How to Ruin YouTube

You've seen what Christians can do to reality in the Conservapedia (insanity level has dulled some since it kicked off about a year ago), and now you can see how Christians can ruin YouTube.

You guessed it: GodTube!

You've got Trunk Deacon, Christian Movie trailers, and my horrifyingly favorite: Making Zombies Young (embedded for her pleasure). The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not drool.



"Holy Shit!" is right. Christ on a bun, and all that. Damn.

FOX Attacks: Veterans

Do something.

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

Kiss your First Amendment rights goodbye.

I first heard the alarm on this under-the-radar bill that has already flown through the House and is sitting in the Senate as S.1959 by Kate Chase over at ATD.

Mike Adams at NewsTarget.com has a comprehensively terrifying look at the bill and all the contact information you could need. Here's a clip:

The bill states:

‘...ideologically based violence’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual’s political, religious, or social beliefs...

Note that this means the "planned use of force to promote a political or social belief" would be considered an act of terrorism. This all hinges on the definition of "force," of course. Based on the loose use of logic in Washington these days, and the slippery interpretation of the meaning of words, "force" could mean:

• A grassroots campaign to barrage Congress with faxes
• A non-violent street protest
• A letter-writing campaign that deluges the Senate with too much mail
• A sit-in protest that blocks access to a business or organization
• A grassroots e-mail campaign that overloads the e-mail servers of any government department or agency

You get the idea. "Force" could be defined as practically anything. And since the "planned use of force" would be considered a criminal act of terrorism, anyone who simply thinks about a grassroots action campaign would be engaged in terrorist acts.

If this bill passes, any blogger - especially me - who has and will continue to rant against the current administration could be taken off to jail for voicing my opposition. Voice yours before it's too late.

Put on your boots, and get busy kickin' or get busy shakin'.

Why Huckabee Burns My Biscuits

In a recent interview, he said this:

Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal.

According to Huck, homosexuality = polygamy = pedophilia = bestiality.

No one who still spouts this ignorance is fit to be our president.

Drudge's Rank: Misleading and Malodorous

I read the Drudge Report every day because it's a delicious slushpile of all things evil and conservative. Today, Matt Drudge released his periodic "I'm so damned awesome!" rankings by Hitwise Media Weekly Report:

The Rankings



And if this blog were #9 on a media list, on par with FOX News for internet traffic, I'd be peeing my pants and shouting from the mountaintops too. But Matt Drudge is fiddling in trickery and blindly fooling millions.

Here's a logic puzzle: How does Matt Drudge, with one single web page (and the occasional all-caps DEVELOPING page), gain parity with the FOX News website, which has thousands of pages of varying news?

What Is Actually Being Measured

What are being measured are "hits," and that means that any time you or any person goes to Matt Drudge's front page, it registers a hit. If you visit again later that day, another hit, etc. It does not measure each individual visitor, which is a viable and available statistic, but every time the page is accessed.

The Trickery

The trickery occurs in two ways:

1. The Back Button: When you go to Drudge's site and click on a link, instead of opening another window or tab, you are taken to that page. Read the story and want to see another one? Back button to Drudge's site, log another hit. Rinse and repeat. This can easily ring up 10-20+ hits by just one person in a matter of minutes.


2. Refresh Code: I won't go into the techie details, but Drudge's site has a javascript code built into the page that will automatically refresh the page every three minutes, each time accessing the page again, each time clocking another hit. Basically, this means that if you go to Drudge's site and just leave the page open in a browser window or tab, you will tally 20 hits/hour for the site by doing nothing at all.

But How Do I Fight Such Kung Fu?

Like a ninja, of course. Here's what I do to avoid giving Mr. Drudge hits he does not deserve:

1. Go to the Drudge Report.


2. Hold down the CTRL key.


3. Quickly scan and click the stories you would like to read - using Firefox, this opens the stories in new tabs while keeping Drudge in the current window. I believe Internet Explorer works the same way.


4. As soon as you're done, close the Drudge window.


5. Leisurely browse the other stories.

If you're a quick reader/clicker, you can probably get this done without a single refresh, only logging one hit for Mr. Drudge.

Happy browsing!

Michael Savage Loves His Hate

This is Michael Savage:

Radio host Michael Savage is using frivolous lawsuits to bully those who try to expose his vicious hate speech.

Michael Savage is suing CAIR for posting a clip of his hate speech on their site. His frivolous lawsuit claims "copyright infringement" because the CAIR site featured a "donate" button.

In defense of free speech, we're posting the same clip next to our own donate button.

Click the above link to see and listen to more examples of Michael Savage's hate speech.

Quick note: what Michael Savage says is biased, ugly, and ignorant and I have a very difficult time listening to him. But it is free speech, isn't it? If you don't like it, tell him. If you don't like it, don't listen. If you don't like it, don't support his sponsors. But do we drive him from the air? Personally, I'd rather have the assbag on a pedestal where I can keep a close eye on him.

(nosavage.org is organized by Brave New Films)

Mercury Rising by MESSENGER

MESSENGER has its first look at Mercury:



This is the first time anyone has seen Mercury like this. Evar. It gets me all giddy. And this is just a flyby. MESSENGER will fall into permanent orbit in 2011 and get pictures that will make me weep. Check out the MESSENGER Page for a much, much bigger version.

(h/t to Bad Astronomy)

Bush and Abdullah - Strange Bedfellows

Note: All images pulled from CNN video

In the past couple days, President Bush has toured the Middle East, beginning with the first time in 7 years as a president that he's ever been to Israel. Personally, I wouldn't count that as genuine concern, but when you're drumming up support for the invasion of Iran, you've gotta take the big boy pill and cross the pond.



