Excite News - Cheney defends Bush's national security policies

Excite News - Cheney defends Bush's national security policies

By PAMELA HESS

(AP) Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington,... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday defended the interrogation methods used against suspected terrorists and said the Bush administration obtained specific information critical to combatting would-be attackers.

In a speech challenging President Barack Obama's policies, Cheney said the national security decisions made by former President George W. Bush kept America safe and were rooted in a determination to ensure the Sept. 11 attacks didn't become "a prelude to something worse."

Responding to critics of the interrogation tactics, Cheney said the United States did obtain useful information.

"It is a fact that only detainees of the highest intelligence value were ever subjected to enhanced interrogation. You've heard endlessly about waterboarding. It happened to three terrorists," Cheney told an audience at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The former vice president bristled over the complaints about interrogation from lawmakers, pointing out that leading members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., were briefed on the programs and methods.

"Yet for all these exacting efforts to do a hard and necessary job and to do it right, we hear from some quarters nothing but feigned outrage based on a false narrative," Cheney said. "In my long experience in Washington, few matters have inspired so much contrived indignation and phony moralizing as the interrogation methods applied to a few captured terrorists."

Pelosi has said the CIA misled her in 2002 about whether waterboarding, which simulates drowning, had been used.

Cheney delayed the start of his address until after Obama's speech defending his plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for suspected terrorists and transfer some detainees to U.S. facilities.

Cheney criticized that move as one made with "little deliberation and no plan."

In the fight against terrorism, Cheney said, there is no middle ground. "Half measures keep you half exposed," he said.

Cheney said the Bush policies were intended to prevent attacks similar in scale to the hijacking of the Sept. 11, 2001, that killed more than 3,000 people.

"To the very end of our administration, we kept al-Qaida terrorists busy with other problems. We focused on getting their secrets, instead of sharing ours with them. And on our watch, they never hit this country again," Cheney said.

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Congrats to Pamela Hess and/or her editor for not screwing up anything in the story. I actually doubt the AP has editors, so hats off to Pamela! Well written, well done. Maybe with this economic downturn, AP can afford good people who are now willing to work for AP wages.

But about the story: Shortly after giving his speech, Cheney went home, got a shotgun and shot his neighbor in the face. He then had a heart attack but was revived in what Joe Biden calls, "Cheney's medical department under his house that everyone knows about." When asked why he shot his neighbor, Cheney replied that shooting people in the face has kept this country safe, and that not one terrorist has happened in the US since he started shooting friends in the face.

In unrelated news, Treasury Secretary Geitner has approved 15 billion in stimulus money to shotgun manufacturers.

A Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin's Official Website

A Game of Thrones is the first book in a series by George R. R. Martin. I loaned my copy to my dad for him to read, months ago. I asked him about it recently and even chided him ever so slightly, and he said the book was too "hard" for him.

Ok, well, my dad got a BS in biology and his MS in Environmental Engineering. So, he's not dumb... but geez... too hard? No, it's not.

I told him from the get-go that he needed to get past the first 100 pages, because that's where you are introduced into the world in which things take place. The genre is epic fantasy, though it seems more like a medieval legend than anything else. It's not fireballs from wizards or anything Harry Potterish... it's much more adult than that, much harsher than that.

A character you like, can and will die. Quite a few characters come on the scene and eventually die. Good characters that you like and would want to live. Dead.

But that's the point really. It's an epic fantasy and thus far, it's the best I've seen out there. Though, I heard from a friend that there may be another even better author in some respects, some guy by the name of Bakker I think. I'll read him soon enough.

But back to my dad. I told him to get through the first 100 pages, even I found it somewhat difficult at first but that's only because you are thrown into a new world, and you learn about it as you go. There's nothing in the book, like a forward or whatnot, to give you background or tell you what's up. You learn as you go, that's part of the fun. So you just have to be patient for the first 100 pages and you'll be well rewarded from that point forward.

Anyway, I think he read 11 pages. He's used to silly Clive Cussler novels, ugh, so yeah, it was definitely a different read than that shallow crap. Clive Cussler is the type of book I'd try to get some juvenille who isn't used to reading books as something to start on. I mean, that crap is barely one step above Dick and Jane (and Spot!). Even funnier is that a movie was made from one of his novels, Sahara.

Did you see that movie? Not likely, it was a flop of course. The dumbshit actually advocated to his readers that they boycott the film. Yep. Apparently the movie didn't follow the book closely enough. Umm... Mr. Cussler... most movies adopted from books are no different. That's why people leave theaters and say, "I thought the book was much better," erm... umm... you dumbass. So of course he got sued and he sued them for not following the book closely enough. In the end, guess who paid. Yep.

Anyway, all you out there within the sound of my... blog, err, whatever... get through the first 100 pages before giving up! Don't be like my dad and only read the bible, religious books, and Cussler-like crap. (Bible and religious stuff is, of course, ok... unless it's that crap that says the world is going to end in 1984... no, 1990... no, 2000... etc.)

The series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. The first book, A Game of Thrones, will soon be an HBO movie or something like that. Read it. That is all.

Grammar Nazi

Supreme Court denies Demjanjuk's deportation plea: By THOMAS J. SHEERAN "'The U.S. government will continue to work in cooperation with the Government of Germany to affect the removal of Mr. Demjanjuk to Germany,' spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said in an e-mail."
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I've been trying my best to avoid reading stories written by the AP because they all have stupid shit like the above. Journalists should know the difference between the words "affect" and "effect" and should be able to recognize when someone is saying one instead of the other. They should be an asset to the language instead of a liability. I'm so sick of easy-to-correct mistakes that make it in popular print. It's pretty sad that we Americans produce such shit.

Pakistupid

Pakistan pounds Taliban; fighters pour into Swat: "In recent days, however, there have been signs the mood toward the Taliban is changing. Many politicians, commentators and religious leaders now say the movement s true nature was exposed by its refusal to go along with the peace deal despite the government s best efforts."

Ok... so back in 2001 when the Taliban was helping Osama bin Laden, that wasn't a clue? How about before then, when the Taliban took over the Afgahn government to impose its own rule? No clue? Hmm... ok, how about when they refused to lay down their arms, even when they weren't asking for the latest demands?

A solution for Pak:
Step 1 - Get your heads out of the sand, stop being ignorant;
Step 2 - Grow a pair if Step 1 frightens you, else you're dead;
Step 3 - Deal with the problem most likely to kill you within the next few months, instead of India.
Step 4 - Stop thinking you can resolve the Taliban's wanting to rule over you by doing what they want you to do, (Duhh... yet it has happened. Ugh.) and, instead, kill them until they give up or are totally incapacitated.
Step 5 - After defeating the Taliban, make sure this type of thing is never allowed or tolerated again.

Come on Pak, time to either do something right or die.

