The Grackle's Nest

Test test test

2011-09-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

testing...

Anatomy of an Asshole: or, "Hi! I'm Jay Bybee!"

2010-07-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

This pretty much speaks for itself. What a dick.

I Can Deal With This

2010-07-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently... I write likeJohathan SwiftI Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!I have to disagree, but I'm flattered.

Tah Tha Wahndaaah! Tah Tha Wahlls! Spaghatta Nadle Rahks!

2010-04-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hyperbole and a Half is the awesomest.

Pfffffffff. Sweep, sweep. Cough.

2010-03-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

There still a blog in here?

Casey Luskin: "Nazi Evolutionists Compared Me to a Holocaust Denier! WAAAH!"

2009-11-14T04:03:00.000-08:00

Haven't spent many bits on the Discovery Institute's ferocious attack squirrel, Casey Luskin, but I'm feeling lazy today, and he's pitching softballs in a ridiculous opinion piece in the Washington Examiner, so why not?Anyone familiar with Luskin and the Discotards has heard the scientists who teach/research evolutionary theory compared to the Nazis, to Soviet and Chinese communists, the Khmer

OMFG: and I Thought the Anti-Gay Marriage Crowd was Behind the Times

2009-10-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

Loving v Virginia was 42 years ago. Now this.

Twitter Lands G20 Protestor in Jail, Earns Him a Raid on His Home

2009-10-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

One of the topics de jour is a raid that occurred in Queens over the weekend involving the home of a G20 protester. The NYT reports the Elliot and Elena Madison's home was raided following his arrest Sept 24th in Pittsburgh. He and an associate were discovered to be monitoring police and EMS communications and disseminating the information on their movements to protesters. They were arrested (

Look Up. Really. Astronomy is Wonderful.

2009-10-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Been away for a while. I'm thinking I need to tone it down a bit and get a damn hobby. Just bought this sparkly new toy. I'm going up north to spend some time enjoying the fall colors, and will hopefully put it to use.I love Autumn. The smells, the crisp air, the leaves crunching underfoot... I think this time is the main reason I could never move down south. I like winter, but I could never

Introducing the Revelatorium: the Time Cube guy has some competition!

2009-08-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Whew. Check this out.Gene Ray better step up the crazy: Cliff Livingstone is at his heels.

August Matthew Stucky Award: Steven Anderson

2009-08-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

This was pretty much inevitable, really. Steven Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church and the personal pastor of our award's namesake, recently gave a charming sermon subtly titled "Why I Hate Barak Obama". It should really have been titled "Why (faggots are evil) I (really hate fags) hate (fags: they're trying to rape me in my sleep) Barack (Sadddam Al Qaida Muslim Atheist Communist

Can We Just Stop Having These Stupid Town Hall Meetings?

2009-08-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

I just about fell over backwards when I watched this. An Israeli man is talking to reporters about Israel's national health care system, and some vile harridan starts yelling "Heil Hitler".This is the face we're showing the world. My God.I'm opposed, for the most part, to nationalized health care: but at this point, I'd kind of like to see the Dems just push it through just to stick a great big

Kiva Microlending is Awesome. Do it.

2009-08-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

I can't stress it enough.DO IT.

Take Back the Beep! Pass it on!

2009-08-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

I hate having to wait through cell companies' canned voice mail instructions: there should be an easy, standard way to bypass them, but there isn't because those seconds we burn having to listen to the make oodles of money for the carriers. Never thought about doing anything about it, though, until I read this.Forward it everywhere!

NY Air Force 1 Flyover - Col. Scott Turner is STILL an Idiot

2009-08-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

Looks like it's time for me to pop out of my gopher hole: my absolute fave pilot and government official is back in the news.So This week's Friday dump was documents concerning the dumbest thing one hopes the Obama administration will ever do. One hopes. But it is government, after all.How the flying-for-god-sake-jesus-h-christ-in-a-chicken-basket-FUCK does this moron still have a job?!This is

Why Must Religious Morality Always Be Negative?

