Too depressing for words

It's been hard for me to focus on anything else this week.  And I should.  I really, really should.

Take it away, Major General Taguba:

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Having read the report, do you have any details to add that might illuminate why Taguba feels that way, Mr. Ackerman?

Some detainees were administered electric shocks, suspended by their arms from great heights and one showed "anal scars consistent with sexual trauma," according to one physician who examined the detainees, Dr. Sondra Crosby of Boston Medical Center.

[A] detainee, "Amir," was arrested in Iraq in August 2003 by U.S. troops. He endured a month of "being kept in a small, dark room" before transfer to Abu Ghraib. At the infamous prison -- around the time it was "Gitmo-ized" by Guantanamo commander Gen. Geoffrey Miller -- Amir was "sodomized with a broomstick and forced to howl like a dog while a soldier urinated on him," the report said. Similarly released without charge, he told Physicians for Human Rights that "no sorrow can be compared to my torture experience in jail."

Our Administration is evil, immoral and insane. And to be completely candid, I feel evil and immoral for not doing anything to try to stop it, relying instead on the inadequate institutions we have to check Executive power.

How I Learned I Was a Moron

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Pacific Park in Santa Monica replaced its solar powered ferris wheel with a new solar powered ferris wheel, but this time one with LED lights.

I'm told it's because the new one is 75% more energy efficient.  But...it's...solar...powered.  Why do I care how energy efficient it is as long as it stays off the grid?  Doesn't greenness then move to the cost of manufacturing a new ferris wheel, not to mention shipping the old one?  Or the chemicals used in manufacturing the 160,000 LEDs used in the new wheel?

My brain is on fire.  Can not compute.

Hillary as VP

My first thought was "no."  There was no upside for Obama, should he win (or vice versa: this was last year), to choosing Hillary that he couldn't find by choosing someone else less tainted by anti-Obama primary rhetoric.

My second thought was "yes."  This was, perhaps surprisingly, after Obama won his 12 primaries in a row.  The two of them had just had a debate, and Hillary had demured when having the chance to attack Obama.  Things are coming to a close, I thought, and Hillary's being a good Democrat, and she deserves the slot.

Turns out that evening of Hillary not attacking Obama wasn't so much a quiet concession as it was a skirmish in some ongoing internecine warfare between factions in Hillaryland.  Sadly, the Fuckwit Faction (Mark Penn) won, Hillary started attacking again, her supporters started doing questionable things, though all the while Obama's nomination grew ever more presumptive.

My current thinking is back to "yes."  As a man, whatever my pretenses to a lack of sexism, I think I tend to naturally underestimate the intensity of many women's reactions to having a woman president.  Although in my mind the problems with Hillary's campaign are based on huge strategic mistakes and her unwillingness to explain/renounce her support for the original Iraq AUMF, the optics of this situation are very bad, and may cause bad feelings more intense than usual between the rival Democratic clans.

(Argh.  Just in the process of writing this post, I reread it and am doubting what I wrote.  Or, more specifically, doubting that picking Hillary would be a good idea.  If Obama is appealing to anti-war Independents, Hillary defuses his message.  Must...stop...pondering...VP...choices...Jim Webb, AYEEEE!)

A Summation of My Feelings About the Clinton Campaign

By someone who's a much better thinker and writer than I:

The dying days of the Hillary Clinton campaign have brought the breathtaking spectacle of a candidate lashing out at every element of public life that has nourished her career. The über-wonk has disparaged economists and expertise. The staunch ally of black America has attacked her opponent for lacking support of "working, hard-working Americans, white Americans." People who thought they knew Hillary Clinton have gazed in astonishment: What has she become? The answer is, a conservative populist.

I'm not a fan of liberal populism, probably because it's so emotionally appealing to wrap up the complexities of our country's economic and social dynamics in a little pink bow. But I do understand the need for populism as a tool of politics, and I suspect we'll see a lot of it from both parties in the fall.

What really burns me up is the calculus inside the Clinton camp that said, "In the primaries, Obama has appealed to better educated people, while our candidate has appealed to less educated people. How can we use that against Obama? Oh, I've got it! Let's steal the rhetoric of the modern Republican party! Let's appear on Bill O'Reilly's show!"

Madness.

Regarding the "gas tax holiday"

Tonight expressing my opinion, Through the Looking Glass:

So, what of Hillary herself? She's touting a plan that's nonsense the way Dubya's war plans were nonsense; the reasons it can't work are widely acknowledged facts which aren't seriously disputed by anyone with relevant knowledge.

Perhaps, after days of publicly touting this proposal, she still doesn't know she's selling snake oil. Or maybe she knows, but doesn't care. Either way, she has left the reality based community.

My fingers are crossed

That Hillary gives the same answer when she's asked.

The Upcoming Election

It's taken a lot of soul-searching (and Google searching), and I've been on the fence for awhile now, but I've finally made up my mind.

I'm voting for Dana Worthington.

Quiz for the Day

If you catch a fellow student cheating, would you:

A) Ignore it
B) Talk to the student privately
C) Rat him out to your teacher

If you answered (C), you're a prime John McCain voter.

Experiment HS-01, Day 1

On the morning of Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008, having run out of shampoo, I grabbed the first bottle of Head and Shoulders I could find.  Just before applying it, I noticed it had expired in February...of 2007.

Over the next several days, I will be presenting a diary of the results of my direct exposure to expired dandruff shampoo.

9:17 AM.  It's been a half hour since I applied the expired shampoo.  As of yet, there seem to be no ill effects.  But the day is young...

