Surprise- Oh, Wait. Never Mind.

So the WaPo wastes valuable newspaper money paying staff writer, Jen Chaney, to piddle away everyone's time.

Apparently S. Darko, the straight to DVD abomination sequel to Donnie Darko doesn't actually look like b-movie hell, but it certainly feels like it. I mean, 1.) Completely unsurprising, and 2.) It's straight to DVD. I expect that sort of review from "hip" "urban" weeklies or some such, but the WaPo entertainment section? Really? What's next? "Vampires vs Zombies 2, better than the original- only the second worst film you'll ever see"?

I've Got A Thing For Neat Animation

So this video is kind of rocking my world right now.

5 Minutes

The bit where he dances into his pants sans-hands is totally my favorite.

I'm Geekin' Out!

Thanks, J., for pointing out this free e-book of The Great God Pan.

The rest of you folk may not know that yours truly is a huge Lovecraft fan, and the man, himself, frequently proclaimed The Great God Pan to be his biggest inspirations.

Also, I'm kind of re-addicted to the x-box 360.

Jaw Dropping

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

That's one continuous take and the sound was recorded simultaneously.

100 Days, 3 Abandoned Hostages

Tammy Bruce rightly notes one of the current administration's more troubling policies:

When you abandon Americans held by terrorists, and then reward terrorists who trained with Al Qaeda, some might argue it’s more than priorities that are screwed-up in the White House.

Read the whole thing and marvel at the....Incompetence? Fecklessness? Bias? Collapse? Real life Punch and Judy? of the MSM.

The Question Remains

This one's for Leeann.

So on the one hand we have Jean-Luc Picard's warm friendly sometimes mentor-like take on command.


And on the other hand we have grisly Bill Adama, who's take on command is essentially making every crew member of the Galactica a surrogate son/daughter.

(I guess it's too soon or something because all of the BSG stuff on youtube is either a trailer or a creepy music video montage.)

Clearly, Picard and Adama faced wildly different situations. Picard captained the flagship of the Federation, primarily tasked with scientific surveys and diplomacy. And he was awesome at it. Plus he defeated the Borg. A lot. Even when they cheated (energy shields adjusting to bullets is so bullshit.) Adama commanded a decommissioned battlestar that became the last defense of the tens of thousands of humans who survived the Cylon holocaust. And he so completely rocked at it that half of the Cylons decided to throw their chips in with him.

So how to decide between them? Well one way is to try to figure out who I would rather serve under. On the surface that doesn't work out so well because in the Star Trek TNG universe I would totally want to serve under Picard, but in the Galactica universe I'd totally want to serve under Adama. But let's look a little deeper.

Adama was totally willing to risk a civil war amongst the tattered remnants of humanity to save the lives of two of his favorite surrogate sons. Which is all kinds of crazy and wonderful. The world ended and Bill Adama essentially saves the human race by being its dad. I don't think a captain who's casual enough with his crew to the point where the chief medical officer totally has creepy ghost sex in front of him could pull that off. But Adama is a soldier, not a diplomat and the Star Trek TNG universe never asks anyone to "roll the hard 6". Adama would kill Romulans and Borg like James Tiberius Kirk killed Klingons, but a lot of treaties would go unsigned and first contact situations would be...problematic.

So who's better? That's still tough. I know that I'd rather have an ascendant humanity over one on the verge of extinction and that a Star Trek future is a hell of a lot brighter than a BSG future. So if the choice was about picking fates, then Picard all the way. But if the choice is just about who I'd prefer to by my commanding officer in a universe that's neither Battlestar bleak or Federation florescent then my gut says Bill Adama. (And as a bonus Tigh's alcoholism caused the Galactica and her crew less trouble than Riker's sex drive caused the Enterprise and hers.)

:( !

So the home computer is experiencing some major technical difficulties which started yesterday. That's the bad news.

The good news is that fan appreciation day is today (instead)! Yay!

So today I'll be posting what I was supposed to post yesterday, but couldn't.

Konami Code Summons Unicorns

Yesterday ESPN was awesomely hacked. I don't generally go in for that sort of thing, but seriously. The Konami code and unicorns is pretty win.

Dude.

How did I miss that Bea Arthur passed away this weekend?

Seriously. I remember watching Golden Girls with my mom when I was a wee tyke.

At any rate, this one's for you Ms. Arthur:

New Link

Wicked sorry on the whole slacking thing. New link on the link bar: When Your Only Tool Is A Hammer. Sometimes I feel like my only brain is a colander.

Shiina Ringo

Discovered courtesy of my brother, this lady has become a staple on my iPod.







Unfortunately, her new project is Tokyo Jihen which is all things I hate about J-rock.

So I Guess The Question Is....

Given the ideological mixed bag that is the tea party movement, is a federalism amendment a salable goal? I think that if it uses Mr. Barnett's wording it could be. It'll draw even more cooks out of the woodwork and the TPTB and the MSM will pull out all the stops in their efforts to marginalize and dismiss us. Heck, all we can agree on right now is ousting the incumbents and they're already 3 steps from crapping their pants. But if we were to respond like we're responding now I think, yeah, maybe it's just crazy and brazen enough to work. Maybe we could scare some pretty big concessions out of the feds.

What do you folks think? It's late and my general distaste for government always has had a touch of the extreme so maybe this is my pipe dream.

