Baby Peg--The Cutest Little Chunk of Veal Ever

If you saw my tweet/status update yesterday, you already know that I am an unlicensed large animal veterinarian, specializing in bovine neo-natal care. Translation: Sadie the cow had a calf up in Denton two nights ago, and I had to go out in the field to give it some shots and stuff.

I thought readers might be interested in a pic of baby Peg, as we're calling her, because she is super cute and probably delicious. Yes, she is a she, you sicko...the umbilical cord just hasn't fallen off yet.

Best Peg story so far is how I got fed up with trying to stick needles into her out in the dark pasture, so I distracted mama with some feed and stole her baby. I had gotten about 100 yards toward the brightly lit barn when Peg started flailing in my arms and mooing. Mama looked up from her feed bucket like she'd been shot and promptly charged my location. Imagine a rodeo clown trying to do his thing in short and flip-flops whilst also carrying 60 pounds of veal. Unlike this fellow, I got out unscathed. BBQ invitations are in the mail.

It Begins--With RoboMonkeys

It begins today. Our long, slow descent into the Terminator future commenced yesterday in Pittsburgh. Mind control monkey cyborgs? Which bozo mad scientist thought this was a good idea?! I'm not surprised that "Sky News" broke the story, given that outlet's obvious connection to the SkyNet project. Researchers claim these devices will someday help stroke victims and quadriplegics. Yeah, help them and the machines overrun civilization and turn us into Duracells. I saw The Matrix too, evil monkeybots!

UPDATE: It's worst than I could have imagined--Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies! Good God!

What Sotomayor With You?

Thus far I've held my tongue on Obama's first high court nomination, primarily because I'm not as well informed on these matters as I used to be. (Go ahead, ask me about the last two appointments when you've got some time to kill) But, since her confirmation hearings start today, I think it's time I had my say.

First off, Sotomayor's certainly not the worst nomination we could have expected from the Big O. Obama knows he'll have more appointments down the line, and he's saving his big caliber liberal ammo for those showdowns. She's liberal, but she's not some kind of San-Fran nutcase. To the contrary, by all indications she's someone with principled opinions I just happen to largely disagree with. Secondly, she's not even the worst replacement for Souter that we could have expected. She's far more interesting, and less creepy. the man lives in a remote woodland cabin, for God's sake! (the linked photo is the actual Souter abode--dungeon not pictured) And again, from her opinions, it looks like she bases her decisions much more on settled law than many conservative commentators would like us to believe.

However, where there's smoke, there's fire. Unlike some of my fellow right-wingers, I don't think that Sotomayor's infamous 2001 comment about a "wise latina" making better decisions than a stodgy old white guys is an apocalyptic omen of her future decisions. Most of the soundbites take the remark out of context and thus distort her meaning. But even if she meant what her supporters seem to say she meant, that racial diversity on the bench is necessary to reach fair decisions, are we OK with that? Doesn't this raise a valid question as to whether, as one pundit put it, she'll put her "thumb on the scale" for minority litigants? I think it does, and I hope she has a good response for the Judiciary Committee today. Especially with respect to the Ricci reverse-discrimination case.

If stodgy old white guys are incapable of rendering a truly fair decision because they lack a certain flavor of experience that being a poor latina brings, our judicial system is already up a creek. Taking Sotomayor's presumed view to its logical conclusion, only judcial race quotas can ensure that our courts issue the "wise" decisions. In the year 2009, shouldn't the law be able to recognize the positions litigants find themselves in without reference to their race, or the race of the judge? Maybe not out in bayou, but certainly in federal court. Don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic about a woman, and a latina to boot, on the Court. But to place her their because she's latina, or because she's a woman is antithetical to the rule of law. Yet it seems that Sotomayor supports exactly this type of affirmative action on and off the bench. Her 2001 Berkley speech isn't exactly a dealbreaker, but it let's us know what to expect from this and future Obama nominees.

PS-In the photo above, doesn't Judge Sotomayor look kind of like a cross between Hamad Karzai and Evo Morales? Probably just that weird smock thing she's got on--its like if your grandma crocheted a gown for an Cambridge don.

I Choose the Latter Option

The actual performance starts at about 1:10. Ugh.

