Thursday, December 13, 2007

Swift Reads

Perhaps it's because of the Christmas season, but I'm feeling unusually generous these days and I have decided to give something back to the blogosphere by inaugurating a new semi-regular feature, "Swift Reads," in which I link to some worthy and interesting blog posts. Of course, a link here does not imply any endorsement of the ideas expressed in these posts and, in fact, there is a good chance I may not have actually read them at all.

I would also like to announce that sometime around the first of the new year I will be doing a round-up of what bloggers think are their best posts of 2007. The only requirement is that your blog be on my blogroll, which is not quite so onerous as it sounds since per my policy I will blogroll anyone who blogrolls me, "with the exception of spam or porn blogs or anything else your mother would be embarrassed to read." So if you are on my blogroll, or would like to be, or you have a note from a medical doctor explaining why you cannot blogroll me but would like to participate anyway, please email me at modestjonswift@gmail.com with a link and perhaps a brief description of what you think is your best post of 2007, and I will post them in the year-end round-up. And if any of my non-blogging commenters have a favorite post on someone else's blog they think is worthy of mention you can email me, too.

And now without further ado, here is the inaugural edition of Swift Reads:

Jill at Brilliant for Breakfast is just a little annoyed at all the whiny brats who blame the Baby Boomers for their pathetic little lives. Personally, I think Russell Coffey, Harry Richard Landis, John Babcock and Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American World War I veterans, have a lot to answer for.

skippy the bush kangaroo has been writing about the writer's strike and getting paid exactly the same rate the studios are hoping to pay the writers.

Zenyenta wonders if illegal immigrants are making us fat.

M. LeBlanc at Bitch PhD asks, "Do these genes make me look fat and gay?" I think the correct answer is, "Of course not."

Jason Chervokas at Newcritics reviews the film I'm Not There and makes the startling claim that it's actually about Bob Dylan, which is a very interesting theory and changes the whole movie if you think about it that way. Here is a video of the real Bob Dylan, who, as you can see, looks nothing like Cate Blanchett.

Keith at Lighthouse Patriot Journal reveals that the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which I first learned about from Conservapedia, is actually a hoax! He also includes links to a number of sites he claims are also hoaxes, such as the Bonsai Kitten site, which might explain why my order hasn't arrived yet.

Lisa Simeone is trying to be team player at the new group blog Cogitamus, but she has issues with the way some people utilize English and she's decided to be pro-active about it. Is this a very real situation or is she being judgmental?

Robert Stein at Connecting.the.Dots subjects Nancy Pelosi to a 30-year-old psychology experiment.

T. Rex at his new digs at I Am TRex shows how Oprah's mobilization of millions of her fans to register and vote for Barack Obama will only hurt Obama's chances for the presidency.

Progressive on the Prairie has the results of a National Book Critics Circle survey. Among its findings: A shocking 76.5% of critics say you actually have to read the whole book to review it. The other 23.5% have better things to do.

Scott Eric Kaufman of Acephalous narrates the soon-to-be-classic Christmas tale "It's a Wonderful, Horrible Life."

Tom at Automatic Preference points out that Jerome Armstrong at MyDD has instituted a "zero tolerance for accusations of racism" policy. This policy has been in effect on many conservative blogs for years. Update: Tom says in the comments that Francis L. Holland has more.

Pierre Tristam at Candide's Notebooks answers the question "Are you a phony liberal?"

Attaturk at Rising Hegemon predicts Jim Glassman, who has made some remarkable predictions of his own, will do a heckuva job promoting the U.S. image abroad.

Streak's Blog discusses the "Liberal Dilemma."

Paul Levinson's avatar will be reading from his new novel, the sequel to The Plot To Save Socrates in Second Life this Sunday, December 16, 2007, at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. Maybe I'll have my avatar write a book someday.

This week I added some new sites to my esteemed blogroll, including, Billy Jack, Chez Boyer Cogitamus, Blue Girl, Red State, I Am TRex, The Impolitic, The Issue - The Blog Newspaper, Jim Swift (no relation), Last One Speaks, Lost on Twin Earth, LOLState - The O-Fishal Meme, Political Humor at About.com, Rainy Day Dreams, Rightwingsnarkle, Unsportsmanlike Comment, and Wil's Page. Please go check them out.

