Merry Christmas!

"A Child of the Snows"

There is heard a hymn when the panes are dim,

And never before or again,
When the nights are strong with a darkness long,
And the dark is alive with rain.

Never we know but in sleet and in snow,

The place where the great fires are,
That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth
And the heart of the earth a star.

And at night we win to the ancient inn

Where the child in the frost is furled,
We follow the feet where all souls meet
At the inn at the end of the world.

The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,

For the flame of the sun is flown,
The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold,
And a Child comes forth alone.

— G. K. Chesterton

Giants and Christmas

Kind of a lucky win for the Giants today. They played ten minutes of football and came away with the whole game. It's looking like they will make the playoffs (hopefully). I doubt that they'll get very far; however, as the Packers and Cowboys are far and away better, and the Patriots are in a different league altogether.

Well, at the house we got a giant Christmas tree. It's a little bulbous on top, but damn is it huge. We have to decorate it soon but need for lights. It's snowing outside, or was anyway, and I've got my cup of hot chocolate and Christmas music playing, so I'd say the Christmas season is upon us.

P.S. We have Rock Band. It rocks.

CNN/YouTube Debate

Well, it was awful. I won't expand on why this is the case since it's kind of general knowledge at this point. However, I would like to throw in my 2 cents.

Now, in no particular order . . .

Tancredo
Not a bad day for Tancredo as far as days for Tancredo go. He was noticeable at least. Too bad he's a terrible candidate. Curtailing legal immigration is just way out there.

Hunter
He had almost no presence at the debate. There is nothing that distinguishes him whatsoever.

Thompson
I like Thompson. He's been putting out these very detailed, smart policy papers that no one, in either party, can match. He also had a good chance to take a shot at Romney, but kind of let it fall. Fred is just not a good campaigner and that's what has killed his chances.

Paul
Not a bad showing for Paul, but not a great one either. He could have used a breakout performance, especially with his huge funding advantage this quarter. The field is so crowded that he's having trouble finding traction, even with his unique position on the war. CNN did a very poor job alloting him with as little time as Tancredo and Duncan. He clearly is playing a much mroe important role than they are and, I'd say, is as important to the political discourse as any of the front runners.

Romney
A poor showing IMO. He had two good moments. He bested Giuliani in the sanctuary city vs. sanctuary mansion tussle early on. He also looked quite prudent by dismissing the Confederate flag question. He jumped right on it. Otherwise there was almost no substance to him whatsoever. He also had the misfortune to go up against McCain on a waterboarding question.

Giuliani
Rudy had a pretty poor performance all around. He stumbled on several questions and didn't have any particularly good moments. His answer to the gun control question was very reasonable (supports some restrictions), but the crowd didn't like it.

McCain
A great night for McCain. He handled the questions beautifully, demonstrating compassion and force when necessary. When crossing horns with Ron Paul on the Iraq War his results were a little mixed. However, on torture/waterboarding and on immigration, he was unmatched in his eloquence and his honesty. It was truly a Strait Talk Express night.

Huckabee
It was also a great night for Huckabee, who's humorous tone fit the debate format perfectly. He was as eloquent as McCain on almost all of his alloted time. He used the religious questions given to the field as a loom upon which he weaved a tapestry of pure charm. If this keeps up, Romney doesn't stand a chance in Iowa.

Death to Robots

Long Live Humanity!

The fate of all robots

Empire: Total War

Empire: Total War was just announced by Sega. The new addition to the Total War series will take place during the 18th century, introducing gunpowder to Total War for the first time. Additionally, real-time sea battles will be included, a long sought after feature by fans of the series.

New iPod Nano and Venezuela

Gizmodo had a nice shot of the possible new iPod Nano. It looked kind of square, which would be nice for the screen, but not so nice for exercising I would think. Apple asked Gizmodo to take down the image, though I'm sure you could find it somewhere. We'll just have to see.


Chavez Set for Life
In other news Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, may have just lined up a spot at the President-For-Life table. Again, we'll have to see, but extending term limits and allowing re-election without a limited number of terms is a recipe for dictatorship.

