Larry has posted the latest edition of Carnival of the Liberals over at A Revolution Of One, this time with a new media theme. A very nice mix of contemplative posts in this one. Oh, and while you're checking Edition #62 out, do give the post a Digg if you can. It not only helps Larry, but it helps increase the visibility of Carnival of the Liberals which helps everyone out with more readers. Thanks everyone for being patient while Larry put together this biweek's carnival.

Edition #63 will be on April 23rd at Vagabond Scholar's place courtesy of Batocchio. The theme for this edition is "human rights". You'll want to give the call-for-submissions post a read to see exactly what Batocchio has in mind. read more »

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Just got a message from Eugenie Scott via Facebook asking everyone to link to Expelled Exposed, the National Center for Science Education’s debunking (that should read, “pummeling with facts”) of the fraudulent documentary Expelled hosted by pseudo-intellectual Ben Stein. The idea is to spread the word, and the links, so that whenever someone googles “expelled” they’ll end up with Expelled Exposed at the top of their listings. There’s already a wealth of information at the Expelled Exposed website already but Eugenie says we can expect even more on April 15th. 

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Wow. I haven't had to post a reminder for Carnival of the Liberals in quite a while. Unfortunately though, we've only had seven submissions to date for CotL #62 which is scheduled to run this Wednesday, April 9th.

I'm hoping that's because people have been intimidated by this week's theme of "new media". So I'm going to postpone the carnival until Friday, April 11th and extend the submissions deadline through Wednesday to give everyone a chance to get their posts in.

You can get all the facts on this biweek's theme at A Revolution Of One, but in a nutshell all posts should either include "new media" or be about "new media". What's "new media" mean? Easy. It's simply any media content created by people and not large centralized content providers. It's you vs. Time-Warner, CBS, NBC, et. al. And while there's certainly a wealth of it about these days it also brings up a lot of issues. Should citizen media creators be more or as trusted than the networks? What about net neutrality and how it fosters the creation and distribution of new media?

Whether you create it, distribute it, consume it, or just write about it, please get your submissions in by the end of this Wednesday. As always, the blogcarnival.com link is your friend. It's things like these special themed editions, and the amazing loyalty and dedication to quality of our bloggers, that make Carnival of the Liberals much more than just a once-every-other-week link-fest.

As you might know, I was on Hans Meyer's Situation Awareness radio program this past Saturday talking about Carnival of the Liberals. If you couldn't tune in you can listen to the show on the Free World Radio Network's site or (hopefully if the embedding works) with the widget to the left.

As always, I really enjoy doing these sorts of things, and besides, it got Hans to volunteer to host Carnival of the Liberals! I think I'm becoming more comfortable talking extemporaneonously although I've got to relax more (if only to get rid of that high pitched edge to my voice). Perhaps in the future, if I ever get my act together, I'll start my own skepticism podcast. Although, I've got to say, Brian Dunning's Skeptoid would be hard to beat.

In any case, thanks go to Hans, FWRN, and Blogtalk Radio. I look forward to doing the show again sometime.

I'm beginning to think that Carnival of the Liberals should come with a warning sticker. Something like: WARNING: HOSTING COTL WILL CAUSE WAR, DISEASE, PESTILENCE AND RUPTURING OF THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM. Well, maybe that's a little bit hyperbolic but it does seem like our hosts have had more than their fair share of troubles this year. In any case, Alicia has recovered from her computer woes and posted the 61st edition of CotL over at Last Left Turn Before Hooterville. Lots of really smart, thought-provoking posts this time around so go give it a read before your hard drive crashes.

Up next is A Revolution Of One on April 9th. This is a themed edition focusing on new media. Check the call for submissions post at the link for the details but basically the host is looking for posts that either incorporate or talk about new media. This is a great idea I think and I just know we're going to get a ton of incredible submissions for this one.

Also, I'll be Hans Meyer's guest on Situation Awareness (part of the Free World Radio Network) this Saturday, March 29th at 10AM EST talking about all things Carnival of the Liberals. From what I understand, it's a call-in show so if you've got a question about CotL, give the show a call and we can chat directly. read more »

One more thing before I let you go... I'd like to do a special edition devoted to skepticism and critical thinking in American politics on May 21st. Of particular interest to me are instances where skepticism and critical thinking have given way to irrationality and how those instances have shaped politics. Conspiracy theories, anti-intellectualism, global warming (and other forms of) denialism, and reactionary populism all fall under this general rubrick and there are plenty of examples both historical and current. I realize this isn't an area most of you write about every day so I wanted to give everybody who is interested in participating a heads up and hopefully we can expand the range of blogs contributing to Carnival of the Liberals.

