Highlight of the Debate

He's Even a Lefty

On Obama:

“I didn’t think he could play at all, to be honest with you,” Mr. Green said. But “he’s above average,” for a pickup player, Mr. Green said. “He’s got a nice little left-hand shot and some knowledge of the game.”

I knew I related to him for a reason.

Too Long on the Trail

I respect John McCain a lot. Probably much more now than I will after the general election, but at the moment I still respect him a great deal. I'm saying that because I am not posting this video in an attempt to point and laugh at McCain and say "wow he really is taking the Bush legacy to heart, he's a bumbling mess just like W." The campaign trail is a psychologically and physically brutal experience for the candidates, but so is being president. If McCain keeps to slip as he gets more and more fatigued from this process, what kind of president could he be?

Are You Serious?

http://opticalillusions4kids.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home

It's official, I'll be back in Seattle on March 17th.

Smart Parking

I jacked this image from google, but I see this pulled by smart parkers all the time in Freiburg, and every time I see it, it makes me want to own a smart car.

The Hungry

Oh Russert, Oh Russert

While the debate was pretty interesting, none of the answers from Obama or Hillary were nearly as revealing as Tim Russert's questions. At first he was just being a tool to Hillary, and at the beginning I thought the debate was framed unfairly against her, but then he really out did himself with his Farrakhan number.

No End In Sight

I finally watched No End In Sight. It was very informative, revealing a lot of information about the decision making process on how the war has been conducted. It really shows, that it isn't simply that we've had a president who makes bad decisions. Most of the time he can't even be bothered to take the time to understand the problems, or read a one page summary of the state of Iraq before dismissing it as guess work. He's genuinely disinterested in the matters that mean life or death to hundreds of thousands of people.

Olbermann Sometimes You Suck

This Olbermann clip is really frustrating, why can't he point out the blatantly obvious?



1. It is different when Stewart tells a joke that incorporates the names Hussein, Obama, Hussein and Hitler than if Coulter were to do the same for a number of reasons. The most important is the actual subject of the joke. There's no problem with pointing out the obvious similarities of Obama's name to Sadaam Hussein and Osama. Stewart said that Barack has accomplished a lot by overcoming that obstacle. It wasn't just random association with the name in an attempt to confuse people which is which or to associate their beliefs with one another which is what Fox news and Mitt Romney repeatedly did. So no, Olbermann, you are wrong, there is absolutely no problem with Stewart's joke.

2. Fred Armisen's "Fauxbama" performance was visually almost perfect. The dialogue and body language is another question, but it was in no way absolutely necessary to have Obama played by an African American, Armisen pulled it off really well.

Why It's OK to have Republicans for Obama

Why do many Republicans like Obama? He's got to be politically center if Republicans like him right? For some reason when polled people identify him as being left of Hillary, but Republicans despise her, so what's going on? Can I still like Obama despite the fact that Republicans do?

In terms of stated policy, Obama and Hillary are nearly identical. The two major policies that they differ on are Lobbyist/PAC money and whether or not to mandate health insurance in their universal health care plans. Lobbyist influence in Washington is the corrupting force that prevents our government from representing the people. This is (finally!!!) a no brainer issue that Republicans and Democrats can unite on. Democrats can agree on this without losing any liberal cred, so no worries.

What is truly fascinating is that Republicans are coming to the candidate, whose only criticism from Nader was essentially that he's not substantive enough in his speeches and therefor doing a disservice to the ideas that they stand for... yes they. Obama is making it possible for Republicans to find common ground with the someone as left as Ralph. If I had a large readership, I would never be writing this out of fear that it would scare away Obama's conservative supporters.... but I don't!

The last reason why so many Reps are sympathetic to Barack is that he is a genuine alpha dog, and Reps love them some alpha dogs. No matter what Kerry's policies were, they could never in a million years support him, which is too bad because his thoughtfulness is what makes him a great man. To many of the GOP though, if you come off as looking like you consider another perspective on an issue, you are weak, indecisive and incapable. Obama manages to be thoughtful, but always confident, and always "sticking to his gut". Dems, it's OK to have the cool kid be president. This cool kid would stick up for the Chess team if need be.

Best of Andrew Sullivan

This man is amazing, and if you don't read his blog daily then I feel sorry for you. He just got back from a week off, and man did he come back.

1.


2.
The View From Obama's Window

3.
Andrew:

The deepest question in this election is how America interacts with the world. If you care about this country, you will care about America's isolation, awful p.r., stressed military and growing debt under Bush-Cheney. Sometimes it helps to see things a little from the outside.

4.
The documentary Freeheld looks beyond powerful, and hugely important in accomplishing change in society.

The Daily Oscar Show

Stuff like this I feel funny for posting because it's everywhere, but if you haven't already seen it you gotta watch it!

