Spiral of Lies

U2 - Rattle and Hum Remastered

2010-07-20T15:29:00.005-04:00

Post that used to be here has been moved to my new: U2 Watch blog

2010-06-24T11:07:00.000-04:00

Atheist put billboard up on Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte!

SC v NC -Charlotte

2010-01-20T14:15:00.003-05:00

The Supreme Court of the US found today that the city of Charlotte does not have standing to join a lawsuit brought by the state of South Carolina against the State of North Carolina over the use of the water form Catawba river.

The underlying issue of water rights was not decided just the issue of standing. Duke Power and the Catawba River Water Supply Project were both allowed to join the suit to represent their private interests in the case.

The city of Charlotte wanted to join presumably because it did not expect Raleigh to represent its interests. With the inclusion of Duke there is still some chance that Raleigh won't cut a deal to screw Charlotte. But history is not on Charlotte's side.

Time for Modern Circulating Coin Make-Overs?

2010-01-12T14:12:00.009-05:00

Taking a look at modern fractional US coinage, I believe it's time to move on and update most of our coin designs. The facts then recommendations:

Lincoln Cent
The Lincoln cent design (obverse) has been in circulation since 1909 which makes 2010 it's 102nd issue. The Lincoln cent has been in circulation for 46% of the life of the nation making it the oldest design still in use. There have been 8 cent designs in the history of the nation, each minted an average of 28 years.

Jefferson Nickel
The nickel is the newest coin in circulation, having been introduced in 1866. The Jefferson design has been in circulation since 1938 which makes 2010 it's 73d issue. The Jefferson Nickel has been in circulation for 33% of the life of the nation and is the longest circulating nickel design. There have been 4 nickel designs in the history of the nation, each minted an average of 37 years.

Roosevelt Dime
The Roosevelt Dime design has been in circulation since 1946 which makes 2010 it's 65th issue. The Roosevelt Dime has been in circulation for 29% of the life of the nation and is the longest circulating dime design. There have been 6 dime designs in the history of the nation, each minted an average of 36 years.

Washington Quarter
The Washington Quarter design has been in circulation since 1932 which makes 2010 it's 78th issue. The Washington Quarter has been in circulation for 35% of the life of the nation and is the longest circulating quarter design. There have been 6 quarter designs in the history of the nation, each minted an average of 35 years.

Kennedy Half
The Kennedy Half dollar design has been in circulation since 1964 which makes 2010 it's 47th issue. The Kennedy Half has been in circulation for 21% of the life of the nation and is the second longest circulating half dollar design. There have been 8 half designs in the history of the nation, each minted an average of 27 years.

Recommendations

Lincoln Cent
Pros: celebrates the first Republican president. Celebrates an assassinated president. Celebrates a president considered a founder (despite being president almost a 100 years after the founding). Celebrates a president who is celebrated for his actions: the Civil War, freeing slaves in the southern states. Viewed as non-partisan by contemporary Americans.

Cons: oldest coin still in circulation, possibly time for a change
Recommendation: keep but consider alternatives

Jefferson Nickel
Pros: celebrates a founding president who is also considered a founder of the Democratic party. Celebrates a president who is significant for his actions: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, peace treaty with Great Britain, Declaration of independence, etc. Viewed as non-partisan by contemporary Americans.

Cons: longest circulating nickel design
Recommendation: keep but consider alternatives

Roosevelt Dime
Pros: celebrates a President famous for fighting WWII

Cons: design has been in circulation almost twice as long as the average dime design. Considered a partisan president who is loved and hated for his controversial methods in the Great Depression
Recommendation: time to move on. Move away from using Presidents on all coinage, a return to classical imagery?

Washington Quarter
Pros: celebrates a founder. Celebrates a president famous for his actions: General of the Continental army, first US president, first major world leader to step down from power. Viewed as non-partisan by contemporary Americans.

Cons: been in circulation more then twice the average quarter design
Recommendation: keep

Kennedy Half
Pros: celebrates an assassinated President. Celebrates a president famous for his actions: Cuban missile crisis, moon race

Cons: served less than 3 years as president. Controversial for bay of pigs and Vietnam. Coin in circulation almost twice as long as the average half dollar. Viewed as partisan.

Recommendation: use half dollar as a way to celebrate famous American non-presidents

Avatar 3-D

2010-01-05T01:58:00.004-05:00

Last Friday went on a date night to see Avatar, the new movie by James Cameron that everyone's heard of if not seen by now. The theatre experience sucked big time. $26 for tickets, $6 for a drink and candy. Then there were the stupid teenagers that chatted through the whole film. The crying baby. The bright phones being used to text message. Lesson learned, never go see a popular movie at the theatre! For 30 bucks I could have sat on my couch and watched the blu-ray.

I had hoped we'd get another Aliens or T2. Or even the Abyss. But I somehow knew Avatar would never be that good. I found it boring to be honest. Beautiful, amazing, cliche hell. Although it was better then Titanic in the first 5 minutes. That's a given.

For the most part Avatar fell into the typical traps of SF/fantasy films: lack of dramatic tension, poor characterization, anti-climatic ending. Why be upset, given the genre? Because Cameron used to be the best! What happened, man? But despite all, Avatar never sunk to the level of a Phantom Menace; the plot actually makes sense, there is a protagonist, there is an attempt at characterization.

Without getting into the plot, I did have some problems with the messages the film bashes over your head as you watch. Mostly the Gaia/humans are a virus meme. The irony being that Avatar spent half a billion dollars and used the most cutting edge special affects to denounce the world and culture that built the technology they were using to make their film. Its the type of self-unawareness one expects from Al Gore taking a private plane to a global warming summit.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I thought it was somewhat rude to make a pro-insurgency film at this point in American history. It's almost like we're so tolerant we need to make propaganda for our enemies since they don't have movie studios. Call it Hollywood Affirmative Action.

And then there's just me being petty: why does the tough Marine have to be an Aussie? Is it because our tough guys are all out actually fighting and not acting these days?

So in the end, yes, Avatar is Dances with Wolves meets Braveheart with Aliens. In 3-D. In my scale of Cameron films it ranks low:

1-T2
2-Aliens
3-Abyss
4-True Lies
5-Terminator
6-Avatar
7-Titanic
8-Piranha 2 (never seen but it is possibly better than Titanic)

Crossing the Delaware (a short story)

2009-11-11T16:33:00.005-05:00

The morning started off just great. Martin pushed me from behind as I was lining up, spilling my books across the blacktop. He ran off laughing while I tried to quickly gather my things. I was going to be late.

In the morning we were supposed to line up by grade. The teachers would then call out for each class to enter the school. Mr. Crowley had just called for the third graders and there I was on my knees gathering papers. My face flushed and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It wasn’t fair!

My pants stuck to my skinned knee as I stood up but I had no time for pain. One more frantic look but it was useless. I couldn’t find my favorite Snoopy pencil, the one with erasers at both ends. Tears formed at the edge of my eyes. At least Martin wasn’t around to see. I gave up on the pencil and ran to catch up with my class.

St. Joseph’s was a small school. Half the students weren’t even Catholic. Mom sent me there because it was the only private school on Tybee Island. I didn’t mind. It was way better than being bused an hour to Savannah to go the public school on the mainland.

St. Joseph’s was four classrooms, two grades crammed into each. That’s why I had to sit next to Martin even though he was in the fourth grade. He was the class bully and me his favorite toy. All I did was follow the rules. But the teachers never protected me. It wasn’t fair.

I walked through the big double door entrance at the front of the school acting as casual as I could. Mr. Crowley was standing there with his clip board checking off names. “Late again,” he said, his eyes hidden beneath large white eyebrows.

“Not my fault,” I replied.

“Excuses, Kevin. Don’t lag.”

I nodded and ran to catch up to my class as they entered our classroom at the very end of the main hallway. I sat down at my desk in the middle of the classroom, the aisle that separated the third and forth grade.

Mary Ellen, her hair tied into a ponytail, leaned forward from the desk behind me, “Why do you let him push you around like that?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Martin pushed you down, I saw it.”

“He’s older then me. What am I supposed to do?”

“Stand up for yourself!”

“Easy for you to say, he doesn’t pick on girls.”

The fourth graders started to come into class. Martin was laughing with his friends, Chad and Jeremy. They were always smirking, laughing at some joke I never got.

“Be quiet, here he comes.” I placed my pencil in the indentation on the front of my desk and pretended to be busy looking at what was written on the board. Martin sat beside me in his desk the row over.

“Late again,” Martin smirked. I felt his breath on my face as he leaned over the aisle.

“No I wasn’t.”

“Then what did old Al say to you?”

“He just said good morning,” I replied. I turned to look at him but my sight never reached above his mouth.

“Right.”

Before I could reply Mr. Crowley entered then walked across the front of class to stand beside his old oak desk. “Good morning class.”

“Good morning,” we replied in a single voice, just sly of belligerent. We turned in our homework, which included letters to the Pope. After class announcements we stood and said aloud the Nicene Creed followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. God then country.

Mr. Crowley worked with the fourth graders on long division problems and had us third graders read out of our U.S. History books. We were studying George Washington and his surprise attack across the Delaware. After a supervised bathroom break Mr. Crowley quizzed us about our reading.

“So who can tell me,” Mr. Crowley asked as he paced in front of the third grade rows, “why it was important for George Washington to cross the Delaware?” Several hands flew up, including mine. “Marry Ellen.”

“Because that’s what he’s famous for.”

Mr. Crowley smiled and shook his head. “Kevin.”

“Because he had to protect Philadelphia from being attacked,” I replied, with confidence.

“Okay and why did he have to protect, Philly?”

“Because that’s where the Continental Congress was.”

“Alright,” Mr. Crowley said. “But does anyone know why Washington had to cross the Delaware to protect Philadelphia from the British?” No one raised their hands. “Because he needed to surprise the British, attack them when they weren’t expecting it.” I raised my hand. “Yes, Kevin?”

“Why didn’t Washington just defeat the British in one big battle?”

“He couldn’t.” Mr. Crowley looked over his class and stroked his mustache. “I know it might come as a surprise to many of you but the colonies were losing the Revolutionary War. Put your hands down and listen to me. Washington had been beaten all year by the British. Now the very Continental Congress was being threatened. Washington had to act. So he gambled everything in one surprise attack. He didn’t win the war that day but he changed the rules of the game. Gave the people hope.”

The third graders were silent, unsure of what to make of what Mr. Crowley had just told us. How could Washington have lost a battle? He was our first President. He won the war! I wrote the name Washington on my notebook and slowly circled the word until it was an ink blot staring back at me from the page.

After lunch we returned to class and took our seats. Martin was making fart noises with his hands, pointing at me and laughing. Mr. Crowley came into the classroom wearing an old fishing cap. We all knew what that meant. The class started to talk all at once.

“Quiet students,” Mr. Crowley said. “That’s right, we’re going to walk the beach today. We’ll only have a couple of more weeks to do this before it gets too cold. So leave your things, and I don’t want to see any chewing gum.”

We left the class in a flood of voices. Mr. Crowley turned us out the back door of the school, which faced towards the ocean. A block down we crossed at the only street light on the island. From there it was a two block walk.

Once on the beach we waded over the dunes, letting our shoes sink into fine white sand. It was a pretty fall day, the wind light, the Atlantic a dark glossy green.

After a short walk we reached the compacted sand that marked the high tide line. There Mr. Crowley stopped us and told us to sit down.

“I told Sister Martha that I was taking you out here to study the tides but we all know that you just ate lunch and none of you are going to pay any attention to me. So for the next twenty minutes why don’t you just sit here and talk to each other and then we’ll go back inside.”

We were excited. Free time was not a normal part of our day. Sure we got recess but even that was usually organized into team play. Here we had twenty minutes to just sit on the beach. I sought out Mary Ellen and the two of us sat down further up the beach where we could play in the dry sand and keep our clothes clean.

I realized before the others that something was different. Mr. Crowley had brought us up to the beach by himself without any of the Sisters to help. It was one teacher and forty students with a big beach to play on.

We got louder and louder and nothing happened. Mr. Crowley didn’t tell anyone to quiet down. I could sense a weird electricity. Possibility. That’s when Chad and Jeremy started to wrestle, throwing each other two and fro on the sand. A circle of students gathered to watch. The girls started to segregate and Marry Ellen left to go talk to some of her friends. I was left alone, looking on.

I heard him shuffle through the sand right before it happened. Martin had snuck up from behind and pushed me down. I fell into the sand more startled than hurt. I sat up and brushed the sand from my hair. I looked over at Mr. Crowley but his head was turned the other way and he hadn’t seen anything.

“He isn’t going to help you,” Martin said from above me. I said nothing, unsure what I should do.

“Why don’t you ever do anything?” Martin asked. He kicked more sand on me. “Are you such a wuss you won’t fight back?” I just looked at him. “What if I picked on your girlfriend, Mary Ellen? What would you do then?” My face turned hot, adrenaline twisting my stomach.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” I mumbled.

“What did you say?”

I didn’t answer. Martin kicked sand on me once more and walked off toward his friends. I watched him talking to Chad and Jeremy, pointing at Mary Ellen and laughing. Against my will I balled my fists, unsure what I could or should do. Mr. Crowley had his back turned, talking to a student.

I got back to my feet, shaking with something I couldn’t quite express. I hated Martin at that moment. I hated him more than I had ever hated myself. But I was still scared of him. He was bigger than me and he had friends.

I walked towards Martin’s gang unsure of what I was going to do. But I wanted to do something. I wanted him to feel as horrible as he’d made me feel. Only I didn’t know how to do it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mary Ellen looking at me, shaking her head. I ignored her and walked right up to Martin and kicked sand on his sneakers.

“What are you doing?” Martin asked.

“I’m kicking sand on you,” I replied.

“Don’t let him do that to you,” Chad said. He was pointing at me even though I was only two feet away from him.

Martin held my eye. “What’s your game, Kevin? You want me to hit you? ”

I just smiled and kept kicking sand. This wasn’t the soft white sand from up the beach. This was the dark wet sand and it stuck to his pants in little clumps. Several of our classmates had stopped to watch, curious to see what I was up to. Mary Ellen was walking our way, hands on her hips.

