Kudos

Kudos indeed to Brian Green who blogged about this video and having watched it I am now also blogging about it. Watch the video and enjoy.

Mah-wedge

Anywho, back to the news. A bishop said that people shouldn't get married in churches until after hey have the civil ceremony to take care of the legal business. I agree because I think that there needs to be a strong separation of church and state. I fully intend to be married in a church, but if I have to go to the courthouse first, that's fine with me. Two benefits: the government won't be considering a constitutional amendment limiting the pursuit of happiness and churches won't have anything to do with legally binding contracts. Just a thought.

Do You Know Jack?

The link goes to a quiz on American history. I got a 76.67%. Please take the quiz and post a comment with your score in it. I think schools need to do more to focus on history. When I was in school I didn't pay very much attention, hence the 76... While I recognize that the last statement would tend towards someone telling me that I should have worked harder to learn what they were teaching me, I also know that I went to high school before NCLB which I would contend has lessened the amount of time spent on teaching history.

Pwned

I don't think I have ever heard David Letterman be angry before. I think it is so cute when old people get bitter and sardonic. It makes me happy inside that David Letterman was giving John McCain a chance to come on the show and talk about himself and when blown off Dave says, "Screw this guy!"

McCain, by the way, was talking to Katie Couric (He likes younger attractive women doesn't he? I guess we could ask his ex-wife).

When the Cover is Funnier than the Cover it's Covering

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert posed for the cover of Entertainment Weekly and held the same pose as the famed picture of Barack and Michelle Obama. It is a delightful parody, or cover in the music business, of an originally upsetting piece. I thought the original picture was quite hilarious because it showed exactly what everyone was afraid of and I think it shows just how ludicrous most attacks on Obama are. It also has the text of the interview that Stewart and Colbert had with EW and I think they give a particularly good insight into why I hate 24-hour news and modern politics. Enjoy!

My Kind of Segment

One of the many things I love about this segment is that it combines international politics with movie clips. Priceless. Also the comment about flowers is rather catchy. Enjoy.

Randy Newman-ia

I know I say a lot of things, especially not on this blog, that go against the leadership of this country. I know I think a lot of things about how it could probably be done differently. This song really spoke to me and made me feel a little bit happier about being American. I hope you feel the same way too.

Blog with No Name

I really liked this video. I love this chick's voice. And the song by Randy Newman is both funny and poignant.

And really, I mean really. I got this in an email and I thought it was hilarious.

If I Did It

O.J. Simpson is on trial again. The video clip that is linked is an SNL sketch discussing the difficulty in finding impartial jurors. Due to the high-media nature of cases like O.J.'s, both his current and his previous cases, he really shouldn't even have a jury trial. He should face a tribunal of some sort of judges who have sworn an oath of impartiality and duty toward the law. I guess the only problem with that would be that were the judges to stay impartial there would actually be justice in the justice system and not politics, and I don't know if our country can handle that.

Queens, Kings, and Prime Ministers

The link goes to the full episode of the Daily Show from September 18. I was going to do just one part, but the whole thing ended up being really good. Please watch it.

Tony Blair is spot on. He does a really good job of explaining his decision-making process and beliefs in world affairs. The reason I made sure I posted the whole episode is because John Stewart does a better job of explaining that the world is far more complicated than Blair allows for and that the current course of action should never have been pursued.

I really can't say anything about Sarah Palin because once I get started it will be like Theo just told me he got a girl pregnant (uh-koo-koo-kajoo). I just hope she realizes that while Miss America gets a crown and rules supreme over... something for one year until someone younger and better-looking comes along, the President does not get a crown (the role was designed to be the opposite of a King) and usually age and looks don't have anything to do with the political process. I think her campaign manager should get her that memo. Aside from looks and youth, she really doesn't have anything to qualify her to be Vice President, except maybe an ability to lie to her electorate, steal from Congress, and make the media feel bad for questioning her leadership. Maybe she did get the memo from her campaign manager...

Humpdy Dumpdy is King of the NYSE

Reinstate the WPA to rejuvinate the economy? That'll never work. We don't allow that kind of Communist bologna to work in this country. When the stock market is falling around us, jobs are leaving, we see an influx of veterans, too many people are on SSI, those kind of conditions are just plain wrong for the government to subsidize work. Especially since our new system of creating public works through shady earmarks works so much more cheaply and effectively. Oh wait. Never mind, this has been Rosanne Rosanna-Danna reporting.

Something About Us - Cover of Daft Punk

This video starts out decently, but it isn't anything special. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but watch the whole thing, it's pretty cool.

Martyrs on Both Sides

Please read the article first.

