Nec Hoc Nec Ilud

* On the Republican "Southern Strategy", how it fits in with the Civil Rights struggle, the evolution of the Republican party and it's explicitly racist nature. If you've never seen the Huntley-Brinkley clip of the Nixon Era architect of the strategy talking, you really need to stop and watch this:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

* "If freedom is handled just your way, it's not my freedom or free:"

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

* Charlie Crist just endorsed President Obama. O.o

* I think the Republicans planning their convention for Florida in Hurricane season is a perfect example of Republican planning on most things. Just saying. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh wants you to know that the President controls the weather and Isaac is a conspiracy by the President to postpone the Republican Convention, rather than a characteristic example of poor planning by the Republicans that refuses to take cyclical weather events and science into account. After all, which is more plausible, a tropical storm or hurricane hitting Florida in Hurricane season, or the President having super powers to control the weather? After all the President routinely time travels to use his mind control powers to make George W. Bush adopt the same economic policies Republicans still advocate. After all, why else would Republicans like Mitt Romney cite economic figures from before President Obama's inauguration to attack the current President? Similarly, if the President can't time travel, how else did he get Ohio to adopt a flag with a big O on it a hundred or so years ago as they claimed in the previous election and all the other time travel/mind control events they accuse him of? Why not accuse him of controlling the weather too if he already has so many super powers? Sigh.

* I'd like to wish a happy belated birthday to the 19th Amendment! I missed it on the 18th. Let's all take a moment to grateful for women having the right to vote.

* Psybelle spotted this scary thing: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/26/compliance-authority-failure

* My BPAL buddy came with goodies for me to play with! I know what I'm doing tomorrow! Expect me to be way behind on everything until at least Tuesday. She also brought a bunch of goosh a neighbor gave her that her cat won't eat. Three out of four of ours will, it turns out, so I'm going to use it for bonus goosh nights. (LM is as picky as Hector, but about different things. The black cats are significantly less picky about food). I think the daily hairball treats are helping cut down on both the vomiting and the drama involved in treating for hairballs. For the record the Pet Naturals brand are much the superior both in cat excitement about eating them and in being less crumbly so less messy.

* I've been using the Tangerine-Orange zum, now that the dreaded peppermint is gone. It's innocuous, hough not to my taste. As is often the case with orange bath and body type products, I tend to parse it a little funny. Call it a scent I wouldn't pick on purpose, but don't particularly mind in a soap.

* I just tore through the fascinating Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus. The title may sound a little dry, but trust me, it's not. It's a fast, if haunting read. I can not personally vouch for most of the modern research, but they cite the key material that is in my bailiwick was all accurate and well woven into the larger themes, and they picked up the more tangential material that I wanted them to use, but didn't expect them too. Given how well they handled the classical, medieval, and early modern material, I have a lot of faith in the way they dealt with the bits I was less familiar with. It was exiting to see everything collected this way and presented from this angle. To be warned, this is a book about the disease I consider the most terrible of all extent pathogens and a whole lot of terrible things happen to humans and animals in it. They do not flinch away from a realistic description of these things, so if you aren't up to dealing with that best to skip this, but if you are interested in public health policy, epidemics, or the way rabies interacted/s with the human imagination over the course of human history, this is a pretty important and interesting book.

* I think Sinfest is doing some pretty interesting things as far as talking about gender and sexism lately. (Yes, I know the strip's history, but I'm also in favour of people growing up and trying to make things right that they messed up in the past). Anyway, today's strip struck me as being worth discussion: http://sinfest-mod.livejournal.com/682444.html

* Threadcake: http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2012/8/26/sunday-sweets-threadcakes-take-two.html