This Makes Me Happy

"A new poll suggests that President Bush is the most unpopular president in modern American history."

OK, so it's a 6-week-old story. But it's still worth sharing.

Per Capita Carbon Emissions

So check this out: a map of the US showing the per capita carbon emissions. Interestingly, the bulk of the country east of the Mississippi is doing great. But Texas... oh my lord, Texas. Dark Red over there in what looks to be the San Antonio region (I'm too lazy to verify that). In fact, all of the mountain states look pretty bad. And horror of horrors, despite all that California has done to combat rising energy usage since the 70s... we're still bright red all up and down the state. Well, except for the SF Bay Area. ;)

7 New Deadly Sins

Hey, guess what! There are now 7 more deadly sins to worry about, courtesy of Catholicism!!

Check this out, from The Onion AV Club, of all places:

"As you've probably heard from the Vatican podcast
by now, this week the Catholic church updated the Seven Deadly Sins.
The classics (Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Wrath, Envy) still
stand, but the church has added seven new categories of sin, in the hope of keepin' up with the crazy ways the kids are sinning these days.

From the NY Times, the bright, shiny, new sins are:

1. “Bioethical” violations such as birth control

2. “Morally dubious” experiments such as stem cell research

3. Drug abuse

4. Polluting the environment

5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor

6. Excessive wealth

7. Creating poverty"

Now, I've got to say that I'm quite impressed with about 5 of those. I mean, you know I'm tickled pink by the environmental sin. And I'm a big fan of the ones related to wealth distribution. But seriously, did they need 3 related to wealth? Wouldn't a single well-written sin have covered that topic? And isn't drug abuse just a form of gluttony? And OMG, can the Pope and his legion puh-LEEZE get off the abortion and stem cell bans??!?!?

I think in summary, this is like 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. I think Paula Abdul has a song about that.

Carbon Labels for Beer

One of the pending trends I expect in the next few years is product-level labeling of carbon emissions. This would help consumers to make the greenest choice when they're making a purchase. Essentially, it's possible to translate all emissions and waste into the equivalent impact of tons of carbon (or maybe pounds of carbon for individual products). By labeling products with this common denominator, people can easily compare 2 products for their net environmental impact, regardless of how dissimilar those products may seem.

And it looks like Japan's Sapporo Breweries is getting started on all of this!! Of course, without a common standard applied to the labeling process, it'll be difficult to know how trustworthy the information is. But Sapporo's on the right track; as an early adopter, they'll have power to help set the process for the rest of us. Neat stuff!

Rape in Darfur

Ugh... this is a story in the continuing, awful saga in Darfur. The summary is that 100% of women in refugee camps in Darfur are victims of rape or other gender-driven abuse. It's a truly heinous situation, as most everything happening in Darfur is. And of course the Sudanese government is quoted as saying something like, "There is no rape in Darfur." Nice, huh?

Anyways, the story is here.

Al Franken for Senator!

I love Al Franken. I love his books, I loved his show on Air America, and I love that he's running for Senate.

One of his campaign positions is that the US needs an "Apollo project" for renewable energy. He lays out a great case for it on his website. Clearly I'm predisposed to react well to that sort of message, but as he lays out on his page, it's win-win in a lot of different ways.

"It’s going to be a huge project, but it will pay off in so many ways:

• We’ll dramatically improve our environment.
• We’ll finally be taking steps to address global warming.
• We’ll make our nation more secure and less dependent on an uncertain global fuel economy.
• We’ll revitalize our manufacturing sector. The Ford plant in St. Paul that’s closing down should be making wind turbines, and we should be putting them up all over Minnesota.
• We’ll create high-tech, high-paying jobs in conservation and R&D.

Renewable energy is win-win-win-win-win, and we should back it not only with our words, but with our resources. We should also invest in conservation – energy efficiency, light rail, and increased CAFE standards are all part of that."

Go Al!!!!

