The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize?"

Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2010

(The Best Posts of the Year, Chosen by the Bloggers Themselves)


The much missed Jon Swift/Al Weisel left behind some excellent satire, but was also a nice guy and a strong supporter of small blogs. Blogroll Amnesty Day (co-founded with skippy) is a celebration of small blogs that's still going strong, and coming up again the first weekend in February. Jon/Al also put together a roundup of the best blogs posts of the year, selected by the participating bloggers themselves. (Here's the 2007 and 2008 editions.) I wanted to revive that tradition, both as a tribute to Jon/Al and because it was something special in its own right.

If you're not familiar with Al Weisel's work as Jon Swift, his site features a "best of" list in the left column (scroll down). His journalism site is here. Meanwhile, Tom Watson and skippy compiled most of the many memorial posts written for him.

Thanks to all the participants, especially those who helped spread the word. Apologies to the folks I missed in this effort (although you can still link your post in the comments). My initial contact list included a significant number of past contributors, but many bloggers have retired. Many more I tried to reach don't include contact information. Still, it's been nice to see many past participants again, enjoy some fine posts and read all the warm comments about Jon Swift/Al Weisel.

Whether your post appears in the modest list below or not, anyone with a Twitter account is free to link his or her best post and include the hatchtag #jonswift2010. The upcoming Blogroll Amnesty Day is also a great way for anyone to highlight any overlooked blogs.

As in Jon/Al's 2008 roundup, submissions are listed roughly in the order they were received. As he wrote for that post:

I'm sure you'll be interested in seeing what your favorite bloggers think were their best posts of the year, but be sure to also visit some blogs you've never read before and leave a nice comment if you like what you see or, if you must, a polite demurral if you do not.

Without further ado:

Mad Kane's Political Madness
Alpha-Political Verse: Election 2010
Madeleine Begun Kane: "Our bizarre mid-term election period summed up in alpha-political verse."

Where’s the Outrage?
Health Care Reform – Reloaded
ecthompson md: "Healthcare Reform done right should cover all Americans, it should be cost-effective (the government should be able to negotiate drug prices and product prices with manufacturers), it should be portable, and must be single-payer in order for us to get the biggest bang for our buck."

Kiko's House
When Care Givers Became Cost Centers: The Genesis Of The Crisis In Nursing
Shaun Mullen: "The moment that the crisis in American nursing went from being worrisome to dire was when hospital administrators stopped considering nurses to be care givers and they became "cost centers." It's not possible to pinpoint exactly when that metamorphosis occurred..."

Newshoggers
Did NYT's Risen Get Played On Afghan Mineral Wealth Story?
Steve Hynd: "Risen challenged bloggers to get out of their PJ's and do some reporting. So we did, and found his source's shady connections."

I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book!
American Insurgents American Patriots
Clark Bjorke: "I have mixed feelings about the lessons to be learned from this excellent book on the people's revolution in colonial America. It illustrates how misinformed, ill prepared and misguided the American Public has been from the very beginning of our history and how this has driven the development of our democratic society."

World O' Crap
Abortion-Seeking Women: Won't Someone Think of the Man-Child?
Scott Clevenger: "If your wife or girlfriend had an abortion, then you're not receiving all the Father's Day cards you're entitled to. Fortunately, a Men's Rights group now offers a line of seasonal abortion greeting cards for Him."

Pruning Shears
State-run Iranian media beats the NY Times on WikiLeaks reporting
Dan: "Before the release of the diplomatic cables, America's newspaper of record whiffed on another WikiLeaks scoop."

Playing with my Food
(satire)
Paul Hinrichs: "A brief look at the uses and abuses of a misunderstood genre."

Stump Lane
Human Nature, Power and Ethics: A Layman's View
Montag takes a graphical approach to the subject.

FDL News
Portrait of HAMP Failure: "It Makes Your Financial Situation Worse"
David Dayen: "This was the story of a friend of mine, who told me how his mortgage servicer was handling his attempt at a loan modification. It was eye-opening and appalling, and it led me to examine the entire HAMP program. I wrote at least a dozen of these stories, and this was the first."

BeggarsCanBeChoosers
The Most Nauseating Lie in Bush's New Book
Marc McDonald: "In this article, I noted that George W. Bush was lying in his "Decision Points" book when he claimed that he was "angry" when no WMDs were found in Iraq and that the issue gives him a "sickening feeling" to this day. As I wrote in the article, in reality, a mere year after he ordered the Iraq invasion, Bush was already flippant about the missing WMD issue, joking about it at the 2004 White House Correspondents Dinner."

