A dude from California is trying to pressure state officials to change the name of Mount Diablo because the word devil is offensive to his religious sensibilities.

Se Habla Loco.

From the complainant Art Mijares: “Words have power, and when you start mentioning words that come from the dark side, evil thrives. When I take boys camping on the mountain, I don’t even like to say its name. I have to explain what the name means. Why should we have a main feature of our community that celebrates the devil?”

A couple of thoughts.

First, letting your kid go camping on Mount Anything with this guy makes about as much sense as agreeing to a Neverland slumber party.

Second, if the current political and cultural trends in this country continue apace, Art Mijares will soon be considered a moderate.

Hey, what do you think of when I say the word audioclouds?

My guess is that it’s probably not a head motion that can change a song on your iPod.

Thankfully, this body talking tech is still in the hands of scientists. The marketers still have a shot to come up with some alternate branding.

In the boom, a company called Audioclouds would’ve been able to raise 10 mil at a 20 post with nothing but the name.

(And damn, I miss it so …)

At the risk of being branded unpatriotic, I bring you this bit of humiliating news.

While the amount of time Americans spent sitting in front of the tube rose by 3 minutes last year (clocking in at a cool 4 hours and 28 minutes), we only came in second place.

The Japanese broke 5 hours.

We’re bragging that we finished the Tour de France and the Japanese are Lance Armstrong.

I can only hope this lapse is about TiVo. Maybe we are watching more television, but watching it faster.

Either way, there’s no time to rest.

Several months ago, Tony Blankley of the Washington Times described George Soros as “a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust.”

While surviving the Holocaust would have to be considered a pretty worthy goal for a Jew in Europe during WW2, I hardly think the rotund and disturbingly squirrelly Blankley meant this as a compliment.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that Blankley and several other similarly minded nutjobs were suffering from a severe Nazi fetish.

A few weeks ago, Blankley compared the Schiavo case to the medical punishments doled out by torturers at the concentration camps.

Not obscene enough for you?

Well take a look at this excerpt from a recent Moonies Pamphet Washington Times editorial that Blankley was plugging on the radio:

There aren’t many border-control success stories these days, but Arizona’s Minuteman Project is quickly becoming one. For observers wondering how average Americans can contribute meaningfully to homeland security, the Minutemen are becoming something of a model. If a comparison to Britain’s World War II civilian spotters seems far-fetched — the spotters were private citizens, often over the age to serve in the military, who watched for Nazi planes and helped British forces score some considerable successes — the difference is one of circumstance. That’s something for President Bush and the open-borders crowd to think about.

So let’s make sure we understand the metaphor here. If the Arizona Minutemen are the British spotters, then that makes the Mexicans – who are risking their lives so they can work in American fields and kitchens for a few bucks an hour so they can send a little dough to the relatives back home – the Nazis.

Not every event or political debate in human history has a side that qualifies as the Nazis. It’s really time to drop the comparisons. It’s idiotic from the extreme left or the extreme right. And it’s time to stop glorifying morons like Blankley on the television airwaves just because he takes an extreme position on every topic.

Tap into the First iPod and take a look at the presidential playlist:

In addition to My Sharona, a few country stars, John Hiatt (a favorite of mine) and Van Morrison, W also has been known to crank a little John Fogerty (Centerfield, not Fortunate Son).

Update: Were the songs ripped off? Boing Boing is on the case.