Conservatives Show a Stronger Startle Response

Research published in today's 'Science' shows that social conservatives have a statistically stronger startle response than liberals. This would explain in part why peddling fear to Republicans is so effective.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Palin's Yahoo Account Compromised

Palin's use of private email addresses to circumvent public oversight of her political maneuvering has had an unintended consequence: someone broke into her yahoo mail account. It is unknown if the individual found any embarrassing details or not.

While I don't advocate breaking into anyone's email, as I was a victim of the same thing once, I do say it serves politicians right for this unapologetic affront to government of, for, and by the people. Use government email addresses for government business. When it is necessary to share this information with the public, do so. A politician should never engage in politics he/she is not proud of and that includes there government emails.

Unfaithfully Yours

A Brief History of Palin

The Nation has run a great, succinct little summation of Sarah Palin's many shortcomings and poor decision making while mayor and governor in Alaska.

Reading this article should make anyone frightened of her. John McCain totally sold his soul for this election. I wouldn't be surprised if the man is terminally ill as this has the scent of desperation of the highest order. He really wants to be able to put 'President of the United States of America' on his tombstone, even if it means losing all honor and decency in the process. It is a sad time in America.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Henry Selick Meets Neil Gaiman in 'Coraline'

I had heard about this awhile back and kind of forgot about it, but I am now super excited about Henry Selick's ('Nightmare Before Christmas', 'James and the Giant Peach', 'Monkeybone') new stop-motion film, 'Coraline', based upon Neil Gaiman's novella.

Check out the teaser trailer below:



And several featurettes below:











Unfaithfully Yours

McCain Helped Create the Blackberry

In news that brings to mind a gaffe by the Gore campaign in '00, a McCain representative claimed that John McCain helped create the Blackberry. I bet RIM is quaking in its boots in anticipation of the lawsuit McCain will surely be bringing to court to secure his overdue royalties.

At least he didn't go as far as taking credit for the whole internet cuz that really caused the Republicans' panties to bunch back in 2000. I am sure they will be equally mad about McCain taking undue responsibility in 2008.

Gotta love hypocrisy and double standards.

Sent to me by resident handyman (and lover of my mother), David.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Palin's Energy 'Experience'

A hilarious fabrication that the McCain-Palin campaign continue to foist upon the public. When will the public refuse to accept lies from their public officials? We are becoming a very stupid nation. That this race is still even in question is beyond pathetic.

Wallace and the 'Cure' that Killed Him

A brief bit from the Atlantic about the relationship between creating art and surviving depression in specific reference to David Foster Wallace. The author suggests that Wallace's work may have been missing key elements that allow for the transformation of depression into art that functions as effective treatment.

Unfaithfully Yours

Oil, Corruption, and Alaskan Politics

The New Yorker has a great piece on Alaskan politics and the rampant corruption that defines politics in the state.

In time Palin's involvement in such corruption will surely come out. You don't go from being mayor of Wasilla to governor without accepting lots of money from people who want things in return. And in Alaska those people are all oilmen.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Robert Smith Is Angry

A new Cure 5-song remix EP entitled 'Hypnagogic States' has been released to Britain's iTunes store. The only problem: the download is priced at 8 pounds when one can download the individual tracks for a reasonable 79 pence each. That made Robert Smith plenty angry and he let the label know it. Read the profanity-laced email he sent to the label here.

Tina Fey as Palin

As many of us have noted, Tina Fey and Sarah Palin look separated at birth. Their resemblance ws not lost on SNL writers who opened the new season with a sketch starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, and Amy Poehler reprising her role as Hillary Clinton. Read more here.

Palin on Palin

Read old Sarah Palin contradicting new Sarah Palin. If you didn't think she was misrepresenting herself before now you know.

