a quick roundup before I go squeeze out a chocolate baguette

Jeff sees the light.

Stavros chafes my scrote, but little else. Sound and fury, but just annoying enough for me to call him on this. The man is a slave masquerading as a free spirit. America stands; Stavros feels compelled to sit. Word to the wise, Stavros: a truly independent mind doesn't react; it acts. The America-obsession is becoming laughable. You're on my blogroll because you're a way more talented writer than I am, but you're still full of shit when you refuse to see straight. Nevertheless, I'll keep reading you, if only to point and laugh, and I'll get my America-critiques from reasonable critics. You do realize you fit a current political stereotype, yes? So much for not belonging to a group. I'm morbidly curious about how a live TV discussion between you and Annika would turn out.

In a bizarre convergence, the liberal Joel and the conservative Maximum Leader arrive at the same conclusion: NK is lying about the cause of the explosion and the SK government is being either stupid or disingenuous. Jeff's updates support this idea.

The Yangban has helpful pointers for people who want to register to vote.

It's thanks to this post that I know I'm Palpatine.

Nerdfest with pictures. Wooj's fantastic blog continues to be one of my must-reads.

Neil Barker with a great post on elderly Korean folks.

Nigari is gooooood for you.

Conrad's most disappointing girlie pic to date.

Fafblog's hilarious take on Rathergate. Alas, Fafnir and Company, I have a feeling that there's some actual substance to the scandal. But all is not lost: Fafblog offers a unique take on the gay marriage debate. Now, somebody needs to tell Giblets that better permalinks are available for Blogger posts.

Andi, now in Malaysia, has an eye-opening post about her encounter with living Islam. It's not all terrorists, in case you're wondering.

Lorianne hints at some personal stuff. She doesn't want anyone's pity, but I think you should give her a hug, anyway. No pity; just companionship, however distant. Lorianne also lumps me under the "Thinkers" heading on her sidebar. Is this a compliment, or...?

Dr. Vallicella starts a new series on one of my favorite objects of scorn. If Dr. V were to pick up a copy of The Matrix and Philosophy, he could find loads of material in the book's final chapter, a frighteningly bad PoMo essay by frighteningly obscurantist Slavoj Zizek. That essay almost singehandedly ruined the book for me. Dr. V also writes a post about diversity and divisiveness, on which I plan to comment as part of my ongoing examination and critique of divergent pluralist thinkers like S. Mark Heim.

(Check the sidebar for more essays on religious pluralism, Buddhism, interreligious dialogue, etc.)

And now... time for that dump. This one's for you, Stavros.

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