Asian Extravaganza, Days 6 and 7

Well, it's Sunday afternoon right now for me, and I'm in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. Friday night, after getting back to Dubai from Oman, I flew overnight back to Singapore, to meet up with the rest of my crew. The flight was a bit delayed, so I got in at 10am or so, just in time to catch literally the last 45 seconds of the 1st Prez Debates on a CNN screen in the airport. Yarrrrgh! Luckily, I've been able to catch up on all that a bit... Obama didn't totally kick ass, but he remained presidential and positive, while McCain was condescending and vague. So I'm going to call it for Obama. And it looks like CNN and others have done the same. Which is great news, cause McCain was supposed to be favored in that one.

Annnnyways. I took a cab from the hotel to Luis' place in Singapore (he's there for Motorola, just like Dan's in Penang for Motorola). I met up with Dan, Kelly, Kelly, and Luis, and we all headed out to explore Singapore. We didn't do anything too crazy... got some breakfast (some sort of toast with lots of butter, sugar, and kima or something like that), then walked around downtown. There's a huge F1 racing event going on on the actual streets of Singapore this wknd, so there are tons of people in town, and whole sections of the city are walled off for the race. We grabbed some drinks at the Raffles Hotel (apparently Sir Stamford Raffles is a big name in Singaporean history)... I had a Singapore Sling, which was apparently invented at that very hotel...!

We wandered around some more, including checking out Chinatown. We actually drank multiple "travelers" during the day... you can have open liquor out on the streets of Singapore (and Malaysia, as it turns out), so we availed ourselves. Quite a change from my experience in Dubai, where I wasn't allowed to even drink water outside during the day. =D We got beers at this restaurant owned by one Alvin Koh, who I met in SF yearrrrs ago. Totally random. He's a 4'9" bodybuilder/chef/poet/speaker/renaissance man, apparently. Interesting guy. I'd wondered what happened to him... I guess the answer is he moved to Singapore. =D

Eventually we packed up and metro/bus'd it over the border to Malaysia, to Johor Bahru. That was an experience... though not exciting enough to justify documenting. =D At JB, we checked into a Hyatt, cleaned ourselves up, then went to meet Luis' boss at this bar downtown. We ended up eating at a fast-food-esque place called Nando's, which apparently is a global chain that does Portuguese food. Mmmmm. We then met up with Luis' boss, his wife, and his 2 sisters. By that time I was freaking exhausted, because I'd slept 2 hrs on the plane from Dubai (my back was hurting for some reason, and I got sucked into watching Baby Mama (d'oh!)), and because I'd not had a full night's sleep in like a month. I powered through the small talk for a couple hours by variously squeezing random parts of my body to the point of causing myself pain.... it was the only way to keep from passing out and face-planting in the pitchers of beer sitting on the table between us and our Malaysian hosts. Good times.

Anyways, we got to sleep, then got up at ass-o-clock (5am) to catch a 7am flight to Kota Kinabalu, which is where SE Asia's tallest mountain is waiting for us to attempt to scale it on Tues/Weds. We got in, checked into another Hyatt, then wandered a local market and got some street food. The food was good, and I got an awesome belt in the market with a pirate buckle!!! So I'm basically now set for life. Annnd... that's it so far. The rest of the day will likely consist of swimming in the hotel pool followed by drinking tonight. Tomorrow we're going to snorkle at the islands of the coast of Borneo here (wooooo Borneo!!!), then climb the mountain Tues/Weds. God knows when/if I'll have PC access again in the near future. Or when I'll get a full night's sleep next. =P

Asian Extravaganza, Days 4 and 5: Graeme and Orion's Omani Adventure

So... Thursday, Day 4 I got up and tried to get to the Jumeirah Mosque, which is the only one in the UAE that lets in non-Muslims. They do daily tours at 10am, but sadly I got stuck in an hour's traffic in my cab and missed the tour. So instead I tooled around Bastkiyah, which is this resurrected old town that mimics the Dubai of a couple hundred years ago. It was neat! But also 110 degrees out and I had no water, so I was wilting fast. I walked down to the river (actually an estuary) and walked along that to the Textile Souk, then recovered in a random hotel's air-conditioned lobby. God bless air conditioning.

