The 2008 presidential primary process is quickly ramping up to full swing. And rising along with it are my old feelings of disenchantment with the miserable state of the process, filled with garbage kabuki-style debates, petty swiping, and tales of obscene amounts of cash raised; all accompanied by the usual hand-wringing. So I thought I’d share a particularly apropos quote from Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”:
“I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or elsewhere, for the selection of a candidate for the Presidency, made up chiefly of editors, and men who are politicians by profession; but I think, what is it to any independent, intelligent, and respectable man what decision they come to, shall we not have the advantage of his wisdom and honesty, nevertheless? Can we not count upon some independent votes? Are there not many individuals in the country who do not attend conventions? But no: I find that the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted from his position, and despairs of his country, when his country has more reason to despair of him. He forthwith adopts one of the candidates thus selected as the only available one, thus proving that he is himself available for any purposes of the demagogue.”
Today was the day of the Spring Concert at Winchester PS, where Jacob goes to Junior Kindergarten! We were treated to the musical stylings of each class in Jake’s school. Jake’s class dressed as flowers and performed a spectacular rendition of “I’m a little teapot”.
Sophie was there to cheer her brother on. She seemed to really enjoy the show and tried her best to play along with the different moves she saw going on onstage!
I hear people say sometimes that impeachment isn’t important because Bush’s term is so nearly finished. It’s still important. This points to the type of thing which can go on if he’s left in office. Every day he’s left in will make it harder and harder to uproot him when the time comes. Do it now…it’s not just pardons.
Filed under: geek
I loves me my LOLcats, and those who know me know I loves me the austere halls of learning as well. So you can imagine my glee when I discovered that they are being given the serious treatment which they deserve! The envelope is pushed yet again.
He started an illegal war, stole billions from the government, abused human rights, and shot a man in the face. But finally Dick Cheney has done something which might be counted against him….he paid for sex. Ride on, baby.
Every time my bank offers me “cheques” to write against my Visa card I feel my blood pressure start to climb. So you can imagine how much I enjoyed hearing about the new Visa branded version of the game of “Life”. I used to play the original game when I was a kid, and as I recall, it was questionable even then. I suppose it would be impossible to prevent the game from validating certain life decisions and knocking others. But it was at least fun. The new version sounds less fun. In keeping with its backing from Visa, the new version rewards the children for acquiring credit card debt. No, I’m not kidding.
Filed under: General
This is rich. Apparently some Canadian contractors entered the US carrying some commemorative quarters in their change. The quarters had a red poppy inset, which here is a symbol by which we remember our soldiers on Remembrance Day. Unused to the concept of creativity in currency design, the US spymasters dissected the thing — and “found” a nefarious nanotechnology device! High alert was raised of course, and the good citizens lived to be afraid for yet another day. All is well.
Update: Story’s been dugg
Update 2: Now it’s been slashdotted
Just thought I’d link to this very funny post on Cosmic Variance. She’s talking about discussions about science with kindergarten kids, and how their minds are time-shared between the rational and the not-so-much. Priceless quotes from the latter slice…could have came straight from the mouth of Jake the Snake!
Filed under: politics
It’s been a long time since it’s happened, but today I was actually inspired by a political candidate — Mike Gravel. I’d never heard of him before but 7 minutes of watching him rip through the curtain of the kabuki show in SC was enough to show me that he’s fundamentally different. Don’t get me wrong…I love the Kucinich and the Sharptons of the world, and I have a lot of respect for them. But they lock into the slot of “hopeless lefty candidate” from the get-go, and in doing so they validate the ridiculous charade that the US political process has become. Gravel seems different. He engages on his terms and has the track record to prove it. You can almost see the corral around the other candidates as they helplessly chew their cud and wait for him to finish.
