Philalethistimania

Mixed Nuts V

2009-04-03T15:54:00.010-04:00

Yes, I know it's been a very, very long time, and I've had this new list of Mixed Nuts saved for a while (umm, some of them for a couple of years...my bad!), but here's a new posting finally and have fun with it!

Most awesome golf hole in the world!

Flashback: Deep thoughts by Jack Handey.

Real life snakes on a plane...shudder...

The definition of passive-aggressive on Facebook...

Great color sensitivity test. Click on your country of origin to start. I got a 12 (lower is better), which is pretty darn good, I think. :) What did you get?

The Milky Way Transit Authority.

Animated 24-hour air traffic around the world!

Democracy: 4000 years in 90 seconds.

Beware the "new" multiplex IMAX: 80% smaller than a real IMAX, 50% more expensive than a regular multiplex! Rip-off, anyone? Aziz Ansari (from NBC's Parks and Recreation) thinks so!!

Schrödinger's Lolcat.

Mixed Nuts IV

2009-03-28T00:57:00.005-04:00

So the Red Sox are #1 already? Sweet!

Very funny Facebook animated social commentary.

And people say *I* have too much free time...

Cats are irreverent. And that's why I love them.

Wait for it...!

32 Songs in 8 Minutes. This kid's really quite good! First time I've heard Pokemon mixed with Chocolate Rain and AC/DC.

You'd better log out, or this guy's gonna get you!

A true hero in these trying times.

Jon Stewart, in three parts, shows he is not only funny, but insightful, and can also kick ass.

Who is baseball's cancer?

Hey, it's time to play Layoff!!!

Moving murals, very cool!

10 Reasons Why Facebook Now Sucks

2009-03-13T23:44:00.011-04:00

UPDATE: As of 11:59pm, 3/18/09, about 5 days after I posted this, I have gotten approx. 6000 hits! People are pissed about this, and you're not alone.

The new "redesign" of Facebook which was released earlier today -- March 13, 2009 -- to a "select" group of users (sadly, me included) was clearly designed by a 5-year-old -- oh wait, no, I take that back...my daughter could design a better front end than they did.

They took a LOT of functionality, customization, and filtering capability OUT of the home page and replaced it with Twitter-like features, which is to say, they dumbed it down for children. I don't think I have ever before seen such a global removal of functionality touted as a revolutionary beneficial redesign for all end-users. It ended up being quite the opposite.

Below, you will find my top 10 reasons ~~Twitterbook~~ Facebook is no longer relevant if they keep this current iteration of their design:

1. There is no more "Live Feed", which would show you every status update, friend add, and comment, all updated on the fly without having to refresh. This was extremely useful to people who wanted to potentially see friends that they might be connected to, or just to not have to worry about refreshing the page every time they wanted to see an update, which you are now *required* to do.

2. There are no more filtering capabilities in the "News Feed" with the exception of either an ALL or NOTHING setting for individual friends. There used to be a multitude of filtering options of not only being able to turn off completely an individual friend's updates, but you could also raise or lower the importance of other updates such as statuses, comments, photos, etc. This was extremely useful. It's abominable that Facebook actually removed so much functionality from their GUI.

3. They increased the font size of updates as if we were either children or geriatrics, and cluttered the page up so much it's difficult to find anything. They added thumbnail icons of our profile photos next to EVERY comment/post we, or anyone else makes such that the page is now filled with large font text and photos (many just duplicates of yourself!) all over the place, with no ability to customize or turn them off.

4. The only filtering system that the home page has is the ability to allow you to only show "groups" of people that you have classified your friends into. I can't imagine that people with 500+ friends have gone through and created "Classmates", "Family", "Drinkin Buddies", "F**k Friends", and other categories for every single person they add. And even if they did, it seems very unlikely that this feature would be used very much -- it's more likely that they would just specify not to show certain individual's updates, rather than an entire class of people.

5. They added an advertisement box at the top right where it's ugly and not helpful. Well, okay, ad are never particularly helpful, but this is extremely distracting, and even programs like Adblock Plus have a difficult time blocking them (though it's not impossible as I found out). Now clearly, this is to help them drive up revenue, but it would certainly help their cause much more to create a user-friendly GUI, rather than shoving an ad in your face with a lousy GUI and having everyone simply quit the site and delete their accounts.