Thank you. I'm just going to talk about the attacks on the Danes since 2005 when they created the Mohammad cartoons. There are cartoons about Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Joseph Smith but for some reason it's not cool to have a cartoon about the Prophet Mohammad. I understand that their religion says that there shouldn't be any depiction of the person, but I also understand that not everyone in the world is Muslim. And while I also appreciate that not everyone has grown up with the concept of the freedom of speech, I'm Amero-centrist leave me alone.

Now to the real point of the article. During the French, English, and American Revolutions (I know ours was really a war of independence, but I'm going with popular titles to maintain a theme) people fought and died struggling to maintain what they believed to be a God-given right to express whatever they felt without persecution. While most people think that this means no governmental persecution, it actually means no persecution from any source. That's a point that a lot of Americans miss but I'm not going there right now.

I want to know why people now don't feel like it is their duty, and governments don't think it is their right, to die for what they believe in anymore. If Dutch publishers want to put cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, fully recognizing that there will be repercussions, then they should be allowed to. Why is religion the only cause worth dying for? Why is Islam the only side that has martyrs in this fight?

When the people of the world tell terrorists that they aren't afraid of their antics, then suicide bombers stop being martyrs and become something much easier to deal with: criminals.

Look Who's Talking Now

When Barack Obama said that the United States needed to openly talk with Iran he was practically labeled a traitor for daring to offer diplomacy as an option for foreign policy. In the linked article, five former Secretaries of State have come out and said that the United States needs to openly talk with Iran. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think I also said, in my Resolution for Iraqi Peace, that we need to openly talk with Iran. John McCain and George Bush are saying that Iran needs to continue to be left alone and sanctioned for daring to want to join the world by having nuclear energy. I guess John McCain wants there to be nuclear energy more widely used... here. I guess John McCain wants there to be alternative energy sources... here. I guess John McCain wants there to be environmental progress... here. Too bad the rest of the world can't join us...

We're Talking about Cuba Again?

This is probably the only time that I am going to say that John McCain could be an agent for change if he is elected. The tone of the article is that Obama will change relations between the United States and Cuba and that John McCain will not. I buy fully into the John McCain=John McSame campaign, but in this particular matter the point is moot. If Barack Obama is elected his campaign has said that he will change policies to try and improve relations and the general quality of life in Cuba, which sounds really great to Cuban-American voters. If John McCain is elected his campaign has said that it will pretty much stay the way it has been for the last 46 years.
The reason that this is a moot point is that we aren't the only interested parties. I'm not going to discuss all the changes possible if Barack is elected because 'everyone' agrees that change will occur. If John is elected we could see the most important events in foreign policy since the Fall of '62. McCain will not change the policy towards Cuba but Cuba is far different than it used to be. Raul is not his brother and we have yet to see exactly what that means for the island nation but we will see objective identifiable change in the coming months. McCain is also ramping up his oral belligerence towards Russia. I seem to recall Russia being a major ally of Cuba. Since we have already signed up to put a missile defense system in Poland, it wouldn't surprise me greatly if McCain sees missile installments get put in Cuba. Russia can say that they are using the installments as purely defensive in nature and that they are aimed at Central America or northern parts of South America. It worked for us in Poland. If McCain is elected then I foresee Cuba becoming an even bigger supporter of Russia and Communism as well as a bigger antagonist towards the US. If Obama is elected it could go either way depending on which way he wants to go and how well he enacts it and how well it is received.
If we are at all interested in not seeing Russian missiles within range of the entire South and D.C. then we need to proactively remove the trade barrier set up around Cuba. We need to open serious discussions to improve relations between the US and Cuba. We need to address our immigration policy to allow for a new flow of immigrants and also deal with the illegal ons we have now. We need to Work to bring Cuba into NATO before Georgia or the Ukraine, since that move would annoy Russia but not seriously threaten it. We need to dump our pride at our border and remember that we aren't the only country in the world.