“I’ll hit you if you don’t stop,” Martin warned.

“Yeah, hit him,” Jeremy said from behind Chad.

I kicked more sand on his jeans.

“Fine.” Martin drew his arm back and hit me in my right eye with his fist. Even though I was expecting it the pain made me lose my balance. I fell onto the sand unable to stop myself from crying.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Crowley yelled. He ran up to the group of students who’d gathered around us. “Martin, what did you do?”

“He made me do it!” Martin yelled. “He made me do it!”

“Everyone back up to school, now!”

I got to my feet and Mr. Crowley walked me back to school. He led me to see the principal who asked me all sorts of stupid questions. My black eye looked pretty cool in the Sister’s hand mirror. But she made me hold ice on it anyway. When I got back to class an hour before the bell, Martin was gone. He was suspended for a week. It wasn’t fair.

Marry Ellen passed me a note: “Why?” Girls. First she wanted me to stand up for myself then she was mad I did.

“Because it was the only way,” I wrote back. That’s when I realized Martin didn’t scare me so much anymore.

The following morning I wasn’t late for lineup. And as I entered the school Mr. Crowley nodded and said “Good morning, Kevin.” I’d crossed the Delaware.

John Lassiter for Charlotte Mayor

2009-11-02T12:47:00.004-05:00

John Lassiter gets the coveted SOL endorsement for Charlotte mayor. Its not that I'm overwhelmed by Lassiter so much as I'm distrustful of unified government and dislike Anthony Foxx. The democrats currently control the school board, the County Commission and the City Council. Do we really want a one party system? How well has that been working out for us lately?

If the democrats were doing such a fine job running the city/county then maybe they'd have a stronger case. But no one questions that the school system is a disaster. The City Council is trying to spend millions to "study" the use of a trolley while the county suffers under 11% unemployment. The County Commission raised our property taxes without any noticeable improvement to services. My complaints with a one party system extend to all of NC state government, which passed a regressive sales tax hike in the middle of a recession!

Back to mayor, I have concerns that Anthony Foxx is unqualified, anti-investment, and too attached to the democratic machine. At 38, Foxx lists his experience for being mayor of Charlotte to include time he spent as Student Government Association president of Davidson College. I'm not kidding.

After Foxx graduated law school he joined the "Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department and was counsel for the House Judiciary Committee." [see Charlotte Observer]. Both of these positions are can be viewed as partisan and highly politicized. Upon returning to Charlotte, Foxx joined a law firm and for the past four years he's been on the Charlotte City Council.

Further, in the sole mayoral debate, Foxx came down hard on real estate developer's influence and investment in the center city and how this led to social injustice. Foxx appears to be against investments which would lead to tax income and jobs if that money is invested in ways he dislikes.

Foxx has driven his whole life towards being an elected politician. He's spent his life severing democratic party interests and building his political resume. Does he have the experience to represent all of Charlotte? I don't think so. Is Lassiter the ideal candidate? No. But Foxx is so bad it almost doesn't matter. Foxx is not the person we need to lead Charlotte out of the recession.

Movie Reviews

2009-10-24T21:51:00.002-04:00

Blu-Ray:

The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993 – 4.5 stars
Stop-motion written by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a masterpiece. The blu-ray version is simply amazing. Just long enough to be a movie but short enough not to drag. The songs, puppetry and plot sync perfectly. One of the best children’s movies ever made.

Bolt, 2008 - 4 stars
A great story told in an old-school Disney fashion, were sentiment is still in style. Amazingly short on stupid gags or cheap laughs, it holds up well under repeated viewings. John Travolta provides the voice of Bolt, a dog who mistakenly believes he has super powers. A role Travolta was born for. Bolt is visually stunning with mind blowing CG. But at times the CG is too realistic: the wrinkles in clothing for instance. Live action movies usually cover up blemishes. CG now tries to show flaws as proof that the CG is realistic. Hollywood has yet to figure out a balance.

Watchmen, 2009 - 3 stars
Very interesting anti-superhero movie. While visually stunning, the plot drags and the characterization is muddled. Post-modern in a world that’s grown tired of breaking stories in order to understand them. The story, based on the comic, is filled with the bitterness and sarcasm found in the 80’s about Vietnam and the cold war. 20 years later that message falls flat.

The Dark Knight, 2008 - 5 stars
Incredible acting, plot, visuals. Despite being about a man who runs around dressed as a bat, this story delivers. Contains some interesting embedded messages about terrorism and the place of America in the world. I could quibble with some things, but not enough to keep from giving this movie the 5 stars it deserves.

Coraline, 2009 - 4.5 stars
Another Henry Selick directed stop-motion movie. Based on a book I loved from Neil Gaimen. Coraline delivers. Simply amazing visuals, characterization. The tension is kept throughout. Highly recommended. Selick’s best solo effort to date.

Corpse Bride, 2005 - 3.5 stars
Tim Burton takes up where he left off with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Stop motion, good story, beautiful. But lacking that final ingredient. I found Corpse Bride to be much like other Tim Burton movies, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; full of promise but oddly lacking. A good movie, worth it for the visuals alone.

MirrorMask, 2005 – 2.5 stars
Live action/stop motion movie written by Neil Gaimen. The piece is slowly paced and drags. There was some greatness here the story just never fully developed. Some good use of visuals but overall the movie suffered from poor direction.

Wall-E, 2008 – 4 stars
Another Pixar masterpiece. While not as good as Pixar’s best films, Wall-E is an amazing story when compared to most of the drivel out there today. The CG is good without being too perfect. The story is fun and action packed. Well worth the ride.

HD on HBO

Stardust, 2007 – 3.5 stars
Another movie based on a beloved Neil Gaimen novel. Stardust is a faithful re-telling of the book. Fun, escapist, full of action. An enjoyable movie for all. The ending drags for my taste.

DVD (yes I still watch actual DVD’s from time to time)

The Emperor's New Groove, 2000 – 3 stars
Fun, slap stick, silly. The movie employs a subtle moral message which is a refreshing change from the usual Disney fare. But the story is weak and too dependent upon gags. The 2-D art is good but not spectacular. There’s no wow factor here.

Home On The Range, 2004 - 3.5 stars
2-D art that starts simplistic then gets more complicated as the film progresses. Based around farm life and the west, this film has a timeless feel to it. Fast paced, high on action, light on laughs. Better for younger audiences.

Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas, 1999 – 2 stars
3 short stories pulled together into a 70 min film. The first piece follows Donald with his Nephews and is by far the best. The second short piece follows Goofy and his son and is vaguely annoying. The finally story about Mickey and Mini retells the Gift of the Magi and is uninspired while not actually bad. Good for kids, lacking for adults.

Andrew Breitbart vs. ?

2009-09-20T23:18:00.007-04:00

Andrew Breitbart, the reporter behind breitbart.com, bighollywood, and biggovernment seems to have a plan. In the past couple of weeks he's gone after the jugular of ACORN; tax payer funding. Tomorrow he'll publish new information on if the Obama administration was using the NEA to fund artists to support the president's political agenda. An under the radar story that could contain multiple felonies.

So if Andrew does have a plan, what's his ultimate goal? At first it appeared he was simply after ACORN. Now the story just got a bit larger. Is Andrew spooling out these stories in an attempt to build public pressure on the administration to either drastically alter their agenda or for the president to resign? What else does Mr. Breitbart know and who is his next target?

The Self-Unaware Speaker

2009-08-11T02:01:00.002-04:00

Its takes an amazing lack of self-awareness for the congressional representative of San Francisco to claim that Americans protesting their government are un-American.

Obama really like Nixon?

2009-08-07T17:09:00.002-04:00

Maybe all the Obama to Carter comparisons were wrong. Maybe he's really like Nixon.

Consider his enemies list and using thugs to hassle voters.

WWII level debt spending with Nixon tactics. Awesome.

March Against Government Health Care in Washington

2009-08-06T13:37:00.005-04:00

My modest proposal. It's time to force the hands of big media into covering the outrage of Americans over the proposed government take over of our health care. That's right, time for a march on Washington. Republicans, democrats, independents, the old, the young, blue collar, green collar, no collar. It's time.

Let's welcome congress back from their recess in style with a million person march on the mall in Washington on September 12, 2009. The goal of the march would be to let our elected officials know exactly why the American public doesn't want the government in charge of one sixth of the American economy. And to force the media into covering a true grass roots effort.

Congress and the White House can call us Nazis and add us to a list of enemies but they can not silence us with name calling or threats. Please join us at the mall to let congress and the president know that "freedom" includes the freedom to be free of government intervention in our lives.

Obama has his own Iranian crisis.

2009-08-01T20:05:00.004-04:00

The comparisons between Obama and Carter can certainly be taken too far. But there are some odd similarities: Obama asking us all to lower the thermostat in the winter, asking diners at the White House to pay for lunch, attempting to raise taxes in an economic downtown.

And now there is a new Iranian hostage crisis! I sure hope hyper inflation and disco aren't coming back.

Health Care and ROI Decisions by Tax Income Potential

2009-07-17T15:04:00.006-04:00

Few pundits have discussed in detail one consequence of government run health care: return on investment per future taxable income. Any insurance system requires many more payees then recipients at a given time. Government run health care will be no different. So the question becomes, who is favored and who is not?

The first losers in the ROI equation will be the elderly. Once medicare is expanded to cover all the uninsured, the retired will become less important. Which is the smarter way to spend dollars from the government perspective - on a seventy year old woman who needs hip replacement or a ten year old boy with cancer?

Here is where ROI in a government run system exposes a weakness not present in the ROI undertaken by insurance companies today: future tax income of the recipient. A ten year old with cancer has many possible decades of taxable wages ahead of him. A retiree on medicare has none or very little. And in a system constantly running out of money, does anyone doubt who the government will spend the money on?

The second group to lose out would be the unborn. In order to maximize ROI, genetic testing of pregnant women would be mandated for those on government insurance. With the result being that those with down syndrome or other major genetic defects would have to be aborted or the birth would not be covered. Not only would the birth be expensive but the wage potential of those with genetic mutations would not be worth the investment by the government.

The third group to lose out would be couples, who would now have to seek genetic screening before they could have children. This would actually lead to couples having testing before they even entered into a long term relationship. The equations for marriage desirability would change forever. "What's your DNA?"

The end result of government health care and their ROI decisions would follow Americans from cradle to grave: who would be born, who would get married and which of the elderly would be allowed to receive treatment. Don't believe it? Take a closer look at Canadian or British health care today.

Charlotte Tea Party - Not my cup

2009-07-04T22:29:00.006-04:00

I attended today's Tea Party in downtown Charlotte, NC. I was there to protest the out of control spending that is being undertaken by our government. What I found was a Republican pep rally attended by three to five hundred people. And even though we were in downtown the audience didn't appear very cosmopolitan. I was reminded of the yearly Speed Street that descends upon the city center; big hair, NASCAR and t-shirts with religious slogans. Nothing wrong with that - just not my cup of tea.

Adding to my distrust, the Republican party was out in force: "vote for so-and-so, sign-up for this cause, that cause, down with the democrats!" But from where I'm standing, Republicans are about half the problem. We have a one party country club that functions to serve the needs of its member politicians. Democrat or Republican.

At the end of the day, I'm not at all interested in helping out the Republican party. But the Tea Party folks are the only ones in town protesting out of control spending. So I'm stuck. Do nothing or support a movement that is identified with people and ideas I have little in common with? Such is politics.

Calexico Extended Discography

2009-06-04T13:39:00.002-04:00

For people like me who like to collect all the songs by their favorite bands, Calexico is frustrating. Wikipedia only begins to tell the story. The band has been nice enough to sell their tour only CD's as mp3's on their website. But even that misses a lot of tracks.

So I went through Amazon and iTunes and here's what I found that is not easily available on their website or iTunes band page: (song/album)

Covers and Singles from Various Albums
Drivin' on 9 - Guess Who This Is
Casey's Last Ride - Nothing Left to Lose
Wave - A Salute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs
I send my Love to You - I Am A Cold Rock, I am Dull Grass
Dance of Death - Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey
Carleess - You Can't Always Listen to Hausmusik
Sundown, Sundown - Total Lee
Fruit of the Vine - The Believer Magazine Music CD 2006
Alone Again Or (live) - Austin City Limits Festival

Singles and EPs
Alone Again Or (Love cover sung by Joey Burns & Nicolai Dunger) - Alone Again Or EP (Australian)
Kabong Rides Again - Convict Pool EP (UK)
Lacquer and Drape - Stray single (UK)
Black Heart (Live at the Barbican) - Black Heart EP (UK)

Import Album Bonus Tracks
Recalling Regatta - Feast of Wire Import (UK)
Fallin Rain - Feast of Wire (different) Import (EU)
Landing Field and Cast You Coat - Garden Ruin Import (EU)

Live in Studio Tracks
Not Even Stevie Nicks from WDET LIVE! Vol. 4
The Ride, Part 2 from VPRO's De Avonden: Crossing Border 1998
Quattro (World Drifts In from KFOG: Live From The Archives 14
Ballad of Lupe Montoya - Kxci Live Fdrom Studio 2a Vol.1

Remixes
Black Heart remix EP (UK)
Woven Bird 2 remixes - Alone Again Or single
Minas De Cobre (Extend-O-Mix) and Minas De Cobre (Spatial Mix) - Black Light import (UK)
Untitled 3 (Swordsmen mix) - Peppered With Spastic Magic
Crystal Frontier (Buscemi remix) - Buscemi: Late Night Reworks Vol. 1

Carolina Sweet Tea Party

2009-04-04T14:18:00.010-04:00

Marshall Park - Charlotte, NC. April 4th, 2009.

red(wire) is a piece of shit

2008-12-29T21:14:00.006-05:00

No other way to say it. Red(wire) Is the worse user interface I've ever seen. What the? U2 goes off to make a site to download unique content to raise money to fight AIDS in Africa and you have to download a web 1.0 interface? An interface that won't even give scroll bars for someone using 800/600 resolution (around 48% of all users)!

