Enough

For whatever reason, I haven't been able to log into Blogger all day. I've had enough -- I'm moving this blog over to WordPress as soon as I have the spare time.

Meanwhile, you can check out a post I was going to cross-post here: my analysis of the "FairTax" movement currently creeping its way into influence in the Republican primary.

Labels: Blogger sux, The Right's Field

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 6:40 PM 0 comments

  The Mark of Quality

So apparently Blogger's robocops have flagged A&S as a possible spam blog. Meaning:

Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site.

We weren't holding out hope for a Koufax, but we didn't know it had gotten that bad.

Presumably the fine folks at Blogger will sort this out forthwith - until then it's only a matter of the extra inconvenience of word verification before every post. And the bruise to our delicate ego.

Labels: Blogger sux, meta

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 10:06 AM 0 comments

  Die, Blogger, Die

And no, I don't mean "The, Blogger, The." So I missed a tag in the Think Tank Review and thus lost half my post, along with an hour and a half I could have spent in all kinds of other, less thinky activities.

I know, save your work, and I also know, stop complaining and get off Blogger already. Still.

So the post was reconstructed to include the main piece. What was lost? Short versions:

"Make English our Official Language": Newt Gingrich thinks the linguistic sky is falling, but doesn't produce any evidence that Americans are particularly culturally fragmented, nor does he propose a solution to the real problem with ESL education: the fact that "over 90% of the need for English as a Second Language classes goes unmet." (Link via The Right's Field.) His list of recommendations seems to be aimed not at solving a policy problem but at reasserting a conservative voice in the immigration debate. And you can't help but notice that it also seems intended to depress immigrant (and thus Democratic) voter turnout.

"Tortured Credibility": Anne Applebaum turns up - at the AEI website! - to denounce the use of torture from a practical perspective. She points out that the Khalid Sheik Mohammed "confessions" have been met with indifference and skepticism around the world. And even if he wasn't tortured, the extrajudicial means used to confine and interrogate him undermine the legitimacy of any confession. The lesson?

[I]t is not merely immoral to operate outside the rule of law; it is also ineffective and in fact profoundly counterproductive: There is no proof that it produces better information but plenty of evidence that it has discredited the United States.

Given AEI's influence in conservative policymaking circles, it's heartening to see this piece at their website.

Labels: Blogger sux, immigration, Newt Gingrich, Right Wing Think Tank Review, torture

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 12:22 PM 0 comments

  Elsewhere...

I have no idea why comments aren't enabled on the post below. My theory is that is has something to do with the fact that Blogger Sux.

At any rate, hope you enjoy going back to the future. Light posting the rest of today. If dusty memories from the Commentary archives aren't enough for you, may I recommend:

Amazin' Avenue: You know what they say about a bad dress rehearsal...

The Right's Field: McCain gets clubbed.

Vernon Lee: Comrade Romney vs. the Boston Herald (Also see "Vernon Lee's Law," which has nothing to do with anything horrible happening to some kid named Vernon Lee).

Undercover Blue: What might really lie behind the US attorney firings.

John Cole: Democratic overreach? Hardly.

Slacktivist: Teh MSM is undermining our pets!!!!11!!1!

They hate our freedom and our pooties.

Labels: Blogger sux, Other blogs

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 10:54 AM 0 comments

  Blogger Sux

Don't know if you can read this, 'cause I can't see my own blog, but here's a message in a bottle. I'll be back as soon as the infinite number of monkeys at Blogger stumble across a fix to the demon known as bX-vjhbsj.

It makes me feel a bit better, though, to know that Ann Althouse has the same problem:

Jordan, you say if we do everything and still can't solve the problem,
we can contact the blogger team, but the URL you give for doing that
takes me to a page with some options that never get me to a place
where I can write a message. I've wasted a huge amount of time trying
to figure out how to write to you people! All I can even think of to
do is to write posts on my blog -- http://althouse.blogspot.com --
which has over 10,000 visitors a day -- explaining the trouble I'm
having with new Blogger (which is that the feed won't work). I've
spent hours trying to solve the problem myself, including posting a
comment in the Blogger Help group. I've resorted to just posting on
the blog about the problem, in the hope someone will help me, though I
know what's most like is a lot of comments from people telling me to
leave Blogger:

So there's some balance in the universe...

Labels: Blogger sux, meta

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 8:31 AM 2 comments