Weekend Roundup

Today’s Weirdness best enjoyed to:

Buckethead’s “Enter the Chicken” from Serjical Strike Records http://www.serjicalstrike.com/site/artists_view.php?id=4

To think about… the first American bailout. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony Treat the natives like crap, have a HORRIBLE winter, let them help you survive, learn to live on the land, etc. Then slaughter them, oppress them, lie to them, make them walk to Oklahoma, take Oklahoma away from them, and make them live in the most desolate areas of Arizona that you can find. If this is the precedent we set, what part of New Mexico can we send Bank of America, AIG, and Citigroup to? And seriously, whoever decided “You know what, on second thought, we really want Oklahoma for ourselves, go kick them feather loving Indians out” really had probably never visited Oklahoma. I mean really, it’s next to Texas. Ew!

The World According to Fark

Headline says it all… “Tenenbaum file-swapping case gets seriously funky”: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/02/while-the-bizarre-antics-and.ars

One word, “DUH!” Conservatives buy as much or more pr0n that the rest of the US? I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16680-porn-in-the-usa-conservatives-are-biggest-consumers.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

I didn’t know that video games came with the opportunity to torture prisoners of war or commit genocide. I guess I’ve been playing the wrong kind of games…. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29417231/

Um… yeah. http://www.cracked.com/article_17097_5-most-unintentionally-gay-horror-movies.html

Don’t fuck with my asparagus, man. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090227/od_nm/us_asparagus_un_odd

In Other News

Why this whole economic mess isn’t just criminal, it’s also really dumb. Besides, I love the idea of fiscal lithium: http://www.newsweek.com/id/186949

Step One in reforming health care in America… Banning those annoying pharmaceutical ads. Why they contribute to the rising cost of YOUR medical insurance. http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/judgments/2009/02/26/sally-field-stole-my-health-insurance?page=full

The European Union… somehow, Eddie, I don’t think just moving it around is going to solve this one: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022703659.html

Yeah, so that whole Rick Santelli Rant… turns out to have been a right wing conspiracy. Or something. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/28/202318/053/640/703118

Thursday Night in Fun City!!!

see more puppies

Ted Rall on CEO Pay: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20090226/cm_ucru/ceobashingforfunandprofit

The entire Caucasus region is sort of a political disaster, as we all pretty much remember from Chechnya, Georgia, etc. Armenia, Georgia’s eastern neighbor and also a former part of the Soviet Union, is no exception. It has seen tensions with its neighbor, Azerbaijan, over disputed territories. There is still international tension, particularly with Turkey and business interests in the UK and US over the Armenian Genocide of the early 20^th Century. One story that hasn’t gotten much press, at least in the US, is the ongoing political struggle between the ruling party and the opposition that claims rigged elections. It’s a familiar story, with sad consequences. Get these people some Guy Fawkes masks!!!! http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/02/2009225191624340903.html

(Seriously, if we got the Crimeans, the Chechens, the Armenians, the South Ossetians, and the Abkazians to pool all of their resources together with all the other groups that I’m forgetting at the moment, they could raise some serious heck. Don’t know what they could accomplish with all that heck, but it would be bizarre to watch.)

It’s coming back… Vegas, baby!!!!! http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/02/star-trek-exper.html

Intellectual arms? My mouth already has a mind of its own, I don’t want my arms thinking for themselves too… Oh, I see… like smart bombs and stuff. Well, I’m not getting too excited, these are people who think that Stalin was a great leader. http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/26-02-2009/107155-russia_nuclear_arsenal-0

Okay, so Obama isn’t as much of a sneaky bastard as W was, which we all knew going into this thing. But as many people have said, you still gotta watch this guy…. And yes, those of us who voted for him are generally being harder on him than those who didn’t, but that’s our job. http://www.slate.com/id/2212325/pagenum/all/#p2

Would someone PLEASE make Joe the Plumber go away? Seriouly. http://www.slate.com/id/2212324/pagenum/all/#p2

Okay, it's time for bath and bed. G'nite all!

Be Careful When You Joke Around!!!

Rabbis rule joking teens legally married

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Israeli girl has become a divorcee at the age of 14.

