Linkiddy doo dah

And here is yet another hodgepodge from the past week...

• Bottled water. How do you feel about it? Ripped off? Misled? You should. We got some stainless water bottles earlier this year and they are wonderful -- the openings are big enough to add ice, there are no BPAs in the water we drink, there is no waste for the landfill, and they fit in the bike drink holders. We took them with us on our road trip last month and had no trouble refilling them with ice and cold water at gas stations along the way, and, thanks to our cozies and the added ice, it was so nice to have water that stayed cold for hours after a rest stop.

• This may come as a shock to some, but not all low-income housing has to be ugly.

• Anonymous hugging!

• This remembrance from Pam Spaulding (apparently my brother's classmate at Stuyvesant!) is the best post I've seen since Frank McCourt died last week.

• Abraham & Issac retold.

• I admit that I haven't been consuming much media lately (comcast recently cut us down to just a few worthless channels), but I'm still surprised that since the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. story broke, I haven't heard a single person mention the movie Amos and Andrew.

• On health care: we could be doing a LOT better than we are -- certainly better than BCBS is doing (which is maybe the RNC chair's insurance company -- he's not sure, but he's still trying to kill any chance at reform). Why are some of our representatives dragging their feet? Other systems work. Lewis Black shares some thoughts. And so does Bill Maher (best one ever?).

• I've said it before many, many times, but it bears repeating over and over and over again: the only thing abstinence-only education produces is really freakin' stupid teenagers.

• For the record: calorie labeling is a positive thing. As with many things (including sex -- see above), ignorance can be toxic.

• Here's a shocker: the C-Street Cult (oh, Zach!) story shows no sign of slowing down! Why is disgraced Senator Ensign giving Zach Wamp money? Apparently, it's a secret! Unfortunately, in other marriage defender/marriage non-honorer news (AKA republican sexual hypocrites), Tennessee still picks the winners.

• Jimmy Carter is challenging the Southern Baptist Convention's sexism -- but is he making any sense?

• Pat Buchanan: Why do you keep talking? You're making Lou Dobbs look good. Even Rachel, who often refers to you as "Uncle Pat," thinks you're a misinformed douche.

• Today was Sarah Palin's last day. Top Ten observes the occasion.

• Lastly, this just leaves me gasping for air. And Jimmy Carter thought the Baptists were bad! Ha!

• And finally, I posted this on facebook about a week back, but if you missed it there, you might enjoy it here. I apologize to everyone who attended my wedding, because it wasn't this cool. Neither was any wedding I've ever attended. The bar has been raised.

UPDATE:

Lots of links you might have missed!

It's been a while and these things do pile up...

• How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck -- this is an interesting chart. We're by no means average (we've never carried a car loan, for one thing, and we probably spend more on food and alcohol, even though we don't eat out much), but the proportions seem to be generally true.

• Have you tried goofram yet? It's a combination of google and wolfram|alpha.

• Think you're a geek? Have you mastered the essential skills?

• The Young Republicans have elected an Aryan as their leader.

• Barney Frank visited the Daily Show last week.

• Just how rich is Fitzwilliam Darcy? (Here's an interesting bit of trivia: Pride and Prejudice is not only my favorite novel, it's also the first book I ever read aloud to Emmie -- starting when she was about a week old.) And speaking of Jane Austen, today is the anniversary of her death.

• How's your sense of pitch? (I scored a 26 out of 26 -- which, if you've ever heard me sing, you know must mean that I hear pitch perfectly -- I just can't produce it that way.)

• White Men Can't Judge.

• Local coverage of Zach Wamp's psooper psekret christian adultery cult (read about yet another C Street philanderer here -- and here!).

• You Suck at Craig's List is pretty funny (via Joe. My. God.).

• Badass of the Week, featuring Blenda, the Viking Heroine!

• Rick Perry is apparently rethinking that whole Texas-as-a-country thing (seriously -- who voted for this guy?).

• If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef, you better go soon.

• Can someone find Glenn Beck a nice small room with soft walls and a good therapist?

• ... and speaking of health care (that's what set Beck off)... Glenn doesn't have it quite right when it comes to France's system. The current American system is fine until you get sick, but will the next one be any better?

• This can't be said enough times: the only thing abstinence-only "education" produces is unbelievably stupid kids.

• I loves me some Usain Bolt footage. He makes all the other best runners in the world look like my grandma.

• Understanding our economy.