And then you're stuck having to use the player. You can't burn the content or move it to other players. What a ripoff. Don't reward these people. Keep your money. And that's beside the point that the mag is a celeb ego site where we get to hear about how great these people are and how much they care and are "giving back."

Ugh. Happy new year.. enjoy.

UPDATE: RW sent me an email with info on where to find their data files. For some reason they dump their files into "documents" on Vista. Why there and not data files or downloads? Or Music?

Then their statement on 800/600 made about as much sense: "We're sorry for the trouble. We are in the unfortunate position of having to balance modern resolutions and content with flexibility for every user. Unfortunately, we don't have a way to resolve this issue for you."

Actually they do have a way to resolve my issue; use a scalable GUI such as, I dunno, a standard web browser?

2008-08-25T00:47:00.001-04:00

McCain's sure fire way to get elected: Hillary as his running mate!

2008-06-16T00:28:00.004-04:00

My online life has become a drag on my existence. I have a life. I have a job. But after everyone has gone to sleep, I logon to Facebook and respond to getting poked. I post to my blog. Then I run over to myspace to deny a "friend" request. Then its off to eBay to give "feedback" or to Amazon to check the status of shipments. Then the real work, uploading photos to Flickr, videos to Youtube. But all the editing first!

And who's it all for? Who cares? And why do I spend so of much time worry about? Is it for posterity? For my kids? My ego? Or just boredom? When I'm dead is this what will be left for me to be remembered by? Yikes.

Random Reviews

2008-05-22T00:09:00.004-04:00

Some thoughts on various media I've been into lately.

John Adams - HBO miniseries
Replicates the greatness and flaws of the book. Critics made more noise then was warranted over the skimpy coverage of the Alien and Sedition Act. The greatness of the story lies in the timespan and characters that we are exposed to: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin, etc. John Adams in the lens, America the focus. But the last hour of the series was really pointless. Yeah, everybody gets old and dies. Go figure.

No Country For Old Men- The Coen Brothers
Much darker tone for the Coen's - even compared to Fargo or Raising Arizona. This is a serious move with fantastic acting and direction. The soundtrack, or the lack of one, helps pace this movie perfectly. Western, noir, action, drama; it's all of those and more. A post-modern masterpiece.

The Golden Compass
I understand a lot of fans of the book were disappointed in the film. Since I haven't read the book I was able to relax and enjoy the show. Nothing ground breaking here. Its a mix of the Narnia films with Harry Potter. But the violence was enjoyable and unexpected. I wouldn't recommend this for children under 13. The movie has some serious themes beyond the magic and is worth the viewing. Anti-climatic - but par for the genre.

NIN - The Slip
Been listening to the new NIN album which was released freely by the band. Its decent if a little short - 30 mins plus three instrumentals. Overall a little more than a collection of songs. Regardless, I've paid money for albums not near as good. The sound is a nice mix of hard rock and "industrial" whatever that is these days - a sound mid way between their last two albums. Recommended for fans of Year Zero.

Making Money - Terry Pratchett
In many ways the latest novel from the master of dark comedy is "Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle for dummies." Pratchett manages a very hard tasks for a writer: getting better with age. The amount of wit and humor Pratchett is able to cram into a book about the basic tenets of a modern economy would leave most economists dumbfounded.

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Still digging my way though this disc. DCFC is a band that warrants and rewards playback. So far Narrow Stairs starts strong and rockin' then quickly fades. Bit of a curve ball here from Ben and company. On first listen the songs are mixed much louder then previous albums. I'm not calling this a sellout but I could see were some angry fans would give into the temptation. So far I think its weaker then their previous two.

2008-05-19T22:14:00.001-04:00

More election thoughts; if John McCain beats Obama will it be seen as further evidence of a racist America?

The Ultimate Betrayal?

2008-05-19T17:45:00.003-04:00

So in June, or July, or August, Hillary loses the democratic nomination. Why do we all seem to think she'll just drop out? She could always pull a Lieberman and go independent. John McCain winning in '08 is her best chance for final victory in 2012.

Obama on Fariness

2008-04-26T01:45:00.009-04:00

Youtube of Obama on "fairness." Do we really want the government deciding who the winners and losers are? Haven't they done enough damage in the past?

Murray N. Rothbard in 1967: [redacted and paragraphed]

The cruelest myth fostered is that the Great Society functions as a great boon and benefit to the poor. The poor are the ones to lose their homes to the bulldozer of urban renewal, that bulldozer that operates for the benefit of real estate and construction interests to pulverize available low-cost housing.

The poor are the welfare clientele whose homes are unconstitutionally but regularly invaded by government agents to ferret out sin in the middle of the night. The poor are the ones disemployed by rising minimum wage floors, put in for the benefit of employers and unions in higher-wage areas to prevent industry from moving to the low-wage areas. The poor are cruelly victimized by an income tax that left and right alike misconstrue as an egalitarian program to soak the rich.

The poor are victimized too by a welfare state of which the cardinal macro-economic tenet is perpetual if controlled inflation. Farm programs that supposedly aid poor farmers actually serve the large wealthy farmers at the expense of sharecropper and consumer alike; and commissions that regulate industry serve to cartellize it.

40 years later its hard to argue with this critique.

Global Warming

2008-04-26T01:24:00.003-04:00

I recently had a conversation with an in-law who believes the economy should be re-tooled to correct for man-made global warming. I pulled up quote upon quote of scientific evidence that 1) global warming doesn't exist or 2) isn't man-made.

His response was to shrug - "then why is everyone talking about it? Why does everyone think it's happening?" My answer was because global warming was never the point. Greenhouse gas emissions are just the latest in a decades old war over who will control the commanding heights of the economy.

He countered: "even Newt and President Bush now accept global warming." My turn to shrug. Politicians are not a good source for science. And its obvious the Republicans are pandering. Regardless, I'd presented case after case of scientists questioning global warming. His response was to look at me like I was crazy, because they (everyone else he knows) believes in it.

There is no argument that can combat they. They can not be questioned. Global Warming is turning into a lost cause. Reason and science have no input into the debate. Its a faith.

Amazon Customer Service

2008-04-26T00:59:00.004-04:00

In recent weeks I've had more reasons than I ever wanted to interact with Amazon customer service; half the electronics I'd bought in 2008 decided to die on me in one horrible week.

First off my new 37' JVC flat screen TV. After just over 2 months it just decided one day not to work. The JVC icon would launch when the TV was turned on but then a flash of purple and nothing. So I called Amazon. Turns out I bought the JVC via Amazon but from another vender, Vanns - so Amazon wouldn't help me directly. I contacted Vanns and they explained that since I'd owned the TV more then 60 days (around 65) they wouldn't help. So I had to go to JVC.

JVC directed me to the number of a service dealer who happened to be in the same zip code. That week I called the service dealer, who came out to house the next day! He explained that he'd seen this recently on another JVC flatscreen. There was an apparent grounding problem with some of the boards, no parts were needed. In ten minutes he was done. And all he wanted was a copy of my Amazon receipt. Not impressed with Amazon or Vanns but JVC had a system setup to take care of me.

Then my Amazon Kindle died. After about 3 months of use. The navigation bar stopped working. Amazon troubleshooted with me then agreed that there was no work around. Within two weeks I had a brand new one. Although I do wonder if my frequent buying with Amazon had anything to do with their quick response. If true that will make we want to shop at Amazon even more. A box store will have no idea how loyal a customer I am. But Amazon does by design.

2008-04-20T16:07:00.001-04:00

Neal Stephenson's "Anathem," September 9, 2008. Interesting Wikipedia entry.

2008-04-20T11:56:00.004-04:00

I predict that the Texas polygamy cult case will not end very well - for anyone.

Several fathers and some mothers will go to jail for various abuse charges. Potentially hundreds of children will be permanently removed from their parents - even if no abuse was proved.

Then the state of Texas is going to be sued for violation of the 1st and 4th Amendment rights of the cult members. They will additionally be sued for intentional infliction of emotional damage and malicious prosecution. If the state is lucky, these cases will be lumped together into a class action.

A lot of losers here. Let the mass ambulance chase begin.

2008-04-20T11:55:00.002-04:00

I'm looking forward to the Pope's US tour wrapping up. Although I hear he's coming back for some of the summer festivals.

Bottom Story: Hollywood Still Clueless

2008-03-30T20:45:00.004-04:00

This defense of the poor performance of the new Iraq war movie "Stop Loss" struck me as particularly clueless:

No. 7 Stop-Loss eked out a $4.6M weekend. "It's not looking good. No one wants to see Iraq war movies. No matter what we put out there in terms of great cast or trailers, people were completely turned off. It's a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that's unresolved yet. It's a shame because it's a good movie that's just ahead of its time."

Well actually, the only movies they've "put out there" are all anti-war. According to the studio, the reason Stop-Loss failed was actually the fault of their audience. No wonder video games are kicking their ass.

Iraqi Poll

2008-03-17T16:40:00.002-04:00

Interesting results from an ABC/BBC poll of Iraqis: 49% now say the US was justified in attacking and just 38% want them to immediately withdraw. Someone memo Obama.

Global Warming Roundup

2008-03-14T17:44:00.003-04:00

A look at recent scientific and other developments on the theory of global warming.

From NOAA:
The average temperature across both the contiguous U.S. and the globe during climatological winter (December 2007-February 2008) was the coolest since 2001, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center

From the National Post:

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

"We missed what was right in front of our eyes," says Prof. Russell [of the University of Arizona]. It's not ice melt but rather wind circulation that drives ocean currents northward from the tropics. Climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind's effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over-emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt.

Kenneth Tapping [of the Canadian] National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon. The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850.

Gateway Pundit global warming roundup:

Antarctica Records Record High Ice Cap Growth
South America Has Coldest Winter in a 90 Years
Iraqis See First Snow in 100 Years As Sign of Peace
Worst Snowstorms in a Decade in China Cause Rioting
Jerusalem Grinds to a Halt As Rare Snowstorm Blasts City
Worst Snowstorms in 50 Years Continue to Cripple China
China Suffers Coldest Winter in 100 Years
Pakistan Suffers Lowest Temps in 70 Years-- 260 Dead
Record Cold Hits Central Asia-- 654 Dead in Afghanistan
Severe Weather Kills Dozens in Kashmir
Tajikistan Crisis!! Coldest Winter in 25 Years!
Record Cold Wave Blasts Mumbai, India
Snow and Ice in San Diego?
Wisconsin Snowfall Record Shattered
The Disappearing Arctic Ice Is Back And It's Thick
Turkey's snowiest winter continues.
Record Cold & Snow Blankets Acropolis in Greece (Video)
Longest Ever Cold Spell Kills Cattle & Rice in Vietnam

From the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:

[Note: all comments and quotes from here below are credited to the author linked. My editing reserved to clarifications and syntax]

“New research from Stephen Schwartz of Brookhaven National Lab [US Department of Energy] concludes that the Earth’s climate is only about one-third as sensitive to carbon dioxide as the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assumes.”

The study’s “result is 63% lower than the IPCC’s estimate of 3 degrees C for a doubling of CO2 (2.0–4.5 degrees C, 2SD range). Right now we’re about 41% above the estimated pre-industrial CO2 level of 270 ppm. At the current rate of increase of about 0.55% per year, CO2 will double around 2070. Based on Schwartz’s results, we should expect about a 0.6 degrees C additional increase in temperature between now and 2070 due to this additional CO2.

Paleoclimate scientist Bob Carter, who has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works noted in a June 18, 2007 essay that global warming has stopped. “The accepted global average temperature statistics used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that no ground-based warming has occurred since 1998. Oddly, this eight-year-long temperature stasis has occurred despite an increase over the same period of 15 parts per million (or 4 per cent) in atmospheric CO2.

Second, lower atmosphere satellite-based temperature measurements, if corrected for non-greenhouse influences such as El Nino events and large volcanic eruptions, show little if any global warming since 1979, a period over which atmospheric CO2 has increased by 55 ppm (17 %).”

In August 2007, the UK Met Office was finally forced to concede the obvious: global warming has stopped. They now claim climate computer models predict “global warming will begin in earnest in 2009.

UN scientist Dr. Madhav L. Khandekar, a retired Environment Canada scientist and an expert IPCC reviewer in 2007, explained on August 6, 2007 that the Southern Hemisphere is cooling. “In the Southern Hemisphere, the land-area mean temperature has slowly but surely declined in the last few years."

Dr. Jim Renwick, a top UN IPCC scientist, admitted that climate models do not account for half the variability in nature and thus are not reliable. "Half of the variability in the climate system is not predictable, so we don’t expect to do terrifically well." Another high-profile UN IPCC lead author, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, recently echoed Renwick’s sentiments about climate models by referring to them as “story lines. . . In fact there are no predictions by IPCC at all. And there never have been. The IPCC instead proffers ‘what if’ projections of future climate that correspond to certain emissions scenarios.”

By studying the last 100 years of these cycles' [the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation, and the North Pacific Oscillation] patterns, they [see list below] find that the systems synchronized several times. Further, in cases where the synchronous state was followed by an increase in the coupling strength among the cycles, the synchronous state was destroyed. Then a new climate state emerged, associated with global temperature changes and El Nino/Southern Oscillation variability. The authors show that this mechanism explains all global temperature tendency changes and El Nino variability in the 20th century. Authors: Anastasios A. Tsonis, Kyle Swanson, and Sergey Kravtsov: Atmospheric Sciences Group, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Carbon dioxide did not cause the end of the last ice age, a new study in Science suggests, contrary to past inferences from ice core records. “There has been this continual reference to the correspondence between CO2 and climate change as reflected in ice core records as justification for the role of CO2 in climate change,” said USC geologist Lowell Stott, lead author of the study, slated for advance online publication Sept. 27 in Science Express. “You can no longer argue that CO2 alone caused the end of the ice ages.” Deep-sea temperatures warmed about 1,300 years before the tropical surface ocean and well before the rise in atmospheric CO2."

