Political Compass

Another quiz, this time a political one. I like this one because it doesn't just put people at the right or left, thats too simple. Instead it goes left to right and up and down, up being socially authoritarian and down being liberal. I'm further left and down than Gandhi or the Dalai Lama.

Your political compass

Economic Left/Right: -7.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.05

What Kind of Atheist Are You?

At Quiz Farm they have an atheist quiz. Here are the results of my test:

You scored as Scientific Atheist, These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future. Scientific Atheist 92% Spiritual Atheist 50% Angry Atheist 42% Militant Atheist 42% Agnostic 25% Apathetic Atheist 17% Theist 17% What kind of atheist are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Bear Byte Graphics

My official Bear Byte Graphics site is now all set up with my own domain name. This is very cool, I've had this site up before but under my dot Mac account or under my Roadrunner account, this is the first one under bear-byte.net - click here for the link:

Comic Coloring

And I've linked that page back to this blog as well. This is also the first time I've tried linking a file to elsewhere on the net (this is one of my comic coloring pages) instead of uploading them to Google. I figure that if I keep doing that I'm going to use up Google's disk space eventually, they only allow 1 GB for images while I have 40 GB for my domain.

Now I just have to remember to change the URL on my links over on the right side. My cats and grandkids sites have been changed to bear-byte.net as well but I will leave everything under Roadrunner for a little while yet, doesn't hurt to have both up.

CATS

GRANDKIDS

Econo Lube N Tune

Why do I have a post on an Econo Lube N Tune? Because it's owned by my stepson, Bennet, Ally's dad. There was a time when I didn't think he was going to live until age 30, and if he did I'd probably be supporting him forever. Then he suddenly got ambitious and he now is the number 2 guy at STS Graphics and went and bought himself an Econo Lube, not to mention buying a house and raising a family. Few are more stunned - and pleased - by these developments than me, but that still isn't the reason I'm writing this. The reason is that I created a web site for the business, it's the first one I've done that isn't for myself and I plunged into web hosting, too, in order get him his own domain name.

So, of course, I used this opportunity to get my own domain name as well. So bear-byte.net now lives!

Here's the web site: Econo Lube N Tune

Cowardly Democrats

I have been a lifelong liberal democrat and it's hard to describe the tremendous disappointment I feel about the dems in congress. There has been plenty of disappointment for the last few years but this one is the worst, they have given in to Bush completely when they should be fighting him every step of the way. Nancy Pelosi praises the new "compromise" while saying at the same time that she will not vote for it. While I hate the Republicans and everything they have done to destroy this country at least they aren't timid. Did they hesitate to impeach Clinton when they had far less reason and far less support from the public than an impeachment of Bush would have? No, and they curbed Clinton's ability to do anything pretty effectively during that time. But the dems not only don't impeach a man who is clearly the most law breaking president in American history but they have rolled over and played dead over the Iraq war. They play politics while American soldiers continue to die because of Bush's lies. I love this picture of Reid raising his hands in surrender because that's exactly what he's done. He's a joke, how the hell did he get to be leader in the Senate?

At least Keith Olbermann didn't disappoint. He gave one of his Special Comments that really socked it to the dems, and to Bush who is the villian of the piece.

"The entire government has failed us on Iraq
For the president, and the majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party—there is only blame for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal"

See the video or read the transcript here.

Stanley Tucci

I've been a big fan of Stanley Tucci for a long time, he's one of the best actors around today (maybe I should start a 10 best actors list). So why do I look forward to him starring on ER with trepidation? Because with ER none of the people on it are big stars, the real star is the show itself. This is why, like Law & Order, the show can continue for years while all the people who star on it keep changing. I don't believe a single member of the original cast is still on the show.

The problem is that Tucci IS a big star and a big personality, the kind who needs his own show. ER can't become the Stanly Tucci Show, that just isn't what it is. So I feel bad that someone I like so much is doomed to failure, after another doctor show of his just went down the tubes not too long ago. And after John Leguizamo did his stint, which wasn't terrible, guys like Tucci and Leguizamo are never terrible, but it didn't really improve either his career or the show.

I haven't seen this week's show yet, it's safely recorded on DVR (one of the great inventions of modern times) so I will reserve judgment until I see it. Maybe he will mesh with the cast and be a great addition to the show and everyone involved will thrive. Last week's show didn't seem like that, though, it seemed like just what I was afraid of, he's just too strong a character. But maybe his presence will make everyone else step up their game a bit so he doesn't make them look bad and chew up every scene.

Bumperstickers & Buttons

OK, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a pithy bumper sticker, button or T-shirt and this place is a good one, of course they also have many varieties of Darwinfish. Everybody go get some:

Evolvefish

Fascist America

The following is part of an article by Naomi Wolf at AlterNet, I'm glad that someone else sees what's happening to this country and that we are no longer free, although most will not feel it for several years. Unfortunately, I think it's too late to do anything about it and too few would want to do anything about it at all. Give them their TV's and pick-up's and Burger King's and they are happey, don't bother them with with silly things like freedom:

It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy, but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated in the United States by the Bush administration.

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree, domestically, as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government -- the task of being aware of the Constitution has been outsourced from citizens to professionals such as lawyers and professors -- we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security -- remember who else was keen on the word "homeland"? -- didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable -- as the author and political journalist Joe Conason has put it -- that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realize.

Conason eloquently warned of the danger of American authoritarianism. I am arguing that we need also to look at the lessons of European and other kinds of fascism to understand the potential seriousness of the events we see unfolding in the United States.