To Boldly Go Where Six TV Series, Ten Other Movies, and 9 Million Websites Have Gone Before

Split infinitives aside, if you saw the twitter and Diana's post, you know my spacebride and I saw the new Star Trek flick tonight. I went in with two preconceptions: 1) Oh holy crap are they really going to retcon (precon?) such a huge, diverse, and fully awesome franchise? 2) I am going to write a crazy review post about this badass movie. Both of these preconceptions were shattered soon after the movie started--to write anything more would be the worst kind of spoiler.

I will say this, they young actors the producers rounded up to play the tried and true TOS characters were spectacular. I worried that at some point Spock would start cutting open people's heads and stealing their Hero powers, but logic held his emotions in check. Scotty was an easy favorite, but Chris Pine as Kirk was like watching Shatner 30 years younger and more talented. I don't think Pine speaks Esperanto, however. And I like that Chekov kid, he's got moxie. The dialogue was brilliant and hilarious in mostly Trek-appropriate ways. Like the best of the ST films, this one was laughs, suspense, heavy emotional themes, and cool future space stuff all wrapped up and shipped in a crate marked "Enterprise." Plus they finally gave old Fleet Captain Christopher Pike his due. A pilot and two-part clip show are no way to treat a Starfleet hero.

The movie couldn't have come out at a better time, either. I've been watching TNG episodes on Tudou.com, the Chinese version of YouTube. After revisiting my old favs, I started watching straight through from the beginning. Eventually I got to one about, I kid you not, a gigantic area of space "utterly devoid of matter and energy." For real, 45 minutes of "Captain, there's nothing there." "Check your sensors again Mr. Data." "Captain, there's nothing there." Look it up if you don't believe me. How I stayed awake, I don't know, but someday I'll be able to tell my geeky little grandkids about how I've seen every episode of Star Trek ever, mostly via Red Chinese copyright infringers. Engage!

Most Depressing Christmas Carols Ever

Whilst neglecting my studies just now, I ran into this impressive mix of Nine Inch Nails songs performed to the tune of our favorite Christmas standards. Make sure to hang in there for "I hurt myself today, pa rum pum pum pum."

A Chilling Specter: Love to See Him Go, Hate to Watch Him Leave

For years Arlen Specter has been a thorn in the side of conservative Republicans. I personally know hard-core pro-lifers who even stopped supporting Bush when he raised money for Specter in 2004. Frankly, a great many Republicans are pleased to see him leave the party, as he today announced he will to run as a Democrat in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race. After all, he did vote essentially as a Democrat over 40% of the time. But his departure is obviously a huge blow for Republicans in Pennsylvania and nationwide.

Much has been said already about the impact Specter's jump will have in the Senate. The Democrats now have a solid filibuster proof majority. Between retirements and primary challenges, it will likely grow by a seat or two this cycle. But this is a reality we've been dealing with for weeks and months. What concerns me most is the future trend this switch signals.

After our loss in November, pundits opined that the Republicans would split in twain, probably into a fringe right-wing and a moderate mainstream party. And everyone could agree, at least, that some major reworking was in order. What Specter's switch tells me, however, is that between Obama's tent pole popularity and the tarnished Republican brand, every moderate voice could be pushed from our ranks and into the Dems' waiting arms. If you don't believe me, take a look at Texas in the 80's. As Democrats found themselves to the right of their party core and felt the winds change, they jumped ship in droves. Our current joke of a governor is one such opportunist. The personal popularity of the Republican president was a major factor in these decisions, as was the far left's refusal to find a middle ground and give their candidates some political cover.

Today, the far right of our party refuses to accept reasonable solutions to the immigration problem. They label anything short of outright exodus “amnesty.” Some in our party have carried the banner of fiscal conservatism so far to the right any combination of “government,” “spending,” or “taxes” might as well be a four letter word. We've let ourselves be defined by a few ultra-polarized issues, like abortion, and shortchanged our immense collective wisdom on a host of other issues.

Who's next out the door? Anyone to the left of Attilla the Hun? And don't think it's not a witchhunt--our Texas governor's led the charge against “not Republican enough” legislators himself. In a couple election cycles we won't be a conservative coalition, just a few of nuts clinging to our guns and religion, and yammering about succession.