Near cranial explosions, caused by NPR's ATC

Yesterday, on NPR's All Things Considered evening radio show, many reasonable, thinking listeners' heads nearly exploded (mine, Dr. Desert Flower's, our friend Jill's, that I know of). Extremist right wing religious zealots spoke about how they are salivating for a fight with the new Obama administration.
"We face a president and Congress more hostile to unborn children, to marriage, to religious freedom, to free speech, to protecting our country than has ever existed in our history,"

To unborn children? Obama wants to reduce the number of abortions in the US.
To religious freedom? WTF? Still believing he's a "secret Muslim"?
To free speech? You're kidding me, right? A democrat who doesn't want to wire tap you, or censor you, or prosecute / monitor / watch-list you because of what you say, is against free speech? LMAO!!!!!
To marriage? Huh!?!?! He's married, to the SAME WOMAN. McCain was divorced and cheated on his first wife (documented and admitted). What, Obama's gonna make you go out and get gay married?? ROTFLMAO!!

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America = should be renamed "Delusional Extremist Women for a Narrowly Defined Psuedo-Christian Agenda"

No Soup For You!

St.Mary's in Greenville SC, where I used to attend Roman Catholic mass when I lived there, now has a priest who is telling his parishioners that they'll be damned to hell if they don't go to confession and ask for God's forgiveness [TM] for the sin of voting for Obama, before taking communion. This is asinine, and it's 'case in point' as to why I stopped going to Catholic masses after my son entered 3rd grade - Not To Mention, that this risks the parish losing its tax exempt status for endorsing a political candidate.

What a bunch of fearful, narrow-minded, hate mongers! Drive more members of your flock away with a huge whip. Morons.

As there's lots of Red and Blue Staters who read this, chose your link to the AP story:
FOX (spelled Faux)
MSNBC (more serious nutjobs bloviating commercially)

thanks to my buddy Matt for bringing up this one.

Pity Party - Republican Victimization part II

Colbert's "The W0RD - Pity Party", was poignant, succinct, 'spot on' last night. Fast Forward to 5:50, where the W0RD starts, if you don't have time for the funny intro (it runs to 10:20).

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=210365

Can you fear me now?
Lost Fiddle Contest With Cheney?
The Way Ike Worked With Tina
Clockwise Hula is the Hula of Shame

Colbert's writers are heading towards another Emmy next year at this rate. Great Stuff!

"I'm Afraid of Americans" D.Bowie

I saw this video once, when I lived in South Carolina, at 6am on VH1 on a work day while I was getting ready to head out the door. I've never seen it since. It came out in 1997. Having always enjoyed both Reznor and Bowie, I really like this one. Prescient, 4 years prior to 11Sept01, and 5 years before the 'smokem outta their holes, dead or alive' mentality that has pervaded the last 5 years, serving America so poorly.

Poor Republican Victims, part 1

Perhaps there's a shortage of boot straps? Aren't Republicans supposed to pick themselves up by their boot straps, abhorring the supposed democratic 'culture of victimization'?

This Daily Show segment on Palin, Beautifully Illustrates - in a compare and contrast sorta way - fast-forward to the 4 minute mark. "I'm not complaining about it" she says - LMAO! "Since she would never have cast unsubstantiated dispersions..." - ROTFLMAO! (5 minute mark) Digital recording is such a awesome thing! Maybe she's just be 'pallin-around' with idiots. The Greta-van-creepy ending is not the best part, but it does help to illustrate the idol worshiping in which right wing nuts are currently engaged.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=210174&title=the-biggest-losers

"just months from being men"

Repugnant, disgraced, ousted Congressman Mark Foley said yesterday:
""There was never anywhere in those conversations where someone said, 'Stop,' or 'I'm not enjoying this,' or 'This is inappropriate'" ????? Huh????

"These were 17-year-olds, just months from being men, he insists." Huh????

At 54 years old, you were old enough to be those boys' father. Instead of voting on the House floor, you were too busy messaging high school boys asking them if they were horny and what clothes they were wearing. Why should an adult, elected as a public servant, ever have considered talking to 17 year olds in such a way? on a government issued phone? when they should have been working? Above the age of consent or not.. this is disgusting, hypocritical, and par for the course for "do as I say, but not as I do" politicians.

"Foley chaired the House caucus on missing and exploited children and was credited with writing the sexual-predator provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" - supreme irony!

