Roger Goodell vs. Adam Silver

***Note: I had to re-shoot the second video, and I left something out in the final run: That friend I mentioned, in that same discussion, argued the point to me that NEWT GINGRICH was not a "real Conservative." Well, if the Former Speaker Gingrich isn't Conservative, then the word has no meaning. And that's really the point, and the PROBLEM. Words have to MEAN SOMETHING at some basic, lowest-=common-denominator level if we're going to have any reasonable discourse. And the extremists penchant for redefining the terms (aka "No true Scotsman") is just a piss-ant way of getting out of ever having to admit that you're full of shit.

Gold Star Awards, March, 2012

So as not to be late again, I'm doing March's and February's back-to-back. These be fairly brief, only because I'm short on time. I'll also get to the comments as soon as I can, as I mentioned before, I know I'm behind on those as well.


It's 1973: Two BWAA Inductees, and two from the Veteran's Committee.


The Roberto Clemente Gold Star #47: Truth-Out


I was turned onto these guys by a referral from Conchobhar. A must-have for any regular of MMFA, FAIR, Foxhounds, Newscorpse, etc…


The Warren Spahn Gold Star #48: Politics Plus

"Overcoming right wing insanity, one day at a time." One of the better written, more well-informed Progressive Blogs out there.  Great content, updated constantly.


The Mickey Welch Silver Star #45: Living with Insanity

A webcomic about a webcomic writer. Having done a webcomic myself for a couple years, not to mention having lived with insantiy, I can relate to so much of what goes on in this. (Except that part about selling out, making tons of money and having millions of fans. I had a few fans, but the opportunity to sell out never quite came my way. LOL)  The plot isn't super-involved, but I still recommend reading from the beginning. (That link skips over a bunch of earlier, non-LWI stuff, BTW!)


The George “Highpockets” Kelly Polyester Star: Fixed Earth
Do you think the Global Warming deniers are un-Scientific? How about Young Earth Creationists? What about FLAT-EARTHERS? Well: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Check THESE GUYS out. If someone can convince me that this is a parody, I will promote them to a Silver, and possibly a Gold Star, because if it IS parody, it’s fucking brilliant. But there combination of the earnestness of their posts and the fairly crappy appearance of the website makes me want to believe it’s legit. Which makes for a frightening read. (Becuase some of these people probably VOTE!)

Gold Star Awards, January (!), 2012

I debated just skipping a month and making these FEBRUARY'S Award winners, but at the onset I said I would do these every month, and I know from past experience that it's not a good idea to get into the habit of laziness. And hopefully, this will keep me blogging this month, since I'd hate for the NEXT post to be FEBRUARY'S winners! (Especially if that were in MARCH!)
So here are LAST MONTH'S Si;ver Star Winners. The year is 1971, and the Veterans Committee was VERY BUSY inducting SIX new members:


The Jake Beckley SILVER STAR #41: TV Tropes

Have you ever tried to write fiction?  It's harder than it sounds. (I know: I'm trying!) And it is both amusing and informative to learn more about the tropes used by fiction writers accross so many mediums.  According to their own home page: "TROPES are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not cliches.  The word cliched means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them." And do they EVER! Every movie, every TV Show, Every Comic Book, Every Amine... So many forms of media. If you want to see a tongue in cheek look at the tropes used in ANY work of fiction that has more than TWO FANS in the entire world, check this out. 


The Harry Hooper SILVER STAR #42: Flipside

I've been reading this web comic for AGES and I'm still only about halfway though it! It 's been running for YEARS and IMHO is one of the best drawn and best written web-comics out there. Very professional.Amazing work.  It a fantasy, Swords-and-sorcerers story, with subtle Manga influences.  The two leads, Maytag and Bernadette are two of the most interesting, compelling characters I've come across in a very long time.  The authors also manage to work modern issues (such as gender discrimination and homosexuality) into the plot seamlessly, which elevates the work well above the level of a typical hack-and-slash fantasy comic strip. So check it out, you won't be sorry. And be sure to read it from the beginning.


The Joe Kelly SILVER STAR #43: Pandora

I'm sure I don't need to tell you what Pandora is.  What I find so amazing is the idea behind the Music Genome Project, how they will break music down to it's basic elements and recommend songs based on fundamental similarities rather that the "Amazon"/"Netflix" model of "people who liked this also liked...:"  There is a deeper understand of music at play here, and one that deserves some recognition.  Just one observation: Be careful what you give a "thumbs-up" to!  "Thumbs-up" just a single funky bit of 1970-'s soul, and you'll be thumbs-downing so much bad 1970's disco, you'll think you're in a pornographic film!  Despite these shortcomings (which have more to do with ME that with the system, I'm sure!) I really appreciate this site, and the FREE service they provide. So many of the songs I put on my Music Page were discovered through Pandora. (Steven Lynch, Dave Van Ronk, Carbon Leaf, Great Big Sea, and MANY others.)


The Dave Bancroft SULFUR STAR: World Net Daily

Have you ever smelled Sulfur? Have you even read the World Net Daily? Can you see what they have in common?  It was inevitable that I would eventually bestow one of the dubious honors upon this heap of steaming, Right Wing Trash. Some of us like our information to be ACCURATE. For those who prefer it to be CONSERVATIVE, this is the site for you.


The Chick Hafey IPECAC STAR: The Media Research Center

Brent Bozell is to objective journalism what Syrup of Ipecac is to fine dining.  This guy is sofa king brain damaged that upon first viewing I would almost be inclined to view the puddle of bile that he calls his life's work as some form brilliant Liberal-created irony.  Sadly, no: He's serious. And pathetic. And about as easily debunked as the myth that the Sun revolves around the Earth.  How are Conservatives not embarrassed to be associated with these brain-damaged jack-holes?


The Rube Marquard COPPER STAR: Coston's Complaint

Honestly, this Right-Wing Blog is no more or less brainless, nor more or less biased, or more or less factually inaccurate that pretty much any other Right-Wing Blog, he and I just had the mutual misfortune of crossing paths at one point.  I'd love to debate him, but he never replied to my comments. (And I can't even find them now.) Anyway, if you're Conservative, I'm sure you'll love it. If you think people opinions should be at least partially based in reality, you'll probably get a headache.

Gold Star Awards, December, 2011

Just so you know, I'm PROBABLY going to be signing off for the year with this post. We'll be travelling from the 25th on and my laptop got a paralyzing virus that will not be able to be removed until after the new Year, when I can take it to the IT Dept back at work. (They're the admins on it, not me.) So until the 5th of January, this is probably it.  I hope all have a save and happy holiday season, stay warm (I'll be in Florida myself!) and try not to get into too many argument with any of the Conservatives in your families. ;)

OK were up to 1970 and have one inductee from the BWAA and two from the Veteran's Committee.


The Lou Boudreau GOLD STAR #43: This Can't Be Happening!

This Blog is a fairly recent discovery for me. It's written by Dave Lindorff, John Grant, Linn Washington, Charles Young and Lori Spencer.  Four writers that can be broadly characterized as principled progressives who are not afraid to be critical of the Administration or the Democrats.  I've not read as much of the work here as I have in other cases, but I have been very impressed by what I read and feel that it is something that you guys would also enjoy and be interested in.  So check 'em out!


The Earle Combs SILVER STAR #41: Atomic Laundromat

This webcomic tells a tongue in cheek story of Superheroes from one of the most unique perspectives I can imagine: The point of view of the guy who runs the laundromat where they all get their tights cleaned!  It has a lot of fun with the typical tropes and cliches from the Super-Hero genre, but also contains some very down to earth themes such as a son's desire to protect his Super-Powered but aging father and the unrequited love he has for his long-time friend. (A fiery red-headed lawyer that I fell in love with almost from the get-go.) A lot of the strips are stand-alones or short 2-3 piece gags, but their is a general storyline and continuity, so I recommend reading it from the beginning.


The Jesse Haines SILVER STAR #42: Hate by Numbers

Next to MMFA, I've probably referenced Cracked.com more often than any other site here.  And this is the personal site of Cracked.com contributor Gladstone. It's funny, topical, political and most importantly of all, unlike Conservative humor, generally well informed.  His recent take on Fox's response to the Muppet Movie is priceless. Check it out!

