Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight

Coming to you straight from the planet Htrae, conservative blogger John Hinderacker has some very important advice for President-Elect Barack Obama, culled from the positive examples of our current lame-duck President:

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

My response is best described by an uncommon typographic symbol: the interrobang.

Birmingham-Southern College hosts an image of the exact thoughts I had while reading this.

History Is Made, And For The Better

One Giant Leap, indeed.

Check out the Newseum for more front pages; a lot of great images from a very slow (overloaded?) website.

More from me later, I promise.

[Note: that link takes you to the "Today" page, as there is no permalink. I suspect this link here may work in the future, even though it isn't functional now. Update to follow whenever that link goes live.]

Let's Do This

Ready to go.

Obama Wins Dixville Notch, NH

Dixville Notch, an unincorporated northern New Hampshire township, has followed a unique voting practice since 1960; at midnight, all registered voters in the town of 75 gather at the town hall, vote, and immediately announce their results.

Dixville Notch provides what is essentially the first official number on election day.

And this morning, the village voted 15-6 for Barack Obama.

A deeper look into Dixville Notch shows that, since the midnight voting tradition began, there has never been a larger electorate than in 1988, when 38 voters cast ballots – 34 of them for George Bush (Sr.).

They have had a Democratic majority exactly once, prior to this, when they voted for Hubert Humphrey over Richard Nixon, 8-4. Not the happiest of portents, but I'll take it.

It's going to be a long day...


[And no, Dixville Notch is not an indicator of the election at large. Interesting factoid, yes. Electoral tea leaves? No. That'd be Missouri.]

This Just In

About five minutes ago, it started pouring in West Hollywood. About a minute in, a bright flash of lightning was followed almost immediately by a thunderclap so loud, it set off car alarms up and down the street. The guy who parked his convertible across the street is not going to be happy.

Fall's over. Winter is here. Good news for the wildfires, I guess.

And You Thought Your Pumpkin Was Cool

Follow the link and prepare to get schooled.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween; always my favorite holiday.

Didn't get the time to make a costume this year, so I guess I cam dressed as Peter Jackson – shorts, bare feet, and a baseball cap.

Huzzah.

In honor of the holiday, here are a couple of spooky link treats.

• Mary Poppins really was here to terrorize us all along.


• A guide on dealing with being buried alive.


• A glimpse into a dystopian, chilling, and (hopefully!) alternate future.


• A parasite so disgusting, I almost don't want to live in the same world as it. [ Side note: although I find it fascinating, and really reminiscent of the flying louse in Godzilla: 1985. Ugh, that thing gave me nightmares! ]


• Watch as zoo animals eat some pumpkin treats.


• Recession, reschmession. See what really scares investment bankers.


• Last, look deep into the abyss... (see here for more info).

Obama Rap

This video is exceedingly silly, but it's a surprisingly good rap with some damn good points.

5 Reasons Luke Skywalker is a Complete Idiot

Missing? "But I was going to go to Toshi Station and pick up some power converters!" That aside, though, it's a fun little feature.

What has Luke had to look forward to after the original trilogy? Mostly trying to start up the whole Jedi Order by himself, which is a ton of work, and watching Han have almost constant sex with Leia.

See the list over at Topless Robot.

Plankity–Plank

Another classic interview with Sarah Palin.

...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

John McCain In Pennsylvania [Updated]

[UPDATE: Follow the link for video of the moment in question... and really, "verbal thicket" doesn't begin to describe it. I am embrassed just watching this.]

Last week, Pennsylvania Representative John Murtha, a Democrat, said of his own constituents that "there is no question that Western Pennsylvania is a racist area."

John McCain decided to use that to help sway voters:

“I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama’s supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately.” As the crowd booed, Mr. McCain became tangled up in the rest of his remarks. “And you know, I couldn’t agree with them more,” he said, to silence, and then wandered around in a verbal thicket before finally managing to say, “I could not disagree with those critics more; this is a great part of America.”

A "verbal thicket?" We can't let this man be the next president.

Can we?

(as reported in the New York Times by Elisabeth Bumiller and Jeff Zeleny)

Sherman Gets It Right

As said via IM this evening:

work = crap sometimes.