Foley should join the list of public figures who need to sink into obscurity, never to be heard from again. This list includes:

• Sarah Palin
• Phill Gramm (genius economist, and laughable presidential hopeful)
• John Hostettler (former RHIT grad & US Congressman from Indiana)
• Rep. Mike Pence (A walk in a Baghdad market is like like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime)
  
• Elliot Spitzer
• Duke Cunningham
• Tom Delay
• John Kerry (as anything, other than a Senator from Massachusetts)

Nurse me back to sickness

The The's "Infected" has been running through my head today... repeatedly. Maybe it's what was uncovered at work last night, on a new unit being installed at one of my favorite vacation spots... I dunna know.

As I watched the 'Matt Johnson head in a vice' video for the first time in more than a few years, it reminded me of Reznor's "Head Like a Hole" lyrical content, in the 'got money's not looking for the cure' sense - not the 'howler monkey' sampling sense. Whatever the case may be, I really enjoy both of these. I'm old, and nostalgic, I guess.

I wanted to put in embeds... but Youtube has a "Embedding disabled by request" note this morning.

Re-targeting disgust & hatred

"Bush Derangement Syndrome" on the left has been replaced with "Obama Derangement Syndrome" on the right (see definition 2). Evidence from the vast majority of my engineering co-workers, Faux News, AM Talk Radio, and affluent distant relatives indicate to me (and I am not an epidemiologist, just a social observer) that ODS is becoming a pandemic in the US. I am not sure whether it is hilarious & delusional, or very sad.

Our boy made us proud

My son Christopher tried to vote last Tuesday, but the stupidity and bureaucracy of South Carolina conspired against him. Knowing there would be long lines, he went early, and waited for hours in the rain to get to the front of the line. Once at the front in Charleston, they told him "sorry, you're registered in Greenville" (note that, in 2004, he Was Only 17 and Not Old Enough to Vote). So they sent him to the board of elections. Undaunted, my son drives straight to the Charleston government office and says he'd like a provisional ballot (since Greenville was a 4 hour drive away, and he would not have made it before polls close, plus he had class on Wednesday). The election board official tells him that the DMV has him registered in Greenville incorrectly, and that he can have a provisional ballot, but they only count the provisional ballots in case of a tie, or a recount.

So, he spent his entire day after class trying to vote. I am not sure where he learned tenacity and determination from ;) ... but he made Dr.Desert Flower and I very proud.

Compare & Contrast

in 2000, the presidential election results looked like this:
Gore: 50,996,116 48%
Bush: 50,456,169 48%
Other: 3,874,040 4%

2004
Bush: 62,040,606 51%
Kerry: 59,028,109 48%
Nader: 411,304 1%

2008
Obama: 65,445,394 52.6%
McCain: 57,446,223 46.1%
Nader: 679,149 0.5%
Barr: 499,912 0.4%

1 p.m. Eastern Time on November 9, with 99.6% of the precincts reporting, the total number of votes stands at only 124.47 million, just 2.2 million more than in the 2004 election.
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008 ]

So 2.2M more people voted this November than 4 years ago. Obama still got more votes than any other candidate in the history of the US presidency. He won by TWICE the margin that Bush did in 2004. Remember the "Political capital" speech W gave, gloating, over his win? If you don't here it is:
"Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style. That's what happened in the -- after the 2000 election, I earned some capital. I've earned capital in this election -- and I'm going to spend it for what I told the people I'd spend it on, which is -- you've heard the agenda: Social Security and tax reform, moving this economy forward, education, fighting and winning the war on terror."

• Social Security? Yep... all reformed now. Check. Too bad we couldn't have privatized it before September 15th 2008!
  
• Tax "reform"? Yep, reduce it for the rich people; redistribute that wealth upwards so it'll trickle down.
  
• Moving the economy forward? Yep, off a cliff and into the abyss.
• Winning the war on terror? Ohh yeah. That's all wrapped up now.

So... 2.2M more people voted, and Obama got 3.4 million more votes than Bush ever did, on his luckiest day. This new President Elect should be gloating, no? He should be out on the links playing golf like Clinton was the day after, no?

No, instead, in his humble acceptance speech, he credited THE PEOPLE who elected him. He refused to gloat and rub it in to the Republicans he just resoundingly defeated. His campaign ordered up a giant fireworks show for Grant Park, and he told them "No, it would not look right." This supposed secret Muslim, this pal of terrorists, this untrustworthy man of poor judgment and inexperience, this socialist (as he's been called by wing nuts) was humble in his victory.