6. They added a "Highlights" feature on the right side which isn't helpful to anyone, which displays applications that people may have in common with you (like that's helpful), and groups that people might have joined that you potentially could be interested in. I haven't found one group that I'd be interested in, not to mention the fact that this is all duplicated information that was in your Feed stream when the person actually added that group or played with that app!

7. They've removed or made difficult to find events (birthdays, etc.). You actually have to go into your bottom Applications toolbar, click on the Events app (if it's even there), and then click on the Birthdays tab to see who has an upcoming birthday. Maybe it's me, but don't you think you would want to be able to see those upcoming birthday's and reminders right on your home page?...oh yeah, that would be in the OLD Facebook design, wouldn't it? Sigh.

8. The text entry box now asks, "What's on your mind?" No offense to Facebook, but if I really typed in what was on my mind, they would have to ban me. Also, if we typed in exactly what was on our mind, it would end up displaying something like, "Matt L. that I hate this design." Huh?? So you have to word your answer in the form of a sentence with no subject like you did in the old system when it said much more simply: "Write something..." with "Matt L." to the left of the text box to show you how the rest of your sentence is going to display. Well, okay, now I guess I'll instead just have to write something about your arse and my foot, alright?

9. It's almost impossible to find the location to complain about anything on this site or give user feedback. (See what I did there, including the actual links? Huh, huh?) On their Help page (cough, cough) they actually deign to say they are going to "simplify the user experience". I guess by "simplify" they really mean "make all the decisions for you." Hmm.

10. There is no centralized location of Status Updates, in case you actually want to see what everyone is up to like they used to have -- kinda like Twitter, which I would assume they are trying to emulate. Well, that's strange. Don't allow us to actually see the updates, but design the site in a overly-simplified way like Twitter, which doesn't need fancy functionality in the first place. Confused much? Welcome to our world.

It is very clear to me that the Facebook staff really have no idea what they are doing, where they are taking the site, and what branding means. They have a very specific and very useful and unique site (or at least they used to!). They are a hybrid of Myspace, LinkedIn, and Twitter, all-in-one, but without the childish things like themes or the one-track-functionality of Twitter. They even say on their own blog (a place where you can comment, btw!) that they often run "product testing sessions" with users and non-users, and they have even tried testing an eye-tracking program (read: as useful as astrology) to track how users use their site. So there's some actual research going on here, right?

But by dumbing down their site, which is clearly what they have done, they are going to lose the entire demographic that CEO Mark Zuckerburg just talked about being their "fastest growing demographic": the 35+ users. Yeah, well, let's just see how long busy 30-somethings stick around when you dumb down your site and insult their intelligence.

As one user's comments put it: "Maybe there are some good things about the new layout, but I don't know what they are." Well, I can certainly tell you that I'm not going to stick around for long if they don't change it.

You just cannot trust economists.

2009-03-12T13:44:00.006-04:00

In the world of the pot calling the kettle black, a group of economists announced today that they were giving a grade of 59 out of 100 to President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner for their handling of the economic crisis so far. Most of the low score was based on delays out of the administration to take sweeping action.

However, the economists never end up turning that gilded mirror upon themselves. As quoted in the very same article:

The economists, many of whom have been continually surprised by the depth of the downturn, also pushed back yet again their forecasts for when a recovery would begin. On average, they expect the downturn to end in October. Last month, they said the bottom would arrive in August. They estimate that U.S. gross domestic product will continue to contract in the first half of this year, with slow growth returning in the third quarter.

"We just keep moving the date [when the recession will end] out, hoping at some point in time we will be able to move the date back in," said Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial.

Do these people even realize what they are saying? That they actually don't know anything about forecasting, and that every single model they put together doesn't work? Economics at this point has become a laughing stock akin to divining your future from astrology. They'd have a better chance of figuring out what was going to happen if they blindfolded themselves and played pin the tail on the donkey on a calendar -- at least there would be some random chance of them hitting the right date, and instead they just look like fools and idiots.

So can we really believe ANYthing that economists have to say about the performance of the President, right now, when they don't even know what they are talking about when it comes to forecasts and predictions (which is their JOB?)?

Madoff actually going to hell jail??

