Realm of the Wombat

I’ve seen this aquatic specimen around, but never in action. The owners did a significant amount of body work here, as the rear end of the van was removed to put in the ladder to the roof. Also, the addition of the fin behind the vehicle makes the fish unique even among Berkeley cars.

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Thanks to Beaudry and Stache for the tip on this one. It took a couple months for me to follow up, but when I did, it was a definite score. “Just Right” here is about as psychadelic as they come. Interestingly, there are a few messages about Jesus, yet it has a yin-yang spare tire cover. Multi-denominational. I like it.

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This is an American history book made up of excerpts from foreign textbooks. It does an excellent job of putting perspective on the United States’ place in the world. Going in, I expected the American Revolution to be the most interesting part, however, in the context of Europe’s long history, that event represents just a small portion of what was happening globally for Britain and France. One thing I took from this book was the negative outlook of American foreign policy, basically since its inception. I wouldn’t say I was surprised, but it was a reminder in light of 9/11 that distrust of the United States is not a recent phenomenon.

Now, it seems like a completely different season, but Notre Dame did defeat Michigan this fall, and in so doing, I earned the following:

I hate to listen to a Michigan fan’s advice about my football team, but I’m inclined to agree.

The major problem with this idea is that my country would be abbreviated USC, but United Provinces of Canada would probably acceptable.

I went to my second REM show of their tour last night. Following their travels with the Concert for Change tour and support for the Kerry campaign, the shadow of election day made it “a strange Thursday night,” according to Michael Stipe. I’m glad that it wasn’t just me feeling that way. They opened the show with “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” their closing song on previous tours, but to my knowledge unplayed on the current tour. If that wasn’t enough of a statement, they followed with “Begin the Begin,” urging “Let’s begin again.” I took it to mean 2008, but maybe I’m reading too much. In any case, Michael was short on words, preferring to let the lyrics speak for him. The set list:

It’s the End Of the World as We Know It
Begin the Begin
So Fast So Numb
Welcome to the Occupation
Animal
Boy in the Well
Get Up
The Outsiders
Cuyahoga
High Speed Train
The One I Love
Sweetness Follows
Imitation of Life
I Wanted to be Wrong
Losing My Religion
Final Straw
Walk Unafraid
Life and How to Live It
———————
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Drive
Leaving New York
Electrolite
Permanent Vacation
I’m Gonna DJ
Man On The Moon

I was in a bit of a rage this morning, hence the post below. This is my attempt to say something more meaningful, so here goes.

I don’t what the best method is to elect a president, but our current one is not it. Think about this: it was conceivable that through our tie-breaker system (President elected by the House, VP by Senate) that we could have a republican pres and democrat VP. That’s just inviting some lunatic to pick off the president to get his party to the top. Look, if it’s tied, let’s just go to the total popular vote.

Secondly, the idea that the margin of victory in a state is irrelavent is ridiculous. My vote in California was largely meaningless. A million people in New York has essentially meaningless votes. I’m not sure if I’d advocate a straight popular vote election, because then campaigning would be reduced to the major metropolitan areas. While my candidate might do better in that type of election, it certainly doesn’t mesh with the democratic spirit. So why not divide the electoral votes based on congressional district? That’s no good either since they are already drawn with the most partisan aspirations in mind. I think I’d try to break it down by county or some other natural distinction that was not easily altered. Counties would be assigned quanities of electoral votes based on population, with a bonus for winning a state. I think this would provide an effective compromise between the popular and electoral systems.

Thirdly, why am I voting for an elector of the candidate? I don’t want to vote for somebody who doesn’t have to listen to my opinion. I’m a voter, thus I should be the elector. We could make significant headway in this electoral reform by doing away with “electors.” Certain states bind their electors to vote for the popular choice from that state, but apparently those laws apparently have marginal constitutionality. If we must keep the electoral college system, let’s at least do away with the human electors.

Lastly, let’s fix the actual voting process. Across the US, we’re all using different crazy methods. They all have their pros and cons. Here’s my solution: use them all everywhere. On election day, you go to the polling place, sign in with photo ID, and then you’re directed to a computer polling station. You make your selections. When finished, you cast your ballot electronically, and simultaneously two copies of your ballot are printed in an optically scannable (scantron) format. One is your copy, the second is collected by pollworkers. If there is any dispute with the electronic totals, the secondary ballots can be tallied optically, or by hand if necessary. Thus, we would have three methods for confirming totals, and with both electronic and optical methods, the results can be obtained rapidly. This system should be employed universally in the US.

I realize I’m trying to buck tradition here, but that’s the point of the Constitution after all. It’s a living document, designed to be changed when necessary. Well, it’s necessary. We’re establishing voting systems in Afghanistan and Iraq. The least we could do is have one ourselves that makes sense.

I don’t know why, but Jesus hates me. That’s ok though, because I hate America. I hate you Florida. I hate you Ohio. If you’re between 18 and 30 years old, I hate you, you stupid, apathetic pieces of trash. I hate you Iowa for reviving the Kerry campaign. Florida, make that a double for your Jim Crow cheating in 2000. I hate you Nader and all of your self-righteous sheep. I don’t love my neighbors, and that’s why Jesus hates me.

I haven’t dressed up in a while for Halloween. I think the last time was 7th grade when I was a pizza delivery man. So this year, I had to make up for all of those years off by going all out. So Volgraf, Beaudry, Andy, and I teamed up to be Tetris pieces. We were clearly the best costumes of the party. See for yourself.