All I Ever Wanted

Yes, vacation mode is in full swing, as I leave you tomorrow for a whole week and a day. Internet access from a cruise ship is insanely expensive, so don't expect nothin'.

Perhaps Jazz will post - I'll ask him. One never knows.

I heard that Kucinich has quit the race this morning. I find myself weirdly detached from the primary process. I know who I want to support, and I understand that said candidate will not get the nomination. Somehow I can't make myself pick a new horse, yet. This whole 2-party system is wearing on me.

I'm All About the Middle East

From icanhascheezburger.com:


Why wasn't I reading that every day, already?

author's fun fact: I've actually been swimming in the Sea of Gallilee

Banging My Head Against a Wall

The Mainstream Media Comes Up With an Unoriginal Conclusion

WASHINGTON - A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

...

"Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations — have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq," it said.

I feel like they're slapping us in the face.

Hard.

Weekend Update

Face the who, when, when I what, now?

I had a dinner part Saturday night. I put my pasta dish too close to the broiler when I was trying to crisp the cheese topping and set it on fire.

That's right, this weekend I was a sitcom.

Luckily, it was a very deep, very wet pasta dish, so only the topping was lost. I tell you this, because I know you were worried.

I hear that John Edwards only got 3.75% of the vote in the Nevada primary. What's up with that?

RIP, Bobby Fisher

Chess champion Bobby Fisher has died in Reykjavik, Iceland at the age of 64.
His life in Pictures, from BBC News.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) _ Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius who became a Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and later renounced his American citizenship, has died. He was 64.

Artistic Interpretation

Some people have word-a-day calendars. I have Google's Art of the Day. True, it's all churchy-fied, but art is art, and I can appreciate talent no matter what subject it's using to express itself. Well, if we're talking about drawing and painting talent. If talent chose to express itself by pummeling its fists against my face and body, I probably wouldn't appreciate that.

I've lost the point again. OK, today's art, "Esther With the Decree of Destruction" is a Rembrandt depiction of a scene from the book of Esther:

Mordecai: Esther - the government wants us dead. You're hot, go "persuade" the king to change his mind.

(I'm paraphrasing, there, it's obviously not a direct translation).

So the point is that Esther's supposed to be appealing enough that she can "make supplication unto the king", right? And you're telling me that's what Rembrandt found appealing? Not what I would have expected.

Mac World Live Blogging

Via Gizmodo.

Thin-thin-thin MacBook called the "MacBook Air".

Bizarre.

How Do They Do It?

Seriously, there are bloggers out there that have real jobs and blogging is their hobby, and yet they manage to expound on their political opinions every single darn day.

I'm thinking about getting Visual Studio installed on my new work laptop and when I'll have time to get all my laundry done for my upcoming vacation.

Luckily, I'm going on a cruise from Miami to Jamaica, so I don't have to worry about too much crossover between what I'm packing and what I'm wearing on an every-day basis.

It's hard to think about summer clothes in January!

Douglass Adams once wrote that you can only think about 7 things simultaneously. Blogging on political matters seems to be 9 or 10 on my list right now.

Primary Fantasies

Yesterday I was talking with my trainer about the Iowa primaries. He said that Edwards was wedging himself in between Hillary and Obama. After I stopped dwelling on the fact that he used one first name and one last name, I wondered out loud about whether or not a major scandal about one of the "big 2" would mean victory for Edwards.

My commenters pretty much all think that Edwards stands no chance at all. What if, though, it was a different contest? What if it was Clinton and Edwards? Or Obama and Edwards? How do you think the percentages of support would fall? I think that Edwards could garner more support than Clinton, but I'm not sure about Obama. Maybe.

Think I'm crazy? Doesn't matter, that's the beauty of pointless speculation.

Completely Non-Political Crap

I know someone who I've called friend for years, now.
She annoys me about 80% of the time. I was hanging on for the 20%.
It's not worth it, any more.
Disengaging sucks. I wanted to quietly drift apart, but she's calling me out.

This is a fight I don't want to have. I just want to step backwards into a more distant relationship. She's not a bad person, I just feel that I don't want to be near her and her frenetic energy very often. In fact, I feel like *I'm* the bad person.

Bah.

And The Winner Is...

Pygalgia.

I'm referring, of course, to the "trifecta" game enacted by Jim at skippy the bush kangaroo.

Pygalgia's pick of "Obama, Edwards, Clinton" was right on the money.

I'm personally surprised, but also a bit relieved. I'd rather vote for Edwards or Obama than Clinton. I'd rather vote for Clinton than Huckabee, though. And the truth is, I am in fact slightly fascinated by Clinton. Not as much as Suzette, but a bit.

Too many choices!

Happy New Year

Yup, I was right, I didn't post. I was too busy having a good time away from a keyboard, go figure.

In case anyone was wondering, Ocean City, NJ is a great place to spend New Year's; it was really fun.