Excuse me, but...

Did anyone else notice that the Tokyo Stock market took so much of a dive today that they had to close it?

The immediate cause was an internet company, Livedoor -- but I have to wonder if this is just the first sign of brittle ice cracking, that maybe we're all standing on a thin sheet of false security, just one panic away from plunging into the abyss.

OK, now get back to making money for your employer, you lazy slacker!

(In other news, I may or may not start blogging again).

Two-minute Tour of Bush's America

Once in a generation, a video comes along that changes the way you look at everything.

This is not that video.

But it is pretty durned good. Check 'er out, y'all! [Quicktime]

Via the ever-outstanding Root Cellar.

Casey and Cindy Sheehan -- American Heroes

Hero

From CNN:

He was an altar boy, an Eagle Scout, a church youth group leader. That is what people remember about Casey Sheehan, the 24-year-old soldier whose death in Iraq has become a flashpoint for debate about the war since his mother began staging a peace vigil outside the president's ranch in Texas.

Among family and friends -- not to mention TV pundits, Internet bloggers and newspaper columnists -- opinions vary about Cindy Sheehan's demand to meet with the president to talk about why the U.S. went to war. Like others, they struggle with whether her determination to bring the war home honors or diminishes his choice to join the Army.

But those who knew the young man she so publicly mourns agree that if anyone is an appropriate face for the war's more than 1,800 U.S. deaths, it is Casey. He had a gentle but firm commitment to family, church and country, re-enlisting after the war started and volunteering for the rescue mission in which he and six others were killed last year.

[full story]

Hero

From the BBC:

The mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq, who is holding a roadside protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch, is gaining support from well-wishers.

Cindy Sheehan has received flowers and food from people who support her anti-war stance, and dozens have turned out to join her demonstration.

She is vowing to remain until she is allowed to speak to the president about his justification for the war.

...

"Before my son was killed, I used to think that one person could not make a difference,'' she told AFP. "But one person that is surrounded and supported by millions of people can be heard."

[full story]

Zero

From CNN:

President Bush's motorcade, en route to a political fund-raiser near his ranch, passed Friday by the site of Cindy Sheehan's Iraq war protest where more than 100 people had gathered to support her.

Sheehan -- whose son, Casey, was killed five days after he arrived in Iraq last year at age 24 -- held a sign that read: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"

It's unclear whether Bush, riding in a black Suburban with tinted windows, looked at the demonstrators as his caravan passed.

The motorcade did not stop.

...

He arrived at the fund-raiser before noon CT at a neighbor's ranch for a barbecue where he was expected to raise at least $2 million for the Republican National Committee, said RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

Some 230 people were attending the fund-raiser at Stan and Kathy Hickey's Broken Spoke Ranch, a 478-acre spread next to Bush's ranch. All have contributed at least $25,000 to the RNC, and many are "rangers," an honorary campaign title bestowed on those who raised $200,000 or more for Bush, or "pioneers," those who have raised $100,000 or more.

[full story]

Charming, no? Cindy Sheehan contributed her first-born son, but I guess that doesn't count for much with the president.

Sigh...

Is it time to vote again yet?

More About Your Humble Blogger

You scored as Chaotic Good. A Chaotic Good person is someone who has little intrinsic respect for laws or authority, seeing them as insufficient to sustain what's right. These people work according to their own moral compass which, while good, is not necessarily always aligned with that of society. Despite their chaotic tendancies, these people are good at heart. Chaotic Good 80% Lawful Good 70% True Neutral 55% Neutral Good 50% Lawful Neutral 45% Lawful Evil 35% Chaotic Neutral 35% Neutral Evil 30% Chaotic Evil 10% And I Vote What is your Alignment? created with QuizFarm.com

Bizarre Pleasant Surprise of the Week

Rick Santorum has, uh, come out in opposition to President Bush's support for the teaching of "intelligent design." From Reuters (link will expire all too soon):

A leading Republican senator allied with the religious right differed on Thursday with President Bush's support for teaching an alternative to the theory of evolution known as "intelligent design."

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a possible 2008 presidential contender who faces a tough re-election fight next year in Pennsylvania, said intelligent design, which is backed by many religious conservatives, lacked scientific credibility and should not be taught in science classes.

Bush told reporters from Texas on Monday that "both sides" in the debate over intelligent design and evolution should be taught in schools "so people can understand what the debate is about."

"I think I would probably tailor that a little more than what the president has suggested," Santorum, the third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate, told National Public Radio. "I'm not comfortable with intelligent design being taught in the science classroom."

Yo, preznit -- if Sen. Gay-Marriage-equals-Bestiality himself has reservations about intelligent design, maybe you should think again. Or would that be "think" in the first place?

Last Week's Winner...

Would have to be Bill Frist's bravely coming out in favor of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. From CNN:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed government-funded research on human embryonic stem cells Friday, breaking with President Bush and the religious conservatives he's been courting for a 2008 presidential bid. He drew praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan.

"It isn't just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science," Frist, a heart-lung transplant surgeon, said in a Senate speech. "The president's policy should be modified."

Ironically, Bush began opposing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research after being convinced a few years ago by, yep -- one Dr. William Frist, a prominent Republican Senator from Tennessee.

How come when Conservatives flip-flop, it's cool? But it is, it really is.

A really cynical guy might speculate that both of these pleasant surpises have something to do with politics. After all, Santorum faces re-election in 2006 and Frist is likely to run for president in 2008. But I'm not that guy. Not today, anyway.

A Kinder, Gentler Machine Gun Hand

I just discovered Google's corporate motto, and okay -- it creeps me out.

Don't Be Evil.

I mean, if you have to remind yourself constantly not to be evil, I mean -- dude -- isn't that one step removed from proclaiming: "I will stop beating my wife"?

Do you think they can pull it off? I mean the whole not being evil thing?

[shudder]

Best headline of the whole damned summer

Doughless Atkins Diet Goes Belly Up, New York Daily News, Monday August 1, 2005

Thank you, Daily News.