There's Exaggeration And Then There's Bald Faced Lying

This car looks future-pretty and everything, but let's cut the crap here: any car that tops out at 90 mph is, by definition, absolutely and completely incapable of "handling like a bat out of hell". I don't care what the CEO of the company says. My old '94 Ford Escort Wagon topped out at 90 so this guy is basically arguing that "bat out of hell" = "Ford Escort Wagon". His life is either really damn boring, or he's a lying s.o.b. But, sure. The car looks cool.

Hat tip Instapundit

Taking A Break

Reader Appreciation Day

Okay so the announcement is late, but...uh...yeah. I know, I'm a bad bad blogger. Forgive me?
Well, regardless of my state of absolution, reader appreciation day is next Wednesday. (I am still working on that BSG post and it will be up Wednesday.) So leave a comment, send an email, let me know what you want me to post about next Wednesday. It will be done.

Perseverance

That's how I got to see the O's whip the White Sox 10 to 3.

Waiting Out The Rain

The Bird Rocks

Little over an hour's delay and the game is on.

At the ballpark. Boog's beef sandwhich and beer. Now if it'd just stop raining.

Video Game Goodness

Io9 has a gamespot feature on the new System Sh.... I mean Bioshock 2. In spite of the fact that Bioshock is essen... okay is System Shock and the typical haloed white knight/slavering pit beast polarity of its "moral choice" component, it's still one of my favorite games of the past few years.

It's beautiful, creepy, and fun. When it comes to the survival horror genre that's the cat's pajamas right there. (Though the top two positions still belong to Silent Hill 1&2 because those games managed to flat out scare the hell out me.) So here's to hoping that Bioshock 2 will be as good as it looks.

Exactly

Whenever someone tells you that the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer:

Or put it this way. Take your time machine back to the middle ages. Find some locals and explain to them that in the era you're from, most people live better than the king does in their day.

Also, a better articulated "human beings are awesome" piece than my Doctor Who-like rants.

Dear Orioles

WTF? Guthrie. Dude. Stop loading the bases. Seriously. Especially in Boston. It's The Green Monster. You can't count on grand slams to save the day when after you've thrown away a perfectly good lead because you can't pitch.

5th inning 8 to 5, Baltimore. 7th inning 10 to 8, Boston. Problem? Obviously. Let's not talk about the unforced errors. No, wait. Let's do. Roberts (2B)? Really? Maybe it's not a great idea to grease your glove before games. Same goes to you, Huff (1B).

I love you guys. I do. So please stop hurting me. I mean, between the Rangers Wednesday (19 to 6. Really!?) and Boston last night, I shudder to think about what terrors will unfold come June. Here's how things are supposed to work: You (the Baltimore Orioles) are supposed to rock to the extreme in the beginning of the season, giving everyone here in charm city (myself included) much hope for post-season awesomeness. Then sometime in June (generally just after the all-star game) you suddenly make a sharp turn, drive over a cliff, and obliterate the season in a fiery hell pit. (We, here in charm city, would very much appreciate it if the second half of that arrangement didn't actually happen.) The thing that you seem to be missing regarding the last 2 games is the "rocking" and "giving hope" bits. Please correct. By 7:10pm tonight. Thank you.

With warm regards,

C. (Toaster Lover) S.

Hawaiian Shirt Day

Yesterday was a much needed break from politics. Today we'll be if not exactly diving, at least wading back into it.

Also, Hawaiian shirts rock and in celebration of today's awesomely warm weather I am totally rockin' (one of) mine. But you don't have to take my word for it:

Oh Neat-o

This Infinite Photograph thing is pretty keen. Click. Pause. Zoom. Click. Take that '70's.

Oddly Enough Is Right

I mean, where does the conversation go after explaining that the painting on your wall- the one everyone's been inquiring about- is an original Hitler?

Hat tip Rich

I <3 The Hubble

*Edit* That's a mosaic of the galactic center. Totally forgot to tell y'all that.

Worst Case Scenario For My Future....

So, if the book goes nowhere or just doesn't work out what the heck am I gonna do with my life?

I'm thinking move to Japan get a job doing anything that would pay me enough to own this phone. Seriously, I'd sell my organs (the ones I could spare) on the black market.

37 Years Ago Today

Apollo 16 slipped the bonds of our lonely blue marble and headed for the moon.

Human beings are awesome. Take I, Pencile and expand that to rocketry. Not just the physical production of rockets, but the intellectual understanding that allows for that. From fire to the wheel to Pythagoras to Brahe to Copernicus to Newton and Leibniz to Franklin to Edison (and Tesla- dude was robbed) to Goddard and the whole of human intellectual endeavor before, during, and in between that culminated on that day 37 years ago when human beings set out to set foot on soil approximately 238,855 miles from Earth for the fifth time.

Also? Screw The Dark Ages.

On The Way To Work

Sample

Here's a taste of what I was listening to on the way to DC:

Me

Headed home. Details to follow in a later post.

Nirth cert on stage. Too bad.

Looks like we're being let back into part of the park.

Things continue outside the park. Battery dead.

There's police tape up around the park. Officers are conversing inside.

2:09 everyone's told to clear the park. We're going to be allowed back in. I wonder if it has anything to do with the leftwing protest across the street.

MARC is now 5 min late. I'm staring at that godawful fabrication in front of Penn station.