Merry Christmas, and a Happy Chistmahaunakwanzica to you all!  Hope to see you all back here in the New Year!

Gold Star Awards: November, 2011

Yep. A day late.  And I was doing so good, too. What can I say. Worst work-week I've had in TEN YEARS.

The year is 1969, and it saw two indictees from the BWAA andf two from the Veteran's Committee.


The Stan Musial Gold Star #41: The Representative Press and his YouTube Channel.

His YouTube Channel has an almost obssessive focus on issues relating to Israel but is, at it's heart, remains a Media Criticism channel, focusing on the failures on the mainstream media to tell the REAL story about such things as the motivation behind the 9/11 attacks (hint: It was our support of Israel) and the Police enforced media black out when the Occupy movement was evicted in New York. Ths guy has the the REAL SCOOP on what the Mainstream Media isn't telling you.

(Maybe William will look into  some of these items and then try to explain where that systematic Mainstream Liberal Media Bias comes in.)

The Roy Campanella Gold Star #42: What The Heck Has Obama Done So Far?

OK, I certainly hope that I don't now need to re-establish any of my cred as a CRITIC of the President, BUT... the next time some Right Wing Jackoff Rick Perry type comes talking smack about how "nothing's gotten done," send him to THIS site. Stuff's happened. Progress has been made. That may not make up for the missed opportunities and the progress that hasn't but that doesn't mean that the useless half of this country should be able to run there yaps scott-free without a rebuke.  Good resource.


The Stan Coveleski Silver Star #39: Modest  Medusa

This cute little web comic started out as little more than a guilty pleasure for me, but I'm always happy to recognize an artist that's willing to lend their talents to a good cause... so go buy this T-Shirt!:

And, in any case, it's a fun little take on mythology, monsters, family, friends, fitting in and sticking it to authority.  And, as I always recommend, read it from the beginning!


The Waite Hoyt Silver Star #40: The Bad Chemicals

For biting social, political and philisophical satire, I've only found one Comic that can hold it's own against Saturday Mornign Breakfast Cereal.  And THIS IS IT. Rather than say anythign more, just let me share a few gems:

and BEST of all...

OK, so more than just a few, but serioulsy... GOLD, right?  So check it out. They're mostly topical and always hilarious.

Gold Star Awards, October, 2011

It never fails.

I get some great comments, find some related articles and plan to do a whole mess of writing over the weekend and… life happens instead. So we had a fun and busy weekend with the kids, and I did NOT get to the Abortion / Contraception post as I had planned to. And now here I am on the last day of the month with a different post in mind, and several comments that need replying to, and instead of doing anything INTERESTING, I’ve got to put up my Gold Star’s for the month of October. (It’s a pet peeve, but I HATE posting these on the first of the following month!)

So, here we go. The year is 1968, and there was one BWAA inductee and two from the Veterans committee:


The Ducky Medwick Gold Star #40: Progressive Punch

Presumably so named because “Left Hook” was taken! ;)

Progressive Punch is a non-Partisan, yet strongly Progressive, web site that tracks the votes of members of congress on issues of concern to progressives. It rates and ranks MoC’s and is a great resource, if a bit overwhelming at times (and depressing at others!) Good information though. No reason that both parties whouldn’t be held accountable for their votes and actions!

The Goose Goslin Wooden Star: The Economnic Collapse

Believe it or not, this collection of Right Wing Propaganda was actually up for GOLD Star at one point. Now, it’s a throwaway. I did write-up on one of their articles a while back. They’re a great example of the most insidious kind of Right Wing writing: it SOUNDS principled and well-reasoned at first, but once you dig a little bit deeper, you find out how dishonest they’re being. I mention it here because the first couple of articles I came across DID do a fairly good job of blaming Republicans for the bad economy. So they did pique my interest… But once you see all of the “buy gold” and “food insurance” ads in the banners, you realize what their true agenda really is. (See... the Republicans weren't being Conservative enough, apparently!) Overall?  I'd descibe it as pessimistic alarmism to the point of being almost Right-Wing parody.  (Scary part?  They're so convinced they're right! Some pretty creepy sycophants in the comments section. I think I know where MMFA gets their trolls form now!) They have a comments section – mostly RW Nut-Jobs and the occasional Liberal talking sense. Personally, I’d like to see how long it would take me to get banned from there! LOL


The Kiki Cuyler Silver Star #38: Count Your Sheep

A long-running and thoroughly adorable web comic about a single-mom and her precocious little girl who share the same imaginary friend: “Ship,” a “counting sheep.” (If you count him, (“one,”) you IMMEDIATELY fall asleep.) The strips are most cute stuff – often enough to give you a sugar-high – and are reminiscent of “Calvin and Hobbes,” only with a female Calvin and a struggling, single mom (who sees and interacts with Ship) instead of Calvin’s nameless, and relatively comfortable, middle class parents (who only ever saw Hobbes as a stuffed toy.) It does on occasion, however, delve into social politics – lightly enough to remain inoffensive, yet enough to give it some topical relevance – and has stretches where it becomes darker, even depressing at times, bordering on tear-inducing. (Laurie was widowed while pregnant with Katie, and the strips where she talks about how much she loved Marty and misses him can be absolutely heart-wrenching.) (You’ve been warned!) Anyway… it’s completely wonderful and I highly recommend it. There’s no single, on-going storyline but, since I’m kind of aspie that way, I still recommend reading it from the beginning! XP

And Happy Halloween, everyone!!!

Gold Star Awards, September, 2011

It's the end of the month and that (usually) means two things:

1) I get paid tomorrow.
2) Time for more Hall of Fame inductees!

It's the year of Boston's Impossible Dream - fitting, or ironic, seeing as how they blew their 2011 Season last night in final game after pissing away the biggest lead in history (9 Games) every to be blown in September - but we've got one Gold, one Silver and one Revision from a previous month.  Here we go:


The Red Ruffing GOLD STAR #39: Laughing in Purgatory

While I've been focusing more on the Economy and anti-Corporatism lately, I haven't entirely lost site of the second biggest part of my political agenda: the Separation of Church and state.  Laughing in Purgatory is a blog about raising children in an atheist household in a (*wink*) Christian Nation. It is delightfully irreverent, and anti-religious and does a fantastic job of poking the nose of organized religion and singing the praises of raising our children to be rational, critical and free thinkers.


 
The Lloyd Waner SILVER STAR #37: The Bleacher Report
 
They're kind of like the Cracked.com of online Sports Magazine, with all kinds of top-10, top-50 and even top-100 lists spanning all major sports - Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey,Soccer, Golf, Boxing... you name it, they cover it all.  Their writing style is fairly informal (even someone like me catches several typo's in each post) but it gives the feel of having a conversation with a well-informed amateur, rather than a high-and-mighty sports writer.  It always makes for an interesting read, and it should be a regular stop for any sports fan.
 
 
And finally, a revision...
 
I'm hereby officially stripping Netflix of their Silver Star.  (See me previous post for more info.) So...
 
 
 
The NEW Frank Chance SILVER STAR #13: The Chive
 
"Possibly the best site in the world." ~The Chive
 
They've got humor, sports, videos, pictures of girls... What's not to love?  Cracked.com links to their stuff fairly often.  Worth checking out.

Silver Star Awards, July, 2010, and some maintainaence...

I serioulsy hope no reads this. And I really hope that no one checks out this month's Silver Star Winner, representing the lone Vet's committee pick from 1965. And WHATEVER YOU DO, I hope no one gets any ideas about searching for a certain liberal blogger's contribution to the site.

Pud Galvin's SILVER STAR #36: SingSnap

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I LOVE Karaoke. I've done in on Caribean Cruises, I've done it in Japan, I'll do it any chance I get.  It is SO MUCH FUN!  So... If you ever wanted to take a shot at it, but were too chicken to get in front of a LIVE audience, here's your chance. They've got lots of free songs, and a SHIT-TON of songs if you subscribe. (Plus some reverb & audio software that makes you sound a whole lot better - again, for subscribers only.) In any case, it's a LOT of fun. And no, I've never done it. No way. So don't even TRY looking for "NiceguyEddie" on there, because you'll be VERY disappointed!

