I've kept this under wraps...

Until now!

Palin Facebook Profile

Funny Shit!

PALIN

So here are some details about how crappy the last of the Couric interview that we will see this week went:
"After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases. There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence."
Dood.

Also, I picked a few different words to drink to for the first debate, the most brutal definitely being "fundamental". As for a Palin word...the more cliche the more you will drink. Maverick, liberal, you name it.

I'm a nerd, so sue me.

This gave me a chubby.

"This deal [Iron Man 3] come on the heels of Monday's report by Variety that actor/director Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct 2010's Thor."

Also, a disastrous debate drinking game is to drink every time McCain references how goddamn old he is. Anybody have any good ideas for the Palin one? Oh, and if Portland wasn't cool enough already, the theatre across the street from me is going to show that debate on the big screen for free. Rock on.

What, seriously?

Palin musta REALLY ticked off Couric and CBS because ....wait for it....we haven't even SEEN the worst of that interview. They saved all the REALLY bad parts and will air them Wednesday and Thursday this week. This raises two questions in my mind:

A) How much worse could these segments be than what already aired.

B) Why is CBS going out of its way to punish the McCain campaign like this by drawing out this interview and making it the topic of the election for over a week? Its good news for Dems, but I'd rather they stayed a little more neutral.

Sarah Palin = Skeksi

Truth

What we always knew

but now have proof for...bail-out corruption

Guess which candidate is connected...

Dinosaurus

The best

digits

EDIT- I just called the boulder county clerk. As I don't have an address in CO, and I don't live there- they told me to vote in Washington. Sorry ya'll- if it comes down to one vote you can all come live with me in Sweeden.

dice- can you send me that number direct? I tried it and it was some woman's voicemail...

BEEE

PEEE

(my last name, which is erickson)

at

mail from google.

that would be grand. That would be totally grand.

How the Obama campaign impressed me

So I'm sitting at work Friday morning and I get a call on the ol' cellular telephone. It's some lady from the Obama campaign. She tells me that I've downloaded a voter registration form and was checking to see if I mailed it in yet. I told her I have but that I haven't shown up on the state site as registered (after a week). She said that is fine and that I should give it another week before checking again. Then she asked if I would like a mail-in ballot sent to my house.

"Whoa...yeah, definitely."

She'll send that over right away! This is amazing. If the campaign is doing this on a regular basis, they really are kicking ass here in Colorado. Then I talked with her for a bit about volunteering and she gave me a number I could call about that. Ben, you definitely should talk with someone at this number about getting a ballot and checking about your registration:

for-oh-won too,too,6 ate_4_nine_won

If anything voting early will allow me to give some volunteer time on election day. I recommend everyone here do the same (vote early...and volunteer if you wanna feel less guilty about eating meat like I do)

Also, www.fivethirtyeight.com has a cool piece on how hard the Obama ground game on the Colorado Western slope is stomping McCain's, and also includes some other Colorado demographic stuff.

Link Outlet

The best Onion article all year (maybe better than "pie-eating contest"):

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_in_photos/inside_obamas_emails


5 classic internet sex stories:

http://www.cracked.com/article_16554_5-most-baffling-sex-scenes-in-history-fanfiction.html


Most puzzling Wikipedia article ever written:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_succession_to_the_British_Throne


And just so we have the best Palin response written down so we can critique it like an essay:

Katie Couric: Why isn't it better, Gov. Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

Gov. Sarah Palin: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the -- it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

So....

It's Obama's aces versus McCain's bullshit flush-draw at this point?

MASSIVE PWNAGE!!!

(Btw, awesome article Dustin)

SFO

Polling pwnage

Geovany Soto Pwns All

wow

"Scientists studying voters in the US say our political views may be an integral part of our physical makeup.
Their research, published in the journal Science, indicates that people who are sensitive to fear or threat are likely to support a right wing agenda."

I fucking love it.

politics and psych article

jesus CHRIST!

I was just resolving an issue with my facebook Nation when an ad for the National Guard appeared.
Since when did (rhetorical questions) the military have so much money to throw at recruitment?



And seriously, Kid Rock? And WHO THE FUCK IS MILEY CYRUS! What the fuck have you people been watching! (not you people, the other you people...)

Newerest Dirt

Some of the ridiculousness of this article was already mentioned on The Daily Show last night, but this article has the latest ...fuck, just read and get mad.