2009-06-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Over at Paryngula, PZ takes Minnisota columnist Katherine Kersten to task for a pretty batty rant about New Atheism, or atheism, or materialism, or something. It changes. She trots out a many of the tired old gambits many on the religious right have been riding to death for years (If there's no god, how come there's altruism? How can we believe that life has value if there's no afterlife?),

So I'm apparently a "Bo"

2009-06-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

Ben Loves Babies is not pleased with me:Is this blog a Bo?http://www.landoverbaptist.org/2009/january/boslaw.htmlI really can't tell. Like most atheists, this blog is vulgar and low-brow, and demonstrates no critical thinking abilities whatsoever. It results to name-calling ("assholery"? Are we 12?) instead of intelligent discussion.Ben, let me clue ya in to a thing or two. 1) This blog is not "

June 2009 Matthew Stucky Award: Scott Roeder

2009-06-01T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well, that didn't take long.Asshole.

Maddow and Isikoff on Obama Recalcitrance on Prosecutions of Bush Officials

2009-05-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

I think I'll let this stand on its own: very informative. One comment I'd like to make, however: when have Beck, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, or any of that crowd been so honestly, frankly critical of anyone on the right?

OK, Science Can Stop Now: There's Nothing More to Accomplish

2009-05-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Now that we have achieved glow-in-the-dark monkeys.HT: Drug Monkey

Mindless Right Wingers so Worked up over Over Sotomayor, They Forget Basic Math.

2009-05-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

This is why I can't vote Republican anymore. Stupid overload.So Tuesday afternoon, the Washington Times (Motto, "All the news everyone else would be embarrassed to print") cries to the world that 3 out of 5 of the decisions that Sotomayor was involved in which came before SCOTUS were overturned. That, they claimed was a 60% reversal rate.AHHHHG! EVERYONE RUN AND HIDE!!!!!!!!! ACTIVIST JUDGE

May 2009 Matthew Stucky Award: Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor

2009-05-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

Haven't given an award out lately, but I felt I needed to when I read this. The good cardinal who oversaw a Church which systematically brutalized generations of Irish children has declared that the greatest evil facing us is... atheism.Really.Not priests who anally violate little boys.Atheism.Fucker.

New Leap Forward in Tech: Artifical Gravity!

2009-05-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

Honestly, the state of science reporting in this country is deplorable. This bit of drivel today from David Perlman of the SF Chronicle:Working two at a time, spacewalkers Michael J. Massimino, Michael T. Good, John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel labored tirelessly through five ventures into the large and weightless cargo bay of Atlantis. Their colleagues, comfortable in the artificial gravity of

Oh, Goody: a Sarah Palin Memoir!

2009-05-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this should be all of seven pages. In 26 point Comic SansOh, Sarah, the epic tale you have to tell. The salons, the boutiques, the racist trailer-trash rallies: Sean Hannity trying to crawl head-first up your skirt on national TV...

Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi "commits suicide": oh, isn't that convenient?

2009-05-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Just when the hue and cry for an investigation is heating up... this.Can we send Bush and Chaney before the Hague NOW?!

US Air Force Col Scott Turner is an Idiot

2009-05-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

So now we know the name of the twit who decided that the public didn't need to be notified about the Obama administration's little Air Force One photo op. USAF Colonel Scott Turner, commander of the Presidential Airlift Group.It's somewhat satisfying that Cabrera was forced to resign over this fiasco, but in the end, his wasn't the decision that fucked everything up: it was Turner's. Turner was

Adventures in Cluelessness: or, "Let's fly a Great Big Plane Around NY Without Warning Anyone"

2009-04-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

W.T.F?!Somebody in the White House needs a wedgie. A great, big, atomic wedgie. The freakin' Mother of Atomic Wedgies. How did this seem like a good idea?Those poor bastards in New York. I can just imagine the sinking feeling people had when they looked out the window yesterday and saw a big-assed jet flying at low altitude around the city. That "Oh dear God, not again" feeling. The

Gee, Why Doesn't This Surprise Me: or I FVCKING WARNED YOU IDIOTS!!!

2009-04-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

Speaking for all of us who railed against the institution of the ridiculous executive power expansion under the Bush Circus, Glenn Greenwald points out the, erm, slight inconsistency of the right's objections to the DHS comments on growing right-wing fanaticism. Money quote:Indeed, thanks to the very people who are today petulantly complaining about politically-motivated federal police actions (

Tweenbots: fun with robots in New York

2009-04-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

A friend forwarded me a link to a fun and interesting study of human behavior. A woman in New York releases a small robot that is only capable of rolling forward. It has a message on it asking passers-by to help direct it to a distant goal. It is entirely dependent on the help of strangers to accomplish it's task. What do you think might have happened?Tweenbots

