So very emblematic of the Republican Party:

Peter Roskam, the GOP candidate to succeed outgoing Rep. Henry Hyde, accused Dem opponent Tammy Duckworth of wanting to “cut and run” from Iraq during a debate a couple days ago. The use of this common pro-war talking-point in this case surprised some observers — not to mention Duckworth herself — because the veteran Duckworth lost both of her legs in Iraq. Duckworth’s post-debate reply was rather straightforward: “I just could not believe he would say that to me.”

(TPMCafe)

Note that in 2005, Congressional Republicans wanted to ‘cut and run,’ and put forth a bill ordering that we do exactly that. The story goes like this: Democratic Rep. Murtha wanted to debate an end to the Iraq war, but Republicans put up their own doomed-from-the-start bill and hurried a vote on it. Then the GOP spin machine tried to say that they had voted down Murtha’s bill.

Murtha, like Duckworth, is an actual veteran. During the ‘debate,’ he was called a coward on the floor of the House by Jean Schmidt.

Republicans like to use the troops as props when it suits them, and then show them contempt when it really matters.

Shit yeah I’m taking sides.

BetterWall re-sells those vinyl banners you see on lampposts around museums that advertise various exhibits.

I want this one. I wish it were less than $635.

If Clinton didn’t do enough, then Bush didn’t do shit.

I’m making these up, but please feel free to report them as if they actually happened.

‘New Urbanism’ activists carpet roads with Astroturf.

Advertisers seed clouds with branded precipitant; raindrops now billboards.

‘Green design’ building’s grass roof becomes home to bower bird; roof lawn can’t be maintained due to laws protecting endangered bird habitat.

Tidal generators absorb too much energy, ruin shipping lane currents.

Biodiesel a success; OPEC nations apply for IMF loans.

Geologists learn to control plate tectonics; global warming sea level change no longer a problem.

Terrorist plot thwarted. Plot to take over 11 airplanes, dump all fuel simultaneously, releasing hydrocarbons raising level of greenhouse gasses and speeding global warming. New carbon emissions limit imposed by DHS. Bush: “We must be in line with Kyoto in a week, or the terrorists have won.”

Wall Street rallies behind sustainable energy and production initiatives by various Fortune 500 companies; Amory Lovins files for unemployment benefits.

Semicolons; rule.

Polar Inertia: My kind of web ‘zine.

I’ve been interested in shipping container architecture for a while. I’ve often wanted to build structures out of these giant lego blocks/units of currency of globalization.

I’m not alone, either. Quite a few specialty firms have grown up around the idea. You can get a pretty shi-shi house made out of containers. It’s rather fashionable among designers to come up with uses for these things, beyond the obvious use for shipping.

I’m familiar with a company in Zurich called Frietag, and their gimmick is that they make messenger bags and wallets and stuff like that out of recycled shipping tarps, the kind used on semi-truck trailers. And they just opened a new store in Zurich, built out of shipping containers.

This got me thinking about how I’d design a similar structure for use as a house, which meant I had to learn the standard dimensions. Which lead me to a web site called export911.com, which has to be the most unfortunately-named website in the world. But the point here is this:

The page that tells you the standard size for shipping containers has a quote from the Buddha scrolling across the bottom: “All we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” I’m not sure that’s a real quote from the Buddha, but it’s not a bad string of words. Especially in the context of learning that there are fork lift pockets in the 10′ and 20′ containers. But not the fourty-footers. Nosiree.

Update: Shipping container homes on CNN.

The run-up to the Iraq war as a big-ol interactive timeline. Sort by topics. Remember if you want to.

Lie by Lie

Death and Taxes:

A big giant graph of everywhere that federal monies end up getting spent.

“Hi. What do you do for a living?”

“Well, uh… Hi. I’m currently in between jobs.”

“Well, what did you do for a living before?”

“I’d been doing some freelance writing. Some photography.” (Note: These are lies, but at least semi-supportable.)

“Hang on a second…”

He reaches under the seat to his carry-on bag. He produces a magazine.

“This is a magazine about what *I* do for a living. It’s part of a network marketing…”

[tune out]

This happened more than a few times. He’d come back with a slightly more contrite attitude, as if he knew he’d broken some boundary, but then no matter what, we’d end up talking about selling vitamins again after a little while.

The man was living, breathing, social spam.

Just want to mention the reason I’m heading to TX:

My parents have been married 50 years.