guilt together.



I feel for the teachers, especially those who didn't sign up for this tour of No Child Left Behind drill duty, but signed up years ago to simply teach. And yeah, I reminded my child this morning about the test and the importance of yadda yadda ya in solidarity with you.

Salon tonight - live chat with BG 9-10 Eastern

Salon is over...

See you next week!

Yes, he has no banana.

I find it really amusing the whole "we want this to fail because it's a redistribution of wealth" meme from the conservatives this weekend. Americans don't buy it, and the "want it to fail" is desperation because conservatives know in their hearts that once Americans and American corporations have a reliable way to deliver health insurance through public financing of same, no one will ever go back to the tiny banana they've put up with all these years.

It's not "French," it's not "Socialist." It's security.

And as much as I love making fun of Rahm Emmanuel, the Chicagoan sure knows how to swing his yellow fruit: his "why should we subsidize HMO's and Big Oil?" on Face the Nation yesterday? I think you found your castrati, Mister Chief o' Staff.

Rush, Castrati

More for Blog Against Theocracy

Thanks to Chris Martin of Potlach Celebration for the idea on this one.

Friday song?

Today has been an away from internet day. (That's not a bad thing.) 70's Elton again, my friends.

I'm telling you, the economy is not as bad as we think.

Because Pammy is obviously still going to the medi-spa. And she can afford CPAC, even though "Here we are at the largest attended CPAC ever - close to 8,000 people and there is not one panel or speaker on Islamic supremacism, freedom of speech, or foreign affairs save one panel."

My sense is a CPAC Panel on "Our Epic Fail at Home and Abroad" would kind of be a downer for people who, let's face it, have rejected all interventions and insist on sucking down the wingnut koolaid until the bitter end, because, HEY, I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM! I CAN STOP ANYTIME, BUT THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF! IT HELPS ME BE ME! BOLTON! USA! Do you wanna go upstairs and discuss Islamic supremacism?

Oh, sorry, didn't mean to get carried away there. But I'm really, truly, all for Pammy's freedom of speech, oh g-d yes, even though I won't link her. The crazy is really entertaining when it isn't outright dangerous. I wonder how it feels to have Amnesty International against you?

I also wonder if the Senate Republicans found any Facebook friends at CPAC? I suspect everybody at the true-believers convention hates those guys.

UPDATE: The whole CPAC thing is giving Mika Brezinski hives? For real?

Happy Birthday to my FIVE year old

Light posting today I must rush about smartly accomplishing cupcakes. This photo is from younger years, and of course her sister is not to be outdone in the Fancy Department.

She is the baby, though, and I hear "Mommy?" from her more than the other two combined. May I never forget the blessing in that, while the forty-fifth "mommy?" of the ten-minute car ride to school sometimes makes me sigh, just a bit.

Happy Birthday, sweetie.

All my plans are ruined?

I was going to make a video against the nineteen GOP Senators up for re-election in 2010...but too many of them are retiring. I'm almost gonna miss Kit Bond and Sam Brownback, except David Vitter and Jim DeMint are said to be running.

I hate resorting to internet algorithms, but...

LOL!

It must be hard switching from majority to minority party, not to mention switching from SOTU with a batshit lying inarticulate Preznit who only asks you stand up and cheer the ideology, versus a reasonable President who wants you to, like, get stuff done and have ideas and contribute and shit.

The Republican National Senatorial Committee is looking for 2000 Facebook supporters.*** Good luck with that.


***clicking the link does not make you a supporter, pinky-promise.

OH Nevermind! Clicking the link again, I see they're looking for two POINT zero zero zero facebook friends. That's more like it. Rock on Dick Cheney and Michael Steele! Inclusivity!

PS thanks for the linky love, Wonkette. xxx

Bad feminist, no panties (in this post).

Okay, I registered for BlogHer. It's a bloggers conference that takes place in Chicago at the end of July when I'm actually kid-free. Trust me, I'll be coming to the well and asking for donations that month specifically to get me there. (July is also my birthday month, and hopefully we'll see some economic signs of Spring by then).

