The article Inside The Mind Of The Anonymous Online Poster that appears on the boston.com web site is a fascinating look at the issue of anonymity and online blogs.

There is nothing actionable about what we learn from the article.  However, it is nice to know that the people who run these sites are concerned about the impact of anonymous posters.

I have been reading the comments on Yahoo! News lately. True to the name, it seems to attract mostly the yahoos to post comments.  I think it is actually worse than what I read for comments on the Worcester T & G web site.

There is no real surprise that the Republicans don’t want economic recovery while Obama is in office. The thought that the middle class can be convinced that this is a good idea is the surprise.

When can we say that people like this have crossed the line?

After posting the above video, I received another from Harry Reid.

Perhaps I could have made another post titled Has Harry Reid Gone A Bit Far?

Here is the email that I sent to Harry Reid in response to the latest video.

Senator Reid,

Please ask Senator Martha Coakley about making the underdog Scott Brown the issue in the campaign.

To your logical mind, her logical mind, and my logical mind there was no way that people could buy what Scott Brown was selling.

And you know my first sentence was erroneous, because we have Senator Scott Brown not Senator Martha Coakley.

You must focus on your positive message to the electorate.

Let Sharron Angle do herself in. There is no need for your campaign to make her look like the sad underdog who needs a defense from the brutal professional politician, Harry Reid.

I know these attacks are fun and almost irresistible, but Sharron Angle supporters will not appreciate being called idiots. She will make your attacks the focus of the campaign. Stop now before it is too late.

Reuters is carrying a version of this story.

A Texas Republican apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward on Thursday for having to set aside $20 billion for Gulf of Mexico damage claims, drawing ridicule from Democrats and embarrassing Republicans.

You just gotta love those Texas politicians.  No wonder Sharon calls herself a New Englander.

Gina M had this on her facebook page. It was too good to pass up.

This article “explains” the anger of the Tea Party adherents. This also explains why libertarians are so firm in their belief that the social world can be made to work in ways that it clearly does not.

As one example from the article, we may all be angry that people and institutions who behave irresponsibly in the economic sector can drag down the whole economy, even those who are trying to act responsibly.  Even the irresponsible can be angry at this fact of life.

The Tea Party people firmly believe that by eliminating certain institutions that this interdependence can be eliminated.  Some of the rest of us understand that this interdependence is an essential part of modern society and we have to come to terms with it.

I draw a corollary from this article.  There will be a large segment who will not understand the argument presented in this article.  We must come to terms with that fact of life, too.  Yet, I still write this blog. How odd.

Documentary maker Iara Lee smuggles out video despite Israeli attempt to confiscate all recordings

Follow this link to the article  and to the 15 minutes of video.  This is posted  on the UK Guardian web site.  In the video, there is blood, but it is not too gruesome to watch. Just pretend that it is a movie and not a documentary.

Jamal Elshayyal reports on his experience aboard the ship Mavi Marmara.

Let me quote Robert Ripley, the cartoonist, the explorer, the reporter, adventurer, illustrator, collector and seeker of the odd and unusual, “Believe it or not!”

Robert Scheer has written the piece On the Vilification of Helen Thomas which expresses my wonderment at the vehemence of the attacks on Thomas.

Although, I can think of other public figures who were hounded out of office for remarks that were similarly ill advised. (Maybe “ill advised” is not strong enough, but that is all I can think of at the moment.)

Senator Trent Lott resigned as Senate Republican Leader on December 20, 2002 over remarks Lott made on December 5, 2002 at the 100th birthday party of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

Follow this link to the column by Nicholas D. Kristof, published June 2, 2010 in The New York Times.

Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems locked in a self-defeating dynamic in which it feels misunderstood and gives up on international opinion. It lashes out with force in ways that undermine its own interests. It is on a path that could eventually be catastrophic.

This complements my previous post Not in My Jewish Name – Israel Attacks Blockade Runners.