On Nader

My feelings exactly. I really struggle with people bashing Nader. No, I don't think any of his presidential runs have helped the nation, but I also highly doubt that there is another person on this planet who cares more about making America a better place. In no way is this man a failure. Where would we be without everything he accomplished before the year 2000?

Vanderslice

Last night I saw John Vanderslice at the White Rabbit in Freiburg. It was an excellent show. Vanderslice came off as the ultimate nerd rocker, and a very talented dude. The venue was pretty much just a bar, with cave-like, curved white ceilings and one end designated as the stage. I sat on the ground pretty much underneath Vanderslice's microphone. For the encore, the band went into the middle of the crowd, completely unplugged as everyone huddled around.

Lyric of the Day

I can play basketball with the moon, I got the whole world at my feet

-weezy

Best of Barack

Typical Adam sends me the naked pic of Barack. And I quote "David Hasselhoff's got nothing on him."

1000 Years Zähringen

No big deal, but the neighborhood I live in, Zähringen, turned one thousand years old this year.

The Kölsch Meter

I am seriously regretting not having my camera with me last night, but we ordered one of these, a glorious meter of fine Kölsch beer. Just one of the things I love about living in Germany.

Ed

Ed Begley is quite an extraordinary guy. I just love how he pulls this stuff straight from his brain. He's the epitome of the eco-nerd. Baller.

Texas

Whoever said Barack couldn't do well in Texas is about to eat their words. At the debate last night the crowd was clearly pro Hillary and Barack, but only Hillary was able to summon boos from the crowd that is supposed to be her savior in this election. She did have a very strong debate in my opinion though. I was very impressed with her passion about health care. That was another very genuine moment coming from the woman who continually struggles to be just that. I had another one of those moments last night watching the debate, where I realized how lucky democrats, and America are this 2008 election.

Obama is constantly being questioned for his ability to stand up to political attack machines. Last night he did just that. When Hillary came after him about his health care plan, accusing him of wanting to leave 15 million uninsured, he came back loud and clear. Both of them are offering plans they think will best insure everyone, and they have fundamentally different opinions on how that goal should be accomlished. To accuse someone of having a different goal, or desiring to leave 15 million uninsured based on differing opinions on how that goal should be accomplished is misleading, and a form of politics that should not be tolerated. Obama fared very well for himself against such attacks, and repeatedly took the high road without letting these attacks go unchallenged. While I respect both, the differences between these two candidates are profound.

The Future of Prosthetics

From the inventor of the Segway comes a new breed of prosthetics. Very incredible stuff.

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=221

Thanks Adam for the link!

Taxi To the Dark Side

I just watched this film based on Bill Moyer's recommendation. It is a truly saddening and heart wrenching film. Watching the applause to Bush's words "One by one the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice" I was suddenly drawn back to the videos I watched in school of the parades for Hitler as he rode through the streets of Germany. I remembered watching in awe that people actually celebrated such pure evil. It became to me glaringly apparent, that just as Bush has often said about himself, history will be his judge. I think it will be an even harsher critic than any he faces today.

Tale of three speeches

Hillary and McCain are now both on the defensive.... and delivering very similar messages.

10 In a Row

Thank you Wisconsin and Hawai'i!!! With numbers and momentum piling on Obama's side Texas is looking to be within reach.

Superman!!

Best of Barack

good work adam

Happiness

What is happiness?

"...to be happy before anything happens, to have a happiness that's not contingent upon the next good thing that's going to happen but to actually be at rest with what is happening right now."

zeeeeennnnnnnnn

The Future Belongs to Radiohead

In case you didn't already know.

Be Kind Rewind

This movie looks like it will be seriously cool. I can't wait to see it... I mean, Jack Black is magnetized, it doesn't get better than that.

Reading a Book by its Cover

As we've been told by the NY Times Barack Obama is a Mac and Hillary a PC. In terms of their website design this is pretty clear, luckily however Obama isn't limited to 9% of the voting public. Their websites really reflect this (slightly) oversimplified view. It is cool to like Obama. Hillary is kind of square, but she's strong in her own rights, and is clearly something more aligned with what the world has been used to in the past.

I'm not really trying to point out anything substantive though. When it comes down to it, BarackObama.com makes me go "oooh ahhhh" in a way that is iPhone-esque. When I go to HillaryClinton.com I feel like I'm suddenly in a very cold place, where I won't be able to edit music, and the one cool thing about it (iTunes/Change) is stolen from the other camp, and won't work quite as well as it does in the original system.

Best of Barack

Balllllllliiinnnnnn

Project Implicit

Harvard's online test that tells you who your subconscious would vote for.

My results:

Whoa

iAno

Democrats Abroad - Germany

Here are the results from the Democrats Abroad (Germany) Primary vote:

In-person voting tally: Obama won with 69% of the vote to 31% for Hillary, which seems to confirm the trend from the other German cities and what just happened in the Potomac Primaries.

