i can makes pawlisee?

the transformative power of technology over politics, as demonstrated by one simple link.

The best, most comprehensive plan for change in our country will include your ideas and your feedback. America needs a president with a mandate from the people, and everyone deserves a voice in shaping our next president's agenda.

Take a moment to share your ideas. Over the coming months the best ideas will be featured and incorporated into the campaign's policy proposals. Be as broad or specific as you want.

that's right, you can submit your policy ideas to barack obama in between checking your email and logging onto youporn.

i suggested liberalizing copyright law and decriminalizing file sharing.

a friend of mine suggested, simply, "legalize it."

point is, you have a direct channel to suggest policy to the dude, and that's an amazing thing.

ok, now where's our damn jetpacks?

sci/tech geeks, ready your massive erections. the tech world coming to solve all of our problems:

item the first - an inflatable electric car that can drive 2500 miles on a single charge. let's hope this is legit. apparently it's under $10k, is shipped to you for you to assemble, ikea-style, and is made out of airbags. yes, airbags. major drunk-driving fuckups could be a thing of the past, as this thing can apparently drive off a cliff unharmed, or float instead of sink in floods.

item the second - scientists have figured out how to make shit levitate. seriously. small stuff, yeah, but it's fucking LEVITATING. "Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate. But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person."

the power of these two technological advances combined could seriously rework our transportation infrastructure in a matter of a couple decades.

more importantly, bumper cars in the future are going to be sweet.

obama hires old priest, young priest

that's right, it's exorcism time! now that barack obama is the democratic party's god-king, he is wasting no time exorcising some of their demons:

"...the DNC will no longer accept donations from lobbyists and political action committees, to comply with Obama's campaign policy. Party officials say they expect the DNC's staff to quickly expand to run an aggressive general election campaign."

...

"The move indicates Obama will press his case that Republican rival John McCain is under the influence of special interests because of his advisers' lobbying ties."

something tells me that that's an amazing idea in a time when all these rich bastards are paying off the government to dick over the little guy. poor old johnny mac. you have got a long march ahead of you to november, old man.

i came, i saw, aipac

the pundits talk all the time about social security and medicare being untouchable 'third rails' of american politics. politicians risk full-on career suicide by even attempting to fuck with these golden calves. while he never had much of an agenda of any kind to begin with, the wheels completely came off of bush's attempt at a second-term domestic agenda when he tried to partially privatize social security (while i don't know if i agree with the specifics of his policy decisions, fuck social security. it's broken. if i'm gonna pay for my parents to stay fed when they're old, i might as well do it without the gubmint getting involved.)

however, social security is a pretty weak third rail when compared to our continued defense of the state of israel. obama has recently recently taking a lot of heat for not unequivocally supporting israel's inherent 'rightness' in the middle east struggle - along with all of the interesting religious and social connotations that accompany that claim. from a march 19 article in politico:

Obama “fails to understand the totalitarian politics and sensibilities of the folks over there, who are not well meaning,” said E.J. Kessler, a New York Post editor who’s a longtime observer of American-Jewish politics. “His approach will appeal to a lot of lefty Jews, but it won’t appeal to the serious players,” she said, referring to the better-organized and better funded groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Council, AIPAC, at whose conference Obama put in an appearance earlier this month.

in the previous week, both obama and mccain have gone to speak to the very same aipac, which is the largest non-partisan lobbying group for the israeli cause. in a move that straddles the line between rhetorical juggling and an ideological about-face, obama reassured continued unequivocal support of the jewish state:

When McCain addressed the AIPAC group Tuesday, he ridiculed Obama for suggesting he would sit down with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. McCain said such a session would gain little "except an earful of anti-Semitic rants and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds about starting another."

Obama said Wednesday there is no greater threat to Israel than Iran, which "supports violent extremists" and "pursues a nuclear capability that could spark a dangerous arms race." All those threats were known in 2002, he said, yet the Bush administration "ignored it and instead invaded and occupied Iraq."

he continued in his speech (full text available here):

I have been proud to be a part of a strong, bi-partisan consensus that has stood by Israel in the face of all threats. That is a commitment that both John McCain and I share, because support for Israel in this country goes beyond party. But part of our commitment must be speaking up when Israel’s security is at risk, and I don’t think any of us can be satisfied that America’s recent foreign policy has made Israel more secure.

the entire time he maintains support for a two-state policy and insists that much of the problems we are encountering today are largely credit to the bush administration.

