Sounds like a good deal to me

A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted that the charges be dropped when he is resurrected.
...
Ramkissoon, a member of a group called One Mind Ministries, believes Javon Thompson, her year-old son, will rise again, and as part of her plea agreement, authorities agreed to the clause.
...
Under the plea agreement, Ramkissoon, 22, must testify against four other One Mind Ministries members who are also facing charges, including first-degree murder, in Javon's death. At her sentencing, set for August, she will receive a 20-year sentence, which will be suspended except for the time she has already served behind bars, Silverman said. She must also undergo deprogramming and psychiatric counseling.

Pity this poor woman. The power of a cult and ignorant beliefs have cost her her child, her freedom and her sanity.

The Shuttle Atlantis was almost lost in 1988

The link below is to a fascinating story about the second shuttle launch after the Challenger disaster and how the same type of damage that would bring down Columbia, almost took down Atlantis years earlier.

Legendary Commander Tells Story of Shuttle's Close Call

"I will never forget, we hung the (robot) arm over the right wing, we panned it to the (damage) location and took a look and I said to myself, 'we are going to die,'" recalled legendary shuttle commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson. "There was so much damage. I looked at that stuff and I said, 'oh, holy smokes, this looks horrible, this looks awful.'"

He was seeing the worst tile damage any shuttle had ever experienced.

Check it out.

Another weekend gone

The weekend is over. I played games all day Saturday, went to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" today. Had an all-around good time. But I didn't get anything done around the house. So, a mixed review for me. Sigh.

They do realize that this ISN'T a selling point, don't they?

This is an ACTUAL church sign.


Thanks to Pharyngula.

In which I reveal my sensitive love of music

Here's the bizarre mix of songs I have on my latest ITunes playlist, "Ipecac's Singalong". (Song/Artist/Album)

• My Eyes (Felicia Day & Neil Patrick Harris) Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
  
• Flash's Theme (Queen) Flash Gordon Soundtrack
  
• Because the Night (Patti Smith Group) Easter
  
• Deviant Ingredient ( The B-52's) Funplex
• Mr. Blue Sky (Electric Light Orchestra) The Essential Electric Light Orchestra
• Veruca Salt (Danny Elfman) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Soundtrack
• Time Warp (Little Nell, Patricia Quinn & Richard O'Brien) The Rocky Horror Picture Show
  
• One Way or Another (Blondie) Greatest Hits
• Lust to Love (The Go-Go's) Go Go's Collection
• Eternal Flame (The Bangles) Greatest Hits
• 1234 (Feist) The Reminder
• Baby Love Child (Pizzicato Five) Made In USA
• The Mating Game (Bitter Sweet) The Mating Game

And believe me, I DO sing along.

Christopher Plummer - Hot or Not?

Captain Von Trapp

General Chang

Reverend Jonathan Whirley


Think he is (or was) hot? There's a poll to the right. I defy you to watch the movie Dragnet and still say he's hot.

New Acquisition

Last week, we bought a new van.

Wait, let me correct that. A couple weeks previously we bought a new van. We just didn't get it until last week. In this economy, with a desperate auto-market, it took them about two weeks to get a car delivered to the lot. In fact, they had to go all the way to Florida to get the model and options we wanted.

Our last car was a first generation (2002) Kia Sedona van. Aside from some incompetence by the dealership repair department, we loved the Sedona, a very safe, very inexpensive van. So, since the new Sedona vans have 5 star crash ratings and the entire thing is upgraded in almost every way from our old van, we really didn't spend too much time searching.

Actually, we were lucky because the Kia dealership where we bought the old one (Criswell) dropped Kia which was picked up by a far superior dealership (King). If Kia sales were still at Criswell, we wouldn't have bought the car.

What's amazing is that despite this new van having all sorts of luxuries the old one didn't have (ABS brakes, power doors, stowable rear seats, and heated, leather seats), we were able to buy it for not too much more than we paid for the old Sedona in 2002. And since they're hurting for business, they didn't pressure us at all. Didn't offer us undercoating, or an extended warranty or anything. Epic win. It really is a great time to buy a car.

