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The American Political Dynamic

Liberals don't hate conservatives. They just think they're stupid. Conservatives hate liberals, because they know that liberals think they're smarter than them. Liberals know that conservatives hate them and can't figure out why, because they don't hate conservatives in...
My Summer with Steve

What surprises me most about the death of Steve Jobs is how deeply I feel that loss personally. It is a feeling I can only compare to the loss of a family member, which is surprising to say the least....
The Tragedy of Osama bin Laden's Death

Without a doubt the biggest disappointment to come out of the news of Osama bin Laden's death is the realization that instead of a "Situation Room" that looks like this: We have a Situation Room that is, what appears to...
Can't we just all just talk about this?

In the wake of last week's events in Tucson in which a deranged man shot and/or killed numerous individuals, including a Federal Judge, a Congress-woman and a child - not to mention several other innocent by-standers, a number of people...
The Fight Against the Guinea Worm

Jimmy Carter's foundation is leading the fight against one of the most disgusting parasites I have ever heard of: the Guinea Worm. Its lifecycle is both amazing and horrifying, which begins when someone injests water contaminated with the worm's larvae:...
Why Mandatory Health Insurance is Constitutional

As a Federal Judge ruled that requiring people to purchase health care insurance is unconstitutional, we are now thrust into the debate that is central to the GOP's attempt to overturn the nation's Health Insurance and Care Reform law. What...
A mathematical analysis of what happened the last time the House went Republican

A social graph analysis of the House of Representatives from 2003: What's new is that under Republicans, committee appointments shrank, but connections between committees and subcommittees tightened. In another paper, Porter and colleagues write, "The committee reorganization following the Republican...
Meg Whitman endorses Jerry Brown

You almost have to hear it to believe it. Kudos to the Brown campaign on a great slight of hand....
Kill the Penny

This rant against the penny reminds me of what I still think is a pretty frigg'n good idea: Abolish the penny. Round all purchases up to the nearest nickel. Take the difference and contribute it to a national education fund....
Oops.
Now thats Zen

Bottle of wine in hand and a front row seat, a man watches lava finally consume and burn down his home in Hawaii....
A quote illustrating the power of the 1st Amendment

Not sure why today I decided to take the bait, but here goes. There is no one quote I can think of off the top of my head that illustrates the power of the First Amendment, but there are many...
Why I love Barak Obama

I admit it, I have a geek man-crush on our President. How awesome is this? And what is even more amazing is the fact that he probably knows more about Thundercats than anyone else in that room....
Thank God for Health Insurance Reform

One of the things sadly and remarkably absent from this year's long debate over the push to reform our nation's health care system are the personal stories that help people understand just how important this change is, and the kind...
Move Your Money

In this year's annual family viewing of It's a Wonderful Life, the drama between George Bailey and Mr. Potter could not have been more relevant and poignant. Then I saw someone use this dramatic arc in the film in a...
Hip to be Reformed

A good, personal and courageous friend from my childhood, Paul Woodall, who has struggled his whole life with a neuro-muscular disease called Freidreich's Ataxia, has put together a short video explaining in his own words why he supports Health Care...
Farewell Patrick Swayze

I am not the biggest Swayze fan in the world, but his passing is sad and yet another reminder to me this year of all the wonderfully talented people and entertainers we have lost prematurely. As a small tribute, here...
OMG Thunder and Lightning

Lightning over San Francisco. Photo courtesy of SF Chronicle. Waking up in the morning to a Facebook feed full of my San Francisco friends remarking on the thunder and lightning we had last night was so quaint. "OMG I heard...
Obama's Speech to the Muslim World

I implore everyone to watch Obama's speech. His entire speech is profound. It is moving in how it acknowledges and embraces our past, but does not use it as anchor, but rather as a fulcrum to propel us forward....
The Big Takeover

From the Rolling Stone: The mistake most people make in looking at the financial crisis is thinking of it in terms of money, a habit that might lead you to look at the unfolding mess as a huge bonus-killing downer...
Visualizing Rising Sea Levels

Yesterday I read a story in which is was reported that sea levels were expected to rise at least 5 feet within the next 100 years. A scary thought, but it is still really hard to conceptualize what that actually...
How do you spell relief?

