Mobile Blog - Corn Rows

Here in Dublin, OH, they have corn rows. Rows of cobs of corn. Cement cobs. 7 feet tall.

Apparently a controversial art installation. Very cool.

Have to research this later.

The Weekend &The Dresden Dolls - "Night Reconnaissance"

Stalled today because Google tagged this blog as a spam blog. Buggers. Just cleared up, and I'm about on my way out to the Dublin, Ohio Irish Festival for the weekend. Tell you all about the sanctioning of Cause For Concern when I get back.

We've also got me listening to Glenn Beck and how he hates on Obama (I know, I swore it off, but it was an hour in the car and radio sucks in Cincinnati), and that comes with shirtless presidents. Yum.

And Wal-Mart is mobilizing managers nationwide to put out the word that an Obama victory means bad things for Wal-Mart in a single word: Unionize! God forbid they pay a living wage or - gasp! - benefits.

All coming next week!

Here's some Dresden Dolls to get you through the weekend. Perhaps a little mobile blogging? I'll surprise you.

McCain's "Character"

Even while not listening to talk radio, I get Media Matters newsletters and some right-wing trash in my inbox. And while the right wing continues to pummel Obama on imagined hyperbole, they all flaunt the Character of McCain with a capital C.

Let's remember the Keating Five for a minute, a Savings and Loan scandal that cost millions in tax and investment dollars:

Keating's relationship with McCain came under particularly intense press scrutiny. McCain and Keating had become personal friends following their initial contacts in 1981. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful political contributions from Keating and his associates. In addition, McCain's wife Cindy McCain and her father Jim Hensley had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family, and their baby-sitter had made nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard Keating's jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain did not pay Keating (in the amount of $13,433) for some of the trips until years after they were taken, when he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln.

And while we're at it, how about a mention of John's first wife. A car accident "left her 4 inches shorter and on crutches, and she had gained a good deal of weight." Extra-marital affairs ensued. Then, while still married, he met Cindy:

McCain described their first meeting, "She was lovely, intelligent and charming, 17 years my junior but poised and confident. I monopolized her attention the entire time, taking care to prevent anyone else from intruding on our conversation. When it came time to leave the party, I persuaded her to join me for drinks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. By the evening's end, I was in love."

While still married to Carol, McCain began an adulterous relationship with Cindy. He married Cindy in May 1980 -- just a month after dumping Carol and securing a divorce. The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii.

This is all apparently okay with a Republican base and colleagues who went batshit crazy over a blowjob.

GlaxoSmithKline Killing Poor Argentinian Babies

From Trading Markets:

Buenos Aires, Jul 10, 2008 (EFE via COMTEX)

At least 12 babies who were part of a clinical study to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against pneumonia have died over the past year in Argentina, the local press reported Thursday.

The study was sponsored by global drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and uses children from poor families, who are "pressured and forced into signing consent forms," the Argentine Federation of Health Professionals, or Fesprosa, said.

"This occurs without any type of state control" and "does not comply with minimum ethical requirements," Fesprosa said.

The vaccine trial is still ongoing despite the denunciations, and those in charge of the study were cited by the Critica newspaper as saying that the procedures are being carried out in a lawful manner.

12 mothers, 12 fathers, pressured into what amounts to a slow execution of their child.

Is this okay on any level?

Mobile Blog - Malling It

Today I took 12 year old Ms. Shambles to the mall with her friend to get a gift for their other friend.

Yes, both tragic and painful.

However, Door-to-mall-to-door; 50 minutes, half of it driving.

Yes, I am that good.

Talk Radio Hiatus

I'm a little tired of listening to Alex Bennett and Lynn Samuels on the left whack at Obama like a piñata. I'm tired of Wilkow's constant naming of Barack as a Marxist, Mike Church's dude spittle shitting The Messiah, Rush's drug-confused logic, Hannity's Stop Obama Express, and Levin shouting like chipmunk on crack. I'm not even going into O'Reilly or Gibson. Or Savage.

There are problems with Obama's candidacy, but if not him, then McCain, and holy shit that cannot happen.

So since no one is going to talk about anything except how much they don't like Obama (or in a few cases like him), my Sirius lovin' on talk radio is going to take a pause from Left and Fox and Patriot which generally makes up 90% of my listening day.

So what am I listening to instead? Right now, it's energie2, a French pop station (I'm also fond of Rock Velours and Bandeapart). Other favorites are CBC Radio 3, Iceberg, and Left of Center (indie), Chill, Area 38, and Boombox (electronic/dance).

So I'm sorry, but no talk radio means no talk radio rants for about a week. But I think we can both use a break.

McCain's Oil Lobbyists

Hope: It Could Happen to You

Winner "Funniest" for Obama in 30 Seconds contest and potential first political ad seen on MTV for this election cycle. The other option is John McCain lying about a bunch of shit.

