Month: August 2008

politics

Michael Palin Would Have Been a Much Better Choice

Posted on

When John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his VP choice, it sent everyone, me included, into a tizzy.
On the issues, she is against abortion, does not believe in the whole “global warming” thing, is a member of the NRA, believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman and even sued the US government for putting the Polar Bear on the endangered species list because it prevented her from drilling for oil wherever she wanted. She is an arch Conservative, not just a Republican, pure and simple.
One of my favorite Republican talking points is that since Russia is next to Alaska, Palin is the most qualified to be Commander in Chief because she runs the Alaskan National Guard and as we’ve seen in Georgia, Russia is ornery these days and heck, they might just try to take Seward’s Folly back. Love it! Fear mongering at its finest.
While Palin’s personal story is being bandied about quite a lot, something that has not gained that much traction as of yet is the possibility that she’s a big fat liar.
First, while Palin is being pegged a maverick because she passed all of these ethics reform laws and canceled Ted Steven’s Bridge to Nowhere, she is being investigated by her state legislature for lying about how she pressured a lot of people to fire her ex-Brother-in-law from his state job. A Troopergate scandal didn’t play well in NY and it isn’t playing well in Alaska either. Plus, a person who is vindicative towards someone who wronged his or her family is the wrong person to be President. Just look at what W did to Saddam because Saddam threatened his daddy. ‘Nuff said.
Second, (though first in how weird and damaging it would be to the campaign), is that maybe Sarah Palin is not the mother of the 4 month old she claims is her son and that she is actually the grandmother. If that is the case, then Palin decided to lie to the world to hide the “shame” of her oldest daughter’s unwed pregnancy.
To stoke these flames, it seems that Palin never told anyone she was pregnant until she was 7 months along, that she was never showing beforehand and didn’t really show at the end either, and then did something absurd when she went into labor, especially absurd considering she knew the child to be developmentally disabled. This burgeoning scandal is being dubbed Waterbreak (love it!) because, as a forum poster put it, “on a list of things I would be doing if my waters had broken, staying to give a conference speech and then flying 3000 miles probably wouldn’t be that high. Seems strange.” As a new father who was very close to his wife during her pregnancy, I 150% agree that the pictures of Palin at public appearances over the course of her “pregnancy” are crazy.
If either of the above is true, then Sarah Palin is a big, fat liar and the last person we need to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency.

politics

Oh, Man!

Posted on

What a week it’s been if you care about American politics. The Democrats ran a mile wide love fest in the Mile High City which had me tuning in to CNN for four nights in a row. Each speech was a little better than the last and then when all the newspaper’s had Obama’s historic moment on Friday’s front page, those cheeky strategic Republican bastards knocked it right into the back pages by announcing Sarah Palin (who?) as the VP choice. Whoa! Oh baby, what a week…
On Thursday night, in front of 80k plus who turned out on a better summer night, the words, “America we are better than these last eights years. We are a better country than this. Tonight I say to the people of America, to the Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this land ENOUGH. This moment, this moment, this election, is our chance to keep in the 21st century the American promise alive,” rang out in the Rockies. It was powerful, it was necessary and it was motivating.
Two co-workers watched a stream of Barack’s speech yesterda, one at work and one after, and both basically said to me “Fuck that was a good speech.” I am now re-listening to Barack’s 42 min totally kick ass speech and cannot wait until September 26th when he debates John McCain for the first time. I think he’ll clean McCain’s clock and when you see the two of them side by side, oh baby, what a difference. It’ll be Kennedy versus Nixon all over again.
In the speech, Obama impressively rebutted point by point all of the arguments that have been lobbed against his candidacy. He was specific about his domestic programs and how he would fund what he wants to do. He was specific about the current state of foreign affairs and clearly laid out the case for he can be a great Commander in Chief and why he should be President. He laid out a ten year challenge a la Kennedy for energy independence. He mentioned nuclear power, which many dismiss as a horror but in actuality is one of the best green options on the table. He was precise, like a surgeon, with his concerns about McCain and soaring with his rhetoric about what this country can be. Once again, I’m inspired and if you didn’t listen to the speech, find the time and do so.
In the end, this election is simply a battle between the present and the future. Barack, despite his VP Biden being a 35 veteran in the Senate, is the future. The Grateful Dead’s “The Wheel” is one of favorite songs right now and its lyrics are apt for the situation we are in:

The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still
If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will

I feel as if the Republicans are either ignoring or trying to stop that the great big wheel from turning but our nation’s debt keeps rising, the Earth’s sea levels are rising, the troubles in Afghanistan keep rising, the East’s power again is rising and we can’t go back, we can’t stand still: we are in the 21st Century and we need to keep moving forward. I think that Barack can lead the way.

television

The Swedish Chef Visits Robot Chicken

Posted on

I love Robot Chicken and saw the clip below last night for the first time. I was laughing out loud then and was still laughing today when I told some co-workers about it. After they watched, they could not understand why I found this funny. In fact, the words used were “one of the unfunniest Robot Chicken clips of all time.” Strong words.
How about you decide if its funny and let me know via posting a comment – I’m curious.

space

A Vomit Comet Ride Is Now Under $5K

Posted on

While I would love to sky dive – something that I have never done – I think I would rather take the Zero G parabola flight. First, because it’s safer, and second, because it simulates being an astronaut, floating around a contained space. It is more expensive than sky diving but a hell of a lot less than a ride on Virgin Galactic The ZERO-G Experience, which includes a flight of 15 parabolas [each gives you 30 seconds of weightlessness], flight suit, complimentary merchandise, awards, a post-event party, photos, and a DVD of the flight, is offered at a price of $4,950 per seat.
The Zero G site says that by the end of the flight you will log about 7 to 8 minutes of reduced gravity – that’s about as much zero-gravity time as Alan Shepard experienced on America’s first human spaceflight.
In case you were wondering, a Virgin Galactic doesn’t provide weightlessness, only a sick view and experience, and costs $200,000.
Via Neu

sports

There's Gold in Them Thar Hills

Posted on

Its nice that someone other than Michael Phelps has won a gold medal. Nastia Liukin took the women’s all around title and the head of US Gymnastics Bela Karolyi goes nuts while watching the routine. Gotta love the enthusiasm. I believe his exact words were, “Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! Yeah! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! She’s an Olympic Champion! I’m telling you. I’m telling you. I’m telling you. Wow. Wow. Wow.”

politics

Left versus Right

Posted on

Joseph Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, has a great article in the Guardian about how in contrast to the right, the left has a coherent agenda. It’s one that offers not only higher growth, but also social justice.
One part that I found damning was that it is estimated that within a few years, America will have more people working in the security business than in education and a year in prison can cost more than a year at Harvard.
That is one scary stat but the article overall isn’t a scary one, rather it is a very good argument for the left’s agenda.
Via Neu