I just learned that a part of the economic recovery plan that Obama is set to sign into law on President's Day includes a COBRA subsidy for those who have gotten laid off during this recession. The legislation would provide...
The Obama Effect and our National Intellectual Subconscious

A recent, but small, study of whites and blacks before and after Obama was elected president revealed a very interesting phenomenon: Now researchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites...
Hope: it's infectious

When was the last time a president was cool? So cool he permeated the very fabric of pop culture? I certainly can not remember a time, but perhaps I am just not old enough. To give you an idea of...
Air Travel: Mourning the Good Ole' Days

After the seven years that have elapsed since 9/11, I am finally getting used to all the new ways airports and airlines have found to make air travel suck. And more importantly, I have come to accept that it will...
Data Porn: Trends in the Economy and Technology

Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley gives an amazing 10 minute talk on the trends we are seeing in the economy, Internet and technology. She draws few conclusions, and let's the amazing amount of data she presents speak for itself. For...
Yes we can?

Yes we did....
On an individual's right to choose

This articulated for me what is really at the heart of the controversial issue of same-sex marriage: protecting the individual's right to choose. On May 15, 2008, in the now famous ruling on same-sex marriage in the State of California,...
For the "People in the Middle"

If you are someone still conflicted about who to vote for in this election, let me encourage you to visit the following website:...
Read "Mad Props" before casting your ballot this year

"It's election season, which means the people of California once again have the chance to inflict grievous harm upon their beloved state via the initiative process." That is how my close friend Matthew begins his blog post about upcoming ballot...
Meet Joe

The world can't get enough of Joe, a guy John McCain met on the campaign trail who was thrust into celebrity status when McCain and Obama mentioned him by name over twenty times in last night's debate. Joe was concerned...
Introducing a new book from the Makers of "Where's Waldo"

SOMERVILLE, MA – Acclaimed publisher Candlewick Press, publishers of the best selling children's book series, Where's Waldo, brings children and children at heart a new book inspired by the Republican National Convention. Each page contains a full page photo...
A look at Obama's IT Strategy

From ZDNet, A look at Obama's IT strategy: The Facebook connection and the scale challenge Obama kept his IT strategy simple. The campaign didn't customize heavily and it didn't look for bleeding edge technology. It used the same stuff the...
Getting rid of the penny

The US Treasury Secretary wants to get rid of the penny. I couldn't agree more. Of course "politics" is cited as why the elimination of this almost worthless currency will never happen. Politics? Makes me pine for The West Wing:...
To everyone who is voting in this year's election...

If you consider yourself a critical thinker, no matter what party, or what candidate you believe should be the next president, then I encourage you to watch the following video. I admit, I am on a bit of a Lessig...
Lessig in the News: Prohibition, Changing DC and a bid for Congress

Law emerges from our need to re-enforce what we already believe, consciously or subconsciously, is right and wrong. I finally had the opportunity to watch the talk Lawrence Lessig gave this year at TED in which he draws a brilliant...
Contributing Factors to a Mortgage Crisis

As I sit in the sidelines of the Bay Area Real Estate market, beleaguered, exhausted and frustrated by the fact that even when the market turns to shit, Arin and I still can't seem to afford a house, I watch...
Is this what optimism feels like?

You know, it has been a long, long time since I last felt optimistic about this country. Then I heard Obama's Victory speech he gave in Iowa. It made me long for the day when we will have a president...
Infographic of the Day
Remembering Peshtigo

In honor of my late and beloved Uncle Rob who, on October 8th of every year, made us all take a moment to reflect upon one of the most horrific tragedies in our nation's history: The Great Peshtigo Fire, I...
See this film.
I forgot how much I didn't know

It is hard to believe that the Tianamen Square Massacre happened almost twenty years ago. I remember seeing the images on television when I was eleven, and I remember being cogniscent of the significance of what was happening, but I...
I should blog everything my wife tells me...

I swear to god, about once a day my wife says something so absolutely perfect at the time that I tell her in my oh-so-nerdy-way, "you have to blog that." She never does. So I will do my best to...
Honestly, what is this country coming to?

After reading the latest nonsense courtesy of the Catholic Church, I think my wife said it best: Let me get this straight, the people were denied communion not because they were gay, but because they were showing support to others...
We're livin' in a society here, people!

Earlier this week a disturbing image was captured by mall cameras: a car was recorded driving up to a woman, the woman breaks into a run, and then another camera sees the men chasing her and finally carrying her...
Put an "I Voted!" Sticker on Your Blog!

For all of you out there who voted today, put this sticker on your personal homepage, your blog, your email, anything. Just be proud that we can all vote, and we can all change this country if we wanted to....
The More You Don't Know

I heard a story on NPR this morning about the State of Texas distributing its new Health textbooks to students in public schools across the state. These books make absolutely no mention of contraceptives at all. I would like...
Teach Democracy by Example...
Let me get this straight...

