Internal Monologue

One thing that's pissing me off about mainstream media coverage of the Democratic primary is their depiction of it like some neck-and-neck, down to the wire race. It isn't. Clinton's chances are quite slim. Intrade (which isn't prescient or anything but is a good reflection of the current conventional wisdom) has her at about 17%, to Obama's 81%. What about her 9% victory in Pennsylvania? It doesn't mean squat . Pennsylvania happened pretty much like people were expecting it to happen. And every time the expected happens, Clinton loses an opportunity to make the astronomical gains she would need to get the nomination. Yes, she "won". But that's like scoring 2 runs in the 8th inning when you're behind 13 to 1: yes, better to get 2 runs than no runs, but in terms of your chances of winning, they've actually gone down . To pull even, you'd need to be scoring an average of 6 runs per inning. Scoring 2 runs in this situation doesn't m

Stories like this one in today's New York Times have become all too common: FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending. But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement. Well, I think we must hawk the Loogie of Disrespect(TM) on Maj. Freddy J. Wellborn. What an asshole. And how illegal. And the founding fathers of our country, although certainly from Christian backgrounds, were often deists. They certainly weren't the intolerant bastards that the Christianists make them out to be. Here was my favorite part of the article: Since

At least if you're a guy. BBC News via Sullivan : Men could reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer through regular masturbation, researchers suggest. They say cancer-causing chemicals could build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly. And they say sexual intercourse may not have the same protective effect because of the possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, which could increase men's cancer risk. [...] The protective effect was greatest while the men were in their 20s. Men who ejaculated more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life. Of course, who knows if it's a causal relationship. Maybe men who don't masturbate are depressed, and thus have less ability to fight off the cancer. There are all kinds of possibilities. Still, I bet a lot of guys will be happy that what they're doing might have long-term benefits in addition to the obvious short-term ones.

The immortal line from the cult classic movie Highlander is on the cover of this week's TIME : Instead of another debate, Obama and Clinton should fight each other with claymores . Katanas would be OK, too. The victor would decapitate the loser, scream "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!" and then become the Democratic nominee for president. Then they would sword fight McCain for the presidency. That would be teh awes0m3. But a bit unfair to McCain: due to injuries he suffered during his captivity in Vietnam he can't move his arms properly. Maybe McCain could let Joe Lieberman be his champion or something. (Via rubber hose .)

The benefits of walking on what nature gave you .

A white woman has a name typically thought of as black . Via Chaos Theory , from where I swiped the title of this post.

Think Progress via Kevin Drum : A new USA Today/Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans say “the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, a new high mark by one percentage point.” Gallup notes that “majority opposition to the Iraq war is basically cemented.” Gallup adds, “The new high in Iraq war opposition is also notable because it is the highest ‘mistake’ percentage Gallup has ever measured for an active war involving the United States — surpassing by two points the 61% who said the Vietnam War was a mistake in May 1971.” (HT: Dan Froomkin )