Inspection Fail

Image test

Testing mobile

Another Link!

Southern Belle Politics is now on the link bar.

The First Away Game Of The Season

The O's lost pretty badly to Tampa Bay last night. 11 to 3. Ouch. Still, we're 4 and 2 going into the first away game of the season. Tonight we're taking on the Rangers. Previous seasons have been less than kind to the birds when they're away from home, with a little luck tonight we'll come out on top. Currently top of the 3rd, 2 to 2, 2 outs.

New (ish) Link

I've been a regular readers of PETA Kills Animals and (until several seconds ago) assumed that I had included it in the link bar. Now it actually is.

This Time In Antwerpen

Previously in the UK.

It's Like I've Died And Gone To R'lyeh

What do you get when you cross Metallica, The Beatles, and H.P.Lovecraft? Genius, that's what.



Hat tip The Other McCain

Old But Awesome

DVICE has a group of totally sweet images of the LHC. Sure, in most of them it totally looks like the Stargate to hell, but it's the largest particle collider in the world and seriously beautiful. (Plus it had loons across the globe terrified that it was going to end the world.)

O's VS 'Rays Tonight

It's gross outside, by which I mean grey, rainy, and slightly chilly, but forecasts call for the sky to stop behaving like a Red Sox fan some time around 5. With the game scheduled to start at 7 things are looking good. Let's hope the boys can take it to Tampa Bay again tonight.

After these next two games they're on the road for six and it'd be good to send them off on a winning streak. You know?

At some point we'll probably get around to Why I Dread the All Star Game or The Curse of June, but it's early and the future is wide open so we're doing Why Not Believe '83.

Metal Morning

Good morning. Today is brought to you by English breakfast tea, Dio:



and Danzig:



Throw the horns.

Yep.

England Slowly Losing Its Status...

...as my second favorite English speaking country (USA #1!). And it started off with one heck of an advantage with that whole parent country thing. But seriously, England, how am I supposed to keep you in that highly coveted spot when Australia does things like this and you do... what exactly? England, you created Doctor Who, how can you let Australian Who fandom surpass your own? You're slipping, England, that's how. Get back on the ball.

Dude, Sweet.

So no game blogging last night because I was at Seder with an old friend and his family. (The brisket was incredible. Seriously. Like smack your mama good.)

Anyway, the birds beat the carpetbaggers again last night. One more game to go today before we get to kick the Yankees out of our fair city. Let's rock.

Today's been great so far. Even dropped some Skynyrd on the ipod. Walked through the harbor. Picked up a strawberry-kiwi smoothie on my way into work. Yep, life is good. Now I just need the O's to victoriously kick the Yankees' sorry keasters out of my city.

Sadly, it's the top of the 9th and the score is 9 to 2 New York. So, probably not gonna happen. But that's okay, boys. We licked 'em good twice.

Exactly.

Glenn Reynolds says "This is how it should be done", and I quite agree with him. Not that anyone here should be surprised.

Okay, But Where's He-Man?

Io9's exclusive with Bai Ling is terrifying on at least two levels. 1.) Someone let her write her own dialog, and 2.) That chick looks more and more like Skeletor.



Seriously, scroll down and tell me you didn't think of that dude with guns.

On Corruption

Washington is to the taxpayer as the drug cartels are to the addict.

That about says it all.

New Widget

You may have already guessed this, but I love baseball. Specifically, I love the Baltimore Orioles, the miserable bunch of mugs that they are. My grandfather was an O's fan and passed that down to me. Baseball season means baseball posts and not just about specific games or team business, but about the poetry of baseball (and the parts that are stupid- I'm looking at you, designated hitter rule).

The new widget over to the right will hang around until the end of the season.

More Opening Day Goodness

*Update* (7:58pm) O's Win 10 to 5!!! Great way to kick off the season, guys. Screw you, Derek Jeter.

The sun is now out, the sky a cool blue, and I know my ballpark has a beautiful view.



Bottom of the 5th and score is 5 to 1, Baltimore. Keep up the good work boys.

Opening Day, Or Why Not Believe '81

It rained this morning and into the afternoon today in Charm City, but the sun's started to peek out from behind the clouds. The game is still on and teams of baseball fans are making their way to Camden Yards as I write this. Unfortunately, this O's fan is hard at work instead of wiping down a green seat and preparing to order a hotdog and a beer. Even more unfortunately, most of the fans currently clogging the streets of my fair city are Yankees fans. Bastards.

Here in Baltimore we hate the Yankees more than Red Sox fans whine. So here's my opening day wish: I want my Orioles to send those Yankees sons of bitches packing back to New York with their heads hung low. Especially in light of the general expectation for the season as a whole.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I'll be keeping track of things over on the MLB website. Let's go O's!

America Rocks Reason Number 6,315*

Baseball is totally better than cricket.

*Numbers are randomly assigned.

P.S.stats aside, screw Derek Jeter.

Stupid Dark Ages....

The graph says it, man. The graph says it all.

Oldy But Goody

*Oops. Wrong object embedded first time. All fixed now.

BSG Post...The Cheat

This is a cheat post, but the real deal will be coming shortly.



This guy is actually writing a song a day. He takes requests too. Double click the video for the link to the website because I'm feeling lazy tonight.

Linkage

Simon Jester is brought to you by some familiar friends, and will be hanging out over in the link bar from now on.