Shakesville
Within Our Souls
Melissa McEwan: "Rep. Duncan Hunter says "it takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen; it's within our souls," and I take to task Hunter and his cohort of anxious braggarts, who love to wave the flag and shout about how America is the "greatest country in the world!" at every opportunity, then react with sullen resentment when (certain) people agree and clamor to get in the door."

Confession Zero
Behind the Walls
Mark Prime pens a poem on the news of the day.

David E's Fablog
Phone Call from a Stranger
David Ehrenstein recounts Virginia Thomas calling Anita Hill, with cinematic assistance.

William K. Wolfrum Chronicles
An Open and Honest Discussion of my Racism
William K. Wolfrum: "Bill looks back at the night his racism cost him a friend, and how that night made him take stock of his racial insensitivities."

Blue Police Box Music
TV Titles A-Z: Part 4c: D is for Doctor Who
Andrew Edwards: "A brief history of the Doctor Who theme song, from 1963 - The Present. Covers every version from the original Delia Derbyshire analogue tape realization, to Murray Gold's orchestral bombast for the 2005 new series."

Fried Green al-Qaedas
Goodbye Moon
Mark Hoback: "A celebration by Dr. Harry Spangler (NASA) of the end of the lunar exploration program."

Connecting.the.Dots
Entitlement Derangement
Robert Stein: "An octogenarian's sadness at the decline of the American spirit from JFK's inaugural address to the year of Tea Party rage."

Mental Floss
Nuclear Quotes: The Crew of the Enola Gay
Miss Cellania: "A profile of each crew member of the Enola Gay and the feelings they expressed about the mission after the war."

They Gave Us a Republic
By their name you shall know them
Blue Girl: "Not content with making up "intel" in the 70s and 80s, the infamous Team B rides again to screw up Afghanistan intel in the aughts."

Blue in the Bluegrass
Democrats Facing Fourth and Long – Go for It!
Yellow Dog: "Almost every time, the Fraidy-Cat team doesn't win, even if it's the team with more talent and should win - because not going for it creates losers."

Hysterical Raisins
The Macaca Awards! And the Winners Are… (collaboration)
Nonnie9999: "An award for everything that is appalling in American Politics. Named in honor of George Allen."

Mock, Paper, Scissors
The Macaca Awards: And The Winners Are... (collaboration)
Tengrain: "It seems so long ago that George Allen uttered the words that moved a generation (and sank his political career), and forever seared the word MACACA into our collective brain... And so we honor all that is appalling in American Politics with the First Semi-Regular MACACA AWARDS."

darrelplant
Rand Takes the Train to Portland
Darrel Plant: "Hooking up this year's Ayn Rand fixation to advertising for luxury toilets."

Diary of a Heretic
The Killer
(kathleenmaher): ""The Killer" is the last "flash fiction" piece I wrote. My flash fiction--stories in fewer than 500 words--are by far more popular than the serials, which I much prefer writing."

Blue Gal
I got yer Contract with America right here.
Blue Gal: "Blue Gal reminds Republicans that we already have a contract with America."

Perrspectives
10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts
Jon Perr: "From moribund job creation and sinking household incomes to skyrocketing deficits and record income inequality, Republican economic stewardship over the past decade has been a disaster. Here, then, are the 10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts."

Mister Tristan
Emily Dickinson and Being Organized
Gary…A Relative of Mister Tristan: "I comment upon Ms. Dickinson’s marvelous use of language to convey her self-declared disorganization, and relate it to the sport of endurance running."

Comrade PhysioProf
Militant Atheism
Comrade PhysioProf: "This post explains how the "militancy" of some atheists is a rational response to god-bothering psychotic fucke-uppes ruining all kinds of shitte for decent people."

Norwegianity
Less as More
Mark Gisleson: "Whatever nonsense you believe, they’ll put whipped cream on it and then between licks will pause to tell you how good your beliefs are."

skippy the bush kangaroo
to our democratic administration
skippy takes stock of the situation.

The Debate Link
Why Does Jennifer Rubin Hate American Jews?
David Schraub: "Jennifer Rubin's infamous Commentary piece trying to "explain" why Jews dislike Sarah Palin ended up providing one of the more naked displays of anti-Semitic stereotyping and anti-Jewish contempt ever to be displayed in a mainstream American news source."

Brilliant at Breakfast
Maggie and Jenny's Guide 2 Kat Fud - 4 Fuchur Retireez
Jill passes on some timely "expert opinuns on kat fud."

