orichalcum: (cackling)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 10:08pm on 22/08/2008 under ,

I guess the connection between capitalism and politics does start at an early age. Seriously, though, these kids are brilliant.

In other kid-related news (before we take off for four days in Albion, CA, near Mendocino), Mac appears to be adopting an upper-class British accent, possibly in imitation of my supposed accent. I keep catching him saying "I wohnt dah-dih!"

Looks like it won't be Sebelius. Sigh. :(
orichalcum: (Obama)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 03:15pm on 18/08/2008 under ,

So, the official McCain blog just decided to gratuitously mock Obama supporters as D&D players, despite the context having nothing whatsoever to do with gaming:

"It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others."

So, yeah, personally, I'm an Obama supporter, 2nd-place international D&D champion, and prrroud, but dude! I've got plenty of gamer friends who support your candidate, Mr. Goldfarb, and frankly, claiming that they lack humility and gratitude towards the military is rude and insulting. It might be hard to believe, but both Obama supporters and D&D players can be mature adults who don't live in their parents' basements and have happy, functioning social lives and political opinions of all stripes.

Plus, um, from what I hear, RPGs and MMORPGS? Pretty big among those who are "suffering on behalf of others" in Iraq and Afghanistan _right now._

Meanwhile, we aren't the ones throwing throwing around insults like "Barack Obama sleeps with a teddy bear," so, really, I'd step back from the "who's more mature and adult here" game.
Mood:: 'irate' irate
orichalcum: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 02:31pm on 15/08/2008 under ,
On the San Mateo County Fair Daily Schedule:

4:00pm
- Pig Races (Carnival Stage)
- Butchery Techniques for the Home Cook Demo (Culinary Arts Building)

CP: I guess they needed some motivation?

Around Mountain View:
Tattoo Expo: Cow Palace.
I'm sure the Cow Palace is just a big hall somewhere, but it does conjure images of "Have you seen the lovely ourobouros on that heifer's flank?

I'm sorry, engineers. Apparently, your profession just isn't compatible with a social life...

And in a Georgia update, apparently, official Moscow state radio is telling Russians that the Georgian war is a plot by Dick Cheney to prevent Obama from getting elected President of the U.S.A.

To be vaguely fair to them, there is an odd and unexplained secret visit by Karl Rove to Georgia last month. Still, though...
Mood:: 'amused' amused
orichalcum: (bush)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 05:48pm on 09/08/2008 under
In ancient Greece, one of the big special aspects of the Olympics was that there was a Greece-wide truce for three weeks, and everyone agreed not to raid each other's cattle while their leaders were off racing chariots on the plains of Olympos. When the Olympics were restarted in 1896, the idea of the worldwide truce was raised again, and while not always adhered to, it has always been a goal.

Two days ago, Georgia (the country) seems to have taken advantage of the absence of Russian leaders to try and retake the capital of South Ossetia; Russia has responded by invading Georgia; at least 1500 civilians are already dead.

This has been described as a "3 AM" moment for the presidential candidates, as a moment of major foreign crisis, although of course both are hampered by not actually being able to do anything. Obama has taken the same position as Secretary Rice and the European governments in calling for negotiations and trying to ratchet down tensions on both sides. McCain has taken a different approach, placing the blame entirely on Russia and taking a strong pro-Georgia stance; he has compared Georgia to Kuwait in 1991. McCain's chief policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, is, fwiw, a former lobbyist for Georgia (as well as one of the leading early proponents of the Iraq War).

I think this is indeed indicative of both their policies. I'm not sure that Obama (or Brown/Sarkozy/Rice/etc...) are taking a position which will effectively end the war here, but McCain's penchant for military options makes me very, very afraid. No one benefits from two countries with nukes engaging in war with each other - frankly, even if one side does have righteous justification on its side. And also, _we can't afford to make an enemy of Russia right now_ because we're already fighting two major wars. If the U.S. had huge numbers of combat-ready forces and a healthy budget, we might be in a better position to make threats.

