What The Hell Am I Doing Here?

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:28:43 GMT

Dept. of Debates Last night's U.S. Presidential debate, summed up in one lOlbama:
moar funny pictures

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:58:02 GMT

Dept. of Apocalypses Thanks to Sp3ccs, we can now know if we're toast.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the earth yet? Click to find out. [Abroad at home]

...and a bonus word of the day:

torrid: Dictionary.com Word of the Day. torrid: drying or scorching with heat; burning; parching. [Dictionary.com Word of the Day]

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:43:34 GMT

Dept. of Crypto-Geography Google Maps shows me something unexpected in the fields just east of our old farm: View Larger Map [UPDATE!]: Some folks have pointed out it's not obvious what I'm talking about, so here's an annotated image. We're looking at a farm field and some trees, not a golf course or anything, so I doubt that the figure in the photo is a deliberate creation.

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:14:42 GMT

Dept. of Accounting Prices for Cindy McCain's outfit via Vanity Fair's Politics and Power Blog What's up with the "elitist" thing? Paul Krugman explains:

Op-Ed Columnist: The Resentment Strategy. The G.O.P. is selling the politics of resentment; you’re supposed to vote Republican to stick it to an elite that thinks it’s better than you.

[NYT > Opinion] What the G.O.P. is selling, in other words, is the pure politics of resentment; you're supposed to vote Republican to stick it to an elite that thinks it's better than you. Or to put it another way, the G.O.P. is still the party of Nixon. One of the key insights in "Nixonland," the new book by the historian Rick Perlstein, is that Nixon's political strategy throughout his career was inspired by his college experience, in which he got himself elected student body president by exploiting his classmates' resentment against the Franklins, the school's elite social club. There's a direct line from that student election to Spiro Agnew's attacks on the "nattering nabobs of negativism" as "an effete corps of impudent snobs," and from there to the peculiar cult of personality that not long ago surrounded George W. Bush - a cult that celebrated his anti-intellectualism and made much of the supposed fact that the "misunderestimated" C-average student had proved himself smarter than all the fancy-pants experts. And when Mr. Bush turned out not to be that smart after all, and his presidency crashed and burned, the angry right - the raging rajas of resentment? - became, if anything, even angrier. Humiliation will do that.

Ah, that's what's up.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:06:54 GMT

Dept. of Reruns Attention people of the Gulf Coast of the United States! Now, you too, can experience the feeling of "safety" and "security" that can only come from having a group of mercenaries with no respect for human life, let alone the rule of law, provide "help" to your communities! Yes, Blackwater ~~U.S.A.~~ Worldwide is coming to the "rescue" as part of the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Gustav. Good thing Universal HD is re-running Jericho, so y'all will know just exactly what you're about to be dealing with in your town.

Blackwater Preps for Hurricane Gustav. New Orleans is being evacuated once again, as Hurricane Gustav lumbers towards the Gulf Coast. Everyone from the U.S. military to the British Royal Navy to Blackwater is gearing up to respond.
[Wired Top Stories] (emph. mine)

If you can't catch Jericho, here's a Blackwater primer from The Nation: Here's hoping that Blackwater is better than their last idea, which was, well, nothing. Better yet, let's hope that the help won't be needed.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:38:28 GMT

Dept. of Amphibians Really, I'm just running this item because I love the name "Golden Toad" and I get to post a photo of toads having sex.

Experts poised for rare frog hunt. Scientists are to hunt for some of the world's rarest frogs in Costa Rica, including the iconic golden toad, last seen 20 years ago. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:23:01 GMT

Dept. of Not-Quite-Milestones He's NOT dead, Jim!

Steve Jobs is Not -- Repeat, Not -- Dead. We're not in the habit of piling on the gaffes of other media, but we feel duty bound to share this gawker story about Bloomberg somehow publishing its work-in-progress obituary of the Apple CEO -- who, by the way, is very much alive.
[Wired Top Stories]

Whoops.

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:23:57 GMT

Dept. of Cheese Oh, has fame and fortune finally gone to our favorite inventor's head? Will Wensleydale still be good enough for him or will he go all straight-leg'ed-Stilton on us?

Has Wallace finally managed to find the right trousers?. Animated characters Wallace and Gromit are given a new designer wardrobe courtesy of a department store. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]