I have come to the conclusion that Seth MacFarlane is a comedic genius. At least, I can assume as much in the absence of something truly definitive. I know almost nothing about the man, besides the fact that everything his name is connected with is serious funny. Family Guy, American Dad, Robot Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, et cetera.

In order to really make me laugh out loud, you have to appeal to something directly between "sheer stupidity", "retro-pop-culture and/or significant history", "great insight", and "intellectual arguments". Its a hard place to hit. Too close to any one or two of those and it fails, getting filed under "sheer stupidity" by default, or "boring" if it has merit, ironically.

I'm a big fan of animation in general. If there was a visual medium I'd want to write for, animation would be it. Right now, as far as humor goes in that space, the MacFarlane crew is ruling with impunity. There is a philosophy buried within the funny, but its vague in all the right ways. Let there be irreverence, only let it have some clue. Let the message be in the eye of the beholder. Wink, muthafucker, wink.

MacFarlane and crew, kudos.

Seth MacFarlane (Wikipedia)

There is a good round-up of commentary on the Volokh Conspiracy about the Harriet Miers nomination. Slate also has a good round-up article. More on the way.. This is clearly going to be the appointment that results in a giant battle.

The conservatives seem to be the loudest voice of opposition so far this time around, surprisingly. It seems no one is happy with this nomination aside from the most go-go of the go-team republican crowd.

My initial opinion in regard to this is that Roberts looks _really_ good now. This lady may be a very accomplished lawyer, but she does not appear to be SCOUTS material by a long-shot.

I also noticed in several articles that she has represented Microsoft and Disney. Does anyone know which cases? I'm going to have to spend some time digging through Lexus/Nexus getting some details on that. Depending on which ones, that might be the thing that makes me click over from "don't like" to "rabidly opposed".

Update: When Pat Buchanan is making reasonable statements about judicial picks, you know its a dark day.

Update2: I was only able to find one case in involving Miers, and she was not even the lead council. Nothing of relevance can be discerned from it. So much for litigation experience...

The Volokh Conspiracy - Harriet Miers

"I will be considering it next year," Giuliani said during a visit to Denmark. But he added that playing with the idea of running for the Republican nomination for president did not mean he would actually do it.

"Sometime you warm up and get ready and you don't get in and pitch," he told reporters, in a baseball analogy.

Could we wind up with Rudy Giuliani and John McCain on the same ticket in 2008? Against Hilary Clinton maybe? Al Gore take two? It would be a big mistake to have John Kerry run again. Who do the Democrats have in the wings at this point? I couldn't picture myself voting for Clinton..

Giuliani to Mull 2008 Decision Next Year - Yahoo! News

Saturday night a suicide bomber blew himself up near a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma. One person (the bomber) is dead and five others are injured. So far, as expected, there are very few details and the accuracy of many things is in question. The police are supposedly seeking two suspects described as middle-eastern that fled from the scene. There appears to be reason to believe that the bomb went off prematurely, and that the intent was to kill people as they exited the stadium after the game. There are rumors of a second bomb which the police found and the bomb squad detonated.

Reports are mixed. Some say it was an individual suicide while others say terrorism is suspected. I'm not drawing any conclusions... This story can be expect to develop.

If this was in fact a botched terrorist attack, would it make more sense to downplay it or make a big deal about it?

As the post points out, there are a number of connections between Norman, Oklahoma and the 9/11 terrorists.

Update: The bomber has been identified. Authorities are saying it was just an individual suicide. However, it seems confirmed that there were two bombs. Why would someone who was only trying to commit suicide in a flamboyant manor have two bombs? That implies at least two people and premeditation to kill more people than just himself. Strange. Also, nothing more about the two people the police were said to be searching for.

Another good round-up can be found at GatewayPundit.

Flopping Aces: Oklahoma Bombing (Round-Up Post)

DougZ has new website up. Don't miss the gallery.

DougZ is also The Golden Dawn's bass player. Check out the demos they have posted. The Golden Dawn is the most true rock n' roll band out of the Jersey Shore.

Doug Z Art & NINK - No Imagination No Kingdom...

Things continue to escalate in regard to the Iranian nuke sitaution. Israel is likely to take the same approach it did with Iraq in 1981 and take the program out in its early stages.

As a last resort, they said, Israel itself would act unilaterally to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms.

Iran will not be deterred "by anything short of a threat of force," said Arieh Eldad, a member of Israel's right-wing National Union Party, part of a delegation of Knesset members visiting Washington this week.

"They won't be stopped unless they are convinced their programs will be destroyed if they continue," he said.

Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said the best hope was for the United States and other major powers to make it clear to Iranian leaders now there was "no chance they will ever see the fruits of a nuclear program."

Not that this article qualifies as crazy... But anytime a MemeStreamer links The Washington Times, a certain element of craziness must always be acknowledged. Let me take it a step farther, add my own flavor of craziness, and invoke my favorite tongue-in-cheek topic, The Conspiracy. I can out-crazy Moon, I assure you. I'm not going to predict the end of the world, I'm gonna bring it to you! I've been practicing! And someday, I'll get it right.. Just you watch.

So what's The Conspiracy doing about this situation? Lets theorize, since that's all you can do in regard to The Conspiracy..

