This has been a loooooong week. Five days and everything. Good thing there’s a long weekend coming up (last one for a while, though, so that sucks). I more or less managed to ignore the GOP convention dog and pony show, though some of it of course leaked out into my brain. Mostly that Paul Ryan is a big fat liar, Mitt Romney’s speech was fairly lame, and Clint Eastwood’s was just plain odd. And I guess they love them some Condi Rice (nary a peanut was cast in her direction, apparently). Not that I saw or listened to any of that. Oh, and I heard something about Rush Limbaugh saying Obama caused hurricane Isaac just to fuck with the Republicans. Too bad he can’t actually do that.

Speaking of Rush Limbaugh, Jeb Bush is starting to look a bit like him, don’t you think? Or maybe more like Karl Rove. Either way, he’s getting a bit porcine looking. And I guess he’s tired of everybody being so mean to his brother (gee, I guess more of this Republican shit leaked into my head than I thought. Icky).

So now Romney has his convention bump, which has put him in the lead, slightly (I read that somewhere, but now I can’t find it). So, good for him. I’m just glad I don’t live in a state that’s up for grabs, because I don’t think I could take two months of attack ads on the teevee. It’s bad enough that the wingnuts are going to be plowing millions of dollars into the campaign of our teabagger darling congresscritter. Good thing I don’t watch commercials (I even had to give up on the lo-cal news in the morning; I just can’t take it anymore).

So, tomorrow is the official start of football season, as Northwestern comes to the Dome to play SU. As usual, I’m prepared for a season filled with high hopes and major disappointment. But for at least another day, we’re still undefeated.

Good news for you women out there. Over the years, I’ve heard countless times that you ladies have a huge problem holding on to pens (which were, of course, chauvinistically designed for man hands). I believe this has a lot to do with the shockingly low numbers of females in engineering and other “pen” heavy professions. Well you gals are in luck, as Bic has finally come out with the new line of “BIC for Her” pens that are “designed to fit comfortably in a woman’s hand.” Not to mention being stylish – available in pink and purple (you should go read the customer reviews). This is a big solution to a big problem (almost as big a problem as in-person voter fraud).

In other, slightly less important news, today the Republican National Convention opens in earnest, paving the way for RomRyan’s Express to steamroll to the White House. It promises to be a thrilling ride, and the accidental look at the Republican Platform that we (briefly) got shows just how wonderful a life (think, Jimmy Stewart jumps off the bridge and drowns, so Mr. Potter winds up running Bedford Falls) it’ll be after the Republicans take over.

The most notable move is the Republican platform committee’s decision to include a ban on abortion that doesn’t outline exceptions for rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.
[…]
But abortion isn’t the only culture war touchstone where the platform could create problems. It also includes combative language regarding gay rights…. A leaked draft not only reiterates opposition to gay marriage, which was expected, but takes a strong position against the administration’s bipartisan and highly popular decision to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

“We reject the use of the military as a platform for social experimentation and will not accept attempts to undermine military priorities and mission readiness,” a line in the national security section reads.

The platform has also been amended since 2008 to call for a renewed crackdown on pornography.

…the section on Medicare could be problematic as well. Romney has deliberately released few details about his own plan and is deliberately trying to muddy the debate over Ryan’s plan to privatize Medicare by misleadingly accusing Obama of cutting the program’s benefits instead. The platform bluntly calls for transforming Medicare into a voucher system, explaining in detail how proposals Romney and Ryan have championed would replace the popular entitlement with an entirely different program.

And don’t forget about the part where rich people don’t have to pay taxes.

Meanwhile, we all get to sit around and see if the levees (not to mention the pumps) will hold out for Isaac. I certainly hope so.

It appears that God has lifted His veil of protection from the Republican Party – at least for a day or so. Tampa is getting drenched this morning, and the GOP has cancelled the first day of their convention. Bummer. Don’t worry, though. They should be in full swing tomorrow. Therefore, I need to totally isolate myself from all news media. I just can’t stand listening to (or about) the RomRyan Empress. Especially since I think they’re gonna win in November. Let’s face it, the economy sucks, the Republicans get to spend unlimited amounts of money (a tiny investment when compared to all the tax breaks they’re about to receive), and they have the vote fixed in most of the “swing” states. I just don’t want a “voucher” system to replace Medicare.