Which brings in the real question: can McCain even play for the MTV crowd? Does the man who yells at the kid to get off his lawn get the kid's vote?

Girls + Boys = Babies! Or Something About Math

In a recent study, it was revealed that girls and boys are equally good at math.

Great.

Next they'll be wearing pants and running for president.


Woah, put down the scimitars! Joking!

Seriously, as a former teacher and father with a 12-year-old daughter, I am well aware of the social structures in place that cause girls to dumb themselves down, to not raise their hand, to giggle "Um..." when they know the answer. In 1994 Teen Talk Barbie's words: "Math is hard!"

This is great news from both a social and psychological perspective, a good example that dominance is not just the domain juiced muscles or misplaced male aggression.

But it may yet require pants.

Stop! It's bleeding!

Kucinich Gets His Day

You will not hear a five-second audio clip about this on any major news network, and the Democratic party is too busy tucking its figurative penis between its legs.

Kucinich gets reelected every time because he goes to bat for his constituents and if you live in his district, you know he is working for you, not just on your dime like much of congress. And perhaps if the rest of congress pulled its head out of its ass and rocked the boat a bit, did what they were elected to do, they'd have an approval rating a little higher than abysmal.

Thank you Dennis, and thank you Real News Network.

Putz's Creamy Whip

Would you eat Putz's Creamy Whip?



I would. Actually, I will. I ran across this photo serendipitously, almost laughed beer out my nose, and then did it again when I found Putz's lives 20 minutes from my house! (map - to Put'z, not my house, silly). They're on the web, and are so popular locally that the street they're on was renamed Putz Place.

How did this gem escape me? Nevermind. Thank you internets.

I will report back. You know, just like when I eventually go to the Creation Museum, also 20 minutes from my house.

UPDATE:

Conversation with a friend of mine, the day after the post:

RICKY: So how do I get to your house again?
FRIEND: I'll give you the address, just Google it.
RICKY: (Googling) Oh, okay, yeah -
FRIEND: It's just -
RICKY: Shit. West Fork. Holy crap. Have you ever been to Putz's?
FRIEND: Yeah, used to babysit for their kids.
RICKY: [brain pops]

WTF, dude?

China's Safe! Yay!

How do you make sure everyone feels safe at the Olympics? If you're China, while people are still grumbling about the pollution, you shout: Hay, we just stopped the terr'ists! Yay!

Shanghai police have broken up an international terrorist group that had planned to attack an Olympic football preliminary match in the city, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.

Right. Best quote: "We have staged raids...."

I bet you have.

Do It Live McCain Remix

Ah, Crooks and Liars.

Ah, Break.

Ah, internets.


http://view.break.com/542113 - Watch more free videos

Send Rove to Jail

Go to Send Karl Rove to Jail, and sign a petition that's already over 100,000 strong.

Ben Stein: Continuing a Legacy of WTF

I remember almost two years ago when I thought Ben Stein was a pretty hep cat, and then one day I realized he was an idiot tool for the right wing.

He's still out shucking eye drops - and ignorance.

Media Matters brought the following to my attention:

On the July 23 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, guest Ben Stein, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's plan to deliver his speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at Denver's Invesco Field, stated that he did not "like the idea of Senator Obama giving his acceptance speech in front of 75,000 wildly cheering people" because "[t]hat is not the way we do things in political parties in the United States of America." Stein continued: "Seventy-five-thousand people at an outdoor sports palace, well, that's something the Fuehrer would have done. And I think whoever is advising Senator Obama to do this is bringing up all kinds of very unfortunate images from the past."

Sour fucking grapes.

No, Ben, it's not "the way we do things" in US politics because people look at politics with shades of ennui and disdain: they think it's boring and bullshit and 24-hour C-SPAN and in the back rooms they plot and plan and figure out how to rape and pillage America. The fact that any person in American politics could get 75,000 people not only excited enough to talk about going to see him, but to actually mobilize and fill a goddamned stadium is amazing in a world with a six second attention span.

My history professor in college said that you can tell a lot about a civilization by the largest areas of congregation that it constructs. Ancient Rome had the Coliseum; The Dark Ages brought wonder to the masses with churches and cathedrals; Today, it's NASCAR. Seriously.

And a man who stakes his career on his supposed intelligence is comparing Barack Obama to Hitler - forget the discussion, forget Godwin's Law, right out the fucking gate: well, he's Hitler.

But while the reference was obviously to Hitler, I can't quite wrap my head around Ben's word choice: the Fuehrer. I understand he probably understood he was making a dick move and wanted to soften the blow, but "Fuehrer" is German for "leader," noun capitalization and all.

