Bireli yet again

Sorry, but this guy is insanely good. The sound quality is horrific and still he sounds incredible.

Antarctica Melting

Not exactly news, but some pretty cool (and rather frightening) photos.

The damage got started at the end of February when an iceberg dropped off and triggered the "runaway disintegration" of a 160-square-mile portion of the 5,282-square-mile shelf.

160 square miles, by way of comparison, equals about 4 Los Angeles'es.

Beyond Politics

Thought I would post about something other than Obama vs. Hillarah. A friend sends me this: a ranking of universities by how hot their chicks are (and, of course, my alma mater is ranked number 1--werd!). Quote:

In honor the NCAA tournament, the greatest sporting event known to man, Pop Crunch has ranked the top 50 universities by the attractiveness of their women.

This might seem like an easy job, but I can tell you after sifting through thousands of pictures of hot girls that it … really is an easy job and a lot of fun to boot.

Can't we all just get along?

Hitch on the Warpath

I would never expect Christopher Hitchens to pull punches, and he certainly doesn't with this one. Yet I get the sense that he is doing exactly what he accused other reporters of doing when the Iraq War broke out. Meaning, he is guarding himself against being the sucker.

I have no quote or videotape to back myself up in this charge as this is quite an unread blog, but I do remember Hitchens saying years ago, to the effect, that no one--most certainly a reporter--wants to be caught being optimistic about something that may possibly fail and, therefore, being skeptical about the war was (in a fashion) being conservative, or at least safe. Being anti-war in reporting was only marginally more courageous in that any cost/benefit argument could be levied against reports of Good News(TM). ("Freedom at what cost?" type arguments which can be made by even transparently insincere Sophomoric minds). Fine. I get that. But how is Hitch's latest screed any different in approach?

Obama is not anything close to a godsend--as Obama has repeatedly said himself. Will this/is this association with Wright be one of many potential dissappointments? OF COURSE it is and undoubtably will be. Obama does have feet of clay for anyone out there who might think him statue-worthy. I don't think Obama should have associated himself with Wright in the first place, but he did. I'm glad Obama is taking hits for it. He should take hits for it. But he isn't running away from it either.

My grandfather, whom I adored, said things that I've beaten other people for. Some of my friends have said things that have shocked me. I have said things that have shocked me--things which I still haven't forgiven myself for. But I am unashamed of my adoration for my late grandfather, unashamed to call my friends friends, and only partly ashamed of myself. Obama has reacted much the same in that he said Wright is like family to him and cannot be disowned (though that would be politically expedient). And he did not make any moral equivalence between Wright and his grandmother--as Hitchens asserts--except to say that they are both family. Flawed, mortal people in his family.

Were Obama to not denounce the idiotic and incendiary remarks of Wright, he would have lost my vote immediately. But were Obama to have completely disowned Wright as a matter of political expedience, he would have not only lost my vote, but would have broken faith with himself and truly shown himself as a fraud. As it turns out, he managed to keep both my vote and his manhood. Hitchens should at least see, and respect, the latter.

I Poop on You!

Triumph the Comic Dog meets reality with the Department of Homeland Security. Don't I feel safe?

Next order of business for the Bush adminstration...every American give a stool sample so they can track our feces.

Sam Harris on Obama's Speech

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for showing me this. Sam Harris raises quite a few good points/questions regarding Obama's latest speech on race and religion.

From the article:

Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark--which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality--are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever. It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?

Yes we can.

Hillarah Dodging Bullets in Bosnia

According to everyone but her, it's pure fiction. From the article:

According to Sinbad, who provided entertainment on the trip along with the singer Sheryl Crow, the "scariest" part was deciding where to eat. As he told Mary Ann Akers of The Post, "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'" Sinbad questioned the premise behind the Clinton version of events. "What kind of president would say 'Hey man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife. Oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."

Sinbad forgot about Chelsey as well. And, of course, President Clinton did fly to Bosnia prior to sending out Hillarah and his daughter. You think the McCain campaign wouldn't use this kind of stuff against her? They should use it against her. Give up Hillarah. It's only going to get worse.

I Have Found My Captain

By far, without any doubt, the most fair-minded and insightful speech on contemporary racial issues in America. Not perfect, but that would only make it unbelievable. This speech, and this man's judgement, I can believe and believe in.

Kos Gets it Spot-on

There is no other way to interpret Hillarah's actions with any honesty--she is nakedly pursuing power. Period. If it means civil war in the party, so be it. I've already written about how her campaign literally, literally, has taken advantage of the handicapped in their efforts to cheat. How they have tried to literally break election laws to win. How Billary has fanned the flames of racial tensions, etc. To my great astonishment, and as a credit to both Obama's great appeal and America's tolerance and sense of justice, they are still losing.

But she can win by staging a coup. And if Dean and a few others don't intercede, she will definitely give it a try. The Ds need to have a Come to Jesus meeting right about now--the Penn. primary at the absolute latest--if they don't want this election on a silver platter to be shat upon.

Quoting Kos:

It is Clinton, with no reasonable chance of victory, who is fomenting civil war in order to overturn the will of the Democratic electorate. As such, as far as I'm concerned, she doesn't deserve "fairness" on this site. All sexist attacks will be dealt with -- those will never be acceptable. But otherwise, Clinton has set an inevitably divisive course and must be dealt with appropriately.