;)

(Hey: As Randle Patrick Murphy said to Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's classic novel and film staring Jack Nicholson: At least I tried!)

In all seriousness? There's a lot of UTTER CRAP on there. (Look who's talkin', right?) And don't get me wrong: that's still fun to listen to on occasion.  But I have also discovered some TRULY AMAZING singers there as well. So please DO poke around a bit, becuase there are some real gems there as well.

...
Anyway, that's all for the Month of July, 2010.  There will be some heavy hitting Gold winners coming in the months ahead, but at the moment I'm constrained by the format I chose. Sorry!

But there is also soem long overdue housekeeping that is needed, so I'm making the following changed to my personal HoF:

The Walter John Gold Star Winner, Armchair Subversive, is, as of today and for the past few months, now completely defunct.  So as I have linked to them so many times in the past and because I truly believe that they transcend mere entertainment and have proven themselves top be a site of truly profound Political, Social and Academic value, I hereby promote Cracked.Com from it's former honor of a Silver Star to the NEW WALTER JOHNSON, GOLD STAR #4. That's a pretty coveted spot,  BTW, but it is an honor well deserved.

Taking it's place, as the new ED WALSH, SILVER STAR #18 is: Kawaii Not, the web-comic for cute gone bad. What can I say? It's twisted. I love it.

Also, since the gifted and lovely Julia Wertz has decided to end Fartparty, but pick up where it left off ovetr on Museum of Mistakes, I'm addoing that site to the KID NICHOLS SILVER STAR award.

In other fronts, since JESSE BUIRKETT'S and JOHNNY EVERS' SILVER STAR Winners Ugliest Tatoos and Very Demotivational are both actually part of a larger site, related to FailBlog's "Cheezeburger Network," they are being changed to I Can Has Cheezburger and Memebase respectively.  These are still all part of FAILBlog/Cheezburger network site, but at least this way, I recognize the rest of the content as well, and only stay about a year behind the times. (Hey: In the immortal words of Daniel Lawrence Whitney, "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there!")

Finally, Seanbaby's Superfriends site, is being changed to Seanbaby's main site, which still includes the Superfriends material... Which is still the funniest thing I've ever read... and so much more. But then: What else would I expect form the man who "invented being funny on the internet?"

Cheers, my friends!

Gold Star Awards, June, 2011

Here we go, once a gain a day late: The Gold and Silver Star awards for June! The year is 1964, and there was one BWAA Inductee and a whopping five from the Veterans committee. So, here we go:



The Luke Appling Gold Star #37: AWOLBush / Who Served?

Are you tired of how the Right is always belly-aching about who supports the troops and who doesn’t? How Liberals, and by extension the Democrats, hate their country? And hate the military? And how they love to point out that Barack Obama or Bill Clinton or some other Democrat or Liberal never served in the Military? (Neither did Ronald W. Reagan, but they always seem to leave that one out!) Well, HERE’S a site that turns the tables on those Right-Wing jack-holes by showing that, in fact, there are rather a large number of prominent Democrats who did serve and quite a few Prominent Republincs (read: ALL OF THE LOUDEST AMONG THEM!) who did not. So keep the pressure up on these hypocritical, and at times downright un-American, neo-con chicken-hawks and, check this out!  (And as a side note, let's be honest here: When 50,000 men are dying in the jungles of Southeast Asia while you're fighting Communism in the skies over Texas? YOU'RE A DRAFT-DODGER!)


The Red Faber Silver Star #31: Five Second Films

The extended version of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy is over three hours long. It’s truly a masterpiece of modern American Cinema (and made in New Zealand, by a New Zealander no less!) but WHO HAS THAT KIND OF TIME! (If you do? Get a JOB you lazy bum!)  But THESE films? Are NOT Lord of the Rings. Most of them? Are merely funny. Some are hilarious. And some of them really suck. But at five seconds apiece? You can watch 12 of them in ONE MINUTE and have as many laughs as Peter Jackson gives you in 12 HOURS! Beat that!


The Burleigh Grimes Silver Star #32: Off Planet Films

This YouTube channel is just fucking twisted. And fucking hilarious. I can’t even BEGIN to describe them, other than to say that they produce animated shorts (~three-five minutes or less) with a bizarre, dark, and at times downright psychotic sense of humor about them.


The Tim Keefe Silver Star #33: On the Spectrum

The first of three web-comics I’d like to mention this month centers on an issue that's near and dear to me: Autsim. This comic is a series of strips about one family’s experiences raising autistic children. Although some of the humor is aimed at people who are familiar with Autism, and thus can understand the mind of an Autistic child, a lot of it is pretty general family-humor stuff that anyone (with kids) can be relate to. The artwork is not as professional like most of the web-comics I read (and share here) but it’s cute. You should check it out. Unfortunately, also like a few other comics that I’ve mentioned here, this one hasn’t been updated in a while, and I'm afraid it may be on hiatus permanently at this point. I hope not, because it’s definitely helped me see things in a different light with my own children.



The Heinie Manush Silver Star #34: Selkie

The next web-comic also deals with a personal issue for me: Adoption. And while I never spent time in an orphanage, I am adopted, and so relate to many of the things that the characters talk about and deal with. Similar to "On teh Specturm," it’s not the most polished comic art-wise, but he still manages to capture the charecters' facial expressions and emotions very well, and there are panels such as this, which gives a glimpse at both the soul and the potential of the series:

Its charecters have dpeth, and it's heroine is one of the most sympathetic you will find - just impossible not to absolutely fall in love with. It deals with issues of acceptance (Selkie is a sea-creature living amongst humans), discrimination and diversity, as well as what it means to be a good parent, good son or daughter and good friend. It worth checking out, and should be read from the beginning.

The Monte Ward Silver Star #35: Alone in a Crowd

Most people might initially find this comic to be silly. But keep an open mind. Like Selkie, it is about acceptance, both of yourself and others, and being true to yourself. These themes permeate all of the characters, for the hopelessly idealist Hope, to Grace, the Girls with Cat-Ears, to the Girl who’s taken advantage of at work, to the Aunt who manages a pornographic film studio to the geeky guy who collects action figures. It’s very cutely drawn, and reminds us that, at some point, we’ve all Alone in a Crowd at some point. So check it out! (From the Beginning!)

Silver Star Awards, May, 2011

It's the last day of the month, which means... time for the SILVER STAR AWARDS.  (Sometimes that's also what the first day means: time for LAST MONTH'S awards! LOL) Anyway, were' up to the MLB HoF election of 1963, which saw four members elected by the Veteran's Committee - so no Golds this month, but for Silvers going out.


The John Clarkson Silver Star #28: Misfile

Its seems every time I get a bunch of Silvers in one month, I have at least on web-comic.  Well... no sense changing now! LOL.  Misfile is a very funny web-comic featuring two characters, one that's had his gender changed and one that lost (was forced to repeat) the last two years of her life (the two miserable years she spent studying her ass off to getting into Harvard no less!) due to a celestial fuck-up on the part of a certain, mostly drunken, Angel who's now laying low and trying (not very hard) to set things right.  The artwork is very Manga-like, and very clean considering it's mostly pencil-work.  In additional to a kick-ass art-style, the characters Chris Hazelton's created are strong, human, interesting, fallible, flawed and perfect.  The relations are real and complex with ups, downs, trust and betrayal.  Oh yeah, and the odd gender-bending humor? Funny as hell.  And while is NOT what I would consider a trans-gendered comic, since the whole plot is magically-based, it does get into issue of acceptance, both public and self.  As with all web-comics, I recommend reading this one from the beginning.


The Elmer Flick Silver Star #29: The Nostalgia Critic

If you were alive at any time during the 1980's, and either loved the decade or remember how utterly tacky and cheesy it was (or both) you'll love to hear this obnoxious foole absolutely eviscerate it.  He takes the best (and worst) of popular culture from the last 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's (so, IOW: my life, or the part I remember) and has great fun goofing on it.  He's obnoxious... but he elevates it to an art form.  Funny as hell.  But if you're under the age of 30?  Maybe 25?  Don't bother.  You won't remember it.  (Which is OK, because the Nostalgia Critic remembers it, so you don't have to!)


