I don’t intend to blog much here for the foreseeable future. I’m lucky enough to have several exciting projects to work on right now, and that just doesn’t leave me much time for personal blogging. I may occasionally post a little tidbit here from time to time, but most of my attention is currently focussed elsewhere: To wit:

• I’m currently blogging at the Seattle Podcasting Network. I’ve like the stuff this group is doing. Our monthly meetings are fun and lively, and I think we’re building a great resource at SeattlePodcasting.net.


• I’m also on the planning committee for Seattle Mind Camp, a twice-yearly gathering of geeks. I’m going to be blogging at SeattleMind.com, as well as helping to get our ducks in a row in time for our April 29th event.


• My wife and I have also been working to get Seattle Real Estate Talk going again after a few-month hiatus. There’s not much on there now, but we’re working with some new folks to get a regular roster of content to post, both podcasts and text posts. One bit of learning from that venture has been about the energy commitment in the early part of a project. It’s like having a full time job, which would be easy if we didn’t already have full time jobs.


• I spend whatever spare minutes I have maintaining The Louverture Project. The wiki has really grown by leaps and bounds lately, thanks to some energetic contributors.


• I’ve also got another project in the works that I hope to be able to announce soon.

I’m busy.

This blog has served me well, but I can no longer serve it well. I might occasionally write a post or two at The Sufferable Ass. I started that blog in order to learn Wordpress, and to experiment with a replacement to Stumax.com. Unfortunately, having a different blog doesn’t make time magically appear, so posting there has been and will probably remain light.

Thanks to everyone who has dropped by over the years that this blog has been up and running. This has been an incredibly educational and rewarding experience, and I hope to see you all elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Until next time…

Jane Smiley has a message for all the Republicans only now waking up to the fact that George Bush is a danger to himself and others:

Bush doesn’t know you disagree with him. Nothing about you makes you of interest to George W. Bush once you no longer agree with and support him. No degree of relationship (father, mother, etc.), no longstanding friendly intercourse (Jack Abramoff), no degree of expertise (Brent Scowcroft), no essential importance (Tony Blair, American voters) makes any difference. There is nothing you have to offer that makes Bush want to know you once you have come to disagree with him. Your opinions and feelings now exist in a world entirely external to the mind of George W. Bush. You are now just one of those “polls” that he pays no attention to. When you were on his side, you thought that showed “integrity” on his part. It doesn’t. It shows an absolute inability to learn from experience.

That’s point 1 of 6. There’s more, and you should read it. Go now, please.

I wish to cash out my influence at this mighty blog and use the proceeds to promote a worthwhile experiment being run by my buddy Lloyd, he of the Year of Coffee Blog. I urge all of you, dear readers, to give a visit to 50,000 Monkeys Blogging. Nay, I urge you, more than to visit, to participate, for that’s what the blog is about. We’re all of us now endowed with the ability to contribute to the ultimate social blogging experiment. Simply send your latest random thought—that’s any random thought—to 50000monkeys@thecoolkids.us. Take a sip of coffee. Then, load the site into your browser. Voila! Instant blogging. Completely anonymous. No one ever has to know that it was you. What could be easier?

The site has already taken on a kind of Dada-esque quality. It didn’t take long for the spammers to find the email address, but to me, that’s part of the fun. Random blog postings mixed with random spam emails. Where does one end and the other begin?