Tom Ridge had a press meeting on Friday to announce: That the Department of Homeland Security has found "alarming" evidence that leads us to believe that al Qaeda is planning an attack against the United States. That the threat could...
Are the Democrats Kissing the Republicans' Ass?

Despite the mountains of evidence that the Bush administration hides data from the public and press, not to mention out right misleading them, the Democrats do little about it. Therefore it is ironic that in recent article posted on...
Why not see this movie?

My wife and I this weekend went to go see Fahrenheit 9/11. At the end of it, I was speechless. All I could think about was the fact that at one point I actually gave the Bush administration the...
And I thought I had it bad...

My wife often jokingly (I think) refers to me as a "cat lady" because I do tend to go "aaaaaah" or "meeeeeow" whenever I see a feline. But I am happy to say, that it is not [yet] a problem...
Watch it P-Diddy - Here Comes D-Rumsfeldiddy.

San Francisco artists have compiled a CD of songs unwittingly written by Donald Rumsfeld. The songs were arranged by singer Elender Wall and pianist Bryant Kong. I always thought D-Diddy had a certain flare for poetry when I heard...
Condi's Freudian Slip

"At a recent dinner party hosted by New York Times D.C. bureau chief Philip Taubman and his wife, Times reporter Felicity Barringer, and attended by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Maureen Dowd, Steven Weisman, and Elisabeth Bumiller, Rice was reportedly overheard saying, 'As I was telling my husb-' and then stopping herself abruptly, before saying, 'As I was telling President Bush.'"
Kill Your Television...

...for one week. The TV Turn Off Network provides some compelling statistics about our nation's TV watching habits, that may very well encourage you to participate in next week's TV Turnoff Week. Here are just a few sample statistics: Amount...
News-vertisments

It is ironic that in recent months I have found The Daily Show, a comedy news program, to be the best and most refreshing source of news on television. Scarier is the fact that that what they report on is...
Science-Fiction^H^H^H^H^H^H^HReality

Science-Fiction has always been an interest of mine, but in recent weeks I have been slowly turning my attention more and more to Science-Reality. It started when I happened to TiVo Nova's presentation on the Opportunity and Spirit Rovers we...
Penguins do it, why can't we?

What truly amazes me about all this hoopla surround gay marriage, is the simple question: "why on earth does any heterosexual actually care about this!?" Assuming of course you are not some close-minded religious zealot. How on earth does another...
States Have Rights Too!

It never ceases to amaze me the hypocracy of the Replublican Party. And Bush's recent support of a national gay-marriage ban (actually, a frigg'n constitutional ammendment!) is testament to the fact that Republican's are all for smaller government, and less...
The US Patent Office Sucks

For fans of the weekly quiz show on NPR called Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, can anyone figure out which one of these stories is fake? Story 1, Story 2...
God damn, I hate it when that happens

God how I would hate to be a resident of Tainan, Taiwan today. What a horrible lesson in whale biology. And all this because of a 5-foot long penis....
How will there every be any progress...

How can we expect to ever attain social progress and equality as long as there are teachers like this in our schools? "A 7-year-old boy was scolded and forced to write "I will never use the word 'gay' in school...
Screw Pamplona, I am going to Walmart!

A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Why the world needs Prozac

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 3 � A 43-year-old Michigan man was arrested Halloween night after he allegedly damaged a woman�s house because he thought she denied candy to his son. Ann Arbor police are calling it a case of trick-or-treat rage.
When will we learn?

As many expected, it is looking less and less likely that weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq. Now, it is up to the White House spin doctors to come up with theories on why they will never...
The Power of Grassroots Politics

I must admit, I am glad my cousin Ford send me an email encouraging me to donate to Howard Dean's campaign. In the past few days I have heard some amazing stories regarding how effective Howard Dean's Internet presence has...
Yet another reason people in marketing are evil

As a shameless movie-lemming I look to the mindless masses to tell me which movie I should "waste" my money on. But I find it somewhat dispicable that Hollywood will often knowingly release what itself considers a bad movie with...
[Wo]man vs. Mother Nature

On MSNBC (a site I secretly frequent despite it being owned by Microsoft), I stumbled upon an article about a new drug that will change a woman's cycle from 28 days to 3 months. What is appalling is not the...
Iraq War Credibility

Nearly half of Americans believe President Bush exaggerated the evidence for going to war with Iraq, according to a new survey for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, but more than two-thirds think he still made the right decision.
Is Iraq just a pawn?

