Linkfest - GOP's Legitimate Rape

It has been an interesting week for the GOP. They are coming off of the unexpected press blowup over the term "legitimate rape". A concept the party has quietly supported for decades and often spoken of by the GOP even if not quite such stark terms. Then you have the GOP convention that had the VP candidate get called out for a speech of lies by every news organization including Fox News and a speech from Romney that was remarkable for how unremarkable it was. Other topics include the Samsung vs Apple lawsuit and the end of Nintendo Power.

Legitimate Rape
It is weird how all it takes is a poor phrase to get people to wake up to a truth that has been around for a very long time. GOP's Rep. Todd Akin made the mistake of saying exactly what he thought of the idea of there being exceptions to abortion for rape or incest by saying in an interview "...from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." He later said he "misspoke" for the phrase he used but never apologized for what he meant which is if a woman got pregnant, she wanted the sex and therefore could not have been raped. The idea that pregnancy is proof of no rape has been around for literally centuries. At one time the victim by law would be forced to marry her rapist if she had got pregnant. That thinking is also shared by almost the entirety of the GOP who have made the concept of no exceptions central the the RNC platform for Romney's election and was part of a bill that his VP candidate Paul Ryan write and tried to push through Congress. Below are a few videos that illustrate just how stupid the whole concept is.

Linkfest - Lying Ryan

Been a while since did a linkfest. This edition is about the odd choice of Paul Ryan as GOP VP choice, links to amusing Calvin & Hobbes animated gifs, Lego's 80th Anniversary, Lego Serenity, movies trailers and a disturbing nursery song.

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as VP
For reasons that confound me, Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his Vice President. Usually the VP is designed to fill in a voting gap that the candidate can't achieve to help put them over the top be it a state or demographic. Ryan is a far right conservative with a media profile based desperate to make the election more exciting than it is by simply repeating myths about him. Tea Party/Religious right vote is a lock no matter what, after all not like they can explore the alternative of voting for Obama so not sure why make this extra effort to please them. He will do nothing to help Mitt Romney get moderates and undecided. If anything he will send them screaming in the other direction. Paul Ryan deeply believes in the Ayn Rand philosophy that society only functions best when society is geared towards the goal of making rich people richer. This was very well demonstrated with his Budget Plan that would reduce the top 1%'s tax burden to less than 1%. An example being his running mate Romney who under their collective plan would go from paying around 13% to .082%. To pay for a tiny portion of this $4.7+ trillion cost of his plan, he wanted to cut social security by 20% (or privatize it) and turn Medicare into a voucher program. His big claim to fame is a screw you budget proposal that literally takes from the poor and middle-class and gives to the rich. His other conservative thing is supposedly being a deficit hawk. Despite the fact he voted for the Bush tax cuts, two wars, bank bailout and more that added around $7 trillion and counting to the deficit. He supposedly wants less government in your life yet is happy so support laws that would make birth control illegal and, any abortion illegal even in cases of saving mother's life, rape or incest. Not exactly a small government idea. About the only reason I can think he made the choice is money. Ryan will be a money making machine as conservative flood Romney and Super PAC coffers. In general, the more money you spend on an election, the greater your chances are of winning. That is ultimately the Romney plan - simply buy the election.

Calvin and Hobbes Animated Gifs
Hit the link for a selection of gifs that turn certain panels from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip into motion.

NBC Olympics Opening Intro and Closing Ceremony Credit Montages

Update: Updated post for 2014 Sochi Olympics is here.

I love watching the Olympics. I like the drama of it, I like seeing the close races, the victories and more. While I feel for those that lose, what I really love about the Olympics is the pure joy of victory and pride. If you think about it, how much real joy do you see in life each day, month or even year? During the Olympics for two weeks we get to see that expression of pure joy over and over and over again. I am not ashamed to say it brings tears to my eyes, especially when see the athletes' family and friends react with their own moments of joy. It is a wonderful to watch and just makes me look forward to the next Olympics two years later.

In the United States, the Olympics Games television rights are owned by NBC (starting in 1988 for Summer Games, 2002 for Winter Games). Their many hours of coverage always begins with a poetic introduction that shows off the host country and ends with their Olympics Closing Ceremony credit montage that summarizes the games in spectacular fashion. The credits montage is something I look forward to as Olympics fatigue sets in. With the 2012 London Olympic Games coming to a close today, it seemed like a good time to look at NBC Olympic intros and closing montages over the years in reverse order.

NBC Olympic Closing Credit Montages2012 London Summer Olympics Closing Credit Montage
Not online yet.
Music Credits: "Finale" by Randy Edelman from movie "Dragonheart"; "Titan's Spirit" by Trevor Rabin from movie "Remember the Titans"

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Closing Credit Montage
Music Credits: "Finale" by Randy Edelman from movie "Dragonheart"; "Titan's Spirit" by Trevor Rabin from movie "Remember the Titans"