So in an obvious move to demonize Barack Obama (oddly, by referencing a man who would have killed Barack Obama based solely on his skin color), Mr. Stein inadvertently called Barack Obama a leader and - a man of Jewish heritage himself - referred to the monster that annihilated millions of of that Jewish heritage by Hitler's honorary name, der Fuehrer.

Ben Stein: today - and every day - Cause For Concern's Pet WTF Tool.

Weighted Companion Cube

I spend a good deal of my "free time" playing video games, but my enjoyment for series like Final Fantasy lead me to being a little behind (I own but have not finished FFXII, God of War II, Kingdom Hearts for PS2). And then I went and bought an Xbox 360. I got the Orange Box (game). I played Portal.



Stage 17 - Never Forget.

[sigh]

UPDATE:
look at me still talking
when there's science to do...

UPDATE II:
Not to be too dense, the words above are lyrics displayed from the original musical recording played while the lyrics and credits run after you complete the game. The following video is a recording of the finishing song. Creepy and hilarious.

I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!

This game was one of my top 5 ever, a black comedy that I have yet to conclude (after finishing, I still have achievements and advanced levels to beat).

And please, should anyone read the words "black comedy" and feel the urge to play the game and write a script, either quell that urge with beautiful booze or put a bullet in your head.

McCain's Geography

For those of you unaware of some of the nuance of the geography of the Middle East,



...Iraq and Pakistan do not, in fact, actually touch.

Limbaugh: Rich Fat Fuck Strikes Again

Rush Limbaugh, against whom I regularly rail, is at it again. Or was. Last Tuesday, I caught this little diatribe:

Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, who I charitably will say is an order of fries short of a Happy Meal, is sitting there reading a letter from a constituent to Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and anybody else watching on television in the room, and he summed it up here in one sentence. The letter was from Tammy May, not Fannie Mae, not Freddie Mac, Tammy May, a single mother of two living in Pennsylvania. This is what he read of her letter to him: "We have to reprioritize. House comes first, then day care, then gasoline, then food." This constituent of Bob Casey's put food last on her list of new priorities. Bob Casey reads this, and obviously what he's trying to do here is milk what's going on out there as a national disaster.

What does he fail to mention? She has a job. This is not an unemployed woman. This is a woman who has a job, but she can't figure out how to live her life on her own so she needs Senator Casey and the Democrats to figure it out for her. Well, she's figured it out, but she wants them to make her do it, which is even sadder, when you get right down to it. When you prioritize things, just think about this. If you were going to write Senator Bob Casey a letter and tell him that we need to reprioritize things in life, where would you put food?

Rush continued to laugh at a woman who's obviously not only poor but too stupid to know what order things come in.

But Rush Limbaugh, sweating about his gold-thread codpiece, is a bit blind to the way the world works. So here it is for you, Rush, you ignorant slut:

1. House - If you don't have a house, you don't have shelter, or an address. Without an address it is relatively difficult to get a job of any sort, which you so graciously point out as though it were a big deal that Tammy May is not unemployed.
2. Day care - Unlike the nanny that you have keeping an eye on the 11 year old male prostitute from the Dominican Republic, real people need to find real solutions to avoid negligence of children. If Tammy May wants to hold a 9-5 job, she needs to pay someone, probably a good piece of her income, to watch her children while she works.
3. Gas - Although it doesn't affect you, dick, gas is a very real issue for real people. If Tammy May can't afford or continue to afford to purchase gas, she cannot drive her kids to day care, cannot drive to her job, and will lose one, perhaps eventually both because she cannot afford...
4. Food - 1, 2, and 3 are necessities to keeping a roof over her head and a job. Without those things, food is moot.

Rush, you foul your mouth and get worked up about the welfare state and here we have a prime example of a woman, busting her ass, playing by the rules, stretched and writing a letter to her representative to say "hey, just so you're aware, it's fucking tough out here." And Rush laughs, because he's ignorant and he's an asshole. If there was one single example of the character he lacks, this is it.

Sean Tevis for State Rep in Kansas

If you haven't heard, Sean Tevis, an information architect and fan of XKCD is running for State Representative in Kansas. For good reason.



"No candidate for state representative in Kansas has ever had more than 644 donors."

As of this post, Sean has received 4,662 donations, which is more than 7 times the record.

This is not just activism, it is responsibilitism, not affecting the outcome from outside, but stepping inside to be the change. Thank God for Sean Tevis.

Be a part of history for less than $10.

Peter Murphy - A Strange Kind of Love

I have a very broad taste when it comes to music and film, but there are few artists that I absolutely revere. Movies example: Gary Oldman (Beethoven, Dracula, pimp, Dimmesdale, Zorg, Sirius...).

When it comes to music, there is one that few can match: Peter Murphy. Enjoy.