The Departed

I finally got to see it. I've been annoyed for years that Scorsese didn't win the Oscar for best director for "Gangs of New York", my favorite movie of his. I was glad to see him finally win for this movie but I was certain it couldn't be as good as Gangs. Now that I've seen it I'm not sure, I still like Gangs better but Departed might be the better movie. Everyone in it was brilliant, especially DiCaprio. He is really coming into his own as an actor as he ages, this one and Blood Diamond have been his best work by far at the grand old age of 33. Matt Damon was also good but not as good as his Bourne character, a role he seems to have been born for (pun intended).

And of course Jack Nicholson was Jack, need we say more? Mark Wahlberg & Martin Sheen weren't spectacular but certainly not bad either. They really didn't have enough screen time to shine too much, especially Wahlberg who got his role severely cut even though he was a key character.

It was long, I'm not sure how long but it kept my attention every minute, the movie never seemed to slow down at all and went through many plot twists, especially at the end. I really can't say anything about the plot without giving too much away and it's the kind of movie you have to see without knowing what it's all about. All I will say is that DiCaprio & Damon were the stars and their characters were the opposite sides of the same coin but in a very unusual way. Scorsese clearly liked this strange connection between them, the similarities and differences, because he would constantly switch back and forth, showing both their lives in parallel.

A very interesting concept and done well, would anyone expect less from Scorsese? I would definitely say this was worthy of the Oscar.

Tidbits

I've been way too busy with work to post here and now there are so many interesting things to write about I thought I would just do some short snippets.
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Dick Cheney is president today. Kind of gives you chills to read that doesn't it? It's like Darth Vader being president, even though Darth is a pussycat compared to Cheney. He's acting president while Bush is sedated for a colonoscopy (I will refrain from the obvious jokes here). At first I thought it was horrible to think of Cheney in charge but after thinking about it I realized it's not really any different than its been for the last 6 years, which also includes Bush's condition.
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Keith Olbermann has a new commentary where he tells Bush to go fight his own war, it's another really good one. Aren't they all? I won't post it this time but will just post a link to the video on YouTube. And a link to Keith's website where you can get transcripts.
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Here is a great Alternet article entitled Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening. They are crazier and more disgusting than we think they are.
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The last Harry Potter book is now out amidst great excitement and fanfare. Doesn't mean much to me since I haven't read the books. I read the first one and thought it quite good and I could understand why kids love it so much. But it was very obviously written for kids so I found it too boring to continue to read the series. Darcy loves it though and has all the books and put in a pre-order for it at Barnes & Noble months ago, so we should be getting it this week sometime.
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Michael Vick: What an uproar the news of him being involved in dog fighting caused. Once again I'm reminded why I really don't want to know any personal info on famous people, I just want to see them work. Usually if I do find out something it's not good and that cuts down on my enjoyment of their work. I'll never be able to watch Vick in a game again without thinking about dog fighting, which is completely disgusting and cannot be defended in any way. It's amazing how much this has pissed people off, yet everyone doesn't get nearly as upset when they hear that 10 of our troops were killed today and 100 Iraqis. What we need to do is create some dog-soldiers, send them to Iraq and get them blown up. People will be so outraged the war would end soon.
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Robert Byrd: He was one of those guys who was outraged by Michael Vick and gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate. I haven't seen him on TV in quite a while and all I can say is the guy is WAY past time to retire. The term doddering old fool comes to mind. I've never liked Byrd, he is one of those old-time southern democrats - from 2 or 3 generations ago - who are really just Republicans in disguise. Most of the rest have become Republicans by now. Byrd is a racist southern boy but I have to give him props, back in 2002 (2003?) when Bush was looking for the authority to attack Iraq, Byrd was one of only about 3 or 4 Senators who voted against it. He mentioned the Gulf of Tonkins back in the 60's that got us into Vietnam big time. He voted for it then and deeply regrets it today and he didn't want to make that same mistake again. Too bad no one listened to him, any more than Byrd listened to the few voices of dissent back in the 60's.