When W said he wanted to reach across the aisle, what he meant was "reach across to pull the Democrats over to our side and push forward the Republican agenda". Obama means quite the opposite. His poise, demeanor, composure, diction, vernacular, JUDGMENT, PERSPECTIVE, grace, NEIGHBORLY-NESS, all came through in his acceptance speech, and his press conference Friday.

How Damn Refreshing! How incredibly refreshing! Bob Schieffer's got a beautiful commentary on it here.

Dr. Desert Flower and I watch the hand wringers at Faux News now, to hear them rant about the demise of America and the impending "end of days", and how now suddenly, they're gonna "keep an eye on Washington" and report "the facts" to 'the Nation'. It really is comedy gold, as they grasp for straws and predict such dark days ahead. Certainly, the Democrats will make some serious errors in the next 2 and 4 years, but we're starting off at a Much Better level than having a spoiled, failed businessman / frat boy / cheerleader / all-hat-no-cattle-pseudo-cowboy at the helm.

Africa is not a country?

I guess that's what incurious, quick creationist, close minded former beauty pageant queens believe. She, and Joe the Plumber, and Tito the builder, all need to sink into obscurity. The quicker the better. This woman just keeps lying out of both sides of her mouth. She says no one is going through her closets... but the RNC IS sorting through her luggage and taking back the clothes. Maybe it's a pre-requisite to be a lying, stealing, cheating asshole to succeed in Alaskan politics?

And the "Impeach Obama" movement has already begun, before he's taken office. Delusional!

Man, it sure feels good to be on the winning side for the first time in my life. I sure hope the Democrats don't f*ck this up quickly.

Palin Loves Beaver!

Sara Palin loves Beaver! Thanks to Matt for this one. Hilarious!

Have to hurry! So little time remains!

Since all the right wing predictions, predilections, and threats will be coming true soon, everyone needs to make preparations now, while they still can. Here's what I'm getting ready to do:

• Buy guns, lots of them. Democrats have always hated the free sale of guns, and they'll limiting the sales of everything more lethal than a squirt gun, come January!
• Install a gun safe UNDER the house: the democrats will be coming into our homes to take away our firearms.
• Begin hoarding gasoline, and buy up the V8 power vehicle I've always wanted. Democrats will mandate everyone drives a weenie solar powered car before the summer arrives!
• Begin learning Arabic - since Obama pals around with terrorists, those of us who can speak Arabic will have a leg up with our future rulers.
• Begin memorizing NWA lyrics - Obama's daughters will be blasting NWA and other such groups from their rooms in the Whitehouse during official state dinners, and cabinet meetings. Soon, F*ck da Police will replace our National Anthem.
• Learn how to make pipe bombs, since according to William Bennett and many other "respected" Republicans, Bill Ayres will be named Secretary of Education.
• Move all my money to over-seas bank accounts - since Obama wants to spread my money around to everyone who makes less than I do in the US.
• Begin studying the Qaran, since Obama is a secret Muslim, and will make everyone in the US convert to that religion.
• Begin preparing to impregnate lots of women, who can all go out and have abortions right up through their 9th month, since Obama has no respect for human life and wants everyone to have abortions.
• Watch Only Faux News, since it remains the only "Fair and Balanced" source of information.. but they need to fire that damn Shepard Smith... he's starting to talk crazy talk!

There's just so much to... and so little time to get it done! Please, let me know what you're doing in your homes, to prepare for this dark, terrible, liberal, lawless time ahead that our once great nation now faces!

Breakfast ain't the most important meal of the day...

Last week, when I was in Ohio for the funeral, I slept to 9 or 10am eastern, woke up and did an hour of yoga, and took breakfast/lunch at 11 or 12. Strangely, I did not get RAVENOUSLY hungry as I typically do at home, mid morning.

This week, I've skipped breakfast each week day, beginning work with a simple glass of water. Strangely, the esophagus gripping, stomach knotting, head-ache pounding symptoms I'd typically get have not arrived.

I've gone 40 years believing that if I don't eat breakfast, I'll be hungry, screwed, deprived of essential nutrients, handicapped in my ability to handle the day's challenges, weakened, at-a-loss. Maybe I'm just getting really really old? Maybe the fact I've cut caffeine nearly entirely out of my diet has toned down my appetite? Maybe my tape worm finally died? Maybe the damn bowls of cereal I've had (upwards of 10,000 bowls) in my lifetime have always been priming my insulin pump and revving up my hunger pre-maturely, un-necessarily, caloric-ly.

