I just had a thought...

  Political wonks will no doubt already know that President Bush has spent a little more than a third of his presidency on vacation. He's surpassed the previous record for personal travel by a sitting president, held by modern republican messiah Ronald Reagan.

  Take a minute to think about all of the stupid, appalling, ridiculous, evil shit that has gone on under the current administration. President Bush has managed to accomplish all of that with less time spent in the White House than any president in history. The man is either amazingly, ruthlessly efficient, or he's got an unbelievably motivated cadre of henchpersons. Either way, I think it's obvious that he's some kind of undercover supervillain. I doubt that even Voldemort could do better.

Sciencedebate 2008 Rally in Philly 3/14/2008

Hey, Philadelphia. If you'd like the presidential candidates to stop yammering about which version of god they like best, and start addressing vital science and technology issues, come on out to the Franklin Institute tomorrow and support Sciencedebate 2008!

Our economy is based almost entirely around science and technology. It's time for the people who want to be president to show that they can address these topics.

Sciencedebate 2008!

From the email:

Please join us FRIDAY MARCH 14 at a rally & press conference at the Franklin Institute to promote Science Debate 2008 and make some announcements. The media have been invited.

Climate change, America’s declining economic competitiveness in the new global knowledge economy, declining financial support for college and university students, declining research grants, and mounting scientific and engineering challenges (see Bill Gates’ testimony on our web site) unresolved environmental challenges and healthcare challenges directly affect our lives. We need you to come out and support this initiative.

Who: Shawn Otto and Matthew Chapman from Science Debate 2008 will join Dennis Wint, president of the Franklin Institute, and representatives from the National Academies, the Council on Competitiveness, Drexel, U-Penn, The Scientist, and Chemical Heritage Foundation at a rally and press conference. We want you to come!

When: Friday, March 14, 10:30 AM

Where: Franklin Hall, the Franklin Institute, 222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia

What: Rally & press conference

We hope to see you there!

Spooooky

  If I were of a superstitious bent, I'd find the following coincidence full of some sort of meaning. I'm not sure of what, but meaning nonetheless.

  Two bloggers, one a friend I've known for years, the other I met on the Internet a few months ago. Within 24 hours of each other, they each wrote a post explaining why they don't bother to tag their posts. The God Of Internet must have inspired them somehow.

Best Buddy Flick Evar

  Thanks to Skepchick.org for the heads up. This is without exaggeration the funniest things I've seen in months. If you're easily offended, fuck off. Also, don't watch the movie.

Question #121: Sin Silly

Dear Little Bald Bastard,
  As a post-modern heathen, I find myself terribly bored with the traditional sins. While I'm sure that my soul is irretrievably soiled with the caustic filth of my decadent lifestyle, I find that living like a character in an Anne Rice novel just isn't as fascinating as it was when I was 17. How can I preserve the smear of acidic, putrid ichor that I call a soul, while trying new things at the same time?
- Soul Possessor

Dear Soul Possessor,
  There's good news for those of you who consider the mundane dalliances with lust and sloth to be horribly banal. After 1,500 years, the fun-loving scamps at the Vatican have finally doubled their list of seven deadly sins. The seven newest deadly sins (now 100% deadlier!) are supposed to reflect the moral decline of the modern, secular world. They are, in no particular order:

* Abortion
* Damaging the environment
* Carrying out morally questionable scientific experiments
* Allowing genetic manipulation which alters DNA or compromises embryos
* Dealing or using drugs
* Pedophilia
* Social injustice that causes poverty or
the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few.

  The mind-stomping irony of the last two items notwithstanding, this represents a boon for those of you who are tired of the trite, clichéd evil of the old list. Now you can enjoy the tingly thrill of mocking god every time you don't recycle.

  One only hopes that the church will commission someone to write The Divine Comedy 2: Electric Boogaloo, so that we'll know for certain what eternal punishments await us for each of the new infractions. I can't see the deterrent effect being really powerful unless we know the penalties up front.

New Humanist
Times Online