ultrasupergenius’ journal

If you don’t already love google - along comes the breaking point: Google Video.
Where else can you see the latest and greatest Lotus sports car go head to head with an American Apache Helicopter:
Lotus vs. Apache
or see a dozen or more Japenese girls strap meat to their heads and get attacked by a monitor lizard:
Meat Hats vs. the Monitor Lizard
Or a documentary on the amazing nature of cellular constuction/design that rivals any anything that I have ever seen on BBC or Discovery channel, which in the end turned out to be an informercial not just for “intelligent design”, but for the muslim koran based version of intelligent design:
Muslims like ID too…
Google video kicks some serious ass. If you aren’t checking regularly, I suggest that you do so. Otherwise, you might miss the antidote for workaholics, or the long lost commercial about herding cats (who the heck is EDS these days?).

Long story short - Google Video is worth paying attention to.

Impeach. Impeach. Impeach. This is bigger than lying about a blowjob. This is bigger than breaking into the opposition’s campaign headquarters. This is the circumvention of the process of checks and balances that are the cornerstone of the constitution of these United States. There is no American that can justify their ‘patriotism’ while still claiming support for the actions of this executive branch. The actions of this President are destructive to the foundations of our democracy. Those who choose to support this President do so in the support of thier own political agendas above and beyond their allegiance to their country. That is not patriotism. I stand for my country, and I stand for the constitution when I say impeach. Impeach. Impeach.

Friday’s vote [in the senate against the patriot act], combined with the successful effort by Republican senator John McCain to bar future mistreatment of detainees held by the US in the war on terrorism, marks an aggressive reassertion of congressional power against the expansive claims of executive power championed by Mr Bush and Dick Cheney, vice-president.

from MSNBC

The White House has had far too much power and influence in the last 5 years… the system of checks and balances between the branches of Government had been completely usurped. The House and Senate was firmly in the White House pocket. There was much obedience. It looked like nothing was going to stop Bush from taking control of the Supreme Court with his choice of ridiculously right wing “yes-men”. Note that I call them ‘men’. Anyone that believed that Meyers was a legitimate nomination is off track. She was the token rejection - a bone thrown to the Republican and Democrats alike so that they could say “See - we don’t do anything this president tells us to…” It was downright scary how easy Bush and his cronies had it. Texas got redistricted to ensure further Republican victories, Bush got to spend 5 times the national budget and send us into the worst recession in history (immediately following the first surplus in my lifetime which occured under Clinton), the rich got huge tax breaks, the American people lost their constitutionally guaranteed rights, and Cheney’s company Haliburton (and a few other politically connected corporations) were given all of our money. It has been unbelievable. Even worse - there was a huge amount of Americans who just lapped it up. Just pretended that is wasn’t happening - that the war in Iraq really had something to do with terrorism, and that Bush was - through everything - acting in the best interest of the USA. We killed how many innocent Iraqui’s so that we could put Saddam on trial for killing 148 Shia Muslim villagers in 1982? Those of you who have been paying attention to the news lately heard Bush’s answer for the first time ever a couple of days ago: we killed 30,000 innocent Iraquis to get Saddam on trial for killing those 148 Iraquis. 30,000. And those are just his numbers. “911, 911, 911, Terror, Terror, Terror, may God Bless America - Thank You” was the cliff’s notes version of any and all information that ever came out of the President’s mouth… and if you didn’t like it - you were not a patriot. By the way - where the heck is Osama?!?

I am happy to say that it looks as though we are starting to see a movement away from that. Thank God. The motion has begun to swing in another direction. Inertia now points left. The ironically named Patriot Act (which effectively diminishes many of the rights guaranteed by the constitution) is not going to breeze through this time - it got blocked in the Senate. Bush had to hit the negotiating table with McCain over the treatment of POWs, and came out the loser. Murtha Murtha Murtha… and finally we have some recognition that this war is not going well - and that we have absolutely no plan in place to improve or complete it. Even more amazingly, Bush has discarded his plan to stand in front of an even bigger “Mission Accomplished” banner than last time in order to convince us that the war is going well. Now the White House is scrambling to put together some sort of plan for this war they have drug us into. And I am optomistic that the next Supreme Court Nominee is going to be rejected - and every nominee after until we get to one who is somewhere nearer to the middle of the road.

