The 138th Carnival of the Vanities!
All right, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that it's been a slow news week. I don't remember such a dry spell since September 10, quite honestly.
Nonetheless, I wasn't bored. In fact, I've received a plethora of interesting blog posts this week, as I'm currently hosting the 138th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities. It's a good chance for all of y'all to check out some bloggers who may not be on your regular reading list.
We had our fair share of medical bloggers this week. Doctor Andy has some interesting thoughts on sperm donation which, frankly, had never occurred to me. (Unlike Dr. Andy, I actually did know someone in college who admitted to being a sperm donor, and made some fairly dumbass decisions in the process. It makes for a rather amusing, if tasteless story, so remind to tell it sometime.)
In other medblogging posts, Dr. Charles pauses to consider a patient whose artificial heart valve makes her keenly aware of each heart beat, and Mad House Madman is a medical resident who regularly posts reviews of "Grey's Anatomy." (Can we get a federal counter-terrorism agent to pull similar duty with "24?")
Speaking of medical matters, did anyone but Ablogistan remember the anniversary of smallpox's eradication?
And just in time for "Revenge of the Sith," here's a post from Luke Skywalker's personal journal. Also, J. Fielek wanted to be Luke once.
Moving on to politics, Right Wing Nut House has some thoughts on Bush's VE remembrance tour. GOP and the City (now why didn't I cop that name for my own blog? Oh well.) lists the top 5 remarks Bush did not say in Georgia. PlaidBerry thinks we should inform the unsophisticated Georgians that self-respecting intellectuals do not cheer the American president.
We also got two different takes on Laura Bush's standup routine. TOMO is
less than impressed, but Nikita Demosthenes doesn't understand the big deal.
Tom Bowler is nostalgic for the good old-fashioned Mr. Smith-style filibuster, and Mark Daniels yearns for the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, and offers thoughts on what kind of wartime president he'd be.
Christians more tolerant that secularists? More pollution to fight global warming? Dissecting Leftism has a roundup of all that and more.
Nick explains the similarities between health insurance and a lottery ticket. I think he's got a point. I've had similar thoughts in the past, but never really developed them. Also, Brian J. Noggle makes an interesting comparison between eminent domain abuses and wildlife preservation. (In a similar vein, I've also wondered what it be like if self-appointed civil libertarians applied the same scrutiny to our drug laws as to the Patriot Act.)
Coyote Blog calls for legalizing illegal immigration. Opinionated Bastard makes some similar points using simple economics, and wishes residents of non-border states would kindly shut the hell up.
The skwib offers Canadian political commentary -- with limericks!
Ravenwood's Universe dissects yet another dubious poll on Social Security, and The Unalienable Right takes on historical revisionism.
Feline critics review Arianna Huffington's newest venture over at This Blog is Full of Crap. Nikita Demosthenes is similarly less than impressed.
Ever wonder how Al Gore's kept busy after inventing the internet? Point Five knows.
DSS Hubris wants to put teeth in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and TFS Magnum thinks you can get more done with a court order and a gun than with a court order alone.
Mustang 23 rips Garry Trudeau for a recent Doonesbury strip on milbloggers, and reminds me why I quit reading the strip.
The Unalienable Right highlights the left's double standard on the Establishment clause.
Interested Participant details the story of Delta Airline's treatment of army deserter Sgt. Karim Iraq (no, I am not making this up.)
Neal Phenes blogs about politically correct junk science that our children are being taught. Read it if you can stomach it.
Taser Tuesday? Sure, at The Green Lantern.
In other news, Jill over at Legacy Matters has some advice on preserving our digital assets, and Conservative Cat has some thoughts thoughts about spam.
Josh Cohen just bought a house, and I feel his pain!
Taken in Hand offers one of the more "interesting" posts this week. (I wonder how I could discreetly get my wife to read it?)
Hawaii has geeks too, Rent-a-Hamster reminds us. And Greg reminds us of the good side of video games -- and it's not just hand-eye coordination.
