The Flatland Almanack

A Glorious Miscellany of Floridiana Pt. 2

Two silvery-blue, rather eerie photographs of  Florida beaches (St. Joseph and St. Pete); an iconic scene from St. Pete Beach (hotels and tourists; bright colors on a slate and platinum tinted background); the afternoon light falling on a police station (you'll see why I chose it if you look at it); and the Carillon Tower at Bok Sanctuary:  all right here.

A Glorious Miscellany of Floridiana

Light on the St. Johns River ---- one of my late husband's best photographs.

In addition, some beautiful shots of Miami (including one from the Chihuly Exhibition at the Fairchild by Miz Shoes; a shot of the Orange Blossom Motel and RV Park by Kevin Trotman; a lifeguard chair at sunrise by Craig O'Neal; and a magnificent picture of Cape San Blas by Judy Baxter---all featured photographers at Floridiana Gloriana.  See them here.

My Florida: the Beautiful North

FLORIDIANA GLORIANA.   Here are the memories of North Florida I've recorded and kept and finally posted at my site.  Already so much of it has changed or gone, but---though I didn't know it at the time--- it was my initiation into Floridiana Gloriana....

The Old House & The Great Blue Heron & the art of Twoblueday

FLORIDIANA GLORIANA.    A melancholy-beautiful Florida vignette in weathered pink and green----check out this old house.

A great blue heron stands beside Lake Windermere.  A snapshot of one of those Florida moments with one of our beautiful and unknowable people.

Two gorgeous architectural shots from the little town of Sanford by one of my favorite Florida photographers....: a boarded house and a round window.  Just look at them:  this is art.

Buck Naked Politics News Round-Up

BUCK NAKED POLITICS news round-up.

Feb. 16
D Cupples, ever a fan of the GAO, takes note of the resignation of David Walker.

Feb. 17
In Pakistan, a car bomb killed 17. 

Feb. 18
An FBI whistleblower has stories of corruption; the DOJ shuts it down.  Russia denounced Kosovo's declaration of independence. 

Want to see what a real journalist looks like?  Take a look at Jeremy Paxman, coming to BBC America on Feb.29..

Feb. 19
In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed 28.  Kosovo got U.S. and Western European Recognition. Iraqi guards protested the killing of civilians. 

And something I thought I'd never see happen:  CASTRO RESIGNS. 

In media news, TPM's Josh Marshall got a Polk Award.

Feb. 20
The Supreme Court protects the insurance companies against those predatory  Katrina victims; they also show their touching trust in the Bush Administration.   Another court tries---not very effectively---to disable Wikileaks to make the world safer for money laundering.

A survey of military officers confirms what I think we already would have suspected:  they think the government doesn't know jack about the military. 

Feb. 21
Bush breaks his own record for low approval ratings!  Way to go, Mr. President!

At the Tampa Airport, a man was arrested for trying to board a plane with a box-cutter.   

In other news you probably weren't listening to, a defense contractor---and prominent GOP contributor--- was arrested for bribery.

Feb. 22
A certain Democratic Senator is all about protecting the telecoms from 'the heavy hand of government'; the Republicans aren't feeling FISA.  In other news, an ex-GOP official is off the hook in a phone-jamming case.  Off the hook!

Buck Naked Politics Primaries 2008 Round-Up!

BUCK NAKED POLITICS. Here's where it lays as of today, Feb.22 2008:

Feb. 16

D. Cupples wanted it on the record:  NY Times Erred: Delegate Not Leaving Clinton for Obama? (updated).  Hmmm.

Ah, the magic of Barack Obama.  And he loves you.  Yes, you.  And you too.

Teh Nutroots, as a Floridian, has HAD IT with the DNC.   Don't come whining to him (or to me) about superdelegates and Hillary's alleged 'finessing' of the 'rules.' Screw the DNC, its rules, and all who sail in them. 

