Monthly Archives: March 2008

Why the US won't boycott the Olympics

by Chris   –   March 31, 2008

My theory on why the U.S. won’t boycott the Olympics: You don’t piss of your banker.
As I wrote in a previous post about U.S. debt to China, it’s not unreasonable to think we owe the Chinese about $1.5 trillion. I wrote then that “As our biggest investors, we will have to afford the Chinese government [...]

Election '08 media narrative: In pictures

by Chris   –   March 28, 2008

See if you can guess which picture matches which candidate:

vs.

vs.

Flickr photo of a flag burning from ManilaRyce
Flickr photo of a calculator from Twylo
Flickr photo of a GI Joe from CG76

Rep. Frank wants to legalize marijuana

by Chris   –   March 27, 2008

Damn hippies:
Rep. Barney Frank said he plans to file a bill to legalize “small amounts” of marijuana.
Frank announced his plans late Friday on the HBO show “Real Time,” hosted by Bill Maher.
“I’m going to file a bill as soon as we go back to remove all federal penalties for the possession or use of small [...]

The 'How Bad Can We Piss Off China'? Midweek Roundup

by Jordan   –   March 25, 2008

Art In Reality
“Official”
“Unofficial”
I’m sure the truth is somewhere in between (but leaning more towards the “unofficial” side of things given that the Chinese typically show nice big banners of hanged criminals in their train stations – not really squeamish about a good shooting, them)
Expect these throughout the torch relay run — this will probably be [...]

Applying dishonest attacks fairly

by Chris   –   March 25, 2008

Updated below
I’ve written a couple of posts about the storm surrounding Obama’s relationship with his ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright. Mainly, I’ve defended Wright’s comments, seeing as how they aren’t as crazy or radical as so many people believe.
But I shouldn’t have to defend Wright’s sermons at all. Just because Wright believes or says one thing, [...]

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament 2K8

by Chris   –   March 24, 2008

The following teams are dead to me:

Notre Dame
Clemson
Vanderbilt
USC
Georgetown
Drake
Connecticut
Arizona
Duke (This goes double for you guys. Boo! Hiss!)

Just for clarification: I wanted all of these teams to lose, just not so early.
(This post is dedicated to Cameron, our intrepid commenter. And of course, Go Heels!)
Flickr photo of UNC coach Roy Williams by Kevin813

Friday ramblings

by Chris   –   March 21, 2008

Some longer clips from Jeremiah Wright’s sermons have popped up on YouTube. Watch the one about 9/11 here, and the one about damning America here. (For those new to the story, Obama is taking heat for associating with Wright, his ex-pastor.)
The larger context does not really change the substance of his remarks, but it [...]

Five years and counting

by Chris   –   March 20, 2008

In the words of the photographer John Moore:
Mary told me about her slain fiance Jimmy Regan. Clearly, she had not only loved him but truly admired him. When he graduated from Duke, he decided to enlist in the Army to serve his country. He chose not to be an officer, though he could have been, [...]

McCain and Star Trek

by Chris   –   March 19, 2008

That title is not a typo. I’m not talking about the missile defense program, aka “Star Wars”, I am talking about Star Trek.
More specifically, this guy, Worf:

See any resemblance?

The nerd/Star Trek fan in me had to smile when I read dday’s post comparing John McCain’s ideological bent to that of a Klingon. Then when I [...]

Obama speaks about his ex-pastor and race

by Chris   –   March 18, 2008

Barack Obama delivered a speech today about his relationship with ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright and the issue of race. You can read a transcript of the speech at Obama’s website.
There has been a media firestorm (overblown, in my opinion) about controversial remarks Jeremiah Wright has made over the years in his sermons. Among other things, Wright [...]