One of the biggest problems regarding The West in the Middle-East is that the interests of The West are inseparable from the interests of Israel in the eyes of the mystical Arab Street. We see the situation in Iraq (and Afghanistan) and the situation in Palestine as separate problems. The Arab Street sees them as the same issue. The inability to separate these issues is a major problem that kills any reasonable effort to empathize by either side. When tackled directly, all discourse breaks down into a screaming match. The only answer may be to put some ground between the US and Israel in the form of a very open dispute.

I see a way some world theatre can be played, to a positive effect. Hence, I invoke The Conspiracy. Yes, I know this means I can no longer be taken seriously.. Let's play the speculation game, and go on a journey of what-if's..

Goal #1: Separate US and Israeli interests and conflicts in the eyes of the Arab Street.
Goal #2: Take out Iran's nuke program, specifically the ability to generate fuel.
Goal #3: Put the US in a better position to play broker in the Israel/Palistine conflict.
Goal #4: Weaken fundamentalist ideology.
Goal #5: Create a situation for the global news media to chomp on that can be used to re-frame the issues.

How ironic would this be?

The... [ Read More (0.4k in body) ]

Israelis urge U.S. to stop Iran's nuke goals - The Washington Times

Dagmar has posted a well thought out argument about the Patrick Aaron Lee situation over at LiveJournal.

Tragically, Patrick Lee died last Saturday after having taken a bunch of drugs and winding up in an altercation with the police. Unfortunately the family and a few friends are acting "a-fool" and apparently trying to claim this is a case of police brutality, regardless that the responding officers demonstrated remarkable restraint in their attempts to restrain a guy who was basically running around a parking lot naked.

I've gotten more than a little irritated about this, since under normal circumstances a Taser is a really safe thing to be using (as opposed to batons and bullets), and taking them off the streets is just going to get more people hurt that could probably have been brought under control with a taser. Therefore I have summarized events and countered some of the deliberate misinformation in hopes that this information is going to make it's way into the proper hands and hopefully put some minds to rest.

Regardless of whether he was relatively irresponsible, he will be missed.

I'm of the opinion that more research needs to be done on Taser usage before any reasonable conclusions can be drawn.

Update: Dagmar's post has really been making the rounds.

The death of Patrick Lee was an accident

The United States and Europe clashed here Thursday in one of their sharpest public disagreements in months, after European Union negotiators proposed stripping the Americans of their effective control of the Internet.

These people are silly. Threatening to leave the DNS system just because you don't think you have enough influence? What do you want them to do differently? Have you made reasonable proposals that have been ignored? Don't you realize that if you can leave the DNS system so can I, and so your influence cannot be coercive?

It is inevitable that the DNS system is going to fragment... I'm all for it. We ought to start talking about what kinds of tools we need to support multiple roots on one computer, and put an end to this government puffery as well as vile sitefinder once and for all.

No doubt, the naming situation is going to get more complex. I think we are going to see innovation that stretches beyond the DNS system as it is today. Think AOL keywords. Google Names?

But will it be better? It will probably get worse before it gets better...

EU Tries to Unblock Internet Impasse

Guangdong, long viewed as the mainland's most prosperous province, is facing a series of crises, provincial Communist Party secretary Zhang Dejiang admitted to Chief Executive Donald Tsang and Hong Kong legislators during a private meeting last Sunday.

"Guangdong has been the nation's pioneer for economic reform in China and a miracle in the eyes of the world ... but, in fact, Guangdong is now in crisis management," Zhang said.

"There are various hidden worries and risks. If we took a wrong step, we might be overtaken by Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

"The Pearl River Delta has prospered as the most affluent place in the country, but northern Guangdong is suffering the most severe poverty and underdevelopment.

"Guangdong faces [serious] problems arising from our rapid economic growth. The land area is getting smaller. Water and air pollution is serious and getting worse. We are worried about the safety of what we eat and drink."

Zhang said the province's target of becoming a middle-class society may be an impossible dream, and "in the long run, we may not achieve this."

Adding to the economic and environmental woes, Zhang said: "There is also a security problem in the province. Our open economic reform has attracted nationwide talent to the province, but Guangdong has also become a magnet for pickpockets from all parts of the country. So our social order is another serious problem.

The Standard - Guangdong in crisis

The Committee to Protect Journalists was able to enlist the support of U.S. Senator John Warner in their efforts to get Donald Rumsfeld to address reporter safety in Iraq. Reuters is following the story, but strangely no one else appears to be paying attention.

"I raised the question of the safety of the press in Iraq and their ability to carry out the very important function of reporting to the American people," Warner told reporters after the hearing. "I've discussed it with the secretary. He's going to take it under immediate consideration," Warner, a senior Republican from Virginia, added.

Gen. George Casey, U.S. commander in Iraq, told the committee he would follow up the request. "It's an issue that we take very seriously. And what I will do when I get back to Baghdad is I'll get a few of the local journalists together and work through some of their concerns with them," Casey said.

In 2005 alone, CPJ has documented seven cases in which reporters, photographers, and cameramen were detained for prolonged periods without charge or the disclosure of any supporting evidence. Some of those detained worked for CBS News, Reuters, The Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse. At least four Iraqi journalists remain in U.S. custody.

CPJ News Alert 2005 - Rumsfeld to address journalist safety in Iraq