Woah now

John and Kevin: excellent posts. That article about Cheney just reinforces what a snake he is. Won't he just have a life-ending heart attack already?

Also, saw the Prestige tonight. David Bowie as Tesla....genius!

Article of the Week

I'm sure you guys heard about Gonzalez and Card running in on a hospitalized, semi-concious Ashcroft to get him to sign the domestic wiretapping deal that the White House wanted, but here's the whole story (at least most of it). Very, very interesting article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/09/13/ST2008091302818.html?sid=ST2008091302818&s_pos=list

Phalluses with bells on and wings...

or that might me too profane...how times change.

SFW

Proton Beam to the Head!

The newest sexual revolution.

Things

Olbermann on Palin, if you missed the interview with Gibson.

Rolltube Firefox Addon, so awesome!

"...because squirrels like nuts." Almost fell out of my chair.

Monolith?

Hello. Sorry to butt in on the political talk, but I have a ticket to Monolith at Red Rocks on Sunday and am mainly concerned with seeing Band of Horses and Justice. I am not going with anyone, and Mikey has to work. Is anyone planning to go?

Ben

yes, you should vote in CO via the mail.

Drew: why aren't we playing chess on facebook while we are both at work Drew. This should be so.

I'm pretty fucking worried about this election right now. The McCain-Palin ticket might be even worse than what we have currently....Bush is just a bumbling chump but a trigger happy McCain-Palin duo going to war with Russia is terrifying.

I listen to NPR everyday from about 10-6 (always on at work)...it really does seem that Palin is winning over way too many people from the interviews I hear.

I'm not at all optimistic anymore about this election...I'd say it is 50-50 right now, which is way the fuck to close for comfort.

Not to mention this insane Fannie May/Freddie Mac bailout. This is a perfect example of Socialism for the rich, Capitalism for the poor. Predatory mortgages and shady practices are what brought down these giants. Instead of being disgraced and going under like Enron, the government decides to use our money to just buy up all their fuck-up debt and still pay off the CEOS millions.

The trend of the government socializing the debt of huge corporations that fail is a scary trend which I think in the end will probably worsen our economy rather then improve it. I've already heard on NPR that Ford, Gm, Lehman Brothers and other failing corporations are now banging on the door wanting the same bail-out.

I haven't been this worried about the US since the invasion of Iraq.

Sometimes I sit and wonder what it would actually be like to be truly proud to be an American...to feel comfortable in your society, to feel that things are improving around you and that you are part of that improvement. To never feel the urge to leave as fast as possible to escape the coming shit...to not be worried about corruption or health care or how we are damaging our environment. How nice it would be to feel a part of a community...but I suppose it isn't like that anywhere.

Not a Rick Roll

WHOA!!!

Fuck yes you should vote in Colorado. Try and get all of your friends to vote in Colorado, too. I'm seriously not kidding when I say it is THE most important state in the Presidential election. ...and I'll try and get you a voter's guide, too. Can those be found on the internet? ...I'm not clear on how absentee voting works either. Look into that pronto as there may be a deadline for requesting one coming up soon.

Moral Hazard

I'm still registered in Boulder County. WA is solid blue. Do I vote with you? (someone send me a voters guide?)

...on a downer note...

Not good news...the "whitey" tape has surfaced...

Dice's Election Update Extraordinaire!!!

I don't know about you, but if work is getting tiring I used the internet to burn some time looking at one of five things: email, fantasy sports, chess news/games, my internet risk games, and election results. With small notable exceptions none of you care about any of those five things except the election. I have my favorite sites where I run to gather news...the four best imo being:

www.fivethirtyeight.com
www.electoral-vote.com
www.realclearpolitics.com
www.intrade.com

You can probably see I like to look at statistics and strategies (just like my other internet interests). What is really weird right now is that unless something crazy happens in these next two months and one candidate just pulls away nationally, the electoral map is shaping up almost EXACTLY like it did in 2000...but with CO and NH slightly leaning toward the Democrats...which would be enough to win (in fact just Colorado would be enough to tie...leading to a probable Obama presidency...the House tie-break rules start making yer head hurt guessing how it plays out). Even with the immense amount of polling, this election cycle is so unique its tough to filter out the noise from the trends. With the two conventions happening so close to each other its tough to tell if McCain's new, recent, minuscule national lead is due to a temporary and (normally) predictable convention bounce, or if hes actually taking a substantial lead. With the VASTLY larger numbers of registered Democrats, most pollsters take different stances on how to weight their raw polling results. Should likely voter filters continue to assume more Republicans show up on election day? Maybe the assumption should be more Democrats will show up. Honestly I'm glad I don't have to make those calls because I don't really know. The discrepancies between pollsters makes it almost necessary to poll the polls (which fivethrityeight kinda does)