The Brad Blog
NYT Public Editor Finally Admits Acorn 'Pimp' Hoax Reporting Failure: 'Times Was Wrong, I Have Been Wrong Defending Paper'
Brad Friedman makes the supposed "paper of record" correct the record.

Lotus - Surviving a Dark Time
And another thing
LarryE: " After going back and forth on picking a long analytical post or a short passionate one I settled on one that's a bit of each. The Cat Food Commission, otherwise known as the Deficit Commission, says we all have to sacrifice. But just who do they mean by "we?""

Distributorcap NY
The Front Page
Distributorcap: "Which came first - journalists turning into to a bunch of sideshow barkers because the only thing Americans want is to be entertained, or Americans losing any semblance of reality because the once noble profession of journalism has turned into nothing more than a conduit to sell Tide and Toyotas?"

Red, Green and Blue
Avatar, Vietnam and the War on Trees
Jeremy Bloom: "One thing the blockbuster film Avatar showed in glorious, graphic 3D: In war, no matter who wins, the forest nearly always loses."

Just Another Blog (From L.A.)
Lying & Dishonest: Needn't Call Anyone Names
M. Bouffant takes on witches, Nazis and Althouse.

J-Two-O
The difference between Democrats and Republicans?
J. explains the two parties to her daughter, a sixth-grader.

Southern Beale
Your Modern Conservative Inferiority Complex
Southern Beale analyzes a Julian Sanchez piece on modern conservatism.

cookblog
Whoreganically Blown
Peter reviews a kitchen appliance that every chef should be without.

A Blog About School
Is there anything our school officials won’t do for federal money?
Chris Liebig describes an absurd lunch room scene.

Mutant Poodle
Dear Congressional Democrats
Mutant Poodle isn't a fan of whining.

Mario Piperni
Glenn Beck Praises My Work
Mario Piperni acquires a new fan.

The Satirical Political Report
WikiLeaks Lays Bare The Ultimate ‘Revelation’: ‘Document Dumps’ on God
Don Davis satirizes the news of the day.

Bark Bark Woof Woof
Our Better Nature
Mustang Bobby: "Why conservatives tend to act like children."

Watergate Summer
Blog Blast for Peace
Enigma4ever contemplates peace, and the costs of war.

alicublog
Happy Labor Day: Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Suicide Bombers
Roy Edroso: "Remembering what Michelle Malkin called "the union movement's violent and corrupt foundations" with several historical union outrages against cops, vigilantes, etc."

driftglass
Sneetches Come Alive!
driftglass delivers the audio version of his Dr. Seuss remix, "The Bush-Belly Sneetches."

Failed Empire
Getting Bogged Down in the Details: Why We Shouldn't Focus on Obama
Andrew: "The post deals with the issue of media manipulation of the public's perception of right/left. By buying into the false notion that Obama is a "liberal," we are prevented from pursuing a genuinely progressive agenda."

The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting Of The Snark Cookie Of Gratitude: Let's Hear It For The Commenters!
Susan of Texas: "This post chronicles Megan McArdle's attempt to ruin the professional reputation of Elizabeth Warren and her commenters' futile attempts to correct her mistakes. This post has all the classic features of McArdle's work; lying and obfuscation in the service of the rich, a McMeltdown in the comments, and rampant innumeracy, and it spread far beyond the reaches of my small blog."

The Inverse Square
Why Friends Don’t Let Friends Cite The Atlantic’s “Business and Economics Editor”: Further to the Megan McArdle is Always Wrong chronicles.
Tom Levenson: "This post responded to an attack on Elizabeth Warren's qualifications and intellectual integrity through an underhanded and unfair scrutiny of the actual sources used by Warren's would-be antagonist, Megan McArdle. It's notable because it helped create a substantial blogospheric response to the right wing campaign against Warren's prospective role in consumer financial protection -- and Warren herself credited that wave of response as one of the reasons she was able to join the Obama administration in such a role."

The Reaction
Ronald Reagan, conservatism, and the decline of the American Empire
Michael J.W. Stickings examines why the right has canonized Ronald Reagan.

Tom Watson
The Lamplighter
Tom Watson delivers a lovely eulogy.

Washington Monthly's "Political Animal"
Movements are about something real
Steve Benen: "Tea Party activists and Glenn Beck acolytes succeeded in generating attention and passion, but real political movements are about more than buzz words, television personalities, and self-aggrandizement. For transformational change that sets nations on new courses, Americans need more than vague, shallow promises about "freedom.""