I caught a cab over to the Mall of the Emirates, which is the big-ass mall that has Ski Dubai in it, the indoor Ski mountain. I didn't want to pay the money to play in the snow, but yes, it's a full ski slope and snow-fun-area inside of a mall. Pretty nuts. I also wandered the mall (all the food and drink places were closed) and sat in a massage chair for 15 minutes and got my rocks off from that. Then back to Orion's...

At Orion's I packed up all my crap, and we loaded up and drove to OMAN, baby!!! Oman is right next door to UAE, and was about a 2.5 hr drive (plus traffic). The Musandam peninsula (our destination) is considered "the Norway of the Middle East" because of its stunning fjords, so we wanted to take a day-long boat cruise on Friday to check it out. We drove up and checked into the area's nicest hotel (The Golden Tulip; don't get to excited this is Oman) and had a delish dinner in their restaurant. We hung out for a bit (closed this place out too), then crashed. Before falling asleep I heard smuggler speedboats coming in down the road from us from Iran, and also some insane cats that freaked me the fuck out and gave me weird nightmares.

Friday, Day 5 (today!) we got up early (I was up at 6:30am), and got ready, packed, had this ridiculous spread of a breakfast, and then met up with the tour operators. We got on the boat by 9:30 and were off on the Dhow with a bunch of random French (from Perpignan!!), Italians, Swedish gay boys, and 2 mixed American families. Oh, did I mention homosexuality is completely prohibited in the UAE (and likely Oman)? Poor little gay boys. :(

Anyways... like 5 mins into the cruise our boat was flanked by dolphins for like 15 mins, swimming aside us and leaping out of the water. How awesome is that! We basically spent the day cruising the fjords, swimming, snorkling, playing with dolphins, peeing in the water (maybe that was just me), and doing various other fun things. The tour guid Mohammed was hilarious... he played reggae for me and Orion on his phone, and showed us some funny youtube-like vids and some hardcore porn. Ah... the wonders of satellite internet. Random people who would otherwise face government-censored content get to explore all kinds of fun shit. Good for them!

But in summary, the day was awesome. I love Oman. The water was perfect, the people were super friendly, the Iranian smugglers were just trying to get some cigs, man, and hopefully won't get killed by pirates before they get home (sadly, it's likely they will)... we had a great time. The Dhow cruise was so fun... I highly recommend that anyone visiting Dubai take the time to do the day-long cruise from Khasab in Oman.

After the cruise, Orion and I cleaned up and drove back. Orion picked up a hitchhiker, but we only drove him like 15 mins down the road. =D He took me pretty much straight to the airport (where I am now), then headed home. So... I've got some pending posts on Dubai that I'll probly write when I get home (cause they're more general about Dubai)... other than that I think I've regaled you enough.

I sort of feel like I'm not doing Oman justice. I got an entire page in my passport stamped to hell by my ins and outs from Oman... oh, the sunset was beautiful tonight on the Persian Gulf. And, we were going to go off-roading in Oman (the Musandam peninsula is great for it) in Orion's Range Rover, but we ran out of time. :( Sadness. Probably for the best, though, as I was sure we'd break an axle and plummet off the side of a mountain to our deaths. Good times.

Annnnnnnyways. Signing off. I'm theoretically boarding my flight soon and will promptly get trashed on the free high-grade alcohol. I'm so tired from all the swimming today in the intense sun. And all the great food and snorkling and wildlife and dolphins. Oh, what a life... whoa is me!! =D

Asian Extravaganza, Days 2 and 3

OK... so I'm in the airport in Dubai, ready to head to Singapore to start the next leg of my trip. But before I go, I want to share my Dubai experiences, since they were pretty sweet.