I do have one regret, however. One of the features that is mildly important to me is cool cockpit instrumentation. Basically, I want to drive an X-Wing. Blue, white or red gauges really make a console look futuristic and cool. For example, here's the ultra-cool gauges of the Honda Fit, a Frakkin' sub-compact. (Image from Edmunds)

You know what color doesn't look cool? Yellow. An ugly mustard yellow. Had we not wanted this van so much, the gauge color alone would have made me reject this van. Take a look below. The four glowing yellow screens are in the circles. They look horrible at night. (Photo by Automedia)


What the heck were they thinking?

In any event, we're relieved to have the whole buying process behind us and are looking forward to some driving action.

If you're going to complain, at least do your research

Very few people in the United States really understand what an "atheist" is. Do some basic news searches and you will find atheists being demonized and demeaned by people who have no clue what an atheist actually believes. But that's okay for them because they'd rather attack a stereotype anyway.

Sam Harris wrote an excellent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times a couple of years ago. It addresses myths such as "Atheists believe that life is meaningless," or "Atheism is dogmatic," or "Atheism provides no basis for morality."

Check it out here: 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism.

Anyone want to buy our house, cheap?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  What with the dishwasher, washing machine and garage door all going “kasproingy!” at the same time, I’ve been busy at home waiting for the next thing to break.

 

BSG is over

Not much to say yet about the final episode, still processing. Very thoughtful, sad and lonely ending. Lots of people didn't like it. I have some complaints, but I did like it.

I posted this. At least, I think I did.

For yet another reason to dislike bugs, check this gallery out.

Zombie Animals and the Parasites that control them

Fascinating and disconcerting stuff.

Year One

I admit. I think this trailer is pretty funny. I'm looking forward to this now.

'Year One' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

The last Frakking episode

This is it. The final two hours of Battlestar Galactica air tonight.

I watched this show from the very start, from the mini-series/pilot that Sci-Fi aired in December 2003 to test the concept. It was interesting, complex, smart and compelling. To my happiness, the show was picked up and started airing episodes in January, 2005.

Remarkably, everyone in the fabulous cast returned. You can tell by watching any episode that this cast and crew love the show and are completely dedicated to it. The results have been absolutely brilliant.

The three season finales, as well as some mid-season finales, have been a kick in the teeth. They now have only two hours left and still a lot of story to tell. I hope and expect that the series finale will be fantastic. Yes, I realize I stand to be disappointed, but I haven't ever been disappointed in this show so I'm not worried.

If you haven't seen this show, rent the DVDs and start. You won't regret it.

To end on a personal note, tomorrow my Galactica-buddy Rachel is going out of town and won't be back until Sunday. So I'll have to DVR it and wait two more days to see it. Frak.

Farewell, delicious friends

The Robin Eggs have been consumed.  Until next year . . .

Maybe not a Masters degree, but a BS degree would certainly be appropriate

Want a quick degree? If the Institute for Creation Research has its way, you'll be able to get a Masters Degree in Creation Science in Texas by attending a single class!

A Texas legislator is waging a war of biblical proportions against the science and education communities in the Lone Star State as he fights for a bill that would allow a private school that teaches creationism to grant a Master of Science degree in the subject.

. . .

“I don’t believe I came from a salamander that crawled out of a swamp millions of years ago,” Berman told FOXNews.com. "I do believe in creationism. I do believe there are gaps in evolution.

"But when you ask someone who believes in evolution, if you ask one of the elitists who believes in evolution about the gaps, they’ll tell you that the debate is over, that there is no debate, evolution is the thing, it’s the only way to go.”

Oh, well if State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) believes there are gaps in evolution, that's good enough for me! I mean who wants to listen to all those "elitists", those scientists who have studied the evidence for years and conducted actual empirical research?!? Those guys are morons compared to State. Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler).

So how would one get such a degree? As I said above, it would take one class. Here's the complete syllabus:

GOD DID IT.

Once you've mastered the only answer that ever counts in Creation "Science", you're eligible for your degree! Oh, and good luck finding a "job".

Tea Baggers

I don't think I'll ever understand why middle class Republicans, who are as hurting as anyone in this economy, support extending tax cuts for the very rich and are against a middle class tax cut which would help themselves and vast numbers of Americans. I could understand if we knew that tax cuts for the rich are some magical device that also make middle class folk become rich, but the last thirty years have shown us that they don't. We've just widened the gap between the super rich and everyone else.

Bob Cesca has a good article about the absurdity of the current "Tea Bag" protests that explores the contradiction. Some goodness below.

