A little more about how to make energy production less stressful to the populations who have to live close to it. Keep in mind that the THUMS Islands enhance Long Beach Harbor (excuse me: “Rainbow Harbor,” after the colored lights on the petro-islands), and provide a huge chunk of change to the California State budget, [...]

Posted in Attila, Girl Reporter, Economics, Energy Issues, Energy Policy, Golden State, Offshore Technology 11 Comments »

Bartender/writer Andrew Bohrer discusses Tom Waits’ song “Down There by the Train”: “it is fairly obvious that this is a song about death . . . In a less dramatic way, for me it is just a song about being done, and being tired, [of] needing relief and forgiveness. Cocktails are liquid forgiveness.”
Bohrer’s post [...]

Posted in Ain't This the Life?, Americana, City Life, Music, Whine and Spirits No Comments »

Carol of “No Sheeples” fame has joined the cause! Here’s the graphic she produced:
For years, this man risked everything to stop terrorism and save innocent lives, but the United States Department of Homeland Security is considering deporting him.
In 2007, Mr. Yousef came to the United States, where he converted to Christianity from Islam and applied [...]

Posted in Around the 'Sphere, Faith and Faiths, Freedom of Speech, Golden State, Immigration, Islam, Israel and Its Friendly Neighbors, Mosab Yousef, Organizing, Prayer Requests, Stacy's Crew, Trust the Gubmint, new media 5 Comments »

I’m a Runaways fan. It begins today, boys and girls. Wake up and smell the rock and roll.

It’s rock and roll: they tore each other apart. For a time. (There are exceptions: see Ford, Lita, whose beauty was more conventional that that of the front girls. And her music? Much less, thank you very much.)
Showtimes [...]

Posted in Americana, Music 9 Comments »

This one, however, has Beyonce in it. I kind of like it, though of course YMMV. It’s a bit S&M-ish, and just a tad murderous.
Definitely not chidren’s viewing, whatever that means. However. Not only did I see Reform School Girls in the 1980s—I also saw Born Innocent on television in the 1970s. Though they [...]

Posted in Americana, Crime, Cultured, Like Yogurt, Entertainment, Mass Murder, Music 6 Comments »

VDH has a cheery little essay up about the fun times ahead in my beloved Golden State.
Don’t look at me like that! It’s a fun article. It’ll make you whistle a happy tune!
Come on. Trust me, Charlie Brown. This time, the football stays in place right till your foot hits it way up into [...]

Posted in Absolutely Academe, Americana, Economics, Education, Golden State No Comments »

Big Oil invades all of our dreams, doesn’t it? A Virginia Beach publication called Hampton Roads condemns Virginia Beach’s expected approval of offshore drilling on the East Coast:
Despite industry claims to the contrary, oil and gas drilling promises an increased risk of environmental troubles, both in the water and onshore. If that threat turns to [...]

Posted in Energy Issues, Energy Policy, Offshore Technology, Virginia! 2 Comments »

Plausible deniability at the Department of the Interior, and outright stalling by the MMS: Governor Palin has the story.
Most Americans want more energy independence, even if it means production of petroleum and natural gas, while we continue to work on the renewables—none of which are quite ready yet to step into the breach.
We don’t like [...]

Posted in Economics, Energy Issues, Energy Policy, Offshore Technology, Sarah Palin, Virginia! 5 Comments »

I have to say that, as much as Mitt Romney may be underplaying it (”all I did was write him a check and say, ‘go get ‘em’”) the Scott Brown coup is making me look at Romney in a whole new light.
I met him once, at CPAC. I was dressed in business clothes, but I [...]

Posted in CPAC, Election 2010, Election 2012, Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, Obama Administration, Organizing, Scott Brown 1 Comment »

From Yelm, WA.
(The issue of compass directions keeps coming up. Um. I don’t have a map in front of me, but Yelm is as close as we get to the mountain, it seems: it recedes into the distance when we’re in Tacoma. I therefore believe that most of my images of Ranier are from [...]

Posted in Washington State, photography No Comments »

Jack Gerard has issued a statement of support for the notion:
We are encouraged by the President’s words that decisions need to be made about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.
These are important and necessary decisions for the American people and the American economy. Greater access to America’s vast oil and natural gas [...]

Posted in Economics, Energy Issues, Energy Policy, Offshore Technology, Virginia! No Comments »

The face of Hillbuzz—the most valiant Sir DuJan of Boyztown—talks to Radio Patriot. Awesome!
Hillbuzz. Hillbuzz. HILLBUZZ!

Posted in Around the 'Sphere, Illinois, Media, Organizing, Patriotism, Radio, new media, politics No Comments »

I’ve been remiss in not blogging about this; I was simply quite taken aback about the President baiting the Supremes in that setting, and in that way. Ilya Somin points out the obvious.
But the repeal of DADT is overdue. (For the sake of my husband, and some of my other SoCon readers, I’d like to [...]

Posted in Energy Issues, Energy Policy, Gay Rights, Land-Based Wells, Offshore Technology, Southern CA No Comments »

Her name ain’t Rio, but she sure does know her way around the sand. Watch out for coffee with that almond-like flavor, though . . .

Via Treacher, who is getting a lot of pleasure out of the fact that the gang at Huffington Post seems to genuinely believe this is going to hurt Scott Brown’s [...]

Posted in Americana, Around the 'Sphere, GOP, Girlz, Music, New England, Scott Brown, Sex Is Necessary, politics 18 Comments »

It’s time to wake up: the Democrats are not your friends. Not necessarily. And the Republicans are not necessarily your enemies. (Remember them? Party of Lincoln? First party to seat the same-sex in-law of a Vice President at official State functions at the White House?)
Zombie, at PJM:
Turns out Obama has been a major disappointment for [...]

Posted in Americana, Cheney, GOP, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Matters Military, Organizing, Pajamas Media/PJTV, Trust the Gubmint, politics 1 Comment »

I got the impression that it was a flim-flammy article by one of those hostile guys who are rejected by one woman for one reason, and then another woman for another reason, and then throw up their hands, angrily, and proclaim, “I can’t win!”—because the female sex cannot seem to get its story straight about [...]

Posted in Americana, Around the 'Sphere, Cultured, Like Yogurt, Feminism, Girlz, Matters Military, Sex Is Necessary, new media 7 Comments »

. . . by blowing up some of his own. Memo to Steve Schmidt: You are no Sarah Palin.
Sheesh; I used to like that guy, particularly after he took a stand in favor of gay marriage. But he’s really wigged out lately. What is it about Sarah that makes men take the razor to their [...]

Posted in Americana, Around the 'Sphere, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Media, Sarah Palin, politics 4 Comments »

. . . from Washington state.

Posted in Washington State 6 Comments »

I’ve been meaning to link this for a while: the boys at Hillbuzz have been running experiments on:
- how to save money on food in general, and how this can be done by single people, by families, by groups that live together (as several of our favorite Chicagoans do, apparently);
- how one generic generic shopping [...]

Posted in Americana, Culinary Concerns, Debt and Money Issues, Golden State, Gustatory, Healthcare, Illinois 1 Comment »

Carly Fiorina, or Chuch DeVore? Gabriel Malor talks to the latter; California readers should pay attention to this.
It’s time to give Ma’am Senator the boot.

Posted in Golden State 2 Comments »