Gitmo Detention Center Staying Alive

It's being reported that in the latest War bill, there is no money being allocated for the closure of the Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay) Detention Center for the Civilly-Challenged (Terrorists). To be honest... THANK GOD. Who the hell wants to house them? If Gitmo closes, all that means is that ANOTHER one will have to be built. Even if we found another country that would house them, we'd have to give them aid or pay for it one way or another. I'm hoping Obama follows the reasoning and starts to see Gitmo less as a symbol and more as a practicality. NIMBY!

Pakistan is DOOMED

From the AP: "Abbas said the troops faced an estimated 450-500 militants in Buner and forecast Wednesday that the operation to drive them out would take about a week.

He has dismissed fears that the capital Islamabad, separated from Buner by the Indus River and the Margalla Hills, was under any threat of a militant takeover as alarmist, expressing a confidence in Pakistan's huge army that many Western observers do not share."
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Ok, if it's estimated that it will take a week to drive out 500 militants... your army sucks. As if that hasn't already been observed by the entire world when Pak made truces and whatnot with the Taliban. Whatever "culture" or mechanism that has allowed the continued propegation of the Taliban in Pak is spelling the doom of Pak as we know it today. For tomorrow, barring international intervention, Pak will be a nation of terrorists armed with nuclear missiles.

So, here's the deal. Pak's current government is weak and afraid to take a strong stand against the Taliban. Pak's current military is... weak and afraid to take a strong stand against the Taliban. Pak's current civilian population is... weak and afraid to take a strong stand against the Taliban, many even support the Taliban, apparently. Thus, no matter what, things are going to change in Pak.

If things are left to go as they have, then the Pak government will collapse and the Taliban will forcefully take over. If the international community intervenes, all sorts of change can and will happen. If the Pak governement, army, and/or people grow a pair of nuts and decide to determine their own future, then that would obviously be best and that would definitely be a change.

But what are the odds that the Pak government, army, or people will decide to determine their own future, or fate? Not good. The gene pool in Pak is comprised of muslim people who decided to flee India. So, they lack sack to begin with. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, genes mutate, etc., but for the most part, as a whole, and even in looking at how they got into this current situation, does not bode well for Pak as we knew it.

When the Taliban fled into Pakistan, they probably had no idea what a soft cushion they landed on. It didn't take the Taliban long before they intimidated and controlled the people in the region. Even now, today, there is only 500 Taliban causing so much grief for the Pak army. So soft is Pak, that the Taliban can actually continue "operations" in Afghanistan while taking over Pak.

So, there you have it. It doesn't take a genius to see the eventual demise of Pak. But are others willing to let it come to fruition?

India... another nuclear nation with a long history of disputes with Pak. How will India react? Will India be proactive? That's doubtful. If anything, India is so passive that they won't even take part in an international effort to quash terrorists on their own border. You never know, but even if they do help or try to be proactive, their army is probably similar to Pak's, so they may not be very effective no matter how you cut it.

That means, of course, the UN because nuclear-armed terrorists are bad for everyone. The Pak government won't destroy their weapons in case they somehow live through this, and probably can't destroy them fast enough anyway, unless they launched them... but I refer back to the assertion of "no nuts." (Truman, biggest nuts ever.) That's another thing though, a nuclear armed nation dying to a bunch of hillbillies with AK-47s. That's just pathetic.

So, Pak deserves to get whatever change is coming to them... and it is definitely coming. They simply cannot exist as they have, because their current structure has already failed. Democracy takes nuts, and Pak has none... so they were doomed before the Taliban showed up.

RMA

What does RMA mean? It means very little to ANTonline. RMA generally means a store replacing a defective part that you bought through them. But to ANTonline, it means you're screwed.

Atlanta Network Technologies, they give online shopping a bad name. An item being sold in Amazon.com was sold through ANTonline, and I'll never make that mistake again. The item arrived defective, it was a power supply unit that did not provide near the power it's supposed to in order to run a computer. I tried to RMA it, but to say that ANTonline's RMA is to not accept returns, is not only close to the truth, in effect it is the truth. For, how can you even test an item without opening the box? It's impossible. Yet, that's what they expect in order to RMA.

Yes, they are crooks, any reasonable person can figure this out if they visit antonlinesucks.com to see the pattern. Unfortunately for me, I didn't come across this until after I experienced a problem with them.

Buyer Beware! Beware! Did you hear me? BEWARE!

Beware... as in... you're stupid, even for a moron, if you buy from them after reading this. If you read this after the fact, my sincere condolences. I tried.

The only slightly silver lining is the manufacturer of the product I bought, Corsair, seems to be willing to RMA it. I've already contacted the Texas AG, Georgia's consumer protection office (part of their Governor's Office), and Amazon.

Amazon wasn't any help. I was hoping since they now have the same thing in stock, that they would RMA it instead. Nope. They didn't even answer my email, just put me on their pathetic A to Z service thing which did absolutely nothing but reject it record time. They also said they would send me an email to explain it I guess, but that never happened.

So, hopefully Corsair will end this nightmare and I'll just be out some extra money for shipping.

Again, DO NOT BUY FROM ANTONLINE! Got it? Ok.

Madden Decides to Put Down His Microphone - NYTimes.com

Thank you Lord. I'm know I'm not the only one who can't stand Madden behind a microphone. I'm sorry, but he was a coach and commented on games all the time, yet he could never catch the idea that if a play is called dead from the get go, it's because it's a false start. If it's offsides, the play continues with one exception. So, it's easy to call. But that wasn't even the worst thing.

His going on and on about obvious things or explaining over and over simple concepts is what would drive me batshit crazy. Anything insightful coming from him was rare. He was basically just BSing the whole time, and his voice... yes his voice is just plain irritating. I can't stand listening to him at all. How he ever coached a pro team is beyond comprehension, maybe he was a good manager and just let the assistant coaches do their thing. I don't know. He was guaranteed to say some stupid shit during a game, that's a given. How he lasted so long as a commentator, I'll never know. Most people I know can't stand him either.

Now as a person or maybe a grandpa figure, I'm sure he's a wonderful person. I have nothing personal against him, I just never liked him as a commentator. I know there's going to articles saying some shit like, "He changed the game" or "He was an icon" and it's true... just not in the way they're likely to portray it. He changed the game in that better sportscasters didn't a shot because of him, and he's an icon for how if you do something long enough, people will think you must be good at it.

Russia Ends Counterterrorism Operation in Chechnya

Well, it's been a while since I've heard about any terrorists and whatnot coming out of Chechnya, so I guess it was time. Kuddos to Russia for helping out in the war on terror that was in their own back yard. Now they just need to help out when it's not in their own back yard, instead of promoting it like they have with their support of Iran.

On that note, it still bewilders me how Iran can remain so backwards when they could be so prosperous. They seem more intent on being rebellious rather than taking a moral highroad and becoming a real economic power in that part of the world. They could actually influence nations for the better of the whole region if they'd just stop acting like fools with their calling for a nation's destruction, trying to develop nuclear weaponry, and making idiotic statements in defiance of facts.

