Tsunami

I can't imagine what the people affected by this mess are going through. You are able to survive a terrible natural disaster, but then you have to worry about your loved ones, and whether they are misisng or dead, whether or not you are homeless, then you have to worry aobut disease and starvation. All the everyday things you take for granted are now important things that you have to keep in mind all the time in order to survive. And while all this is going on, you have to clean up the ruins of your homes and the bodies of your family, friends, and neighboors. Seeing a tragedy like this makes me feel even more horrible about all the death and destruction that is intentionally inflicted on people. I don't know how people deal with something like this, I guess it's just because they have no choice.

I'm already tired of the criticism of the US for their paltry aid package. No one has said this is all we are going to give. If it ends up being all we give then criticize then, but for now, I'm sick of the pettiness. I don't see anything wrong with giving more money over time as needs become more clear. If that doesn't happen, then I think the criticism is valid, but so far I don't see any problems. I think it just looks bad compared to the cost of Bush's inauguration party or the War in Iraq, which are both ridiculous, but those are separate issues.

I'm also tired of the criticism of Bush for not taking time out of his vacation and making some sort of public address. I hate Bush as much as anyone, but who cares what he has to say about this tragedy? Nothing he says is going to make anything any better for those people. It would be nice if he had something to say, but I just can't get upset about it that he doesn't. If anyone's looking to him to set any kind of example in any situation, they're looking in the wrong place anyway. Just let the guy have his vacation, I say the less the World sees him, the better the US looks anyway.

Ann Coulter is such a ...

...well, fill in the blank, the word I want to use is pretty nasty, so I decided against it. Anyway, I just saw her on an interview with Bill O'Reilly, basically claiming the left is a bunch of clan members for daring to criticize African Americans Condoleeza Rice and Clarence Thomas for being incompetent. I don't personally know enough about Thomas, but in Rice's case, it's because she is fucking incompetent.

Coulter goes on to say the the left's criticism of these two is racist because it is "only" African Americans who are criticized by the left in this fashion. She actually says that no one makes those claims against Cheney or Rumsfeld. First of all, what a total crock of shit. Who doesn't say Rumsfeld is incomptent these days, on the left or otherwise? And plenty of people think Cheney is as well, including me. And in case Coulter has been living in a cave for four years, let me point out to her that most people on the left think white-bread, man of the people, wouldn't you love to have a beer with him, can't pronounce nuclear, much less the name of the country he supposedly leads, George W. fucking Bush is an incompetent moron who probably couldn't lead the Texas Rangers, much less the United States. So you can take your racism and shove it right up your ass.

Reggie White

It's very sad when anyone dies, especially so young. But it really annoys me sometimes when people die and everyone can't stop talking about what a great person they were, even if they weren't. I didn't know Reggie White, maybe he was a great guy, he was certainly a great football player, but let's not forget, this guy was an enormous homophobe, and he also gave a speech once, the point of which seemed to be to cram as many racial sterotypes as possible, but at the same time trying to pretend they are compliments.

When you look at the black race, black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebration. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to black churches, you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it. White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization. You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature and you know how to tap into money pretty much better than a lot of people do around the world. Hispanics are gifted in family structure. You can see a Hispanic person and they can put 20 or 30 people in one home. They were gifted in the family structure. When you look at the Asians, the Asian is very gifted in creation, creativity and inventions. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they can turn a television into a watch. They're very creative. And you look at the Indians, they have been very gifted in the spirituality.

TIME - Man of the Year

I see a lot of people complaining about Time giving Bush the Man of the Year (or Person of the Year, whatever), and I don't understand it. It's not an award. It's not the "Favorite" Man of the Year, or "Best" Man of the Year, it's about who has had the greatest influence over events during the past year. Bush certainly qualifies. It's not about honoring someone.

Check the list, Hitler and Stalin are both on it, that alone should make people realize that it is not an award that Bush is getting. Actually, Stalin is on there twice. Also, Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr were named together during the same year in 1998. Certainly, they weren't trying to pick their favorite person and couldn't decide who they liked better between those two. It's all about people who make the news. It's not like a Father of the Year award, or Employee of the Year award, or an MVP or a Nobel Prize. It's just an acknowledgement of influence in shaping events in history.