2009-03-10T23:32:00.008-04:00

"Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said there was no plea deal and that Madoff could be exposed to the maximum penalty under sentencing guidelines: 150 years."

There are certain traitorous people in this world who should be hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, oh, and my personal favorite, have their entrails cut out and burned.

And after he is gone, Bernie Madoff shall most certainly dwell in the Ninth Circle of hell in the deepest part of Judecca, where he will be tortured for eternity with the likes of Satan, Brutus, Cassius, and Judas Iscariot, all traitors to their lords and benefactors. Have fun, jagoff!!

Charting your future...

2009-03-08T14:45:00.007-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, but "these are tough economic times." Yeah, it seems that people are using that excuse for everything nowadays. Kinda sad, really, but only true in certain cases. In my case, it's just pure laziness.

And speaking of the economy, now you can track the US unemployment rates, as well as state-by-state rates, and see, in a fully customizable chart, just how miserable you really are and how much more miserable you are probably going to be! Sweet!

Wow, the US is screwed...

...but New Hampshire isn't really all that bad.

Seriously, though, there really are a lot of very nifty charting capabilities on this site including GDP, personal income, interest rates, cost indices, retail sales, house construction, etc.! Basically anything you want to chart, and it's available and up-to-date.

For you economics geeks out there, this is a wonderful resource to have at your fingertips, and I highly suggest you check it out!

Mixed Nuts III

2009-01-26T12:33:00.020-05:00

Woo-woo! It's Superbowl time, so let's flashback to Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, baby! "You kill the joe, you make some mo'!!"

Thundercats, HOOOOO!! Ahh, if it were only true...

WTF: Make sure you notify your landlord at least 60 days before you die?

Less and smaller Girl Scout Cookies! Noooooo!

Extreme Etch-a-Sketching.

Electric cars are slow, you say? How about a 1972 Datsun 1200 doing 110 mph in just a 1/4 mile? This will blow your mind!

For the women out there: High-heels can not only get you a man, but they may even have a potential health benefit...better sex!

Whatever you do, don't turn left!

Dumb blondes are contagious...sigh.

When playing basketball, it is often necessary to wipe off the soles of your shoes -- but you're not really supposed to use use someone's face to do it.

And finally, The Daily Show's end credits of the last 8 years. Ahh, memories.

Economy FAIL?! Really not a surprise.

2009-01-14T12:05:00.033-05:00

It rhymes with "shmeshession".

Barrons reported today that "Retail sales sank again in December and far more than expected, putting to rest any doubt that consumers are retrenching over job losses and fears of unemployment." No shit, Sherlock. I really don't know who these so-called economists have been talking to, but ya see, things go down when you're in the middle of a recession. Duh.

And I don't know who the marketing geniuses are who keep trying this, but these economists really have to stop trying to give us false hopes by saying that "things are looking better" or "indicators are looking up" or "it's possible that things might-someday-in-the-near-or-far-future-one-day-real-soon-perhaps-maybe be better."

It reminds me of the parent telling the kids that they can have a treat if they do something good. Then they reach into their pockets and find that they don't have the money to buy the treat. Naturally, the kids act just like a manic depressive: they go from ecstatic joy to deep depression in about 5 seconds flat. Nice job, parent! Wouldn't it have been better to simply check first to see if you have the money in your pocket? Trust me, the child will get over it much faster if you just admit the truth up front.

The same is true of the American people. The economists are creating a bipolar society which gets more depressed when they see "worse than expected" numbers, rather than "expected, but low", numbers. Time to speak the truth, economists. Yes, it will get better eventually, but for now, just calm down and accept it. We can handle it.

Red states are more corrupt?

2008-12-11T15:22:00.011-05:00

Now I'm not saying that Blue states are particularly squeaky clean, but they do seem to have an advantage when compared to Red states as to the amount of corruption that occurs there, according to one study done recently.

State comparison of corruption convictions (darker blue = worse)

As Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was being arrested for being just plain stupid, a study was done looking at the number of convictions for corruption vs. state population. Now it seems to me that a "per-capita" comparison is a bit shaky, as I don't believe there is a direct way to compare convictions to how populous your state is. Is it statistically accurate to say that the larger a population, the more government jobs there are? I think I would rather see the comparison be a direct one with convictions vs. number of government jobs per state. But that's just me being pedantic.