Beliefs

Pentagon lets media see return of US war dead

A family says it's ok for the media to see the return of their dead son from an ass-backwards country called Afghanrugistan. There's obviously the tradition of that not being seen by the general public being swept away... but to me it's interesting that the Pentagon would leave the choice up to the family.

You see, many people in the military have family that don't know anything about military life. The family doesn't understand or see the importance of military tradition, and they therefore place little value or don't consider it in making decisions. Even the spouse may not get it. Interestingly, some people in the military don't get it either, or don't like it, and they're gone after doing their stint.

I did my stint in the Navy, and got out. I got out only because I knew at some point during my stint, that I needed to go to college. I tried to do it within the Navy, but because I had left high school early, I didn't have the high school courses or grades to get into a college prep program they had, BOOST. I don't remember what that stood for, google might. So, when my enlistment was up, I was out.

So, I understand and can appreciate military tradition and all that, and so I wonder if the family of this guy understood it when they made their decision. And if they did, why or how did they come to their decision. And I wonder why the Pentagon caved.

Anyway, it's not a big deal in and of itself, but it is another hit in the chipping away of anything held sacred. Now, this may very well become something to see like a changing of the guard. "Look honey, another dead soldier coming in, let's go see it." I guess in a way I'm disgusted by it and its future. The guy they're bringing in may very well have felt the same way.

Jessica Simpson's Body

Photos - Jessica's Body Through the Years | Usmagazine.com

She's either just now starting to pack on some weight, or pregnant. Looking at her boobs, how they're looking like they've grown bigger without her waist and butt catching on as fast, I think she's got something cooking in the oven. Plus, in that last picture she just has that look on her face, like it's more hormonal effects than fat. Even in that black shirt, her boobs look bigger than the prior pics... best to compare the Nov 2007 with the Jan 2009, 14 months difference.

Who knows, maybe it's the bra, women do/wear all sorts of crap that changes their appearance... but that big-ass belt makes it look like she's really trying to squeeze back something. And normally her figure is something she can show off... but I keep looking at her face... women get that nice... whatever it is, when they get pregnant, and she has it in that photo. I could be digitally edited of course, a weird angle, or maybe it's the light, or whatever, but to me she definitely looks like she's in the early stages of being preggo in that photo. Romo Jr., here you come.

At least you know that even if she gains weight, she's still sexy as all get-out.

Eve Online

Well, I'm building a new badass computer system because I think I want to do some online gaming again. I have a PS3, but I use it more for playing movies than anything else. I've played some games on it, and really liked a couple of them, but there's nothing quite like a massive multiplayer (massive as in thousands) online role playing game.

Eve is unique in a way or two. Whereas Everquest, World of Warcraft, etc. has millions of subscribers and each "universe" (server, though that may consist of more than one computer) only holds maybe 15k subscribers, Eve has 250k subscribers and they're all in the same "universe." I use the term server a little loosely because there may be more than one computer for each population. So when Eve says they had on 45k people at once, that's a badass technical achievement.

They're also a little unique in the gameplay. In most games today, if you die, you may lose experience that you'll have to grind back, maybe you'll give someone a tip who gave you a rez... I have no idea how Warcraft handles death but from what I read there's not much of a penalty at all. On Eve, you better watch out, because if you die, you're out a ship that you paid for and you better hope you remembered to buy insurance beforehand, and you better have had a clone. In other words, there is a definite potential for some serious loss. Not all areas are unsafe, newbies (like me) gotta get skills and money (isk) somehow. But if you go into a low security sector, you better keep your eyes peeled, as my granpa used to say while deer hunting.

After 5 years away from online gaming, I'm giving Eve another go. Last time I played for a month and then decided to try two-boxing in EQ (It was fun for a little while and then it wasn't anymore, then I said "fook it" and stopped playing). This time things are a little different, the game is a little more friendly to newbies now, and I'm going to play it with some planning beforehand. Not too much planning though, that takes away from spontaneity or something. But enough planning/research this time to follow some sort of skill path so I can make some money and be able to kill things. Last time I ended up mining much more than I cared for, and that's boring to me so... I'm not sure why I did it, maybe because I thought I'd get rich quick and could then pirate or bounty hunting stuff. So this time I'm prepared for having to grind out a lot of missions. I'm also aware of skill progression, mainly getting learning skills first.

So, last night I downloaded Eve and started a 14 day free trial. I wanted to try and get the 14 days using my prior account, but it didn't look possible. So, I'm starting afresh. Now, in EQ my main and favorite toon was a monk. Here, it jut so happens that the type of pilot I want... is a monk. Destiny I say! Anyway, I only had time to go through the crash course and I ran one mission after that. I had enough isk to buy one of the learning skills, so I bought it and am probably already up to skill 3 in it. Though I know there's 3 skills in there that you should get each to 1 first, then each to 2, etc. But, I didn't have enough isk for that, and learning skills is so fast right now, who cares. In fact, if I wanted I could skill up to "frigate 4" by tomorrow and thus be able to start learning cruisers. If I had the isk to buy the skill, of course.

That said, I'm thinking of just getting a good frigate for now to help with missions and getting the income a little faster so I can afford to get the more expensive Moa cruiser with its better defenses. I plan to grind the cruiser through Agent missions levels 2 and get a battlecruiser. The battlecruiser, I think, should get me through level 3 missions and level 4 missions too, that is, if I can get it beefed up during the lvl 3s.

After that, I should have not only character skills, but skills myself at knowing what's what and how to kill efficiently. So, I could either become a pirate or maybe a player corporation could use me... who knows, but one things for sure, mining is not in the plan. It shouldn't take too long to do all this, maybe a few months, and by then I should be able to at least somewhat fairly guage if this game is going to continue to be fun for me. Of course, if it's sucking big time before the 14-day trial ends, then I'll sign up for the Warhammer free trial after studying more about that game.

But I'm thinking positively about Eve Online and am actually looking forward to the challenges.

A Monster

Killer of 4 officers wanted to avoid prison

""He's not a monster," said his sister, 24-year-old Enjoli Mixon"

WRONG!

A person that can shoot another human being, even in war, has got to have a certain amount of guts to do it the first time. This guy killed two police officers like it was nothing. He then goes and grabs an AK-47 and proceeds to shoot and kill a couple more when they try to get him. So, I really doubt it was his first time killing a human. He didn't hesitate, his actions were very cold, deliberate, selfish... so he's definitely a monster. No doubt about it.

He may not have been born that way, but the choices he made in life (repeated prison terms) show that he certainly evolved into one. So, I hope his sister doesn't just brush this off, I hope she learns from it and raises her children in a way where they won't make the same types of bad decisions that her brother apparently made.

AIG Chief is Douchebag

"Honoring contractual commitments is at the heart of what we do in the insurance business," he said.

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So if AIG had been left to fail, he would have used his personal finances to pay the people the bonuses they would have had? I didn't think so neither. This is a bogus argument, wholly without merit... BS in other words.