• Drunk people doing yoga.

• And finally, Pat Buchanan: he really stepped in it this week -- even more than usual!

Video Roundup!

Here's what I've collected since the last time I did a video dump. Sorry some of it may be a bit dated. So much creativity is flowing out there these days, and I haven't been able to do a roundup in a while!

The Daily Show: The Drill Pickle, Hannity and Palin, Bill Clinton, Around the World in a Day, McCain Suspends Campaign, Bob Schieffer, Bush & the Economy, Florida Focus Group, World War I, Kill Bill, Gams and Gammer, Bailout Bill Passes, Common Man-Off, Nate Silver, The Stupid Vote, Sarah Vowell goes back to the 30s to be reassured, World War II, Michelle Obama

Real Time: New Rules (Levi Johnston), Bush in Drag, New Rules (Ebony and Irony), New Rules (Preach Around)

The Young Turks: McCain and Spain, Debate I Wrapup

The Late Show: Bill Clinton, Chris Rock, John McCain, McCain: Take Two, Brian Williams

Sarah Silverman: The Great Schlep

The Colbert Report: Colbert Suspends His Show, Teen Talk Voter Abstinence

SNL: Couric & Palin, VP Debate

Penn & Teller: The Bible

No Original Content

This is so good, I'm just going to quote it in its entirety. Enjoy!

Check it out!

Via my sister-in-law, IMPALIN’ — Americans Against Sarah Palin for VP. There's a poll running on the site now:

Which of the following issues will turn off moderates and women from Sarah Palin?

• Her anti-choice stance, even in the event of rape or incest.
• Her belief that evolution is bogus and should not be taught in schools.
• Her belief in abstinence-only sex education...
• Her belief that humans have absolutely nothing to do with global warming.
• Her belief in banning books from local libraries.
• Her belief that our mission in Iraq is mandated as per God's will.

Yikes!

Family Values

Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is five months pregnant. She's still in high school and the families plan for the baby's parents to marry.

Let's go over this one more time: abstinence-only education does. not. work. Peddling ignorance only makes stupid people.

Now, I personally don't think there's anything wrong with an unmarried person having a baby. I do think there's something wrong with a teenager having a baby, but only because it makes getting a good education more complicated. The Republican party, on the other hand, along with christian conservatives, doesn't have such a live-and-let-live attitude -- unless, of course, it's their children who are having sex outside of marriage (or their candidates who are leaving their wives because they are crippled and then marrying a rich young trollop before the divorce with the first wife is final).

John McCain/Palin: the hypocrite ticket.

Buh-bye, Curtis!

Curtis Adams has resigned as East Ridge city manager.

Catching Up...

I've got some links lying around in my rss reader. Some of them are a little dated (going back a week or so), but they're all worth sharing.

• Looking for a way to beat higher grocery prices? Ever considered Community-Supported Agriculture? There are quite a few CSA Farms in Tennessee. Surely, we've all had enough of the failed global food system.
• Here's a great interview with Rachel Maddow, #50 on the Telegraph's 50 most influential US political pundits list (and, of course, my favorite pundit).
• And once again -- and I can't believe there is anyone left who is still willing to peddle this crap (but unfortunately, the group includes the idiots and misogynists currently running the show in DC) -- the evidence continues to show that abstinence-only education DOESN'T WORK:

  Programs teaching U.S. schoolchildren to abstain from sex have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins. [...] Vast sums of federal monies continue to be directed toward these programs. And, in fact, there is evidence to suggest that some of these programs are even harmful and have negative consequences by not providing adequate information for those teens who do become sexually active.

Last Night's Debate

I watched it and was bored -- few questions about policy and too many about the silliness of the season. How is that supposed to help Pennsylvania voters make a wise decision about their vote? If ABC was trying to convince me that they have a serious news organization, they failed miserably, since George and Charlie didn't seem to dig beyond Drudge when coming up with questions.

As it turns out, few people think it qualified as much more than the worst debate in a long series of parleys:

• Fire Dog Lake: Democratic Debate Wrap-up
• Ice Station Tango: Reaction to Democratic Debate
• Lots of stuff from Uggabugga: ABC's handling of the debate, What a bunch of shitheads, One observation..., The reason..., Josh Marshall..., How about this question?, Stephanopoulos should lose his job, Words spoken
• AmericaBlog: Disastrous debate reprise
and Does ABC love America as much as you?
• Crooks & Liars: The reviews are in and Uh Oh...
• Daily Kos: Embarrassing and The Collapse Of The National Press
• Oliver Willis: ABC's Hannitized Debate
• One Good Move: The Debate
• Pam's House Blend: I did laundry... and Live from Rove Junior High School
• Pensito Review: Stephanoopoulos grilled...
• Scholars & Rogues: ABC Sinks...

