The Hindsight Factor

I've been using computers as my video delivery system for so long that I've completely forgotten how obnoxious it is to use a dedicated DVD player.  But reality gave me a swift kick in the eyeballs during a recent hotel stay where I tried to play a DVD in their complimentary player only to realize that I am forced - yes, forced - to watch each and every precious moment of those fun-filled anti-piracy videos, followed by the interminable (literally 'without termination') FBI warning. 

To make matters worse, being a new dad I am wholly incapable of sustained viewing pleasure and frequently had to pause the video, only to engage the system's sleep program.  After which I was forced, once again, to watch the stupid warning.  Time. after. fricken'. time.

Anyway, positive spin is that it reminded me of this little gem from The IT Crowd:

This is, quite frankly, exactly what the Internet tubes were invented for.  No more listening carefully since menus have changed, just consult this database to find out exactly how to get an actual carbon-based life form on the phone. 

Via BoingBoing:

Via AmericaBlog, Chuck Todd calls this ad shameless.  As a new poppa myself, I think it is spot on and Mr. McGoo McSame McCain is the one who should be ashamed.

on a side note, C&L has the skinny on Grumpy-Puss's new record - 10 flip-flops in 2 weeks! Who says the elderly can't still show us a thing or two!

From the man who rendered satire obsolete:

President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a “guy really anxious for war” in Iraq. He said that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy for tackling Iran.

In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. “I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric.”

Phrases such as “bring them on” or “dead or alive”, he said, “indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace”. He said that he found it very painful “to put youngsters in harm’s way”. He added: “I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain.”

Er, did he really call himself a man of peace??  Poor misunderstood Georgie.  It seems like only yesterday he was so happy to be a "war president". 

Has the thrill worn off already?  Well, if you're good all year, maybe Unca Cheney will by you a nice iPhone-e-wonie for Christmas.

Thank you 80's-sitcom-star-turned-lobotomized-nutjob Kirk Cameron!  Who knew the simple banana was proof of the almighty's ultimate plan for humanity!

Honestly, I think anyone who doesn't believe in the evolutionary process is in some serious self-denial.  However, abiogenesis is another story entirely and there is PLENTY of room for a healthy debate over whether a sentient, interventionist creator put the machine in motion.  But committing your freak flag to video like this doesn't do the religious movement any favors - unless the mere existence of someone with such severe mental deficiencies is itself proof against survival of the fittest.

Kinda reminds me of the peanut butter man I posted a while back:

Via BoingBoing:

Ever since TSA's creation after 9/11, passengers willing to undergo a pat-down and hand-search have been able to fly without ID. This rarely discussed, and little used right was documented by the courts in Gilmore v. Gonzales. While mostly just a way to assert your rights, the technique often had the added benefit of allowing the traveler to skip to the front of the security line.

With little warning, on Thursday, TSA announced a new change in policy. Passengers who refuse to show ID, citing the rights, will be refused entry to the boarding area. Passengers who claim to have lost or forgotten their ID will still be allowed to fly.

This new rule seems to only apply to terrorists that are unable to lie, while at the same time, massively cutting into the rights of passengers.

Your TSA - Working to catch terrorists who are too stupid to hide explosives anywhere but their shoes.

Been waiting too long for the primary to end so we can move on to the general election.  If you want to keep track of the best polling amalgamations, I  recommend electoral-vote.com which seemed to have done the best job with previous election cycles.  You can also keep an eye on the widget they have gracefully provided on the right to keep track of daily updates on polling data. In other news, I got my email from Howard Dean today.  It's official, if you're a DC lobbyist or special interest group, the DNC neither wants nor accepts your filthy money.  The Democrats are now officially the party of the people.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, McSame!

Thank you! Scott is a guerrilla gardener, a member of a burgeoning movement of green enthusiasts who plant without approval on land that's not theirs. In London, Berlin, Miami, San Francisco and Southern California, these free-range tillers are sowing a new kind of flower power. In nighttime planting parties or solo "seed bombing" runs, they aim to turn neglected public space and vacant lots into floral or food outposts. Part beautification, part eco-activism, part social outlet, the activity has been fueled by Internet gardening blogs and sites such as GuerrillaGardening.org, where before-and-after photos of the latest "troop digs" inspire 45,000 visitors a month to make derelict soil bloom. Link to original article here.