What is clear from the map above is that all up and down the Appalachian Deliverance country, corruption is pretty dern bad, y'all! Also, up in Big Sky country and the Dakotas, it's pretty bad with the relaxation of campaign finance and disclosure laws there. Duh...what were you thinking?

Interesting, however, that the Northeast, Northern Midwest, and West Coast states all have relatively low corruption per-capita. I think we can all draw our own conclusions here, but it is certainly interesting that these states happen to be Blue states.

Obama is just Right enough

2008-12-08T11:40:00.014-05:00

Shifty Presidents?

An article posted today on Yahoo News discusses the edginess of "liberals" who worry that Obama hasn't appointed enough left-wingers for their tastes, even going so far as to say that he is "surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet." It just goes to show that there really are nutjobs on both sides of the aisle.

Now though this author is generally left-leaning, he is not stupid. These people need to wake up and understand two things: 1) how you get things done in Washington vis-à-vis politicking and 2) how you salvage a self-destructing economy in the wake of a ridiculously bad president. To answer this, let's take a look at a past analogue: Bill Clinton.

When President Clinton was first voted into office, he made the mistake of leaning too far left and surrounding himself with staunch liberals. Sure, the country initially thought that they wanted him to do so, but it was a complete disaster. He didn't get anything done -- remember his healthcare "reform"? -- and he was looking like a one-term president. He didn't start actually getting any real work done until he started shifting his political ideals to the center later in his first term (see: NAFTA, welfare reform, etc.).

I think we all generally understand that Obama is going to have to compromise on certain issues to repair the economy. But one thing that irks me about the sense of outrage from the far-left is that they seem to have no understanding of the legacy that Bill Clinton left on us. Most people will find it hard to deny that while he had is personal foibles, he was most certainly one of our more successful presidents, passing bills that were both left-leaning -- Family and Medical Leave Act, Brady Bill, Minimum Wage Increase -- and right-leaning -- Line Item Veto, AEDPA, and of course, NAFTA and welfare. He helped to create a balanced budget and a federal surplus (A surplus? An actual refund?? What's that?!). Clinton was able to bring the politicians together by centering the policies and creating compromise-based government in which both sides were accountable.

So to have these liberal pundits upset at how Obama is biting the very hand that fed him is them admitting that they are children in the world of grown ups. They are whining about being abandoned, when in reality, many of the promises Obama made during the campaign (before the recession was realized) are simply not feasible now. Democrats always complained about how Bush was living in some sort of dream world and that he couldn't be fiscally irresponsible without there being harmful repercussions. Well, the same standard holds true no matter who is president.

I'm sorry, but adults understand that sometimes circumstances change how you have to approach a problem. Bush never got that concept when it came to the economy. But Bill Clinton clearly understood it. And thankfully Barack Obama is now showing us that he does, too. So put down your rattle and your teething ring, quit your crying, and get on board.

Mixed Nuts II

2008-11-25T14:09:00.025-05:00

U.S. movie stars and the extremely cheesy and creepy creative and well-filmed Japanese advertisements that they are forced to film. Lost in Translation, anyone?

The Time Lord. The Scarf. The Obsession.

Really, really, really tiny (but awesome) street art.

Microsoft researches the causes of people assuming the worst when self-diagnosing online (i.e. cyberchondria) by studying their own employees. Sadly, their programmers are already used to assuming the worst when finding a bug.

Really bad pirates: they can't even catch up to a cruise ship -- or hit it!

I can't believe I hadn't heard of these until now, but here are some great Star Wars ditties:

Vader...Chad Vader: Day-Shift Manager. Watch all of them, they're hilarious.

A long time ago in a Gangsta Rap far far away!

This is Admiral Biatch to base camp: Even better Gangsta Rap! (or see it with lyrics)

Robot Chicken I -- "Beggin' for a little piece of Boba...you dirty little smuggler."

Robot Chicken II -- "The most awesomest thing to happen in the history of...ever!!"

Robot Chicken III -- "What the hell is an aluminum falcon??"

Lego + Kill Bill + Star Wars = pure fun!

Do you know Jack about history?

2008-11-22T23:29:00.023-05:00

In a yearly test administered by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) of 33 questions on history, economics, and civics, how do you think you would fare? Here's the breakdown of the 2008 version of the test:

US Elected Officials:
44% correct.

