Friday, August 24, 2007

Thursday, August 23, 2007

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.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

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.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

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.