There's nothing more annoying when you're trying to read than the person next to you eating from a bag of potato chips. As loudly as possible, apparently. I keep wanting to point out the "Food, Drink & Gameplaying Are Not Allowed in the Lab" sign...but I'm too nice. I'm Minnesotan, so I guess I'll grin and bear it.

Speaking of signs about food, the other day I saw chalked on the stairs on the Humanities building : "Fast-a-thon. B267. 6:30. Free food." Hehe.

Back to reading about open access...

Fey as Palin and Poehler as Couric:

I need to watch the presidential debate that was a few days ago, since I missed it.

Are You Sick Of Me
talking about Her yet?

I'm watching video of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric. Aside from it being very entertaining (especially her response on how being able to see Russia from Alaska actually strengthens her international relations credentials), I found this part of the tête-à-tête very humorous:

KC: What lessons have you learned from Iraq, and how specifically will you try to spread democracy throughout the world?

SP: Specifically, we will make every effort possible to help spread democracy for those who desire freedom, independence, tolerance, respect for equality. That is the whole goal here in fighting terrorism; it's not just keeping the people safe, but to be able to usher in democratic values and ideals around the world. [mult. emph. mine]

Me: Yes. Thank you for that specific example. And you're for tolerance? Huh. I was not aware of that. As much as I'd like to say that I'm for tolerance, I must admit that I have an impossibly hard time tolerating YOU. (Who knew, right?)

And she must have used the term "shore up our economy" 7oo billion times.

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 2. I will be eating popcorn and having a grand ol' time. But probably on tape dealy, since I have class that night.

And while I'm at it, here's another article about Palin, courtesy of Sarah: The Rape Kit Controversy

The Bug Hunter
All fear the tiny terror!

This post is made especially for Joleen and Sunny. I thought you'd appreciate some piccies and footage of your baby making herself at home en mi casa. Plus, there's a great butt shot. Btw, she's attacking a Box Elder bug (or Boisea trivittata, if you're into Linnaean taxonomy). She was pretty good on the car trip, somehow sensing when we were 20 minutes from our destination, at which point she became very antsy and a little whiney.

Hey! Where's Wicket?!??

Oh, there she is!

The mighty Bug Hunter at work:

Proposition 8
To all my Californian friends, Vote No!

In November, Californians will vote on a ballet measure called Proposition 8. If passed, it would put an end to gay marriage in the state. According to this article, hundreds of pastors have called on their congregations to fast and pray for passage of the proposition. You know, in the name of Loving Thy Neighbor and all that.

"Some pastors around the state and nation are encouraging their flocks to forgo solid food for up to 40 days in the biblical tradition.

"Jim Garlow, the pastor of the evangelical Skyline Church in San Diego County, said he expects up to 100 young adults to spend five-plus weeks on his campus, subsisting on soup, juice and the promise of societal salvation."

Hey, it sounds like my diet. Only my definition of societal salvation differs quite drastically from theirs. Did I mention that I have lots of soup? There was a sale at the grocery store last week--8 cans of Campbell's Chunky soup for $10. If that's not a deal, I don't know what is. Ok, a better deal is the sale they had the week before--10 cans of Progresso for $10. Unfortunately, by the time I made it there the store was all cleared out of Progresso. You have to be quick with these weekly deals! (I just missed the 10 SmartOnes for $10 deal...bummer).

Anyway, back to bigotry and intolerance. "The disintegration of the family will bring ... the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets," says the Mormon President.

Sarah--to answer your question about whether churches can openly support one candidate: "Under federal law, religious organizations cannot endorse political candidates but are free to campaign on social issues without endangering their tax-exempt status."

I have a feeling many churches (or pastors/ministers/reverends, anyway) openly break this law. I was going to site that video of Palin at that church thing where her pastor says people opposed to Bush and in support of Kerry will go to hell, but I guess that wasn't a church service. Just a religious thing that may or may not have been at church.

Interesting Games Kids Play
I...am...the singing telegram!

Remember this scene in Clue? The one where the singing telegram gets shot? (And if you haven't seen Clue, wtf is wrong with you??)



When we (my siblings and I) were younger, we used to reenact that scene. It was fun. We also played this game where one of us would be sitting on the couch pretending to talk on the phone, then another one of us would point a "gun" and shoot that person. We had competitions over who died better. From the realistic to the exaggerated. We also played this game where one person would be happily walking along, then suddenly another person would throw a blanket over you and kidnap you.

Weird. We also used to hang the"ugly Barbie" from the ceiling by her neck. She had garish blue eyeshadow and had a button on her back. When you pushed the button, she'd blink.

But we all turned out normal. Or kind of close to it, anyway.