Couldn't miss the opportunity to promote everybody's favorite transcendental number on this day devoted to the most amazing ratio of all. Happy Pi Day everyone.

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Mike at Tangled Up In Blue Guy may have declared Carnival of the Liberals #60 the Dance of Death but don't let the downer of monicker stop you from reading some great liberal blogging. While it's doubtful that any of us are unfamiliar with any of the topics covered in this edition it's important to be reminded of how strange and macbre things have become over the past years. So go give TUIB Guy some respect and see what has your fellow bloggers bummed.

It looks like this is a busy week for Mike. In addition to this edition of CotL, he's doing Tangled Bank this week and he'll be hosting the Minnesota Atheists radio show next Sunday at 9AM. You can listen in via the magic of the web. In other news, I'll be Hans Meyer's guest on Situation Awareness (part of the Free World Radio Network) on March 29th at 10AM EST talking about all things Carnival of the Liberals.

Next up on Carnival of the Liberals is Alicia who can be found just beyond the Last Left Turn Before Hooterville. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Alicia this past November at Americans United For Separation Of Church And State's national meeting in DC. You'll definitely want to get a copy of her book The Price Of Right wherein she neatly dispenses with the myths the right wing has used to sell Conservatism to the American public. read more »

One more thing before I let you go... I'd like to do a special edition devoted to skepticism and critical thinking in American politics on May 21st. Of particular interest to me are instances where skepticism and critical thinking have given way to irrationality and how those instances have shaped politics. Conspiracy theories, anti-intellectualism, global warming (and other forms of) denialism, and reactionary populism all fall under this general rubrick and there are plenty of examples both historical and current. I realize this isn't an area most of you write about every day so I wanted to give everybody who is interested in participating a heads up and hopefully we can expand the range of blogs contributing to Carnival of the Liberals.

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I've been taking a break from blogging lately because I contracted a nasty case of writer's block. However I haven't been twiddling my thumbs all this time. One thing I've been doing is working on a new and improved version of Neural Gourmet as well as doing a lot of reading about writing plus catching up on some books I've been meaning to read for a long time.

But I couldn't stay away from blogging entirely. So recently my sweetheart and I started a blog devoted to one of our favorite things -- food! You won't find just recipes there though. We plan to cover everything from restaurant, grocery and product reviews to news and commentary about food. There'll be an added emphasis on our adopted home town, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

So if you like to eat, or haven't yet mastered breatharianism, then check out Food In The Fort.

And look for Neural Gourmet to come back stronger and better than ever before real soon now.

Manila Ryce posted Carnival of the Liberals #59 early this morning over at The Largest Minority and boy did we have a bunch of contentious submissions this time around. Fitting as it should be for the liberal opposition to the conservative status quo. Won't it be grand when we can get somebody, anybody back into the White House and steer the conversation back to talking about ideas and progress rather than just how much everybody in power sucks? Even if that somebody isn't our personal somebody? Anyhow, go give this fine batch of liberal blogging a read.

Next up is Tangled Up In Blue Guy on March 12th, but before I let you get back to your dinners let me give a couple of shoutouts. First, big thanks to Hans at Free World Radio Network for helping support Carnival of the Liberals. Secondly, props to everyone at Freethought Fort Wayne, the finest bunch of atheists and agnostics you're likely to meet in Fort Wayne, Indiana aka The City Of Churches. Freethought Fort Wayne is organized under Center For Inquiry Indiana.

Well, we may have had that little tiff a couple of hundred years or so back but that little thing wouldn't stop Carnival of the Liberals. And so the 58th edition and second Anglo-American edition of Carnival of the Liberals is up at Liberal England. 10 posts from us Yanks, and 10 posts from our British friends. Would have been up sooner, but Jonathan had to have his tea before he finished.

The Largest Minority is up next time on February 27th but Carnival of the Liberals needs hosts. In fact, we pretty much need to fill every slot from April 9th onward. If you'd like to host, check the schedule and then hit the volunteer form or shoot me an e-mail. While the wonderful submissions we continue to get, almost unbidden, are the heart and soul of Carnival of the Liberals we wouldn't exist if it weren't for our hosts. So if you've contributed to CotL before but have never hosted, why not give it a shot? It's fun!

Ballads For The Age Of Science: Two covers from Hy Zaret and Lou Singer's late 1950s/early 1960s six album series of science songs for kids.Back at the dawn of the Space Age it seemed like everybody was trying to turn kids onto science in every conceivable way. After all, everyone knew that if our kids didn't grow up to be scientists and engineers then those darn Ruskies would colonize the Moon and Mars and who wanted that? And what better way to popularize science with kids than by setting it to music? Oh, and if you can get the guy who wrote On Top Of Spagetti to perform them, then you might have thought you had a gold record in the making. Or maybe not. Who knows?

