The International House of Bacon

I love my satellite radio, have I ever mentioned that?

* Switches - “Drama Queen”: At least to my ear, this band is like the perfect hybrid between the Dandy Warhols and Electric Light Orchestra, and I’m in love with this song. Great, wonderful British indie rock all around, and they appear to be consistent from the two songs I’ve heard so far. Really good stuff.

* Roky Erickson - “I Walked With a Zombie”: Okay, yeah, I’m roughly 30 years behind on this one, at least, but goodness. I knew that R.E.M. covered it way back, and thought it was something silly, and then Elf Power covered it at the show I went to last month which reminded me that they did a version of it (and quite a good one at that), and that caused me to explore Erickson a bit more. The most annoying part of this? You cannot find a studio version of this song on CD anywhere in print at present. You cannot buy it from the Amazon mp3 store, you cannot get it on iTunes. That’s incredible to me. Dear record companies - don’t complain about theft when you’re not making music available to people. Or something.

* Death Cab for Cutie - “I Will Possess Your Heart“: Considering the bizarro “rape rock” allegations concerning the Decemberists, this song just makes me wonder whether Colin Meloy and Ben Gibbard have a secret competition to see who can make the creepier song. I think Meloy needs to counter with a ditty about Chtuhlu before it’s too late.

All while wondering whether Sufjan Stevens is cursing himself with knowing that there may be 10 more states for him to write about…

* Jeff Flake, Republican from Arizona, is one of my favorite Congressfolk. He proves it again this week by introducing the Remove Incentives to Produce Ethanol Act of 2008, which will essentially end the government ethanol handouts. This bill is such a good idea, I doubt it’ll get to the floor for a vote. After all, we know that the ethanol production isn’t working, so between this and Harry Reid’s proposal for $300b more for farms with ethanol as a point, which makes more sense?

* More polling problems for Obama. According to the Pew polling results, “[h]e is perceived as a liberal. He is perceived by many voters as not well grounded on foreign policy and not tough enough . . . and he has a potential problem, distinct from race, of being seen as an elitist, an intellectual.” When you have Obama facing an opponent who has centrist credentials, this is not a good formula for success.

* Of course, we are already seeing evidence of Obama’s race to the center now that the common wisdom is that he’s got the nomination locked up. The new tack is saying that McCain is lying when he says that Obama advocates meeting with folks such as Adminijad unconditionally. The problem is that Obama has said that. Multiple times, it appears. Same old Washington politics, folks.

* Yes, they are Crooks and Liars and we have the proof. Well, maybe not crooks, but definitely liars.

* Students suspended for not reciting the pledge of allegiance. Sigh.

* Considering how much Obama’s a fan of expanding government intervention in as many facets of American life as possible, how does one explain his support of ending federal oversight on union activity? How does this fit into Obama’s narrative, exactly?

* Patrick Ruffini on the left and the idiotic attacks they’re attempting to make on McCain. He points out that, contrary to popular belief in some areas of the left, Republicans most fed up with Bush tend to support McCain the strongest, he lists some examples of opposition, and he doesn’t even touch upon issues such as the Gang of 14. But, again, why should we be shocked by this?

* Is the New Hampshire school funding proposal unconstitutional? We’re talking the state Constitution, for the record.

* Hugo Chavez aiding a Colombian terror group. Naw, really?

* More judicial lunacy from Obama. And this guy taught Constitutional law?

* I was reminded of one of my favorite bizarre stories from college this weekend, about a teacher in 1966 and the “Third Wave,” his experiment to show how easy it was to get people caught up in the fervor of Nazi Germany. I’ve been familiar with his story about it for a long time, but this weekend was the first time I had read accounts from the students. There’s some creepy stuff in here if you look at it with a modern context, but it’s still a fascinating read no matter what.

* Obama also lacks the facts on taxes, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. To go back to Clinton-era levels (as Obama advocates) would result in a much higher tax burden than what was experienced back in the 1990s.

I think that’s all for now.

Time really gets away from me.

* More economists back McCain’s economic plans than Obama or Clinton. It’s not without its problems - fewer than 50 economists responded with a preference, and many had some interesting reasoning (calling McCain the “least horrible,” which I agree with, and the Obama supporter who apparently based his position solely on the gas tax holiday) - but this is still fairly important to note, and something McCain should really explore further and hammer home.

* Also, the McCain camp responded to Obama’s little mention of McCain “losing his bearings” with a pretty damning indictment of his campaign style: “We have all become familiar with Senator Obama’s new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is.” If McCain and his staff can continue with these sort of responses, they’ll do quite well for themselves.

* Adventures in conservation: because the people of Fulton County did so well with the conservation efforts during the drought, the county will raise rates to make up for the lost revenue during the conservation. There are no words.

