I'm sorry I left you....

... the blog that is. I had temporarily sought new fields among the Facebook crowd. Quick and easy. No thought required. And in fact, none really allowed when you consider the format. Cinco is still trying to turn it into a platform for an extended development for his political thought. Isn't going to work. It's great for maintaining contact with lost friends, family, and other groups but you are not going to be able to say much more than "Hi. Just had a grilled cheese sandwich."

So, I should pay more attention to Sententiae. I've been at it for years now and it serves its purpose for me even though the day of the blog seems to have passed and the few readers I had have passed on to other venues. Or simply lost interest.

It looks like a busy semester though - it is certainly starting off with a bang with six job candidates coming to our department in the first two weeks. There is a lot of work involved, much of it work I detest.

Look forward to a spurt of posts as I desperately try to procrastinate.

you know I can do it!

Trolls from Japan via Paris in Alaska

Catchy title, huh? Actually this is from Mudflats, the go to blog for intelligent commentary about Alaska politics by a real Alaskan. She keeps a running account (apparently) of the trolls who visit her site. I like this one, with Mudflats commentary.

Every Tea Party type troll sounds like an ESL troll, and I’ll give you that point. But this one came complete with Japanese characters in the identifier. And it is actually sort of a a sweet little troll. Here’s what he had to say:

I find myself strongly over it, and love learning on this topic, and melted it a bit leaving resin on the bottom of the part 2.

Awwww. (pinches the trolls cheek) I find myself strongly over it too, little fella. Even though you left resin on the bottom of the part 2.

Another interesting thing about this troll I discovered as I checked his location of origin, feeling certain it would be Tokyo, is that he is actually from Paris. Yes – Paris, France. And they say Parisians are rude! This is the cutest little troll I’ve ever seen.

There is some more gushing but you get the picture. The way to Mudflats heart is speaking fractured near incomprehensible English with a Japanese/French accent.

If the shoe fits ..

I am now treading uncharted paths of un-coolness by being a blogger. At least if this little post (pointed out by Andrew Sullivan) is true. It is entitled, by the way, "Blogging: A great pastime for the elderly."

I remember when it was kind of cool to be a blogger. You'd walk around with a swagger in your step, a twinkle in your eye. Now it's just humiliating. Blogging has become like mahjong or needlepoint or clipping coupons out of Walgreens circulars: something old folks do while waiting to croak.

Then he is cruel enough to taunt us aging bloggers with STATISTICS! A vile tool of the fact based community.

I never touch the stuff myself

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Bookmarks are for sissies

I found a blog that looked interesting, smart, and amusing, not in that order. Just so I won't lose track of it, I am linking to it here. Perhaps it will divert me and Carmen as we get buried under 10 + inches of snow tonight.

I'm too lazy and inept to organize my bookmarks in any meaningful way.

Bloggers and research

Well, since I was preening about figuring out the economic uptick through intense research, and then blogging about it, here is another video by the world's greatest living philosopher discussing: blogging and research.



that sucks.

Salam Pax is back

Salam was the first of the Iraqi bloggers. All during the war he blogged in excellent English while keeping his real identity secret. He became famous, and then quit blogging for a try at journalism (IIRC). Now he is back, with a rather upbeat view of life in modern Iraq, in a new Salam Pax blog. It is worth checking out. Here's a small taste of one of his longer posts:

After an illness you don’t recover just like that.. your health comes back in stages and Iraq has been very ill for a long time. We are seeing the first signs of recovery with the improved security situation and I believe all Iraqis can be a little bit patient as long as the positive signs continue.

We’ll keep paying the power generator guy his monthly fees for a bit longer.. I just hope the government doesn’t take too long to get things back up and running.. summer with it’s 50 degrees heat is just a couple of months away.

A Sample of New Majority

That would be David Frum's new blog I mentioned in the preceding post. Here's a sample of what is blog is all about entitled "Base? What Base?" You can see why I like it. Here is a sample of the sample:

Overall: 36% of Americans now identify as Democrats and only 28% as Republicans. That 8% advantage for the Dems is the biggest since 1983, before the Reagan boom and triumph in the Cold War created a “Reagan generation” of young conservatives.