Also at the heart of what they do is, apparently, screwing over the American public. Not only did they screw over Americans by their actions which help cause the whole fiasco, but now they're REWARDING those responsible.

That douchebag needs to be removed, and there are plenty others out there that need to be removed. If you won't let the business die, at least removed those in the business that are responsible.

And then, after AIG is settled with all its accounts from the fiasco, it should be closed, and the names of those who received bonuses should be released.

Good News, Contrary to Prior Reports

On Sunday morning... I shouldn't have done this because it just gets me mad... I watched Meet the Press, or This Week, one of those, and there was an Obama guy there, director of one of the areas involved with trying to correct this financial ordeal, and he's saying something along the lines of, "We hate the idea of AIG giving out $165 million in BONUSES to AIG execs, but we don't want to get sued."

OMFG

R U FUCKING SERIOUS

HELLO? FIRE THE ASSHOLES!

Pardon my french. But seriously, this company was doomed, was going to fail, SHOULD have been let to fail in my opinion, so all bonuses, all expectations of a bonus, should have been off the table MONTHS ago. Breach the contract if you have to, but don't shove this in taxpayers' faces and say "our hands are tied" because that is simply laughable.

I presume Obama's director of whatnot knows this, so he also mentioned AIG's need to honor the contract in order to attract the best and brightest.

HELLO?

The best and brightest are unemployed right now partially thanks to the morons at AIG. If AIG had said something like, "What are you crazy? This is some risky-ass investments you want insured on-the-cheap. Go fuck yourself plz k thx." If they had said that, verbatim (haha), or at least charged enough to cause the investment banks pause, to reconsider how risky those loans were, then things wouldn't be nearly as bad now. But because it happened, the only thing you need to attact the best and brightest is a SALARY.

So yeah, I watched this guy spewing BS from his mouth, it was clear to me that he knew how weak his own arguments were. Who the hell made this guy say this BS? Someone who obviously knew it would not be well received by anyone with more than at least half of a semi-concious brain. His boss, obviously, which means Secretary of whatnot didn't want to make the TV rounds, so he went to his director and said, "Hey, want to be on TV?" Sucker.

Luckily for me, Kaiser, my German Shepherd, is such a good boy and he keeps me entertained or occupied and keeps me in a good mood despite some major idocy in a major time in the US.

But the good news is, finally (sorry for such a long intro), is that Obama, according to the Associated Press, intends to stop AIG from paying out the $165 million in bonuses.

YES!

A president who sees the BS, and despite one of his directors saying that they can't do anything, Obama knows that when there is a will, there is a way. Well, there is obviously a way, breaching the contracts, so the question really becomes, "Do we have the balls to do it?" And the answer to that is, "Duhh."

So, with Obama's words, if the failed company called AIG somehow gives out those bonuses, then all this... the speeches, the talk, the whole notion of hope... was all just a bunch of BS in and of itself because this is not a hard battle to win, but as for public impression and public confidence that our President will and can do the right thing, its significance is HUGE.

But maybe this was all just a setup on the public, no different than a soap opera, by Obama in order to get even more public support and to show that he is fighting for the public or common man. If so, then it will probably work. I don't care, as long as those AIG people in their failed company don't get bonuses on the backs of taxpayers.

Non-Christian Crosses?

Judges weigh whether Utah crosses are secular

Of course a cross is not secular. Duhh. It's a symbol of Jesus' love for man, that he willingly died on the cross without sin, and rose 3 days later. I'll go a step further and say that crosses should only be used if the dead trooper was a Christian, and if the trooper was Jewish then the star of David should be used, etc. If the person was an atheist, then I guess some other sort of monument would have to be designed like maybe the shape of the state or the state seal, etc.

So, when the article says this, "A joint resolution by the Utah Legislature in 2006 declared the cross a nonreligious, secular symbol of death, Roberts said," then that tells me Utah is back asswards (get it? haha). Secular symbol of death... hmm, I'm thinking something more along the lines of the grim reaper, so maybe the sickle would be a better fit. Of course, people may also think the grass or wheat sure must get pretty high in Utah. How about a skeleton? Hmm, it's all pretty Halloweenish. Maybe the answer is to just have great big typical type headstones. No crosses or anything else on it, just the info... "RIP Joe Trooper, died on 1/1/1 in the act of issuing a speeding ticket." (Seriously though, if I was a cop I'd never give tickets at night, there's just too much risk in getting hit by a drunk driver)

Anyway, despite their good intentions, it doesn't take an atheist to see that Utah is wrong. I'm surprised that Utah's "the cross is a secular symbol of death" legislation didn't create an uproar among that state's Christians. I'm slightly offended by it, I'm also slightly amused by it. All these people with crosses on necklaces, at the churches, on catholic people's rosary beads, etc., are all clinging to a secular symbol of death? Hell no. Well, maybe in Utah, but not in any other place on Earth.

Casting Pearls to the Swine

Feds unveil plan to help 9 million stay in homes: "WASHINGTON – The Obama administration kicked off a new program Wednesday that's designed to help up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes through refinanced mortgages or loans that are modified to lower monthly payments."

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Brilliant! I'm sure some are innocent, but the majority of the people in trouble knew they were taking a risk, knew that their payments would increase, and took a gamble. Now, instead of them learning a lesson about basic responsibility, they learn that if the scam is big enough, and enough people are in on it, then they can will probably get away with it.

Heads need to roll. There's some CEO's that need to get fired, some banks that are too big that need to get broken up, and some mortgagees that need to get kicked out so the more financially responsible CEO's, banks, and people can take over.

Bailing out these deadbeats... come on, give ME a break.

The Oscars aren't real... anymore?

Bollywood triumph: 'Slumdog' claims 8 Oscars

So, some Bollywood movie takes the Oscars by storm.

You know, growing up I don't remember the Oscars being a propaganda engine. Even as a teenager I don't remember that. I'm not sure when it started, but it was definitely apparent, and don't fool yourself thinking otherwise, during the Oscars a couple years ago when Halley Barry won. During that Oscars, it seemed like they were trying to give as many Oscars to as many black people as possible. Even if it meant giving one to a truly undeserving person such as Halley Barry.

Sure, she's pretty, I wouldn't kick her out of bed. But give her an Oscar... umm... have you SEEN her act? But it wasn't just her, like I said, it was a themed event of sorts and I was pretty surprised by a few of the winners. You know how when they show a clip of what you when they're announcing the lineup, they try to show you at your best in the movie, a moment that you can see why that person is being nominated. When a person wins and even when that clip sucks, you know something is up.

So anyway, last night, yet again, was a themed event. I officially don't give a shit about any movie the Oscars now "promote." It's just propaganda... a few years ago it was propaganda to show the black people that the Oscars aren't racist, and now it's propaganda to show the Indian's that they aren't racist. Next... I'm thinking the Chinese. Or did they already do that market?

