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Workers' Comp Study Shows Rural Workers Hurt On The Job More Likely To Get Opioids
By Timothy MalloyApril 8, 2019Workers' Compensation
A study of workplace injuries in 27 states, including Missouri and Illinois, shows rural workers injured on the job received prescriptions for opioid pain relievers 68% percent of the time, while their urban counterparts got them 44% of the time.
The study was conducted by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, an independent group that does research for insurance companies, employers and labor unions.
Vennela Thumula, a policy analyst at the institute who authored the study, said it's difficult to know for sure why the discrepancy exists. She said one possibility is the difference in access to health care.
"It is possible that in rural areas there are fewer specialists compared to urban areas, which might be one of the factors," Thumula said.
Patients in rural areas may be getting more painkillers as a stopgap until they can see a specialist, who may be far away.
Michael Boeger, chief of the Missouri Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, agrees with that. He previously worked investigating workers' compensation claims, and said he often saw doctors giving out painkillers to injured workers until they could see a specialist. For rural workers, specialists could be many miles away, and appointments would take longer to get.
But Boeger said the report doesn't consider all of the factors facing rural workers hurt on the job. For example, he said, workplace injuries in rural areas are often more severe.
"They might have a broken back, they might have had a limb or an arm caught in some farming equipment, they might have been ran over by something, they might have been crushed in a cave-in," Boeger said. "The more severe the injury, the more pain there is, the more the doctors are going to have to address it."
The study's author said they removed as many variables as they could.
We controlled for the age composition of the injured workers, we controlled for industry mix," Thumula said. "So we controlled for several of those characteristics and we still see these differences across urban versus rural areas."
Thumula said the study can be a tool for people who are looking to fight the opioid problem. Boeger said the study isn't of that much help in Missouri.
"Opioid abuse is a major concern in both urban and rural areas, and it needs to be addressed at the statewide level," Boeger said.
This article was first published by St. Louis Public Radio.
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The solar plant will have an annual energy yield of 26.13 MWh and is expected to offset 13 tonnes of CO2 every year. For this project, Vikram Solar has used its optimizer integrated smart Solivo modules.
Vikram Solar, one of India's leading module manufacturers and a prominent rooftop solar and EPC solutions provider, has commissioned a rooftop solar plant for Century Ply (India) Limited at the company's new headquarter in Taratala, Kolkata, India. The solar plant has a capacity of 18.5 kW.
The project is spread across 160 sq meters and uses 57 units of 325 Wp smart modules and a 15 kW delta inverter. It will have an annual energy yield of 26.13 MWh and is expected to offset 13 tonnes of CO2 per year.
For this project, Vikram Solar has used its optimizer integrated smart Solivo modules. Solivo modules can harvest more power through Module-Level Power Tracking technology, where each module can be optimized to decrease the effect of shading, soiling or mismatch loss. With facilities like 'Rapid Shutdown' and 'Smart Ready,' Solivo smart modules can offer 30% more yield, increased reliability, lower operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, increased safety, and remote monitoring, making solar projects highly reliable.This is the second solar rooftop project for Century Ply that Vikram Solar has executed since 2018.
Vikram Solar is spearheading India's solar revolution with 950 MW EPC capacity portfolio including commissioned and under execution, rooftop and ground mounted projects. The company currently has a rooftop portfolio of 62 MW (including commissioned and under execution) and has delivered green energy solutions to government entities.


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First images from Straw Dogs remake released online
By Joshua Winning 2011-05-02T20:54:00.121Z
James Marsden's all smiley, but not for long...
The first shots from Rod Lurie's upcoming Straw Dogs remake have landed online.
Alright, they're grainy scans from the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly , but they at least offer us our first glimpse of the film's central cast.
Lurie's film is a reimagining of Sam Peckinpah's controversial 1971 thriller, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Susan George as a couple doing up an old English farmhouse.
When they piss off the locals, though, bloody war is waged in the British countryside. The film was banned in the UK in 1984 thanks to its controversial rape scene, then re-released in an edited form in 1995. It was finally released uncut on DVD in 2002.
This new take on Gordon Williams' novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm has been relocated to Mississippi, while James Marsden and Kate Bosworth play the young couple.
Check out the pics below...
Straw Dogs opens 28 October.
straw dogs (2011)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Getting Away for A Week, A Day, An Hour …..
Reentry can be a wickedly wild space.
As anyone who's been on vacation or retreat can confirm, landing at LAX is akin to stepping into an alternate reality. The crush of bodies, the press and stress of customs, the jostle of luggage and long lines and the just-too-many-people in one small space crashes down upon us. I often wonder how astronauts feel after a shuttle run or a sojourn at the orbiting station, where stars and empty space were their primary companions.
Outside the airport lies the 405 Freeway. Need I say anything else? Especially at rush hour, which seems to be the only time I can arrange an arrival, traffic hurls past at immeasurable speeds, or worse, doesn't hurl at all, but rather puddles in steamy exhaust laden pods. Where is everyone going? I ask myself. And why?
Maybe, just maybe, for a few hours and/or days, we disconnect from what we think we need to do. We let go of our guard. We let ourselves hear our deepest inner voices.
In that space, dreams begin to bubble up once again. The critical mind is at rest, and so nothing seems silly or impossible. It's as if the world sighs with us as we conjure new pathways through the minefields we have identified as problems. Distance reduces immediacy, and as our thoughts clear, we are better able to process and craft solutions.
I think Lagunans are luckier than most in southern California. We have both blue belt and greenbelt for mini-vacations or instant get-aways. Hiking deep into the wilderness park, it is possible to arrive in canyons where no trace of man — no houses, roads, constructs — is visible except for the dirt path behind and before. While not the total immersion of a lengthy get-away, a day in the back country both freshens the mind and allows for connection with wild spaces. The endorphins kick in from hiking, and flora and fauna re-invigorate the natural senses.
At the shoreline — well, what needs to be said? I don't think there is anyone (at least I've never met them) who isn't refreshed by a walk along the ocean's edge. The sea carries a mystical magic. A long while ago, scientists postulated that negative ions from the water itself create a feeling of well-being.
When I was an adolescent and confused (weren't we all?) by life's mounting challenges, it was to the seashore I ran. Oak Street was my beach of choice, and all I needed was to sit on the rocks and gaze across the watery space. As long as I could see the horizon (OK, foggy days were not so simple), I knew that there was someplace else, something else … that life was not going to stop at the juncture of my then current problem.
Sunrise and sunset remain my favorite hours for contemplation by the water. It's something in the sun's angle, mixed with the color of the sky. Softness precedes or overtakes the harsh light of day, and the sense of between spaces is quite clear.
At this juncture, I straddle two worlds — my sweet hometown Laguna Beach, and Loreto, BCS. I feel gifted on those days when I wake with sunrise over the Sea of Cortez and Isla Carmen, and end with sunset over the Pacific with the silhouette of Catalina. It's a kind of zig-zag existence, but matches current circumstances, and has given me a grand opportunity to expand my own point of view.
Retreats can be as simple as an hour or two a day, but their affect is enormous. Give it a try! Unplug, disconnect. Listen to your own thoughts instead of what is broadcast. Watch your own footsteps on the dusty trails or the damp sand. Let go of need to — for just a while — and celebrate the joy with which you return.
See you on the beach or back-country trails.


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Q: Offset block colour behind text Im looking for a way to style text like this :

I have tried h2::before pseudo class however it adds the style to the whole h2 element rather than the text so will not style over multiple lines.
h2{
  font-size: 48px;
  color: black;
  font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif;
  font-weight: 900;
  line-height: 0.9;
}

h2::before {
  content: "";
    position: absolute;
    width: 100%;
    height: 10%;
    top: 21px;
    left: -10px;
    background: rgba(229, 57, 53, 100);
    z-index: -1;
}

Thoughts on the best way to do this?

A: You can make the title display:inline then use linear-gradient like this :

h2 {
  font-size: 48px;
  color: black;
  font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif;
  font-weight: 900;
  display: inline;
  background-image: linear-gradient(#fff 60%, #ff9797 55%);
}

lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In November of 2013, the Western New York Environmental Alliance (WNYEA) presented its 2014 Action Agenda. The agenda contains 10 planks from 7 of the Alliance's Working and Process Groups, all dealing with environmental issues impacting the Western New York Region. To learn more about the Action Agenda items of the WNYEA and their progress, get involved in the Alliance through theWorking/Process Group Meetings, signing up for a listserv, or visiting the WNYEA section on GrowWNY. Or continue reading to learn about the latest Environmental Justice Working Group meeting.
Clean Air gave an update on what's happening on the West Side, where part of the current focus is the expanding truck plaza for the Peace Bridge. Currently the group is waiting to hear back from the civil rights complaint they have filed – due to the poor job of outreach with languages into the West Side community regarding the plaza.
Clean Air is also seeking more support from elected officials both in this matter and in conjunction with a solutions meeting. A solutions meeting will cultivate ideas from the community about combating the pollution problem in their neighborhood. This will work to mitigate the proposed expansion project as well as encourage community development and investment. A solutions meeting will also be a good outlet to display solutions from the Clean Air Coalition and its members have proposed, to elected officials that are what the community want. This also demonstrates that there are quantitative goals already established.
In addition to many other things, Clean Air hopes to see community assets like benches, air solutions (such as green buffers) and closer food markets. These things include the ideas of the original plank; incorporating people with currently limited access to decision as well as true investment in the community.
Recently, the Alliance Board of Directors met to discuss the Alliance's mission, vision, values and strategic goals in a planning retreat. The product of this meeting was a strategic framework that the Alliance Board Members are working to share through the working and process groups. The group reviewed the strategic framework and agreed to take it back to their respective organizations. An aspect of the strategic framework that the Environmental Justice working group is especially excited about is its position incorporating more policy advocacy than was previously included. This is something that helps move forward ideas that many of the WNYEA member organizations hope to make progress with.
Recently, the Clean Air Coalition and the Environmental Justice ACTION Group have been formulating ways the two groups could collaborate. In its brainstorming stages, the groups are working on four base ideas: a shared vision, capacity building, as well as community engagement and joint advocacy. Some of the larger ideas within this growing framework are a narrative between the organizations' self-interest, an environmental scan, as well as a timescale to place benchmarks of observable and softly quantifiable ways of evaluating their work together. Other exciting ideas include possible joint training with organizations like the Racial Justice institute and leadership training within the communities that make up Clean Air Coalition and Environmental Justice Action Group. There are countless ideas for community engagement and as this partnership moves forward there will be many more exciting stories to come.
As always don't stop with just this blog. Come to the next Environmental Justice Group meeting to learn more about the plans for 2014! The next meeting is planned for March 13th at 2:30pm at the Clean Air Coalition's offices. To stay up-to-date on meeting times and locations, join the group's listserv.


