I can't let another day pass...

...without giving a shout out to the folks at Chelsea Green Publishing and Dimpled Chad Productions.

When the call went out for bloggers to sign on in the campaign to stop the appointment of AG Gonzales, Chelsea Green and Dimpled Chad stepped up with gifts for the hundreds of bloggers who responded. Now, in my incarnation as a music journalist, shwag is everywhere - CDs, DVDs, shows, autographed 8x10 glossies, whatever. In the political blogger arena, though, this is a so-far unusual and highly appreciated gesture of support from the progressive community.

Anyway, I got a book and a CD. I haven't had a chance to do more than skim Michael Ratner's Guantanamo - What The World Should Know, but I'll be reading it in depth soon. It's full of first person interviews and original source documentation, and appears to be a definitive work on the subject. It's the Chelsea Green contribution, and they have a catalog of books that merit more of my attention as well.

Dimpled Chad's CD, American Way, is more immediately accessible, with five song parodies that display both wit and political insight. It's real fun and well done.

Anyway, schwag is good. This is great shwag, which is terrific.

Thanks, youse guys!