“They are concerned about Democratic races all around the country,” he said. “I see it as what has become an overly politicized process.” – Gov. David Paterson, on the political process we call a campaign.

“Online reviewers are a little like T-Ball parents: To them, everyone’s a winner. Though the Internet is laden with snark and meanness, customer reviews are a bastion of the positive, with the average grade sitting at about 4.3 out of 5 stars, according to Bazaarvoice, a company that provides review software.”  Um yeah…. online people are only gonna review stuff they’re choosing to buy.

This took FOREVER for me to see.  But I found em.  Can you?

In the words of the immortal Stewie Griffin, “Oh this is rich”. Apparently the idea that the president is a foreign citizen (who managed to fool everyone from the Chicago electorate, the DNC, the popular vote and the electoral college) is gaining traction with some people.

I tried having a rational discussion with one and our conclusion was that my birther friend preferred ignoring pesky facts and doing her own research to going along with the Limbaugh crowd (where most of this is coming from, imho).

Rather than rehashing the debate here I will provide you folks with two resources.

a reputable, non partisan website that looks at the controversy using analytics and (some say pesky) facts

and

Jon Stewart who uses almost no facts but does point out that CNN’s resident idiot raises the question of Obama’s citizenship while his fill in anchor debunked the myth just three days prior ON HIS OWN SHOW.

And we’ll end with this quote by this person I know nothing about who said something pretty cool:

“There’s no amount of evidence or data that will change somebody’s mind,” says Michael Shermer, who is the publisher of Skeptic magazine and a columnist for Scientific American, and who holds an undergraduate and a master’s degree in psychology. “The more data you present a person, the more they doubt it … Once you’re committed, especially behaviorally committed or financially committed, the more impossible it becomes to change your mind.”
“Any inconvenient facts are irrelevant. People who believe in a conspiracy theory “develop a selective perception, their mind refuses to accept contrary evidence,” Chip Berlet, a senior analyst with Political Research Associates who studies such theories, says. “As soon as you criticize a conspiracy theory, you become part of the conspiracy.”

Good shtuff.

Saw Transformers II yesterday.  Special Effects- Great.  Megan Fox-Great, Rest of the movie-Not so great.  I did learn a few things though and here they are in no particular order:

1.  When the Army tells you that a city has been evacuated, that only means for 10 minutes.  After that the city will be teeming with people, cars and robots.

2.  If a girl that’s clearly out of your leagues has the hots for you, check if she’s a robot.

3. The Smithsonian has a door in the flight museum that opens up to an airfield in Arizona.

4. No one or thing ever dies for real.

5. There’s a robot heaven and people can go there.

6. It’s OK to directly steal scenes like Aragon’s vision of Arwen when he almost dies from Lord of the Rings or the scene from War of the Worlds when the son tells Tom Cruise “You’ve go to let me go”.

7. When you tell your Autobot/first car to take your parents to safety, you need to specify for how long or they’ll just come back in the next scene.

8. The Pyramids were designed to mimic Orion’s Belt (which is actually true) and following the belt will take you east to Petra.  Not into space or the southwest, where the belt actually points. (‘ll concede this one’s a bit nerdy).

9. Search your clothing for ancient artifacts before you hang them up in the closet.

10.  Sometimes two and a half hours can actually feel longer than that.

RIP Michael Jackson

6/25/09

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard “The Old Rugged Cross,” a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are…well, hark the David Crowder Band: “I am full of earth/ You are heaven’s worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity.”

So says the “new” Calvinism.  I prefer to be fearfully and wonderfully made.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Boom.

The all important arnoldcam caucus.

Having helped out in event planning at my old job and planning weekend services at church, I’ve grown an appreciation for productions that run smoothly.  The only time I’ve seen something go wrong at an Obama rally was when the sound guys couldn’t get the mic on right away.  Obama quipped “I told you folks were having a hard time paying their electric bill.”

Meanwhile, at the McCain camp, I suppose people are so busy updating their resumes that no one had time to brief McCain that 3rd man on the ticket Joe the Plumber was a no show.  I kind of feel bad for McCain here, you can plainly see the moment of realization on his face that no one told him Joe wasn’t there.  And then he quickly moves to the rousing “You’re all Joe the Plumber”.

Frankly, I’m going to be glad when Joe’s out of the limelight.  He’s sure milking his 15 minutes though.  A fund was created to pay off his back taxes, he’s hired a PR firm, he’s gotten offers for a country music album and he’s also thought about running for office.

I’m still trying to figure where exactly I stand on the bailout which started as a three page document from Paulson and grew into a 1000+ page bill.  So what was it that made the Republicans finally vote yes?  Stuff like….

Arrows
An excise tax exemption for a very specific type of arrow used by child archers. Estimated cost two million over ten years. Oregon senators wrote this which will give $200 to Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, OR.

Cyclists
A measure will allow employers to provide benefits to employees who ride bikes to work including help buying and maintaining a bike.  Cost to taxpayers: ten million.

Movies
Production companies will be allowed to deduct the cost of making a film in the tax returns.  This was done to give incentive to movie makers to keep movie production in the US.  Cost to taxpayers: $478 million over ten years.

Motorsport race tracks
Race track owners will be allowed to keep their depreciation schedules at seven years as opposed to the new 15 year regulation.  The cost: 100 million.  (On first look, this seems to me to be a cash flow issue rather than a real increase in taxpayer expense).

Rum
The measure added extends an excise tax break to rum imported from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  There’s a tax of 13.50 per barrel and they are getting a refund of $13.25 which has been extended to 2009.  Cost to taxpayers: $192 million

Wool
The bill includes a measure that would help worsted wool makers and clothing manufacturers by extending provisions to 2014/2015.  Cost to taxpayers: $148.

-from CNN.

This is a lot to digest.  I’m gonna put on my wool jacket, have some rum and ride my bike to see a movie about racing.  I gotta get my money’s worth you know.

Oh this reminds me of another quote…

“”That’s how we’re going to get America moving again, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Thank you and again, I commend the House Republicans for acting in the best interest of our nation.”"

John McCain on the passing of the bailout.