Etta, Casey — you then need to boycott the entire state of Washington.
Everything is very clean. She feels that she is being discriminated against by the society who will not recognize that she is physically female and mentally female, but feel that she should not be forced into thinking that she should be identified in the same gender category as those who has male physiology, but identifies and females. TripAdvisor LLC is not responsible for content on external web sites. You don't have to look around or take too long to wash, then put your suit on and head out to the pool. We all have them. But is that not going against what they profess? Ignoring the washing rules is extremely disrespectful towards Icelandic customs and other guests in the pool.


Puron® refrigerant is environmentally sound and won't deplete the ozone layer. Carrier introduced Puron® refrigerant a full six years ahead of the competition, paving the way for the future. The Clean Air Act of 1990 prohibits the production of HCFC-based air conditioners and heat pumps by 2010, and bans Freon® -22 production by 2020. As Freon® production reduces, its cost is predicted to increase. Freon® -12 in the automotive industry increased by a whopping 800% in a short seven years! Ensure your cooling costs by investing in systems with Puron® refrigerant - environmentally sound, efficient and dependable refrigerant designed for the future. Carrier's air conditioner with Puron® refrigerant delivers excellent reliability and proven performance.
Neither rain nor hail nor golf or soccer balls can keep a Carrier system from doing its job - it's built tough inside and out.
Carrier's compressor design has the most trouble-free performance record of any compressor on the market today.
Heavy-duty wire grille prevents coil damage and promotes optimum airflow through the unit while making cleaning easy.
Corner posts reinforce the cabinet and grille to enhance strength and minimize vibrations and sound.
Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ration, or SEER is like gas milage. A higher SEER rating means a more energy-efficient air conditioning system. As of mid-January of 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy requires home cooling systems to meet a minimum of 13.0 SEER. Carrier was one of the first leading air conditioner manufacturers to fully support this environmentally sound mandate.
As an Energy Star® partner, Carrier Corporation has determined that the 24ABA Series air condtioners that achieve combinations of 14.0 SEER and 11.5 EER or higher meet Energy Star® guidelines for energy efficiency.
Carrier specializes in creating a customized home comfort system tailord to your needs with our broad selection of residential heating and cooling products. We can help you choose the best system for your home, including Carrier-exclusive features that further enhance your indoor environment.
Carrier's 24ABA Series air conditioners deliver proven reliability and comfort in a compact design.
Carrier's 24ABA Series air conditioners are protected by a five-year limited warranty on the entire unit. Extended warranties are also available.


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Yachting News » Business » Nautical Structures Expands in the Med
Nautical Structures Expands in the Med
Posted: 22nd Sep 2017 | Written By: Erica Bolline
Nautical Structures has opened in September 2017 a sales and service center at MB92 in Barcelona, Spain as part of the company's ongoing expansion plans.
According to Nautical Structures President Colin Kiley, the operation will be managed by Ron Beilman, Worldwide Service Director and Rob Knoop, European Sales Director. The Nautical Structures' MB92 Sales and Service Center will be initially staffed by four specialists, with plans to grow staffing to 12 employees.
The establishment of the MB92 Service Center in Barcelona is key to the company's growth strategy. MB92 is the world's leading equipment service, repair and refit company dedicated to superyachts, and is headquartered in the center of Barcelona, perfectly situated in the Western Mediterranean to cater to the superyacht fleet. MB92 is easily accessible by land and sea, and offers state-of-the-art repair and refit facilities in Barcelona, including a 2,000-ton Syncrolift, a 220-meter dry dock and a new 4,000-ton Shiplift under construction, and in La Ciotat, France, with a 200-meter renewed dry dock.
"We are delighted that Nautical Structures will be joining us at our Barcelona facilities. We look forward to working together and this agreement demonstrates our shared commitment to providing our clients with the very best service here in Barcelona and in our new dry dock facilities in La Ciotat," says Commercial Director of MB92, Henk Dreijer.
"Forming strong collaborative partnerships with internationally renowned services and providers is a core element of our strategy at MB92. The agreement between Nautical Structures and MB92 represents another important step forward for the Western Mediterranean as the global center for Superyacht refit and repair and will lead to even more exciting opportunities for our clients." says David Mira, MB92 Procurement Manager.
"The vision and planning supporting the NSI Service Group expansion worldwide is focused on timely and competent availability to all our customers, both end-users and the best shipyards worldwide," states Ron Beilman. "MB92 is the perfect complement to what is already in place and flourishing in our Florida locations. It affords a uniquely powerful partnership, allowing deployment of both NSI technicians, and factory trained, authorized regional partners to facilitate all categories of sales and service work."
Rob Knoop affirms the value of integrated project management. "The first project performed by Nautical Structures Europe and MB92 was executed to the fullest satisfaction of the customer," Knoop explains. The result was new equipment being delivered and installed in a very short time frame. "It's a turn-key philosophy where one company, one point of contact, is responsible for ensuring the proper and timely execution of the client's project."
The Mediterranean expansion affords Nautical Structures' clients exceptional service by qualified technical support staff out of the Barcelona, Largo or Ft. Lauderdale facilities with sales and service support in The Netherlands. Each location provides full product sales, engineering support, and service, including installation, annual inspections for classed products, global product support and warranty work.
"Nautical Structures has led the way for product quality, innovation and warranty," Kiley explained. "We are now poised to deliver best-of-class service with global reach. The company's commitment is to build a scalable, full warranty and maintenance program, including service contracts, with world-wide support."
About Nautical Structures
Established in 1986, Nautical Structures is a 30-year-old company specializing in innovative boarding and tender-handling systems for the luxury and blue-water maritime markets. Product lines include transom lifts, gangplanks, passerelles, accommodation stairs and shell doors. Nautical Structures also provides unique engineered-to-order services for specialized hydraulic systems, small submarine launching and retrieval equipment, cruise ship boarding systems, and handicap mobility products.
The company's NSI Precision division specializes in close-tolerance sheet-metal work for manufacturers from around the globe. The division can manufacture most anything, from airport scanner cabinetry to stadium chillers.
Nautical Structures' 94,000 square-foot sales, engineering and manufacturing facility is located in Largo, Florida, 22 miles west of Tampa; Service centers are located in Fort Lauderdale and Barcelona, Spain, and manufacturing in the Netherlands. The company currently employs 86 qualified professionals.
To contact Nautical Structures in Barcelona:
Passeig Joan de Borbó, 92, 08039 Barcelona, Spain
MB92 Main Offices Building, 4th floor


text:
Ролстон () — переписна місцевість (CDP) в США, в окрузі Парк штату Вайомінг. Населення — 280 осіб (2010).

Географія
Ролстон розташований за координатами  (44.706865, -108.885417).  За даними Бюро перепису населення США в 2010 році переписна місцевість мала площу 14,64 км², з яких 14,63 км² — суходіл та 0,01 км² — водойми.

Демографія
Згідно з переписом 2010 року, у переписній місцевості мешкало 280 осіб у 119 домогосподарствах у складі 76 родин. Густота населення становила 19 осіб/км².  Було 128 помешкань (9/км²).

Расовий склад населення:

До двох чи більше рас належало 1,1 %. Частка іспаномовних становила 3,9 % від усіх жителів.

За віковим діапазоном населення розподілялося таким чином: 22,5 % — особи молодші 18 років, 59,3 % — особи у віці 18—64 років, 18,2 % — особи у віці 65 років та старші. Медіана віку мешканця становила 42,4 року. На 100 осіб жіночої статі у переписній місцевості припадало 94,4 чоловіків;  на 100 жінок у віці від 18 років та старших — 90,4 чоловіків також старших 18 років.

Середній дохід на одне домашнє господарство  становив  доларів США (медіана — ), а середній дохід на одну сім'ю —  доларів (медіана — ). За межею бідності перебувало 1,5 % осіб, у тому числі 0,0 % дітей у віці до 18 років та 10,9 % осіб у віці 65 років та старших.

Цивільне працевлаштоване населення становило 236 осіб. Основні галузі зайнятості: будівництво — 63,1 %, мистецтво, розваги та відпочинок — 16,9 %, публічна адміністрація — 8,1 %, освіта, охорона здоров'я та соціальна допомога — 7,2 %.

