explanation

Today is Darwin’s 200th birthday (Lincoln’s too, actually). Unfortunately I won’t be attending any parties, but that’s not to say they don’t exist. No, this year I’m going to celebrate by making absolutely sure not to shave off any facial hair all day – a humble salute to a great scientist with an even greater beard.

I watched For All Mankind the other day, which was a fantastic documentary about the first moon mission, complete with a great soundtrack by Brian Eno. I’d never seen the majority of the footage before and I have no idea why, a lot of it was… well, there’s no way to describe it without devolving into terms that are so cliche they borderline on meaningless. Words like “breathtaking” and “awe-inspiring” are the only things I can think to write, but I cringe a little putting it that way. Anyways, with a movie like this having existed since 1989 it’s hard for me to understand why America’s interest in space has seemed to wane so much in recent years. 

Anyways you should see this movie.

• Obama wins presidency. Thank god. Lots of people celebrate, others cringe in irrational fear and call America dead. The rest of the civilized world pats us on the back for not being complete idiots for the first time in a pathetically long time. 
• Kay Hagan won the Senate seat in North Carolina against Elizabeth Dole. In case you didn’t know, the Dole/Hagan race has been close for quite some time. Dole decided it was a good idea to scare voters into winning with her insanely sleazy ad that insinuated Hagan was “godless.” Writing about the many reasons this ad pissed me off would take all day, so I’ll just say I’m pretty happy about Dole loosing by a good margin. 

Now the not so good.

• Pretty much every proposition set out against gay rights looks like they went the wrong way. Gays are now having rights taken away from them instead of given. Extremely dissapointing. Grow up, America. Some people who have wieners like wieners. It isn’t going away. Deal with it and realize that gays aren’t about to destroy the fabric of the country. 
• All my local guys pretty much lost, which I guess I expected, since I live in Texas, but it would have been nice to see one or two of them make it.
• For some reason (okay for quite a few reasons) I really wanted to see Al Franken win the Senate seat in Minnesota. Instead he lost it by 570 votes in a race that totalled about three million ballots. They’re going at a recount, but I’m not holding my breath. 
• Ted Stevens from Alaska keeps his Senate seat. What the hell? Is there some kind of retard virus going around in Alaska or something? Did they not hear that Ted Stevens is a convicted felon? So conservative states would never vote for an atheist or agnostic, no matter how qualified, but we now have proof that they’ll vote for a convicted criminal who will end up incarcirated during his term. What’s that organization that wants to have Alaska seceed from the Union again? Where do I sign the petition to get this to happen? The world gives you a collective slap on the back of the head and calls you an idiot, Alaska. The only thing I can think is that Stevens talked Alaskans into believing that prison is like a series of tubes and is easily escapable.

I’m happy about the presidential election. Really. But I do think the selection of the progressive candidate is (on the whole) less an endorsment of the ideals he ran on and more a rejection of what everyone saw as a third term for Bush, as supported by the voting down of so many progressive propositions. The really important thing, obviously, is what happens when Obama takes office and the supporting House and Senate get seated. If Obama and the Democrats can continue to win the hearts and minds of Americans while getting progressive legislation passed and the Republican party struggles to pick up the pieces, we should see some great things happen. However if the Republicans get their collective act together, throw the right buzzwords out there and Obama stumbles a little, we’ll probably be see the pendulam swing back to “caveman land” faster than I like to think about.

So the election is on Tuesday and it seems all but certain that Obama will be our next president. I’m interested to see how America will react when the numbers come in. I’m also curious to see what happens in some of the local elections here in the Houston area. 

More than anything, though, I’m just ready for this election season to be over. It’s been a long time coming, and I’d like to be able to think about something else for a change.

Oh and holy crap, just when I thought this election couldn’t get any weirder. For me it borderlines on hope-inducing, but I might just be saying that because I live in Texas.

A US judge has thrown out a case against God, ruling that because the defendant has no address, legal papers cannot be served.

The suit was launched by Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers, who said he might appeal against the ruling.

He sought a permanent injunction to prevent the “death, destruction and terrorisation” caused by God.

Judge Marlon Polk said in his ruling that a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a case to proceed.

“Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice,” Judge Polk wrote in his ruling.

Mr Chambers cannot refile the suit but may appeal.

‘God knows everything’

Mr Chambers sued God last year. He said God had threatened him and the people of Nebraska and had inflicted “widespread death, destruction and terrorisation of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants”.

He said he would carefully consider Judge Polk’s ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

The court, Mr Chambers said, had acknowledged the existence of God and “a consequence of that acknowledgement is a recognition of God’s omniscience”.

“Since God knows everything,” he reasoned, “God has notice of this lawsuit.”

Mr Chambers, a state senator for 38 years, said he filed the suit to make the point that “anyone can sue anyone else, even God”. 

Like it matters anyways, no jury would convict him. Or her. Or it. Or whatever.

Street Fight is one you may have actually heard of, on account of its being nominated for an Academy Award. Although that’s a pretty highly ignored category, that is unless Michael Moore’s fat head is up for the award.

Anyhow, Street Fight covers the 2002 run for mayor in Newark, NJ. It’s much harsher than Mr. Smith, and the politics get a lot dirtier. Watching it makes you appreciate how accurate the mayoral elections in The Wire were portrayed. The movie follows Cory Booker, who like Smith, is the underdog of the election. Also like Smith’s movie, Street Fight feels fast and easy to watch. If you do decide to watch this one, do yourself a big favor and avoid reading anything about the election until after you’ve seen the movie. Some of the aftermath is pretty crazy.

What is Earth Overshoot Day?

September 23 this year marks an unfortunate milestone: the day humanity will have used all the resources nature will generate this year, according to Global Footprint Network data. Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity beings living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.

Globally, we now now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources — like trees and fish — continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.

Hooray!

On the bright side I re-watched (this time on Blu-ray and a friend’s nice HD TV) Speed Racer,  which was surprisingly awesome the first time and still amazing the second time. Its complete over-the-topness is an obvious attributer for its mixed to cold public reception, but screw that, Speed Racer kicks so much ass for so many reasons I don’t even need to defend my liking it.