BURN NOTICE

Summer TV is a great wasteland, especially since game shows and reality TV have become popular. At least we have the Closer on TNT and Dr. Who on Sci Fi. Now there is a new one that seemed to spring out of nowhere - Burn Notice.

This is quite a clever show, about a spy named Michael Westen who gets notified of his burn notice on his cell phone while trying to make a deal with some Middle Eastern looking characters. What is a burn notice? It means a spy is done, he is out of work, they drop him in a city and freeze his bank accounts as well as all ID's. He's got nothing and can't even leave the town they dump him in.

Westen is very well played by Jeffrey Donovan. Much of the show is done with him narrating which really adds quite a bit of interest as he explains how and why a spy operates. He has some good supporting people but Donovan pretty much IS the show and he is definitely up to the task. I first remember him in a remake of a British police show called Touching Evil. Donovan's character was supposed to be a little crazy due to a gunshot wound to his head, and he really does have a crazy look about him.

But in Burn notice he goes it one better and adds in humor. He's brilliant at the low key humor and that crazy gleam in his eyes makes him believable as a deadly spy. But the best part is his narration, he gives us a blow by blow of what spy's do and why, how they manipulate situations to their advantage. Often with an idea like this the execution isn't nearly as good as the idea but in Burn Notice it's actually better than the idea. He does stuff you really think a spy would do, like instead of facing the bad guys directly he changes the situation to surprise the other guys and give himself a major advantage. A real spy would know that no matter how good he is he just might encounter someone better or that mistakes can happen and would take steps to make sure the odds are always in his favor, and that is exactly what Donovan does in this show. He is trying to find out who put out the burn notice on him so he can do something about it, in the meantime he has to hang out in Miami, where they dumped him and his home town. He takes on small jobs to earn some money and usually ends up helping people, and the FBI are watching him constantly.

Concept, writing and acting are all just right in this one, and that was right off the bat. Often a new show has potential but needs some time to find their rhythm, but Burn Notice hit it exactly on from the very beginning and has maintained that same level through 3 shows so far. So it has become my new must see show for the summer.

It can be seen on USA channel on Thursday nights, plays at 9 pm in Southern California.

Olbermann Special Comment

Keith gave his best, and angriest, commentary so far yesterday:

The new iMac

Rumors have been flying about a new iMac coming out at the end of July, beginning of August. Of course, they were saying it would debut a month ago, too. People are speculating what it would look like and I found this picture, some one thought it would match the new iPhone. Looks very cool.

I need new computers now and was just looking to buy when I saw this rumor, now I'm waiting. It seems reasonable that a new one should come out, last revision was Sept. 2006, they just upgraded the MacBooks and the Mac Pro about a month ago so they should be doing iMacs soon. Some are saying they want it now for the back to school crowd, others are saying Sept. when Leopard comes out. I think sooner, in fact, they are behind schedule as far as upgrades, almost a year for the iMac when they usually do it every 6 months. I think it was supposed to come out a month ago but got pushed back because of the iPhone the same way Leopard got pushed back because they took their top people off of other projects and put them on the iPhone to get it out in time.

SICKO

Michael Moore's new movie opened yesterday, I hope everyone goes to see it, health care is the worst crisis we face in America today.

Here's his site:
An Awesome First Night for "Sicko"

And here my friend Long Live the Village Green does a review:
Long Live the Village Green

Because Darcy's been sick for the past 14 years I've had a lot of experience with health care. She gets Medicare and Medi-cal, do I have horror stories? You bet, but none are as bad as the people she's emailed with who have had the same lung disease. All those people had private insurance and not one of them got approved for a lung transplant. Some fought hard and finally got one, some just gave up and died, when you have a fatal lung disease it can be hard to get yourself into the fray. One did OK because she was rich, she signed a guarantee of payment with the hospital then hired her lawyer to sue the insurance company, after which they were happy to insure her.

