http://www.librarygrape.com The Best in Politics, Culture and Delicious Snark Thu, 24 May 2012 17:40:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 41.973181-87.666505http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gifLibraryGrapehttp://feedburner.google.com http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/WaXaYALXX6g/obama-and-marriage-equality-reconsidered.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/obama-and-marriage-equality-reconsidered.html#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 17:40:24 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7242 <p> <p>My opinion, as expressed here a few times, was that I was mostly indifferent to whether Barack Obama switched from formal opposition to support of same-sex marriage. I didn&#8217;t think it would hurt him to announce, but I didn&#8217;t really think it would have much of an impact for him to do it, and I insisted that spending energy to persuade Obama on something like the drug war or civil liberties&#8211;areas where the president has quite a bit of discretion to determine policy on his own&#8211;would be better spent. I still stick to the latter, but the impact of Obama&#8217;s switch has been a bit more substantial than I thought. I see the following major effects of this switch:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/obama-and-marriage-equality-reconsidered.html" class="more-link">Read more on Obama and Marriage Equality Reconsidered&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7242">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/33RWWqH9SkWLJ3FN8yLOosLi86g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/33RWWqH9SkWLJ3FN8yLOosLi86g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/33RWWqH9SkWLJ3FN8yLOosLi86g/1/da"><img 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src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=WaXaYALXX6g:1DUxVd1OtzQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=WaXaYALXX6g:1DUxVd1OtzQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=WaXaYALXX6g:1DUxVd1OtzQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/WaXaYALXX6g" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/obama-and-marriage-equality-reconsidered.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/obama-and-marriage-equality-reconsidered.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/AAKkQGKK7Q4/farewell-fairweather-friends.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/farewell-fairweather-friends.html#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 22:25:27 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7237 <p> <p>One of PiL&#8217;s best, and thematically appropriate to boot:</p> <div style="float:center;text-align:center;margin-top: 10px;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-right: 10px;"> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nndFH-f33xA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nndFH-f33xA</a></p> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7237">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5-S7uMQOhc62G7-V1hNIX5BleKk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5-S7uMQOhc62G7-V1hNIX5BleKk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5-S7uMQOhc62G7-V1hNIX5BleKk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5-S7uMQOhc62G7-V1hNIX5BleKk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=AAKkQGKK7Q4:XREtsR6U_Rc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=AAKkQGKK7Q4:XREtsR6U_Rc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/AAKkQGKK7Q4" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/farewell-fairweather-friends.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/farewell-fairweather-friends.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/UPgsPnoDcsA/will-republicans-gag-away-arizonas-senate-seat.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/will-republicans-gag-away-arizonas-senate-seat.html#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 19:55:02 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7234 <p> <p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/a_birther_upset_in_arizona/singleton/">Interesting</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Flake was supposed to sail through the GOP primary without lifting a finger, after which he would go on to to crush Democrat Richard Carmona, a former Navy officer and former U.S. Surgeon General, in the still right-leaning state.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/will-republicans-gag-away-arizonas-senate-seat.html" class="more-link">Read more on Will Republicans Gag Away Arizona&#8217;s Senate Seat?&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7234">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_aikTRAfgmwedHMZli2eSU9SG8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_aikTRAfgmwedHMZli2eSU9SG8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a 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href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=UPgsPnoDcsA:5ijLBT9kJ9U:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=UPgsPnoDcsA:5ijLBT9kJ9U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=UPgsPnoDcsA:5ijLBT9kJ9U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=UPgsPnoDcsA:5ijLBT9kJ9U:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/UPgsPnoDcsA" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/will-republicans-gag-away-arizonas-senate-seat.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/will-republicans-gag-away-arizonas-senate-seat.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/GF3DSJIeCDk/newts-business-plan.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newts-business-plan.html#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 17:54:23 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7232 <p> <p>It&#8217;s immensely satisfying to see Newt Gingrich&#8217;s <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/gingrich_inc_out_of_business/singleton/">business empire go down in flames</a>. If you recall, the Republican field this year was divided into &#8220;serious&#8221; and &#8220;business plan&#8221; candidates, the former of which included Romney, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, etc., and the latter included Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, people who had no interest in <em>being</em> president, but rather just wanted to say some crazy things to get exposure and sell more conservative books. Which category was Newt in? I&#8217;m not sure even he knew. In the beginning it seemed as though he was a &#8220;business plan&#8221; kind of guy, taking weeks off in the middle of the campaign and such. But at some point the poor sap started to think he really could win the nomination, and he went from a silly pretend run to an even sillier real run. More like a crawl, really.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newts-business-plan.html" class="more-link">Read more on Newt&#8217;s Business Plan&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7232">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fyaLVYvtfF-nM0eIytoXxYO_x7g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fyaLVYvtfF-nM0eIytoXxYO_x7g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fyaLVYvtfF-nM0eIytoXxYO_x7g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fyaLVYvtfF-nM0eIytoXxYO_x7g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GF3DSJIeCDk:JIw_uYR8UWY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/GF3DSJIeCDk" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newts-business-plan.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newts-business-plan.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/4sNb16n_gmE/thoughts-on-the-volcker-rule-and-welcoming-their-hatred.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/thoughts-on-the-volcker-rule-and-welcoming-their-hatred.html#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 17:39:39 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7229 <p> <p>Andrew Leonard has some <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/welcoming_wall_streets_anger/">specific advice for Barack Obama</a>:</p> <blockquote><p> Why on earth would the Obama administration want to “avoid an ugly public fight with powerful interests in an election year”? Shouldn’t the opposite be true? Shouldn’t the Obama administration be going out of its way to pick a fight with Wall Street? Could there be any better opportunity to tap enduring popular anger at the financial sector <em>and</em> draw a clear line demarcating Obama from his challenger, Mitt Romney?</p></blockquote> <p>This is in response to the suggestion that the Administration wants to avoid an ugly fight with powerful interests in an election year. Leonard does invoke the now cliched FDR &#8220;I welcome their hatred&#8221; speech from Madison Square Garden in 1936, though he keeps it in fair territory because he&#8217;s not suggesting Obama can just use the bully pulpit to shame the banks and get Republicans to buckle, but rather merely to win the general election. This is appropriate, I think. FDR didn&#8217;t exactly precede that speech with slashing attacks on the wealthy, nor did he succeed it with such attacks. He used that rhetoric to win the election, and then spent most of that term attacking an overly activist Supreme Court, trying to purge racist reactionaries out of his party, and preparing the country to enter into war. On the last, at least, Roosevelt came to rely more and more on wealthy elites and Republicans, ultimately bringing Henry Stimson and Frank Knox, two of the very people whose hatred his 1936 self welcomed, into his cabinet in the top two military posts.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/thoughts-on-the-volcker-rule-and-welcoming-their-hatred.html" class="more-link">Read more on Thoughts On The Volcker Rule and Welcoming Their Hatred&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7229">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6guJ3D0gT8amVjf7VeWavsq7HEM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6guJ3D0gT8amVjf7VeWavsq7HEM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6guJ3D0gT8amVjf7VeWavsq7HEM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6guJ3D0gT8amVjf7VeWavsq7HEM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4sNb16n_gmE:-ICQihMj1_I:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/4sNb16n_gmE" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/thoughts-on-the-volcker-rule-and-welcoming-their-hatred.