Filed by Bil at 10:59 pm under Environmentality, Pop Culture, The Arts, The Science
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By day I work for a company that has just reached its tenth year of existence. Everybody knows the traditional first-year anniversary gift is paper, the third-year anniversary gift is bananas, and the fiftieth-year anniversary is gold. But I was until recently unaware that the tenth-year anniversary is tin or aluminum. As a ten-year aluminum gift, my company has given me an aluminum water bottle. This is awesome, because I’ve been wanting one for kind of a while now, but the only ones I could find are like twenty or thirty dollars. Well, now I don’t have to look and I don’t have to spend any money.

I tried it out this last weekend by taking it to rehearsal. Ohmygod it’s the best. Seriously. The feeling of environmental friendliness is so inviting, and the health benefits make me even more powerful and ninja-like than ever before.
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Filed by Bil at 1:19 pm under Fightin' Words, GOP, Politics
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Oh, Dennis Kucinich…bless that man’s heart.

(It gets interesting about 2 minutes in…)

Thirty-five (count ‘em, thirty-five!) Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush have been introduced to the House of Representatives by Mr. K, and, while I appreciate the gesture, the timing could not be much worse. Bush has barely half a year left in the white house; Impeachment proceedings, as I recall from the last decade, take much longer than that. Anyway, the Articles probably won’t go anywhere in the House. At this point — not to sound too cynical — it’s really just a statement, since the Democrats don’t really have the power right now to carry out an impeachment. And, being that we are now getting geared up for what will probably be a very ugly presidential campaign, the GOP will probably spin this statement into a “Democrats Hate America!” campaign. I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s what they do. It’s what they’re good at.

And Kucinich tried to impeach Cheney last year (remember?) and even in 2007 it was too little too late. I don’t like feeling that way — I really would like to see this administration forcefully removed from office — but it’s hard to have faith in this process.

You know what else is kind of bugging me? There seems to be a prevailing mindset for this upcoming presidential season of “I was for the war/I was against the war when it all began,” and that mindset is a pretty distracting from the fact that the war is still in progress. We know the facts of the past, there is no point in repeating them. I want to hear what each candidate will do about the current state of things.

Note - if we are to take McCain at his word, we already know he will do nothing to stop the war. So what I really mean is I want to hear what Obama has planned.

Filed by Bil at 7:37 pm under Fightin' Words, The Media
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Have you been feeling like a lemming lately? Here’s why:

High Five Is Out, Fist Bump Is In

“Who’s the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?” Thanks, Obi-Wan, you bring up a good point. My first reaction to this video, in which a greeting style that has been around for over a century is presented as something new and exciting (and in which “putting up your dukes” is presented as something that still happens), was the same reaction that one might have to a teenager who has just learned that a mouse is not only something for your computer but also some kind of small animal.
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