National Pride

The people of Iraq have none.

Maybe the shock and awe tactic has lingering effects. Maybe religious homogeneousness (new word) is the only thing they want. Maybe they just don't care if they become a puppet of Iran.

I don't know what the deal is, but if the people of Iraq actually vote for Iranian-influenced candidates, then Iraq is going to be a prime example of how some populations may actually be stupid enough to vote themselves into virtual slavery.

Don't fool yourself, look at Lebanon. In the Lebanese example of an Iranian-backed government, there's considerable corruption, considerable terrorist networking, and considerable inefficiency. Want to get out of it? See the Lebanese example again. There were deaths. Assassinations to be precise. Bombs. Unaware people died along with the targeted individuals.

Fear... Intimidation... that's what rules after you let Iran in your house. There is no government for the people, by the people. The government becomes for the government, and by the government. That's what finally became apparent in Iran's last election.

So, what will happen to Iraq?

Good question. Like Pakistan, Iraq has no choice but to change. It's a little more complicated though. One choice is to simply let Iran rule over them. This would be bad, obviously. But so blinded are Iraqi people that it is a definite possibility.

The other choice is to evolve as its own country. That's said easily enough, but it tremendously complicated and never really ends. But basically, the Iraqi people must simply act in the best interest of their country, instead of just voting for the guy who's the same religion as yourself.

So, a paradigm shift will have to happen in order for Iraq to become a 'real' country. Eyes need to be opened, and the truth will need to be heard. Can this happen... well yeah, but soon enough? Probably not.

Of course I was kinda wrong about Pakistan. I sort of figured they would let the Taliban gradually take over instead of fighting them off. So, I could be wrong about Iraq. But right now I don't think those people over there can see past the partisanship of religion. I don't think they really care about living in an independent country. Sadam beat them up pretty good, and now insurgents beat them. Maybe they feel that if Iran takes over, then Iran won't beat them so much.

It's funny, in a sad tsk tsk way, because when Iran takes over Iraq and starts beating them, only then will the Iraq people realize what they've done, and it will be too late.

But who knows, maybe Iraqi people actually like being slaves. Sure, some are normal and all that, but most have grown up in poverty and only know what their clerics tell them. I doubt any newspaper gets widely published...

You know, that's an idea. Newspapers relying on printed words should shift their target market to developing countries that lack internet access.

Of course, most people in Iraq probably can't afford to buy a newspaper, and those that can are probably illiterate.

Anyway, it's not that I hate Iraq, but I'm just really disappointed in the direction they seem to be headed. I hope they surprise me like Pakistan. If so, it'll be an even bigger surprise since Pak's choice was pretty definite and easy to see. Iraq's choice is vague, not really apparent to most people.

Once a campaign takes off, maybe the campaign trail will spread the word on what exactly is at stake. If it doesn't, then doom is certain. Iraq will become Iran's tool, and Iraq will only be some obscure country pumping in oil dollars for Iran.

Yeah, oil. You think Iran wants influence in Iraq for religious reasons? Funny.

Guantanamo Detainee Released to Afghanistan - Political News - FOXNews.com

"The Obama administration reportedly has released a prisoner from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp accused of attacking U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

According to Reuters, the administration released Mohammed Jawad to his home in Afghanistan.

Jawad had been accused of throwing a grenade in 2002 that injured two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter in Kabul. He has returned to his family, according to his lawyer.

Kirk Lippold, former USS Cole commander and fellow at Military Families United, criticized the decision in a statement Monday, calling it part of a 'sadly familiar pattern.'

'No coherent policy in the war on terror. No comprehensive plan in place to deal with the future of Guantanamo Bay detainees. No accountability for terrorists who harm our brave fighting forces,' he said."

----

Here's the de facto policy... take no prisoners.

A bullet or two is a lot cheaper than having terrorists take a vacation on our dime. And yes, an American prison is a vacation when you consider where they live, and the fact that they gain weight while in Gitmo.

Pack your trunk and leave the beach! - Yahoo! News

Pack your trunk and leave the beach!: "'Imagine having to explain to thousands of holidaymakers that the beach has been closed due to animal droppings,' he said."
---

This just in... fish shit too.

Anyway, I think elephant shit in the ocean isn't a bad thing, it may even have more good effects than bad.

It actually works!

Yes, it works! And boy what a great time for it finally work.

I'm speaking of the little window that shows up after your computer may mysteriously lock up, or shut down, get a bsod, etc. In the past, it has popped up on me for some trivial things, and I would see if or what anything happened when I clicked to send off the info to MS for possible solutions. Nothing ever came back.

Well, the past couple of days on my home computer, a pretty awesome machine up until then, has been agonizing with bsod after bsod. It all started when I downloaded ventrilo... which is a current suspect.

Right after I downloaded ventrilo, I got some ad that popped up saying to download some stupid program because my computer had been infected. Now, I just built the system not very long ago, it's very robust, and I have Vista 64-bit on it. It's pretty much chewed through anything I can throw at it. I call it, DABEAST. Sort of like, the beast, because it is one powerful mofo.

Very soon after that, the problems started. Crash. Freeze. Memory dump. BSOD. I was like, "Damn ventrilo." Still am. So, I figure it's just some some malware/adware messing with me. I download Adaware and Superantispyware or whatever it's called, and run them. I defrag, all sorts of the usual things one does to clean out whatever crap you may have picked up. Well, things get worse.

