Militant group warns of Mosul retaliation

Militant group warns of Mosul retaliation: By BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida in Iraq front group warned Tuesday that insurgents were waiting for the right moment to retaliate against a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the northern city of Mosul.

And why is this news? Did someone actually see this and say, "WOW, who'd uh thunk it?" Slow day for the AP? Yeah, thought so. After all, isn't that what they always do? It's sorta like their job, to wait for "the right moment" to attack just about anything, especially funerals. And I read about how our ground forces can't use hollow points because of the rules of war... so I'm wondering why that applies to terrorists, and why can't we use or buy more than one type of bullet?

Anyway, I have a feeling that the front group was answering question when they made that statement, the question being, "what happened to you, are you giving up?" Yeah, just waiting waiting for the right moment... sure, whatever ya say bub.

The era of big Clintons is soon over.. huh?

The Associated Press: The era of big Clintons is soon over: By CALVIN WOODWARD
One quarter of Americans have never known life without a Clinton trying for or having the presidency. Millions have gone from diapers to diplomas in the time of the Clintons.

Ok... what? Today, Hillary Clinton is currently running for the Dem nomination for President. So she is currently running for President. So... only one quarter of Americans are aware of this? That doesn't make sense. Surely more Americans than that know.

So... was the author of this lame article trying to insinuate that the Clintons have, since the time that Bill Clinton first ran for it, continuously been in or seeking the office? If that's what he's thinking, where has this author been for the last 8 years? There was no Clinton seeking to become President after Bill's 8 years in the office, nor was there one when Bush won his 2nd term over Kerry. So that doesn't make sense.

So, the author must be saying that Hillary has been seeking a path to become President, since her hubby left office... but that's not really accurate.

Well, maybe he's just saying that a lot of Americans are cotemperaneous with the Clintons in a political position in one form or another... that's true, but that's not what Calvin is alluding. Calvin is just plain wrong.

Bring on the Hydrogen!

2008-04-25

Israeli invention could pave way for hydrogen cars

By David Shamah

Everyone's heard that old story about the scientist who invents a "magic pill" that turns water into gasoline -- with the invention eventually getting into the hands of the oil companies that bury it, fearing they will be driven out of business when word gets out about their competition. It sounds like science fiction, but believe it or not, that's exactly what happened to Moshe Stern, head of C.En (Clean Energy), who said his company's scientists have developed a revolutionary breakthrough that will enable automobile manufacturers to produce -- and sell -- cars that use hydrogen power. It's a breakthrough that has been getting a lot of attention -- and oil companies got wind of it, too, with one company allegedly offering him $50 million to shelve his project. Stern didn't take the money, though; he intends to see his hydrogen car project through. As a result, he said, for the first time the West has an opportunity to make a real dent in its dependence on OPEC oil. Hydrogen has long been the great green hope for governments and environmentalists, as well as the ideal opportunity to lessen oil imports for Western countries -- since hydrogen can be manufactured from water. President Bush has set aside billions for development of the technology, and hydrogen is the preferred alternative fuel for public vehicles, like buses, in many cities. Among the cities with at least some public buses fueled by hydrogen are London; Reykjavik, Iceland; Perth, Australia, and Santa Monica -- where nearly three-quarters of all municipal vehicles of all types are powered by the fuel. Instead of producing carbon monoxide or other harmful pollutants, hydrogen fuel emits water vapor, which is certainly better for the environment than fossil fuel emissions -- even though some scientists believe it should be considered a greenhouse gas. Lower pollution and less money for OPEC -- hydrogen sounds tailo rmade for the fuel problems that ail us. While Bill Gates of Microsoft fame may have been right when he said, "If GM kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles per gallon," the fact is that the industry says that hydrogen is still not ready for prime time. While producing the hydrogen is easy enough, getting the fuel into the car and storing it in a fuel tank are some of the biggest obstacles for the technology. This, industry experts say, has traditionally been the deal-breaker for increased hydrogen use. Most hydrogen vehicles on the road use a liquid form of the material, which requires a super strong and super heavy storage tank. Liquid hydrogen is unstable and needs to be insulated from the excess shocks of bumps and potholes that are a part of everyday driving, so the tanks themselves are large and heavy, and hold about five gallons of fuel -- enough for barely 160 miles of driving. Then there's the issue of integrating the fuel into internal combustion vehicles that, for better or worse, are unlikely to be phased out anytime soon -- as well as the question of where drivers are supposed to fill up, because hydrogen stations are rare. All these are legitimate concerns that have kept hydrogen development restricted more or less to the laboratory, Stern said, and all concerns that are addressed and solved with C.En's hydrogen storage and supply solution. The difference? C.En's tank uses hydrogen gas collected from the environment (i.e., not produced from fossil fuels) and enclosed in a thin but leak-proof glass container. The best part: Drivers will be able to buy "gas" at automotive or discount stores, fueling up approximately every 370 miles. Stern said they can build a 16-gallon tank that weighs no more than 100 pounds,unlike tanks currently used for liquid hydrogen that weigh several hundred pounds. "Our company's breakthrough is in accumulating hydrogen in a glass material that is very small, only a few microns," said Stern, who is also president of Environmental Energy Resources (EER), a waste treatment company. "You don't need to transport hydrogen to fuel stations, and you don't need pipelines. The tanks will be like a battery that can be replaced, and you can carry a reserve in the car." When you run out of hydrogen in one tank, according to Stern, you just pull out the empty cell and put in the fresh one, which will be good for another 370 miles. The cells, in fact, will act just like batteries in electric or hybrid cars and fit right in with the standard internal combustion engine -- which means that Detroit or Japan don't have to retool their factories or production lines to build cars with the capacity for hydrogen cells. The know-how and means of production are in use right now, in fact, as almost every car manufacturer is already producing hybrids or straight electric cars. George Sverdrup, technology manager for the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory's hydrogen, fuel cells and infrastructure technologies program, said that once the storage problem is solved, there is no reason hydrogen cannot be used as the premiere fuel to power cars. "We can use hydrogen to decrease our dependence on imported petroleum, because it can be produced by a variety of domestic resources, including water and biomass," he said, adding that his group has made a great deal of progress in recent years figuring out ways to store hydrogen more safely -- a problem solved by C.En's invention. Stern is coordinator of the project and chief investor. Among the others are Israeli, as well as Korean, Japanese and Russian investors. The head researcher is professor Dan Eliezer of Ben-Gurion University, an expert in hydrogen who has done work for NASA and security organizations in Israel and the United States. The team has conducted more than 100 tests over the past several years and is going to be conducting field tests in Germany, where the company will seek approval by BAM (the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing). "With our solution, we have solved the three major problems that have faced hydrogen fuel technology -- size of tank, its safety and lightweight storage," Stern said. "In addition, we believe that the use of this system will actually reduce the price of cars overall, chopping about $1,600 off the sticker price, since the standard gas tank will no longer be necessary." In addition, hydrogen fuel produced in this manner has another advantage, Stern said, "Since we are in essence producing a battery," he explained, "the technology can be adapted to work with other devices and products that utilize battery power, as well, such as laptop computers and cellphones." A laptop battery product to scale would be cheap and easy to make, he said, and allow far greater periods of untethered, electricity-free work than the current Li-On batteries used by many laptops. After six months of testing in Germany, where the company expects approval by the BAM institute, Stern and his team will present the technology to U.S. authorities and international carmakers. "BAM's approval will be accepted worldwide, and at that point, we will be able to close deals with a strategic partner," Stern said. Meanwhile, C.En has raised $10 million so far and expects to greatly increase its stake once the testing is done. "We are looking now for one of the giants to adopt our technology and support it," Stern said. It's hard to imagine he won't find several companies to embrace his breakthrough, which could really, finally, solve the oil problem, once and for all. Article courtesy of The Jerusalem Post.