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/thoughts-on-the-volcker-rule-and-welcoming-their-hatred.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/hV3RUdB4v60/cory-booker-wall-street-shill-or-not.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/cory-booker-wall-street-shill-or-not.html#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 21:54:58 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7227 <p> <p>I wasn&#8217;t going to comment on the story of Cory Booker stomping all over Barack Obama&#8217;s campaign strategy and practically throwing the election to the Republicans so let&#8217;s all just go home now (because everyone knows that Mayors of Newark have that kind of pull), but I feel I have to because practically everyone on the internet is getting it wrong. Let&#8217;s take a brief look at the statement in question (transcript <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47494192/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/#.T7wG3txSSHB">here</a>):</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/cory-booker-wall-street-shill-or-not.html" class="more-link">Read more on Cory Booker: Wall Street Shill or Not?&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7227">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/O_TULBdGY82P2HE6GUaJIZ0mU4M/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/O_TULBdGY82P2HE6GUaJIZ0mU4M/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/O_TULBdGY82P2HE6GUaJIZ0mU4M/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/O_TULBdGY82P2HE6GUaJIZ0mU4M/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=hV3RUdB4v60:z0thXCIhVOM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/hV3RUdB4v60" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/cory-booker-wall-street-shill-or-not.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/cory-booker-wall-street-shill-or-not.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/zQnRhoe301k/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 21:25:27 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7225 <p> <p>Yesterday I made a brief point about Jonah Goldberg&#8217;s claim about liberals and patriotism (read it <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html">here</a>). The gist is that he thinks liberals are unpatriotic because they want to change America, which is not mutually exclusive, to be sure. But I have a bit more to say on this topic.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html" class="more-link">Read more on Another Note On Liberal Patriotism&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/ebcdce7eb309360f4738ad64f62ebda2-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Metavirus @ Library Grape:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html#comment-46826">22 May 2012</a></small> there are barely words to describe how insanely wrong Jonah Goldberg is about everything. even if you purposely TRIED to be wrong about everything, you'd still be right more often than the doughy pantload. it's people like him that really make me wonder whether they're honestly that deluded and thick-headed, or whether they're just conniving and cynical enough to understand the long con and fleece the movement conservative rubes accordingly. the same analysis applies to glenn beck. i'm fairly certain that he's genuinely that insane and paranoid - but if he's just crazy like a fox, and knows that truly insane wingnuts will pour diamonds down his throat if he calls Obama Hitler, then i just don't know what's going on anymore. plans within plans. schemes within schemes within schemes. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7225">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V-MjmHf1gtcHvNX7DzwJKABLGzc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V-MjmHf1gtcHvNX7DzwJKABLGzc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V-MjmHf1gtcHvNX7DzwJKABLGzc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V-MjmHf1gtcHvNX7DzwJKABLGzc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zQnRhoe301k:l11aAoXCc-c:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/zQnRhoe301k" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/another-note-on-liberal-patriotism.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/6x2gslXeyCc/well-deserved-s-f-to-name-a-street-after-nancy-pelosi.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/well-deserved-s-f-to-name-a-street-after-nancy-pelosi.html#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 16:32:25 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7222 <p><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&#38;id=8670746&#38;rss=rss-kgo-article-8670746">Good stuff</a>. Love her or hate her, she&#8217;s one of the most consequential and talented politicians of our generation, and a historically significant Speaker. <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7222">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BEk5T7QSwRVVETjqV-V9VdshTpU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BEk5T7QSwRVVETjqV-V9VdshTpU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BEk5T7QSwRVVETjqV-V9VdshTpU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BEk5T7QSwRVVETjqV-V9VdshTpU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=6x2gslXeyCc:potnxELF1YE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/6x2gslXeyCc" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/well-deserved-s-f-to-name-a-street-after-nancy-pelosi.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/well-deserved-s-f-to-name-a-street-after-nancy-pelosi.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/_LBL3pLVCrM/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 21:49:11 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7219 <p> <p>Joe Klein is way too nice in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/books/review/the-tyranny-of-cliches-by-jonah-goldberg.html?partner=rss&#38;emc=rss">his review of Jonah Goldberg&#8217;s latest opus</a>, <em>The Tyranny of Cliches, </em>though the parts that are intended to bite do:</p> <blockquote><p>But most of Goldberg’s assaults against alleged clichés collapse into irrelevance. He devotes a chapter to undermining “slippery slope” arguments — which, in truth, are used by conservative organizations like the National Rifle Association as often as they are by liberals — but he ultimately decides that “slippery slope” arguments are “not so bad,” and indeed, he trots out an absurd one of his own in the very next chapter: “Liberals are uncomfortable with the topic of patriotism because their core philosophical impulses are to make America a different country than it is.” In other words, the reforming instinct — the progressive insistence that meat be inspected by the government, for example — is inherently un-American because it’s a first step down the slippery slope toward government control?</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html" class="more-link">Read more on A Brief Discussion of Left Patriotism&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7219">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xLi8iq-zj1ujk_E7TOPB5DllsW4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xLi8iq-zj1ujk_E7TOPB5DllsW4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xLi8iq-zj1ujk_E7TOPB5DllsW4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xLi8iq-zj1ujk_E7TOPB5DllsW4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_LBL3pLVCrM:9c_i84FXEm4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/_LBL3pLVCrM" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/a-brief-discussion-of-left-patriotism.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/tpS154OPwOI/hope-despite-the-times.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 21:24:14 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7216 <p> <p>The <em>Guardian</em> considers <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/20/heartland-institute-future-staff-cash">the downward spiral of the Heartland Institute</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Heartland&#8217;s claims to &#8220;stay above the fray&#8221; of the climate wars was exploded by a billboard campaign earlier this month comparing climate change believers to the Unabomer Ted Kaczynski, and a document sting last February that revealed a plan to spread doubt among kindergarteners on the existence of climate change.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html" class="more-link">Read more on Hope Despite The Times&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>3 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/d2d24838ba30abb0c232df9330b99211-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>rjv:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html#comment-46820">21 May 2012</a></small> "With ALEC and Heartland severely crippled (and the former focusing solely on economic stuff now), is the stage set for a climate comeback over the next few years?" No, I'm sure something called the Competitive Institute for American Free Enterprise Prosperity &#38; Families For Restoration of American Freedoms will replace Heartland &#38; ALEC soon </li> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/b6752062f9e3ff156e31f8ed22126337-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Lev:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html#comment-46824">22 May 2012</a></small> Oh, surely. But will they be able to control themselves any better than the last guys? </li> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html#comment-46827">22 May 2012</a></small> i really want to come up with an organization that tracks all the liars and industry hacks who call global warming a "hoax", then when small island nations like Palau disappear due to the rising sea levels, spend every day toting around a group of hundreds of refugees to their homes, churches, etc. to show them just a sliver of the suffering they were directly responsible for. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7216">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kgBNvKyPjGkpGXWV-KqGXeENZdg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kgBNvKyPjGkpGXWV-KqGXeENZdg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kgBNvKyPjGkpGXWV-KqGXeENZdg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kgBNvKyPjGkpGXWV-KqGXeENZdg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=tpS154OPwOI:sr2drDbASzg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/tpS154OPwOI" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html/feed 3 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/hope-despite-the-times.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/N6xwo2AVtm0/house-votes-to-continue-to-ignore-constitution.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/house-votes-to-continue-to-ignore-constitution.html#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 21:13:19 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7214 <p> <p>The NDAA <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/us/politics/house-votes-to-preserve-a-power-of-indefinite-detention.html?partner=rss&#38;emc=rss">has passed</a> with indefinite detention still on it. I didn&#8217;t really expect anything different to happen, even though it was found unConstitutional by a district court last week. But this is interesting:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/house-votes-to-continue-to-ignore-constitution.html" class="more-link">Read more on House Votes To Continue To Ignore Constitution&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7214">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vymLpC8pidE9QipZlpBzLwsEhv0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vymLpC8pidE9QipZlpBzLwsEhv0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vymLpC8pidE9QipZlpBzLwsEhv0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vymLpC8pidE9QipZlpBzLwsEhv0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=N6xwo2AVtm0:EppQjJAauK4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/N6xwo2AVtm0" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/house-votes-to-continue-to-ignore-constitution.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/house-votes-to-continue-to-ignore-constitution.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/3o9JYWQw-e4/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 16:54:22 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7211 <p>Two Obama picks for the Fed <a href="http://democrats.senate.gov/2012/05/">were just confirmed</a>. Fun fact: Obama has appointed six of seven members of the Board of Governors. Being as the terms last for 14 years, it&#8217;s pretty rare for any one president to have that kind of impact on the direction of the Federal Reserve, and it might indeed be his most significant (but underappreciated) legacy. Here&#8217;s hoping these two lead to some more monetarist measures to get the economy moving again. <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html" class="more-link">Read more on Federal Reserve Board Now Fully Staffed, Can Now Maybe Find Willpower To Do Something About The Economy&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html#comment-46804">17 May 2012</a></small> c'mon, why would anyone not want the fed to be fully staffed during an economic crisis? </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7211">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xYB6eBglo_mdf7eNxPgNDYR5ZHQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xYB6eBglo_mdf7eNxPgNDYR5ZHQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xYB6eBglo_mdf7eNxPgNDYR5ZHQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xYB6eBglo_mdf7eNxPgNDYR5ZHQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=3o9JYWQw-e4:mSO-4KkW9vI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/3o9JYWQw-e4" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/federal-reserve-board-now-fully-staffed-can-now-maybe-find-willpower-to-do-something-about-the-economy.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/4ogtOhUa0Ng/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 21:15:43 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7201 <p> <p>Hey, did you know our favorite shithead Newt Gingrich <em>is actually Dr. Newt Gingrich</em>? It&#8217;s true, incredibly. He even <a href="http://robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com/2011/11/newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html">wrote a Ph.D. dissertation back in the &#8217;70s</a>, one described as having &#8220;pedantic, adequate prose&#8221;:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html" class="more-link">Read more on Fun Stuff: Read About Newt Gingrich&#8217;s Doctoral Dissertation&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/22cfc8ff856ce407cc910ef93ed46cf5-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Joan:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html#comment-46808">18 May 2012</a></small> Would love someone to explain the Oath of vengeance against america that mormon prophets like Romney have to take. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7201">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RwQlzWaNi_NyecUgQpSfK_qPsWY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RwQlzWaNi_NyecUgQpSfK_qPsWY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RwQlzWaNi_NyecUgQpSfK_qPsWY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RwQlzWaNi_NyecUgQpSfK_qPsWY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=4ogtOhUa0Ng:zmnV-j_5qfQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/4ogtOhUa0Ng" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-stuff-read-about-newt-gingrichs-doctoral-dissertation.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/VGQGkaRkG68/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 19:22:36 +0000 Metavirus http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7208 <p>I&#8217;ve been saying it for years: the countless billions of dollars rushing into &#8220;social media&#8221; companies is largely a farce and a bubble that is destined to <a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/05/general-motors-pulls-annual-10-million-worth-of-ads-from-facebook/">burst</a>.  Someone still needs to tell me why Joe&#8217;s Plumbing Supply includes a Facebook and Twitter icon at the end of their commercials. <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html" class="more-link">Read more on GM Sours On Social Media, Pulls $10 Million In Advertising From Facebook&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>2 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/b6752062f9e3ff156e31f8ed22126337-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Lev:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html#comment-46798">16 May 2012</a></small> I was thinking of posting on this. I know that all the features of Facebook are there so that they can custom-tailor ads to me, but what if I never click on ads? I can't remember ever doing it. </li> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html#comment-46799">16 May 2012</a></small> same here. there are probably all sorts of rubes out there who click on all those misleading "Do you like Jesus? Vote Now!" ads. so I get it that their revenue is probably around 3.7 billion with a profit of around $1 billion. that's a substantial business with real value. however, a lot of that value is what i'm talking about - lots of companies each pouring tens of millions of dollars into "social media" marketing strategies and ad buys at what are in my estimation grossly inflated prices - all because everyone is fapping to the super hot sexy cool thing that is social media (extreme!). remember the last time billions of dollars in capital hungrily flowed into an overinflated new hot sexy wicked cool awesome technology? yeah, the rampant dot-com boondoggle. how did that work out? </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7208">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/metavirus">Metavirus</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6RRw1kE70jEgn6ogCHh25rh6xIQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6RRw1kE70jEgn6ogCHh25rh6xIQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6RRw1kE70jEgn6ogCHh25rh6xIQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6RRw1kE70jEgn6ogCHh25rh6xIQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=VGQGkaRkG68:h-rIXV9MAFI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/VGQGkaRkG68" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html/feed 2 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/gm-sours-on-social-media-pulls-10-million-in-advertising-from-facebook.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/0O5IOTxheO4/identity-silliness.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 18:12:22 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7203 <p> <p><img id="rg_hi" class="rg_hi uh_hi alignright" style="width: 192px; height: 262px;; float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTQ3_pQHr1icow2exV_aGnWq1tpnsu6HY8p_qpV_UzpVWamZRWq6Q" alt="" width="192" height="262" data-width="192" data-height="262" /></p> <p>I must admit that the idea that Barack Obama is our first gay president (or, more accurately, the &#8220;first gay president,&#8221; as without the quotes it&#8217;s tabloid fodder) is somewhat bizarre to me. Yes, I know it&#8217;s a riff on the idea that Bill Clinton was called the &#8220;first black president,&#8221; but that made sense because <em>it captured something about Clinton</em>, namely that Clinton was comfortably multicultural in terms of his personality that was genuinely unusual in a president at that time. Clinton was technically just as white as, I don&#8217;t know, Dwight Eisenhower, but Ike didn&#8217;t socialize with black people, didn&#8217;t listen to their music, and didn&#8217;t make an effort to understand them. Clinton demonstrably did all these things, and his personality reflected it, so the term is somewhat illuminating. Setting aside the little fact that we&#8217;ve almost certainly <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/05/14/our_real_first_gay_president/">already <em>had</em> a gay president</a> (and probably more than one, if you do the math), I&#8217;m not quite sure what to make of applying the label to Obama. For one thing, I&#8217;m not wild about connoting Obama with a closeted, secret identity, which is essentially what the right always accuses him of (even if the intent here is hardly negative). But more importantly, while there are some groups of gay men that have group identities I&#8217;ve never really thought there was <em>a single</em> gay identity, just gay people, most of whom just live normal lives indistinguishable from straights like me, aside from in their choice of romantic partners. If you think the same way, then a gay president is a completely jejune concept.