I haven't seen the movie, Darcy's been sick all day, we never get out to the movies any more. We'll see it on DVD.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

Saw the last show this week. Once again Aaron Sorkin proves he is too smart for network TV. The show apparently bombed almost from the beginning and Darcy and I loved it from the beginning. A smart and grown-up show on TV! Amazing, this can't last, and it didn't. Ever since the first show of Sports Night came out years ago I knew this guy Sorkin was great. By the end of the first season of The West Wing I knew he was the best writer TV had ever seen, which means I knew he was doomed for failure. I'm still amazed that West Wing was such a hit, most of the dialog had to go right over the heads of most of his watchers, yet it lasted for years. Sorkin leaving the show was immediately evident and it took a dive, but we still kept watching just because the characters were so good, but they never again achieved what Sorkin had, but then again, who could.

So, Aaron, my hat's off to you. Though I feel you are doomed to failure I salute your efforts and promise I will be a faithful watcher of anything you do. I do, however, have one thing to say to you - HBO. Or maybe Showtime, they are more desperate because HBO has kicked their ass for years on weekly shows, with the exception of Dexter.

I think the ones I feel most sorry for in this are Matthew Perry and Sara Paulson, great chemistry and great characters and they put in fantastic performances. Everyone was excellent on the show but those two really stood out.

Al Gore for President

On Alternet is an article about why Al Gore should run for president.

The majority of my Democratic friends have devoted most of their attentions to the three avowed front-runners -- Clinton, Obama, and John Edwards. Yet during the last six months or so, whenever I've asked them whom they would choose if they were choosing between four candidates -- Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Al Gore -- probably 90 percent have told me, in a heartbeat, that they'd go for Gore.

If that is true that's very encouraging. So I want to write an open letter to Al Gore.

Dear Al:

How are you? You've looked good on the last few TV appearances I've seen, and I've heard you are on a diet and working out. Of course I'm here to talk about why you should run for president. Seems like a bad idea on the surface, life is good for you right now, you are more popular than you have ever been and have managed, practically single-handedly, to completely change the political discourse on global warming. So why should you run?

Because both you and the country need the world's greatest do-over. I doubt if there is anyone outside of the fanatical right wingers who doesn't feel that you should have been president, and that we'd be in so much better shape right now if you had been. How often does an entire country get a chance to correct a horrible mistake? The reason the presidential race has moved up so dramatically to be started far earlier than ever before is that the entire nation just wants Bush out of there and would rather focus on his successor than deal with what he is doing right now.

Then there is the fact of the terrible damage Bush and his people have done to America as a whole. You are the best man to undo much of that damage, you are the one who could rally most of America behind you and get things done. And I also think that your running would energize the Democratic party and assure their full control of both branches of Congress.

And it isn't just the fact that you can heal the American psyche, you are also the best man to be president of all the other candidates - by far. And take Obama as your VP. The country needs President Al Gore.

Touch Screens

There is a short little article in Time Magazine on the idea that iPhone is going to create a revolution by turning computers into touch screens, making the mouse obsolete.

Odd article since it starts out looking like it's going to be all about the iPhone then suddenly ends up being mostly about Microsoft's Milan. Which I really didn't mind since I'd never heard of it, looks very interesting. Think of basically a coffee table with a computer in it that you can operate with your fingers. One example was to place your cell phone with a digital camera in it on the table and all the pictures you've taken suddenly show up on the screen and can be passed around to people sitting around the table, that would be cool. Makes me think of Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

But I wonder how great an idea this really is, after all, touch screens have been around for 30 years and haven't caught on at all, except maybe in bars. Seems far more appropriate for the iPhone, excellent for something small and hand held but imagine having to move your arm across a coffee table to use your computer, you'd get tired fast. And you'd have to be really paranoid about anything messing up the screen, which I would think is a problem for the iPhone as well. I'm a big Palm fan but you can't use one without putting a screen guard on it or the screen gets worn out really fast.

