Dennis Hopper, RIP

This one is a real loss, as many more than I have said. What I loved best about Hopper’s work is what most people did, I think: the combination of deeply realized characters and the strain of pure crazy Hopper could maintain through even the most seemingly straight persona. He could seriously act. The only [...]

Not Dead Yet….Just Resting/Beautiful Plumage Edition

Blogging is conspicuous by its absence.  I plead end-of-term disasters, combined with the long dark tea-time of the soul. Been feeling grim lately, and lacking the oomph to blog, I channel my inner Ishmael: … I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I [...]

And Why Should the Brits Have All The Fun? Weird Election Video/Return of the Demon Sheep edition

From the California Democrats comes a reprise of what I must admit is a true surrealist classic, Carly Fiorina’s Demon Sheep spot. This one is derivative of course, and nowhere near as powerful vision of the Bizarro World that California Republicans seem to occupy, but it still made me smile:

The Glamour of Politics, UK Style (Fish in a Condom edition.

A glimpse of what it’s really like to run for office — or cover it, as they do it across the pond. From the Guardian comes this video of Cartoonist Steve Bell mano a mano — or flipper a flipper — with Tory leader David Cameron. Don’t know if this tickles your funny bone, but [...]

Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics: Andrew Sullivan, Brit Election edition

Update:  The original of this post mischaracterized the Treasury figures for government spending as a percentage of GDP; I repeatedly referred to them as the percentage of GDP due to the deficit year over year.  It’s been corrected below, and thus, in fact, tracks the figures Sullivan was citing.  The argument remains the same, though [...]

Epistemic Closure, Lantsman Version

A digression from the usual themes of this blog: From JJ Goldberg’s excellent piece in Ha’aretz (h/t M. J. Rosenberg at TPM Cafe), comes this – Many synagogues actually welcome dissenting views (though that often means welcoming only the dissenting ideas, not the ideas they dissent from). Heh. I do recommend Goldberg’s piece, as it [...]

Adventures in Lede Writing, Or Don’t Try This At Home Folks, NY Times Sports Page Department

The first two paragraphs of today’s Times piece on the Boston Celtics victory over King James and his Cleveland court, presented uncut, for your edification: When the Boston Celtics sputtered through the regular season, they were dismissed with descriptions appropriate for a high-mileage car. They were old, slow and unreliable. They might have leaked leads [...]

The End of Climate Science (and much more besides) in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Via Doug J, who got it from Thers, this report out of Virginia tells of the assault on (a) climate science and (b) academic freedom at the hands of Virginia’s new and very dangerous Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli. The report itself is a bit annoying — it refers to a “smoking gun” coming out of [...]