To reiterate, she cannot win without overturning the will of the national Democratic electorate and fomenting civil war, and she doesn't care.

(empahsis his)

No Florida for Hillarah

Good news for Obama, Florida will not have any sort of re-vote or mail-in vote. One wonders how long this is gong to continue. Obama has 80% or more of the delegates he needs to clinch the nomination. Of course, Hillarah has 70-75% and I can't imagine how hard it would be to stop running after all the enormous time and effort has been made. But how can she really win anything now? Honestly.

Even if she does well enough to force a showdown in Denver--and she certainly could--the Ds will have a fractured, divided party just when it is poised to hold government positions at levels they haven't enjoyed since the 60s and 70s. To run in the hopes of being the spoiler is obviously petty and selfish, but it just seems so stupid as well. Howard Dean has to know it and, if things aren't settled after Pennsylvania (and they probably won't be), he may well have to have a chat with Ms. Hillarah.

My Ears!

1980s Glee Club meets hip hop meets off-off-off Broadway meets aging queen hipster. I couldn't watch it all the way through. My allergy to cringing precluded full enjoyment, I suppose:

My Eyes!

Not work safe...

OK, Mexicans

I've defended you all for years. My father lives in Mexico. I have family in Mexico. I've insisted that you are good for this country and that much of the anti-immigration stance in the US is based upon xenophobia and racism (and I still do). But you continue to support that pinche gorda blanca at almost a 2 to 1 margin. Why? What do you think she will ever do for you that Obama won't?

Face it, Mexicans. There is racism against Los Negros in your culture. I'm sure many of you voted for Hillarah because you honestly thought she would be better. But many of you just won't vote for a black person--be honest. And many of you face racism in this country almost every day. You should know better.

Theme Song for Tonight

A friend sends this to me as an attempt at amelioration. (BTW, aren't gay guys in LA supposed to be hip? These dudes look like dweebs).

Vote Hillarah or Your Children Will Die

Hurl alert!

Don't you love your children? Do you really want a teenage negro as commander in chief? General Hillarah will keep your babies safe. Just watch:

You Go, Girl!

Andrew Sullivan ripping Hillarah a new one.

David Duke is ok with Obama?

Either it is the End of Days or Obama is starting to look as if he has come as advertised--the first post-racial candidate. David Duke doesn't mind him so much it seems. He doesn't like him, of course, but perhaps we are all growing up a little.

[F]ar from railing at Obama's rise, Duke seems almost nonchalant about it. Self-described white nationalists like himself, he explained cordially, "don't see much difference in Barack Obama than Hillary Clinton--or, for that matter, John McCain." Sure, Duke considers Obama "a racist individual," citing his Afrocentric Chicago church. But soon the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People was critiquing Obama as overhyped and insubstantial in terms you might hear from, say, Clinton strategist Mark Penn. "They say he's for change. What change? He's become almost a cult figure. I don't see any shining light around Obama's head. I don't see any halos," Duke said.

There can never be, and will never be, a clear line when ethnicity or skin pigmentation simply "doesn't matter." Not in centuries, anyway--if not milennia. But Obama has been so disciplined in his message and so constant in the public eye that it continues to matter less and less. And, I should think, that is a very, very good thing.

Nader is a Turd

Honestly, what the hell is this? Nader is going to run for president why? There is no other reason in the world to do it except to be a grade-A A-hole. Period.

Nader called Washington "corporate occupied territory" that turns the government against the interests of the people. "In that context, I have decided to run for president," he said.

Nader followed with "I before E except after C" and "A stitch in time saves nine." And I thought Bush was out of touch. Most Americans--and particularly people in the younger generations--don't go for this crap (see: John Edwards). A good number of us are employed by corporations and do pretty well for ourselves. To play the "evil corporation" card will fall on deaf ears, save the few sophomoric pseudo-hippies out there.

What we do know is that there are a lot of idiots running these corporations and can't wait until the old guard leaves (see: Obama). One has to be smart to be evil. Stupidity and incompetence reveals itself as vulgar, ugly, and unpredictably dangerous (see: Pres Numbnutz and a good number of American corporations out there).

Nader would be wiser to bash corporate idiocy rather than corporate "evil." And, at 74, it seems better for him to continue to write, speak, and petition the government rather than make a ridiculous run at the presidency when all of the press is following Obama around like lovesick teenagers. The only possible answer that can even begin to answer why he would run for the presidency is ego. Only ego. And that, IMHO, makes him not just a turd, but a heaping plate of turd, garnished in turd.

Low Class Return to Blogging

Sorry--got new job that is keeping me really busy. This is a really low class way to come back to it, but...it's pretty funny.

An Atheist's Spirituality

Guess is goes both ways when seeing the supernatural.

"I was just about to spread the butter when I noticed a fairly typical small hole in the bread surrounded by a burnt black ring," Chapman told local newspaper The Huddlesfield Express. "However the direction and splatter patterns of the crumbs, as well as the changing shades emanating outwards from this black hole, were very clearly similar to the chaotic-dynamic non-linear patterns that one would expect following the Big Bang. It's the beginning of the world!" he added excitedly.