furiousg

So Obama says an off-hand comment about people checking their tire pressure to get more gas efficiency from their cars, and the Republicans pounce on this thing pretending that it’s the core of his energy policy. Not only is this kind of attack really immature and disingenuous but it really gets to the core of one of the basic hypocrices of today’s Republican party. While they claim to be the party of personal and individual freedom, they at the same time ignore personal responsibility. We should be doing all that we can in our own personal lives to reduce our own energy usage instead of relying on institutional solutions that allow us to continue to be wasteful and lazy, which is exactly what the Republicans who are calling for off-shore drilling are doing. Looking to government to solve all our problems is a charge the Republicans usually throw at the Democrats.

The worst of this is that keeping your tire pressure at the appropriate levels will save as much or more money as off-shore drilling. Turns out the oil companies just want a lock on land leases they’re more likely to get while Big Oil Bush is still in office.

The iPhone WordPress app is working for me now. Maybe I’ll blog more here…

I’m George and
I’m a Blue Marlin.

Yup, time for another round of Wall-E links:

Rotten Tomatoes: Wall-E
Rotten Tomatoes: Wall-E Forum
Pixar Planet: Blog
Pixar Planet: Wall-E Forums and review links
Pixar Blog (unofficial)

I thought this was a pretty fair, somewhat negative review. It seems to capture the sentiments of most people I know who came out of seeing Wall-E with mixed feelings:

Once WALL-E and Eve arrive on the ship, the story doesn’t have much distance to travel, but ways are found to stretch out the experience - and that’s where “WALL-E” goes wrong. The film loses touch with the poignancy and profundity of the Earth scenes and becomes gimmicky, slapsticky and cute, with a glossy sheen in contrast to the grit of the opening.

However, the movie does right itself, and the power of WALL-E as a character, the poetic figure of the robot drawn to human splendor, remains powerful throughout - and Pixar’s loveliest creation.

Well actually this review was fairly positive overall. Not sure what my friends thought. The only rotten reviews on RT are pretty non-specific in their criticisms or just had an anti-Pixar axe to grind anyway.

Here are some forums threads with interesting comments:
RT Official Anticipation/Reaction Thread
CHUD Post-Release Thread

To kick-off Convention week in a spirit of unity, the DNCC, in conjunction with the Democratic Party’s Faith in Action (FIA) Initiative, will host an interfaith gathering on Sunday, August 24th, beginning at 2:00 PM at the Wells Fargo Theater located in the Colorado Convention Center.

This is the first time a celebration of this nature has been part of a Democratic National Convention and is symbolic of the Party’s desire to bring multiple communities together under its “big tent.” The gathering will include clergy of different faiths, Party leaders, elected officials and local community leaders. Speakers and musical guests will be announced later this summer. The event will be open to the public.

Not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it’ll be great to supplant the hold the religious right has on the Republican party by doing this. As long as on the liberal side of things we can come to the same side on various issues like poverty, the environment, evolution and the civil liberties, while maintaining our various religious beliefs I think this can be a good thing. The whole “culture of life” thing is amazingly short-sighted and a naked attempt at divisive politics, when life involves so much more than just making it out of the womb. But the devil is often in the details, I wonder if the means by which different people can come to believe that we are stewards of the earth and each other can affect how such policies are carried out.

A good time had by all!

It’s amazing what people will say when they’re trying to get elected.

Louis Cruise Lines’ Aquamarine Damaged, Forced to Dock

We were actually on the same line, but a different boat, the Cristal. Trip to Greece going well! I’ll probably post the pics on Flickr, I’ll blog again when I do. 5 days remaining in our trip. Whee!

I’m sure a lot of people have been traveling this season, so I just want to reiterate how stupid TSA is. It’s such a waste of time and money to be checking for things that have less chance of happening and causing harm than nearly anything else. I’ve accidentally brought on board so much contraband, it’s silly. It’s even more silly that the nail clipper or extra-large tube of toothpaste I manage to bring in my carry-on luggage is even considered dangerous. I just think about the billions of dollars in productivity we’re probably losing, not to mention plain old frustration and generated ill-will, from standing in line and being humiliated one-by-one, and ask is it really worth it? How many attacks has TSA actually stopped? Every now and then I find articles stating that most airports, when tested by undercover agents, have a very very poor chance of catching a determined fake terrorist. What good is all this then?

Anyway, here’s a great editorial on the subject: The Airport Security Follies

How we got to this point is an interesting study in reactionary politics, fear-mongering and a disconcerting willingness of the American public to accept almost anything in the name of “security.” Conned and frightened, our nation demands not actual security, but security spectacle. And although a reasonable percentage of passengers, along with most security experts, would concur such theater serves no useful purpose, there has been surprisingly little outrage. In that regard, maybe we’ve gotten exactly the system we deserve.