Average US citizens:
49% correct.

Me:
76% correct.

I am the first to admit that this test was not easy by any longshot, and I'm a pretty good test taker (read: Mensa member). But elected officials only getting 44% right? I certainly hope they got that question correct about who can lawfully declare war!...oh, nope, they didn't (sigh). The site does list a question by question breakdown, in case you were interested in seeing just how dumb your fellow citizens and officials really are.

OR, if you have the guts, and if you think you can beat my score, you can take the test yourself!

As they say in summary:

The civic knowledge gained from engaging in frequent conversations about public affairs, reading about current events and history, and participating in more involved civic activities is greater than the gain from a bachelor’s degree alone.

P.S. - Brad, you'd better get the economics questions right, or I'll be sorely disappointed. ;)

Sticking it wherever...

2008-11-22T16:26:00.003-05:00

And lo, the Great Effeminate Purple One, who carries no name with him but a symbol, came down from the heavens in his tight spandex and black eyeliner and coiffed hair and pantless buttocks, and in his holy righteousness, proclaimed that those who partook of the fruit of their own gender were, like, not right.

And then he humped the table with his crotch, again.

Mixed Nuts!

2008-11-21T14:53:00.013-05:00

In the spirit of Muttrox's "Links o' Interest" (a registered trademark in 23 countries...and Guam!), I'm introducing what I'm calling "Mixed Nuts," a compendium of cool, interesting, humorous, and even weird links all across the web and the big wide world....

BREAKING NEWS -- NYT: Secretary Clinton.

No more smoking pot near schools?? What's next, no more crack in the nursery?

What does a four-dimensional crystal lattice have to do with atomic bombs? Oh, just that Einstein was finally and categorically proven right.

The most uplifting story of a man, a golf ball, and his honesty.

Ira Flatow suggests that rather than investing in dying (er, dead) car companies who have no plans to save themselves (d'oh!), why not invest in the future?

Yet another reason for waiting to get your child a cell phone until they're a little older. (And this was in my town...sigh.)

Bush's last and final screwing of the country.

And 76% disapproval? Even Nixon didn't get rated that badly.

CNN smackin' down a religious nutball from Kansas.

And lastly, in this season of thanks and giving...is there anyone you'd more like to give back this Thanksgiving season?!

New theme...hope you like it!

2008-11-18T12:49:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally broke down and did a search for themes for my blog, and I think I got a good one. The photo at the top is actually a part of a much larger photograph by George Steinmetz (thanks, Brad!), that he took for National Geographic. I highly suggest you visit their magazine site or their general site for more of these absolutely amazing photos (and lots of wallpaper here and here too!).

And in case you didn't know, it's National Geography Week!

Jew at Christmastime...a Southparkian Retrospective

2008-11-10T18:23:00.007-05:00

Yes, it's that time of year again, and now that Halloween has gone past, it's time to celebrate that lonely time of year for the Jews...Christmas. Get ready to show off your matzoh balls and challah, though it won't do any good with all the Christmas paraphernalia thrown at us from now through 12/25! If you need an example, just tune in to Oldies 103.3. They are now playing (and even streaming!) Xmas music 24/7. But don't fear...it's only for the next 8 weeks....

Needless to say, these videos are all NSFW! ;)

Lonely Jew on Christmas

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

O Holy N--AHHH!

Merry F*cking Christmas

Political bits and pieces...

2008-10-16T10:35:00.006-04:00

Wonder Woman says "be very afraid" of Palin. Bonus: She uses the word "anathema" in a sentence!

David Gergen to McCain: "See if you can leave this with your honor intact." Dang, I love this guy.

Either Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is trying to get relected (he's not), or he's actually a human being deep down inside when he states about the ACORN affair: "there are some who enjoy chaos." Bully for him.

McCain must have been misinformed (or is just dumb) to have implied multiple times that Sarah Palin's baby has autism (a disorder with an unknown cause) when he really has Down's syndrome (a genetic disease, caused by an extra 21st chromosome). It is Palin's nephew who has autism. It is also interesting to note that Palin hid her pregnancy even from her own children until the 3rd trimester (huh?!), and they didn't know at all that their baby brother had Down's until he was born. The New York Times has a good article about her use of her baby in politics. Shudder....

