Not the Onion, I Swear!

but the venerable TPM:

Christ and AquaMan could beat John McCain this fall

...in a poll commissioned by Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, one further poll shows Jesus Christ, were he the Democratic candidate for President this fall, would defeat McCain by the largest margin yet, 73-24. Christ, the poll indicates, would not only run particularly strongly in the South, but reaches deeply into McCain's Republican base, attracting the great majority of evangelical voters, while also holding onto antiwar voters in the Democratic base, given his preaching to "turn the other cheek" and his promotion of politically controversial commandments, including not killing one's fellow man.

...

Third, Rasmussen Reports, which polled on a yet wider range of subjects has determined that Marvel Comics superhero Aqua-Man (TM) holds a narrower but statistically significant national lead over McCain, 53-44, with his strength coming from coastal states, and those with marshes and navigable waterways, though McCain leads Aqua-Man by large margins in the more arid intermountain West and upper Great Plains.



I'm thinking a Christ/AquaMan Dream ticket!!

Security Theatre of the Absurd

SeaTac where, evidently, you can just drive out onto the runway if you want.

"We were sitting there, the engine idling, nobody around, when all of a sudden I realized: We're out on the goddamn runway," [retired army lieutenant colonel Greg] Alderete recalled. "We're in a gassed-up, seven-passenger van, and no one really knows who we are. We have an unobstructed path to the main runways, the commercial gates, the whole place. It was unbelievable."

All Over The Map

A man in need of media training meets the media.

You can kind of see where he wants to go, and you can kind of see his point, but wow.

Also, FTR, I don't disagree with any of the points he's trying to make, I just don't think he makes them well or should even be making them here.

Ted Kennedy

Unfortunate.

If for no other reason, I'll always be a fan of Ted's because of his vigorous defense of the constitution.

It was sent to the Senate, where it needed a 2/3 majority (66 votes) to pass. On 12-12-95, the amendment was defeated when it failed by only 3 votes.

I read his speech that day and was highly impressed (having the opinion at the time that this was just mock-patriot nonsense from the president). It was also about the time I joined the ACLU.

Brain cancer is a terrible way to go. Agree or disagree with him, (and there are a lot of legitimate opinions out there) how you feel about Ted Kennedy probably says something about the level of empathy for other human beings. Only the real sociopaths are going to see this as an opportunity gang up on him and write long hate-filled screeds. From my POV, this is an opportunity to let them self-identify.

Celestia

I finally got the open source project, Celestia, to compile under VS2k8. Hooray!

I've been writing some code for add-ons, which I kind of abandoned for time reasons a year or so back. I have slightly more time these days, so I'll get to brush up some on my C++ skills.

Eat My Face

Well, not mine, but someone's.

That's a recipe for yummy if I've ever heard of one.

Nothing Says "Man Food" Quite Like...

... bacon cups!

Another Hot Piece of Glass

I had so much fun the other weekend, I signed up for 6 more weeks of afterwork glassblowing classes. When I've finished, I should be able to rent time in the studio for my own projects, of which I have ideas for a few dozen at this point.

So far, this is acting like all my hobbies, several months of intense, focused interest while I learn mad skillz, followed (hopefully) by several years of increasingly complicated projects.

Unlike digital art though, this is expensive and each piece is not abled to be copied en masse, so most folks won't see what I'm up to. However, its possible you might get a misshapen lump of colored paperweight for a birthday, anniversary, bar-mitzvah or gift-giving holiday.

Try to be polite when you get it. It's meant with goodwill.

Science AND Magic

News from the Vatican

First the science:

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.
Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.
The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.
The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'Aliens Are My Brother'.