Both my belief and hope is that the increased registered Democrat voters and the vastly greater funded and entrenched Obama ground-campaign will be enough to win a very close/Obama favorable election after McCain's current convention bounce fades and Obama and Palin do some damage in the debates, but the gamblers on intrade don't seem to see it that way. I think I'm going to get an account just so I can get some of the current underdog action on Obama.

Anyone else following this shit WAY to close lately?

Don't misunderstand. I didn't think I was being attacked. I was just preempting in case one of those articles turned out to be bullshit.

I quit my job because I want to focus more on getting laid. Also, because it was starting to wear me down. FFVII For Life!!!

A little MTG fun today

This is why you should never start a discussion on evil on a magic: the gathering wesbsite:

11/22/2006 10:16:37 PM

Kos


Do you think Magic is evil? My mom does, in fact, the game caused so much trouble, she threatened to get our pastor to come to our house and talk to me about it. I do not believe it is evil, I believe that MTG are just cardboard cards that provide hours of fun for me and my friends, but my mom bugged me so much that I quit playing for over a year. I am now getting back into the game, and I just wanted to share my experience and see others views on the subject.

--

11/22/2006 11:33:00 PM
Volrath-LOMA

Trying not to make any comments on any particular religion whatsoever, I personally don't think very much is "evil". It sounds to me like your mom is fairly religious, and I don't think most of the black colored cards are very kosher for the super religious (in fact, "magic" in general is bad to a lot of religious people).

I've had a friend go through the same problem. His parents are devout, and on top of hating me for getting him to play it, they gave him grief about hanging with me at all if we were to continue playing (along with video games depicting anything but Oregon Trail). A compromise worked out when he promised to only play the white color (which tends to be a nice, god fearing color), as he showed her cards like "Worship", "Pariah", and all the angels.

---

11/24/2006 5:57:00 AM
-AluCard-

Allow me, to deliberate this issue for you.

As I am sure a few, if not all of us, with any religious parental guidance will tell. It is a common idea that Magic is considered evil by the Church.
But allow me for a moment to play the role, as a logical point of view, in defense of the religious opinion.

The beliefe that Magic: The Gathering is evil is based on t he concept of not the paper and ink, but of the ideas surrounding that paper and ink.
Much like the Bible itself, nothing but paper and ink, however is filled with the concept of good and evil, what is right and wrong, what is holy and satanic. The Koran, Paper and Ink, but it is followed to the death, worshipped, and feared as well. The Torah, a central for unending wars, and conflicts, people giving their lives, and cursing their brethren.
All of this over harmless Paper and ink.

So now we look at Magic: The gathering, and any other card game associating with SUMMONING DEMONS, and casting spells, and laying curses.. etc. All of these concepts may seem harmless and innocent as it is true, they are nothing but paper and ink. But much like Marijuana, it can be the gateway to attempt stronger ideals, that follow that same concept.

----

11/25/2006 12:45:00 PM
No Skill

"But much like Marijuana, it can be the gateway to attempt stronger ideals, that follow that same concept."

Ya, this one time I went out in my garage and killed a chicken to help make me topdeck better but that shit didn't work. I want a refund.

----

12/4/2006 11:36:00 AM
Lucius Penn - LOMA

They still make mouse trap?

---

Eppek the Goblin

WHAT? This isn't REAL? Forget this, I ain't playing anymore! *storms off*

Actually, I think the religious people who say Magic is bad are right. I have wasted more time and money on Magic than is decent. There are starving people in the world, and all I care about is my next Magic fix. It's a drug. An addiction. Something that pulls us away from both God and humanity. We sit alone in our rooms, brooding for hours over these tiny pieces of cardboard. Rather than making something of ourselves - rather than try to make the world a better place, we roam the Gatherer data base trying to make a perfect deck. And then when we actually play the game, we're boastful, spiteful, and mean. We whine when we lose, we brag when we win, and we complain the whole time about how Wizards of the Coast is ruining the game one set after another.