Not concerned about tax exempt status for witches? You damn well better be, says Buckley F. Williams.
Classical Values proposes an appearance-based code for upholding higher standards in the blogosphere.
Charlie Quidnunc contributes a Podcasts on a host of topics, and Living Space offers a rather somber potential explanation for the popularity of iPods.
Parableman has some interesting thoughts on interracial couples in popular media.
Blog Business World answers some frequently asked questions about linking and how it's handled by search engines that's definitely worth a read.
A recent bombing has triggered Richard Lawrence Cohen's remembrance the New York of the 1970s.
The Conservative Edge examines the "I didn't know that" defense (I guess they're on to the "Chewbacca" defense.)
Tinkerty Tonk reports on intrigue and controversy in the world of mystery fiction.
In perhaps the most far-reaching post of this week, Koranteng begins with demystifying technology buzzwords and ends up sharing bus stories (at $15 bucks a head, the Chinatown-to-Chinatown shuttle is a deal!)
Via Wicked Thoughts we get a politically correct "Red Riding Hood."
You know those websites whose owners should be embarrassed of? Yeah, well Barry Welford does too, and he has some advice.
Mr. Scriblerus offers his take on Texas's (disgraceful) efforts to ban sexy cheerleading.
Time to Lean offers and interesting restaurant review, but I've got to wonder what she was doing eating at a place called "The Manhattan Loft" anyway.
Do you invest like Lemony Snicket or King Midas? Political Calculations can tell you.
Bill Adams discusses computer grading of student essays, and Kevin of Technogypsy definitely isn't in Texas anymore.
Well, I hope this roundup has helped broaden your blog-reading horizons a bit. And for those of you who've never visited this site before, I'm a southern, small-l libertarian still trying to adjust to life in the New York City area. I hope you'll stop by again in the future. Who knows, there might be something interesting here one day. Stranger things have happened.
Comments
Thank you for the reads, but have you had any time to, you know, work this week? :)
Posted by: K | May 11, 2005 09:19 AM
Er, no....
Posted by: Barry N. Johnson | May 11, 2005 09:24 AM
This is a formal request to please tell the sperm story. Thank you.
Posted by: Roger | May 11, 2005 01:29 PM
Thanks for taking the time to host the 138th Carnival. I hope you get alot of follow up traffic to your site.
The point of my submission was to get the conservative blogosphere talking about the trial of Hillary's former campaign finance manager. It's been buried by the mainstream press.
Those reading this comment can get more commentary on Hillary-gate at www.conservativeedge.blogspot.com.
Brian Goettl
Posted by: Brian Goettl | May 11, 2005 01:42 PM
"did anyone remember the anniversary of small pox eradication?"
uh...well, yes
I knew it was 1980 but didn't recall the month. Of course, I was working in a clinical microbiology lab at the time. It was big news then, especially in microbiology circles.
Posted by: Mlv | May 11, 2005 10:52 PM
I clicked on the Taken In Hand since I had no idea what it was.
The "Rape is a Gift" subtitle was all I needed to know, that and a few other sections. Was this from a Saudi blog?
Posted by: Mlv | May 11, 2005 11:00 PM
In light of your blogtitle, you might enjoy a recent quotation from the Telegraph (London), attributed to the old TV show "Maverick":-
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, and them's good odds.
Posted by: dearieme | May 12, 2005 06:56 AM
it was a line spoken by Bret (James Garner) Maverick, borrowed from Twain
Posted by: Mlv | May 12, 2005 10:06 PM
Wait, that Taken in Hand site? It's meant as satire, right? Right?
Posted by: K | May 13, 2005 12:03 AM
Regarding the "Taken in Hand" web site and the wifey, you should probably remove all references to it, and disclaim any knowledge of the site or the practices mentioned therein. :-)
(I'm practicing to take over for Dear Abby, one day.)
Posted by: Tracy Miller | May 13, 2005 01:38 AM
The Parableman post has moved due to a site relocation. The new location for this post is here.
Posted by: Jeremy Pierce | June 5, 2005 10:34 PM