Supposedly, those of us under 55 (I can’t believe I wish I was a little more than three years older) will get a voucher, with which we can buy insurance. Cost will be kept low because all the insurance companies will be competing against each other for my business. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll just jump at the chance to offer low-cost health insurance to old people – ‘cuz there should be a lot of profit in that. And we won’t even have the advantage of being in a group plan that can at least negotiate some sort of decent rates.

I was looking at health insurance costs for the “near” elderly (people 55-64) from 2006 (relatively ancient data, in the scheme of things). The average cost for all people (and that would include people still working and on group plans from work, as well as those who have no coverage at all) was $6,251 a year (as opposed to $3,412 for the 25-34 year old crowd).

But if you’ve got some sort of health problem, that goes way up. Asthma? $10,310. Cancer? $12,357. Diabetes? $11,114. And how much do you suppose that will go up for people over 65? 50%? Double? Triple? Who the hell knows. More likely it’ll be just go Cheney yourself if you’re old – we can’t afford you. Buy life insurance from Alec Trebek instead and get ready for those “final expenses.”

Sorry, but I’m taking this all quite personally (it feels as if I’m being legitimately raped).

Of course, there was some sad news over the weekend. As everybody knows by now, Neil Armstrong passed away at what seems like the way too young age of 82. If somebody who was a fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut only made it to 82, how many years can a schlub like me have left? Not many, I don’t think.

On a more locally sad note, West Virginia native (transplanted here some 63 years ago) Reggie Schwartzwalder passed away at the age of 100 (a nice round number). Reggie is the widow of Ben Schwartzwalder, who coached SU football and got us our only National Championship back in 1959. Come to think of it, even 100 doesn’t seem old enough.

Speaking of 100 (ish), “competitive eater” Takeru Kobayashi ate 110 hotdogs (without buns, though) in 10 minutes at the NYS Fair yesterday. The description of his efforts – is truly disgusting.

…it wasn’t a performance that would make someone want to eat. People gasped as Kobayashi stuffed hot dog 100 in, waiting for what’s called a “reversal of fortune” in competitive eating.

But Kobayashi jumped up and down a little in his red sneakers and jiggled his body, as if to force the food downstream. Then he moved on to eat 10 more hot dogs.
[…]
He attacked each dog the same way — fold, stuff, chew, and take a shot of water.

When he was done, the slight Japanese man lifted up his shirt and flexed his abs, which were still visible over his distended stomach.

Yum.

Ah, Friday. Always a good thing. But this Friday is tempered with a bit of sadness. My XBOX 360 is dead. Actually it’s been dead for a few days now (probably longer. I haven’t really used it in a while). I went to play something or other last week or something, and right as I was attempting to shoot some guy in the head, it froze up on me and needed a reboot (at which point, I quit ‘cuz I had shit to do). I figured the disc was beat or something. So I tried it again a couple days later, and damned if it didn’t do the same thing. So I gave it the boot, and, well, eventually it wouldn’t even turn back on. Flashing red rings of death. Well that sucks. I figured it was probably off warranty (didn’t really remember how long I’ve had it), but I checked the manufacturing date, and, damn, it’s over five years old (where has the time gone?). So, they’ll either fix it or give me a refurb (90 day warranty either way) for $99 (but of course I have to deal with shipping it and all that. So, on the one hand, I have this boat anchor that I don’t really use much at all, and find it hard to justify spending a hundred bucks to fix. On the other, I have several games, a racing wheel and pedals, and a Kinect invested in this thing that are basically useless without it. Oh, what’s a boy to do?

