And now for a different class of nonsense:
Dental
Medical
Mental
Tentacle
(put here in an attempt to stop my brain singing it to the tune of Popmusik by M)
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04:31:31 PM,
Friday 22 June 2007
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Is worsening spelling a symptom of any terrible wasting disease? I've even been making mistakes in work emails. I might have to start using spellcheck. It's ghastly.
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(2)
12:26:11 PM,
Friday 22 June 2007
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Somebody I trust on healthcare reviews a film by someone I don't trust with anything, and likes it, more or less. (registration required)
There's no way I'm going to see it, though. Seeing Mr. Moore, who I admired at one point, talk in the spring of 2002 remains my most stomach churning political moment. Also, I was completely taken in by Bowling for Columbine. At that point I thought he was a annoying twit with a real talent for finding amazing things. Now I know how he finds them. The issue here isn't a lack of fact checking. I don't need to be lied to, I don't want the world simplified. It's a sort of pathological need for a villian that breaks my heart.
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(17)
10:52:48 AM,
Friday 22 June 2007
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I should not go kayaking with thunderstorms in the area. Fooey.
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(2)
08:04:14 PM,
Thursday 21 June 2007
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I'm not sure I believe in government. I have libertarian twitches when I look at William Jefferson, or the bridge to nowhere, or the Iraq war, or Medicare part D (Bush believes in government too, when it suits him). Obama convinces me that maybe there is a sort of government I could believe in, and that it's vitally important that we get there. This is entirely different from beleiving in the government we've got now. As I've said about federal healthcare, I've seen too much of it to believe in it right now. The Audacity of Hope, just as a title, resonates with me. I'm not sure hope is justified. I'm just the sort of alienated liberal, put off by the cynicism of politics, that he's talking about.
I guess, we "Liebermanites", if you must, (though I can't stand him myself for entirely different reasons, and he's the last standard bearer I'd choose) think good partisan's cynicism about the intentions of everyone else in the world is misguided, craven and destructive. Good partisans on both sides think my cynicism about The Good Guys and the Utopia they will bring if only they win the next election is craven, destructive and traitorous. Hang me from the nearest lamppost, but I don't believe republicans are the real problem here. Obama talks about changing the culture of Washington, and I believe he means it. Clinton is, and I realize I'm embracing cliche here, god help me, but she's business as usual. Obama is my Mr. Smith.
"Obama has a remarkable ability to convince you that his positions are motivated purely by principles, not tactical considerations. This skill is so subtle and impressive, it resembles Luke Skywalker's mastery of the Force." From above link, which both captures why I believe in Obama, and Why I am Not A Progressive. I value good government higher than the blood of the tyrants, and while I enjoy cheap lazy cynicism as much as anyone, I think it a vice. The notion that someone who disagrees with them might be motivated by principle is so silly they don't even bother dismissing it. (warning, it's a nation article, so you only need read every 4th sentence)
Kinsley once wrote somewhere years ago that everyone gets one Mr. Smith before despair and cynicism sets in for good. I forgot who his was, but this is mine. When Obama says "This is not who we are" he doesn't mean we aren't really republicans. He means the american people are much better than the government they have, that the system has failed us. He believes in human decency, and while he's talking, he convinces me. He isn't calling me to hate my neighbors, my brother, or even my vice-president.
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(4)
12:50:35 PM,
Thursday 21 June 2007
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The notion that Clinton can win, and people will vote for her, because she can win, is just entirely bizarre to me. Where did it come from? It's out there, I hear people say it, I hear the words, but the meaning escapes me. It's like there's some severely depressive media overlord out there taking his worst fears and ascribing them to the American people. I saw a Hill 08 t-shirt today and it made me want to weep. How does this happen? How does it happen before Kerry's electable corpse is even cold? It's inexplicable.
Also, her campaign keeps calling her Hillary. Wasn't that supposed to be sexist? Is it entrapment? The whole thing just leaves me muddled.
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(30)
09:35:26 AM,
Wednesday 20 June 2007
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Tim Noah, who knows this stuff (Here's his excellent brief history of disaster), has the start of what looks like a promising series reviewing candidates health care platforms, starting with Obama.
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08:12:34 AM,
Wednesday 20 June 2007
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Photos of yesterday's lunar eclipse of venus.
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08:51:57 PM,
Tuesday 19 June 2007
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I have become what I swore I would never be. I'm keeping a gas log for the car.
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08:58:03 AM,
Monday 18 June 2007
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Looking into it further, they basically pay $1.50 per hour for me to exercise, up to 180 hours a year, paid into a Health Savings Account. Which shouldn't really be enough to influence me, but it does anyway. I was raised on video games. I like collecting points.
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08:51:03 AM,
Monday 18 June 2007
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3 days ago Erika counted 6 cygnets, this evening I only saw three. As I kayaked up, they boarded their mother, and then poked their heads up through her wings, while making small squeaking noises, as they do. I really don't understand why the pond isn't covered with people drifting in boats, watching the stars come out. Tonight was one of those nights where the crescant moon pointed towards venus. Also, you can sneak up on sleepy ducks. Still no signs of aquatic grues emerging after sunset. Also, I want a good explanation of why the wind falls at sunset.
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(4)
10:30:45 PM,
Sunday 17 June 2007
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Work is successfully manipulating me. There's this Get Active, Volcano! program, complete with t-shirts. Designed to make us healthier better people, not destroy Sicily. But anyway, we're put on teams of 4. If all 4 members of the team get 2,500 minutes of exercise during the summer, we're entered in a raffle. Entirely artificial peer pressure, but surprisingly effective. If Mt Insurance Company does erupt, I'm going to find this t-shirt amusing.
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(4)
02:23:46 PM,
Saturday 16 June 2007
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site & script courtesy of Moss