In the meantime, the media seems determined to reframe anything Bill Clinton says into the alternative universe version

Feb. 17
Did I just make this story up?  Hardly anyone seems to be talking about it.  Is Al Gore the solution to division among the Dems?  Or does he even want to be?  Save us, Al Gore.

At the HuffPost, Larry C. Johnson discusses how the Right plans to undermine Obama.  I am not sure how I dared to discuss it.  Unless you're flinging rose petals into the American Idol's path, his fans will come after you with pitchforks.

Feb. 18

The media creates some intrigue:  Obama's 'secret' meeting with Edwards!  And Clinton!

Feb. 19

D Cupples defends Obama against plagiarism.  But not against the lesser included offense: Obama a Plagiarist? No, He Just Lacks Originality (Updated)

I raise the question that Obama's fanbase doesn't want to think about:  Has Obama Been Sufficiently Vetted to Survive the GOP Machine?  LALALALALALALALA THEY CAN'T HEEEEAR ME.....

Feb. 20

McCain and Obama win Wisconsin and Hawaii.  Yep.

'Plagiarism' is a harsh word for it.  D Cupples isn't going to go there.  But does his 'borrowing' without attribution, when rhetoric is such a keystone of his famed charisma, raise any questions about his character?  D Cupples considers.

Feb. 21

McCain:  A sex scandal?   A sex 'n  ethics scandal?  Teh Nutroots doesn't give a damn.  He just can't stop rolling his eyes over the faked up 'outrage' from the Right and Left.

Feb. 22

THE MEDIA WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW....Clinton got booed when she mentioned 'plagiarism.'  They're less interested in telling you that she got a standing O.   D Cupples discusses it here.

Wild Color: Miami and the Keys

FLORIDIANA GLORIANA.   A Dutch woman's amazing eye for the color and dynamism of South Florida (Miami and the Keys):  See her photos here.

The Boemerang Comedy Sketch: A Classic Nightmare on Film

THE FLATLAND CHRONICLES.   When I saw this sketch, the person who showed it to me told it was real.  I was appalled!  Then I learned that it was from a Belgian comedy show!  I laughed till I fell off the couch.  Context changes everything.

You won't want to miss this one.

Pillory Hillary: Three Separate Instances

BUCK NAKED POLITICS. First, there was the Peggy Noonan piece in the Clinton-hatin' Wall Street Journal.  (I'll never understand why they hate the Clintons so:  I always accused Bill of pandering to these financial geeks and it's not like Hillary's campaign coffers weren't filled by corporate money).   Please note how I gently---gently!---tweak her on the last little house of anti-Hillary propaganda built on a foundation of false premises and wishful thinking.

Then D Cupples points out that Hillary is polling ahead of Obama in Ohio and Texas.  Why aren't we hearing about that, hmmmm?  If it were Obama, it would be spread across the sky in letters a million meters high:  HILLARY TO LOSE AGAIN!  Whether the polls are right or wrong, why is it that they are only of interest to pundits if they predict Hillary's eminent demise?

Finally, what about all the happy dances over Representative John Lewis's alleged decision to defect to Obama?  Is he going to or is he not?  It doesn't seem quite as clear as all that yet.   

I don't care whether he does or doesn't, actually, I'm just interested because this was one more plank that the Hillary-baiters were nailing into her coffin.   Like Noonan, most of them seem baffled that she won't just give it up and LIE DOWN.  They ignore the fact that there are a substantial number of Democrats still who don't want her to.  Apparently, we just don't count.

We'll see about that, come November. 

The Shootings at NIU & the 'Solution' Proposed by the Gun Huggers

BUCK NAKED POLITICS.  I give Teh Nutroots (not a nice man) for containing himself on this issue.  It's a subject on which he feels strongly:  both the prevalence of guns which enables these mass murders and the argument that more gun owners will be a solution to the problem.   Read it here.

These tragedies are impossible to process.  But it's possible to get used to having to do it.  We shouldn't have to get used to it...