According to the findings reviewed in this paper [Geophysical Research Letters], the variable output of the sun, the sun’s gravitational relationship between the earth (and the moon) and earth’s variable orbital relationship with the sun, regulate the earth’s climate. The processes by which the sun affects the earth show periodicities on many time scales; each process is stochastic and immensely complex

The study found that times of high solar activity are on average 0.2 degrees C warmer than times of low solar activity, and that there is a polar amplification of the warming. This result is the first to document a statistically significant globally coherent temperature response to the solar cycle. Authors: Charles D. Camp and Ka Kit Tung: Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.

"Of 539 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus [of scientists‘ belief in global warming]. If one considers 'implicit' endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement), the figure rises to 45%. However, while only 32 papers (6%) reject the consensus outright, the largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis. This is no 'consensus."

During the last 10,000 years climate has been seesawing between the North and South Atlantic Oceans. As revealed by findings presented by Quaternary scientists at Lund University, Sweden, cold periods in the north have corresponded to warmth in the south and vice verse. These results imply that Europe may face a slightly cooler future than predicted by IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

An August 2007 NASA temperature data error discovery has lead to 1934 -- not the previously hyped 1998 -- being declared the hottest in U.S. history since records began. Revised data now reveals four of the top ten hottest years in the U.S. were in the 1930's while only three of the hottest years occurred in the last decade.

Team of Scientists Question Validity Of A 'Global Temperature' – The study was published in Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. Excerpt from a March 18, 2007 article in Science Daily: “Discussions on global warming often refer to 'global temperature.' Yet the concept is thermodynamically as well as mathematically an impossibility. "It is impossible to talk about a single temperature for something as complicated as the climate of Earth", Bjarne Andresen says, an expert of thermodynamics. "A temperature can be defined only for a homogeneous system. Furthermore, the climate is not governed by a single temperature. Rather, differences of temperatures drive the processes and create the storms, sea currents, thunder, etc. which make up the climate.” He explains that while it is possible to treat temperature statistically locally, it is meaningless to talk about a global temperature for Earth. The Globe consists of a huge number of components which one cannot just add up and average. That would correspond to calculating the average phone number in the phone book. That is meaningless."

UN IPCC reviewer and climate researcher Dr. Vincent Gray of New Zealand, an expert reviewer on every single draft of the IPCC reports since its inception going back to 1990, had a clear message to UN participants. "There is no evidence that carbon dioxide increases are having any effect whatsoever on the climate," Gray, who shares in the Nobel Prize awarded to the UN IPCC, explained. "All the science of the IPCC is unsound. I have come to this conclusion after a very long time. If you examine every single proposition of the IPCC thoroughly, you find that the science somewhere fails. It fails not only from the data, but it fails in the statistics, and the mathematics," he added.

Spitzer

2008-03-12T17:33:00.005-04:00

Its hard not to take glee in the trials of Elliot Spitzer. But from a legal point of view I don't think what he did should be illegal. It's his 80k.

Whether or not that should disqualify him from office is a totally separate issue. Its amazing to me that someone with so many enemies could get elected to begin with. And at the rate the reports are coming, before this is all over, we'll find out that Spitzer shot Kennedy.

Of course maybe this was his all part of his master plan of getting out of responsibility (and his marriage).

2008-03-12T17:32:00.002-04:00

I've reached a new stage of fatherhood. Yesterday my son threw up on me. Twice. I'm not talking spit up either.

2008-03-12T17:23:00.002-04:00

From Drudge: "Florida wants to regulate amount of toilet paper in bathrooms..."

The most pressing issue of the day.

President's Day

2008-02-19T00:17:00.005-05:00

I celebrated President's day by setting up my flat screen TV. The TV had to fit in my existing cabinet so I went with a 37 inch. But I didn't skimp on resolution: 1080p. Time Warner won't be able to bring me an HD box until Friday so I had to rough it with less then half the resolution the TV could handle. The shame. I spent all day watching. I couldn't pull myself away. Even commercials kept me in amazement. TV reinvented. So thank you American Presidents!

One of the first things I did after setup was to order a movie, September Dawn. I was hoping for a action movie. What I got was a sad parable of religious extremism. Mormon in this case:

The Mountain Meadows massacre involved a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in the Utah Territory by the local Mormon militia in September 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated on September 11, 1857, in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. . .
After escorting the emigrants out of their fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed approximately 120 men, women and children.

From an artistic standpoint the movie's pretty bad. None of the actors stand out, it has the voice of an after-school special about why not to kill people; with the added bonus of a cliche doomed love story and sappy soundtrack to boot. But I did find the history depicted to be engaging and mostly accurate.

September Dawn didn't make me think about Islamists so much as simply reinforce my own prejudice against any religion that applies dogma - okay, any religion. To the Mormon's credit they didn't call for a boycott of the studio or deny involvement.

Afterwards I got sucked into Inside the Vietnam War on Nat Geo. This three hour special, much to my relief, focused on the military history of the war. I also found it refreshing to see the war chronologically. And for once, instead of Berkley sit-ins, we got a documentary on the actual war.

Its frustrating to see how close our armed forces came to winning. Only to be betrayed by the politicos. It is errie how similar the first three years of the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq were - the insurgency, the military victories, the lack of good press coverage. Maybe Vietnam and the rise of alternative media helped inoculate our boys in Iraq from defeat this time around.

Where this documentary failed was to explore in detail how the Vietnam war was actually lost - at home. No mention was made of the post Watergate elected congress that failed to fund the South Vietnamese army - thus betraying the deaths of almost 60,000 US soldiers. Neither was there mention of the one of the largest consequences of cutting and running - the Killing Fields in Cambodia. But I quibble.

So that was my President's Day. Which gets me to thinking about who were the most important Presidents? I read somewhere that most presidencies are failures and that sounds about right. Even important ones historically, say, Wilson or Jackson, were failed administrations.

Obviously, George Washington is in the list of most important. I think he's obvious but he does feel overlooked as of late. Washington held the United States (not just a union of various peoples) together with the strength of his character. And he defied ten thousand years of human history by stepping down from power.

Jefferson makes the list, although his two terms in office were not very remarkable. It was Jefferson's vision that probably kept North American from being carved into a dozen Europeanish states - his demand that the Western states be added on an equal footing as the original 13 colonies. And the Louisiana Purchase didn't hurt.

Lincoln for keeping the Union together.

Teddy Roosevelt for reinventing the power of the Executive. Without Teddy the presidency would not have been prepared, as an office, to deal with the 20th century.

FDR for winning WWII. That's all I give him credit for, but it's enough to get him on the list.

Ronald Regan for reminding all of us about the vision and meaning of being Americans. And winning the cold war. Bush 41 doesn't get that credit in my book.

And since I want to drag this post on even further, the worst of the 20th Century:

Wilson - for that damned League of Nations thing, and helping to set the stage for WWII by letting the French destroy the Germany economy via reparations

Hoover - for failing to take any meaningful steps to address the market crash of 1929

LBJ - for being a coward and refusing to run for re-election when he had troops dying in the field to fight his war

Nixon - for making the tapes

Ford - for not bombing the North Vietnamese when they violated the Pairs peace treaty

Carter - for being Carter

Bush 40 - for "No new taxes"

Clinton - for Rwanda, Hillarycare, the internet bubble, and, well, you know

JFK gets an honorable mention for getting his ass shot before we could know if we was a failure or not.

Bush 42 - it's just too early to tell yet. Wait a generation.

Thats all for now. Blog again next month. Probably.

2008-02-14T01:38:00.003-05:00

The more "C"onservatives bash McCain the more I'm inclined to like him.

2008-01-21T00:07:00.001-05:00

"'[F]reedom of expression doesn't mean the right to offend,' said Maxime Verhagen, the [Dutch] Foreign Minister."

Then what's the point?

2007-12-25T02:01:00.000-05:00

"When I am President, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content," - Hillary Clinton.

[Insert rant about the first amendment and the slippery slope of fascism here]

Not that Mike Huckabee is much better, he wants congress to outlaw the free market assignment of wages.

I just wish someone would run for president without their platform being based upon how America should be changed, voices restricted or the economy re-shaped into their view of fairness. And please stop using "children" as a code word for censorship or to otherwise take away my rights.

Vietnam, War Crimes and Morality

2007-11-18T01:24:00.001-05:00

On a recent flight to DC I sat beside a single serving friend who turned out to be a Vietnam vet. He was traveling to Washington for the 25th anniversary of the Wall. Given the use of a talkative primary source, as my wont, I asked him a bunch of questions.

Early on I established my bona fides by proving to him that I was not totally ignorant of the military history of 'Nam. Which mainly means that I've thrown out most of what I was thought in movies and on TV growing up:

The Tet Offensive was a military victory for the US
The exaggeration of the civilian death toll of the Christmas Bombings
The betrayal of the "Vietnam Congress" ("Faced with funding a $722 million supplement to stave off a collapse of South Vietnam, Congress refused to act.")
That cutting and running can lead to genocide - Cambodia and Pol Pot

Our conversation loosened the vet up and he began to share his personal experiences. The point he kept reiterating that I want to pass on is that Vietnam vets are more successful then non-veterans of the 60's generation. He hated the image of the drugged out hippie war vet. He thought it was myth. This didn't surprise me since the military is currently full of recruits who are more successful then their non-military peers.

What did surprise me was when this vet detailed some of the action he saw. He spoke of going out on twenty man patrols to draw out the enemy - since the modern doctrine of overwhelming force had yet to be developed. His platoon would set out for weeks at a time, occasionally entering into Cambodia. After a time our conversation turned to the Iraq war. This vet held that Iraq would be won or another genocide would occur. It was at this point that he mentioned how much the soldiers hands in Iraq today are tied by lawyers.

To make his point clearer, he stopped to give me an example. To paraphrase: "I mean, we committed war crimes. It had to be done. We'd catch a spy while out on patrol. We couldn't keep him or he'd escape and if we let him go he'd tell his comrades were to find us. So we'd put a bullet in his head. That's a war crime. But what were we supposed to do?"

I was momentarily speechless. It's one thing to contemplate war intellectually. It is another to talk to a man who is an admitted war criminal. I immediately started tossing over in my head the choices. What would I have done? Is the life of one enemy combatant, most likely a war criminal himself, potentially worth the lives of a platoon? I came to the unsettling conclusion that the actions that these vets took were not only correct but moral.

As I contemplate the conversation I held with this man, I'm still shocked. And yet that is the reality of war. And my life is very comfortable and has nothing to do with the reality of reality. Should there be war crimes? Yes. Does that make every violation worthy of being prosecuted? Hell no. So there is that tension in the law. A tension that should never be resolved.

Barry Bonds and Thomas Jefferson

2007-11-16T00:12:00.000-05:00

Been too busy to write on here much. Went to DC for a wedding, saw Davidson college almost kick UNC's ass then tonight I finally got to see The Police live in concert. And in my free time I've been running an eBay store; almost Christmas time again. All and all not a bad couple of weeks - just very busy.

Before I depart for who knows how long, I will say that I had the TV turned on tonight and it just happened to be on NBC News with Brian Williams. The lede surprised me. So, we're a war, in two countries. Iran is pushing the world towards a nuclear crisis. There was a horrible typhoon in Bangladesh. The US market is bouncing all over the place. And the democrats were having a debate to help decide who our next president will be. What did NBC start with? Barry Bonds. Followed by OJ.

It must have been at this point when Rome started to collapse under its own weight. Maybe Jefferson was right: we need a new revolution every generation.

Future Headlines of America

2007-10-24T01:07:00.000-04:00

Future newspaper headlines:

Fires Caused by Global Warming
Soldiers Deployed in Iraq Unable To Help Fight Fires
Al Gore Visits Southern California
Federal Response to Fires Too Little Too Late
California Governor: President Did Not Act Fast Enough
FEMA Under 'Fire'
So Cal Drought Caused by Global Warming

Extra bonus headline from 2006:
So Cal Flooding Caused by Global Warming

The End Times

2007-10-22T14:57:00.000-04:00

As I watch Malibu burn its hard not to think of a Tool song. I blame President Bush.

Online Hotel Reservations

2007-10-22T14:55:00.000-04:00

I had a really bad experience with one of those online hotel reservation systems. I'm trying to get my money back. Now I get to see how their customer service is. I'll keep this updated.

2007-09-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

The nine foot long single-cell sea-weed.

Utah Mine Disaster

2007-08-17T02:18:00.000-04:00

Its past two in the morning but there really isn’t any point in going to sleep. Liam’s gone almost 6 hours since his last meal so I’m waiting for him to wake up and demand food. One of the chief requirement of the human machine While waiting I’ve been watching the news of the Utah mine disaster come across the wires. The second Utah mine disaster.

So far there are three dead. Three of those sent to save six. Yes, the news has a voyeuresque love of disasters and yes, I don’t want to encourage them. But there is something very compelling about this story; Shakespearian. The human loss is hard to comprehend from afar. While the struggle for life is acknowledged and the drama for rescue unquestionable, the actual loss becomes somewhat more nebulous.

To be trapped is to be human. But these men were driven into the Earth to seek the gold (coal) required to support their families. Their limited options and struggle to get ahead drove them underground. Only to become trapped by the wealth they sought to extract. Their air bleeding out, their sight blocked by derbies. I hope it went fast.

Days pass in prayer and fear but no word from the miners. Far up above rescuers drill probes into the earth in a desperate search. They’re hoping to find some link to those men who went into the ground before them. Only each search brings only silence.

Tired with the waiting, more men dig into the dirt to find them. Men of action. So they toiled and bent their backs. Day by day they sought those who went before. But the cruel Earth shook again, its forces vast and disinterested. And in that moment the rescuers were put into mortal peril and three of their number were slain. Many others injured, all shaken.

So now we wait. We mourn and wait for a sign that those who went down before us into the Earth will ever return or show signs of life. And we wait. And wait. But in our hearts we all know that there is no life to be found. Deep in the Earth.

The New Victorians

2007-08-15T23:55:00.000-04:00

How do-good’er fascism is coming to a city near you: (collected this week from Drudge)

CITY CONSIDERS END TO ALCOHOL SALES...

Balloon ban wipes smile off clown's face; children might be allergic to latex...

'Sagging pants' law to take effect...

Behavior Detection Screeners At Airports; Danger In Facial Expressions...

