The Republican Borg
Some dingle posted a letter to the L.A. Times talking about how not all Christians aren't Republicans. In fact, this person was a Christian and a Democrat and felt that the Democratic Party would do so much better if it got rid of the Atheists and other problem people.

And my reaction was: Crap! Is this the next phase of turning America into a Rightwing Christian Fortress?

It'd be pretty clever. The Republicans are pretty much 0wn3d by the UberRight. The Government is nearly 0wn3d by the Republicans, nearly except for a few final gasps of life from Democrats. What can the Republicans do? They can either "fight" the Democrats, marginalze them, or absorb them. "Fighting" is ugly and may end up scaring some of your own followers away, plus it legitimizes the opponent. Marginalizing the Democrats is also dangerous as they may roar back to life. No, the best way to remove the Democrats is to absorb them, to have the Democrats become the party for "Mainstream" Christian which would, of course, kowtow to the UberRight.

It would force the minorities - Gays, Atheists, Jews, etc. - to the fringe where matters can be neatly watched by those in Power.

You know, this country used to be about protecting the Minority from the Majority. It used to be about Fairplay and intelligent debate, about giving everyone a shot. Now, it's about business and profits, and business about prophets.

Here's a question someone should ask Bush: Would his country allow Atheists to live? That is, if the UberRight Republicans got everything their way, what would happen to the Atheists and the Gays and the Jews and the Hindus and other minorities?

Maps.google
If you haven't played with Maps.Google.Com then you're missing a perverse pleasure. I've been looking up aerial views of racetracks I've been to and yet to visit. You can quickly switch between map and photograph view. So it's super easy to use the map view to find a placename, zoom in, then switch to pictures. And it's fairly fast.

See if you can find Area 51. Although I didn't find a closeup of Fort Knox, I think I found Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Clue, find Santa Ynez Valley north and west of Santa Barbara. Then find "Figueroa Mountain Road" leaving the city. As it's winds upwards, scroll upwards-left occassionally. You should see eventually a strange development that looks like a merry-go-round surrounded by other things. I could be wrong though...good luck!