Your Unfaithful Servant

David Foster Wallace Hangs HImself

Sad news from my hometown of Claremont, California: David Foster Wallace hanged himself in his Claremont home on Friday, September 12th. He was on sabbatical this semester after teaching creative writing at my alma mater, Pomona College, for the past six years. He was 46.

This is the second suicide in the past 11 years for Pomona College's English department. Professor Brian Stonehill died just weeks before I began at Pomona in August 1997. Officially, Brian died in an automobile accident. The automobile part is accurate, however the 'accident' from all indications was not accidental: Brian drove his car down a local mountain road at high speed into a giant boulder that lay at roadside.

I never thought Claremont was that depressing...

Also, please check out this commencement address that Wallace gave at Kenyon College a few years back. It is pretty great (stolen from AVClub). He even makes reference to suicide.

R.I.P. guys.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Yankee's Stadium -- 10 Times More Expensive

According to a brief interview from Democracy Now! the land used for the new Yankee Stadium was assessed at over ten times the value of the land that surrounds the stadium ($275 per square foot versus $25 per square foot). The article gives more details on why and on the investigations currently (or nearly) underway into this fleecing.

Newly Discovered Alzheimer's Gene

Scientists have discovered a new Alzheimer's Disease gene (quoted from SciAm):

"A newly identified genetic mutation increases the risk for the most common form of Alzheimer’s disease—the second major gene to be linked to the neurodegenerative disorder. The mutation occurs in the so-called CALHM1 gene, which controls calcium concentrations in nerve cells. Researchers observed that mutant CALHM1 led to increased accumulation of amyloid beta plaques, the sticky protein clumps characteristic of the disease. In the U.S.

Alzheimer’s affects one in 20 adults aged 65 to 74; carrying one defective copy of CALHM1 escalates the risk to one in 14 (and to one in 10 for those carrying two defective copies). The mutation also leads to an earlier age of onset. Reporting in the June 27 Cell, lead author Philippe Marambaud of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y., states that the CALHM1 gene—along with the first Alzheimer’s gene, APOE, discovered 15 years ago—will be important in screening for the disease."

I couldn't find a more comprehensive article on it on SciAm, but if I run across something I will post it here.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Tina Fey for VP

From faithful reader, She-Rene (aka shayrenee)

Your Unfaithful Servant

Matt Damon on Palin

I think that Matt Damon's politics and mine can't be too far apart. Check out his take down of Sarah Palin in an AP interview conducted recently.

Palin (Michael) for President!

His name was the first I thought of when I heard who the VP nom would be. The video makes a strong case for his candidacy ;-) :

Palin Lies

Just another example of how difficult it is to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Like modern day alchemists Republicans will keep trying to turn tarnished metals into gold, and let's all hope they fail miserably.

Story brought to my attention by reluctant reader (and roommate) David.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Language and the Macaque Brain

Research into macaque language processing shows strong parallels with human language processing suggesting an earlier evolution of the brain structures involved. Interesting read if you have any interesting in neurolinguistics.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Not Just for You: Animals Get STDs

So, turns out animals infected with STDs are far more common than I ever thought. Be careful next time you get a little too close to Fido.

Unfaithfully Yours

Lots of Palin

From TNR:

'The Invisible Woman'

'Washington Diarist'

'Why Palin Scares Me'

From Mother Jones:

Wasilla Rape Victims Forced to Pay for Own Forensics

Never Let the Facts Get in the Way of a Good Story

Palin: Advocate for Abstinence?

Mining V Environment

From dedicated reader She-Rene:

Not Everyone in Wasilla Loves Her

These are all small scale stories that continue to add to the portrait of a woman frightening in her politics and inexperience. A change indeed... for the worse if that is imaginable.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Sarah Palin and the Wasilla Church of God

This comes straight from Democracy Now! Frightening. McCain has sold his soul in this campaign and Sarah Palin is but one small part of that crooked deal.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Unconventional Football

An undermanned high school football team has taken an unusual approach to competing with larger schools in their league: replace linemen with receivers.