Okay.

To atone for being such a serious Sally yesterday, I'm going promise you the BSG finale post tonight. I've just been having a hard time not making it a response to all the criticism because I think it deserves more than that.

Also? Steampunk case mods.

Hat tip, Kevin for the link.

I Promise This One Is Funny

So of course it comes from someone else.

Doesn't Look Like I'm Doing It Wrong After All....

I can't say that I'm entirely certain what to make of the growing trend of "sovereignty bills", 28 of which have been introduced in state assemblies so far, but I know that they're the sort of escalation I've been worrying about. That worry was the beginning of my earlier post.

With revolutionary die-hards behind him, Mr. Pitts has fired a warning shot across the bow of the Washington establishment. As the writer of one of 28 state "sovereignty bills" – one even calls for outright dissolution of the Union if Washington doesn't rein itself in – Pitts is at the forefront of a states' rights revival, reasserting their say on everything from stem cell research to the Second Amendment.

This could serve as a wake up call to Washington, but simply putting a pause on the expansion of the federal government and its reach may not be enough. And it shouldn't be.

*Hat tip, Instapundit

Whatever....

So I found this thing, and having a few minutes to kill, I gave it a go.

I scored 160/400, making me (according to this quiz) "very conservative". And to that I say "whatever." This quiz was designed by someone who's very progressive and it shows (I mean other than being on the Center for American Progress website):

Immigrants are a burden on the country because they take jobs and abuse social programs. And then you have to rank your agreement with the statement on a scale of 0 to 10. Another example would be It is unpatriotic to criticize the government or the military during a time of war.

Let's look at the first statement. Legal immigrants are frequently some of the hardest working members of our society, so that would clearly be a 'no'. However, illegal immigrants, assisted by the minimum wage and consuming benefits they don't help pay for, are a burden. (This is all being grossly simplified because there's a larger point I want to get to.)

Now, if we look at the second statement we see something similar; it's not whether you criticize the government or the military that's patriotic or unpatriotic, but how and why. Like the woman said, 'T ain't what you do it's the way that you do it.

Don't worry, I'm not going to beat the old patriots vs partisans horse. I just think that this quiz is a good and funny example of how completely worthless the word "conservative" is in today's political climate. Between the crunchy-cons', socio-cons', and the rest of the hyphenates, no one can honestly tell you what "conservative" is. The word is actually more worthless than Neocon, which (to everyone, but actual neocons) means "evil evil person, who disagrees with my ideas on foreign policy". "Conservative" is the mythical label of authenticity that generates the vast bulk of Republican infighting. The funny thing is, the left doesn't see distinctions. For them, Republican = conservative.

The left has a clearer definition of conservative than we do because authenticity is about a subjective set of standards. You can't draw the line at conserving the constitution because many "conservatives" would support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; something which desecrates the very spirit of the constitution. Many "conservatives" support teaching Intelligent Design in public schools, which amounts to religious education in public classrooms. If it looks like I'm picking on social conservatives, it's because they're the most blatant examples. But even if we abandon those hobby horses, there are still plenty of examples. We can't say we draw the line at small government because there's a group of people who we refer to as big government conservatives. Sarah Palin, the "conservative" member on the Republican Presidential ticket, has overt populist sentiments regarding government's role in the market and (as evidenced by the people on the street) so do many "conservatives".

Whatever. I could keep going, but this thing is already an essay and I feel like I'd just be flogging a dead horse. Saying, "In this concert we're all manufactured boy bands wagging on about which of is us the more serious or authentic musicians, because the level intrusion by the federal government which we all tacitly accept would have the founding fathers spinning in the graves like jet turbines.", is ineffectual and pointless. True. But ineffectual and pointless. Much like this post.

How On Earth Did I Miss These People!?

Primordial Slack.

25 Years Ago

March 29th looms and Baltimore remembers and mourns one of the greatest travesties in the city's long history. No, the Ravens really don't count. And Yes. Johnny Unitas was is and will always be The Great One. Screw you, Indianapolis and there's a special place in the ninth circle of Hell for Bob Isray, that traitorous thieving bastard.

Because The Karate Kid Is Awesome....

Dude. I know.

A Look Behind The Curtain...

If you've ever wondered just what kind of lunatic is running the show over here, you're in luck. Pics or didn't happen:



Nothing for The Zombie Survival Guide, but Illuminati conspiracy theories are a fair trade.

Guilty!

My guilt score is 560, making me a non-person. Sweet.

BSG

I'm totally doing a BSG post for the finale, but I have to pool my thoughts and my notes first. Part of doing that is watching the finale again. Expect it late Wednesday. I'm currently in the process of writing it- I just need a few more days. I will tell you that I loved the frak out of it. Keep on keeping on.

Something To Watch....

Across the Universe is a must see.

The promo's looked very art-faggy, but the movie isn't at all what I thought it was going to be.

The renditions of Beatles songs are amazing and quite honestly, for the most part my favorite versions of the songs.

News Flash

This isn't the universe where SyFy is mysteriously less geeky than Sci Fi.

If the NBC subsidiary wants to attract a non neck-bead having audience then maybe they should drop wrestling and the ghost hunters crap. Additionally, it'd probably be a just swell idea to not spend the entire Saturday line up running whatever low budget shit Euro flicks they can get their hands on for the change they found last night's trouser pockets.