Dutch Bishop to Christians: Call God 'Allah' to make peace with Muslims...

Plastic bubbles coming next.

pneumonia

2007-08-14T00:56:00.000-04:00

For everyone wondering what happened to me…. turns out I have pneumonia. I’ve been at home resting as best I can. I got to the doctor tomorrow for a follow-up. I’m hoping to get a time table if nothing else. Also tomorrow I visit my Ophthalmologist to check out if my eye’s improving. Besides that nothing else has been really going on.

The market’s down, the heat’s up. . . hell of a summer. And daytime TV still sucks.

If the hills have eyes I want them

2007-08-01T01:10:00.000-04:00

I feel like the beginning of the Simpson’s movie; itchy and scratchy. And its hard not to feel lied to. When I got cataract surgery on my right eye 6+ years ago I was told it was a simple procedure with a high success rate. As of today I’ve had my third corrective surgery.

The first two surgeries were yags. The fact that I had two yags in the same eye was apparently rare enough that my ophthalmologist documented it for possible publication. I’m just that kind of guy when it comes to my eyes. Today’s surgery was for filamentary keratitis; which I’d never heard of.

Sunday night I noticed that my right eye itched constantly. By Monday afternoon I was taking Visine and hoping I didn’t have conjunctivitis. By Tuesday morning I knew something was seriously wrong. My eye was swollen, red, sensitive to light and in pain.

As best I can understand it, a piece of my cornea broke off and filled itself into wounds on the surface of my healthy cornea. These broken pieces of cornea implanted themselves in the gouges on the surface of my eye and continued to grow outward until I felt their presence. At which time they became infected.

Like the yags, fk was most likely a side effect of that years old cataract surgery. The gift that keeps on giving. More depressing is that last year I finally had cat surgery on my left eye. And I already have a yag that needs removal. Will FK be next? FK is not actually a disease, it’s a symptom of another condition and one that will probably reoccur.

KF, rp, cataracts, yags, astigmatism. Dare I ask what’s next?

Survey

2007-07-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

I don’t usually do these but why not? I added a few of my own questions at the bottom.

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?

'Have you ever kissed someone?'
'Missed someone?'
'Told someone you loved them?'
'Drank alcohol?'

Here are some questions for the people who are a little more mature...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Daycare

2. What's the best place to eat a romantic dinner?
In Charlotte? Carpe Diem.

3. Last time you puked from drinking?
No comment

4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar?
Never danced on a bar

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
No idea.

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Touring southern Spain

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An astronaut

8. How many colleges did you attend?
Two

9. Why did you wear the shirt that you have on right now?
What shirt?

10. GAS PRICES
Oil companies make 10 cents per gallon. The government makes 45 cents per gallon. The government investigates the oil companies. Who investigates the government?

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you...
A sandy island with interesting people and intellectual things to do.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
My alarm was my son. And first thought was what he needed

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Work

15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?
None on at all

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
All of them. Cleaning the bathroom probably highest.

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer at an art gallery?
No. I hate most of the people that show up at art galleries

18. Get up early or sleep in?
Sleep in

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?
Eric Cartman

20. Favorite NON sexual thing to do at night with a girl/guy?
Go out to a lounge or club

21. A secret that you wouldn't mind everyone knowing?
I’m a vegan

22. Are you planning on remaining in your current field?
Yes.

23. If you are not married, do you see yourself married in the next five years?
I am and yes.

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
Roast beef

25. What do you get every time you go into a WalMart?
I hate Wal-mart because the lights give me a headache. But its usually baby related. I avoid it when possible. But damn those prices. They suck me back in.

26. Beach or lake?
Beach

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual that was invented by people who died at 20?

No. But the success of marriage is economically related. The divorce rate among the upper middle class is a quarter of what it is for the poor. Marriage additionally appears to be a genetically programmed desire - given the spread of the custom over all world cultures. But so, apparently, is adultery.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Chocolate

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
The Spice Girls Movie

31. What's your drink?
A good ale

32. Cowboys or Indians?
I’m not into the village people

33. Cops or Robbers?
Two sides of the same coin

34. Do you cheer for the bad guy in a movie?
Sometimes. Especially if he’s a cartoonish cutout of evil. Just like me.

35. What Hollywood star do you think resembles you best?
Brad Pitt of course

36. If you had to pick one, which cast member of Lost would you be?
Sawyer

37. What do you want when you are sick?
To sleep

38. Who from high school would you like to run into?
Teachers who thought I wouldn’t amount to anything

39. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
I don’t drive

42. Norm or Cliff?
Norm

43. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons?
Simpsons

44. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
My first wife

45. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
I work from home

46. If you could get away with it, whom would you kill?
Dictators everywhere

47. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Chuck Palahniuk

48. What famous person would you like to sleep with?
Kieran Chetry

49. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
No. But I want to

50. Last book you read for real?
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

51. Do you have a teddy bear?
I’ve bought some for my son

52. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
The bathroom.

53. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
Hollywood

54. Number of texts in a day?
0

55. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or relationship?
Career

57. Pencil or pen?
Pen

58. bueller??? bueller??? bueller???
Save Ferris

59. How many jobs have you had?
5 since college

60. Are you where you thought you would be at this age?
Further

61. Last CD you purchased
I don’t buy CD’s, I get most my music from Emusic or Itunes. I just bought Interpol’s Our Love to Remember. Also just got the new White Stripes and the new Spoon record. And I’ve been spinning Alt-Ctnl-Sleep.

62. How many car crashes have you been in?
Eight

63. If you don’t have kids do you want them?
I have one and want another

64. Do you have insurance?
Yes

65. Do you go to church or other religious services regularly?
No and I don’t feel guilty about it

66. Are you registered to vote?
Yes

MSM: London Bombing Caused by Iraq War

2007-06-30T12:01:00.000-04:00

It was a lazy Saturday morning so I decided to stay in bed and watch TV. I ended up flipping between CNN and MSNBC for the latest info on the attempted London car bombings. Fox Saturday mornings are filled with their lame business programming so I didn’t the “fair and balanced” take. What struck me about CNN and MSNBC's programming was how often they invoked the war in Iraq in their coverage. The subtext was “it’s all our fault.” This despite the fact the previous Islamic terrorists in Britain have been Pakistani not Iraqi.

MSNBC showed their ignorance by wondering if the terrorists had learned how to build their car bombs while in Iraq. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that car bombs in Iraq are much more sophisticated then the gas and nails used in the foiled London bombings. In Iraq cars are packed with explosives manufactured or designed in Iran. Not by unprofessional terrorists who couldn’t figure out how to properly lite gasoline. As for the car bomb, it was not, like MSNBC would have us believe, a terrorist tactic of middle east origin. Car bombs were an invention of the, wait for it, Irish Republican Army.

The next civil rights movement

2007-06-23T13:44:00.000-04:00

I often hear from talking heads that “gay marriage” is a threat to traditional marriage. And yet there are many more realistic reasons why the institution of marriage is failing:

“[T]here’s much loose talk in the popular literature about atmospherics such as today’s lack of commitment, but consider the possibility that men are refusing to marry women because the risks are too great. Men have become broadly aware that they can be arrested and thrown out of their own homes on hearsay, and that their chances of prevailing in a child custody battle are small. With the presumption and the weight of the political bureaucracy against them, men have made what amounts to an economic decision to avoid situations that expose them to loss and ruin.”

The Democratic Road to Serfdom

2007-06-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Mr. Smith it appears that you're more than qualified for a job with the Bank. However, we pulled a routine police report and have some questions. Can you explain the following anti-social behavoirs?

July, 2006: ran a red light in central London
August 2006: caught speeding by a camera
April 2007: warned by remote CCTV for not throwing away a bottle in a recycler
June 2007: caught by hidden garbage camera for putting your trash out too early

T-Rex vs. Man

2007-06-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

You can't make this stuff up:

"The bulk of the fossiliferous layers are really an order of burial, not a record of millions of years. So the fossil layers often called the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and so on that contain dinosaur fossils were laid down over the course of a year about 4,400 years ago. . . Human fossils have been found in the layers often called the lower Pleistocene and Pliocene¹ (which most creationists consider post-Flood probably during the dispersion from Babel less than 4,200 years ago)! So looking at the layers from a biblical perspective, fossils of man and dinosaurs were formed within 200–500 years of each other!"

Uh. . . It's one thing to believe in a creator etc. But to believe the earth was built in 7 days and is 6000 years old?

Bono's Fading Career as a Lobbyist

2007-06-10T01:05:00.000-04:00

“As the G8 leaders left the Baltic town of Heiligendamm, Bob Geldof, the anti-poverty campaigner and rock star, called them ‘creeps’ and denounced their work as a ‘total farce’. . . [Bono and Geldof] singled out the Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper for blocking pledges for more aid.”

Bono’s complaint is actually one of access. Harper is the first major Western leader to refuse to meet with the some time rock star. Which just goes to show that Mr. Harper has learned the first rule of staying in elected office; limit access to only those who have no (perceived) power to hurt the administration.

Harper learned this lesson from watching his predecessor. Paul Martin met with Bono often, promised much, but rarely delivered. So during the last Canadian national elections Bono spent a lot of effort criticizing Martin over his broken promises. To what degree Bono hurt Martin's campaign is unclear. But it is obvious now that it cost Bono.

At the latest G8 summit Harper refused to meet with Bono, saying, "I’ve got to say that meeting celebrities isn’t kind of my shtick, that was the shtick of the previous guy.” This was a savvy move by the Prime Minister because it appeals to his conservative base and isolates his administration from Bono’s meddling.

What Harper started others will follow. Once Bono proved that he could provide not just the carrot of photo-ops but the stick of impacting elections, his days as an affective lobbyist were numbered. He just hasn't realized it yet.

Explaining the War

2007-06-07T00:08:00.000-04:00

Here's some context you're not going to see on the nightly news.

F the FCC

2007-06-05T00:38:00.000-04:00

Sweet:

"In a majority opinion written by Judge Rosemary Pooler, the appeals court said all speech covered by the FCC's indecency policy is fully protected by the First Amendment."

What a shame. Might as well close the FCC doors with that one. That's 1 point against the nanny state. Of course we're still losing the war.

Hitchens vs. Falwell

2007-06-03T02:34:00.001-04:00

I just got around to watching Christopher Hitchens’ now infamous interview on CNN discussing the legacy of Jerry Falwell. It made a big splash a couple of weeks ago because Hitchens was saying what a lot of people were thinking but afraid to admit: they were glad Falwell was dead.

Of course one has to question the timing of Hitchens’ latest tirade – he’s out pimping his New York Times best seller God is Not Great. What better way to sell more units then to make a splash pissing off the red-staters? And of course its easier to pick on the dead.

As a fellow atheist I often agree with Hitchens. But I found reason to disagree with him here. For one, Hitchens painted Falwell as a schemer turning profits by appealing to the worst fears of people easily parted from their money. As a former member of that great institution loosely termed “fundamentalist” Christianity, I find it hard to believe that Falwell was not sincere in his faith.

Did Falwell use his faith to amass personal wealth, power and prestige? Of course. But none of that excludes the very real possibility that he was self-deluded into thinking that he was in fact doing g*d’s work. Which is scarier and harder to comprehend then Hitchens often un-nuanced view of the religious world.

I also find reason to disagree with Hitchens in his over reaching belief that religion, specifically Christianity, has had a largely negative impact throughout history. Religion is really a short-hand of describing culture. Which came first? It’s the chicken or the egg all over. Religion is the official codification of cultural values. Over time these values turn into traditions with forgotten origins. Is the collected rule and belief structure of an ancient society good or evil? I find that question meaningless.

If religion is evil or not is dependent upon the time, circumstance and outcome in question. F. A. Hayek, also an atheist, in his equally infamous The Road to Serfdom, credited the creation of Western society to the mixing of the forces of Christianity with Greek and Roman philosophy. In that regard, everything I am thankful for, scientific progress, Enlightenment values, living in a democracy, are to a degree, thankful to a silly death cult.

In the end Hitchens comes off as a bully. A bully who’s right. But still an ass unlikely to convince anyone.

The Rule of Law

2007-06-01T00:48:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post carried a recent story about a SCOTUS decision were a female supervisor at a Goodyear plant alleged that she was paid less then her male counterparts. She stated that the income discrimination occurred over a period of decades. But under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this offense would needed to have been pursued within 180 days after the violation initially occurred.

Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion stating that “"[w]e apply the statute as written, and this means that any unlawful employment practice, including those involving compensation, must be presented . . . within the period prescribed by the statute."

The Washington Post continues: “[t]he decision moved Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to read a dissent from the bench, a [sic] usually rare practice. . . to criticize the majority for opinions that she said undermine women's rights.” Not a surprising sentiment from Ginsburg considering she was the ACLU’s lead feminist lawyer in the 1970’s.

But my interest here is not so much in the merits of the case. I’m more concerned about what Ginsburg had to say about the majority’s opinion. She came across as being most concerned with the affect this case would have on “women’s rights.” Which to me shows a disturbing lack of respect for the rule of law. Her role as a Supreme Court Justice is to faithfully uphold the Constitution, not to try and undermine laws she disagrees with.

In reality, this case was more about power then sexism. To Ginsburg it is within the power of the Court to reject laws, not for their constitutionality but their results. Ironically, Ginsburg went on to call for “Congress to correct what she sees as the court's mistake.” The mistake being that the Court accepted the authority of Congress to write our laws.

Congress Outlaws Capitalism

2007-05-23T22:04:00.000-04:00

House passes gasoline (anti) gouging bill.

According to Wikipedia, a "commodity is something that is relatively easily traded, that can be physically delivered, and that can be stored for a reasonable period of time. It is a characteristic of commodities that prices are determined on the basis of an active market, rather than by the supplier (or other seller) on a "cost-plus" basis. Examples of commodities include not only minerals and agricultural products such as iron ore, crude oil, ethanol, sugar, coffee, aluminium, rice, wheat, gold, diamonds."

But the House wants to make the rise in the price of commodities illegal. Good luck with that.