Don't get me wrong...

...I love sports, I especially love football, it is by far my favorite sport. And I like the NFL more than college. So I'm a big fan of the NFL, and I'm very happy that we have a team here in Jacksonville (although I am and will always be a Cowboy fan). But if I hear the word SuperBowl on the local news or radio one more time, I think I'm going to lose my mind. I'm very happy that the SuperBowl is coming here. I think it's pretty exciting and will be good for the city. But I do realize that the SuperBowl will be here without being told about it every five minutes or so. It's getting worse as the NFL's regular season winds down, and I expect it to get worse still as the playoffs get underway.

And although I root for the Jaguars to do well, at least when not playing the Cowboys, I think my worst nightmare would be for them to make a run in the playoffs this year, because it would be unbearable to listen to the local media if the Jaguars had a chance to play at home in the SuperBowl. Fortunately, that doesn't look too likely with all the great teams in the AFC.

Happy Festivus!

I'm tired of all the arguing and complaining about Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays and who should or shouldn't be able to say what to whom, and who's allowed to be offended by what, I just don't care. So, I've decided to ignore the whole thing and celebrate a holiday that everyone should be able to appreciate, a festivus for the rest of us!

Festivus is tomorrow (December 23rd), so get your aluminum poles out, start working out what grievances you want to air, and prepare for the feats of strength.

P.S. A donation has been made in your name to The Human Fund.

It's gotta suck to be this guy

So your wife gives birth to a new baby girl. She does it suddenly, so you missed it, but you have a beautiful baby, who you give a name to and show off to your friends and brag about it. Happiest time of your life. But, wait, that little girl isn't really yours. Oh, and she belongs to a woman who was brutally murdered. Oh, and your wife did it. Oh, and she faked the whole pregnancy. Oh, and she's crazy and she's going to jail. So now, not only are you not a proud new father, you don't have a family at all. No baby, no wife, nothing. What a crappy couple of days he must have had.

Please make it stop

Ok, I really like to read, and if I read a book I really like, I will often recommend it to friends. What I don't do is eagerly await news of what a title for my favorite author's next book may be or when he may finish it. I also don't tell people they should read the books I like, then get offended if they don't want to, or if they say they already have and didn't like it. All you Potter-maniacs out there, I'm glad you've found books that you enjoy, but just leave me out if it. I tried to read the first book and I didn't like it, I saw the movie and I didn't like it, nothing personal. Now just leave me alone.

Oh, and there are many, many, many good books in the world, besides Harry Potter, maybe some of you should broaden your horizons a bit, you may find that there are other books that you enjoy reading just as much or (gasp!) even more. Anyway, just make the Harry Potter Hype Machine go away, please!

Suck, suck, suck...all they do is suck

So I didn't expect the Cowboys to have any shot against the Eagles on the road especially the way they got manhandled in Dallas (you may not remember that game as it was quickly ignored in favor of talking about the pre-game intro on MNF with TO and Nicollete Sheridan), but when they lead the whole game and knock Owens out, I thought they may have a shot. Of course, when thr game is on the line, the defense which played well all day suddenly softens up and lets the Eagles drive right down the field for the game winning TD. Oh and Vinny - he gives us the best chance to win - Testaverde threw yet another late pick as the Cowboys had some time left to try and win the game.

And of course to make it worse, I had McNabb and TO on my fantasy team in the playoffs. I was expecting big points based on the last meeting, but of course, despite getting the win, McNabb and Owens combined for crap fantasy-wise.

The Apprentice Finale

I like this show. I didn't like this season as much as last (I thought the contestants were far better last year), and I didn't expect to like it when I started watching last year, but I did. Mostly at the beginning, I just wanted to see Samet fired. Anyway, no matter how much I like a show, I think three hours is too long. Especially if you have to bring out the OJays (please tell the contestants that they're on live television and if they can't dance to please sit down, no shame in not being able to dance, I can't dance, but it's not something to experiment with on national live television) and have a 10 minute commercial for the next bad reality show (in which Sugar Ray (Leonard, not the band) says that it's not a reality show, but a movie about real people, which, huh?) then just cut it to 2 hours and spare us. Oh, and make Omarosa go away, we still don't like her.