The next day I notice that I'm mainly crashing while playing a game (WoW, just started playing a few weeks ago). So, from prior experience I know that's usually driver related. So I go and update, uninstall, reinstall, the driver more than once, because I kept crashing. While I'm crashing, and rebooting, that Windows message comes up afterwards and notifies me that Windows didn't shut down properly and that it will look for solutions. Yeah right, I've seen that thing for years and never seen anything come to fruition.

I then do a system restore, yeah, getting desperate. I go back to a point days before I downloaded ventrilo and all this crashing started. And... yep, after going through all that I still get the BSOD. If I didn't already shave my head, I'd be pulling my hair out at this point. I figure it must be something with the recent patch that WoW did. So I uninstall it and then reinstall it. Nope, still BSOD.

Then yesterday I get home, and am thinking more and more about reformatting the HD. Yep, erase it ALL and start anew. I turn on the computer, it starts up, and... what's that? A window appears saying that solutions have been found for my problem. Hmm... so I click on the window, or bubble or whatever it was, and a window pops up saying that it was determined that I am missing two (2!) microchip drivers, and a bad video driver. It provides me with options to fix it along with links to download the current driver for the ones that are missing. WOW!!!

And to top it off, it worked! AMAZING! The drivers weren't the latest, but the thing showed me what the problem was. I installed the linked drivers in a hurry (anticipating bsod at any moment) and then checked to see if there was anything newer afterward. There was, but that's no biggie. And then... nothing! Sweet sweet nothing, no BSOD whatsoever. I was on the computer for the rest of the night with not one BSOD.

THANK YOU MS! I had thought that program to be useless, but it really works!

One thing I learned as I was trying to figure out the culprit, is that Firefox does not have a 64-bit version. Well, it sorta does if you build it, but it won't run Flash or something like that. So, there's sort of a version, but not really. However, IE does have a 64 bit version, which I "discovered" already in my computer. So, I'm going back to IE on my home computer. I'll stick with FF on 32 bit systems though.

So... what uninstalled my two drivers? I don't know for sure, but this all started right after installing ventrilo. Ventrilo is used by many gamers, so it's a prime target for hackers. However, when I looked into the warning/ad that popped up right after downloading ventrilo, that appears to be a Firefox phenomenon. I'll definitely need to reinstall ventrilo at some point, but I'll probably try to have some kind a real-time protection that can detect something deleting drivers beforehand.

One thing I don't have, but will soon, is an antivirus... ugh, I know. I'm told that Avast or Antivir are a couple of good free choices to choose from. And besides superantispyware, one should also get Malwarebytes Anti Malware. Of course, I'll need to see if those work ok on a 64-bit system. Superantispyware seems ok, but I didn't really look into it when I DLed it since I was already crashing so much.

Yay for a working supercomputer again! Yes, I have a supercomputer, ASRock supercomputer mobo... check it out. Well, that mobo, an i7 920 that I'll be OCing again, 6 gigs of Corsair GT RAM (awesome, 1866), an ati HD 4870 x2, V8 air cooling, cooler master case (forget the name but it has 4 fan slots on one side and one on top), a velociraptor 10k rpm HDD, an Asus 24" monitor, 1000w Corsair PSU, and Vista 64 bit ultimate, soon to be upraded to Win7 64 bit ultimate. Much more powerful than what was called a supercomputer back in the day, at least when all its drivers are installed.

WIIFM

Excite News - Obama pitching health care plan to the insured

What's in it for me?

I have health insurance thanks to my time in the Navy and my current job. I can always go to the VA, and if I work where I'm at now, I'll have health insurance for the rest of my life.

Here's the deal. Obama states that there's something like 47 million people without insurance. Well, half of those chose not to have health insurance with their job. Typically these are young people who need every bit of party money they can muster, and since they never need to see a doctor then having money taken out for insurance is a waste.

Thank goodness I didn't have that option or I would have been up shit creek without a paddle when I broke the crap out of my elbow. I had to have surgery to screw a chunk of bone back in place, three screws total I think. If I had to pay for all that out of pocket... man, I'd still be paying those bills. And then just a couple of years ago, my dad was trying to change an outdoor light bulb on a 4-foot ladder.

You know how on top of a ladder it says something like, "this is not a step?" Well, my dad was using it as a step, and he had one helluva fall. He couldn't walk, so he had to drag himself to his truck to call for help. He sorta shattered his knee. He was taken to a local hospital and they weren't even going to mess with it, so they sent him to Herman Trauma Center where they did the first surgery to basically brace his leg and get him ready for the second surgery a couple weeks later. The doctors said it was sort of like trying to repair egg shell that had been thrown to the floor. That, and they had to fill a crater that formed from the impact. In total, I think it was something like a $250,000 light bulb.

You know, I used to ride motorcycles. And one thing about riding a bike, is that it's not a matter of if you're going to get into a wreck, it's when. And the same thing probably applies for general health, it's not a matter of if you'll need insurance, it's when. And if you don't have insurance when you need it, that can be one helluva costly situation. If you pay.

And that's the problem. If you pay. People without insurance, rarely pay. I say rarely because at one point while going to school I didn't have insurance and hurt my eye. I went to the emergency room, all that stuff, and eventually got a bill. It took a little while, but I paid that sucker. How could I skip out on a bill for being treated diligently. I got to visit with one of the best ophthalmologists in Austin. I think his name was Wong, the whole Wong family if full of ophthalmologists. All turned out fine, if my eye had been struck (hit by a resilient branch) one more millimeter in, then it would have been a much worse situation.