There is some good news today, though. Paul “Eddie Munster” Ryan says not to worry about those defense cuts looming on the horizon. He and his man Mitt have a plan to retroactively undo those cuts once they get into office, and will instead cut food stamps and other aid for poor people. So that’s cool, and it truly exemplifies that Catholic moral compass that Ryan has.

Speaking of being Catholic, Ryan says he’s personally opposed to abortion even in the case of rape and incest, but now that he’s Mitt’s running mate, he’ll stand behind Romney’s position that abortion rights should be conferred to rape and incest victims, and mothers whose lives are at stake. Wait, what? You’re gonna stand by a baby killer? WTF? Hey, either it’s murder or it isn’t, fella.

I’d ask Romney what he thinks about all this, but he refuses to take questions on abortion. Or Akin. Or Bain. Or his taxes, Swiss bank accounts, tax amnesty, dressage, Shamus….

Oh well, time to get this week over with. And it looks like a hot weekend ahead.

I don’t know how this one slipped past me, but it appears that Syracuse in the #6 ranked drinking town in the US (in the top 100 Metro areas), with 7 bars per 10,000 households (in case you were wondering, New Orleans is easily #1 at 8.6). As for places to eat, San Francisco is #1, with 39.3 restaurants per 10,000 households (San Fran also comes in at #8 for places to drink). How they can afford to eat out there is beyond me, as the median price per square foot of homes for sale is $459. Ouch. Here, it’s a rather reasonable $86. In fact, if you look at the difference between eating towns and drinking towns, it’s clearly a lot cheaper to get your calories via booze (or at least cheaper to buy a home to go sleep it off in).

As I alluded to yesterday, today is the first day of the beginning of the end of summer, as the NYS Fair opened this morning. Opening day is Governor’s Day, so Governor Snotball is (or will be) here – being trailed by a legion of anti-fracking activists. The State Fair is always an exciting time because, um…well, I dunno. It doesn’t do much for me, to tell you the truth.

It was great when I was a kid (they had moon rocks, and a guy flying around on a jet pack, which was really nifty). And it was fun when I was old enough to stumble around drunk checking out the babes. But now that I’m old and miserable, it’s just a crowded pain in the ass with too damn many country music acts. So I steer clear of the area (other than to watch the attendance numbers, which for some reason seem to interest me).

Less than two weeks to Labor Day. Now that’s depressing.

In the first official sign that summer is just about over (and in news I know you’ve been anxiously awaiting), the theme of the NYS Butter Sculpture was announced today (ahead of opening day, which is tomorrow). I won’t keep you in suspense. It’s…Greek Yogurt. Yes, 800 pounds of butter sculpted to look like a cow in a toga (waving the NYS flag), standing in front of Greek columns or something. Fall is my favorite time of year, but it doesn’t last long around here, before we plunge into the cold (and, worse, darkness) of winter. It already gets too dark too early, and, to make matters worse, once the Fair is over, the school taxes should be in the mail (and they are way, way too much for what I get out of them, which aint much). Oh well, time marches on.

Last I looked, Todd Arkin was leading Claire McCaskill in the race for the Missouri Senate by about four points. Of course, that was before he said the women who are the victims of “legitimate rape” can potentially prevent pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Now, some people seem to be rather upset about the “legitimate” part, but I’m more curious to find out what theses mysterious “ways” are that women can “shut that whole thing down.” I’d also kinda like to know who these “doctors” are that told him that. ‘Cuz, really, I’m no expert, but I’ve never heard that one before, and I’d like to know what the mechanism is, and how it all works. Just my scientific curiosity. Thankfully, the Romney/Ryan campaign issued a strong statement on the issue.

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign said late Sunday night that Romney and Paul Ryan “disagree” with Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) Sunday comments claiming women who are victims of “legitimate rape” have biology that prevents them from getting pregnant.

Yes, they “disagree” there. Not, “this guy’s a fucking idiot,” just that, well, we disagree. The science isn’t all in on that one, and whatnot.

A 14-yr old Canadian girl – Annaleise Carr – swam 52km across Lake Ontario (a 27 hour swim) over the weekend. Eh, BFD. Give me a call when somebody swims across the lake the long way.