Balloon Juice
This Is What Obstructionism + Nihilism + the Wurlitzer Looks Like
John Cole explains why common sense legislation rarely passes.

Lance Mannion
Get a dune!
Lance Mannion: ""Were we ever that young?" A pair of summer romances observed."

Finally:

Vagabond Scholar
We Cheat the Other Guy and Pass the Savings to You
Batocchio: "The game is rigged, but contrary to what David Brooks says, that's not in everyone's best interest."

Thanks, everyone! Here's to a good new year, blogging and otherwise.



(One of lolcats Jon Swift featured.)

Update: I've updated the post slightly. Again, if you weren't included this time, you're welcome to link your post in the comments, as some bloggers have already done. It's good stuff.

Also, if you thought the best post of the year was something written by some other blogger who's not featured above, you're welcome to link that in the comments. (I received some submissions like that by e-mail, and tried to contact the post authors, but didn't include them unless I got their stamp of approval.) Unless things become ridiculous (in a bad way) or unmanageable, the idea is to be inclusive and celebrate good work.

Realistically, few people can plow through all the posts linked above and in the comments below in one go, but I hope this endeavor will introduce readers to at least a few good blogs they didn't know before.

Thanks again to Mike Finnigan of C&L and the many bloggers who've spread the word. Remember that you can spread good karma and blogging cheer with the extremely inclusive Blogroll Amnesty Day, coming up the first weekend in February. (Or whenever you choose, really.) Thanks, all, and have a safe and Happy New Year.

 

Hallelujah Chorus 2010

This post is mostly a repeat, but for the season, it's hard to beat the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. First up, a neat flash mob version:



Next up, Cantillation with the Orchestra of the Antipodes, conducted by Antony Walker:



The Robert Shaw version is also quite nice, and then there's this one from the Roches (h/t Steve Audio):

The Wrong Cure

Here's a good video from the British group False Economy on proposed economic "solutions":

Why cuts are the wrong cure from False Economy on Vimeo.

(Via Cookie Jill at skippy's place.)

Bertolucci on Bertolucci

A former teacher of mine kindly passed on this neat feature: "Bernardo Bertolucci Dissects Ten of His Classic Scenes." I still need to see a couple of these films, and I'm overdue for watching The Conformist (Il conformista) again. (Somewhere, I have a handout showing the non-linear narrative structure of the film.) If you happen to live in the NYC area, the Film Forum is screening The Conformist from Friday, December 17 to Thursday, December 23. Apparently it's a new print, and seeing the film projected on the big screen (with Vittorio Storaro's masterful cinematography) would be pretty sweet.

(My favorite piece of trivia on Bertolucci is that he shares a story credit for Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.)


Get yer chiaroscuro on.

Belle & Sebastian - "I Want The World To Stop"

Aristocrats and Peasants

Digby's been writing a great deal of good stuff on plutocracy and the insular Villager mindset recently. Her post "Yearning to be Subjects" touches on the Estate Tax, and quotes from an intriguing essay by Phil Agre:

From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the self-regarding thugs of ancient Rome to the glorified warlords of medieval and absolutist Europe, in nearly every urbanized society throughout human history, there have been people who have tried to constitute themselves as an aristocracy. These people and their allies are the conservatives.

The tactics of conservatism vary widely by place and time. But the most central feature of conservatism is deference: a psychologically internalized attitude on the part of the common people that the aristocracy are better people than they are. Modern-day liberals often theorize that conservatives use "social issues" as a way to mask economic objectives, but this is almost backward: the true goal of conservatism is to establish an aristocracy, which is a social and psychological condition of inequality. Economic inequality and regressive taxation, while certainly welcomed by the aristocracy, are best understood as a means to their actual goal, which is simply to be aristocrats.

More generally, it is crucial to conservatism that the people must literally love the order that dominates them. Of course this notion sounds bizarre to modern ears, but it is perfectly overt in the writings of leading conservative theorists such as Burke. Democracy, for them, is not about the mechanisms of voting and office-holding. In fact conservatives hold a wide variety of opinions about such secondary formal matters. For conservatives, rather, democracy is a psychological condition. People who believe that the aristocracy rightfully dominates society because of its intrinsic superiority are conservatives; democrats, by contrast, believe that they are of equal social worth. Conservatism is the antithesis of democracy. This has been true for thousands of years.

