Drilling For Fake Oil

I look into the possibility of synthetic oil, in this week’s North Star column.
And on E-Gear, one of the greatest products ever created: a toilet-paper dispenser with a built-in iPod dock.

Gay Sports Champions Part I

From Hugo Schwyzer

This leads me to my observation: legalizing gay marriage is good for sports teams. Spain did it a few years back, and wham, they win the Euro for the first time since 1964. Canada did it just before the 2006 Winter Olympics, and bingo, they had their best-ever medal haul. South Africa legalized gay marriage in 2006, and won the Rugby World Cup the following year. Massachusetts gave same-sex couples the right to wed a few years ago � and ask Red Sox and Celtic fans about how nicely things have gone for their teams since. For all those folks who insist that God�s punishment for gay marriage will be obvious, so far the evidence is, um, lacking. The evidence for the opposite is growing.
If California upholds gay marriage at the ballot box in November, I predict championships for USC football, UCLA basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Anaheim Angels � all within short order.

Come on- what are you waiting for, Minnesota? The veep nod can wait, Pawlenty.

Gay Sports Champions Part II

The nutjob right-wing group known as the American Family Association apparently has some type of auto-correct feature on their site that, for whatever reason, changes the word “gay” to “homosexual.” Yes, even in stories about track and field, in which sprinter Tyson Gay is the winner:

Tyson Homosexual was a blur in blue, sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has.
His time of 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday doesn’t count as a world record, because it was run with the help of a too-strong tailwind. Here’s what does matter: Homosexual qualified for his first Summer Games team and served notice he’s certainly someone to watch in Beijing.
“It means a lot to me,” the 25-year-old Homosexual said. “I’m glad my body could do it, because now I know I have it in me.”

Best Movies of the Half Year

“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Iron Man,” “Be Kind Rewind,” “The Wackness,” “Wall*E,” “Cloverfield,” “Prince Caspian,” “Bigger Stronger Faster,” “Definitely Maybe.”

Worst Movies of the Half Year

“Jumper,” “Speed Racer,” “Untraceable,” “Drillbit Taylor,” “Never Back Down.”

The Trouble With Wall*E

I liked the new Pixar movie quite a bit, although I wouldn’t put it in the upper echelon of the Pixar canon (that’s “Toy Story 2,” “The Incredibles,” and “Cars.” But I did feel sort of uneasy about one aspect of it. Kyle Smith elaborates:

The earthlings � or maybe Americans, as none of them have any other kind of accent � are brain-dead blobs perpetually stuffed to the gills with entertainment. They never leave their spotless flying barcaloungers � and never could, since their bones have shrunk to useless twigs inside their Shrek-like masses. They float through their troglodyte lives as unquestioning subjects of the master corporation (the same one that ruined the Earth) that houses them, distracts them and feeds them. All foods are made to be sucked down like milkshakes for maximum convenience.

The same thing, of course, was true of “Idiocracy,” a film with pretty much the exact same plot, minus the robots-in-love part. I just found that part of the plot, as well as the movie’s overall message, not exactly subtle.
Full review to come Wednesday.

Don’t Call me S. Hussein Silver

I haven’t made much of a secret to anyone who knows me or reads my writings that I support Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, I find him the most inspiring candidate to high office (with the possible exception of Paul Wellstone) in my lifetime, I genuinely admire the man, and I sincerely hope that he’s our next president.
Changing my middle name to his, however, is where I draw the line.
A few years ago, when everyone was supposed to add “fair and balanced” to the name of their blog, I thought it was sort of cool. But actually taking the middle name of the candidate you like is another thing entirely.

The Return of Friendster

They love it in Asia, apparently– to the point where it may soon be the world’s largest social network, once again. Better that than MySpace.

You Can Cross Clark Off the VP List

News Item: Wesley Clark says “I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president”
Pretty funny, from a guy whose one and only qualification to run for president was his own military record. All he did in that entire campaign was shoot himself in the foot, so I’ll guess his nonexistent veep chances just went away completely. Good.

Quote of the Day

Matthew Yglesias, on the idiocy of two known adulterers (one of whom is gay!) co-sponsoring the Federal Marriage Amendment:

Good news! Larry Craig and David Vitter are on the case. Some liberals see irony here, but I see two men well-positioned to know what a tenuous strand it is holding the institution together and how easily a handful of gay weddings could plunge us all into an endless wide-stance, hooker-filled dystopia.