Dan I just heard about and watched a new internet movie by Joss Whedon and friends called “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog” starring Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie, etc), Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Slither), and Felicia Day (The Guild). You have have also now heard about it. You now need to go watch it. Seriously. Go. Now. Click the picture.
Did he actually SAY that? … with a straight face?!
I just saw a video of President Bush talking about the Russia/Georgia situation. The speech was fraught with hypocrisy, but then he got to this line…
Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.
In the immortal words of Phoebe Buffay, “Hello, Pot? This is kettle. You’re black!”
I’m thinking that the speechwriter had to have put that line in on a bet.
“Dude, I bet I can get him to say this with a straight face!”
“No way.”
“Betcha $50!”
“You’re on!”
I am just constantly astounded that George W. Bush is the man who is the “leader” of our country.
Here’s a link to the video: Bush addresses the Russia/Georgia issue
I have mixed feelings about a report by Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week. It makes me uneasy, but the quotes that I read seemed pretty rational. Things like this…
“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the “Long War” against violent extremism […]”
I think what I like is the acknowledgement that “winning” in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t “win” the fight against terrorism. I think what makes me uneasy is the use of the term “Long War.”
Another bit that sounds good…
Gates embraces the “Long War” term that his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, invoked to equate the fight against terrorism with struggles against Soviet communism and Nazi fascism. His strategy, however, departs from Rumsfeld’s focus on preemptive military action and instead encourages current and future U.S. leaders to work with other countries to eliminate the conditions that foster extremism.
Eliminating the conditions that foster extremism sounds like a much better plan to me than “blowing them up.” However, again there’s the “Long War” term. It strikes me as very Crusade-like… as in “The Crusades.” As long as there are opposing religions in the world, you’re going to have this situation. Eliminating the “conditions that foster extremism” would probably lessen the amount of extremism, but it will never be eliminated as long as there is religion… and religion isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I’m not talking about any particular religion, either. Just religion in general.
One more quote from Gates…
“Success in Iraq and Afghanistan is crucial to winning [the war on terrorism], but it alone will not bring victory.”
This gives me more conflicting feelings than the other quotes. First, as I stated earlier, it’s good that he recognizes that “winning” in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t solve the problem. However, the idea that a “war on terrorism” can ever be won… period… just seems absurd. We haven’t even won the “war on drugs” and that problem is just based on greed. How can you expect to win a “war on terrorism” which is based on fanatical faith?
I don’t have a perfect solution, but getting a realistic and rational perspective on the issue is the first step to finding one. Making enemies by blowing people up and occupying a country (or two or three) isn’t going to help. Maybe Gates is on track with his idea of eliminating the conditions that cause extremism, but I doubt he’s including religion in his idea of “conditions.” Taking care of the other “conditions,” however, is a great start and I hope he gets to run with that plan.
Original Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25943246/
So, since I’m a guy and since I shave with a blade, I’m always looking for a better shaving experience; a better razor, better shaving cream, better after-shave, etc. I’ve reviewed a few razors in the past: Gillette Mach 3 (thumbs up), Gillette M3 Power (thumbs down), Gillette Fusion (neutral), Gillette Fusion Power (thumbs up), Schick Quattro (thumbs mostly up), some crappy knockoff brand from Wal-Mart (thumbs way down). I’ve never, however, reviewed any shaving creams.
Until now!
So a lot of people are speculating about whether Hillary will end up being Obama’s Vice-Presidential running mate and they’re calling it the “Dream Ticket.” I was somewhat ambivalent about it until today when I heard that John Edwards threw his support behind Obama. Then I started thinking that what I’d really like to see is a ticket with Barack Obama and John Edwards. I think that would be a ticket that would easily defeat McCain and would toss a whole lot of “change” into the system… at least philosophically and rhetorically. Whether anything would actually change is another matter, but those two gentlemen would be able to pull in votes from pretty much every demographic that exists (other than right-wing Bush minion/acolytes).
I’m not sure if I really like their proposed policies, but I’m thinking that they’d take the country in a direction almost a polar opposite from where it’s been going and that would definately be a good thing… at least for awhile… until we reach some sort of ideological center point again.
I love this editorial. I wish he’d do one that followed up on his initial statements about personal responsibility, too, but this is good stuff, anyway.
Today is was announced that Fidel Castro was stepping down and would not seek another term as Cuba’s leader. His brother Raoul will most likely be his successor since he’s held provisional power for a year and a half now. I heard a brief interview with one of his ex-cabinet members (I assume it was ex, but I can’t find the story at the moment) who described Castro in the following way (this is paraphrased): “When he had a project in mind, it didn’t matter what the arguments were against it or what the evidence was against it, he held to his convictions about that project.”
I immediately thought they were talking about George W. Bush and did a double-take. I suppose these two guys have similar philosophies.
Now some would say that not “holding to your convictions” is “flip-flopping” and is a bad thing. In some cases, this is no doubt true. However, those same people usually will call a position change “flip-flopping” even if the change is a result of new contradictory information becoming available. In a situation where new information is considered, a change of position is called “being rational.” Anyone who does not take new information or new evidence or new ideas into consideration is a very dangerous individual to have in charge of a country and anyone who relies on the non-rational concepts of “faith” or (more scarily) “dogma” in their decision-making process is unfit for any type of leadership position (dogma-based organizations excluded).
A “rational” president is definitely something that this country desperately needs… especially now. Eight years without rationality is long enough. Just ask Cubans.
I’m a registered independant voter so I don’t get to vote in the primaries. I only get to pick between the candidates pre-chosen by the Democratic and Republican parties. That doesn’t bother me much since I usually don’t care for either one and have to simply pick the lesser of two evils.
So for the 2008 election, it looks like I’ll get to pick between a right-wing religious conservative candidate or a left-wing tax-and-spend liberal candidate. There really don’t seem to be many (if any) candidates who are moderate.
With his October 3rd veto of the bipartisan SCHIP bill, President Bush has sent a pretty clear message that lower-income families should really fend for themselves when it comes to insuring their children. He’ll say otherwise, but since his speeches on the subject seem to indicate a lack of understanding about the program’s operation, he’s either ignorant (or stupid, but we won’t go there at the moment), or lying and actually does hate poor kids.
“Imagine how much faster the bad guys would have gotten their butts kicked if Kurt Russell had been in Ghost.” *
* opinions expressed in the above quote are not necessarily those of the blog author (I just think the quote is funny as hell).