* And it&#8217;s true that Obama has a pretty great record on gay rights, but that doesn&#8217;t go to identity. Was Lyndon Johnson our first black president? By this logic he&#8217;d have to be, even though that&#8217;s a pretty laughable idea.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html" class="more-link">Read more on Identity Silliness&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>4 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html#comment-46795">16 May 2012</a></small> Newsweek covers are universally horribad. There is a cabal of cover page trolls who scheme constantly to come up with the most shameless and hyperbolic covers that slap people in the face to get them to read the magazine - oftentimes pointing to an article that is nowhere near as EXTREME! as the cover. </li> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/b6752062f9e3ff156e31f8ed22126337-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Lev:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html#comment-46797">16 May 2012</a></small> Yeah, they've reeked of desperation real bad for the past couple of years. </li> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/d012cf18d3d398cf6fd8e3802579827d-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Mark Schumaker:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html#comment-46814">19 May 2012</a></small> Confused, doesn't he have to be gay to be the first gay president? </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7203">Add a comment</a></b> &#124; View <a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_list=7203">1 more comment(s).</a></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jjFVVZyWPSrP_Y5bh_d4U-GG7T8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jjFVVZyWPSrP_Y5bh_d4U-GG7T8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jjFVVZyWPSrP_Y5bh_d4U-GG7T8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jjFVVZyWPSrP_Y5bh_d4U-GG7T8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0O5IOTxheO4:GBJUoNZ4178:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/0O5IOTxheO4" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html/feed 4 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/identity-silliness.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/0x0yH1OeXEo/dont-count-on-another-debtceilingclusterfck.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-count-on-another-debtceilingclusterfck.html#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 18:53:58 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7198 <p> <p>People are buzzing about <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/boehner-debt-limit-default-peterson-geithner.php">this</a>, but it&#8217;s not technically news, since Boehner and especially Mitch McConnell have not really been coy about their intention to wreck the government again. Obviously, if Romney wins, Republicans will roll over on this issue. But I&#8217;m hardly convinced we&#8217;ll see another showdown if Obama wins. Republicans will be far more interested in extending the Bush Tax Cuts than anything else, and if November shakes out the way I think it&#8217;s likely to (another Obama term, a 12-15 seat Democrat gain in the House&#8211;possibly a few more, but I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;ll be much less&#8211;and dead even in the Senate with Biden breaking the tie), Boehner will have very little leverage. So making statements like this has to be understood as a bid to improve his negotiating position, nothing more. Boehner would be happy to trade away a debt ceiling increase in exchange for an extension on the upper-bracket tax cuts, and considering that Obama&#8217;s campaign has thus far used tax fairness as a running theme, Boehner has naturally trying to find leverage. As we saw in 2010, Republicans can be extraordinarily generous in negotiations if they get tax cuts for the rick out of them. Does it really make sense that Boehner&#8217;s top priority would be to procure a bunch more cuts during a lame duck session, or to parley that threat into an objective his party values infinitely more? Now, if Obama said that he absolutely will not extend the upper-bracket tax cuts under any circumstances, I could see Boehner and his House contingent as petty enough to refuse to raise the limit. That would not exactly be politically brilliant, but he&#8217;s got a lot of true believers in his caucus.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-count-on-another-debtceilingclusterfck.html" class="more-link">Read more on Don&#8217;t Count On Another #DebtCeilingClusterF*ck&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7198">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3X32yejjKK7trIZXxa3TskN0vUU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3X32yejjKK7trIZXxa3TskN0vUU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3X32yejjKK7trIZXxa3TskN0vUU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3X32yejjKK7trIZXxa3TskN0vUU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0x0yH1OeXEo:4_WQKLcUFHQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/0x0yH1OeXEo" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-count-on-another-debtceilingclusterfck.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-count-on-another-debtceilingclusterfck.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/_UZn_2FfNlU/americans-not-flocking-to-vague-shadowy-political-gimmicks.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/americans-not-flocking-to-vague-shadowy-political-gimmicks.html#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 18:17:25 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7195 <p> <p>I think we&#8217;ve hit the end of the (middle of the) road <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_05/americans_unelect037348.php">here</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Presumably AE could delay its timetable and hope someone (Buddy Roemer?) eventually crosses the bar to become a nominatable candidate. It could lower its already pathetically low threshold for candidate viability. Or it could just make a mockery of the entire bottom-up process that is supposedly the group’s signature and pick a candidate (or candidates) to put forward, assuming anybody even remotely credible out there would accept the damaged goods of a nomination.</p></blockquote> <p>I could have told you this was going to happen. Day-to-day politics going on in America is largely a bottom-down affair, with a relatively small group of people in government and the media setting the agenda that everyone else reacts to. But <em>political movements</em> do not work this way! They start with a group of people who want to make a change, always, and expand out from there. Americans Elect has been pretty smart about giving that first small group of people something to play with, something that is very fascinating to them, but just starting a quasi-political party because a couple of influential people want one that thinks like them is a perfect misapplication of how politics typically works to the realm of genuine political and social movements. You can&#8217;t just will into existence a new party that backs everything you support, it doesn&#8217;t work that way, and it smacks of an elite misunderstanding of the nature of politics. Sure, with money you can astroturf, you can use paid ads, really, there are any number of tools to manipulate public opinion. But there are limits, thankfully.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/americans-not-flocking-to-vague-shadowy-political-gimmicks.html" class="more-link">Read more on Americans Not Flocking To Vague, Shadowy Political Gimmicks&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7195">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zgi3ff3-gmJkTlQS3scot4bxQvA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zgi3ff3-gmJkTlQS3scot4bxQvA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zgi3ff3-gmJkTlQS3scot4bxQvA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zgi3ff3-gmJkTlQS3scot4bxQvA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=_UZn_2FfNlU:Oodg6CugUkY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/_UZn_2FfNlU" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/americans-not-flocking-to-vague-shadowy-political-gimmicks.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/americans-not-flocking-to-vague-shadowy-political-gimmicks.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/GaI7R1u6R5s/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 19:57:50 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7193 <p> <p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/12/national/a011949D11.DTL&#38;feed=rss.news">The case for picking Charlotte, NC, as the site of the Democratic National Committee</a> was supposed to be simple:</p> <blockquote><p>When Democrats announced the choice in February 2011, they said selecting the Southern city signaled Obama&#8217;s intent to fight hard for the conservative-leaning state like he did in 2008. They also highlighted the economic transformation in the state and in Charlotte — from tobacco, textiles and furniture-making to research, energy and banking. Party leaders noted the state&#8217;s strong political leadership and expressed hope that a Perdue re-election bid would get a boost from the attention that would be lavished on the convention.</p></blockquote> <p>But it&#8217;s turned into something of a nightmare:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html" class="more-link">Read more on Charlotte Wasn&#8217;t The Right Choice for the DNC. What Would&#8217;ve Been?