I am watching a National Geographic Special on crop circles. The defenders are just pathetic. Claiming that dying cell phones are evidence of UFO intervention, arguing that no one could possibly make these things in the time allotted despite the fact that an entire sub culture runs video-taped contests doing just that, etc, etc, etc. The thought process seems to go a little this: aliens are advanced enough to posses interstellar travel, find another planet that has intelligent life, come to the planet completely undetected and yet decide to communicate with us by stomping on corn.
it is depressing that someone could get through a high school science curriculum and not realize that if your hypothesis sounds like a bad Jerry Lewis movie, it needs some work.
March 13th, 2006
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Culture, Science |
17 comments
Generally speaking, I think it is fair to say that I am a friend to the creatures of the earth when I am not busy eating them or wearing them.
- John Hodgman
Amen to that!
March 13th, 2006
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Humor |
2 comments
And I think I speak for millions of Democrats when I ask: why would he do this?
former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, accusing the GOP of spreading a message of fear, says he is considering a 2008 presidential bid.
“I haven’t ruled anything out or anything in at this point,” Daschle said in an interview Saturday night after a hometown dinner in his honor.
“I’m encouraged by the strong support many people have voiced for my candidacy around the country and in South Dakota. I’ll make a decision at some point later on this year,” he said.
I don’t actually have anything against Daschle. I think he was an effective Minority Leader, considering his handicaps. He came form one of the reddest states in the country, and yet managed to get Jeffords to switch, kept the caucus unified enough to keep several radical justices off the Court, and was ell on his way to getting an Iraq resolution that would have boxed Bush in to a greater degree when Gephardt torpedoed him. He seems a genuinely bright man with good ideas and a real concern for the country. But I don’t understand why he thinks he would be a good candidate? He lost his seat despite, so he cannot argue that he understands how to win in red states. He hasn’t done anything earth shattering in terms of message or party building, so he doesn’t have the kind of claim on the party faithful that say Al Gore or Howard Dean could reasonably make, and he doesn’t have a national profile. I just don’t understand what he thinks he could accomplish, outside of running for Vice President. And his limitations in the presidential primary would be magnified when the eventual winner goes looking for someone to help him or her in the general. I just don’t understand what he thinks he can gain from this kind of run.
March 13th, 2006
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Politics |
no comments
There’s an astounding shift taking place in the US right wing just now. It has developed over a matter of just weeks, and appears to be building. Conservatives have finally shaken off their Kool-Aid-induced stupor and awakened to two unmistakable facts: Bush is untrustworthy, stupid, and incompetent, and he’s also not really a conservative in any normal sense. As his Presidency tanks ever further, they’re stepping on each other to put daylight between themselves and the miserable failure to which they had blindly hitched their wagons for 5 excruciating years.
March 13th, 2006
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General, Politics, Economics, Environment, Culture, Health, Iraq, Education |
14 comments
Senator Feingold is going to attempt to bring a motion of censure to the Senate floor:
In an exclusive interview on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on the Senate to publicly admonish President Bush for approving domestic wiretaps on American citizens without first seeking a legally required court order.
“This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Feingold, D-Wis., a three-term senator and potential presidential contender.
He said President Bush had, “openly and almost thumbing his nose at the American people,” continued the NSA domestic wiretap program.
President Bush has long asserted that the so-called ‘warrantless wiretaps’ are an essential tool in the war on terror.
But in a copy of the censure resolution obtained by ABC News, Feingold asserts the president, “repeatedly misled the public prior to the public disclosure of the National Security Agency surveillance program by indicating his administration was relying on court orders to wiretap suspected terrorists inside the United States.”
First and foremost, this is the correct thing to do. Bush broke the law and lied to the American people about breaking the law. And when he was caught, he and his people advanced a theory of executive power that essential amounted to assuming a throne, at least as far as national security was concerned. Censure is the least that such blatant disregard for the law, the Constitution, and common decency deserves. Feingold is absolutely correct to attempt this.