Hi! I'm so against the "Bridge to Nowhere" that I'm going to hold up a shirt with the words (and zip code), "Nowhere, Alaska 99901" on it! 99901 is the zip code of the area that is where the bridge was to be built - Ketchikan. Apparently, the shirt was designed by a Ketchikan artist. Remind me not to buy any of her work. Someone should tell her that that font is ugly as sin.

When Charles "Chawlie" Gibson brought this up in his interview with her, she replied with, "I was wearing a t-shirt with the zip code of the community that was asking for that bridge. Not all the people in that community even were asking for a $400 million or $300 million bridge."

OH. I get it. You were holding it up to support all the people living in Ketchikan who didn't want the bridge. I see...

Did I mention that that shirt was designed by an artist and not a 5th grader using Microsoft Word?

Ooh, I Forgot
to mention...

I got an email the other day from an NZer about KP. I haven't gotten any of those in a while! It made my day. :)

(Totally jealous that my parents will be leaving for Australia next week and will also be visiting NZ)

(At least I'll have Wicket for a month+)

::crosses fingers that landlord won't find out::

And wtf was up with Hurricane Ike affecting weather all the way up in Chicago?? Weird. Huge-o-rama.

Book Learnin'
A contrast in colleges

I was just boning up on the presidential and vice presidential candidates (utilizing Wikipedia, of course), and I had to laugh as I compared Obama's college career to Palin's. I know. School's not everything.

Obama's:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - Poli sci major with specialization in international relations.
(2 year sojourn where he worked at Business International Corporation and New York Public Interest Research Group)
(Infamous 4-year stint as a community organizer in Chicago) ::scoff:: ::wink::
Harvard Law School - Became president of the Harvard Law Review. Graduated magna cum laude.

Post college:
Taught constitutional law at University of Chicago for 12 years.
Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland - law firm specializing in civil rights and neighborhood economic development.
Illinois State Legislature
Illinois Senator


Palin's:
Hawaii Pacific College - Left after her first semester.
North Idaho (Community) College - Two semesters as a "General Studies" major.
University of Idaho - Two semesters. During this time she won the Miss Wasilla beauty pageant, and was 3rd runner-up in the Miss Alaska Pageant.
Matanuska-Susitna College - One term.
Back to University of Idaho for three terms where she completed her degree in communications-journalism.

Post college:
Sports Reporter.
Wasilla City Council. Elected with 530 votes her first term and 415 votes her second.
Mayor of Wasilla. Wasilla populations was about 6,300. Check out its City Hall.
Governor of Alaska (the first governor of Alaska that was born after Alaska became a state!)

For the record, Biden was a pretty shitty student and attended the University of Delaware (double major in history and poli sci) and Syracuse University College of Law (where he was accused then cleared of plagiarism). His wife and daughter were killed in a car accident two weeks after winning the election for the senator of Delaware. Harsh.

McCain went to the US Naval Academy. Where, like Biden, he "didn't live up to his academic potential." He was a POW and was badly tortured. Uber harsh. He has said that he doesn't know how to use a computer or send email. Huh. Still a snail-mail guy, eh? His first wife was also in a horrible car accident (while he was a POW). He started dating his second wife before asking his first wife for a divorce.

And that's all, Folks!

My head is fine now, btw. Thanks for all the support. :D

Timber!!!

I just had one of those moments when you're glad that no one else was around. I sat down in my chair. It's an swiveling and rocking armchair (but does not recline). I also had my computer on my lap. I have no idea what I did, but somehow the chair tipped over backwards, with me in it. Holding my laptop. As I'm tipping over I'm thinking, "Shit! I don't want to break my computer!" So I'm holding it up and hopefully out of the way of whatever may be coming, trying not to land on it. I whack the back side of my head on the corner of my end table. Ouch. I then felt like a total fool, "sitting" in my armchair while it's tipped completely over. Good news: computer completely unharmed. Also good news: so far as I can tell, no serious head injury. Although it does hurt when I touch it (the area right next to my ear). And I saw circling birdies for a while. It also took me like 5 minutes to extricate myself from the position. I was wedged in this corner surrounded by the chair, 2 tables, and a stack of books. And my computer.

I went on a walk today (it was SO nice outside) and saw a chicken walking around in someone's yard. It was weird.

Brighton just called. I should go now.

Killing Time
Between classes

Weird. I'm in the Memorial library computer lab and I'm sitting next to Piccolo Man. Hehe. Still orange. And beardy. But he's sans piccolo.

Also, I just noticed that my computer's name (all the hard drives have names taped on them) is Krusty. This is weird because that was one of my nicknames in high school. The computer next to me is named Homer. I sense a theme.

This just makes me laugh:

Videos For Your Enjoyment
Feel free to watch in installments

Jon Stewart clip that's All the Rage:


Not all Palin, but also others at the RNC. And funny:


Samantha Bee, a fellow Vagina-American, talks to folks at the RNC about Bristol's pregnancy:


Colbert gets in on the fun:


And just what are "small town values"?