Whatever the case may be, for adults like myself, who spend our mornings at a computer, talking on the phone, and who are not emaciated - having a healthy percentage of body fat - I no longer see the need to have breakfast in the wee hours of the AM before starting work. We'll see how this works out, going forward into 2009. Getting off caffeine took me 3 months (down from 4 to 8 cans a day). We'll see how long it takes to kick the breakfast habit.

If anyone else has had a similar 'retraction of breakfast' in your morning routine... I would be very interested to hear how it worked for you.

Republicans as a regional party, going forward

this detailed map is fascinating. Hats off to my buddy Rick for the tip.

"making his bed with porcupines"

I was listening to Bill Moyers today on NPR's Fresh Air, when he said "McCain appeared to be pinched as he courted the fundamentalist religious right, the same group who successfully destroyed his 2000 campaign. ...He was making his bed with porcupines." I laughed so hard.. it's so true. Had McCain not courted the religious right, and allied himself with W early on, and not picked Palin, and been more 2000ish and less 2008ish in his bizarre inconsistencies... he probably would have won. Hell, I voted for him in the failed SC primary in 2000.

Fantastic Day

Back when I was in Terre Haute at Rose Hulman 20+ years ago, on an early March day when the weather would get warm and the endless gray pall of winter would start to lift, driving in a borrowed car into the city, this song would find it's way into the tape deck. The video sucks... but the song makes me smile each time I hear it.

Turning out to be a good day...

I worked 1/2 a day... and had good meetings with my Bangalore mentees / counter parts.
I went to traffic court this afternoon, and the judge ruled in my favor, saving me a $158 fine for "running a red light" when I didn't run one. Pays to be prepared, and have an unprepared rookie cop against you in court.
Got cheered up by my buddy JoeM.
Heard McCain's lost PA by a wide margin.
Heard Dole lost her NC senate seat... guess it doesn't pay to accuse people of being "godless"
Heard Sununu lost his Senate seat... one of the few Rose Hulman graduate members of the Legislative branch of who I've always been so ashamed.
Got a free cup of Starbucks iced coffee.
I got calls from Guliani, Palin, McCain, some generic robo Republican female, some generic Republican male, desperately imploring me to go to the polls today.. LOL!
Took my funnel out of the empty wine bottles that I was getting ready to fill with gasoline to make molotovs, and put it back in the garage.

If things keep going this well... I will post a happy youtube video from my youth... that my buddy Craig Seiglin introduced me to more than 20 years ago.

il faut voir... we shall see...

Dr. Desert Flower and I are going to go out to dinner with the cash saved from traffic court. I'm still in my tie and Claibourne shirt... so it'll be fancy =)

Me of little faith

ladies & gentlemen,
I want to say, 100% of my American co-workers and many of my relatives (paternal and maternal, though thankfully my parents and my maternal uncles and aunts have seen the light) have all expressed firm confidence that McCain will win nationally. It's somewhat disturbing. Perhaps it's delusional... perhaps it's denial... but it's very consistent. If you're a McCain supporter this morning, you're very confident of a win.

I just had an evangelical, reformed tea totaller re-born baptist in Greenville ask me on the phone on a conf call "so how is the great state of Arizona? The home of our future president doing today?" (on a call with a dozen other participants, who all thought the same way as the tea totaller) ... and I responded "I don't know, I do not live in Illinois" ... it was like I had just crapped in the punch bowl, or farted really loudly in an elevator, on the conf call.

I am just wondering, if those of us who have voted for Obama are just in denial, and that the Rovian "get out the vote" machine, combined with caging and inflated voter challenges by the right wing, combined with Diebold corrupting / flipping / skewing results, combined with a looming SCOTUS Obama vs McCain decision later this month, will all add up to 4 more years of unilateral stupidity.

I have this sinking feeling in my gut... that I hope is wrong. It's a feeling Nexium can't resolve.

The people who read this blog (now over 100 or so persons) are intelligent, and informed... perhaps hyper informed... so it seems obvious to most of us that there will be a huge celebration in Grant Park this evening... If the democrats can't pull this off this time, there's very little hope for the future of the American electorate or it's appointed / annointed / elected(?) leaders.

We'll see... il faut voir... parkalam... ya veremos.

McCain vs McCain

digital recordings, crucify people with their own words