There she is...

The self-proclaimed "Miss Capitalism 2002" proclaims her intentions:

"I am wearing a star-spangled bikini to symbolize the eroticizing of patriotism that is used as a capitalist strategy to provoke desire to sell product, and the gas mask as a symbol of our culture that lives in fear.

But it seems to me she is begging the question. Putting on a star-spangled bikini doesn't prove anything about capitalism. And while she may think the gas mask is a clever metaphor, it really isn't very profound to say our culture is afraid. Of course there is fear; there are people who are trying, with occasional success, to murder us.

Jesse's still mad

Governor Ventura says he may appoint a garbage hauling acquaintance to Wellstone's seat.

'24' is back!

I watched the riveting season opener of '24' tonight and was immensely pleased to see that the writers did not wimp-out on a crucial aspect of the new plot line. As the first hour begins, there is a nuclear device set to go off in Los Angeles later in the day, and the holding party is neither a ragtag bunch of neo-Nazi gun-nuts, nor a wolf pack of nut-job anti-abortionists, nor even the sort of pretty-boy Euro-trash featured in Season One. Nope, amazingly the terrorists are Palestinians supported by some unnamed Islamic state. That's the realism fans of the show grew to love last year. Can't wait to see what happens next.