Propeller Week In Review: February 29, 2008 — Feb 29th 2008

By James Marcus

YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?


BUCKLEY DEPARTS

"Conservative Writer William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82" bagged 147 votes and 220 comments. Jaydee40 and DropkickaLib mixed it up over the conservative icon's legacy. Elsewhere, though, the tone of the thread was generally respectful, even from those who regarded Buckely's politics as semi-poisonous. "I rarely agreed with Bill Buckley," noted IcCaRus. "However, he was a class act, unlike most of today's pundits." Said joeeddie: "I loved when he turned the corners of his mouth up a little bit in a wry little smile when he was pulling someone's chain. You just knew that the thrill of the pun drove some of his behavior." And as earthlingerer pointed out, the late author took some positions at odds with the mainstream of conservative thought: "Buckley was outspoken in his view that all illegal drugs be outrightly made legal. Crack, PCP, heroin, all the way down to alcohol, caffeine and marijuana." (Historic note: in order to try marijuana without breaking U.S. law, Buckley sailed his yacht into international waters. Typical stoner behavior.) According to slate, Buckley would be in good company in the afterlife: "Remember to say hi to MLK, JFK, and the others when you get there." (To see Buckley's famous spat with Gore Vidal, click here. Not the finest moment for either of these gentlemen, but oddly engrossing.)

THE GENETIC METHOD

As always, several stories about the presidential race were lodged in our Top Twenty. But there was one with a truly novel spin: "Genes may help determine your vote," with 125 votes and 371 comments. Goppy, who posted the article about a recent Vanderbilt University study, kicked off the comment thread with his usual ungrammatical joshing: "Im proud to say that theres now scientific proof that we Conservatives dont use our brains to consider any political cunnundrum." Said rdy2rck: "I always thought some people of both parties used their brains. Guess I'm only using half of mine, then." At some point the conversation drifted over to the hot-button issue of John Edwards's $400 haircut--apparently the senator will never be forgiven for his spun-gold coiffure--and mesodude revealed his liberal DNA: "How much do you imagine you pay for the personal grooming regimen for the Bushes and Cheneys? Just because the Dick only has a couple of strands to work with doesn't mean you're getting away on the cheap." Other campaign-related stories included "Tonight's Debate: Clinton's Last Stand," with 148 votes and 174 comments, and "Michael Savage: McCain much better than Clinton or Obama," with 103 votes and 304 comments. And for those keeping a close eye on the contested Democratic primary in Texas, there was "Why won't Hispanics vote for Obama?" The thread for the latter post included some sharp exchanges. "I'm a Latino who would never in a million years vote for Obama," said JoseMadre, "but not because of his ethnicity. I just don't vote for corrupt socialists." Blackacereturn fired back on Obama's behalf: "I am sure in the end the Hispanics who have suffered along with the blacks in this country will come to their senses. You can remain where you are while wallowing in your bigotry, or you can join a man who will lead a more balance nation."

NUTS AND BOLTS

"Killer robots pose latest militant threat: expert" notched 143 votes and 74 comments. How scared should we be of evil robots? Plenty, it seems. And we're not just talking about that flailing apparatus from Lost In Space, according to Isoparm: "Self-replicating killer nanobots. They circulate in the bloodstream, then clump on cue forming an arterial blockage. Fun stuff, huh?" Of course, some members had a hard time taking the conversation seriously. "Fembots!" exclaimed sumptuousdigs. "Run for your lives! Wait... are those things loaded?" In a similar vein, pawfoots said: "Maybe Tom Cruise will infect them with a strain of a simple human virus that they have no defense against and save the world . . . oh, never mind, that's aliens." But ML2007 steered the thread back to a more serious tone: "How ironic can it be? The US has been on the cutting edge of technology so long, it leads in almost every category of new inventive ideas, especially when it comes to warfare. We are literally inventing our own self destruction."

AND DON'T OVERLOOK....


Whatever your feelings may be about killer robots, there are certainly other technological threats on tap. "Seventeen hackers arrested in one night," with 148 votes and 38 comments, offers an excellent example. How should these miscreants be dealt with? As chevydog saw it, a harsh punishment was in order: "I'd make them listen to perpetual insurance pitches by salesmen." But jagcmos had an even crueler scenario in mind: "They should lock them in a room for 10 years and only allow them to use a 486 running Windows ME connected to the Internet via a 1200 baud modem." Elsewhere, Propeller members sounded off on virtuoso kissing and a Bible sex quiz. (Do we see a pattern here?) A story about embeddable GPS tracking chips for children rang up 134 votes and 87 comments, including this blunt reaction from the colorfully named Sludge-Guzzler: "This is a very bad thing!" And finally, there was the duel of the dancing presidents. A fair number of members (104, to be exact) thought that George W. Bush was superior when it came to busting a move. (Watch Dubya strut his stuff here.) Yet "Belarusian president Lukashenko dances better than Bush!" triumphed with 136 votes. Watch the actual video here--and then ask yourself whether closing the "boogie gap" shouldn't be our most pressing national priority.

Tags: week in review, wir

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