Army general 'mad' about condition of housing at Fort Bragg - On Deadline - USATODAY.com

There's a thing called the chain of command, there's a thing called inspections, and there's a thing called notice. The Army, as screwed up as it may be, had all 3 of those.

Inspections are done all the time, if you live on base then it's just part of living on base. You're usually told when an inspection is coming, but sometimes you may get a surprise inspection. Superiors conduct the inspections and not deficiencies. The Army also has engineers and building inspectors or whatever that are supposed to report up the chain of command any deficiencies. There are also the people who live in the structures who will complain to their superiors when something is wrong.

So, I find it impossible to believe that the Army didn't have notice that its barracks were having problems. The person in charge of the base's barracks had to have known, or should have known, that there was a problem with that building's plumbing, and being the slime-ball, lazy, slum lord that he is, did nothing. No, I don't know the person, but their work ethic and standard of care is plainly evident.

The person in charge of barracks over there at Bragg should be stripped of rank and kicked out because the guy is an idiot even by Army standards. I was in the Navy, so all Army pukes are in a way inferior of course... but rivalry aside, as a human being, I think the person(s) who allowed this to happen... this health hazard where people have to live and sleep... where people go after doing their daily grind on the job, where they should be able to relax and go take a piss without having to tread through sewage... yeah, the person(s) who allowed this to happen need to be in front of a judge or panel of judges and receive the max penalties allowed, including some jail time if at all possible, because to allow this was indeed criminal.

Who the hell would want to join the Army or ANY service if this is what they thought was the norm. No wonder people don't want to join anymore, not only do you have deploy to Iraq or Afstan, but when you come back you have to live in filth too. Bump that!

That said... people pull some nasty pranks sometimes. Clogging a toilet with toilet paper, for example. Some are more elaborate than others. So, if thing was just one of those nasty pranks, then the pranksters need to be caught and sent up the chain because that is just going too far.

Been a while

It's been a while since I blogged here, I did the myspace thing for a little while but the whole thing with myspace seems a little "kiddy" to me. Facebook is better, but still. I looked at some of the blogs I've done here, wow. It's been a long time since Sheri, and it's really sad I still think about her every freekin day. I want so bad to find someone else... I've been dating a lot, too much probably, but none of them had it, whatever "it" is. Sheri had it though, I think I simply may have met her too soon. If I had gone through all these women first, then I would have done a lot more to at least try and keep her. But it's too late, way too late. So I just hope one day I'll meet a woman I I'm attracted to and can fall in love with.

So, I pretty much worked out all last year, 2007. I'm in a lot better shape, I weigh about 185 lbs, and do strength and cardio. I was going to get to 200 lbs, but at 190 I felt like I was having to force feed myself. So, a muscular 185 seems to suit me well enough.

Right now, it looks like I may get an interview with a place in Houston that would actually pay a decent salary. Crossing my fingers. And the other day I worked my ass off at my granny's, pulled up 3 stumps, fixed up a step path, pruned stuff, weeded/hoed... a lot of yard work since my granny is about to put her place up for sale once some work is done to fix up the house. Well, this guy comes by, loves the yard and offers $60,000 as is. My granny told me I made her yard beautiful. She also said they walked along the steps I had fixed up and liked them. So basically the guy is buying the place based almost entirely on the yard. We figured it's a good price considering how much it was going to take to get the house up to snuff... it needed a lot of work. So now as soon as she closes on the house, my dad will buy her a new place.