Джерела

Переписні місцевості Вайомінгу
Населені пункти округу Парк (Вайомінг)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Writers on Lockdown: Kenny Mooney
Kenny Mooney's books are experimental, 'unapologetically nihilistic' prose poems that skillfully thrust the reader into new perspectives. In the first of a new series of interviews, I caught up with him to chat about isolation, writing style, philosophical influence, and the importance of ambiguity in literature.
Hi Kenny, welcome to Writers on Lockdown!
Thank you for having me!
So how are you faring in these strange times – is isolation beneficial to your creative process or a hindrance?
The isolation isn't a problem for me. I'm an introverted, fairly anti-social person, so being told to stay indoors and not socialise is basically my life. I'm amused at how many people, mostly those I work with, have been going on about how they don't know how they're going to manage, and it's been about a week. I imagine them already chewing their fingernails down. These will be the fucking idiots buying all the food in the supermarkets.
Isolation definitely benefits my creative process though. I'm not the kind of person who can write around other people, I need a totally separate space that I can control and manage. Not that I've been writing very much lately, but when I do, having somewhere away from other people is certainly required. I guess because this whole situation isn't actually that much different to my normal life, for me, I don't feel as compelled to take advantage of the lockdown and do something creative.
I think pressure to be productive can have a negative effect on output for creatives. Would you agree?
I would definitely agree, at least for me. Different people respond to different stimuli, but in my experience, pressure is not a great way to encourage creativity. And I think that can often be part of the problem for writers, and other artists. We put ourselves under so much pressure to reach some arbitrary level, be it a particular word count, or to be original or funny, experimental, or whatever. I think if people just relaxed and let the work be itself, to arrive in its own way, they'd be happier, and maybe more productive. But who knows. I'm wary of giving or listening to writing advice. Do whatever works for you.
You've released two novels recently: Desk Clerk and In the Vast and Boundless Deep. Within just a few months of one another, in fact. Do you write quickly or were you working on them simultaneously?
That was really just down to good timing. Or bad, depending on your point of view. I actually finished writing In the Vast and Boundless Deep in late 2017, I think, and then spent the few months into spring 2018 editing it. It then spent about a year or so being submitted to various publishers, so while that was happening, I began work on Desk Clerk. Or more accurately, I returned to work on Desk Clerk, because that book has been around in one form or another for years. It actually began life as a short piece of fiction that I wrote sometime in my early 20s. I still have it somewhere. It's awful – I was still very much under the influence of writers like Burroughs, and it showed. It was followed by a second piece, a bitter, sardonic rant called Office Notes, that I wrote one day after one of the shit temp jobs I was working at the time in Glasgow. Between the two pieces, they had many of the things that went into Desk Clerk – the alienation, early versions of the narrator, Pristina, the doctor. For years I added to it, and it became a sprawling, disjointed novella. At some point in my 30s I decided to try and turn it into a coherent novel, with a "proper plot" and characters. I soon got bored of that crap. It wasn't until I had finished Vast & Boundless that I embraced the fragmented nature of the manuscript, and went with it.
"At some point in my 30s I decided to try and turn it into a coherent novel, with a "proper plot" and characters. I soon got bored of that crap."
So really, Vast & Boundless should have come out first, then Desk Clerk, if I were going with the order they were written. But Desk Clerk feels like an earlier piece. It's closer in style to The Gift Garden, and that's because sections of it date from earlier in my writing life. It's gone through a lot of editing and rewriting, but much of the early sections are years old at this point. So stylistically, Vast & Boundless is the more recent piece of work.
As for whether I write quickly – not really. I mean, when I start a project, I can. When I was working on Vast & Boundless I hit about 2k words a day, so given I have a day job and my working day begins at 6 am, and doesn't end until about 12 hours later because of my commute, that wasn't bad. It's the time between projects that tends to be long. The gap between V&B and Desk Clerk was short because I had Desk Clerk just waiting to be finished. But my first book, The Gift Garden, was written in 2011. I didn't publish it until 2017, and that was when I started work on V&B. Between then there were no long form projects, just short fiction. And most of that was crap.
Would you consider publishing any shorter fiction, or do you find novels/novellas more suited to your creative vision?
I don't think my writing suits the shorter form. I've published short fiction in a bunch of places, but I haven't submitted anything for a while now. None of it really set me or anyone else on fire. I think ultimately I don't really care about writing short fiction. I never have really. I think it has helped me to "find my voice", and it can be a useful way to work out ideas, but for me, the end result isn't as satisfying. Which isn't to say I find short fiction unsatisfying to read, quite the opposite.
Writing novels or novellas, gives my style a bit more breathing room (not that I really want people to have any!) and some space to become something. It gives me some time to create an atmosphere, or imagery, that builds something. My stuff is quite image-heavy, so it needs that room to take shape. It's in those spaces that I hope readers find "story".
Although each book you've released is obviously very different, would you say there are any themes in common?
There are obviously images and ideas I favour, or that come up time and time again. I favour writing in the first person, because my style is so focused on interiority, almost to the point that I don't care about things beyond that. I joke that my writing is just about guys going mad in shitty apartments, and to an extent that's true. I'm very interested in the shrinking of space and location, so much of my work is set in single locations, like an apartment. I also have a weird obsession with hospitals, the office, fields.
The themes I'm trying to explore are concerned mostly with obsession, paranoia, guilt, failure. All three books are about those things in some way. Desk Clerk is, and always was, a much more political story, and intentionally so. V&B was influenced by some much more grand philosophical ideas. So there's a definite common theme that runs through them. In a sense I'm trying, in some way, to explore the failure of masculinity, in its various aspects: emotional, political, philosophical. How successful I am at that, I'll leave to readers to decide.
"I'm trying, in some way, to explore the failure of masculinity, in its various aspects: emotional, political, philosophical."
That makes sense. And so pertinent with the shrinking of space and going mad in apartments! You mention philosophy as an intent and influence. Are there any schools of thought or philosophers you'd say had a particular influence on your ideas?
V&B was influenced a lot by post-structuralism and psychoanalysis, specifically Deleuze, Foucault, and Julia Kristeva. My partner was in the middle of doing an MA in Interdisciplinary Psychology at the time, so we had a lot of conversations about structuralist and post-structuralist ideas, which is really where the Kristeva stuff came from – her ideas around the chora, for example, stuck with me. I've been reading Deleuze for a few years, dipping into various books of his, and he's probably one of my biggest philosophical influences after Nietzsche and Marx, so there's stuff in a lot of my writing that's strongly influenced by his ideas on becoming. One of the main themes in my writing centres around identity, and the nature of the Self, and those post-structuralist theorists definitely feed into that.
Deleuze isn't just a philosophical influence though, he's a creative one. His philosophy is all about creation of ideas. He celebrates that which is radical and experimental, that seeks to find a new voice within an existing form. In that way reading his work is like filling up on artistic motivation. His work can be difficult, but for me, there's a joy in the way he writes – he's trying to change the way you think, about art and philosophy, and that's in the way he writes. To try and read his work in a conventional way is like reading Finnegan's Wake and expecting a linear narrative. It's missing the point.
Your writing has a very rhythmic, poetic quality to it, but at the same time carries no fat. Does that take several drafts to get right, or is it a style that forms organically for you?
I find that it's just the way I write. All my books are actually pretty short. Desk Clerk and V&B are both around 30k words, not even "proper novels" according to agents and publishers. I think because I don't have dialogue, and I'm not really interested in describing things the way more conventional writers do, that has the consequence of making things very trimmed down. I was told by an agent to make V&B longer, to "fill it out". My reaction to that is, "with what?" I say what I feel needs to be said, the way I feel it needs to be said, and no more. Everything else is just padding. To be honest I'm not really thinking about it in those terms when I'm writing, I just go with what seems right to me. I don't really know how else to describe it.
"Concrete statements about characters: names, histories, physical attributes – it's all irrelevant to me, and objectifying that which I want to keep unstable."
One of the things you just touched on is that you don't use dialogue. I've also noticed that very few of your characters have firm identities. Were these conscious decisions?
Yes and no. I don't write dialogue because I don't like it. It feels artificial to me. There are some writers who are great at writing it, but I'm not one of them. But it's also because of the severe internalised point of view I want. I almost want the sense that nothing outside the mind/view of the narrator exists. Desk Clerk has people speaking, but it's reported by the narrator, it isn't dialogue as such, it's "she tells me x" or "she says x". It makes everything that much more contained, and that much more unreliable. It would make more sense in a 3rd person narrative, but I always use the 1st person, and in that mode, I think dialogue, at least conventional dialogue, seems out of place.
Again, with the lack of firm identities, I think this comes about as a result of the intense internalised view, but it's also a deliberate thing because I want there to be ambiguity about the characters. One question I like to ask people who've read Desk Clerk is: what gender is the narrator? They usually say male, but nowhere in the book does it say that, and in a few places it's insinuated they may be female. There's no right or wrong way to take it, but I'm interested in how people approach the text. And I'm interested in the fluidity of my characters' identities. All of my favourite writers approach their work with this kind of question, the likes of Kathy Acker, Clarice Lispector, Marguerite Duras, Samuel Beckett – they're all asking questions about identity and subjectivity. And that's what interests me, as a reader and a writer. Concrete statements about characters: names, histories, physical attributes – it's all irrelevant to me, and objectifying that which I want to keep unstable.
It's so interesting, what you said there about the narrator in Desk Clerk. I, too, assumed they were male, and now I'm going to have to go away and think about why…! I think it's fair to say that all three of your books leave a level of interpretation to the reader. Is ambiguity important to you in fiction, as both a reader and writer?
It's extremely important. There's nothing worse in art than to have something laid out explicitly for you. That's true of literature as much as it is of film or music or painting. There needs to be space for people to do their own work, to do their own thinking. For me, to join the dots in my writing would be to completely rob the reader of their agency, their involvement in the text. Writing for me is like making music or a piece of abstract art. I don't really want to tell a story, I want to create a sensation. There's a quote from Francis Bacon I think from an interview he gave, where he talks about wanting to "paint the scream", and Deleuze picks up on that in the book he wrote about him. Art is about creating sensation, creating atmosphere, mood, affect. I want to write the scream. I want people to feel moved in some way, any way, even if it's revulsion or horror or disgust. If they hate my books, then that's great too.
Sometimes I want to deliberately encourage different interpretations. V&B was designed specifically to throw up many different ways of reading it. I actually have no "official" plot, no way of looking at it that I as the author consider "correct". I wrote it with several deliberate insinuations for what could be viewed as the "real" story, and I'm sure there are others I've not noticed. So in that particular case I was trying to encourage readers to see different ways to join things up. Like when you come out of a David Lynch film and you can kind of fit all the pieces together, but there's always one bit that doesn't quite fit. That's what I wanted for that book.
"I want to write the scream. I want people to feel moved in some way, any way, even if it's revulsion or horror or disgust."
I think that's a great approach, and it certainly makes for a long-lasting impression on the reader. You mention abstract art and film as comparators – do you have any other creative pursuits, apart from writing? If so, do you find the different disciplines play into one another?
I sometimes make music, although not as much these days. I do feel like they use the same "muscles" as well. It's very similar to writing for me in that I'm trying to create an atmosphere, a sonic texture. I don't write songs, that's a very specific skill and one I don't possess. Pieces of noise and soundscapes, are more my thing. I've often thought about creating music that would accompany my writing, but I've just never got around to it. Maybe one day.
That would be a fun avenue to explore. A multimedia experience…
I've attempted to get close to that kind of thing with some of the short promo videos I did, particularly for The Gift Garden. I'd love to be able to spend more time and put more into that kind of thing, a kind of audio/visual expression of my writing, but I don't have the time, or to some degree, the talent for what I have in my head. It would be really cool, but I may have to just be satisfied with the words and the occasional piece of music.
Finally, then, a question I'll be asking everyone in these interviews: which three books would you recommend for readers on lockdown?
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson. Not one that most people go to when they think of her work, but it's set during the brink of an alleged apocalypse, with the cast of characters holed up in a grand mansion. Shows Jackson's great talent for dialogue, pacing, and razor sharp satirical humour. And that oh-so important ambiguity.
The Plague by Albert Camus. An obvious one, given the situation right now, but a great novel, and definitely a lot better than the more famous The Stranger.
The Passion According to G.H by Clarice Lispector. Nothing at all to do with the lockdown, it's just an incredible novel, and everyone should read it. It is set in a single room though, so it does have some relevance.
I haven't read any of those, so I'll be adding them to my list! Thank you for your time, Kenny, and the best of luck with your next project.
Thanks for having me!
If that piqued your interest, you can buy Kenny's books via his website, Fields of Dissonance, where he is also keeping a daily 'Plague Diary' about his experience of the pandemic. They are also available to order from all good bookstores.
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pirateastronomer says:
Very good interview. Intelligent questions and answers.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.