But I'm always a contrarian, I don't use a mouse I use a Wacom tablet like any good artist should. What I want is an iPhone but with a 21" screen and only a little thicker, that has a color Wacom tablet across the front and a complete Mac inside and you have to use a pen, not your finger. Wacom does make a 21" tablet with a color LCD screen but it costs $1,800 and you still have a buy a Mac to plug it into, too expensive and not mobile enough. Someday they will have it, but not yet.

One Great Blog

The name probably looks intimidating but don't let it bother you. This is what it means: "Ballard (1981) coined the term "pharyngula" to refer to the embryo that has developed to the phyolotypic stage, when it posesses the classic vertebrate bauplan." The tag line under the log, in case it's too small to see is: "Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal."

See? Very simple. This is a science blog run by a biology professor but is really much more of a social commentary about the state of America today.

Take this interesting article which is about why you have to register with the government to buy a chemistry beaker in some states but any idiot can buy a gun without registering it at all.

Or this one: An almost biblical curse about a very tragic case of inbreeding in a small Mormon community that believes in polygamy.

This one is about Paul Hill, who murdered an abortion doctor outside his clinic:

" Behold, Paul Hill Days.

A couple of deranged Christian organizations are planning to send their members to Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the end of July to thump about like a gang of gumbies, bellowing about what a good man Paul Hill was. God's man. A hero. A martyr.

And to crown this exercise in lunacy and poor taste, they're planning a reenactment of the murders."

It's truly amazing that there are people who think it's a good idea to celebrate a murderer, and that reenacting the murders is a fun day.

The whole blog is filled with these gems and is really worth a look. Back in the day the hippies used to say that our society was sick, they were right but we were downright sane back then compared to America in the 21st century.

I'm sure glad the iPhone will be out soon to cheer me up, though I probably won't be getting one for a couple of years, since I just signed up for 2 more years at Verizon with 2 new free phones. Hopefully in 2 years the iPhone will be even better, more affordable, and - wishful thinking - Cingular will have become a provider worth having. Or maybe a competitor will come up with a phone almost as good that sells only for Verizon. Sounds like a great idea for Palm or LG, because right now Cingular would have to pay me to use their service, and if it wasn't a whole lot of money I'd still turn them down. Which means I can be bought but I'm not cheap.

How Did This Happen?

I'm sitting here listening to Cat Stevens songs and thinking about my youth, we had such ideals back then, we wanted so much and dreamed so far. World peace, love, brothers and sisters to all. It's with tears in my eyes that I look at what we've become as America totters on the brink of fascism and we are responsible for the death of close to 1,000,000 people in Iraq. We railed and protested against our parents and their generation for being hypocrites, but looking back now they were practically saints compared to what this generation has become. The worst our parents did was fail to live up to the ideals of what America should be, what the boomer generation has done is throw those ideals to the ground and stomp on them as if they were evil.

I'm now old and tired, as old as my mom was when Cat recorded these songs, 3 years older than my dad ever made it to. Oddly enough there is still fire in my belly, rage against the machine. Too bad it's accompanied by nausea. My whole body hurts and I'm tired down to my bones and my beloved Darcy is about to die soon. And Cat Stevens is now a devote Muslim who did not condemn the Ayatolah's death sentence of Salman Rushdie, so much for peace and love.

And on top of that we stand at the brink of world disaster with global warming. It won't lead to the end of mankind but it will lead to world-wide problems like nothing we've ever seen, millions of refugees across the globe, hunger, misery and death for multiple millions of humanity. I fear the future will look at the baby boomer generation and see us as either monsters or insane, maybe both. We all claim Hitler and the Nazis as the worst evil that men can sink to but future generations will put that label on us.

How did this happen? Christians and rich people, the fundamentalists who have tried to ram theocracy down our throats and the neocons who have gladly used them as the means to power. If any good can come from all this it will be if both such groups are reviled and hated for as long as humanity lasts.