Oh, I also read a ton last year. I started off reading some novels... SK's The Cell, and a good one called The Last Templar. Then, I decided I wanted to try something different, a different genre. So, I did a lot of research and decided I would try out the, "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Or at the very least the first book of it. So, I bought "A Game of Thrones" which is the first book of the Song. Oh... My... God... that book SO kicked ass. The book is thick, but the story is so good you wish it was even longer. And I guess it is, but you have to buy the next book, and I did. And it was either just as good or maybe even a little better! There's 4 books out in the series right now, the 5th one should be finished shortly, according to GRRM, the author... George R. R. Martin. Oh, the genre is Fantasy, but it's not at all what I thought it would probably be like. I had read a Fantasy book before, called the Magician, I think it was 2 books in one, had a character called Puc I think. Anyway, it had magic and all that junk in there. But in Song, it's hard for me to truly characterize it as Fantasy, or at least pure Fantasy. It's more... hard core, grit... people die in this, people you wouldn't think would be killed, it really catches your attention and makes you think, "What the?!?!" And then there are the adult scenes which is nice since you know this was made for adults. Anyway, I can honestly say I haven't read anything that I've truly enjoyed reading as much as this series. I just wish the author wouldn't pussyfoot around so much and would just concentrate on finishing this series. Yeah, I'm selfish like that. :)

So, I read all 4 books and wanted more. So I did a little more research and decided to go ahead and try my hand at the "Wheel of Time" series, by Robert Jordan (pen name). My research basically told me that the first few books were good, but that the author seemed to be dragging out the series, and spent too much time describing things that didn't matter. Also, the author had a blood disease and was working to finish the series in the next book, even if the book turned out to be 2,000 pages. I figured, maybe by the time I read all 11 books, then the last book will be out or will out soon enough. Oh, I also read that one could skip books 7-10 and wouldn't miss anything (that's so wrong). So, what the heck, I'll give it a shot, and if it gets too boring I'll just find something else.

While reading the first book, there appeared to be somewhat odd similarities to what's found in Song. Not a direct stealing of ideas from Jordan, but you can tell some things aren't a far stretch. Anyway, if you read that first book then you HAVE to read the second, and then the third, and so on, in my opinion. Yes, I found another series I really liked. I got to the books that some people had said could be skipped, and they were entertaining, and flowed with the story, and if you skip them you're stupid. I got to the "Crossroads of Twilight" which has lots of reviews on Amazon, some of the funniest reviews ever are regarding this book, all putting it down in imaginative ways and rating it low. But, it's actually good. I think the real problem is that when you wait 2 years for a book to come out, you get your expectations too high. However, reading the series straight through eliminates the unreal expectation and the whole body of work flows very smoothly. But, unfortunately, I believe it was while I was reading Crossroads, that I found out Robert Jordan had succumbed to the rare blood disease. It was really weird, I opened up my excite.com homepage, was going to check my email and just happened to catch his name in the news section, and it said he had died. A whole world in conflict, good and evil colliding, Rand, Aes Sedai, the Chosen, the Aiel, Matt & Tuon, Perrin & Faile, Aviendha, Elayne, Min... so many interesting things going on, and the storyteller is gone.

Luckily Robert Jordan, knowing that there was a chance he wouldn't be able to finish writing the book, made sure a couple of people knew the conclusion he had in mind, and made notes, outlines, etc. so that someone could finish it for him. So, as I write this, some guy in Utah is writing that critical last book. There are a lot of people that have read the WoT series since it has spanned nearly two decades. Hopefully this guy won't make the same recurring grammatical errors that Jordan seemed to be fond of. I'm sorry, I can only take so many "had had" and the use of the wrong homonym. But writing fiction is really more about ideas and telling the story than getting perfect spelling and grammar. Anyway, I think the last WoT book is due out in 2009.

So, reading took up a lot of time for me in 2007, and I figured I wanted to do something different this year. I thought about what I deficiency I could improve on and enjoy in the process. Well, I definitely don't watch as many movies as most people, and people will talk about some well known movie... and there are movies that everyone seemingly has seen or should have seen by now. One example I guess is Schindler's List, never saw it. So I decided I'd work on movies this year, and got on with Netflix, 5 dvds at a time. So, since about February I think, I've been watching a lot of movies. I think I like reading more. But, I'm going to go through a bunch and then I'll either quit Netflix or reduce it to maybe 2 or 3 dvds at a time. I won't Blockbuster because they force movie makers to edit their movies to BB's standard. Don't believe me, watch A Clockwork Orange from BB, they cut out a lot. I had rented it since my cousin had never seen it, and I couldn't figure out why it seemed to stupid, then I realized that it had been chopped. Much like how Walmart won't sell CDs they deem vulgar, the maker/distributor simply edits the product to make it suitable for the retailer. Corporate morality... Thanks, but I'd rather see the movie as it was meant to be seen, I'm a grown up, I can handle it, jackass.

Ok, enough for now.

The New Navy

Somehow I found myself on Wikipedia looking at Operation Praying Mantis. I was part of it, I was a Corpsman for VF-213, which is now called VFA-213, the Blacklions. So I figured I'd look up the squadrons of friends I had back then. Jerry Andris' VF-114 Aardvarks are no more. And Mike Tulley's VAW-117 Nighthawks are now called Wallbangers... what a fucking stupid name. They're called the Wallbangers now yet they have the same insignia, a bird flying among the moon and stars. Well, to me it looks more like a bald headed eagle, but that's closer to what a Nighthawk would look like that whatever the a fucking Wallbanger is or might look like.

Crazy times. For a while I'd maybe get an hour or two of rest during work days. I'd only get sleep on weekends and when I had duty because I'd go visit my girlfriend after work and we'd be up all night.

Mike Tulley and Jerry Andris... I know I probably annoyed them at times, but we had some really good times. The drunkest I've ever been in my life was while we were in Fallon (piece of shit town) Nevada. I hate Fallon, what kind of idiot do you have to be to willingly live there? Well I'll tell you, drunk, because there's nothing else to do there except drink. Well, it may be different now, but I still hate the place because while I was just trying to pass out/rest my eyes in the back of the car, a couple of Fallon's finest came upon me and decided to get me out of the car and to the police station. I didn't cause any trouble, I didn't do anything except, be under age. doh! I was in the Navy and too young to buy a beer, yet totally drunk out of my gord.

You see, Jerry and Mike were in there 20s already so they knew their limits, what to do to keep from puking I guess since they never puked. And we were in the bar drinking pitchers of beer, and in between the pitchers we'd do shots. We drank all the Shnappes they had, all the good kinds anyway, fuck peppermint, and the bar tender told us he had something new for us, that he'd let each of us try a shot of for free. We're like, sure! He goes to his little freezer and pulls out the bottle telling us, "It's called Jaegermeister." Yeah, it's common now, back then it was just making its debut and starting a reputation. So we take a shot, and we're like, more!

