There are just so many excellent signatures to choose from how can you pick just one? I’ve decided to make this post my official place to store all the cool sigs I find.

$enemy is going to get you if you don't let us $action!
Blasphemy is a victimless crime.
Home is where the hearth is.


Even if some Catholics may have a problem with Obama because of his pro-choice stance, if Sister Cecilia Gaudette is any indication the decision is not cut and dry. The sister could well be the oldest person to vote in the upcoming election at 106 years of age and she hasn’t voted in an election since 1952 (when she voted for Eisenhower), but she has registered to vote and plans to cast it for Obama.

“I’m encouraged by Senator Obama,” she says. “I’ve never met him, but he seems to be a good man with a good private life. That’s the first thing. Then he must be able to govern,” she adds. Sitting in her modest office in the convent where she has lived for the past 50 years, the diminutive nun appears uninterested in the row inside the American Catholic church over Senator Obama’s support for pro-choice policies on abortion.

from the BBC

There are many reasons why I hate Bill O’Reilly. This old clip is just one of them. Strangely though, I get the feeling that recently O’Reilly has been distancing himself from his ultra-right wing propagandist past - perhaps he realizes that the sun is setting on his neo-con spin masters?

Most Americans are aware that they don’t elect their presidents directly, but just to straighten the process out in my own head I jotted down some notes as I read about it. The election of a US president is indirect, where some group of folks are entrusted to vote on our behalf. The process is described in the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution. The “Electoral College” is a term not mentioned in the constitution but enshrined in Title 3 of the US Code which is a compiled set of the laws passed by Congress over time. The number of electors is determined to be equivalent to the total membership of both Houses of Congress plus three for Washington DC. The size of the Senate is fixed at 100 members, and the size of the House has been pretty much fixed at 435 members since 1911 (Public Law 62-5). In 1961, the 23rd amendment granted Washington DC 3 electors as well. The total number of 538 members is apportioned by population based on a mathematical formula and the decennial census such that it models the distribution of the American population in the various states. Candidates for elector are nominated by their state’s political parties and may not hold federal or state office. To win the presidency, a candidate must secure a simple majority in the electoral college of 270 votes or more.

Twenty-third_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
U.S._Electoral_College
United_States_Code
United_States_congressional_apportionment
Twelfth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

I have to admit that I didn’t watch the entire interview (I had a previous engagement), but I did see the short section where she was asked if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine. She clearly had no idea what the Bush Doctrine was, and to think that we could elect someone to the 2nd most important job in the world who is completely ignorant of the political philosophy that has brought us 5 years of war is very scary. Also, when Charlie Gibson can trap you in a softball interview, you’re certainly not ready to be the president of the Senate. Think of the contrast here. Sarah Palin can’t survive a single interview with Charlie Gibson, while Obama looks presidential in FOUR blistering interviews with the Nazi of right wing propaganda himself, Bill O’Reilly and gets invited back (in the last episode)! I can’t find all of them, but part three is here.

Commentary on CBS
Obama on O’Reilly

[edit: I'm afraid I might have been a little harsh having just done a survey of folks at work, and only a few knew the currently understood meaning of the term. I get from this that many of the folks at work are more qualified to run for VP than I thought]

“In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” quipped the straight talking presidential hopeful John McCain referring to Russia’s recent aggressive move into Georgia. It sure sounded like stern talk coming from the guy who jokes about bombing Iran and suggests that we may be in Iraq for another hundred years but it was also pretty ridiculous given that the US is still occupying the two nations it invaded over 5 years ago. Of course we only “liberate” other nations in the 21st century (as Comedy Central pointed out). After 8 years of the current administration’s antics it’s really hard for us to take the high road on this one. I *want* to get up on my high horse about invading small economically important nations, but in the light of our own escapades I feel like maybe we owe them a pass on at least one

While many Americans still believe, against all the evidence to the contrary that the US move into Iraq was justified, I would wager that most Americans don’t have a clue why Russia felt it important to invade Georgia. Here’s what I think is going on: After the Soviet Union broke up, then president Clinton jumped on the opportunity to work with Georgia and to invest in that country to help make a pipeline possible from the oil rich Caspian Sea to the Black Sea (and thus, Europe) that would not pass through Russia. Russia (and Iran) would of course like to maintain as much of a strangle hold on the oil that reaches Europe from the east as possible, and this move into Georgia (which apparently has been planned for some time) is Russia’s way of saying to investors in the west that they had better rethink investment in this region. It puts the pipeline through Georgia in danger, and suggests that investors should take safer bets elsewhere (perhaps with Lukoil?)

You may have already seen this, but if not - Randy Pausch passed away yesterday so I thought it fitting to link to it today. Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given only a very short time to live. Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. It’s definitely worth a listen beyond the simple draw of morbid fascination.