Speaking of the long way, it’s a long way ’til Friday.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Pussy Riot has been convicted of “hooliganism” and sentenced to two years in Russian prison (which is probably not a very nice place). You may recall that back in February “…the women staged a flashmob-style performance of their song close to the altar in [a Russian Orthodox] cathedral…. Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”, enraged the Orthodox Church – its leader Patriarch Kirill said it amounted to blasphemy.” Well, I guess Russia has never really been known as a bastion of free speech.

Obama has offered Mitt Romney a deal: release five years of tax returns, and we won’t ask you to release any more. Mitt says no. You really have to wonder just how bad the stuff that’s in there is. Must be that whole Swiss Bank amnesty program.

So, it’s finally Friday again, and this has been a tough week. Of course, I haven’t had to breathe in smoke all week, either, so I guess I can’t complain. Besides, Maher is back tonight.

So, mostly I just want to get the rest of this day over already.

Funny, I don’t see this on the US News sites, but Ecuador has granted Julian Assange asylum, mostly because everybody assumed that Sweden would hand him over to the US, where he’d likely wind up in prison (if he was lucky) or Gitmo. The Brits, however, seem rathe unimpressed.

Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.
[…]
Foreign minister Ricardo Patino accused the UK of making an “open threat” to enter its embassy to arrest Mr Assange.
[…]
…as the Foreign Office insisted the decision would not affect the UK’s legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden, Mr Assange warned: “Things will get more stressful now.”

Announcing Ecuador’s decision, Mr Patino launched a strong attack on the UK for what he said was an “explicit type of blackmail”.

The UK Foreign Office had warned, in a note, that it could lift the embassy’s diplomatic status to fulfil a “legal obligation” to extradite the 41-year-old by using the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

What, they spell fulfill with only one ‘l’ at then over there in England?

Yesterday sucked. Not only was it the first day back from a three-day weekend, but I then got stuck doing something tedious and time consuming that I couldn’t start until five o’clock, which meant I didn’t get out of my chair until six. And, in preparation for what I had to do, I was in the chair all day long with barely a piss break or two. By the time I got home (to raucous thunderstorms), my back was killing me, and it’s killing me now. I had to self-medicate with beer, stayed up too damn late, slept until six o’clock this morning (which is very late for me), and currently feel like crap. This blows.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of “Game of Thrones” (I have to watch it in secret, of course), and after the first season, I went out and bought (and read) all the books (OK, I didn’t really go out – I got them on the Kindle). Anyhow, I had no idea that the author – George RR Martin – was a lefty. It appears he’s not a fan of voter suppression.

…I would be remiss if I do not at least make passing mention of how depressed, disgusted, and, yes, angry I’ve become as I watch the ongoing attempts at voter suppression in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, and other states where Republicans and their Teabagger allies control key seats of power.
[…]
It would really be nice if there were still some Republicans of conscience out there who would stand up and loudly denounce these efforts, a few men of honor and integrity for whom “win the election” does not “win the election at any cost.” There were once many Republicans I admired, even I disagreed with them: men like Everett Dirksen, Clifford Case, Henry Cabot Lodge, William Scranton… yes, even Barry Goldwater, conservative as he is. I do not believe for a moment that Goldwater would have approved of this, any more than Robert A. Heinlein would have. They were conservatives, but they were not bigots, nor racists, nor corrupt. The Vote Suppressors have far more in common with Lester Maddox, George Wallace, John Stennis, and their ilk than they do with their distinguished GOP forebears.

The people behind these efforts at disenfranchising large groups of voters (the young, the old, the black, the brown) are not Republicans, since clearly they have scant regard for our republic or its values. They are oligarchs and racists clad in the skins of dead elephants.

I like the dead elephants thing. But, Henry Cabot Lodge? You admired him, George? I mean, you’re no spring chicken, but Henry Cabot Lodge has been dead for, like, 88 years.

Oh well, I suppose I ought to get back to work, here.