Some interesting stuff from Dan Savage, author of a great weekly “advice column” called Savage Love. He*s syndicated all over the place, but I check him out here every week.

Dan took a break from his usual fare of advice regarding various sexual questions to address the political realm this week. One of the questions was about how to deal with the results of the election. Here*s the last paragraph from his reply:

“…provided we don*t all leave, here*s how we get through a second Bush term: For at least the next four years, American lefties, artists, and queers should not consider this land our land. It is not a land of opportunity that spreads from sea to shining sea. No, we live on a chain of islands, an archipelago, not a continent. Sane people live on our islands—New York, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Madison, Austin, Boston, and on and on; basically all the cities, in red states and blue, that voted for Kerry—and we may not be the majority right now, and it may feel like sea levels are rising. But, hey, we own all the best real estate. We*ve got the cities, the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast. And what have they got? The Wal-Marts, the West Virginias, the Alabamas, the McMansions, and the mega-churches. Fuck *em. Let *em have that crap. We*ll fight the fuckers in two years during the midterm elections and take back Congress. And we*ll take *em on again in four years and take back the White House. In the meantime, enjoy island life.”

Boy, I couldn*t agree more. It*s either that, or I learn to tell funnier jokes and move to Canada.

Take this data with whatever grain of salt you feel is most appropriate. IQ is a slippery thing to get ahold of anyway. But this guy has posted some interesting data about the correlation of IQ (as seen through ACT and SAT scores) to the voting tendencies of states.

Even more fascinating, to me anyway, is this op-ed from the Boston Globe which looks at the “liberal” northeast in comparison to the Bible Belt when it comes to family values and a belief in education.

“For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry*s home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the “blue” states, led led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation*s leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment.”

If you don*t yet read Something Positive then you are missing something special. Its not for the faint of heart but it is one of the best comics anywhere, print or web and has kept me happily entertained for months now.

Today comes an interview with the artist in which we delve deep into his psyche and… well not really, but it is a fun look at the man the myth the legend. The interview was conducted by web comics ezine Buzz Bugle. Seems the editorial staff did a pretty hackish job with the interview transcript so Randy posted the unadulterated verion on his sight. Great stuff.

“Buzz Bugle (08:53 AM) :
Something I*ve always wondered: Do you see Davan as a hero of the common man?

Randy (08:56 AM) :
Davan*s not a hero. Davan*s a guy who does some things right and a lot of things wrong. A lot of people have complained to me that I*ve created a protagonist who*s a complete dick and that I*m trying to make people admire someone who*s antisocial. That*s bullshit. I*m not trying to make you do a damn thing. If you admire him, good for you. If you hate him, good for you. I*m just telling a story with a lot of jokes.

Buzz Bugle (08:57 AM) :
Fair enough.

Randy (08:58 AM) :
People can and will make their own decisions. If they*re so easily led that I can make them look up to Davan as a hero, I think there are a lot bigger problems that need to be addressed. “

Not that I place a lot of weight on omens, portents, or oracles (database software excepted) but the total for lunch today was $6.66.

I will adhere to the idea put forth in Heinlien*s Number of the Beast that the true number spoken of in scripture is 6^6^6 or 10,314,424,798,490,535,546,171,949,056. Now if that had been my total, End of Days might truly be upon us.

A hilarious list of breakup lines apprpriate to different schools of philosophical thought. All brought to you by Thoughts Arguments and Rants.

“The Relativist: It’s no one’s fault. (P.K.)

The Atheist: These things just happen. (P.K.)
The Kantian: You lied to me! (P.K.)
The Consequentialist, v 2.0: You should have lied to my mother about her pot roast! (P.K.)
The anti-Fictionalist: I’m sick of faking it. (P.K.)
The Cartesian: I don’t clearly and distinctly perceive a future together. (Kathryn Schubert)”

From the folks at dIsToPIa comes Corporate Fun! Printable signs you can place around your office to give the place a more draconian flavor.

Interesting numbers at Global Vote 2004. Looks like Bush does not sit well with most of the world. Oddly enough, his largest base of support is in the Middle East. Not sure how that works. Could have something to do with the sample size (800 people polled) being smaller than the generally accepted number for a random sample (1200).

The car is running well, personal finances are taking a positive swing this month, the kids are healthy, and for the first time in about amonth there is not a cloud in the sky.

Some days life just clicks together for you. The human animal is a funny beast. We are affected by so many things beyond our understanding that when everything comes into alignment it truly is a minor miracle.

Anyway happy days to everyone and remember, life is a fickle mistress. Keep happy thoughts about her in your head and she will reward you.

And one day after, the election is over. A couple of thoughts. First, I am stunned that things are getting resolved this quickly. Second, I am disappointed in the result.

To the first point, I don*t think it is a stretch to say most of us expected lawsuits to pile up like so much waste paper on the stock exchange floor. Kerry*s concession today effectively cancels that. I applaud him for not dragging this into a bitter prodracted and even more devisive process than that campaign provided us with. I*d like to think that the President, given the same circumstances, would have done likewise.

As for disappointment. My friend wrote to me today with the following question…“I*m still trying to figure out how 4 million more people decided to vote for Bush this time around – he

lost the popular vote by 500,000 last time, and won by almost 3.5 million this time. Who are these people? Have you actually met any of them?”

I know a few of them but haven*t asked why they are Bush supporters. From what I see on the news and Internet one of the big factors driving the Bush vote was “moral issues”. Presumably this covers gay marriage, stem cell research and abortion. These are simply touchstones for what the real disconnect is between Bush supporters and the rest of the country. The neo-conservative movement believes that legislating morality is not only possible but practical. All historical evidence to the contrary it would seem that they have envisioned the world in God*s image and it is a place devoid of diversity. Diversity of culture, belief, morals and governments. The spreading of democracy is a noble goal, but I believe the ultimate goal is to place a Wal-Mart and a McDonalds in every neighborhood in the world. A world community of homogeneous consumerism that provides untold riches for the priveledged few. This is what worries me. Seperation of church and state is fundamental to the way of life America has strived to achieve. More and more, it seems that the federal government would like to see that seperation closed so that they can protect us from “sins”.

This is just one aspect of the election result and I am writing from an under-informed position. Perhaps there will be more from me at a later date. But for now, if you are a Bush supporter, please leave a comment. I would like to know your reasons for supporting Bush. Preferably not by comparing him to Kerry, although it is difficult not to compare, but rather tell me what traits and beliefs you see in the President that make him the correct choice.

Yet another quirky 80*s piece of nostalgia pops up in the new century. DVD pre-orders are now being accepted. Now, I remember the show. Mostly I remember the theme song. But there is a better than average chance that I will purchase this sometime next year.

Perhaps it is my slow decent into grumpy old man but it just feels like TV was a bit easier to deal with in the “good ole days”. Knight Rider, A-Team, Greatest American Hero even shows like Night Court and Cheers all had something to offer by way of entertainment. As much as I like Law & Order, it lacks the same care free entertainment value that you could get from a night of Mr. T and David Hasselhoff.