My friend Orion (classmate at Presidio) moved to Dubai about 2-3 months ago for a new job in real estate development (because really, what else is there to do in Dubai?). So I figured since I was more than 8 hrs from home anyways, I may as well fly another 9 hrs to get from SE Asia to Dubai and hang out with him. Which is what I did. For like, 3 days.

I got in late Tuesday night after ~34 hrs of consecutive travel (no, that doesn't include time zone changes; that's pure travel time). Orion picked me up from the airport and gave me a driving tour of the city. I'll just summarize Dubai by saying IT IS INSANE. I'm going to have to write a separate post much, much later to give detail to the insanity. So you'll have to wait for that. Sorry! Anyways... he just moved into an apartment in the Burj Dubai area (the Burj Dubai will be the world's tallest building when it's completed in a few months... it will be nearly a half mile tall). We grabbed some dinner at the hotel attached to his complex, followed by a couple hrs of conversation and shisha (that's the hookah/smoking thing). It turns out it's Ramadan, which means no one in Dubai is allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset. Yes, that includes water. Yes, it's over 100 degrees out during the day in what's very clearly a desert. So yes, no water means whities from the north like me are likely to die and die fast once it hits noon. But too bad, doesn't matter... no water for me.

Anyways... we had some meze (appetizers) and dinner, and shisha. We talked about all kinds of shit... then we headed over to the Emirates Towers for drinks at Vu's. Emirates Towers were among the first major new buildings in Dubai in the last 10 years' building spree, and Vu's is this bar at the top with great views. Oh, by the way, no public drinking in Dubai except in hotel bars. Of which there are plenty, thank god. Anyways, we took a cab over (there's a zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving with stiff penalties), and had $30 Caipirhinias. Yes, $30 EACH. O.M.G. Then we headed back and I slept on the couch and kept Orion awake all night with my snoring.

On Weds I got up and took a cab over to the Dubai Museum, which is in an ancient fort (circa 1800; hey, that's America ancient!). The Museum seemed kinda sad... a couple exhibits in the courtyard and side corridors. I was exploring the last side corridor when I found stairs down to a freaking wondrously modern and never-ending and AIR CONDITIONED museum complex. To summarize, I learned a lot about Dubai and I heartily recommend the museum. =D

I grabbed a cab back to Orion's, where he picked me up to take me out to see the current project he's working on. Orion's the sustainability guy for this project called The Lagoons. They're building this like 30-building project next to a protected wetlands area, and they're incorporating green development into the wetlands-adjacent bit. So I got to meet these consultant ecologists and this British guy Kevin who works for the Sheikh on ecology, and we toured the wetlands. It was pretty awesome. Lots of birds, lots of nature, lots of great views across Dubai Creek of the Burj Dubai and the downtown area.

After that we went back and Orion made Pho (I'm sure I won't have that again in a while... oh wait I'll be in Vietnam for 5 days in like a week), which was delish. We then took a cab to some random-ass part of the city to get our passes for our Dhow tour in Oman (more on that later), then took a cab back across the planet to the Burj al Arab.

The Burj al Arab is the world's most luxurious hotel. It's the one that's shaped like a ship's sail. 7 stars. No other hotel has 7 stars. So we decided to check it out. It was an absolute KLUGE to get reservations for the bar, but we got them anyways... except for the bar in the basement instead of the one on the top floor. :( So we hung out down there (250/person Dirham minimum... which is ~$80).... we each got a drink, and I talked the barman into letting us pay 125 Dirham to have an all-you-can-eat desert bar from the adjacent restaurant. We gorged ourselves on delicious deserts, hung out till the lights came on (we've shut down every place we've been to so far), then headed upstairs to the top-floor bar to see if we could get in anyways, despite their hoity-toitiness and our lack of reservations.

