Robert Reich Vlog

Robert Reich has recently started a video blog. It can be found regularly at his blog.

I went door to door for Reich during his 2002 campaign to be Governor of Massachusetts. He tied for second in the primary, and would have made a hell of a lot better candidate than the woman the Democrats ran against Mitt Romney. I can only imagine that if Reich had won, I wouldn't have to be from Mitt Romney's presidential springboard state.


EDIT: Mitt Romney has raised 23 Million DOLLARS, in his presidential bid so far. [LINK]

The prior records for first-quarter fundraising were held by Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee. Gramm raised $8.7 million in 1995, while Gore raised $8.9 million in 1999

Iron Steed

Someday soon, hybrid cars will be replaced with hybrid horse/hondas. Modeled after insects, the bio-vehicles will be lovingly treated as the half-living things they are. Running on gasoline or oats, the steeds will be ideal for most any environment, great when you have no idea what tomorrow's weather will be.

Good luck exploring all the cool stuff over at Modern Mechanix, of course, Via BoingBoing.

Sen. Jim Webb Energizes His Base

Newly elected Senator of Virginia, Jim Webb showed his base that his friends have trouble with gun restrictions too,
Webb's aide facing felony charge in gun flap

Senator Calls Gun Incident Inadvertent

“Since 9/11, for people who are in government, I think there has been an agreement that it has been a more dangerous time,” he said. “You look at people in the executive branch, the number of people defending the president. There is not that kind of protection available for people in the legislative branch. We are required to defend ourselves. I choose to do so.”

Senators are often permitted to skirt the metal detectors as they enter the Capitol. But Mr. Webb said he had “never carried a gun in the Capitol complex.”

Webb has only been in office a few months, but he's already become famous for his terse exchange with President Bush, and his presentation of the Democratic rebuttal to the President's State of the Union. [transcript] [video]

I'm sure this latest incident will only cement his positive reputation with his constituents.

Seven Soldiers of Victory

I recently read Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers. It was an ambitious project started in April 2005; 7 different unappreciated characters, each given their own 4 issue miniseries, with 2 giant-sized bookend issues. Separate stories joining together to form one giant story in the end. I didn't read it as it came out because 7*4*$2.99+$6.98= More than I want to spend on Superhero comics in a year. 52 is even worse, a new three dollar issue ever week. Thank you very much, no thank you.

I read it in trade and it was really good and I'm planning to scan some images to show it off. The one-shot bookends were drawn by J.H. Williams III, who is one of my absolute favorite artists working today. Anyway, in trying to learn more about what the hell I'd just read (a normal experience with a Grant Morrison book) I stumbled on to a blog I'd stumbled onto earlier this year. Jog - The Blog. Last time I found it I was really impressed, but let it slip through my fingers like so much internet sand. Not going to let that happen this time.

Seven Soldiers: A Short List
An index of Jog's reviews for the entire Seven Soldiers series. I read the last one, and again was really impressed. I'm planning to go through and read them all.

Batman #663
That first thing I read by Jog. A review of one of the worst comics I ever saw. Grant Morrison at his lowest. An important review for me because it backs up my rarely agreed with point that Morrison's Arkham Asylum is crap.

Actually, this issue is a little like Arkham Asylum in that way. It’s not nearly as bad, mind you, as Arkham Asylum is quite possibly the single shittiest comic Morrison has ever written on his own, a veritable catalog of his worst storytelling tendencies splashed with all the dourness and intellectual pouting the post-Watchmen superhero landscape could offer. This issue is a little too self-conscious for that. But it does share its popular predecessor’s tendency to substitute simple declaration for substantive insight - we’re told over and over what depth these characters have, yet we’re never allowed to see them demonstrate these hidden fathoms in a manner apart from the string-pulling of Grant Morrison.

Jog - The Blog
I'm also hoping his blog can be my guide out of the world of superhero comics. After Marvel's Civil War, I realized I really need to diversify my holdings in the comic book market. What I'm reading is fun, but it really needs to be supplemented with things that have not been completely infected by decompression. A single issue of Jack Kirby's Avengers had more happening in it than in the entire Civil War. I'm really enjoying the week-to-week anticipation thing, but I need my vitamins too. More on comics later.

Hagel on Impeachment

From the Washington Post:

"Any president who says, I don't care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don't care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed _ if a president really believes that, then there are _ what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that," said Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run.
~
On Sunday, Hagel said he was bothered by Bush's apparent disregard of congressional sentiment on Iraq, such as his decision to send additional troops. He said lawmakers now stood ready to stand up to the president when necessary.

In the April edition of Esquire magazine, Hagel described Bush as someone who doesn't believe he's accountable to anyone. "He's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends on how this goes," Hagel told the magazine.
~
"We have clearly a situation where the president has lost the confidence of the American people in his war effort," Hagel said. "It is now time, going into the fifth year of that effort, for the Congress to step forward and be part of setting some boundaries and some conditions as to our involvement."

"This is not a monarchy," he added, referring to the possibility that some lawmakers may seek impeachment. "There are ways to deal with it. And I would hope the president understands that."

The Man in the High Castle

I just finished reading Philip K. Dick's The Man in The High Castle. Really tremendous. The ending was a bit disappointing, but I might just need to read it again, or get smarter. Anyway, the book is set in a world where the Germans and Japanese won World War II. It made me realize all sorts of things, primarily that things could be way worse. I've been doing some peripheral research and here's what I've found:

Nazi and East German Propaganda
Calvin College has an impressive collection of content, including Goebbels speeches. P.K. Dick said he wanted to write a sequel, but didn't want to do the necessary research, because it was too intense. I'm inclined to agree, maybe someday I'll have the strength to read through some more of those speeches, but not anytime soon.

The Big Lie

[Hitler's] primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it. - OSS report page 51

I Ching
I hope I will have the strength to learn as much as I can about the Book of Changes. It sounds fascinating.


And to contextualize the date, here is a quote from today's newspaper:

“The American people have lost faith in the president’s conduct of this war,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in bringing an end to a charged debate on the House floor. “The American people see the reality of the war; the president does not.”

Room with a View

Those cheery folks over at Amnesty International have built replica of a Guantanamo Bay prison cell and, thanks to the wonders of Quicktime VR, you can get a 360° view of a room without habeas corpus.