Pretty neato.

From reader Monica.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Lance Armstrong Returns to the Tour

Lance will ride for Astana next season and race in five races including Amgen's Tour of California and the big daddy of them all, the Tour de France.

I wonder how he will do. Could be exciting.

Also some bonus coverage of his recent performance in the Leadville Trail 100. He came in a very close second.

Some video from the event:



Your Unfaithful Servant

Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler'

Here is some interview footage and film clips from Aronofsky's Venice Film Festival winner for Best Picture, 'The Wrestler' starring Mickey Rourke. Apparently the soundtrack will be filled with '80s cock-rock standards.

Check it out. Looks promising.



And this:



Your Unfaithful Servant

In the Interest of Equal Programming Time I Bring You:

Obama's 10 worst ideas.

Phish Reunites!

It has been 4 years since Phish went on hiatus. The wait is over. For the first time since 2004, a fully reunited Phish played together in front of an audience (at a wedding for a former manager).

Check out a clip of them playing Hoist's 'Julius' in full wedding attire below:

Olbermann Removed as MSNBC Political Anchor

After his refreshingly candid and, *gasp*, intelligent commentary during the conventions, MSNBC has pulled the cowardly move of removing Keith Olbermann (and Chris Matthews) from the anchor spot on MSNBCs upcoming debate coverage.

It was so refreshing to hear Olbermann openly call out contributors on their partisan b.s. He also did fine analysis on the weaknesses of both the Republican and Democratic platforms.

Olbermann is witty and insightful. He is no liberal lapdog. His politics are more characterized by critical thinking and dare I say cynicism. He is great counterprogramming for the "journalism" of Fox News.

It is a sad day when Fox is allowed to run with its partisan agendas without any interference while MSNBC is muzzling intelligent commentary out of fear of right-wing attack dogs.

What a country.

Your Unfaithful Servant

A Sad, Confused Year for Feminism

TNR has a short piece on how Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin's candidacies did much to confuse American feminism. I tend to agree.

Unfaithfully Yours

Is Hipsterdom a Cultural Dead End?

This article makes the case that it is. I think that the article does a good job of digging into the reasons that many of us have trouble abiding hipsterdom.

Brought to my attention by faithful reader Dabu.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Christopher Hitchens Waterboarded

Christopher Hitchens consented to be a guinea pig for a waterboarding demonstration and the results were captured in this Vanity Fair video. Sadism knows no bounds in the Bush administration.

You can also read his piece from the August issue: 'Believe Me, It's Torture.'

Your Unfaithful Servant

Cindy McCain: No Liberal Elitist

In case you wondered how much Cindy McCain's outfit for the RNC would run you on the street Vanity Fair has your answer. Down with the rich liberal elite, indeed!

Woebegone...

Your Unfaithful Servant

Palin's National Guard Experience Misrepresented

How about this for commander-in-chief experience? I know I will sleep soundly at night knowing that Sarah Palin is a heartbeat away from commanding our military.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Del Toro Signs on for a Hundred New Projects

Guillermo del Toro is going to be a busy boy for the next decade. Couldn't make me happier. His artistic vision is singular and always intriguing.

Unfaithfully Yours

Palin Against Big Oil? Think Again

Do you know where the proceeds from opening up protected lands in Alaska go? Big Oil, of course. But more surprising is another group of beneficiaries: every man, woman, and child in Alaska (if they have lived in the state more than one year). The state constitution of Alaska stipulates that the revenues derived from selling and leasing public lands and resources are to be shared equally between all Alaskan citizens.

Just last year Alaskans received dividend checks of $1600 for their complicity in the exploitation of their state's natural resources. In other words, rising oil company profits and rising oil prices are desirable politically and economically in Alaska. They aren't against Big Oil, rather they have more to gain from continued reliance on oil in the United States and abroad than residents of any other state in the union.

