Below are simple links to other interesting stuff I've come across on the web in the last day or two; they may or may not concern literature or photography, or indeed the arts at all. You can click here to learn more about how I compile this list and what software I use, if you're interested.

Even right-wingers are terrified of Glenn Beck
Is it just me, or has things in America suddenly gotten a lot more apocalyptic in the last few weeks? Millions of citizens buying new guns...right-wing survivalist guides on the NYT bestseller list...a newfound popularity in armed extremist paramilitary organizations (see below). And now this -- turns out that even a growing amount of conservatives themselves are becoming alarmed by the conspiracy-laced insane ravings of FOX News commentator Glenn Beck, and ESPECIALLY now that he has started deliberately showing mocked-up scenes of violence against his enemies as background "green-screen" images during his increasingly virulent pissed-filled rants. These people claim that FOX News is deliberately stoking the fires of ten million drunken armed hillbillies, and that there is going to be a bloodbath in America eventually if it isn't stopped. Great, just what we need -- now even Republicans are terrified of their fellow Republicans.

Report: Right-wing paramilitary organizations are on the rise
And yet one more sign of the coming bloody "Second Civil War" it seems like the US is getting closer and closer to actually having: According to a new governmental report, fully-armed right-wing paramilitary organizations in the US are on a profound rise these days, fueled mostly by angry returning Iraq veterans with undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And as this report reminds us, if these tens of millions of angry armed hillbillies DO decide to take matters into their own hands, it won't be like the first Civil War with uniforms and flags and commanders; it'll be a terrorist war instead, much like a domestic Al Queda, essentially your neighbors sneaking out at night and killing a houseful of your fellow neighbors, then sneaking back home without anyone being the wiser. Multiply that by ten million, and you can see how the casualties could quickly rack up to genocidal levels without a formal act of war ever being declared.

Floundering NY governor will attempt to legalize same-sex marriage
So what's the latest cure-all for floundering, corrupt politicians facing a rapidly crumbling approval rating? Legalize gay marriage, of course! That's just what embattled New York governor David Paterson announced, for example, the impotent replacement for a corrupt scumbag who was initially a replacement for an even more corrupt scumbag; tomorrow he'll be introducing new legislation that will make gay marriage legal in New York if passed. Sheesh, who would've ever thought we'd see a day where embracing the gay community would be the ticket to SAVING one's political career?

Ron Paul: "Let's weaponize cruise ships"
So what's Libertarian hero Ron Paul's answer to the growing pirate problem off the African coast? Easy -- simply grant all American ships "privateer" status, a still-legal option from all the way back to the freaking Revolutionary War, which essentially gives US boats the right to arm themselves and blow other ships out of the water without facing criminal charges once getting back home. Yes, Ron, that's exactly what we need -- cruise ships with their own military staffs and ballistic missiles. THAT'LL certainly make the situation much better instead of horribly, horribly worse.