Corruption in the Phoenix Police Dept: "Dis us, and we'll take all that you own"

2009-04-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is unbelievable. A guy starts a blog critica (apparently with ample reason) of the Phoenix Police Department. With the help of numerous inside sources, he uncovers misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to evidence mishandling to racism to concealing borderline criminal activity. The department's reaction? Not an investigation.They raid his home, handcuff his girlfriend for 3 hours

Don McLeroy Doesn't Like What the Words Mean

2009-03-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Over at Dispatches, Ed links to an unbelievable mountain of stupid opinion piece in The Austin American-Statesman by the chairman of the Texas Board of Education, Don McLeroy. McLeroy has been smarting lately over wide-ranging condemnation of his efforts to modify the state science standards for Texas public schools in such a manner that creationists can sneak their doctrine into science classes

Beaker for President and Pope and King of Everything

2009-03-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Game, set, match: Frank Oz wins human history:And a bonus:Comedy has been fully accomplished: every one can pack up and go home now.

The Sixth Sense: a trifle scary, but also awesome

2009-03-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Pattie Maes of MIT showcases a developing technology which could vastly alter the way we interact with the world around us. It has some privacy implications that raise the neck hairs a bit, but the technological capability involved is breathtaking.

The Single Gratest Meta-Thread Ever,

2009-03-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

Just sayin'.

Let the Right One In: Watch This Movie!

2009-03-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

OMG. This is the best movie I have seen in a looooonnnnnnng time(trailer here).Beautifully shot, perfectly casted, brilliantly directed. This movie has no weaknesses whatsoever. There are not enough superlatives to describe it adequately.I keep a collection of books and videos I read around Halloween, which I refer to as my "October Shelf". This movie is on it, prominently.Update:I notice

Breatsfeeding in Public: Why is This Even an Issue?

2009-03-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

A local talk radio ass-hat by the name of mark belling recently drooled some amazingly stupid comments regarding public breastfeeding out into the Milwaukee airwaves. He apparently believes that breastfeeding a child is akin to public masturbation (I'm not kidding: he describes the mothers as 'getting off' on it).Now, I understand that this man, like most of American society, is rather manically

March Matthew Stucky Award

2009-03-07T16:11:00.001-08:00

The coveted Matthew Stucky Award for the month of March 2009 goes to archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Rio De Janero Recife, Brazil, whose callous, cruel condmenation of a 9-year old girl for being raped by her stepfather very nearly equals the insane misogyny of the Muslims who execute sexual assault victims for adultery. A condemnation which is being defended by the catholic church's chief

Vatican: "Of COURSE We're OK With Child Molestation! Duh!"

2009-03-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

From the BBC Online.I just can't get my mind around this shit. The church is blaming the mother and doctors for this, and not even mentioning the perverted bastard whose disgusting behavior set the situation up in the first place.

This is just disgusting.

2009-03-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

Brazil Girl, Alleged Rape Victim, Aborts Twins.The procedure on the 9-year-old girl draws complaints from Catholic church.Fuck me sideways. This poor girl is raped by her stepfather and is in danger of being slowly torn apart by the twins developing in her, and the bastard archbishop not only condemns the termination of the pregnancy, but excommunicates the girl's mother and doctors?.And my

Support Wisconsin Citizens for Science

2009-02-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

At last, we have one of our own: WI Citizens for Science. Sign up and lend a hand.Thanks again, Ed Brayton.

Seems Matthew Stucky May Be My Ticket to Fame

2009-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

I keep this blog mostly as a place to vent. I get nearly zero traffic, but then, that doesn't bother me much: I'm pretty much just hollering off a cliff and I know it. But like most boon dock bloggers, every once in a while I write a post that catches someones eye and gets itself linked in a high traffic area. Such was the case with the Stucky post. My traffic went from 4 visitors a day to a

Playmobil Introduces New "Police State" Expansion Packs

2009-01-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

And I'm not kidding: this is sad but funny (read the reviews: they're the best part).I know, I'm a little late on this one: could have made a great stocking stuffer. But there's always next year!But wait, there's more! You can also teach your kids to submit to unreasonable searches with the Police Checkpoint set!I can hardly wait for the 'Lil Gitmo Expansion set with optional water-boarding

Poor Little Sarah Palin: "I Was Exploited"

2009-01-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

What a tool the woman is. I wasn't believed that Trig was really my son. You know, that rumor persists today even. We're still receiving calls in our state press office regarding Trig and who is the real mother of this child. When did we start accepting as hard news sources bloggers, anonymous bloggers especially? It's a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today, mainstream media

Help Cuttlefish Battle AIG

2009-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

No, not the insurance company. The idiot creationist site.Cuttlefish is part of my regular blog tour: his poems are clever, funny, and timely: show some love and link him on your blog to try to bump his Google rank!

