I test drove the 2008 Mazda 3 and liked it, but have not yet purchased a car due to several disappointments with dishonest car salesman. Anyway, Mazda has been slow in releasing their 2009 line, so I’ve kept my eyes open for information about any updates. Here’s an image purporting to be the design of the new model:

Image via the Motor Report and Vince Burlapp Car Page.

“The first clue a dentist isn’t licensed is if he’s practicing out of his house.” So true.

Writing for Dreamworks sounds difficult and frustrating. Via Metroblogging.

iiiiiiii.

You wouldn’t like me when I’m curious!

Things More Muslim than Obama is like Things Younger Than McCain, but funnier.

Through a combination of garbage picking, oddly colored food and unfulfillable requirements, the Democrats plan to have the least fun convention ever!

North Korea invites media to nuclear plant blast. Media presumably says “Eh… thanks, but I, uh, think we have another appointment or something… we’ll get back to you.”

Unlike hearsay exceptions, there appear to be no songs about personal jurisdiction. Someone please fix this.

An AP story about training daycare students to perform in sex shows included an odd phrase:

Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.

Is “bean-processing” a euphemism? Like being a bean-counter?

I think that Ron Paul supporters aren’t entirely clear on their level of political popularity:

[Bob] Barr also hopes to tap into the zealous grass-roots network of Rep. Ron Paul, who recently dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination and pledged to support “Libertarian-leaning Republicans.” Paul, a Texas Republican who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988, drew hefty campaign contributions online, but did not win any primaries.

Paul supporters said they’re giving Barr a look. Some are skeptical.

“We’re waiting to see if he’s deliberately moving toward Ron Paul’s principles to be politically popular,” said Marlane O’Neill, a Paul supporter in Atlanta.

Gosh, as politically popular as Ron Paul turned out to be? I think if Bob Barr’s intentions are to lose in every state, than going for the Ron Paul vote could be a viable plan.

Simpsons Characters: 58 out of 63. I’m embarrassed about a few of the ones I missed. Via Reddit.

Well known angry curmudgeon Jack Cafferty asks “how to survive the presidential campaign?” This being the first election in recent memory where both candidates stand an arguable chance of not living through their term, I thought this was going to be a surprising discussion of security procedures and healthy eating.

It wasn’t.

It was just a setup for a discussion of how it is possible for those of us watching the campaign on TV to be able to stand it. Is it really so hard to watch and read news coverage of a campaign? And isn’t it perfectly easy to opt out if you’re not interested? Not that what I thought the other topic was a good one, but it certainly would have been more interesting than this.

50 Cent hates Taco Bell, but not for the same reason that most other people hate Taco Bell.

The Economist:

Americans are increasingly forming like-minded clusters. Conservatives are choosing to live near other conservatives, and liberals near liberals. A good way to measure this is to look at the country’s changing electoral geography. In 1976 Jimmy Carter won the presidency with 50.1% of the popular vote. Though the race was close, some 26.8% of Americans were in “landslide counties” that year, where Mr Carter either won or lost by 20 percentage points or more.

The proportion of Americans who live in such landslide counties has nearly doubled since then. In the dead-heat election of 2000, it was 45.3%. When George Bush narrowly won re-election in 2004, it was a whopping 48.3%. As the playwright Arthur Miller put it that year: “How can the polls be neck and neck when I don’t know one Bush supporter?” Clustering is how.

I’m going to show them… I’ll live in a bog! Nobody’s living in bogs these days, it’s totally unexpected.

Firefox 3? about:robots.

Will flip-flops once again be prominently featured at the GOP presidential nominating convention?

Obama 2007:

Question I-B:
If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?

Yes… If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.

Obama’s Spokesperson, 2007:

Obama’s spokesman Bill Burton said the senator “is pleased FEC took this important step in preserving the public financing system, which is why he sought the opinion. If Senator Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

Obama 2008:

Sen. Barack Obama told supporters Thursday that he has decided not to accept public financing for his general election campaign.

Hmm…