Chicken Strips and God's Jewish Warriors

I got these pre-cooked chicken strips from CostCo. Two 1 lb bags for 10 bucks, which has turned out to be enough for 5-6 meals. The meat isn't amazing, but it works great for a fast meal. It's really highly revolutionary for college cooking. Stan got some beef ones called Steak Strips that also look decent. The chicken ones are called Short Cuts and both are made by Purdue.
Short Cuts Chicken Strips

We also watched the first two hour part of a three part CNN special, God's Warriors. Each part chronicles some history and covers some of the issues involving Judaism (this past night), Islam (Wednesday night) and Christianity (Thursday night). The main reporter used the term "God's Warriors" a little too liberally, but it is an interesting watch. You can catch the next two parts at 9PM this Wednesday and Thursday evening on CNN.

Candidate Rundown

Let me see how I'm feeling about each of the candidates right now.

It seems to me that Fred Thompson has to get into the race right now or he'll lose any advantage that he's gained.

Huckabee seems like a good man. I don't agree with his positions all the time, but he seems like someone who isn't lost to rhetoric. I'm sort of surprised that he hasn't caught on until now. He would be a very natural choice for the Republican nominee.

Brownback seems to have been beaten out by Huckabee. If I were him, I'd try to get my supporters behind Huckabee. There may have been a little animosity between campaigns, but they really do tow similar lines.

McCain is still around, but still seems very weak.

Romney is a flip-flopper of the highest caliber. He wouldn't have the funding if he couldn't self-finance. Despite that, he looks kind of presidential, so he's got a shot.

Rudy is a disappointment. I liked him as mayor, but this Neo-con line that he's towing is just unparalleled in its animosity and lack of educated thought. Interestingly enough, it is a real Neo-con philosophy that he is following, unlike the Bush presidency, which is quite different from the Neo-con philosophy. (There is no room for evangelicals in Neo-con thought).

Ron Paul is still Ron Paul, and for that we thank him. He's not going to win, but his voice has contributed to the Republican discussion more than any anti-war Democrat could have.

Duncan Hunter, Tommy Thompson, whatever. They're not that important in this race.

Tom Tancredo is kind of a nutjob. He's policies are far too dangerous.

Obama is looking strong, very strong, especially with his ridiculous funding numbers.

Hillary also looks very strong. She may not have Obama's funding, but people are noticing her experience and intelligence in the debates.

Biden is a smart guy. He may be a little free with his mouth, but he's done his foreign policy homework. I believe his ideas to be more nuanced than any of the other candidates as it relates to foreign policy.

Edwards does alright, but he can't catch Obama or Hillary.

Dodd seems like a reasonable guy, but he's not going anywhere.

Bill Richardson went to Tufts, so that's a plus for him. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to be that great at dealing with foreign policy issues. He needs to spend sometime in the Senate or House before he could seriously be considered.

Kucinich is a moral guy who a lot of liberals support but for some reason don't vote for.

Damn Technology

As I've said before, you can't trust those robots. Skynet, the Matrix, etc. It's just a long road to enslavement.

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2876763?cmpnid=784&pt=bk&refsite=10637

Stephen agrees.


Also, I found this revelation to be not so suprising. Boys will be boys as they say.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/booby-trap/kids-use-us+donated-laptops-to-surf-the-porn-of-course-280715.php

I've really found fault with these $100 laptops. With distribution and power problems so widespread in third world countries, not to mention the lack of broadband internet access, will $100 laptops really be that helpful? Cranking by hand really isn't that reasonable to begin with. At the very least there are certainly higher priorities out there. We need to do better than these meager offerings.

Yankees Sticking in It

So the Yankees are only 8 games behind. That's not as bad as I thought. In fact, I'd say that it's even doable.

In other news, I figured out how to cool my friend's laptop reliably. It needs to be raised several inches above the fan pad, upside-down. Additionally two ice packs (interchangeable with a whiskey bottle previously stored in the freezer) are required for extra cooling.

Interesting Ron Paul Contributions News

Ron Paul Favored

Apparently Ron Paul received the more contributions from members of the military and veterans than any other presidential candidate. I understand that among the internet population Ron Paul is popular, but it is most unexpected that he is also, apparently, intensely popular with our servicemen and women.

Blogging

I hate the term blog, blogging, and especially blogosphere. They are collectively a scourge upon all of this world's languages.