Hate to break it to the geniuses over there, but 90% of their original "movies"(I don't watch them all so I'm being really conservative with that estimate) are just as bad as the grade F Euro flicks.

The Stargate concept is dead. The tits dried up on that momma cat and rotted off with the closing of Atlantis. Let it go. But not for another Pain Killer Jane- which, by the way, was quite possibly the worst thing I've ever seen on television. Congratulations! No one wanted to watch it, but what was your brilliant idea? Did you decide to drop it early? Pretend you never thought of it (the best solution, I think)? No! You, in your infinite fucking wisdom decided to run it every day. Why!? I mean, I get that Kristanna Loken is tall and blonde, but even Terminator 3 realized that Jennifer Lopez could out act her so her only tasks were slowly stalking about the set looking "menacing". You, friggin prodigies, decide to make her the main character in a poorly conceived attempt to serialize yet another one of your shitty "movies".

You want an audience that doesn't spend their free time drawing their D&D characters? Try not treating your network like a fan service station. Your scheduling sucks. The parts of your line up that are worth watching are Battlestar, Eureka,.... Trying to think here. I mean, I'm being nice giving you Battlestar as how they just ran their series finale last night, but I figure knowing you guys you'll try to pimp made for tv movies out of it until its shriveled and dessicated corpse turns to dust. Dresden Files can't really be mentioned because you don't even re-run the one season you shot. (Pain Killer Jane, really!?)

I've already spent more time on this than I intended, but if you think the razzle dazzle routine of a new name and a shiny new logo is going to solve your problems then you're more clueless than our current President and that's saying a lot- that guy couldn't even figure out region coding on DVD's.

No Hat Eating For Me.

IO9 interviews BSG creator Ron Moore- I wonder what he has to say about Daniel....

How about fan theories over the show, like mention of a missing Cylon named Daniel? After his name was mentioned, the fans just went wild online. Did you intend for that to happen, and was he supposed to inspire this big fan-driven backstory?

You know, the Daniel thing is going to be one of the great fiascos of the show, in terms of what fans thought and what the truth was. Because Daniel was not intended to be anything more than an interesting bit of backstory in that episode. And that's how we approached it. It was just a story that Cavil and Ellen tell each other, that sort of goes to the idea of who Cavil was and how deep his resentments were, and his jealous nature - and [we wanted to] do a Cain and Abel allegory. That was all it was.

Doesn't get much more clear than that.

A Break From Your Worries....

Metal kazoo.



I know, it's awesome.

Man Had The Right Of It....

*Bumped in light of the bad, but expected news*

I'm referring, of course, to Kipling:

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

An Argument For The Bad....

This commercial by Israeli arms-maker, Rafael, is an example of why terrible productions can be terribly entertaining.

Thanks, Rich.

Three.

So it's Friday night, you know what that means. BSG post time.

The hull breaches and a Six reaches out for the man she was just bitching at about bitching. I like that part especially as a mirror of Razor when Hoshi reaches out to Kendra Shaw at the end of the world; the shepherd is dying and a sister who was an enemy reaches out to a brother who is now a friend. She dies and damn, but Tricia Helfer makes me love every Six.

Saul Tigh is amazing. Ellen Tigh pulls him through again. Reminds him that he helped father a race.

Boomer may finally do something to earn redemption. I like the Casablanca take on redemption that this show has- redemption is about finding something greater than yourself to commit to.

Finally, Kara Thrace is not a Cylon, a hybrid, or cybrid. Though we still don't know what the frak she is. (I would like to say "I told you so.")

One episode in two parts over three hours to go. Boom, boom, boom.

RNC Shocked To Discover It's Steele not Steal

What I find absolutely hilarious about this is that when Michael Steel was being floated around as a possible VP pick during the '08 campaign I remember commenting on several occasions that he wasn't particularly impressive (to put it mildly). In fact, he was pretty worthless as Maryland's Lt. Governor. Not because he did a bad job at anything, but because he didn't do anything. Wikipedia credits him with reforming Maryland's Minority Business Enterprise program and chairing the Governor Erlich's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland. However, exactly what those things accomplished is questionable as how they didn't even make Fox New's short biography on him, though that biography does manage to list just about every other aspect of his career.

Being a Marylander I'd see Michael Steele in office, so when his name started popping up as the possible head of the RNC, I was pretty sure there were better candidates. Look, Michael Steele is a smart man and he'd probably do pretty well as a political author or something, but as head of the RNC he's sucking massively.

Granted he hasn't been in office that long, but in the interest of being bi-partisan, neither has our Presi-Jesus, and I certainly don't cut him any slack. Get it together Mr. Steele or step down and let someone else do it. Time's ticking.

This Is Just Awesome!

What's the other side up to? Why, compiling lists of those us to be silenced, of course. Here's the main page.

To be certain, this site isn't officially endorsed by our re-gifting Commander and Chief. In fact I dearly hope that the whole thing is just satire. I'll search through it over the next couple of days and post an update.

Laughing Through The Tears....

Oleg Atbashian serves up some America applicable Soviet style humor in the form of dialectical contradictions.

Dialectical contradictions are one of the pillars in Marxist philosophy, which states that contradictions eventually lead to a unity of opposites as the result of a struggle. This gave a convenient “scientific” excuse for the existence of contradictions in a socialist society, where opposites were nice and agreeable — unlike the wild and crazy opposites of capitalism that could never be reconciled. Hence the joke.