After watching some comments made by Presidential Candidate and Senator Bob Graham on of all show Real Time with Bill Mahar (a show by the way that is not as good as PI despite the ubiquitous use of the word...
Kraft foods to battle obesity in children!

The article's title "Kraft Foods announces plan to put healthier snacks in kids' lunch boxes" is a little misleading, but it is all relative I guess. -- After reading majordojo-20%26creative=D1WN3AGPOVJFTU%26camp=2025%26link_code=xm2%26path=ASIN/0060938455">Fast Food Nation (which is about much more than McDonalds BTW)...
How revolutions are won

Just the other night, a friend and I had a discussion about the current state of affairs in the Middle East - in particilar, Palestine and Israel, after watching a segment on Female Suicide Bombers. It was in no way...
Inside Saddam's Regime

Putting aside for a moment whether we should be there or not, and the means we took to get there, now that we are there I must admit, I am somewhat morbidly curious about how Saddam and his regime lived....
The Hypocrisy of American Democracy

The framers of our constitution realized the importance of protecting America from itself by establishing a system of checks and balances by which no one part of our government could abuse its power. I think what amazes me is that...

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Recent Entries in Current Events

The American Political Dynamic

Liberals don't hate conservatives. They just think they're stupid. Conservatives hate liberals, because they know that liberals think they're smarter than them. Liberals know that conservatives hate them and can't figure out why, because they don't hate conservatives in...

My Summer with Steve

What surprises me most about the death of Steve Jobs is how deeply I feel that loss personally. It is a feeling I can only compare to the loss of a family member, which is surprising to say the least....

The Tragedy of Osama bin Laden's Death

Without a doubt the biggest disappointment to come out of the news of Osama bin Laden's death is the realization that instead of a "Situation Room" that looks like this: We have a Situation Room that is, what appears to...

Can't we just all just talk about this?

In the wake of last week's events in Tucson in which a deranged man shot and/or killed numerous individuals, including a Federal Judge, a Congress-woman and a child - not to mention several other innocent by-standers, a number of people...

The Fight Against the Guinea Worm

Jimmy Carter's foundation is leading the fight against one of the most disgusting parasites I have ever heard of: the Guinea Worm. Its lifecycle is both amazing and horrifying, which begins when someone injests water contaminated with the worm's larvae:...

Why Mandatory Health Insurance is Constitutional

As a Federal Judge ruled that requiring people to purchase health care insurance is unconstitutional, we are now thrust into the debate that is central to the GOP's attempt to overturn the nation's Health Insurance and Care Reform law. What...

A mathematical analysis of what happened the last time the House went Republican

Meg Whitman endorses Jerry Brown

You almost have to hear it to believe it. Kudos to the Brown campaign on a great slight of hand....

Kill the Penny

This rant against the penny reminds me of what I still think is a pretty frigg'n good idea: Abolish the penny. Round all purchases up to the nearest nickel. Take the difference and contribute it to a national education fund....

Oops.

Now thats Zen

Bottle of wine in hand and a front row seat, a man watches lava finally consume and burn down his home in Hawaii....

A quote illustrating the power of the 1st Amendment

Not sure why today I decided to take the bait, but here goes. There is no one quote I can think of off the top of my head that illustrates the power of the First Amendment, but there are many...

Why I love Barak Obama

I admit it, I have a geek man-crush on our President. How awesome is this? And what is even more amazing is the fact that he probably knows more about Thundercats than anyone else in that room....

Thank God for Health Insurance Reform

One of the things sadly and remarkably absent from this year's long debate over the push to reform our nation's health care system are the personal stories that help people understand just how important this change is, and the kind...

Move Your Money

In this year's annual family viewing of It's a Wonderful Life, the drama between George Bailey and Mr. Potter could not have been more relevant and poignant. Then I saw someone use this dramatic arc in the film in a...

Hip to be Reformed

A good, personal and courageous friend from my childhood, Paul Woodall, who has struggled his whole life with a neuro-muscular disease called Freidreich's Ataxia, has put together a short video explaining in his own words why he supports Health Care...

Farewell Patrick Swayze

I am not the biggest Swayze fan in the world, but his passing is sad and yet another reminder to me this year of all the wonderfully talented people and entertainers we have lost prematurely. As a small tribute, here...

