Month: January 2013

I said to myself, “Moe. This Griffin woman is desperate for attention.”

Which is to say, I kept saying to myself, she’s desperate for attention from anyone or anything aside from the patient forces of entropy and time, which never go on vacation and have only the mercy of an implacable blade.  There’s no need to fuel her desperate need to matter.

And that’s true.  But Drudge… ah, Matt Drudge and his juxtapositions.

Picture not embedded, for the sake of those with delicate constitutions and propensity towards the vapors.  You may peruse it here.

If you’re following the fiscal cliff sh*t sandwich…

…and I’m not, particularly – anyway: Hot Air is covering this pretty obsessively.  Possibly too obsessively for their long-term mental health, but that’s their call, not mine.  Everybody’s got their own breaking strain.

One piece of advice, though? – If you’re getting to the point that you can’t see straight (or are there already), now is an excellent time to turn off the computer, eat a sandwich, have a nap, and disengage until you can center your chi energy, or whatever.  If you’re not thinking clearly, then almost by definition you’re not operating optimally.  Seriously.  Take a breathing exercise,  or something; you’re no good to anybody all tangled up inside, including (not incidentally at all) yourself.

Moe Lane

PS: I’m sure that there are a lot of good reasons why you should keep yourself redlined.  No doubt.  Now go disengage anyway.

Just finished “Resume With Monsters.”

Resume With Monsters is either a). a book about one man’s fight against soul-destroying Lovecraftian Elder Gods (operating in our world via the vector of a soulless, faceless corporate culture) that wish to drive the world mad; or b) a book about one man’s fight to keep his soul from being destroyed by a soulless, faceless corporate culture, via the vector of reimagining the whole thing in terms of mad Elder Gods.  You spend pretty much the whole book trying to figure out which version author William Spencer ‘wanted’ you to pick, before you realize at the end that he’d be just as happy if you picked either, or indeed both.

I liked it: there’s an unfortunate 1990s vibe to the thing, perhaps, but it’s rescued by Spencer’s recognizably legitimate fondness for the Cthulhu Mythos.  Ken Hite recommended it in his starkly essential Cthulhu 101, and I’m glad that I went to the trouble of tracking it down.

Rooting For Injuries Watch: Barney Frank slams Chuck Hagel.

Let us segue away from the disappointment which is contemporary American fiscal policy to something a good deal more enjoyable: to wit, kneeing the White House’s prospective Cabinet picks in their (metaphorical) groins.  Latest up?  Chuck Hagel, come on down!

Outgoing Rep. Barney Frank Monday denounced the idea of former Sen. Chuck Hagel being considered for secretary of defense, arguing the Nebraska conservative has demonstrated a clear pattern of bigotry and and a track record of being “against fairness for LGBT people.”

Via Hot Air Headlines.  There’s a rumor out there that Barney Frank’s being considered for a Senate caretaker gig for Massachusetts if Kerry gets the nod for SecState, and goodness knows that Frank (a man I quite cordially despise) isn’t shy about stating his opinion.  However, this is still a pretty open break.  I wonder how much longer Hagel will last? – Particularly, now that the aforementioned American fiscal disappointment is on the verge of going on the back burner…

BTW: Marco Rubio’s running for President.

Or is at least angling for a VP slot in 2016. From The Corner:

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida says the Senate’s fiscal-cliff compromise, which passed the upper chamber early Tuesday, was a political mistake.

“I just couldn’t vote for it,” Rubio told reporters. “I ran, just two years ago, on the idea that I wanted to be part of solving the long-term problems this country faces. Time and again, we’re given choices here that don’t involve that.”

Via Hot Air Headlines.  Of the other four GOP holdouts… oh, I am a cynical evil giraffe this morning.  Suffice it to say that these Senators have their reasons, and that I expect that Mike Lee’s and Rand Paul’s are ones that I would actually like.

My (half-alas, *not* hungover) look at the Senate fiscal bill schmeer.

So, let’s have us a little look-see here about the deal that went down this morning.  Good news: permanent Alternative Minimum Tax fix (I dunno if there’s actually another extension of the Medicare ‘doc fix*’ or not).  Bad news: tax hikes on people making above $400/$450K, and a bunch of other stuff.  All in all: the below seems to still be true.

Continue reading My (half-alas, *not* hungover) look at the Senate fiscal bill schmeer.