So I sent the following email to the organizers:

Dear Friends:

I just registered for the BlogHer panel and I'd be happy to participate in the panel on Womanhood post-Sarah Palin.

I write for several blogs, most notably Crooks and Liars, which was just named one of the top 25 blogs in America by Time Magazine.

I was a finalist for "Best Liberal Blogger" at the 2008 Weblog awards for my own blog, Blue Gal.

I am also a noted YouTube filmmaker, and my video "A blogger responds to Sarah Palin" currently has over 19,000 views.

Feel free to contact me if you need any other information.

With all good wishes,

So I sat in front of the laptop for a minute and read that. Welp, thank the good Lord I have to wash "pee-pee accident" sheets and mop floors today, otherwise I might get a swelled head.

PS. I found out this conference is in Chicago again from an attendee at Salon last night: Jezebel of Evil Slutopia, who also might be attending BlogHer. I swear, BlogHer and Chicago will never be the same if both of us are there, babe.

Tonight's Salon (sorry for delay)

Tiny Chat worked really well. We'll use that in the future. A special welcome to all the Twitter folks who showed up last night. I had a great time.

PS. I'm making a major effort to attend the BlogHer Conferences in Chicago in late July.

Star Wars...We NEED it.

My ten-year-old son has a NEED greater than pizza. Star Wars novels, comics, compendiums, omnibus compendiums, etc. etc.

It turns out the world he is about to enter is inhabited with young men just like him, ha....

Reading the online reviews by one Star Wars fan cracked me up:

"It's not really that great of a book but you should read it just to be informed."

"If you start the young Jedi Knights series, do not stop (14 part series). They are not a necessity, but they expand and provide much needed light on the Solo children and other academy Jedi."

Wait, some of these books are NOT "necessities"? Don't try telling that to Junior Dude.

Also, whoever designed Gmail spellcheck is one of them. Because if you don't capitalize "Jedi," the spell checker catches it. Just saying.



PS. There's obviously a Higher Power/Force at work here, because I didn't have to photoshop a thing (or even search very long) to find and post this image:

Why I left Alabama, part 846

Yeah, TPM already has this story, let me just add how happy I am to have Roland "Fucking Corrupt" Burris as my [temporary] Senator instead of this jackass. Politics is so often the choice between two evils, but given that choice, I'll take the crook over the idiot every time.

Senator Shelby questions Obama's citizenship.

This at a meet-the-constituents event, where some "natural born citizen" of the United States, um, prompted the Republican Alabama Senator to be more publicly stupid than usual.

Another local resident asked Shelby if there was any truth to a rumor that appeared during the presidential campaign concerning Obama’s U.S. citizenship, or lack thereof.

“Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate,” Shelby said. “You have to be born in America to be president.”

Setting aside the whole "they said" bullshit, who knew Shelby was bilingual? He seems to speak English very well for someone whose NATIVE language is Klanese. And, by the way, everyone in that formerly whites-only, betcha, restaurant, knew the code. What does "born in America" really mean, Senator?

According to the Associated Press, state officials in Hawaii checked health department records during the campaign and determined there was no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

Well, yeah, but does Hawaii really count? You know, even Cokie Roberts thinks Hawaii is kinda, you know, exotic. And pass the pork rinds, we all know what THAT stands for.

And hey, when Obama was born in 1961, that's before the Civil Rights Act.

"They said" you had to be white to vote in Alabama in 1961. You remember, don't you Senator? The good old days?

And then there's that whole Obama's white mother thing. I mean, what's worse that being, um, a pure-blooded "exotic" "Kenyan"? Really Senator, I gotta laugh so I don't cry. While federal law trumped the state in the 1960's, the Alabama state constitution was not amended to allow blacks and whites to get married until...wait for it...

2000. Not making that up.

Shelby will get re-elected anyway because the R after his name means he doesn't kill unborn white babies. Seriously. Alabama, I didn't leave soon enough.

h/t WriteChic via Twitter

Today's Blue Gal Sermonette (ha)

'What wouldn't Jesus do?' thong from Betty Bowers's underpants store, of course.