And unless I'm mistaken, the basic idea of the tea bag revolution is to protest against government bailouts and in favor of tax cuts for the wealthiest five percent of Americans. Ultimately, the tea baggers (can I call them that?) appear to be against allowing the Bush's tax cuts to expire. Strangely, they also appear to be against President Obama signing into law the largest middle class tax cut in history. They're also against helping middle and working class "losers" keep their homes. (By the way, your neighbor's mortgage is your problem. Just watch your property values plummet as soon as there's just one foreclosure on your block.)

This series of Obama policies, they say, portends tyranny in America. Of course none of the policies of the Bush administration were considered tyrannical by many of the current tea bag leaders. You know the list of Bush trespasses. The illegal searches and seizures, the illegal electronic eavesdropping and torturing. The suspension of habeas corpus, the record deficits, the doubling of the national debt and so on. None of that was tyrannical. But allowing the tax cuts for the wealthiest five percent to expire is absolutely the vanguard of totalitarianism.

His point about tyranny is also dead-on. One of the current Republican talking points is that Obama is somehow trashing our civil liberties. First, huh? Second, where were these goons when Bush/Cheney were trashing civil liberties left and right?

What's this weird emotion I'm feeling? Can it be a tiny bit of respect?

Stop the Presses! Unlike his Vice President, George Bush gets it!

Former President George W. Bush said he won't criticize President Obama because Obama "deserves my silence," and said he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office.

Bush declined to critique the Obama administration Tuesday in his first speech since leaving office. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama's decisions are threatening America's safety.

"I'm not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in the arena," Bush said. "He deserves my silence."

Damn straight! Best thing he's said in years.

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle Discovery launched tonight. Since its course took it along the East Coast, it was theoretically visible all up the coast. Ben and I wanted to see it and had been waiting since Thursday night when the launch was first scheduled.

We watched the launch live at 7:43, waited a few minutes then rushed outside and looked and listened. Unfortunately, there was a pretty good cloud cover so we had no chance of seeing it. I was hoping for at least a glow in the clouds, but I don't think that was possible given the height. We did hear something that sounded like a large jet engine which went on for a good 3o seconds or so; that may have been the shuttle. We also heard a couple of other jets that were shorter in duration and clearly planes.

So we may have heard it, I don't know. I'm not sure if you can even hear it at from the ground at that point in the flight.

Still, it was fun to watch the launch and good to see that Ben was interested.

Peppadews

I can't believe I haven't blogged about Peppadews yet.

Last June while we were in Indiana, my father introduced us to the awesome Peppadew, a mild piquante pepper discovered in the 1990's. The flavor is unique; the Peppadew is a very sweet pepper with just a hint of hotness. They come in two flavors, mild and hot and we think the mild are the best as the extra spice isn't needed. We have tried various fillings and enjoyed them best stuffed with Boursin's Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese. Check out Peppadews on-line here.I can't overstate how awesome these are. We bought a couple of cases on-line to split with friends. Then another friend found a local co-op that sells them. Woo hoo! We're already working on our second case from them.

Dick Cheney: Still a Dick

The Obama administration has endangered Americans and opened the country to further attack by reversing Bush administration anti-terrorism policies such as harsh interrogations of suspects, former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

Cheney told CNN's "State of the Union" that the Bush administration's "alternative" interrogation techniques were "absolutely essential" to preventing further assaults like the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Because nothing deters people from hijacking planes and flying them into buildings like the threat of waterboarding.

We don't need no stinking recession

Will someone please tell the thousands of people getting in my way here at the mall that there's a recession? Sheesh.

Hershey's Curses

Robin Eggs, three pounds
Too large, this bag may kill me
Can’t resist. So long

At least it's not that *one* genre

The American Film Institute (AFI) has been hosting television countdowns for some years now, counting down the "best 100 films of all time", the "best 100 action films", the "best 100 romantic films", etc. Recently they aired the Top Ten Top Ten Lists. Okay, it was actually "10 classic films in 10 classic genres". But since the "genres" included "Courtroom drama" and "Epic" it seems like they were really reaching.

Rachel and I caught part of this show, coming in part way through Science Fiction. Here's their list.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Star Wars: A New Hope
3. E.T. The Extraterrestrial
4. A Clockwork Orange
5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
6. Blade Runner
7. Alien
8. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
10. Back to the Future

A pretty good list. Rachel has seen Star Wars, Blade Runner and Back to the Future. She's actually seen part of Alien but fell asleep and saw E.T. but was too young to remember. So, having seen clips of all of the above, guess which one she wants to see?