OMG Thunder and Lightning

Lightning over San Francisco. Photo courtesy of SF Chronicle. Waking up in the morning to a Facebook feed full of my San Francisco friends remarking on the thunder and lightning we had last night was so quaint. "OMG I heard...

Obama's Speech to the Muslim World

I implore everyone to watch Obama's speech. His entire speech is profound. It is moving in how it acknowledges and embraces our past, but does not use it as anchor, but rather as a fulcrum to propel us forward....

The Big Takeover

From the Rolling Stone: The mistake most people make in looking at the financial crisis is thinking of it in terms of money, a habit that might lead you to look at the unfolding mess as a huge bonus-killing downer...

Visualizing Rising Sea Levels

Yesterday I read a story in which is was reported that sea levels were expected to rise at least 5 feet within the next 100 years. A scary thought, but it is still really hard to conceptualize what that actually...

How do you spell relief?

I just learned that a part of the economic recovery plan that Obama is set to sign into law on President's Day includes a COBRA subsidy for those who have gotten laid off during this recession. The legislation would provide...

The Obama Effect and our National Intellectual Subconscious

A recent, but small, study of whites and blacks before and after Obama was elected president revealed a very interesting phenomenon: Now researchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites...

Hope: it's infectious

When was the last time a president was cool? So cool he permeated the very fabric of pop culture? I certainly can not remember a time, but perhaps I am just not old enough. To give you an idea of...

Air Travel: Mourning the Good Ole' Days

After the seven years that have elapsed since 9/11, I am finally getting used to all the new ways airports and airlines have found to make air travel suck. And more importantly, I have come to accept that it will...

Data Porn: Trends in the Economy and Technology

Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley gives an amazing 10 minute talk on the trends we are seeing in the economy, Internet and technology. She draws few conclusions, and let's the amazing amount of data she presents speak for itself. For...

Yes we can?

Yes we did....

On an individual's right to choose

This articulated for me what is really at the heart of the controversial issue of same-sex marriage: protecting the individual's right to choose. On May 15, 2008, in the now famous ruling on same-sex marriage in the State of California,...

For the "People in the Middle"

If you are someone still conflicted about who to vote for in this election, let me encourage you to visit the following website:...

Read "Mad Props" before casting your ballot this year

"It's election season, which means the people of California once again have the chance to inflict grievous harm upon their beloved state via the initiative process." That is how my close friend Matthew begins his blog post about upcoming ballot...

Meet Joe

The world can't get enough of Joe, a guy John McCain met on the campaign trail who was thrust into celebrity status when McCain and Obama mentioned him by name over twenty times in last night's debate. Joe was concerned...

Introducing a new book from the Makers of "Where's Waldo"

SOMERVILLE, MA – Acclaimed publisher Candlewick Press, publishers of the best selling children's book series, Where's Waldo, brings children and children at heart a new book inspired by the Republican National Convention. Each page contains a full page photo...

A look at Obama's IT Strategy

From ZDNet, A look at Obama's IT strategy: The Facebook connection and the scale challenge Obama kept his IT strategy simple. The campaign didn't customize heavily and it didn't look for bleeding edge technology. It used the same stuff the...

Getting rid of the penny

The US Treasury Secretary wants to get rid of the penny. I couldn't agree more. Of course "politics" is cited as why the elimination of this almost worthless currency will never happen. Politics? Makes me pine for The West Wing:...

To everyone who is voting in this year's election...

If you consider yourself a critical thinker, no matter what party, or what candidate you believe should be the next president, then I encourage you to watch the following video. I admit, I am on a bit of a Lessig...

Lessig in the News: Prohibition, Changing DC and a bid for Congress

Law emerges from our need to re-enforce what we already believe, consciously or subconsciously, is right and wrong. I finally had the opportunity to watch the talk Lawrence Lessig gave this year at TED in which he draws a brilliant...

Contributing Factors to a Mortgage Crisis

As I sit in the sidelines of the Bay Area Real Estate market, beleaguered, exhausted and frustrated by the fact that even when the market turns to shit, Arin and I still can't seem to afford a house, I watch...

Is this what optimism feels like?

You know, it has been a long, long time since I last felt optimistic about this country. Then I heard Obama's Victory speech he gave in Iowa. It made me long for the day when we will have a president...

Infographic of the Day

Remembering Peshtigo

In honor of my late and beloved Uncle Rob who, on October 8th of every year, made us all take a moment to reflect upon one of the most horrific tragedies in our nation's history: The Great Peshtigo Fire, I...

See this film.