evolution

I see that Mythbusters has decided to take on the moon-landing Truthers, assuming there are any still alive.

I wish they would take on the 9/11 Truthers, but they won’t, mostly because the show is a light-hearted one and the subject matter too somber for such a show. However, I can’t think of a group of people more sorely in need of a boot of reason to the ass.

…anything going on tonight?

So I’ve got some extra money this month. The first Friday of the month I got my second-to-last paycheck from my previous employer, also known as the University of Kansas.¹ The next week, I got my first paycheck (for half a pay period, one week) from my current employer. The week after that — last Friday — I got my last paycheck from my previous employer which included a buyout of my vacation time, making this check roughly equal to a month’s pay. This week, I’ll get my first full check from my current employer.

Therefore, I’m relatively flush with cash. This isn’t a post about how cool I am; I’m looking for some recommendations. I’ve already decided that the extra money is going into savings for a possible down payment on a house somewhere in evolution’s fading empire, but I have my eye on a few things if that doesn’t work:

• A Sirius Stiletto 2 — That’s the Sirius handheld player. I’ve heard some things about weak signal quality, and I don’t even know if I could get signal at all at work, making it rather pointless if I couldn’t.
• An LCD TV — 1080p of course; I don’t need a huge one. I’d be willing to settle for something 40-42″. Recommendations welcome.

1. I only divulge the name of my employer after I’ve already left. [↩]

Anyone else in the Sunvision Cableflower empire catch that stuff on Channel 99? Earlier this week there was some dude in an iridescent costume doing Tai Chi, and then last night there was a man talking to a woman about God knows what¹ - all I got was that he toed the line of the unforgivable personal feelings level of a man on Oprah and then went way past it.

I wouldn’t mind having a public access TV show based on evolution. But, this is Lawrence, so in addition to the FCC fines my car and apartment would probably be firebombed.

1. I tried to follow it, but as soon as he started talking about the fear of death he suffered from WHILE WORKING AS A FUNERAL DIRECTOR, I dissociated from reality and wrote the foregoing poem [↩]

Your skin is soft,
much like I envision
Suzanne Pleshette’s
buttocks to be.

The Suzanne Pleshette
from “Newhart”, not from
today. I’d imagine those
buttocks are quite leathery.

I was reading back through the old archives in the search for inspiration. I realized that this is the fourth election this blog has been around to talk about, and that there’s nothing I’d rather not do than talk about politics or this utterly pointless, devoid-of-meaning election.

Items updated as I find them and posted with no comment necessary. The Financial Times:

In one of the most high-profile demonstrations of the power of Communist central planning since the rise of the Soviet Union, China has surpassed the US at the Olympics by a gold medal score of 51 to 36.

The record haul for a nation that won its first Olympic gold only in 1984 marks a stunning victory for a state-controlled sports system that rears elite professional athletes by sifting China’s vast population for talented children and training them in special sports schools and government teams.

Someone was saying something about latter-day Manicheanism?

If it makes you feel better, you can rationalize Obama’s missing 10-point lead on the basis of Clintonite sulkiness, his slowness in responding to attacks, or the concern that Obama may be too handsome, brilliant, and cool to be elected. But let’s be honest: If you break the numbers down, the reason Obama isn’t ahead right now is that he trails badly among one group, older white voters. He does so for a simple reason: the color of his skin…[snip]

Many have discoursed on what an Obama victory could mean for America. We would finally be able to see our legacy of slavery, segregation, and racism in the rearview mirror. Our kids would grow up thinking of prejudice as a nonfactor in their lives. The rest of the world would embrace a less fearful and more open post-post-9/11 America. But does it not follow that an Obama defeat would signify the opposite? If Obama loses, our children will grow up thinking of equal opportunity as a myth. His defeat would say that when handed a perfect opportunity to put the worst part of our history behind us, we chose not to. In this event, the world’s judgment will be severe and inescapable: The United States had its day but, in the end, couldn’t put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race.

The first bolded quote means essentially that Weisberg believes in magic, at least as much as the most ardent Christian fundamentalist. One guy getting elected President for four years solves all that stuff overnight, and not getting elected means America swirls the bowl forever?

All that aside, I’m with Ace: “To say something positive: Jacob Weisberg is admirably forthright and direct about what most liberals are dishonestly passive-aggressive about.” I don’t know about “most” — it’s really a certain large subset of them — but it’s good to file it away to show the fools who still believe that post-race politics is possible in our lifetimes even if Obama wins, if there are any such fools left.

It’s not her.

UPDATE: It seems to be down to Biden and Bayh. I’m betting Biden, because the fightin’ fightin’ Nutroots™ want a fighty fightin’ fighter , and he’s one of their own. John Edwards disqualified himself; he’s the one they wanted. Not Obama.

UPDATE 2: It’s not Bayh.

Random crap from something I actually enjoy, rather than commenting on politics, which is driving me to borderline sociopathy.

• Anyone see that Usain Bolt guy? I saw his run in the 100 meters when they replayed it late at night while I was laying on the couch half-asleep, and I was sitting upright and wide-awake by the time it was done. If he hadn’t pulled up ten meters early to hot-dog, he might have set a world record that would stand for a century or more. As it turns out, he broke another world record (held by Michael Johnson) in the 200-meter race, covering it in 19.3 seconds - which is actually a faster pace than his 100m run.
• Glad to see Shawn Johnson win gold after seeing silver three times. Three silver medals are nothing to scoff at, but it was good to see her get that payoff. Now why was a man twice her age watching gymnastics while alone in the dark? Uhhh….nothing to see here…
• … speaking of which, whoever decided to add women’s beach volleyball to the Olympics is a damned genius. Turns out that. aside from all the obvious attractions, it’s fun too.
• Men’s basketball team - on a mission.
• Can we not make Cris Collinsworth into the enemy of conservatives everywhere?¹ Collinsworth might or might not be a liberal, and I frankly don’t care. Does no one remember when he did NFL for FOX? He’s just a smarmy prick. NBC + smarmy prick = liberal is always a good bet, but Collinsworth is and has always been a smarmy douche that no one likes, which is probably why FOX fired him. Trust me, he’s not worth it.
• Anyone else getting to watch some of the more obscure competitions, like archery, table tennis, tae-kwon-do, skeet-shooting and such? They’re not on in prime-time in America (or not covered then), and that’s at least part of the reason I’m interested in the Olympics in the first place.

1. at least what’s left of it, after eight years of the GOP putting a pillow over its face? [↩]