For example:

Economic justice:

* America is capitalist and greedy — yet half of the population is subsidized.
* Half of the population is subsidized — yet they think they are victims.
* They think they are victims — yet their representatives run the government.
* Their representatives run the government — yet the poor keep getting poorer.
* The poor keep getting poorer — yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
* They have things that people in other countries only dream about — yet they want America to be more like those other countries.

That's Terrible News

I love breakfast!



Well the good thing about being an atheist is that if I turn out to be wrong I'll probably wind up in Hell; I hear they serve brunch.

Hat tip: Kevin.

A Recomendation....

Neal Stephenson has fast become one of my favorite authors. The man writes awe inspiring odes to the human mind. Seriously.

Courting Trouble....

There are a couple of things we don't really get into here and each for their own reasons, but seeing as how I've already gotten into one of them I might as well get into another. Just as well hung for a sheep as a lamb, if you will.

Religion is one of those things because I'm an atheist and, frankly, I don't see a point in atheist vs theist posts because it's all faith. I'll take shots at what I consider asshole atheism (the belief that atheism is scientifically provable) because it's nonsense and should be put down in the same manner that you would put down the opposite claim. It's all faith. That means you can't prove it. But I'm going to say something that would certainly set me up for a good dose of hate mail if I had any regular readers who cared about this sort of thing: the idea that your average John or Jane can pick up a bible and interpret it as they see fit is the worst thing that came out of the protestant (i.e. not Catholic) faiths.

You have a book that's been compiled through political machinations over the course of hundreds of years. Texts have been included, omitted, and then included again. The meanings and in some cases the wordings have been debated by scholars during the course of its compilation. And that's not even considering the multiple translations over time and unintentional shifts of meaning that occur via word selection when shifting from one language to another. It's just as political as it is religious and the meanings of many passages have subtly shifted over the thousands of years based on cultural connotations.

People spend their entire lives studying the book and everything that went into making it what it is today, so the conceit that any yahoo can pick it up and really understand what the hell they're reading is ludicrous.

Now I know the argument that all of that occurred because God willed it, but that makes God seem a bit indecisive to me. Maybe your God has trouble making his mind up. Should you just turn away from sin (the more accurate translation of the original Greek) or should you repent (which has all sorts of undertones of atonement)? Subtle difference, but God should be able to pick one and stick with it, don't you think? Or does God just randomly raise and lower the bar on the whole shebang?

Look, I'm not picking a fight with anyone's belief in God or the protestant faiths as a whole. I'm just saying that it's astonishingly arrogant to presume that any random dude can pick up the bible and interpret it accurately.

The BSG Post....

Oh holy frak.

Where to begin?

Starbuck palled around with her dad's ghost/angel/hallucination. Also, girl has like the worst dreams ever. Like frakkin' crucial. Her dad's ghost/memory/whatever + Hera = All Along the Watchtower. But Hera's the only hybrid (that's why they retconned baby Nicky's paternity) so her dad's not Daniel. (*Ahem* fellow fan wankers. And I'll eat my hat- or just massive crow- if I'm wrong about that.) So instead of any real answers, we get more frakking questions.

But the big news of the night is that Boomer has officially gone beyond the pale for me. Waylaying Athena and then frakking her husband in the head while she's bound, gagged, and half conscious in a stall is bad enough. But then she kidnaps Hera? Dude, not cool. And that frakking stunt with the FTL jump right next to Galactica? Way to frak everyone over.

I don't even know what to frakkin say at this point.

We knew these last 10 episodes were going to be one hell of a ride. It's crazy how if you look back and try to make a list of all the shit that's gone down since Earth it feels so much longer than that. This was just number 8, folks. Look how far we've come.

Cylons now have a representative in the new ship-based Quorum. Naturally it's another Six- Sonja. They ask to try Boomer for treason because the Cylons so aren't feeling that "Rag Tag Gang On The Run" shit that saved Gaius Baltar from the metaphorical gallows, (of course, he was on trial for the only crime he didn't actually commit, so there is that) and were all set to make Boomer the Cylon Captain Henry Wirz.

Unfortunately for all sides Chief has always emoted first, acted second, and thought third. He frees Boomer and helps her escape (unknowingly, also helps her abduct Hera). So Boomer proves that everyone was right about her except for Chief Tyrol and myself. And you better believe that when he was begging Roslin and Adama for her life I was right there with him because like him I wanted to believe in that young dumb kid who was frakking the chief all over the goddsdamn ship thinking she was getting away with it. Chief Tyrol and I now have something in common with the now deceased Felix Gaeta. Blinded by hope.

2 episodes to go, and the last one is a two- parter (in keeping with tradition) the second part of which will be two hours long. Holy frak.

Priorities....

Slow news day?



Oh wait. Maybe not so much....

10 Institutions That Ruin The World....

There's a rather brilliant and (dare I say it) informative series of posts over at Kerplunk. You should read them all.

I Don't Know Why This Is So Hard To Understand....

...Science class is for science. I've never really posted about the whole creationism in classrooms thing before, but I'm big enough to admit when I've had my head in the sand and I'm pretty sure this was just such an occasion. I honestly didn't want to believe that there were that many people out there who not only don't believe in evolution (that's a funny way to put things- like believing in gravity, but there you go....), but believe that their philosophical extrapolation of a mythology should be treated as verifiable science.