UPDATES: Does giving up a college deferment and six years on active duty count as loving one's country?

A shameful night for the U.S. media

Ignorance Never Works

How many times does abstinence-only "education" have to be debunked before conservatives (like Daddy Dobson) finally stop pushing ignorance?

A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.

The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.

UPDATE: Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Does Not Work:

Stoking the fire, a study published in the April edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received abstinence-only education. The study also found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received no sex education at all.

"I do think that there's strong evidence that comprehensive sex education is more effective at preventing teen pregnancies," said Pamela Kohler, lead author of the study and program manager at the University of Washington's Center for AIDS and STD. "I think we pretty much debunked the myth that comprehensive sex education causes teenagers to have sex."

More Mail from the AFA

Here's another missive from the AFA that turned up in my email this past week (the last one wasn't quite as bad). Since it's rather alarming in its appearance and absolutely disgusting in its rhetoric, I'm going to put it after the jump.

NH Debates Are On Now

I don't know what all the dorks are doing tonight, but the cool people are watching TV!   ;-D   These are great debates (I'm not blogging it, but here are Joe's takes on the Republican* and Democrat** segments). The candidates are getting to roll up their sleeves and have it out somewhat, which is really cool to watch after so many stilted forums where candidates are not allowed to interact with each other. The Republicans are just finishing up, but you still have time to catch the Democrats, who will follow. They're on ABC, which in Chattanooga, is channel 10.

UPDATE: let's go to the videos! WMUR; C&L: Rep ~ Dem; WaPo
Transcripts: Republicans ~ Democrats

Here are a few thoughts just as the debates end... These were definitely the best debates of the campaign so far. In general, I think the Democrats were quite a bit more cordial then the Republicans, while still hashing out some important issues. Hillary probably didn't take it home like she needed to, while Obama was relaxed and presidential. Edwards also had a great night, while Richardson was quick and landed a number of laugh lines. All four of these candidates are impressive, but I think Obama and Edwards came out on top. On the Republican side, things are much more muddled. They were a lot more negative and argumentative, and I don't think Romney coped very well. At the same time, Huckabee didn't dazzle me, so I think maybe it was McCain's night. Giuliani and Thompson just didn't connect at all, and I thought Thompson was kind of ugly to Ron Paul at one point -- practically rolling his eyes at some of Paul's ideas.

(btw, it occurred to me as I was tuning into ABC as the debates were about to begin that this is the first time I've watched something on this network since back before the '06 election, when they aired that ridiculous propaganda film. I guess I know how to make a fit of pique last, huh?) ;-)

*Joe's best line of the night: "These Republicans keep talking about securing the borders. George Bush has been president for almost eight years. How come Bush and his GOP controlled Congress never secured the border?" DOOP!

**Joe's best line of the night: "Gotta say, this terrorism question should be T-ball for these guys. You know why we didn't get OBL? Bush and Iraq." DOOP!

Parting Shots

Here are a few (very random) links for the last day of the year...

Who is the most honest man in news?

The battle behind the Hollywood writers' strike is a story we've heard before: even though big business makes its money off the creative talents of the little guy, they still want to cut him out of the deal. But maybe this time the artists will break new ground. The world's musicians are starting to realize that they don't need the greedy bastards at the RIAA. Perhaps the writers will find out they can still make livings without without the studio fat cats.

Speaking of the RIAA, guess what? They're still evil. And they think we're stupid.

Do you have any idea how the amount you spend on food compares to other world families?

What's a New Year without a bunch of lists? Here's just one: 2007 Dickheads of the Year.

While we're reviewing the year, we have to give a nod to the iPhone. Unfortunately, we also have to recognize that this was the year when Apple lost its white hat.

The iPhone altered our calculus of concern. By illustrating the possibilities of the mobile Web, the phone cast wireless networks as ground zero in the battle for computing freedom.

Ironically, Apple itself wound up on the wrong side of the fight.

It's not as though everyone didn't already know that abstinence-only education doesn't work, but now the failed movement has it's own pathetic poster child. Can we please start handing out condoms, along with knowledge, in middle schools now? Seriously, what harm would it do?