Call Now to Get Your Own Loan Giant for Ten Easy Payments of 10 Million Dollars

I'd like to first of all say that I think that the columnist is going a bit overboard. But I won't hold that against her, she makes incredibly valid points. It used to be that you went to a bank to store your money and a brokerage firm to invest it. That now is not true for homeowners.
While 9% doesn't sound like very much, it is one in eleven. Do you know eleven people who are in the process of paying a mortgage? Just think that one of them lost their home before June. On the scale of 44 million people paying mortgages that's massive.
I think it is nice that the columnist says that the market can't fix itself as an excuse for the government to create further regulations to protect consumers from bad business. However, it is not completely true. It would not be pretty to watch most of the home loan companies sink into the ground and millions more lose their homes. It would not be enjoyable to see property values plummet for those fortunate few who already own their home or survive the crash. After the smoke cleared though, the country would still be here. The economy would still be here. The people will still be here. Maybe a good Depression is what we need to fix some of the social ails of the nation. The first generation after the Great Depression is called the Golden Generation, after all.
The great thing about free markets is that while it isn't always pretty or enjoyable it does always work. After a while there would be no home loan companies left, there would be terribly low property values, and there would be a lot of empty houses. Sounds horrible right? Well maybe in that situation someone like me, a white-collar worker who makes more than minimum wage but not so much that buying a house is a plausible goal, might actually be able to afford a house to build a future in. Maybe the next time that millions of people want to buy houses they will know better than to sign any paper that a bank puts in front of them on a house they can't actually afford. Maybe people will learn what some of us have always known: a house is not a right, it is earned through hard work and frugality.

What is the Deal with Vista?

I have to admit, I don't much understand the new line of Microsoft commercials either. It just adds to my delight in using Linux. Parental advisory on the link in the title btw.

Goldilocks is Ukranian?

Ever since the trouble in Georgia that I already wrote about a lot of commentators have said that Ukraine is next. While this seems cliche it is also rather accurate. I think that that is a bit too direct for the chessmaster [Putin] to put into play. He does not want another world war and he certainly doesn't want another Cold War. He is going to continue to use maneuvers that are sneaky and completely legal, well, legal enough to get by with anyway. What many Americans don't understand is that Putin doesn't have to think in terms of four years like our presidents do. He can be making plans five, ten, fifteen years down the road and they will be carried out. Also, he doesn't have to carry them out himself. Bush is a cowboy and wants to make sure that everyone knows what he is up to. Putin is a spy and wants to make sure that as few people as possible know what he's up to. Medvedev is not quite the lapdog that many assume him to be but he is still not the leader of his party or the prime minister or the man in charge. Poland is in far more danger than the Ukraine is right now because they just signed a deal to have our missile defense system installed. While Putin almost certainly won't pull the same military trick he pulled in Georgia (tricks like that only work once, ask Andrew Wiggin), he will use political and economic pressure to make Poland a very unhappy place. The problem with countries that stop practicing major diplomacy is that politicians eventually forget how to use it. Our politicians have, for the most part, forgotten how to dance the dance of international politics. I think this can be evidenced by the statement, "I know how to deal with Russia because I can see it from my house."

Lipstick on Pig Good for Book Sales

Read the story and watch the video, they don't really have anything to do with each other except that they both reference the book 1984. I think the author of the article brings up quite a few good points so I wanted to give it more notice than just sharing it.

Where's Paris

This is the video from SNL last night that had Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton. It would only have been better if Paris Hilton would have been there to mention that the white-haired dude wanted her to run. Please enjoy this video.

I Just Don't Know How to Quit You

Unless I=Pakistan and You=War on Terror. George W. Bush reportedly approved missile strikes within the borders of Pakistan without asking Pakistan (a nuclear ally) if it was ok. Pakistan has done really well so far in at least appearing like they want to help us end terror. Now that Pakistan knows that he has allowed the disrespect of its territorial integrity, it has threatened to quit the War on Terror. I guess the ball is in our court now. A wonderful play by Pakistan. I want to know how much longer our administration can hold onto its hypocrisy and how much longer people will listen to John McCain and Sarah Palin say that we need to continue in the Bush Doctrine. George W. Bush has no more doctrine in his foreign affairs than I have 'game' in picking up women. You can go out and ask many who know me, I simply have no game. If throwing darts at a map and saying, "There are tur-uh-rists there" is not a doctrine; it's a frat game.

No Party For Old Men

John McCain doesn't want Democrats to control the White House and Congress. He hasn't even started talking about picking Justices for the Supreme Court. I can't imagine a world where one party controls all three branches of government. Unless you consider 2000-2006...
But we're not talking about the Republicans, we're talking about Democrats. I happened across an article that showed the number of years each president had Congress with him. It seems that there is a correlation between the number of years that a president's party had control of Congress and how well liked that president is. Since a president can get more done with a strong Congress behind him, it would make sense that usually people would like him; or really hate him...

Women Cooking? Really?

Since I've used two sexist titles today, I think I need to make something clear. I am not a sexist, I use sexism and attacks on feminism in my humor because that's how I deal with stress. I also think that if any movement is going to survive it needs to be able to survive a few jokes. It's great that the hosts of The View bit into John McCain about Sarah Palin. What a wonderful thing that a group of hardcore feminists showed that just picking any old woman isn't enough to get the female vote. I guess grabbing Sarah Palin to get Hillary Clinton's voter base is like grabbing a stale banana to make apple pie.

