Video Games. At least, that's what doubleplusundead thinks. It seems that Morford may have yoinked the idea from a fellow that Mrs. Peel found who is selling a philosophy he pretty much stole from computer RPGs like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire.

I don't know whether he got his ideas from the video games or whether the video games merely reflect the same New Age-y movement. What I know is that I'm going to dust off my "All I Needed To Know In Life I Learned from D&D" sticker, 'cause I'm way cooler than anyone who gets his philosophy from computer RPGs. Chumps.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:04 AM | Comments (43)
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Unintended consequences?

Of course not deariesÂ…just trying to work a few kinks out.

According to this Seattle Times article:

”…in the last year, the promise of renewable fuels has lost a lot of its luster. Prices of biodiesel have almost doubled to about $6 per gallon, and many experts blame biofuel production for driving up food prices worldwide. Prominent scientists have questioned whether growing crops for biofuels produces more greenhouse gases than it prevents.”

NoÂ…really? Eh, letÂ’s just skip to the chase. Time to think outside the box, shift to a new paradigm, redefine the metric, etc.

”Venture-capital investing in traditional biofuels has plummeted. But investors are looking intently at the potential of so-called second-generation biofuels — made from waste or nonfood products — that are sustainable and could one day replace oil.”

“Bionavitas, a Redmond firm, is developing a method to grow algae, which founder Michael Weaver says could one day produce 4,000 gallons of vegetable oil annually per acre, up from the 80 to 100 gallons extracted from soy.”

“Weaver said it will take his company three to five years to have a pilot plant producing a significant amount of algae oil. He hopes society will muster enough willpower to allow biofuels to eventually succeed, despite the current backlash.
"We're talking nothing short of survival," he said.”

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:14 AM | Comments (64)
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It must be an election year...Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has proposed an amendment to do away with the Electoral College. He argues (PDF) that the Electoral College "permits a candidate with fewer votes nationally to win the presidency by capturing narrow victories in big states."

Huh. It's almost as if it had been designed that way...

The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.

The effect of moving to a popular vote system would be to shift the attention of candidates from swing states to the largest media markets. Which is hardly an improvement over "narrow victories in big states." Rural voters and low-population states would be even more neglected than they are under the Electoral College.

More than that, one of the hallmarks of American federalism would be discarded. The Electoral College is one of the few institutional barriers keeping the crowded states from imposing their candidates and policies on everyone else. I suppose if you're in the majority party living in a crowded area, you'd be happy to be catered to by candidates and parties to the exclusion of low-population states. But that leaves a lot of people out in the cold.

Obviously this idea isn't just coming out of the blue (so to speak). At the moment there's no chance that a popular vote amendment would pass and be ratified. I wonder if that will change if Obama absolutely crushes McCain in the popular vote, but still loses because he can't carry Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. There were rumbles about the Electoral College after 2000, but even Democrats stood down on the idea after Gore turned out to be such a comical figure post-election. Will they be so ready to let go if Obama loses?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:41 PM | Comments (67)
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Connecticut seems to have an undead problem.

Jane Drury voted last year in an election in Stonington, Conn. The only problem is, she died eight years ago.

As Republicans, we are faced with the unfortunate reality that our ideas frequently lack the easy, fuzzy and warm narrative that Democrats can offer. In his recent Doublethink Online piece, Conor Friedersdorf brings up the example of rent control - while liberal policies may actually make things worse for poor families, the pro-rent control narrative is easier to tell.

Unfortunately for us, in addition to the head start the left has in crafting an attractive story, the word "Republican" now has it's own set of drawbacks.

...

He's got it right. The problem we face now is that we aren't proposing a future, we aren't saying "Here's what the world will look like with our policies in place, here's how our policies make your life and future better." McCain took a crack at this with his speech outlining what Iraq will look lke in the future - good. Now, this needs to be expanded to the rest of his agenda. And it can't be done with fifteen bullet points, it needs to be done in a clear, concise way that cuts through the clutter.

...

While the factions of the GOP don't all have to agree on each bit of policy, there has to be more than a process we tend to agree upon - we need an outcome that a Republican government is working toward. When we were in power, when we had the reins, we failed to achieve outcomes that Americans wanted, and thus, as Winston's column notes, we were "fired". Luckily, we still have a chance to prove why we should be hired again.

source

I agree. I have been thinking about this for awhile and while my thoughts were not as well articulated as Ms. Soltis's I was headed in the same direction. I'm glad someone more articulate and more likely to be read than me came along and laid this out.

What is the future we see? more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 04:00 PM | Comments (82)
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Earlier in the week, Ace posted a video allegedly depicting Keith Olbermann reacting to a media story that was critical of him. The video really showed some office worker flipping out over a perceived slight he suffered at work. Unfortunately, the video was silent and in black and white so it was hard to figure out what was going on. Here is a color version of the events with sound. The office is in Russia so I assume the crazy guy either had too much vodka for breakfast or not enough. (Original B&W version below the fold.)

more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:41 PM | Comments (33)
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The Omniscience of Obama.

