Sunday, November 30, 2008

Tip of the Iceberg

It's almost sad...

One day someone will actually tell the some of the real stories...

Friday, November 28, 2008

Never expected this...


Ok Vin... you're inside - and now you're a mage...
you open the door...
it's a 20x20 room and your only spell is fireball...

why do i fear Red is going to be the only one to live...

Though...
for all that i never expected that...
i did expect this
(not that i know any of those personally)
(*cough*)

The Spirit of the Season

Sounds like at least one group has the right holiday spirit!!!

She told the Daily News she saw a woman knocked down just a few feet from the dying worker. "When the paramedics came, she said 'I'm pregnant,'" Keyes said. Paramedics treated the woman inside the store and then, according to Keys, told the woman: "There's nothing we can do. The baby is gone."
But you know... so long as we sell more fisher price power wheel barbie jeeps it's all good.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Now that people have wide screen monitors

...it seems silly to be constrained by the old 800px wide screen rule. Hell - even youtube has gone hd - though i'm sure the jackasses at time warner are not going to be pleased at how much bandwidth users are going to soak up...

in honor of altering my page layout I give you HD Hare Hare... enjoy (and remember, when you're giving thanks to god tomorrow - be sure to thank her for aliens and espers and time travelling combat waitresses - because you dont want to see her when she's vengeful)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Green Day was too late...

So I'm reading a wapo editorial and thinking 'omg - we're morons'... then i take the test and actually missed 2 questions (11 and 29 if you're counting). Still - how can only 69% name 2 countries we were at war with in WW2...

Her conclusion: Who will govern a free nation if no one understands the mechanics and instruments of that freedom? Answer: Maybe one day, a demagogue.

This surreal economic collapse is going to lead to some serious changes... let's hope it doesn't lead to an imperialistic populist.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Spiderpig

Good thing Mel Gibson isn't in Engerland

"It is now your decision if you want to continue down the tragic and appalling road you have chosen for yourself."

A metaphor for unfettered capitalism perhaps...

Monday, November 24, 2008

So Citigroup got a massive bailout yesterday...
$306b in loan guarantees
and $20b in infusion capital

this is in addition to the $25b the feds already pumped into it a couple weeks ago

so the question i have is... with a market capitalization of 20.54b... exactly how much of the company did the US just purchase. If the answer isnt 'all of it' - I want to know why. If the answer is 'all of it' I want to know why they didnt just say 'we own this now'. (on edit: the math seems to indicate this 20b will be worth about 40% of the company -- strike at $10.61) Some adult somewhere needs to stand up and just say 'we're nationalizing the banks - you investors get nothing' now - this peacemeal bullshit is only making the situation worse. They'd best hurry up too - because this situation is getting totally out of control.

Who's Next? Bank of America would be my bet... (Countrywide and Merrill on their books now... both giant sucking blackholes of shit)

Now - for your unicorn chaser... act fast

Friday, November 21, 2008

While we're still winding down the election season and waiting for Citigroup to file for bankruptcy protection I'd like to remind all of you that voting is important - no matter who you vote for. Even if you take it less seriously than some - having a chance to keep assholes from running the country, making the laws, and destroying the environment by increasing our carbon footprint - make time to study the candidates and only vote for the lizard people where necessary.

Filed under 'how close did we come...'



I mean... i know turkeys get killed... and I hope Sarah chooses to do all of her future press conferences at slaughterhouses...

I kept telling people she was 'The Death Party' candidate of choice - but you didnt believe me.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

From the NYTimes

If the genome of an extinct species can be reconstructed, biologists can work out the exact DNA differences with the genome of its nearest living relative. There are now discussions of how to modify the DNA in an elephant’s egg so that generation by generation it would progressively resemble the DNA in a mammoth egg. The final stage egg could then be brought to term in an elephant mother, and mammoths might once again roam the Siberian steppes. The same would be technically possible with Neanderthals, whose full genome is expected to be recovered shortly, but ethically more challenging.
Ethically challenging? Hell - the earth's only been around since 4004-OCT-23 BCE at 9 AM... what's wrong with bringing back Neanderthals from their short respit - afterall - my car needs washing - and who's to say Lillith wasn't hot?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

So let me get this straight....

you want to take my money
and give it to the guys that manufacture the Hummer
so they can take that money
and use it to pay creditors
who loaned them money at high interest rates because they've got a pretty iffy business

sorry
no
we have bankruptcy laws for a reason
let them file (the stock is already wiped out (it's a 2b market cap now))
and let the creditors bear the burden of the risk

the only 'profit' to be had out of putting money in is 'trickle down'
screw that
let it fail

Monday, November 10, 2008

Lest We Forget
They went with songs to the battle,
they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes,
steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end
against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Just remember kids...

the next time you see prop 8 protesters turning over cop cars
or angry young people out of control attacking the cops

it might just be the police trying to shape public opinion...

This one should be front page...

Saturday, November 08, 2008

In summary...

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Hope for the future of my country

I cant ask for much more than that

Why do i have hope? Is it some policy wonk thing? a sense of relative security vs Palin and her Armageddon harlotry? Is it that so many good people are breathing for the first time in 8 years?

no...

"I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done "that's green", and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I fucking changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

THAT is why i have hope. (more behind the scenes stuff here)

As was pointed out to me last night as i was drinking my Shiner and watching the returns with friends...
America is a racist nation - but not as racist as i feared.

I'm not hopeful. I'm not cynical. I'm just wary. But wary is a lot better than terrified and pissed off. The world dodged a bullet this time... and Obama, with a dem congress, has a chance to set a good course. Let's see what he does with it.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Here on the eve of an election that could change the tone of the American experience for a century - one that will go down as historic for either electing a woman or an african american - one that will certainly change America's approach on global warming, on social responsibility, and on the very nature of that brand of American capitalism that is so identified with the western world's way of life - i find myself compelled to weigh in on what has to be considered one of the most important subjects of the day.

I finally finished Macross Frontier and it was awesome.

That's all.

Four years is a long time.
I was in Liverpool this time 4 years ago (but not for long)...
married (though not for long)...
Kerry was ahead in most polls (but not for long)...

Four years later the banking system is in shambles. The LIBOR/FED spread is still sitting above 2.5 (meaning we still have a massively constricted inter-bank liquidity problem)... oil's spent time in the $150 range... the oil companies are all posting 'biggest profits ever' while somehow managing to convince the country that the price of oil has nothing to do with their bottom line... and a black man seems poised to be elected president in spite of all the people who've come up with rationalized reasons to vote for the old white guy that don't admit to the true abject racism inherent in their decision. No one wants to say america has become a land of the intellectually lazy, morally bankrupt, and egocentric. The press play gotcha when politicians even hint at the idea that america might be filled with racist assholes - as if it werent true and suggesting the alcoholic passed out after beating his kids in the room should stop drinking might and change his behavior somehow makes you the bad guy.

But we should have learned a lot.

There's the lesson that markets may not be the right answer for every situation. Markets are wonderful environments to encourage innovation and competition. The old invisible hand rewards efficiency and desirability in product differentiation - even when companies are selling something as vacuous as the appearance of douchedom... America wont learn that lesson - we'll blame the black guy instead.

There's a lesson that a land war in asia is a classic blunder... but anyone with half a brain would have learned that one the last time. Of course, the inevitable horrible conclusion to this latest military adventurism will be blamed on the black guy too.

Or how about that too many women are a lot more cold and calculating and heartless than they let on... that's one that some of us seem prone to fail to learn from regularly. I wonder if I can blame Obama for that.

Happy monday.