Free Siberia!

Not only because this part of the internet believes that Siberia would be much better off as an independent entity, but also because would you really want to be associated with a nation that considers him a gay sex symbol?

I can see (if not agree with) why Putin could be considered handsome WITH CLOTHES ON!

Bare-chested, however?

Some people need to get their end over more often.

Fire up the Time Machine

...because I don't want this lot leading us into the future.

Beloit College--in its annual effort to make itself relevant (but pfft! it's in Beloit)--published yet another list of what this year's Freshmen class grew up with.

Personally, I find these snapshots of a generation disturbing enough:

"'I actually visited the Berlin Wall with my parents when I was in fifth grade,' said Jacob Williams, 18, of Louisville Ky., who is going through freshmen orientation at Beloit this week. 'I didn’t know a lot about the history, but I think it was a great piece of architecture.'"

"'You feel that you can joke about it now,' said freshman Jenny Posh, 18, of Menomonee Falls, Wis., who said her only knowledge of the Cold War came from studying it during high school."

"These students witnessed an age of triumphant capitalism when stadiums were named for companies, product placement became ubiquitous in movies and Wal-Mart has always been a bigger retailer than Sears."

"And then there’s technology: They use the online encyclopedia Wikipedia for research, grew up telling the world about themselves on MySpace and Facebook and are constantly talking (or texting) on their cell phones."

Honestly, it's enough to make you want to get a knitting needle, or at least tell Al Gore to fly kite instead of inventing the internet.*

*Not that I think this lot would get that joke, or even know who Al Gore is beyond that 'old guy talks about the environment."

Coming Soon: The 2008 Presidental Race on Hikaruland

(sigh)

Because quite frankly it is important to cover it, but let me just get the following off my chest:

1. Is it me, or are they rushing this thing too early, like Christmas sales in October? I do know the importance, and I am quite aware of why this is a special race, but good god, PATIENCE!
2. No Gore, No Clark, no candidate I care about at the moment.
3. SP-USA hasn't even had its convention yet, so could we at least let us all get to October? (I'm leaning towards Dwight Welch, and not just because he has good aesthetic taste in his blog template.)
4. Wouldn't it be fun if US elections were like those in parliamentary countries wherein the whole shebang is over in a few months? (Although between you and me, I find the lack of term limits a little bit unnerving.)

Tommy Wakes Up in the Real World

...and realises that nobody wants him--even in Iowa.

Vodaphone Presents the United Kingdom by HSBC

During the sabbatical from this corner of the internet, I went on vacation, of which I stopped off in the UK for the first time in 3 years.

Like most places, things have changed in the intervening years. The most peculiar change being that the rampant commercialism which seemed to just be held back in 2004, is now flowing freely. Nearly everything is up for grabs, as the "New" Labour "greed-is-good" disciples continue their reign.

(Lest you think I'm approaching this from the stance that the US is better...believe me, we aren't, we really... really aren't, I mean when was the last time you heard something referred to as just the "X Bowl at Y City Field" without 500 different companies cramming their names in between.)

It just makes you wonder if things a running towards a Jennifer Government situation.

Of course, there is a nice darkly comical aspect to having your name plastered all over the place: when you balls it up, everybody does know your name.