A Xanax for the Soul

I really like the planet. A lot. And I think it's really photogenic, too. But I can't watch nature shows on TV, or read books and articles about natural phenomena, or, God forbid, see "An Inconvenient Truth," because all of these things inevitably end with a statement like:

"The habitat of the vermillion muskrat is shrinking due to encroachment by clear cutting for lumber mills." And then they show a cute little thing getting clubbed. I know that the message of this is that I need to use less lumber, but having reached a nadir of timber-wasting, it just makes me feel sad and hopeless.

So I was happy to read in the NYT today that not everything is quite as huge a terrible, man-made disaster, as I thought. I need to hear that every now and then.

JEK
Morale sensitive

Equal Opportunity Emasculation

You think that's bad...take a look at what John Edwards has been up to, while his wife sits at home metastasizing.

The worst part, for him, is the fact that when confronted he barricaded himself inside a men's room. Everyone knows that just makes the paps mad.

JEK
Scarlet Letterer

McCain, you old dog...

Oh this is juicy. And would probably end McCain's campaign is enough people read it.

The Wife John McCain Callously Left Behind

POHS
this seriously sounds like the plot of a soap opera

t boone pickens

Who is this guy? Wikipedia has a pretty good summary from which I gathered:

Made a fortune in the 80's taking over companies or something. (I didn't really read this part, but sounds bad)
Makes a bigger fortune managing a hedge fund (no opinion).
Donated lots of money to Bush in 2004 campaign. (bad)
Perhaps the biggest financial backer of the Swift Boats for Truth (bad)
Donated a TON of money of Oklahoma State University (good)
The majority was for athletics (bad -- including a nasty immenent domain buy out of people's homes to build a new athletic "village")
Now is single handedly investing in a MASSIVE wind-power project with some natural gas too (good, probably in it for the money, but still good)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boone_Pickens

Anyone know more?

POHS
research assistant

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Is a pretty great little web-based show, from Joss Whedon, the Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Serenity guy.

Check it out.





JEK
Sucker for musicals

Poll Interpretation

Below are the results of a poll done by the NYT. The headline on the web reads: "Poll Finds Obama’s Run Isn’t Closing Divide on Race," with a subhead: "Blacks and whites hold vastly different views of Senator Barack Obama and the state of race relations, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."

Now look at the results. To me, what they say is: "Poll finds heavy support for Obama among African Americans." Subhead: "Blacks less likely to support McCain, whites split almost evenly and ready for a black president."

Which is pretty different.

JEK
Armchair Pollster






Late update: Seems I am not the only person to think so. The Obama camp is making a similar argument, as reported at TPM.

Can you handle more responsibility?

First you had to pick America's idol, then America's next top model. But now it's real, now your vote determines who lives in the White house...

I'm, of course, talking about the American Kennel Society's vote to select Obama's new dog. He doesn't own a pet and it's really hurting him in the polls. He's promised his daughters a puppy after the election and the American Kennel Society has selected 5 breeds that would fit his family. Now it's up to you to tell him which one to get. But will it be too late to save his campaign? Is McCain just too far ahead in the pet-race? This one's going to keep the pundits talking up to the last minute.

Vote now. This is just too important to pass up. Obama cannot be a strong president if he owns a Bichon Frise.



www.presidentialpup.com

POHS
issues that matter

Mainstreaming

The NYT has picked up on the "Dancing" phenomenon (see below).

Adventures Afield

Nation Indivisible friend, and hopefully soon-to-be contributor, Ben, [that's a lot of commas] is traveling this summer as part of his masters program in International Relations. So are many of his classmates. Between them, they make for a widely distributed group of good writers with an eye for detail. And Ben has made a blog for them. Check it out here, or linked in the sidebar.

And while I'm at it, our own POHS has some great stuff up from his last Central America trip here.

JEK
Linkmaster

Bring Back the Blimps

Or the dirigibles, at least.

A few years back, while sailing in the middle of the Atlantic aboard a tall ship, one of my watch-mates and I spun out an elaborate fantasy of bringing wind power back to the modern age. We imagined fleets of sail-powered supertankers on the sea, and a return of the dirigible in the sky. Staring out for hours at the midnight sea and stars, it seemed reasonable enough.

It's nice to think maybe it was.

JEK
Wind-powered romantic

Another year down

Happy Independence Day to you all!

How old would you put America, in person-years? I'd put it at about 16...a disaffected, frustrated, adolescent year with some Goth tendencies. Either that or a late 80's demented guy with some disinhibition issues.

Either way, I don't think this past year has been reflective of the fundamental principles of America, and will be one that it looks back on with a powerful urge to go back in time and talk some sense into itself.

Surprisingly, one of those voices seems to be coming from none other than Christopher Hitchens, the reasonable guy turned neocon turned, it now appears, reasonable guy. He's been a big supporter of the Iraq invasion, and a notable apologist for all that has come with it. But he just did something quite noble -- something that I'm surprised more self-respecting journalists and politicians haven't done. He got himself waterboarded. With all this talk about what that means, talk that never seems to come from personal experience, it's so refreshing to see someone just get it done to themselves and tell us what it feels like. And the fact that he didn't like it very much, despite being someone predisposed to downplay the negative effects, speaks volumes.

JEK
Partly cloudy patriot