The Sam Rice Silver Star #30: The Perry Bible Fellowship

OK, so this months, there's two comics!  This one's been on hiatus for a long time (finished?) but it's still very worth checking out.  The humor is ironic, irreverent and subtly dark and twisted.  The artistic style varies from cartoony to actual ART, using a variety of media. It's great stuff. Check it out.


The Eppa Rixey Aluminum Star: Newsbusters

(It's been a while since I high-lighted a low-light. LOL) 

Ah, good old Newsbusters.  "Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias."  Well... not really.  To expose something, it must first ACTUALLY EXIST.  Reading Newsbusters provides one with little more than evidence that anything to the Left of Rush Limbaugh's Oxycontin-fueled wet dreams is "Liberally Biased." (Or, as Stephen Colbert put it: That REALITY has a Liberal bias!)  What's more, to "Combat" it, one needs to formulate an actual ARGUMENT.  Some of my readers might instinctively point out that convincing a Right-Winger that the Right is right is about as difficult as putting on a hat.  But that's all they've really managed to do: Convince die-hard conservatives that Liberal's are "wrong."  Which... is pretty much completely unnecessary, since most Conservative usually START OUT their argument with that assumption!  So, why do they even need to exsist then? What's their raison detre? For all their "exposure" and "combat," the most they can do? Is reach level four.


Cheers, my friends!

GOLD STAR AWARDS, April, 2011

As has been becoming an unfortunate tradition lately, here are April's Gold star winners, one day late.  We're up to 1962, that's two Gold's and a Silver.  PLUS, as my HoF is a living document (just like the U.S. Constitution!) I need to issue a replacement silver for a website that has disappeared and now just hawks crappy T-Shirts. LOL.  Any way, here we go!:


The Bob Feller Gold Star #35: No Labels

No Labels describes itself as a non-partisan organization, who’s philosophy is that we need to come together, stop the partisan bickering, and focus on solving the problems that face this country in the way that is the best for… (wait for it…) AMERICA. Imagine that! Now… one MIGHT be tempted to say that this is what President Obama has been trying to do since 1/22/08, and look at what it’s brought us! (And the funny thing? Both conservatives and liberals can say those exact same words, without any sense of irony!) In all seriousness, President Obama’s big mistake was in the assumption that the Right would just come along, if he played nice. Of course… the Democrats ALWAYS play nice. That’s their biggest weakness! And that is the first reason that while No Labels might be non-partisan in their positions, they are inherently Progressive in their philosophy. Partisan bickering only, EVER, helps those who wish to stand in the way of social change.  Secondly, what we have now, in Congress? Is exactly what President Washington was warning against when he advised not to create “factions.” (PARTIES, as it played out, but the same thing.) But finally, here is why there message and their movement is so critical. Here is why eliminating the LABELS is inherently, flamingly, screamingly LIBERAL. If you argue with a Liberal, they’ll try to prove you WRONG. Which is a much higher bar than Conservatives set when you argue with them and they try to prove you LIBERAL. See… I don’t self-identify as “Progressive” because I need to cling to an ideology and believe it to be inherently good. I identify that way because 99% of the time, the Progressive (and/or Liberal) position on a given issue just MAKES MORE SENSE, SEEMS MORE PRINCIPLED and is FAR MORE DEFENSIBLE. Not always, granted, but GENERALLY. And whenever hear a Conservative try to defend their position, they start from the assumption that the Conservatives are always right, the Liberals always wrong, and thus identifying the opponent or their position as Liberal is sufficient for chalking up a “win.” Lose the labels? And the Liberal will win the argument 99% of the time. Regardless of what these guys propose on any specific issue, position-wise, ditching political labels can only help Liberals. (Unless we’re wrong!) ;)


The Jackie Robinson Gold Star #36: Project Censored
 
IIRC, I think it was one of the commenters here that first turned me on to this site.  (ClassicLiberal maybe? My apologies, if it was someone else and I forgot.)  ANYWAY, for all the accusations of "liberal bias" in the press, and the Himalayan amounts of evidence to the contrary, this site can, once and for all, kill that myth and kill it with fire.  Project Censored collects all of the stories that get buried and remain largely untold by the biggest "news" outlets. And surpriiiiise, surpriiiise!  99% of these are stories that are inconvenient to the powers that be!  Industry. Corporate Sponsors. Their Political Whores. Their Media whores. The Church. The Right. The Rich. The Powerful.  Check them out.  What they AREN'T telling you is an order of magnitude more infuriating than the misinformation they ARE.
 
 
The Edd Rousch Silver Star #27: eBay
 
E-BAY?! Are you fucking KIDDING me?!
 
LOL. No. I'm not. Of all the dot-com's to come out of the 1990's tech "bubble" - and in all truth, it wasn't a bubble at all - the one that was the biggest game-changer, IMHO, was eBay.  And I can hear it now... All the whining about fees, and the effect it's had of the price of collectibles, and how big a rip-off it is, and how much they completely suck, in general....
 
Fuck all that.  I've been an eBay junkie for YEARS, both buying and selling.  And you know what? I've yet to have a single negative experience that wasn't my own fault.  You read that right. 
 
And before we go arguing about their policies, fee structure, service, etc... Let's realize what eBay actually DOES: It's bring entrepreneurialism to every single person in America. (In the WORLD, really.)  If you've got something to sell?  You've got the entire market - the U.S., North America, the Western Hemisphere and the Entire WORLD at your disposal.  Call it this liberal's way fo showing his love for the truly free market, but eBay has changed the world.
 
SO to all you "feeBay" haters? Fuck off. I LOVE eBay.  (How's THAT for going against the status quo? LOL) :P :P :P :P :P :P
 
 
OK, and since "Item not as described" is now completely defunct (and hawking crappy T-Shirts, the last time I checked) I will need to re-issue Fred Clarke's Silver Star #6.  So, in an effort to keep my HoF remotely relevant, here is the NEW...
 
Fred Clarke's Silver Star #6: Brightest
 
If you're getting the idea that I read a LOT of webcomics, you're right. I do. And I do for one simple reason: THEY'RE GOOD.  Brightest tells the story of Charlene (Charlie) an out-of-work, overweight, relationship-challenged, possible lesbian and the trals and tribulations in her life.  In addition to an awesomely quirky art-style, it is a poignant, sometimes painful, at times ironically funny story that avoids falling into stereotypes.  I think what I like the most about the main character is that her characteristics do not DEFINE her. They do not LIMIT her persona.  She's overweight, yes.  But she doesn't obsess over it.  There none of the constant, neurotic dieting or sweating over her appearance that you might get in another work with a heavier heroine. Nor is her self-esteem tied up in her weight.  (No, she has low self esteem for 100 other reasons! LOL.) And also, while she's a Lesbian (or might be) this is also not the defining characteristic or the character or the comic. Most of the time, the conflict over her sexuality never enters into the story. And when it DOES? It handled so... realistically.  And what results is an amazingly HUMAN character.  Flawed, neurotic, but completely FAMILIAR - we ALL know someone like this, and sometimes we ARE that person!  Anyway, I've really enjoyed the ride so far, and as always, I recommend reading it from the beginning.

Silver Star Awards, March, 2011

OK, so it's been a really thin month.  By far the thinnest since I started blogging.  Only four pieces, and two of them were Silver Star entries. Which never seem to get ANY comments! :(

Oh well, at least March's will actually happen IN MARCH.  There were no HoF inductees in 1960, so the year is now 1961 and it saw two Veteran's Committee Inductees, so yeah: We're still on the funny stuff.  There are some really good ones coming in April, when there will be a GOLD Star or two, but we're still on Silver's this month.