So, if the Oscars are now too chicken or too many unmotivated voters or to actually use critical thinking in selecting the best of the nominees, then why watch or pay attention to who they pick. It's just a bunch of bullshit. And now I'm uncertain if it ever wasn't that way.

And you know what... I've gone and rented some of those Oscar winning movies when I haven't already seen them. And you know, that's time I can't get back. One exception, No Country for Old Men, or something like that, I really liked. All the others, bullshit. I haven't seen Slumdog, but I'm sure it sucks. I'll take it back if it's actually a good movie, but I just know it's going to suck balls and it's going to piss me off that much more.

Killer Chimp and the Keystone Cops

Audio: 911 recording reveals details of Stamford chimpanzee attack - NewsTimes.com

Aside from a tremendous amount of sympathy for the woman who will never be the same after this attack, I can't help but laugh at the idiot dispatcher. Hopefully he's just hard of hearing. Despite his not being able to get a single thing right about what was going on, at least he did the important thing and, after only a few wasted seconds, sent police to her.

On the other audio file, the police sound much more competent. But it's funny how someone decides to "correct" what the animal is by calling it a orangutan. So, it went from a person with a gun, to a chimpanzee, to a monkey, and then to an orangutan.

No face, hands severed... that poor woman. I guess she's still alive, but if/when she recovers, she definitely won't be the same, physically or mentally.

Baby chimps are really strong, so a 200 pound chimp is probably something like Superman strong. If the officer under attack hadn't shot the chimp, he'd either be dead, mutilated, or both.

Having a domesticated chimp is no different than having a domesticated tiger, in that both can snap like a pit bull and attack you or other humans. But even worse than a pit bull, both are wild animals and it is known that there is a risk of danger to others. So, to some degree the owner of the chimp is liable, maybe even criminally negligent.

However, that said, the friend who came over did assume some risk. How much risk I think depends on what the owner told her. Did she tell her that she had given the chimp some Xanex and that the chimp was acting really irritated? Had the chimp been physically aggressive before?

Hopefully the chimp made enough money for the owner that she can afford to pay her friend's medical expenses. I doubt it though, but maybe her home owner's insurance will be of some help too.

Moral of this story... If your friend has an animal that you know can easily kill or mutilate you, be very cautious, because it can easily kill or mutilate you, especially if it's already in an agitated state of mind. If your friend asks you to come over to help catch their angry wild animal, be like Nancy Reagan and just say no. You can say, "No, I'd rather not get attacked today." Or, "No, I rather like my face the way it is." Or, "No, I like having and being able to use my hands."

Lord, help that woman who has paid such a high price to help her friend.

Human Experiments

UN halts aid to Gaza, cites Hamas disruption

I read a while back in college that rats in overpopulated conditions eventually turn to cannibalism and other anti-social behavior. In Gaza, we have a lot of people confined in a small space. I'm not sure if it's small enough to trigger cannibalism, but it's interesting to note that Hamas was at first seen by the Gazans as being able to help them, and it has been shown ever since that Hamas is a liability to them. Not only that, but Hamas is stealing things meant to help the people stay alive.

How many times does Hamas have to screw over the Gazans before the Gazans kick them out of power? Maybe Israel's bombs woke some people up and a new order will prevail... but maybe not. I think hate not only makes you blind, but deaf too.

Penalty of Death

The Tide Shifting Against the Death Penalty

Well, not really. This article turns on the reduced number of executions, and only briefly mentions the temporary hold on executions due to the Supreme Court's review of lethal injections. It's not like death row inmates are on a conveyor belt to the chamber. These things are scheduled, and it takes time to get everything rolling again after a work stoppage.

As for the arguments for and against the ultimate penalty... I don't think the penalty is a deterrent to crime, but I think there are criminals who are getting off light through lethal injection. Yeah, some of these sick fucks like Manson, and others who have murdered brutally, grotesquely, etc. ought to be tortured in like manner before ultimately being put to death in some horrendous manner. Of course, maybe they'd like that, so maybe keeping them caged is worse. Ugh, only God knows. Maybe they don't get their justice until after death, so... all the more reason for the death penalty.

Still Getting the Pay?

Feds may limit execs' pay at banks that get aid
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There was a time when people who were tops in their company, did everything they could to weather bad times, including working for free, or as little as possible, sacrificing to keep the company alive so they could reap the future rewards.

POOF

Forget it. These days, top execs at our current big companies don't care because it doesn't matter to them if they run their company into the dirt, they've already reaped plenty. Shareholders be damned, the execs were authorized X salary and they're going to expect it until the company has gone kaput.

Yeah, that's right. FUCK THE BAILOUT. It sounded good at first... so do a lot of things that turn out to be disasters. But it has been apparent for weeks now that it's not enough, partly because the businesses in the spotlight continue with their evil ways. Responsible banks like Wells Fargo should be rewarded with money instead of throwing it away on the irresponsible banks. Let the responsible banks and companies occupy more of the market instead of continuing to let these losers be a parasite on the economy.

Daschle apologizes

Daschle apologizes, fights to salvage nomination: "The former Senate Democratic leader, expressed his remorse in a letter to the Finance Committee, saying he was 'deeply embarrassed and disappointed' about what he said was an unintentional failure to pay taxes that he owed. He recently filed amended returns for 2005-07 to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest."
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You can tell when he lies, his lips start moving.

Sorry Charlie, err Tom, but stupid mistakes are for stupid people, so I don't believe it was unintentional at all. 130,000 in gifts or compensation is a topic that gets discussed when you talk to your tax-guy. You simply took advantage of something that could have been viewed ambiguously in an audit, only to realize recently that it could screw you up with receiving a cabinet position. That was greed, you should pray about it regardless of whether you get confirmation. I'll pray about my only interest, sexy women. ;)

Fed moves to help SELF-distressed homeowners - Yahoo! News

Fed moves to help distressed homeowners - Yahoo! News

This is BS. The Federal Reserve is going to try to help keep irresponsible people in their current living situation. They're rewarding people for taking on more debt than they could handle.

What about me! I've been living within my means, and I don't see any relief from my debts coming my way.

I think this is a terrible message. All the people, companies, etc. that got caught up in this mess and are on the brink of death, should be left to die so that people and companies that aren't or weren't irresponsible, can take their place. It might be a hard lesson, but either way, this "crisis" is going to take a long time to heal, and I'd rather not see those responsible, a lot of whom are corrupt, put us back in the situation later on. Total Fing BS!

The Internet Fails to Deliver

I wanted to watch the inauguration via internet since I'm at work and the 2 TV rooms with TVs are so overflowing that I can't even see it while standing outside. So I come and try to view it via the internet, something the internet should be able to deliver in the year 2009.

WRONG!

Thanks for wasting my time with viewing your loading pages, msnbc, cspan, abc, cbs, etc. All of them. I'm still letting msnbc try to load, Obama should be in the middle of his speech now. Oh well, maybe I can catch it on youtube or something later. I guess that's what the internet is good for, everything after-the-fact.

