- The 3 A.M. Test: Rick Santorum cheats. Rather thank waking up to find out what emergency faces the United States at three o'clock in the morning, Rick Santorum will be wide awake and waiting for the call. "I will be up and ready ... I will know what's going on in the world around us." Part of that matter is that late night at the White House proves the only time sex games are possible, and more Presidents have been up and bushy-tailed at that hour than some voters might think. Santorum wouldn't be able to put on his furry costume if he didn't stay up late. Steve Benen said that it often sounds as though Santorum is in the middle of a conversation with himself. Now we know why.
- The award for Unspoken Fact with Biggest Impact in a Blog Post Title goes to Morgan Fox for "Department of Justice Takes Steps to Subsidize California Gangs; Threatens to Shut Down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries." It also wins runner up for longest title of a post of all time. Shorter: Feds Go After Medical Marijuana. Gangs are not mentioned in the short piece. I was very disappointed. I wanted to know which gangs would be most lucrative to join from a federal funding standpoint. [8:33 P.M.]
. - Rick Perry spoke at a Value Voters Summit today in Washington D.C. A charismatic Baptist from one of the nation's megachurches introduced him. Robert Jeffress took aim at one of the people standing between Perry and the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney. Jeffress repeatedly commented on Mitt Romney's belief in Mormonism saying that no devout Christian would vote for a Mormon. Jeffress called Mormonism a cult; Mitt Romney, cult member - the Jefress target message. White Christians are still welcome to support Rick Perry, unless they have ever spoken with a brown person. It is hoped that new supporters will be protestant, but nobody is saying it quite that way.
While at the summit Rick Perry declared that "every human being is entitled to life." He presumably meant that in a ramp up to a vociferous anti-abortion advocacy. He definitely did not mean that people like Troy Davis should be allowed to live. That position would be open to an examination of real evidence, and would be too easily manipulated in front of voters, who often only get a sound bite of information about a candidate before they make up their minds. Human being, it should also be noted, in Rick Perry's mind may not apply to people outside his demographic.h/t NRO
- Nate Silver threw up some data on Occupy Wall Street news coverage. Every time the police do something to the protesters coverage goes up. In a very real sense if the police left protesters completely alone the interest in the story would have withered and died. Without conflict and excitement there would have been nothing to sell the story for this length of time. That simplification of the 538 article removes a lot of information - the corners have been rounded down until all that's left here is a little pink crazy ball (sniff). Nate's analysis, it appears, has been moved, and now takes place under the New York Times umbrella. [3:15 P.M.]
- People are waking up to the fact that the 99% who have very little in the way of wealth is ALL OF US. We are the megamajority. The tiny, tiny percent at the top counts on bilking us to remain super, super wealthy, and as long as we don't empower ourselves they can do so. There will be no class war in a true American awakening, because we're very nearly EVERYONE. We are the 99%.
- Driftglass and Blue Gal have a new podcast called The Professional Left. It's really a breath of fresh air. The got a great new thing going, and I found out about buzzsprout. It's 100% win. [5:15 P.M.]
The sad: OpenLeft is closing down. Bowers and Stoller were still there. David Sirota departed two years ago or so. I do not want to belittle anyone who wrote at that great site. OpenLeft will be missed. A lot of times when a fresh outlook was needed I could find there. I don't know a silver lining tothis as I just found out. I hope there is one. Goodbye, OpenLeft. [9:20 P.M.] - The Russian President has a birthday. Followers and detractors alike decided to thank him, for everything. The weather has been nice. Thank you, Putin, for everything. The hospital saved my life after I was stabbed in the leg by syndicate members. Thank you, Putin! Twitter was inundated with birthday wishes for President Putin: Spasiboputinuzaeto. They used an exclamation point, but it's just not that exciting here. The translation is so simple, but it can't be done using public translation software. The mystery of what the word on Twitter meant was solved as soon as someone asked a Russian speaker.
- Inside Scientology's Super Power Building... where worshippers of the controversial religion will be told they can become superhuman. Don't believe everything you hear. The place resembles the set of a game show, one that has an extra helping of futuristic gimmicks. Scientology preaches that the Earth is the target of an invasion by aliens, who are likely already here. That hostile race of extraterrestrials is responsible for a wide range of the problems faced by humanity. Luckily Scientology will be so busy cranking out superhumans the rest of us will easily be saved. On the day when Scientology ubermensches save us we will all owe L. Ron Hubbard our undying gratitude, in some of our cases right after an apology for referring to the religion as sheer lunacy.
- Soundtrack: Stein's;Gate Future Gadget - "Butterfly Effect" - Abo Takeshi and Murakami Jun composed a lot of the music. The soundtrack provides a depth to the audio experience that can easily be missed while watching the show. There's so much going on emotionally in the video that some of the finer aspects of the experience almost get lost. Conjecture: Some people watched the show and didn't think of changing their own world at all. I pondered having a moe scene in the unlikeliest of all places - never gonna happen, not even with a dozen D-Mails to Stan Lee after Akira came out. [12:25 P.M.]
- "Jenkins, front and center!"
"Yes, sir!"
"What's going on with you? You used to be our go-to guy for the... for this... has something been bothering you Jenkins?"
"I'm not sure I understand you, sir."
"Blue Team is kicking our ass all of a sudden. We're only down by an average of fifty points every week. We traced all the numbers, and it turns out what we're missing is your fifty point a week consolation prize."
Jenkins face turned red. "I'd prefer not to discuss that, sir."
"I understand it's private, private, but you're used to going through that every week. As long as they're giving out fifty points to accompany the embarrassment, we'd like you to go ahead and do your 'hand race,' as the GI Janes call it. It's for the good of the unit."
"I feel very uncomfortable with that request, sir. There's a girl that I'm interested in. The only reason I was doing it was because of how long I had been single."
"Well, then, consider it an order instead of a request."
"Are you ordering me to -cough- choke my chicken?"
"It's for the good of the unit."
"What unit? Do you mean the platoon or... I don't even feel comfortable with this conversation."
"Dammit, soldier, we haven't won the week in 3 weeks, and all because you like a girl. You ned to get back into the saddle when you get back into that bunk of yours at night and win the prize for most pathetic soldier again. We need that fifty points!"
"What about Woodson or Luc Dong? They're pretty pathetic. One of them is probably on the verge of winning that prize already."
"Jenkins, you have demonstrated that you know the competition to get this fifty points like the back of your hand. Don't let us down, son. And that girl will never find out, I promise you. Nobody outside of our barracks will ever know what you do in there at night."
"I'm going to request a transfer."
"That's fine soldier. Glad to hear it. Now run along. And don't forget to do us proud tonight!"
[noon]
[Late start... got lost in the middle of the night, seriously. That doesn't happen very often. There's a first time for everything.]
Repent or Die