I'm not sure if we drank it all, we probably did. But the next thing I know is that I'm pretty fucking drunk and feel a puke coming on. To Mike helps me out and I go outside and puke alongside a telephone pole or something, who knows. I'm surprised I didn't pass out and have acute alcohol poisoning. But if I had, I knew I'd be ok because my two friends were good corpsmen too. Mike helped me in the car and I was happy to be resting my eyes.

So now I'm at the police station. They put me in a chair in some hall outside their main little office. I didn't know it at the time, but I'm sure they were videotaping me. Luckily for me I'm not an asshole when I'm drunk, so I just sat there quietly. I guess they got bored and realized I wasn't going to incriminate myself, and what do ya know, shore patrol comes in. Great. Keep in mind I've been in handcuffs since they took me out of the car. Shore patrol puts on their own handcuffs and takes me back to the base, where once again I'm put in a chair and wait. Nobody talked to me or anything, they did their own thing, playing cards all night long. Great job shore patrol. Anyway, they finally take the handcuffs off in the morning and tell me I need to report to my Master Chief Petty Officer [tangent - wish I could remember his name, he seemed like he was one of those people who could either be your best friend or worst enemy. Lucky for me, we talked for a while when I first reported to the squadron and reminded me of my grandpa. When he'd come to Medical I'd make sure he didn't get any BS and helped any way I could. One time on the boat, a senior chief got on my case unfairly, so I went and griped to my master chief about it. Holy crap, I didn't know he'd come down to Medical and verbally bitch slap the senior chief. They came out the senior chief's office and I could tell he was not a happy camper. That guy NEVER said anything cross to me EVER again. I could tell he wanted to though, but he didn't. I wish I could remember his name too, I'm sure he was just having a bad day and here I am, some punk kid, what the hell did I know? He had the same last name as an actor that popular at the time... anyway...].

So I go to him and he's a little upset, not too much though, to be honest I really don't remember to what degree except I know he wasn't spitting mad anyway. But ya know what, I never heard anything regarding that night from my squadron ever again. It was like it never happened. Come to think of it... maybe master chief saw to it that it never went any further. He was the best. Vickery? Something like that.

The worst person was the new flight surgeon, Menendez or something like that. What a cry baby. He complained about me, something I did or didn't do, I really don't know. They had me sign some shit while I was recovering from wisdom teeth removal and after some meeting. I really don't even know what was said or anything. I learned my lesson though, I've never let pieces of shit like him get over on me ever again. I'd have no problem putting him in his place now, if only I knew then what I know now. Oh well, shit happens, live and learn.

One person I know I bugged the hell out of was Morgan. Ty Morgan I think. We were in the same C school class and he was ship's company on the ship my squadron deployed on. Morgan, Stillion and I would go to the beach all the time while in C school. Stillion was ok except I will never forget him throwing my brand new knife at a door and the tip breaking off it. He never apologized, I think he said he wouldn't apologize because he was an atheist. Either way, pretty shitty of him, but other than that he was really cool. He had some hot chicks, that's for sure. Maybe that's how I got started on only dating hot chicks... who knows.

Weird how names start coming back... Aarowhead, Cherry, Bourne (reborn as one guy would say), Ridley or Riley... he was on duty when that guy came in one evening and died later that night, had to be one of the more gory deaths to look at. The guy who didn't see the propellers was kinda gory too, and we had the privilege of wiping down his bits and pieces off the plane, VAW-117's. Ah, Miller, from VA-95. He was really nice because he wrote up a letter of appreciation for me when I looked over his squadron during some picnic they had. I also woke him up one night so he could stick his finger up some guy's butt, because I certainly had never done it before and... come on, it's just gross. Yeah, good times.

Hehe, speaking of gross, there was the time we went to lunch and were talking shop. I don't even remember what were talking about but it was really nothing we considered to be in poor taste. But this guy comes over and asks us if we could not talk as loud or change the topic because he was trying to eat and we were grossing him out. Good times.

Stillion and I playing a practical joke on Morgan by forwarding time for him, on his watch and alarm, so that he goes and reports for duty an hour early... waking up some guy in the process and getting chewed out a little. Good times!

Guido and me throwing a frisbee around listening to Guns and Roses before their album was even out... his dad was some record company guy and sent Guido the tape asking what he thought about them. Guido was like, this rocks, from the very get-go. Close to year later, Morgan says to me, you gotta listen to this, you've never heard it before... it was Guns and Roses of course, and yeah, not only had I heard it before, I already knew what song I liked best on the tape. It was weird because we had been listening to it for so long and it was like, getting old, but everyone else was thinking it was so new.

Yeah good times were had, but there was a lot of shit too. And the only thing that made it all bearable was Watonka. Looking back, man I was an idiot for letting her go, for letting my mom influence me into letting her go. Now I have neither. Brilliant! Watonka has two kids now I think. If she got divorced, I'd want her again. I think so anyway... would we be so different now? My first true love. She's the best. Sometimes I still dream about her. Weird. I can still remember a vivid dream I had about her, we were in a house. Anyway, I guess love never does really die all the way out, proof of its power, the only thing immortal among mortals. I asked her to marry me, she said yes. I didn't have a ring... ugh. But damn I sure loved her. My mom said it was infatuation. But infatuation only lasts a month or so, I've since learned. It was powerful love because we were together almost a year and a half. I didn't know... damn me. Would that I could change what happened back then. If I could go back in time, I think I can now say that I would have gone back to San Diego or kept her with me in Houston. Either place, as long as I was with her. She's the only person who ever really knew everything about me. I told her absolutely everything about me that I know of. I only fed her some BS a couple of times, but I think she knew I was each time, but they were no big deal, I'm such a bad liar to begin with that I know I better not do anything too bad. Yeah... I'll always have love for her in my heart until I die. I'm sure if I die slowly enough, she'll be in my final thoughts. Yeah, I certainly can't say that about other women I've seen or the even fewer I've had love for. Certainly not Sheri, if I think of her in my final thoughts, it's because I'm having a heart attack and I'm thinking of how similar the pain is in the way we broke up. Of course, there's one other... but I can't even talk about it because it's incomplete, and likely always will be just that, even though I know it could be, or could have been, something just as powerful as what Watonka and I had. But that's just a guess, maybe a wish, it's something I'll never know. Maybe a better wish would be to have Watonka back, as unlikely as it seems.