While we are drowning in the consequences of continued reliance on oil from sources domestic and international, residents of Alaska are salivating at the potential of complete and profound exploitation of all of their natural resources. It means money in the bank and food on the table, while for all the rest of us it means quite the opposite.

Why would someone in Alaska want to protect ANWAR? That doesn't get them a penny more in their dividend check at the end of the year. Just look at Palin's immediate family: there are 5 children, 1 soon-to-be-born grandchild, Palin and her husband. That is 8*$1600, or $12,800, a year for their family and that is without the large-scale expansion in drilling that Palin and McCain support.

Unbelievable profiteering on the misfortune of the masses. Not to mention a cynical view on protecting the natural beauty and ecological integrity of their own home.

Your Saddened Unfaithful Servant

McCain Cancels Interview with Larry King

John McCain has backed out of his appearance on Larry King because of an interview that aired last night on CNN. Campbell Brown took a no nonsense, but by no means over the line, approach to an interview regular CNN contributor and McCain campaign operative Tucker Bounds. In the interview she pressed Bounds on the qualifications of Republican VP-nominee Palin. Bounds, possibly expecting the kind of softball question appropriate to a fluff piece, was unable to field some of Brown's simpler questions about the achievements and experience of the VP. Rather he wanted to try to shoehorn in his rote talking points. You can see the comedy below.

I think more than desiring punishment of CNN, McCain is actually frightened to come onto a network that won't only pitch softballs. A network that still strains to achieve some semblance of real journalism.

It is clear that Palin was a choice improperly vetted and selected to try to one-up Obama and his amazing speech on the final night of the DNC. Her record in no way stands up to serious scrutiny and any event that is not properly buffered with promises of no tough questions will no longer be considered by the McCain campain because there is no substance upon which to defend their VP. They hope that their thin claims of executive experience (e.g., PTA president, Wasilla City Council member, mayor, and manager, etc.) and her supposed reformer status will be enough to carry them through the election.

Good luck.

Your Unfaithful Servant

For Your Viewing Pleasure: 'No End in Sight'

For those of you who haven't had a chance to catch the stirring Iraq War documentary, 'No End in Sight', you can watch the video free of charge and legally on YouTube. The film's director has made it freely available in the run up to the election starting on Labor Day and running through November 5th. You can check it out in the embedded stream below.

Please pass this along to any interested citizen as it could in some small way make the difference between more of the same and an opportunity for something better come election time. Notice I didn't say a guarantee, but at least Obama gives us a fighting chance which is far more than can be expected from McCain.

Unfaithfully Yours

Watchmen -- The Legal Arguments

For those of you who crave more news on the legal entanglements complicating the release of 'Watchmen' in March, please read this article. We will see how this pans out, but after reading this I feel that if Warners is being honest in its filings, that Fox has little to stand on in the case. This is good news for all of us who hope to be watching this film at full-length come March.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Palin's Future Son-in-Law a Future Felon?

"Alaska statutory rape laws declare that anyone who is 18 years old or older who has sex with a person who is 16 or 17, or who is at least three years younger than the offender, can be charged with sexual abuse in the third degree. This is also a felony." This info comes from an article here that goes into a lot of detail on the statutory rape laws of Alaska.

I bring this up because it is directly related to what I learned about the father of Palin's grandchild. According to this article Palin's future son-in-law, Levi Johnston, is 18 years of age. Palin's daughter, Bristol, is only 17 at present. The couple has been together for more than one year.

You can do the math. Unless the statute has recently changed in Alaska, Levi Johnston would be a felon by definition. As with all of us, he is entitled to a speedy and fair trial and I would hope that proceedings are planned for the near future. As any right winger will tell you, you can't allow people to skirt the law or else society will collapse.

I assume that Palin is a tough-on-crime governor and she will be the first to call for his immediate arrest and prosecution. I believe in this great woman to do the right thing.

Sarcastically and Unfaithfully Yours