Internal Monologue

No, it's not The Onion . It's reality. Here's The Carpetbagger Report telling us what happened when the American Family Association's auto-replace policy had a little blooper: The far-right fundamentalist group replaces the word “gay” in the articles with the word “homosexual.” I’m not entirely sure why, but it seems to make the AFA happy. The group is, after all, pretty far out there. The problem, of course, is that “gay” does not always mean what the AFA wants it to mean. My friend Kyle reported this morning that sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials over the weekend. The AFA ran the story, but only after the auto-correct had “fixed” the article. That means — you guessed it — the track star was renamed “Tyson Homosexual.” The headline on the piece read, “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.” Readers learned: Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field tria

Sometimes the Republicans make it too easy. They're re-introducing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. It's called the "Marriage Protection Amendment". Guess who's on the list of co-sponsors? David Vitter and Larry Craig : Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes [Vitter] and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men’s room [Craig]. Bwah hwa hwa hwa. I know right-wingers can be strangely blind to enormous ironies. But this does take the cake. Of course, maybe they feel that if such an amendment had been part of our constitution, Messrs. Craig and Vitter would have been able to resist the prostitutes and the urge to solicit gay sex. I can empathize. Sometimes, I'm faced with an almost overwhelming temptation to impose a poll tax on somebody. But then I remember the 24th Amendment , and its presence bolsters m

McCain doesn't remember the last time he pumped his own gas (and he's not been stuck in Oregon or New Jersey, where make-work laws require someone else to do it for you), and doesn't remember the price, and doesn't think it matters. Orange County Register : [OC Register] When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost? [McCain] Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters. Now, I don't think candidates should necessarily be required to be experts in every aspect of working class life. I think you can still be president of the United States and not know how much it costs to take the bus in your hometown or (as Giuliani was asked) how much a loaf of bread costs. (I buy bread frequently but I can't remember how much it costs. $4.50?) But gas prices are a huge national issue with enormous economic, environmental, and geopolitical co

Diablo III has been announced. No word on when it's coming out. I'm surprised its taking them so long. Given the success of the previous versions, I'd think Diablo III would be a no-brainer. I hope my computer will be able to run it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Diablo series, it's the ultimate "kill monsters-take their stuff-make your character more powerful" experience. Yes, sometimes it devolves into a mindless click-fest, but few games have been as good at holding the player's attention and enticing them on to ever greater rewards.

I just wanted to do a reality check on my Obama optimism. Intrade currently has Obama at 65.3%, and McCain at 30.8%. So the people putting money on this are heavily favoring Obama. Intrade is not a crystal ball, but it can be a good check to make sure you're not deluding yourself by reading only pro-Obama blogs.

...and asks for money, of course. Mr. Plouffe, if you're going to use your laptop's webcam, please don't sit with your back to a bright window. The auto-brightness function makes it hard to see your face. Summary for those who don't want to watch the whole six and a half minutes: McCain's going to have trouble taking any of the states Kerry won in 2004 Obama's got all kinds of possibilities to win states Bush won in 2004, including some unusual places like Georgia, Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota. Even in places Obama is unlikely to win, the campaign is spending resources to build the party and help Democrats in local races. But the Republican National Committee has almost $50 million more than the Democratic National Committee. So please give Obama some money. OK, Mr. Plouffe, I'll give Obama some money . But I would have given more if he had taken a strong stance against retroactive immunity for telcos that spied on us illegally. I understand that unde

This set of Google Maps direction s from Sydney to Los Angeles contains the greatest travel direction of all time: 6. Kayak across the Pacific Ocean Entering United States (Washington) 12,724 km I can't figure out why you're supposed to Kayak up to Seattle to go to LA, though. Is Seattle the only place on the West Coast a kayak can dock?