When should treatment stop?

News 8 Austin | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES: "Should it be up to hospitals to decide when treatment stops?"

There is a small child that is terminally ill, and treatment is only prolonging death. That's basically what the hospital is saying as the reason why they want to discontinue treatment, giving the family a couple of weeks to find a different hospital else they're going to "pull the plug" so to speak.

The real reason of course is money. A cost-benefit analysis by the hospital, maybe not called as much but the same, apparently has told them that the value of the boy over the time he's expected to live isn't worth the cost of maintaining or prolonging his life. And maybe they're right.

It's an ethics problem where money plays a huge role. If the treatment for prolonging his life until his death was inexpensive, then there would be no question, he'd live until he died in their care, and the family would be content that everything possible was done.

But, what if the child is suffering a lot of pain or some other turmoil, even though there is inexpensive treatment, or money was no object?

The mother says the hospital has no right to say when they'll stop treatment. Of course she's wrong as the law exists right now, but apparently there is legislation in the works that may change the rights of who can do what.

To me, it's a fairly easy determination since money is the crux. For the hospital, they must determine if they would be negligent if they discontinued life support. The good news is that there is already an equation to determine just that. They may thank Learned Hand for it. He says there is negligence when the burden is less than the probability of harm multiplied by the degree of loss (B < p x L).

However, even if there is no negligence of the part of the hospital, there can still be a harm when suffering is enters the equation. Thus for the parents, it would seem their equation might be there is negligence when the child's suffering is greater than probability of recovery multiplied by the degree of loss.

Also, there may be the issue of "death with dignity." Even if there is no suffering and no problem with costs, would it be more dignified to allow the child to die rather than living unconsciously with a constant dependency on machines?

Here, it appears that the cost to prolong the child's life must be fairly high and they probably know there is little to no chance of recovering those costs. Thus the hospital's burden is probably very high. The child is terminally ill and will not be, sadly, able to contribute anything to society. Thus it seems to me in this case that the hospital may indeed have the right to discontinue treatment.

If the parents are able to find someplace that will continue to keep the child on life support, then I hope they consider what their child has become and perhaps they may decide it more dignified to allow him to rest in peace.

Inhuman Killer's Justice is Denied

Perhaps a better way to execute this guy would be to chop his head off. Justice must be served on this guy, if not lethal injection then what? Maybe he could choose the method of his own execution. Yeah, give each person to be executed a choice... hanging, beheading, or lethal injection. Which would you choose?

U.S. Supreme Court blocks execution of inmate who scattered victim's remains

ERICA RYAN Associated Press Writer

(AP) - LUCASVILLE, Ohio-The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the execution of a man who had been scheduled to die for killing a woman in 1991 and scattering her remains across two states.

Kenneth Biros - and the family of the victim, Tami Engstrom - had waited for the decision more than six hours past his scheduled execution time Tuesday. When told of the ruling, Biros' mother clasped his hands through the bars of his cell and he thanked God, said defense attorney John P. Parker.

The justices' one-sentence decision agreed with two lower courts that delayed the execution so he could continue arguing that Ohio's method of lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused earlier Tuesday to allow a hearing before the full court to consider the state's appeal.

"To put these poor people through that is just not right," defense attorney Timothy Sweeney said of Biros and his family.

Prisons director Terry Collins said the state planned to move Biros out of the death house shortly after the ruling came.

Biros, 48, acknowledged that he killed Engstrom, 22, but said he did it during a drunken rage.

They met after work in 1991 at a tavern. Police believed she fled his advances and fell or was struck or strangled when Biros tried to quiet her. An autopsy found several beating and stab wounds before her death, and the coroner said she was stabbed five times immediately afterward and dismembered within minutes.

Engstrom's head, right breast and right leg had been severed. Intestines were found in a swampy area in Ohio, and the torso was found in a rural area of Pennsylvania. Part of a liver was found in Biros' car.

Engstrom's sister, Debi Heiss, 41, had said previously that the delay had been hard on her family. She said after the execution was called off that she was too upset to talk.

State Attorney General Marc Dann said he would renew his efforts to have the sentence carried out.

Get Gonzales Gone

White House enveloped in deepening federal prosecutors' probe as attorney general fights for his job

In my opinion, Gonzales should be fired for being stupid enough fire all those people at the same time, and not think that people would look into why. They tacked on a couple more people who may have been needing to get fired, but the San Diego US Atty is the one that really makes the firings odorous since their supposed reason of not enough immigration prosecutions is like firing a cop for not writing enough parking tickets while he's been busy catching murderers or effectively stopping gang violence. She was busy catching some pretty corrupt people, it doesn't matter which party they belong to because it's something that needs to be prosecuted to ensure that our political system remains fair to all.

It's just absurd. It's stupid beyond belief and maybe that's an indicator how much pressure was put on Gonzales, because nobody gets to his position being that stupid. Only Rove would have the gall and arrogance to push it to that point thinking there would be no consequences. This should make you wonder what all he's gotten away with to think that way.

I think Gonzales should not have allowed the firings. If the White House, Bush, threatened him with either going along with or getting fired, Gonzales should have chosen to get fired, which would have been pretty risky for Bush because doing so would show him to be directly within the loop of what was going on and why. You'd think after DeLay and the other corruption cases that Bush and Co. would tread a little more carefully in DC's current culture of corruption... but no.

I can tell it's going to be a choice of which evils can you live with in the next Presidential election. Right now I don't like any of the front-runners. For instance, McCain. I like him on most all issues, but any candidate who wants to impose their personal religious belief on people, most of whom disagree, then there's something wrong with that. I have no desire for America to become a theocracy, which Republican candidates in general seem to wink at.