First Recipient of the Matthew Stucky Award: Matthew Stucky!

2009-01-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

We have a new candidate for the title of 'Dumbest, Vilest Person on the Internet'. And his name is apparently Matthew Stucky. Matthew has uncovered an insidious plot to infect children with Teh Gay: Faggot reindeer (GASP!)Yes, because the reindeer in the Rankin/Bass version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which, in truly scholarly fashion, he mistakenly attributes to Disney Studios (see

Michael Newdow is a Gigantic Asshat

2009-01-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Would someone please duct-tape this idiot's face shut? Literally?It's no great secret that the US is an overly evangelical country. We require all of our congressional representatives to indulge in empty, fawning religious obeisance before we will elect them to office. We structure much of our lives around religious practices. We invoke God or credit him for helping us achieve the most

Buena Park FL Pastor to Rick Warren: "You're not enough of a Douchebag to get into Heaven"

2008-12-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

A lot of hay has been made about Obama's selection of gay-bashin', bible-thumpin huckster Rick "I-love-hommasexuals-but-they're-all-pedophiles" Warren to give the inaugural invocation. Though I would love to see this empty practice abandoned, there are unfortunately many shallow, ritual-obsessed people in this country that would go into collective apoplexy if it were.This man, however, takes

Kiva Micro Lending: Practical Charity, Measurable Benefit

2008-12-18T07:12:00.000-08:00

Recent years have seen a new means of helping third-world populations better their living standards: micro lending, of the type done at Kiva. This is an easy and practical way to make a positive difference in the lives of people living in the world's poorer regions.Basically, you open an account with the organization, and then peruse their list of applicants and select those to whom you would

The Drug War: Yeah, it's Working Alright

2008-12-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Glad we're wasting so much time and effort, not to mention ruining so many peoples' lives, on this crap.

I guess Summer's Over

2008-11-20T19:03:00.000-08:00

23 F right now, on our way to 16. Icky.

The Homosexual Agenda: Have these People no Boundaries?

2008-11-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess the religious right was correct after all: gays are trying to take over the world, and will stop at nothing in their evil pursuit of conquest. The latest salvo in their attempts to pervert us all?Lesbian Koalas.Yes, these cute, cuddly little mascots of Down Under land have been recruited in the effort to infect your children with Teh Gay. Imagine: you take the younguns to the zoo

Great American Smokeout: Snuff That Butt!

2008-11-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Normally, I try to avoid getting all preachy about smoking: I like to think that people should make their own decisions about their behavior, as long as that behavior doesn't harm others. Hell, I used to smoke pot, and I drink more than I should. I don't care for people lecturing me about those vices.But as a former smoker who had a nearly 2 pack a day habit, once in a while I have to ask those

Cheney and Gonzalez Indicted - Yeah, Good Luck With That

2008-11-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

This story in the Huston Chronicle seems to be drawing a lot of attention in the blogosphere today. Seems a DA in Texas has convinced a grand jury to issue indictments of our Vice Felon and his former piss-boy on complicity in the abuse of an unspecified number of convicts in a private prison there.I don't see the abuse argument going anywhere. The DA in the case seems to be a bit of a

How Not to Advocate Gay Rights

2008-11-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

A recent Ed Brayton post described a protest by a Gay-Rights group at a mega-church outside of Lansing, MI, in which the protesters went beyond civil demonstration and infiltrated and disrupted Sunday services. I agree with Ed's take on the incident, but on checking out the group's web site (which I won't link: Google 'Bash Back' if you wish to check it out), I've just got to shake my head in

Thoreau on Living in California

2008-11-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Over at UO, a funny:Every year during California’s fire season we inevitably get crap from people who want to know why Californians would build in fire-prone areas. What they don’t get is that we do it because we know the fires can only burn for so long. In a few weeks the rains will come and mudslide season will start, and then all those people who criticized us for building in fire-prone

