Mindless Philosopher

From today’s Hotline

Boston Globe’s McGrory writes, Santorum’s ’02 comments on the Catholic Online website regarding the priest/pedophile scandal have recently been brought to light. He wrote: “When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.”
McGrory: “So thank you, senator, for setting us straight about the problems with the clergy. Thank you for letting us know that all those pedophilic priests and the church leaders who covered up their crimes are the fault of every Bostonian.”
Santorum aide Robert Traynham: “It’s an open secret that you have Harvard University and MIT that tend to tilt to the left in terms of academic biases. I think that’s what the senator was speaking to.” McGrory: “Of course. The whole thing’s MIT’s fault.”
McGrory: “I asked” Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) about this, since “he’s starting to hang out” in Santorum’s conservative “crowd.” Romney spokesperson Julie Teer responded: “What happened with the church sex abuse scandal was a tragedy, but it had nothing to do with geography or the culture of Boston.”
More McGrory: if Santorum were to visit, “he’d find a city that is pretty much the birthplace of civil political discourse, a concept that Santorum essentially violates every time he opens his mouth” (7/12).

July 11 Action Team Phonebank for Roe!: On Monday, July 11 from
6-8pm, we will be holding a massive phonebank to ask pro-choice
supporters in Virginia to take action on our Save Roe campaign.
We need to make 500 phone calls! We’ll provide the script and
the PIZZA, you bring your Take Action attitude, your cell phone,
and a friend! Stop by after work! This phonebank will be held in
Washington, DC; please RSVP for the exact location.
RSVP: Maranda at public.policy@ppmw.org or 202 347-8500
x7605.
I’ll be there!
P.S. That 500 phone call number might be a bit on the low side :)

With one week left until the next Harry Potter book, and in the spirit of MuggleNet’s staff predictions, I present my predictions for The Half-Blood Prince. (Note: I’ve not read anything that’s not publicly available, the rest is just conjecture, so no spoilers follow.)
General thought: Many of the MuggleNet predictions include war, however I agree with Sheri in saying that Harry’s year will be more normal than abnormal. I look forward to the return of Quidditch, with Harry captaining the team and the usual number of Weasley members (now Ron and Ginny). I’ve heard that Harry’s stay at the Dursley’s will be rather short, so look for a big revelation about Aunt Petunia in Book 7, not Book 6.
I say Harry’s year will be rather normal because You-Know-Who can hardly just come out in the open and start attacking Red Coat-style. In VWI, YKW hid his true intentions from his early followers, but now >90% of the wizarding world would fight the Death Eaters. Thus, the DEs will have to engage in hit-and-run tactics, with one such attack almost certainly occurring at Hogwarts. But, because this will not be a conventional war, wizards (including Hogwarts students) will be asked to go about their business in a normal matter and leave the skirmishes to Aurors.
The new Minister of Magic will either be Lucius Malfoy or Amelia Bones, and while I really have no clue who will emerge victorious, I lean towards Malfoy winning via some sort of underhanded rigging by YKW. The political side of me looks forward to any sort of election/campaign between the two front-runners in the beginning of the book. (Note that both candidates are related to Hogwarts students, meaning that the school would easily divide into two camps, similar to Diggory v Potter in GoF.)
Other notes: I think the Half-Blood Prince will be a new character. I’m entrigued by this editorial on Seamus and hope that it comes into play. We’ll also get new information that helps confirm the Changling Hypothesis.
Will there be romance?: Yep, but only more flirting, nothing major, between Harry/Luna and Hermione/Ron (a very unoriginal prediction, I know).
Any deaths?: Yes, I think Wormtail is done for. First, I’ve never read a novel where the character in his position lives. Second, he really has outlasted his usefulness. Given that he definitely won’t make it through the end of Book 7, and I figure that JK has more important characters to kill off in the finale, I’m guessing that the Marauders will a group of one by the end of HBP.
Well, that was quite a bit of “geeking out”, but at least I’m not as bad as this guy.

You Know You Grew Up In The 80’s or Early 90’s If:

1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “SIKE”
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” ..and can do the “Carlton”.
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil’ Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that “WOAH ” comes from Joey on Blossom
8. Two words: Hammer Pants
9. If you ever watched “Fraggle Rock”
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars… and “spokey-dokes” or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect
11. You can sing the entire theme song to “DuckTales ” (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
more….

Continue reading →

According to his new book, Sen Santorum doesn’t think “poor, low-skill” women should attend college. Sounds like a must read for the entertainment value, but only if you don’t pay for your copy. Update: Be sure to read the Amazon “reviews” (before they disappear!).
Unrelatedly, I have an extra two tickets, in prime seating location, to DC United’s Saturday game vs Kansas City (only $15 a pop). Email me if you’re interested in coming.

O’Connor resigned: to the streets! Do you want one of these people casting the deciding vote to overturn Roe and the separation of church and state? Didn’t think so. But before you march on the ellipse, write your senators!

McSweeney’s on Harry Potter.
NY Times article on my phone.
Our “favorite” reporter Hanna Rosin was on the Daily Show. (Thanks to Chicklet for the link.)
By the numbers
Number of jokes she made: 0.
References to empty paper bags: also 0.
Number of time I predict she’ll be invited back: you guessed it, 0.
Somehow I doubt Forrestor will claim to be “a grassroots candidate:”

Forrester received $205 from people contributing $300 or less to his campaign, and $498,688.67 from people giving $300 or more. (AP)

Addition: The New York Times on Harry Potter.

Finished off my three weeks of travelling last Thursday night, with a red-eye back from California. I’m still recovery from lack of sleep. Word to the wise: If you ever take an west->east red-eye, get plenty of sleep the next night. (East->west red-eyes are better because you go against the jet stream and get in at an four which still allows you to sleep at a hotel.)
Despite my sleepiness, Chu and I went to Batman Begins on Friday night (after baking a birthday shortcake for Rupa). Due to some confusion, we were unable to make the 11:30pm showing, so we did midnight-thirty instead. (Hrmm, this might also be why I’m still tired.) I greatly enjoyed the movie, although I found the League Of Shadows–pillaging Rome, burning London, and all that–to be a bit beyond of an implausible aside. I would have preferred the Scarecrow as the main villain, as I remember episodes with him being very good in the cartoon version of Batman that I grew up with, but I understand how that might not have played too well to the larger audience.
Saturday afternoon I played the worst half of goalkeeping since in about a decade. I let in three goals in the opening half of our soccer game, two of which were stoppable. I performed adequately in the second half, and we ended up losing 4-1. To redeem myself I played for a team in the game following ours, and earned a 2-0 shutout.
Speaking of ending long streaks, on Sunday, after a 10-year hiatus, I picked up the game of golf again. My father had bought me my first set of clubs when I was seven, and I played occasionally until I was 15 (at one point I even tried out for TJ’s golf team). Frustrating with puberty continually changing my height and thus my swing, I quit. Sunday I was back with a vengeance, shooting 54 over nine holes, which I don’t think was too shabby considering my sabbatical.
From golf I went immediately to pickup basketball, where my teammates made me look at lot better than I actually am. By the end of the weekend, I had about eight cuts and scrapes on my body (most of them in places where I had previously destroyed most nerves anyway).
LOTD: Zombie dogs

Against seven other pies entered in the Mellman Group pie competition, Chu and I emerged victorious with our Key Lime Pie (despite our best efforts to misread the recipe). Here’s the pic from my treo (I think it needs a flash).

For you crazy kids who use LJ, here’s the syndication that an anonymous person set up.
QOTD: “He tried to intimidate him with spirit fingers.”