But Feingold’s resolution is also smart politics. If any of his Democratic opponents for the 2008 nomination refuse to sign onto the resolution, then they hand him an issue in the primary. Feingold immediately looks tough, especially to our shallow chattering class, by taking what they consider to be an unpopular and risky stand on principle. This also fits his past. He voted against the PATRIOT Act, led a bipartisan filibuster of the PATRIOT Act renewal and now has very publicly come down on the side of accountability with this move. He is obviously positioning himself as the Constitution’s candidate. That could be very attractive considering how unpopular the authoritarian Bush has become. And it also gives him a core set of well accepted values and principles upon which to build a coherent theory of national security. Even better, it gives him the opportunity to portray opponents of his vision of national security as fearful or cowardly. After all, you would have to be an enormous coward to throw away the Constitution because of terrorism. This move also has an outside chance of peeling away a Republican Senator or two. The Senate has been treated like an abused lap dog by the White House, asked to swallow all manner of insults and attacks on its powers. You can be sure that at least some of those Senators are unhappy with that treatment. And at least some of those Senators must be aware that Bush has been mired in the thirties for a very long time with little prospect of improving. A censure vote would give those hypothetical Senators a chance to punch back at the White House without actually affecting the GOP’s chances to retain the White House in 2008. Again, it is not likely that a GOP Senator will break ranks, but this censure motion provides a much better chance of that than an impeachment motion.
This is one of the reasons that I am so intrigued by Feingold’s run. He seems to be trying to do well for himself by doing well for the country, and he seems to have a talent for turning conventional wisdom in the process.
UPDATE: From ReddHed:
I have a request: Russ Feingold really stuck his neck out today, and it would be great if he — and every other Senator — knew that we had his back. It’s a gutsy move, not without risk in the polarized environment that is Washington these days and with the hatchet squad that Rove and his ilk generally deploy when their actions are questioned, so you have to hand it to Sen. Feingold for having the guts to raise the censure issue — not just in the privacy of his office or at home, but right there on national television for all the world to hear.
… Your action steps: call both your Senators first thing in the morning and ask if they support Russ Feingold’s censure proposal. If they don’t, ask what their position is on the issue — and why.
The more people we have calling, the more staffers in the offices start to realize that Feingold struck a political chord with a bunch of us in America.
… You can contact the US Senate via the switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and they will connect you with any Senator’s office. Or you can find your particular Senator’s direct dial here.
Politicians very often need to hide behind the crowd. Let your Senator know that Sneator Feingold has a crowd.
March 13th, 2006
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Politics |
5 comments
And I can confidently say that my vacation can beat up Uncle’s Vacation:
Then again, I’m pretty sure his vacation could shoot mine…
More vacation notes to follow.
March 13th, 2006
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Travel |
3 comments
Jim Derych is a fellow Memphis resident and former dittohead. He has written a book on his change from loyal dittohead to progressive that has now been published by IG Publishing and he is now blogging for The Huffington Post. Several weeks ago, he graciously agreed to do an interview. Unfortunately, illness and family commitments kept me from posting it, until now.
1) What was the purpose behind the book? Do you see this as a kind of satire or do you see this as a description of a useful means of reaching across political divides.
Actually it was a lot simpler than that. I was really just writting for my dad. Dad’s still a dittohead, and he kinda got blindsided by my ‘conversion.’ I never really talked to him all the little things that had changed my political opinions over the years. I write in my book about the day I was going to tell him. I was at the Denver airport, and I felt really strongly about telling him right then and there. But before I could get it out he told me he was going to have heart surgery in a few weeks. That trumped my news, and I decided maybe now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Months later when he finally finds out, it really comes at him from out of nowhere. He was fine with it, it was just a shock. So I started blogging over at Daily Kos just to get my thoughts together thinking “maybe I can print all these out and give them to my dad so he can see where I’m coming from.” That was the genesis of what eventually became ‘the book.’
Of course, now that it’s a book my intentions have evolved somewhat. I don’t really see my book as being an effective roadmap for converting all dittoheads. What worked for me isn’t going to work for a lot of other people. What I hope it will accomplish is to give folks a view into the dittohead mind. While the book is definitely sartorial, I think it can be useful in as a “How to talk to a dittohead: and you must” kind of resource.
March 13th, 2006
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Politics, Writing, Books |
3 comments
