For the past thirty minutes I have been listening to “Air America,” the Liberal Talk Network. Janeane Garafolo and her co-host Sam Seder have been interviewing Dave Chappelle, the comedian.

Ms. Garafolo asked Mr. Chappelle a barely coherent question about whether terms like “partial birth abortion” and “death taxes,” which according to Ms. Garafolo, are innacurate and are employed by the members of the VRWC soley to inflame conservative “crackers,” bother Mr. Chappelle as much as they bother intellectuals like her.

Mr. Chappelle responded by telling an even more incoherent story about being hassled at an airport for not following the rules. Huh?

Now Playing…Ben Cohen, of “Ben and Jerry’s” fame, who made about as much sense as the average eight-year old.

I suppose that it is logically possible to be stupid as the day is long but still be entertaining. However, Janeane et al. are long on stupid and not the least bit entertaining. If the rest of Air America’s lineup is this dismal, it will go down in flames.

Da Button …

IS UP!

I’m gonna have a drink and a cigar.

Like many bloggers, I actually use my blogroll. I try to read just about every site on there every day, with a couple exceptions. I also have a long list of bookmarked sites that I go to often. When I find myself regularly seeking out one of the bookmarked sites, I put it on the blogroll, mainly for my convenience.

However, I am probably naive enough to think that others just may click on sites that appear on the blogroll on the theory that if I like them, maybe they will to. I know that I click on sites from the blogrolls of sites that I enjoy, based on that reasoning.

Guided by those two thoughts, I am reluctantly removing a few sites from the blogroll. In each case, it is because the site has been inactive for a very long time, and I would prefer to use that space for active sites. Sadly, among those being eliminated is Rachel Lucas, which brings me to the next point.

If you find that your site was one of those eliminated and I see that you have fired up your blog again, I will gladly put the site back on the blogroll.

Having made some room on the list, I will be adding a couple new sites shortly, but first things first, as this requires a trip to visit Mr. Template.

Sgt. Hook has arrived in Afghanistan, and he is optimistic about being able to post with some regularity.

Stay tuned.

Check out Ghost Town. It is a compilation of photographs of the towns and villages surrounding Chernobyl, virtually all of which have been abandoned following the nuclear catastrophe in 1986. According to the woman who took the photos (“touring” on a motorcycle, armed only with a hand-held radiation meter), the area will be unsafe for the next 48,000 years.

The photographs of the abandoned kindergarten were particuliarly sad.

Via On The Third Hand.

I just returned home from attending an after work dinner for a good friend and colleague with whom I have spent a good deal of time (including lunch time) every workday for the past 13 years. Over the years, we laughed at everything imaginable, shared sorrows, and listened to each other’s rants. I have known for months that he would be leaving at the end of March, but I remained in steadfast denial about it. We rarely discussed it, but I knew the day would come, and so it did today.

The party was great. There was plenty to eat and drink. There were also lots of jokes, and I even brought the guitar and played and sang a goofy song that I wrote for him. At rock bottom, however, it was sad. I hate see him leave. I will miss him terribly.

Good luck, Joe.