It all began as a lark, in a schoolyard where a 17-year-old boy recently declared the girl his wife, reciting a Jewish ritual vow in front of witnesses, and she accepted his ring.

That, and what a spokeswoman for Israel's Rabbinical Courts said was the consummation of their marriage, was enough to make them man and wife in the Jewish state.

Spokeswoman Efrat Orbach, describing the girl as the youngest Jewish divorcee in Israel's modern history, said the couple was granted a rabbinical divorce this week.

Under Israeli criminal law, sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl are not illegal as long as her male partner is no more than three years her senior.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Editing by Paul Casciato)

Day Off!

So, I took today off. Not because it's Ash Wednesday, or the day after the Non-State of the Union State of the Union Address. No, we shut down for one week in November and two weeks in December over at SV Probe (I did not have an anal probe!!!) and those of us who worked during the shut down (like, oh, the entire accounting department) still have to take all that time off. Which is fun to schedule when your department is low on people.

First things first... Stephen Page (aka the dip shit who got busted for drugs last year) is leaving as the lead singer of Barenaked Ladies to pursue a solo career. The rest of the band is staying together. Dude, band has been together how long? Early nomination for shower nozzle of the day. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090225/en_nm/us_barenaked_3

Back (briefly) to last night's oratorical fireworks...

On President Obama:

Sen. John McCain told a CBS Web cast: “The president gave a very effective speech. I think it was a balance between the size and enormity of the challenges we face, but also an expression of hope and confidence that America will get through this. And I think his delivery and the theme of his speech was excellent.” Wait, that’s MY Sen. John McCain? Where’s the pod?

I'd like to point your attention to this roundup of comments on Bobby Jindal's Republican Response. I thought it was lacking, but apparently I was being polite. DAMN!!!! http://firedoglake.com/2009/02/25/searching-for-bobby-jindals-political-future/

Jon Swift’s admiration of the Jindal speech here. http://jonswift.blogspot.com/ (And I know that you all are smart enough to figure out that it’s satire, unlike a few idiots who have been known to stumble across this blog. As if the moniker Jon Swift wasn’t enough to give that one away.) And no, I’m not nominating poor Bobby for shower nozzle of the day, I think he’s been dumped on enough for one week.

Bill Maher on the Economic Meltdown. Cute. http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2009/02/24/bill-maher-takes-aim-at-the-economic-meltdown/

This is freaking cool, it’s a look at the internet back in 1996. I feel so OLD!!!!! I remember being dutifully signed up for each and every one of these services as they became available by John, my ever more knowledgeable and tech-savvy older bro… http://www.slate.com/id/2212108/pagenum/all/#p2

The ongoing Bill Moyers debacle. 1960s American history is not even remotely my forte, so I will not even claim to have any knowledge or opinion on this matter. However, the fact that this conversation is even happening at all is a sad insight into our political and media world in America. http://www.slate.com/id/2212105/pagenum/all/#p2

Not going to link to it or anything, but had to comment. Although he’s not my favorite person in the world, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is taking a 20% pay cut due to the economy. Now about those players……

The New Six Word Motto for the US, as proposed by the Freakonomics blog:

1. Consumption’s the Cure That Ails Us.
2. We Will Get It Right, Eventually.
3. We Are Too Big to Fail.
4. The Streets Are Paved With CASH4GOLD.COM.
5. Learn to Live Within Your Means.
6. Wow, Can You Believe This Place?

Full story at: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/the-new-six-word-motto-for-the-us-is/#more-4051

This is great. Enter a photo of yourself and they’ll devolve you to an earlier hominid. I love the Brits…. http://www.open.ac.uk/darwin/devolve-me.php (Disclaimer: not for use by those who do not believe in de-evolution, for those who are taking beta blockers, for anyone who is pregnant or may become pregnant. Offer void in Utah. OAC.)

Axis of Justice webpage has been retooled. They even claim that their radio broadcasts will eventually resume (although probably not until after Serj returns from New Zealand and they both stop touring for a bit, methinks.) Anyway, although I’m too cheap to send money, it’s a cause I support and recommend that you check out, and not just cause I’m a fan of the music. http://axisofjustice.org/

That’s all for now. I’m not done, I’m sure, but this is getting kind of long.