Damaged Brains

Excite News - Hamas holds victory rallies as UN chief tours Gaza: "Thousands of Hamas supporters thronged a square outside the remains of the parliament building in Gaza City, which was heavily damaged in an Israeli airstrike at the outset of the war. Two men hoisted a sign in carefully scripted Hebrew reading, 'The resistance will be victorious, Israel has been defeated.'"
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Their brains must still be shell shocked to think Israel was defeated! haha

Yeah, But

VOA News - Hamas Rejects Israel's Conditions for Cease-Fire: "U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - on a weeklong tour of the region - was in the West Bank town of Ramallah Friday. He suggested Israel should stop waiting for cease-fire negotiations and end its assault immediately. 'The fighting must stop now ' he said. 'We have no time to lose. If they take some more time there will be more casualties more losses of human lives more destructions. I would urge you again that a unilateral declaration of ceasefire would be necessary at this time.'"
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Ok, to me it's as simple as a country not wanting to get rocketed daily. If Mexico was constantly shooting rockets at us, I would want the US Armed Forces to destroy the source.

In Israel, the source of the rockets is Hamas in Gaza. Israel has every right to use force to stop the rockets. All Hamas has to do is stop firing them and give up the rockets. It's not worth all the lives being lost for Hamas to keep firing them, is it? The burden of the deaths are not on Israel's shoulders, but wholly on Hamas'. I hope Israel is successful in its attempt to stop those terrorists once and for all.

Started having kids at age 40

Applicants pour in for part-time jobs in Kyle: "'We've got four kids at home, age 5 to 18,' the 58-year-old Kyle resident said as he filled out an application to work in the store's shipping and receiving department."
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So at 40 he had the first of his 4 children. Wow. So I guess it's still possible that I might find a woman and have kids since I just turned 40. Slim hope, but it's there, hehe.

Darwin's Natural Selection Strikes Again

Slim hope for survivors of lost Indonesian ferry - Yahoo! News

PAREPARE, Indonesia – More than 230 passengers and crew were missing and presumed dead at nightfall Monday, after the boat suddenly capsized before dawn Sunday in a cyclone off the coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing hundreds aboard. (emphasis added)
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Natural selection at work once again.

What gives? I mean, did the captain not know he was on a ferry? A ferry is about as seaworthy as a fishing boat, maybe less so, in a cyclone. Cram it full of people and cars and who knows what else Indonesian's put on it, and the potential for disaster while going through, or near, a cyclone points to almost certainty. But it doesn't take a captain to know that.

"Oh I see that the weather really sucks because of a cyclone nearby... hmm, let's take a ferry through it!" Worse, these people took their kids with them.

It's one thing to die on a ferry because of a sudden storm or mechanical problem, it's another thing to die on a ferry that you know is going to dance with a cyclone. Stupid.

US joins press for truce as Gaza onslaught goes on

Ugh. Everybody wants to be a peacemaker.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving the innocent. But the situation in Gaza was caused by the people in Gaza. They elected Hamas into power. Once Hamas got most of the power, it took the rest by force. Maybe the people got a little more than what they bargained for? Maybe. Maybe not.

It doesn't matter, because what does matter is that Hamas launches attacks against Israel, and that gives Israel every right to attack. I think that's what the Palestinian people want. They seem to have a history of inviting attacks against them. They get their own stip of land, and instead of putting it to good use, they use it to shoot rockets at Israel. This is what happens when most of a group is stupid, or allows stupidity to lead them.

When you hear the word "Palestinian," what do you think of? Do you think of a wise person? Do you think of someone in control of himself? Do you think of someone who is successful? Me neither. Sad. My first thought is of a bunch of poor and dirty kids who have nothing better to do than throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers.

Anyway, Israel has every right to try and protect its people. It would be better if Hamas didn't hide behind the innocent, but you have to deal with the hand you're dealt with. If Israel is able to crush Hamas, then in the long run more lives are being saved.

Throwing shoes

Iraqi shoe-throwing reporter becomes the talk of Iraq | U.S. | Reuters: "Throwing shoes at someone is the worst possible insult in the Arab world."
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Makes me wonder how they can say that. What if he had thrown... feces? Wouldn't that be more insulting? Is throwing shoes really more insulting than spitting on someone? How about throwing some old, nasty, freshly farted-in underwear? Even in the "Arab world" there has to be things they consider more insulting than throwing your shoes at someone. And what if that person takes the shoe... then you have to buy another pair. Maybe the real insult is on the person throwing the shoe?

That said, he did ok in the throwing part. He didn't throw all goofy, neither of the shoes went wildly off course. And Bush, was even better in that he easily dodged the shoes that were coming at him at a high clip. That guy was putting the heat on those shoes and Bush not only ducked the first one, but he didn't let it keep him down. He stood right back up and dodged the 2nd.

And what is up with the security, that guy should have been tackled and with a bloody nose before the second shoe took flight. Taser anyone? Something... they just looked really slow to get the guy. "Oh, it's just the President of the USA, let's take our time and handle the attacker with care."

Come on, you're in Iraq, you're securing the President, it's a prime opportunity that for once in your security career, you may get to put the hurt on someone for attacking the president.

There should have been a secret service guy "taking the shoe" for the President, flying out from seemingly nowhere as the shoe was thrown.

But no, there was none of that. WHY NOT?! I don't care if he's the most unpopular President, he's still the PRESIDENT! Protect our F-ing President no matter how "popular" he is. Put the hurt on those who try to attack him... what the hell are they teaching the secret service these days? They looked like they were more concerned about the lighting for photos that protecting the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Get your priorities straight. Here's the top 2:
1. Protect the President
2. Kick the ass(es) while incapacitating those that attack the president with a shoe or any other object no matter harmless it may seem at the time.

If you have to dive through people, knock some other people on their asses to get to the attacker, so be it. Don't be all, "Pardon me, can I get by" to people in the way, run over their asses!

Anyway, there was a serious lack of intensity by the security. That doesn't bode well for our image. The intensity and effectiveness of how we secure our President is a reflection of how well we secure our country. To the rest of the world, I bet we look pretty vulnerable.

Ass Backwards American Auto Industry

Bailout dead, automakers in search of a lifeline: "'Due to this colossal failure by the U.S. Senate, now it's up to the president and the Treasury secretary,' Bernero said Friday on CBS''Early Show.''Working Americans will appreciate the president stepping in - and pull us back from the precipice, pull us back from the economic cliff.'"
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What? The Senate's failure? WRONG! It's the F-ing auto industry's own fault. The signs were on the horizon when even the best German auto maker, Daimler (Mercedes), couldn't revamp Chrystler enough to want to stay here.

An even bigger sign of how out of their F-ing minds they are, they ride up to congress in private jets to "beg" for money. They're not hungry. They're either unwilling or unable to change enough to become successful in America.