And I have no desire to see the US lose in any military conflict, which Democrats appear to not understand. Yes, everyone wants us out of Iraq, but not until we WIN first. I just don't think Democrats really understand the people they claim to speak for, maybe because they're too poll driven.

NEway, politics right now is pretty scary no matter which party you choose. And this Gonzales debacle is just another instance showing how even our system of government can fail.

India News

Certain vitamins may shorten lifespan: "They found that taking antioxidant supplements neither increased nor reduced the risk of death. Rather, these appeared to raise the risk of death."

Note to India News, if you want to report in English, then you may want to hire someone who can understand and write in English. The two sentences together basically say, "Supplements don't increase the risk of death, but they increase the risk of death." /boggle

McCain: Roe V. Wade Should Be Overturned

McCain: Roe V. Wade Should Be Overturned

And there goes any chance of a vote from me. Too bad I have this thing against returning women to the dark ages of backstreet abortions. An economist of some sort has said that abortions have led to decreased crime rates, explaining that since women who knew they couldn't afford a baby or couldn't provide/care for very well got an abortion instead of raising the child in poverty or neglect, such disadvantages having been shown to lead to a life of crime. Not my theory, but interesting.

Monica Maybe, and I'm Working Out Some

So I called Jada, nothing. She's only 29 and I guess talking to me is probably the last thing on her list of priorities. No offense taken. I'd wish her well but she never answers her phone.

So I go on the pursuit again, enter Monica. Monica doesn't want to talk on the phone at all. I can respect that. I gave her my number because she seems safe enough, a straight shooter, no BS'n around. She has a great smile from some of her older pictures, her newer ones show someone that's been pretty disappointed. I know the feeling, and I'd really like to put a smile back on her face, she's so pretty especially when smiling. Anyway, like me, she broke up in October, except her relationship had been a longer than mine, 3 yrs. I guess it had to be breaking down for a while for her to be back into the swing of things already. I suspect the guy may have cheated on her because she cut her hair off, the hair he had always told her not to cut because he liked it so much.

I like long hair too... what guy doesn't? But if a woman wants to experience having shorter hair, let her. She'll see in her guy's eyes that he doesn't like it for a long enough time that she'll probably grow it out again and keep it that way... unless she's in the process of leaving.

But anyway, if the guy did cheat on her, I know her pain all too well. Not from my last, though I suspect, but from prior ones. The last one which hurt so badly that I said "fuck it" to dating for a long time, didn't want that hell. Then something happened that lit a fire on my ass and now I'm actually trying. Thought it was dead in me, but apparently it wasn't.

I think way too far ahead. We've only emailed each other a handful of times and I'm already thinking about meeting her. What did you think I was going to say? :) Yeah, I went and bought some clothes this weekend, Granny helped me find stuff, it was a hoot. Anyway, I already know what I'm going to wear IF we ever meet. I almost emailed her saying something like, "So when are we going to meet" or "How long until you think we should meet." Decided not to write it though because that would be way to forward, too much too fast, me thinks, err, I think she would think that anyway.

Anyway, I think if we do meet we'll have fun. It's hard to know because I know I probably "sound" terrible on email. Can't really convey inflections or whatever so you have to write a little differently... well anyone reading this has probably written an email before and knows. Haha, like anyone reads this blog or would make it this far down anyway. Hmm... this blog is turning into an online journal for me. Oh well. /tangent. So it'll be quite a feat if we ever do meet. Can't wait, sure hope it happens because we have a lot in common and I wouldn't be surprised if we clicked. Never really know until ya meet though.

Unrelated, I upped my intensity on my Friday upper body workout, I've been taking creatine, glutamine, and whea protein, and my arms blasted a whole quarter inch more, still there too, been waiting for them to deflate to maybe an eighth higher than what it had been, but no, it's still a quarter inch more. Even Granny saw on Saturday, when I tried on a particular shirt, that I had gained a lot of size.

To recap, I think after Sheri I was probably down into the 150s. Normally, I was probably at 170, not really too sure because I didn't own a scale. After a few weeks of working out, and eating like a human should, I bought a scale and I weighed 160. I could tell I had gained a few pounds already, but I'm not sure how far below 160 I actually went, thank God. So anyway, I'm at 175 now, naked. Not bad after only 9 weeks of working out and eating, with about the last 4 or 5 weeks including protein drinks, vitamins, the last 3 weeks including mountain biking weekends, and the last week including creatine and glutamine.

So now my legs aren't looking as chicken related, and my arms are over 14" pumped, 13.75" cold. Yeah that's not huge, but it's an improvement for me and I've only just begun. I think maybe 15" might be good enough for me. Just wish I had some free weights... I really don't want to have to join a gym... but there is a World's opening up soon off Parmer... and a 24 fitness right by work is being built. Decisions, decisions. Maybe 16" arms will be my goal, just have to see how they as I go, I don't want to look like a freak, just muscular fit, like van damm, or however his damn name is spelled.

I guess after I get a little bigger, maybe when my arms are 14" cold, I'll take some pictures and post them on dating sites, unless I'm seeing someone already, like maybe Monica. :) I hope. But yeah, I'm totally serious about keeping fit now, I used to get away with not having to work out at all, but now I can't. If I don't I get way too out of shape and... can strain a muscle during sex of all times! Yeah, more embarrassing than painful, and it did hurt. Strained my butt muscle once, and my thigh muscle another time. Ugh. Never again, unless maybe it's some super duper really out of control doing some freaky stuff sex... though it probably wouldn't be unexpected if it's that wild. "Hey babe, let's have sex so hard that I strain a muscle" Hmm... may have to come up with a "workout" that might push the limits. Hmm, something to think/fantasize about hehe.

Carlos Mencia (fake name) Steals Jokes... Often

Joe Rogan vs.Carlos Mencia continues: Rogan dropped by The Gersh Agency

So, Rogan exposes Carlos (real name Ned) for the thief he is... and Rogan takes the hit? It says Gersh agency, but for some reason I think they should change their name to Deuch Agency. They'd rather represent a liar/thief that needs to be further exposed for the fraud he's committing, than the guy who is simply the messenger? Apparently, almost all comics know about Ned's thieving so it's not like Joe was saying anything out of the ordinary in their profession... he was just saying it in public.