&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>3 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/8fa5db0f78ee0c39c2a7f60d65f20c59-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>priscianus jr:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html#comment-46768">14 May 2012</a></small> North Carolina is a major southern state that actually went for Obama in 2008. I am not privy to the thoughts of the DNC but I always assumed that the main motivation of holding the convention in NC was to strengthen the identification of NC with the Democratic Party. I wish the unions would think a little more long range. </li> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html#comment-46779">15 May 2012</a></small> agreed. it's a bit of cutting off one's nose to spite the face. if democrats could have a quality convention in NC and raise their profile there, perhaps that would add another drop or two of water to the bucket of NC being more Democrat-friendly over time. and it always perplexes me how democratic interest groups think that the best time to loudly air their disagreements is when the candidate who backs their positions 2000% more than the other guy is running to be elected. </li> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/b6752062f9e3ff156e31f8ed22126337-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Lev:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html#comment-46781">15 May 2012</a></small> Probably so. Though if that's the case, Indianapolis could've worked too. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7193">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/093Rl91je4T930bcMIXcjfe4wT8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/093Rl91je4T930bcMIXcjfe4wT8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/093Rl91je4T930bcMIXcjfe4wT8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/093Rl91je4T930bcMIXcjfe4wT8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=GaI7R1u6R5s:TqkIRSzXD0Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/GaI7R1u6R5s" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html/feed 3 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/charlotte-wasnt-the-right-choice-for-the-dnc-what-wouldve-been.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/i0Fosc6dx-Q/fun-friday-indiana-jones-and-the-policy-of-no-refunds.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-friday-indiana-jones-and-the-policy-of-no-refunds.html#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 20:03:20 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7156 <p> <p>From the maker of the incredibly long (but great) reviews of the <em>Star Wars </em>prequels:</p> <p><iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLk0i8C.html?p=1" frameborder="0" width="480" height="300"></iframe><object style="display: none;" width="320" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><br /> <param name="src" value="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLk0i8C" /><embed style="display: none;" width="320" height="240" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLk0i8C" /></object></p> <p><iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLkzW0C.html?p=1" frameborder="0" width="480" height="300"></iframe><object style="display: none;" width="320" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><br /> <param name="src" value="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLkzW0C" /><embed style="display: none;" width="320" height="240" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLkzW0C" /></object> </p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/ebcdce7eb309360f4738ad64f62ebda2-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Metavirus @ Library Grape:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-friday-indiana-jones-and-the-policy-of-no-refunds.html#comment-46751">12 May 2012</a></small> OMG, that is fucking HILARIOUS! Loved his Star Wars ones too. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7156">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NBbII7ASid4nuyUePUee9NX7dUs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NBbII7ASid4nuyUePUee9NX7dUs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NBbII7ASid4nuyUePUee9NX7dUs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NBbII7ASid4nuyUePUee9NX7dUs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=i0Fosc6dx-Q:qcp5w83cKu8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/i0Fosc6dx-Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-friday-indiana-jones-and-the-policy-of-no-refunds.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/fun-friday-indiana-jones-and-the-policy-of-no-refunds.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/zJ62hxSdk3o/consequences-of-gay-marriage.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/consequences-of-gay-marriage.html#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 19:39:57 +0000 Metavirus http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7189 <p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dating-fails-dating-fails-let-the-great-gay-marriage-debate-begin.jpg"><img style=' display: block; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;' class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7190" title="dating-fails-dating-fails-let-the-great-gay-marriage-debate-begin" src="http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dating-fails-dating-fails-let-the-great-gay-marriage-debate-begin.jpg" alt="" width="499" height="349" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://failblog.org/2012/05/10/dating-fails-dating-fails-let-the-great-gay-marriage-debate-begin/?utm_source=feedburner&#38;utm_medium=feed&#38;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+failblog+%28The+FAIL+Blog+-+Fail+Pictures+%26+Videos+at+Failblog.ORG%29">FailBlog</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7189">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/metavirus">Metavirus</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/k5067KjW9xzwh0jAN8SuWfdh9To/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/k5067KjW9xzwh0jAN8SuWfdh9To/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/k5067KjW9xzwh0jAN8SuWfdh9To/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/k5067KjW9xzwh0jAN8SuWfdh9To/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=zJ62hxSdk3o:G4a6AoGZWP0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/zJ62hxSdk3o" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/consequences-of-gay-marriage.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/consequences-of-gay-marriage.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/55fBG6TY16Q/further-thoughts-on-obama-and-marriage.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/further-thoughts-on-obama-and-marriage.html#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 17:57:24 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7183 <p> <p>Glenn Greenwald is wise <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/05/09/e_3/">here</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>When it comes to assessing a politician, what matters, at least to me, are actions, not motives. If they do the wrong thing, they should be criticized regardless of motive; conversely, if they do the right thing, they should be credited. I’ve had zero tolerance over the last three years for people who pop up to justify all the horrible things Obama has done by claiming that he is forced to do them out of political necessity or in cowardly deference to public opinion; that’s because horrible acts don’t become less horrible because they’re prompted by some rational, self-interested political motive rather than conviction. That’s equally true of positive acts: they don’t become less commendable because they were the by-product of political pressure or self-preservation; when a politician takes the right course of action, as Obama did today, credit is merited, regardless of motive.</p></blockquote> <p>The trap that politicians set for us (and I admit I&#8217;m not immune to it) is that they want us to identify personally with the image they project. But that image is rarely (I wouldn&#8217;t say never because it&#8217;s theoretically possibly) a full portrait of the person. You often hear about people having &#8220;relationships&#8221; with an artist through their work, but the goal of an artist is to reveal him- or herself to the world, which is not really the goal of a politician. We&#8217;ll never know the latter group much better than they want us to know them. So, as Greenwald says, the only fair way to evaluate them is by what they actually do as public figures, not by our perception of their motives, which is essentially based on assumptions we make about them based on an image deliberately crafted for our consumption. Thus, Obama deserves enormous credit for his stance on marriage.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/further-thoughts-on-obama-and-marriage.html" class="more-link">Read more on Further Thoughts on Obama and Marriage&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7183">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZJ7c156vpKOZDIOFnlV5VSBv8Y4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZJ7c156vpKOZDIOFnlV5VSBv8Y4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZJ7c156vpKOZDIOFnlV5VSBv8Y4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZJ7c156vpKOZDIOFnlV5VSBv8Y4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=55fBG6TY16Q:mLyaSffyDiY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/55fBG6TY16Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/further-thoughts-on-obama-and-marriage.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/further-thoughts-on-obama-and-marriage.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/yMg9cgEHDXQ/the-evolution-is-over.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7176 <p> <div style="float:center;text-align:center;margin-top: 10px;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-right: 10px;"> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0jFR-YqQ8k">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0jFR-YqQ8k</a></p> </div> <p>And <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/obama-gay-marriage-interview-abc.php?ref=fpa">it turned out a lot better than that one</a>!