VirusHead - Mutating bits of contagious discourse, because language is a virus.

I haven’t done this in a while, but here are some things that caught my eye today while I was updating my blogroll. Loosely grouped by topic, here ya go…

• I have a special fondness for these open letters to George W. Bush from his ardent admirer Belacqua Jones. The latest is no exception.
• Pastor Dan at Street Prophets has video and transcript of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rebuking the President.
• At Reconstitution, a news roundup - including that the FBI Bureau Chief who stuck up for fired US Attorney Carol Lam has suddenly… um…retired.
• At MyDD, Jonathan connects some dots between Nevada’s GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons and the prosecutor purge scandal.
• Bill at Liberal Oasis argues that a hearing is not a circus, no matter who would like to frame it that way. Issue the subpoenas, already.
• At The Nation’s Notion blog, Tom illustrates the attempts to put debate, oversight, and diplomacy on the sidelines, away from the fundamentalist religion of global force and “preventive” war.
• At Information Clearing House, an article by Heather on how we are moving closer to a nuclear attack on Iran.
• Ann at The American Prospect blog has an idea about why Eric Keroack, the birth-control hating head of the federal Office of Population Affairs, has really resigned. Hint: Sorry, it’s not because of activist pressure.
• JibJab has a new video: What We Call the News
• So we’re fighting to protect the freedom we’re dismantling? Anyone have a problem with that? Pinko Feminist Hellcat sure does.
• PB at Prose and Thorn discusses raising flags as activist banners. Hmmm. I still things flags are creepy.
• America is Burning has an interesting post about the contrast between George W. Bush and Al Gore during the Katrina catastrophe.
• Scooper at A Blind Chihuahua Speaks talks about changing the government’s diapers.
• MC Carl Rove at Hail Dubyas. If you saw that embarrassing episode, then ’nuff said. Even W was smart enough not to join in.
• At Satirical Political a diagnosis of Rove-Arian cancer.
• Seth at Hermes News asks what it really means to support our troops.
• Boyd at NonViolent Jesus: “War is the anti-Gospel“
• Rev. Billy Bob at Less People, Less Idiots hasn’t seen any red states or blue states, but he has seen a group of people who care more about this country’s survival than the agendas of either party.
• buttrrflyyz grieves.
• In Cult News from Rick Ross, it turns out that Hank Johnson, my Democratic Representative in Georgia, may be a member of a fringe Buddhist cult. And here I thought he was just a dim bulb to replace Cynthia McKinny. The last time I saw him, he looked like he was chewing his cud.
• Oliver Wills notices that conservative talk show host Michael Savage praises God for 9/11: “That was God speaking.”
• Religious News has an article about an upcoming documentary on the innocuously-named Westboro Baptist church hate group. When I first ran across them, I thought it was satire - making fun of the right-wing pseudo-Christians. It couldn’t possibly be for real. But noooooo. Can the Baptists formally disown them, or is this just an overt voicing of what is already implicit among the right-wing pseudo-Christians?
• Richard at Love Ministries objects to forming a cult around the overnamed A Course in Miracles. My assessment: ditto for The Secret.
• Todd at Hell’s Kitchen is giving himself a 90-day body and soul cleansing.
• Darrell at Blog of the Grateful Bear is enthralled by the Magdalene Mystique.
• At Truth and Beauty, keep your eye out for the Carnival of Islam in the West on Friday April 6th. For now, the renovation of a 1100 year old church in Turkey, and the “baroque and amusing flag-lowering ceremony/bristling stand-off which occurs at Wagah, on the border between Pureland and India, daily” narrated by former Monty Python player Terry Jones.
• Oh, such a wonderful resonant e.e. cummings poem posted at Professional Mirror, Ph.D. by Dr. Medusa! I want to be your friend.
• Frogs and Ravens offers a meditation on the silver maple.
• Ever had the blues? Read this poem by Radical Druid
• The always-surprising and lovable Rudy Rucker has some ideas brewing for his latest cyberpunk creation. Gnarly parasims, man.
• Douglas Rushkoff is looking for some votes in the Eagle Award contest for his DC Testament comic (under the category of Favorite New Comicbook). If you haven’t seen it, go download the first issue. I would also like to recommend Absolute Sandman v1 (Neil Gaiman & various; DC/Vertigo) in the Favorite Reprint Collection category.
• Of course, my recommendation doesn’t do a thing at all to keep Neil Gaiman’s hair from preparing to escape from his head and go hunting for weasels.
• Jeff at VanderWorld (under occupation) shows us archeological finds from an office clean-up. (No way am I posting what I find when I excavate this office, don’t even think it).
• My dear husband John at Machinic Life still has not posted one single blog entry. At least give me the updates for the pages before your book comes out, wouldja?
• Bitch Ph.D. grouses about how the low tolerance for disruptions of any kind at school are making life difficult for working women with kids (of course, she puts it a bit more colorfully).
• In the most recent post, Just Tenured unconsciously answers the question she asks in the previous post. Don’t pluck out your eyes, just take a little time out to be human. Laugh a little. You need some comic relief.
• Full Court Press gives us the depressing news that, on appeal in the Eighth Circuit Court, Union Pacific’s insurance won. They are free to cover Viagra and even Rogaine while refusing to cover birth control. Those newly-hairy guys are going to be pumped up with nowhere to go if the women get smart…
• A reminder to women from Pandagon: Even when you feel bound to say yes, you can still say no.
• Rosei at Timeless Thoughts needs some hugs and encouragement. A tip: Never bail out parents with loan money. Even when you feel bound to say yes, you can still say no.
• Mama Christy’s has a warning about the killer “choking game.” How would you like to get a call like that from the school principal?
• At Lena’s Boys see the new kitty Manu. Awww.
• Ann at Rock Rebel Granny has an adorable photo of her grandson Jonathan. Awww.
• From Professional Lurker, high-heeled purple sneaker boots! Drool. No, I don’t have anywhere at all to wear anything like that… and with those heels, I couldn’t even walk. Nonetheless.
• A Melted ice cream truck and a prohibition on growing hands on fences at World Wide Weird.
• And last, check out the tortilla art at Reuter’s Oddly Enough.