Magic is bad. It's terrible. And I love it. And I will continue to love it until the day I die. Does that make me evil? Yep.


----

Godleydemon-AMP


I got for christmas one year a deck of magic cards from a friend it was a goblin deck. I loved it loved to play it, my mother hated it (devout christian, lol) she stole them took them to the youth paster and the youth paster burned them and sprayed holy water on the ashes, lol. I'm serious I was witness to it. I've never cried so hard.

John still rules, as does everyone

Willie- this book is FUCKING AMAZING! I'm reading the Omnivore's Dilemma now, and it is rocking my socks. I'm only 45 pages into it, and I have learned that....

The man who invented nitrogen fixing (the chemical process that enables taking nitrogen from the atmosphere and then synthesizing fertilizer from it) actually invented it so Germany could continue to make explosives during World War I even though it didn't have access to mined nitrate sources anymore. This man, who later developed Zyklon B, the same nerve gas that was used in to murder Jews during the holocaust...

this man was forced to flee Germany before WWII, as he was only a Christian convert, and had Jewish blood.

And also John, I would never criticize you for finding interesting, thought provoking articles. There was no value judgment or criticism in checking to see if the internet source I found was peer reviewed or not. What ho with the job?

Hi Bonnie! Congratulations before Sunday!

dustin- where can peeps play poker online? (I'll only play for real money in person) I'm sure you know some spots. It is good to be back. Homemade tea tree is fucking sweet. Once I get my motorcycle, I'll come down south and visit bro- don't worry... And about Halo- I'd need to stop doing something...

Basil is good. and Caprese salad is awesome. You can make it with a good sourdough baugette, tomatoes, (do half fresh, and half roasted), fresh basil, mozzerella, olive oil, salt and pepper. With the bread it is super filling and good taste.

I'm going to keep reading now- it is getting into farm subsidies now...

Is it this reason John?

His stance on immigration? Why did you quit your job? Back hurt?
Also....Drew and I will have been married two years on Sunday. Whoa.

Racism is Hilarious

Today while crossing a busy Denver street my co-worker, mother of a three year, old told me this story:
"So you know on crossing signals there is a red flashing hand and a white walking man? Well, we used to tell Dashiell (the three year old) that you had to wait for the white man to cross the street. This worked just fine until the day we were waiting at a stop light with a black guy who decided to cross against the light. Dashiell got really upset and told the man "No! Wait for the white man!"

They now call him the "crossing man." Fucking hilarious.
Hi Ben!

Woah

you quit your job John? Are you unemployed again?

Also, it is awesome to have you back Ben even if you are so far away still from Denver *sniff*

I'm trying to grow a tea tree to start making my own tea but the motherfuckin' thing is taking forever to germinate. Maybe I should get a sapling....also grew a lot a basil recently that subsequently fed the caterpillars which got into our apartment

Play poker where/when?

....wanna play Halo....? Oh wait....

First off, I get all my information from magazines, so those two links were the first things that came up when I searched for "Food Footprint." Therefore, I didn't investigate whether those particular articles were peer reviewed or whatever. (But Science News is a good magazine that doesn't just print anything). I'll also add that all the stuff I've read before was mostly about meat and it seems that other foods have a Footprint based more heavily on transportation. 10% is significant. If I had more time, I would have made a more thoughtful post, but I'm late for something. Oh, and I quit my job.

P.S. McCain's farming policies are also one of the two issues I like him over Obama for. Can anyone guess the other one? Free burritos if you can.

P.P.S It is nice to have this type of discussion.

This is good a good discussion: Let's get physical you two

Energy inputs needed for the production of one unit of food output. Carbon footprint is nice, but we all speak physics. Source article here. (peer reviewed) (grain of salt: that is from a very shallow google search)

T-bone mentioned TED a while back- there is a good video on this from a really good food writer from the New York Times...

Spending time on an American farm (even my family owned one) you can very quickly see that our agricultural dominance is based on cheap energy. While "Farmer Ben" did move a couple cows, and used a shovel and a pitchfork from time to time, he was much more "Mechanic Ben," greasing tractors, and using fuel. Lots and lots of fuel (family owned farm has both a gas and diesel pump on the property) Cheap fuel, agricultural subsidies, economic protectionism: The Guardian article behind one of John's links is excellent. What good things to talk about. Merely mentioning that you read the Guardian is a surefire way to make British people think you are a crazy fucking hippie...