</p> <blockquote><p>President Obama made history Wednesday, becoming the first sitting president to come out in support of legal same-sex marriage.</p> <p>In an interview with ABC News, Obama said, “I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html" class="more-link">Read more on The Evolution Is Over&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>2 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/5e861047c6a51ca75636af267294adf9-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html#comment-46725">09 May 2012</a></small> It's just one of those things where - dude. Yay! I'm reduced to that. </li> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html#comment-46726">09 May 2012</a></small> I'm glad he finally revealed what he's always thought all along. However, I really hope that going public doesn't turn off the squishy low-information voters who apparently decide elections these days. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7176">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2BTwK8eWHY6SP1WTP6rc2JvIM-I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2BTwK8eWHY6SP1WTP6rc2JvIM-I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2BTwK8eWHY6SP1WTP6rc2JvIM-I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2BTwK8eWHY6SP1WTP6rc2JvIM-I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=yMg9cgEHDXQ:MVM_WwEhHcg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/yMg9cgEHDXQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html/feed 2 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/the-evolution-is-over.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/PrKxu7zeUII/lugars-lost-opportunity.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/lugars-lost-opportunity.html#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 19:09:59 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7173 <p> <p>I have to admit, I&#8217;m hardly bowled over by Dick Lugar&#8217;s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/sen-richard-lugars-searing-concession-statement--read-it-here/2012/05/09/gIQAgLm2CU_blog.html?wprss=rss_ezra-klein">wannabe kissoff concession statement</a>. The story of Lugar&#8217;s primary challenge gathered considerable media interest, and his statement indicates that he was aware of this, and wrote something to get attention. But just like what Olympia Snowe said when she dropped out, Lugar just endorsed the company line and didn&#8217;t add any new frame or angle to the ongoing discussion:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/lugars-lost-opportunity.html" class="more-link">Read more on Lugar&#8217;s Lost Opportunity&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7173">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GXYm9efqq-VuOtGt6dOgrMsd8tM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GXYm9efqq-VuOtGt6dOgrMsd8tM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GXYm9efqq-VuOtGt6dOgrMsd8tM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/GXYm9efqq-VuOtGt6dOgrMsd8tM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=PrKxu7zeUII:ABoySbRhNZE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/PrKxu7zeUII" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/lugars-lost-opportunity.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/lugars-lost-opportunity.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/H-EU-folz5k/7169.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/7169.html#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 18:24:16 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7169 <p> <p>Emily Hauser&#8217;s <a href="https://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/netanyahu-mofaz-some-brief-thoughts/">conclusion</a> on the new Israeli government:</p> <blockquote><p>Overall, this strikes me as a marriage of convenience between two men who will eventually tear each other apart. [Prime Minister Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Mofaz] both needed a crutch, and when one of them doesn’t need a crutch anymore? It’ll all come crashing down.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/7169.html" class="more-link">Read more on Israeli Opposition Merger Post&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7169">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uT4Il9e5wnhOTkwzQXXwW7Kl7nc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uT4Il9e5wnhOTkwzQXXwW7Kl7nc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uT4Il9e5wnhOTkwzQXXwW7Kl7nc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uT4Il9e5wnhOTkwzQXXwW7Kl7nc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=H-EU-folz5k:wvU18AaBXJA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/H-EU-folz5k" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/7169.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/7169.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/sRBCU8w9nQk/please-jeebus-wont-you-please-kill-the-filibuster-already.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/please-jeebus-wont-you-please-kill-the-filibuster-already.html#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 21:19:44 +0000 Metavirus http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7164 <p> <p>I&#8217;ll keep saying it until I&#8217;m blue in the face: the filibuster in the Senate has become one of the biggest impediments to our government&#8217;s ability to function.</p> <p>I don&#8217;t generally have a very high opinion of the American voter &#8211; in large part because they routinely fail to hold the right people to account for things that go wrong in Washington &#8211; but I guess you can&#8217;t really blame them when so many media outlets fail to even use  the word &#8220;filibuster&#8221; to describe what Republicans have been doing for the last few years on nearly every piece of substantive legislation.  For example:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/please-jeebus-wont-you-please-kill-the-filibuster-already.html" class="more-link">Read more on Please Jeebus, Won&#8217;t You Please Kill The Filibuster Already?&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7164">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/metavirus">Metavirus</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z31sHxDpbMpyFUMFc3Jy_VyiZpc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z31sHxDpbMpyFUMFc3Jy_VyiZpc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z31sHxDpbMpyFUMFc3Jy_VyiZpc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/z31sHxDpbMpyFUMFc3Jy_VyiZpc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=sRBCU8w9nQk:_Xdr2BtooLQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/sRBCU8w9nQk" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/please-jeebus-wont-you-please-kill-the-filibuster-already.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/please-jeebus-wont-you-please-kill-the-filibuster-already.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/-huyaNumhpI/new-underwear-bomber-will-probably-lead-to-more-airport-security-measures.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/new-underwear-bomber-will-probably-lead-to-more-airport-security-measures.html#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 18:23:40 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7161 <p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/08/al-qaida-bomb-airport-security">Goody</a>. <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/new-underwear-bomber-will-probably-lead-to-more-airport-security-measures.html#comment-46716">08 May 2012</a></small> what the F is the random bit of political bullshit randomly wedged in at the end of the article? <blockquote>Levitt, who was involved as a senior analyst in the FBI's investigation into 9/11, said that it was natural to be sceptical in a presidential election year about security announcements. "But this was not political, it didn't come from the White House and my sense was that it was a really unique success."</blockquote> there really is no news story these days that reporters won't try to cast in terms of the neverending worldwide political horse race. here's a fun bit of fake breaking news: <blockquote><i><b>CDC report identifies dramatic increase in heart disease</b></i> <blockquote>... Arthur Levitt, who was involved as a senior analyst in an earlier CDC investigation into high blood pressure, said that it was natural to be sceptical in a presidential election year about health announcements. "But this was not political, it didn't come from the White House and my sense was that this is a really important study that we should pay attention to."</blockquote></blockquote> </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7161">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8tDj4jVwJJzyyjA61Bip1xIQW6c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8tDj4jVwJJzyyjA61Bip1xIQW6c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8tDj4jVwJJzyyjA61Bip1xIQW6c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8tDj4jVwJJzyyjA61Bip1xIQW6c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=-huyaNumhpI:zJDN8CjrxBo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/-huyaNumhpI" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/new-underwear-bomber-will-probably-lead-to-more-airport-security-measures.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/new-underwear-bomber-will-probably-lead-to-more-airport-security-measures.