So I just want to start by reminding everyone that Blog Against Theocracy is not 'Blog Against Religion'. There are other blogswarms/movements that deal with the latter, and I'm not afraid to link them.

Carnival of the Godless

and

Atheist Bloggers (social network)

are just two. Feel free to join there AND participate in Blog Against Theocracy.

For Blog Against Theocracy, we have to be careful we're not motivated by anti-religion hate on this one, even when it's deserved. Some participants of BAT (including yours truly) are church-goers who actually get it that separation of church and state blesses everybody. They're on our side, and there's no good to come from alienating anyone. I don't have any problem with a minister who keeps his theology in the church and doesn't want federal tax dollars or school vouchers. And, um, not raping little kids is also up there.

No matter whether you are an atheist, believer, or don'tgiveashit, you are welcome to Blog Against Theocracy, and God bless you, er, whatever.

So at church this morning I got the little blue brochure on all the stuff I can do during Lent. It may sound counter-indicated and selfish, but I'm giving up perfectionism for Lent. I have found the past couple of weeks that after a solid cleaning frenzy where the house looks really good, and then I'm confronted by three messy munchkins...

...I am the nastiest bitch of a mom you've ever seen.



I don't want to put plastic on the furniture or make my kids think I put having a clean dining room ahead of turning it into their personal art studio. So I'm going to use the Lenten Season as a time of spiritual practice where the goal is a home filled with Peace, which means cleaned up and organized enough(so we can function), but also happy (so we can function).

In the past I've gone off to a little side room in this mini-mega church (United Methodist) to have my own personal silent Quaker Service. Last week I just sat there and cried from loneliness, when the thought occurred: "you can't feel sorry for yourself feeling lonely when you isolate yourself on a regular basis. There are three hundred people in the next room who'd love to shake your hand." I reject that kind of contact a lot as superficial and not worthwhile. (Don't ask me to mention "Aspie" here it's self-evident.) Anyway I picked up my butt and went into the service and it wasn't half bad. And this week was good too, the sermon was about Jesus glowing on the mountain top but he only did that for a moment and didn't respond to Peter's suggestion that they build a monument to the event, just get back to the valley (and our valleys are divorce, job loss, loneliness, fear, and a sense of no help with the laundry) and get to work. I suspect the minister finds me a bit of a threat, something about my three screen email to him expostulating on one sermon he did, but wev, and after church I did walk up to him and thank him for the sermon and also mentioned in passing the zen proverb, "after enlightenment, the laundry" and he was all, oh yes WE acknowledge that Christianity is first an Eastern religion, not a Western religion, and I walked away thinking, you keep that sense of personal ownership in your ministerial ziploc bag, Baby.

And the only job that really matters long-term is that one where we wake up every morning and are grateful for another day, and spend the rest of our day proving our gratitude by doing that thankless task of forgive, forgive, forgive ourselves and everyone forever and ever, Amen.

Saturday Song

A lovely version of a silly country tune, from HBO's "Big Love" which I haven't seen.

As Doctor Zaius says...

No time for blogging today! Thanks for the linky love, Dr. Z. I had a start up scare with my laptop which proved to me that Yes, Bluegal, you Do Need Anti-Virus Software. So that took a chunk of time to download and then the trusty minivan needed a new headlight. All done.

I've got three ideas for new movies swimming in my head.

Not to mention next week is the start of Lent. I'm giving up perfectionism. No, Really.

Glad to see Paul Krugman has taken some assertiveness training. Calling Boehner on "stupidity" is a lovely start. Baby steps, my friend.

All this, and she knits too?

Dang, Ravelry alone wasn't enough to satisfy her yarn lust.

Update.

The Blog Against Theocracy website is now updated for 2009. Things will be fine-tuned as we get closer to April 10-12, but I wanted my readers to have it on their radar. Thanks.

Information overload?

So if I wasn't following the artist/director David Lynch on Twitter I wouldn't know the weather in Los Angeles and I wouldn't care. But because I follow David Lynch on Twitter the opposite is true.

That what you CAN know becomes what you MUST know and trumps what you SHOULD know or even WANT to know...wow that's so very David Lynch.