Stressed

Darcy here with the grandkids, click on the photo and you'll get a good enlargement, same as with yesterday's installment of me and Darcy.

I'm stressed, I've held up well for the last 14 years but one reason was I always thought we'd get through every problem, now I don't think that, time is running out. When Darcy went into the hospital last Tuesday night I started to freak a bit, she was just going in for tests but it still got to me like it never did before, as if all the 14 years of stress that I'd been ignoring just fell right on top of me. We've always known it was a matter of time, that we were only fighting a delaying action, but delays were good. I didn't look beyond that because I didn't want to see the future. And let me tell you that living completely in the now sucks big time, don't listen to those fool Buddhists who would tell you otherwise.

I'm very depressed and having lots of trouble concentrating. I used to be able to write with no problem at all, and write well, but now it feels jumbled, as if I can't quite find the right words for a pithy one liner. At work I'm really running slow because of the lack of concentration, I used to be able to focus so completely I was incredibly fast and accurate in everything I did, Darcy used to call it art mode, and knew not to talk to me because it wouldn't get through. Now I'm distracted by everything, I'll go look at a web site at work and the next thing I know I've wasted 2 hours and no longer remember what I was working on. And fatigue is grabbing me harder than ever, but I'm having trouble sleeping.

And I don't see it getting any better in the near future. The only release will be when Darcy dies, and I don't see that as an improvement.

Do You Really Want The Truth About God?

This is not from me but is too good to not post. I especially like the part that the secret of the universe just happens to exist in the church down the street from you, what a coincidence! I've had this for a long time and don't know where I got it but fortunately the author's URl is down at the bottom. I checked it out and his site is still there with lots of good stuff on it. I even wrote to him to get permission to publish this:

Do You Really Want The Truth About God?
By Wayne Adkins Apr. 24, 2005

"I'll have ten plausible explanations and uh... hold the truth." That seems to be good enough for most Christians nowadays, fundamentalists in particular. Where are the seekers of truth today? Gone the way of the home cooked meal I guess. It's just too much work.

Why do you suppose it is that a child born in Iraq will likely become a Muslim while a child born in Utah will likely become Mormon and a child born in Central America is likely to become a Catholic while a child born in Alabama is likely to become a Protestant? Do you think the argument for Islam is any more compelling in Iraq than it is where you live? Do you think the argument for fundamentalist Christianity is any more compelling in Alabama than in Utah? No. We are products of our environments.

So you attend your hometown church and, lucky you, it happens to be of the one true religion! But there were a few things you don't quite understand, so you ask your local clergy or you read the latest and greatest apologists and "presto," it all makes sense. But if people of all different religions were asking these tough questions and getting straightforward answers, wouldn't people eventually figure out the truth and gravitate toward it? Wouldn't the religion closest to the truth become the obvious choice as truth seekers everywhere found the truth?

Enter the plausible explanation. It seems that most people are comfortable with any plausible explanation for a problem as long as it lets them hang on to their current beliefs, true or otherwise. For instance, when scientific evidence flies in the face of long held religious beliefs, Christians will accept any explanation that lets them hang on to their existing notions of truth. Ask a fundamentalist how old the earth is and they will tell you with a straight face that it is only 10,000 years old, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

So, you say, that is just how faith works. Faith is what saves us and it wouldn't be faith if we had all the answers, right? The problem is that the truth has been lost in all of this. Mahatma Ghandi once said that "There is no god higher than truth." What good is faith if it has you believing in something that is not true? Suppose your spouse has been coming home late from work every day for a month. Suppose each day you are given a plausible explanation for where they have been. "I had a flat tire" or "I had to work late" or "I ran out of gas". The truth is that they have been having an affair. Do you want the truth, even if you don't like it, or do you want to go on accepting plausible explanations? Most would say they want the truth.

