Microjets - Skip the Hassle

Eclipse Aviation, as well as a few competitors, is planning to offer on demand airline services with microjets, which hold 4-8 passengers.  While the services would still cost more than a major airline ticket, the airline hopes to offer competitve rates at smaller airports, allowing passengers to show up at their leisure and skip the inconveniences, hassles, and long waits of the O’Hare’s, Altanta’s, and JFK’s.

Just when you think it might be safe to be a Jew or a Muslim in Seattle…

What really worries me about the shooting at the Jewish federation - apart from the fact that Jews are being targeted - is that this brings the “Jews vs. Muslims” mentality into the Seattle area in a very real way.

Jews and Muslims are brother and sisters in God and we need to start acting that way. A show of solidarity is needed to make it very clear that our faiths are not enemies here - despite whatever political differences we may have.

Bush’s Backrub Blunder

This happened about a week ago, but it’s still funny.  I don’t understand how anyone can still respect GW.

Congressman Lynn Westmoreland

It’s a sad truth that the best journalists today are comedians.  When Congressman Lynn Westmoreland ran for office in Georgia, he was interviewed dozens of times by journalists, and many stories were written about him.  None of them were particularly insightful, and he won the election. Journalists today are afraid to "attack" anybody in Congress, to go one-on-one, and find out if a candidate has the intelligence and wisdom to lead us.

Fortunately, for us, and the good people of Georgia’s Eight District, Congressman Westmoreland recently appeared on The Colbert Report.  Stephen Colbert asked about Westmoreland’s major piece of legislation, a bill which would have the 10 Commandment’s hung in courthouses.  However, when asked to list the 10 Commandment’s, Westmoreland could only list 3.  His staff claims it was actually 7, but either way, if you think they are so great, you should know them all offhand.

Thank you Stephen Colbert, for exposing this man as a complete idiot trying to manipulate people by pitting church against state. If Stephen Colbert could interview every politician, a lot would come off looking good, and a lot would be realized as people who really shouldn’t be leading our country (like Ted Stevens).

P.S.  The Ten Commandment’s are (off the top of my head):
Don’t worship false idols
Don’t take the lord’s name in vain
Observe the Sabbath
Don’t steal
Don’t murder
Honor thy mother and father
Don’t bear false witness
Don’t commit adultery
Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife
Or any of his other possessions

It’s been long enough

Posted by Andy

Okay, the US and UN have officially given Israel enough time to beat up on Hezbollah.  Iran  is now sending over unofficial guerrilla troops to Lebanon.  The government is officially staying out of it, but I question how long that will last when their citizens are being killed by Israeli’s.  It’s been 13 days; now it’s time for the US and UN to pressure Israel and Hezbollah to back down before this gets really out of hand.

WA bans gay marriage (I don’t care)

Today, Washington’s State Supereme Court upheld a ban on gay marriage.  To this end I have two things to say; first off, I believe gay people should be allowed to marry, and anyone opposed to this is simply needs to spend a little time around gay people.  Secondly, (and I’d like to say that Teresa does not share this view) I honest don’t think it’s that big a deal, and I think it distracts from more serious issues. For example:
- Congress is full of people who only care about staying there, and are hopelessly out of touch.  The incumbency rate is 98 percent, and the septuagenarian Senator in charge of regulating the internet thinks its a series of tubes. 
- The education budget was recently cut by 3 billion dollars. 
- We spent 5 billion dollars this year subsiziding corn.
- 14,000 civilians were killed in Iraq this year, largely by Shiite death squads and Sunni insurgents.  The country is essentially in the middle of a sectarian civil war which grows worse by the day, and the Middle East was much more stable with Saddam in power.
- The Taliban were not wiped out and are on the attack now because too many our forces left Afghanistan before we had fully stabilized the country.
- We have a ten trillion dollar debt, much of which is now in the hands of foreign investors.
- The personal savings rate has dropped to zero percent.
- Our President and 38 Senators prefer to discard as frozen embryo’s as medical waste than deal with difficult moral quandries and make rational life-saving decisions.
- Global warming gets worse, and we still refuse to adhere to the standards set by the Kyoto Accord.
- I (and the majority of voters) prefer to read articles or watch talk shows about gay marriage because it’s more interesting than all the above topics combined. But I don’t understand why. If you do, please let me know.

I’ve Been Remiss

Far too little posting has been going on here because of my insane overload at work. I’m definitely not complaining - it’s much better to be busy than bored. Hard work makes the world go round, and all that.

