I finally got Tachygraphy up and running, and -- huzzah! -- we've already got an entry. Thanks to Rich for being first in line to participate. I've already gotten positive responses from other folks I emailed, so (wipes tear away) this looks to be the start of something special. If you've got a place to post online (if not, Blogger will hook you up for free), join us!

Now I need to pound out my own entry. After lunch.

At the DNC

Bill O'Reilly and Michael Moore faced off at the Democratic National Convention the other day. Nothing too surprising, except for the relatively civil tone. (Bill didn't say "shut up" once!) Speaking of Mr. O'Reilly, check out O'Reilly Sucks for some interesting info. And of course, FAIR has the game sewn up.

Meantime, Al Sharpton got some standing ovations for his speech at the convention.

One of many standing ovations went on for a minute after he told delegates that after the nation failed to deliver on Civil War-era promises of "40 acres and mule" to freed slaves, "we didn't get the mule so we decided we'd ride this donkey as far as it would take us."

I guess the people in attendance do get sick of namby-pamby middle-of-the-roadism designed to appeal first and only to swing voters.

"Mr. President, the reason we are fighting so hard, the reason we took Florida so seriously, is our right to vote wasn't gained because of our age," Sharpton said. "Our vote was soaked in the blood of martyrs, soaked in the blood of (civil rights activists) Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, soaked in the blood of four little girls in Birmingham. This vote is sacred to us. This vote can't be bargained away. This vote can't be given away.

"In all due respect, Mr. President, read my lips: Our vote is not for sale."

Go Al! You can read the whole speech here.

It's kind of interesting to read the live blogging coming from TalkLeft and others, who are at the DNC. I think I'll be more intrigued by those at the RNC. (Diane, wanna guest-blog for us?)

New Blogs

Speaking of new blogs, we've got a few new ones in the ol' sidebar. Check out:

• View by Kathryn Saussy. Finally, someone else who uses images in their posts! Amazing.
  
  
• Die Puny Humans by TransMet creator Warren Ellis. A bit on the dark side, but does that really surprise anyone who's read his stuff?

Okay, so we've only got two (in addition to TalkLeft). If you've got others to suggest, post a comment.

Random

[PICTURE REMOVED BY REQUEST OF GUY WHO MADE IT] I hope Diane will get a kick out of Greetings from the Jersey Shore. I wanted it to be much longer.

When I realized that 5 Minute Stories had died, I went looking for a similar site. Needless to say, I didn't find one -- but there are a whole mess of lesser places, many of which are posted on The Meme List. Unfortunately, they all ready like The Book of Questions. Just glance at blogideas.com. I don't know why (especially when I've just launched a project that's more or less the same idea) but these sites bug the crud out of me. Still, I expect I may visit them for some ideas for journal topics in the coming school year.

Now, some skeptics would suggest that there's a correlation between recent US invasions of oil-rich countries (and subsequent appropriation of said oil for foreign corporate control) and ExxonMobil's glorious profit surge. But that would be cynical. Remember: The terrorists want you to oppose war and work toward nonviolent conflict resolution!

I continue to spend many hours maing the switch to Mozilla. Overall, I'm pleased; but the mail component has been a bit buggy here and there. (But I just cannot stand Apple's "Mail" program any longer.) Can't get autoscroll to work. Grrr.

Okay, time to do my entry for Tachygraphy.

TimeWaster™

MicroLife is fun for a while. Think Tamagotchi times five.

Today I'm listening to: Plug!