To our surprise, they let us right in. So we sat down by the window overlooking the Persian Gulf and had ourselves some drinks. Now, the drink menu is insane. The first page is about the 27,351, which is the name of a drink that costs 27,351 Dirhams. That's roughly $8000. Yes, eight thousand. For a single drink. The menu tones down from there, with most drinks costing about 100 dirhams, or $30 bucks. Ahhh good times. Orion tried one made from Camel's milk, while I had a martini made with bbq sauce. Yes, bbq sauce. Dude, I had to. If you know me, you shouldn't be surprised. And it turns out it was very good... quite like a Bloody Mary. I'll make one for you sometime. =D

OK... damn, I'm writing a lot. I'm going to close out this post and come back to do Days 4 and 5 in a 2nd post. Be back shortly!

MMR vaccine does NOT cause Autism

In case you were wondering, studies now show that MMR vaccine does NOT cause autism. This is something I've personally been worrying about... not as much because of the possibility that one day my kids might become autistic via vaccination, but more because of the implication on public health of thousands of parents foregoing the vaccine (there's already been a resurgence of measles in the UK as a result of this scare).

"Eleven studies now show that the MMR vaccine doesn't cause autism (the most recent just came out). Six have shown that thimerosal doesn't cause autism; three have shown thimerosal doesn't cause neurological problems. Studies showing the opposite, like Wakefield's, use flawed methods, have serious conflicts of interest or have been conducted in animals whose results can't be extrapolated to humans."

That's from a salon.com review of a book by one Dr. Paul A. Offit. You can read the whole review here: http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/09/22/autism/. But if this is something that worries you, you should check it out. As it turns out, the original "whistleblower" on MMR has "crossed the line from ill-conceived, poorly performed science to fraud."

Good news, though. So if you've been hesitating on getting your kids MMR... go do it!!

Asian Extravaganza, Day 1.... or is it 2...?

So... now I'm in Singapore, sitting in the biz class lounge, biding my time for a couple of hours before the final leg of my journey to Dubai. I just showered.... oh what a glorious feeling...! I left home at 11pm on Sunday night, and it's now something like... what... 2am Tuesday back home? I have no idea. When I get to Dubai I'm going to have Orion help me figure out how much total time I traveled. (fyi, Orion's a person, not just a constellation... tho theoretically with my astronomy degree I should be able to figure this out either way).

In case you're wondering what my rough itinerary is (I'm sure that's been your primary concern for days now), here goes....

• 5 days in Dubai
• 5 days in Malaysia (climbing the mountain Kota Kinabalu)
  
• 5 days in Vietnam (Hanoi and Ha Long Bay)
  
• 5 days in Cambodia (Siem Reap / Angkor Wat)
• 5 days in Penang

That's rough... there are a couple days lost to travel in there, and some random nights in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. But otherwise that's the gist. I get back home on Friday, October 17, just in time to "recover" and spend the weekend in class for my MBA. That'll be fun!

But overall I'm really excited about this trip. I've never been to Asia before, or the Middle East. And so far I'm really enjoying it. Yeah, I've just been in the airports, but still it's been awesome. For example, the Singapore airport (Changi) has a butterfly sanctuary in Terminal 3!!! It's literally this small rainforesty biodome swarming with butterflies. I almost stepped on some! I took lots of pics and video, so at some point I'll share one or 2 on here.

Anyways, I should stop writing so I don't burn myself out on blogging when I'm only like a day into this thing. =D Hope life's good back in reality!!!

Asian Extravaganza, Day 1

Fun... I'm in a Singapore Airlines lounge in Hong Kong! I've taken 1 of 3 flights so far... SF to HK. Next I go to Singapore, then from there to Dubai. I think my total travel time is like 700 yrs, approximately.

I was in Economy for that first leg (I booked with miles, but no Biz was available), and it was actually really comfortable. Though I suspect it helps that there was no one sitting next to me. =D Lots of food, lots of sleep... my legs seized up after standing up for the first time in 8 hrs, but you know, whatever, I'm sure that's healthy.

