The International House of Bacon

Books:

American Nerd: The Story of My People - Benjamin Nugent: Possibly the most mainstream academic-type book on nerds and nerd interests ever written. A fascinating read, even as someone who could relate, but I have a feeling this might be more for people who are intrigued by sociology and may have actually had “normal” interests.

The Revolution - Ron Paul: Ron Paul’s version of The Conscience of a Conservative falls a little flat - not terribly interesting and not important enough to reach the people it needs to. Yet it’s still a sound read and is probably good for those people who had to answer “who’s that guy you voted for” so many times.

The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson: Really, really fascinating account of the creation of the Chicago World’s Fair. It ties it together with a murder mystery of sorts that I honestly couldn’t have cared less about, but the book itself is extremely accessible and a fun read, especially since I wasn’t too familiar with the World’s Fair. Now I want to read about the one in Paris.

Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness - Bryan Lee O’Malley: I’ve liked the Scott Pilgrim series, but this is the first one that’s actually really pulled together for me. Good fun.

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer: Yeah, finally got around to reading this. I see what all the fuss is about - it’s a non-sexual-but-really-sensual love story! There are vampires! Oh emm gee!! But it’s actually not too shabby - I’d likely never pick this up on my own, which is telling, and the writing is far from spectacular, but for a teen novel? I’ll take it. I’m waiting for the next one to come back to the library.

McCain: Myth of a Maverick - Matt Welch: I’ll have a longer post about this soon - this book did the exact opposite that I expected, to be short about it.

Brett McCarthy, Work in Progress - Maria Padian: An interesting YA read about a sort-of coming-of-age deal. Has a bit of the requisite “special snowflake” thing going, but as the type of story it is, it ain’t bad. First YA book to talk about medical marijuana that I’m aware of, though.

Superman: Red Son - Mark Millar: I think Mark Millar might be pretty awesome. This is a “what if” scenario involving Superman crashing in the Ukraine rather than a farm in the midwestern US. It plays really well with the whole concept of what a Soviet society with a Superman might be like, and ties up at the end rather nicely. A very enjoyable read, surprisingly.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Silver Sable - Brian Michael Bendis: Kind of scattershot at times, although I like me some Kitty Pryde. Almost caught up, though…

No movies in June. How sad!

Race free edition!

* No, really - some meta-blogging here - if you’re going to comment, please be aware that there are people who may not think like you do, and as much as we might not want to mince words, sometimes we have to to get a point across, and that means going by the basic expected norms. This goes for everyone, even though yesterday was a tipping point of sorts - I don’t want to or plan to monitor everyone or set hard and fast ground rules, just remember that we’re all human beings here is all. We have great conversations with these posts, I’d like to not see this turn into a morass.

* Now, onto real issues: Obama wants to expand Bush’s faith-based initiatives. A more detailed explanation from the campaign can be read in PDF form here, and some statements from the man himself here. It’s okay that I find this whole thing completely laughable at this stage, right? Yet again, Obama, who was being praised again for this speech for its secularistic tendencies, decides to run from wherever he stood before to…what, exactly? I don’t even know who this is supposed to grab in this case, given his other positions. But this is still incredibly funny to me. I’m officially wondering where the line is for many of his supporters.

* More good news from Iraq: not only are we seeing great achievements in the benchmarks, but the Sunni boycott may be coming to an end. I still think Iraq is way overblown as an issue this election - the progress we’ve been seeing as of late almost definitely means that we’ll be seeing gradual withdrawals as we continue on anyway, and neither Obama or McCain are truly foolish enough to mess with that. Right?

* Surprise surprise - Justice Kennedy’s assertion about capital punishment for child rape? Not entirely true. I feel like this is what happens when you decide to create a “consensus” out of thin air.

* Yesterday marked 35 years of an all-volunteer military. Something to cheer about.

* The Heritage Foundation blog offers some comparisons with Obama’s tax plan and how it has affected others with similar situations.

* Oh, wait, something changed again - Obama apparently supports gay marriage now. Remember, he used to be against gay marriage. EDIT: I may have dove at this too early - this isn’t a de facto support for gay marriage, but it’s still an interesting move on his end.

* Obama in 2005: “We will NOT support the removal of [North Korea] from the State Department list of State Sponsors of Terrorism until such time, among other reasons, as a full accounting is provided to the Kim family regarding the fate of Reverend Kim Dong-Shik following his abduction into North Korea five years ago.” Obama in 2008: Apparently, as long as they meet disarmament conditions. I’m sure the Kim family is pleased.

* As gas prices rise, remember that Obama called for a global ban on fissile materials. You know, the stuff that makes nuclear power. The stuff that’s probably keeping demand for oil and coal-based energy at bay in many western nations. The stuff that could act as a clean, workable alternative for the United States very soon. Worth remembering.

* Obama’s also taking credit for welfare reform, even though he was against Clinton’s reform, against his state’s reform, and consistently dodged the question up to this point. Anyone want to tell me what positions Obama has that he won’t shift on?

* Protectionism sucks. You listening out there?

* Finally, a fun 1940 election ad.

Be good, folks!