Interestingly, Hillary evenly split the male/female vote (9/9) while Obama garnered slightly more female votes than males (20/18).

Hillary also did roughly all well with the 20-somethings, but had no 30-something votes compared to a strong Obama count.

Also, curiously, Obama did better in the 60+ vote – perhaps the sample size of 56 would be considered not statistically significant by pollsters.

Best of Barack

awwwwwwwwwww, thanks mom!

America's Inertia

The trickle is turning into a massive flow. American democrats were pulling a balancing act with Clinton hanging on one arm and Obama the other. More and more people are jumping to Barack's side and pulling the nation in his direction. John Lewis, a Clinton supporter and prominent figure in the African American community, is now saying that as a super delegate he will likely vote for Barack Obama, so as not to act in conflict with the process of democracy.

As Josh Marshall points out, the argument of whether or not super delegates can legitimately counteract the votes of the American public, is an argument that will never fully sprout. About half of the supes are still uncommitted, and the only possible explanation for that is that they are waiting for the rest of America to firmly establish who their candidate is. Once it is undeniably obvious, they will not deny the rightful candidate of the nomination.

aka bye bye Hillary

Surfing in Munich

Thanks Adam for the link to the stellar slide show of surfing in Munich. My favorite part is when the big rafts float down the river and the surfers taunt the drunken Germans and the drunken Germans sing, and yell back. That is the spirit of Germany that I've come to know and love.

Best of Barack Image Contest

so far i'm winning the contest

Charge your MP3 Player by dancing to its music!

This is such a cool idea! It isn't gonna be able to generate tons of power or anything, but iPod and cell phones could run off it for sure.

A nanotech invention by a US research team offers an intriguing glimpse of the future: slip on some nanowire-embedded clothes, plug your MP3 player or cellphone into them, and as you dance or walk around, your outfit generates enough power to run the gadget.

Best of Barack Image Contest

I put up the original Best of Barack Image Contest stuff as a joke, because I found some sweet pics of Barack, and I thought that literally nobody was reading this stuff. But now that I've checked the comments, and have found that at least two people have read my blog at some point, maybe you guys would be willing to participate!! So if you have a sweet pic of Barack either that you found or made yourself send it to me!

OBAMA WINS VIRGINIA

next up.... the nomination.

I've now seen about giga-many people call the nomination going to Obama, including Penn from Penn and Teller which was interesting. All this stuff about Clinton stealing it away through super delegates is interesting, but can you imagine anything being more hypocritical of the DNC? I just don't see it happening.

Best of Barack!

I love this pic. In a recent interview he said that he always does well in primaries when he plays basketball the morning of. What a baller.

Best of Barack Image Contest

Today's Winner is

$500 for 32GB???????

Are you effing kidding me?? Is this not nuts? I thought you were supposed to laugh at how expensive memory was in the past, not the present. I give this 6 weeks till prices drop cause that is just stoooooopid.

super duper

I dont know why I haven't written anything about Super Tuesday yet. I mean, I am pretty pumped at how well Obama did, but I can only maintain a level of suspense and anticipation for so long. I just want him to take Hill out already. After surviving tuesday, he's in a pretty good position though, considering how much more money he's got to spend on ads than Hill does at this point. Considering where they each started from before their campaigns, he is royally kicking her ass, which just goes to show you that his message is winning. And that means that the only reason he isn't completely dominating is because he can only reach so many people at a time, and that ultimately, among the people who are somewhat informed about this election Obama is the clear winner, and Hillary is the winner among those who aren't paying any attention, and the few hard core democrats who will do whatever they can to piss of the GOP. Hillary is the new Bush.... let's hope the message reaches enough people.

F-ysics

jeeeeeesus physics is kicking my ass. in the beginning it's 30 sec of work for an hour of satisfaction and brain tickling, and now it's about 4 hrs of work for 10 sec of brain tickling and this ratio is just effed up.

Fastnacht

Yesterday I observed the German holiday Fastnacht. It was a lot of fun. I got about 30 different explanations about the holiday from my German friends and host family, and I thought I was completely confused about it, but then I checked it out on Wikipedia, and it turns out, it's about as complicated as I understood it was. So, it wasn't just a language thing.

Basically we watched the parade where they marched all of the winter spirits away, and then there was a giant party with plenty of alcohol in the middle of the city. It was really fun to watch a place, that I'm not gonna lie, is usually kind of up tight, become completely chaotic and wild.

I watched the movie Bodysong yesterday, and I'm reading The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond, so of course the whole time all I could think about was the human animal, and why we do all the bizarre stuff we do blah blah blah. That's the problem with Diamond, he just messes with your head, and then you can't just mindlessly enjoy watching witches and liquor flow through the streets.