Finally, since it is the Christmas season I hope you will consider helping out some needy bloggers, such as Gary Farber at Amygdala, who is having health problems, and Leonard Pierce at Sadly, No!, who desperately wants to go to CPAC next year, which I hope will be an eye-opening experience for him. And thanks to those who have made generous gifts to this modest blogger. Because of your efforts Mrs. Swift may be able to take a day off from her three jobs and make us Christmas dinner this year. I may even pitch in and do the dishes.

23 comments:

moneymonk said...

I've never been first at anything. thanks, jon. w00t! w00t! spotlight on my booty!

Carl said...

Lisa Simeone might ponder purchasing a copy of White & Strunk's or at least the pedestrian NY Times Style Guide, before she goes off on the decline of English...her pedantic pedagoguery was, in sum, oracular.

Anonymous said...

Jon, thanks so much for the shout out. It's really nice.

In a brief spasm of honesty, though, I have to doubt "worthiness" of my brief post! Folks who are interested in Zero Tolerance for Talking about Racism might check out Francis Holland's earlier & more detailed post on the same subject.

Unknown said...

Some folks might consider this spam, but here goes:

Please contact the Des Moines Register today to voice your displeasure with them uninviting Kucinich to the final Iowa debate on a craptastic technicality:

The Des Moines Register's top officials, including Editor Carolyn Washburn (515) 284-8502.

Laura Hollingsworth President and Publisher (515) 284-8041
Randy Brubaker Managing Editor (515) 284-8590
Randy Evans Assistant Managing Editor (515) 284-8118

The Des Moines Register letters to the editor e-mail: letters@dmreg.com
Telephone switchboard
Local: (515) 284-8000
Iowa: (800) 532-1455
Outside Iowa: (800) 247-5346

If I upset you with this Jon..I do apologize, but folks should stand up for Kucinich on priniciple, even if they are't prepared to vote for him.

bitchphd said...

'Scuse, but the woman writing the "fat and gay" post at my place is M. LeBlanc (aka Bitch J.D.). "Bitch Ph.D." the blog is now a group effort.

liquiddaddy said...

Jon,

I must say in all seriousness (wince) that there is no smarter, quicker, and funny community of commenters (made up word) here, and yet they are the most scorned and derided, at times.

What gives?

LD

Gary Farber said...

Thanks, Jon. I'm hoping to try your old recommended diet soon, too.

Unknown said...

thanks for the link, jon, but not so much for the traffic, which i can always use, but for the effort you make to cast light on the reportage i've been doing about the writers strike.

i know that entertainment is not something most people get up in arms over, but i truly believe this labor action is a good example of the current corporate mindset trying to squeeze out the middle class.

i appreciate your kind words. and i, like you, blog not for the money or fame, but for the love of it (and a chance to make light of duncan black).

Johnny Pez said...

Ah, if we're talking about a year-end roundup, then naturally I have to join your blogroll. That's http://johnnypez9.blogspot.com/.

And as as long as I've got your attention, my latest post has my bold prediction for who will be the Republican presidential nominee next year. See for yourself -- if you dare!

Carl said...

Duncan Black, skip? Who's that?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Swift
Now that you are looking for good conservative posts, I would like to recommend this (a bit old) post on the perils of a nuclear Iran.

http://livefromtehran.
blogspot.com/2007/03/
beating-around-bush.html

The consequences are too hideous to contemplate. I hope you could pass the word.
Rgds

Servant said...

Adding a corrected link for Homeyra:

Corrected Link

William said...

Thanks for the shout out, Jon!

Distributorcap said...

how did i not find you earlier!

a lot of reading to catch up to over the holiday weekend

have a great holiday

Rightwingsnarkle said...

Thanks! for teh link.

Sorry I'm so late with my gratitude, but it's still sincere.

FriĆ°vin said...

...with the exception of spam or porn blogs or anything else your mother would be embarrassed to read.

Well Jon. I guess that disqualifies me from your roundup!

:lol:

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That is great to hear, thank you for reading!

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