A Clockwork Orange.

The one movie I don't really want her to see until she's at least 35 years old. She was so intrigued she borrowed the book from the library. Awesome.

Nothing like a bit of the old ultra-violence for the 14 year old girl.

Closed minds, oblivious to the truth

I had thought about responding to this deeply saddening article about Creationists visiting the Smithsonian, but PZ Myers of Pharyngula, being a real live biologist, does a much better job than I could.

You know, it is possible to be a Christian and still have a rational respect for the evidence. Take, for example, the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, an opponent of evolution in the 19th century, but also someone who worked out details of the geological column and determined that the idea that there was a single, defining world-wide flood was untenable. Or Charles Lyell, who struggled with the idea of evolution because it conflicted with his religious beliefs, but who was a major force in bringing about the understanding of geology as a product of continually acting forces. Or the Reverend William Buckland, who believed in a global flood, but regarded it as insufficient to account for the wealth of geological complexity — he would not have looked at the timeline and tried to compress it into the product of a single biblical event.

The whole article and PZ's post are worth a read.

WOW WOW WOW

Watch this video. If you don't have the patience to watch it all, start at 3 minutes in. Un-frakking-believable.



If we can get our current mess of a world sorted out, the future is going to be amazing.

Thanks to Gizmodo for the tip.

Watchmen

Never read the comics or the graphic novel. Knew next to NOTHING about the story going in.

Incredible visuals, good performances, great noir atmosphere, interesting characters, intriguing plot.

Watchmen was haunting and compelling and I find myself thinking about it a lot since I saw it on Sunday.

A voice from the past

This story is really cool.

For nearly 150 years, Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch has been rumored to carry a secret message, supposedly written by an Irish immigrant and watchmaker named Jonathan Dillon.
...
This morning, in a small conference room on the first floor of Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, officials decided to find out. Expert watchmaker George Thomas used a series of delicate instruments -- tweezers, tiny pliers -- to pull apart Lincoln's timepiece. He put on a visor with a magnifying lens and talked as he worked. Some of the pins were nearly stuck, he explained. The hands of the watch were original with a case made in America and the workings from Liverpool. The Illinois rail-splitter had splurged: The watch, Thomas said, would be the equivalent to a timepiece costing "$5,000 or more" today.

And then he pried off the watch's face, pulled off the hands, and turned it over to see the brass underside of the movement.

The audience, watching on a monitor, gasped.

Read the rest. It's a fascinating look back at an urban legend, human memory and a moment of history.

A small bit of good news

Well, here's some good news.

America Becoming Less Christian

America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago, and Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether, a survey published Monday found.

Seventy-five percent of Americans call themselves Christian, according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1990, the figure was 86 percent.

I know this is going to upset some people, but as far as I can see, the fewer people making decisions by blindly following ridiculous pronouncements in an old book or doing whatever their holy man says instead of using their heads, the better.

Of course, William Donohue of the Catholic League is pretty sure that a new wave of hedonism is behind the whole thing.

"The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not," he told Lou Dobbs. "Notice they are not atheists -- they are saying I don't want to be told what to do with my life."

Because if there's anything that kids want these days is to ignore "thou shalt not kill" and "thou shalt not steal." Those are real bummers, ya know? They're cramping their style.

Unfortunately, the remaining Christians seem to be becoming more evangelical, less mainstream, and thus more radicalized against the rest of the nation.

In the survey, one in five Americans said they have no religious identity or did not answer the question, and more than one in four said they do not expect to have a religious funeral.

The rise in what the survey authors call "nones" is the only trend reflected in every single state in the study, Silk said.

As I said, good news. If we humans manage to kill ourselves, it will be because of unquestioning, irrational, actions inspired by the religious fervor of those who believe that anything they do, however heinous, is God's will. The fewer people subject to this mindset the better off we all are.

Slippery Slopes and Stem Cells

Here's an excellent article about the "Stem Cell Slippery Slope Fallacy" by Marty Kaplan. Below are a couple of excerpts but you should really read the whole thing.

