Ode To The West Wind
Because it's still bitterly cold I found the incredible bargain of two full-grown fatsia japonica for a fiver ( plants are cheap right now, it's the late spring and the stall-holder had hit on the sales tactic of advertising them as 'inside now, outside later' which was very enterprising of him. Obviously it works, as I bought some.) I am a sucker for plants, especially cheap ones. Getting them home via public transport in my currently debilitated condition was another matter entirely and now I feel like I've been run over by a bus. The plants look fantastic though.
I have lots of zonal pelargonium plants waiting to be potted on and hardened off and seeds to be planted but nothing can be done while it's so cold. I have some shrubs to go in, that again beacuse of the cold were an amazing bargain at 2 euro each - 2 floribunda roses, Virgo and Dame de Coeur, and two peonies Duchesse de Nemours and Karl Rosenfield. They're all very fragrant - I don't see the point of a garden without scent, and I want to have a whiff of glorious frangrance evry time I open a window. There'll be night scented stocks and nicotiana in containers under under the windows and cotton lavender, rosemary, thyme and sage in the spot by the fence that's rocky and gets full sun. There's also loads of tiger lily bulbs from last year and the red and white Asiatic lily bulbs I got cheap last year to be potted up, all of which are also fragrant. They all flower at slightly different times so hopefully I'll have scent all summer. In the autumn I'll be planting some winter jasmine and wintersweet, and in future that'll carry fragrance all winter.
So much is happening so fast right now, what with the slow implosion of New Labour and Bush's visible mental breakdown, not to mention outright declared civil war in Iraq, that the US and Uk governments seem to entering some kind of endgame, a slow death-spiral; land just for the moment I'm going to sit and watch for a bit and just enjoy it the schadenfreude - so many blogs to read, so little time - although I'll be doing so with the trepidation that comes of knowing there's an unstable nutter on a hairtrigger in the White House and Brown is Blair, only fatter and more Scots and with an even odder speech impediment. That some of best writing of the past few years has had to come out of a such a political disaster as Bush and Blair's folie a deux is cold comfort to those suffering the consequences .
Later on when I've had a good catchup I'll post whatever interesting links I come across. Then the rest of the day is a mental health day. Although so icy cold it's a beautifully clear, blue sunny day and finally the sunlight is actually reaching our postage-stamp garden, so I'm going to wrap up warm, take a book outside, put some jazz on loud to drown out the fuckwit across the way who thinks sunshine is an opportunity to get his pneumatic drill out, and try and imagine it's spring.
Why the Shelley link in the header? Shelley wrote that poem when revolutionary fervour wa sweeping Europe. He scented freedom on the wind. Let's hope we're smelling the same thing too.Image of sky over Hoek Van Holland from Hoekse Pier's Flickr gallery of The Netherlands
Posted 11:36 AM by Republic of Palau
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"I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq."
-- U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, 21 July 2003
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...we've all got something to grind. By Belledame222.
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It's just Amanda now, strong on feminism.
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The politics of crime.
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short commentary on news items, articles and op-ed pieces about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Voices from the Bethlehem ghetto.
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Mark Elf's anti-zionist blog.
Juan Cole
Required reading on Iraq and the Middle East.
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What's really happening in Iraq
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Science, politics and the intersection between them. By PZ Myers.
Science and Politics
Bora Zivkovic is trying to understand US politics by making strange connections between science,
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Thus Spake Zuska
Not very polite.
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Ruthless criticism of all that exists, except for the good bits. By Phil Edwards.
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'Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.' -- Eugene V. Debs
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A journal of assorted leftwingery with a decided preference for discussing how the
late Christopher Hitchens is a twat
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"better...faster...coconutter."
Dead Men Left
Meaders is active in the RESPECT coalition, but don't hold it against him
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A blog about globalisation. By General Glut.
International Rooksbyism
Not just another scummie student commie's blog. By Ed Rooksby.
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Socialism and the legal systems
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A leftwing view of the day's news and the way it's represented in the media. By Eli.
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Erudite English Socialist Workers Party supporter.
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German/English socialist leaning blog.
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A computer generated, left-wing hedgehog's views on the world and the war
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D Ghirlandaio on politics, art and the culture at large
Unrepentant Marxist
By Louis Proyect, veteran Marxist
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Home of the Dead Socialist Watch. By Chris Brooke.
They make fun of the right
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Plays the stock market of the soul -- and sells short!
Go Fug Yourself
Mocking our betters in Hollywood and tv...
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An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender
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For Freedom, Democracy and a Pony.
Sadly No!
A group blog dedicated to make fun of idiots.
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Faithful husband, soccer dad, basset owner, and Peggy Noonan stalker
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Come point and laught at the fundies and rightwing loonies
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By watertiger, who has not yet shot anybody in the face ...yet.
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The liberal answer to Instapundit?
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By David Ehrenstein
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A groupblog focusing on the EU and European politics.
Hronkomatic
Paying good money to shut George Will up. By Jason McCullough.
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Digby, frequent and eloquent commentor at various blogs finally has his own.
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Journalist, media personality and blogger
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Commentary on Australian & world politics from John Quiggin
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by Kevin Raybould
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Outside-the-Beltway perspectives on politics, current events, and the media
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Where the left is right and the right is wrong.
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commentary on and song parodies about politics, current events, books, music,
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Analytic philosophy and liberal politics by Lindsay Beyerstein and others.
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Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden's politics and life blog.
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Group blog. Nice design, good content.
Mikhaela's News Blog
By Mikhaela Reid.
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Chicago liberal's musings on war, peace, Jon Stewart, art, media. By
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Nathan Newman
A community and union activist, policy advocate and writer with an excellent weblog.
Oliver Willis
Like kryptonite to stupid.
Orcinus
Policy, Culture and Journalism in the 21st Century. By David Neiwert.
Pacific Views
regime change begins at home, escalate nonviolence. By Natasha.
Polygon, the Dancing Bear
Occasional notes on politics, history, architecture, and life. By Lawrence Kestenbaum.
Prometheus 6
"What I want to do here is talk to the town criers. And I'll be talking more about people than politics."
Rittenhouse Review
A journal of foreign policy, finance, ethics, and culture. By James M. Capozzola
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an intermittent weblog by Tim Dunlop.
Ruminate This
News, views, activism and a smattering of something else. By Lisa English.
Sasha Undercover
Observations and commentary on politics, women, culture, and daily life. Not for the faint of heart.
Seeing the Forest
...for the trees
Shadow of the Hegemon
Written by returned from the death Greek demagogue Demosthenes so is very eloquent.
The Sideshow
Avedon makes me think. Her weblog revolves around US politics.
Skimble
Culture, politics, commentary, criticism. Views from the left, headquartered in Chicago USA.
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Hopeful outrage, politics, culture and religion from a progressive Christian perspective.
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Politics, baseball and more.
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Insightful (inciteful?) and interesting
This Modern World
By Tom Tomorrow
Thoughts on the Eve of the Apocalypse
By Bill Connolly
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A chronicle of the absurd, in politics and life. By Charles Dodgson
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Free thinking in a dirty glass. By Daily Kos alumni Billmon.
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Blogging and cartoons! Whoot!
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