I really don't have much else to say... I'm gonna have some breakfast booze, watch some CNN, stretch my legs, then head to get on the next plane. But I realized that since there's a computer here in the lounge, I should take advantage of it and share that I've successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. YAY!!!

Wrath pre-ordered

Boo-yah, baby!!! I just pre-ordered the collector's edition of the WoW expansion Wrath of the Lich King, due to be released November 13. If you were hoping to hear from me between then and, say, November 23, give up. I ain't gonna be available. =D

2011 Chevy Volt Unvieled in Detroit!

For those of you who have been living under an auto-industry rock, the Chevy Volt is GM's attempt to save itself from its horrible, gas-guzzling, short-sighted strategic decisions of the 1990's and 2000's. It's an all-electric vehicle slated to be released to the general public in the 2011 model year.

You can see the pic of it above, and read more about the release at GM's centennial celebration here.

And if you want to read more about the volt itself, check out GM's official Volt website here.

In general, I'm pretty excited about the Volt. It's exactly what GM should have been doing 10 years ago. All-electric cars are much more efficient uses of energy than gas. Now, it can be argued that the source of their electricity isn't 100% clean, and that's true. But it's not 100% dirty, which can't be said for gasoline. And the problem of changing over our electrical generation system to all-renewables is being solved, and will eventually happen.

Electricity is a much smarter solution for cars than gasoline or hydrogen, because it's clean and there's already an existing distribution network (vs hydrogen, which would need a whole new, costly network created). The main problem is how quickly the batteries can be charged, which can make cross-country road trips prohibitive. But since like 99% of all daily trips made by a car are less than 300 miles, that's really not an issue for the majority of humanity.

So... w00t electric cars!

Hockey Moms Against Sarah Palin

Ohhhh man.... Palin is just a comedy GOLD MINE!!! A gift that keeps on giving!

possible posts? you decide!

I forgot to mention... I've been debating posting regularly about my therapy and my personal trainer... kind of like a log of how that's going... almost like some sort of a web-based log. A Web Log? A weblog. Hmmm.

Anyways... if you're interested (or not), lemme know. If none of you care, then fuck you I'll do whatever I feel like. =D

My Life

So... I haven't been giving any updates on my own life lately. I'm sure that as interesting as all my news regurgitation is, you probably would all like the occasional update on what the hell I'm doing with myself all day.

School's started up again... 2 more years left in my part-time MBA program. I'm still working full-time for The Man... though I'm debating if I need to start looking elsewhere for a change of pace. I've been here for 7.5 years. That's a long time. My salary could use a boost, which I would get if I jumped elsewhere. But with the insanity in the economy... that might not be so wise.

Next week I go to SE Asia for a month. Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and... wait for it... DUBAI. Yes, I know, Dubai's not in SE Asia. But when you're flying that far, what the hell's another quarter-circumference-of-the-planet. My friend Orion got a job there over the summer doing sustainability for a big-ass real estate developer... so I'm totally psyched to check out the city and get some inside tours of some of their crazy-ass construction! =D I'm going with Dan and the 2 Kellys... Dan is the guy I did my Crazy European Bike Trip of Death with, and the 3 of them are the ones I went to southern Africa with in Dec 2004.

So my month-long trip is sandwiched exactly between 2 school residencies. Before I leave, I have to get all of September and October's assignments done. And I've been trying, but I'm behind on that goal. It's bad news. I'm already taking off Friday to try to catch up, but I'm in school all wknd so it's likely I'm going to have an aneurism before Friday even gets here.

Oh, did I mention I talked to a real estate agent last night about buying? And that I need to fill out a mortgage app before I go? And that I'm talking to recruiters this week about a new job? And that I'm trying to buy a new digicam and HDTV this week? And that I'm planning a massive Election Day party before I go? And that I'm still working with a personal trainer and therapist despite all the other shit I've got on my plate? Yeah... I'm busy. I think I may not sleep at all this week. Like, at all.