The Max Carey Silver Star #25: Venus Envy

Another superb web-comic.  Mind you I don't really read it anymore, because the author, Erin Lindsey, kind of pulled the plug on it just over a year ago - and leaving her main character in a rather tight spot to boot!  Oh well.  In short, Venus Envy is a comic about a transgendered (MtF) teenager.  Believe it or not there are a LOT of TG Web-Comics out there, but I think Venus Envy deserves credit for a few things.  First of all, it's kind of famous in TG circles.  It was one of the first TG web-comics (if not THE first), remains one of the longest running, and from what I can tell was for a long time by far the most popular.  Which I think is due to the second reason: Erin Lindsey's powerfully compelling writing, her off-beat and sometimes self-depricating sense of humor, and her ability to create one of the most sympathetic characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading, in Zoe Carter.  Check it out - you'll laugh, you'll pretend not to cry, but most importantly of all, YOU'LL CARE.  You'll CARE about this character, and what she is going through and dealing with. Regardless of how you feel about the transgendered it is impossible to read this not pull for this person. (And not fear for them.) I'm certainly no expert on TG politics by a lognshot, but this 'strip served as the beginning of my coming to better understand TG issues.  As usual, I recommend reading this web-comic from the beginning but with this one, just be aware that the real story takes a little while to get going.  For awhile there, there are a lot of gag strips.  FUNNY gag strips, but not the profound stuff I'm referring to above.  Also - if the name "Erin Lindsay" sounds familiar, I've referred to her political writings / rants before, here and here.  What can I say? I love her stuff, I really do.  And I really miss 'Venus Envy!'


The Billy Hamilton Silver Star #26: DAMN YOU AUTO-CORRECT!

Screw doing sit-ups.  Just read this site and you laugh your way to wash-board abs.  O.M.F.G!  The main site is a collection of iPhone texts that have been 'auto-corrected' by the phone's auto-spell check / auto-fill-in random nonsense as you type feature.  Fucking hilarious!  And much like several other Silver Star winners from the Cheezburger Network (Failblog, Engrish, etc...) the site linked to several others that are every bit as funny, sometimes much funnier.  The Bad Gifts site is EPIC funny.  Bad Food was a riot as well. (I've eaten a lot of that stuff!) (Shit, I LIKED a lot of that stuff! LOL)  This site was sent to me a few weeks ago by a guy at my office.  I couldn't link to it form my desk (web-sensed) by I pulled it up on my phone and couldn't get any work done for three days. XD  So Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Silver Star Awards, February, 2011

OK, they're a day late. Sue me. No one reads these posts anyway!

(Just has some deju-vu there... I think I've used that line before!)

OK... here we go.  We're up to 1959, which saw one Veterans Committe inductee, and none from the Writers:


The Zack Wheat Silver Star #24: Oglaf

Yeah, it's yet another web-comic that I'm crazy about.  Now... some of the stuff I've linked to, not to mention some of my own writing, has at time been a bit... risque.  I'll warn you right now: Oglaf is downright FILTHY.  It's filthy, dirty, rude, crude, crass, smutty and at times downright pornographic... and really, REALLY funny.  Although it's not a single, continuous story it will still make more sense (and be funnier) if you read it from the beginning.  Mind also, that it's a series of different stories, some of which have multiple pages.  So if the "next page" link is lit, hit that rather than the "next story" link.  I missed that at first, and it didn't make a lick of sense. LOL.

Silver Star Awards, January, 2011

We're up to the year 1957, and there was only inductee, from the Veterans Committee.




The Wahoo Sam Crawford Silver Star #23: How it Should Have Ended

I’ve said it many times, about many Silver Star Winners, but these guys are absolutely freaking hilarious.  They take popular and/or classic movies, change one or two obvious details that the writer and director managed to miss, and show you how it SHOULD HAVE  ended.  They’re website and/or their you-tube channel is a must–see for any movie buff.  Just to give you a sampling (and since there’s only one award this month, and thus super-short post) here’s a few of my favorites:

Star Wars:

Lord of the Rings:


Inception:

GOLD STAR AWARDS, June, 2010

Time once again to expand my personal Hall of Fame, now prominently displayed on the right hand side of my blog.  (I just realized, shouldn't a liberal's HoF be displayed on the LEFT? Oh well. LOL)  Paralelling Major League Baseball's HoF elections, we're up to 1949 which saw one BWAA induction and two by the Verteran's Committee.  So that's one Gold, two Silvers:

The Charlie Gehringer Gold Star #19: Left Hook!

Many of you will already be familiar with ClassicLiberal and his blog.  He's a regular commenter here, and I've referenced and linked to his work many times.  If there's any one source that I go to find out where the REAL Liberals mindset is - not those who are merely democrats, or Obama supporters - this is where I start.  And I highly recommend his blog as a great source of analysis and information on just about any issue.  And the best thing, for me anyway, are the times I've actually disagreed with him!  There's nothing both more rewarding and more frustrating than debating with someone who you don't really disagree with in any broad idealogical way.  I still disagree with him about the healthcare bill and filibusters, for example, but I also found his opposition to these things to be among the most well informed and well reasoned out there.  (Hence my repeated recomendation of his blog during the health care debate.)  This will likely be the first of many blogs that I've found becuase they're written by people who have commented here, but I'm happy to make it the first.

The Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown Silver Star #19: Engrish

I'm sorry.  There's nothing funnier than the unintentionally hilarity that comes from a botched translation.  And the fact is that translating between Japanese and English (and vice-versa, I'm well told) is HARD.  All the same, some of these pictures will make laugh so hard it will be the equivalent of 20 sit-ups.  I need it translating more!


The Kid Nichols Silver Star #20: Fartparty

Julia Wertz is the coolest, funniest, most dark and twisted chick I've never met.  I only recently discovered her amazing work, but I'm totally hooked.  It's not a web-comic, per se, since her books have been published, but she's got a good smattering of example strips covering many different, personal topics on her website.  She's just totally, awesomely funny.

I posted one of her strips a couple days back.. Here's anoyther one. Click to see it full-sized.  (And BUY HER BOOKS!!! LOL)

GOLD STAR AWARDS, April, 2010

What a month.  I Didn't get quite as much written as I did last month, but last month was my most productive month so far.  This one's ended pretty well though.  Very interesting to end the month IN Arizona talking to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans about the new immigration law, and even finding out that even most white people I met along the border didn't like it either.  And I met (online anyway) a really interetsing blogger named Rox, herself a Mexican-American from Arizona.  Check out her blog, Getting There.  Lots of interesting stories, and obviously some serious opinons about the new immigration law in AZ.  Anyway, with one day left, I'm going to close out the month with what is invariably my LEAST popular series of posts - the Gold Star Awards, for April. (If anyone cares, we're up to the election of 1947.)

The Mickey Cochrane Gold Star #15: Think Progress

What an incredible collection of articles and posts skewering the Republican talking point or gaffe du jour and hammering home that gold old fashined liberal common sense and informed opinion!  They're more tagreted than HuffPo, heavier hitting than The American Prospect and show far less restraint that Media Matters. A defintie must-favorite for any serious liberal.  The comments section is good, but they don't nest.  So there's not as much spirited  back-and-forth as we get over on MMFA.  That's probably their only flaw. I've been posting there FAR more than HuffPo lately.

The Frankie Frisch Gold Star #16: People for the American Way

These guys have been around, fighting for Liberal causes for a LONG time.  They led the fight against Supreme Court nomine Robert Bork back in 1987, and the "court watch" section of thier web site is, not surprisingly, the biggest draw for me.  (Note to Duta: You couldn't be more wrong about FREEDOM and LIBERTY.  Check out their Supreme Court section!)

The Lefty Grove Gold Star #17: Politifact

I'm prone to a bit of irony here, giving LEFTY Grove's Start to a RIGHT-Leaning site, but Politifact is objective enough ot fully warrent consideration here.  You'll notice that their rival, FactCheck, was honored months ago, and I'm just now getting around to this one, but I think FactCheck's that much better.  One thing I like about Politifact is that the recognize half truths, flip-flops etc, raher than just saying "true" or "flase" so some things that are subject ot interpretation get that benefit.  Of course... you've got to READ their interpretations sometimes, as they do tend to favor  a Conservative framework for most issues, but if anything that makes them even more useful for refuting Right-Wingers when they're called out as "Pant-on-fire."

