Republicans today

I just want to make sure I've got this right, so please check up on the following for me.

Republicans today, in 2006, believe that the following are:

Acceptable:

• Sexual predation by Members of Congress
• Conspiracy by Members of Congress to cover up sexual predation by Members of Congress
• Torture of anyone the President wants
• Wiretapping everyone, including American citizens, without a warrant
• Huge and increasing deficits
• Increases in the size of government
• Starting wars on little, no, or trumped-up basis
• War profiteering
• Cherry-picking intelligence data and other subversions of national security
• Outing undercover intelligence agents
• Government interference in private lives, such as medical decisions (including contraception, abortion, and end-of-life issues)
• Bribing journalists to produce government propaganda
• Voter intimidation
• Increased pollution
• Decisions based on pseudo-science and religious faith

Unacceptable:

• Habeas corpus
• Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch
• Judicial review of the Executive Branch
• Immigration of alien workers without whom the economy would fall apart
• Sex acts between certain consenting adults
• Marriages between certain consenting adults
• Abiding by America's treaty obligations, including the Geneva Convention
• Increasing the minimum wage
• Health care that covers all Americans
• Balanced budgets

And these people get votes… why?

[With editing and contributions by Tom]

[Edited by Tom to replace "pedophilia" with "sexual predation" above, as Glenn Greenwald persuasively argues that what Foley did was not legally pedophilia. I note that very few right-leaning blogs would be that fair to a Democrat.]

Republicans are the party of torture

I've been seething all day long about the pro-torture, anti-justice vote in the Senate. And I was going to write a post about it, but I've been too pissed off. Then I read Wil Wheaton's post, A statement of conscience, and he said just what I've been thinking, but better, because I'm just too angry to think straight. Go read it.

Tab Dumpapalooza

I realized I've barely looked at this blog all week, and I just realized why — I hate that picture of me. It looks like I'm flat-out drunk. At the time it was taken, I had, hand on my heart, only had about two sips of alcohol. And yes, I'm a lightweight, but I'm not that much of a lightweight. Consequently, the goal of this post is to push that one down the page a little. So, here goes:

• There's a new organization: SEFORA: Scientists and Engineers for America. About damn time, I say. From their Mission Statement:

  Scientists and Engineers for America influences targeted elections at all levels of government to renew respect for evidence-based debate and decision-making in politics.

  It's a shame that groups like this are needed, but I'm glad it's being done. Here's a link to their Blog.

• Via Reuters, Gameworld: Older women rule … the casual games market:

  Contrary to popular belief, teenage boys are not the masters of the entire video game universe.

  "Middle-aged" women rule the $458 million U.S. online casual game market that features quick games that can be picked up and played for a few minutes or a few hours at a sitting.

  According to separate studies from casual game publishers RealNetworks Inc. and PopCap Games, 70 percent of casual gamers are females over the age of 40, most of whom use gaming as a way to ease stress.

  Next question: will magazines or newspapers hire someone in this demographic to do game reviews? Or if there was a blog covering this market, would anyone buy advertising?

• So that I can remember it: Berry Bloglines is an open source RSS reader for the Blackberry. Looks good.

• Also so I can remember it: Sunlight Popup Politicians from Sunlight Labs. "Mini-profiles of Members of Congress that appear when you mouseover a link." I need to figure out an easy way for us to add these to posts.

• Speaking of politics, no, I'm not going to write anything about the pro-torture bill passing. Just having to type that phrase right now made me feel sick to my stomach. Could we please kick these bastards out of our government? Now?

• Maryam and Robert finally made it to my little town Sunday evening, and the three of us somehow all squeezed inside my office to shoot the video. It'll be interesting to see the end result as we were pretty jammed in here.

  [Why did I link Maryam and not Robert? You'll have to ask him why he's mentioned my name on his blog twice this week, but with no link either time. Hmmmph.]

  I'm very curious about how it will turn out. In retrospect, my main feeling was that Maryam and I were just talking, the way people who've known each other for years do, and I was wondering when the interviewing was going to start. I knew that Robert was recording, but we were just chatting away when he called time. She didn't have a list of questions written down or anything, but I think she got my entire life story in less than an hour.

  I knew I was her first interview for this video podcast series, but I was shocked to find out that I was her first interview ever. If she's this good as a rookie, watch out world!

• The list of Macworld Expo conference hotels is online, and oddly enough, our usual favorite, the Hotel Palomar, is not listed. Given that their Web site shows their AAA rate as $369/night, I think we'll be at the Marriott (conference price: $197/night) this time around. That's a darn shame; we've been at the Palomar for several years running now and we like it a lot. It's a lot better than the Marriott, but not $172+taxes per night better.

• And finally, something to look into when we're out of the country: Mexoryl SX, a sunscreen developed and patented by L'Oréal. From Dan Gray's blog:

  While conventional sunscreens protect against UVB (ultraviolet B) sunlight, Mexoryl SX is designed to protect against UVA (ultraviolet A) sunlight. UVB exposure is what causes sunburn and is most commonly associated with squamous and basal cell skin cancers. UVA reaches further into the skin, and can cause the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma. L'Oréal has incorporated Mexoryl SX in their suncare products since 1993 … alas, not those products sold (legally) in the United States.

  So long as I'll be outside the US, I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

Come to think about it, it's not just this blog I haven't been reading; it's all blogs. So, is there anything I should know about? What's new with you?

Our tough life in the wine country

On Saturday, we had a terrific day with our friends Marc and Stormy and David and Care. Marc and Stormy have a circuit of nice food and wine places in West Sonoma County they like to take friends on, and we had the pleasure of experiencing one of their guided tours. This particular picture was taken at Iron Horse Vineyards, where we tasted their 1998 Blanc de Blancs (as seen here!), the 2005 T-bar-T Viognier, the 2004 Estate Pinot Noir, and the 2004 T-bar-T Late Harvest Viognier, an amazing dessert wine. We bought bottles of the last two. We also made a bunch of other stops, but the one I enjoyed the most was at Wild Flour Bread near Sebastopol. We picked up a couple of loaves of really good bread.

It was a lovely day, with great friends. Thanks, y'all!

Photo credit: David Morgenstern