John Adams

UPDATE: This is what I would have written had I had my coffee: "It's all the fun of the Star Wars prequels, without any of the fun."

It's like watching the Star Wars prequels, but with all the fun spaceship and lightsaber stuff taken out, and with unmotivated Batman camera angles. And Laura Linney looking concerned, all the time.

Major Controversy Erupts Over Empire Strikes Back's Inclusion in Suspended Animation List!

DEVELOPING.  

MUST CREDIT OW MY ACHING HEAD:

JASON: Han wasn't put in a suspended animation chamber. As Lando tells Darth Vader "Freezing him in carbonite is risky - it could kill him!" Hence, carbonite's intended use was NOT for putting people in suspended animation. Even C-3PO says that Han could be kept alive - IF - he survives the freezing process. IF!

FRENCHIE: Hmm...that's interesting and all, but we never specified what a "suspended animation chamber" was, nor did we at any point specify the need of a reason for the suspended animation.

Just to clarify, we decided that being frozen through artificial means (the example was Han Solo) was acceptable, because it left the subject in a state of suspension without killing him. Now...if being frozen had killed Han Solo (that would have been fun), then this wouldn't be up for discussion. We know he was alive, and his vitals at least were able to be checked. This lets us know that he was alive while frozen...and very much suspended.

So it counts because he was suspended artificially, and he wasn't killed by it.

PS Was Chewie hairier in the last movies then he was in the first?

Know Your Mexican Emo Kid

Got that memorized?  Good.  Now, ATTACK.

(h/t boingboing)

HELP DESPERATELY NEEDED

UPDATE: JASON X wins the day as the most obvious miss from the list.  I've updated the list with what people (well, let's be honest, what JASON) have added, and added an asterisk to the Empire entry, again courtesy Jason.

I'm trying to compile a comprehensive list of movies (and TV episodes) that feature suspended animation. Here's the list so far:

MOVIES:
• 2001
• Planet of the Apes (both)
• Alien
• Lost in Space
• Rocketman
• Minority Report
• Judge Dredd
• Demolition Man
• Sleeper
• Empire Strikes Back
• Idiocracy
• Event Horizon
• Solstice
• Solaris (original)
• Red Planet
• X Files
• Batman and Robin
• Austin Powers
• Forever Young
• Live Again, Die Again
• Jason X
• Strange New World

TV SERIES:
• Futurama
• Farscape
• Star Trek ("Space Seed" - the episode with Khan)
• Buck Rogers
• Twilight Zone episode "Quarantine" (nice catch, Kathryn)

Sequels don't count (Aliens and Return of the Jedi are OUT). Neither do movies where things are frozen and come back to life when thawed (like The Thing or Brendan Fraser in Encino Man), though that may be a good follow-up list.

There are no prizes and there is no reason I'm compiling this list. It just started as a conversation in Louisiana, continued tonight, and I feel like I'm missing some. So jump in in comments.

The Seventh Bullet Point

People ask me why I'm supporting Barack Obama.  My friends are split between Obama and Clinton supporters (as, until fairly recently, was I).  I listed some reasons back in February, but in person I usually just stick to the seventh bullet point from that post:

That the Iraq war is going to heat way up between now and November, and its renewed prominence in the campaign is going to make Obama's consistent opposition to the war a much bigger deal than it seems to be in the primary.

I always feel a little guilty saying this, because although it seems completely rational and obvious to me, I certainly don't want it to sound like I'm hoping for things to heat up so that it helps get my candidate elected.

Unfortunately, my bullet point seems to have become reality.

W.

Though I can certainly see the international appeal of an Oliver Stone film based on George W.'s life, I can't imagine it'll have much of a domestic run.  Democrats are going to carry the psychic scars of this administration with them for a long time, and what Republican is going to go see Oliver Stone's left-slanted Bush-slamming?

Since it's being financed by a foreign sales company, presumably their model makes sense.  But I won't be holding my breath for a summer 2009 release at Grauman's.  Can I hear a round of "straight to HBO?"

Alan Dale

Playing a Brit on Lost, and an American on Torchwood.  He must be very confused.

The Most Incredibly Awesome Video of All Time, Ever

Not normally an Onion fan (anymore), but they've won me over to their video with this:

Jasmine? Jacaranda?

I got back to L.A. (from LA) last night, and all of a sudden for some weird reason it's spring.  Sometimes my trips are like that.  Now, since I've been a kid people have been telling me I'm not the center of the universe.  But if I'm not, what possible explanation could there be for a change in the weather between when I leave and when I return somewhere?

In any case, there's a particular smell in my neighborhood (Los Feliz) at night in spring.  I love the smell, but every year I wonder whether it's the smell of jasmine or jacaranda.  I've heard different people ascribe the same smell to both flowers.  Maybe until I find out I'll start calling it "jasmaranda."  Though that sounds like a genie's name.

The other thing that I love about spring (and summer) evenings in Los Angeles is that, because it's warm at night, people leave their windows open.  Stepping outside into my back yard becomes the auditory equivalent of the scenes in Rear Window where Stewart is staring into the windows of all the people across from him, watching them go about their daily business.  Last night, as I was bundling laundry, I could hear five or six different conversations, all set to "Picture This" off of Blondie's Parallel Lines.

It's good to be home.

This.

[T]hanks to decades of deregulation, the theater doesn’t have a sprinkler system - and the town the theater is in doesn’t have a fire department.

And now we have to put together an emergency response.

Is from this.

Obama's speech

How could anyone not want this man to be our next President?