Can You Believe It?

Booyah. I called it. Oil at $100 before the end of the year. I also said that the NY Times was overzealous in saying it might get as low as $70, but since it's only September, I might be wrong on that. Of course, upon rumors that Georgia (US) ran out of gas, people here started fearing $5 or $6 gas and started running to the pumps. This has now caused shortages here which may, in itself, cause $5 or $6 gas. Irony anyone?

A Bear of a Blog

I apologize in advance. This blog is going to be long. I am going to use the Russia-Georgia conflict as the basis for what our future foreign policy should be.

To begin, America is losing a lot of face with the conflict in Iraq and the semi-depression of the summer. On July 3, President Medvedev of Russia spoke about a conversation he had with Henry Paulson Jr. (our Secretary of the Treasury) and said that the United States 'had other things to worry about' than complaining about Russia's apparent lack of human rights and democracy. This began a string of articles that popped to my attention throughout the summer. In Al-Ahram, a weekly journal out of Egypt similar to Time, there was an article about the diplomacy methods of Joeseph Nye. The thesis raised by this former US assistant secretary of defence and former dean of Harvard University's John Kennedy School of Government is that there is a difference between hard power and soft power, both of those being terms he coined. Hard power is monetary and military force imposed on others and soft power is influencing and inviting others to join a movement or cause, perhaps for monetary or military gain.

Then it happened, on August 8 Russia invaded South Ossetia. Forbes wrote that Russia was showing that Georgia was not a safe point for oil and natural gas. Far more importantly, however, is that Russia showed that it can attack wherever it wants whenever it wants and there isn't much that anybody can do about it. If Nixon knew anything, it's that the only way to fight a nuclear power is with nuclear weapons. That's why Nixon didn't fight Russia. He also didn't use words like terror to describe Russia.

I don't know when everyone boarded the train of forgetfulness, but apparently everyone forgot that in most countries that have Prime Ministers the Prime Minister has most, if not all, of the power. All of a sudden Forbes reported that Putin showed who has the real power in Russia. You don't say. Leader of the only political party, former President, current Prime Minister, former KGB member, the guy who picked the current President, that Vladamir Putin? He has all the power in Russia? I wouldn't have guessed... oh wait, yes I did. Back when I read this article about Putin being the Prime Minister of the Russia-Belarus Alliance. I, in fact, can be quoted by my former room mate, Cecil Hatfield, as saying that if I were Putin I would attack Georgia in my quest to take back the old Soviet Union. That was six weeks before the attack. I know I'm not the smartest guy in the world so I couldn't possibly be the only person that thought of that. I didn't even know that Georgia had oil and gas lines.

Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said that Russia needed to stop Russia's campaign of "targeting of civilians and campaign of terror as well as its destruction of in Georgia's infrastructure." Strong words from a strong man, Captain Insano. That's a quote from The Waterboy. Captain Insano in this particular case is George Bush speaking through his mouthpiece to the UN. This ties in with the first point of this rant, that the United States is hardly in any position to tell other countries that they can't invade another nation. Especially since Russia is saying that Georgia is systematically killing off South Ossetians and Abkhazians. Where else have I heard about a nation invading a foreign land to protect the rights of its citizens and overthrow a genocidal leader? Point made.

Then came the real icing on the cake. Russia removed its troops and recognized the independent governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. With this move it sought to make itself look like a liberator instead of invader and a savior instead of thief. If the United States would have done this in Iraq it would have worked with perfection. Even Sweden's Foreign Minister has called this maneuver a "direct violation of international law."


So how do we move forward? Delicately, to say the least. What the United States needs to recognize is that we are in a post-Soviet era, to quote an article in the Moscow Times. We can not treat the Russians like we did in the Cold War, like many assume John McCain would, and we also can't be too soft with them, like many assume Barack Obama would. We must not try to deal with Russia single-handedly. I hope everyone reading this is sitting down. We must work with China and Iran to let Russia know that they don't have a free ticket to break the rules. This means, of course, that we must be far more friendly to China and Iran. We must return to a position where Europe is steadfast in it's approval of us. We must do more to improve our position with continents like Africa and South America, the ones that are developing and violent. We must redevelop the soft power that we had so that when we need to use hard power, like we could in the case of Russia, we can have a reliable network of support from other nations so that Russia will find itself alone and powerless, which it isn't right now.

The pressure isn't all on us, however. Many are calling for action on Russia's part. Nobody wants another Cold War, not even Vladamir Putin. It has to work more diligently and patiently with us in the light of changing administrations. It has to be more diligent in its use of the UN Security Council in preventing us from doing things it views as undesirable.