The Carl Hubbel Gold Star #18: Crooks and Liars

OK, I'm new to this site, so there's not much I can say here.  I've seen it cited so often, I'm sure that you are all already very familiar with it and can do a far better job than I can of reviewing it.  If you're not?  Hard hitting, progressive opinions exposing the worst scumbaggery of the Republicans and Conservatives.  The title really says it all.  Defintiely my cup of tea.

There you go!  Hope you all had a great April and look forward to an even better May.

-----------------------------------
I'm STILL in the process of adding my HOF to the main page of the blog, but, for reference, previous inductees include:

Ty Cobb's GOLD STAR #1: Media Matters for America
Babe Ruth's GOLD STAR #2: The Skeptic's Dictionary
Honus Wagner's GOLD STAR #3: Snopes
Walter Johnson GOLD STAR #4: Armchair Subversive
Christy Mathewson GOLD STAR #5: Humanism by Joe
Cy Young's GOLD STAR #6: The American Prospect
Nap Lajoie's GOLD STAR #7: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Tris Speaker's GOLD STAR #8: Rational Wiki
Pete Alexander's GOLD STAR #9: Republican Offenders
George Sisler's GOLD STAR #10: Newshounds
Willie Keeler's GOLD STAR #11: Newscorpse
Eddie Collins' GOLD STAR #12: Wikipedia
Lou Gehrig's GOLD STAR #13: FactCheck.org
Rogers Hornsly's GOLD STAR #14: Election-Projection
- and -
Hoss Radbourne's SILVER STAR #1: FAILBlog
Cap Anson's SILVER STAR #2: Some Grey Bloke
Buck Ewing's SILVER STAR #3: Sore Thumbs
Roger Bresnahan's SILVER STAR  #4: The Dictatorship.com
Dan Brouthers' SILVER STAR  #5: Seanbaby's Super Friends Page
Fred Clarke's SILVER STAR  #6: Item Not as Described
Jimmy Collins' SILVER STAR  #7: I-am-bored.com
Ed Delahanty's SILVER STAR  #8: Baseball-Reference.com
Hugh Duffy's SILVER STAR  #9: Menage a 3
Hughie Jennings' SILVER STAR  #10: YU&ME: Dream
King Kelly's SILVER STAR  #11: Anime News Network
Jessie Burkett's SILVER STAR  #11: Ugliest Tattoos, A Gallery of Regret.
Frank Chance's SILVER STAR #13: Netflix
Johnny Evers' SILVER STAR #14: Very Demotivational
Joe McGinnity's SILVER STAR #16: Runescape
Joe Tinker's SILVER STAR #17: Baseball Almanac
Rube Waddell's SILVER STAR #18: Sporcle
Ed Walsh's SILVER STAR #19: Cracked
-and-
Jim O'Rourke's TIN STAR : Conservapedia
Jack Chesbro's CARBON STAR: The Global Warming Petition Project
Eddie Plank's LEAD STAR: FoxNation
Tommy McCarthy's PYRITE STAR #15: The Drudge Report

SILVER STAR AWARDS, March, 2010

Time once again to give my "hats off" to some sites that I really like. (Or fart in the general direction of  a few that I hate. LOL)  Eventually I'll have a blog roll of sorts, and some of the blogs I've come accross since starting my own will get named, but NOT THIS MONTH.  This month's inductees correspond to 1946: No BWAA's (Gold's) only Veteran's Committee picks (Silver's.)  And the only blogs that will get less than Gold Stars are Conservative crappy ones.  (Remember: Gold is for POLITICAL Gold, Silver is fun or humor and *ahem* lesser material is for... well... lesser material.) So, with that in mind, here we go...

The Jessie Burkett Silver Star #12: Ugliest Tattoos, A Gallery of Regret.

I couldn't possibly begin to describe the horror and hilarity on display here.  As I once read on a (de)motivational poster: The Internet doesn't MAKE you stupid, it just makes you stupidity more accessible to others.  Frickin' hilarious.  WTF were these people thinking?!

The Frank Chance Silver Star #13: Netflix

I know what you're thinking.  A commercial/corporate site? Really?  Lemme splain... I HATE. HATE. HATE. Blockbuster.  I hate Big Blue with a Passion that I can taste in my BALLS.  There selection SUCKS.  NOTHING was ever in stock.  "FREE" never applied to anything I wanted to see, and don't even get me started on their "NO FEES" bullshit.  And they were EVERYWHERE!  They were the reason poor Classicliberal couldn't make any money at his vid store! So I am far more than a happy customer when it comes to Netflix.  I believe that there toppling of teh ubiquitous (and arrogant) Blockbuster, and Blockbuster's inevitable bankruptcy, is a truly inspiring story.  A real David vs. Goliath.  The triumph of the vision that Al Gore had over the status quo.  I LOVE Netflix and I stump for them every chance I get.  They rock. And the faster Blockbuster disappears from the map the better.  If I ever set foot in a Blockbuster store again, it will be a Billion years too soon.

The Jack Chesbro Carbon Star: The Global Warming Petition Project

If I have to explain to you the mountain of pseudo- and junk- science bullshit that this site represents, then you're in the wrong place.  I could do a whole book on this Conservative pile of shit, but why bother?  A million sites already have.  It comes down to this: If you're liberal, you listen to scientists and if you're conservative you listen to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.  You also probably think that "peer review" means science is settled by democratic vote or online petitions.  Of course do you know what's missing from this petition?  The input and support or ANYONE doing any actual climate research.  Oh well.  Why let the scientific method get in the way of good propaganda?

The Johnny Evers Silver Star #14: Very Demotivational

I'm sorry, but the surest way to spot a real ass-kisser is the motivational poster hanging on the wall.  Usually has something like an eagle or a mountain climber on it, along with some insipid saying that has no relevance whatsoever to any problem you'll ever actually face in life.  DEmotivational posters, OTOH, might just be the greatest application of satire in the history of mankind.  I LOVE these.

The Tommy McCarthy Pyrite Star: The Drudge Report

That's "Pyrite," as in, "Fool's Gold."  Which pretty much sums up this miserable pile of horseshit.  It amazes me that it was conservative who first stumbled across the innovation to use the internet for political propaganda and made a name for himself.  What doesn't surprise is (1) that he's a serial liar.  (2) That he's a complete sleezeball.  (3) That he was also the LAST Conservative blogger to make a name for himself.  (HuffPo pwns this loser!)  And to this day, liberal bloggers kick all ass in terms of research, accuracy, original ideas, free-thinking, open minds and challenging arguments; while conservative bloggers kick all ass when it comes to repeating and clinging to long debunked and worn-out right-wing talking points.  Nevertheless, it's important to honor the point at which it all began, if for no other reason than to show how it should never have been done.

The Joe McGinnity Silver Star #15: Runescape

Runescape is an online multi-player online role playing game.  It's basically a [very] poor man's Wolrd of Warcraft.  I won't argue that it's somehow better than WoW.  It's not. It IS however a whole lot CHEAPER, and has a kick-ass, totally free version that's worth checking out.  (And if you like it, let me assure you that the subscription version is totally worth the five bucks a month!)  I play this a lot.  If I ever go three or four days without a post here? THAT'S what I've been doing.  And unlike WoW, it's a GAME not a LIFESTYLE.  And that's why I don't bother with WoW: I have a LIFE. LOL  (Just kidding... really, it's because I'm cheap! LOL)

The Joe Tinker Silver Star #16: Baseball Almanac

This is a alternative site to Baseball-Reference.  B-R is far more in-depth, but there ARE a few things that they're missing that B-A has.  If you're not as insane a Baseball fan as I am, you probably won't be interested, but if you are a serious fan, it's a "must-bookmark."

The Eddie Plank Lead Star: FoxNation

It's not necessarily bad that there are conservative news outlets, or conservative blogs.  There really no problem with Conservative BIAS, it's blatant dishonesty and demonstrable lies and false hoods that I have a problem with.  These guys hit MMFA's radar a couple of times a day. (Only Limbugh and the Fox News Channel hit more.)  Why people would prefer to get thier news from a source that's not only blatantly and unapologetically biased, but inaccurate, dishonest and some times even woefully out of date, is beyond me.  It's just like then Senator Obama said in that 2008 campaign stop: "It's like they take pride in being ignorant!"