So why wouldn't you seek the truth when it comes to religion, a decision that shapes the rest of your life? You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it first. You wouldn't buy a house without having it inspected. But people walk into the church that is closest to their home, or the one like their parents took them to, and accept that they have found the truth. When they see a problem with it, if they ask about the problem they accept whatever they are told without verifying it at all. Great apologists are made, not because they are particularly adept at finding answers to those tough questions, but because people don't look past the first explanation they are given.

I was once a bible college student studying to become a preacher. I am now an atheist. Why? Because I looked for the truth, even when I didn't like what I found. As I began to face difficult questions like contradictions in the Bible, the abhorrent morality propogated in the Bible, and the fact that it all just didn't make sense, I had plenty of mentors to turn to. But I soon saw a pattern of them giving me an answer that "could be" a plausible explanation for each particular problem. But often these proposed explanations were ridiculous and if they were challenged I was blasted for not just having faith.

Suppose that you were buying a building and you were told that the roof didn't leak. You walk in and find a puddle on the floor. "That came up through a crack in floor" you are told and assured that the roof doesn't leak. You find another puddle and are told that the water blew in through an open window. Upon finding another puddle you are told that the water fountain leaks, but the roof is impervious to leaks. The next puddle is explained as a spill and yet another is explained as recent mopping. Then drops sart falling on your head. "Condensation from the air-conditioning ducts," you are told. But as you look up you see water running down the rafters above the ducts. "Oh, that could be from my kids playing with their super soaker water canons in here, it didn't come through the roof." Plausible explanations are made for each little puddle of water you find, but as you survey the building, the floor is covered with water and the seller is standing there telling you the roof doesn't leak. How can you buy that?

So, what is the point of this article? I would encourage you to examine WHY you believe what you believe. Ask the hard questions and fearlessly pursue truth. Educate yourself about both sides of the argument. Sure it will take some work, but if you were wrong about God, wouldn't you want to know? Christians are trying to legislate their brand of morality, put God into government and "creation science" into our schools. So ask yourself what you belive. Is it that every species of animal once survived for a year on a single wooden boat? That the earth is only 10,000 years old? That God divided people by race and language because people were "too united"? That Samson killed thousands of men with a jawbone because he didn't cut his hair? That unicorns once existed? That Jonah lived in a whale for three days? That after 2,000 years of waiting, Jesus is going to return? Why do you believe these things? It's time to grow up and put the God fairy-tale where it belongs, in your past alongside Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the monster under your bed.
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About the author: Wayne Adkins is a former fundamentalist christian who became an atheist after two years of bible college. He is now a military officer recently returned from a year in Iraq...a real live atheist in a foxhole. He has written a manuscript debunking biblical inerrancy and the existence of God which can be found at his website at www.nakedemperor.netfirms.com.

Darcy

I love this picture, me and Darcy sitting out by our pool having a barbecue. Looks like the perfect Southern California day, doesn't it? Darcy is frowning at Bennet for taking the picture, she thinks she looks so bad she doesn't want any pictures taken of her. I just want food. Even here the fact she is now skin and bones is obvious, the drugs have been hard on her.

She just spent 3 days in the hospital for testing of all kinds, her doctor wanted to get to the bottom of what was wrong. She was miserable, couldn't sleep and was so weak at one point she fell and hurt her thigh and is using a walker now to get around, but that should be only temporary. They found out two new things, she has cirrhosis and thrombocytopenia, that second one is a low platelet count which causes easy bruising and at it's worst can be quite dangerous, causing internal bleeding. She is bruised all over, especially on her arms, she has one bruise on her chin just from leaning on her hand while reading.

We don't really know how bad each disease is, just found out about them as she was leaving the hospital at 7 PM last night, we'll find out about treatment next week. But that gives me some hope, I thought she was just breaking down and they wouldn't be able to find anything specific but this gives us something we can deal with. I've been reading up on Milk Thistle, which is the long time herbal standard for liver problems but the web, as usual, has conflicting reports. There have been several studies showing it's benefits but I found one recent article that showed it did nothing, I don't have a lot of confidence in that one though.