Anyway, it's the people who don't pay, either on their own or through insurance, that cause the price of healthcare to increase. So... 47 million without insurance. Half chose not to take it with their employment, preferring to risk having to pay out of their pocket. The other half... I don't know, maybe those are the illegal aliens, homeless people, and those in between jobs.

THAT'S the problem. People who have to pay out of pocket are not paying. Does this mean, as Obama propounded, that healthcare is broken? Hell no.

Oh, and then there's the whole HMO requiring all this paperwork and letters and so on and so forth before they'll pay a claim. It's a burden on doctors' time and staff. Does this mean healthcare is broken? Hell no.

Well, all these people from all over the world come here to get treatment for the most serious of injuries and illnesses. Does this mean healthcare is broken? No, you idiot (if you thought yes, hehe).

No, healthcare in the USA is NOT broken. Socializing medicine isn't a cure, it's an affront. It's an affront not only to the USA, but the world.

Can our system be better? Yes, of course. And that's what needs to happen. If we want to force everyone to have health insurance, there has got to be a better way of doing it than by ruining the quality of care people currently enjoy.

Sorry Obama, I don't believe you know what you're talking about when you say your ever-evolving plan will or won't do anything. Things change, and I can't take your promises to a hospital or to my HMO or to anyone or anything and expect results.

Can I expect better healthcare than what's already the best? No.

Can I expect the same quality at a reduced rate? No

Should I get behind a plan that increases my costs, reduces the quality I receive, but helps those who currently/stupidly choose to be without healthcare insurance? Hell No.

Why should I get behind socialized medicine in the USA?

Hello?

Bush Revisited?

"'While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground we will have no comment ' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement."
---
One of the things about Bush, aside from "strategery" and "ironical," was that administration's separation from reality. The willful choosing to think something that goes counter to reality. And now here's Obama, and the administration is saying "this is private." Umm... ok... Bill Clinton meeting with Kim Jong Ill'n regarding the release of the journalists who were recently sentenced to years of hard labor for no good reason.

Bill Clinton is a former President. His wife is the current Secretary of State. Pictures of Kim Jong Ill'n and President Clinton are all over the place right now, and he's there to try and gain the release of the journalists.

So... what the hell is so private? Is Bill trying to do Mrs. Ill'n? Is that the private part? Is Bill there on a sight-seeing trip? No, this is so obviously not a private matter that it's pretty an insult to the public intelligence to have the mouth of Obama declare that it's not what we see, that this is just some private deal between Bill and Ill.

But then, most Americans are pretty stupid... so yeah, why not. Good job Obama, way to highlight for the rest of the world just how stupid most Americans are.

But, then again, I predicted as much. No matter who the President is, things just don't change that much. Granted, I was mainly thinking of institutional changes, and I may be naive in thinking that this isn't an institutional way of dealing with the public, but perhaps the whole culture of D.C. politics won't change quickly.

Jimmy Carter tried to change things... and he got slapped pretty hard with reality. I believe his choosing to walk instead of riding in a car pissed off a lot of those that make up the culture over there too. I remember always seeing that pissed off guy... Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill. I was too young to really know what all he was pissed about, but I knew that he didn't really care for Jimmy Carter and seemed to block a lot of what Carter was trying to change.

So, no. This is not Bush revisited... it's simply the continuation of things as before. Change happens, just not in leeps and bounds. And that may be a good thing.

Senator Dodd Has Prostate Cancer

Senator Dodd Has Prostate Cancer, Aide Says - NYTimes.com

This is pretty sad. The guy ran for President, and in the process, if you watched his interviews, the guy seems to be a very decent and good man. A really rare thing in D.C., in my opinion. Luckily it sounds like it was caught early so I bet he's now glad he went ahead and bent over and had that finger shoved all up in there. Only bad thing is, now that he's had the cancer, his doc is going to want to keep his finger in there even longer now, just to make sure. Hope he gets better soon.

Greatest Coaches

Wooden honored as sports’ greatest coach - College basketball- nbcsports.msnbc.com: "18. Tom Landry"

Ok, John Wooden I can accept as the top coach. And Vince Lombardi as number 2, ok. But TOM LANDRY... way down in 18th is just unacceptable.

To have Don Shula at 5, and Landry at 18, is disgusting. Don Shula... come on. Please. Even worse is Phil Jackson at 4th. COME ON! He's not a great coach, he simply had great players. He couldn't coach his way out of a box. These "experts" are full of shit, or too young, or just ignornant. Joe Gibbs right above Tom Landry is a mockery. Tom Landry should easily have been in the top 3 or 4, and him at number 18 shows that these "experts" didn't do their homework.

Obama's Health Care Thingy

Support Slips for Health Plan - WSJ.com

"Thingy" because I don't think it's a plan. It's more like an evolving idea that changes with the tide of non-support. So, it's more like play-dough than a plan.

That, and I don't like the idea of every hospital being run like a VA hospital. I'm a veteran, I was a Navy Corpsman, I've been to a couple of VA clinics/hospitals. They're fine for the most part, but when you want/need and pay for health care... no.

Part of the "thing" with national health care is the doctors don't give a flying fuck about you. I know, see above. I also know because one day back in either late '89 early '90 (20 or 21 years old), I hurt my arm, could barely stand to move it, so my mom (an RN) told me I needed to get it looked at. So, she gave me a ride to the VA hospital in Houston.

I had a couple of Xrays done, and then the doctor came in and he said I just sprained it. He couldn't see any break in the Xrays. My mom and her boyfriend (forgot his name) questioned the doctor, to which he informed us that he went to some really good medical school and whatnot, I don't remember which one, but I do remember thinking that he must know what he's talking about. Well, he was full of shit.

