I’m here in Springfield, Missouri as a guest of the local Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and now I’ve suddenly found Tarvu.
What is the etiquette in such a situation? Do I have to damn my hosts, and do they have to burn me at the stake in reply?
So very, very cold. I am tempted by this hat — as a purely practical matter, of course — since it would do such a fine and stylish job of keeping my brain warm during the long and bitter winter months here.
I could even wear it while blogging.
I may have to change my voting plans — a real wild card candidate has entered the race.
There is, of course, a poll.
These guys are going to have a lock on the cryptozoological/weird conspiracy/tinfoil hat constituency, and we all know that that is a huge fraction of the population in this country. Don’t count them out.
As long as we’re acknowledging crafty cleverness, you’ve got to admit that this is a nice twist on the “My Little Pony” theme. If I had a little girl anymore, I’d get her one.
Maybe for the grandkids, someday.
The infamous anti-gay legislator from Oklahoma, Sally Kern, was interviewed by the Oklahoma Daily. The story has some fine bon mots, like her definition of evolution:
Kern defined evolution to me as “the process of wanting to create something or have something be perfect. Get rid of that which is not healthy and strong.”
That’s a very common creationist misconception: they can’t imagine a natural process that doesn’t have wants, that is lacking that teleological impulse.
The writer sent me the outtakes from the interview. If you want more Kern uncut and uncensored, look below the fold.
They just don’t work. Maybe you’ve heard of “Minnesota nice”, this strange passive-aggressive attitude around here that compels everyone to compete at being the most polite and deferential…and it completely defeats the function of the 4-way stop at an intersection. The rule is simple—whoever first comes to a complete stop gets to be the first to proceed through the intersection—but real Minnesotans can’t grasp it. It’s nice to let someone go through first, so you’ll sometimes run into these situations where two cars are parked at the crossroads, with each driver waving for the other to go ahead, and they just sit there. Then they’ll both edge forward, stop abruptly as they notice the other fellow trying to advance, and the gesticulating commences again.
I just made a trip to the grocery store when I came upon two cars stopped, one to the left and the other to the right, their drivers flapping their arms madly and not going anywhere. My arrival seems to have made the situation worse, because they added me to their pattern of waving. Come on, I’m last at the intersection, I’m supposed to be last to proceed! It’s easy!
Anyway, I’m from Washington. I gave them 15 or 20 seconds, then said screw it, and went ahead.
An internet poll, which we all know is always accurate, representative, and binding, was held this week to determine who would be president of the US. Voters selected between Obama, McCain, Hillary Clinton, and a fourth, unlikely, dark horse candidate…me.
I won.
I think I’ve heard this song before, by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, only my name was Feitlebaum then.
There is a very peculiar article at Roger Ebert’s movie review site. It may not last long, so I’ve put a copy below the fold. It’s a straight-faced recitation of creationist claims, all nonsensical, all typical, presented as if they were Ebert’s opinion. It could be an exercise in Poe’s Law, I suppose, or it could be the consequence of a little web hacking.