There are a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest one is that people don't really understand science. I mean sure, you took a class or two in high school maybe college that involved some lab work, but for the most part the only real difference between the way you learned science and the way you learned history was that your science book had images of microscope slides and your history book had artistic renderings. Someone probably gave you a pop quiz or two on the steps involved in the scientific method, but none of that really translated into a general understanding of how science works. Seriously. For most people the word science conjures images of Bunsen burners, flasks, microscopes, eyedroppers, and lab coats the same way the word witch summons images of black kettles, hooded robes, and people doing dubious things in the woods. Sadly the similarity doesn't end there, because for many people science is just the newfangled hocus pocus.

Now I can't correct for the entirety of that unfortunate failing of our education system in one blog post, but I'm going to sling my little rock for all I'm worth at the Intelligent Design in schools Goliath. (Okay, so it's only a Goliath in the Republican party. Really, don't you people see how you're giving everyone a black eye here? No? Well, stick with me, and we'll see if we can't get the light of day to shine on this for you. See, that's the other reason I've stayed away from this topic. It makes me uncivil.)

Let's start with a basic premise that we can all agree on. When it comes to God (or gods or whatever) it's all faith. (We're not talking about the fence-sitters waiting around for proof, that's like the exact opposite of faith.) It doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe. It's faith; the position can't be proven one way or the other so coming down squarely on one side is entirely about faith. (If you want to argue that particular point I'll be happy to take it up via email.)
Hold onto that.

Now let's take a look at one of science's most important tools. The entire point of going through all of that is to generate reliable evidence in order to make a determination. Evidence is what separates science from philosophy and religion.

I know there are some (*sigh* more like many) people out there who are currently saying (or thinking) it says (insert whatever) in the bible, there's your proof. But what you fail to see is that that is your proof. And what's more, it's dependent upon your acceptance of a point of faith in order to even be considered as evidence. The argument boils down thus: God exists (and embodies/contains/engenders list of attributes). The Bible is the word of God (and as implied by list of attributes of God therefore true). Therefore the Bible is proof of God's existence and his works. All of that makes a very pretty circle and is exactly how half of the argument over the existence of God has gone since birth of monotheism (and further back if you change up the names of deities and holy texts). The other half is just as circular, but in the negative.)

So the difference between teaching evolution and teaching intelligent design is that I can give pages upon pages of evidence none of which require faith on your part. Where as in order for you to even get out of the gate with intelligent design, you have to have faith. And that has no place in a science class. What's so damn difficult to understand about that!?



*Update* Welcome fellow LGF readers! Feel free to look around. Hope you like the place.

*Update* This gentleman actually takes the time to patiently walk you through. (Courtesy of the LGF link posted at the beginning of this post.)

In The Spirit Of The Day...

I give you candy hearts.



This is really less of a shopping list and more of a recommendation:

Battlestar Post...

So it's totally that time again. Last week I didn't do a BSG post because as awesome as that episode was it was totally WYSIWYG, and aside from, "Holy frak! The President of the colonies just declared war on humanity from the Cylon basestar!", and some really big emotional moments there was nothing to really talk about. I don't do recaps (in that sense) and if that's what you're looking for I suggest Television Without Pity (for BSG at any rate).

I'm not really going to say a lot about this episode because it was explication heavy and therefore fairly WYSIWYG as well. However, it's hilariously tragic just how completely human the Cavils (Johns!) are. He spends the entire episode railing against the final five (specifically Ellen) for creating him with what he feels to be weaknesses. The whole thing is very Paradise Lost. So Cavil spends the episode screaming "Stupid human parts! Why not awesome super powers and better built in gadgets!? You're a shitty god/parent! I'm not your son or a real boy at all! I'm a metal doll that you refused to make out of metal! Apologize!" And Ellen Tigh spends the episode explaining and lovingly calling him on that shit, "Free will and creative thought are better than x-ray vision. You're so completely a real boy that you've spent your existence alternating between jealously of one brother and hatred for the people who abused another. You've traveled across the frakking galaxy to pursue a blood libel." Cavil snits, "Free will is a lie." Ellen responds, "Just because hate is easier, doesn't mean you don't have a choice. You're throwing an epic temper tantrum, but I still love you." Which earns her a "Frak that and you, I want to be God." (See? Milton.)

And that entire exchange was nothing but compassion on Ellen's part because she could have broken his shit down in the hardest way possible. All she had to do was point out that his whole better/best/perfect machine routine was all bull because if that was really what drove him, he'd have spent this time on building his metal body, downloading into it, creating new ways of perceiving the universe, and doing more with his programming than bypassing his sleep routine. Instead, he murdered one brother, assaulted and imprisoned his parents, murdered humanity, boxed an entire line of sisters, fully tried to murder half of his remaining siblings, and is preparing to vivisect his mother. That's just the short list.

Also, Boomer! Finally accepts (or starts to) that she's a real girl. Hopefully this show can refrain from killing her again. In any sense.

Video Goodness.....

3000 still photos to make this video. Yay, stop animation!



Hat tip: Kevin. Breakin' me out of my politics rut.

Wicked Cool....

This doesn't exactly disprove Smugopedia's take on MIT, but it sure goes a long way.