Years later, many refills of Motrin later, I went in to the VA clinic here in Austin and told them I needed to have surgery or something because my elbow was always giving me problems. I would have to warn friends that if we arm wrestled, that they automatically win if they hear a popping noise and to immediately let go. What would happen is if it popped, some serious pain soon came afterward. It would even happen when I would try to manually drive in screws.

So they refer me to the VA hospital in Temple. I can't remember if they took more Xrays or used the old ones, but they immediately noticed that my bone had been broken. It was a radial fracture, meaning a fracture sort of like how you split a log. I told them what had happened, of how I had hurt my arm in the first place (falling with outstretched arm) and they couldn't figure out how the first doctor missed it. It was way too late to do anything about it. So, from that fracture I had developed some spurs within the joint, and that's what was causing the pain.

The solutions weren't very desirable. I could have surgery, but chances were that the scar tissue and redevelopment of the spurs would eventually make the pain even worse, and prolong it. The other option... do nothing, live with it for a while long and over time the spurs would wear down on their own. They recommended doing nothing of course, and because these doctors actually seemed to either care to a degree or were just interested in the mystery of my elbow, even having a CAT scan done to verify what they thought was going on, I decided to tough it out.

Sure enough, within a decade my elbow started to seem, for the most part, fine. I lifted weights for a year a couple of years ago, and it didn't give me much problems. However, manually driving in screws, the act of applying force while twisting, is not even something I'm willing to try, unless it's easy. Manually putting in a new screw into solid wood... nope, not going to do it. I'll use a drill or whatever, but not a regular screwdriver.

So anyway, the thing I see when I hear about national health care is that first doctor, the one who supposedly had a great education, who seemed to act like I was being a pussy, who acted like he had better things to do than be bothered with me, the one who got everything wrong. That fucking dickhead. That's what I think I'll be getting, and eventually everyone will be getting, if it this thing gets passed.

Sure, we have good doctors out there now, but put in a national health care system... why the hell would those types become a doctor now? Unless you have someone truly dedicated to helping the sick regardless of pay... forget it.

Obama is a smart guy. I've met plenty of smart people, but that doesn't mean they're right all the time, and it doesn't mean they can be dead wrong about things. This is all an experiment for Obama... all of it... the bailouts, health care, Sotomayer... all of it. The experiment is akin to throwing a bunch of shit on the wall, and seeing what sticks.

Bing

Microsoft, Yahoo team up to ding Google with Bing

So, MS is of the opinion that Bing is better than Google, and that, interestingly, search can be so much more.

Well, apparently they haven't paid enough attention to what Google offers. I just got through trying Bing. I inserted my home address. I saw the results, and I'm not only unimpressed, but it makes me wonder how the hell can MS think Bing is even in the same league as Google.

Sure, I got some results with Bing, some entries where it tried to produce something related to what I inserted. But with Google, the very first entry, as we all know when we insert an address, is a map. Yes, a map of where that address is located. Brilliant! But guess what, this isn't new. This has been around for at least a few months I think, maybe a year or so? Long enough to where I think, WTF is MS smoking to ever suggest that Bing is better than MS. And yes, search can be so much more, just look at Google!

OS: MS Vista 64-bit is my fave so far(yes I've tried Linux, I used to own macs, MS wins hands down)
CPU: Really liking my i7 920 so far with my ASRock Supercomputer mobo... prior builds were all with AMD CPUs. No clear winner imo.
Browser: FF is my fave (yes, I've tried them, even Opera)
Toolbar: Groowe (get it, now)
Search: Google is my fave
Video Card: ATI, hands down, Nvidia is the suck

So, some things are pretty cut and dry. Not all. But right now Google is definitely better. If Bing is really wanting to be the best, then somebody over at MS needs to inject some reality over there because you're not going to be the best unless you're better than Google. And right now, it's not even close. To think that you're better and that it's just a matter of getting people to try you out... lol. I wish you luck though, if Bing is eventually turned into something that is better than Google, then I'll definitely use it. Good luck with keeping Google locked in time while you do that.

Bachelorette

‘Bachelorette’ makes her final choice- msnbc.com

So I see this on Google News, and I search for images of this girl, Jillian Harris (get the Groowe toolbar, it's a must have on Firefox). Then I ask, why didn't they get a good-looking girl for the show?

She's not ugly I guess, though there's one picture i saw with her in some white dress where she looks less than attractive. But, on TV, why not have some hot chick as the bachelorette? Maybe I would have watched the show if I saw some hot chick with big boobs and tight ass. In fact, if this Jillian girl had big boobs and/or a nice ass, I might have paid some attention. Big boobs can fix a face pretty quickly, and just don't look at the ass too much so you'll be alright.

Plus, maybe the guys they had on there were a little desperate anyway. Whatever. I saw one season off and on where the girl picked the fireman, and they got married and probably still are. That girl I remember being pretty. This one, I won't remember. Though I'm picturing a big nose, small boobs and ugly butt right now.

Anyway, she apparently picked some guy, I'm sure he'll cool down a lot after the cameras aren't rolling anymore. I did hear one time on the radio that this girl had been kissing on all the guys, so maybe he'll see that at some point and get disgusted at the very sight of her, not that it's hard to do already. Well, she's not THAT bad, after all she isn't overweight or anything like that, so that's a plus. Hell, that puts her over most women in America... bunch of hogs these days.