The dinosaurs need to die if that's what it takes to bring in a new species that's hungry enough to want to attract the American consumer, and be able to adapt to meet shifts in the market. Ford, GM and Chrystler have all proven they can't, and as much as it may hurt people when they die, it's not the Senate's fault, nor the President's, it's simply the fault of bad, ineffective, outdated management who are already wealthy and will remain that way even if their company fails.

And that's why it's such a farce that they drove up in hybrids the second time they begged for money. They could afford their jets without using company money, so it was all just for appearances. To be really begging for money, they should have showed up nearing their last dime of even personal wealth... like Amazon. That guy put his heart and soul into that company, plenty of times I'm sure when it was on the brink of collapse. Let the dinosaurs die so that maybe the Amazon.com of the auto industry will be able to compete for our business.

Obama announces Clinton, Gates for Cabinet - Yahoo! News

Obama announces Clinton, Gates for Cabinet - Yahoo! News:

"By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama named former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of statae on Monday" ...
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Wow, this was the lead article I just looked at on Yahoo news, as is (except for bolding that one word), displaying AP's typical butchery of the english language, grammar, spelling, etc. In this case, it's just the spelling, but OMG, WhereTF did these people graduate? Did they graduate from an accredited college? I haven't really ranted about AP lately because it happens every F'n day on, sadly, MOST of their articles.

Anyway, congrats to HC for being nomintated as Secretary of State. With all that travelling around she'll have to do, maybe BC will want to hire former intern ML to fill in all that free time. Either that or HC will need to take BC with her wherever she goes.

Obama Saturation

Obama takes his case to country with infomercial - Yahoo! News:

That's it. I'm officially sick of Obama. And McCain't win. But more so Obama. All this hype. I hate unsubstantiated fervor over someone, and it makes me mad that so many people are being duped by someone who's just pointing out past mistakes and saying "we can do better than that" and not saying how he plans to do so. I don't like anyone (McCain't included) who acts like any plan of theirs is going to happen if they're elected as if Congress has nothing to say about it. And I can't stand that people always seem to forget that.

And to top it all off, Obama wants to package all that crap he keeps repeating into an infomercial... OMFG, shoot me now plzkthx. I'd much rather watch a repeat of... some stupid show than ANY infomercial. Come on, everyone has heard the same lines Obama says over and over. I hope another candidate never gets as much money as Obama has if it means they'll do infomercials. Ugh. The only thing worse would be if McCain't made an informercial because it would truly drive me nuts to hear about how he and Palin and such mavericks over and over again, and his lone example of how he stopped a bad airline contract. Not to take away from its goodness, but I don't want to hear about it over and over again.

But maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just pissed off because I think both candidates suck... I need to vote soon and it's hard picking out the lesser evil of the two. Though, I live in Texas so McCain't will win here, but still. Plus, more importantly, there's the local races.

Oh yeah, McCain't should hire the guy who did Cornyn's commercials, he'd look a lot more presidential and confident if he did. Cornyn 2012!

Romo v. Aikman

"Against Arizona this season, Romo broke Troy Aikman's team record with his 14th career 300-yard passing game in his 32nd start. Aikman's 13 came in 165 starts."
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Oh please, that's less of an indicator of whose better and more of an indicator of the teams. Aikman's Cowboys started off with an organization that was reinventing itself. Jimmy Johnson (and Jerry) was putting together "his" team. There were some tough seasons to watch, but I'll never forget that even when they sucked royally, they put enough gritty determination together to beat the Redskins... that was really sweet. And even when they got good, they had a ball carrier from Pensacola that had to get his due... you may remember him as one of the all time, if not THE, greatest running back to play the game, Emmitt Smith. When I think of Emmitt, I think of that Giants game when, even with a hurt shoulder, he pounded the crap out them. Heart, determination, a huge will to win, great athletic ability... Emmitt is part of why Troy was able to be great himself. Don't forget that offensive line and some people who knew how to catch a football.

Romo's Cowboys, well, he inherited a team that's already set up to win. They would have done really well in last year's playoffs, if not for the Giants. Parcells pretty much left his successor an overally good group of guys. So, Romo doesn't have to go through some terrible seasons while tooling the machine. He inherited a gift. And since this team isn't really very inspiring in the running back department, they kinda need to be passing for a lot of yards. Why do you think 3 interceptions were made when they played St. Louis? They have to pass. They're too dependent on it if you ask me. And I guarantee you, if it was Aikman during Romo's stint as quarterback, he would have had his 14th 300 yard passing game in probably probably 25 starts.

So, so what if Romo has more 300 yard passing games... it just shows how dependent the current team is on being able to pass. Now that Romo is out with a hurt finger, that dependency is exposed. Romo is good though, it'll be interesting to see how he progresses once he starts playing again.

Creating News

Paparazzi called in tip on Locklear

Short version of article, papper with a shady history calls police in on Heather Locklear and then photographs the arrest, then sells the photos using a 3rd party because she has a hard time selling her photos due to her checkered past. Pond scum comes to mind.

Not Me

Commentary: Time for Palin to put up or shut up - CNN.com: "Countless folks have said that we all know McCain, and it s necessary to scrutinize every aspect of Obama. Really? I think if you ask the average person, they ll know a lot more about Obama's childhood than McCain, solely by the level of scrutiny."

Yeah, I know all about Obama's childhood. I know he's partly white and partly black, was raised muslim in Indonesia, attended terrorist training camps, piloted both of the 9/11 planes into the twin towers, once shot a man just for snoring, and then went to Hawvawd law school. Yeah, everbody knows about Hussein's childhood.

McCcCcain's childhood... well, I think most of his childhood was learning how to make fire and at night he was draw pictures on the cave's walls. Then he went to military schools in the USA and ended up at the Naval Academy.

As for Palin, no idea where this idea of her just needing to show up came from, but seems odd after hearing how badly she did in an interview with Katy Curic. I didn't see the interview, but my very biased Obama-loving friend says Palin looked really stupid in the interview. So, hearsay yeah, but this isn't a courtroom.

Biden, I think he's a really nice guy and has always seemed very genuine. Even when he's wrong about something he believes, at least you know he's sincere about it, that it matters to him, but that he's not going to hate you if you disagree with him. I think he'd be a really good president, kinda Reganesque, if he simply wouldn't always follow the Democrat's platform even when they're totally wrong. Even on personal issues, saying many times that the truck driver who collided with his now-deceased wife's car was drunk at the time, is simply wrong. If you get something that momentous in your life wrong or mixed up, where I would think ever factoid would matter and where I would have been on that truck driver's ass until fully proscecuted, then I'm reluctant to beleive anything you say. Not because I think you're a liar or that you're trying to deceive, but that you simply get things mixed up and thoughts of what might be, become facts to you.

So, where's Ralph Nader in these debates? He's probably the only one that actually tells the honest truth about everything. But, I'm reluctant to vote for a 60 y/o virgin.