The Rube Waddell Silver Star #17: Sporcle

OMFG... What an addictive little collection of time-wasters THIS is!  It's basically a series of triva games, where you have to list a certain number of items in a topic, in under a certain amount of time.  They have a wide variety of cotegories, and add several new games every day.  So check it out. I GUARENTEE you'll be hooked and lose the net half-hour (or more) of your life to it!

The Ed Walsh Silver Star #18: Cracked

From the makers of "Cracked" magazine - who completely pwns MAD, BTW - comes Cracked.com.  Mostly a bunch of articles that are in the form of "Top #" lists.  (7 Extinct Giant Versions of Modern Animals, for example.)  Often informative, and always hilarious, this site is loaded with brain-crack.  It's like Maxim magazine on steroids.  So check it out.  You'll both laugh and come away feeling smarter.

Let me know what you think! 

-----------------------------------
I'm in the process of adding my HOF to the main page of the blog, but,
for reference, previous inductees include:

Ty Cobb's GOLD STAR #1: Media Matters for America
Babe Ruth's GOLD STAR #2: The Skeptic's Dictionary
Honus Wagner's GOLD STAR #3: Snopes
Walter Johnson GOLD STAR #4: Armchair Subversive
Christy Mathewson GOLD STAR #5: Humanism by Joe
Cy Young's GOLD STAR #6: The American Prospect
Nap Lajoie's GOLD STAR #7: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Tris Speaker's GOLD STAR #8: Rational Wiki
Pete Alexander's GOLD STAR #9: Republican Offenders
George Sisler's GOLD STAR #10: Newshounds
Willie Keeler's GOLD STAR #11: Newscorpse
Eddie Collins' GOLD STAR #12: Wikipedia
Lou Gehrig's GOLD STAR #13: FactCheck.org
Rogers Hornsly's GOLD STAR #14: Election-Projection
- and -
Hoss Radbourne's SILVER STAR #1: FAILBlog
Cap Anson's SILVER STAR #2: Some Grey Bloke
Buck Ewing's SILVER STAR #3: Sore Thumbs
Roger Bresnahan's SILVER STAR  #4: The Dictatorship.com
Dan Brouthers' SILVER STAR  #5: Seanbaby's Super Friends Page
Fred Clarke's SILVER STAR  #6: Item Not as Described
Jimmy Collins' SILVER STAR  #7: I-am-bored.com
Ed Delahanty's SILVER STAR  #8: Baseball-Reference.com
Hugh Duffy's SILVER STAR  #9: Menage a 3
Hughie Jennings' SILVER STAR  #10: YU&ME: Dream
King Kelly's SILVER STAR  #11: Anime News Network
-and-
Jim O'Rourke's TIN STAR : Conservapedia

SILVER STAR AWARDS, February, 2010

Normally these posts are call "Gold Star" Awards, but this month we're on the Hall of Fame election of 1945.  Last month was '42, but I'm skipping the years in which no one was inducted.  And in '45, only the Veterans Committee voted anyone in.  So this month there aren't any Gold Star's going out.  Only Silvers... and 1 Tin! LOL.  So without further ado...

The Roger Bresnahan Silver Star #4: The Dictatorship.com

The site hasn't been updated in awhile, but it's still well worth checking out.  Going waaay beyond just Hilter, Stalin and Mao, they are a concise source of "everything you ever wanted to know about the men who helped make the 20th century the bloodiest on record."  It's gets a Silver because it's far more satirical than political, but still it serves two noble purposes: It reminds us of history, so that maybe we won't be doomed to repeat it; and it shows, definitively, just how absurd all these "fascist," "socialist," "dictator," "nazi" accusations are that the Right Wing Talking assHeads keep leveling at President Obama.

The Dan Brouthers Silver Star #5: Seanbaby's Super Friends Page

Another old favorite of mine that been inactive for several years.  If you're over the age of 35, chances are you spent at least some of your Saturday Mornings growing up watching the Superfriends.  (And if you're like me, you might have been wearing your Batman or Superman Underoos while you did!)  Looking back though, my sense of nostalgia is dimmed somewhat by just how utterly, mindnumbly stupid the show really was!  (And that's coming from a HUGE fan of the classic / Silver Age DC Comics!)  Anyway, Seanbaby does a marvelously hilarious job, writing up profiles on each charecter.  Take a look.  By the time I was done with the site I'd been laughing so hard, I'd felt as if I'd been dong situps the whole time.  (Note: Not entirely safe for the office, if you know what I mean!)

The Fred Clarke Silver Star #6: Item Not as Described

...Where "free" is a four-letter word! LOL.  I'm a  bit disappointed about this.  He decided to quit on it just as he was hitting his stride.  Oh well.  This blog highlights various Craiglist ads where people try to pawn off their most disgusting and/or useless garbage, the only good point of which is usually that it's "free."  I mean, yeah, you'll have to rent a truck and buy some power tools to even MOVE most of this junk, and it's not like any of it is anything anybody would actually want anyway,  but hey: It's FREE!  So give it a read.  It's great stuff.  I laughed so hard at some of the items, I was in pain afterwards!

The Jimmy Collins Silver Star #7: I-am-bored.com

Sites for when your bored!  What could be better than that?  Dozens of new sites added every day.  Videos, Games, Articles, Wierd Stuff, Funny Stuff... GREAT STUFF!  I particularly enjoy the Games section.  The Games themselves are usually pretty lame, but even the worst of them are a fun way to kill some time while you're hold, and about 1 in 10 are pretty addictive.  Anyway, if you're ever bored, it's a great place to visit!

The Ed Delahanty Silver Star #8: Baseball-Reference.com

As I might have mentioned, and as you may have gathered by the somewhat unique format of these monthly "Hall-of-Fame" posts, I have a passion for Baseball that borders on mental illness.  I can quote archaic statistics and baseball history, answering trivia questions with an almost Rain Man-like uncanniness.  And THIS SITE is where I have spent the majority of my wasted time over the past 10-12 years or so.  And every year it seems liek they add a new dimension to the depth of information they possess.  It's incredible.  Useless to non-baseball fans, of course, but even a passive fan will appreciate the level of info available here.  (And the real stat-heads, like me, should be thoroughly satisfied.)

The Hugh Duffy Silver Star #9: Menage a 3

MA3 might just be my favorite webcomic right now.  It's sort of a cross between Three's Company and a Harem Anime.  Although entirely comedic, I should warn you that it's also pretty sexually explicit. But, if you can get past the first issue the rest is more tame.  Sexualized, yes, with a big time-focus on, shall we say... heteroflexible humor, but the focus is far more often on humor through insinuation and misunderstandings than any actual sex.  It also touches on Comic Books, Cosplay, Doujin, Punk, Harem-Anime and other popular sub-cultures.  Overall, it's a riot.  Popcorn?

The Hughie Jennings Silver Star #10: YU&ME: Dream

Another Webcomic, and another one with homosecual themes.  (I don't think this is the start of a trend, howver! LOL)  Beyond having a Lesbian main charecter, YU&ME: Dream shares very little with the previuous entry.  YU&ME is a touching, moving, funny and suspensful tale of girl who spends as much time pursuing true love in dreams as she does in "reality." (But then... what really IS reality?)  It's a fantastic read and sureal journey with varying artistic styles throughout.  (And Rosalarian really is an amazing artist.)  Like all webcomics, I recommend starting it from the beginning.

The King Kelly Silver Star #11: Anime News Network

If I have a passion that comes anywhere close to my interest in Baseball, it would Anime.  (It was actually a toss-up all those months ago whether this blog would be about Anime, Baseball or Liberal Politics.  So, yeah... I'm pretty into it.  In any, I've found ANN to be, by far, the most extensive, definitive source of information about Anime anywhere on the 'net.  I expecially like the 1-through-10 ratings that registered users (I'm "Niceguy," although I haven't been active in ages) can enter in for the ones they've seen. The site tabulated these rating and inlcudes a series of top-10 and top-50 lists for the bests and worsts.  The amount of info on each individula title is a little shallow, but the number of titles tracked in their databse is staggering.  And their forum is pretty active, if your looking for more info.