Hillary Clinton makes my soul ache.  Not just for the damage she is doing to the party and to the country, not just for her incessant lies, not just for her slimy rhetoric, and not just for the hundred other assorted reasons she has thrown into the aether.  No, Hillary makes me spitting mad because she changed this fan into a despiser and has me questioning whether the anti-Clinton wingnuts had it right all along. I 've tried to stop listening to her, but she does have an amazing talent for spewing lies with the aura of truth.  Pure venom that you know intuitively to be false yet can't quite articulate how and why.  These are the lies that rattle in my brain like a penny in a tin can. The latest and greatest is that Hillary lost this primary because she is a woman.  That a grand misogynistic conspiracy has coalesced to elect a black man to the presidency rather than have to deal with having her delicate lace bras line-drying in the Oval Office.  Without doubt, I am hard-wired to take seriously any and all accusations of discrimination.  So no matter how ridiculous is may be to bemoan Obama's great fortune in being a man of color, I am unable to categorically dismiss her comments.  After all, even today Patriarchy continues to be a virtually foundation our society.  We can't always see it, but it is omnipresent and this white male ought have no business arguing. Well, big thanks to AmericaBlog's newest commentator for calling hogwash on something that has been irking me for weeks: Just because Clinton's a woman does not engender blind allegiance. I don't think her campaign is about girl power. It hasn't been from the beginning. It sure isn't about that now. Some women are passionate about her campaign, and I won't deny she has done well amongst some female voters. But I think her campaign has done more to downplay her gender in an effort to prove she's strong enough to be Commander-in-Chief than emphasize it as an asset. Give me an example [of Clinton being a victim of sexism in this campaign]. Like I said, I can't think of any time that Clinton's being female has come up in conversation as a reason to vote against her. Where's this sexism taking place? Not on TV. Not online where I read and communicate. Point it out. I'll be happy to speak up against it. ... The women I admire are honest and trustworthy and powerful because they honor their promises and play by the rules and still come out on top. I was all for a female President until Clinton started playing dirty. Female President? Yes. This female? Not so much. This campaign is not - nor has it ever been - primarily about women. If it were, I would have been on board with bells on. To say that's why Clinton hangs on - for all those suppressed victims of sexism who need her now more than ever - is a crock. This campaign is about a woman. One woman. Hillary Clinton. Check out the rest of her post here.

Oh Canada, with your friendly folks and delicious maple treats and free health care ... you goody-goodies have been making us look bad for years!  Well, welcome to the nuthouse!  We've been waiting for you ...

Best quote: "If I could make a miniature gun that was 1.7" long and contained no moving parts and could still fire bullets, I could also make it in shapes other than gun."

Once again, McSame is wrong wrong wrong on every count.  Why does the MSM continue to view this joker as some kind of foreign policy joker? 

Speaking about Iraq at a townhall event on Thursday evening in Greensdale, Wisconsin, Sen. John McCain declared, "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's  succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks..." (Video is below.)

McCain was wrong on two points. First, U.S. forces have not returned to pre-surge levels. Before the surge, there were 130,000 troops in Iraq; even if the scheduled troop reductions are carried out as planned, there will still be 140,000 troops in Iraq in August.

Moreover, McCain's claim that Mosul is "quiet" was disproved earlier today in grim fashion. Three suicide bombings -- two in Mosul and another in a surrounding town -- left 30 Iraqis dead and more than two dozen injured, according to press reports.

Clearly, McCain's various congressional trips to Iraq haven't made him infallible on the issue.

Sigh.  Military service, time in a POW camp (making 32 propaganda videos for the enemy) does not make one an expert on foreign policy any more than strumming a guitar in Folsom turned Johnny Cash into Jeffrey Dahmer.  Apparently, neither does a prolonged stretch of security briefings or strolling around Bhagdad in a flack jacket.

Check out the video here.

Classic!

Yeah, and I "believe" that "Big Brother" is only "thinking" of our "best interests"