The League

The Retroactive Table of Contents : February 17 – 24

by Tod Kelly · February 24, 2012

Attention Leaguers!

Starting this week, we will be introducing a new feature here at the League: the Retroactive Table of Contents Subscription. If you wish, each Friday or Saturday we will send you via email a list of the topics and posts of the week. It’s a way for those of you with actual lives to keep up to date with the quality writing and conversations here at LoOG.

Anyone that would like to be included in the subscription list can make a note in this – or any future – Retroactive ToCs, or simply email a request to rtodkelly at mac dot com.

We won’t forward our mailing list to any else, and we promise not to inundate you with spam. You can cancel your subscription at any time! No salesman will ever visit your home! The Retroactive Table of Contents is backed by a full money-back guarantee! If you aren’t completely satisfied with the Retroactive Table of Contents we’ll refund all your money! The Retroactive Table of Contents is part of this nutritious breakfast! It makes a great gift! And every subscription comes with a free toy surprise! (OK, that last one was actually a total fabrication; it doesn’t actually come with a free toy surprise.)

A sample of what the mailer will look like is up after the break. And with that, on with what you might have missed at the League this week:

Headline of the Week: Parenting by Class

Mike Dwyer took a look at Lauara McKenna’s latest article in the Atlantic on parenting, as well as a study by Annette Lareau on the same. To what degree is our increased hands-on approach to raising kids a boon, and to what degree are we just making more fragile adults-to-be?

Big Theme of the Week : The Abortion Issue

With last weeks passing of Virginia’s mandatory ultrasound bill, the big topic at the league was the litmus test that is the abortion issue.

Will Truman charted the statistics of where abortions are being performed throughout the United States, and tried to deduce what those number might mean.

Mike tried to see if there was anything we could do to reduce the number of abortions while retaining our current laws, and was pretty pleased how our commenters treated such a volitile subject.

Tod Kelly pretty much hated the Virginia ulrtasound law, but was not sure that it qualified as “rape.”

Government, Politics and Foreign Affairs

Elias Isquith explained to Jay Cost that just because the Republican Party is scary does not necessarily mean that it is being haunted by the ghost of George McGovern.

Scott Payne would have blogged more often this week, but he’s still waiting his turn to video chat with President Obama.

Guest author Dan Miller asked that we focus on the demand and not the supply of campaign financing.

All James K wants is a two-fold solution to campaign finance reform. Actually, a different GOP wouldn’t hurt, either. But that’s all he needs. Oh, and less government corruption! But that’s it. Oh, wait, tell a lie – he’d also like a whole new tax code. But really, it just these few small things.

Nob Akimoto fiddled with Snyder’s Myths of Empire theory to see how it might apply to China, and then said “good riddence” to Pat Buchanan.

Now that the Stolen Valor Act is official, all of us are really hoping that Jaybird’s claim to be a medal of honor recipient is on the up and up.

Culture, Arts & Personal Essays

Murali plucked at the tension between the radicalism that lies in Christianity’s roots and the conservatism that drives it’s practice over time.

David Ryan wished we might have done more with the internet, caught an employee laying down on the job, and thought a bit more about what women are for.

Tom Van Dyke was appalled by JFK’s answer to that last question.

Nob found a ray of hope in this world of despair, inspired by a George Takei musical. (Yeah, you read that right.) He also traveled to the Middle Earth to do a little political blogging.

Those of you that believe that if there’s one thing you can have faith is real in this world of lies, it’s the good name Burt Likko? Yeah, about that… Also, he’s concerned about the way all these liberal judges are destroying our freedoms be allowing all these freedoms.

Jason Kuznicki continues to stand under out under our window and beautifully translate the poetry of Edmond Rostand. (Why Boegiboe is crouching in the bushes next to him whispering, I really couldn’t say.)

Will realized that 1984 is right around the corner, and it’s all totally your fault.

And we’re starting to think think Mike may overcompensating.

Tod Kelly

Tod is a writer from the Pacific Northwest. He is also serves as Executive Producer and host of both the 7 Deadly Sins Show at Portland's historic Mission Theatre and 7DS: Pants On Fire! at the White Eagle Hotel & Saloon. He is a regular inactive for Marie Claire International and the Daily Beast, and is currently writing a book on the sudden rise of exorcisms in the United States. Follow him on Twitter.

Tod Kelly says:

February 24, 2012 at 10:33 pm

Note: Reposted to try to clean up formatting issues. Apologies to both James K and Plinko, who had already left great comments on the original attempt.Report
Murali says:

February 24, 2012 at 11:21 pm

Tod, I know that we disagree alot, but surely this counts as a post right???Report
- Tod Kelly in reply to Murali says:
  
  February 24, 2012 at 11:25 pm
  
  Crap!!! My bad!!! What’s more, I forgot to mention it despite the fact that this is my very favorite of all your posts so far! I will fix post haste.Report
  - Murali in reply to Tod Kelly says:
    
    February 24, 2012 at 11:30 pm
    
    No problem.Report
    - Tod Kelly in reply to Murali says:
      
      February 24, 2012 at 11:31 pm
      
      Fixed. Though we’re still having some issues with the formatting.Report
Rufus F. says:

February 25, 2012 at 12:05 pm

Tod, you’re tireless. I was just logging on today to try to compile one of these and you’d already covered it again. We definitely need to give you a break next week.Report
- Tod Kelly in reply to Rufus F. says:
  
  February 25, 2012 at 12:25 pm
  
  Thanks, though if we’re going to have it be a team effort we should probably coordinate it in some way now that there is the commitment to do the mailers for subscribers.Report
Burt Likko says:

February 25, 2012 at 1:28 pm

I just saw the RTOC* in my e-mail inbox, and I like it a lot.

* RTOC is only one letter different from RTOD, the architect of this project. Coincidence?Report
- Mary in reply to Burt Likko says:
  
  February 25, 2012 at 2:29 pm
  
  I think not. I suspect it was part of his evil plan all along.Report