Being Stupid Isn't a Crime

"We have no intention of prosecuting Rush Limbaugh because lying through your teeth and being stupid isn't a crime," said Leo Jennings, a spokesman for Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann.

People say funny things sometimes.

Dum Da Dum Dum

So I haven't listened to anything except Iron & Wine in the last week, so there's no music news to report. I did lock myself out of my car yesterday with it running. At 1730 it's hard to find an available locksmith. So the car ran for over an hour before anyone could come and rescue me. No matter, I got back in and made it safely to school; then I got to go home.

In other news, Hanners is awesome.

DAILY KOS--John McCain: The Maverick Thief

John McCain is breaking the law.

When McCain’s presidential campaign was in trouble, he opted-in to public financing through the primary, limiting him to a $54 million spending cap. But laws aren’t for “mavericks”… McCain’s latest spending report, filed by his own campaign, shows he has spent in excess of $58 million so far — a public admission by his own hand that he has broken the law. We filed a formal complaint to Federal Election Commission yesterday, and we want you to sign-on for a second delivery of signatures later this week.

View the signers and add your name to the list.

Wednesday Political Musings

There's really nothing much to say. No one much likes China because it's polluted and they're mean. No one like Hillary because she tells lies and no one likes Barack because his preacher says some things that make people mad. Everyone seems to like Alan Greenspan even though he is being blamed for leading us into this mortgage fiasco and I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "When Bush took office gas was $1.46." I really want people in Pennsylvania to vote for Obama on April 22nd but I don't know how many people will listen to me. Jenna and I are officially registered to vote in PA though we feared that Jenna's was somehow lost. Some of the people I work with think he's a secret terrorist. I sometimes think people are ignorant; but that's no excuse for racism, or sexism, or most other -isms. Love. Love. Love.

If you have anything to say please do so.

Fitness Revolution Update #11

The scale read 224 this morning. It is still declining, so that's good; but not quickly enough. Now I know it's not going as quickly as I would like because I haven't been working out, so I won't complain too much. I was sick all last week and when one is sick, he doesn't feel like working out, right? Unfortunately, Lent is over so I'm back to being able to eat anything, so a healthier diet will now be a bit more difficult. Let me tell you, a cheesesteak for lunch yesterday did not sit too well with the stomach. I need to ease into this food business.

The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine

So I've never been just a giant fan of Iron & Wine. I, like everyone else, loved his cover of "Such Great Heights" on the Garden State soundtrack (and apparently released as a b-side to The Postal Service's single of "Such Great Heights") but that's been the extent of my devotion; listening to the album The Shepherd's Dog, however, has changed my mind. It is just so close to perfect that I have had trouble wrapping my mind around it.

I'll only focus on one track: #9 "Boy With a Coin." I know the album was released in 2007, but I didn't listen to it until 2008 so I'm putting this song up as a nominee for the best use of subtle handclaps as a rhythm section of 2008. Sam Beam (the man behind the nom de voix) uses his voice to perfection on this song and it sounds as if the vocals are mixed at the same level as the accompaniment affording an otherwise unexplainable honesty to the song.

I doubt it's happenstance that during most of my time spent listening to the album, I've been reading Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. There's a certain ephemeral quality to Beam's lyrics that are likely influenced by the poems of the American Bard. Also, Beam has a pretty righteous beard.