Speaking of which, I think I'm all for women trying hard to look like some version of Barbie. I don't think anorexia or other eating disorders are the solution, especially since eating like a hog is an eating disorder of some sort too. But exercise, and eating portions for only 1 human woman is probably a good start. And exercise needs to be more than just running, because that seems to only help the legs.

And ya know, small breasts aren't bad, but if you don't have a pretty face or some other nice womanly feature, then they just accentuate the bad. Most hot women with small breasts have a really nice butt, face, or maybe overall figure. And I'd much rather have a hot woman with small breasts than a hot woman with fake ones. At least the fake ones I experienced were like caressing fully inflated balloons. For me, it's hard to even want to do that to something so unnatural. I like the soft boobs thank you very much.

Of course I suppose a great personality can overcome a lot too. I haven't watched the show so I don't know anything about her personality, other than from her kissing on all the guys... not good. Then again, if she's really good/enthusiastic in the sack... maybe that's a cure-all. :)

The Arrest of the Old Black Professor

I never heard of this guy before, Gates, but there seems to be some controversy about his arrest. Some say it was race related... I don't think so. The problem isn't race related at all, it's the cop mentality, abusing power, and it doesn't matter what race, creed, religion you or the cop are, the cop is going to abuse or at the very least, use all the power he can wield.

If you go to law school, you will learn that there are a lot of laws out there which are the result of cops abusing power. Give the guy a gun and it's no wonder so many cops get divorced and are generally dickheads. Not all cops are bad, of course, I know that, hope that, there are at least a few who aren't dicks. I had a step-dad who was a cop, I look back now and I can see that he was a dick. I had a grandpa that was a cop, he was pretty hard core that I remember, so I think he was probably just one of those really by-the-book guys, "Just the facts mam" instead of one of the power-tripping guys.

Anyway, the cop that arrested the black professor, was a power-tripping dickhead, so common among cops that few realize it themselves. So common that whole police organizations fail to see it. They have the goggles on that makes them see that if they can get away with it legally, as the law exists right now, then it's ok, even proper.

They get discretion. This can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. In the immediate case, the discretion used was piss poor. The cop got some old black professor mad, and the professor started mouthing off about race or whatnot. Who cares. At the point the cop determined that it was the guy's residence, he should have said, "Thank you" and left. End of story.

I don't care if the old guy followed him off screaming like a little girl or whatever, the cop should have left. Instead, he arrests the old guy under a bullshit charge after the officer helped facilitate the behavior. The call was about a possible break-in, not disorderly conduct. Once the identity was resolved and there was a realization that the house was not broken in to... I mean, just look at the guy, how many old farts are active in house break-ins anyway?... then the cop should have excused himself, apologized for any inconvenience, and got the fuck out of there.

But no, he's just one of the all too common power-tripping cops that wanted to teach this old guy a lesson. It wasn't about the old guy's race, or anything... it was about this cop teaching a lesson on his own about what he can do to even innocent civilians. It may have been technically legal to arrest the guy, but the total lack of proper discretion to see the cause and effect and the injustice of doing makes the arrest morally reprehensible. But guess what, this happens every day.

So I hope this cop gets everything that's coming, and then some. Maybe if more cops are held accountable for this type of abuse, then maybe we can hope for fewer of these types of incidents.

It's absolutely no excuse that cops have to deal with all sorts of people, that they never know what or who they're dealing with. If that's the problem, then the cops who, like this one, treat upstanding citizens as if they were career criminals, need to get their asses fired. Period. That's right, get the dickheads out of the uniform. Nothing is much worse than a dickhead cop abusing people on a daily basis and getting away with it.

Frenemy, webisode among new words in Webster's - USATODAY.com

Frenemy, webisode among new words in Webster's

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Do you use a sock puppet to secretly keep track of your frenemies?

Plan to spend your staycation watching vlogs and webisodes? Or perhaps you plan to signal a flash mob for a quick bite of shawarma.

If you're not entirely certain what all that means, turn to the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which has added about 100 new words that largely reflect changing trends in American society.

John Morse, president and publisher of the Springfield-based dictionary publisher, said many of this year's new words are tied to changes in technology, increasing environmental awareness and aging baby boomers' concerns about their health and have become part of the general lexicon.

"These are not new words in the language, by any means," Morse said. "(But) when words like 'neuroprotective' and 'cardioprotective' show up in the Collegiate, it's because we've made the judgment that these are not just words used by specialists. ... These really are words now likely to show up in The New York Times, in The Wall Street Journal."

There are words such as locavore (one who eats foods grown locally), frenemy (someone who acts like a friend but is really an enemy), waterboarding (an interrogation technique use to induce the sensation of drowning), vlogs (a blog that contains video material) and webisode (a TV show that can be viewed at a website).

There's also flash mob (a group of people summoned electronically to a designated spot at a specified time to perform an indicated action before dispersing) and green-collar (involving actions for protecting the natural environment).

Some words that just now made the cut have been around for generations. The term "sock puppet" — a false online identity used for deceptive purposes — was tracked to 1959 but has taken on new popular use with people using fake IDs on social networking sites.

Many words have cross-cultural roots, including shawarma (a sandwich especially of sliced lamb or chicken, vegetables, and often tahini wrapped in pita bread) and reggaeton (music that combines rap and Caribbean rhythms).

Once words like these become so common that they regularly pop up in conversations and published articles, Morse said they pass muster for being included in the dictionary.

Some words, such as "staycation," have become so popular the dictionary could not ignore them, Morse said. Staycation refers to staying home for vacation and has gained popularity as the economy worsens.