The New Year has been about letting go. The following are links I’ve been saving up until I could write really smart, persuasive, in-depth blog posts about each one. Not going to happen, so I’m just going to move them out of here and let you do as you will. Enjoy…

• The Poor Man posits a hypothetical for those of you who call yourselves Libertarian. He also scratches his head over our so-called War President.
• Breaking the Daou Cycle: Conservative opposition to Bush’s law-breaking – by Glenn Greenwald
• Fear destroys what bin Laden could not. I’m with Robert Steinback on this one. If the terrorists hate our freedoms, are we just trying to get rid of them so they won’t hate us? “Don’t hurt us! We don’t have freedoms anymore. Go attack some free people.” WTF?
• NTodd tears it up on the same topic.
• And Digby, of course, has still more.
• Like my friend Sid the Fish, I’m kind of cool on Hillary, too. I think she’d be the wrong candidate for 2008 for a lot of reasons, but mostly because she will be a lightning rod, galvanizing the right into rallying around whatever morally bankrupt candidate the Republicans nominate.
• This ‘bout sums up the Bush record of achievement.
• Bob Geiger has a few questions for those who still support Bush.
• The invaluable Bruce Schneir on The Security Threat of Unchecked Presidential Power.
• Also, see this at Eschaton on the Imperial President. Who is ably abetted by John Yoo, as ReddHedd explains.

‘Nuff said.

My friend Bob DeRosa is having is first movie filmed in January! Right on!

You know, people always say, “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” but in this case it’s really true. Bob’s been working and chasing this dream for a long time, and he’s the kind of guy you just want to be successful, because if he isn’t, what hope is there for you?

The movie is called “The Air I Breathe.” Read the Variety article about the film here. And, for criminy’s sake, tattoo the title on the back of your hand and go see it the minute it hits the theatres.

I completely agree with this post by Atrios. The idea of a “gatekeeper” media isn’t necessarily bad, but our media gatekeepers have behaved badly of late. They’ve got nobody but themselves to blame for the public’s loss of faith and their own loss of influence. (UPDATE: On this same point, Atrios points us to James Wolcott, who nails it.)

I also like this post by Kevin Drum. The “ticking time bomb” excuse for torture is absolutely ridiculous. There is no good reason for the United States – of all nations – to sanction or condone torture.

Finally, here’s just a little ammo to use when your conservative friends claim that Congressmen and Senators had the same intelligence about Iraq as the President. They didn’t, and they still don’t, because the White House refuses to release the Presidential Daily Brief from September 21, 2001, which is purported to have claimed that Iraq had no connection with the 9/11 attacks.

Bonus Link: Kitten War makes me very, very happy.

The following is a report by Doug Thompson, from a blog named “Capitol Hill Blue.” I was not aware of Mr. Thompson or his blog before reading this piece. He seems to have good credentials, but I’m taking this with a big grain of salt. Whether this actually happened or not, though, it sure seems to sum up the attitude of the Bush Administration.

Capitol Hill Blue: Bush on the Constitution: ‘It’s just a goddamned piece of paper’:

Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.

Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”

My buddy Lloyd is a Feedster Feed of the Year Finalist! Woo-hoo! Way to go, Lloyd!

TheCoolKids.US » Blog Archive » Feedster Feed of the Year Finalist!

Check out the Year of Coffee Blog. But hurry… the year’s almost up.

Athenae posts a comment to her query about what people want out of the newspaper. It’s about as good a mission statement for the newspaper business as you’ll want to read. It ought to be nailed to the front door of every Times, Trib, and Observer in the land.

First Draft – What We Need In Newspapers:

I want the local news. I want to know what’s going on in my town today, and what’s on the agenda for tomorrow. I don’t give a frell about Ann Coulter’s opinion or George Will’s opinion and I could give a frack about the recycled WSJ bloviations as well. Spare me those odious filler trivia blocks.


I want to know what’s on the school lunch menu. I want to know what’s on the school board agenda. I want to know what the budget for the county’s road and bridges fund is buying. I want to know what the hours are at my local public library. I want to know what movies are showing in town and what time they start. I want to know what the phone numbers are for the food bank and what the city bus route map looks like, and if you could give me a decent weather forecast that would be a bonus. Put in the phone numbers for the school, and include the names and contact information for the paper’s editorial staff (not just circulation, advertising and the obit desk, thankyouverymuch). While you’re at it, run the names and district numbers, AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, of my city councilmen, state legislators, and federal Congresscritters.

There’s more, and it’s all good. Go read.