Anyways... that's a snapshot of me right now.... no chance of dating till I'm back, of course. But that's fine. I've got my porn and my World of Warcraft... what more could a guy need!!

Tina Fey does Palin... flawlessly

Dear god, this is comedic genius. God bless you, Tina Fey. And this video just makes my heart go out to Hillary Clinton... and really the entire nation. A Palin administration would truly usher in the Apocalypse.

Baked Salmon, the World of Warcraft way

OK, this is just too awesome.  It's a recipe for Baked Salmon published by WoWInsider, a webzine dedicated to World of Warcraft.  It's a real recipe, it just uses WoW jargon in a way that I found ridiculously hilarious.  "DPS in the oven at 400F"... hahahaha.

Baked Salmon
Reagents: Raw Whitescale Salmon, Soothing Spices
Requires Cooking (275)

Pick up the recipe in Feralas from Sheendra Tallgrass (Horde) or Vivianna (Alliance). You can fish Raw Whitescale Salmon in Eastern Plaguelands, Winterspring, Alterac Valley, Burning Steppes, Feralas and Zul'Gurub.

The mats
1 lb. salmon fillets (fresh or frozen)
½ cup wheat germ
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh or canister)
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Oregano or dill weed to taste (1/4 teaspoon or more)
¼ cup melted butter

The strat
1. Set up the raid groups. Combine the wheat germ, Parmesan cheese and seasonings in a small bowl.
2. Debuff the butter. Dispel the butter in a second bowl; about 30 seconds in the microwave, just until melted, should do the trick.
3. Send in melee one at a time. With a fork, dip each piece of salmon first into the melted butter and then into the seasoning mixture, coating thoroughly.
4. Position the melee players. Place the battered salmon on an ungreased baking sheet.
5. DPS. DPS in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes.

Alternate specs

• Lemon wedges, of course, are always a plus in this encounter. It's best to let each player apply his own lemon wedge.
• This encounter is entirely possible without any players from the Parmesan class. No need for a substitute; simply leave the slot free.
• Sprinkle on a small amount of finely grated cheese (white cheeses are best) when the boss is down to about 10% health (about 2-3 minutes before cooking is complete).
• You may not want to post this fact openly on your forums (to avoid QQing and even despair from your seasoning classes), but any seasoning spec in this raid is interchangeable with other seasoning spec. Feel free to substitute chili powder and paprika for a spicier encounter; basil and oregano for an Italian-style encounter; or feel free to invite whatever PuGs you find in the pantry.
• Seasonings still equipped with green gear – i.e. fresh seasonings – need to be minced finely before they will mix well with the rest of the raid party.
  

Perspective...

From another of those chain e-mails going around... again, I'm a fan of this one. Some of the double-talk is so fucking true, it just drives me nuts.

================================

If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."

Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."

If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."

Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.

If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity".
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base".

If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous".
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America.
if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Anapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit".
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive".

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist".
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled".

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky".

If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.

If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."

If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion your not a christian, you're a murderer ( forget about if it happen while being date raped.)

If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election.
If you're a Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife who has terminal cancer is to blame.

And finally:

Quiz question for the RNC, specifically those on the Religious Right.

Who is one of the most revered, and famous community organizers in history?

JESUS CHRIST
--
"The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance."
--Benjamin Franklin

Conan Vs Camel

This is clearly my favorite scene from Conan the Barbarian. Ahhhhhhh.... good times.

Poor camel.

Deepak Chopra on Palin

This was sent to me by my aunt, but I really like the essay and I totally agree with the analysis. Palin is like some sort of physical embodiment of the shadow in all of us. Compelling!

=======================================

Obama and The Palin Effect
From: Deepak Chopra | Posted: Friday, September 5th, 2008

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the
complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)

I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.

--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.

--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.

--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.

--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.

