A Small Victory - not so random thought of the day: "Have you ever been so sick you just wish your head would explode like that one guy in Scanners?

Man, that would be sweet relief"

I get migraines. Fortunately, not the 3 day monstrosities that hit some people. But I still get wiped out for 4-6 hours. If I can feel it coming, I can sometimes stave it off with 5-6 ibuprofen (a tip from a Dr. who also suffered from them). If not, I am holed up in bed for the duration. Only to get up to go get sick in the bathroom. Not fun. My daughter is starting to get them and she gets the auras beforehand.

WSBTV.com - News - Hillary Clinton Addresses Agnes Scott Grads: "'I'm very proud of our country for standing with these women as they have struggled against great odds to fulfill their own hopes and aspirations,' Clinton said. 'There is no more important job than educating women.'"

Exactly!

We did the right thing. 

A Sense Of Balance 

While I was sitting with my 12 year old last night, we got talking about news (she likes watching the news) and Iraq. I pulled up Chrenkoff's NYT piece and read it to her. She was surprised at all the good stuff that was happening. We talked a little about how the news only shows the bombings and number of Americans killed and the story has much more to it. It was a really cool conversation.

Taranto on Keillor

Garrison Keillor can be a pretty funny guy. Usually, it's intentional; other times it's not, like when he writes about politics. James Taranto (May 11 BOTW, 3rd item, I'm Open-Minded, You're a Stupid Jerk) notes an instance of the latter in the Nation:

There's something amusing about the obnoxious way in which some people trumpet their own open-mindedness and tolerance. Consider these two passages from an essay by Garrison Keillor in The Nation:

I enjoy, in small doses, the over-the-top right-wingers who have leaked into AM radio on all sides in the past twenty years. They are evil, lying, cynical bastards who are out to destroy the country I love and turn it into a banana republic, but hey, nobody's perfect. . . .

The reason you find an army of right-wingers ratcheting on the radio and so few liberals is simple: Republicans are in need of affirmation, they don't feel comfortable in America and they crave listening to people who think like them. Liberals actually enjoy living in a free society; tuning in to hear an echo is not our idea of a good time.

If this were true, nobody would listen to NPR, watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11'--or, for that matter, read The Nation.

The original article is mostly in his trademark the Prairie Home Companion style. It starts off as a rambling, nostalgic story about radio. Then he slides in the points Taranto quotes above, making it clear that this isn't a story about radio, it's a story about how much better he is than "right-wingers," sad, pathetic little creatures they are. It seems that times like this, when the arrogance seeps through the folksy facade, we catch a glimpse of the true man. It's not funny (ha-ha), though; it's just weird.
<< SHOW LESS
SHOW MORE >>

A bit of Rush news...

Rock 'n' roll never forgets Holocaust's horror: 'Red Sector A'

by Rush (From 1984's Grace Under Pressure):

Perhaps the most well-known of Holocaust-influenced rock songs as it first appeared on the band's hit 1984 album Grace Under Pressure, and has been a staple of the band's live shows ever since. The seeds for this harrowing rocker were planted 60 years ago in April of 1945 when British soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Rush lead singer Geddy Lee's mother, Mary Rubenstein, was among the survivors. 'I once asked my mother her first thoughts upon being liberated,' Lee said. 'She didn't believe (liberation) was possible. She didn't believe that if there was a society outside the camp how they could allow this to exist... ' Lee related the story to band drummer and lyricist Neil Peart and also wrote the music. Peart came up with lines such as: 'Are we the last ones left alive?/ Are we the only human beings to survive?' 'The whole album,' Lee said, 'is about being on the brink and having the courage and strength to survive.'"

RADIO FREE EUROPE/ RADIO LIBERTY: Afghanistan: Woman Named International Editor Of The Year: "During the rule of the Taliban, Barekzai helped run underground schools for women in Afghanistan. Several months after the fall of the fundamentalist regime, she founded 'Aina-e Zan.' The weekly publication, run by women, focuses on the development of women's rights. It raises awareness about women's issues in the deeply conservative and patriarchal society of Afghanistan. Produced in Dari and Pashto, 'Aina-e Zan' covers a variety of topics -- from education, health, and Islam to beauty and cooking. It is distributed in 12 provinces of Afghanistan. "

An interesting article about (yet another) a way to group different personality traits. In this case, it is addressing the move from startup to steady company and how different personalities are required.

Darwin - Online Feature - Different Folks for Different Strokes

An amazingly long list: Past Two Weeks of Good News from Iraq (Arthur Chrenkoff)

Afghan women ‘never grow old’: "“Women in Afghanistan never grow old – they die before they can do so.” "

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "Did You Hear Something?
'The United Nations sounded an alarm for women's rights in Afghanistan on Thursday after three young Afghan women were found raped, hanged and dumped on a roadside with a warning not to work for foreign relief organizations,' the Associated Press reports from Kabul.

Don't you feel better knowing the U.N. has sounded an alarm?"

Exactly!