that's all well and good, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that politicians in america have to treat israel with the utmost of kid gloves. the even more unfortunate thing is that the coalition responsible for protecting this israeli love-fest is partially consisted of christian wingnuts, who believe that the book of revelation tells them that support of the state of israel will bring about the rapture (i'm not sure where you get that from a book of the bible that's likely an allegory about the roman empire, but whatever). while this is a fairly fringe belief and not representative of the christian mainstream, many of those who hold this belief, including pat robertson and billy graham (allegedly) wield immense control over a large swath of american voters.

great. and we wonder why some people still want war with iran.

we need to very quickly reassess our strategic relationship with israel, for any number of reasons. among them are:

a) the holocaust ended more than 60 years ago. we helped them get back on their feet after that crazy shit went down, but seriously, that doesn't give them a free pass to build partition walls, or have a government as hawkish as the bush administration.
b) continued disproportionate support to israel in this conflict only helps feed fundamentalist islam's ideas of jihad. while sticking to one's ideals is one thing, one-sided support of one country and complete opposition to all of their rivals is an extremely dangerous thing to get involved in...especially when it involves two religions that share a holy city. this smacks of religious war, which is decidedly unamerican. it kinda sucks that people here like it that way.
c) israel as we know it exists based on a united nations partition plan that was largely opposed by arabs.
d) their human rights record is appalling, and the united nations has made that clear.
e) for the reasons listed above, this is the single-most entangling alliance we have, and the one responsible for most of our post-cold war diplomatic problems.

this is not to say that israel is not threatened by many of their rivals, or that we shouldn't help protect them. we're balls-deep in this mess, so we're somewhat obligated to fix it. however, they are often enough the aggressor that our disproportionate support for them and the specific circumstances of the situation make this a battle we can't and shouldn't have a part in. here's hoping the next administration can pull a two-state solution out its ass and call it a day.

Notes from the Right-Wing: McCain-Obama Town Halls

I'm Joeverkill, and these are some notes from the Right-Wing.

From the AP:

John McCain challenged Barack Obama to join him in 10 town hall meetings with voters before the Democratic National Convention in August...
"We need to now sit down and work out a way that we can have these town hall meetings and have a great debate," McCain told reporters Wednesday in Baton Rouge.He credits the more intimate town hall format with his victory in the New Hampshire primary that launched his climb to the GOP nomination. McCain said the style would tell voters more than the typical formal, televised debates.

Am I the only one wondering why McCain is getting all up on the "let's have some debates" horse so early? I wonder if he's got the whole Sunni-Shia thing straight yet. Or if he's bothered to learn anything about the economy since this.

If Obama has the balls to call McCain out on stuff like McCain's relationships with lobbyists, look out, because things could get tough for McCain.

I'm Joeverkill, and this has been Notes from the Right-Wing.

Oh No They Didn't

Oh yes. They did.

IN THE “Friday the 13th” franchise of horror movies the killer returns again and again after seemingly being finished off. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign might have felt that life was imitating art during the course of the long, drawn out, presidential nominating contest.

So if you're keeping score at home, that makes Hillary Clinton the deranged psycho killer who wears a bloody goalie mask and has seemingly demonic regenerative powers.

And Barack Obama is the cool kids doing all the drugs and having all the sex.

At least, according to the Economist, that's what it boils down to.

Perhaps....

Hillary could run for President of Mars?




From Astronomy Pic of the Day:

Explanation: Is that ice under the Phoenix spacecraft on Mars? Quite possibly. Phoenix, which landed a week ago, was expected to dig under the Martian soil to search for ice, but the lander's braking rockets may already have uncovered some during descent. Pictured above is an image taken last week by the Robotic Arm Camera showing the unusual light-colored substance just in front of Phoenix's landing pad. Over the next few weeks, Phoenix will continue to photograph its surroundings, analyze the composition of this hard light substrate, and dig into the surrounding soil. Were the unusual light substrate indeed Martian ice, it would give Phoenix a convenient pedestal to investigate the history of water on Mars, and to better determine whether the boundary between ice and soil was ever capable of supporting life.

This quote, from Alexa:

Alexa: dude. another place to go if john mccain is elected. you know...

Indeed.

usa becomes nagging control freak wife

a dramatic re-interpretation of the usa's new data collection policy towards foreign travellers:

hey! hey you, get back here! just where do you think you're going, mister? oh, new york, huh? what do you think you're doing there?

you're going with your friends? which friends?
rahim?
do i know rahim?
he sounds...ethnic.
what is he, african-american?

ohhh, he's muslim?
and you said you're going to new york?
my friend condoleeza said that's no good...she's known people who have gotten into trouble with muslims in new york.
just be careful, ok? i'm gonna call you every 3 hours and make sure condoleeza and her friends keep an eye on you.
how, you ask?
i have my ways.

wait a minute...
where are you taking that cigarette lighter, and that tube of gel?
you ARE up to no good!

how do i know? i knew already anyways. i've been reading your emails. i just wanted to hear you say it.

stay right here, mister! you're not going anywhere for a long time. these next few months are gonna be torture.

o hai olimpikz no tardz plz

Today I'm pulling from ESPN to give you this amazing update on just which of your freedoms China plans to oppress this summer at the Olympic Games.

