Lightning, Up Close and Personal

Okay, folks. If you're a science geek -- or even not -- I bet you will find this as cool as I did. The video shows lightning strikes slowed down by 300X. While the video lasts 90 seconds, it actually covers less than a second of real time. What a scene. I don't know about you, but I love a good thunderstorm! Enjoy!



Copyright 2010 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

Everyone Loves BP - An Unedited Marketing Video a la Breitbart

Some fab new BP-inspired satire from Funny or Die. BP's spokesperson Beau Jangles hits the streets to ask people what they really think of BP.



Copyright 2010 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

WWF's Top Ten Critically Endangered Species for 2010

The World Wildlife Fund has released its list of Top Ten Critically Endangered Species. I knew about the Tiger and the Polar Bear, and the Giant Panda, of course. But the Monarch Butterfly is a sad surprise. I guess its something of a Pyrrhic victory that there are no whales on the list.

1. Tiger
2. Polar Bear
3. Pacific Walrus
4. Magellanic Penguin
5. Leatherback Turtle
6. Bluefin Tuna
7. Mountain Gorilla
8. Monarch Butterfly
9. Javan Rhinoceros
10. Giant Panda

Copyright 2010 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

DC Briefs: ACORN, Joe Wilson and the Chamber of Commerce Met in a Bar...

Ivan Marte, ex-chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, announced he is quitting the Republican Party because he was embarrassed by Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) “you lie” outburst.

Watch how SNL tackles the anatomy of Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" comment.

The rest of the story from the Washington Post: How the ACORN 'pimp and hooker' videos came about.

Pacific Gas & Electric quits the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because it disagrees with the Chamber's aggressive opposition to the climate change bill.

The latest consequence of this recession: the tough job market is splitting up couples and families as they hunt for work.

A new report from the Bureau on Labor Statistics shows that the wage gap between men and women working full time is persistent. In 2007, the average woman made almost 78 cents for each dollar earned by her male counterpart. According to newly released 2008 figures, that number now stands at just over 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. This drop is statistically significant, according to the Department of Labor.


Copyright 2009 (text only). The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

Sock and Awe: Need to Release Some Pent-up Aggression as the Bush Administration Limps to a Finish?

President George W. Bush likes to say that his administration is "sprinting to the finish." Well, I suppose if you count the continued trampling of our civil rights -- right up until Jan. 20th -- a form of sprinting, than he'd be right. Bush and his cronies are wasting no time in pushing through horrible new regulations -- as a lovely parting gift to the nation, including the President-elect who will have to clean up this mess.

From a horrible narrowing of the Family and Medical Leave rules, to the disastrous expansion of so-called "conscious exemptions" related to workers providing reproductive healthcare (simple stuff like birth control and referrals, not just abortion), to new permissible -- and scarily intrusive -- techniques for collecting information on Americans even where there is no evidence of wrongdoing, to new environmental regs that create significant exceptions to rules requiring scientific review of any federal project that might harm endangered species or impact climate change. These rushed through regulations are a case of so little time, so much damage. Actually, here's a great chart of all the midnight regs coming down the pike.

So, if you're feeling a little additional antipathy towards W. and company in light of about 100 new regulatory missles aimed our way in these last weeks, I have a great suggestion for you to work out that aggression. Inspired by the now infamous Iraqi shoe hurler, some creative folks have created the Internet game, Sock and Awe. It's kinda like whack-a-mole, only you get to launch shoes at the president himself. At the time of this blogging, 33673756 shoes have successfully found the mark -- and presumably left one. The site also lists the top 25 "Bush Shoeing Countries;" not surprisingly, the United States tops the list, with France a close second. But you might be interested in the other 23 countries making up the list. Even the peace-loving Swiss are getting into the act.

Copyright 2008. The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.

Build the Next Cabinet: Who Do You Think Should be the Next Secretary of... ?

Between Election Day and Inauguration Day, some of the biggest decisions facing the president-elect will be choosing his cabinet — the critical people who will run the executive departments and the most prominent agencies in our country's government. The transition team will spend that short time frame in a frenzied effort to screen and select the next set of leaders for the executive branch, and dole out political appointments galore.

Thanks to CQ.com's fun new game, The Cabinet Maker lets you personally assemble a core group of advisers for the next occupant of the White House. What would an Obama or McCain administration look like if you had your druthers? The game features candidates chosen by CQ's beat reporters as likely suspects for 18 top positions, so it's an interesting preview of the Washington-style game of musical chairs that will play out when a new sheriff comes to town. Take a look.