But really, don't sugarcoat it, my tweet:

Lucky for you, Wonkette, the sidebar at Feministing was full.

I blocked out the name of the advertiser because, speaking purely as a "Democratic, liberal, and progressive activist", this dot org (really) and its advertising team are, well,

mindless sex-starved completely unimaginative fuckers.

And I mean that in a totally sex-positive way.

Also, speaking as a starving blogger, I don't blame Wonkette one bit for taking the fuckers' Ka-ching. I just hope it was a lot of money. Women who are smart enough to read Wonkette will go back to their own fine blogs, "take action" and make fun of...oh yeah, right.

More on Blog Against Theocracy

It looks like for Blog Against Theocracy we might be up against the current administration. From Americans United, which is an excellent resource as we all start thinking about this year's blogswarm:

President Obama has failed to deliver on his campaign statements. When creating his Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Obama failed to adequately prevent harmful discrimination on the basis of religion by government grantees. Although President Obama had originally proposed a new take on the Faith-Based Initiative, one that will not maintain the constitutional and civil rights pitfalls of the Bush Administration, the executive order he signed last week leaves the entire architecture of the Bush Faith-Based Initiative intact - every rule, every regulation, every executive order. And thanks to an aggressive anti-civil rights push from the Department of Justice near the end of the Bush Administration, nearly every social service tax dollar distributed by the government can be used for discriminatory hiring. In a time of unprecedented need, this is even more unacceptable than ever.

We have some lovely submissions for Blog Against Theocracy logos. Please keep them coming! Email me at bluegalsblog gmail.

From Mark Hoback at the revived and reviving Fried Green Al Quedas:



And here at long last is Tengrain's, which is available in different sizes on his Flickr page (suitable for sidebars and such):



And then here's a little thang I crayoned this afternoon:

Wapo must suck on purpose...

...is all I'm saying. As I commented elsewhere, someone high up at Wapo really hates the new business model and has decided they will allow nothing but crap on their op ed page forever until the paper dies in three weeks or so. It's clearly a conscious decision. Hiring Kristol just made it obvious.

Just send me one of everything.

And hell yeah, the clothes start at size 14. What's YOUR problem, skinny mini fashionistas?



Anybody else remember Vaughn Meader's The First Family?

"Rip the top button off those five thousand 'First Ladys', and put'em-on-a-rack!" I loved that.

Happy Birthday to my Dad.

With Dad in 1969. Good times. Happy Birthday xoxo.

We're gonna try using this for Salon tonight. 9 Eastern or now if I'm around.

Meebo worked! We'll try again next week, maybe with Meebo or maybe with something else. Feedback at bluegalsblog AT gmail always appreciated.

Big surprise there.

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Tonight's Open Thread...Today! (VIDEO MASHUP)

Just a little preview for my readers. I'm going to spend part of today beta testing some chat windows for tonight...

Until then, enjoy this. H/T Driftglass for running the original Space Ghost:

Blog Against Theocracy - Call for Logos

If you'd like to help Blog Against Theocracy in the early stages, we're looking for logos. I did this one, I've got another excellent surprise from Tengrain to show you in March, but we need more. To get your juices flowing, remember that the big issues this year are:

Prop 8 and gay marriage
Obama's faith-based fiddle faddle.
Plus the usual religious right stuff. Reproductive rights, creationism, etc.

If you have something you'd like to share, email me at bluegalsblog AT gmail subject line "Blog Against Theocracy Logo". And thanks.


PS. There's a lovely art auction on Ebay for Valentines for Palestine. I especially like the Love and Ecstasy piece.

We don't kill them because they're cute.

So tonight "for Valentine's Day" we made a cake, which was cooling on the stove.

I was typing out some posts and almost 5yo comes in. "I tasted the cake, Mommy."

OH NO.

Rushed into the kitchen and this poor sheet cake looked like a nightmare sequence in the off-broadway all-cake version of The Shining.

Five year old: "I'm SO sorry! It was an ACCIDENT!"


update: I'm sorry the title of this post lead some readers to think I actually got mad/punishing over some cake. Once I was over the shock, we FROSTED THE CAKE CRUMBS TOGETHER AND EVEN PUT ON SPRINKLES. People! Don't you KNOW me by now?