Of all the arguments against stem cell research, the lamest has to be that "it would put us on a slippery slope." But since this case comes from the same precincts that gave us "gay marriage will lead to incest and man-on-dog sex," I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
. . .
In fact, you can build a just society on the basis of the rule of law, and you can build a good society on the basis of human culture and humanistic values. Despite what Bill O'Reilly says, a secular society is not the same as an immoral society. Every American has the right to choose a God to believe in, or not. But no Americans have the right to impose their own theistic absolutes, or their own dark views of human nature, on anyone else. That's what it means to be a pluralistic democratic society. And the last time I looked, being a democracy is not the first step down a slippery slope.

Right on, Professor Freaksworth! (Sorry, a random Futurama reference seemed appropriate.)

When you put it that way . . .

A new book reveals that when President Reagan met Soviet Premier Gorbachev during summits in the 80's, Reagan tried to convince Gorbachev about the existence of God.

Mann writes, according to the Journal, that Reagan asked Gorbachev, “what if he ruled that religious freedom was part of the people's rights, that people of any religion — whether Islam with its mosque, the Jewish faith, Protestants or the Ukrainian Church — could go to the church of their choice."

The author writes that Gorbachev deflected the question and insisted that religion was not a serious problem in the Soviet Union. Gorbachev, according to the notes of the meeting published in the book and quoted in the Journal, said he had been baptized but was not a believer.

Asking for religious tolerance in the Soviet Union makes sense. Freedom of religion is an important human rights issue. But Reagan went further.

The book reveals that Reagan told Gorbachev that his son, Ron, did not believe in God either and said he had long yearned to serve his son the perfect dinner, have him enjoy the meal and then ask him if he believed there was a cook.

Uh. Okay. Because atheists don't believe in cooks? Because life is like a really good dinner? (Unless you're born in one of those countries. Then life is like a crap sandwich.) Um, what?

This was supposed to convince Gorbachev? Did Reagan think he was stupid? Then again, this argument obviously convinced Reagan.

This is the same type of argument that Creationists make. Watches have a designer, thus, so do humans. Unfortunately for them, it's a stupid argument and ignores a big thing we call reality.

Reagan should have consulted Nancy Reagan's astrologer so he'd know this argument wouldn't convince Gorbachev. Then he could have tried Ray Comfort's banana analogy. Certainly that would've worked.

Bass Ackwards

The state of Texas has a disproportional effect on high school textbooks. Since Texas is the second largest consumer, the textbook companies will create a textbook based on Texas' standards and then sell that same textbook around the country. Unfortunately, Texas is one of those stupid states which requires that accepted scientific fact be watered down to suit religious belief.

The Texas Education Board voted in January to get rid of a requirement that textbooks teach the "strength and weaknesses" of evolution, which is code for teaching Creationism. In other words, they were going to get rid of the religiously-motivated language and actually require that science be taught. The Republican Chairman, a creationist, tacked on an amendment to restore the language.

"I want to see the United States keep its scientific edge," he said. "And I think the way you do that is by being honest with the kids, you teach them the science, you show them the weaknesses and strengths."

What he's saying may sound open-minded and correct. But it's absolutely ass-backwards. What he wants is to teach creationist talking points about the "weaknesses" of evolution, which is like teaching that the existence of Thetans is a "weakness" in germ theory. Evolution is fact. The theory isn't 100% complete, it's constantly being revised. But there are no "weaknesses" like the ones creationists want to teach.

You don't keep your scientific edge by teaching creationism. And when you're Texas, you drag a lot of states down with you.

Okay, now I'm getting excited

This is a pretty darn good trailer.

Another good step to restore America's place in the forefront of science

President Obama is going to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research next week. Hooray!

Considering the millions of people who stand to benefit from the resulting research, it is the moral thing to do and long overdue. Millions of human beings living with terrible diseases deserve more consideration than tiny clumps of cells without a nervous system or a brain which are NEVER going to be a human anyway.

I imagine Transhumanists will be especially gladdened by this news.

Wacky Weather

I think pretty much everywhere I’ve ever lived they tell the same joke. “Don’t like the weather? Wait a minute.” Everyone imagines their weather is more unpredictable and erratic than it is.

I’ve found that in the Middle-Atlantic states on the East Coast of the U.S., however, that tends to be more true than other places I’ve lived. I guess being near the ocean really makes the weather more chaotic. On Monday, we had temperatures in the teens and the biggest snowfall of the year. This coming Sunday, a mere six days later, the temperature is supposed to be in the mid-seventies.

