You be the judge

If you're anything like me, you are really pretty sick of hearing two words that were everywhere on the news in the weeks leading up to New Year's. Yes, I'm talking f****l c***f, as in that artificially created federal budget crisis that rhymes is ixkal zliff.

I was, however, amused when a friend told me that the vent feature in a small weekly paper in southern WV complained about the "physical clip." Was it a malapropism or a witticism? I can't call it...maybe you can.

I think the last best word on the whole thing came from The Borowitz Report. Here's an excerpt:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)--Official Washington was in celebration mode on New Year's Day after kind of averting a completely unnecessary crisis that was entirely of its own creation.

"The deal proves that if we all procrastinate long and hard enough, we can semi-solve any self-inflicted problem at the very last minute in a way that satisfies no one," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)....."This is a new year, and much work remains to be done," he said. "It's up to us to concoct entirely new optional disasters that we will have to undo at some later date in a more or less half-assed way.

In a related story, an arsonist received an award for putting out his own fire.

(Thanks to a Goat Rope reader for passing that on!)

MEANWHILE, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out that the deal makes permanent 82 percent of the Bush era tax cuts. There's more on the next steps here.

WISHING. I hope this lawsuit by former WV state school superintendent Jorea Marple rocks the world of the WV Board of Education.

Oh yeah, and then there's this:

WANNA SAVE THE WORLD? Eat bugs.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

What is the deal?

El Cabrero is in agreement with whoever it was who suggested that the words "fiscal cliff" be banned, exiled or otherwise gotten rid of.  It's really a bad metaphor that stuck.

It's still a bit early to assess reactions about the deal regarding that which was formerly know as you-know-what, but here's a good assembly of facts and reactions by way of wonkblog. I'll post more analyses of the deal tomorrow.

MORE ON THAT, INCLUDING FIGHTS AHEAD here.

I don't know about y'all, but I think this is starting to be tiresome.

COOL SCIENCE PICTURES here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

White out

I'm writing this on a borrowed computer in the midst of a Vermont snowstorm, and snowstorms are things Vermont does right. I'd like to include  picture of the snow but can't figure how to do it on this machine. However, if you picture a lot of white coming at you that should be close enough. It reminds me a bit of the section of Moby-Dick about the whiteness of the whale.

Another picture I'd like to include at some point is one of my sister in law's llama, who is quite cute. I didn't realize llamas had that big tooth thing going between their cloven lips. It makes me want to add a camelid to the Goat Rope Farm menagerie.

Otherwise, I have but one link to share and one comment to make about the long-awaited movie version of The Hobbit: what about the other half of the story?

HERE'S THE LINK. It's probably the best and most concise thing I've read about Washington's current conundrum over the economy and the national debt by friend and co-worker Arnie Alpert from New Hampshire.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: LLAMA TALL

On being blinded with science too many times

OK so I got this new used car when my Old Faithful was on its last legs. As part of the deal, I got three free months of satellite radio. My experience therewith reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's song 57 Channels (and nothing on).

I think this is a case where legislation is in order. For example, in a just and rational world, any 80s music channel should be required to play Safety Dance at least once an hour, with Sledgehammer following close behind. Instead, I've heard She Blinded Me with Science more times in the last week than in that entire decade.

And don't even get me started on the 90s. As far as I can tell, the only musical justification for that decade was Counting Crows doing Mr. Jones and I haven't heard that one yet either.

I guess I'll keep listening to recorded books.

WORSE THAN WISCONSIN: Michigan.

MORE ON THAT here.

THE CLIFF THING. Here's an interesting look at public opinion.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Double devil day?

I seem to recall that there was a bit of hype a few years back in certain tightly wrapped religious circles about the possible end of the world or some related apocalyptic event. The occasion was the arrival of June 6, 2006: 6/6/06, 666 being the "number of the beast" in the Book of Revelation.

It occurred to me that today--12/12/12--might qualify as Double Devil Day, 12 being 2 x 6 and all. Y'all be careful out there.

CLIMBING DOWN THE FISCAL CLIFF. Here is a look at how to do it.

WANT TO CUT THE DEFICIT? Here's one place to look.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, cheese was first made in northern Europe 7,000 years ago.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

One big onion

I have soft spots for several individuals and organizations beyond the realm of bourgeois respectability. One such group is the Industrial Workers of the World, a radial union founded in 1905 to join skilled and unskilled workers into One Big Union.

The Wobblies, as they were known, got pretty well smashed in the wake of World War I but a remnant is still around today. I was pleasantly surprised to find this article about Wobbly or Wobbly-inspired inroads to organizing in the food chain.

Some of the Wobbly approaches to organizing pioneered among mobile harvest or lumber workers just might be useful today in trying to organize workers unprotected by traditional unions.

I wish em luck.

HOLY OVERWORKED METAPHOR, BATMAN! Here's George Lakoff on why the fiscal cliff metaphor sticks and here's something local organizers did about it in WV.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Stop the presses!

I think I may actually agree with Newt Gingrich on something. Or with a little bit of what he's saying anyway:

Well, I think this whole fiscal cliff language is designed to maximize a sense of fear that’s nonsense. The very same people, the Congress and the president, who invented the fiscal cliff—this is all an invention—could break it down into 12 foothills, or 15 foothills or 20 foothills. …
I think we ought to recognize this entire fiscal cliff is an artificial invention of Washington, created by people in the Congress and the presidency. And it can be broken down by them into a series of steps that can be taken without having to be rushed into one gigantic, last-minute, little understood, with no hearings, one vote up or down—I think it’s a terrible way to govern the United States.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I'm down with just about all of this.

Have a good weekend!

Two for a Tuesday

A while back, I planned to do a series of posts here on why everyone should drop everything and read Moby-Dick. I plan on resuming that effort any day now. In fact, I was reminded of it today while walking around in the wet and chilly weather. In chapter 1, Ishmael speaks of "a damp, drizzly November in my soul." If that doesn't fit the WV weather on a day like this, nothing does.

Anyhow here are two items of interest:

CONSERVATIVES VERSUS PRISONS? Pretty much. I need to crank out an op-ed on this.

WHERE'S NATE IN THE BUDGET DEBATE? Click here for more.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED