Drudge's 12th jumped shark this week

Come one, Come all

I'm hosting a public meeting
to view a live online event with Barack Obama


click here to attend

This guy's not gonna last

Gates calls for Guantanamo closure

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush should work together to allow the U.S. to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

What does it mean when the US Secretary of Defense has to "call" for this to happen? Just how much daylight is there between him and his boss? (link goes to AP story on CNN)

Bad response attack ad! Bad!Go to your room!

It seems somebody put together a response to the Hillary 1984 ad.

It is bad; eye-gougingly, jaw-droppingly, brain-melting bad. Here are a couple of shots.

Consider the contrast:

This Week's Photo

Our world today as seen from West 17th st, New York.

Political Ouroboros

Try not to let your tongue dry out as you stare agape at these words from Tom DeLay's new product-sold-in-book-form (article written by what appears to be the first-person-to-post-it-online-but-who-knows). Link goes to other words of wisdom from Mr. DeLay.

“I believe it was Adolf Hitler who first acknowledged that the big lie is more effective than the little lie, because the big lie is so audacious, such an astonishing immorality, that people have a hard time believing anyone would say it if it wasn’t true. You know, the big lie — like the Holocaust never happened or dark-skinned people are less intelligent than light-skinned people. Well, by charging this big lie” — that DeLay violated campaign-finance laws in Texas — “liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler.”

-- Tom DeLay, with his own head coming out of his mouth

Neighborhood Obama '08 Meeting

Tonight was the first organizational meeting of the Fort Green / Clinton Hill Obama '08 group. We're also looking forward to the live webcast this saturday (they have all been invited to my house to watch).

It was held at a real hip bar called Sputnik in Clinton Hill. They've told us we're welcome to use the space any time we want so I'm sure we'lll be back

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My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The '80s were about acquiring -- acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.

-- Lee Atwater, speaking to Tony Snow

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I think this is an odd choice of imagery

(link goes to site)

Help Al Franken buy a Pizza

Al Franken is running for the Senate in Minnesota. Even if you live elsewhere please remember we can use as many progressives in congress as possible (is there such a thing as interstate sedition?)

The Church of Google

(link goes to church's site)

Merle Haggard on his song about Hillary Clinton

"I'm not necessarily a Hillary supporter," Haggard told the Colorado Springs Gazette. "I just think she has a real chance of winning. And I think that experience (in the White House) -- there's nobody can compare. I mean, she knows whether or not there's aliens in Area 51."

(click for link to full story w/ lyrics)

What I did today

I actually printed up flyers announcing the neighborhood Obama '08 meeting on Tuesday.

HTC X7500

Everybody is reporting on this thing today. Pretty good, but the more things like it that come out the more obvious it becomes that "ultra-portable computers" are going through.... what is the opposite of growing pains? Shrinking pangs? It's too small to be as useful as a laptop and too big to be as portable as a PDA phone

(and this one doesn't even run the full version of Windows as the very neat OQO 2 does)

How about a form factor design that allows the screen to fold in half (on a hinge that will minimize the "join" when open) as well as the keyboard, so when closed it is one-fourth the area of the opened device?

It has been proven that people will buy a PDA phone that is MUCH larger than a just-a-phone because then they don't have to carry two devices. If we take that as a size goal (~ 6" x 3" x 1" when closed) the above design, when opened, would result in a mini-laptop computer with a screen area of 6"x6" and a keyboard that is 12"x3" (or 12"x6" if it can be made thin enough for an extra fold). The folding would be arranged in such a way that one of the two screen panels would face outwards when closed and then function as a traditional PDA.

I'm telling you, there's gold here.

Vote Smart

This site allows you to look up who your congressional (Senate & House) reps are and what vote they gave to all bills that came up during their terms. Know who represents you! This is particularly important during the primaries, when one can get rid of a bad apple without having to throw out the baby (Party) with the bathwater (unfortunately it does not always work).

America's Concentration Camp

Excellent photo essay (with audio commentary) about the concentration camp in Guantanamo.

The day will soon come when saying "Bush is as bad as Hitler" won't result in an automatic Godwin Disqualification.

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No, you haven't actually seen everything yet. Keep trying.

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And:
Question #1: Do your products smell?

This is by far the most asked question we receive! Our products do not smell at all...not like poo anyways! Our products smell like normal stationery type products although we have been experiementing with adding some nice aromas to our poo papers. We've had requests from cinnamon, lemon and coffee scented papers......we're working in this!!!!!

Our products don't smell because we allow the fresh elephant poo poo to completely dry up first then we thoroughly rinse and wash the elephant dung and all we're really left with are the fibres from the vegetation that the elephant didn't digest. That stuff doesn't stink!

Never Forget

The 2-month anniversary of the events related to 1/31 is fast approaching. How will you mark the day?

FELANK, Inc.

Listen to the 11:30 -> 17:40 segment.

I tried to do this in the late 90s with "gear", as in "The Beatles are gear" but it didn't take off.

Stunt CEOs

In recent years we have become used to "stunt CEOs" who make headlines for their companies through shock behavior and, paradoxically for the traditional role of the CEO, thus enhance the brands they steer through this inappropriate behavior.

But this guy is just ridiculous:
(the underwear is indeed very soft, however; and this one item comes in 30 freakin' colors; can you say "fetish clothing" ?)

I got glasses today

They're just for reading.

I decided to get my vision tested when, recently, after being up for 36 hours I could not read the menu at a restaurant, even holding it at arm's length. I blamed it on it being dark. The maitre d' (who's a bit of a jackass which is part of why we keep going there) wordlessly handed me his pair. The first words out of my mouth were "I CAN SEE!"; honest surprise at the notion that I would need prosthetics of any sort.

It's not that big a deal (although it makes a huge difference when working with things up-close). While I will miss the larger field of vision I'm sure I will annoy fewer people in the subway by being able to hold my book closer than 14" to my face.

We're taking suggestions on an over/under for how many days before I lose / break them (although I've done pretty well with a $10 pair of sunglasses I bought at Rite Aid last year; maybe I'm ready for that pet rock after all ...)

Photo Gallery

I've uploaded some of the more "frameable" photos I've taken over the last couple of years.

It would be nice to know which ones are people's favorites.

Kucinich: "Is it time to impeach?"

Dennis Kucinich would like to know your opinion on whether it is now time to begin impeachment proceedings against the administration. Link goes to his video presentation and public forum where you may express yourself.


(I personally think this is a wonderful time to bring back the <BLINK></BLINK> tags and stick a big fat "YES" in them.)

Barack Obama rally in Oakland

A picture that speaks for itself

(link goes to news story)

Hello to John Hodgman....

... whose book I'm enjoying these days.

Iraq / U.S. Civil War Countdown Clock

The congressional vote on the surge may have come and gone (or did it?) but it's still worth linking to this. The deadline is coming soon....

follow me

Ad Nauseam

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Remind you of somebody?

This was part of a report prepared by the Office of Strategic Services (proto-CIA) during WWII as a personality / psychological profile of Adolf Hitler.

Barack Obama | NYC March 9 '07 fundraiser

I went to the March 9 fund raising event for Barack Obama in New York.

I had made some laser-printer signs to hold up in case there was an opportunity to have my picture taken with Mr. Obama. I actually had this idea where he and I would hold up one of the signs together -- his choice of which one. As it turned out the cattle call of $100 donors was more akin to a Led Zeppelin concert ca. '72 than something even as impersonal as a royal receiving line.

Still, the sentiments endure. We're open to an over/under for when the back of this idealism will be broken.

Today? Today was a good day.