Random things. Ex: "socket wrench"

In a sick attempt to get one of these things posted a month, please enjoy some random ramblings about various topics.

Topic 1: The election. For sake of the world, John McCain must never become President of the United States. For the sake of the world, John McCain must never become president of his local golf club. For the sake of the world, John McCain must never become president of his high school alumni association (although that particular one room school house has probably burned down by now).

This man is the worst candidate that I have ever seen. The last several months have been nothing but a continuous deluge of him flip-flopping, exaggerating, or saying things that just aren’t true. Not only does he not know who we are supposed to be fighting in Iraq, defense being his much ballyhooed strong point. He doesn’t even know what he voted for or what he said from one day to the next.

He doesn’t seem to realize that his votes in the Senate are a matter of public record, nor does he seem to know that those little black boxes with the blinking red lights record your words and image and those recordings can be replayed at anytime in the future.

There are four possible explanations for this, none of which are pleasant to think about:
1. John McCain is a habitual liar.
2. John McCain honestly can’t remember what he said or did in the past (whether this is due to his age, chronic injuries, or another factor is immaterial).
3. John McCain is so confident in his smear tactics and media minions that he doesn’t feel he needs to be consistent, coherent, or factual.
4. John McCain is an idiot.
And one possibility that is actually quite pleasant to think about:
5. John McCain is deliberately trying to lose the election because then the GOP can go back to being the poor beaten underdogs that they love to portray themselves as.

Topic 1.5: Cookie Gate round 2. I laughed out loud for about five minutes straight when I found out that John McCain’s wife has AGAIN plagiarized. A few months ago, Mrs. Cindy McCain was caught lifting recipes from the Food Network (Rachel Ray to be exact) and submitting them as “McCain Family Recipes.” Well, here we go again (cue: Benny Hill music). This time she has stolen her entry to the Family Circle Magazine First Lady Bakeoff contest from . . . wait for it . . . the Hershey website!

There are several comments worth making here. First: HERSHEY? You steal from Hershey? Are you kidding me? There are millions of cookbooks out there to swipe from (trust me) and you pick the Hershey website? The least you could have done was swipe from a good chocolate maker. Hershey chocolate tastes like wax.

Secondly, what does this say about the McCain’s? Between the husband and wife we now have a clear pattern of lying and theft in an attempt to get what they want. And they aren’t even very good at it. Beyond that, we see a pattern of trying what didn’t work last time and assuming everyone is too dumb to notice. Considering that Sen. McCain is proposing a continuation of the failed Bush administration, this is not a good idea.

Third, what does this say about America? The article that I read this story from mentioned that the winning recipe in the Family Circle bake off has correctly foreshadowed the winner of the general election the last four straight cycles. Why is it so important that the first lady be able to bake cookies? Hasn’t the whole “equality between the sexes” concept come farther that that? The first family is supposed to be a representative for the nation (part of that whole head of state thing) and the assumption is that the wife of this family has to be able to whip up a batch of great cookies. Am I the only one offended by this? And I’m a guy!

Topic 2: International Travel. I’m planning on returning to the United States this summer to visit my family and I am rather angry about something that came up when I booked my tickets. It turns out that the United States charges a $60 entrance fee to the country. That applies to both visitors and to returning nationals. I am an American Citizen! I should be able to enter my own damn country whenever I please! That’s why I bought a freaking passport in the first place. I know the US is broke, but there have to be better ways of making money.

Topic 3: Web comics. I just noticed that I mentioned these in my initial posting and haven’t said anything about them since. Web comics are comic strips drawn by amateur artists and posted to the internet. Most of these are rubbish, but there are a few that stand out. I tell you my top three now and expand upon that, er, someday.

1. El Goonish Shive. A typical high school drama including aliens, transformation guns, crystal generated clones, and a young mad scientist who falls in love with a squirrel. www.egscomics.com

2. Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire. A sword and sorcery fantasy story that centers on the life of Dominic Deegan, a seer who attracts trouble like a magnet and has a painful sense of humor. The man who draws this is one of the very few who has been able to turn his web comic into a full time job and updates 7 days a week. www.dominic-deegan.com

3. Order of the Stick: A D&D parody that’s drawn in deliberate stick figure style. If you’ve ever enjoyed a medieval quest fantasy from Tolken on down, you’ll like this. You don’t even have to understand the D&D references to get about 85% of the jokes.
www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

Topic 4: Ice cream. Who doesn’t like ice cream? Hmmmmmm, ice cream.

Topic 5: Trigger phrase—drakengaurd seltzer Jefferson.

Topic 6: What’s good on TV? Not much, but there are some programs on American TV that I recommend. First is Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. This man is the heir apparent to Edward R. Murrow and Tim Russert. Second is American Gladiators. This show is a successful revival of the favorite programs from my youth. Come on, small people being smashed by larger than life characters for our personal amusement. Third, Doctor Who. The newest series sould be on American TV on either BBC America or Sci-Fi by now. It’s fantastic and the dynamic between the Doctor and the new Companion is truly unique. Lastly, I recommend the . . . er . . . OK, that’s all the good stuff on the air right now. But hey, Heroes is going to be coming back soon, right?

And now writing this is becoming tiresome. You may all run along now and return to your little lives. Begone!

(I’m practicing for when I become an Evil Overlord)

RyuSensei
Yeah, I know I need sleep.