@Randem

This is great! A photographer who is willing to be photographed in the same poses as his models.

“First, I really thought that the shots would be funny. Second, it was about the only truly creative idea I had ever had. Third, what better way to blunt the criticism that most nude art degrades women?”

If nothing else, the shots certainly are funny!

100,000 super-bounce balls

News in the Karl Rove case has slowed down, though Crooks and Liars offers a vid-cap from MSNBC on which a guest raises the prospect of a 3rd official involved in the leak.

The big topic this week, however, is Judge Roberts, who was questioned by Senator Kennedy today. Actual hearings on Roberts will start September 6th.

Gallup poll results released today show President Bush’s approval rating at 44%, the lowest number they’ve shown for him during his Presidency.

My favorite time of year is fast approaching. Training camps around the NFL have already started, and the preseason will commence soon. Good news for my Buccaneers: "Cadillac" Williams has signed in time to participate in training camp.

And in case you haven’t already seen this, someone in San Francisco got the idea to release 100,000 super-bounce balls, all at once, at the corner of Filbert & Leavenworth.

The Rude Pundit has the best strategy I’ve seen for Democratic leadership: kill ‘em with questions.

Dadahead at The Liberal Avenger thinks reframing is the answer

Organized labor is opposed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Progressive farm groups are opposed to CAFTA. Environmental groups are opposed to CAFTA. Civil rights groups are opposed to CAFTA. Human rights groups are opposed to CAFTA. Last night, the House passed the CAFTA bill by a whopping 217-215 vote. Okay, I guess that isn’t so “whopping” after all.

But if CAFTA is not in the best interest of so many people… if so many groups are publicly against CAFTA… why are their Representatives supporting it? How did it pass?

It starts with President Bush ditching the Boy Scouts to whom he was scheduled to speak, so he could make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill to lobby for the law. He raised the stakes on the issue arguing that America’s national security was at stake unless the bill was passed. Slime ball.

Next, we consider the votes of 15 Democrats, who ignored their party’s platform; ignored the voices of organized labor, progressive farm groups, environmental groups, civil rights groups, and human rights groups; who ignored the best interest of their constituents in order to offer their vote in support of the President’s plan… a plan that would harm U.S. workers and farmers while plunging Central American countries deeper into poverty and causing more Latin Americans to migrate to the U.S. While 25 GOP members had the courage to vote “no” - in spite of their party and the administration - for this bad legislation, these 15 spineless Democrats voted yes.

Rep. Charles Taylor (R-North Carolina), a strong opponent of the bill, was reported this morning as not voting, but he says that’s not true. His office is telling constituents that he had voted “no”, but that the House clerk somehow “botched” the record. Yeah whatever, Chuck.

And finally, the icing on the cake is the Republican House leaders who held the roll call open for more than an hour instead of the customary 15 minutes. The vote ran until midnight with Republican party leaders bribing or threatening those not in favor of the bill. Representative “Butch” Otter (R-Idaho) said GOP leaders promised pork-barrel spending and future legislation to undecided members, with a huge highway spending bill scheduled to be completed this week as a prime location for “pet projects”.

I’m apalled. This administration is a joke. This government is a travesty. When is this criminality going to end?

The House of Representatives passed a major energy bill today by a vote of 275-156. The bill was supposed to diversify future energy sources, improve an antiquated electricity grid, and encourage energy conservation. It does nothing of the sort.

This 1,725-page bill provides $14.5 billion in energy tax breaks, mostly to traditional energy companies. In other words, they created a piece of legislation so complicated that no honest representative could possibly find the time to read, and then filled it with kickbacks to existing energy companies. Rather than encouraging diverse, home-grown, environmentally friendly energy source - as is claimed - all they’re really doing is feeding more money to the already super-wealthy corporations that rape our planet and pollute our air.

According to the Associated Press article:

The bill would funnel $2.7 billion in tax breaks to the oil and gas industries and provide additional support in form of royalty relief, including $500 million over 10 years for research into drilling in extremely deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

Never one to miss a golden opportunity, Tom DeLay even slipped a $1.5 billion giveaway into the energy bill for the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas. The provision was inserted into the legislation after the conference was closed, so members of the conference committee had no opportunity to consider or reject this measure.

Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas) declared “This is a good bill for America.”

The bill also includes a provision for a nationwide inventory of offshore oil and gas resources. The only imaginable use for such a provision is to pave the way for drilling in areas currently considered to be off-limits.

The Senate version of the energy bill passed by the Senate included a provision to require the President to find ways to reduce U.S. oil demand by 1 million barrels a year by 2025, but the bill passed by the House completely abandoned that provision due to strong opposition from Republicans in the House.

Discovery lifted off Tuesday without incident, and the crew made it safely into space. Video monitoring of the launch, however, found evidence of foam falling from the tank during seperation… the same thing believed to have been the cause of the Columbia disaster. NASA has halted any further shuttle missions until the issue of falling foam is resolved.

There are some who believe the shuttle program should be cancelled altogether. Most notably in my mind is Gregg Easterbrook, who first expressed this opinion in the Washington Monthly 25 years ago. His thoughts - particularly those regarding the heat shield tiles - were considered eerily prescient when tragedy struck Columbia, and to a lesser extent when the Challenger exploded. He expressed his disapproval of the shuttle program again in Time magazine days after the Columbia disaster.

Notable scientist Michio Kaku, who has spoken out in a similar vein against the Cassini mission, recently called the space shuttle the single most efficient method of wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars.

Other critics say the Columbia disaster demonstrates that the space shuttle is the wrong tool for NASA’s job”. And James Oberg opines that NASA’s problems start at the top.

I agree with the likes of Gregg EasterBrook, Michio Kaku, and other critics. It’s time to scrap the “flying brick”. Thanks to efforts like the X Prize, privately funded crafts are reaching outer space, and their sponsors are motivated by far loftier goals than those of NASA. But best of all, they don’t cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

Whoa.. I don’t know if this guy is more scary or cool.

Chicago is getting back into the skyscraper game with Santiago Calatrava’s plan to build the tallest tower in the United States in Chicago, home of the current tallest building in the United States.

Good. It’s about time someone add some shape to Chicago’s magnificent skyline. And not only will this add a prominent building, but some say it will add a feminine touch to a predominantly masculine cityscape.

Plans for the Fordham Spire have sparked talk of post-9/11 security concerns, but Chicago city planners are impressed by the design.

The building will be 1458 ft tall to the roof, and over 2,000 ft tall with it’s spire. By comparison, the Sears Tower is 1454 ft tall, and 1729 ft at the peak of its taller antenna.

The Fordham Spire is expected to be completed in 2009, one year earlier than the Freedom Tower in New York.

Pete Meyers discusses the hassle of complicated modern cameras and posits that film IS, in fact, easier and more convenient.

Intelligent Energy is proud to introduce the ENV (pronounced “envy”), a fuel cell powered motorcycle. Introductory cost is targeted at $6000.

Andy Eggleston, vice president and ENV project director for Intelligent Energy, says “Hydrogen is readily available. One phone call in any major city and a truck can drop off a canister.” A 5-ounce fill up costs about $3 or $4 dollars and will carry you 100 miles.

So where do I sign up?