I include this post in the category “Entertainment” even though it is about politics. This was in yesterday’s Best of the Web on Opinion Journal:
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Kerry has a new campaign book out, “A Call to Service: My Vision for A Better America.” The Sun-Times, which notes that Kerry served in Vietnam, says: “Although a liberal Democrat, Kerry acknowledges that his party doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas.” That’s true–and also, McDonald’s doesn’t have a monopoly on fine wine.
Nice 
I don’t like Bush and he probably won’t get my vote in 2004 (he didn’t get it in 2002). I would change that opinion though if Condi were to run with him. I think she’d make a great Vice President and an even better President. Cheyney should step aside and encourage Dr. Rice to take his spot on the ticket. It would guaranty a win in 2004 and Rice would have a great shot at becoming the first woman (and black) president of the United States in 2008. More important than the demographics though…Dr. Rice is smart. Very smart. Click on the Image to the left and read up on how cool and intelligent Condoleeza Rice is.
UPDATE:
I’m dumb (thats not news…) I meant I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000…not 2002. Thanks Char.
I loathe Paul Krugman. That said, I totally agree with most of his column in the New York Times yesterday. I think the Bush administration has made a lot of mistakes in the war on terror when it comes to showing the Muslim world that we aren’t at war with Islam.
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I like to think of myself as being open minded on most social issues. If gay people want to form civil unions that doesn’t bother me…if people want to use birth control I say good for them. Abortion has always bothered me but I’ve never considered myself a crusader…I’m reconsidering.
I read an article in Slate by an abortionist today. He is arguing against the new “Partial Birth Abortion ban” saying it is too vague and might threaten his regular practice of conducting abortions. He ends with this story of one of his procedures and a question of whether the new law will keep him from being able to continue to provide this type of service:
Earlier this year, I began an abortion on a young woman who was 17 weeks pregnant. Because of the two days of prior treatment, the amniotic membranes were visible and bulging. I ruptured the membranes and released the fluid to reduce the risk of amniotic fluid embolism. Then I inserted my forceps into the uterus and applied them to the head of the fetus, which was still alive, since fetal injection is not done at that stage of pregnancy. I closed the forceps, crushing the skull of the fetus, and withdrew the forceps. The fetus, now dead, slid out more or less intact. With the next pass of the forceps, I grasped the placenta, and it came out in one piece. Within a few seconds, I had completed my routine exploration of the uterus and sharp curettage. The blood loss would just fill a tablespoon. The patient, who was awake, hardly felt the operation. She was relieved, grateful, and safe. She wants to have children in the future.
Did I do a “partial-birth” abortion? Will John Ashcroft prosecute me? Stay tuned.
I attended the launch event for Microsoft Office 2003 yesterday. It was mostly interesting. I’m pretty excited to get my free copy of Office Professional. I am a little nervous that it might not be backwards compatible though. Maybe I read too much anti-Microsoft propoganda. I’m thinking of installing the evalutation version of Office 2003 until I receive my full version in the mail. I’ll post my observations after I’ve given it a try.
Michael has a list of the freebies we got from vendors and Microsoft at the Launch event. Strangely the only item left off of his list is the voucher for a full version of Office Professional that Microsoft gave us.
Michael asked what my opinion was of the following statement: “human’s only use 10% of their brain”.
On his blog he answered his own query with a well reasoned post focused on this article which he linked to.
Excerpt:
“What data were used to come up with the number - 10%? Does this mean that you would be just fine if 90% of your brain was removed? If the average human brain weighs 1,400 grams (about 3 lb) and 90% of it was removed, that would leave 140 grams (about 0.3 lb) of brain tissue. That’s about the size of a sheep’s brain. It is well known that damage to a relatively small area of the brain, such as that caused by a stroke, may cause devastating disabilities. Certain neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s Disease, also affect only specific areas of the brain. The damage caused by these conditions is far less than damage to 90% of the brain.”
I disagree.
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Check out this portable digital video player. Here is a review of this and other portable video options currently available.
