Local Filth

Short Q & A today:

If you want your own local version of Red State or Free Republic, where can you find it?

For me, it's the comments posted at the Des Moines Register. The large majority of those posters are outright deranged. They'll even kneecap the 'conservative' columnist when he says something not amenable to the Limbaugh-Savage brigade. They'd go cannibal if it meant they could pay no taxes.

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Ombudsmen

I haven't pimped PvP before in this space, but this seems to be the best time to do it. Player Vs. Player used to be a geek-game culture thing, but as time has passed, the writer, Scott Kurtz, has broadened into other subjects, frequently causing a shitstorm when he does it. Last week's "Ombudsmen" is hysterically biting satire on the state of the newspaper comics industry, mixed in with Watchmen themes that Alan Moore himself created to criticize the comics medium with. It's The Daily Show for geeks.

My first initial comparison was to Blue Harvest (in case you're not familiar with it). The sense of humour is similar, but Kurtz is much more serious about his targets - Family Guy's writers looked on "Blue Harvest" as a project of love and Scott Kurtz simply has nothing but derision for the cartoon characters he appropriates.

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Designated Daughters

Description:  Any females who find themselves now in a position in life to parent a parent(s). Typically, if you find yourself carrying two purses, and/or a walker, going to the offices of doctors who aren't yours, picking out clothes for your parent to wear, placing medicine in daily dose containers, reminding them to take their meds, balancing 3 bank accounts and only have one yourself, paying utility bills for another address not yours, laughing and crying at the same time, then YOU are a Designated Daughter!   (There are also Designated Sons.  If you find yourself carrying a purse and it isn't yours, you are a Designated Son).

OCCC: Officer in Charge of Closet and Clothes. 
OCPB: Officer in Charge of Paying Bills:
Office: Your car.
Outlet for frustration: Primal Screams are good!
Prayer: That we are lucky enough to have one or two DD OR DS.

It's true. We become the parent, and the parent becomes the child.

'Monday's with Mom,' as it has become known far and wide, are interesting, frustrating, loving, and down right funny.  For instance: Our Mom can't pickup a kleenex, but she can put up an ironing board, no matter how many times I take it down. Why? Because Mom has decided that the bed/ironing board are now made for clothing storage.

When we were children, if our clothes were not hang up, and as much as a sock was on the floor of our bedrooms, hell broke loose. Now, our dear Mother refuses to pick-up, much less hang-up, her clothes. After a lecture this morning, and instructions to go into the bedroom and hang up her clothes, she went right out the door telling me she would do it later, as it was 'Happy Hour' time.

Now, we as children are telling our Mother to pickup her clothes and hang them up. The only difference is we were grounded if we didn't hang up our clothes and clean our rooms, and Mother isn't. Hmmm, maybe no bingo for a week would do the trick.

Then there are the phone calls of distress. Mom calls, we rush there. We immediately go to the ER, because of course she is on the verge of something terrible. We get to the ER, and she begins the comedy routine. I know more than once the people in ER have questioned just how serious the visit really was. Of course, you can never not take them to the ER, because sure as heck the one time you don't, will be a mistake. Like Mom needing brain surgery at 3:00 in the morning.

This morning my Sister wrote these words. "I am thinking this morning about my feelings when my Mom can't remember. My first response is to get aggravated. Why can't you simply remember to take your pills first thing in the morning? Why can't you remember to put the plastic trash bag in the trash can? Why can't you simply remember that I've already told you (6 times) about whatever? In my heart I know the problem. She can't help it and I don't want her to be old enough to face dementia. I want her to be whole, I want her to be my Mom, the one who was on top of things and self sufficient. I don't want her to have so little time left to be in my life." How true.

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Times - they are a changin'

Via Oyster at First-Draft: Should Michelle Cover Up?

Let’s face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama’s sculpted biceps. Her husband urges bold action, but it is Michelle who looks as though she could easily wind up and punch out Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff and all the corporate creeps who ripped off America.

In the taxi, when I asked David Brooks about her amazing arms, he indicated it was time for her to cover up. “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”

I’d seen the plaint echoed elsewhere. “Someone should tell Michelle to mix up her wardrobe and cover up from time to time,” Sandra McElwaine wrote last week on The Daily Beast.

Washington is a place where people have always been suspect of style and overt sexuality. Too much preening signals that you’re not up late studying cap-and-trade agreements.

While MoDo has been a recurring hemorrhoid of repressed sexism, I think this was one of her best smacks at the Washington establishment (and Brooks will never share a goddamn word with her again . . I'm sure she's crying about it. Really). This is the first time I've ready her column focusing on a woman higher up the power structure than her and not ad infinitum nitpicking.

The nitpicking section on the diplomatic gifts, which I didn't quote, was all MoDo though, just in case we thought she was replaced by someone with talent. At the same time, you have to wonder who's the idiot in charge of same gifts.

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