This is probably the longest I’ve left a tagline up without changing it. I’ve thought of some new ideas, but I just *love* the current one so much, for many reasons. Still thinking it over.

Suspected terrorist

Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Gilmore was ejected from a British Airways flight to London because he refused to remove a 1-inch pin he was wearing that read “Suspected Terrorist.”

Discuss.

UPDATE: Also check out Gilmore’s FAQ about his suit against requiring IDs to board commercial flights. Fascinating stuff.

Most of my political steam today has been vented at Dave Does the Blog, in a thread called “Looking for the smoking gun.” It feels good to get it out.

At Jenifer Street Market this morning, I noticed that they had placed a case of mayo right up against the sizzling hot chicken roaster machine.

Should I have said something?

It’s well-known that I despise online quizzes. But once in a while, when it intrigues me, I take one. (Contradictions are part of my charm.) Like the “Which circle of Hell will you go to?” one John talked about. (I’m apparently going to the third circle, for the Gluttonous.)

Then, courtesy of Xkot, I came across the “Which Homer Simpson advice quote are you?” quiz. My love of the Simpsons trumped my hatred of quizzes, so I took it and got this:

———–
“Let that be a lesson to you sweetie. Never love anyone.”

You hate people. A lot. You probably once loved someone, but something went wrong. Because of that, you now despise pretty much anyone and everyone. But while there are a ton of worthless assholes in the world, not everyone is one. There are people out there who do care.
———–

Now it can be told. (thanks to my friend Gerene for the link)

Best. MetaFilter. Comment. Ever.

“I find it hard to believe that anything would bring down the Bush Administration. At this point in time, I honestly feel that Bush COULD stab a small child in the neck, on national television, and get away with it.”

-from a thread about the Bush administration punishing Joseph Wilson, one of the whistleblowers in the State of the Union mess

I’d love to see the administration’s spin on that one.

“The girl clearly made a threatening move toward the President during the Easter Egg Hunt. The security tape of the President’s alleged countermove was regrettably bulk-erased by IT staff at the CIA, but British intelligence sources told us after the incident that she may have been an Iranian midget undercover operative known as ‘Sasha.’ We’ll have more to tell you in six months.”

“I think people are surprised when I show up somewhere, and it’s just me…my cousin, my assistant, and my driver. And people are like, ‘Where’s everyone else?'”

-Jennifer Lopez, just a regular girl, on Dateline NBC’s “Ben and Jen” special

Book

John recently pointed out that CafePress will soon start doing on-demand book publishing. So with the same ease that they make a mug or t-shirt with your design, they will be able to print your book. It revives in me that long-dormant idea to someday publish some of my weblog writings as a book.

Not that I know anyone who would want to buy such a thing, but it’s a cool idea nonetheless. Not just in a “look I’m a published author” sense, but also in the “look I designed a book” sense. I love cover designs and typography; often those intrigue me more than the actual words when I’m browsing in the bookstore. (That reminds me: thanks to my friend Michele for the new Harry Potter book, with its iridescent blue cover.)

If I ever do a book based on this site, at least I won’t have to work too hard thinking of a title. (The subtitle might be a little harder to decide on.)

Tumbleweeds

My brain is almost totally consumed with politics these days. Summer is a slow time for pop culture anyway, and there haven’t been a lot of interesting movies or such things to write about. (Although I did enjoy seeing Angelina Jolie on The Daily Show. Something about her makes me smile. I was one of the few people who actually liked the first “Tomb Raider” movie, and I’m looking forward to the sequel.)

I’ve been slacking off writing about all the political stuff I’m thinking about, because when I’ve made a political post in the last few months, there’s rarely any comment on it. But I don’t know if that means people aren’t interested, or they just don’t have comments about it.

Other political-themed sites I read (like the excellent Daily Kos) are burning up with talk these days, much of it wishful thinking that the current mess over the President’s State of the Union speech will bring down the whole lot of ’em. But here, I can almost hear the tumbleweeds blowing by when I talk about Bush and Co.

So what I want to know is, should I just leave the political posts to Kos and lies.com and Smirking Chimp and stick with Angelina?