Skippy McScapegoat
30-Dec-05
Looking for that special excuse for that special someone? Doonesbury suggests... nine-eleven. (Click on image for full cartoon.)
Image: Yahoo!
Bush: Historiffic
30-Dec-05
When someone states, "Bush sucks," you might think he/she is a partisan hack, but historically speaking, Bush is horrible...
And it is quite pathetic when the administration is gleeful that the president's poll numbers have risen recently to forty percent approval...
Images: CBS News
Flashback: Jon Stewart vs. Crossfire
29-Dec-05
(Well, ifilm certainly makes this easy.) Below is the full video of the (now infamous) confrontation between Jon Stewart and the hosts of CNN'S Crossfire, specifically Tucker Carlson. Not long after the airing of this episode, CNN decided to yank Crossfire from the air. Disclaimer: I had been a steady viewer of the Crossfire program for many years, and at one point, considered it one of the better political discourse programs on cable.
Video: ifilm
Machiavellian Footsteps
28-Dec-05
I received the following results after taking Salon.com's Machiavelli personality test. I am not sure if this means anything, but in my (humble) opinion, it's a good thing (read: omen)...
Image: Salon.com
A Boondocks Christmas
28-Dec-05
In this past Sunday's Christmas edition of Boondocks, examining torture policies is always a preliminary measure. (Click image for full cartoon.)
Image: Yahoo!
Unevolved Creationism
27-Dec-05
Toles interprets the religious right's continuously-failed attempts to indoctrinate the American youth...
Image: Yahoo!
Surge Protection
27-Dec-05
My random question of the day is... In houses (and other buildings) when installing a computer or entertainment center, one purchases a surge protector that allows six or eight or ten plugs. Why not simply install that surge protector in the wall in place of the standard outlet? (One usually knows where these "centers" will be in their home or building, so why not plan for it?) Is it simply a building code issue (IBC) or maybe a builder-liability thing? It is my understanding that there are the standard two-plug outlets that have built-in surge protection. (Is it a cost issue?) But how about six, or eight, or ten? (Come on, people, we are putting together a computer here, not plugging in the Lite Brite...)
Image: Mrs. Pohlmeyer's Kinder Page
Tsunami Reflection
27-Dec-05
A somber look back at the insanely-tragic disaster that was last year's tsunami in the southwest Pacific and the fact that "at least 216,000 people were left dead or missing and nearly 2 million lost their homes." Contrasted with the horrific events of nine-eleven where fourteen people shy of three thousand perished (a number that I consider miraculous when reviewing the magnitude of the attack) and the more recent Katrina disaster along the Gulf of Mexico coast where the death toll will eventually fall far lesser (thank god) than what was originally thought, the tsunami disaster is finally put in perspective. And the loss of thought, or at least the diminishing effect, over the (short) change in time is startling as we hear of a global world and global communications; sometimes it's as if we still can't feel it...
Recently archived: Pat Robertson, Devil Incarnate.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
26-Dec-05
I return to the Bay Area this evening after a ten-day trip (ten!) to the Philadelphia area. The trip included an evening in Philadelphia at Body Worlds, a two-day trip to the nation's capital, a full day of wedding planning in Philadelphia, a day in the city of New York (one without mass transit), and a family reunion of sorts. I witnessed the reenactment of General George Washington (who eventually became the first president of the United States under the Constitution) crossing the Delaware River in a surprise Christmas Day attack on the unsuspecting British troops.
Looking back quickly on this trip for my fiancee and me, I realize that if we had only taken one ferry or helped out on the reenactment in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, I would have fulfilled the entire transportation spectrum. As a result, I guess I will have to settle for the trifecta (not including walking): car ride to the closest BART station to my home; BART train to SFO station; AirTrain to SFO; plane to EWR, car ride to my fiance's parents' home; train ride to and from Philadelphia; rental car to and from DC; short Metro ride within DC; train to and from Philadelphia; train to and from NYC; and several car rides since. One more flight... and then home again.
And now for some pagan news...
The shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, or to us pagans, Yule, has passed and the next holiday on the horizon in the wheel of the year is Imbolc, or February Eve, on February 2. Lore has it that the sight of hedgehogs peeking out of their holes in the ground is a sign of an early spring. This holiday has now become known as "Groundhog Day."
Blogging Live From New York City
22-Dec-05
I am at the moment posting from the fiftieth floor of the GE building at Rockefeller Center. A day without subways in New York... Walked from Penn Station to the MET, I don't remember how many blocks that was, and in the midst of walking back.
Blog later... (Video from DC day two to come shortly after I return to the better coast...)