Whatever Hy Zaret and Lou Singer's motivations might have been, I'm sure thousands of kids must have been turned onto science and nature by recordings of their Ballads For The Age Of Science. Kids like Jef Pozkazner who found his old LPs in his parents' basement and graciously ripped them to MP3 format so a whole new generation of kids can enjoy them, or in the case of us old farts big kids, enjoy them again. There you'll find all six albums (although I agree with Jef that the first three are the best) free for downloading. At the very least, you'll want to give a listen for the sheer novelty and innocence of these recordings. Listen to The Ballad Of Sir Isaac Newton below.

Hat tip: Retro Thing.

Karl over at World Wide Webers posted the latest installment of Carnival of the Liberals earlier today. There's something for everyone from iPods to porn (sort of), so don't forget to catch up on this biweek's best liberal blogging.

Next up is Liberal England in two weeks on February 13th. Just like the last time, this will be an Anglo-American edition of Carnival of the Liberals with posts from both sides of the Atlantic. Keep on sending that great liberal blogging!

Also, Carnival of the Liberals needs you! In particular we need a February 27th host but the schedule is wide open from March through the end of the year. So head on over to the CotL site and volunteer today.

Fran at Blue Gal posted the latest edition of Carnival of the Liberals earlier today. Carnival of the Liberals has resumed its normal bi-weekly schedule with the next edition on January 30th at the World Wide Webers. Keep on sending that great liberal blogging!

Karen at The Greenbelt posted the latest edition of Carnival of the Liberals earlier today. Despite it being an odd week for CotL due to the scheduling change we still had a good number of excellent posts sent in.

Carnival of the Liberals #56 is next week, Wednesday, January 16th over at Blue Gal's place after which CotL resumes its normal schedule on January 30th at the World Wide Webers. Keep on sending that great liberal blogging!

Our scheduled host for this edition went MIA and I had a bout where I wasn't feeling well so this edition is very much delayed. What we're going to do is have CotL 54 today, CotL 55 next week, Jan. 9th, at The Greenbelt and then CotL 56 will be the following week, Jan. 16th, at Blue Gal's place. Then Carnival of the Liberals will pick up it's normal schedule with CotL 57 on Jan. 30th at World Wide Webers.

Given the unusual lateness of this edition I'm going to simply list my choices for the best among the submissions. Once again I had to throw out a number of submissions that were either from Libertarians promoting either Libertarianism or Ron Paul. And once again I have to say that I am not interested in this blog carnival becoming a vehicle for promotion of Libertarian foolishness or right-wing populist, facist-wannabe political candidates. I also discarded a couple of posts from people voicing their support of individual Democratic candidates. I really would like for Carnival of the Liberals to stay focused on issues, philosophy, activism and almost anything than endorsemens of individual candidates. Personally the horserace mentality is one of the things I most despise about American politics and I just don't want that here. It's nothing personal. A couple of the endorsements were really well written.

So without any further delay, here's my choice for the ten best liberal blog posts for this edition:read more »

Apologies to all, this edition is much delayed. Finally though, here is the the "Best of the Best of 2007" as selected by Carnival of the Liberals own participants and myself. All the submissions for this edition can be found on the Carnival of the Liberals home page.

First up I have to admit being a little puzzled when I received a couple of submissions from Libertarians. While Libertarians aren't prohibited from participating in CotL, as long as their posts are generally supportive of liberalism, these submissions were in fact the same old tired defenses of Libertarian thinking that can be found in Libertarian propaganda everywhere. I'm none too happy spreading Libertarian ideas which I generally find to be foolish and so one won't find such here but happily, Richard from Philosophy, etc. also sent in his critique of one of those Libertarian workhorses, the idea that the minimum wage is a form of coercion. Criticisms of Libertarian ideas I am quite willing to propagate.read more »

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Just a friendly reminder that Carnival of the Liberals #53 is coming up Wednesday, December 5th, 2007. This is the first edition of our third year! As such it's our annual best-of edition. Here's how it works:

• If you've appeared in Carnival of the Liberals this past year, just send me what you think is your absolute best post of 2007 (actually it's December 2006 - November 2007). That's all you've got to do!
• Be sure to send it my way (via the fine folks at blogcarnival.com -- link below) by Monday night, December 3rd at 11:59PM EST though. I'll choose the ten best out of those submitted for inclusion in CotL #53 at Neural Gourmet. Everyone else gets linked from the CotL homepage.

One quick administrative note: I'll be upgrading the CotL site sometime in the next few days so there could be an indeterminate period of downtime for the site. The blogcarnival.com submission link will be working throughout though.