That’s why I’ve decided to have the “skinny white boy” a.k.a. Andy contribute to this blog from time to time. He’ll be weighing in with his opinion, which is even further to the left than mine.

He’ll be around, as will I.

Confidential to Larry: I got your e-mail. Will respond to you when I have just one free moment.

With Friends Like These, Does Israel Need Enemies?

A group of Evangelical Christian yahoos are visiting the US Capitol this week lobbying lawmakers to unilaterally support Israel’s actions against its enemies. Why? Because they’ve been fed a bizarre cock-and-bull story about modern geopolitics and the second coming of Christ.

Apparently, some noisy evangelical windbags have convinced their annoyingly sheeplike followers that they can simply conjure up Jesus’ return to Earth by meddling in human politics.

Jesus said to Pilate before his crucifixion, “…my Kingdom is not of this world…” (Jn. 18: 36). I’ll bet the poor sweet guy is sitting up in Heaven right now, looking down at all of us, appalled at the violence encouraged in his name.

Sure, Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks. And as a Jew, I feel a very special affinity for Israel. To this day, my family still keeps gold in a safe deposit box in case we need to flee the US for our home away from homeland. It’s not so farfetched an idea, given the surprising anti-Semetic twist in Spain.

The US needs to step in right away and broker a compromise that keeps Hezbollah off Israel’s northern border and Israeli bombs away from Lebanese territory. Otherwise, we may well see Armageddon - but not the way these insane people picture it.

Little Girls in Short Skirts

I do not approve of girls wearing short skirts and high heels and halter tops while they’re still young enough to still be walking around holding their mother’s hands. I see these little girls gussied up like miniature club nymphs all the time and it makes me sick.

Why do their parents let their seven year-old daughters dress like this? They have enough time to be grown-ups. Let them be girls while they still have a chance.

Note to Self

Try this on Andy…

Because Some Embryo Somewhere is More Important than my Friend Alex

My buddy Alex needs a heart that works. Stem cell research might be able to give him that heart. But President Bush cares more about a ball of cells somewhere than he does about a nice Jewish filmmaker from Seattle and all the other millions of people who might live longer, happier lives because of important research like this.

I hope the Senate gets a two-thirds majority and slams this veto back down Bush’s arrogant, prudish, priggish throat.

Christina Rocks the House in Paris

Click here to catch snippets and watch the bombshell performing two songs from her new album: “Candy Man” and “Slow Down Baby”.

Back to Basics is due out in 28 days. Ooh goody!

Coolest. Kid. Ever.

A kid who sees with sound? Might sound crazy, but it’s true.

I am so happy for this kid that he gets to have this kind of a life.

Potty Mouth President Sounds Really Intelligent

Remember when Britney Spears got caught swearing backstage because she forgot to turn her microphone off? She sounded like a fucking idiot, everyone made a big deal of it, and then it went away.

Well, now the big news is President Bush’s Spears-like gaffe with his microphone, which led to the recording of a semi-private conversation with Tony Blair about the current crisis between Israel and Lebanon.

Everyone is making a big deal over the fact that President Bush said, “shit.” But the real news here is that he sounded like an intelligent, articulate guy. And the truth is, I agree with him. Syria needs to lean on Hezbollah to stop this shit - and if Kofi Annan needs to call Assad to make it happen, so be it. I’m even more convinced now that all his dissembling, down-home Bushisms are just an act.

The guy is not an idiot. People “misunderestimate” him, and it works to his advantage.

Two Second Tent

I want the three person variety.

Sorry I didn’t post this weekend. I almost completely disconnected myself from the Web after a week of nonstop geeking at work.

Can you ever forgive me?

Stupid Wingnut Actually Believes Onion Article!

Apparently this crazy wingnut didn’t get the memo that The Onion is a satire. She actually believed that a 1999 article entitled “I’m Really Psyched About this Abortion” was real. Who doesn’t know that The Onion is a satire? How sheltered/ignorant is this little twerp?

As long as we’re on the topic of abortion, my good friend Ellie Swanson has a great post on her MySpace blog about how the Bible doesn’t regard a fetus as a person.

And as long as we’re talking about wingnuts, here’s a great manifesto that Andy found on CraigsList about how the United States was never founded as a “Christian nation” as the wingnuts claim. It’s a secular country, people. Learn to live with it!

Best. College. Prank. Ever.

You may think you’ve seen a better college prank, but after you see what these kids at Brandeis did, you’ll agree with me that even the giant ejaculating penis fountain at Pitzer cannot approach this level of genius.

Next Page »