WONKESS

Dude, Bloggers, WTF...

Over the past few months, several of the bloggers I read (some for years) have either become seriously inactive (yes, I know, I sorta qualify under those metrics, but I figure my tweets make up for my lack of posting) or all out pulled their blogs (either through password protection or complete deletion).  Obviously, I don't "know" these people, but it feels a little like my heart being ripped out of my chest and being smooshed down hard. 

Has something happend in the blog-o-sphere in the past couple of months that I'm just not aware of?  Has there been some up-tick in psycho-blog-o-stalking?  Has the era of the blog ended as rapidly as it appeared?  Have the sea-people finally come and taken away these bloggers from this crappy goddamn planet full of hippies?

It's weird how losing this strange, anonymous link to someone can still bring on an alienating sadness.  So, to those bloggers who have shut their sites down and might be visiting me, however occasionally (yes, you!) - know that I miss you :(

All Your Imaginary Financial Products Are Belong to Us...

And now for something completely different...

Breastfeeding.

I'm not particularly vested in this Momosphere argument.  I breastfed both my daughters for 6 months each, far short of what the die-hard advocates advocate, but it was important enough for me to breastfeed that I did it though I was a full time law student living 2 hours away from school (for my oldest) and studying for the bar exam (for my youngest).

However, my mom, who had me in one of those "developing countries" that we hear about, raised me and my sister on formula.  I have no doubt that this was in part because of aggressive marketing on the part of formula makers.  During the late 60s/early 70s (and I believe even today), breastfeeding was perceived in Asia to be lower-class, and the ability to purchase formula a reflection of the upwardly mobile.  As the saying goes, I turned out Ok.

Then something struck me this morning.  Ultimately, my personal pro-breastfeeding beliefs are, on some level, marketing induced.  I have unscientific "feelings" about the benefits of breastfeeding, and the scientific facts I have are, well, let's just say I know what the track record is with things that are "scientific fact".  What I have been exposed to, since I'm most often surrounded by crunchy, tree-hugging hippies, is a lot of pro-breastfeeding research, enthusiasm from the la leche groups, and other forms of group-think.

But what I know is that breast-feeding, as a striving, sporatically ambitious woman, was a career liability for me.  It made my children constantly at the forefront of my thoughts, and made them manifestly at the forefront of my behavior.  I made it work, with difficulty, as I am sure thousands of mothers are making it work all around the country every day.  But there is no denying that breastfeeding changed my relationship with my "job," as I am sure it had similar impact on other breastfeeding moms.

So what if, just what IF, the reversion to breastfeeding-is-best is partly motivated by putting up just one more barrier between a woman and her chance at professional success?  What if, by making the striving, ambitious woman bear one more burden on her back, it becomes the one burdent that breaks her?

The Tentacles of the Vampire Squid...

have a tight grip on this one:

Wall Street has showered nearly $11 million on the Senate since the beginning of the year, and more than 15 percent of it has gone to a single senator: Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

Schumer’s $1.65 million take from the financial services industry is nearly twice that of any other senator's — and more than five times what the industry gave to any single Republican senator.

While the industry has scaled back its political spending in the wake of last year’s economic collapse, data from the Center for Responsive Politics show that it’s still investing heavily in the Senate, where it’s likely to have its best shot at stopping — or at least shaping — the crackdown on Wall Street that President Barack Obama has proposed.

And it’s clearly looking to Democrats to do it.

I've been a registered Democrat since I was 18, but let's not kid ourselves.  While we were looking the other way, all obsessed about fluffy social things, we were getting the proverbial rug (iow, our country) pulled out from under our feet.

It's a wonderful strategy, really.  Forget ideology.  Never gamble.  Always bet on whoever is in office.