An ambitious and hardworking twelve-year-old philanthropist and entrepreneur ,Taylor Moxey, transformed a $40 loan from her parents into an expanding empire. She has successfully built a cupcake company; written an inspirational best-selling book; and developed a line of motivational daily mantra cards. She also created the Taylor Moxey Foundation to empower young girls and boys like her to become leaders in their communities.
Moxey will open her third mini-library on November 27 at a new outdoor activity space called "Dance into the Sunset," located at 600 4th Street in West Palm Beach. Housed in a converted and refurbished shipping container, the new public library includes a range of reading materials for all ages to enjoy seven days a week, from dawn to dusk.
Under the Taylor Moxey Foundation, the library was created to help improve literacy in low-income areas by making books more accessible to children and adults. Moxey's West Palm Beach library marks the third location, with others in the small village of Mangrove Cay in the Bahamas and Omni Park in Miami.
From the shipping container structure to the shelving system, the libraries are designed to serve as creative learning spaces. The West Palm Beach location, which works on the honor system, houses a range of books for both children and adults. The books are not arranged categorically to encourage readers to discover new topics and increase curiosity as they browse row after row. The shipping container was donated by Seaboard Marine, the books come from a variety of donors, and the interior design was provided by FYI Network's Anya Cesar.
The pop-up library is a partnership between the Taylor Moxey Foundation, City of West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District and the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency.
Launched four years ago, the A&E District encompasses more than 20 distinct and distinguished cultural venues. In addition to helping bring the Taylor Moxey Library to West Palm Beach, the A&E District has been involved in numerous other pop-up performances and projects.
The library opening marks the debut of the new outdoor activity space, which aims to connect the Historic Northwest with Downtown West Palm Beach by creating a vibrant, walkable path between Downtown and the Sunset Lounge.
This entry was posted in Parenting Teens, Videos and tagged books, books for teens, Florida, teen entrepreneur. Bookmark the permalink.


The 2016 Dyn cyberattack was a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS attacks) on October 21, 2016, targeting systems operated by Domain Name System (DNS) provider Dyn. The attack caused major Internet platforms and services to be unavailable to large swathes of users in Europe and North America. The groups Anonymous and New World Hackers claimed responsibility for the attack, but scant evidence was provided.
16:45 UTC, 21 October 2016.
As a DNS provider, Dyn provides to end-users the service of mapping an Internet domain name—when, for instance, entered into a web browser—to its corresponding IP address. The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack was accomplished through a large number of DNS lookup requests from tens of millions of IP addresses. The activities are believed to have been executed through a botnet consisting of a large number of Internet-connected devices—such as printers, IP cameras, residential gateways and baby monitors—that had been infected with the Mirai malware.
Dyn Chief Strategy Officer and spokesperson Kyle York led the communication response with customers, partners and the market.
The US Department of Homeland Security started an investigation into the attacks, according to a White House source. No group of hackers claimed responsibility during or in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Dyn's chief strategist said in an interview that the assaults on the company's servers were very complex and unlike everyday DDoS attacks. Barbara Simons, a member of the advisory board of the United States Election Assistance Commission, said such attacks could affect electronic voting for overseas military or civilians.
Dyn disclosed that, according to business risk intelligence firm FlashPoint and Akamai Technologies, the attack was a botnet coordinated through a large number of Internet of Things-enabled (IoT) devices, including cameras, residential gateways, and baby monitors, that had been infected with Mirai malware. The attribution of the attack to the Mirai botnet had been previously reported by BackConnect Inc. another security firm. Dyn stated that they were receiving malicious requests from tens of millions of IP addresses. Mirai is designed to brute-force the security on an IoT device, allowing it to be controlled remotely.
Cybersecurity investigator Brian Krebs noted that the source code for Mirai had been released onto the Internet in an open-source manner some weeks prior, which will make the investigation of the perpetrator more difficult.
On 25 October 2016, US President Obama stated that the investigators still had no idea who carried out the cyberattack.
On 13 December 2017, the Justice Department announced that three men (Paras Jha, 21, Josiah White, 20, and Dalton Norman, 21) had entered guilty pleas in cybercrime cases relating to the Mirai and clickfraud botnets.
In correspondence with the website Politico, hacktivist groups SpainSquad, Anonymous, and New World Hackers claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation for Ecuador's rescinding Internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, at their embassy in London, where he had been granted asylum. This claim has yet to be confirmed. WikiLeaks alluded to the attack on Twitter, tweeting "Mr. Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing. We ask supporters to stop taking down the US internet. You proved your point." New World Hackers has claimed responsibility in the past for similar attacks targeting sites like BBC and ESPN.com.
On October 26, FlashPoint stated that the attack was most likely done by script kiddies.
A November 17, 2016 Forbes article reported that the attack was likely carried out by "an angry gamer".
^ "Level3 outage? Current problems and outages". downdetector.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
^ a b Etherington, Darrell; Conger, Kate. "Many sites including Twitter, Shopify and Spotify suffering outage". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ "The Possible Vendetta Behind the East Coast Web Slowdown". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ a b c Romm, Tony; Geller, Eric (21 October 2016). "WikiLeaks supporters claim credit for massive U.S. cyberattack, but researchers skeptical". POLITICO. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
^ a b c Newman, Lily Hay. "What We Know About Friday's Massive East Coast Internet Outage". WIRED. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ "Sites across the internet suffer outage after cyberattack". mashable.com. Mashable. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ a b c Perlroth, Nicole; Mccann, Erin (2016-10-21). "No, It's Not Just You. The Internet Is (Still) Having Problems". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ a b Lovelace Jr., Berkeley (21 October 2016). "After cyberassault KOs Amazon, Twitter, Spotify, third attack reported". CNBC. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ "Dyn, Inc. Status - Update Regarding DDoS Event Against Dyn Managed DNS on October 21, 2016". dynstatus.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ "Red Stag Fulfillment - Can Hackers Shut Down Your Ecommerce Business?". redstagfulfillment.com. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h Heine, Christopher. "A Major Cyber Attack Is Hurting Twitter, Spotify, Pinterest, Etsy and Other Sites". AdWeek. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Turton, William. "This Is Probably Why Half the Internet Shut Down Today [Update: It's Happening Again]". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Chiel, Ethan. "Here Are the Sites You Can't Access Because Someone Took the Internet Down". Fusion. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Chavez, Danette (21 October 2016). "Here's why half the internet went down today". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b c Murdock, Jason (21 October 2016). "Twitter, Spotify, Reddit among top websites knocked offline by major DDoS attack". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k Meyer, Robinson; LaFrance, Adrienne. "What's Going On With the Internet Today?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ @TESOnline (21 October 2016). "We are still investigating intermittent login issues some players are experiencing across all megaservers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ a b c d e f g "Massive web attacks briefly knock out top sites". BBC News. 21 October 2016.
^ a b c d Thielman, Sam; Johnston, Chris (21 October 2016). "Major cyber attack disrupts internet service across Europe and US". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Hinckley, Story (21 October 2016). "Did the East Coast just suffer a massive cyberattack?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b Hughes, Matthew (21 October 2016). "A massive DDOS attack against Dyn DNS is causing havoc online [Updated]". The Next Web. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b "Having internet problems today? Here's what's going on". WJHG-TV. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ a b c d Chacos, Brad. "Major DDoS attack on Dyn DNS knocks Spotify, Twitter, Github, PayPal, and more offline". PCWorld. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
^ Menn, Joseph (22 October 2016). "Cyber attacks disrupt PayPal, Twitter, other sites". Reuters. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
^ "DDoS Attack on DNS; Major sites including GitHub PSN, Twitter Suffering Outage". HackRead. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
^ "[RESOLVED] Unscheduled Maintenance". Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
^ a b Joel Westerholm. "Så sänktes Twitter och Regeringen.se i attacken", Sveriges Radio, 24 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
^ "U.S. internet disrupted as firm hit by cyberattacks". CBS News. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Lecher, Colin (21 October 2016). "Denial-of-service attacks are shutting down major websites across the internet". The Verge. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Gallagher, Sean. "DoS attack on major DNS provider brings Internet to morning crawl [Updated]". Ars Technica. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Wolkenbrod, Rob (21 October 2016). "Why is the WWE Network Down on Friday, October 21?". Daily DDT. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
^ Sarkar, Samit (21 October 2016). "Massive DDoS attack affecting PSN, some Xbox Live apps (update)". Polygon. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
^ "Government probes major cyberattack causing internet outages". POLITICO. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ Finkle, Jim; Volz, Dustin. "Homeland Security Is 'Investigating All Potential Causes' of Internet Disruptions". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
^ "Popular sites like Amazon, Twitter and Netflix suffer outages". money.cnn.com. CNN Money. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "Blame the Internet of Things for Destroying the Internet Today". Motherboard. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
^ Perlroth, Nicole (2016-10-21). "Internet Attack Spreads, Disrupting Major Websites". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
^ Statt, Nick (October 21, 2016). "How an army of vulnerable gadgets took down the web today". The Verge. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ Han, Esther (22 October 2016). "WikiLeaks claims its supporters are behind the massive DDoS cyber attack". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
^ Satter, Raphael; Fowler, Bree; Bajak (21 October 2016). "Cyberattacks on Key Internet Firm Disrupt Internet Services". The New York Times. The Associated Press. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
^ Lomas, Natasha (26 October 2016). "Dyn DNS DDoS likely the work of script kiddies, says FlashPoint". TechCrunch. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
^ Mathews, Lee (17 November 2016). "Angry Gamer Blamed For Most Devastating DDoS Of 2016". Forbes.com. Forbes Media LLC. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to October 2016 Dyn cyberattack.