The Lord talks in mysterious ways.

A much lesser gaffe here (sorry for stealing the good one, Gateway Pundit!), and uncharacteristic optimism from Allah about how Obama's frequent gaffes and fundamental confusion will play in the debates.

UPDATE [DinT]: Corrected link from Nice Deb, thanks dear.
The Sermon on the Mount, Obamified:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they... the thing is, it costs the poor... wait, the poor. There are costs. Please, you're confusing me. Please let me get this straight.

The poor, they have this spirit, and it costs about the same... Okay. It costs something.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit... what was that? Yes I'm glad you're fired up. I'm talking about the poor in spirit. No wait, I'm on to the meek now. It costs about the same to feed the meek as it does to put a man on the moon.

I think. Wait, no, let me check my math.

It costs less to feed the meek than it does to build a missile. Yes, less. So we could have this missile, or we could feed the meek. I guess maybe we could do both if we left Iraq. So missiles, and feeding the meek. Pretty good deal.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst... Wait, I guess we're supposed to be feeding those who do hunger. All that stuff I said about the meek? I meant it about those who hunger. So, we can feed those who hunger. The meek... I guess we don't have to feed them, because they're usually pretty thin and don't eat a lot.

Yeah, right, the meek are pretty easy to feed, I think. So, actually, you know when I said to ignore what I said about feeding the meek? Ignore that. We can feed both those who do hunger and the meek for about what it costs... it costs something. The costs. We could feed them for the costs. Whatever those costs are. Again I think it has to do with the price of Iraq.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Also we could probably feed them. Since we're feeding the hungry and the meek, I guess it wouldn't be too hard just to put down another plate and feed the merciful too. Because of Iraq.

See, we're leaving Iraq. We have all of our food in Iraq. We leave Iraq, we can feed the meek, the merciful, and those who are actually hungry. Pretty sweet deal.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will bring the potato salad. There are costs... Potato salad costs money. We have money going into Iraq for non-potato-salad expenses. We pull out, the costs, you see the costs, we can put that right into potato salad. The peacemakers will bring it.

German style too, if you don't like all that mayonnaise. I like both, actually, so it's cool with me either way.

You can't have a picnic without potato salad.

That's why the peacemakers are so cool.

Rejoice, and have a Fresca. There are costs to Fresca, but I think the meek can handle it. I think they can swing bringing Fresca. Oh, and buns. That's pretty cheap. Fresca and buns. There are costs, but then, Iraq.

The meek shall also bring the meat.

I know I have the meek bringing a lot of stuff now, but the meek are inheriting the earth, I think, so they're still coming out way ahead on the deal.

I'm tired. I haven't slept much in forty eight hours.

Oh shit-- someone has to bring a vegetarian meal.

I guess we'll stick that on the meek, again. I think they're mostly vegetarians anyway. Besides, they're meek, so they probably won't complain. That's what makes them meek.

Costs.

Posted by: Ace at 12:29 PM | Comments (73)
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Today is Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms day. (Actually tobacco, firearms, more tobacco, then some alcohol with tobacco.)

Posted by: Ace at 12:03 PM | Comments (42)
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Now you tell me if he sounded a bit overconfident and arrogant, yesterday, at a rally in Chicago for the 2016 Olympics:

RELATED:

There's a new blog in town where all of the Messiah's devotees write idolatrous posts about him.

For shits and giggles go check out, America Is An Obamanation.

*ahem*

Yes, it's a joke blog!

Okay, here's a blog that is not a joke. I found it by googling "Obama fan club".

A sample fan survey:

"How have you shown your love for Obama"?

Some answers:

I've bouhgt hoodies, t-shirts, etc with his name on them.

I put a bumper sticker on my car.

I talk about him all the time.

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:01 AM | Comments (45)
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UPDATE:

Well, after being forty-five minutes late, she's giving a forceful appeal for her voters to support Obama. Yes, she's only suspending her campaign (as opposed to conceding), but there's nothing equivocal this speech.

Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. Sometimes I forget how batshit crazy liberals are about crippling health services in this country. She has merely to say the word "healthcare" and they clap and scream like idiots. McCain better have some quoteworthy rejoinders on the topic because Obama is going to be talking about it nonstop.

ORIGINAL POST:
Speech will be at noon ET. I expect a lot of talk about unifying the Democratic party.

Aides claim that the vice presidency was not discussed at the super-secret meeting and that Clinton is not interested in the job. If so, it's a good thing, but the credibility of anonymous campaign aides is at an all-time low, dontcha think?

This is an open thread.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:51 AM | Comments (144)
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