I'd Like a Little Cheese with My Whine, Please

A while back, I decided to take advantage of former Sen. Phil Gramm's portrayal of Americans as "whiners" and gripe about a few things myself. I'm feeling the need to whine again -- trust me, there's plenty of stuff to bitch about. So, here we go, the Redhead whines again.

-- I must whine about the politics of ... lipstick. Yes, lipstick. Or should I say swiftboating by cosmetics? Seriously, does anyone think Sen. Barack Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment was an indirect way of calling Gov. Sarah Palin a nasty name? Come on. He was talking about the McCain-Palin campaign's cheap peddling of a pale version of change, indeed the entire Republican party's breathtakingly overt and unapologetic co-optation of Obama's change message. Trust me, if I thought it was a sexist comment, I'd say so -- I wouldn't spare the junior senator from Illinois just because he's the Great Democratic Hope. But the comment clearly was not intended in the way some are characterizing it -- and to try to pin that particular tail on this particular donkey is a deliberate and disingenuous misunderstanding of the context.

-- While I'm on the topic of sexism in the media, I agree that a fair amount of the press coverage of Gov. Palin has been imbued with sexist stereotypes, both overt and covert. The very idea that a woman should be excluded from consideration for any job simply because she is a mother is fundamentally problematic and offensive. We don't do that to men, and we shouldn't do it to women. But, I also have to say, the Republicans suddenly getting religion on the topic of sexist media coverage is disingenuous and transparent. Where the hell were they when Hillary was being excoriated? When Hillary nutcrackers were the hottest holiday gift? Yes, the coverage of Palin has been problematic in some ways. But don't conveniently get a conscience about media sexism as a way to self-righteously sidestep the tough and entirely valid questions about experience and qualifications.

-- I need to loudly whine about the disparaging comments being made about community organizers. At the Republican Convention, which I had the misfortune to attend (being a fly on the wall is not all it's cracked up to be, but I digress), one speaker after another denigrated Obama's work as a community organizer. Clearly, these folks have no idea what the hell that is or the good such work can do -- which is especially ironic since so much community organizing takes the place of programs the Republicans have axed, or addresses problems their lousy, short-sighted, care-only-about-the-rich polices have produced. And, as Gov. David Patterson (D-NY) said, it also smacks of "racial coding." Insulting and offensive.

-- I must join the chorus of loud, vociferous whining about Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT). Hell, I want to lead it. I'm pissed he kept calling himself a Democrat during his speech at the Republican National Convention. He is not a Democrat. In fact, he is listed as an "Independent Democrat" on Senate rolls -- whatever the hell that is -- at his own behest. Listen, Joe, you don't get to use our party label just when it's politically expedient. You certainly don't get to use the label in the same breath as you endorse the other party's candidate, in a speech that's the rhetorical equivalent of a slap in the face to the Blue Nation that once nominated you for vice president. Never mind that Independent Joe caucuses with the Democrats or that it's our majority which provides him with the committee chairmanship (aka, bully pulpit) that he loves so much. It's about time he stopped attending the weekly Democratic Caucus luncheons -- good riddance. Stick a fork in Joe. He's done.

-- Are the House Democrats really going to cave on the issue of off-shore drilling? Really? Are they going to roll over in the face of that ridiculous Republican convention chant, "drill, baby, drill!"? Are they going to let a rag tag group of House Republicans in plaid Bermuda shorts and golf shirts, loitering on the House floor during the August recess talking to each other about their oil well wish lists, force their hand? Apparently so. Now, I'm the first to admit that energy policy is not my expertise, but even I know that we can't drill our way out of this mess. I know this proposal has more to it than off-shore drilling rights -- I just hope it's worth the trade off.

-- Okay, this is a pre-whine -- about Charlie Gibson getting the first Palin interview. Please, Charlie... don't disappoint. Ask some tough questions. And don't let Palin get away with just repeating zingers from her acceptance speech
-- over and over and over again -- like she's been doing all week at various campaign stops throughout the country. Ask her the hard questions. And don't let her get away with the old bait and switch -- make it clear when she's dodged your questions, and bring Palin and the viewers face to face with her lies.

I tell you what, friends -- whining really can be so cathartic. Please, join me. You'll feel ever so much better.


Copyright 2008. The Zaftig Redhead. All Rights Reserved.