If you are afflicted with triskaidekaphobia or metathesiophobia or if you are a hobbit or a Republican you may have greeted today with some trepidation. But fear not, for today is the auspicious beginning of the next phase of our Daily Kos adventure.
Top Comments is a little different tonight than it has been in the past – notably, we do not yet have a way to extract Top Mojo. But we didn’t have Top Mojo in the beginning, either. Over time, we’ll get our Top Mojo back, or find something equally interesting to share.
But I think, all in all, we have had a very auspicious beginning to our new adventure, thanks to an awful lot of hard work by and awful lot of very talented and dedicated people.
So how in the world is a hobbit like a Republican?
I thought you would never ask. On the surface, of course, there is no relationship at all. Hobbits are generally cheerful and love games and jokes. They may be a little short and have huge, hairy feet, but they enjoy dressing in bright colors and prefer peace and quiet and celebrations.
Other aspects are a little more questionable. Hobbits love tobacco as much as Republicans love tobacco company lobbyists. Hobbits love food and drink, especially ale, like Republicans love dining out as the guests of lobbyist and engaging in many forms of intoxicants. And, like Republicans, hobbits have no understanding of science and technology and are positively fearful of “machinery more complicated than the watermill, forge bellows, and hand loom.”
Whether they are poor or well-off, hobbits are generally content with their life and don’t want to see it change. And in this, hobbits are very like Republicans. If you will recall from The Hobbit (and from Fellowship of the Ring, hobbits don’t like adventures. They like everything to remain the same, even if it means watching as the world devolves around them and their society and everything they love is destroyed.
Are you a hobbit? ('cause I know you're not a Republican)
Unlike most Republicans, however, a hobbit’s love of “the way things are” does not rise to the level of metathesiophobia. I have often thought that the problem Republicans have with global climate change is the word “change.” The avoid it by calling the phenomenon “global warming.” But this misleading pseudonym just causes more confusion among those already unable to cope well with change.
I thought of that this week while I was struggling with my own version of global climate change. This past Wednesday morning it began to snow at Chez Carolita. Hard. Actually the snow itself was soft – big, puffy, fluffy snow, quite unlike the soggy wet stuff we usually get. The hard part was the snowfall RATE of 3 inches per hour. That may not seem like much to a lot of you, but in my little corner of the South, that’s a lot.
By the end of the day we had accumulated 30 inches of snow “officially,” although my neighbor’s car was completely buried and when the garage door was opened, I could only see the top of the back window of my Odyssey van. The drifts were around 5 feet high by the garage. Again, I know many of you get more snow than that, but in this part of the country that 30 inches is equivalent to 6 years’ worth of snow. In one day.
But we weren’t through yet. On Thursday night, we also set a record for low temperatures. The official temperature at my location was -21 degrees. That is Actual temperature, not some weenie “chill factor.” When I lived in Wisconsin we didn’t get temps that low.
And in the midst of this, a moronic Republican (OK, it is a friend, but one I have a hard time talking to about most things) called to tell me how happy she was. Why? Because this “proved” that global warming was a hoax. She was laughing when she said it, so I laughed too. Then I said how happy I was that she wasn’t one of the people who didn’t know the difference between climate and weather. I went on to explain why ocean warming produces these phenomena. I don’t know how much she understood, but it took quite a while. Long distance. On her dime.
Bet she doesn’t call again to laugh about global warming.
While I am not very fond of global climate change, I do like DK4 and I’ve had a great time today poking in the corners. With a diary to post, it is a little disconcerting to have the site “blink off” every few minutes, but I’m not afraid of a little instability among friends. Actually, things have worked much better than they could have. All and all, I think this is a very auspicious beginning.
Before you rush off to try to break DK4, here is a word from our sponsors. . . .
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
One of the richest, and perhaps most under-appreciated, areas of thought come in the form of comments attached to these diaries.
Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and through nominations by other Kossacks. So when you find a comment that enlightens, entertains, or encourages, send it to:
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Comments should get to the inbox by 9:30 EST to be included that day (but we will carry over later ones). Don’t forget to include your Dkos screename, a link to the nominee, and a brief comment about why you think it is a Top Comment.
Tonight’s Top Comments. . . .
From Seneca Doane:
Yes, things are slow. I expect they will improve. I think they could have been arranged better. But some poster named "kos" put things into great perspective here. If the site needs a slogan, it should be boiled down from that comment.
From
bronte 17:
yawnimawke... with his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... finds inspiration in the incredibly well-researched diary of historic sightings of the Crab Nebula by palantir.
And a bit of snarky-goodness for today that aligns with the minor misfires of the DK4 engine... klompendanser notes that a slow savoring and chocolate go hand in hand in Sunday Bread: Chocolate Covered Cherries! by Something the Dog Said. Mmm...mmm...good.
From
sardonyx:
It was inevitable that there would be growing pains this first day of DK4, with things not always behaving in an ideal manner. barefoot coyote describes one in so I'm reading comments here, and AnnetteK responds with a surprising (and amusing) yup.
From
BeninSC:
Did you ever hotlist a diary and rediscover it years later, only to wonder, what did I ever see in THAT?! Well citisven tells you how you can prevent that from happening again in DK4!
EDITOR’S NOTE: I love this feature! I had no idea it existed, but now that I’m informed, I’ll bet I use it all of the time. Thanks for pointing it out, Ben.
From
me:
G2geek has some keen observations on Wikileaks, and follows up with excellent suggestions for actions to support Wikileaks in furiousxxgeorge's excellent diary HBGary: Don't let this story die.
In that same diary CroneWit points to an excellent arstechnica post that details the HBGary/Annymous dustup, complete with pertinent emails.
Epsilon makes some excellent observations -- supported by real, live data -- on the reality of public sector jobs vs. the crap Faux News and Repubs want people to believe, in Laura's So-called Right to Work post.