For 14 years we've just been buying time, we knew it was a battle we would lose eventually, but hopefully we can buy some more time still. We haven't done badly so far.

Granddaughter Ally

Since I was a step-grandfather I didn't think too much of the idea, there was a reason I never had kids of my own. But Ally was such a neat kid from the very beginning she quickly won me over and I've been trying to impart my many years of wisdom to her. Since she is only 6 and half that has met with limited success, I've told myself to be patient, but that isn't one of my strong suits. The main thing I wanted to do was teach her a love of learning and hopefully, a love of science. I've had help from her mother on that, she enrolled her in 2 weeks of science camp last year and is doing it again this summer. Ally is also in a small private school so I'm hoping she is having more fun that I did when I was her age. But when that new Planet Earth Discovery series came out she didn't want to see it. I recorded all the shows for her, thinking they were great and she'd be interested, but she was bored and wanted to change the channel. Sigh. I did get her to watch about 10 minutes on an older such series to show her the weird alien animals living at the bottom of the ocean.

Yesterday we were babysitting and Ally asked me if I had that alien fish show, unfortunately I hadn't saved it. We only have DVR with limited space and I can't record anything off the cable box. But as luck would have it there was a show just starting on the science channel about the Great Coral Reef in Australia so I put it on. She sat and watched the entire hour, totally absorbed, even during the commercials, I was amazed. And delighted. Of course, I had to add my own comments, like when this woman put on a diving suit and went down to study the reef I said: "She's a marine biologist, isn't that a cool job where you can go out and dive in the ocean for your work day? No stuffy office every day for her!"

I don't know if it will take but I'm very please with her interest. Marine biologist would be a great career for her, her mom got her swimming very early and she's really good already and this year Summer wants to teach her how to surf. I told her to get her mom to teach her how to scuba dive.

Ally,the marine biologist - very cool!

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.

Atheism: A Rough History Of Disbelief

There is a three part special coming to PBS from England called this. Just saw a brief segment of it on YouTube and thought it worth posting.



More video on this can be found at YouTube

Democratic Presidential Debate

I recorded it and watched it last night, and the pundits are all wrong. I'd say everyone did well except for Richardson, and Gravel was interesting but took on the role of court jester, being funny while saying some biting truths, but I don't see him as presidential material. This was the first time I got a good look at Kucinich and I have to say I was impressed, but not enough to put him in the top tier.

Edwards and Obama did not stumble at all, both were good and I would give the win to Edwards. He was thoughtful and forceful and, most important, he was original. All the others were parroting party lines in many cases but he had some unique things to say including a story about how poor his father was. Hillary did do the best I've ever seen her. Wasn't stiff or being a bad actor, but was on her game, intelligent and strong. Obama did worst of all three but still not bad at all. But I have long been expecting Obama to blow everyone away with the force of his personality and he didn't do that at all. If anything he seemed like someone in a bit over his head.

So the result is that Edwards is still my main man (unless Gore comes in). From what I've heard the guy is incredible in person, as magnetic as Bill Clinton was (and is) and he's been all over Iowa holding townhall meetings and leads the pack in that state. If he can take the Iowa caucus, and it looks like he can, he could take the whole thing.

Ed Schultz did a Townhall meeting with him last week and I was amazed at the sense of awe in his voice at the end of it and at how much he liked Edwards. His stand has always been that as a radio guy his job is to get all candidates on his show and give them a platform and let the listeners make up their own minds. If he endorses any candidate that could ruin that whole idea so he doesn't. But the way he talked about Edwards after meeting him personally sounded like he was ready to endorse him on the spot and just barely held back.

In conclusion I don't think Obama is going to overtake Hillary, she's been in the lead all along and I see her keeping that lead after this debate. Edwards is kind of the stealth candidate who can go to each state as their primaries are coming up and build up huge momentum for himself, enough to take the lead. So I think it will be a race between the two of them and Obama will be the VP of the winner.