Interestingly: in terms of poverty reduction: the Maverick's rural policy of no pork (pun) laden farm bills is "better" than Obama's traditional, pro-farmer policies. (though, Obama has McCain dead to rights on so many other issues I am overlooking this). This would be cool to learn more about because issues like calorie sufficiency in a country (the UK, France, us are good at making all our food, Japan is awful), global welfare, etc. are involved.

Willie I think is dead on though in encouraging people to get out of cars and make a garden. I grew herbs (not those herbs) in Japan and was stoked to save so much money. Eating "whole foods" is a fantastic way of reconnecting yourself with what fuels your body.

John is also an all-star for not eating meat: he is "more sustainable" than some of us. Though, if he has a car he can burn in his little hypocritical, air-conditioned hell stuck in the fastlane to Hell and a date with Robert Johnson at a Motel 6. (they'll leave the light on for you)

An aside: Gordon Brown just "endorsed" Barack Obama for president... From my very, very narrow international prospective: many many people around the world view this election as our last shot. I know not ONE (bearing in mind my peer group) McCain supporter amongst my friends (both expatriated and foreign).

Furthermore: aren't we lucky that we have the ability to have informed discussions about issues, with so much information available to us. We are so wealthy. I am so happy that I have intelligent, thoughtful friends who talk about important things. I love you guys. I'm glad to be home... We should play some poker sometime online, I think I suck a tad-bit less now. (though I'll still be paying you to play with me)

Sorry, I'm unemployed and now have a touch of time on my hands: going to go apply for an energy technology consulting job now...

This is why...

Transportation only accounts for about 10% of a food's carbon footprint. Here's a link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421161338.htm

For meat I remember it being around 1% of it's total carbon foorprint.

The other problem is that stuff grown in undeveloped countries is often way more environmentally friendly than stuff grown here, even including transportation. Here's another link: http://earthfirst.com/tag/food-footprint/

A pound of meat also takes about 10 times as much water as a pound of wheat.

Huge govnerment take over of failing corporations

Is anyone else as worried about the implications of taking over the failing mortgage companies as I am?

Dude actually just really wants to get laid

"Baby, I need a different kind of sugar"

I do actually have to buy bananas every week

or else I'm grumpy.  Rainwater collection is illegal in Colorado.  Everyone in Arizona is syphoning the rest of our runoff to make iced tea because they're exhausted from working in their gardens.

Eating locally

John, how can you possibly say that eating locally does nothing against global warming? Transportation accounts for a large percentage of the carbon footprint of food. Imagine if every American household tore up their stupid fucking lawn and planted a vegetable garden in its place. With efficient rainwater collection and climate appropriate crop choices we'd make a big difference in a lot of ways (no carbon emissions, people getting off their asses and doing something physical, eating whole foods instead of processed corn and soybeans...). Granted, if you're trying to grow bananas in Colorado then you're probably going to end up with a larger eco-footprint than just importing them from Ecuador. But, you don't have to buy bananas every week!

As for the meat concern, yes, the industrial production of cheap, unhealthy meat subsidized by the government via commodity crops is an environmental, public health, and ethical disaster. But, there are alternatives that can even be a net plus for the land and I personally think are ethical as well (but that's a another debate for another time). 

If anybody is at all seriously interested in these issues then you should read The Omnivores Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

That's not new information is it? That's the whole reason I became a vegetarian. And eating locally does nothing against global warming. It's all about what went into making the food, not where it came from.

Huh

Well then

UN

Well

This is encouraging

The first several pages have nothing good to say about McCain....maybe I am being too pessimistic in thinking this election is too close for comfort?

--

Also, did anyone else know that they have a Settler's of Catan video game for Xbox 360 with online play?

Really?...?

A few facts about Palin that are good to know

1:Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even admitted she hasn't thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." 1,

2: Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she called its 'inspiring convention.'"

3: Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn't made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.

4: Palin doesn't believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being manmade."

5: Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP.

6: Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn't even support abortion in the case of rape or incest.

7: Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She's said she will only support abstinence-only approaches.