But Morse said some words face years in limbo as wordsmiths wait to see if they are just fads.

Dave Wilton, author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, said it's difficult to draw conclusions about trends in society with just a handful of new words.

"It's also an editorial decision and reflects what the (dictionary) editors deemed important that year," Wilton said. "Most of these words have been around for a while but for some reason they grabbed the attention of editors this time."

Researchers often keep track of words over many years. One to watch: prepone.

The word is commonly used in India among English-speaking Indians and refers to the act of arranging for an event to take place earlier than originally planned — the opposite of postpone.

"Prepone didn't make it this time," Morse said. "But we know about it."

----------------

Ok... I copied that article from the USA Today site, so it's not like I was looking for an AP article.

I'm not sure if maybe I'm just dreaming, or maybe just assumed, but didn't dictionaries have standards beyond just what's been heard? Because, I hear some pretty fucked up grammar being used, and I don't see books being changed to accomodate that. Words like "Frenemy" or "staycation" are just stupid/funny words that don't even enter the realm of jargon, and definitely do not deserve to be included in any real dictionary.

I hate to think that some person new to the language would use either of those words, because most people would be wondering what the fuck they're talking about. Frenemy... a person who act like a friend but is really an enemy... is an enemy, not a frenemy. So if someone is stupid but acts smart, let's call them Stuart. Put that in Webster's because it has now been used. Yes, Stuart, someone who is actually stupid but acts like they're smart. Oh, if your name happens to be Stuart, too bad.

I've never heard of most of these new words they're advocating as, impliedly, having some sort of common usage. If they're just asking people, "Hey, do you know what "webisode" means" then of course people can put 2 and 2 together and come up with the meaning. But that's no test on what's being commonly used.

So, the people at Webster's are just brazy. Yeah, brazy... batshit crazy... new word, should be coming out in their dictionary any day now.

Fatso epidemic

Two-thirds of American adults are too fat: study

I definitely believe it. I've been on a couple of date sites and most of the women on there are fat. You can try to filter them out by picking women with an "average" body type. The problem with that is, most of these fat women think they're average body type and so most of the average body types that filters through are still a bunch of fat women. At least you know right off the bat about their lack of honesty.

Yeah, lots of fat people, so that now there's so many that they think they're just average. So, there's an obvious problem. Take that along with what was on the news not that long ago... that there is a fat virus. A virus people get that instead of making you feel like crap for a couple of weeks, makes people fat for the rest of their now shorter lives. So, when you see this 2/3 of us are fat, it's possible that we're seeing evidence of a viral epidemic.

Fortunately, the virus has either not taken hold on me, or even with the virus I have enough self control that I don't turn into a fatso. It's a pretty fast-spreading virus too, I mean, when I was young, fat people were pretty rare, so it was a little freakish. Take Fat Albert for instance, he was the fat guy among a gang of misfits/freaks.

So, to me, a fatso virus would explain this epidemic of so many fat people so suddenly. Maybe we can develop a fatso vaccine soon, so that by the time I'm 60 maybe I can find a woman who likes me that isn't fat.

Why Sotomayor Isn't Worthy to Sit on the Supreme Court

The Opinion

There's been some great judges to sit on the Supreme Court. And before they were part of the Court, they were already "in the zone" so to speak. Meaning, they weren't just thinking about how a case is resolved under current law, but how it "should" be resolved. I'm not talking about "judicial activism" which implies a political or personal interference.

Part of the key to the great ones, or even just ones who are simply qualified, is an awareness. You can't tackle a problem if you aren't aware of it. You can't just look at both sides of an argument and assume that's all with which you can rely. Even worse, though, is choosing to be narrowminded.

Another part is being able to see the solution... which can be pretty difficult and may take some time after becoming aware of the problem. I think of one of the greats, Learned Hand. That's his name, and it fits because he's a fresh razor in a tool shed. A great that never got to sit on the Supreme Court, unfortunately.

Anyway, he had a case before him which basically required figuring out who was liable in a case of negligence. So, he came up with a formula for it. That formula wasn't already in the law books, or anything else. He saw the need and came up with the answer. That formula was was like "OMG!" in the legal community, a pretty big deal. Anyway, the guy is like the epitome of this sort of situation, many many important opinions from him, he was a source of enlightenment to many.

Another was a guy named Cordozo. He eventually got the Supreme Court, but wasn't there very long because he died. But like Learned Hand, he recognized problems and found solutions. As part of the Supreme Court... it's expected.

Now, let's look at what Sontomayor has to offer. In this very recently released opinion (today!), linked above, we have a case where a city decided not to promote any firemen to Lt. or Cpt. because only whites and two hispanics would have been eligible. The City thought the test showed a "disparate impact" and that they would be liable if they certified the scores. So, because nothing but white people and 2 hispanics would have been chosen, they decided to not promote anyone. Oh yeah, that's called intentional discrimination. Yeah, they decided to intentionally discriminate to avoid potential disparate impact liability.

So, the city got sued by the 17 whites and 1 hispanic, all of whom passed and were denied promotion because of the discrimination. The District Court pretty much said stfu and ruled in favor of the City after cross motions for summary judgment. Even more shocking, the appellate court on which Sotomayor is a part of, heard the case and gave a very short, one paragraph ruling, adopting the District Courts reasoning... which was: “motivation to avoid making promotions based on a test with a racially disparate impact . . . does not, as a matter of law, constitute discriminatory intent.” WTF?! That's taking a step back. How in hell was this acceptable to the appellate judges? I can just imagine as the SC was looking at what cases to grant cert, they must have seen this and were just dumbfounded on the basis alone, without even getting to whether they agree with its ultimate result.