The European Association for Cancer Research is a world-wide membership organisation for scientists involved in cancer research. Website developer Peter Bourne Communications has worked with the association for nearly 10 years.
Earlier this year we launched a new version of their website. The site is responsive and works wonderfully on a range of browsing devices - including mobile phones.
The public-facing website is only a small part of the development though. Behind the scenes is a membership database that helps the team administer members and various events. Payment integration with PayPal is also included in the website.
Members of the association can log on and update their profile information - share contact information with other members and view a history of past meetings and events attended.
"We wanted a completely new, device-responsive website to replace our old site. Peter worked with us to build the site around our individual needs and requirements, some of which were very complicated and challenging! We are delighted with the end result."


text:
Just because you believe it, that doesn't make it true.
Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.
The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.
Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.
When someone says they "love freedom", rest assured they don't mean yours.
Optimism opens the door to great things.
The revolution will be supervised.
Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.
The GOP couldn't organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.
Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.
I was promised a recession.
Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.
And we're all out of bubblegum.
I'd like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.
Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn't end.
Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.
Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.
Bark louder, little dog.
Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?
This really is a full service blog.
You are here: Home / Sully at Ten Years
Sully at Ten Years
by John Cole | October 11, 2010 12:40 pm | 112 Comments
This post is in: Blogospheric Navel-Gazing
Andrew is having his ten year anniversary of blogging, and asking people to roast or toast. I'll choose neither, and stick to what blogs do best, which is navel-gazing.
Like many of you, I have a love/hate relationship with Sullivan's blog. Some days, I'm ready to throw my monitor out the window- especially on days where he links to glibertarian economic analysis that has been debunked hundreds of times, yet he buys into it and calls it "interesting." Other days, I'm standing up cheering, thrilled that he is standing up for something (I think we can all agree he has been a solid voice from the right on torture). And then the next day, I'm back to wanting to chuck my computer monitor out the window again, when he decides that the real villain in the gay rights debate is… the Human Rights campaign. Or wondering what exactly he thinks he is accomplishing changing the color of his blog to show "solidarity." Changing the color of your blog to show solidarity with people who are going to get killed for their actions is slacktivism and wanking at its best. And then, the next day, he rips far and wide into the fraud that is the modern GOP. He gives me whiplash every time I open his blog.
But that is neither here nor there, really- because what really matters with a blog is whether or not it is interesting. And I think Sullivan is always interesting, he always writes with a personal touch, you know how he is feeling (even when it drives you insane), and he'll never shy away from a fight. In addition, the traffic he (along with Kos and others) sent to this blog really made it what it is. A lot of you would not be readers here if it were not for Sully- you know who you are. And he has always been respectful and pleasant to me.
So here is a roast and a toast for Sully- happy tenth. I'm still a fan.
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Redshirt
Are you growing a beard on Sully's behalf?
Mr Furious
Agreed. I am finding less interesting stuff over there of late—but then again, I feel pretty fatigued with the intertrons in general these days. Sully's batting average has slipped significantly since the end of the Steroid Bush/Cheney Era, but he still hits 'em out on occasion.
@Redshirt: I shaved that off this morning. Apparently ten days is my upper limit for unnecessary itching. Was making me mental.
I found BJ via Sully and will always be grateful. Now if he would only do cute pet rescue stories…
aimai
Well, I got here on my own. Can't remember how. But I've always disliked Sullivan and can't forgive him for the "fifth column" crack and the publishing of the bell curve. I don't find him interesting at all–when he's good he's only saying what any sensible person would say and I tend to know lots of people who would say it, and damned loudly, if they had the perch he has. When he's not interesting he's utterly, selfishly, conventional and he has had enough reminders from his fans not to be permanently surprised by his own limitations. Has he grown,as a person? Not clearly. And the original one was no great shakes to begin with.
@John Cole:
Was making me mental.
How could you tell?
We couldn't.
Xboxershorts
One of these days I'll clean the lint out of my navel and be able to gaze with clarity.
Not today though
never been a big fan of his, mostly because i'm sick to death of bloggers who can't be consistent. i get enough of the emotional-rollercoaster treatment dealing with regular people.
taylormattd
And in the interest of picking fights (isn't that what dirty blog commenters are supposed to do?), let me say this: Andrew Sullivan to this day waxes nostalgic about launching the career of the racist authors of the Bell Curve.
So fuck Sully. :D
I realise everyone who would want to go there knows where it is, but it seems odd to devote an entire post to the critique of a web site with no link to it.
weak sauce, cole. you're the sarah palin of growing a beard.
Tim F.
@John Cole: The itching goes away after a month or so. It's how your face separates serious beard growers from people who forgot to shave.
JGabriel
Liz:
I found BJ via Sully …
I found BJ via Jane Hamsher, which is kind of ironic.
Edited to add: Actually, it was FDL, but I'm not sure if it was Jane, Christie, T-Rex, or someone else. It's so many years ago…
jeffreyw
A fucking Drama Queen-not that that's a bad thing.
What? Too soon?
@chopper:
This. New Tag please.
fwiw, this post is a good example of why people come here: the honest, decent, nuanced, no bullshit POV that is uniquely John Cole's. It shouldn't be that hard to find in the political blogosphere, but it is.
Of course, when the topic is Sully, it's generally gonna be downhill from there in the comments……
numbskull
…with a personal touch, you know how he is feeling…
Are you commenting on his blog writing skills or his personal want ad writing skills at Barebackcity.com?
I'm a regular reader– 'tho I skip the stuff that is genuinely inexplicable. HRC-hatred is one example. He's lately backed off somewhat on Clinton-hatred and Krugman-hatred– and circumcision-hatred is, I suppose, a matter of taste.
In any event, Sullivan is the classic "When he's good, he's very, very good…" etc. But when he's bad, it reminds me that there are some people whose judgment just can't be trusted. And it's too damn bad.
Linda Featheringill
And this was different?
I found this blog from the 'Jane Hamshers of the left' thing, which I still find far more amusing that I should.
Sully's great at the act of blogging. The content makes me crazy, because he's a conservative and I'm a liberal, so we disagree on the issues. But he's a fantastic _blogger_.
taylormattd:
Andrew Sullivan to this day waxes nostalgic about launching the career of the racist authors of the Bell Curve. So fuck Sully.
To be fair, Sully has pulled back from that recently.
So, with that out of the way, fuck him anyway. I have problems forgiving him for publishing that piece of shite, too.
OT, but has anybody checked in on the Corner's flirtation with comments yet?
Barb (formerly gex)
Well the thing I would say about Sully is that he is truly a conservative in my understanding of the word. Everything is about him. He feels strongly about torture because of his faith, he feels strongly about gay rights because he's gay, he opposes abortion because he's a Catholic and a man, and he feels it is entirely possible that black people are genetically inferior because he's white. A true conservative.
@JGabriel: Has he? The last I read he was still calling it "an interesting intellectual exercise".
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Sully has the typical conservative problem: Unless it pertains to him, he cannot see how it affects people. Which is why he can be gay and still vote for Republicans. (And yes, I know some Dems are not exactly exciting on this front.)
I read lots of stuff, including him, because when broken clocks are correct, you can still end up finding out something extremely useful.
@JGabriel: I swear he just wrote a post within the last few weeks talking about how proud of that he is.
Keith G
@jeffreyw:
And what's worse, not even an entertaining 'fucking Drama Queen", and I've known many and dated a few.
Somewhat descent writer and able collector of talented assistants or not, the world has more than enough self righteous pricks.
Church Lady
I found this blog via a Sullivan link during the Graeme Frost counter tops controversy.
El Cruzado
Paraphrasing Churchill, Sully can be counted on reaching the right conclusion… after dabbling with all the wrong ones.
So half the time I go there for the mental health breaks, the other half to see if he finally has figured out the issue du jour.
This OT, but your governor is a little mental.
@Barb (formerly gex):
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Three minutes apart, you two do a great job of writing the book on Sully.
@MattF:
and circumcision-hatred is, I suppose, a matter of taste.
You're lucky today's an official holiday at work and almost no one's here. Otherwise I'd be sending you a bill for a new monitor and keyboard….
jayboat
You guys can blame him for me being here.
I've been a long time fan of the Dish- mainly because of his willingness to admit a mistake, and the wide variety of things he and his staff find on the internets that are of interest to me. (Texts From Last Night – yay)
Lately, tho… I skip over more parts than I used to, probably because I spend so much time here- cheering from the sidelines as I read the best group of commenters in cyberville. This place actually manages to teach me something while entertaining me at the same time.
Yes, Sully, sent me; and I just keep coming back every day or so for more.
What gex said before the sex change.
I'm pretty sure I found BJ via Unqualified Offerings, and, uh, first heard of Sully here during the rah-rah in 2003.
So I blame John for being exposed to the useless Atlantic bloggers and forever staining my image of the once respectable rag.
burnspbesq
FWIW, Andrew's is one of only seven legal/political/economic blogs I have bookmarked. Even when he's annoying, he's thought-provoking.
Citizen_X
I'm still a fan.
Clearly, proof that we need a blogger ethics blah blah &c.
DougJ is the business and economics editor for Balloon Juice.
I think that of the establishment blogs, it is the one I like the best. But I have grown bored with all establishment blogs.
I like that it actually tries to entertain you, though. There's a side of that blog that is just trying to be fun.
I don't find it particularly thought-provoking or intelligent, though.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
And I think Sullivan is always interesting
Here's where we differ. I find little he says the slightest bit interesting, which is why I almost never visit his blog unless linked from another one. His attempts to reconcile various political, religious, and personal impulses into a coherent viewpoint are usually a failure. His obsession with Sarah Palin can occasionally be interesting in a train wreck sort of way, but most days it's just old. And I don't need to go to a blog to view photographs if I want to view photographs. So that's my take.
@John Cole: Sad. Growing a beard's a lot like running, son: It's the first few miles that are the hard part. Once you get through that, it's smooth sailing.
Ross Hershberger
I read Sully for a week or two before I discovered he considers himself a Conservative. He seemed so reasonable.
I quit reading because he's so damn prolific. I'd glance away and he'd be 10 posts ahead of me.
But he's the one we love to hate.
@Redshirt: The other way it's lot like running is that it's something that self-impressed people do for no particular reason.
licensed to kill time
I used to go to Sully's because he had interesting links. I found BJ through his site, but you know what they say:
Once you go BJ you never go back ;-)
D0n Camillo
I'm with Aimai. Has he ever apologized for "Fifth Column"? Then fuck him. That goes double for "The Bell Curve".
Royston Vasey
A toast, with extra Vegemite, for Mr Andrew!
I likes ya (most of the time)!
I found BJ from him as well.
I get whiplash from him too. On the one hand, he's got more of an immigrant's optimist view of this country than I did (did he really think the election Barack Obama was going to put an end to the culture wars? I was ready for a fucking category 5 hurricane of insanity from the right after one of Those People took the White House away from Real America), and on the other hand, he thinks this country is going to put Sarah Palin in the White House in 2012. Even I'm not pessimistic to think we're that crazy.
And I'll add that I'm generally a fan of him. Yeah, I think he's gone crazier than a shithouse rat when it comes to Palin, and I still shake my head at some of his economic analysis, but he's on the right side of some very important issues, like the war crimes of the Bush administration (and Obama's refusal to do anything about it).
Its annoying that Sullivan doesn't have comments. Since he's a full time blogger, I get the impression that he's afraid to interact with his readers. The one way conversation is a touch narcissistic.
schrodinger's cat
I am one of those people who found this blog via Sullivan in the 2008 election season. I am no longer a fan of the Dish. In fact I find it increasingly tiresome.