* The best editorial I’ve seen addressing those who compare the Wright situation to McCain’s endorsing evangelical, John Hagee. The best line for me:

Hagee is not McCain’s pastor and never has been. Nor has the pastor of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church been McCain’s mentor or spiritual adviser. Not for 20 years. Not for two seconds…McCain didn’t have his children baptized by Hagee. Or donate thousands of dollars to Hagee’s church. Or name Hagee to a prominent position in his campaign. In sum, McCain did none of the things that would make for an apples-to-apples comparison to the Obama-Wright connection.

But don’t expect Obama and his supporters - or the media - to note this.

* Victor Davis Hansen has the right prescription on conservatism: “not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.” It’s a fairly blunt, yet completely rational, listing of what needs to be presented, often to a new voting bloc who have no understanding of the principles outside of the distorted view they get from the press and from left-wing pundits, and while the problem may not be something McCain is equipped to address in a useful way, this line is absolutely true: “In an honest debate, Obama’s alternatives to the above would be to turn toward more government, higher taxes, more bureacracies, more dependence of the individual upon the state, etc. And I can’t believe the public wants a prescription that historically simply doesn’t work.” The one flaw is that Obama has at least convinced a large segment of the population that his prescription does work, regardless of the evidence to the contrary. The issue is breaking through that barrier with some simple facts and evidence, which is going to take longer than a single election cycle.

* Barack Obama, strengthening relationships with our allies.

* Things are apparently quite dull in Nebraska.

That’s all I’ve got.

* I’m glad that someone’s taking the alternative view on the gas tax holiday, and Bryan Caplan’s piece in the New York Times is pretty much the best argument that will gain no traction. I think the holiday is a poor idea because “holiday” implies (or ensures, depending on your perspective) that the tax will be reinstated. The problem with the holiday is that it’s too short - by the time we can see real changes in the pricing, it’ll be time to put the tax back into place. Given that the tax is a relatively small piece of the revenue pie (Which hovers from $30-40b depending on the source (here’s one)) and that state dollars aren’t always allocated properly, it’s a tax we could do without on a longer-term basis. You’ll never see Obama or Clinton push for that, though - while a $27 savings over a summer might not be much except for the very, very poor, you’re getting into the hundreds or perhaps thousands for some if there’s a moratorium on those taxes. That’s good politics and good economics, but that’s not the Democratic way at present.

* Want my superdelegate vote? That’ll be $20m, please.

* A blog post I read reminded me of the craziness coming from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and the toppling of the statue. I recall a lot of people looking at the wide view picture and automatically assuming the event was staged because, well, the crowd was small and the pictures were tight and the tanks were everywhere, ignoring the point that anyone came out to begin with. I’m wondering if we’ll see any sort of similar commentary on this Obama rally, which was presented as a full house. Of course, major events in war do have a difference of scale to a campaign stop and context is clearly necessary, but considering the Obama narrative of the campaign from the media, surely this is a clear manipulation of the situation. The question is - for what?

* A story and video of the treatment of an anti-abortion demonstration at a college. This is kind of shameful, regardless of what side you fall on.

* The CQPolitics blog puts some context in the Republicans voting against McCain in the primary meme being floated.

* Power Line on Obama’s improbable history. There are a lot of problems with Obama’s position on “speaking with our enemies” beyond historical context, but that’s for another time.

* Finally, Israel turns 60 today. Happy birthday.

30 Rock: Ann & I began watching the first season this week. Early notes? We like it. We don’t love it, although it has some seriously great moments, but it sometimes feels a little too formulaic, and the more recent episodes (we’re about 8 episodes in) don’t seem to want to take the risks the early ones did, although the Toofer/Tracy argument episode we watched last night may signal something more, who knows. It’s good enough where we’ll try and catch up and keep up, but that’s where we’re at so far.

Battlestar Galactica: The first disappointing episode of the season was last week, but even then, this season has been really good so far. I fear the inevitable cliffhanger in June that will signal the 10 month layoff at this point…

Mad Men: A shake of the fist to AMC for showing the first two episodes in the series over again, and then stopping. Way to let us catch up if our DVR failed us, really. This, by the way, is an awesome show everyone should be watching.

An interesting question was posed late last week, and it’s one I’ve encountered a few times:

Atheist readers, what if you were to suddenly find out tomorrow that the God of the Christian Evangelicals was real?

…

I’m not asking HOW it would happen (see Frank’s earlier blog on this) but IF it happened, how would you react?

I don’t know if the “what if” question for atheists is a universal one, or simply goes with the stereotypical Catholic guilt that makes me still shudder at the thought of hell, not enjoy pleasurable experiences as much, etc etc. However, it at least seems to be somewhat different where I don’t come to it from a place of anger (i.e., prayer failed me, something bad happened, etc).

