The Madness Continues …

Are we mad? Are we crazy? Are we nuts? Have lost it spending hours in front of our computer writing, reading, commenting, trackbacking, permalinking and praying for traffic? Do the many e-mailers asking Glenn if he is some sort of weirdo have a point? Is it sane to forego news on TV, family life, a night on the town, work duties, and worst of all, sleep? All that just to immerse ourselves in what is called the blogosphere? Yes, the world of bloggers does indeed sometimes resemble some loosely organized meeting place for those who have collectively lost their minds. Or not? Is it a meeting of minds designed to enhance our knowledge of things which is finally bringing us that much dreamed of forum of direct democracy? Or, if some publisher is looking, an invite for a newspaper column or maybe even a book deal?

Maybe this week’s entries can shed some light on it!

Entertainment?
It seems that the quality of entertainment offered to us these days reflects this week’s theme, madness. It’s pretty bad indeed:

Mr. Cranky this week rants about the quality of local TV …

… and Israellycool alerts us the deteriorating quality of Arab TV …

… while Newman gives us some fair warnings before watching the new Matrix.

But not everyone is complaining of what can be seen and Rob Bernard produces a more balanced review of what’s on TV this season. Yet, instead of sitting in front of a screen, there are some other creative pursuits:

Matt Powell at Wheat and Chaff discusses anime and …

… Sneakeasy’s Joint discusses writing a poem.

Talking about poetry, what happens if you let children look at proverbs, asks Bussorah?

But then you can always make your own pornographic movie. Eric Berlin points out that you have to assume though that it will be made public at some point, and he has more solid advice for those that are commonly referred to as asshatted celebrities.

Or, is this Entertainment?
Many have long abandoned the box as a form of entertainment and visits to the theater are limited these days because of our busy lives. Yet, there are other ways to seek a break from day to day life:

Madfish Willie discusses a night on the town …

… and that brings me to Bogieblog’s time with the chickens.

Admiral Quixote at Solport discusses a sports event and true sportsmanship in this selfish world …

… as does the Sportsblog, rambling about a football junkie.

… whereas White Pebble’s Patti Niehoff ventures into very dangerous territory for a day-trip.

Or maybe we should just celebrate in Japanese style, says Lee of See the Donkey.

I really prefer to sit back and read a short story. Quibbles and Bits wants to share one with us this week called the Mailbox.

Wizbang’s Kevin prefers to stroll around computer expos, or does he? In any case he has some good advice on it.

But in the end, like the TV-critics I started with, it all depends on who is looking at what has been created. The Tears of Things describe two distinct reactions to a piece of art.

Basic Freedoms and Those That Defend It
Entertainment is to be enjoyed since we have the freedom to do that, yet very often this freedom comes under threat according to …

… James Griffith of Griffany who takes on the issue of ID-Cards as it impacts our freedom …

… as do the restrictions imposed on us by gun control, says The Smallest Minority.

And we should not ever forget those who die to defend that freedom says John Donovan at Argghhh!

And Blackfive adds to that that it is very often different generations of families that serve the forces, effectively creating a Warrior Caste.

The Lopsided Poopdeck talks about his mother who served in the armed forces.

In any case, there needs to be more attention for those brave armed forces and the Mudville Gazette has a rallying cry for those Military Blogs.

Freedom to do What?
We fight to preserve our freedom, and some of us die for it. But what do we do with our freedom once we have it?

We can chose to engage in unusual relationships like the folks at Taken in Hand, as Kathy, Stephen and Robin will explain to you.

Is their view of the role of women maybe traditional, women have changed says Bad Money, who discusses Yesterday’s Women and Today’s Women.

Some guys like Jim Peacock at Snooze Buttom Dreams however need to listen to a reggae classic to realize that women are not always the answer to everything and that things can still be all right.

Maybe an imaginary girlfriend is the solution, you can get them at eBay says Resonance.

Freedom can also be abused since we can manipulate science to further our political views, until someone uses his freedom to debunk it which is what John Ray does on his Dissect Left and PC Watch Blogs.

Which takes us to those weird protesters who get angry because they just could not get arrested, says Ilyka Damen.

Sometimes protest and a closer look are warranted says Angelweave after she read Fast Food Nation.

To some freedom means to get rid of your waste wherever you like it, Canadians dump their garbage across the border, says the Interested Participant.

And if you abuse your rights to engage in some serious hazing at a fraternity, the outcome maybe reason for concern says The Sake of Argument.

Freedom also allows us to make money and see it grow by adhering to some very, yes, the frugal Dutchman loves this, interesting guidelines according to the People’s Republic of Seabrook.