Top 5 Reasons why Balloon Juice is better than the Daily Dish
5. A great comments section.
4. A diversity of voices on the front page.
3. Animal rescue stories and food blogging.
2. Insightful political analysis delivered with just the right amount of snark.
1. Tunch.
kevina
I've read Sully everyday since, I think, '05, just as I have BJ (around the time of Schiavo and, esp. with Sully, the rise of Ratzinger/Benedict.).
Andrew is NOT a guy you'll always agree or, when you don't, just "mildly disagree" with. He can be infuriating (like on Harry Reid. Not a huge Reid guy-Durbin for Leader FTW!-, but he's better than Angle.), but only reading stuff I agree with bores me. I read much less right-wing stuff than I used too, mostly b/c they've gone nuts, but Sully's blog is a way to find opposing view points, w/o seeking out Malkin, etc.
Yes, changing the Dish's scheme to all green was emotive silliness, but his coverage during that week-plus of Iran was unbeaten in ALL American Media.* You can say he was way too emotionally involved (and he was), but he understood that something significant had happened/was happening and helped spread and get out otherwise censored info all week.
In many ways, he has understood Obama better than many liberals/progressives do. B/c fundamentally, The President is, as Andrew would say, a "Whiggish Tory." Wingnut frothing aside, he is no radical interested only in Rovian-style politics (WH actually sucks at pure politics). He is far more interested in good, solid governance, not the "Overton Window," or other nonsense. He is, in truth, a Whiggish/Liberal pragmatic reformer. Sully understood this from day one.
Sullivan has, as was mentioned, mastered blogging. Unless he goes full-on wingnut, I'll read him everyday, waiting to be infuriated, challenged, annoyed, and more informed.
*Eventually, unless we or the Israelis fuck it up, that regime will collapse on its own. Just too many internal contradictions.
Never been to Sully's blog. Never read him.
I came to BJ through a recommendation on Twitter.
Life can be fulfilling without several of the folks that drive John wild. Who needs Sully? Who needs Hamsher?
Dailypuppy dot com is nice, though.
EFroh
But I've always disliked Sullivan and can't forgive him for the "fifth column" crack and the publishing of the bell curve.
Me too. Those two actions will always be unforgettable and unforgivable marks on his career. Has he ever apologized for being completely wrong about that Fifth Column comment or the Iraq War in general? Just curious.
But as conservative bloggers go, he's probably the most readable one out there for me (after Larison).
@aimai:
Has he grown,as a person? Not clearly.
The answer is "yes, but with no real or actual long-term substance." That's why he can get enraged about the DADT repeal falling apart and still place all the blame on Harry Reid weeks later. To the point that he, once again, publicly states that he would be incapable of voting for Harry Reid over someone like Sharron Angle because Harry Reid has "a face so weak it changes depending on the way the wind is blowing" and "a voice so sad you think he's a funeral director."
So, naturally, it makes sense that you wouldn't be able to support him over someone you declare to be "a nutcase, obviously."
Sullivan is an intellectual fraud, period.
I'll also add that if we're ever going to have a reasonable right someday replace the Limbaugh/Palin/Beck lunatic asylum after they burn out, people like Sullivan (and Bruce Bartlett, and Daniel Larison) are going to important in building such a right.
@kevina:
I'll second this completely.
He is a great sieve for everything that is out there, but when he goes mental, it's like WTF?!, Sir? Vote for Angle? are you nuts?
Citizen Alan
The thing about Sully and Palin is that it's just the most extreme example of the misogyny that subtly permeates all of his work. The only women he's ever spoken of approvingly that I can recall are Thatcher and Neda Agha-Soltan, the latter of whom had the virtue of already being dead and thus someone upon whom he could project all of his personal beliefs about what Iranian women should be feeling.
Other than the pregnancy weirdness, his hysteria over Palin isn't really that much worse than his hysteria over Clinton in the spring of '08. And if he's come around at all on Hillary Clinton, it's only because he perceives her as having been broken by her loss and made subservient to his man-crush Obama. I also remember when Napolitano made a single ill-advised comment after a failed terrorist attack and he pitched a screaming tantrum that lasted nearly three weeks.
His other quirk that drives me insane (I'm currently still on sabbatical from his blog from the last time he did it) is when he refers to progressive taxation (and especially the estate tax) as targeting not the "rich" but the "successful." Because in Sullyworld, the definition of a "successful person" is someone who's rich and who is therefore morally superior to a less successful (i.e. poor) person. The idea that America's best school teachers, cops, fire fighters and even garbage men are less "successful" in their lives than people whose sole achievement was inheriting lots of money is repugnant to me. Given what I know of the New Testament, I might also describe it as heretical coming from someone who claims to be a Christian, but since Sully, like most Christians, worships Mammon and pretends its Christ, I'll pass over that.
snarkypsice
Well, I see Andrew isn't all that respected here but I love him and love his blog, even if he makes me nuts half the time. He's a real person, a kind man, and a truly gifted – and I mean really gifted – writer. I do not always agree with him – in fact I probably disagree more than I agree – and being a Brit of the same age, his Margaret Thatcher love makes me question his sanity. But he's one of the few bloggers willing to own his mistakes and willing to publish dissent regularly on his blog. (No doubt someone will now spring up to tell me about some mistake he hasn't admitted to, to which I'll just ask how many times a day do you walk up to people and tell them you're wrong?)
Plus he sent me here one day, and for that I am eternally grateful.
El Tiburon
I began the decade a conservative and I end it as one. Chastened – as conservatives who dare to dream of a better world always should be – but conservative nonetheless.
Hmmmm…let's see what it means to Sully to be a conservative.
I was an Oakeshottian supporter of marriage equality for gays and marijuana legalization in the 1980s. I wrote the case for green conservatism for Margaret Thatcher's policy unit in 1985. I was never a supply-sider and always a fiscal conservative, who believed in balanced budgets, welfare reform, simple taxation as flat as possible, and the counter-productive hubris of affirmative action and political correctness. I was against hate crimes law then and now. As a gay man, I bear the scars of taking on the left in a time of great pain and fear. I remain deeply skeptical of government's ability to solve most human problems, but have never denied its necessity or importance in tackling the profound questions of the common good no other institution can replace. I'm a Whiggish Tory, not a pure libertarian.
Subract the flat-tax clap-trap and what you have in today's parlance is a goddamn liberal.
So Sully you can call yourself a conservative all day and night, but it doesn't change the fact that the Dodgers ain't in Brooklyn anymore.
@Guster:
Sully's great at the act of blogging. The content makes me crazy, because he's a conservative and I'm a liberal, so we disagree on the issues. But he's a fantastic blogger.
As many here have said, the things he's bad on (the Bell Curve, the runup to Iraq, religion, Thatcher wanking, buying into libertarian bullshit, Trig Palin), he's really, really bad about. But the things he's good on (gay rights, torture and the national security state, hating on neocons, Palestinian rights, marijuana, the fraud that is Sarah Palin), he's quite good.
And he has shown that you can grow and change. He did that on Iraq (read his post on the anniversary; he apologizes all over again), he's done it on abortion, and he has finally accepted that the Church is a criminal organization (if not that it's complete bullshit from the get-go). He has consistently had Obama's back in the face of his compatriots' complete and utter derangement on the issue.
There are days that I hate myself for going to The Dish. And there are days that I can't quit quoting him to my friends. Whatever else Andrew is, he's a fantastic writer and blogger. He is one of the people that really made blogging what it has become, for good and ill. I give him props for that and keep pounding on him when he's wrong. But he's interesting to me and I simply can't quit him no matter how often he tempts me to.
As for how I found you, Cole, it certainly wasn't Andrew that brought me here. In fact, it was a certain reality tv message board that I used to frequent (before being banned for being too shrill and liberal for the commentariat) that sent me here. Another conservative-turned-DFH on that board sent me here, telling me that I would fit in well here. Not so sure about that, but it feels comfortable to me. ;-)
@schrodinger's cat:
Shouldn't it be:
1) Tunch
2) Lily and Rosie
ornery curmudgeon
Andrew Sullivan is gay, and on the Right. Yup, great thinker, wonderful man. Whatev.
Would make a good Catholic priest, probably.
Joe Beese
@Citizen Alan:
subservient to his man-crush Obama
He supported Bush's war crimes in Iraq until Bush became publicly branded as a loser. He will continue supporting Obama's war crimes in Pakistan until Obama is publicly branded as a loser.
Leading me to suspect that for Sully it has nothing to do with political convictions and plenty to do with some secret thrill he gets when the wise and mighty Leader displays his strength by killing brown people.
swalker
@kevina: I was gonna write alla that, but you beat me to it. This is how I feel as well.
@EFroh:
Has he ever apologized for being completely wrong about that Fifth Column comment or the Iraq War in general?
Since I keep reading his blog for whatever reason, he has pretty much apologized for it. But he walked back that apology today in typical fashion with some half-hearted comment about disagreeing with the right people for the wrong reason.
And he has never apologized for imposing Murray on the country, and has never educated himself on the subject covered. How long would it take him to read Steven Jay Gould and reconsider his actions? It is pretty telling that he has never done it.
@Maude: I was just saving the best for the last, my list is in descending order
@New Yorker:
If that's going to be the working definition of "reasonable right" then we should lock them all in the town church before we burn it down.
Fuck Sullivan.
D-Chance.
Et tu, Brute?
@srv: Sex change? I'm just having problems upgrading my handle across various devices.
James E. Powell
I read Sully's blog during the last presidential campaign when others linked to it. I remain unclear on exactly what he did to get that gig. Is he on TV shows because he has that gig, or did he get that gig because he was on TV shows?
Anyway, I do not see him or his writing as a substantial improvement over Megan McArdle. He is a regular source of completely stupid remarks. He appears to have no understanding of how the world really works. He is a gushing celebrity worshiper. And I cannot recall a single time that he had anything interesting to add to the national conversation.
So, what is the attraction?
@Joe Beese: And this is what makes him a conservative. He's an authoritarian.
@James E. Powell:
View from your Window?
This, basically. And then there was his pimping of Betsy Mccaughey's flawed attack on the Clinton health care plan, which TNR was forced to disown.
What really made me upset about it wasn't so much the piece itself–bad as it was, sometimes magazines and editors make mistakes, even horrible ones. It was Sullivan's late, craven self-defense, which he eventually walked back to "I knew it was screwed up, but she made me do it!"
Dude, YOU WERE THE EDITOR. It's YOUR JOB to not let writers walk all over you.
Sullivan's just made too many horrible mistakes–and has been too pathetically weak in accounting for them when he's not actively taking pride in stirring up discussion or whatever–for me to patronize him or anything he does. I'm in the same business, and it frustrates me to no end to see more careful, more ethical writers struggle while he's survived his responsibility for some of the ugliest and most unconscionable things that have been written or published during my lifetime.
If that seems harsh, go back and read Bob Herbert's review of "The Bell Curve."
@aimai: yes
@Corner Stone: and yes.
@whetstone: yes, but then talent can always pretend the mishap never occurred, at least so long as the talent continues to produce. mammon, after all, has no memory.
i started lurking here sometime around Sciavo-time and so came to Sullivan via this blog. ironically, it was also via repeated links to him from here that convinced me reading him was worse than a waste of time. i'll concede that he's a good writer, but then so is David Brooks, and when good writers use their talents to justify their personal preferences (Sullivan) or legitimate mendacity (Brooks) i find no reason to pay attention to a word they scribble.
with apologies to Mister Gibbon, i believe this applies to Sullivan:
Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book blog.
satby
@Citizen Alan: What aimai and Citizen Alan say. I find Sully barely readable on his good days, but that's because I think he's a rude, pompous ass.
His hatred of women is almost palpable at times.
And I have Kung Fu Monkey to thank for leading me here.
@Corner Stone:
Yes, the idea of murdering people en masse for philosophical disagreements appeals to me greatly.
Irony Abounds
Another person guilty of having found BJ through Sully's site. He's a convenient way of hitting a number of blogs that I like, and my take on him is similar to Mr. Cole's.
Count me as not a fan of Sully. If he weren't gay, he would totally be a Republican. He reeks of white male privilege (and I'm not using the term lightly) in that he has to have something personally affect him in order for him to even think about changing his mind. I used to read him occasionally, but I turned off him for good when I saw him on Olbermann after Dr. George Tiller was killed. I have no idea why Sully got to be the one pontificating on abortion, but he was. And, with a furrowed brow, he said because of his Catholic convictions, he personally couldn't condone third-term abortions, whatever the reason. That did it for me. I haven't read him since except when someone links him.
