Longtime inmates will recall that “Morning Sedition” began as an inside joke. We were doing some volunteer geeking at the old website (long story), but nobody had posted at the old website for a few days. Following an outcry among the masses, we asked permission of the Former Overlords and posted a brief item to keep things fresh.

That was Tuesday. But the Overlords remained AWOL, so we posted another item or two Wednesday. Yet the Gaping Void remained unfilled, so Thursday morning we posted a link dump of headlines, called it “Morning Sedition”, and the rest is history. (The Overlords finally returned from their alternate universe Friday night, and decreed that our Accidental Blogging would become permanent. Much to their later chagrin.)

We were so fucking mildly clever — Morning Sedition. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It was funny because it was a play on a well-known radio news program, and we had taken over the website! Now our sharp wit would take over the world!

Until we learned a few weeks later that “Morning Sedition” had also been the name of a popular Air America program.

Oops.

Of course, we had never heard of the program, since, like most Americans, we never listened to Air America. For that matter, the program itself had long since been canceled, if still fondly remembered in certain circles. So, we decided, fuck it: We liked the name, it was original to us, if not to the world, and if somebody called us on it, we’d just claim honest ignorance and fuck you.

And then it happened again.

Read more »

Title: “Getting Into The Vortex: Guided Meditations CD and User Guide”

Authors: Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks

Rank: 6

Blurb: “Living a better-feeling life really comes down to one thing only: coming into alignment with the Energy of our Source. Abraham reminds us that we are truly Source Energy focused into our physical bodies, and that a conscious Connection to that Broader Non-Physical part of us is necessary if we are to be the joyful Beings that we were born to be. Abraham calls that wonderful alignment Getting into the Vortex.”

Read more »

“I was at a dinner last night where everyone in the room had to name a few policies that they thought would increase economic growth in the coming decades.”
—Ezra Klein, age 26, Washington Post

• “I’m sorry, is the riotous orgy next door?”
• “Pardon me! I’m usually able to hold it until I reach the curb.”
• “Your mother’s in here. Would you like to leave a message? I’ll see that she gets it.”

Read more »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVE60zwXx1k

And after the chimp finished, Michigan quickly hopped to a nearby cornerstone, where he could safely hide for another century.

[via karen marie]

Rev. Mark D. Boykin of the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton: “We are asking that before he takes the oath of office, Gov.-elect Scott gets rid of his stocks from [Playboy Mexico-affiliated] QuePasa Corporation. The governor of the state of Florida should not be benefiting or have an interest in pornography. It goes against our family values.” [Miami Herald, via Raw Story]

“MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending ‘Morning Joe’ co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during his tenure at the network, a violation of parent NBC’s ban on political contributions by employees without specific permission from the network president.” [Politico]

For as long as the Web has been public — we’ll date it from Netscape, since Mosaic was more of a geek plaything — the Fretting Class has fretted that it’s turning us into a nation of lonely sociopaths. The line seems to be that through the Eighties, American society was a marvel of public gatherings, which immediately ceased when online porn became readily available.

Either that, or it wasn’t, and the Web just exacerbated a Disturbing Trend that was crystallized in the landmark 1995 paper “Bowling Alone”. Which, now that we’ve gone to the trouble to find it online, outright lied about its fretspectacular premise:

The most whimsical yet discomfiting bit of evidence of social disengagement in contemporary America that I have discovered is this: more Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade or so. Between 1980 and 1993 the total number of bowlers in America increased by 10 percent, while league bowling decreased by 40 percent… The rise of solo bowling threatens the livelihood of bowling-lane proprietors because those who bowl as members of leagues consume three times as much beer and pizza as solo bowlers, and the money in bowling is in the beer and pizza, not the balls and shoes. The broader social significance, however, lies in the social interaction and even occasionally civic conversations over beer and pizza that solo bowlers forgo.

Did you see that move? If you’re not bowling in a league, you must be bowling by yourself. Untold years of bumper-sticker sociology were based on a false claim. (“Bowling With Friends” would have ruined everything.) Thank god Communitarianism was finally taken out behind the barn and shot.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes — lonely sociopaths:

Read more »