What's wrong with American political reporting in one sentence

From Beth Reinhard in The National Journal, and you don't have to be a Ron Paul supporter to see my point:

Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who has run for president before, did little to shake his image as a fringe candidate by talking too fast and dropping obscure subjects like “Keynesian bubble" and “monetary policy" into the conversation.

Maybe they're not quite so fascinating as Princess Beatrice's hat, but still.

Entries from my cat's blog

Mon 13 Jun 2011 0730 EDT
Woe is me. I've never been fed in my entire life.

Mon 13 Jun 2011 0731 EDT
A whole plate of wet food just for me! Yay!

Mon 13 Jun 2011 0735 EDT
Woe is me. I've never been fed in my entire life.

Quote of the week

"Permitting couples to marry when they are of the same gender is a step in the direction of equality before the law, but a truly free society would not have government in the business of defining relationships at all." — Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle

Are you a twink? Take this simple quiz and find out.

1. Describe your ideal boyfriend.

A. He has intelligence, integrity, and kindness.
B. He has perfect hair and knows all the latest dance moves.
C. He wears all the same sizes that I do, so I can double my wardrobe on the cheap.

2. When someone says that you look good, how do you respond?

A. "Thank you."
B. "Yes, I know already, duh."
C. "Too bad you don't."

3. What should this country's highest budget priority be?

A. Reducing the debt.
B. Concentration camps for unattractive people.
C. Public affairs ... yawn. Can't we talk about something relevant to our lives, like who wore what to J.R.'s last night?

4. How often do you visit a museum?

A. At least monthly.
B. Like, hello or something. Those places are for geeks.
C. A what?

5. How often do you visit a bar?

A. A what?
B. Every weekend.
C. I qualify for voting residence at J.R.'s.

6. A filthy rich, stunningly gorgeous man wants to take you to his island paradise tonight so you and he can spend the rest of your lives in rapturous love. On the other hand, the dance bar is having a special on those little blue drinks tonight, and all the "kewl doodz" in your apartment building are going. Which do you choose?

A. The man.
B. The drinks.
C. If my favorite TV show is on tonight, then neither.

7. How do you treat people who dance better than you do?

A. I watch their technique and try to learn from them.
B. I comment loudly on their clothes and hair.
C. I try to pick up their boyfriends.

8. How do you treat people who give off more attitude than you do?

A. I avoid them and associate with cheery, positive people instead.
B. I try to pick up their boyfriends.
C. No one gives off more attitude than I do.

9. How do you treat people of an advanced age, e.g., 24?

A. I value them for their maturity and experience.
B. I point and shout, "Ewww! A troll!"
C. I give them the address for the assisted-suicide league.

10. Why are you not concerned about reaching an advanced age, e.g., 24?

A. I have an inner beauty that transcends mere physical youth.
B. I wear baseball caps to hide my thinning, graying hair.
C. Since I can't count that high, I can't even imagine reaching that age.

Scoring: This involves some rather advanced math, so sweet-talk some troll daddy into calculating your score for you. Have him give you no points for each "A" response, one point for each "B" response, and two points for each "C" response. Your total number of points tells you how much of a twink you are.

0-10 points: Troll daddy. Like, duh and stuff—you are totally not a twink. Leave us alone and go back to your boring old grown-up life and your stupid high-paying career.

11-15 points: Twink potential. You are on the right track, but you still have some work to do. Go to the bars more often instead of throwing away your life doing that thing ... what's it called again? ... oh, yeah, reading.

16-20 points: A true twink. All that dancing in front of the mirror at the dance club has led you to true depths of shallowness. Well done! Kewl!

I'm in The Washington Post again.

Mine is the second letter here.

Religious right or P.C. left? Quote 25

In this series of blog posts, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read each quote and guess, before doing a Web search, whether someone in the religious right or the politically correct left said it.

25.

There is no such thing as "spontaneous mutation" into a strain that is resistant to the top eight classes of brand-name antibiotic drugs being sold by Big Pharma today. Such mutations have to be deliberate.

Malta, divorce, and the Catholic Church

The voters of Malta have voted to legalize divorce in that country. The Catholic Church campaigned against legalization of divorce:

"By this vote the citizen will either build or destroy," the letter said.

"A choice in favour of permanent marriage is an act of faith in the family, built upon a bond of love which cannot be severed."

The anti-divorce movement's campaign attempted to capitalise on these traditional Catholic concerns, posting billboards around the country which said, "Jesus Christ - yes; divorce - no".

Here in America, where that particular ship sailed away a long time ago, the Church uses similar arguments against same-sex marriage. You'd almost think that moralizers who used religion as a pretext for social control tailored their immutable and universal moral principles to whatever they thought they could get away with in each time and place. Unsurprisingly, Catholics who oppose marriage equality do not appreciate having such things pointed out to them.