Slippery Slope I Can Get Behind

2007-05-23T21:16:00.000-04:00

"At issue is the scheduled expiration on November 1 of a law, initially enacted in 1998, that says local governments generally cannot tax Internet access."

"If a moratorium is made permanent, there is a slippery slope where other industries will seek their own preemptions of state laws," said David Quam, director of federal relations for the National Governors Association."

Now that's a slippery slope I can get behind.

Jack Bauer Arrest Warrant

2007-05-22T01:16:00.000-04:00

***spoiler alert***

To: All LAPD officers
From: Los Angeles County DA
Re: The following crimes occurred between 4:00 AM to 6:00AM

For immediate release

CTU, a before unknown federal agency, has provided the District Attorney of Los Angeles County with information about a series of crimes committed by a former CTU agent, Jack Bauer.

Between 4:00 and 6:00 AM Mr. Bauer committed a series of federal and state crimes before he escaped federal custody. The following is an abbreviated list of Mr. Bauer’s latest crimes:

Interfering with federal officers during the execution of their duties
Assault with a deadly weapon against two federal officers
Kidnapping charges for holding one of the federal officers against his will in his vehicle
Flight from the scene of a vehicular crime
Escape from federal protective custody
Theft of federal property (assault rifle, handguns and ammunition)
Assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer (pilot)
Theft of federal property (helicopter)
Directing an unsafe use of an aircraft in violation of FAA rules
Willfully entering an approved emergency no-fly-zone
Illegal access to classified federal government electronic documents
Various violations of the Patriot Act
Trespassing
Discharge of a firearm while committing a felony
Treason: interference with the direct orders of the acting President of the United States in the face of clear and present danger
Breaking and entering a private home
Assault with a deadly weapon on homeowner
Kidnapping of said homeowner
Repeated over-acting
Failure to submit a TPS report

Mr. Bauer insists that he did “what he thought was right at the time.” This phrase was accompanied by a stern look and quick nod of the head.

Mr. Bauer should be approached with extreme caution. He is at large and considered armed and dangerous. Report any sightings of Mr. Bauer immediately to the FBI.

Possible locations: Mr. Bauer might be found in the vicinity of known associates Chloe O’Brien or Bill Buchannan. Or at one of several local area gay bars.

Transference Prehaps?

2007-05-20T00:59:00.000-04:00

“Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is ‘the worst in history’ in international relations.”

Well that’s rich of him. Makes me wonder how many of the problems that the nation faces today are actually the legacy of President Carter. Everyone would admit that the Iran hostage crisis was bungled. But don’t forget that his response to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR was to not allow our athletes to participate at the 1980 Summer Olympics. What backbone!

To counter the mess Carter left in Iran the Regan administration armed Iraq and helped Islamic guerrillas fight the USSR in Afghanistan. These events lead to the rise of two specific people that have haunted the nation: Saddam Hussein and UBL.

But besides Carter’s direct involvement in the genesis of the current war, he’s incorrect on other grounds; America has a rich history of bad international relations. LBJ and his failed war comes to mind. Woodrow Wilson and his gutted League of Nations, John Adam’s quasi-war with France. Lincoln had to wait until after the battle of Gettysburg to convince England not to recognize the C.S.A. And don’t forget James Madison’s War of 1812 – which lead to the burning of the US Capitol.

As much hatred as Bush incites, he hasn’t caused our capitol to be razed. What he has done is alienate some “allies.” But this was largely for showing to the world how unimportant both they and their institutions are. As to President Carter, no matter how many Nobel Peace prizes he wins or statements he makes, he will never be remembered as anything more then the most hapless president of the 20^th century.

Moderate Islam

2007-05-16T23:02:00.000-04:00

The next time you hear the Dixie Chics talk about they were “censored” by people disagreeing with them, consider the following:

Algerian playwright Abdelkader Alloula killed by Islamic extremists
Algerian writer Tahar Djaout murdered by the Armed Islamic Group
Bangladeshi author and doctor Taslima Nasreen threatened by Islamic fundamentalists
Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh murdered by Moroccan Islamists in Amsterdam
Egyptian police seize "blasphemous" books from publisher
Egyptian writer, human rights defender and columnist Farag Foda shot dead by militants from a fundamentalist group
In Egypt, preacher, Manal Manea is sentenced to three years in prison for atheism and blasphemy against Islam
In Egypt, writer, Salaheddin Mohsen is sentenced to three years in prison for atheism and blasphemy against Islam
Iranian cartoonist Manouchehr Karimzadeh in prison for illustration
Iranian painter cannot publicly exhibit her work
Jordanian playwright arrested for critical article
Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the victim of an attempted assassination by Islamic extremists
Saudi Arabian poet Sadiq Melallah beheaded
Writer Haydar Haydar declared an apostate and sentenced to death by Islamists in Egypt for his book "A Banquet for Seaweed"
Youssef Sebti, Algerian sociologist, writer and poet assassinated by Islamist activists

Major "TV Network" political poll

2007-05-16T22:48:00.000-04:00

I got polled yesterday on behalf of a “major TV network.” Here are some of the questions and my responses (approximately):

Q: Which are you more, Liberal or Conservative? A: Both? Neither? I don’t believe those are all of the valid choices. Q: So you’re a moderate? A: no!

Q: Are you a Republican or Democrat? A: Neither. Q: So you’re independent? A: If that’s what you want to call me

Q: Do you consider yourself pro-life or pro-choice? A: pro-choice, but anti-roe v. wade. Q: Pro-choice? A: Yes (sigh)

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of the President? A: yes and no? Q: can you pick one? A: yes. Given a yes or no choice I answered yes because this question is really a about whether or not I support the war. And while I don’t think the president has done a good job he is on the right side of history.

Q: If the election were held today who would you vote for on the Democratic side? A: Bill Richardson

Q: If the election were held today who would you vote for on the Republican side? A: Fred Thompson

Q: Of the following candidates, which ones speak what they actually believe and who speaks what they believe will get them elected?
Obama: A: what will get him elected
Q: Clinton: A: what will get her elected
Q: Giuliani: A: what will get him elected
Q: McCain: A: what he believes (I just disagree a lot)

Q: From a list of former presidents, who should the next president be more like: JFK, Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush? A: Ronald Regan

Q: Does a candidate’s religion affect your impression of him or her? A: No

Q: What republican candidate is a Mormon? A: Oh what’s his name? He’s a former governor from the Northeast. Mitt Romney.

Q: Would his religion keep you from voting for him? A: No

Q: Is abortion a deciding factor in who you vote for? A: no

In the world this survey came out of, every issue is binary. Disturbing.

Bono on American Idol

2007-04-26T00:19:00.000-04:00

Bono was on American Idol tonight pushing his spending-money-can-cast-out-poverty faith healing tour. To bad LBJ was too dead to comment on his failed attempt at the "great society." That was back when people still thought that massive redistribution of wealth actually, you know, helped combat poverty. I know, hard to believe, but they really did think that. And Bono still does:

The ONE Campaign derives its name from the belief that allocating an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries.

Concrete high-rise housing and inner-city crime is hopefully optional.

So there Bono stood with the 6 American Idol finalists. He looked really out of place. And a bit nervous. He shared a moment of Bono mythology with the group, his first visit to Africa. I found it darkly amusing. I was struck by how seriously Bono takes himself. He’s not a person anymore. He’s the CEO of the Bono brand. A brand that buys happy feelings of accomplishment without commitment or sacrifice. Kinda like going to Burger King.

What a change a decade will make. Back in the early 90's Bono would telephone George Bush from stage while on tour. Now he is George Bush. I never thought I'd say this, but in comparison, I liked the clueless rebel he used to be a lot more then the false hope crusader he’s become.

Incumbent Protection Plan

2007-04-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Looks like the free speech restrictions of McCain-Feingold may end up in the Constitutional bit bucket. Even if that hopeful event occurs I will not be swayed from my negative opinion of John McCain.

“The law prohibits interest groups from running corporate-funded radio and TV ads that mention a candidate's name within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. . . advocacy groups could still run the ads as long as they are financed with funds from political groups that comply with federal limits and disclosure requirements.”

In actuality McCain-Feingold became the law favored by the big left and right PACs because it kept the little guys out of the election. The law made it easier for big unions and think tanks to sway voters because the government had silenced their opponents. How is this law good for democracy?

You Make Your Own Karma

2007-04-22T00:02:00.000-04:00

As the National Geographic show Seconds from Disaster demonstrates, all disasters are series of individual acts. Change any event in the cycle and its possible to avoid disaster Thus, my Friday evening.

After a night on the town I ended back in my hood, NoDa. I was there to meet Bryan and watch a local band play Bob Dylan covers. An interesting non-plot aside, I got slammed from behind by a drunk girl, almost making me fall to the ground. While listening to a Bob Dylan cover band. Folk music ain’t what it used to be. I blame Paul Simon.

As the evening wound down we grabbed a cab back to Bryan’s house. When the evening came to an eventual end I couldn’t get a cab to pick me up from downtown. It was frustrating; I could see cabs driving out on Graham and Church streets but none would come back into the fourth ward neighborhood.

So I decided to use my cane and hike out to 5th Street. Only when I got to the corner of 8th and Poplar my Karma caught up with me. A water seal had been removed from the road, leaving a deep 6 inch wide pothole. My left foot went into the hole while the rest of my body continued to move forward.

I fell to my hands and knees in the middle of the crosswalk. Unfortunately my foot stayed locked in the pothole. Even before I struggled back to my feet I knew that I’d suffered an injury that couldn’t be simply walked off. Something felt broken. It was at this moment that my missing cab finally showed up. Seconds from disaster indeed.

An hour later in the ER I was thankfully informed that I hadn’t broken my leg, just sprained various muscles in my foot, ankle and lower leg. The doctor wrote me a prescription for pain meds and the nurse braced my leg and gave me a pair of crutches. To which I held up my cane and asked her if she could also supply me with a third arm. In theory I’ve been left with the choice of walking with crutches and not seeing where I’m going or walking with my cane. In horrible pain. And they say life is all about choices.

Before yet another cab picked me up to take me home from the hospital, I requested help getting to a bathroom. A nurse got me into a wheelchair and pushed me backed into a restroom. Before she left she told me to pull a red cord to let her know when I was done. So I did what I needed to do then pulled the cord. Nothing happened. I was trapped in a Seinfeld episode.

I struggled my weight up onto one leg. Only the wheelchair lay between me and the door. So I had to maneuver around the chair. But once I reached the door I couldn’t open it because of where the wheelchair was located. A series of painful and graceless movements later I finally escaped. When my nurse finally arrived she asked me why I hadn't just pulled the cord.

Now I'm left with two weeks of crutches, pain and a giant staircase. All you can do is laugh. Only it hurts when I laugh. Fate has had her way with me. Now leave me alone. Please.

No vegetables were harmed in the telling of this story

The VT Shooting. And Bono

2007-04-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

What is there left to say? One observation: I wish the media wasn’t so obviously happy to have a massacre to report on. A double treat, high ratings and a shooting they didn’t have to leave the green zone to cover. Would it have been possible for the MSM to just once resist the urge to turn a tragedy into a “national dialog?”

Now we have to deal with every news analyst who ever took a psychology class in college telling us how this is a product of our “culture of violence.” They’ll inevitably produce a poll showing that the majority of Americans are in favor of restricting the Second Amendment.

I bet the media didn’t poll the American public about how they felt about the freedom of the press. Regardless, the fact that Americans are willing to give up our freedoms in the face of a single horrible incident is exactly why we have a written Constitution. To resist the “rabble” that the media gets so much currency out of rousing.

I just hope to god Bono doesn’t have anything to say about the shootings. He’ll go off telling us how we don’t understand the Declaration of Independence again. Or write some song about the massacre.

NIN

2007-04-17T00:54:00.000-04:00

The new NIN record is sub-par crap. Not totally, but generally. It’s a concept album (strike 1) about the future (strike 2) and intended as a critique of the Bush administration (strike 3).

Its as if artists are willing to throw out their dedication to craft in a mad rush to get product out proving their hatred of the president; re: A Perfect Circle. Further, it’s probably possible to create a “hate bush-o-meter” that will peg where an artist is in their career and determine how much Bush hatred is expected of them.

David McCullough

2007-04-17T00:50:00.000-04:00

Its just plain on reading David McCullough that he's a much better writer and historian then Stephen Ambrose. Where McCullough paints historically significant figures as complicated characters torn between selfishness and their desire to achieve, Ambrose, assuming the subject is a famous American, goes out of his way to white-wash the subject of any hint of impropriety.

McCullough’s comparison of the second and third presidents of the United States in his phenomenal John Adams is one example of his superior ability. Jefferson is widely regarded as one of the greatest Americans of all time. Where John Adams is hardly remembered. Yet McCullough shows that to explore the biography of one these men is to know the other.

The two future presidents met at the first Continental Congress. In 1776 Adams was the driving force behind Congress deciding to draft a declaration of independence. It was Jefferson who wrote it. Adams and Jefferson worked together to get the British to sign the Pairs peace treaty of 1783, ending the war. They both served in Washington’s government. Adams was Washington’s Vice President, Jefferson was his Secretary of State. In 1796 Adams beat Jefferson to become President. In 1800 Jefferson beat Adams.

It is in their deaths that the two become truly distinct. In a strange twist of fate they both died on July 4th, 1826. Adams, the son of a small town farmer, died surrounded by his extended family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His estate was worth over 100,000 1826 dollars. Jefferson, the son of wealthy plantation owners, died surrounded by his slaves and servants. His estate eventually closed out 100,000 dollars in debt. Monticello sold for a fraction of its construction cost.

That is the type of nuance Ambrose was just not capable of producing.

The Don Imus Affair

2007-04-15T23:42:00.001-04:00

It strikes me as something more than coincidence that the Don Imus affair broke the same week that the charges were dropped against the Duke lacrosse players. Its as if the news media couldn’t work fast enough to bury the Duke story.

2007-04-11T22:49:00.000-04:00

The cholera, or whatever the hell I had, is over. So I can finally eat more than BRATs – bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. But now Liam has his first medical condition, eczema. Poor guy. Between the two I haven't slept much in the last week.