Obama's First Ad for the General Election

So here it is... Obama's official entry into the general election. It's a nice short biography that aims to establish him as patriotic and middle-American. Which he is...!

Annnnnd... there's a bit of a kerfluffle over Obama's announcement today that he's going to forego public financing for his campaign. If you're interested, you can read about it on salon.com's War Room today at http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/.

John Cusack Gives the Bush-McCain Challenge

I heart John Cusack. And I like that he's using his star power for good, instead of evil (*ahem* Ben Stein, Charleton Heston, Chuck Norris, etc).

Happy Father's Day!

Wow... no new blog posts in almost 2 weeks? SLACKER.

So I'm like the worst son ever... I forgot to call my dad on his birthday on 6/6, and then forgot to call him yesterday on Father's Day. I must be punished and/or destroyed.

Pending that, check out this hilarious print ad, send to me by Brent. Thanks BB!

Obama-Clinton Dream Ticket?

OK, so not everyone will agree with me, but i definitely see a combo ticket of Obama-Clinton as EZ-mode for Democrats this fall. With a combo ticket like that they would appease 90% of the Democratic party, and would still pull in moderates and new voters left and right. McCain and his flaccid running mate (whichever old white man it is... Lieberman anyone?) would be dominated in a most embarrassing fashion.

And to me, it seemed that the only real roadblock to this (aside from the die hard Clinton/Obama haters) was Clinton's own pride. Would she accept second fiddle? Or would she balk at the idea and go back to her career in the Senate? Well, apparently today Clinton said she'd be open to the idea of a combo ticket under Obama. And she seems to be interested in it for the noblest of reasons: "We have to win this fall."

So basically: YAY. I really really really hope this happens. That would give us 16 yrs of Democrats in power, I do believe, which should be plenty of time to nationalize our healthcare, build an energy infrastructure of 100% renewables, re-establish ourselves as a force of order and peace in the world, etc etc etc. So get out there and buy your Obama-Clinton t-shirts, and start getting your friends and neighbors on board with this idea. =)

The Smearing of Scott McClellan's Smearing of George Bush's Smearing of US Political Integrity

I'm not sure how much of this y'all have been following... former Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan has written a memoir of his time in the White House. And he basically calls out a lot of the shit that the Bushies pulled around the run-up to the Iraq War. And, unsurprisingly, now the Bushies are hitting back and calling him all sorts of lovely names. For example, I believe Bob Dole may have called him a contemptible worm and tried choking him remotely a la Darth Vader.

And it's funny to me for a number of reasons. First, I suspect everything Scott is revealing is likely true (and I say that tepidly because I haven't read the book myself, so I can't be too adamant with my assertions). Second, the MSM (mainstream media... one of this decade's Republican boogeymen) has been breathlessly reporting McClellan's "revelations," though they are surely anything but. And third, the anti-McClellan smearing machine has been saying things like, "he should have complained when he was in his job, not after," despite the fact that all evidence points to the Bush White House being incredibly hostile to dissenting opinion.

Anyways, I'm rambling a bit, but in the end, despite being a bit of a weenie, Scott has taken a big risk writing the book he's written. And so I'm debating buying it to provide him a bit of support, and to see just how he slams Bush.

And as always, salon.com has some great pieces on this whole thing. First, one that introduces the situation. Second, one that summarizes the GOP smear machine's response to the book. And third, one that defends poor Scottie. Good times.

American Idol 7 - Graham Nash - Brooke White - Teach Your Ch

Man... I love Brooke. She's so vibrant and clumsy and real... to me she's a real role model for who I want my future daughter to me like. =) And she makes me think of how stifling society would have been for someone with her personality and talents hundreds of years ago... or even today in like 50% of the world.

But... enjoy this great duet of hers with Graham Nash, from the American Idol finale...

Do they mean Purdue?

Ahhhh Monkey College... good times. But it's clearly for a good cause... and pretty cool that the monkeys can be trained to do so much! I want a helper monkey to help my lazy ass with the dishes and laundry...