First Pets, the presidential kind...

I know that I promised fewer political posts, but I'm afraid that I stumbled upon something that is just too bizarre not to share... President Bush has a portion of his website dedicated to his family's pets -- two scottish terriers and a black cat. One of the dogs, Barney, recently became famous for biting a reporter... Something which would've sentenced a normal dog to death, but, when it's the president's pet, is apparently completely kosher. The Bush family's other dog, however, is the bizarre one. She goes by the name Miss Beazley, a.k.a. Beazley Weazley. The name would be cute if it were owned by, say, an eight year old, but it's instead owned by the most powerful family in the US. A family powerful enough and with enough money/time to burn that they can put together a webpage detailing their dog's favorite hobbies, which apparently include tap dancing, watching Duck Tales, and learning to read by the third grade. I've included the whole transcript below:

Miss Beazley Bush

• Nickname: Beazley Weazley
• Breed: Scottish Terrier
• Birthday: October 28, 2004
• Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.
• Owners: President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush
• Parents:
  • Mother: Bethz of Black Watch Elizabeth
  • Father: Clinton of Champion Motherwell Alberta Clipper
• Favorites:
  • Treat: Cheeseburger
  • Playmate: Willie the cat
  • Pastime: Tap dancing
  • Part of the White House: The Oval Office
  • Cartoon: DuckTales
  • Books: Junie B. Jonesseries by Barbara Park and Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald
• Goals: Miss Beazley wants to learn to read by the third grade.

Original page is here. I'm all for treating pets like they're part of the family, but, come on, they are not children.

Washington Post on Dick Cheney

After reading a rant about the merest chance of Sarah Palin becoming the vice president, I decided to read up on the changes that Cheney has wrought on the office. Unsurprisingly, Wikipedia is a bit vague and doesn't have enough detail. However, they do link to an absolutely fascinating series of articles by the Washington Post, available here. Amazing. I'll need to go back through these someday when I get the chance.

Obama's Acceptance Speech

I guess that Barack Obama has finally clinched the nomination, something which I believed had occurred about three months ago. His acceptance speech is a doozy, though. I didn't get to see it delivered -- not having TV sucks like that -- but reading it brought tears to my eyes. Here is a man who knows how to work a crowd. If he is even a tenth the leader that he is a public speaker, he will be a president for the ages.

Major highlights: Improved commitments to cleaner energy (including nuclear! No one cares about nuclear these days...), improved funding for basic research, tax breaks to small businesses, and a few more. These are the primary issues to me, so I'm glad that at least one of the candidates is addressing them directly. Bush's presidency has been an unmitigated disaster for the NSF and funding for basic research. If the US is to remain competitive in research, this situation will need to be fixed. If it can be.