So, here was a case where someone like Learned Hand or Cordozo, would have taken the reigns and issued a reasonable and logical decision by taking what they know in law, and applying it to the case at hand. But no. She stayed silent. I wonder why? (sarcasm)

I'll tell you why. Because Title 7 let's people who are otherwise unqualified, get qualified. The supposed intention wasn't that, it was to give all people an equal chance based on the job, and not on race. Yet, the opposite is happening, has been happening, and won't stop until the law is either scrapped or re-written.

Don't we want the best and brightest? If anything, failing the test or not scoring high enough for promotion could have been caused by countless things. But it should have had the effect of, to a person really wanting to get promoted, motivating an individual to try harder, or be better prepared next time. That has nothing to with race either, it's a human thing.

The outcome of the case is that from now on, if you're going to discriminate to avoid disparate impact liability, you had better have a pretty freekin good basis (strong basis) to think you'd be liable. In this particular case, the city had a very weak basis, so they finally lost.

But anyway, Sotomayer dropped the ball on this case completely. She was part of the appellate court that decided to side with the lower court. I won't buy some excuse like, too many cases or whatever, the SC goes through tons of cases just to decide which ones they'll hear. And then they hear them and throw out opinions. So, if she hasn't learned the job by now, then let's get on with seeing the next nominee.

The top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

Lots of photos lately from Iran, many with people holding signs asking where their vote went. But, something's missing though... hmm... oh yeah, a burning plastic US flag. Where's the burning flag!?!?!?

No picture or news story from that hellhole in the last 30 years has been complete without showing a burning US Flag. This is an outrage! What do they think they can just stop burning flags for the cameras when it suits them? That's just insane. If it wasn't for the scribble, I would think the photo was as fake as those man-walking-on-the-moon photos. And what's with the surgical masks, has Michael Jackson been influencing them?

Iran is so backwards. They're revolution was to go back to living like they did 1300 years ago. Progress? Maybe they were so against the whole idea of evolving, they simply decided to devolve. Of course, the truth of the matter is that they continue to evolve and continue to be exposed to and like progress, but they're ashamed of it, or something, and thus have to hide it. So, your wife goes shopping covered in blankets or whatever, comes home, turns on the TV with satellite service to watch some movies, takes off her blankets and wears her trendy stuff... that sort of thing. So in essence, their revolution is just a facade, or at least turned into a facade. Hell, the revolution iteself was a facade, they got rid of one monarch and simply replaced him with an islamic dictator. Very revolutionary... bleh. More like a coup.

Anyway, so now their people want reforms because their last president, who took hostages back in the 70s, turns out to be a supreme idiot. They don't want 4 more years of Bush, err, I mean Amendignajadiwjiahlkwlalalalala, but guess what... the Iranian dictator wants four more years of Amendignajadiwjiahlkwlalalalala. So, who wins, the people, or the dictator? In this case, I'm going to go ahead and predict... the dictator.

Why? Because the dictator isn't being challenged. At this point, they just want the dictator to wake up, to get rid of the bad, to have a fair election to elect the president of their choosing.

Problem is... this is the guy who either said to cause Amendignajadiwjiahlkwlalalalala to win, or knew about it and approved in some way. Why else would the crackdowns be tolerated by the dictator?

If he was innocent of the fraud, then he would meet the people's requests to assure them the election was fair, and not tolerate the deaths and violence that has been inflicted upon the protestors. But, what if he can't... as in, what if he in actuality lack the power to stop the mess, because the power lies elsewhere. Either that, or he's part of the problem and that's why things have been going downhill. I think the latter.

More importantly, my 11-month old puppy doesn't seem to be feeling well. He's not eating like he should, and he looks weak. My neighbor has tried to poison him, thrown glass against my house and in part of my yard to harm him, so I'm just hoping she didn't give him something else. I'm keeping him indoors now, have had a couple of quotes on putting up an 8-foot fence on that side of the yard, and will get a security camera after that. But, right now I'm not sure if he's sick or maybe just tired because of the heat we're having.

Yes, I've called the cops on the batshit crazy neighbor, but they can't do anything until someone sees her do something. Yes, I know it's her because she's the only one that doesn't like my dog... she doesn't appear to like dogs in general and has done a few childish things even before I moved there. She's part of the reason why the people before me left after 1 year there. Anyway, I'm going to try and catch her on video, maybe I can get her thrown in jail.

Yes, my dog is much more important than fucking iran.

Pakistan kills scores of Taliban in new combat zones - Yahoo! News

Pakistan kills scores of Taliban in new combat zones - Yahoo! News

Pakistan kills scores of Taliban in new combat zones

Reuters – Policemen search through the wreckage at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, the morning after a …

By Adil Khan Adil Khan – 2 hrs 19 mins ago

BANNU, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan unleashed helicopter gunships and artillery to kill scores of Taliban fighters, officials said on Thursday, after opening a second front against militants near their stronghold in the Waziristan tribal region.

Already in the final stages of an operation to clear Islamist fighters from the Swat valley, far to the northwest and closer to Islamabad, the military went on the offensive on Tuesday in Bannu district after up to 800 militants infiltrated from Waziristan.

U.S. officials, worried that the Taliban could drive nuclear-armed Pakistan into chaos, have welcomed the Swat offensive and there has been talk that Waziristan, a hub of Taliban and al Qaeda activity, would be the army's next target.

