Bush's brillian plan for the environment

From the "I couldn't make this shit up if I tried" file:

Maybe they took this whole "smoke and mirrors" thing too seriously when considering environmental policy, but here is our back-up plan for global warming (according to UK's Guardian newspaper): Block the sun. Maybe you're like me and instantly thought about this:


"Since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing...block it out!" - C. Montgomery Burns

No joke. They want scientists to come up with a way to block the sun using space dust and/or giant mirrors.

Obama... not Osasma

Just to put and end, I hope, to the right-wing attacks against Barack Obama for supposed connections to fundamentalist or terrorist Islamic beliefs - here is the answer as presented by CNN. The people, like Debbie Schlussel, who claim that Obama is a terrorist sleeper are flat out wrong and based their beliefs on a completely un-sourced article from Insight Magazine, produced by conservative newspaper Washington Times.

Unfortunately, this will not likely bring an end to the story since many of these douchebags need this kind of false story to help bring themselves attention. That, and they live to augment the American fear of Islam, a clear call to xenophobia. If you don't believe me, go to the Debbie Schlussel story and read the comments - many of which say that all Muslims cannot be trusted. Disgusting.

Sad news (in a sort of bizarre pop culture way)

Remember Barbaro? He was the horse that crashed out of the Preakness last year with a broken leg. He was in the news constantly for a month afterward. Well, today he was finally put to rest. I'm not sure why I care since I really didn't see this as a news story worthy of such huge national attention, but I found myself a little sad. Maybe it was the picture of him in the story that personalized it for me. Maybe it was the recent trips to the races at Santa Anita that made me think more about these really amazing animals. Who knows, but its sad nonetheless.

Something for the nerds (specifically Pete)

Came across a site called "Which science-fiction writer are you?" I thought that the idea was funny, but I had no idea who this guy was until I googled him and found out that he wrote Dune, which I have never read.

I am: Frank Herbert His style is often stilted, but he created what some consider the greatest SF novel of all time.

Which science fiction writer are you?

2007 Drink of the Union

I mean State of the Union. January 23 is a Tuesday which brings the penultimate State of the Union by President Bush. Therefore, I think it is entirely appropriate for people to come by our place 30 minutes prior (I think it starts at 6:00) for a cocktail or three, some snacks (maybe dinner?) and watch the fun. Anyone reading is invited as long as I choose to tell you where I live.

Update: The speech is scheduled to start at 6:00. Feel free to come by anytime after 5:15 or so. There will be enough food that you should not have to eat dinner before coming over. Plus beer and wine.

You must take a drink when Bush says:

terrah
surge
anything blatantly mispronounced
what else?

Colbert vs. O'Reilly

For those of you that missed it, Stephen Colbert went on O'Reilly Factor and O'Reilly went on the Colbert Report. Here's a link to the video. By the way, the Colbert Report video is much funnier.

Even better: Just watch:

Election 2008: The Saga Continues

First, there's no surprise here, but Hillary Clinton announced today. Good luck to her. My Republican friend Greg wondered why I gave attention to Obama and not to Clinton. He jokingly accused me of not liking women. So, here is the mention of Clinton that you asked for. Please note that Greg thinks that Bush is a little too liberal. (I'm really taking liberties with that comment)

Second, as if she reads my blog, Debbie Schlussel responded to the (what I assumed to be) 8 million gigs of hate e-mail sent her way for comments about Barack Obama. This was not an apology. In fact, she repeated her belief that Obama's background raises a lot of questions and that "Anyone who does not want to look into the questions and, instead, attacks those who ask them, is equally suspect in their intentions and attitudes toward the continued freedom of this country." So I guess I'm now an enemy of the state along with any other sane person.

It gets better. She went on to site (an pretty much include the entire text of) an article that questions Obama's avoidance of his middle name which says "sources said the young Obama was given the name Hussein by his Muslim father, which the Illinois Democrat rarely uses in public." Maybe I was wrong here. Maybe he is hiding something. I mean, who doesn't use their middle name in public? Oh wait. I don't use my middle name in public. Maybe I'm hiding my connections to my dad's friend who was killed in a car crash before I was born.

Finally, this same article claims that "researchers connected to Senator [Hillary] Clinton" are the ones who are digging up this past, as if they are trying to tear him down now. I'd be surprised if Clinton or her people even give credence to these reports. By the way, the magazine is run by the same company that owns the Washington Times.

Elections 2008: Trashing Barack

Since it is likely to be a frequent subject of my blogs, I am going to make it an official tag along with the short-lived Sacagawea series and the semi-regular Douchebag series. By the way, I am still primarily using golden dollars, but they are very hard to come by these days.

In any case, right-wing bloggers and journalists are still trying to find the chink in the ever-growing popularity of Barack Obama's political armor. It seems that they are hoping this weakness is his connection to Islam. FoxNews's "Fox & Friends" made this their question of the day: Barack's background: Ancient History or Madrasa Matters? Throughout the show they spoke to callers about the possibility that Obama was educated in Madrasas using a Wahhabiist curriculum, which they also argue (somewhat correctly) is based on hating America.

First of all, although they openly claim that he is hiding his past connections to Islam while living in Indonesia, anyone who has read either of his books knows better. I've read Audacity of Hope and it clearly talks about his 2 years (?) of education as a child in a Muslim school before going on to a Catholic school. How is that hiding?

Secondly, they continue to bring up his middle name - Hussein. At this point, their arguments are bathing in the wretched stench of desperation and even - dare I say - xenophobia. His non-practicing Muslim father gives him a very common Arab middle name and all of a sudden he is a terrorist? Give me a break. This reminds me of my previous post where conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel came up just short of calling Obama a terrorist.

At some point they are going to need to come up with something better if they want to defeat him. Especially if they are even considering a candidate like Mitt Romney who has blatantly switched views on many major issues just to be a more suitable candidate for the Republicans

Obama announces...sort of

Barack Obama announced today that he is forming a presidential exploratory committee. This means that he can start raising money without actually disclosing where the money came from. Once he declares officially he will have to disclose where he got the exploratory money. Although a person running does not have to do this, it is a common step and allows him to see how he might do in an election by doing some polls and giving speeches. Cutting through the jargon - this more or less means that he is going to run. He said that he would make a final announcement on February 10th.

If you want to see his announcement check out his new website.

My post for Martin Luther King Day

From King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail":

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

I always liked this "speech" from King as it not only addresses some of the big issues faced during the civil rights era, but also goes really far in explaining why he thought that non-violence would achieve more than direct confrontation. Read the whole thing by going to the link.

Galaxy sign Beckham

Although I have been guaranteeing this deal for 6 months, today it was made official. My L.A. Galaxy have signed England and Real Madrid (formerly ManU) star David Beckham to a 5-year $250 million dollar deal. He will start with the team in August after the Spanish season ends and his contract with Real Madrid is up. You may start kissing my ass to get tickets now.

Update: Galaxy has reported that they have sold 1,000 season seats just this morning. One person bought an entire section in the upper deck (a.k.a ticket broker).

Update #2: Season tickets for today now over 2000. My season ticket went up 50%, although I locked in a cheaper price already for the next two seasons. I will have 10 free tickets this year - I hope. They may all be sell-outs.

Final Update for now: Final tally was 3,000+ season seats in one day. My ticket guy was in the office until 10:30 pm. That will go a long way in paying his salary. By the way - the $250 million is made up a good deal by promised endorsements (especially some company called Adidas)>