Blogging Stuff

I'm still pretty new to this blogging thing, but I've been reading a lot of them lately, and it's pretty interesting to me. That said, I notice how most people do a lot of quoting and linking and crediting other blogs and source in their posts, and I always mean to do that stuff myself, but I'm just too lazy I guess. I usually just post using the BlogThis button on my Google Toolbar (if you're not using the Google Toolbar, you really should start, by the way), so if I get something linked to the title, I'm usually doing good, so I usually don't do a lot of quoting and stuff, I just share my own thoughts. Which is not to say my thoughts are not shaped and inspired by other things I read, which is why I wanted to point out that sites I like to visit and other blogs I read and comment on are listed over there on the sidebar. So until I stop being lazy and post links and all that crap in my posts, you can look over there for things that interest me.

I've also been using the Next Blog button a lot which is addictive and leads to some interesting things (where I found most of the blogs listed on here). One of which is the discovery (from my own random surfing anyway) that apparently blogs about knitting are very popular. Not up there with political blogs or teens blogs about how much they hate school or whatever, but I see an awful lot of knitting blogs which makes me wonder if a disproportionate number of knitters are also bloggers, or are there just a lot more knitters out there than I realized?

Why Kerry lost

I'm getting tired of all the things I'm reading about how Kerry or the DNC or Holywood activists or whoever in the Democratic Party should or shouldn't have done this or that or whatever, and everyone trying to decide who was the most to blame for the whole thing. Now obviously, things could have been done differently because they lost, but let's not overlook the fact that they lost mostly because the voters are a bunch of idiots. I think Kerry must have been lacking something, because anyone with anything to offer should have been able to easily beat the idiot who won in a landslide. But just because Kerry wasn't Superman doesn't mean he wasn't clearly better than W. So let's put the blame where it belongs, on all those morons driving around with W stickers on their cars.

Serously, why would anyone vote for this guy? Ok, I'll give rich people and those in charge in major corporations a pass, because at least they voted for their own self intrests. But if you're a Republican, why would you vote for this guy? I always hear Republicans talking about small government, Bush's administration has no concept of small government. I hear Republicans criticize Democrats for "tax and spend" policies, but how are Bush's "spend and spend" policies better? We will have to pay for that spending at some point. If you're religous and you voted for Bush because of his commitment to his faith, then I would argue that you must not understand what religous preachings are supposed to be about. What would Jesus do??? Well, probably not kill a whole assload of people in the name of Democracy (which I still fail to see any semblance of in Iraq). If you voted for Bush because you think he makes you safer, then you haven't been paying much attention. The War on Terror has pretty much ignored the people responsible for attacking us, allowing them to focus on planning future attacks, while we send Americans over to get killed by other terrorists in the mean time. Also, opposing any 09/11 related investigations or reforms doesn't seem to me to be something that will make us safer.

Anyway, my point is that Bush has the voters fooled, and it's because they're stupid. It's not because of anything Kerry or the DNC did or didn't do. Sure they could have done things differently, but still the blame for the mess our country is in lies on the administration and the sheep who voted for it. It reminds me of all the people who blamed the OJ verdict on the prosecution. Sure the prosecution made mistakes, but they showed pretty clearly what happened, and it's pretty hard to screw up how a guy left a trail of blood from the crime scene to his house. Regardless of any mistakes that the prosecution made in the case, the blame for the ridiculous verdict is on the jury for being idiots. A clever ryhme shouldn't be able to excuse a mountain of irrefutable evidence. Just as the smoke and mirrors the Bush Administration uses to convince people it's on their side shouldn't be able to hide the clear and obvious evidence to the contrary. But, people (apparently) are just stupid.

Firefox: Don't believe the Hype

Ok, so I had heard all the hype about what a great browser Firefox is and how it's far superior to Internet Explorer, so I downloaded it and decided to try it out. At first, I was pretty impressed. It seemed very customizable with extensions to do just about anything you could want. Mostly, I was impressed with the things it could do that IE could not, such as tabbed browsing, an extension I found to zoon in on images, and things like that. Everything else it seemed to do just about as good as IE, so I decided to stick with it for a while.