Ted Haggard is Really Totally Un-Gayified

2008-11-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

Old Ted "Buttocks-and-Meth" Haggard is back on the pulpit, apparently.He gave a pair of sermons at a small church in Illinois where the pastor is an old friend of his.Hey, another reason for me to dislike Illinois!That people actually sat there and listened to this hypocritical jagoff just illustrates the depth of evangelical Christian stupidity. I love this part:"There I was, 50 years old, a

Today's Comic

2008-11-15T06:42:00.001-08:00

Former Milwaukee Archbishop Admits Secretly Relocating Abusive Priests

2008-11-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has an article and video footage of Rembert Weakland's testimony regarding how allegations of sexual abuse by Milwaukee area priests were handled while he was Archbishop. It's noteworthy in that it's the first case I know of wherein one of the Bishops involved in perpetuating the institutionalized child abuse has just come right out and admitted it point-blank.

Exoplanets Observed Directly for the First Time

2008-11-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

Science reports today that astronomers have finally observed extra-solar planetary bodies directly.For 13 years, astronomers have inferred only the presence of planets circling other stars. Now, they have finally spotted them with their own eyes. In two papers published online today in Science, researchers report imaging four planets circling two other stars. Experts say this direct view could

Catholic Priest to Obama Voters: You're All Going to Hell!

2008-11-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

Per the AP, Catholic Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's Parish in Greenville, SC has instructed his parishioners that if they voted for Obama, they must receive Reconciliation before they can take communion.The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion

Quantum of Solace Review: Good, Solid Action Flick.

2008-11-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

I got to go see the new Bond flick early, as a friend of mine got tickets to a preview showing.Quantum is not as good as Casino Royale was, but I wasn't expecting that it would be: that's a fairly high bar to hit. It was a good movie, though. Good chase and fight scenes, decent plot movement, good show generally. It ran 1:45, not nearly as long as its prequel.If I had a bitch about it, it

National Holiday for Obama? Joseph Farah Goes off the Deep End

2008-11-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

Over at WorldNutDaily, Joseph Farah took a break from serving as one of Rush Limbaugh's hemorrhoids to chirp the following:A civil rights organization in Kansas has launched a campaign to designate Nov. 4 as a national holiday, commemorating the election of Barack Obama as president.Of course, Drudge picked up on it, Malkin chimed in, and the right-wing web community went into collective apoplexy

Mark Lilla on the decline of Intellectual Conservatism

2008-11-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I'm going to have to start paying Ed Brayton a finder's fee for hunting down good articles for me to read.Over at the WSJ, Mr' Lilla has an excellent article on the fall of intellectual conservatism and the GOP. Worth a read. He describes the fall, as many have in recent months, as culminating with the selection of Sarah Palin as the VP nominee. His argument is that a re-emergent

Obama to Close Camp X-Ray, End Millitary Commissions

2008-11-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

From Time, via Dispatches from the Culture Wars:President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prisonAnd with that, he's justified my vote. But there are aspects to this I'm not entirely sold on

Back again

2008-11-13T08:41:00.000-08:00

Had to take a break for a while, got burnt out there. Glad the country survived the election: I guess the right's hysteria about the nation collapsing in the aftermath of an Obama victory was... slightly exaggerated?

Wow. Just... wow.

2008-11-04T22:21:00.000-08:00

Obama's speech was brilliant.I also thought McCain's concession speech was excellent, and will always believe that if he had maintained his principles and not sold his soul to the GOP machine, that this election would certainly have gone much more favorably for him.Fuck you and goodbye, Rove.Fuck you and goodbye, Dobson.Fuck you and goodbye (soon), W.

On Grandmas and Memories and Rectangular Poultry

2008-11-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Over at Margaret and Helen, there's a thread running off into infinity about grandma stories, due to the passing of Toot. I didn't want to post too extensively there, as there are currently close to 400 comments.I remember very little about my paternal grandmother, who we called "Mama". My father grew up in Macon, but moved up to Milwaukee after a stint in the Navy to take a jobs with

Election Day '08: After 2 Years, It's All On Us

2008-11-04T09:39:00.001-08:00

The world is watching, people: go kick the GOP's ass:My experience was a breeze: in and out in 5 minutes. I still wish Wisconsin did mail balloting like Oregon, though.

Margaret and Helen: My Newest, Bestest, Favoritest Blog!

2008-10-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

Read it. NOW.