The defenders of aristocracy represent aristocracy as a natural phenomenon, but in reality it is the most artificial thing on earth. Although one of the goals of every aristocracy is to make its preferred social order seem permanent and timeless, in reality conservatism must be reinvented in every generation. This is true for many reasons, including internal conflicts among the aristocrats; institutional shifts due to climate, markets, or warfare; and ideological gains and losses in the perpetual struggle against democracy.

In some societies the aristocracy is rigid, closed, and stratified, while in others it is more of an aspiration among various fluid and factionalized groups. The situation in the United States right now is toward the latter end of the spectrum. A main goal in life of all aristocrats, however, is to pass on their positions of privilege to their children, and many of the aspiring aristocrats of the United States are appointing their children to positions in government and in the archipelago of think tanks that promote conservative theories.

Insightful stuff. I've touched on some similar themes before ("Attack of the Plutocrats," "The Social Contract," "The Five Circles of Conservative Hell," "We Cheat the Other Guy and Pass the Savings to You") and will likely explore them further. Reasonable, self-described conservatives who believe in the social contract and competent governance do exist, but they sure as hell aren't running the Republican Party (nor the Democratic Blue Dog Caucus). Aristocrats and authoritarian conservatives have never been fans of the whole "democracy" thing. They're wielding a great deal of power right now, and they're doing so recklessly, even nihilistically.

As Bill Moyers has said, "plutocracy and democracy don't mix." I'm increasingly coming to think that plutocracy - or plutonomy - is the biggest issue of our time in America, affecting almost everything else: taxes, health care, the social safety net, infrastructure spending, education, climate change, scientific research, the arts and humanities, the surveillence state, indefinite detention, and endless wars. It greatly affects our news coverage as well, which makes Blue Gal's big cause, media reform, awfully important.

Also - isn't it striking that many of the people currently hollering about the Constitution the loudest are so hostile to the Enlightenment values at its core?

On a lighter note, I also can't help but think of some classic cinema:


"Who's that then?"
"I dunno, must be a king."
"Why?"
"He hasn't got shit all over him."

 

The Rich and Wealthy (Now in Video!)

Here are three rather different approaches to explaining how the game just ain't the same for the rich and wealthy. First up, some animation (from October 2004) by Lee Arnold explaining "The Bush Tax Cuts." (Via Linda Beale of ataxingmatter and Angry Bear.)



Next up, via David Dayen, here's Al Franken's floor speech from last week on tax cuts, unemployment and wealth:



Finally, Chris Rock explains the difference between being "rich" and having "wealth" (NSFW):

Fundraising around the Web (Nov. 2010)

For those with the means and inclination:

The Washington Monthly is holding their annual fundraiser. Their site features the ridiculously prolific Steve Benen, one of the best debunkers and fact-checkers out there.

Meanwhile, the ridiculously thoughtful Lance Mannion, who covers film, books and politics, is also holding a fundraiser.

Finally, we have the ridiculously vituperative Blue Gal and driftglass. If you're not listening to their weekly podcast (NSFW), "The Professional Left," you're missing out. Small donations keep their internet hamsters and audio gerbils working.

Los Angeles City Donating to Food Banks

It's nice to hear some good news for a change. From the Los Angeles Times:

In what one official called a giant step toward "eradicating hunger" in Los Angeles, tons of surplus food from city-sponsored events would be donated to the needy each year under a new policy enacted Wednesday by the City Council.

“Today we are taking a historic step in eradicating hunger in the city of Los Angeles,” said Councilman Jose Huizar, adding that he hoped that donating surplus food would become “as common as recycling.”

Among other things, new guidelines would encourage contractors such as caterers serving city events to donate surplus fare to food banks or other assistance groups. Lawmakers are seeking to insert language in all city contracts promoting donations of surplus food.

With the economy continuing to slump, anti-hunger advocates are aggressively pushing to bolster food donations from both the private and public sectors. The need is rising sharply, advocates say, as people facing loss of jobs, homes or other setbacks join the bulging ranks of hungry food-seekers. The unemployment rate in Los Angeles County is 12.5%.

One in six people now receiving emergency food aid in Los Angeles has never received such assistance in the past, according to Councilman Huizar’s office.

Some 5 million tons of consumable food is wasted each year in California, activists say.

The Los Angeles Convention Center already has a robust food-donation effort. The Last year, according to Huizar’s office, the Convention Center shipped 7.24 tons of surplus food to aid groups.

For Los Angeles residents, the city's new site is HelpFeedLA.org. (I donated to my local food bank a few weeks ago.)

Meanwhile, the site Feeding America has a very useful food bank locator for all fifty states.