Based on this one article...

Fred Thompson doesn't sound too bad, does he?

Swastikas in the Sky

So, here I am, running out the clock at my current job, doing a little Internet surfing, when I come across this story on Yahoo! News about the Navy building giant swastikas that can be seen from space.

What. An. Outrage!

You think I'm making this up, right? Surely this can't be right? Well here you go my friends:

http://tinyurl.com/2x659b

Make sure to zoom in so you can see what I'm outraged about. Sure, these photos are supposedly of "barracks" built in "1963" at a time when "no one had access to things like Google Maps," but that's no excuse! The Navy should be ashamed of itself. In fact, they've already allocated money to "change the walkways, landscaping and rooftop solar panels of the four L-shaped barracksm" -- but I'm not sure I trust these Navy Nazis anymore.

Remider: Hugo Chavez is still batshit loony

From an AP story today:

President Hugo Chavez postponed a plan to put Venezuela's clocks back half an hour on Monday after his attempt to rush through the change in record time caused widespread confusion.

Chavez had said the shift would allow children to wake up for school in daylight instead of before sunrise, but acknowledged that some people might claim he was crazy.

No major publicity campaign was launched to explain the measure and many Venezuelans had no idea what they were supposed to do.

Even Chavez had seemed unprepared. When he first made the announcement, he told Venezuelans to move their clocks forward, when really the measure requires them to be turned back.

Chavez has dismissed criticism that moving the time only a half hour was quirky, questioning why the world had to follow a scheme of hourly divisions that he said was dictated by the imperial United States.

Ah yes, our imperial system of "hours" and "minutes." Those who control the clocks -- control the world! But Hugo, why roll back the clock only 30 minutes? Indeed, why accept the Western Imperialist notion of "time" at all? Are you afraid of where your inexorable logic leads -- to the very denial of reality itself?

As a reminder, Hugo Chavez controls one of the world's largest proven oil reserves. He's also nuttier than nut bar. Good times.

Update

Wait, why are you still reading this blog? Well, thanks for stopping by -- it's not quite dead yet.

First, the big news. As of October 22, 2007, I will be working for the California Department of Justice as a deputy attorney general in the Health, Education and Welfare division. My reasons are many-fold, but basically, I want to go to court, get trial experience, and have relative autonomy to run my own cases.

And yes, my boss is Jerry Brown.

Second, swing by www.footballoutsiders.com to read the latest "The Week in Quotes." Also, if you click on the link on the right re: Seattle Playing the Blame Game, you can read my take on the botched handoff last Sunday that cost the Seahawks the win against the Cardinals. Guess who's fault it was? Hint: his name rhymes with Lawn Salamander.

Third, well, this blog is very close to hibernation, and I don't think it's going to get better until football season is over. I've been surprised at how much work FO requires, though it is a labor of love, and I have little energy to write about politics or philosophy. Case in point: I had nothing interesting to say about Gen. Patreaus's testimony last week. Or was it two weeks ago? See what I mean -- I'm out of it.

Well, that was predictable

2003

Build-up to Iraq War, GOP, President Bush, Kenneth Pollack, Me: "Saddam Hussein poses a threat to our continued safety! We have to invade!"

Democrats, including leading presidential candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton: "Ok! We're too afraid to question you because of 9/11! Here's the authority to go to war!"

[Pause]

2006

[After four years of disaster in Iraq, the country kicks the Republicans out of power in Congress.]

Iraq War supporters and President Bush, immediately after national mandate for ending the war: "We need more troops, not less! Time to SURGE!"

Democrats generally: "Well ok, just this once, but if it doesn't work, we're done!"

Bush: "Well, you'll have to wait for the report from Gen. Petraeus in September to judge the surge!"

Democrats: "Ok, we'll wait until September!"

September

Indepedent analysis by Government Accounting Office: "Surge isn't working -- and in fact cannot work -- because we have hope of reaching a political solution, which everyone agrees is the only possible solution in Iraq."

Administration: "GAO report full of lies! Trust us instead! Listen to Petreaus!"

Democrats: "Ok! We're still scared of being labelled soft on terrorism! So let's stick with the surge!"

Petreaus: "Sweet."

Bush: "Word."

Me: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Football Outsiders linkage

The Week in Quotes

Staff Predictions (including mine)

Random comments:

-- The Saints will win tonight
-- I don't like sexual witchhunts, even when they involve self-loathing GOP Senators
-- I'm sorry my blogging is so pathetic. Things might get better now that my fantasy drafts have taken place. On a related note, I'm betting big on Maurice Jones-Drew.
-- Marcus Tubbs, the Hawks big defensive tackle, is out for the season. Opposing teams average 60 fewer yards rushing when he's in the lineup. I'm pretty depressed about this.
-- I think this is the best article I've read on the Iraq War debate recently.
-- It just occured to me that the only summer movie I've seen is Transformers. Which sucked.
-- I think I like the American "Office" more than the British one. But what about the French?
-- The Fred Thompson campaign annoys me.
-- These comments are starting to sound like the deluded rambling of Larry King in USA Today. Not good.
-- Still, I'm having fun writing them.
-- I really should blog more often.
-- But go read FootballOutsiders now. Just do it.

The exhausted chesnut

President Bush, earlier today:

"When we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure. To do otherwise would embolden our enemies and make it more likely that they would attack us at home.”

How many times do you think we'll hear this "we must stay in Iraq forever, lest we embolden an attack at home" in the next six weeks? I put the over/under at 50. Seriously, this is what it comes down to: perpetual war in Iraq, motivated by fear of (potential) attack at home. What a crock. Iraq is not playground to fight against bad guys. Real people, namely, the Iraqis, live there. We cannot fight an endless war based on "emboldening" our enemies, because -- news flash -- our enemies are already emboldened. Our army is tired, and our coffers are empty.