There's a name for people who preach to a single mom the joys of living in the fucking MOMENT with three kids. They are called "grandparents." I love you guys and your perspective. Now excuse me while I go clean fruit cocktail off the couch.

Saturday Song - Happy Valentine's Day!

A lil' Jackie Wilson.

Teh sexy, it is often teh funny.

So I get this really good blog tip (ha) from a reader. And I write him back and say what's your url so I can hat tip you, and he says,

No Blue Gal you probably don't want to do that even though it's punny because my company makes "hat tips" that are sex toys that are chocolate. The best selling item involves chocolate viking hats for boy's private parts. And they're funny, but I totally understand you wouldn't want to expose your readers to something like that or blogroll it. I totally understand.

No, he doesn't. He really doesn't.

By the way, some links on my blogroll they are not teh safe for teh work. But as Mark Hoback pointed out to me, who's at work?

Were any of you in debate in high school?

If any of my readers were on the debate team in high school, I suspect you'd be giving back to the universe to send this blogger a word of encouragement. I don't know her but I found the post in my internet travels. Tell her Blue Gal sent you.

Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin

One can certainly be a Christian and still think creation "science" is malarkey. Can I get an Amen?

It's a blogswarm at Blog for Darwin, by the way.

There's some other birthday celebration going on in the city involving Presidents old and new. The kids and I got caught up in a roadblock, even. ;)

Panties in the News!

The fifty cent tour of this story, as far as I can fathom it, is there's some Hindu fundies in India who don't want women to go to bars, wear western-style clothing, and celebrate Valentine's Day. Yeah. So a group of men claiming to belong to this group "raided" a pub on a Saturday afternoon, slapping at women inside and driving them out into the street. Needless to say this youtube is not pretty:



A group of reasonably outraged Indians has started a movement to send pink panties (known as chaddis) (and oh how I love that) to the fundie organization. They have a blog and a lovely Facebook group with panties images I'm destined to steal.



I also love that this horrible incident of violence against women can be met with direct action non-violence that gets lots of well-deserved attention. Fundies don't have a chance against activist women with a strong sense of self and humor.

h/t Connecticut Man 1.

The Maternal is Political

Fabulous book by the same name was given to me at Christmas. I thought about that when I looked through my 4th grader's school planner, which has an educational trivia question on every other page. Here's the one for June/Constitution Day:



How sad that for eight years the answer to a true/false question about whether the President has to defend the Constitution had qualifiers based on the Bush/Cheney Justice Department's definitions of "can" and "help" and "nation."

And we have to give Obama time to redefine all of that. Mister President: the question I had for you during the YouTube debate back in July of 2007 still stands:

I can't decide if this is very right or oh so wrong.

Following the Dalai Lama on Twitter. (But I'm doing it anyway, natch.)

Gaza? Valentines Day? FUNNY!?! (VIDEO MASHUP)

Here's my 45 second promo spot for Valentines for Palestine. I hope you like it.



As always, feel free to steal this for your own blog. That's always welcome. And thank you.

"Interesting" Salon tonight?

Yi. I downloaded the new version of Skype (four point oh) tonight and it doesn't support public group chats.

So I dumped all my contacts in a group chat, but that doesn't make for a very inviting place for newcomers, plus, I'll have to do a two or three step to get new people in the door.

So we'll try it and see how it goes. I may be shopping for a new platform for us, and I'm open to any suggestions.

Anyway I'll be there at 9 Eastern and hope to see you there.

As I was saying...

I usually don't link to the big boys but Glenn Greenwald pulls everybody in on his post so I don't have to:

What makes this particularly appalling and inexcusable is that Senate Democrats had long vehemently opposed the use of the "state secrets" privilege in exactly the way that the Bush administration used it in this case, even sponsoring legislation to limits its use and scope. Yet here is Obama, the very first chance he gets, invoking exactly this doctrine in its most expansive and abusive form to prevent torture victims even from having their day in court, on the ground that national security will be jeopardized if courts examine the Bush administration's rendition and torture programs -- even though (a) the rendition and torture programs have been written about extensively in the public record; (b) numerous other countries have investigated exactly these allegations; and (c) other countries have provided judicial forums in which these same victims could obtain relief.

