Every New Yorker ever. Eight fully-searchable DVD-ROMs. Wow.

For the first time, every page of every issue of America’s leading magazine—from full-color covers to spot drawings, from poetry to Profiles, from cartoons to advertisements—on reader friendly and highly searchable DVDs.

The Complete New Yorker covers The New Yorker’s entire history, from February 1925 to February 2005, the magazine’s 80th anniversary, providing a detailed yet panoramic history of the life of the city, the nation, and the world during the most exciting and astounding decades any society has ever known.

Want one!

If only.

You can read about the unfolding scandal around Karl Rove saying that after 9/11 liberals wanted to “prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers” at americablog.org. That’s enough to piss me off mightily. But what pisses me off even more is how Scott McLellan can possibly say this about how Democrats would dare to be outraged by such a slur:

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that they [Democrats] are just trying to engage in partisan attacks. Karl was simply talking about different philosophies, and we should be talking about what we stand for and how we want to move forward. We should be talking about what the different visions are and what the different ideas are, and that’s what he was doing….

I’m sorry, who is engaging in partisan attacks here? Just what about Rove saying that liberals wanted to respond to 9/11 with therapy is not a partisan attack, Scott? Reading the transcript is like reading Through the Looking Glass all over again.

I can only say WTF?!?!

I’m sorry. It has taken me a long time to say this, but it’s time: I’m sorry.

It’s been almost 12 years since I became infected with HIV, and I haven’t died yet. I haven’t even had the decency to get sick. I am a walking, talking advertisement for why HIV seems not such a big deal to the younger generation—and indeed, many in my own age bracket. I know this is a terrible thing, and I promise in the future to do better. As gay activist Michelangelo Signorile recently told The New York Times, “If everyone in your group is beautiful, taking steroids, barebacking, and HIV-positive, having the virus doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.”

I’m sorry. At the tender age of 41—a year longer than I once thought I would live—I have never felt better. HIV transformed my life, made me a better and braver writer, prompted me to write the first big book pushing marriage rights, got me to take better care of my health, improved my sex life, and deepened my spirituality.

I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better.

Americablog, quoting Signorile’s open letter back to Sully, is as freaked out as I am. Signorile makes the only sane response to such idiocy– he doubles down:

I just read your latest column, the one in the Advocate in which you – former New Republic editor and current right-wing blogger — extol the virtues of having HIV and the wonders of being positive. I must say: Very effective. It was enough to make any young gay man declare, “I gotta go get some of that hot poz seed!” Maybe we can get Fox to create a reality show in which we follow people around as they try to get themselves infected – you can be the host! — and then watch their lives transformed for the better, while all of those nasty, negative people who warn gay men against getting HIV are shut out of the most chic nightclubs, as their steroid-free bodies shrivel-up. We can call the show, “Getting Pozzed!”

Sullivan actually suggests that “HIV is fast becoming another diabetes.” To call this irresponsible is an insult to pretty much every responsible person on the planet–not to mention people who have lost kidneys, limbs, eyesight and decades of quality life to diabetes!

I’m sure he will say that all the humorless gay liberals don’t have enough of a sense of humor to understand his satire. This faggot certainly doesn’t! Fuck you, Andrew. I have read and loved many of your books, appreciated your struggle with religion and mostly tolerated your sado-masochistic-schizophrenic “tough love” of Bush. No more.

Of all the self-righteous, solipsistic bullshit in the world, this takes the cake. Not to mention the weathy white privilege of it all–plenty of people in this country can’t afford diabetes meds, which are cheap compared with the cocktail that keeps Sullivan and his upper-middle-class survivor buddies alive [and, as Sullivan boasts, buff]. Just a noblesse-oblige nod to the side effects that “some” get, and nary a whit about the long term dangers of the drugs. He even mocks concerns about a “super-bug.”

Because Signorile’s plain statement of observable fact hurt Sullivan’s feelings, he wrote an utterly irresponsible ode to the curative powers of one of the worst plagues ever to face mankind. This from a pro-life Catholic? Nice culture of life–viral life!

Maybe you’re not dead, Andrew. Maybe you’ll live to be 120 and Jesus will come down from the clouds and personally invite you to that neverending brunch in the sky. But you’re damn well dead to me–you and all the pretty words you ever wrote.

Germany knows how to handle a crowd.

BoingBoing brought me the first big smile of the day: someone’s open letter begging the Kansas State School Board to be open to multiple “intelligent design” theories:

I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.

Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming to long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.

This is the best part:

Read the whole thing. There’s even a chart that plots Global Average Temperature vs. Number of Pirates. Which is an issue I’m sure the Kansas officials will ponder thoughtfully.

My sister Julie– who let it be said here is doing amazing work to make Oklahoma a better place to live, think, and create– wanted to let me know about someone else who is doing the same thing. Andrew Rice is running for State Senate to fill a seat left empty by the term-limitation of one of Oklahoma’s Last Remaining Liberals, Bernest Cain. (Back in the day when I was lobbying for choice, sex education, and birth control for Planned Parenthood at State Capitol, it was Bernest’s office we always used as our home base.)

So I checked out several pages on Andrew’s campaign site. If I were down, I could feel a little inadequate… We’re the same age but I haven’t worked in an AIDS hospice in Thailand, shot a documentary about the HIV pandemic in India, worked for Jim Leher or founded two progressive organizations. [Oh, and he's movie-star handsome.]

Musing on my wasted life as Mouthpiece for The Man, I followed the link to his page at the Forgiveness Project. If you follow only one link posted here this month, this is it.

Tears in my eyes, I decided Julie was right: some of us should help him out. June 30th is the next fundraising filing, and early money is critical in proving candidate viability. If Andrew Rice can win this seat, there may be hope for my home state yet. And if there’s hope for Oklahoma, we might just win our country back.

Google Maps has made a couple of significant but quiet updates in the last couple of days. First of all, you can now see a map of the entire world (previously it only had the USA, Canada, and UK), and there are now hi-res satellite images for some major cities around the world. I can now see my old university, in Adelaide, for example. Unfortunately my old house is not in the hi-res area, only the city centre is available. They don’t have any hi-res images of Sydney at all though, so I guess I’m lucky. They’ve also improve the street-level maps; read here how it’s improved in Seattle. Check out the sights yourself.

It’s a new term, but the Bush administration is as disdainful of scientific fact as ever. I am Jack’s utter lack of surprise. Think Progress has a round-up of the latest egregious examples of scientific misinformation perpetrated by the Bush white House, with details of cover-ups on evironmental effects of farming and climate warming. It’s getting so that it’s no longer appropriate to refer to “creeping” lysenkoism; in the US today, “trampling” might be a more appropriate description.

Apparently if you’re a little bit brown, Bush will come to your prayer breakfast and do his Christ imitation. [Thanks Wonkette!]

I think I just coined a phrase. In my response to Jeff’s comment about the GOP’s infallability even in the face of medical fact, I think I hit on something. The architect of this strategy is none other than Karl Rove. It’s just too perfect a turn of phrase. Anyone want that on a nonfamous t-shirt?

Explains a lot, doesn’t it? Anyway, my whole response in the comments is pretty good IIDSSM, at least for a Saturday morning with a lingering soupçon of a hangover.

Update: Damn Google. I didn’t get there first, and I didn’t even get to believe I had for more than a few seconds. There really is nothing new under the sun.

Anyway, it still explains a lot. I’m going to start saying it more.