The power is out and its too dark to read indoors. I’m waiting for guests to arrive—it was supposed to be movie night, but we can find something else to do if need be—so I’m stuck at home. Outside, where its light enough to read, a slight drizzle prevents me from enjoying the first cool evening in a while. My wireless connection is down so I can’t turn on the ol’ PC and browse the net to see what’s going on. What to do, what to do.

I’m working on a novel that I could spend my time on, but I have this massive case of writers block and still need to sort out a few plot lines. I really need to be in a certain mindset to write. The novel isn’t really an option right now.  Read more 

I know. I know. We don’t have the “context” and “its from Politico”, but if this is true, what do we have to look forward in an Obama presidency:

Rangel surrogates approached Obama staffers this week about the possibility of securing him a slot at the podium, making the case that it would showcase reconciliation between the nominee and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s African-American supporters.  Read more 

I know. I know. I’m supposed to have linky goodness and some grand solution to all of life’s problems (other than alcohol—also the cause of life’s problems) to post, but I have a question: Should PB2.0 be an amalgamation of “professionalized” bloggers?

When I look at a lot of the A-listers from PB1.0, I notice that their “professionalization” coincided with their regurgitation of Village Values. May be a coincidence, may be related. Who knows. I know many of us have dreams of accessing the top pols and hobnobbing with celebrities, but will that lead to corruption? Does the “professionalization” of the blogosphere lead to unchecked egos? Does it force you to toe a specific line?  Read more 

In light of the different posts on good and bad Democrats I thought I’d post on the principle of party invariance and why I think it should be considered for PB2.0.  Read more 

I have been planning a series of posts on the latest developments in Biophysics (and perhaps other science fields), but before I got to that, I wanted to pass along the commencement address of Nobel Laureate Roger Kornberg to the Stanford School of Medicine this year. I’ve heard Roger Kornberg speak on numerous occasions and have to say that this is my favorite speech/talk/presentation I’ve heard from him. Short and concise and worth the read in full.  Read more 

Here’s the latest example of WWTSBQ 2.0:

Obama is going to be the nominee. Those who cannot endure that thought need to turn their attention to down ballot races or issues they care about.

Sorry, but last time I checked this race wasn’t decided yet. Until then, it’s pretty simple.  Read more 

I interrupt work on my dissertation to join WV, KY in giving a great big cheek scratch to the media and Obama’s WWTSBQ minions in the blogosphere. Here’s my song dedication to ya’ll. (You can fast-forward to the last minute or so.)  Read more 

How quickly we forget. Remember when proof of Obama’s crossover appeal was his win in Elko, NV:

Obama’s strength in rural Nevada speaks to the breadth of his appeal and to his campaign’s organizing efforts in Republican strongholds that Nevada’s Democratic Party has traditionally written off…

“What they found is that people in rural areas see themselves in Barack Obama. They see him as a true American success story. They see him as representing something new and fresh.”…

Haven’t heard about Elko much these days. I wonder why?  Read more 

Few people I know, actually do. A piss-poor description is at Wikipedia. Since it’s the most recent thing I’ve read, I’d recommend Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Had I been around in the 1850s, I’d have been a Whig with a keen eye on the new Republican Party. If I had a pony in the 1860 GOP race, I will say, probably to the amazement of the historically ignorant, that I would have been a Seward booster (can’t vouch for that link, but read some books, too!). Yeah, Lincoln was good, but I think Seward would have been better—experience and a strong ideological base are important, IMO, not to mention a kick-ass wife like Fanny.  Read more 

It appears there are a couple new and upgraded versions of WWTSBQ making the rounds these days.

The first, is the “I’m [or He] The Man” narrative typified by this:

Not long after the polls close in the May 20 Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Barack Obama plans to declare victory in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The advantages of this version over the previous version is that it ignores Hillary Clinton altogether. We should call this the TSBL (That Stupid Bitch Lost) narrative.  Read more