The only thing I have to add is, this is why we bloggers still say


The least Eric Holder can do is tell us who he's protecting. As if we don't already know.

Get happy?

I've had stuff coming to my email box this weekend which share a common thread, maybe one only I can see, but...

One email from a fellow blogger who is unhappy on lots of levels with Obama. I can see some of the points and others not so much. One issue is the worship of Obama by some of his followers. My first thought is that it is human nature to want to have an Obama or a Jesus or a Hitler or whatever come and save us in times of deep national despair. We really truly do have to watch out for that; people thought Nixon was "the one" in 1970 for crying out loud. I file Obama mania under "forgive them for they know not what they do" and pray that I can stay awake and not go for the cult of personality stuff.



She's a virgin, all right. Anyhow, Jane Hamsher in Huffpo is going after Obama for the bipartisan stuff. Yep, it's a rookie error, though I don't think he's going to change his process-above-all personality even over the jobs bill. (That's what we're calling it now, btw). Several Hillary supporters wanted to warn me during the primary that Obama was not progressive, and more than once I had to answer, duh!

In case you haven't noticed, the 2008 election isn't over yet. We're still running against McCain, to give one nasty for instance, and every southern white blowhard a-hole senator who was lucky enough NOT to have to run for re-election last Fall. Take a look at the map of where the Senate races are in 2010.



And if you think to tell me it's too early to discuss those races and we can't possibly live in perpetual campaign mode, I've got two names for you: Jim DeMint and David Vitter. They're up for re-election in less than two years, folks, and their seats aren't considered safe. In fact, every deep south state except Mississippi has senate elections in 20 months. And there are a lot of new black voters in those states who might be inclined to turn out if

...the economy is still in the tank.
...THEIR economy is still in the tank.
...their Senator is gazing upward and talking about Reagan.

In the meantime, it's not that I am too cool to talk about the Democratic primary season of 2008, it's that I'm too busy. I'm busy supporting spending on whatever will get America back to work, AND I'm busy getting geared up for Blog Against Theocracy, where I may seriously knock horns with the President for whom I voted. I'd like a little faith-based kickass against the GOP for the 2010 elections from this President, too. It's not too early.

Sunday - Day of Rest?

I hope to get a little knitting in today; won't be knitting any panties, though. This one is from Katrinkles' Flickr Photostream, where she uses the timeworn excuse that she made it as a gift. Right. If knitting panties is your thing the pattern is free and here.

In political news, as I expected, Paul Krugman is sexy when he's mad.

And I don't usually send people to online petitions, but Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes pointed me to this one which made me giggle.

Speaking of pancakes, today the men's auxillary at the church I attend had a pancake breakfast. I have to say, sausage patties dipped in fake pancake syrup and washed down with burnt diner coffee in a thick glass mug...I felt as decadent as a courtesan at Caligula's throne.

Saturday Song

A quick letter to my congressman

And yes, I'm printing this on paper and putting a real stamp on it (minus the panties image).

The Honorable John Shimkus
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Shimkus:

I want you to vote in favor of the stimulus package as proposed by President Obama.

I am convinced the large majority of Americans are panicked about the current state of the economy. Those millions (yes, millions) of Americans, either newly unemployed or long-term underemployed, are looking primarily to the Federal Government, to YOU, to provide relief. So are governors and mayors, many in your own (Republican) Party.

Economy is as much a result of communal belief as actual value. Taking bold action WILL help, by changing the mentality that says there isn't enough.

It's high time we invested at home, in getting the middle- and lower- classes to work, in education, and in rebuilding roads, bridges and levees.

Nitpicking and obstructionist politics makes you guys look even more pathetic than you did running with Sarah Palin on the ticket, cheering Ronald Reagan tributes at your Convention. We're in a crisis. You can continue to be the political party marked with a giant FAIL on your foreheads, or you can work with the president to get 'er done.

