Quick Thoughts on Franken’s Win
Hey, like most of MN, I just happily acknowledged Al Franken's win. We have two senators again.
There are people who are lamenting the fact that our State Supreme Court did not order Pawlenty to sign the election certification. They don't have to. He's legally compelled to sign it anyway.
This leaves him two choices:
1. He signs the certification without hesitation or question, which pisses off his right-side wingnut base, and it puts a dent in the support of his rumored 2012 Presidential bid. Or,
2. He declines to sign the certification, which pisses off the middle-grounders because it looks like more Bush-era obstructionism. And it puts a dent in the support of his rumored 2012 Presidential bid.
Either way, he's fucked. So he might as well go along with the State Supreme Court's ruling.
Sarah Palin
I call her the "warhamster" -- she's got the voice of a rodent and is a warmongering shithead. So "warhamster" seems to work.
This snotty little bitch derided Barack Obama for being a community organizer. There is an awesome retort on Time's Swampland blog.
And there's more over at Making Light.
Really, I'm just annoyed as fuck about the excited crowing of the local Republicans. They can't even see past their own stupid allegiances and realize that voting for a McCain-Palin ticket is basically giving BushCo another four years, and that Palin, while she might be physically attractive, has all the hallmarks of douchebaggery that the guy in office currently has.
Seriously. The first Republican that starts talking smack to me is getting punched in the face. (Granted, I may only be taking that action in Imaginationland, but there will be teeth and blood everywhere. Everywhere, I tell you.)
LOLHillary
I can't help it. Really, I can't. I'm just glad this whole process is over with. ABCNews reporting that she's told her staff that their last day is Friday is awesome to hear. Finally going to concede, are we?
Ah, I slay me.
Hillary’s New Strategy
Last week, when Obama and McCain were arguing about Iraq and moving on without her, Hillary Clinton made a play to shut down Obama: new t-shirts!
When that not working, rumors are saying that she's decided to do go the I Can Has Cheezburger route:
NO CAN HAS.
Hot. Damn.
Keith Olbermann is the man. This might be the best verbal beat-down I have ever had the privilege to bear witness to.
Hillary: “$I == ‘Rocky’;”
Man, remember when Reagan quoted from "Born in the U.S.A." without realizing what the song was about?
Well, Hillary, bless her shriveled little heart, likened herself to Rocky today. More to the point:
'Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up. And neither do the American people,' Clinton said in excerpts of prepared remarks to be given Tuesday to a meeting of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.
This, of course, makes me wonder if she's even seen Rocky?
I mean, really. Rocky loses in the end. To the black guy.
This calls for some serious Photoshopping. I just don't have the time for such things.
(No, not an April Fools joke, either.)
Making for a Bike-Friendly City
Bicycle parking in Davis, CA. Photo from askpang. Licensed under the Creative Commons.
Chicago recently passed laws to institute fines against motorists who cause accidents with bicycles. As a cyclist, I think that this is a great thing.
I'm fortunate to live in a city (Minneapolis) where we take cycling seriously -- as both recreation and a form of transportation. But even with that level of commitment to the activity, we still have issues with being protected by the police. I know of multiple people of the type who would admit to fault if it was theirs, who have been hit by cars, assaulted by motorists, and so on, only to have the cops write up a report that blames the cyclist (if they bother to write a report at all). While these laws are a great contribution to making Chicago a more bike-friendly city, and something that Minneapolis should institute as well, they are unlikely to do any real good.
To make this change more immediate, a few things have to happen:
On Political Experience
I count John Scalzi among my favorite writers, and while the more literary types will look down their nose at genre fiction, the man can write a novel full of big ideas, with thematic overtones that will inspire you to thought, while cranking out memorable characters that can make you laugh and cry over the course of a single work. He's no slouch on his blog, either.
Today, he has a great post regarding political experience, in which he asks,
Likewise, of course, if Hillary Clinton really believed her “experience counts” mantra, she needs to explain why she voted for her husband over George HW Bush back in ‘92. Bush, after all, had a huge amount of experience on the national political level (including, of course, four years as president), while Bill Clinton had none, save for losing a House election in 1974.
I have a picture that I save just for these special occasions, and while it's not exactly the thing you'd associate with intelligent political discourse, those that know me will say that I never gave much of a damn about proper debate and that my trucking it out for the whole world to see is about par for the course:
This, really, is Scalzi's appeal. The man is a smartass, which doesn't carry a lot of weight with me. That he's a thoughtful and well-informed smartass does.
The Bike’s Place in an Energy Policy
So a friend astutely pointed out that if there's a recession on, it's not necessarily the fault of the housing market. His theory is that it's an issue of the rising costs of energy, and I'd say that that's fairly sound. Energy costs are up across the board -- it's more expensive to heat my apartment, run my electronics, and fuel my car. In the case of the car, almost twice as much as when Bushie came into office. The entire economy runs on gas (god help us), and when fuel costs go up, the cost of goods go up as it requires more money to get them to a point of sale.
Currently Reading
The Constitution
Tag Cloud
Flickr
More...
Support
Wishlists
Lifestream
-
Checked in at Knight Cap Bar & Lounge
-
-
Trio of girls covering "ABC" by the Jackson Five. They are fucking NAILING it. Michael Jackson lives! [fontosaurus]
-
-
Checked in at Northeast Palace
-
I'm at McDonald's - NE (1100 University Ave NE, Minneapolis). http://4sq.com/7fT8JH [fontosaurus]
-
Checked in at McDonald's - NE
-
Checked in at Lens Crafters
-
I'm at Mall of America (Mall of America, 60 East Broadway, Bloomington) w/ 4 others. http://4sq.com/4z906f [fontosaurus]
-
Checked in at Mall of America
