In which I update my loyal fans...

First off, let's get the baby pic out of the way--->

Aaawwww!

The boys are doing fine, and Jen is doing awesome. Good things all around.

I don't know if you guys are following any of this Anonymous vs. Scientology stuff that's been going on, but I have because I am totally fascinated by it. For one thing, the Tom Cruise Video is friggin' hilarious, and I truly believe that these idiots deserve to be put out of business. It is after all, a cultish scam based entirely on a dare. Last weekend, across the world, a bunch of protests were held at the behest of a group of internet nerds calling themselves Anonymous. That's fine and all, good for them. Won't do a bit of good, but A for effort. What I don't get is that the protestors took to wearing masks, probably because of Scientology's habit of photographing, identifying, and suing the pants off of anybody who doesn't like them. Okay. I get that. But what you don't realize is that putting on masks, gathering in large nimbers and acting like weirdos makes you look like a cult. That being said, I think this picture is oddly arousing.

So I guess there is an election coming up? I think I eard that somewhere. I think I have finally decided who I want to back. Although I am firmly in the "ANYBODY else!" camp, and think either democrat would do a good job, I really like Obama, and here's why:

“When I am this party's nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq; or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; or that I supported Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders that we don't like. And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it is ok for America to torture — because it is never ok… I will end the war in Iraq… I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda. And I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, "You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.”

Or as Patrick Neilson Hayden puts it*:

"I’m for Obama knowing perfectly well that, as Bill Clinton suggested, it’s a “roll of the dice”. A roll of the dice for Democrats, for progressives, for those of us who’ve fought so hard against the right-wing frames that Obama sometimes (sometimes craftily, sometimes naively) deploys. Because I think a Hillary Clinton candidacy will be another game of inches, yielding—at best—another four or eight years of knifework in the dark. Because I think an Obama candidacy might actually shake up the whole gameboard, energize good people, create room and space for real change.
Because he seems to know something extraordinarily important, something so frequently missing from progressive politics in this country, in this time: how to hearten people. Because when I watch him speak, I see fearful people becoming brave."

Can't beat that. I hope.

That is all.

-JP

*WAY better than I ever could.