If you let us down, we'll remember that you did.

With all good wishes for the health and welfare of the country we both love,

BG

Hardest Laugh of the Week.

Cut and pasted from The White House Plumber, who is so very blogrolled.

The Value (not the Virtue) of Staying Small

The Republic of T has a wonderful post about blogging, traffic, value, and art. I don't have much to add to it, except that I find myself as a blogger dancing at a very sharp edge between feeling that no post I ever write is really going to make a difference, and getting so much attention that it feels everyone wants a piece of me. The latter can be really tough, given that I have three school-aged children and all the responsibility that goes along with that. (Of course motherhood actually trains one to handle multiple priorities better than anything else ever.)

One thing I hope never happens, is that I feel too pressed for time or, God forbid, "important" to respond to that email from a new blogger who genuinely needs help or asks for advice. Republic of T, by the way, wrote that post for Blogroll Amnesty Day. I love that B.A.D. got some people writing more, and I hate that it caused some small bloggers to focus, even for an instant, on their traffic as compared to others. It's about the WRITING, people. Do that. Do it daily for a year, and the readers will come. And you will be pretty damn good at it by then. Trust.

And one last thing. I've found after a good long while of doing this daily, that writers' block is never ever a problem. The next post is always already in my head when I sit down in the morning. Of course, that also means that I tend to look at everything through "bloggable?" goggles. Like this moment, which happened just this morning:

Middle child did a particularly (and unusually) neat job on a 'printing her letters' assignment for school. I sat down next to her with her gold-starred paper in hand and praised her as mommies do. She looked down at her knees and frowned: "I had help with that." "That's okay, who helped you?" "My twenty imaginary friends. Would you like to meet them?" She pointed to spots in the air and rattled off lovely names with lots of vowels. I knew at last she lived in a lovely safe world where her writing would always be legible.**

Have a lovely day and go make something.

PS. **yeah Robert I know it's more than Six Sentences. Maybe next time, ha.

I'm tellin ya, Wapo:

That small "p" in president looked wrong to me, but better editors say it's correct.

Wapo knows that any and all typos will be laid at the feet of Bill Kristol.

I love what Malacandra on Twitter said: "I think Barack Obama's OpEd is really good. I just hope it gets read by someone with some power and influence."

Click here for the oped from the president (that "p" still looks wrong to me) of the United States.

Be warned regarding the oped: it's the same measured, sane, competent, boring bullshit we're all just gonna have to get used to. I still think he needs to go all Rahm on the GOP's ass.

The Paul Krugman We'd Like to See (NSFW VIDEO MASHUP)

Would be if he went all Christian Bale on us. Link points to original cuss-laden audio.

h/t Tengrain.

I repeat. This video is not safe for work.

Two important peace anniversaries.

This week marks two important anniversaries that those who blog about peace may wish to commemorate.

The first is what Corrente calls the "Day of Shame," where Colin Powell testified to the UN six years ago, in favor of unilateral military action against Iraq. Since the war is not over, duh, I for one think this anniversary should continue to be commemorated. (Feb. 5)

We were fooled, largely by Colin Powell and The New York Times. And we are still paying the price.




The second anniversary is also a day of shame, this week marks the two-year anniversary of the speech our current Secretary of State gave to AIPAC, in which she said that pre-emptive nuclear attacks were still "on the table" regarding Iran, and defended her vote for the Iraq war. I won't speculate whether she has tempered her views, but she may be toning down her rhetoric for her new job. I certainly hope so. Her job description now includes "finding ways to make peace" rather than "kow-towing to hyper-Zionist campaign donors". I hope she can "pivot" with her typical grace and aplomb.

Happy Blogroll Amnesty Day!

Here's my five, chosen because they are tiny blogs on my blogroll who have posted most recently. Because I strongly believe that writing is a discipline, and those who practice it faithfully, deserve readers:

The World of Doorman-Priest

Just an Earthbound Misfit

The Emperor's New Rags the II

Relaxed Politics

Slobber and Spittle


While I helped out by making the video above, this event is actually organized by Skippy and Jon Swift, who are providing linky love to those who participate, so do let them know.