Now that’s some serious weather shifting.

I think we've put our finger on the problem

Now that the Bush administration is gone, many states are abandoning abstinence-only sex education because it's naive, promotes ignorance and, oh yeah, doesn't work. Teenage pregnancy is on the rise because teens aren't getting information on how not to get pregnant and, big shock, they're still having sex.

North Carolina is one of the states looking towards providing a 21st century education rather than a 19th century one. To that end, North Carolina legislators are trying to change the law.

The new legislation, known as the Healthy Youth Act, would create a two-track system in which each district would be allowed to offer separate classes teaching abstinence and courses that would focus on contraception and prevention as well. Parents could decide which system is better for their children. Fisher says it would take political pressure off school boards to hold public hearings.

It's a half-step, but it's still progress.

Of course, there are opponents like John Rustin, director of government relations for the North Carolina Family Policy Council. (Gee, I wonder if they're a religious group?) They would rather withhold health information because then we can root out the bad apples because they'll get pregnant. We wouldn't want them having sex in secret, would we?

And then there's this:

But Rustin said teaching contraception and disease prevention is similar to teaching kids how to be safe when they engage in other risky behaviors like smoking, drinking and taking drugs.

"North Carolina public schools have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Our question is, why in the world would we take a different position when it comes to sex?"

Hmm. Tough question. Maybe because SEXUALITY IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE AND WHILE INDIVIDUALS MAY OR MAY NOT CHOOSE TO ENGAGE IN HARMFUL BEHAVIOR LIKE DRINKING, SMOKING AND TAKING DRUGS, NEARLY EVERYONE WILL HAVE SEX DURING THEIR LIVES. YOU NEED TO GIVE TEENS THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES SO WHEN MANY OF THEM DO WHAT TEENS ARE INEVITABLY GOING TO DO, THEY WON'T END UP DISEASED OR PREGNANT, YOU YUTZ.

You see, it all makes sense now. Sexuality is like doing drugs. It's evil. Just pure evil. So don't do it. That is all.

Free entertainment

Working on Pennsylvania Ave. between Congress and the White House can be pretty interesting. For instance, many movies and TV shows are filmed in the area and I occasionally get to watch them film. This morning, the corner of 7th and Indiana was dead still, with no cars moving and dozens of people standing and watching, a sure sign of a movie set. I know that Angelina Jolie’s “Salt” is filming in DC so I figured that’s what it was.

When they started filming, the cars and some pedestrians started moving and then a blonde woman rushed across 7th Street. I couldn’t tell for sure that it was Angelina Jolie; it could have been a stand-in. But a few seconds later the woman was followed by a guy I was pretty sure was Leiv Schreiber. If the guy was Schreiber, then it’s likely that the blonde woman was Jolie. I looked it up when I got into the office and sure enough, Leiv Schreiber stars with Jolie in Salt.

So, I saw Angelina Jolie this morning.

Voices of reason do, occasionally, ring out

Here are a couple of excellent articles that might be of interest.

The Final Rose Ceremony: Prop 8 by Judge David Young

The California Attorney General and I agree that Proposition 8 should fail, but not for any of the reasons raised in the lawsuits. Certain rights cannot be put to a popular vote. No fundamental right can be taken away by the voters.

Could the public, frustrated by a crime wave, take away a criminal defendant's right to remain silent? Definitely not. Voters simply don't get to vote on such things, at least not without a compelling justification. There was no justification for Proposition 8 other than to open another front in the culture way by appealing to hatred, fear and religious zealotry.

Who You Calling a Socialist by Harold Meyerson

But in the United States, conservatives have never bashed socialism because its specter was actually stalking America. Rather, they've wielded the cudgel against such progressive reforms as free universal education, the minimum wage or tighter financial regulations. Their signal success is to have kept the United States free from the taint of universal health care. The result: We have the world's highest health-care costs, borne by businesses and employees that cannot afford them; nearly 50 million Americans have no coverage; infant mortality rates are higher than those in 41 nations -- but at least (phew!) we don't have socialized medicine.

Check 'em out.

We fell right into its trap

This would be so cool.

Guy finds sunken Dalek in pond.