One thing you won't hear is Ned suing for Libel or defamation, because his lawyer will tell him that if it's true, he has no case... and apparently it's pretty easy to show that Joe was telling the truth.

I'd like to see Leno weigh in on this so future comics won't steal like Ned, aka Menstealia, aka "that tard." Oh yeah, his race is fake too, yeah, he's not even a Mexican. The guy lies and lies and lies... someone needs to put a stop to it and I sure hope Joe's effort is just the beginning.

Maybe someone with the resources or connections could backtrack and point out most or all the material stolen by Ned in the last few years. I'm thinking a documentary or news journal type of production... something that speaks credibility.

I never did like Mind of Mencia... seemed more hateful/annoying than funny to me. I don't like relaxing to screaming I guess. NEway... bleh.

Feel free to sign the petition to get rid of Ned, at... http://www.petitiononline.com/nocarlos/petition.html

Pelosi says Bush would need congressional approval to invade Iran - National Politics

Pelosi says Bush would need congressional approval to invade Iran

Excuse me... but this is bullshit. Pure BS. Just because this beeotch was voted by her peers to be the speaker of the new majority in the House, doesn't mean she dictates national policy. Americans voted for a lot of democrats not to cut and run from Iraq, but to change whatever was necessary (mainly Rumsfeld) to get the job done, aka WIN, and then get the fuck out (pardon my french).

What.. the.. hell is this.. this.. world.. coming toooooo? (old Metallica - FFWF - as sung not via the lyrics page, dorks)

I swear, despite the intellectuals within the party, the current Dems have got to be the stupidest party not only in Dem history, but in American political history. These current Dems don't even see what's going on... I guess being in Washington puts you in a vacuum or in some thick fog. Here they are with a great opportunity show that they're a mainstream party and in tune with the general public... no, they succumb to their extreme side, the side that takes a very simple stance, do the opposite of everything Republican. No... not something like, let's have a vision for America, or maybe... let's win this war on terrorism by forcing Bush to make good decisions in a more prompt manner (since it took way too long to boot Rumsfeld).

No, can't do something like that because that would require taking a stand and defending it, something they've proven themselves to be inept at in the past, so now they're just avoiding it all together. So, they'll just want the opposite of Bush, which makes for an easier argument to defend since you just say you don't want what Bush wants. Idiots.

Thing is, Americans voted Dems to get Bush straightened out, now that that's happened and the Dems have proven themselves aloof to Americans in the aftermath, don't count on a Dem president after the votes are counted in 2008.

Scooter's Coffee

WhitePages.com - Online Directory Assistance:
"Scooters Coffee House
in Austin, TX"

Seriously, is there a better place to get coffee? I think not. I've been getting the same type of coffee for a while now, a vanilla latte with an extra shot. The first time I got one from Scooter's I couldn't believe how much better it was than any other place I've been. Wow. So, I go there just about every morning.

In doing so, I happen to keep seeing a girl there, well, she works there so... Anyway, she's cute and seems very... delicate? careful?... not sure what word I'm trying to think of, but she uses both hands to make sure nothing drops or spills when handing coffee to me. Her eyes are really nice too, blue I think... I'm bad with colors, I listed mine for years as brown when they're more like hazel. She's thoughtful too, she gave me a Premium Customer Card so I could get points or whatever each time I buy a coffee. And then...

Yesterday was Valentines Day. I'm fortunate enough to have her give me my coffee, so I wish her a happy Vday. She says "you too" or something and turns around as I drive off. I then go to take a drink, and there it is. "Happy -- a heart -- Valentine's Day" is written on the lid. Made me smile that maybe she wrote that just for me. But, what if they did that for everyone that day? Probably.

So, this morning I go and get my coffee, I'm going to ask her if they did that for everyone or if I was just special, but she didn't give me my coffee, the guy that works there handed it to me, and I wasn't going to ask him. So, maybe tomorrow. Maybe I'll just call there and ask. Of course if I was the only one, then they'll know I called... but that's fine, I just need to figure out her name and ask her out sometime. If it was to everyone, then oh well, guess I'll just go gradually... ask for her name, then ask her out later.

But, what if she says no? Or worse, she says yes and we break up later... will I still be able to get the coffee without worrying about spit or worse in it. Should I risk really good coffee in an effort to pick up a really good woman? Coffee... woman... I'm so confused! :) Well, I guess if she says no then I could still get coffee there with just a slight bit of embarrassment. And if we go out and have a bad break-up later, then there's always the Starbuck's down the road... ugh... but that's like going from broadband to dial-up (yes, Scooter's coffee is THAT good).

Well, I need to wait anyway. I may be going out with someone else anyway. Jada. I haven't met her yet though. But she seems like a very interesting person. Cute too. She just turned 29 last month so there's a 9 year difference.. not too bad. Would have gone out with her already but my dad broke his leg pretty badly and so I was out of town last weekend when she called wondering if I might be able to do lunch. Yeah... first off, we've been playing phone tag for like a month, then when I finally hear my phone ring and am able to answer it when she calls, I'm with my dad in his hospital room, and he's awake. So it's ringing and I really don't want to talk to her with my dad right there... but we've been playing phone tag for so long... I answer. I tell her what's going on and that I'll call her later this week (umm, today's Thursday, so I'll call her today). I hand up and my dad, who had been in and out of sleep thanks to his morphine every 10 minutes, asks me who's Jada, where did you meet her, etc. Ugh! Now if things don't work out between us, it'll be, what ever happened to Jada, how long did you see her, blah blah blah.

Jada, what a cool name. If we don't work out, then that's a name I may suggest for when/if I have a daughter. But then, if it ends as suddenly/weirdly/hurtfully as Sheri, forget it! Oh fug, now I'm thinking about Sheri.