2007-04-08T23:32:00.000-04:00

Stomach flu is an effective if unwelcome way to lose weight.

2007-03-29T23:50:00.000-04:00

Back from a mini-vacation. I'll try to post some pics this coming week. And get back to blogging.

Headlines

2007-03-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

Reading the news so you don't have to. Once again via Drudge:

China's Hu heads to Russia urgently seeking fuel
I hope he likes poisoned fuel!

Eminem goes to court to shut up ex-wife Kim Mathers
In court? This from the singer featured in Smack That?

TMZ: Mel Gibson Goes Ballistic -- 'Lady, F**k Off!'
4 year old girl to sue

Havana's former grandeur decays and crumbles
The glory of the Revolution

New York City environmentalists eliminate toilet paper in effort to save the planet
Ah, that’s why hippies smell

6th Graders Vote that Global Warming is not caused by humans
Al Gore must have given a speech there

Woman re-interprets Koran with feminist view
Okay everyone, set you watches for the riot

LA Airport Workers Accused of Theft
US Air has no comment

School bans pupils from MySpace!
Plastic bubble suits in the mail

Global War-ing

2007-03-23T12:51:00.000-04:00

From the mouths of babes:

Humans don’t cause global warming, a jury of sixth graders at Trail Ridge Middle School concluded Thursday after hearing opposing arguments from their peers.

2007-03-22T01:39:00.000-04:00

"[E]verything is beautiful. Yet every place swarms with beggars." - John Adams on his first visit to France, April 8th, 1778.

2007-03-21T01:19:00.000-04:00

Dr. Helen has a bumper sticker post up thats thought provoking. Which just reminded me that I've always hated bumper stickers. I feel that 1) there's not one single statement that can convey who I am and 2) if you want to know something personal about me, you need to actually know me.

Having said that, there is one bumper sticker I could get behind:

I hate bumper stickers

2007-03-17T01:51:00.001-04:00

Wouldn't it be just our luck that the cure to cancer kills lab rats?

More Headline Trashing

2007-03-15T02:40:00.000-04:00

Selective Drudgereport trolling:

GILDED AGE: $1,000 PIZZA AT NYC RESTAURANT
Either that or Carter got re-elected

9/11 SUSPECT 'CONFESSES' TO 29 PLANNED ATTACKS...
Planned assassination attempts against former Presidents Carter, Clinton
At least then pizza wouldn’t cost 1000 dollars

'Emergency' War Funding Bill Loaded With Pork
At least we aren’t, you know, at war

Feds call for stronger warnings on sleep drugs
Like: don’t use sleep drugs with cocaine

CHRIS ROCK UNLEASHED
You mean he was tame before?

Backlash against advertising with suicide themes
Cannibalism and men bashing still okay

VIDEO: John Edwards On Global Warming: 'It'll make world war look like heaven'
Jesus told him

CHIQUITA Banana Charged in Terror Investigation
Exploding bananas

The girl whose hair was too big for her mugshot
I too sexy for my mugshot, for my mugshot

More men report sexual harassment in workplace
To quote Borat, “very nice.”

ABCNEWS Climate Reporter: 'Scientists tell us civilization as we know it is over'
Sweeps come early. . . and I feel fine

Global warming blamed for cockroach migration
John Edwards and ABC “climate” reporter have no comment

The Global Warming God

2007-03-12T16:48:00.000-04:00

Select Drudgereport headline commentary. Headlines valid as of 4:30

Dems May Fight White House for CIA Leak Case Testimony...
What? Our two political parties are fighting? OH MY GOD

RUSSIA DELAYS IRAN NUKE PLANT FOR LACK OF PAYMENT
The true Russian heart exposed

Congress to investigate HALLIBURTON's move to Dubai...
All other issues solved

Peace activists camp outside Pelosi's San Francisco home...
So now peace activists have taken over San Fran too?!?!?!

HILLARY: I'M THE JFK OF 2008...
Uh. . . The bay of pigs part perhaps?

Obama: 'Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people'...
Which ones? The Palestinians fighting Hamas, the ones fighting Fatwa or the ones fighting Israel?

GORE: MY TV NETWORK WILL HELP SAVE DEMOCRACY...
From what? Lack of cable news channels?

WAR: DEMS PULL OUT OF FOXNEWS DEBATE...
Dems decide they don’t need votes

OPRAH'S SCHOOL 'TOO STRICT': No treats allowed; 'Surely this isn't a prison?'; 'It was a nightmare'...
There’s a little fascist inside us all

MYSPACE TO OFFER NEWS SERVICE...
At least Myspace doesn’t claim to save democracy

NEW HOLLYWOOD BAD GUYS: ENVIRONMENTAL VILLAINS...
Like all the Hollywood stars that produce more CO2 in one private flight then the average American does in a year? That would make the most evil man alive John Travolta

Chavez: Capitalism 'the road to hell'...
Socialism couldn’t figure out how to build a road there

Snoop Dogg arrested in Sweden on drug suspicion...
Snoop Dogg is not a drug

Sun Blamed for Warming of Earth -- and Other Worlds...
Halliburton caused Mars to die

Dead chickens as power-plant fuel?...
Burns like chicken

Scientists threatened with death for 'climate denial'...
The new religion and their Inquisition. But they don’t burn people on stakes anymore, releases too much carbon. They run over them with hybrid cars

Man building eco-friendly house entirely from 13,500 recycled wine bottles...
This sounds like a rationalization to me. . . Hey, give me another bottle please. . . for the environment

Muslim cleric blames drought, climate change on Australians' lack of faith in Allah...
The Global Warming God

Goes Without Saying

2007-03-11T23:26:00.000-04:00

I had rather a random weekend. Much of which I shouldn’t mention here for the various reasons of non-disclosure agreements and the threat of lawsuits. But I’ll try to hit the high points.

Saturday I made it out to see Bill Mallonee perform at the Evening Muse. A decade ago he’d have been banging out rock`n roll and jumping around the stage with his band, Vigilantes of Love. For now, Bill’s retired the electric guitars. He’s playing folk music and singing harmony with his wife, Muriah Rose.
As I sat at the bar and drank my cider I found their performance hypnotic. Muriah has definitely added a needed component to Bill’s solo work. And Bill seems to have improved his guitar chops. He surprised me by occasionally playing through bridges instead of hiding behind his harmonica.

This was especially noticeable on Goes Without Saying. Bill ripped through his chords in manic frustration, his playing for once speaking more than his lyrics. That being said, Bill still pours out his heart in his songs. He manages a level of honesty from the stage that makes me want to slink further back into the darkness of the bar.

After the show we left the Muse and met up with the usual suspects at the Loft to see Jason Herring spin his version of lounge. It was nice to take a break and get out of the house on a Saturday night. To reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in weeks. I was able walk out on the balcony, look out over the city and sip wine. But my thoughts drifted back to the concert. It was amazing to think of how much I’d changed since I’d first started going out to see the Vigilantes of Love.Ten years will change a man. Maybe they should. In that time I’ve become more cynical, apathetic, jaded. I’ve also become more honest. But that’s just another way of saying I'm more selfish. It beats suffering in silence.

So I finished my wine and we made our way over to Eden, that den of sin and trance music. Only I’ve tasted that apple, I’ve bitten into that world. And I was just passing through, a tourist with time to kill. Because I have a home to go to. And my world has changed. For the better. It goes without saying.

Approved, Congratulations!

2007-03-10T02:06:00.000-05:00

I used my debit card at a grocery store today. After I entered my PIN the card reader displayed the following message: Approved, Congratulations!

So, uh, did it expect that my card wouldn’t go through? I was dressed decently and all. Maybe they thought I should be as excited as they were that I actually had money? Congratulations, you just spent money! Thanks.

The decline of CNN

2007-03-09T12:12:00.000-05:00

I grew up a huge CNN fan, and I used to use CNN.com as my daily shot of headlines. I'm afraid its just gone too far south to depend on. CNN.com Top Stories as of 11:52 AM:

Woman shot at Florida appliance company
National relevance?

Fifth baseball player dies after bus crash
Sad but still strange to cover as a top story

White House retreats on U.S. attorneys' firings
This is a non-story but more interesting then those above

U.S. signs biofuels pact with Brazil
Finally a story worthy of being listed

Chavez countering Bush tour with protest rallies
This should be listed a part of the real story here, Bush’s tour of South America

Gingrich admits affair during Clinton impeachment
The infamous deadpan irony of the media; that’s once gain completely irrelevant to anything going on in 2007

Medical examiner wants to see Smith's computer
This is ridiculous

So I realize today might be a slow news day but there's so much more to cover of actual national interest. Examples off the top of me head:

The Iraq surge
Spring fighting in Afghanistan
Unemployment at historic low (4.5%)
The just released figures on the increase in household wealth in the US
World stock market fluctuations
Nancy Pelosi’s first 100 hours– that’s just not happened
The debate in congress over war funding
The Walter Reed scandal

Which just leaves me wondering, when did CNN turn into the National Inquirer?

The 18th Century Emotional Man

2007-03-09T02:54:00.000-05:00

I’m reading another book about 18th Century Americans, Undaunted Courage. Ambrose focuses his book on three key Americas: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark. What I’ve found fascinating so far is how gentlemen wrote of each other which such honest emotion.

They were emotional in a way that the modern American male is typically incapable. It would simply be too embarrassing to tell a friend that I “cherished” his friendship, much less write it down for posterity. Besides being questioned of dubious sexual orientation my friend would not know how to react. That type of honest emotion is not a part of the contemporary male to male lexicon.

Was the emotional expression of wealthy Virginia landowners in late 18th Century America for some purpose that is not directly obvious? Is there an artifice to their emotions that drives ambition? In fairness they were also more direct in criticism as in praise. But the modern man seeks to avoid emotion, positive and negative, whenever possible.

So I wonder, who’s better off? Should I tell my friends what they mean to me or would Jefferson and his contemporaries rather have had the option not to need to express themselves so honestly? Is it that modern men have to spend so much time showing women their emotional side that when they get back with other men they’re out of bandwidth?

Liam update

2007-03-09T02:32:00.000-05:00

Liam curled his tongue today. We were playing the stick-out-your-tongue-at-each-other game and bam! he surprised me with a tongue curl. Jen and I can both curl ours so not a surprise, just fun to see.

Liam is most awake in the morning, when I’m most asleep. But he managed to make it worth while for me today (7 AM) when he gave me an open mouth smile when I picked him up.

His hair is increasingly strawberry blonde. It will be interesting to see how that works out. And Jen claims he has my dimples, but I haven’t seen them yet. He’s a lot more interactive as of late. Which also means he demands more attention. But it’s well worth it.

More Drudge Humor

2007-03-08T01:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted the headlines from the Drudgereport with snarky comment value adds. I was nicely surprised to see an uptake on my readership and actually, unbelievably, made some money. So just like a record producer out of ideas, let's go with what works!

Dems Want Gitmo Prisoners Sent to USA...
In a bid for Abu Ghraib headlines that will last until 2077

LIBBY JUROR: PARDON HIM
Judgment guilt

GATES WARNS ON IMMIGRATION CURBS...
Gates and curbs don’t get along

Children Stranded After Raid On Illegals...
Don’t worry, the state will look after them. . .

Bill would block credit cards for illegals...
I thought Clinton was for NAFTA before (s)he was against it

Bush says Chavez's economic model leads to poverty...
Chavez model built from legos

Homeland Security tests response to possible mass exodus from Cuba...
Geez, how many people are they holding at Gitmo?

PAPER: Johnny Depp's seven-year-old daughter is seriously ill in a UK hospital... Developing...
Russians have no comment [good luck to her –ed]

Rick Kaplan to Take Helm at 'CBS Evening News'...
Is this a sexual reference I don’t get?

Sex offender guilty in rape, murder of Florida child...
Out of bounds for humor, nothing funny about this

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Goes Green!
I get all my news from Sports Illustrated

Claims Mankind Creating 'Environmental Crisis'...
I never realized that the sports angle was key to understanding global warming

FOX: Rosie's IDOL Rant 'Ridiculous'...
As long as she doesn’t sing [alliteration alert – ed]

Trudie the tyrant - tribunal hears of Sting's terrified staff...
Enough with the alliteration!

Calvin Klein to launch 'technosexual' fragrance...
Most geeks that I know aren’t exactly into perfume. For humans.

Developing... China confirms Moon probe in 2007...
They seek to create a trade deficit with the moon

Pardon Libby? Left and Right Erupt in a Fight...
Any question could have proceeded “Left and Right Erupt in a Fight. . ." Such as: are soccer balls round? Is H20 poisonous? Is Elvis dead? Left and Right Erupt in a Fight

BUCHANAN: LIBBY, MARTYR OF THE WAR PARTY...
In the good old days you had to die to become a martyr

LIBBY TRIAL AFFLICTS REPORTERS AND SOURCES...
News media comes to sudden realization: cause and effect. Don't worry, they'll forget by tomorrow

PLAME/WILSON SAY GOODBYE TO WASHINGTON; NEW LIFE IN SANTA FE...
Life of a spy ain’t so grand anymore

DEVELOPING... COULTER: 'IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE REPUBLICAN...
Her comment was sneaked out of a secret jail were she is being held without representation

Federal prosecutors seek to gag D.C. madam over 'sensitive' client information...
Libby leaked her name first

UPDATE: School officials refuse to comment on sex-in-class incident...
No teachers involved, move along

ORGANIC FOOD 'CAN ADD TO ALLERGIES'...
Along with air, water and Claritin

WALGREEN Sued for Racial Bias Against Black Workers...
Going green wasn’t good enough

Spa Left Woman With Skin 'Like Raw Meat'...
Russians deny involvement

Video: Camera Captures Tornado Racing Through Hospital...
Ever since Taz got dropped from Warner he’s been in and out of rehab

Drudge

2007-03-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Since this site already runs the country's news, here’s my take on today’s Drudgereport headlines:

LIBBY GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY
Enough to make me question the ability of our system of justice to reach sound conclusions. Oh wait that already happened during OJ

NYT plans detailed look at the personal finances of Sen. Barack Obama...
Maybe nothing. Regardless, I doubt it will end up damaging Obama

RAID: Company Hired Illegals to Keep Up With Military Contracts, Feds Say...
Ironic. And a good reason to increase legal immigration.