And finally, this scares me. I've said all along that if this country does not shape up and grow up, that we are headed for a class/party divide that could potentially cause a civil war in THIS country. These are dangerous times, "my friends."

Disney Geneticists?

2008-09-19T11:49:00.002-04:00

On the lighter side of things comes this breaking "story" from the Disney Genetics Lab that is so scary, it just might be true (ignore the commercial at the beginning)!

A noun, a verb, and POW...

2008-09-05T00:34:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it...a "Swift Boat"-style ad, but this time against the Republicans! It seems that a former POW camp-mate of John McCain's, Philip Butler, has created an ad stating among other things that (gasp!) "I think I can say with authority that the prisoner-of-war experience is not a good prerequisite for president of the United States." Do I even need to put a "duh" or "amen" in here?

Most interestingly is that Butler is particularly worried about the senator's temperament (perhaps PTSD) and temper in general. No offense to McCain, but I fully agree that I would be worried about having a former long-term POW in office with his finger on the button.

But perhaps the most shocking thing about this ad is Sen. Rick Santorum's absolutely ludicrous response to the ad:

"I think it is scandalous and disrespectful to a man who has obviously sacrificed greatly for his country," he said, adding that it is Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) "nightmare that some crazy group suggests that because someone served his country and sacrificed for his country, that he is not capable to lead.

HUH?? Isn't it kind of a tautology that just because you were in war, it doesn't mean you can necessarily be an effective and good leader of the country? It also doesn't mean that you can be a winning Indy car driver. Or that you can knit, for that matter. Sheesh...it doesn't mean a darn thing, other than you are patriotic, and sacrificed for your country, which no one denies. It most certainly does NOT mean that you can necessarily lead, or that you have the appropriate ideas that will lift the country up, rather than drag it deeper into the muck.

Frankly, after watching the RNC, I'm physically ill over how much they pushed McCain's POW experience (never mind all the negativity that came out of that convention!), as if we'd forget after the end of every speech. Pathetic. WE GOT IT. HE'S A POW. Now try talking about issues, dumbass!

"You can't sugarcoat this stuff...."

2008-09-04T12:33:00.004-04:00

Does the figure 87% white mean anything to you? It does if you've been watching the Republican convention. A scant 13% of all delegates consider themselves as belonging to a minority group. This is down from 2004.

A bit dated, but this shows the diversity of each presidential candidate's staff...telling, isn't it?

And this is the party of the people, in a unique time when whites (non-hispanic) are no longer going to be the majority in about 30 years? One has to wonder what the future holds for the Republican party, if they continue to be exclusionary as they have done in the past.

Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

2008-09-03T23:38:00.005-04:00

I'm sorry, but though I wasn't going to particularly comment on the ridiculousness of this election cycle, I just had to say something about this.

Sen. John McCain and his VP pick, Gov. Sarah Palin, (whom I affectionately refer to together as "McPain"), are now at the Republican Convention, which is making an incredibly big deal of John McCain's military experiences in Vietnam. Yes, he's a survivor. Yes, he's even a hero in most circles. But, NO, this has absolutely nothing to do with whether he can actually lead or make good decisions.

I actually know someone who was on the fence before the Republican convention, and now is convinced that the Obama/Biden ticket is the much better choice, based very much on the ramblings of the Republicans. They hate how the conservatives have consistently brought up McCain's 40-year-old (yes, it's been that long) POW history, as if this were some sort of qualification to govern. They brought up the point that someone who was a POW for five years (two of which were in solitary) might just be a bit screwed up in the head even today, through no fault of his own. And of course, it didn't help that he selected the green Palin as a running mate simply because she is young and a woman...as if no one is going to see through that charade.

But the thing that got me today was his comment about his choice of Palin:

"This is what Americans want," McCain said. "They don't want somebody who has, who is, frankly, necessarily gone to Harvard or an Ivy League school. She probably hasn't been to a Georgetown cocktail party. But you know what, she represents everything we want to see in government and America — change and reform and ethics and taking on the special interests."