One reason I should support polyandry is that I could marry both Stewart and Colbert.

Sarah Palin
Is scary

I feel the need to inform everyone that Sarah Palin is scary. In order to prevent Sarah (Symes) from becoming ensnared by her "charms," I am posting my findings thus far here. Even though Sarah S. probably skips this kind of stuff I write about. I'll try to do more fluff later, Sarah (S).

She's a conservative Christian from "the Bible belt" of Alaska. In regards to homophobia, her church has put inserts into their programs informing them of groups to go to to "respond to misinformation in our culture" and help them "overcome" homosexuality. In her defense, she did vote against denying same-sex couples certain rights. Although she voted that way because it was unconstitutional, not because it's morally wrong and violates civil rights.

According to this Time article, she wanted to ban certain books from her city's library, and when the librarian said no, she tried to get her fired.

The pastor at her church has "preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war 'contending for your faith;' and said that Jesus 'operated from that position of war mode.'" Yeah, yeah. You can't attribute the same beliefs to a person as their pastor (including the whole Obama's pastor ordeal). But you can go to this site/article (where I got this quote) and watch a video of her being introduced by this pastor and then hear her speech that includes her own scary thoughts (mentioned in an earlier blog post, plus some more).

Then there's this article that really scares the crod out of me--called "Alaskans Speak (In a Frightened Whisper): Palin is Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, and Mean." After finding out that Obama secured the Democratic ticket over Hilary, she said (loudly in a public restaurant), "So Sambo beat the Bitch!" Sambo being an offensive term for black people, fyi. She apparently refers to Aboriginal Alaskans as "Arctic Arabs," "mukluks," and "fucking Eskimos."

The same article goes on to give examples of her extreme vindictiveness, and that in her home town she's known as Sarah Barracuda.

Is that article biased and slanted? Hell yes. But I have to believe that even if there are things in it which aren't completely true, there's probably some grounding in it. Which is scary enough for me.

You know how she keep saying that she was against the "bridge to nowhere"? Well, she was actually in support of it until it made national headlines and people started making fun of it. Then, suddenly, she's against it. Now, I'm normally fine with the occassional "flip flop"...but under the condition that the cause for a flip flop was because you found out more information to help you change your mind, not because you just don't want to look like an ass.

I just read an AP article about how Palin is not doing any interviews or taking any questions on the campaign trail (so far). She's only regurgitating sound bites from her convention speech (which she read off a teleprompter with phonetically spelled words, including "new-clear"). It's like they're scared of what might come out of her mouth when it's unscripted. Or she's an idiot when it comes to most issues. Probably both.

As for women voting for her/McCain because she's a women and it'd be good for the feminist cause, according to this article, "She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves 'abstinence-only' programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling."

I know. Many of the articles I linked to are highly biased. That said, it's a lot easier to find highly biased articles against her than for her.

And you know, this is a person not that far away from being our president, if the repubs win. McCain would be the oldest (72) president, and has had cancer surgery as recent as February of this year. Plus, there's talk of his mental health what with his POW experience. (I also found this info in other sources other than the one linked to, but that was the one I currently had open in my browser).

I'm done for tonight.

Presidential Elections
Oh, how I love and loath thee

I'm watching the Republican National Convention right now. I almost vomited in my mouth just now. Mitt Romney is speaking. Holy shit, am I glad he's not the Presidential or VP candidate. Then again, I've just read some disturbing things about Sarah Palin. And no, it has nothing to do with her daughter (I have no issue with her 17-yr-old daughter being preggers, per se--it's more the hypocrisy that I'm sure will come out of Palin's mouth because of this).

Also, I'm laughing at the difference in sign slogans between the RNC and the DNC. Tonight, I'm seeing signs that read "Country First" and "Prosperity." The DNC featured signs that said "Change" and...I don't remember. Probably "Hope."

Said during RNC (slightly paraphrased):
Romney: Republicans believe there is good and evil in the world...McCain WILL defeat it!
Audience: USA! USA! USA!
Romney: Boy, that is for sure!

I just spotted a sign that said "ENERGY INDEPENDANCE!" Spelling mistake, not mine.

Sarah hates Rudy Guiliani with a vengeance. HEY! He just mentioned 9/11. I bet--as he was introduced--that he'd mention it. Although, tbh, he didn't call it 9/11, he called it "the attack on September 11th."

Anyway, apparently Palin describes herself as a "Bible-believing Christian." She has said that the Iraq war is God's plan. In regards to a proposed natural-gas pipeline in Alaska she said, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built."

How about this quote:
"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded," she added. "But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

BLAH.

Sarah wants Cindy McCain for president.

Just looked up at the TV (a half an hour later) to find that the RNC has been replaced by a documentary on circuses. Fitting.