I was reading up a bit on the Soviet-Afghan war of the 80's when I came across a picture of the Afghanistan flag circa 1980-1987.
It struck me that the flag's seal looked a lot like Professor Chaos (Butters from South Park).

Anyway, according to the Wikipedia entry, here's what the seal actually represented:
"...a rising sun (a reference to the former name, Khorasan, meaning "Land of the Rising Sun"), a pulpit and the Qur'an for Islam, ribbons with the national colors, a cogwheel for industry, and a red star for communism"

Because I'm quite sure that everyone wants to know what I have been reading (I'm like Oprah in this way), here's a brief update.

It had been a good long while since I read anything noteworthy. I ran into a string of disappointing books and struggled to find anything I liked. Among the disappointments was "Martin Chuzzlewit." I guess I am just not a Dickens fan, but once in a while I give him another try.
Finally I took up the Stieg Larsson trilogy upon a recommendation from my parents. I was impressed. All three books were very entertaining. Two thumbs up.
Yesterday I bought a few used books, including a couple by P.G. Wodehouse. I've heard lots of good things about him over the years and finally decided to check him out. I've made a decent start on the first and I am impressed again.
I expected the humor to be a little dated. It is that, but still he's quite funny. In lots of ways the stories remind me of very old sit coms- the humor is along the lines of Burns and Allen or I Love Lucy. And those were good shows. Plus, since Wodehouse predates them by a couple of decades maybe they were actually stealing his style and material.

The Mad Procrastinating Handicapper Makes His Pick

I'll pick Blame in the Breeders Cup Classic.

Wow. That was easy. I wish I'd thought of making picks after the race a long time ago.

It was a great two days of racing. I don't know who came up with the Breeders Cup idea, but it was a good one. It's a great event every year.

I ended up just a few dollars down for the weekend.

While at work Friday I was a little perturbed because for some reason I couldn't bet by phone. I was even angrier when I lost out on a winner the 2nd race because of it. But it turns out I would have ended up at almost exactly even overall on the bets I didn't get to make, so no harm done.

Then today I lost big for a while, then made a steady rally for the last 3 races to almost break even again. Almost, but not quite.

It's that time of year. The days are getting chillier, kids are eating their Halloween candy, thoughts are turning to turkey, and the endless stream of pundits explaining what will happen in the election has morphed into an endless stream of pundits explaining what just happened in the election.

A popular topic among the pundits has to do with the packaging of respective messages. Apparently- and not surprisingly, considering the intelligence and attention span of the average person- it's important to have a unified, very simple message and express it all day, every day so that this very simple message sinks in.

It's finally occurring to me that the "conservatives" have a distinct advantage in this regard not because of better political gamesmanship but because of their actual beliefs about these issues. Almost across the board, their message is simpler because their belief is simpler.
I don't mean to imply (at least not in every case) that their belief is stupider. Just simpler. I tend to vote for the "liberals," of course, but I agree with the other side on some issues. And more often than not I believe both sides are completely full of shit.

But on almost every major issue, the so-called conservative stance is much, much easier to translate into an advertisement- whether on a commercial or a bumper sticker.

Just try to argue from each side as briefly and succinctly as possible while still being accurate. It is impossible in every case to express the "liberal" view in fewer words.

Here are some examples.

Abortion
Conservative: I'm pro-life.
Liberal: We are against abortions but in some cases have to consider what is best for all concerned.

Capital punishment:
Conservative: An eye for an eye.
Liberal: Uncomfortable moral implications and an imperfect judicial system have to be considered.

Taxes:
Conservative: Taxes should be lower.
Liberal: I'd like to lower taxes if possible but government serves an essential role and has to be paid for in some way.

Global warming:
Conservative: Global warming is a hoax.
Liberal: The great preponderance of scientific evidence is that global warming is real, that man is contributing to it, and that if something is not done there will be terrible consequences.

Gun control:
Conservative: Gun ownership is our right.
Liberal: We have a right to own guns for hunting, sports, and self-protection but must do something to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

That was just a few. I've thought of lots more. In every cae, I think I the "conservative" side is presented quite accurately. The "liberal" view is relatively accurate for each, but I would probably require more words than I actually used if I wanted to be as accurate as I was when stating the "conservative" argument.

Under "Popular search topics" on my home page I saw "Chaplin time." I had no idea what it referred to, but I was curious so I searched it.
It turns out some doofus watching a 1928 Chaplin film spotted someone in the film who looked like they were talking on a cell phone. Mr. Doofus, of course, reached the obvious conclusion that it was a time traveller.



Obviously.
And I have to admit I would try to do the same thing. I mean, if I found myself in 1951 I would certainly try to work myself in as a background extra in On The Waterfront or something. Because that would be cool.

Two questions, Mr. Doofus.
1) Did he bring his own signal towers?
2) Are there roaming charges, or what?

Mr. Doofus is either just plain insane, or insanely stupid for believing it, or insanely brilliant for coaxing me into watching his stupid Youtube clip and even posting about it.

Our government has problems. Loads and loads and loads of problems. So many problems it's almost impossible to know where to begin. Almost impossible, but not quite. There is one problem that can easily be solved: not enough nicknames. Our politicians could get more done, and done well, if they just had cool nicknames.
Nicknames are important. Nobody was going to stand in Henry VIII's way with a title like Defender of the Faith. And who was going to mess with Ivan the Terrible? Or Alexander the Great?

The steady decline of nicknames can be traced through presidential history. The 19th century saw Old Hickory, Old Rough and Ready, and Honest Abe. The first half of the twentieth century was still fairly strong, with the Trust Buster, Silent Cal, and Give'em Hell Harry.
Then we dropped off to Ike and Tricky Dick, and it was downhill all the way. Our last three presidents have been Bubba, Dubya, and Barry.

So I'm trying to rectify the situation. It's too late for Barry, but there are other politicians who can still be helped.


Harry Reid, for instance, could henceforth be known as Harry the Mundane.

On the other side of the aisle, Senator McConnell is now Mitch the Stiff.

California's governor could be, um...hmmm, something from movies maybe. Ideally an intimidating, sci-fi type name from some Linda Hamilton movie. Can't think of anything, though.

Sarah Palin will still be known as That Crazy Bitch. Some things don't need to change.

I can't think of a good name for myself, though. I'd like something along the lines of Defender of the Faith, because that's really cool. But it doesn't really fit with atheism, so I think I'll go with Eater of the Cheetos.

I wore a purple shirt today for no particular reason. Well, I thought it looked nice, and it was clean, so really I guess I wore it for two reasons.

Early in the day someone passing on the stairwell commented upon my purple. She also was wearing purple, so I thought it was one of those stupid 'Kevin got the memo' comments I always hear when two people wear similar clothes.

Then I noticed a few others wearing purple. And people kept directing comments to me in tones indicating camaraderie.

Still, though I thought it odd that so many people were wearing purple I didn't think much of it.

Finally, just a few minutes ago I logged into Facebook to check up on statuses and saw some status updates which referenced the wearing of purple. So then I Googled it and found out about Spirit Day.
But I was clueless the whole time it mattered- sort of like wearing green on March 17 and not knowing it is St. Patrick's Day. But I'm certainly fine with it, and hope I looked like the caring, supportive person I strive to be, and not the clueless, out-of-the-loop one which I so often am.