Take out the god stuff and yeah, thats pretty much the standard idea. There isn't any evidence yet that it's true, but the basic idea, that if life is possible here, is possible elsewhere, is a standard assuption. Also, it turns out, one of my colleagues fromgrad school, Doug McGonagale, became a priest after graduation and is still involved in astrophysics, so this doesn't surprise me.

now for the magic:

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

So it could be Zanzar and Xloric in the Garden of Chotalis on Tau Ceti Prime. Until a wicked sunoraxyl comes along and tempts them with a fizbin. Then it's low road to civilization for Tau Ceti Prime. Now that's really just a guess, you understand, of what could be going on there. All the Bible really tells for sure is that it's Zanzar and Xloric not Zanzar and Zorric in the Garden.

Catholics! God Love'm

Blind Man Gets 3 Year Driving Suspension

WTF?

A blind man convicted of dangerous driving, after police spotted his car on the wrong side of the road, has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Omed Aziz, 31, from Darlaston, West Midlands, who was being directed by an allegedly banned driver, was given 12 weeks in prison suspended for a year.

He has also been banned from driving for three years and ordered to take an extended driving test.

????
"dangerous driving"
Is there some other kind when you're blind?

Best Understatement of the Week.

From TPM on a race between 2 GOP candidates for an open House Seat:

They're going all out in the Republican primary for the open seat of Democrat Darlene Hooley in Oregon. One of the GOP candidates says he had no choice but to publicize a two-year-old email accusing his opponent of paying for an abortion for a woman he impregnated.

I wouldn't want to be seated between those two at the next Lincoln Day event.

You Can Actually See the Piece Go Pear-Shaped

David Brooks talks about "the militant materialism of some modern scientists". The first 2 paragraphs are actually pretty good. The he says,

just as Einstein’s theory of relativity affected art

Ut-oh.

Conversion Story

This is very funny!

“Goddammit,” I pouted, “I guess when you’ve got the Holy Ghost, you miss all the fun.”

One of my Favorite Bands, Reviewed

Bringing in entire symphonies for heart-fluttering arpeggios on fairy-dusted strings, the band's songs fill the air like mirage waves of sound so glossy, you can almost see your reflection in them.

and

It's just physiologically impossible not to get high from inhaling so much production varnish. For some, it will cause euphoria -- for others, altitude sickness.

I have discovered Rhapsody.

FTR, I laughed at that. They are overblown, but also, I like them.

Your Quantum Computing Crib Sheet

Here (although I don't know that I would say all P-complete problems are "easily" solved by classic computers...)

Batman v. Ironman

(via)

Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete?

A dozenish essays from Templeton. I have not read them all yet, but Pinker is probably closest to my own view.

I admit I am saving Hitch for last thought.

(via)

A Great Threat Facing Our Fighting Soldiers

They keep the front lines secure so we have freedom. Like the freedom to take away their porn!

House Rep. Paul Broun (GA-10), with 15 co-sponsors and the support of organizations such as the Alliance Defense Fund and the American Family Association, recently introduced a bill that would strengthen the ban on sales of adult-themed publications on U.S. military installations.

Rep. Broun has introduced H.R. 5821, also known as the Military Honor and Decency Act, which would close what he calls a loophole that allows the continued distribution of pornography to soldiers, to their moral detriment, with the help of taxpayer funds.

but who is the villain who wants to put porn in the hands of our fighting men and women, distracting them from the purity of their cause? The vile, evil, unspeakable ACLU!

"We're asking these people to risk their lives to defend our Constitution's principles," said law school professor and ACLU head Nadine Strossen to USA Today last November, "and they're being denied their own First Amendment rights to choose what they read."

ACLU bastards. I'm so mad at them for hating freedom, I feel like writing them a very stern check.

Guess What I Blew This Weekend?

Glass!

I took a weekend class at the Seattle Glassblowing Studio. It was a lot of fun, although a lot, lot harder than I expected. I got to dip my stick, work those 3 glory holes, and make a massive load of white hot glass.

Fun for the whole family!

I did manage to make some paperweights and some small Christmas ornaments. My suckie bowl was a mess though. Next time I want to take a class in making plates, which seems to be quite different than what we did this weekend.

Highly recommended and not as gay as it sounds.

World Clock

As time wasting distractions go, this one isn't bad.