The Jim O'Rourke Tin Star: Conservapedia

Ah... Good 'ol Coservapedia.  I've bashed them myself a bit over the past few months, and there's no shortage of sites criticiszing, mocking, and outright parodying them from both the left and the right.  It's the encyclopedia specificlly for people who don't want to actually learn aything, but who need a legitimate looking resource to back up their preconcieved notions, magical thinking, prejudices and warped world view.  Put simply, it's brain-candy for conservatives, and even the most ardent right-wingers consume in extreme moderation.  Seriously? It's not taken seriously by anyone other than Andrew Shitfly and his delusional band of facsists editors.  It's SO BAD that I proudly award it this blog's first non-precious metal Star, named in honor of Jim O'Rourke, arguably the greatest home-run hitter of the 1800's... which is about as far as the Shlafly world view has progresssed.


Thanks again for humoring me.  I do hope you check some of these out and let me know what you think.  Since onle the last one is overtly political, I'm really curious to know what y'all think.

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For reference, previous inductees include:
Ty Cobb's GOLD STAR #1: Media Matters for America
Babe Ruth's GOLD STAR #2: The Skeptic's Dictionary
Honus Wagner's GOLD STAR #3: Snopes
Walter Johnson GOLD STAR #4: Armchair Subversive
Christy Mathewson GOLD STAR #5: Humanism by Joe
Cy Young's GOLD STAR #6: The American Prospect
Nap Lajoie's GOLD STAR #7: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Tris Speaker's GOLD STAR #8: Rational Wiki
Pete Alexander's GOLD STAR #9: Republican Offenders
George Sisler's GOLD STAR #10: Newshounds
Willie Keeler's GOLD STAR #11: Newscorpse
Eddie Collins' GOLD STAR #12: Wikipedia
Lou Gehrig's GOLD STAR #13: FactCheck.org
Rogers Hornsly's GOLD STAR #14: Election-Projection
- and -
Hoss Radbourne's SILVER STAR #1: FAILBlog
Cap Anson's SILVER STAR #2: Some Grey Bloke
Buck Ewing's SILVER STAR #3: Sore Thumbs

GOLD STAR AWARDS, December 2009

I've been off all this week, so I haven't been blogging or on MMFA. It's funny because I thought, "I have a week off, I can blog almost every day!" Ha-ha. Well... it's hasn't worked out quite like that. I've been so busy, I'm starting to wonder how I manage to get anything done when I'm working! ANYWAY... We're travelling for the holidays, so this will be my last post of the year. I figured we can go out with some GOLD (and other) STAR awards. This group is the first one to include some non "GOLD" stars in it, corresponding to the veterans committee's inductees, and I highly recommend these for a good laugh!

So here you go, corresponding to the Baseball Hall of Fame election of 1939:


The George Sisler GOLD STAR #10: Newshounds

I love their motto: We watch Fox, so you don't have to. Well THANK THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER FOR THAT! Because if I can't find time to blog, I'm sure not going to waste any of what's left watching FOX! They're kind of like an MMFA that doesn't take themselves so seriously, and focuses primarily on Fox. They're not above taking the occasional cheap shot, but they really do skewer all of Rupert's little minions really well. (And for any "C-Students" in the room: Hounds hunt Foxes. Get it? LOL) My only complaint is that you can't seem to leave any comments on any of their items. (If you CAN, my complaint is that it is not immediately obvious how to do this! LOL)

The Willie Keeler GOLD STAR #11: Newscorpse

"The demise of the media is upon us and these pages will serve to both document and eulogize the passing of the late, great 4th estate." (from their homepage) Newscorpse is similar to Newshounds in their tone, but do not focus as narrowly on just Fox. They're also a lot like MMFA in that they are driven as much by a general desire for journalistic integrity as they are any political agenda, possibly more so.

The Eddie Collins GOLD STAR #12: Wikipedia

No intro needed here, I'm sure. True academics may not like it, and I can't say I blame them, but what blogger could survive without it?! An encyclopedia written by the masses may not sound like such a good idea to some, but the staff and moderators do a fantastic job trying to keep the information accurate, marking statements that should be sourced, or marking articles that need to be checked for neutrality, etc... that it has become the foremost collection of information about everything under the sun, anywhere on the net. (It's strengths lie in everything that Conservapedia criticises them for - neutrality, objectivity, etc... I mean... who needs that 'liberal nonsense'?! Oh, they'll get theirs!)

Lou Gehrig GOLD STAR #13: FactCheck.org

If posting a list of 10 liberal that I hate doesn't convince anyone of my objectivity, THIS should. Fact Check has quickly become one of the most respected, and most cited "bullshit detectors" by bloggers and partisans sitting on both sides of the ailse, and even some that are standing out in the hallway. I won't go so far as to say that I've never disagreed with some of their judgement calls - it's inevitable in politics that different people will interpret things differently - but I've never felt they were conservatively biased when calling out Democrats and I've never heard them accused of liberal bias when they've called out Republicans. It is they're objectivity and integrity that has made them such a popular and valuable resource. If the MEDIA had learned that lesson, perhaps we wouldn't need Newscorpse!

The Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourne SILVER STAR #1: FAILBlog

Arguably the funniest collection of blogs on the 'Net. Their main blog (Failblog) contain the most extensive collection of Accidents, Catastrophes, Honest Mistakes, Poor Judgement and Unintentional Hilarity to be fond anywhere. From the main page, there are links to Graphjam, a collection of MS Excel, "Chart Wizard" graphics representing life, popular culture and the occasional politics. Hit "Nostalgia" for Once Upon a Win to be taken back to your childhood toys, games, books and more... regardless of when your childhood was. (Well...mostly for those who were born after 1965. Screw the baby boomers!) There's Engrish Funny, looking at all the unintentionally hilarious ways the English language has been butchered around the world. (Not politically correct in the least, but still frickin' hilarious!) LOLcats and LOLdogs are funny pet pic's with captions. And there's a lot of funny Look-Alikes - though I swear they sometimes get those backwards! Anyway, if you have checked it out yet, DO SO! You'll be instantly hooked.

The "Cap" Anson SILVER STAR #2: Some Grey Bloke

OMG. Bar none the most consistently funny channel on all of YouTube. The link up there is for his channel, here is his latest video. This guy is a RIOT. There more vids of his check out, the funnier they get. They're animated, and are presented as a Vlog being done by a divorced, Internet-addicted, British bloke named Graham, who is at once both a freakin' genius and totally clueless. This is a MUST SEE. This guy does a fantastic job with these. Check them out!

The Buck Ewing SILVER STAR #3: Sore Thumbs

This is one of the web-comics that I regularly read. It's gotten a bit off track lately, kind of in the middle of a series re-boot, but prior that that re-boot was a pretty solid mix of sexy satire and politics. I recommend starting it from the beginning though, to get a sense of the characters. The main character, Cecania is beautiful, liberal and constantly at odds with her bother, Fairbanks, who starts out as an hysterical one-dimension conservative parody, and develops into a deep, richly textured conservative parody. As I said, it's gotten less political of late, but it's still well worth reading. (Hey: It's FREE! Whatdoyawant?!) I'm curious to see where they're going with the re-boot. Hopefully it ends up somewhere near's where it left off, but either way, it's still a riot. (BTW - that first issues came out in March of 2004, so when Cecania's Coulter-witch of a mother says "Our Beloved President" she means BUSH. LOL)

So there we are, and I'm out for the year! I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy Holiday Season and New Year!

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For reference, previous inductees include:
Ty Cobb's GOLD STAR #1: Media Matters for America
Babe Ruth's GOLD STAR #2: The Skeptic's Dictionary
Honus Wagner's GOLD STAR #3: Snopes
Walter Johnson GOLD STAR #4: Armchair Subversive
Christy Mathewson GOLD STAR #5: Humanism by Joe
Cy Young's GOLD STAR #6: The American Prospect
Nap Lajoie's GOLD STAR #7: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Tris Speaker's GOLD STAR #8: Rational Wiki
Pete Alexander's GOLD STAR #9: Republican Offenders