by Diane Tate

And we thought the prodigal had hit rock bottom

The [Alaskan GOP] is pushing for the re-election of Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted on Monday of seven felony counts but continues his campaign for a seventh full term, in the hope that his re-election will allow Republicans to hold onto his seat even if Mr. Stevens eventually resigns.

Under that chain of events, a special election would be held later to replace Mr. Stevens, giving the party the chance to find a new candidate and keep the seat out of Democratic hands.

“That’s the reality,” said McHugh Pierre, a party spokesman. “Unfortunately, the situation’s the situation.”

I’m sure that McHugh once had aspirations of using his liberal arts degree for some noble purpose. Now, perhaps acting out of an ego bruised by the eccentricity of his name, he’s instead lowered himself to the level of Accomplice to the state Party Machine, which is hurtling itself towards a fate that even Sarah Palin refuses to condone.

At the risk of yet another rhetorical question….: can it get any worse than that?

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by Diane Tate

Knowing more than we should – part 2

The double-edged sword of knowledge.

There’s the element of knowing stuff in advance, the pros & cons of which are expounded upon earlier here.

Then there’s the element of simply knowing what perhaps just isn’t meant to be known.

I mean…ew….Taking “TMI” to new levels: at Pennsylvania State University, a professor of engineering has captured a cough on film. The image was created by schlieren photography which “takes an invisible phenomenon and turns it into a visible picture.”

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by Diane Tate

Prescience

It’s a good thing when it leads to potentially better outcomes.

Example: Nouriel “Nostradamus” Roubini, my current geek idol (his Global EconoMonitor (“RGE”) is on my blogroll to the lower right). Roubini has been led the economic community not only in making predictions but also proscriptions with respect to the recent economic meltdowns, the latest example being among the first to call the hedge fund disasters (even my intellectual and aesthetic equal Liz Ann only nailed that today).

It’s a little scary when it leads to utter despair.

Example: Mike Judge, the genius behind Idiocracy. While this masterpiece had (and still has) me in tears, they are bittersweet tears: the film uncannily portrays the lamentable trajectory of American history, illustrating how tragedy and comedy are 2 parts of the same phenomena (i.e. things are just not as they should be).

Luke Wilson makes me cry, and I’m developing a strong affection for him.

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