Thursday, April 28, 2011

I Bet He Plays With Passion Too

Peyton Hillis's bruising style got him on the cover of Madden '12 - I'd almost forgotten how excited America gets over a white skill player besides at quarterback. (In fairness, he did rush for over 1,000 yards with the Browns. Even Jamaal Charles would've been hard pressed to achieve this.)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Official Release Party!!!

Following much pressure from attention-crazed media whores, the state of Hawaii has officially released Obama's long-form birth certificate (something, btw, it does not do as a matter of standard protocol - even for Presidents). Validating much suspicion from the aforementioned whores, the certificate, while confirming the man is a US citizen, also states that he is a Muslim. Congratulations to those who held strong through everything, never shying away in the face of minimal media criticism. And a special thanks goes out to all those who provided a national platform for the incendiary accusations over the past three years; CNN, Fox, et. al.: we couldn't have done it without you.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

If I Ran Politics

I'd make all the liberals and socialists take an economics class, so that they understood the impacts policies have.

Then I'd make conservatives and libertarians take a behavioral economics class, so that they understood the need for policy impacts.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Search for Courage in D.C. Continues

The media is shooting its load all over the House dissent over the continuing resolution vote. The Times, Huffpo, Drudge, Politico, et. al. can't print enough stories about how Boehner needed Dem votes to pass the continuing resolution. The Teabagger Representatives opposed the deal on the principle that there simply weren't enough cuts embedded in the 11th hour deal.

The experiment we'll never get to run is how these legislators would have voted if their votes mattered. What if the House Dems didn't care about the White House and acted as a true opposition, refusing to vote with Boehner? What if the vote was tied 217-217, and one more Representative was required for that final vote? How many Representatives would have still opposed the Continuing Resolution on principle and truly been willing to shut down the government? (Side question: how many actually appreciate what this would mean?) You have to think some of these Congressmen would have abandoned their stance in order to prevent such a scenario.

Courage is defined by the beholder. Some would consider courage being willing to stand on principle, even if it means shutting down the feds and the economic destruction this would entail. Others would consider this idiocy, and define courage as willing to compromise in the face of radical political pressures. The ability to change one's vote means that there can never be a situation wherein only one person dictates the outcome by their vote, so this remains a theoretical game. It's still an interesting one to play.

And for the record, Paul Ryan is not courageous. Smart guy? Sure. Good guy? Yeah - Paul Ryan truly wants to help his country. But courageous? His Road Map wasn't back in 2009, and the only thing I've seen change over the past two years has been Committee Chairmanship.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Double Standards Guide Our Lives

They make me comfortable. I don't know what I would do if society started approaching its issues in a cerebral and fair manner. An interesting example is found in how we approach religious texts. In discussing whether or not Islam is a 'violent religion,' talking heads often take the word of the Quran literally. Indeed, Fox News's legion of media whores demand it. Which is why we follow the King James Bible literally as well, and never leave any of its words open to interpretation. I have personally felled many a man with a large stone for mowing his lawn on Sunday. I'm also of the school that Satan planted dinosaur bones in the ground to trick us.

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Yesterday's gchat activity:
Marya's new status message - But District officials are livid about some policy provisions attached to the bill, particularly one that would ban federal and local funding for abortion. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and several members of the City Council led a protest rally Monday on Capitol Hill and were arrested. 9:36 PM
me: Rare are the times in history when men are arrested for protesting the repeal of assistance in terminating human life. Sent at 11:35 AM on Tuesday

If there are any kids reading this, let me learn you some crucial life advice: never, ever, ever get sucked into a discussion about abortion. Zero productive things will come from it. You'd be better off debating religion.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

'Googling's' Still a Funny Word

I was googling myself over lunchbreak today (an activity engaged in about once/week. Yeah, I'm that narcissistic). I found two things of note. The first you don't care about: UM published the energy sustainability report I helped write last year:

Energy Phase I

What's also sweetness is this little diddy:
Apparently Washburn published a picture of the Model UN gang back in 2006 with the caption Members of the Washburn University Model UN Team Jump for Joy in Tiananmen Square. Because nothing screams 'WE SHOULD CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES AT THIS EXACT SPOT!' like Tiananmen Square. And no, white boy can't jump. My air is merely a camera illusion.