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Most Read Sites Yesterday:
Rankings compiled on 4/1/04; 12:00:01 AM.
Most Read Sites All Time:
Rankings compiled on 4/1/04; 12:00:01 AM.
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March 31, 2004 |
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Force and Fundamentalism |
Chris Basten reports on the damning effects religious fundamentalism and government to our world at No Force No Fraud:
From birth-control to drug use, from gun ownership to smoking in public, from freedom of speech to euthanasia, governments and extremist religions work hand-in-hand to control our personal lives so that we no longer have the freedom to choose what we want for ourselves. We either obey or face hefty fines and possible imprisonment or, at the very least, we are demonized and castigated for taking ownership of our lives and choosing what we want for them.
[More at No Force No Fraud]
It's the end of the world at the movies, and American Idle feels fine.
Presidential campaign commentary from Steve Perry at Bush Wars.
Find updates on the Metro Transit situation at Strike!
THESE DAYS
A law enforcement and military equipment store is selling what looks like "dirty" underwear where you can store your valuables. Does it come in other colors?
Rest assured, Exploding Head Syndrome is harmless.
MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY
Get the inside scoop from Almanac political reporter Mary Lahammer at Mary's Page.
TIME WASTERS
The Gentlemanly Art of Spanking the Woman You Love
Find out whose presidential campaign your neighbors are contributing to at FundRace 2004.
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March 30, 2004 |
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But learning how to just follow orders will help kids later in life at their dead-end jobs |
Chris Basten rails against the act of submission known as the Pledge of Allegiance at No Force No Fraud:
We teach our children that they must stand up and stare at a piece of fabric with stars and stripes on it, put their hands over their hearts, and pay their respects to what it stands for…or else. They cannot choose to sit out on such a gross adherence to political doctrines. They are scolded and singled out if they do not do what the rest of their "well-behaved" classmates are doing. Do kids really understand what the Pledge of Allegiance means or do they merely realize that they are just following orders and doing what is a daily tradition?
[More at No Force No Fraud]
Jack Sparks sings the praises of a wild-eyed hillbilly named Joe West on the Other Side of Country:
Our gift and our achilles heel is that we can both talk or sing about everything and nothing all at once, and the most that can be said about either of us is that folks who know us like to have us around for the shock value.
[More on the Other Side of Country]
Governor Ahnuld introduced California's state quarter design on Monday, and American Idle did play-by-play.
The I Hate 1984 retrospective continues at Complicated Fun. Today, G.R. Anderson's take on Van Halen busting their way passed Michael Jackson and Madonna to have one of the biggest albums of the year.
The point is, there was no reason for Van Halen to rise in the height of the pastel Reagan era. What started as a working-class band from Southern California had put out five platinum records with marginal singles chart action and no critical acclaim. It’s tough to imagine now, but they were the leaders of a rock underworld--the Atomic Punks, as Diamond Dave proclaimed on Van Halen I--that had far more to do with a punk/immigrant entrepreneurship than Madonna’s bustier. Don’t believe me? The cost of the "Jump" video: $100. The song roosted at number one for most of the spring.
[More at Complicated Fun]
Presidential campaign commentary from Steve Perry at Bush Wars.
Find updates on the Metro Transit situation at Strike!
THESE DAYS
Some folks didn't quite appreciate W's WMD humor at the press banquet last week.
Long John Silver's offered to give America free Giant Shrimp if NASA found conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars. Circle May 10 on your calendars.
MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY
Comic books, naughty words, and weird links at Big Black Feline.
TIME WASTERS
A slightly-condensed stick-figure version of Lord of the Rings
Prince's new online music store
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March 29, 2004 |
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What was your governor doing twenty years ago? |
Over at Complicated Fun, Joseph Golden revisits 1984 with a thesis on the budding Terminator franchise:
Every boy I grew up with ached to be suicide commando Kyle Reese (life-sized adventure person Michael Biehn, in a role that would lock him into a lifetime of short-cropped hair and Kevlar), with his puppy-love crush and his masterful control of a 12 gauge. Linda Hamilton’s proto-slacker Sarah Connor (Hamilton, at the time a complete unknown who was probably hired on the spot at her audition the second Cameron saw her soul-dead eyes) would lay the ground work for every woman I would every find attractive: foot-soldier waitress job, shitty taste in men, and a slutty roommate.
[More at Complicated Fun]
Commentary on Bush, Rove, Kerry, Clarke and more from Steve Perry at Bush Wars.
Find updates on the Metro Transit situation at Strike!
THESE DAYS
File under Addendum, Freedom Fries: a French lawyer states he will defend Saddam Hussein in court.
A Moscow court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from performing their religious activities in the Russian capital.
Air America's program line-up
MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY
Thoughts on internet studies, literary theory and spongmonkeys are at My Memex.
TIME WASTERS
The International Jingle Collection compiles opening and/or closing a.v. from your favorite movies, shows and video games. That Operation Prime Time sequence from "Yogi's First Christmas" sure does bring it all back.
Holy Interplanetary Yardstick, Batman! It's every "holy" phrase Robin ever uttered on the 1960s "Batman" series.
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March 26, 2004 |
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Happy Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day! |
Bob Smith at No Force No Fraud delivers Family Issues Friday, Part 4:
The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,300 child fatalities in 2001. This translates to a rate of 1.81 children per 100,000 in the general population. Youngest children were the most vulnerable. Children younger than 1 year old accounted for 41 percent of child fatalities, and 85 percent of child fatalities were younger than 6 years of age. NCANDS defines "child fatality" as the death of a child caused by an injury resulting from abuse or neglect, or where abuse and/or neglect were contributing factors.
[More at No Force No Fraud]
Peter S. Scholtes takes us back to 1984 at Complicated Fun:
Then I entered my Freshman year at East High School near the Oscar Meyer factory, big and anonymous and working-class, where you could get seriously hurt for looking weird. I had painful acne, and at home my brothers and my sister were joining me in moody adolescence. Hating Reagan and loving music brought us together, actually, corny as that sounds. Our Episcopal church had given sanctuary to Central American refugees, whose torture scars we could see if they let us, so our family was solidly for Mondale/Ferraro, and the parents (it's complicated, but I have four of them) didn't object when the kids walked out of school to protest Apartheid.
[More at Complicated Fun]
Presidential campaign commentary from Steve Perry at Bush Wars.
Find updates on the Metro Transit situation at Strike!
THESE DAYS
The Tater Tot turns 50. You don't taste a day over 49, my friend!
Marco Evaristti painted an iceberg red and called it art.
MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY
He's a dad, he's a business strategist, he's a cinephile and he's at cuene.com!
TIME WASTER
Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman - yeah, we're gettin' the band back together with Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing. Does this leave the Creature from the Black Lagoon to carry the sequel?
How to perform a Klingon wedding ceremony
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