Saturday Morning Good Writing

Everyone else in the blogosphere has their Friday memes. Unfortunately, Friday is the day of the week when I'm least likely to want to come home and blog. But now that I have to get up at 6:30 am on the weekend, Saturday morning is looking good. Since I never want to be like everyone else, I'm going to use this time each week to share some good writing instead of firing up ITunes to do a day-late Friday Random Ten. That could get embarrassing.

Kung Fu Monkey did an interesting bit this summer on Hollywood's alleged political leanings in "I Wish Hollywood Was That Organized":

I make a living -- a tolerably fine one -- at writing films. I am, one might say, a liberal. Add up all the projects I've worked on in the last five years ... hmm, five have hit the screen, of about twenty. Even I, a very successful working writer, only have a 25% success rate. Damn you, conservative Hollywood!

Lorraine Berry of culturekitchen sends "An Open Letter to the Democratic Leadership":

I think that if this marriage is to be saved, we need to get some serious counseling. You need to understand that just because you're not as bad as that other guy, doesn't make you the perfect partner. Partnerships take work; they take a give and take; a willingness to listen, respond; they take the understanding that each partner has the other's back; a desire to share with each other the burdens and joys of life.

All I ever seem to get from you is empty promises. That, and asking me if I have a few bucks in my wallet to cover you until payday.

Via Global Voices Online, the international blog spotlight project, I found "The official Religious Policeman site", a guided tour of the official Religious Police site for Saudi Arabia by a very funny blogger:

It's a bit of a puzzler, really. What do several replica football shirts, a ladies' handbag with an anchor motif, a T-shirt, and a cushion cover, all have in common? Their really tacky design? Well yes, that's probably true, but it's not the right answer. Still don't see it? Come on people, wake up, work with me on this. The common feature is that they all contain or depict a cross. Yes, even the anchor contains a cross. And the cross is the symbol of Jesus Christ, although we of course call him the Prophet Isa, which really messes up the title if you want to put on that Lloyd-Webber musical over here, just as well we don't have any theatres.

HumanityCritic, who I found out about via the Black Weblog Awards, describes the possible ramifications of "Being the Neighbor of a Television Family":

Now that Mr. Ingalls' daughters are getting older, I think its time for them to ditch those long ass dresses and start wearing some skirts, or something more revealing. When I suggest this to the young women they seemed interested, but when their father got wind of my devilish plan he gathered up a witch hunt and had about 30 people outside my house holding torches.

Digby speaks about how liberals can talk about morality in "Got Morals?":

I think this is an good way for liberals to think about our government and how the world works. And it can even be done in simple, common sense terms that may just resonate with those who wonder what it is we stand for. And aside from the fact that an amoral superpower is a country not worth living in and one that shames all of us who live within it, moral authority leads to material good as well. A great country behaving in an immoral way makes that country weaker, not stronger. Allies mistrust it and are reluctant to join forces. Enemies are emboldened, not cowed, because they see the country behaving in an almost desperate fashion and perceive that it is much weaker than it is. And when leaders of the most powerful country in the world leave the impression that they care nothing for the world's opinion, the world begins to see that country as a potential enemy instead of a friend.

Irregular Times provides an excellent example of hard-hitting journalism in "Massive Depopulation As Married Connecticuters Flee State":

As it became clear that traffic jams of husbands and wives seeking to save their marriages would not clear in time for all to make it across the border before the marriage-destroying law took effect at midnight, some became desperate. "I don't want a divorce! Please, I don't want to take up witchcraft, join a terrorist cell, and practice lesbianism. Someone help us! Does anyone have a can of gas?" cried an unidentified woman at the side of the road as others slowly passed by, avoiding eye contact.

But they don't mention the goldfish... [Note: this is just a link to the piece I posted on Thursday, to test out Movable Type's trackback feature. No need to click. Hey, I SAID don't click on it!]