Standing at the gateway to Waziristan, Bannu is 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where a suicide truck bomb attack on a luxury hotel killed at least nine people on Tuesday.

A military statement said on Thursday that during the last 24 hours 66 militants had been killed in fighting mostly in Bannu and South Waziristan, but also Swat.

In Bannu alone, more than 130 militants have been killed since the army swung into action two days ago, according to military officers and a senior civilian official in the area. Independent casualty estimates were unavailable.

"The operation is going on very well. Helicopter gunships, artillery, everything is being used," Kamran Zeb, the top administrator in Bannu, told Reuters.

In South Waziristan, the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, around 400 militants attacked two forts in Jandola and Siplatoi. They killed three soldiers but lost 22 of their own men, the military statement said.

Adding to catalog of violence, gunmen wounded a provincial minister in the Darra Adam Khel tribal region just outside Peshawar. Three people were killed in the attack, but Mian Nisar Gul, NWFP minister for jails, was in a stable condition, according to a fellow minister who spoke with him in hospital.

AID CRUNCH

Pakistan's decision to opt for military action in Swat has been helped by a shift in public opinion. That support might ebb if the welfare of some 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict in the northwest is mishandled.

Nine aid agencies said on Thursday in London they would be forced to stop or cut back supplies of aid unless a funding crisis was resolved.

The United Nations has appealed for $543 million, but has received only $138 million so far.

The United Nations is heavily involved in relief efforts, and five U.N. workers, including two foreigners, were among those killed in the suicide attack on Peshawar's Pearl Continental hotel.

HEAVY BOMBING

In the tribal region of Orakzai, security forces also used artillery and warplanes to obliterate a militant compound, killing at least five people, but probably more, according to the the region's mayor.

"It's been heavy bombing and there must be many more casualties, both militants and civilians. We're trying to collect the numbers," mayor Gul Khitab said.

A pro-Taliban cleric, Maulvi Jameel, said several militants' positions and hideouts had been struck during the raid. He didn't have information about casualties.

Immediately to the southwest of Peshawar, militants had until a year ago little presence in Orakzai, one of the more developed tribal regions.

There have been clashes scattered across Swat this week, but the largest population centers and key roads have been cleared of Taliban, and the army has smashed the militants main bases and training camps in the mountains.

The military says more than 1,300 militants and 105 soldiers have been killed in Swat.

Some Taliban have fled through the passes to the Kalam valley in the north, and Upper Dir district, where the army has backed a tribal militia, or lashkar, that has turned on the insurgents.

Separatists in the southwest province of Baluchistan delivered a bloody reminder that the Taliban aren't Pakistan's only worry, claiming responsibility for a bomb blast on a train that killed one person and wounded 35 on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Hasan Mehmood, Alamgir Bitani, and Zeeshan Haider; writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

---
First off, round of applause for Jeremy Laurence for great editing. AP totally sucks, except on rare occasions, with their articles, so it's nice to know that Reuters at least cares enough to have an editor and to present stories with respectable English and grammar.

2nd... change is happening in Pakistan. Pak has grown a great big pair of balls and seems to be really hammering the Taliban. I was hoping they'd finally grow a pair, wasn't sure if they would, but they did. So here we go, the fight is really on now in Pak and the U.S. is eager to kill on the other side of the border within Afghanrugistan.

So, after... 2.. take away the 1... divide by... add... oh.. fucking way too long, there is actually a real effort now to get rid of the terrorists who started it all and seem to exist only to cause strife.

Well, I hope I'm not talking too soon. After all, Pak seems to like to call truces. Pak may very well fight the terrorists back to the border area, and then stop. That of course will give the terrorists time and experience to try something better next time.

Anyway, right now Pak looks like they'll finish the job, so to speak. If they want peace in their country, they'd better make sure the Taliban no longer has a safe haven within their border... else, all this will just either be repeated, or Pak will simply be defeated at a later date. But until either...

Go Pak Go!!!

Too Many Chiefs?

U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Is Given More Leeway - NYTimes.com

The new commander over Afghan rugs has a hand-picked team of team, friends of his apparently. That's cool. No problems there.

On the civilian front, however, you have an ambassador, with 3 assistant ambassadors who have been ambassadors in various other countries. That likely means there's going to be a lot of disagreements, to the point that I'd really be surprised if at least one of them didn't leave within a year. If the Afghan rug ambassador, the chief of the chiefs, is a good manager though, then that's a different story... in that he's a manager and the others are doing the work. So... yeah, whatever. We'll see how long it lasts.

But ya never know, the Manhattan Project was a collaboration of "chiefs" so to speak, and even though there was chaos and fighting between them, it apparently was controlled enough to where they worked out the most destructive weapon ever. So, yeah, maybe a similar collaboration can work in the reverse too... if controlled properly.

Racist Sotomayor

Excite News - White House: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly: "By BEN FELLER

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor acknowledges she made a poor word choice in a 2001 speech in which she said that a Latina judge would often reach a better conclusion than a white male judge who hasn't lived the same life."

---

Yes, racists generally use poor word choices. Not only is she racist, she's genderist. Yes, genderist, wonder if that's even a word yet. Or maybe she's one of them Femi-nazis.

But, poor word choices all throughout that one little sentence actually. In fact, it's just a poor statement. Even the idea it tries to convey is a poor one. I haven't hear anything positive about her yet, is she even considered an accomplished judge? The answer is... I've been busy but I'll find out.

Busy with what... a batshit crazy neighbor who wants to get rid of my dog.

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.

----

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.