The Importance Of Visibility....

...Or what Republicans can learn from the gay community.

*A quick note before we start: this post is really for any Republicans who, like me, live in an area dominated by Democrats. Now, on to the show.

Republicans have a serious image problem. And while it's true that much of the blame for that can be laid at the feet of our opposition, a large part of the fault is still ours. We complain about unfair representations in the media and pop culture, sure. But the primary objective of those complaints seems to be to get those two entities to give us a better shake. That's not a bad goal, but in a culture where the press is fully willing to throw away its credibility with 1/2 of the population in order to elect a political official, is it a realistic goal? The same can be said for Hollywood and their steady stream of films which alienate that same half of their potential audience; getting them to give Republicans/conservatives a better shake isn't a bad goal, but is it honestly realistic?

Granted, things like Big Hollywood, Pajamas Media, and PJTV are good ways to hit back by creating the content we feel is lacking, but let's face it- not all of us have the sort of talents that would enable us to really make a splash in that arena. (I certainly understand that this blog's primary contribution is simply being a place for me to clear my head so that I don't turn every social interaction I have throughout the day into a political debate/discussion. If it happens to entertain the few people who drop by every now and then or- against all conceivable odds- inform, then I'm thrilled beyond words, but I know where I stand in the internet hierarchy.) All of that is perfectly alright because fixing the popular image of Republicans is going to take more than carving out a Republican friendly niche in the press and pop culture. It's going to take visibility.

I'm not talking about the visibility of politicians, talking heads, or party organizations. I'm not talking about parades or week long parties either- that's not what I meant, by learning visibility from the gay community. I'm talking about those of us in the red closet (full time and part time) coming out (or at least a little more out).

You can live in the heart of Berkley, California right next door to the Code Pink HQ, completely surrounded by people who are certain they don't know a single solitary Republican, but they all know Republicans exist. Therefore visibility of the talking head/politician/party organization variety is essentially a moot point. In fact, so far as they know, those three things make up the entirety of their knowledge pool on Republicans. Additionally, being responsible for the redirection of traffic (and the resulting jams) is pretty much guaranteed to make your neighbors want to choke you, not get together for cocktails to see if they've been in error.

Republicans have to come out. The change in the public perception of gay people has less to do with lobbyists and parades than it does with the expanding portion of the population that personally knows at least one gay person. That person could be a friend, family member, co-worker, or just another responsible member of the community. That's who we have to be; we have to become that Republican your liberal mom/friend/co-worker will mention in a positive light the next time their liberal friends equate Republicans to the Antichrist.

Much like with gay people, they're not all going to be success stories. Coming out of the red closet pretty much ensures that you're going to lose at least one contact. Choosing to live outside of the red closet full time could get you completely ostracized. We haven't even talked about the harassment issue. But I'm not saying anything you don't already know. After all, this is exactly why so many of us have chosen to live in the red closet at least part of the time. That's also why not being openly Republican doesn't make a person a coward; you can't fault someone for not wanting their family to stop talking to them or for wanting to keep their job.

We all know the price of being openly Republican in a Democrat dominated area. What's the price of being a closeted Republican? What's the weight of all those little (and not so little) moments when you tuck your head down and keep your mouth shut in order to get along or fit in or just not be harassed? We all know benefits of keeping silent, being invisible. What are the benefits of visibility? What's it like to shed fear and speak boldly in defense of yourself and your beliefs? In the long run, creating an environment where it's not socially acceptable to harass or intimidate Republicans for the crime of disagreeing with liberal ideology is a win for political discourse in this country. That makes it a win for everyone. Well everyone except for those who are only concerned with the gaining and keeping of power, but those people are the true enemies of liberty and to know their names by their disdain for open discourse is a victory for liberty.

No Really....

....They've earned it. Congress Gets Raise-- Now Paid $174,000 For 3 Day Work Week.

Politicians And Taxes....

With something like the third of our new Teflon President's nominees having to bow out for tax evasion/fraud/stupidity/"oops that wasn't H&R Block/whatever shenanigans, I guess I should say something.

Look, I'm one of those people who believe that income tax is theft. Pure and simple. But these are the assholes mandating the theft in the first place (and demanding ever greater amounts) so when the highway man comes around they'd damn well better reach for the sky with the rest of us.

It's the whole income tax=theft part which made this poll grab my attention. I don't cheat on my taxes because I used to watch Oz on HBO and jail scares the low level civil disobedience out of me, but I don't really have a moral/ethical problem with other people not forking over what the government demands because the government hasn't earned a fucking red cent of anyone's money. But if you're one of the feckless louts giving the green light to the annual mugging of the American people and profiting off of it then you should certainly get mugged with the rest of us.

The funniest part of this whole thing (in a zen sort of " if I weren't laughing I'd be crying" way) is that if former President George W. Bush had goofed like this the left (and their propaganda arm, the MSM) would have held it up as incontrovertible proof of his stupidity/incompetence/crookedness. Change we can believe in....

In The Immortal Words Of Kevin....

"WTF FTW." Really.



Play along at home. How many wtf moments do you count in the above image? No credit for the sample circle.



*Thanks Kevin

That's Atypical....

This little news blurb is...well... see for yourself. I mean it doesn't exactly smack of the Global Jihad. The game is a product of Crave Entertainment, a subsidiary of Handleman Corp. So it's just...odd.