weather schmether

Nothing makes me feel more like the most smartest person in the world than watching high school Jeopardy and yelling out "Margaret Thatcher! It's Margaret Thatcher!!" I was able to pack a significant amount of my bedroom last night whilst watching said show, leaving me feeling as though I had a productive evening. There's a small hill of packed boxes now awaiting transportation to the compound. This weekend I attack the kitchen. I know already that I will come to the conclusion that I have entirely too many kitchen-y gadgets and no place to store them, but I refuse to give up my tart pan (still unused), multiple muffin tins, and my 1970s food processor with a motor like no other. Of course I still won't have a table with which to eat the deliciousness I'll prepare off of, but I'm not picky. Besides, the table would have to go where I'm hoping to put the dartboard.

I understand that weather patterns haven't been recorded all that long when one considers the age of the earth, but this latest NASA study has me a bit concerned. I love this sentence in particular:

"We are witnessing enormous changes," said one NASA scientist, "and it will take some time before we understand how it happened."

Huh. I wonder how it happened? Could it be that for the past 3 decades scientists have been warning the public that the burning of fossil fuels increases the emissions of greenhouses gases? Could it be that those wacky environmentalists weren't so wacky afterall? Here's an op-ed piece that does a nice job of scaring the bejeezus out of me. Moving to downtown Grand Rapids, getting that Nonprofit Management and Leadership MPA , and not having to buy a car is looking more and more responsible to me.

It's time to put this story to bed, but I can't help but comment on GWB's statement. It's not so much what he said. How he said it makes me laugh. I watched a clip this morning from yesterday's defense of Cheney and I'm always amazed at how he handles questions. He THINKS so HARD before answering and yet still manages to repeat himself. It's vastly different from watching him give a speech during which one is left with the impression that he's actually some sort of robot, mindlessly repeating what he's been programmed to say. At least when he's forced to answer a question you can actually observe the gears moving: Think...think...think...think...
s-p-e-a-k. Repeat.

I just got my Washington Post email update that the Senate is rejecting the wiretapping probe.
In a vote that went straight up party lines (huge surprise), it's all going to be dropped. The reward for the Senate? The administration will consider legislation drafted by Congress to at least give the appearance that the eavesdropping is legal. Of course they stand by the assertion that Congressional authorization is not needed. This leaves the investigation up to the House intelligence committee led by my very own Pete Hoekstra. I can only imagine how far the investigation will actually go. I'm certain that the honorable Mr. Hoekstra will not cave to the enormous pressure the administration will undoubtedly put on him especially given how close he's gotten to the White House in recent years. The silver lining appears to lie within a federal judge's ruling that the administration must turn over all internal documents and legal opinions within 20 days or justify it's reason for refusing to do so. I obviously held too much faith in the Congress on this one. Maybe the fight can actually be won in the courts.

A thread on a...uh...certain website was passed on to me about the CNN poll I mentioned Wednesday regarding the 2008 presidential race. Hillary Clinton vs Rudy Giuliani. First of all, anyone who actually believes it's even remotely possible for Giuliani to get the Republican nomination is living in fantasy land. Neo-cons, people. The party is being run by neo-cons who have no interest in a pro-choice candidate. And as far as Hillary is concerned, I guess we'll just have to see. One of my favorite criticisms I read on the thread mentioned how Clinton would just look at polls and make her decisions based on the whim of the people. How dare she act based upon what the majority of the people want as opposed to her own agenda!

Call me crazy, but isn't that considered democracy?