This is a very cool animation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 following the Second World War. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlrSYbCbHE]
It is impossible to see how Guantanamo conforms to this article in the declaration:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Winthrop's great city upon a hill has failed this declaration utterly.
You know Sarah Palin has problems when the ultraconservative paper Washington Times (not to be confused with the Washington Post, ya'll) prints the following report from the AP:
An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.
[Via]
I like the hood ornament on this concept ship by Marco Mazzoni:
While at my favorite hat store in Soho on Sunday I spotted a trophy rare jackalope on their wall.
Coworker Lynda has more on this half antelope, half jack rabbit hybrid. Did you know that some of them can also fly?!
Stay tuned for when I snap a photo of a unicorn.
Barack Obama announced today a new set of proposals to immediately address the current economic crisis.
For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I'm also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures. If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months. We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet.
Read full text of his speech here.
Milan Kundera, the reclusive author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being--one of my all time favorite novels--reportedly snitched on a western spy. AP writes:
...Kundera in 1950 informed on Miroslav Dvoracek, who had been recruited in Germany by the Czech emigre intelligence network to work as a spy against the Communist regime.
Dvoracek visited a woman in Prague and left a suitcase in her apartment. She told her boyfriend, who later told Kundera, and Kundera went to the police.
Dvoracek was arrested when he came to collect the suitcase. He was later sentenced to 22 years in prison and eventually served 14, working in uranium mines.
Avoid any surprises about your voter registration status. Metafilter:
The New York Times reports that tens of thousands of voters from swing states have been illegally purged from voter registration lists using social security numbers. Unsure whether your vote will count? Check here.
It took me literally 15 seconds to check my status using this link. I'm good to vote. Are you?
Law student (Notorious B.O.A.L.T?) at UC Berkeley Law raps about CivPro (Language NSFW). [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBTba2J6OKI]
This part made me laugh:
Your girl is an 8a, short and plain But that bitch is a ten when she’s giving me brain She bolted out of ASP, demanding relief But first I made her taste my jurisdictional reach
[Via]
Frank Rich writes:
Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.
What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.
[...]
To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.
Read more here.
Dear Senator McCain, Your silence on matters such as the following billboard in Missouri makes you complicit in the racist, xenophobic, and hateful actions of your supporters, which is dangerous not only for the physical well-being of Senator Obama and his family, but threatens our country as a whole.
[Via]
It sums up the entire [McCain-Palin] fall campaign in away:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz65AOjabtM]
LOL.
One of my favorite websites, which appeals to my inner geek, is Concept Ships which displays mind-blowing creations by various artists depicting ships of the future. I really like the subtly of this one by Chris Thunig:
Snoop and the Dogg Pound freestyle while Dre plays the piano. Classical gangstas. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb0MtwQqAj0]
[Via]
I really like the New Yorker's online error page which displays this:
Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, comments on the recent tone of McCain-Palin rallies:
Obama's middle name differs from my last name by only two vowels. Does the McCain-Palin campaign view me as a pariah too? Do McCain and Palin think there's something wrong with my name?
But never mind any of that.
The real affront is the lack of firm response from either McCain or Palin. Neither has had the moral courage, when taking the stage, to grasp the microphone, turn to the presenter and, right then and there, denounce the use of Obama's middle name as an insult. Instead, they have simply delivered their stump speeches, lacing into Obama as if nothing out-of-bounds had just happened. The McCain-Palin ticket has given toxic speeches accusing Obama of being a friend of terrorists, then released short, meek repudiations of some of the rough stuff, including McCain's call Friday to "be respectful." Back in February, the Arizona senator apologized for the "disparaging remarks" from a talk-radio host who sneered repeatedly about "Barack Hussein Obama" before a McCain rally. "We will have a respectful debate," McCain insisted afterward. But pretending to douse flames that you are busy fanning does not qualify as straight talk.
The straight talk that I did used to admire McCain for has become the hate talk. Sad.
Philadelphia hockey fans loudly and boisterously booed Sarah Palin who appeared to drop the ceremonial first puck at the Philadephia Flyer's season opener against the New York Rangers. That said, Philadelphia sports fans have a certain reputation for being a tough crowd. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4wQd_gbj8]
I'm not sure what the McCain camp was expecting, especially after a recent blunder by Palin. Last Sunday Palin nearly went for a jog in Philadelphia wearing a New York Rangers sweater with... "Palin 08" written on the back. I can actually kind of understand her logic slightly because local Alaskan star and former NHL rookie of the year Scott Gomez (pictured below) plays for the Rangers, and so she probably is a genuine fan. (Clay, get us a couple tickets man!!!) But then again, she should know when in Rome...
This is purely anecdotal but when I was in the outlier suburbs of Pennsylvania doing voter canvassing there along with my roommate, she spoke to an actual undecided but McCain leaning hockey mom who had five children herself. This hockey mom hated Sarah Palin.
[Via]
Update: Fox edits the boos.
Went out on Thursday night to the small club Mr. West for N's brother's birthday party.
Party started early for all the work folk so the club was pretty empty, except for friends of N's brother and that shiny suit dude in the corner. But eventually it went from like this to...
...like this.
Ayo!
N showing off his manicured nails.
Namik and Pooja!
Ayo taking a photo!
I liked this kid's t-shirt.
Don't forget to vote, ya'll!
Drunk brothers. Haha.
Friday night I went to my friend Nick's apartment after work for the three b's of BBQ, Beer, and the Boston Red Sox.
We sat in his backyard where they had a TV set up on top of the mini-fridge. I approve that set up. Afterwards we ended up going to a nearby bar to watch the rest of the fantastic win by the Red Sox. Really good times.
