Universal suffrage may need a rethink...

The Minnesota Senate recount is underway, and Minnesota Public Radio has gone completely web 2.0---they're so web 2.0, some experts are actually classifying them as web 3.5, which is the most web anything has ever gotten.

All snarkery aside, MPR has posted several of the state's contested ballots and lets you be the judge. It's worth a look and makes GWS wonder why we let everyone's votes count equally...

Maureen Dowd Inanity Watch

From today's New York Times:

"Some critics say Hillary doesn’t have the foreign-policy chops for the job. But she would stop the pompous John Kerry from getting it, and that is a formidable recommendation. (You know he just wants to swan around in those striped pants.)"

As Fishbulb once put it, "She reads like a sarcastic 6th-grader." Couldn't agree more. Does anyone else get the impression that Dowd was one of the pretty, popular girls in high school, only she wasn't the prettiest and she certainly wasn't the most talented, but she got to sit with them during lunch because she went to middle school with one really pretty girl and the others put up with her because she had a penchant for making nasty, cutting little remarks like the one above?

Hey, have you gotten your invitation to Maureen's birthday party yet? Oh, yeah, that's right, you weren't invited. (Giggle giggle giggle giggle)

Sixteen-year old Japanese schoolgirl kunckleballer selected in Japanese pro draft

Sixteen-year old schoolgirl Eri Yoshida (pictured above) has been selected in the Nippon Professional Baseball draft, making her the first woman on either side of the Pacific to achieve such an honor (no, Ila Borders doesn't count, and anyone who's ever been to a St. Paul Saints game can tell you why).

GWS insists on referring to Yoshida as "schoolgirl" because if the AP can do it, so can he. A quick question: why would the AP refer to a young Japanese woman as a schoolgirl, when Morgan Pressel, Shawn Johnson, and others in Yoshida's age group escape that slightly-degrading appellative? GWS fears the answer lies somewhere between the image above and the deeply repressed sexual urges of Japanese men, and he bases these fears on absolutely nothing.

Yoshida throws her knuckler with a sidearm delivery, topping out around 80km/h (that's just under 50 mph for those of us who think the metric system is for sissies), so she's unlikely to make the jump to MLB anytime soon. Still, NPB seems to think she's got good enough stuff to be more than just a novelty draw.

Yoshida will mature like any other ballplayer, growing bigger, faster, and stronger than she was before. PECOTA projects her as a #4 or 5 starter who's probably better suited to the bullpen; strangely, PECOTA also predicted that when Yoshida reaches her prime, her appearances on the mound will look something like this.

Mission Not Yet Accomplished

Fire Joe Morgan has gone dark, and GWS has to point out that this is not the attitude that won us World War II. Joe Morgan remains employed by ESPN, so GWS hopes "Ken Tremendous" (a.k.a. The Office writer Michael Schur...yeah, the guy who plays Mose) can use his new job offset the damage done by the shuttering of the best sports journalism criticism around. He's co-show-runner for the new Office spinoff.

Morning Misogyny

GWS and Fishbulb are listening to Tom Ashbrooke on NPR right now...his female guest is talking about the late Michael Crichton. Tom says, "You've...I understand you've lost a friend recently..." The woman says, yeah, Michael Crichton and she were very close:

Tom: "What was he like as a person?"
Woman: "Well ...he was, he was very charming."

Fishbulb to GWS: "She was sleeping with him."

Fishbulb strikes! The sad thing is, GWS is pretty sure that Fishbulb is right in the majority of situations. So, dear readers, what are your thoughts: if a woman describes a recently deceased man as "charming," does that mean she is or had been sleeping with the man? GWS is hard-pressed to find examples otherwise...

Fingers crossed

GWS just finished the Foreign Service Officer Test at Bunker Hill Community College. This written exam is the first step toward becoming a member of the American Foreign Service, the professional diplomatic corps that manages the country's foreign relations. The test consisted of four parts: job knowledge, English expression, personal questionnaire, and essay.

Job knowledge: a wide range of questions about American culture, policy, history, and government. GWS thought he did well on this section. A question to readers: a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining nominal GDP, not real GDP, right?

Engrish: this portion of the exam tested GWS's ability to speak his native tongue. If he doesn't do well on this section, GWS will be most displeased.

Can I ask you a personal question?: strangest section of the test by far. Questions ranged from, "How likely are you to try to learn new things?" to "How often do others turn to you to resolve a conflict?" to "In the past six months, how many times have you volunteered for an unpleasant task?" GWS is unsure how the Foreign Service accounts for self-reporting on these metrics...

Essay: the most difficult section for GWS. The prompt was about American automobile use, specifically if and how government policies needed to change regarding private use of cars for transportation. Time was limited, and GWS wrote a tacked-on conclusion...

Keep those fingers crossed---in eight to ten weeks, GWS will know if he's dead in the water or still a candidate for America's diplomatic corps.

Our Long National Nightmare is Over!

Eight years later, George W. Bush is headed back to Texas and Barack Obama is set to become the 44th President of the United States.

Pinch me.

The worst presidency in the history of the republic---and it will be remembered as the worst presidency ever, mark my words---has left us in several incredibly deep holes. The Obama administration will be lucky to get us back to treading water in his first term, but That One also represents this country's last, best shot.

Now the work begins.

Electoral betting update: GWS is expecting a check from his high school friend in light of Obama's crushing victory.

Minnesota Senate update: Less than 700 votes! So close! Screw you, Dean Barkley! Let's go, Franken, don't let Normy the Golden Boy go back for another six years.