Perhaps in the future it would be better if all parties involved didn't do anything rash over something as silly as a flat tire.

Can I Slalom Through Baggage Check?

Finally the TSA is doing something to hurry security. I don't fly as often as other people do, but I recognize patterns pretty quickly. So after the third time of having to remove my shoes and take off my belt and take my laptop out of the bag I don't think I'll ever forget the routine. I wear sandals and athletic shorts to quicken the first two problems and pack less in my laptop bag so that I can quickly remove it and put it back in. It's not that hard to remember where you are and what you are doing. It would be nice if they would stop announcing that the terror alert level has been raised to orange. It's always been orange in airports and always will be.

Capital Bit of Humor

I at first only shared an article from a paper that described which pig Obama was referring to. But this cartoon is great. Please also read the comment underneath it by Robert Mann.

Woman Hush!

The title is derived from the famous 1 Timothy passage that tells women to be quiet. I thought it would be cute to use it in reference to a blog about Sarah Palin's first interview since becoming the VP nominee.

A couple of brief notes:
-It is pronounced nu-kle-er not nu-kyu-ler.
-Muslims are not the only people to strap bombs to themselves.
-Being able to see the eastern coast of Russia does not provide special insight into Moscowan politics.
-Iran is a democracy also.
-The best defense is not a preemptive strike (the old saying goes the best offense is a good defense, not the other way around)
-Not all terrorists are Islamic Extremists.
-Invading allied nations that are nuclear powers is not a good idea; especially when most of the Islamic Extremists that you want to defeat so much actually come from there and are a breath away from taking over and having nukes under their control.
-Ahmedinajed does not want to give terrorists nuclear weapons, he wants to use them himself on Israel, where have you been?

Thank you and good day.

Not at the Mountaintop Yet

Several associates and friends of the late great Martin Luther King, Jr. are working to make a global initiative to end racism and bigotry. This is incredible. One of the organizers of this campaign, who also helped end apartheid in Africa, said that "young people are transcending race." I'd certainly like to think that my generation can learn the lesson that I learned during my tenure at Central State University: color, dress, and language do not translate into intelligence, ability, or drive. Black people are just as good as white people and there are white people who are worse than many of the stereotypes of blacks. People are people, everywhere and always. I've been saying that for years, you can quote me. I think I'm going to close by asking a question posed to me by the Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the Love?" The answer is just a little further in the future, when we finally reach the mountaintop that MLK Jr. saw from 45 years ago.

Quit Talkin' 'Bout My Girl, Man

John McCain's campaign has said that people are unfairly attacking Sarah Palin for her background. He should have known better before nominating her for Vice President. Once someone elevates to the level of national politics all bets are off. There is a very good reason for this. As City Commissioner and later Mayor of Wasilla, Mrs. Palin had a direct effect over 9,500 people. As Governor of Alaska, her 'imminent domain' raised to 663,661 according to the 2005 census. Yes I recognize that imminent domain has nothing to do with direct control of constituencies, but sphere of influence allows for the total realm of influence and governors can reach around a bit (giggity). Back to the point. As Vice President of the United States of America, she would suddenly be the number two voice for 300,000,000 (million) people. Not to say that she can't do the job, she may be exactly the right person for it, but she does deserve the scrutiny. Especially with what we are finding in her background. John McCain should have known what he was getting this woman and her family into, and he should be thanking Obama for not attacking her on her family values since she's attacking him on it.

Pat Buchanan: What happens if Obama loses?

I don't like how much I have been agreeing with Pat Buchanan lately...

Go Home Louie, There's No Family Feud Here

When Obama asked that his family be left off limits everyone thought that he was crazy. People told me that it was stupid for him to say that because family is a part of politics. It's good to know that when the Republicans are staring at a huge scandal, as far as family values goes, Obama is saying that their families should be left alone too. It seems to me that he is saying, "Thank you for leaving us alone, we'll return the courtesy."

This is a Rant

I'm watching a program on C-SPAN about the Republican National Convention, it's not actually the convention because they decided to limit the convention activities because of Gustav (no comment). A woman called in saying that she is displeased that nobody is talking about education. One of the moderators of the program said that education is 'generally in the purview of states and localities what would they be talking about it in a presidential election for?" I would normally agree with this woman emphatically since we live in a system of local control for local schools. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration passed No Child Left Behind which thrust national control into education and therefore making education a national issue. That is, of course, until someone revokes NCLB and allows kids to learn for the sake of learning and not for the right to have federal funding.