Pull out the inflatable bed, kids. The President's here again.

As I said back on December 23, we in Illinois had to get rid of Blago before February:

They're rushing, well, as fast as the Illinois State Legislature can rush, what wit da holidaze an' all, to get Governor Blagojevich out of office.

This coming February marks the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Kind of a big deal in Illinois. We don't need no crooks on the dais, if ya know what I mean. (What is it about Blago that makes me and everyone else write like we're mobsters?)

The three magic words that get more done faster than any other at the state and local level, my friends: "Bad for tourism."

The impeachment was last Thursday? And all of a sudden the President sez he's coming? Some of us already unpacked the fine china weeks ago, my friend.

And yeah, Blagojevich isn't invited to the dinner, like he wasn't invited to speak at the convention. No crooks on the dais. Buh-bye. He said, buh-bye.

Too sick to Salon tonight...

Sorry folks I've got a bad cold and just don't think I can do a Salon tonight. We'll try again next week. xoxo

Her Majesty said she understands....

Been far too busy this weekend, even to think about England. I'm working on another movie and backing up this blog to Wordpress again (thanks for the reminder, Helen and stash).

How to:

Setup a WordPress.com site, if you haven't already.
From the Wordpress dashboard, go into Manage -> Import. Select Blogger.
Go through the prompts to authorize access to your Blogger site.
Choose your blog and click the 'Import' button. It shows you the progress of importing posts and comments.

Finally, if you just can't get enough Blue Gal, I also did the round up for Mike this morning. And I'll have my contribution to Blogroll Amnesty Day tomorrow.

Skype Salon tonight. Hope to see you there.

Salon tonight but No Tengrain?

It's not the same without Tengrain from Mock, Paper, Scissors at Salon, but oy it looks like he's going to have a rather scary medical procedure done today.

I wish you well, Ten.

Oops my bad it's Scissorhead Betsy who's having medical things.

Me? I have a cold that is obviously clouding my abilities. lol

Pajamas Media? I'm still not bored with the buh-bye.

While we lefty bloggers corpse-hump Pajamas Media before the burial, I just have to laugh at the claims made by the mourners.

Pammy seems too easy a target...oh what the hell. No linky, but you know where to go for the giggles:

Soros, Hollywood libtards and Google-type asshats embarrassingly fund the leftwing sites vis a vis Moveon.org et al, the right has none of that. None. We live on fumes.

Got that, fellow lefty bloggers? You and I live on Soros/MoveOn largesse! Where's my check?

Off topic: Am I the only one who can't understand why media thinks Michelle Obama is economizing by decorating via Pottery Barn? I love me some Michelle Obama, but every table in my living room came from the GOOD WILL.

And I hear fellow blogger Arianna Huffington is so broken up about the economy she took only Barbara Ehrenreich books on her Kindle to Davos.

But dang, I agree with Pammy: right wing blogs live on fumes. Ahem.

Then I get an email that says we left-wing political bloggers should be, ahem again, worried about our business models. No, really. Apparently SOME bloggers may not be able to pay their hosting service and might have to [GOD NO!] move back to Blogspot or Wordpress!!!

!!!

I have no idea why any single shingle blogger would leave a free hosting service. It's vanity, pure blog botox, to think you need your own dot com.

Here's my business model: political blogging is ART. There will be a few who can support themselves doing it, but the vast majority blog because it calls them, and those who put the business model ahead of art are either talentless hacks or FUCKING SELLOUTS.

We are living in an age of really rapid change, and not all of it's going to be good for left-wing blogs.

The lefty bloggers whose only paintbrush was anti-Bush are fading fast. Addiction to outrage will never be fed by the dispassionate wonks of the current administration. But remember citizens of Leftsylvania, we still have old media to kick around. At this writing, I'm watching George Fucking Stephanopolous tell Barney Frank he doesn't want to talk about the cost of the Iraq War, but we do need to talk about how we're gonna pay for the stimulus! I'm outraged! Mmmm..outrage. I'm bullish on the outrage surplus! We just have to know where to look.