This is just typical of McCain (and the Right in general) that they have the gall to say that what he believes is what everyone believes! His absolute arrogance is just astounding. Not to mention talking about how she somehow represents "ethics", considering this is someone who is under not one, but TWO ethics investigations as we speak, specifically regarding pork-barrel projects that John McCain himself specifically criticized (!?) (see: pandering to special interests) and abuse of power (see: ethics violations). Not to mention the fact that the so-called "fiscal conservative" actually left her hometown of Wasilla with a huge debt, again typical of the short-term, irresponsible-thinking Republican agenda, which borrows today and expects our kids (or the Democrats) pay it all back.

I just hope that there are enough intelligent Independents out there who see through all this crap. See this site for more interesting information!

Live fast, die young(er)

2008-08-06T14:41:00.005-04:00

Stupid men.

There are three main reasons that help attribute to men leading shorter lives than women, and they are all theoretically fixable: smoking, gluttony, and internalizing stress. A new article at Time Magazine online discusses this, as well as the fact that maybe 70% of our longevity is based upon these environmental factors.

Why do Jewish men die before their wives? Because they want to!

Oh, and women have a reason to cheer their menstruation finally...the lower iron levels caused by this monthly curse actually decrease the damaging free radicals in your bodies, and thereby lowering your risk of heart disease. Go figure.

So if men can eventually get around to smoking less (yes, that's actually happening), eating better (sadly this is not happening), and sharing our emotions (yeah, right!), perhaps we too can live to be 100 just like our female counterparts.

Just can't beam him up....

2008-08-04T16:56:00.006-04:00

Sadly, in the 3 years since James Doohan passed away (AKA Star Trek's Scotty), his one wish has gone unfulfilled: to have his remains launched into space. On August 2nd, yet another attempt failed, but luckily they were able to salvage the payload, which included not only Doohan's remains but also those of Mercury astronaut Gordo Cooper, which were joining him for the ride. Fortunately, Doohan's son is not giving up hope, and is still trying to get him up there!

Computer...? Oh, computer...?

It's a real shame that this has to keep happening to a guy who was such a beloved actor, as well as a genuine nice fella -- I actually heard him speak one time, and even got to shake his hand! Cool trivia about Doohan: did you know he only has 4 fingers on his right hand, one of which was shot off in WWII? Yep. Look it up, and then watch Star Trek again...you can see him trying to hide it most of the time, but sometimes you can see it.

Anyway, good luck to you, Scotty, and hope they can beam you up for real this next time!

McCain looks like the guy who...

2008-08-01T16:11:00.007-04:00

Here's a collection of David Letterman jokes about McCain that even McCain supporters are allowed to chuckle about! And McCain was even on Letterman giving it right back, so don't you worry, he'll be okay.

A few examples are here:

"Did you hear about this? Two State Department employees were fired — this is a bit of a scandal — because they were looking at Barack Obama's passport file. Not only that, but the same person was also looking at John McCain's Civil War records."

"Senator McCain, running for president, is in Iraq. Of course, he remembers Iraq when it was known as Mesopotamia."

And here are some of the people that McCain reminds Letterman of... (Click here for MANY more of these!).

"He looks like the guy at the movies whose wife has to repeat everything...."

"He looks like a guy who's backed over his own mailbox...."

"John McCain looks like the guy who thinks the nurses are stealing his stuff. 'Dad, why would they take your socks? It doesn't make sense.'"

"He looks like a guy at a restaurant that says I'm leaving 10%, that's good enough...."

"He looks like the guy who is still confused by the phone answering machine: 'Hello, is that - hello, is that you? Larry, Larry, hello?'"

"John McCain looks like the guy who picks up his TV remote when the phone rings...."

But for you McCain fans, he does get his just deserts (though looking incredibly dorky doing it! lol):

Jukebox John

2008-08-01T16:00:00.003-04:00

And they talked about John Kerry flip-floping for political reasons only -- check out this list of 72 (and growing!) flip-flops by John McCain.

So why do McCain’s flip-flops matter? Because all available evidence suggests his reversals aren’t sincere, they’re cynically calculated for political gain. This isn’t indicative of an open mind; it’s actually indicative of a character flaw. And given the premise of McCain’s presidential campaign, it’s an area in desperate need of scrutiny.

This is what I'm talking about when I say that I used to listen to him and at least respect his "Straight Talk". Now he is just walking down another typical crooked road of politics and he will say anything and sacrifice all of his principles just to win the race. Shame on you, McCain. You know better.