ACLU Sues Over Detained Kids...
See above comment

Wired Iraqi man questioned at L.A. airport; object found in body cavity search... This story isn’t about seeing a dentist

Greenspan at odds with Fed over recession...
And yet neither one actually controls the economy. Thank the gods

Teacher Fights Modern-Day 'Witch Trial'...
Moral of the story? Cut your long fingernails more often.

FIRED U.S. ATTORNEYS SAY THEY FELT PRESSURED...
To impress their boss, the president, who they serve at the pleasure of. A non-story story.

JENNA BUSH TO WRITE BOOK ABOUT SINGLE MOM WITH HIV...
Sure, ok.

School district: 6th graders had sex in class while teacher was present...
This story repeats every week. I think the AP just makes these up using a random word generator

Will a blood clot force Cheney to step down?
I think they’ll want him to elevate his leg first

New twist in the satellite radio merger... Impacting late...
Get out those Skylab hats

CLEAR CHANNEL acquisition developments ...
I always found their name to be Orwellian

MORE... U.S. DOCTOR AND DAUGHTER MYSTERIOUSLY POISONED IN RUSSIA...
Okay. I’d say something about how the Russian government is either acting paranoid and thuggish or how they’re completely unable to control rouge factions but I don’t want to offend them.

Dead Russian reporter was investigating arms sales to Iran, Syria...
All the arms had to be returned to sender - they were poisoned!

China's Hu trip to Russia; further strategic partnership...
The Hu element is afraid of being poisoned

ABORTION BOTCHED: 'WRONGFUL BIRTH' LAWSUIT SEEKS DAMAGES...
Proof positive the doctor was not Russian

Denver Unveils Parking Meters for Homeless...
Hey, I know, let's tax the homeless! Deadbeats are avoiding their taxes no more!

LIBEL: Restaurant Lawsuit Against Critic Who Called Steak 'Tough and Fatty'...
I suspect this will backfire. We now all know about a story the restaurant wanted to suppress.

Jetliner Catches Fire in Indonesia; load of journalists and embassy staff...
They were all on a plane to get back and testify in the Libby trial

PETA TO AL GORE: YOU CAN'T BE A MEAT-EATING ENVIRONMENTALIST...
But animals produce CO2! PETA eats plants, the cure for global warming!

'Green Sex' Promoted to help Protect the Environment...
Whatever suits your fancy

Coldest March day since 1950 in Massachusetts...
Was Gore supposed to give a speech there? See the “Gore effect’: The phenomenon that leads to unseasonably cold temperatures, driving rain, hail, or snow whenever Al Gore visits an area to discuss global warming.

More reporters embrace an 'advocacy role'...
Honesty, finally. Too bad both of them were on a Jetliner from Indonesia

BOSTON GLOBE REPORTER SUSPENDED FOR PLAGIARISM...
How did they notice? No one even reads the Globe anymore

NY TIMES Admits Payment to Porn Story Subject...
Just keep it on the downlow

ROMNEY AIRS SPANISH AD IN FLORIDA...
Retired people scratch their heads

2008 campaign will test the privacy of candidates' personal lives...
How is there anything more not already revealed?

Prince William WILL get married to Kate, House of Commons told...
Thank god we fought a revolution so I could care less about this crap

France bans citizen journalists from reporting violence...
Is Egypt looking more and more like France or the other way around?

More than you ever wanted to know. . .

2007-03-01T02:08:00.000-05:00

Bloggingheads pointed me to some political tests. Here are a random collection of my results:

You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness

Your boundary-crossing lifestyle inspires awe in your friends and colleagues [really?]

Witty, well read, well rounded... [very well rounded –ed]

[If you were a politican you would be] Winston Churchill

Your philosopher is Plato. You see the perceptual world, and the things in it, as imperfect copies of the intelligible forms or ideas. These forms are only comprehensible by the use of the intellect. The ultimate idealist, you believe in the virtue of humanity, the purity of music, the essence of morality

How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 28% on realism (72% were higher)
You scored higher than 95% on rationalism (5% were higher)
You scored higher than 27% on materialism (73% were higher)
You scored higher than 68% on atomism (32% were higher)

Enterprisers represent 9 percent of the American public. . . driven by a belief in the free enterprise system. Assertive on foreign policy and patriotic; anti-regulation and pro-business; strong belief that individuals are responsible for their own well being. Enterprisers follow news about government and politics more closely than any other group, and exhibit the most knowledge about world affairs.

You are a:
Social Liberal (78% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative (81% permissive)

You are best described as a: Libertarian

Go figure. . .

To Do's

2007-02-27T17:58:00.001-05:00

Not necessarily in this order:

Mail taxes to accountant
Call payroll to ask about adding a dependent for exemptions
Call Ethan Allan about rocking chair pickup
Research furniture for Liam’s bedroom
Research new fridge
Breakdown boxes in garage
Fold laundry
Pet the cat
Watch the Office
Upload baby pix
Post a new blog
Yell at the TV

2007-02-21T03:51:00.001-05:00

Just for the record I am not the father of Anna Nicole’s baby.

2007-02-19T12:45:00.000-05:00

I always find it amusing when followers of one faith make fun of followers of another faith for not being logical. Sunday Telegraph:

Keeping a cool head amid [global] warming hysteria by Cardinal George Pell

If logic could lead one to religion then faith would be un-necessary.

They get paid to...what?

2007-02-16T18:48:00.000-05:00

Duke’s Group of 88 professors are at it again:

"Pedro Lasch handed out a set of questions entitled, 'game scenario: knowledge/power/violence vs. knowledge/power/social justice.' Diane Nelson passed around to participants a string, which a student then cut, to symbolize disconnectedness. As one commenter at Liestoppers noted, this activity seemed more appropriate for elementary school playtime than a serious academic presentation."

Just another sign that if you’re looking for a good education go to a regional school. If you're looking for a prestigious degree, go to Duke – but don’t expect to learn too much.

CIR v ACLU

2007-02-16T03:17:00.000-05:00

At what point did the CIR become the real ACLU? The Center for Individual Rights has been winning cases that are conspicuously against the ACLU's ideological bedfellows - Universities and the Federal Government. Most of the cases in question are the attempts of plaintiffs to wrongfully apply hostile work environment and anti-discrimination precedents against private individual speech. Corporate law being used by government and colleges to silence those is the private sector who would dare disagree with them.

The ACLU should have been all over these cases. I'm disappointed that they are no longer willing to "cross the aisle." Indeed, free speech shouldn't be on an aisle. To fight for freedom of speech only when one is in agreement with the speaker misses the whole point.

Example cases CIR has won:

AHDC v. Fresno
Defended neighborhood homeowner sued by low-income housing developer for federal housing discrimination because of statements made regarding proposed housing project.

Status: Pending. Appeal of summary judgment in favor of CIR client before 9th Circuit; CIR appealing denial of attorneys' fees.

Deming v. University of Oklahoma
Defended geology professor against 'sexual harassment' complaints based upon letter to the editor of college newspaper on matter of public concern.

Status: Settled in Prof. Deming's favor

Father Flanagan's Boys Home v. District of Columbia
Defended First Amendment rights of Washington, DC community activists facing a civil rights lawsuit intended to silence their peaceful opposition to a housing project.

Status: Victory

Hendrickson v. IRS
Challenged IRS' effort to investigate a book as an "abusive tax shelter".

Status: Victory: All IRS subpoenas withdrawn

Hinkle v. Baker
Represented student punished for "disruption" after attempting to post flier advertising talk by black conservative author Mason Weaver

Status: Victory. University settled on terms favorable to student.

Perez v. Posse Comitatus
Successfully defended freedom of speech for Long Island, NY community group sued because of its peaceful opposition to illegal immigration.

Status: Victory

Silva v. University of New Hampshire
Professor Silva ran afoul of a University speech code for using a sexual metaphor in class.

Status: Victory

Sypniewski v. Warren Hills Regional Board of Education, et al.
Defending high school student suspended for wearing 'redneck' t-shirt.

Status: Pending on remand to U.S. District Court. School's petition seeking Supreme Court review denied.

White v. Lee
Sucessfully set precedent against threats of prosecution by officials of the Department of Housing and Urban Development leveled at private citizens who organized peaceful protests against federally supported housing programs.

Status: Victory

Willand v. North Hennepin Community College
Challenged college speech code and computer policy.

Status: Victory

Suburbs: a battleground of values

2007-02-15T01:49:00.000-05:00

I went out to the suburbs today. I always find it other-worldish. I’m not dense enough to claim that suburban life is without meaning – despite 25 years of watching (off and on) MTV. Most people live in suburbs for completely understandable reasons – to avoid the high cost of living in a city, taxes, to live in a place removed from high crime. To feel and be safe.

The reasons suburbs exist should not be sneered at. They are human. They are an economic reality. All I’m saying is that suburbs creep me out. Call it a personality flaw. I can understand living in the city, or living in the country. The inbetween mixes the worst of both – lack of social activities with concrete monoliths that span the horizon.

Suburbs are the great geography of nowhere. All human senses of direction and intuition have been paved over. Buildings are removed from street corners, parking lots lay like vast seas that disconnect us from ten-thousand years of human architecture. The buildings have become an afterthought, boxes of concrete with facades that mock the brick and mortar of ancient living spaces.

And the traffic. The cars that prove that suburbs are essential to the American way of life clog the streets like the arteries of an obese smoker. Only there is no sense in being against suburbs, they are here to stay. The question is one of choice. Did Americans choose to live in suburbs as they exist or did they simply inherit the poor decisions of generations past?

By poor decisions I mean the result not the cause: disconnected car-lands that show more concern for handicapped parking than human sensibility. Who designed the suburbs or were they simply a natural out growth of the car? Either way, can suburbs be retrofitted to accommodate the increasing percentage of people who are forced into suburbs yet want a life with more aesthetic?

I don’t know the answer. Places like Birkdale give me hope. Only I’m still searching. I’m trying to find the balance were I’m a snob for hating suburban forms but not the reasons why people choose to live in them. I’m not sure I succeeded. So let me be a snob for a bit.

We took our newborn out of the house on one of his first car trips today. We went to a suburb and my wife decided to buy some shoes. While she tried on pairs of Nike and New Balance, I held our boy. The sales manager came over and made the expected goofy faces. Then she asked me nosey questions. Such as, “who makes the decisions about the baby? She does doesn’t she? I mean she’s the one who takes care of the baby right? You just help?”

My first thought was that her career as a sales-person was ill-advised. Most potential customers tend not to enjoy being insulted. She reminded how often it is that women are actually the ones who reinforce gender stereotypes. What point was she trying to make? That men don’t care about their children? Actually, I think it was more internal. She was trying to reassure herself about expected gender roles. She was looking for feedback.

We live in a society filled with alternatives to everything. You can customize your waffle-maker to program the DVR. In this world of hyperactive choice, the suburbs are the battleground, the incubator of what’s acceptable. It’s the push and pull of morality: resistance to change, religion, tradition all battling with the march of technology, Hollywood, broadcast internet and automatic tooth-brushes that predict your ovulation.

The suburbs are where the reactionaries mix, the Conservatives and the Progressives. Two sides of the same coin, each filled with hate for the other. All trying to guilt third parties into sharing their values. Who’s the winner? We’re all the loser. Because in the middle are the values of millions of confused people constantly seeking reassurance as to what “normal” is. They spend large amount of their lives in one form of guilt or another, always seeking.

I told the lady at the shoe store the truth; raising a child is a duty, a joy, for both parents. If she ever becomes a parent she'll be forced to come to grips with her gender pigeon-holing. But her confusion is very understandable. That is what suburbs are, confusing.

New NIN

2007-02-14T02:22:00.000-05:00

To quote Borat: “very nice.” Nine Inch Nails to release new record, Year Zero, on April 17th. That’s almost exactly two years since With Teeth. Wow, Reznor cleaned up and really has “done good.” He should start making anti-drug ads. They’d go something like this:

“When I used drugs, I only came out with two records a decade. Now that I’ve been to rehab, I’ve started being more involved in my own life. I've now been able to recorded two albums in only two years!”

I was also pleased to see that Reznor will be working again with British producer Alan Moulder. For those who don’t recognize the name, here’s some of the bands and projects he’s worked on in the past: The Killers’ Hot Fuss, Moby (early), The Cure, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, U2's Pop, A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms. And don't forget The Downward Spiral and With Teeth by NIN. Color me tickled.

Is Al Gore the Piped Piper?

2007-02-11T21:01:00.000-05:00

“Solar physicists warn of possible global cooling, should the sun revert to the lazier mood it was in during the Little Ice Age 300 years ago.”

Which means greenhouse gases could be our friend! Do the activists have it all wrong? I can hear the music. . .

Lisa Nowak: NASA Savior

2007-02-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

As every America knows by now, NASA Astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested for attempted murder in a suspected love triangle. The angle that people are missing here is that Ms. Nowak might be the savior of NASA.

Let’s face it, in the past twenty years, the only time NASA made the front page was when one of their space shuttles blew up. But here NASA’s getting tons of free coverage. Coverage that they’ve dreamed about: human interest stories.

Movies like the Right Stuff made out the astronauts to be super human. So superior that it was impossible to relate to them. That’s not to say that many people can associate themselves with alleged murderous rage, but they can related to failure.

Ms. Nowak changes the personal face of NASA from one of unreachable achievement to that of simply human. Which is why the next time the space agency picks astronauts, its has to be a reality show.

O` Greenland

2007-02-10T01:19:00.000-05:00

The New York Times is reporting that the melting of Greenland’s ice shelf dramatically slowed in 2006. The author of the study cautions policy makers against making forecasts based upon limited data and research.

As James Taranto said today on the WSJ’s Best of the Web, “[t]he global-warmists speak with a certainty that is more reminiscent of religious zeal than scientific inquiry. Their demands to cast out all doubt seem antithetical to science, which is founded on doubt.”