I think I tried to take and moderate everything, even feelings, so much that maybe that's what made Sheri depressed or lose her feelings of love for me. I dunno... don't care, it's in the past and gone forever. Fuck it. One thing I learned is that kissing a big fake boob is like trying to kiss a fully inflated balloon. She sure was pretty though. Wish I had been in better shape while with her, and had gone ahead and done some things that I was holding back on... but I wasn't solely interested in sex with her and didn't want to give her the wrong impression. Bleh, I think I screwed up by just not being myself... what a dumbass I am.

Oh well, hopefully I'll learn from it and not screw up so badly with my next relationship, if I have one. Yeah, I'm seriously thinking maybe it just wasn't meant to be for me. I pray sometime and thank God for my happiness, my wife, and children (sorta like affirmations for things yet to come). Umm, I'm happy already I guess... just want to make sure it doesn't go away. :) Right, so for now, I see how it goes with Jada. If Jada doesn't work out, then maybe I'll see about going after the Scooter's woman. Kinda weird, I already know there's something about the Scooter's woman... wonder if I can tell over a lunch if there's something about Jada. Yeah, I can... it's either there or it isn't, physical attraction is pretty straight forward.

Oh geez, now that I think about it... Scooter's woman's face sorta looks like Sheri's. But maybe she really is nice, not fake nice like Sheri was. Fake nice, fake tits, fake last name at first, fake something else that I dismissed because I didn't want to lose her early on, even though I should have said no until everything was right. So, maybe this Scooter woman is the "real" version of what I thought Sheri was. Well, Sheri on antidepressants I guess, or whatever it was that made her happy, nice, thoughtful, and loving. It's funny, as lovely as she was on the outside, I thought she was even more lovely on the inside. I'm sure she really is, she just decided she didn't want me anymore I guess.

Thing is, I was waiting for something from Sheri, that never appeared... and I don't even know what it is, but I know when I see it. Well, I thought maybe I saw it when I last looked into her eyes after our last kiss... but that certainly wasn't it either, maybe I hoped it was something it wasn't. Anyway, I'm glad I can think about the stuff now without getting depressed.

I know I'll never know exactly why it ended until I meet Jesus, so it's hard to take and learn from the experience. If I knew the real reason why she fell out of love, then maybe I could focus on and improve it so I don't make the same mistake with Jada or possibly Scooter woman.

Anyway, I'm keeping the Happy Vday lid that came with my coffee yesterday... at least until I learn that they did it for everyone or if Jada and I become a thing. :)

Evilution?

Conservatives lose latest Darwin battle in Kansas:
"Some religious groups argue that evolution cannot be proven and clashes with Biblical teachings about how God created the Earth, humans and animals. Teaching evolution misleads and confuses students, opponents say."

Darwin never said, and it shouldn't be implied, that evolution is how everything was created. Evolution is limited to things that have already been created. Why must people make evolution appear evil... it's a tool of God after all. Thank God for evolution, that we adapt, that He makes us stronger and able to survive. The whole primordial soup as a theory of how we were created is not what evolution is all about, and isn't even a good way to explain creation since it supposes matter, at the very least in the form of protons and electrons. And of course, what made the protons and the things that make up protons, etc.?

Yeah, evolution is not evilution, there is harmony between what Darwin observed and God. The people who are spazzing about all this are doing a real disservice, not only are they turning a blind eye to facts (yes you can prove that evolution happens, see Darwin's observations and countless fruit fly experiments), but they're also making Christians look ignorant, of little faith, and of much uncertainty in God. I mean... all this hysteria makes it seem like if evolution happens, then God doesn't exist. Get real. This is almost as bad as the thought that the earth must be in the center of the universe, that the sun must rotate around the earth, etc. Evolution doesn't affect my faith one bit, if anything it helps show how He works.

U.S. not planning for war with Iran

U.S. not planning for war with Iran, Gates says

How can we NOT be planning for a war with ANY country that looks like it may harm the US or US interests? No contingency plan? Nothing planned if they suddenly throw a nuke our way? Nothing planned if they decide to move in on Iraq? As if they haven't already. No plans eh? Wow, the powers in Washington must be ignorant and lazy. Right? Yeah, right. pfft. I seriously doubt we don't have a war plan with a country we've labeled as an axis of evil. Hmm... we're not "planning" for war with Iran... because we've already done that! We're beyond planning, we're... doing something else now, but not planning. No, that's over and done with.

Death Penalty Sought in Fetus Theft

Death Penalty Sought in Fetus Theft

Sounds like "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" gone really bad. Me thinks (Shakespeare-talk) Hall wanted the hubby to herself without the encumbrance of his children. But who knows why crazy people do the crazy things they do... besides FBI profilers. :)

Casey: Only half of troop boost needed - Yahoo! News

Casey: Only half of troop boost needed

...No doubt from the Rumsfeld School of Troop Calculations. It's already failed, let's not continue to underestimate the enemy... mmkay? Not even mentioning the recent Iranian activity, which may mean EVEN MORE troops needed. I'm sure Casey is an overall good General, but Generals have been wrong before, and have played the political game before. So, take what Casey says with a grain of salt because he just might be a democrat in Army clothing.

"Grey's Anatomy" star in counseling after gay slur

"Grey's Anatomy" star in counseling after gay slur

This IS a joke right? Right?? I mean... come on, counseling for saying "faggot?" A faggot is also a cigarette, in Scotland if I recall correctly. And who cares if he said it in a hurtful way? You do? Who cares if you do? Get over it. Stop being so thin skinned. I think the guy has a constitutional right to call the faggot a faggot. It's not really derogatory if it's the truth. And the guy he said it about is a faggot, so if the shoe fits... If the faggot has issues with being a faggot, then maybe HE is the one who needs counseling, not the guy who called him out on it.

Yeah, it wasn't nice to say that, and maybe a slap on the hand could be justified... but to send him off to counseling... GEEZ! Since when is professional treatment needed you say something not-too-appropriate while angry? Shit happens, realize it for what it is and move on without acting like you've been horribly abused or victimized or that the guy who said it was so out of line that he needs treatment!

WTF is going on?!?!