Yes, I know he printed the poignant stories from all the women who had them and slowly, agonizingly started to change his mind, but the point is, he shouldn't have had to need all that in order to be convinced. What's more, who the fuck cares what Sully thinks on abortion, anyway? It really rankled me to watch two men (Olbermann and Sully) solemnly discuss the ramifications of third-term abortions.
Sully tries so hard to fit the world into his view. He clings to the same beliefs over and over until he is bludgeoned with how wrong he is. And yet, next issue, he will do the same damn thing over and over again–defaulting to his original position. He is a conservative in that he has no empathy at all. No amount of good writing (and he's a great writer) can make up for his shortfalls.
I've always disliked Sullivan and can't forgive him for the "fifth column" crack and the publishing of the bell curve. I don't find him interesting at all—when he's good he's only saying what any sensible person would say and I tend to know lots of people who would say it, and damned loudly, if they had the perch he has. When he's not interesting he's utterly, selfishly, conventional and he has had enough reminders from his fans not to be permanently surprised by his own limitations.
This. For a conservative, Sullivan is pretty progressive. As a gay conservative, Sullivan is pretty moderate. But on his own merits as a pundit–without handicapping the evaluation with "for a conservative" or the like–Sullivan is a tedious hack. I appreciate the way that he thinks out loud and walks through the evolution of his personal views, but more often than not the end result of that process is still vapid, short-sighted crap riddled with false balance and manufactured "my esteemed colleague"-style hollow civility. And the lessons he learned in the process seem to magically vanish the next time he has to apply his worldview to a new issue.
To the extent that Sullivan is ever insightful or even tolerable, it's when he's managed to meander his way into a sufficiently decent or sensible position that ought to be the bare minimum expected of a thinking person with a moral compass, but this accomplishment is treated as evidence that he's not a complete idiot or douchebag as if it somehow redeems the parade of idiocy and douchebaggery that is the norm for his writing. It's the whole "soft bigotry of low expectations" dynamic: a gay conservative gets credit for opposing homophobia and torture. Really? That's the bar we're setting now?
No, I take that back. His "view from your window" posts are usually interesting, but since they contain photos and almost no opinions of his own, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.
@Xenos wrote:
he has pretty much apologized for it
I'm not sure how someone can "pretty much apologize" for something. Especially someone whose "reputation" is based on being such a fabulous writer. Either he said he was sorry or he didn't. In my book "to pretty much apologize" means weaselly non-apology. Which fits perfectly with my idea of Sully as a pompous, bare-back loving drama queen.
HumboldtBlue
Fuck Sullivan, he's about as interesting as a new disease. He'll pique your interest long enough to discover how disgusting he truly is.
As for links, I got here through TBogg when you were still a baggage-carrying rent-boy for Bush and Cheney.
Fuck him.
Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim)
Oh please…Sullivan's self righteous hysteria about torture was/is just his mechanism or pivot point for turning on the Bushies. This way he gets to pretend it was over some core, fundamental, universally abhorrent policy difference rather than that he simply realized he had been a completely insane dick, and should have seen the Bushies for what they were long before he did.
Torture is a completely predictable result of war/violence/hatred, which Sullivan and John both fomented in Iraq.
How Sullivan has any credibility at all mystifies me other than as an examplar of the degraded nature of public discourse in the U.S.
stormhit
@ornery curmudgeon:
Yes, he really would.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/03/two-catholics-debate-gay-rights.html
Unless you meant that as a moronic insult, of course.
Count me as one of this site's loyal (mostly lurking) readers who discovered Balloon Juice by linking over from the Dish. While I often disagree with Sully, I enjoy his blog – perhaps partly because he has a very different point of view than me on many issues.
Edited to say: Just wanted to chime in with some of the other posters – I do find his understanding of women to be appalling and have to skip over any of those posts.
I found this blog via Thers and/or The Poorman.
Good times . . .
@snarkypsice:
But he's one of the few bloggers willing to own his mistakes and willing to publish dissent regularly on his blog
Again: oh please. The "dissent" he publishes is carefully screened because it has to be emailed; he has not comments section. He has no comments section because he knows said section would be a riotous, 24/7 takedown of every post he utters.
He is a blogger/coward.
@New Yorker: Good, then we're in agreement.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
> A lot of you would not be readers here if it were
> not for Sully- you know who you are.
Not me. I'm here because President Obama and his amazingly awesome and efficacious team of bipartisan rivals recommended you highly.
Do you sponsor your own President Obama-brand drone?
Kiril
I originally came here through this Fafblog post, but didn't really start reading it regularly until the GOS and couple other blogs suggested that JC was making sense on something or another.
Svensker
Sully mostly drives me insane, much the same reaction as John Cole, with the added anti-female thing that he does that really irks me. But I have stopped reading all other "conservatives" entirely, unless linked to by someone else, so he is my small window into the Right, such as it is. And I like the VFMW contest.
A lot of you would not be readers here if it were not for Sully- you know who you are. And he has always been respectful and pleasant to me.
I am one of those readers. I read a link of your epic Clinton related rants at during the 08 Dem Primary, and I immediately fell in love with this blog.
EconWatcher
I believe Sullivan helped move the needle of national opinion on the torture of WOT detainees. He sunk his teeth in and did not let go. This is worth something, and he is worth something for doing it, whatever his other sins.
I've been writing to him occasionally to try to get him to take up the cause of prison rape in the same way. Someone needs to do it, and I think he's the guy. It's an issue where even a slight shift in public opinion and priorities could save many lives and help prevent a vast amount of human suffering.
How many others have the power to move the needle as he does, and also have basically decent intentions?
psychobroad
@asiangrrlMN: Exactly! I read him with varying degrees of disbelief/skepticism until the abortion thing. That was the last straw for me. The idea of a man condemning a woman for having a late-term abortion, which are often done for the sake of the health of the mother, is absolutely disgusting. I only wish he had been asked whether he was comfortable with asking a woman to carry a dead baby to term, and deliver it.
@EconWatcher wrote:
I believe Sullivan helped move the needle of national opinion
My god, what complete BS. He's a blogger. He occasionally is on CSPAN. He may have changed some minds on the intertubes but…
1. what evidence is there that the needle of national opinion on torture has moved? NYT using the word?
2. supposing #1 is demonstrated, what evidence is there that AS deserves credit?
I hope you are better at watching the economy than you are at watching the needle on national opinion on torture.
Mike Furlan
Sullivan and Larison are the Jack Henry Abbotts of this blog. Their sins will be forgive as long as they remain interesting.
NobodySpecial
Except, of course, for the complete lack of being interesting, and being a racist schmuck and a pro-war right wing zombie, I guess Sullivan is okay in small doses. Typically five seconds or less every three years or so.
I got to BJ from DailyKos, though, so there you go.
DaveInOz
If it hadn't have been for Sully's blog, I'd have never known the Tunch.
I followed a link many years ago and have stayed. Always an enjoyable read. Keep it up!
Triassic Sands
I have a love-hate relationship with Sullivan too. I love to hate him. Actually, I don't put that much effort into it. It's a better use of my time to just ignore him completely.
@DaveInOz:
Yes (very late post), I wouldn't have known Tunch if it hadn't been for Sullivan linking to BJ because of a video of a guy singing his puppies to sleep. I'm very grateful.
celticdragonchick
What you said. I can't top that, so I will just say "This!".
I'm another one who found BJ through The Dish.
@Liz: me too, on both counts.
@Glenndacious Greenwaldian (formerly tim):
He polls occasionally to see if his readers want comments.
Those of us who vote overwhelmingly say "No!"
We can comment here. I am not interested in having a comment section at The Dish overrun by teatard idiots screaming about "Sodimite Andrew sux giant cock!" or whatever. Any comment section would have to have a full time moderator just to keep the most egregious bullshit out, and you know it.
No thinks. Plenty of other venues for that.
@celticdragonchick: Bullshit. He isn't answering your requests. He's hiding.
I tell you what. How about 7 days of open comments? Let's see what happens.
Never happen. And not because of tea tards.
Where to start. For one, to say "if he weren't gay, he'd totally be a Republican" is a) meaningless since, you know he is, and it DOES define him. How could it not?
B) Yes, he's an "old-school," Bush 41 (sorta, he's more liberal than that) conservative. Other than, MAYBE, Lugar and the Maine twins, that strain is DEAD in the Republican Party. Calling him Republican today is wrong and insulting.
I realize that abortion is a very passionate issue (full disclosure, I'm moderately pro-life*. I'd keep ALL first trimester and, I think, most, if not all second trimester abortions legal, though I'd try strategies in the hope-nothing more-of reducing them. I WOULD restrict third trimester/late-term procedures to health, rape and incest. Also, it never has determined my voting. Ever), but I think its too bad that his increasingly nuanced view on this made you shut him off. Because, like it or not (and I suspect this is very personal to you, so I understand the passion), at least 40-45% of people disagree with you.
Will you shut out people, in your daily life, who disagree with you on this one issue?
Look, you will NOT find any public person or public official who agrees with YOU on every single issue you deem important. 90% agreement? Sure, but if you find a high-profile pol. who agrees with you on EVERYTHING, well, run. Immediately. B/c chances are that person is either a charlatan (Hi John Edwards!) or insane.
In the end, those who tune out the Sullys of the world for one or two transgressions hurt themselves really. I know the wingnut blogosphere is unreadable, but Sully too? I guess I loathe echo chambers and like to have my views challenged and questioned occasionally. Sully does that, not too much, but enough to be important to me. In the process, I understand why I hold the views I hold better than before.
*This comes out of my own disability. Sorry, but I'm not thrilled that some may abort b/c the fetus has been diagnosed with a disability, as if someone with a disability is inferior or "undesirable." Not true. Period.
Moderation? Why?
I like Sully, warts and all.
And I'm a full fledged Obot. Figure that out.
Jim Crozier
I found this place from Sullivan and I still like him. Is he right on everything? Nope. Is he just about the best influential conservative blogger out there? Definitely.
I like the fact that he's willing to admit he's wrong about things. Sometimes he has to be smacked in the face a couple of times to admit it, but overall, the guy's a thoughtful, interesting read.
A lot of you would not be readers here if it were not for Sully
I came here first from the Daou Report at Salon. It was during Mr. Cole's conversion from the dark side, and it was listed among the conservative blogs. I wanted to switch up my usual list from Atrios, Steve Gilliard (RIP) and Sadly No, and try to incorporate some conservative blogs. Friday beer threads were the initial attraction.
I'm one of those "fifth columnists" that he once wanted rounded up, and in those days you probably agreed with him, John.
@kevina
Come on. Sully's got more than one issue where he's a disaster even in recent memory:
– He was opposed to health-care reform in really any form throughout most of 2009 and it took him maybe six months to get to a point where he recognized that something needed to be done for the 50-odd million people who've got nothing. He spent a lot of time trying to scare his readers with stories of "socialism" in the NHS. All this from a guy who has AIDS and is completely uninsurable outside of a large group plan.
– He constantly bitches about progressive taxation as though it's immoral and argues in favor of a VAT and says nothing about regressive taxes like SS/FICA.
– There's his weekly paean to Thatcher and Reagan (even though he now admits that Reagan was fiscally insolvent.)
– He's a total misogynist. See his treatment of Hillary Clinton, Naomi Klein, Elana Kagan, even Sarah Palin. He had nothing to say about Peter Thiel opposing the vote for women, but he called out Amanda Marcotte as "shrill" for attacking Thiel.
– The gobbledegook about Dems being to the right of the Rs on gay rights
– Bringing up Kagan's sexuality even though he is the poster child for "sexuality, no matter how disgusting, is your own business."
– Loads and loads of false equivalence…Links to McMoron…Numerous attempts to portray David Frum as anything other than a dirtbag.
I could go on. It's just 20 things he does that piss me off.
Kristine on Postcards for Wisconsin Supreme Court & Music! (Jan 31, 2023 @ 9:11pm)


