I am actually too mad to be snotty about this. Just read what these terrible, terrible people did now. I’m just spitting, swearing, sputtering mad.

Genarlow Wilson, the young man who has been in prison for two years in Georgia for having consensual oral sex with a girl at a party when he was 17 and she was 15 has been released from prison. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled the the punishment was cruel and unusual.

All harrowing and disturbing aspects of this story aside, his attorney’s name is the best ever for a story like this. From the article:

Wilson’s attorney, B.J. Bernstein, told CNN she is working to gain his quick release, which could come “some time today.” She said she called the prison warden, who has informed Wilson.

I say again, sometimes this blog just writes itself.

I know the wildfires in San Diego really are bad, but this quote from Dr. Jonathan Gallen on CNN’s website still kind of got to me:

“My pool was completely black with soot. Like the ‘Creature From the Black Lagoon’ was about to walk out of there.”

If I can read this, then so can the people sitting in trailers (or still waiting for trailers) in Louisiana and Mississippi. I’m sure they’re concerned about Dr. Gallen’s pool, and I’m sure they’re relieved that that National Guard is racing to save the homes of Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer, Victoria Principal, and others.

What was in New Orleans? A lot of underprivileged African-American citizens living under an ineffective Democratic mayor and an ineffective Democratic governor.

What’s in San Diego? Some of the nation’s most affluent white Republicans, living under a very visible Republican governor who has done a lot to support the president.

I don’t think it’s a conspiracy — I don’t think enough thought has been put into it to qualify as one. I do think, though, that our current government is inclined to notice the people who donate to campaigns and deliver votes more than those most in need. It will be interesting to see how fast these houses will be rebuilt. I would bet that New Orleans will still be in tatters when the last nail is driven in the San Diego reconstruction.

Update: Okay, so the fires have gotten much worse. 900,000 evacuated now, and no end in sight. I thought about taking this post down entirely as it uses the current situation to yet again bash the administration for past transgressions. But while it may be in slightly questionable taste given the scale of the tragedy, I still stand by the stuff I was speculating about. And more to the point, I don’t want to start taking stuff down that has already been posted — that kind of goes against how I want this blog thing to go. So I’ll have to be able to defend whatever I say — an interesting mental filter I need more practice with anyway.
Maybe the more optimistic way to view it is that the feds learned from Katrina to send lots of help as early as possible. I hope that’s the case, and I hope I’m wrong about the differences between New Orleans and southern California. I suspect the truth lies in the middle somewhere.

First of all, I’m not going to let Congress erode the power of the Executive Branch. I have a duty to protect the Executive Branch from legislative encroachment.

George w. Bush
Washington, DC
03/13/2002
at a White House press conference

Kind of explains a lot about how things have been going, huh? I love how eager he is to work hand in hand with other branches of government to get things done.

Unfortunately, Congress is screwing up now, too. I didn’t hear the press conference today (I can’t stand to listen to Bush talk), but some of the points he made can’t really be disputed. The whole Turkey-genocide thing is a good example. And when George Bush starts sounding reasonable to me, I start getting nervous.

If you get a minute and it’s still on in your market, watch WordPlay on Independent Lens on your PBS station. It’s all about the crossword puzzle culture, and is completely captivating.

I stink at crosswords, but I was inspired enough to go try to do an online one through Google as fast as I could. I did it in about four minutes while the show was wrapping up, but its difficulty level was by no means anything like what these brave souls are up against.

What I found interesting was that I then went to do a Sudoku next to it immediately afterwards, and I was completely unable to do it. Sudoku has always come very easy to me, but apparently there are different parts of the brain at play that don’t turn off and on fast enough for that kind of switch. At least in my addled brain.

My homespun observations aside (I’m tired and distracted, there’s no way to equate the two puzzle formats, I might just be an idiot tonight, whatever), try to catch this completely fascinating documentary — it’s well worth the 90 minutes.

Lynne Cheney, wife of the dreaded Penguin, has claimed in her latest book that her husband, Dick Cheney, is in fact related to Barack Obama. I don’t even know where to go with this, but thought it was worthy of a “wha?!??!?” post here.

Don’t bother with the CNN blog comments, by the by. There’s nothing there so far that gives me any hope for the blog commenters of America.

This video has apparently been around for a while, but I just saw it today for the first time. Priceless.

A bit about Erik Prince, the sole owner and operator of Blackwater. This is the organization we’re using to run our war in Iraq. Just saying.

Some snot went to a lot of work to create a Web page telling Second Life users to “get a first life.” He very closely followed the design of the SL website, and even modified their logo. Then he placed a link on the page inviting Linden Lab to send a cease and desist order.

Linden Lab’s lawyers all huddled together, apparently had a collective beer, and fired off a hilarious response that a) grants the guy rights to modify the SL logo for his website and even for the merchandise he sells at CafePress; and b) politely declines his invitation to send a cease and desist order. I love it — they gently assert their authority over their logo and still manage to come out looking good. Brilliant.

Just found this on my Chimp-o-Matic feed (boneheaded George Bush quotes I get on my Google homepage):

I try to go for longer runs, but it’s tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It’s sad that I can’t run longer. It’s one of the saddest things about the presidency.
–George w. Bush

interview with Runners World, Aug. 2002

You know, that and the death of hundreds of Iraqi civilians at the hands of our totally unchecked Blackwater contractors. But that running thing really bites, dude.