This would be perfect for entertaining myself while slugging to work. I could watch the previous nights Tivo’d programming! excellent.
Here is another picture from Disneyworld. I guess I should have posted this one before the last one. Here are Lisa and Corryn sitting with Cinderella in her castle before lunch. It was really fun to hear Corryn talking about the Princess at the end of the day when we were remembering all that happened.
(I know…I know…this picture is also on TheMannings.org. I got lazy and couldn’t find any more cool Disneyworld pictures that aren’t already posted there….Sorry)
Medicare sucks. Literally. It sucks money out of my paychecks and out of my business. It sucks for people my age and younger who will pay in thousands more in their lifetime than they will ever get in benefits.
The government knows this…so they have an ad campaign going to try to convince me that Medicare is great. They even have a blimp. That’s just awesome. I’m so glad my money is being spent to advertise for a government program that I am forced to pay for. Someone should be drawn and quartered.
No amount of advertising is going to make me feel good about the rear-ending I’m receiving to pay for Medicare. A ride in the blimp might work though.
(thanks to The Corner for the pointer)
Evan Coyne Maloney makes blogumentaries. (I don’t know if I just made the term up but it perfectly describes what he has been doing with his video documentaries and website). Maloney is a film maker who does a good job documenting the attitudes of those who participate in demonstrations and protests for various radical causes. Last month he varied from his successful formula and put up a video interview he was able to get with Michael Moore. The most surprising thing about that video was the Moore actually came out of it looking like a class act…I don’t think Maloney originally started his project thinking that would happen…the interview was really interesting.
His latest video is amazing. He decided to film at a demonstration organized by InternationalANSWER held at Rutger’s University. The demonstration was for a “Free Palestine”. The participants were thugs.
Here’s a picture of the Mannings dining at Cinderella’s Castle in The Magic Kingdom- Disneyworld. We all had a very good time…even though Corryn looks a little grumpy in this picture.
I guess she was grumpy a lot at Disneyworld…even though she had a lot of fun. Disneyworld is not a place that is condusive to quality naps. Corryn needed a nap after 4 or 5 hours of unadulterated play in the Disneyworld parks. When she didn’t get it…she let us know about it.
If you look at her cheek in this picture you can see that there is someone who wanted to be around her despite her grumpiness! She got a kiss from Cinderella who happened to be wandering aruond in the castle (I guess that isn’t so weird…it is her place after all). Corryn loved sitting with “the Princess” and getting that kiss. She wouldn’t let anyone wipe the lipstick off her cheek.
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Dan’s post about the implications of a faster Internet reminded me of this story in the Washington Post about efforts being taken by the FCC on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America to prevent piracy.
The end result of this is that consumers are going to be forced to jump through hoops in order to enjoy entertainment products they pay for. Many people will need to buy new video equipment and everyone will have to deal with the hassles that consumers of digital music downloads (legal paid downloads) currently have to deal with.
I downloaded some songs from Sony a couple weeks ago. They came in MWA format (Microsofts proprietary file type). I didn’t mind that because my PDA converts MP3s and most other sounds to MWA so it can play them. I downloaded the files to my computer at work. I played them on that computer to make sure they sounded alright (huge mistake) then copied them to my PDA. The files copied but the Media Player on my PDA said they were copyrighted and it wouldn’t play the files unless I could get some code that came with the files that can only be read by Microsoft Media Player. I will do this but I’m really bent that I have to go through all of this just because I wanted to download my music the legal way. Trust me…I won’t make that mistake again.
I related this story so I could make this point: The last thing entertainment consumers need is to have a bunch of crappy rules rammed down their throats by the MPAA and their hired stooges at the FCC. Write a letter to or call your Congressman and Senator to ask them to let the FCC know you think this is a crock. Here is a link to more information on what is going on and how to try to fight it.
UPDATE:
Read this very long screed warning of more proposed regulation that may end up being foisted on consumers by government bureaucrats in the pockets of big media industries.