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/mfxdh9vvNNg/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 23:34:11 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7159 <p> <p>Yeah, I know some might object to calling Geert Wilders a fascist. Certainly, it&#8217;s an overused insult. My usual metric for whether or not someone is a fascist is: do they spend an inordinate amount of time defending/excusing/conditionally praising Hitler? That&#8217;s not going to get you <em>every</em> fascist, but it nets all of more obvious cases (e.g. Jean-Marie Le Pen and Pat Buchanan). It&#8217;s one thing to say that Hitler got Germany out of the Great Depression before any other major country&#8211;which is true&#8211;but another to spend years of your life arguing that he was misunderstood, wasn&#8217;t all that bad, etc. I haven&#8217;t heard Geert Wilders talk about how Hitler was some misunderstood genius, which would seem to contradict the heuristic I just mentioned. But he is a man whose hyper-nationalist party scapegoats a small, Middle Eastern minority for nearly all of his country&#8217;s problems, and isn&#8217;t all that choosy about which freedoms to trample on in order to punish them. In any event, it looks like this clown&#8217;s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17940404">brief spell of time in power is over</a>:</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html" class="more-link">Read more on Not EVERY European Fascist Party Is Doing Well&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html#comment-46713">07 May 2012</a></small> maybe both guys being named Geert had something to do with it. or maybe that's just Dutch for "Bob". </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7159">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-1HU7GEaZvc1LjyvUpVdd8F9GyE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-1HU7GEaZvc1LjyvUpVdd8F9GyE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-1HU7GEaZvc1LjyvUpVdd8F9GyE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-1HU7GEaZvc1LjyvUpVdd8F9GyE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=mfxdh9vvNNg:f4LV4O3Gdqk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/mfxdh9vvNNg" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/not-every-european-fascist-party-is-doing-well.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/Jzfm7FvMGKE/its-good-to-be-king.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/its-good-to-be-king.html#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 16:38:17 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7153 <p> <p>The <em>Times</em> has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/us/politics/senate-control-could-hinge-on-angus-king-of-maine.html?_r=1">a profile of Angus King</a>, likely new Senator from Maine. I must admit that I initially skipped over the article before going back to it, just because my first impression of the man was pretty unfavorable. And it still sort of is. I think there are serious questions to be raised about his casual attitude to civil liberties, and even though it&#8217;s his shtick I don&#8217;t really approve of someone seeking office to play so coy about which party they are going to join. Yeah, yeah, I know, partisanship, but this seems like an awfully important piece of information for a voter to have, no? Could, you know, clarify the decision a bit? We have two parties that increasingly stand for very different visions of a future America. I don&#8217;t think it really does anyone a service to elide these differences.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/its-good-to-be-king.html" class="more-link">Read more on It&#8217;s Good To Be King&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7153">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4P9Kx0JScjZRI8YXaEEdw-02ayc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4P9Kx0JScjZRI8YXaEEdw-02ayc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4P9Kx0JScjZRI8YXaEEdw-02ayc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4P9Kx0JScjZRI8YXaEEdw-02ayc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Jzfm7FvMGKE:8DaR32zZfAU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/Jzfm7FvMGKE" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/its-good-to-be-king.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/its-good-to-be-king.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/kwD30XTqwGI/but-what-sort-of-pragmatism-are-we-talking-about.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/but-what-sort-of-pragmatism-are-we-talking-about.html#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 17:16:13 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7151 <p> <p>I typically react viscerally against titles like, &#8220;The Republican Party is more pragmatic than you might think,&#8221; but there&#8217;s actually not that much to object to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57427520-503544/the-republican-party-is-more-pragmatic-than-you-might-think/">in the actual piece</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Over the past few years, it has hardened into something approaching conventional wisdom that the conservative/Tea Party wing is in the process of taking over the GOP. But while the right has certainly asserted itself &#8211; particularly in the 2010 midterm elections, with mixed results &#8211; the reality is that the Republican Party is now in the process of nominating an establishment figure with a moderate reputation for president. Again.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/but-what-sort-of-pragmatism-are-we-talking-about.html" class="more-link">Read more on But What Sort Of Pragmatism Are We Talking About?&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7151">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1A82dU221qvah8OXU4-FYoU6sk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1A82dU221qvah8OXU4-FYoU6sk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1A82dU221qvah8OXU4-FYoU6sk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I1A82dU221qvah8OXU4-FYoU6sk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=kwD30XTqwGI:FRQ9xLg11CM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/kwD30XTqwGI" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/but-what-sort-of-pragmatism-are-we-talking-about.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/but-what-sort-of-pragmatism-are-we-talking-about.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/e5OX9I6_Khc/words-to-take-to-heart.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/words-to-take-to-heart.html#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 16:29:46 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7149 <p> <p>This song really struck me when I heard it this week:</p> <div style="float:center;text-align:center;margin-top: 10px;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-right: 10px;"> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e39UmEnqY8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e39UmEnqY8</a></p> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7149">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_KUNhk9ewAkJsi4-zIaBv-edRdI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_KUNhk9ewAkJsi4-zIaBv-edRdI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_KUNhk9ewAkJsi4-zIaBv-edRdI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_KUNhk9ewAkJsi4-zIaBv-edRdI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=e5OX9I6_Khc:xOUw75k61Fw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/e5OX9I6_Khc" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/words-to-take-to-heart.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/words-to-take-to-heart.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/0oV_dERr040/dont-make-me-laugh.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-make-me-laugh.html#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 19:41:19 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7129 <p>Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75771.html">parodies itself</a> (<a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/05/01/its_going_to_get_worse.html">via</a>): <blockquote>The Senate, once the chamber of deliberation and reason, is getting its own extreme makeover. Moderates such as Maine Republican Olympia Snowe and Democrat Ben Nelson are bolting an institution that barely resembles the one they entered as idealistic deal makers.</blockquote> Ben <em>Nelson? </em>Idealistic dealmaker? These are words that should not be in the same sentence, unless &#8220;not&#8221; or &#8220;in no way in hell is&#8221; or &#8220;could only ironically be referred to as&#8221; is separating them. Do I really need to elaborate here? (Also, Nelson didn&#8217;t voluntarily leave, he had no chance to win again due to his own corruption. It&#8217;s not like he did what Snowe did.) <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-make-me-laugh.html" class="more-link">Read more on Don&#8217;t Make Me Laugh&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-make-me-laugh.html#comment-46701">03 May 2012</a></small> that quote made me throw up a little bit in my mouth just then. i swear to jeebus that there is some super-secret journamalism grad program out there that specializes in warping the minds of "journalists" into sycophantic "both sides do it", "centrism rules" stenographers. if such a nefarious scheme doesn't actually exist, it scares me that all these mushy mouthbreathers just kinda came up with the genre themselves. do they have a secret mailing list where they share notes and techniques? are there centrism summits just for this elite pack? how else do they so perfectly march in lockstep!!?? </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7129">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W6BXJkvj80_UvrohwkAbSIC9Chs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W6BXJkvj80_UvrohwkAbSIC9Chs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W6BXJkvj80_UvrohwkAbSIC9Chs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W6BXJkvj80_UvrohwkAbSIC9Chs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=0oV_dERr040:EdJ4CgR_9a8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/0oV_dERr040" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-make-me-laugh.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/dont-make-me-laugh.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/Y8QaUjyi7Pk/despicable-quote-of-the-day-icky-gay-sexytime-is-a-threat-to-national-security.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/despicable-quote-of-the-day-icky-gay-sexytime-is-a-threat-to-national-security.html#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 22:12:04 +0000 Metavirus http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7143 <p>&#8220;Given the propensity for members of the homosexual community to engage in frequent and anonymous sexual encounters, the risk to national security of having a homosexual in a high-ranking position with access to secret information is obvious.