Life seldom turns out like we imagine. We try to make it everything we have dreamed it to be. We work so hard to improve our marriages. We exercise, eat right, and care for our health. We parent with feverish desperation. We read books, go to conferences, take notes, and then try a bit harder. But regardless of our efforts, sometimes the unthinkable happens.
If you are at the end of your hope, if you wake up and wonder how in the world you can go on with this unexpected life you've been given, if you are tired of fear and desperate for a drowning of peace, pull up a chair, my friend. You are not alone. Filled with inspirational quotes, this journal will encourage you to draw on the strength, hope, joy, and peace that is found in God. Believe it or not, undone is beautiful!
This attractive journal includes an elsastic enclosure and makes a great gift!


text:
Q: Using R to extract a specific colour from an image I'm new to both Stackoverflow and coding in general, but I hope I can find some answers here.
For an assignment in computational art history, I want to find a way in RStudio that can display a specific colour in an image, leaving the rest in greyscale.
Like how this photo looks, only detecting the blue from the image
What I want to end up achieving is uploading an image of a painting, and showing that a specific type of blue (rgb(65,102,245) or 'ultramarine') was used by Johannes Vermeer and locating it on his Girl with the Pearl Earring. I can do it with .tif or any other format.
I've tried RGB rasters like described here but I ended up getting errors when I tried to perform it with my own photo (like "alpha level NA, not in [0,1]"). Perhaps I can try that again and show where I go wrong - but to be frank any help/support is welcome at this point!
Best, Doris


text:
Staßfurt – miasto w Niemczech, w kraju związkowym Saksonia-Anhalt, w powiecie Salzland. Leży przy ujściu rzeki Liethe do Bode. Do 31 grudnia 2009 siedziba wspólnoty administracyjnej Staßfurt.

W mieście znajdują się dwa zakłady produkcyjne należące do polskiej grupy kapitałowej CIECH S.A. - zakład produkcji sody oraz warzelnia soli.

1 stycznia 2009 do miasta przyłączono gminy Förderstedt i Neundorf (Anhalt), powierzchnia miasta zwiększyła się z 58,21 do 146,53 km².

Współpraca
Miejscowość partnerska:
 Lehrte, Dolna Saksonia

Przypisy

Miasta w Saksonii-Anhalcie
Powiat Salzland