Luckily, Bush made it to Saudi Arabia, where he was promptly given a saber to properly rattle. Doesn't this look like an action shot from a community theatre production of Lawrence of Arabia: The Musical?



Bush also gets a "Special Person's Robe," and he's so proud of himself, walking down the aisle like on graduation. Incidentally, that is the definition of "shit-eating grin."



There was quite a lot of hand-holding through the discussion process; kisses were in private. And often.



UPDATE: Told you. Caught in that final, tingling, anticipatory second. Mmmm.




Nothing like losing yourself in some tea post-coitus...



...and seeing what "hung like a horse" is supposed to mean.

All in all, it looks like it was a successful trip. The President just hopes that Abdullah will call, or else it's...


...you know.

Notes on the Nevada Democratic Debate

The more the pool of NBC-sanctioned candidates shrinks, the more tragically boring the debates get. I'd write a mathematical equation, but let's just say that this one sucked the most so far.

Short summary: Kucinich was punked, Everybody loves each other, no one has a true weakness, Hillary uses ninja attack once, and Chris Matthews is still an asshat.

Let's itemize, shall we?

• Kucinich drama summary: NBC says "Hey, join us!" then says "Oops, hey forget about that thing we said." Dennis sues and appeals court says "Heck yeah you should be there" and minutes before the debate the Nevada Supreme Court says "No dice." NBC should be ashamed; the American people (and maybe the other candidates?) should at least act like they care.


• Everyone plays nice: the media-spewed race issue is no longer an issue. Yay! But toned-down issue foreshadowing of excitement level of rest of 2 hours. Boo.


• The people will elect whomever will effect change and says No to lobbyists and everyone on stage likes each other and "I agree" and "I respect" and - can we cut the damned oral sex daisy chain and maybe discuss why one of you is better than the other?


• Obama started the debate with his signature "Uhm"s but softened it towards Hillary's "ah" pronunciation by the end.


• Edwards was dang proud of flapping his arms to conjure up the word "fervently." It was tremendous.


• Edwards states that thousands of Americans come to Nevada every day to find the Promise of America. Gambling on a shot at unearned cash winnings is the American Dream? He later claims he meant people looking for work, moving to Nevada, but if population growth from 2000 to 2006 is any indication, daily average increase was a little over 200 people. So he was wrong, or he meant gambling. Or hookers.


• John Edwards constantly wears an obnoxiously large black K-Mart watch that, in its enormity, refuses to be hidden under his clothing. What the hell?


• Obama's greatest weakness is that he has a messy desk, Edwards cares too much, and Hillary pushes too hard. Were these answers given at a job interview, the interviewer would've replied "Okay, thanks. We'll let you know." Wait; this is a job interview.


• Hillary takes a double whack at Obama and Edwards on Yucca Mountain, attacking like a ninja; Obama is afraid to hit a girl; Edwards attacks, but amidst cries for relevance, appears to be tossing cream pies. Yes, I just called John Edwards a clown. And yes, he amuses me.


• Hillary is "against illegal guns." That's probably a good thing. For all things that are illegal.


• Post debate: Chris Matthews exploded onto the screen declaring Hillary the hands-down winner, amazed at her performance, talking like she's already the Democratic candidate, and "playing on the varsity team." The rest of the MSNBC team tried to calm him down, to no avail (at least poor Olbermann didn't have to be in the same room with him this round). Why is this disaster still on television?

I was bored. I was tired. And nothing happened. As soon as one candidate picked up on a topic, the others picked up and agreed. Iraq was equalized between them on nuance, everyone's for the economy, against the current administration and all the Republican candidates. So how to decide?

Personally, I think I'm still pushing for Dennis through the primary (Kate and I are voting on the same day - how fun!), but you've got three choices.

1. Stick to your original, gut reaction, even if they're not going to win the primary in your state.


2. Base your choice on experience, once you define for yourself what type of experience matters and how much of that experience each candidate has.


3. If you're looking for most presidential, while the misguided, obnoxious rantings of Matthews were unprofessional, he was not entirely off base: last night, Hillary looked and spoke like the leader, flanked by her seconds.


4. Base your choice on the woman, the African-American, or the rich white guy who was poor as a kid.

Cheers!

Kucinich and Democratic Reindeer Games

a.k.a., Shotgun Debate in Nevada. From the LA Times:

A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis J. Kucinich must be included in today's candidate debate in Nevada.

Senior Clark County District Judge Charles Thompson said if Kucinich was excluded, he would issue an injunction stopping the televised debate.

The judge sided with a lawyer for the Ohio congressman, who said MSNBC invited Kucinich to take part and then told him that he couldn't.

"We disagree with the judge's decision and are filing an appeal," said a statement provided by Jeremy Gaines, a communications vice president for MSNBC.

He said the network would seek an immediate hearing before the Nevada Supreme Court.

MSNBC says they billed the debate as only the top 3 candidates, but I can swear I saw a promo for the "showdown" debate featuring Bill Richardson's mug before he removed himself from the race.

MSNBC, there are two options here: Say "oops" and set up a fourth podium or scramble to the Nevada Supreme Court and make complete asses of yourselves on a national stage to prove just how far you will go to silence minority opinion.

Davis Fleetwood has some excellent summary information about the story so far, GE (NBC's parent company) and war profiteering, and contact information for NBC and the DNC - and his live calls to those organizations.