&#8221;  <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/gay-republicans-dismayed-as-romney-staffer-pushed-out-by-social-conservative-right.php">Bryan Fischer, Nutbag</a> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/despicable-quote-of-the-day-icky-gay-sexytime-is-a-threat-to-national-security.html" class="more-link">Read more on Despicable Quote of the Day &#8212; Icky Gay Sexytime Is A Threat To National Security&#8230;</a></p> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7143">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/metavirus">Metavirus</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sJfdVLRLgtRiYptEKDlW4NnObiY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sJfdVLRLgtRiYptEKDlW4NnObiY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sJfdVLRLgtRiYptEKDlW4NnObiY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sJfdVLRLgtRiYptEKDlW4NnObiY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=Y8QaUjyi7Pk:Tvr69soGpnc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/Y8QaUjyi7Pk" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/despicable-quote-of-the-day-icky-gay-sexytime-is-a-threat-to-national-security.html/feed 0 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/despicable-quote-of-the-day-icky-gay-sexytime-is-a-threat-to-national-security.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/ZuJ0UttLYJo/pointless-prize.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 19:27:54 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7140 <p> <p>Alec McGillis makes some sense <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-stump/103065/does-it-really-matter-who-bloomberg-endorses">here</a> on the odd battle to secure NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s endorsement:</p> <blockquote><p>My guess is that it’s about Romney’s attempts to reclaim the center. If Romney were to land a smooch from Bloomberg, I doubt it would have much direct effect anywhere he has a chance to win. But it would buy him some favorable coverage from the elite media—suffice it to say that the <em>Times</em> would play it high—and the refracted glow could help him among certain upscale voters nationally.</p></blockquote> <p>And Obama, of course, would rather not have tons of stories featuring &#8220;Romney&#8221; and &#8220;moderate&#8221; in the same sentence, basically. I understand why he&#8217;d make the effort, as it doesn&#8217;t really cost Obama anything, but it&#8217;s not exactly high-stakes.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html" class="more-link">Read more on Pointless Prize&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>2 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img width='16' height='16' class='avatar avatar-16 fbavatar' src='http://graph.facebook.com/1371511582/picture?type=square' /><i>Metavirus:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html#comment-46694">02 May 2012</a></small> i guarantee you that the Very Serious People and other assorted Villagers have already decided that Romney is a moderate and will spend the next several months telling us that - irrespective of reality. </li> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/d012cf18d3d398cf6fd8e3802579827d-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Mark Schumaker:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html#comment-46696">02 May 2012</a></small> If you tell a lie often enough, loud enough, and long enough some people will believe it. Prime example is Fox Cable! </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7140">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CElsVJI_VkzV1q3RnxAJ922Dfzo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CElsVJI_VkzV1q3RnxAJ922Dfzo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CElsVJI_VkzV1q3RnxAJ922Dfzo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CElsVJI_VkzV1q3RnxAJ922Dfzo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=ZuJ0UttLYJo:h90M5T1HpPE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/ZuJ0UttLYJo" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html/feed 2 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/pointless-prize.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/HwVU7A8G9mg/newsweek-hearts-america-seriously-they-really-fcking-mean-it.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newsweek-hearts-america-seriously-they-really-fcking-mean-it.html#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 23:07:43 +0000 Metavirus http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7131 <p>I guess a cover featuring Uncle Sam hungrily masturbating to a painting of Jesus wearing an American flag was deemed to be <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/29/myth-of-decline-u-s-is-stronger-and-faster-than-anywhere-else.html">insufficiently patriotic</a>. <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/news2.jpg"><img style=' display: block; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;' class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7137" title="news" src="http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/news2-300x278.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="278" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>[<a href="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3931vhayl1qzs5cqo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank">Embiggen</a>]</em></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/b6752062f9e3ff156e31f8ed22126337-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Lev:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newsweek-hearts-america-seriously-they-really-fcking-mean-it.html#comment-46690">01 May 2012</a></small> Sometimes, you gotta know when to keep it subtle. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7131">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/metavirus">Metavirus</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/t3b85MkZsBJgStAfe55pfqMg0Io/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/t3b85MkZsBJgStAfe55pfqMg0Io/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/t3b85MkZsBJgStAfe55pfqMg0Io/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/t3b85MkZsBJgStAfe55pfqMg0Io/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=HwVU7A8G9mg:BhrVkxkX_oc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/HwVU7A8G9mg" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newsweek-hearts-america-seriously-they-really-fcking-mean-it.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/newsweek-hearts-america-seriously-they-really-fcking-mean-it.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~3/T7RQ4ql8I8c/on-the-road-again.html http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/on-the-road-again.html#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 20:57:08 +0000 Lev http://www.librarygrape.com/?p=7126 <p> <p>I must say that the discussion over whether or not Mitt Romney would have pushed the button on Osama bin Laden is mostly uninteresting to me as a matter of policy. There&#8217;s really no way of knowing for sure&#8211;my guess is that Romney would not have done it so as to avoid the risk of it backfiring, but who really knows. Overall, though, I can&#8217;t get too worked up about it because it&#8217;s so obviously about making the guy Look Weak. See Josh Marshall <a href="http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/obama-needles-romney-on-old-bin-laden-quotes.php?ref=fpblg">for the specifics on this angle</a>. Me, I know he&#8217;s weak. He has no demonstrable values, only a dense shell of self-satisfaction that you tend to find in the most disastrous figures in political history. There&#8217;s no real strength because there&#8217;s nothing to lean on when things get tough, which is why Romney does the easiest thing imaginable when that happens. Every. Time. That is what weakness is. So I&#8217;m bored by all this.</p> <p><a href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/on-the-road-again.html" class="more-link">Read more on On The Road Again&#8230;</a></p> <div> <h4>1 comment(s) for this post:</h4><ol> <li><img alt='' src='http://www.librarygrape.com/wp-content/glc_cache/d012cf18d3d398cf6fd8e3802579827d-16.jpg' class='avatar avatar-16 photo' height='16' width='16' /><i>Mark Schumaker:</i> <br /> <small><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/on-the-road-again.html#comment-46689">01 May 2012</a></small> What a waste of time in such speculation. Bush couldn't find him because he didn't want to find him. As long as he could wave his threat around he could get more measures like Homeland Security, Patriot Act, and TSA to turn America into a 3rd world dictatorship. The party of small government has made more laws to infringe on our freedoms than any political party ever. Progressives must vote this time, and every time, untell the GOP has been beaten so many time that it reforms itself into a viable party of ideas rather than a reactionary party of hatred. </li> </ol> </div> <p><b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/?cof_write=7126">Add a comment</a></b></p></p><p><p>by <a rel="author" href="http://www.librarygrape.com/author/lev">Lev</a> @ <a href="http://www.librarygrape.com">Library Grape</a><p> <p><a href="http://www.twitter.com/LibraryGrape">Follow us</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibraryGrapeBlog">become a fan</a> on Facebook </p></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EK5dWc6bmFRF5iBT0AukJlqgYeQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EK5dWc6bmFRF5iBT0AukJlqgYeQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EK5dWc6bmFRF5iBT0AukJlqgYeQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EK5dWc6bmFRF5iBT0AukJlqgYeQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?a=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/LibraryGrape?i=T7RQ4ql8I8c:Xhy-PkTPdaE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LibraryGrape/~4/T7RQ4ql8I8c" height="1" width="1"/> http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/on-the-road-again.html/feed 1 http://www.librarygrape.com/2012/05/on-the-road-again.html