At least for me, my positioning comes from a place of needing more evidence. Thus, if this evidence comes forth that I’m dead wrong about this, do I have any other choice? I wonder how many atheists would say “yes, I still have a choice here.” Not saying that there’s no extra choice to “follow” or whatever, but just on the existence angle.

The more interesting concept for me, actually, involves more of the free will aspect of the discussion - if the God in the discussion is real as we’ve been told to believe, we’ve also got the free will argument to run with, and a broader discussion about the ideologies and the way we got to that point and whatever else is created as well. While advancing the debate significantly, it also brings up a lot of other odd questions.

So yeah. It’s an interesting concept, and one that probably would require more thought if it were something that could realistically occur.

* So, we all know the story from last night, with Obama showing some surprising resiliency and Clinton hitting a pretty rough patch. Looks like she’s still going, though, which isn’t surprising at all.

* Interesting exit poll out of Indiana: half of voters were influenced by Wright, and 75% of those voters broke for Clinton.

* John Edwards on Barack Obama: “Sometimes I want to see more substance under the rhetoric.” Because if anyone could recognize a complete lack of substance, it’s John Edwards. I love it.

* An interesting piece on libertarian paternalism. I don’t like it for a lot of the same reasons the folks at Reason don’t, but it’s still more enticing than the alternatives that get thrown out there.

* The continued annoyance of the McCain candidacy: on one hand, he again vows to push for Alito/Roberts-style judges, a very good thing. On the other, he praises the Gang of 14 as allowing for the existence of them. Uh, wha? I wonder if he simply knows that the vast majority of conservatives will have to hold their nose, so he’s just sticking to the same old script. The only bright side is Obama’s response, which continues to sound completely tone deaf on what is one of the more important issues of the campaign.

* An interesting timeline of Obama’s electoral history. This is likely to be his first race contested to the finish, and those are some pretty neat tricks he pulled in some cases to cruise into office.

* Substitute teacher does a magic trick, and was accused of wizardry.

‘Tis all for now.

* This piece on a self-selected survey on what kids are reading kind of irritated me a bit. Granted, the article does note that many of the books that are listed are due to assignment, but this self-congratulatory praise of the list by the same educators who don’t want to deviate from what they know and instead widely push the same books that only resonate with a subset of kids is discouraging to me. Furthermore, they even cite the decline in the amount of books read per year, and fail to note any possible correlations between the often-dated, unrelatable, and typically preachy fare that they assign as opposed to some of the more interesting writing available, many of which share similar values and information while actually relating, either in character or style, to the kids who are reading them. The disconnect is absolutely incredible to me. There’s a longer rant about books and assignments and “classics” and whatnot that isn’t really good for right now.

* Jonah Goldberg on the Tuskegee experiments, separating the myths from the reality. I learned something here.

* I’m pretty sick of our marijuana laws. This has to be a new low. It was prescribed, you morons!

* New Zealand’s laws are so insane that it’s illegal to buy Grand Theft Auto IV for your child. As bad as it gets here…

* Heh.

* CNN’s decided that the news isn’t really important anymore. In the tank, indeed.

* I think I’m gonna throw up.

Prediction for today? Clinton by more than 5 in Indiana, Obama by no more than 7 in North Carolina. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Clinton pull within 5 in North Carolina, but there are a lot of African American voters in that primary, and I assume they’ll continue to break in favor of Obama the way they have.

Minor annoyances with two great games:

1) There’s a fatal flaw in Mario Kart Wii’s online play, and that’s wheelies. The introduction of bikes allows you to get a speed increase by doing a wheelie on straightaways - increases speed while drastically sacrificing steering. You can, of course, pop out at any time, so it’s not that much of a sacrifice - twice now, I’ve played people who jump out to half track leads by the midpoint of the match simply by doing wheelies all the time. I mean, I suppose it’s kudos to them for exploiting an otherwise reasonable speed alternative, but as more people become used to the concept, it’s really going to remove the whole kart element, and that could be rough. Then again, maybe it won’t, but there’s my annoyance.

2) Grand Theft Auto IV is great. In terms of sheer scope and everything, the reviews are spot on, and the small things that people seem to be complaining about (minus the car complaints, which make sense since the cars handle like cars and not Mario Karts) are very enjoyable for me. With that said, the fact that I can get a girlfriend and get her to invite me up to her place after running over two pedestrians and knocking off the fire hydrant outside her apartment seems a little bit off. Then again, she was pissed that we left the magic act early, so what does she know?

* Way to go Vermont for incentivising organ donation. A good start.

* A small piece on GraniteGrok about one of my favorite Senators, John Sununu. He’s currently trailing behind Shaheen by uncomfortable amounts, and his campaign seems incredibly slow to get rolling, considering that it’s May now and no one’s heard as much as a peep, but here goes nothing…

* Also, Sununu’s name coming up in the VP talks for McCain. He’d be a great choice if we didn’t need Sununu in the Senate.

