Saturday, February 06, 2010
FYI, it's official: I HAVE BEEN DEPOSED.

Q: How do you say "NO" to a deaf puppy? A: You don't. Welcome, Jacques!

People of Earth: please VOTE TODAY, especially if you live in New Orleans' District C

1) Do you live in New Orleans?

2) If so, do you live in District C?

3) If so, did you know that Assessor Tom Arnold, who is running for City Council in District C, has been known to keep a gun in his office at the Algiers courthouse?

4) Did you know that Tom Arnold -- who may or may not be stark raving bananas -- was [supposedly seen] pointing that gun at his head after having a squabble with his wife?

5) Did you know that Tom Arnold has the worst campaign consultant ever? Because a talented consultant would never explain the aforementioned incident by saying, "Tom Arnold was not wielding a gun around the courthouse.... It was simply a disagreement between Mr. Arnold and his ex-wife, and it was a personal matter." WHICH INVOLVED A GUN.

6) Did you know that Tom Arnold's website features sentences, paragraphs, talking points, and beliefs borrowed from others? (Though technically, the blame for that falls to his site designer, Chip Quaglino, owner of Quaglino Advertising and Graphics, who recycled verbiage from previous campaigns he'd worked on with other candidates. Said the designer, "Sue me for not being overly creative or having time to sit down and do this." And he's got a point: surely it's crazy to think that that someone who builds creative content for his own ad agency would be creative.)

7) Did you know that as of Wednesday, Tom Arnold still hadn't bothered to file campaign finance records with the state Board of Ethics?

8) Did you know that Tom Arnold has a penchant for using police lights on his non-police vehicle when he's late for a meeting, or possibly dinner?

If the answer to any of these questions is YES, perhaps you should high-tail it to the nearest voting booth and ensure that the aforementioned motherfucker stays the hell off the New Orleans City Council.

Friday, February 05, 2010
In a world of bi-polar politicians, David Vitter stands out

I love seeing Republicans, Libertarians, and other "fiscal conservatives" bash Big Government, then pitch a hissy fit when anyone threatens to trim the budget of the oversized agencies in their district. NASA funding is a great illustration of that phenomenon, since much of NASA's work is based in Red States like Texas and Louisiana.

Case in point: our own Republican Senator David Vitter is forever screaming about scaling back the government, about reining in spending, about relying on the private sector to get things done. Basically, he's asking us to outsource. Not surprisingly, Vitter vehemently opposed the Big Three bailout (which, FYI, saved thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs), but he gets rootin' tootin angry when NASA sustains a hit, as he did in 2008 when he claimed that outsourcing space travel was equivalent to letting the Communists win:

"Today's hearing focused on a number of very important issues facing the future of NASA not addressed in [President George W. Bush's] FY 2009 budget request. I questioned the NASA administrator about the lack of funding in the president's budget to accelerate the development of the Ares 1 Launch Vehicle and the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The existing space shuttle program is due to be phased out by 2010, and if NASA is to continue with its tradition of progress and exploration we must move to address the gap in U.S. human spaceflight capability that will occur with the retirement of these vehicles.

"If we fail to accelerate the funding to close this gap, the U.S. will have no choice but to pay for our astronauts to travel to space in Russian vehicles. I am sure that most Americans will not be pleased to see us paying hundreds of millions of dollars to the Russians to send our astronauts into space at the same time we are laying off highly qualified, experienced and dedicated Americans who have been working on space shuttle programs for the past 27 years. NASA and the administration should examine whether it makes more sense to spend those hundreds of millions of dollars to close the gap rather than to pay the Russians to try to fill it," said Vitter.

[VoteSmart]

And from yesterday's email blast:

This week President Obama announced his intention to  terminate NASA’s Constellation Program intended to replace the space shuttle.  The president’s budget calls for NASA to instead rely solely on so-called “commercial”  space launch systems to take our astronauts into space.

Besides being bad for our nation’s space program, the president’s decision is particularly bad for  Louisiana and the dedicated workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans  who have been so integral to NASA since the days of the Apollo Program.   If Constellation is completely abandoned as the president  wishes, the effect on Michoud’s employees and the local economy would be  disastrous.

Now don't get me wrong: I am a complete science nerd. I love NASA. I think it's a hugely important program. I just think it's ironic that a Jeebus-loving, Darwin-hating Creationist would be eager to throw money at a giant-sized government agency that's so rational, objective, and science-y.

The Bank of Cthulu: DO NOT ASK TO SEE THE VAULT

[via DarkRoastedBlend]

Thursday, February 04, 2010
The Nagin administration's rationale for moving City Hall?

Yeah, they said that "[T]he amount of work deemed eligible by FEMA for storm-damage repairs was not enough 'to restore City Hall to its former functional status.'"

I should not have to explain the hilariousness of that statement.


[via BlogOfNewOrleans]

Reggie Bush: he's not just talented, he's calcium-rich

[Thanks, Ken]

Lance Bass 75% naked? Meh.

I mean, muscly, toned blonds are fine, I suppose, but Joey Fatone has more fun:


[via Towleroad]

Fujita, Tebow: two sides of the Free Speech coin

Fujita on his pro-gay marriage stance: "'It’s just me standing up for equal rights,' Fujita said. 'It's not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it's the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly.'" [NYT via Jonno]

Wednesday, February 03, 2010
I had a feeling Dennis Quaid was a lush, but I had no idea the guy carries around a six-pack

Seriously, I've never had abs like this 55-year-old guy:


Thank you, Dennis, for making us all feel like underachievers.

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