Anyway, who cares how any of these people grew up. What matters now is if any of them can hurt the country more than what GW would with another 4 years. The answer is probably no, but of the three, Hussein is more likely to screw up because of his lack of understanding of international matters, like when the US speaks to you, it's recognizing you. For Hussein to not understand that or at least the implications of it, a Hawvawd law graduate... something's fishy or very wrong. Either way, the guy is a total newb and surprisingly dumb for someone supposedly so smart. I fail to see the reason for the excitement of his proponents, all I hear from him is sound bite statements, talking about how things should be but nothing about how to get there. McCcCcCcain... not much better than Hussein but at least he knows how everthing works in Washington and around the world, so that gives him the edge over Obama even if Palin turns out to be a total idiot.

Rice signs missile defense deal with Poland

Rice signs missile defense deal with Poland: "'When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988,' Rice said. 'It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.'"

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Yeah, we aren't scared of Russia. They can take their threats and stick it where the Sun doesn't shine. Russia is F-ing stupid if they think we'll let them help Iran and do nothing to protect our friends. If Russia would simply not help Iran with obtaining nuclear weapons, then we'd probably have much less reason to help Poland. So, Russia has made their own bed, and now they have to sleep in it. Dummies. But I'm sure it's just an act, surely their government isn't THAT naive... well, then again...

News 8 Austin

Case of non-triggerman set to die raises questions
8/19/2008 7:30 AM
By: Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas—Jeffery Wood's lawyers don't dispute that the convicted killer deserves punishment for his role in a 1996 convenience store holdup in which a store clerk died.

But Woods' attorneys and supporters contend he doesn't deserve to die for the shooting death of Kriss Keeran. They cite the fact that Keeran's murder happened while Woods was waiting in the getaway car outside the store in Kerrville. They also point out that the gunman who killed Keeran with a gunshot to the face, Daniel Reneau, has already been put to death.

Attorney Scott Sullivan said “a non-triggerman shouldn't get the death penalty.”

Wood is set to die in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville Thursday in a case that again put under scrutiny a unique Texas law that makes accomplices as culpable as the killer in a capital murder case.

Wood would be the ninth condemned prisoner put to death this year and the fifth this month in the nation's busiest capital punishment state. At least a dozen other Texas inmates have execution dates in the coming months.

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This has been the law for quite a while, it seems fair to me. Maybe the guy who shot the fatal bullet would not have been so apt to kill if he didn't have a get-away driver in the first place. So, the only question I have is, "Who cares?"

Who's the idiot in charge over there?

A Finding, Perhaps, but Not of Mars Life - NYTimes.com: "A complementary experiment that vaporized a sample of soil detected a whiff of oxygen at high temperatures, which may have been released from the perchlorates. The presence of perchlorates would have been confirmed if the experiment had also detected chlorine, but because the scientists were not expecting perchlorates, they did not calibrate that instrument to look for chlorine."

-Wow, so there may be something on Mars that we didn't expect to find. That's just crazy! Whoa, who would have ever thought to maybe analyze the soil for everything or close to everything possible so that we can learn something from the millions of dollars used to shoot the robot up there? I mean, you'd have to be a real genius to think of that...

Seriously, I'm more shocked to find out that NASA limited its parameters on what they expected than the presence of perchlorate, because usually the truth of most things, especially extra terrestrial, turns out to be unexpected. Here's a clue NASA, get it!

Obama says Iraq war must end

“In fact – as should have been apparent to President Bush and Senator McCain – the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was."

Wow, so the whole "Al Kayduh in Iraq" was just a ruse! I was so blind, I thought all those people we were killing and were killing us were terrorists, wow, I wonder who we've been fighting over there then. The news did mention "foreign fighters" a lot, so maybe we've just been fighting off Syria or Iran from taking over Iraq all this time? Is that what it is?

Or maybe he's saying that since the central front, as opposed to the flanks and every other front, isn't Iraq (again, huh?), then it's not worth fighting unless it's the central front. Well, excuse me, but I think we should be fighting terrorism on all fronts. And even if there wasn't a single terrorist in Iraq at first, they're certainly there now.

I think it's great Hussein is seen as some sort of new age MLK or whatever, but this country deserves a president that isn't going to back out of fight due to low popularity. No war should be popular, nobody should actually want to be in a war, but shit happens and when it does, you have to deal with it and not just act like a sissy-boy.

Car plows into bike race in Mexico, 1 dead

The Associated Press

Jose Fidelino Vera Hernandez

A car collides into cyclists participating in a race in Mexico's northern border city of Matamoros, Sunday, June 1, 2008. At least one person was killed and 14 injured when a driver slammed into a bicycle race.

A car has plowed into a bike race along a highway near the US-Mexico border, killing one and injuring 10 others.

Police investigator Jose Alfredo Rodriguez says the 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the race.

A photograph taken by a city official shows bicyclists and equipment being hurled high in to the air by the collision.

Rodriguez says Juan Campos was charged with killing Alejandro Alvarez, 37, of Monterrey.

Authorities say the wreck happened 15 minutes into the race along a highway between Playa Bagdad and Matamoros.

Campos says he is an American citizen living in Brownsville, Texas. U.S. consulate spokesman Todd Huizinga said officials were looking into whether Americans were involved.

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I look at the picture and wonder if the cop could have shielded the bicyclists from the oncoming moron. There must have been time, after all someone with a camera had time to turn and watch, and one bicyclist had time to go to the side of the road and stop, just ahead of the cluster.

And I think of how lucky that one bicyclist is, the one on left side of the cluster who's still on his bike, inches from being hit like the rest of the group. But then a guy is falling on him, otherwise head first onto the road.

Look at the flying helmet, probably from the guy who's flying on the leftmost side. And the other stuff flying... no doubt that the car has some speed at point of impact. From the angle and blur, it looks like the stuff was still traveling up.

Anyway, quite a tragedy, and seeing a picture of it really drives home the story more than if it had just been an article. I would have thought that the 10 injured ones simply fell like how you see in the French Tour, aka Tour de France. I wouldn't have imagined that they had all tasted the impact, that the car mowed them all down.

Imagine being one of them... you got up that morning excited about riding in the race, it starts, you're going along and talking with friends or trying to get in a decent spot... then... a POS drunk guy passes out while driving in his POS car, and runs you over. Now you're hoping you won't die like the other guy, or that you won't be paralyzed, or that you won't be in pain for the rest of your life.

Yep, doing just about anything can get ya killed.

Sharon Stone not welcome at Shanghai film fest: organisers

AFP: Sharon Stone not welcome at Shanghai film fest: organisers

Yay for Sharon... and she is not, and has not, apologized for her comment. Good. The only thing is, I don't think it could have been karma for the recent Tibet drama because karma usually takes a while to kick in. I think it was more likely for the Tiananmen Square massacre. The Chinese government acts like they're so appalled by her comment, but guess what's in the headlines now... they're cracking down on protestors that are parents of children lost in the earthquake. Children who died because of shoddy construction of their schools. How sad is that? Pretty freekin sad.

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.