Tuesday, September 30, 2008

If I Admit…A Search For Meaningful Ground

If I admit that McCain’s time in the military better suits him to be Commander-In-Chief, will you admit that time spent in an enemy prison camp probably doesn’t give him the best mindset for setting foreign policy?

If I admit that there is a tiny, little part of me that wishes to wrongly ignore all the issues and vote for Obama simply because he’s “the black guy,” will you admit that not voting for him based upon the same reason is at least equally as wrong?

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Here it comes...
Anti-evolution textbook coming to a school near you.

According to Barbara Forrest at the Louisiana Coalition for Science, those lovely people at the Discovery Institute have produced a new textbook, Explore Evolution.

Scientist and writer John Timmer has reviewed the Discovery Institute’s stealth creationist textbook, Explore Evolution, in Ars Technica. Three of EE’s authors are well-known intelligent design (ID) creationists. Stephen C. Meyer is the director of the Discovery Institute’s ID creationist wing, the Center for Science and Culture (CSC). Two of his co-authors are his CSC associates Paul Nelson (a young-earth creationist) and Scott Minnich (a witness for the defense in Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District). The other two, Jonathan Moneymaker and Ralph Seelke, are lesser-known ID supporters.
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Contrary to its misleading title, Explore Evolution is a sustained, error-ridden attack on evolutionary theory. It also contains a section on Michael Behe’s concept of “irreducible complexity.” Both aspects of EE make it very much an intelligent design creationist textbook.
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That would be a good idea for anyone who ever sees this book in the hands of a kid, regardless of the state or location.

Be sure to read the entire article at the Louisiana Coalition for Science or the full review at Ars Technica.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

How to fix a natural disaster

16 die in attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen

I bet Bush wishes he had thought of that 3 years ago.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Quick thought on Ike

More to come later, but I saw this on MSNBC today and just couldn't believe it.

Officials from Texas pressed for equal treatment from federal aid agencies. "I have asked the president and the administration to just treat us as fairly as they treated Louisiana back during Katrina," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "Texans will take care of the rest."
Mr Perry, you really might want to rethink that statement. I hope you haven't put it in writing. If you did, you just fucked the citizens of Galveston and Houston.

If you want help that is a day late and a dollar short, then ask to be treated like Louisiana. If you want an enormous, unreasonable bill from FEMA for a percentage of the money they wasted through ridiculous red tape and bureaucracy, ask to be treated like Louisiana. If you want your citizens to receive help that will endanger their health and welfare, brought to them through no-bid contracts with barely regulated out-of-state contractors, then ask to be treated like Louisiana.

If you want, "Heckuva job, Brownie!" then ask to be treated like Louisiana.

I could go on.

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 11th, 2001 was a gorgeous day...

It really was. It was one of those perfect NYC fall days. Warm enough for short sleeves, but with just a little bit of chill on the morning air that would disappear before noon. Small signals of deepening autumn but without the sense of the impending cold weather.

I was supposed to be at work for 9, but I never got there until 9:15 at the earliest. There was a simple, rational reason to it. It took me 15-20 minutes to make it from Queens to midtown. Since we lived at the last stop in Queens, if I boarded the subway between 8:30 and 9, I would have to wedge myself intothe entire borough of Queens trying to make it to work for 9. If I boarded at 9:01, the train was empty. I was a temp, so it really didn't matter.

I kept NY1, the local news station, on every morning while I was getting ready for work, mostly for weather. As I picked up the remote to turn off the TV, Pat_Kiernan reported that a plane might have hit the World Trade Center. He took a call from a motorist on a cell phone who told him debris was all over the road. Nobody seemed too concerned. I simply thought, "Well that's fucking weird," and went to work.

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Friday, September 5, 2008

This is kind of important
LA SPCA annoucement

Emphasis mine

From the Louisiana SPCA:

The Louisiana SPCA is currently handling animal emergency and animal rescue calls ONLY. To report an animal emergency or an animal needing rescue please contact the Louisiana SPCA at 504-368-5191 ext. 100 or contact the Louisiana SPCA by email at info@la-spca.org. Because the shelter is located in Algiers, which is still impacted by power outages, the Louisiana SPCA is currently not open to the public but we will resume our regular operations as soon as possible.

The LA/SPCA is also alerting New Orleans residents that several unauthorized animal groups have entered New Orleans to go onto citizens’ properties to remove animals, presenting themselves as animal rescuers. Please be aware that the Louisiana SPCA is the only organization in Orleans Parish authorized to respond to animal rescue calls and to respond to animal emergencies.

If you see anyone entering your or your neighbor’s property that is not with the Louisiana SPCA and are attempting to remove an animal from its property it should be immediately reported to the police. Please check the LA/SPCA website at www.la-spca.org for continual updates.
Props to Best of New Orleans Blog (aka Gambit) for the heads-up.

Everything is fine

For me, anyway. Still trying to get everything up and running. Probably just in time to take it all down again for Ike. Fuck me.

This is the price one pays for living in the most interesting city in the nation.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

I Don't See A Flag Pin

Um, okay, Repubs might finally have something here with this VP pick.