And of course, let's not forget those we've lost, including Benazir Bhutto.

And consider this: if George W. Bush had done his job -- the one the Supreme Court appointed him to do -- instead of diddling around in Iraq, how would the world be a different place now?

By the end of this year, Bush's occupation of Iraq will have lasted 4 years, 9 months, and 14 days. Think about that when you go to vote in your state's primary or caucus, and please, don't vote for the a guy you could drink with -- this time, vote for the smart guy. Incompetence gets really old very quickly.

More Juxtaposition

The news of yet another Spears baby is probably going to be the big story in the gossip rags this week. In a (depressing) case of synchronicity, I heard the news just after this article -- which is quoted after the jump -- found its way into my inbox.
(image via americablog)

Your Share of Bush's Folly

Let's look at the numbers.

The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and anti terrorist efforts abroad could cost the country $2.4 trillion over the next ten years, according to a report Wednesday.

The money, over 70 percent of which would go to support operations in Iraq, includes the estimated $600 billion spent since 2001, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said in testimony before the House Budget Committee. That estimate includes projected interest, since the government is borrowing most of the funds required.

OK, let's give Bush credit for what he got right. Even a good president would have sent troops into Afghanistan. However, a good president would have gone in, gotten the job done and then gotten out, so we probably wouldn't still be there. But, since Bush is used to having everything given to him instead of earned, we'll go ahead and take 30% off the top.

$2,400,000,000,000 x 30% = 72,000,000
$2,400,000,000,000 - $72,000,000,000 = $1,680,000,000,000

So the current United States population is 303,026,362.

Let's see how that breaks down, to find out what each individual owes -- my portion, your portion, your kid's portion, your grandmother's portion:

$1,680,000,000,000 ÷ 303,026,362 = $5,544.07

$5,544.07. That means my family of three is into this stupid endeavor for $16,632.21. I don't know about you, but I can think of some really cool stuff I could have done with that kind of cash.

So, where are you going to come up with that money? More importantly, where are your kids going to get it? They're ultimately going to be the ones who have to pay this bill. Maybe you better up your contribution to their savings accounts...

The Week Ahead, and Freddie on Abortion

Well, here's what I've found to read this weekend (which didn't involve too much time spent reading as Crabtree Farms had their fall plant sale, so I spent most of Saturday out in the yard, playing in the dirt).

Extensive reports from the people on the ground in Iraq and on the people playing politics in DC give us some sense of where we are as Bush's promised moment of reckoning approaches.

And in related news (at least in that it involves a presidential candidate), it turns out that Freddie Thompson can't decide whether or not abortion should be considered a crime.

In the news...

Two years ago today, we lost a US city, and were reminded of why people who do not believe in government (and aren't gay! Really! They're NOT gay!) should not be allowed to run our government.

Also, President AWOL McFlightsuit wants to flush another $50 billion into the hands of Dick (who apparently sometimes calls himself "Philip Atkinson") Cheney and his friends at at Halliburton (these are the people who tell us we have nothing to fear but absolutely everything).

And then there's this:

[N]ew census figures that show the number of people without health insurance increased by 2.2 million in 2006 to a grand total of 47 million. In terms of the overall population, 15.8 percent of people lacked insurance, which is the highest level since 1998. At a time when President Bush is in a fight with Congress over health insurance for children, the LAT points out the number of uninsured children grew by 600,000.

Folks, we can't wait. This lame duck is a greater disaster for this country with every passing day. Men, women and children continue to be killed and permanently maimed and the draft-dodging Decider refuses to do anything to stop it.

Impeach.

ps. Dear Democrats: I'm still waiting for you to do something. Anything!

Graduation Turned Ugly

UMass managed to turn their graduation ceremony into a circus on Friday, by giving an honorary degree to one of the architects of the worst strategic blunder in the history of our nation. Check out the video here (via ODub).

UPDATE: More here!

Ouch!

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

May 1, 2003

Why does anyone believe any of the BS coming out of this administration anymore? The dishonesty, incompetence and corruption are hard enough to comprehend, along with the complicity of our press, but what really blows me away is that so few people seem to care.

UPDATE: Well, well, well! How ironic is it that Bush vetoed a war spending bill today because he can't bring himself to end his precious war of choice, which he implied was over when he declared "mission accomplished," four years ago?