Sunday, March 30, 2008

April 1st

At the moment I have no plans to do an April Fools joke this year. However, I urge everyone to remember that the internet, which is usually fairly unreliable, generally becomes COMPLETELY unreliable at this time of year. Any item you read on April 1st, or that is dated April 1st, check the sources. If you can't find any sources, don't believe it.

This has been a public service announcement.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Massive Linkdump

Sequoia is the new Diebold. If voting machines cannot be freely examined by outside experts, they aren't voting machines. They are crap.

By now, everyone has heard about PZ Myers being barred from seeing a Creationist movie that he was tricked into appearing in. And you've all probably heard who PZ's guest was who managed to see the movie because they only kicked PZ himself out. But I couldn't not link to the story.

In a much sadder story, Peter David quotes the Bible after learning about a child who was murdered by her parents' "faith".

Simply clicking a link could get your home raided. The article says the FBI isn't bothering to record the referrer, which means some "prankster" could put the link up in a major forum and it would get tons of hits... I'm afraid clicking a link should NEVER be "probable cause" for a federally condoned home invasion and robbery.

Speaking of stupid things, the drug war... the Seattle PI has an opinion piece on marijuana and how many tax dollars go to waste fighting it.

The 5 Most Ridiculously Over-Hyped Health Scares of All Time.

Pastafarians in Crossville Tennessee got permission to put a Flying Spaghetti Monster statue on the Courthouse lawn. I want one! (A statue of the FSM, not a courthouse) Be sure to scroll down for pictures on how they made the FSM.

Republican administrations are bad for our soliders. Active duty military deaths under the last few presidents: Under Reagan (eight years): 17,201 (2150 a year average). Under Bush I (four years): 6,223 (1556 a year average). Under Clinton (eight years): 7,500 (938 a year average). Under Bush II's first six years: 8,792 (1465 a year average). If you are a soldier, you'd better pray for the Democrats to win, because you are more likely to live if they do.

More Iraqi Voices.

Thoreau reminds us that Iraq is not an intellectual exercise, it's a real war, and people are dying there every day.

As Obama's eighth cousin once removed (his mother was my eighth cousin), I find this article fascinating. "While family trees such as these throw up interesting links, genetically they are meaningless. While children carry half the genes of their father, cousins as far removed as Obama and Bush would have no more genetic link than someone they bumped into at random in the street."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Rants for Tuesday

Waterboarding is torture. Only a traitor to the United States would veto banning it. The traitor in the Whitehouse doesn't dare ban it, lest we put him in prison where he belongs for the rest of his miserable life. Every day that Bush is president drags our country deeper into the mud of his illegal and immoral activities. We should have impeached him five years ago.

Washington State has good government.

New Seven Deadly Sins. I'll note that 5-7 damns most of the Republican party. Of course, 1 and 3 damn a good number of Democrats, so it balances.

TSA Endangers Child. The TSA is a joke, and an annoying and dangerous one at that.

Go Norway! I've never been prouder of the name I married into.

For once, the voters win against the Parties.

Monday, March 17, 2008

I Don't Care

I don't care who wins the Democratic nomination. I really don't. I have no preference beyond some minor personality quirks. I think they both can do a fine job, certainly tons better than the man in office right now.

HOWEVER, the more the two candidates snark at each other and give fuel to the rethuglican strategists, the less I like the ones on the attack. I'm talking to you, Hilary. Cut it out, or you'll lose the support of people like me, who don't care about your inter-party stupidity and just want a competent President for once.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

The Dog, the Cat, and the Giant Squid

With Laura obsessing over her new wiki, I guess it's up to me to post something here. So I present to you the heartwarming story of The Dog, The Cat, and the Giant Squid. (Thanks to the Milwaukee Time Lords for sharing this with their members.)