DoodleBlog

- As long as our currency is fast becoming worthless, I was thinking we should create a new bill in a denomination that will still be used (maybe a $2000 Ameriso) featuring a big, engraved head of the guy who’s fast becoming the true spiritual forefather of our society - P.T. Barnum.

- Zooey Deschanel? In a television mini-series? I will certainly not complain about the new SciFi channel mini-series “Tin Man”, premiering 9/8C Sunday, December 2nd. Deschanel will be playing Dorothy with Alan Cumming as Glitch.

- It is unknown and unknowable who were scarier during the Republicans’ debate - the youtube provided questioners or the candidates themselves. The scariest of them all is Huckabee - he’s a nice, well spoken, funny guy with absolutely horrible policies that play well with Republicans. I find myself thinking, hey, I like this guy, even though I know his positions totally go against what I’ve always believed America stood for.

- Again, please support Joe Biden. Not later, not after Iowa, now. This is the most important opportunity for America to right itself. Stop saying “I support candidate xy/xx because they’re electable” because they’re currently ahead in the polls. You have been fooled, you have been suckered by your own party and its commentators to believe in that. Choose the person who will be the best candidate and the best president. There is a tremendous opportunity with a Democrat controlled congress to quickly implement changes that will improve the situation in this country.

Which candidate is most in line with your thinking? I already knew it was Biden - he scored a 19. What about you? Take the test!

Koreans are smarter than Belgians:

“In a third study, Korean kids adopted in Belgium outscored the Belgian average by at least 10 points, regardless of their adoptive parents’ socioeconomic status”

Soon all their delicious mayo covered french fries and waffles shall be ours, god bless those walking half German half French abominations.

The Bears’ season was over weeks ago in reality, given the lead that Green Bay and Detroit have, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s really, really, really over now. Sadly, my fantasy football team’s not going anywhere this season either. There will be much mourning and eating of cranberry sauce.

Joe Biden once again stood out from the pack by being knowledgeable and being able to concisely state his case in support of his positions - the media is even starting to mention that he was at the debates, so that’s a positive sign. He especially stood out in the questions where he wasn’t one of the first people to respond. When he responds first, the others tend to crib his response (”oh well i agree with joe”, “yeah, absolutely, privacy, yeah”). When he responds last the others run all over the map because for the most part they have no idea how to respond. This was made evident during the question about imports from China. Biden answered last, the others weren’t allowed to crib:

BIDEN: Look, it’s not the agreement, it’s the man. Under the WTO, we can shut this down. What are they all talking about here??? (audience cheers) It’s about a president who won’t enforce the law. (big cheer) When they contaminated chicken, what happened? They cut off all chicken going in from Delaware, a $3 billion industry, into China - they cut it off. We have power under this agreement. I don’t know what anybody is talking about here. Enforce the agreement. Shut it down.

Of note, Bill Richardson did an outstanding job responding to questions, often referencing his actual, real experiences as Governor of New Mexico.

All of the candidates failed on the issue of contractors in Iraq, supporting the idea that paying someone $100k/annum to go there by choice was too much when soldiers are getting $30k. We have diplomats refusing en masse to go. Most of the people in the room agreed they probably wouldn’t go to Iraq for $100k. The soldiers are going because they don’t have any other option but to go. Should their benefits be re-examined and adjusted? Well, yes, they should be adjusted regularly. But comparing their pay to the contractors’ pay is more empty populist rhetoric. (addendum: looking back, nobody even addressed this, but it seemed unfair to let it pass and color the ensuing responses)

It’s a shame that more people aren’t watching these damned things…

So today I decided to start eating a bit healthier - so far it’s been oatmeal, home made sourdough bread, salad, and donuts. I can already feel the nutrients coursing through my system.

For some reason, the absolute non-story of Obama backers in South Carolina calling Democratic Party officials to keep Colbert off the ballot is newsworthy, even though there’s no evidence it was from Obama’s campaign itself or that it had any effect whatsoever on the outcome. I’m guessing some will assume that the torrent of Obama Bashing going on is a consequence of the Clinton political machine. I myself suspect that the media has been holding back all along, building up the story of the honest, hopeful minority candidate and waiting until he changed tactics before beginning their hero de-building efforts.

I am not an Obama supporter - my preference is Biden, Dodd, Clinton, Obama, Richardson, Kucinich. I would consider not voting or voting Republican if Edwards was nominated.

* Suggestions for code completion should be activated by a hot key combination. Don’t make it the default, it’s irritating.

* Television advertising for political races should be banned, like cigarette advertisements were. It’s wasteful of money and the commercials themselves degrade the tenor of the process.

* We need space based energy collection and microwave transmission to drive desalination plants. This has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with my death ray.

So if the war was defunded, President Bush would basically keep troops in Iraq and force them to fight with spoons:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070403.html

He would keep the same number of troops in Iraq, not let the ones who were supposed to go home go home, reduce their quality of life, and underequip the ones away from centers of engagement, not repair vehicles, etc. Also nice because the transcript underscores how these question and answer sessions work:

PRESIDENT: Let’s see here — Baker, Baker. Are you here? Yes, there you are.

He’s actually calling out for the questioner attached to a question he already had and was prepared on. He doesn’t even know if the reporter that the question “came from” was at the press conference.

So, just some general questions on the head today.

1. If Congress didn’t give Bush all the funding he wanted for The Occupation, what would happen? Would he not withdraw any troops and force our soldiers to fight with spoons? “Blame Congress that you’re fighting with spoons, folks. They didn’t give me any moneys.” I really have no idea. How would that work?

2. It seems like America mostly thinks about very large scale nuclear reactors when talking about nuclear energy. Why is that? It seems that the technology exists for more modular nuclear power where failure wouldn’t pose massive risks to the surrounding community.