George W. Bush, incidentally, is at the Olympics, apparently judging by Youtube footage, somewhat bored.
location: Mountain View, CA
Music:: Olympics
orichalcum: (Obama)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 01:01pm on 29/07/2008 under
The Nexis search string (via Kevin Drum) to weed out unsuitable candidates for the Department of Justice has been published:

[first name of a candidate] and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!

This search string was also used on candidates for a National Committee on Violence Against Women and for choosing immigration judges,
Mood:: 'angry' angry
location: home
orichalcum: (Obama)
That's one of the standard questions that Monica Goodling asked candidates for jobs at the Department of Justice over the last several years. Matthew Yglesias points out how creepy it is, and I think he's right, and would go even farther.

We do not elect a king every four years. We do not pledge fealty to him, or to his family, or swear to defend them. I have no desire to serve Barack Obama. I want to hire him to work for me and for my fellow Americans. Like any employee, I expect him to be held accountable for his actions. To the extent that he needs defense, I am happy to hire people with my tax money to protect him. As the Democratic candidate for President, he has my support - but not my feudal loyalty.

And the Republican current doctrine is that Obama is dangerous because he's a charismatic leader who gives speeches to big crowds and therefore potentially fascistic and Hitleresque? Yeah. Bit of projection there.

Of course, Goodling's line does call out for humorous parody as well - "I like the light, traditional flavor of Bush and think he'd go well with a 1994 rose."
Mood:: 'angry' angry
location: home
orichalcum: (Obama)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 03:20pm on 25/07/2008 under ,
But it's also ridicullously cute: Pre-schoolers stage Obama rally!

Feel free to ignore if you're Obama-ed and kid-ded out.
location: home
Mood:: 'amused' amused
orichalcum: (Obama)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 09:10am on 25/07/2008 under ,
So, two days ago, Barack Obama prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. As is the custom, he placed his written paper in a crack in the wall.

A yeshiva student stole the prayer and sold it to an Israeli paper, which published it yesterday.

I'm not going to link to the text, because I'm pretty darn offended that this happened - although there wasn't anything objectionable in the prayer itself.

I know politicians are aware that they give up their privacy when they run for office.

But giving up the right to private prayers to God??? You might as well film him in his bedroom having sex with his wife.

If I were that student's teacher, well....there would be an enormous amount of reading in his future.
location: home
Mood:: horrified
orichalcum: (Obama)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 10:43am on 08/07/2008 under ,
This post is really all for [livejournal.com profile] contrariety (even though there's an Obama reference), although she heard the first part of it on Sunday evening.

Item #1: From a comment on an article about the genetic sequencing of chocolate: Not the Chocolate Nazis!

Item #2: Charismatic Politicians Must Be Nazis!

Really, people. Is this the best you can do? I guess one advantage John McCain has is that it's impossible for him to be the reincarnation of Hitler.

Soon, we'll learn that the Nazis are responsible for global warming, AIDS, and the cancellation of Firefly. :)
location: home
Mood:: 'amused' amused
orichalcum: (Fumble bad)
posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 05:07pm on 04/07/2008 under ,
So, um, I'm as pro-duct tape as the next geek, but I'm not really happy that it's being used to seal a containment door for a bioterror bacteria lab at the CDC.

And phrases like this don't really help:

"CDC officials said the duct-taped door that Goodwin cited in his report is a different door from the one that currently has tape on it. They said there was no positive air-flow problem —- where air moved out of the lab —- in March 2007."

""It could be inconsequential or it could be consequential," said Chris Newcomer, executive director of the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International, commenting in general and not about CDC's lab in particular.

"There's nothing intrinsically dangerous about duct tape or repair with duct tape on the seal of a door," Newcomer said."
location: home
Music:: Brotherhood of Men
Mood:: 'scared' scared

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