They think it's leftover from some location filming in the 70's or 80's. The description of how it slowly rose out of the pond is fairly terrifying if you know what Daleks are capable of.

24 has left the building

Long ago I labeled the once classic and awesome show 24 as having "jumped the shark". (See my "TV shows I'm watching" box on the right.)

If they hadn't jumped before, last night's ridiculous, ludicrous, contrived "assault by a dozen guys" on the White House definitely confirmed that they've jumped the shark now.

Holy crap was that silly.

Limbaugh and CPAC

As usual, the Daily Show nails it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CPAC After Party

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Blast from the Past

I own a laserdisc player. I bought it from a friend in the early nineties because the video and audio quality were far superior to VHS. I bought a few dozen laserdiscs and was very happy with it. Alas, once DVD launched, my friend and I switched rather quickly as the format offered even better video and audio and came in a much more convenient size.

I still have my player and my laserdiscs. I've been thinking of posting them for sale on Craig's List but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm sure there are still people out there looking for laserdisc equipment and discs.

To my utter shock, I just found out that only in January of this year did Pioneer finally stop making laserdisc players! Holy cow.

Pioneer had continued to build players long after the format had been declared dead, largely because of the large LD collections that many Japanese customers had built during the years that the format's popularity soared (comparitively) in that country. Enthusiasts make this story plausible, but the fact that the LD is dead, long live DVD! stories stopped showing up by the year 2000 and the fact that you can still buy a brand-new LD/DVD/CD player on Amazon for about $1000 make it a bit surreal, too.

From Gizmodo.

King Idiot

Right wing nutjob Rush Limbaugh seems to have the GOP in his pocket. Mostly because he speaks for the doofuses who don't understand a thing about reality but who represent the base of far-right conservatism, aka the type of people who were recently thrown out of power and are bitter about it. When he's not there, GOP leaders are quick to say that they disagree with Limbaugh but then quickly run to beg his forgiveness.

Over the weekend, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele called Rush Limbaugh's rhetoric "incendiary" and "ugly" and insisted that he, not Limbaugh, is in charge of the GOP.

But that was two days ago. Monday, after a blistering response from the conservative talk-radio kingpin, Steele told the online journal Politico that he "was maybe a little bit inarticulate."

"There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership," Steele said. He added, "There are those out there who want to look at what he's saying as incendiary and divisive and ugly. That's what I was trying to say. It didn't come out that way."

While listening to the absurd, unAmerican, hateful things that people like Limbaugh were saying at last weekend's CPAC makes me angry, the thought that Limbaugh has become the leader of the Republican party can only be a good thing. With someone that detestable in charge, the party will be marginalized for decades.

Bittersweet Ending

Well, I kind of got a snow day.

I woke up and saw that a ton of snow had fallen over the early morning! Hooray! Unfortunately, the government only had a two hour delay and unscheduled leave, but I tried very hard to see this as better than nothing. Since it was snowing, I slept in for an extra hour and then got up and ready to make the last bus of the morning. Went out early just in case and waited for a half hour. No bus.

Driving is out because they don't plow our street due to the cars parked on either side of the street (stupid neighbors). So, I was up and willing and ready to go, but had no means.

It's soooo much better when they announce the closure the night before. :-)

In which I am dismayed

Gee, big surprise. The snowfall in my area has been downgraded to 1-3". Sheesh. I know that weather forecasting is not an exact science and the mid-Atlantic is notoriously hard to predict but come on! This happens nearly every time the media goes nuts over some "horrific" snowstorm.

Hmph.

Snow Day

I am like a kid when it comes to snow, at least as far as it promises to get me out of work. I grew up in Northern Indiana where they have real winters. Here in the DC area we have a real winter a couple of times a decade. I find that rather depressing.

On the other hand, the DC area tends to shut down whenever we get a couple of inches of snow, a fact that caused Chicagoan President Obama to mock us (as well he should). Unfortunately, over the last several years the Government has come up with a new strategy. They decide not to close on most snow days, but to declare Unscheduled Leave. This means you don't have to come in to work, but you have to use your annual leave. It's a way for the government to eat its cake and have it too and it sucks big time.

We're expected to get anywhere from between 4-10" of snow tonight. I am, of course, giddy with anticipation despite usually being disappointed in the actual yield and having to go to work the next morning in slushly, crappy conditions. But hope is a human emotion and so hope I will.

Come on snow!