* From Urgent Agenda, Jeff Greenfield’s piece on Orwell and elitism. Provides a nifty contrast to the current race.

* I love this concept.

* More problems for Obama: people aren’t buying is comments about Wright. This is at least more plausible than the “closet Muslim” smear that went out there, which is why Obama can’t ignore this. Although, it appears, he just might anyway.

* Remember, these are being touted as improvements to Canada’s health care. No thanks…

* Is the media really taking it easy on McCain? Power Line puts another notch in the no column, thanks to the New York Times.

That’s all for now…

Let’s see what I can’t bang out right now.

* I hope I can be rich enough to do stupid stuff like this someday.

* The news I forgot about is that the looming recession might not be that looming. Not great growth by any stretch, but considering we’ve been hearing about this “coming recession” for as many quarters as there hasn’t been a recession, there’s at least reason to be somewhat optimistic that we’re experiencing a slowdown rather than a full-blown recession. Talk about a wrench in the election rhetoric, though.

* More FCC idiocy.

* Really, one of the best sports stories I’ve read in a while: The story of the injured softball player’s home run, and the sportsmanship of the opponents. Really interesting.

* Jacob Sullum at Reason maps out my relative discomfort with the FLDS craziness.

* Congrats to Capcom’s inclusion in Guinness for holding the record for “Most Number of Games in a Series” with the Mega Man franchise. Further kudos for Capcom taking it in stride and being able to laugh at itself a bit.

* Organic food myths.

* Robert Samullsen at the Washington Post nails the oil issue.

* Yesterday was May Day, so it’s a good time to remember the victims.

* Should Seattle declare its independence?

That’s it for now.

Happy May!

Books:

Ultimate Spider-Man: Venom/Irresponsible - Brian Michael Bendis: Still lovin’ the Spidey. Irresponsible may have been the first one I was genuinely shaky on, though.

Pandora’s Star - Peter F. Hamilton: An 800 page sci-fi tome that doesn’t even get into the meat of the story until almost halfway through. Oh, and then it makes you wait for the sequel. This is not damning a book with praise, however - it’s really exactly the kind of sci-fi epic I’ve been hungering for, and I’m honestly loving every page of the two book series. Highly, highly recommended.

Sarah Simpson’s Rules for Living - Rebecca Rupp: I’m not sure if it’s just so close to Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls or what, but this book didn’t do it for me at all. A kids book about a child working her way through, it just felt kind of stilted and empty, especially compared to Allie Finkle’s vibrancy or the endearing quirks of A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Too many threads left unresolved, and it just didn’t work for me.

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life/vs. The World - Bryan Lee O’Malley: I started reading these in part because I thought they’d be a good fit for my library (they are) and because Michael Cera’s signed on to be the title role in the film version. They’re fun, a little different, perhaps a wee bit more manga than I prefer, but still really good.

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You - Peter Cameron: A great, great YA book about an older teenager dealing with his life and therapy and whatever else. I really enjoyed this, it took some time to get into and suffers from Somewhat Unsatisfactory YA Book Ending, but still worked out great.

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America - David Hajdu: The title of the book says it all - a very academic look at the government’s war on comic books in the 1940s-1950s. Some things never change.

Heroes: Volume 1: Published anthology of the free Heroes webcomics posted on NBC.com. Not essential, but a fun diversion nonetheless.

The Gollywhopper Games - Jody Feldman: Take Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, put it in a toy company, and add in a dash of social commentary, and you get this book. Not a bad read, even with the obvious nods to past ideas, and it’s one I’ll give to kids in a flash.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie: I loved this book. Loved it loved it loved it. The story of a kid on an Indian Reservation who strives for things greater than what’s around him, and it works. I understand Alexie gets a lot of flack from American Indians, and I think I can see why, but this is still a really great book.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart: If Wes Anderson was to write a young adult novel about Massachusetts boarding schools, I somehow feel like this book might be it. I’m a big Lockhart fan, and I feel like this story and writing was a big step above anything she’s put out at this point. An interesting narrative, a fun story, and it just works really, really well for me.

Movies:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: I apparently forgot to get the memo that Judd Apatow’s crew isn’t funny anymore, because this movie was hilarious. Paced a lot better than a lot of efforts along the same line, and had plenty going for it from start to finish. High marks for this one.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: A rewatch for the inevitable viewing of the sequel. Yes, it’s absurd. Yes, Ann & I inadvertently watched it on 4/20. Yes, I love this movie a bit too much for someone who never touched illicit substances in college.

Baby Mama: Tina Fey is awesome, this movie was just okay. The funny parts were VERY funny, but it got dragged down a lot by the more touching parts, and that’s always tough. Not a bad watch, but I could have waited for the DVD.