Among the favorites:

• Those with "mental diseases" or contagious conditions will be barred.

• Some parts of the country are closed to visitors -- one of them Tibet.

• Olympic tickets are no guarantee of a visa to enter China.

So to recap - if you have Olympic tickets, but you're a Free Tibet activist or you're actually retarded in the "I have a problem I was born with that isn't remotely funny to make fun of at all" way, then you should probably start researching ticket-scalping services.

Also, if you have a cold or any other visible illness, you will likely be barred from entering the country.

We spend a lot of our time focussed on the election and the recession around here, but we all need to remember that in a very short time, the entire country of China is going to attempt to put its best foot forward to the rest of the world... and then China is going to fall on its face onto a land mine made of hand grenades.

On a somewhat related note - I don't know where they're going to start, and I'm not exactly sure what's going to trip the first one, but I still predict widespread rioting by mid-August.

stimulus package goes flaccid

the economic stimulus package has been obviously created to appease the bush administration and government at large's golden calf of consumer spending. retailers were quick to jump on board, offering to cash the checks, and making sales deals clearly catered to the check. i distinctly remember being mildly offended last week while watching a circuit city ad that encouraged me to "stretch my stimulus check" and offered me a new computer for $599.99 (you get to keep that extra cent!).

unfortunately for all those peddlers of cheap, easily breakable, shiny pieces of plastic, we all got bills to pay, and the economy will still blow after we get our little windfalls. according to the new york times, we're going to collectively spend somewhere between one quarter and one half. not exactly what i'd call a shopping spree. however, fear not, investors. some people are prefer to answer the call to patriotic consumerism:

“We’re going to buy a 42-inch television,” said William Meiklejohn, a self-employed computer technician, as he strolled through The Falls, a high-end shopping center south of downtown Miami, set around palm-fringed pools.

His annual income has dropped over the last year from about $100,000 to more like $80,000 as the economy has slid, Mr. Meiklejohn said. But he and his wife own their home and their two cars clear of debt, he said. Their two children are grown and married. No sense stashing their $1,200 tax rebate in a savings account.

“If I spend it, it stimulates the economy,” Mr. Meiklejohn said. “If people go around paying off bills, it’s not going to make any difference.”

i'm not an economist, and i don't think any regular contributors here are either (rootless cosmopolitan, where the hell are you?). since when does paying off one's debt not stimulate the economy? if you really wanted to mobilize us good little consumers right now, wouldn't the best idea to get all this unstable debt taken care of, making all of our banking institutions more sound? how is choosing circulate money, thereby supporting a business, not moving the economy?

it really makes you think that this is just money from the government to help us maintain our serious bread-and-circuses habit. after all, why would you cause any kind of civil disruption (political or otherwise) in a declining country, when civil disruption in liberty city is so much more fun and free of consequence?

the enhanced interrogation cruise line

the bush junta's apparent response to complaints about having torture prisons in other countries has been to put them where countries aren't:

According to research carried out by Reprieve, the US may have used as many as 17 ships as "floating prisons" since 2001. Detainees are interrogated aboard the vessels and then rendered to other, often undisclosed, locations, it is claimed.

...

"By its own admission, the US government is currently detaining at least 26,000 people without trial in secret prisons, and information suggests up to 80,000 have been 'through the system' since 2001. The US government must show a commitment to rights and basic humanity by immediately revealing who these people are, where they are, and what has been done to them."

eighty fucking thousand?

the official story from emperor fratboy's crew, and the narrative accepted by the media, has always seemed to imply that this extraordinary rendition is extremely limited. high profile cases appear because these people are allegedly all serious threats to america. if this were an isolated incident, and we were keeping osama bin laden aboard that ship, i might be able to look the other way about allegations of fudging international laws in this manner. so might the rest of the world...bin laden's kind of a dick.

sending almost three times the population of liechtenstein is not the same. for every one guy that's truly pissed off and plotting against america (who doesn't merit/deserve this treatment anyway), there's probably another 10 or 20 who are petty criminals, who said the wrong thing at the wrong time, or went shopping with rachael ray at the burqa barn.