And then there’s religious freedom, spawning groups like Jews for Jesus, appropriately discussed by The Raving Atheist.

Yet those that live in slavery often have to imagine things in order to escape their brutal circumstances and dream of things in the future. The Speculist underlines the power of imagination and our ability to conceive things that do not exist as yet, ie. the future.

Presidential Politics
Freedom is also there to elect our leaders and that brings out much discussion, yet it surprises me that no one bothered to discuss JFK for this week's Carnival. That may be because another scion of a venerable family is writing history these days:

Andrew Ian Dodge alerts us to the Bush visit to London and the protesters that await him …

… while Q and O believes the Bush speech of two weeks back is of historical significance.

The candidates that seek to replace Bush meanwhile engage is acts that are not of real historical significance says Robert Tagorda, irritated by Democratic candidates’ pandering to youth culture.

The King of Fools tells us that one politician once slated to occupy the White House was sent packing this week with his pension papers.

And The Gunther Concept compares Bush and the slate of Democratic candidates on their language and grammar skills and comes to some interesting conclusions.

And then there are the great Presidents of the past, Red Ted compares Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan.

The Old Continent
As regular visitors to this blog will know, my ancestral grounds are a topic of hot debate these days.

Nikita Demosthenes takes on the irrational aspects of the EU.

… and Walloworld looks at this contradiction in terminus, Freedom in France.

And Peaktalk, yes that's me, points out that the EU’s defense plans may be the final nail in the coffin for NATO.

An Even Older Continent
While the old continent seems troubled, the older continent is deeply troubled which is why we are sowing the seeds of democracy in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates:

The Patriot Paradox discusses the situation in Iraq, saying the Iraqis are better off and …

… Earthly Passions takes on the dilemma posed to us by the Iraqi Fork, arguing that whichever path we take is going to be difficult.

That difficulty required Paul Bremer to return to Washington for some meetings, Norbizness thankfully has a transcript of what took place in the Oval Office.

Yes, the war in Iraq has enriched our language and A Voyage to Arcturus examines those Quaggers.

And since it seems the Quaggers may be wrong, the time has come to bring more international troops to Iraq, argues Blog Simmins.

Quaggers? Vietnam? Brian J. Noggle explains that the Vietnam analogy only works for certain age groups.

The effort to bring democracy to Iraq, in the end, was based on intelligence and the entire The Smarter Cop points out to us that whatever was in the contested memo about al-Qaeda and Saddam, that intelligence had been gathered during the Clinton years. What did they do with it?

Idler Yet points out that Slate needs to be convinced on some of the al-Qaeda – Saddam files that are out there.

There is a group of people that didn’t need any intelligence, the warbloggers knew the right course of action all along, but that has not prevented them from being ridiculed as “chickenhawks” says The American Mind.

In any case, there’s there should be more focus on good news from Iraq says Feste’s Fools Blog.

Politics and the Law, Church and State
If madness and freedom intersect, it is no doubt in the area where church, state and law meet each other.

This week the focus of attention was the ruling on gay marriage in Massachusetts and Trish Wilson was on the spot to cover this, just in time for the Carnival.

The Calico Cat discusses a Democratic filibuster of federal judicial nominees, and historical perspective on the Supreme Court packing scheme of the 1930s.

Fringeblog is deeply worried about the Supremes rapid departure of pure Constitutional ruling.

And it is good to finally hear from real Alabamian Anastasia at Southern Musings what she thinks about the controversy surrounding The Ten Commandments.

Legal affairs come close to home when you get a demand letter, Patterico points us to one that is especially scary.

But Above All, Human
In the end we’re all human and subject to these basic human instincts as Jay Solo discusses our rodent tendencies. So does that mean we are all the same?

No, of course not. We are different and can celebrate our humanity, our diversity under a banner of universalism. Or do we? The inherent tensions between patriotism, ethnic and national identity and universalism are discussed eloquently by KesherTalk’s Judith Weiss.

Was this madness? No, this is what you get if you put a few enthusiastic and engaged bloggers together in the proverbial room, lots of interesting stuff and a few quaint episodes. Of course, there’s some absurdity around and Fragments from Floyd tries to initiate a new exercise for bloggers around the “Where are you from” concept, adding that indeed it may be silly. But if you want real madness there’s always a blogger to propose it, and this week the award goes to Pete Holidian who invites us to participate in some more Blogger Madness. That’s it!

And remember to check in next week with the team of Setting The World To Rights who will be hosting the 62nd edition of the Carnival!