Jefferson Quotes

"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."
[Thomas Jefferson]

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."
[Thomas Jefferson,letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper February 10, 1814]

"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology."
[Thomas Jefferson]

"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."
[Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787]

"The truth is, that the greatest enemies of the doctrine of Jesus are those, calling themselves the expositors of them, who have perverted them to the structure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and without any foundation in his genuine words. And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his Father, in the womb of a virgin will be classified with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated Reformer of human errors."
[Thomas Jefferson, to John Adams, Apr. 11, 1823]

"The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and ingrafted into the machine of government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man."
[Thomas Jefferson, to Jeremiah Moor, 1800.]

"[When] the [Virginia] bill for establishing religious freedom ... was finally passed, ... a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word "Jesus Christ," so that it should read "a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion." The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination."
[Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, 1821]

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." -- to Danbury Baptists, 1802.

"He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong."
[Thomas Jefferson]

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
[Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791

Bertrand Russell quotes

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.

I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.

One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.

The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible.

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

Another Olbermann Commentary

I love Keith Olbermann's special commentaries. He seems to be the only TV news person who has the guts to call the Republicans what they really are and call their words what they really are. In this one he gets really intense, I think that comes from an huge dislike of Giuliani and anger at how he did nothing from the time of the first bombing of the WTC until it's destruction, and instead of getting terrible blame for that has been lauded as a hero.

There's a transcript of it but much better to watch the video to see his intensity.

The Tudors Part 2

They hooked me in again. One comment about Francis of France being capture by the Spanish army and I'm searching the web to find out about it. He was indeed captured and spent some time in Madrid until he was ransomed, he ruled France for 32 years and Carlos of Spain was his nemesis the whole time, and Henry never did get to rule France although the British kings called themselves Kings of France since before Henry's time up until the 1800.

Francis was a good king in some ways, was the man most responsible for bringing the Renaissance to France, a great patron of the arts. He is also responsible for Canada, sent Cartier exploring up the Hudson and appointed Canada's first governor. But when the protestants in France got too pushy he persecuted them hard, practically creating a civil war and even wiped out whole villages. And he was always losing to Carlos, who was the king not only of Spain (and also beat Francis out of being the Holy Roman Emperor) but the king of Germany and northern Italy, so he had Francis surrounded. It is said that when he died he complained about the weight of the crown that he thought was a gift when he first got it.

It's hard work being a king, just ask Bush.

Bill Maher

I'm a big fan of Real Time with Bill Maher and never miss a show. I'm constantly amazed at how knowledgeable he is on so many subjects, but this week he really let me down so I fired off an email:

I was very disappointed with you on Friday's show, usually you are very well informed but you let one lie and one error go from your very annoying English guest. First of all Partial Birth Abortion is not a medical term, it's made up by the Christian right for propaganda purposes, second of all, it is never used on a viable baby. Abortion past the 2nd trimester is illegal in most, if not all, 50 states. This procedure is done only when the fetus is NOT viable and the mother's life is in danger. So no late term abortions of a healthy fetus are happening, yet you let that clown say that's what was happening. What the Supreme Court ruling means is a woman MUST submit to the far more dangerous and invasive C Section surgery.

The other thing you should have commented on was his statement of what happened when we pulled out of Vietnam. Yes it was true but all the years we spent in Vietnam did not prevent that from happening in any way, it just got a lot more people killed on all sides before it happened. This is the same thing in Iraq, whatever will happen there when we pull out, and we must pull out eventually, WILL happen. We could spend 10 more years there, get many Americans and Iraqis killed, bankrupt our country, and it will still happen when we pull out. All we are doing is keeping a lid on things by force, not solving any problems. The longer we stay the greater the problems become as more and more resentment is built up on all sides and the worse our leaving will be. There is no way we can stay long enough to prevent anything from happening. The Soviets held a lid on Yugoslavia for 50 years but all hell still broke loose when they pulled out.