--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

And now for something completely different.

I had a physical yesterday with a new doctor (Dr. William Owen)... the first physical I'd had in almost 2 years. It actually went really well... the PA (Carl Stein) was great; he took time to answer my questions and explain things to me, and made sure to review every minor complaint I brought up. Both PA and doc are gay, and specialize in treating gay patients. I wanted to give that route a try so that I didn't feel awkward asking gay-themed questions about my body or sex. =D And overall, given my experience, I left feeling very comfortable with the choice I've made.

But.

About midway through the exam, the PA tells me to take off all my clothes and hang them on the door. I strip to my underwear, and then verify that he meant ALL of my clothes. He did. So I take off my underwear and I'm standing there completely nude. He has me lie down, and does the checks of my lungs and lymph nodes, and then has me stand to do the whole "turn your head and cough" routine. So I do. No hernias. Good. Then he turns to the table, and starts making these crazy adjustments to fold it up. I'm thinking, that's a weird configuration... I wonder what he plans to do with it like that? The bed is sloping down away from the footrest... though that footrest is curiously a half leg's distance from the bed, not a full leg's...

And then he turns to me and say, "OK, let's do a rectal exam."

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. "Don't you start doing those at age 35? I'm only 32."

"Ah, well, it's better to catch these things early."

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. "Well.... ok........"

"Alright, bend over the table, and place your knees here. You'll have to reach back and pull your butt cheeks apart. ... OK, I'm using lube, so this shouldn't hurt, it should just be uncomfortable."

Yeah. In case you're wondering... it was. Uncomfortable that is. Good news is my prostate feels normal. And though I did leave there feeling slightly violated, I'm actually really glad he sprung that on me. Cause if I'd known ahead of time that he was going to do that, I think I would have been pretty worked up about it for the days leading up to it.

And in case you were thinking, "but you're gay, you have things up your ass all day long. how could this be hard for you?" Well, to that I say, fuck you, I don't have things up my ass all day long. =D I actually rarely have things up my ass, and when I do, it's contextually VERY different from a doctor's brusque ass probe. I suspect my experience is similar to what women encounter at a gynie. I'll have to ask around about that. =D

Annnd.... a little more on Palin

This is from a note sent out by moveon.org.

=============================

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
• She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.
• Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
• She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000.
• Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
• She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.
• She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
• How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.

More Palin thoughts

This is from the Defenders of Wildlife. More bad reviews of Palin, basically...

===============================

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2008

Shocking Choice by John McCain

WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

"Senator McCain's choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

"Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska's coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

"This is Senator McCain's first significant choice in building his executive team and it's a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain's commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil."

Brian Schweitzer on Obama's top priority post-inauguration

Brian Schweitzer is the governor of Montana, and was recently interviewed on salon.com regarding the election. He gave a really great answer to an interesting question... his philosophy is 100% in line with my own.

Q: "A lot of people are talking about, if Obama wins, should healthcare
come first or energy reform come first? I'm sure you have some thoughts
on this."

A: "Both. You can't pay for healthcare if we're sending a trillion dollars
a year to dictators. Bottom line is, we gotta stop hemorrhaging, and
the hemorrhaging is full-flung. Climate change, that is the long-term
economic hit to our economy. The short-term economic hit to our economy
is the largest transfer of wealth from one economy to another economy.
So, create a new energy system in America, and create an energy system
that's cleaner and greener and is designed by American engineers and
built by American workers. Once we get that right we can afford to
invest in healthcare and education."

I love that terminology of hemorrhaging. We are shipping so much money out of our country to pay for energy... you can see it in the construction in Dubai, among other places. If we generated all of our energy domestically, instead, that money would be pumped right back into our own economy, allowing us to build ourselves up in some amazing ways: universal healthcare and education, prison reform, mass transit, improved electrical infrastructure... so much possibility. And it all starts with re-sourcing our energy from foreign oil to domestic renewables...!