8: As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, "news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

9: She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

FYI

Advice for some

Camping activities

Ani was looking around at places we could camp/meet if we all wanted to meet up.

KOA looks surprisingly good/cheap actually. You can get a cabin for 20$/night. There is at least one right outside of Portland.

Kevin - Map question

For a CMS, I'd use Drupal (version 5). Learning curve is steep, but you could probably whip something together.

You'll probably need these modules:

• CCK
• Views
• GMap

WHO'S STREETS? SARAH PALIN'S STREETS!

More Palin

Dustin, I definitely agree with you that having a pregnant and unmarried daughter tarnishes that image as the perfect social conservative. The problem is that most Alaska schools have comprehensive sex ed, and so her daughter can't be a symbol of the failing of abstinence only sex ed. And, because she has decided to stay pregnant and her boyfriend is, no doubt, being pushed to marry her without any choice, she's a symbol for pro-lifers of someone who has made the "right" choice after making a mistake. It's a bit of a quandary, and I think that voters can get out of the situation whatever they want to. That is, pro-lifers see that silver lining, and liberals like us see her as a symbol of failed policies.

Either way, I still hope Palin's a bad thing for McCain's campaign. She is particularly scary since he is so old and so likely to die that she has a serious shot at actually being president. Ahhhhh!

Mostly well

The main issue is definitely that she isn't qualified and was chosen to try to win over pissed-off Hilary supporters but the daughter is still somewhat of an issue, I think...

Palin is the perfect social conservative: abstinence-only sex education and sex after marriage type. Her unmarried teenage daughter getting pregnant seems to me a perfect example of the failings of these policies.

But yeah, this is not the main issue and shouldn't become it.

Sarah Palin

I'm going to include a quote from a comments board on Jezebel, just because it sums up the sitch pretty well:

"[Sarah Palin's] children shouldn't be the issue. The stuff opponents of the Republican ticket should be focusing on is that Sarah Palin is, quite frankly, barely qualified to be the president of the PTA, let alone vice president of the country. She'd have a thin resume applying for a full-time job at most corporations. That's way more of a concern to me than what her 17-year-old daughter does in her free time."

Godspeed Us to Sea

1) Ben, you made my fucking day. Many days. Made them spectacular. Please, please call me soon (719-439-9074) or put up a number where I can reach you. A Seattle trip is no thing at all, so I'm (as well as anyone else who wants to come) going up there asap if you aren't coming down here sooner.

Did you do the ERAS tag in Japan? I can't fucking wait to talk to you. We have some catching up to do. Glee

2) The Penny Arcade Expo was pretty fucking awesome. Ben and Josh, you have to come next year. Of this, there can be no question.

3) Harriet Miers is bullshit—McCain's whole goddamn show is bullshit. I wish that there was at least some sort of argument to be made about it, but it is just plain, straightforward bullshit. Miers is a spectacularly pathetic attempt to get those hideous PUMAs, angry, unintelligent women, and whipped men over to McCain's side, and it may well do the trick. I doubt that it will be enough to swing the vote, but it just might make a dent. (Have you noticed how much she looks like Tina Fey, the new Woman On Top? That is dirty and calculated. I think they even have the same glasses.) Hopefully Obama's people are savvy enough to thwart the bullshit. I think they are, and I think the American people are.

I'm predicting a solid Obama victory, and if I'm wrong on that, then I'm predicting a complete psychotic break for a majority of the thinking population of the United States that will be something magical to behold and take part in.

I'm done rambling for now. My parents are here and we're working on my place, which warms my heart almost as much as the news of Ben. It's a good feeling. God bless you all.

Walking blind. Carl? William? Anyone?

I have a little web hobby site that I would like to complete, but I am having trouble finding exactly what I need to learn to finish it.

so here it is:

I would like to use the google maps api to map a set of addresses on my site. That is no problem, i have figured out how to program all that. The part I am having trouble with is making a user interface where you can enter new addresses, and then maybe a list below where you can edit out old addresses. And then connect it to the map so the map is always current.

I am just looking for some direction, I guess in the server side database I believe I need to create. Probably just a recommendation as to what is the most useful to experiment with and learn.

Any help is appreciated, even if you just want to tell me I will need to learn some programing languages to accomplish this.

Thanks in advance.

Ben

Welcome back state-side


Also, the drama just continues to unfold: uh yeah