The New GOP (or, Distillate of Retard)

2008-10-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

As the powers driving the Republican party work feverishly to alienate any remaining intellectuals in their movement, they give us a glimpse of its future makeup:Honestly: are there really that many bigoted ass-hats left in the US, or is the RNC trucking these people from site to site to make it look like they still have some support?

A Belated Happy Blogoversary

2008-10-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

To Digital Cuttlefish, poet laureate of the science blogosphere. Check his site out: it's worth reading.

This Actually Made Me Cry

2008-10-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Video of an Obama campaign voluteer who lived throu the depression and recalls FDR.It's really, finally going to be over? Dare we hope?

Llosa on the Conservative Revolt Against the GOP

2008-10-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Alvaro Vargas Llosa has written a brilliant summation over at The New Republic on the growing chasm between the old intellectual right and the Neo-con Religious Right alliance which currently controls the GOP. He runs through the laundry list of right-wing minds who have come out recently against McCain-Palin and the direction the GOP is heading, and the GOP faithful's reaction to these supposed

On the Importance of Administrative Experience in a Presidential Candidate

2008-10-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

From Pundit Kitchen:see Sarah Palin pictures

McCain's New Tax Plan: Sheer Brilliance

2008-10-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

From Politico:As part of a plan to reinvigorate his flagging campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is considering additional economic measures aimed directly at the middle class that are likely to be rolled out this week, campaign officials said.Among the measures being considered are tax cuts – perhaps temporary – for capital gains and dividends, the officials said. Pardon me while I spin around

McCain/Palin Rally in Waukesha

2008-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

McCain Palin held a unbridled orgy campaign rally in Waukesha, WI yesterday (I was wondering why those black clouds suddenly rolled in from the southeast and blotted out the sun). We 'Sconnies had our own, local look at the insanity that the GOP crowd has become.The candidates whipped the drooling masses into a frenzy warmed the crowd up with charges of demon-worship and witchcraft harangues

Oh: That's How McCain/Palin Will Fix the Financial System

2008-10-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

From the Washington Post, a report on a McCain/Palin rally yesterday. The following opening prayer was used:Even the opening prayer was politically charged. "O God, we are in a battle that is raging for the soul of this nation," the preacher said. "You, O God, have raised up Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin for such a time as this." The preacher went on: "Help them, O God, to

Happy Cephalopod Appreciation day!

2008-10-08T08:22:00.001-07:00

October 10th is International Cephalopod Appreciation day. Hug your favorite squid!Some links of interest:The digital CuttlefishSquidSquidCephBase

Sarah Palin on Ayers and the Economy

2008-10-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

From Faux News, Palin was asked by her travelling press corps about whether she'd keep beating the oh-so-dead Ayers horse for the next month in the face of the prominence of economic issues:“Americans are caring about the problems in the economy of course And wanting to know what those long term solutions are that our ticket can provide and what the other ticket is proposing so when you talk

Sarah Palin Debate Flowchart

2008-10-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

Palin Manages not to be Awful

2008-10-03T04:54:00.000-07:00

She gave no solid answers, clung to her predetermined talking points, and generally chirped manically at the camera for an hour and a half. She never did an actual rhetorical face-plant, but she clearly didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about.McCain doesn't have a chance.

My Latest Daily Read: Eunomia

2008-10-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

Gotta Hand it to David Larison at The American Conservative. There are precious few conservative bloggers who hold to the tradition of considered, reasoned discourse. He's worth a regular stop.Update: Oops: Larison, not Larson.

LOLPalin

2008-10-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Very Best of Sarah Palin

2008-10-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Little Veep that Could:

Sarah Palin on Climate Change

2008-10-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

In the final installment of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Curic. I had to snigger a bit at the climate change portion of the conversation:Couric: I want to start with climate change, if I could. What's your position on global warming? Do you believe it's man-made or not?Palin: Well, we're the only arctic state, of course, Alaska (ed: it's awfully nice that she's made us aware of this). So

Delisting of Wolves in the Midwest Overturned in Federal Court

2008-09-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Some people should just be spanked. This from today's Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel:A federal judge on Monday overturned a decision that removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.The ruling immediately halts the practice of killing wolves that threaten livestock and pets in the three states. OK, that's bad enough. Wolves have rebounded beautifully

Attack on Mosque Day-Care "Not a Hate Crime" According to Keystone Dayton Cops

2008-09-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

"Nothing to see here, move along".A mosque in Dayton, OH, was attacked Saturday, in an act that was obviously motivated by hatred and triggered by the distribution of the DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West", an anti-Muslim screed promoted by McCain campaign supporters. Obviously, that is, to anyone but some clueless twit on the Dayton Police force.Now, I oppose the idea of

This Just in from Planet Weird: Did LHC Sabotage Itself?