*****

These are the numbers that make yesterday’s flexing of muscle by Rush Limbaugh over Georgia congressman Phil Gingery not merely ridiculous but actively dangerous. When Republicans line up behind Rush Limbaugh in this way, they are dividing the country 80-20 against themselves. Our supreme priority now has to be to reinvent ourselves as a pragmatic, inclusive, modern party of free enterprise and limited government. We have to relearn how to talk to moderates, independent, younger voters, educated voters, women – it’s a long list.

Me? I'm hoping he folds like Culture 11 before Republicans start listening to him.

and I have reason for hope.

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A new conservative blog

Ever since he boasted of seeing star bursts careening around the room every time Sarah Palin winked at him it has been hard for me to take Rich Lowry seriously. So much for his designated adult status. The rest of the crew over at National Review are just pathetic. The strongest contender for the uncoveted title of designated adult was David Frum, followed closely by Ramesh Pannuru. NRO solved that problem by getting rid of Frum, leaving Pannuru.

Frum, however, insists that it was an amicable parting brought on by his desire to start a blog of his own, New Majority. I've looked at it and it does seem to be a genuinely conservative voice, at once serious, intelligent, and sane, more or less. It is from tiny little sparks like this that the conservative movement will regain some credibility and, perhaps, a new identity at least in the perception of the American voter.

There was, briefly, another conservative blog called Culture 11 that attempted to do much the same. It had to fold. Lack of support.

while NRO rolls merrily along. No lack of support there.

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Sane Conservatives

Not as often as I should, but every now and then, searching for an antidote to the clowns and hacks who have taken over National Review, I turn to Professor Bainbridge's punditry blog. I like that term "Professor." Kind of makes you think he knows what he's talking about doesn't it? (well, it could happen). Here he neatly eviscerates Hugh Hewitt for claiming that McCain is going to win at the last moment. Hewitt attempts to make the point that it is the hard left that dislikes Bush so much, but the good professor will have none of it:

In the second place, it isn’t just the “hard left” that’s fed up with W. Words are scarcely adequate to express the depths to which Bush’s job approval have sunk. Many conservatives (like yours truly and Bruce Bartlett) gave up on Bush years ago. Now even cheerleaders like Grover Norquist have finally come to their senses (albeit only after throwing people like Bartlett under the bus):

Then he goes on to quote the same blurb about Grover Norquist that I used a few posts back. Even more interesting most of the comments are perfectly sane and rational. One of them, an Ohio attorney, has this to say:

I’m an Ohioan, who was considering voting for McCain. I voted for Bush twice. Eventually I’ve decided to hold my nose and vote for Obama. At the very least, he has intelligence and depth of character.

McCain has begun to scare me, especially when he “suspended his campaign” and accomplished nothing, then blamed the debacle on the Democrats. I’m not sure he has it all together. Worse, his VP pick is devoid of substance.

I know many others like me out here. Trust me on this, McCain has lost Ohio.

Don't know if we can take this at face value and it's only anecdotal evidence and Obama's lead is soft. Still.

A blog from Wasilla AK!

Unfortunately it has nothing to do with local politics.

It's about rabbits. Polish ones.



Come to think of it, they do look kinda... oh... succulent.

Personal update

I have been busy this semester. It was a real shock to go back to work after being off to work on my own research for six months. And since I am no longer ass't chair I had to go back to teaching three classes. I am also on the Departmental Personnel Committee which is time consuming under the best of circumstances and this year will not present the best of circumstances. Not even remotely. I have already told the school lawyer (who is not really a lawyer) that I thought their opinion on personnel matters was nonsense that did not even pass the test of common sense - or something like that - and expect it to get a lot worse as time goes by.

Oh, and I went to Georgetown in the District of Columbia for a conference this weekend.

All of which is just to say that I have not been blogging much in the last few months, but expect to pick up the pace again. For my own mental health if nothing else.

Chinese/Canadian blog - plus music

Wandering through the ether of blogland I discovered this interesting blog, 'Lotus and Cedar.' It's bilingual, sometimes trilingual. Half of it seems to be in Chinese, about half in English (Canadian version). Whoever the author is, he lists his choice of the best five songs of the 20th century. Check it out to see what his picks are.

I've already linked to the two Spanish songs in honor of Carmen over on Not Mayberry, but you can listen to number one here.


Why is it the Canadians seem to have the blogs that appeal to me most? Could it be the same reason the French didn't think I acted like an American? Whatever that meant.