Moon: Vastly Superior to Earth?

Damn those Moonites, always up to no good!

A few days back, a bit of a stir was created when Boston officials spotted blinking signs throughout the city and on a number of bridges and expressways. Apparently, in our post 9/11 world, the first conclusion the authorities jumped to was that they were bombs set by terrorists. The truth was a bit less extreme. Via Newsarama:

“Last night, fans of Adult Swim got a rather interesting surprise when they tuned in for their nightly dose of Futurama and more.

At 10:30 that evening, the adult-oriented animation network flashed an apology to the populace of Boston, Massachusetts regarding a PR stunt they did that went very, very wrong. It seemed some people in Beantown took the campaign as a terrorist threat.

As reported sometime back, as part of a campaign to promote the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, Adult Swim came up with a new fangled technology featuring the ATHF’s nemeses the Moonites. Ignignokt and Err. It’s not confirmed, but Boston’s Museum of Science also started an exhibit on the techniques animation studios are using with more Adult Swim characters opened on Monday, January 29. The devices went live yesterday, January 31.

Apparently, some of the local populace didn’t get the joke. They mistook the devices for bombs.”

The same promotional gadgets were placed in a slew of other cities, but did not bring about the same response. I did enjoy the cast at Fox News attempting to explain exactly what Aqua Teen was however; it was classic comedy.

I understand siding with caution concerning unidentified objects on bridges and such, but did it cross anyone’s mind that a bomb would likely not have a set of flashing lights on it? And they probably would not have placed it where it would be clearly visible to passerby’s. Either every other city in America that had these signs needs to pay better attention to possible terrorist threats, or Boston needs to chill out just a bit.

Then I thought: how crazy would it be if Osama was a fan of Aqua Teen and decided to use their likeness as a symbol or mascot? Err giving America the finger takes on a whole new dynamic in that context.

“I’m Special, and People Like Me”

Holy hot dogs! Al Franken is running for office!

I guess I should go back and re-read “Why Not Me?” to see how he will conduct his campaign. Rush Limbaugh is going to have a field day with this one.

Berkeley: America’s Most Conservative City

Only in Berkeley, the most conservative city (yea, I said it) in America, would this be important.

“ANCIENT OAK GROVE AT UC BERKELEY WINS COURT INJUNCTION”

Today Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a Preliminary Injunction barring the University of California at Berkeley 's proposed removal of a century-old stand of native Coast Live Oaks in response to motions filed by the California Oak Foundation and its co-petitioners including Save the Oaks at the Stadium.

Ancient Oak Grove? They were planted 90 years ago! How in the world does that constitute “ancient”? Heck, I have had family members older than that.

Not that there is anything wrong with saving some pretty trees. Lord knows I enjoy having some green in my city. But this all goes back to why Berkeley so often drives me crazy: absolutely any type of change is seen as a catastrophe. UCB is going to have to put in new buildings at one point, and unless they discover an unknown dimension within the schools confines, it will probably require re-working the property they already own. It was the college that planted the trees where they are to begin with.

What really makes me laugh however is if you happen to take a ride past this “ancient grove”, you will notice that this grove doesn’t have a lot of trees. This isn’t some endangered rainforest that gives comfort to a large supply of oxygen and habitats. This is a handful of trees that surely look nice, but are hardly endangered or ancient.

So please Berkeley, calm down. Your city is going to change, and these is no way you can keep it the same way it was when the 60s gave you more attention than you deserved. A nice city you have, but it will undoubtedly change. If you continue to stick your head in the sand, cling to your Communist Manifesto, and fight every piece of progress that rolls through your little town, you are going to be left in the dust.

Political Prisoners? Give me a Break!

Sgt. John V. Young, murdered by members of the Black Liberation Army.

Last week, a number of men who were connected to a Black Panther splinter group in the 60s were arrested for a murder committed in 1971. In true form, Indybay started to rally against their “unjust” arrests. They then furthered the biggest misnomer about groups like the Panthers: that they have been arrested for political reasons and claiming this is a "witch hunt". Indybay furthers this argument by stating their “prosecution is based on vengeance and hate from the '60s”.

I can make this real simple: when you gun down a police officer who was simply working the secretarial desk, you have crossed the line between activist and common thug. I don’t care how many Maoist one-liners were going through these guys’ heads when they pulled the trigger, I doesn’t change the fact that the act was done in cold blood.

Political dissidents in China and Moscow, who are arrested and tortured for nothing more than speaking against the government, are political prisoners. American “activists” and revolutionaries who kill and destroy for the sake of their ideology are violent criminals. If you believe the American government and its laws are unjust and decide to overthrow them through force, don’t hide behind a tag like “political prisoner”. You end up looking like an idiot.