This counter-reaction to Bushes abuse of power since hijacking the presidency will likely be attributed to the extremely low approval ratings that Bush has been getting in polls over the last couple of months. I do not think that is the reason, however. I think it is a symptom. The reason, from my perspective, is that scientific principle that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The pedulum has reached the crest of its arc, and is going to come swinging back. How far to the right is it going to swing? I don’t know. I am honestly a bit afraid, however… afraid that it could swing far enough over to give Clinton a legitimate shot at the White House when the time comes. And I don’t mean Bill. And that makes me afraid. Up until this moment, I could not imagine a set of circumstances that would result in Hilary getting the big chair. If Hillary gets the Democratic nod… uggg. Ugg ugg ugg. I just really hope that McCain is the Republican Challenger.

Wonderful Window Washing Day!

Originally uploaded by ultrasupergenius.

I work on the 9th floor - and up until this day, had always missed window washing day. I really think that they should announce what time they are going to wash the windows… some people get really freaked out by it (I dunno - they just do…) while I get uber excited. Such a crazy job this guy has… And quite the change of pace from my normal view. As you can see from this animation, I got this guy to have some fun with me while I took his picture. I had brought the camera in to take some shots of the Holiday Potluck party we were having in the office. I was so glad that it turned out to be window washing day!

I would highly recommend checking in and seeing if things have been taken/gotten. If there is something that you want to get - feel free to leave a comment (from anonymous, or Santa, or Donald Rumsfeld or whatever… but since the comments are likely to go into moderation, I cannot guarantee that someone else did not already claim it. A phone call might go a long way here towards solving any confusion.)

Sarah:
Books:
- Francis Fukuyama, Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution
($11.20 here)
- Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
($19.70 here)
($20 here)
- Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
($16.50 here)

Ski Socks (Women’s size 8 shoes)

Gift Certificate to Half.com (Ebay Gift certificate):
https://certificates.ebay.com/?ssPageName=HGC01
email address: sabyrne@gwu.edu

Floor Lamp:
$23 here

Pot for Aloe Plant (6″or better diameter at top)

David:

Brown Leather Work belt (possibly reversible) 32-34

Fun Brown Belt and removable Buckle - Preferably not Trashy or Lamzor…

Simple Black or Brown Leather Gloves

Salad Spinner ($9 here):

Battery Charger and Batteries:
The Summer Special #4 on this page

iPod iTalk:
Griffin Technologies iTalk - $40 (might be easiest to get if you have access to an apple store…)

the Microphone thingydingy: - $15 here

Pots for Plants - Medium small plant pots… about 4″-6″ opening. I have 5 plants at home in plastic, and a couple at work. I actually really like the plain brick colored pots that are not glazed… and those are generally super cheap. I also like relatively simple glazed pots - but it is really easy to spend $20 on one of those pots - which would make me want to cry. Key here is cheap. craft stores and garden centers can be good places to look. Cheaper and plainer the better - but have some fun with this if you like as well.

Gardening Tools… Here are some basic ideas, but just about anything will do b/c I have nothing as of yet.

A Lodge Logic Grill/Gridle to go on top of the stove:
($30 here)

Silk Screening Kit (Mom got this stuff - Thanks Mom!)

This photo is actually a shot of it snowing someplace else… not sure where - but it is not actually here. I have been caught without a camera at work. The important thing, is that I feel a certain kinship with photographer who took the shot. It was snowing for them, and it is snowing for me. Good stuff. They are calling for 3-4 inches by tomorrow morning, which means that we may actually get close to an inch (I despise the way the weather-people toy with me by over-inflating their estimates).
Here’s hoping for a safe, but super-duper snow saturated winter that blankets us all with enough of the white stuff that we can’t help but smile all winter long.