2008-09-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

A comment over at Dispatches from the Culture Wars led me to a blog post discussing how the Large Hadron Collider might essentially shut itself down... from the future. Very strange. And fun. But confusing.

Couric-Palin Interview: Bonus Footage

2008-09-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

Jessica Hagee Hits One Out of the Park

2008-09-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Via Indexed

Washington Mutual Collapses, is Siezed by the OTS and Sold to JP Morgan-Chase

2008-09-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

"The bailout came after the thrift suffered deposit outflows of $16.7 billion since September 15, the [Office of Thrift Supervision] said."Holy fuck.I worked for Washington mutual for 5 years, after they acquired my previous employer, Fleet Mortgage. They shut their Milwaukee site down last year after they dumped their entire government-backed mortgage portfolio on Wells Fargo. They kept the

McCain-Palin Lied About Rick Davis and Davis Manafort

2008-09-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

Via Newsweek, the lobbying firm Davis-Manafort listed Rick Davis as a corporate officer as recently as April of this year, and reported him as such in routine information disclosures to the Virginia Government. So much for him having severed his ties with the firm in 2006. When informed of this state of affairs, according to Newsweek:The McCain campaign Wednesday sought to clarify Davis's

The Federal Bailout Plan: You think I Should Respond?

2008-09-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Just got this email out of the blue:SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPDEAR AMERICAN:I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME

Large Hadron Collider to be Down 5-6 months

2008-09-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well, that didn't take long: the folks at CERN already broke their new toy. Per Daily Tech, the repairs on the transformer that blew have revealed that the coolant for one of the superconducting magnets has leaked into the tunnel, and the process of warming the magnet back up, making the repairs, and cooling everything back down would take some two month. As the LHC shuts down every November to

Breaking News: Palin Aware She's Running for Office

2008-09-24T08:04:00.001-07:00

In a stunning display of political savvy, Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin has become aware that she is running for national office, we learned today.Foreign policy adviser Stephen Biegun, in responding to questions regarding Palin's meeting with Afghani President Hamid Karzai, stated that "Gov. Palin in these meetings is cognizant that she is a candidate for office".Wow! She's got my vote!

Sam Harris on the Palin Nomination and "Elitism" in Politics

2008-09-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Over at Newsweek, Sam Harris has published an excellent article on the Palin nomination as it relates to the odd aversion American voters have to "elitists" in high office. Definitely worth reading.

Sarah Palin Information Clearinghouse

2008-09-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

DailySource.org has put up a special section containing all of the information its producers have been able to glean on Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. It contains a lot of the info that has been bouncing around the web for the last month, and a lot of stuff that hasn't really been circulated. Seeing as how the McCain campaign is bending over backwards to hide her from us, I think we all

At Last: Movement on the Great Lakes Compact

2008-09-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times, Congress has begun final debate on the Great Lakes Compact, a measure intended to prevent the large-scale diversion of water from the Great Lakes to regions outside of its watershed. It's been some dozen painful, contentious years in the making, and it's good to see that decade of effort bearing some fruit. Living, as I do, in Milwaukee, WI on Lake Michigan's

Sarah Palin - Gravitassiness!

2008-09-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Via Octegenarian, we see that our perky, scrappy, airplane-hunting, super-powered, budget-cutting, government-reforming, earmark-fighting VPSIMLTF (Vice President Someone Insane Might Like to Hey!!) is going to address concerns about her foreign affairs inexperience by MEETING WITH HENRY KISSINGER! Yes! All of that foreign affairsiness that Kissinger trails around behind him like a cloud will

A GOP Bailout Copout?

2008-09-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Via Andrew Sullivan, some republican voices are of the opinion that Republican legislators should oppose the bailout plan being put together by the Bush administration and Democratic congressional leaders. Their reasoning is so profoundly cynical, I scarcely believe it's sincere. They don't oppose a bailout because it's unwise (which could be argued, if one is a hardcore free-market capitalist)