An oldie, but a goodie

     This YouTube video is several years old, but I can't help but laugh when I watch it. During the stretch run of the 2008 election Matt Damon gets all riled up considering the possibility of Palin becoming President. It's a mini-rant and it is memorable. The best part is when he says he wants to know if Palin really believes that dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. Pot shots at fundamentalist Christians never get old. Here's my Friday selection...

Go Bulls

     Regular season games usually do not get me excited, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Bulls beating the Heat tonight. There's nothing like watching LeBron trying to break the backboard with 16 seconds left and a chance to tie. Way to go Bosh. 1/18 buddy. Let's get to the playoffs right now!

Not surprised, but disappointed

   I've got to get used staying on top of things. This past Saturday the U.S. House of Representatives decided to cut 61 billion dollars from the budget. Although the cuts were short-sighted and nothing more than a blatant attempt to appease the Tea Partiers, that is not my concern here. I am writing to inform you that late Saturday night the GOP inserted an amendment in the legislation that stripped the EPA from halting Mountaintop Removal, even if their decision to do so is predicated on scientific findings. This upsets me beyond belief and I let my representative Paul Gosar hear about it (he voted for it). The utter stupidity of such an act would be more disappointing if I didn't consider who voted for it. In other words, I'm not surprised by the idiocy. For those of you who have no idea about Mountaintop Removal here is Representative Yarmuth from Kentucky explaining what happens when such mining is permitted. Let's stop this short-sighted tomfoolery right now, before it's too late!

Friday Fun

   I read Tom Ricks' blog and I notice that he always posts pictures and biographies of Army dogs on Fridays. Personally, I think it is a lazy way to take three days off instead of the customary two, but because I don't get paid for this blog I am going to adopt the same method. The difference is, I am just going to post favorite YouTube videos every Friday. Here is a blast from the past for all you sports fans. I remember when this happened and at the time I was a Rome fan. I guess I still am, but I must admit it is fun to watch Everett tip the table over and come after Rome. Hey, he warned him.

Watson

    Although I had a feeling Watson's victory was inevitable, count me as a person who was upset that humanity got drubbed by a computer in Jeopardy. It wasn't even close. As someone who is still amazed by Ipods, you can only imagine how awestruck I am of our (our meaning humans) ability to create something much smarter than us, when it comes to knowing facts. Is it me, or does it seem like T2 and I-Robot don't seem that far off anymore? That may be hyperbolic, but I am curious about what happens when we do create self-aware machines. According to an NPR story they are currently being developed. Interesting.

Egypt

     Congratulations people of Egypt. What a victory! Now, there is much work to be done, but the next few days should be filled with celebrations. History was made yesterday. A potential radical shift (it remains to be seen if other dictators will leave office in that region) just took place. Many in the United States are concerned about "instability" in the region, which is the code word for "people who won't do what we want", and the prospect of Taliban-like democratically elected leaders is certainly frightening, but I believe that will not happen in Egypt. I also believe that attitudes towards the U.S. will not change in the Middle East until we live up to the ideals we espouse. Why would we expect the Egyptian people to like us? We just propped up their dictator for 30+ years. Our steadfast support of Israel is another major issue, but I don't see that stance changing any time soon and that is a topic for another day. What we stand for and what we do worldwide does not always match. I know it's a complicated world with many enemies, but it bothers me that we are comparable to the preacher who preaches family values then slams a hooker every Friday night in a seedy motel. I could go on and on, but none of it would be worthy of your time and attention. Have a good weekend.

     I have nothing else to say.

U.S. foreign policy tomfoolery

    Does the U.S. government not realize the contradictory nature of their "support" of democracy and their direct assistance to dictators? The fact that some are arguing to still support Mubarak is sickening. How would we feel if we had some foreign entity trying to dictate our leader against the wishes of the populace? What side of history do we want to be on? The side that supports iron-fisted leaders who could care less about their people or the side that reflects the ideals we constantly pat ourselves on the back for promoting (and, supposedly, representing)? Now we have this half-measure, "I won't run the next election" move. It's clear we orchestrated that and, once again, we look like enablers. Do you really feel at this point the protesters, some 200,000 strong today, are going to be placated by such an announcement?

    As I said in a prior blog, the successor is immaterial. We should let the Egyptian people decide. Who do we think we are? I don't believe it will be a radical Islamist. Actually, in many cases democratic movements do not lead to such radicalism. Iran is an exception, not the rule. Power to the people. Stay strong Egyptian protesters.