Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

I was chatting with a colleague based in New England the other day and the topic turned to Thanksgiving. "What kind of dressing do you make?" I asked. "Oyster?" "No, just traditional," was her reply. I pressed her for details and it turns out traditional for her meant bread dressing. When I was growing up, traditional meant cornbread dressing -- more specifically made from cornbread baked according to my East Texas granny's cornbread recipe. It is *not* the same as the cornbread dressing you'll get from most Thanksgiving venues. Since my wife's family is from Chicago (though she was born in Ohio and grew up in Dallas) her Thankgiving tradition is for whitebread dressing. Hence at my table we have two types of dressing every year. She makes hers, I make mine. One of my wife's best friends makes oyster dressing. Another makes chestnut dressing. This year I noticed (and bought) tamale dressing from the Central Market chef's case....

Youngest son reports that the security check at Dulles was no big deal, contrary to the breathless predictions only a couple of days ago. No protesters, no long lines, no junk. He said he wasn't even scanned. Yet another blown-out-of-proportion story; a product of our 24/7 news cycle and a cynical few on both sides who want to game for their own purposes. Glenn Greenwald, while guilty of ramping up the amps in his Salon article, Government yells "Terrorism" to justify TSA procedures , has some pointed observations to make that pretty much leaves all the actors in this latest bit of Security Theater with eggs on their faces. First the Transportation Safety Administration: This is the all-justifying, cure-all solution for every problem: government officials run to the nearest media outlet they can find and anonymously scream "TERRORISM."  No evidence is needed; the anonymity precludes all accountability; fear levels are quickly ratcheted up; and everythi...

Yesterday the Apple website breathlessly teased us about an announcement to be made today that promised to change our world. Today they revealed the Beatles are (finally) available on iTunes. Are you freaking kidding me? Don't get me wrong -- I like the Beatles, it's just that this has to be one of the lamest announcements ever. While the history of the conspicuous absence of the Beatles audio library on iTunes is interesting, in a geeky sort of way, it's not like mp3's of Beatles songs weren't available on the web in great abundance (albeit through unauthorized channels). Any one possessing a CD, borrowed or otherwise, can rip Beatles tunes to their heart's delight. My iPhone is full of Beatles songs. So what? All this means is now Apple ( and whoever owns the rights to the catalog now ) makes even more money off Beatlemania. Yawn.

Here are a pair of seemingly unrelated links which, upon closer examination, explain a whole lot. America the Ignorant The Unbearable Stupidity of American Voters Depressing... Be sure and actually check out the links before telling me I'm an elitist liberal a**hole.

On the eve of the 2010 elections, I find myself puzzled by the choices of some of my Libertarian friends. They are lining up in droves behind Tea Party candidates: a mixed bag of wannabees characterized by angry anti-Washington rhetoric, mostly around the government spending and taxes (TEA = Taxed Enough Already). I'll ignore for now the obvious question of where these hot-heads were during the Bush years. The Libertarians have always prided themselves on being fiscal conservatives and social progressives. Indeed, the banner from the Libertarian Party website says "Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom." Hey, sounds good to me. Their 2010 platform preamble goes on to say: We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized. Consequently, we defend each person's right to...