The more I used it, the more I found problems with it. First, I like to have my browser out of the way, I want as much of my screen as possible used for the actual content. So in IE, I have my menu, toolbar, address bar and Google Toolbar all on one long row. In Firefox, to get the Google Toolbar (The Google Toolbar is a must have), I had to have a separate toolbar, which took up twice as much room on my screen. Next, I found out that a site I go to (and trust) uses an ActiveX control to display a snapshot document. This obviously did not work with FireFox. Later, I discovered that some of the sites I use for work have links and buttons that either do not display properly or do not work properly when viewed with FireFox. For these problems, I used the view with IE plugin, which worked ok. Next, I had been using a plugin to remove flash content until I clicked on a button to play it. I realized that this blocked too much stuff that I wanted to see, so I tried to disable it, but was unable to find it listed in my extensions. Also, the tabbed browsing was one of the features I liked the most, but no matter what extensions I tried to use or how I configured them, new windows would almost always open in a new window instead of a new tab, which pretty much made the whole thing useless.

Now, I have no doubt that everything I mentioned above that caused me to switch back to IE could be attributed to either poor design of the sites I visit or a poorly programmed/documented extension, and/or I could have fixed some of the issues by configuring things differently, researching more exactly what extensions were the best ones, or whatever. But the point is, I didn't see any reason to do that. Most of the things that I liked better about Firefox than IE were just neat things that made things more fun or interesting but not necessary, but the things I had problems with in FireFox that work fine in IE were things I needed or relied on, and since they work in IE, that's what I'm going to use.

I'm no big fan of Microsoft, and I'm glad so many people seem to have found what they feel is a better browser with Firefox, but for me, it was just too much of a hassle. I'll stick with IE, until Firefox or some other alternative works as well in the real world, without all the hassle.

And the sucking just keeps on, errr...sucking

So the Cowboys lost again. Lucky for me I was in DisneyWorld and unable to watch. Hopefully now we can see a little more of Drew Henson, since the playoffs are completely hopeless, and even if they weren't, it's pretty clear that Vinny doesn't give them any chance of winning. If I see that he threw any late interceptions, I'm really going to be frustrated.

Survivor

I've never been a huge fan, but I've watched off and on from the beginning. So every Thursday Night at eight this season, I've watched the current installment, which is ok. My problem is, I've watched the entire season, which fit nicely into my schedule, but now that it's time for the Finale, they suddenly switch it to Sunday Night. What the fuck? I already watch stuff on Sunday Night. Who's in charge of scheduling at CBS? I'm sure they've done this before but this is the first time I've noticed it. Hey CBS, American Dreams is a pretty good show, do you think no one watches it, The Simpsons has been on years longer than Survivor, don't you think they might have a pretty loyal audience, a whole assload of people are watching Desperate Houswives, do you think there's no overlap? Or do you just think they'd rather watch your finale than anything else? Well, maybe everyone else would, but not me. I found out who won, and that's good enough, and next time you start this show, I'll remember not to watch at all, since I never know when I'll have to miss an episode because you decide to change the schedule.

Disney World

So, we're here at DisneyWorld for a few days. For a while now (since September 11th, I imagine), they search your bags before you enter the park. As we were going through this, it struck me again, as it does everytime we're here, thet this bag search is a ridiculous waste of time. It slows everyone down, makes you wait in yet another line, which would all be fine, if it actually did anything to make people safer.

But they barely even look in the bag most of the time, and when they do, it's a pretty cusory glance, and if they're a real stickler, they make poke into your bag with a little rod. Aside from all the stuff that you could put in a bag that would easily make it through this "search" things could also be hidden on your person, I was wearing a large windbreaker that could have hidden as much stuff as I could carry, and my son's stroller wasn't even looked at, I could have had who knows what crammed in there.

So everyone who goes through the search knows what a joke it is, so no one in the park can possibly feel any safer, even if it was just meant as a guesture, so what's the point? Spare me the extra lines, and I'll take my chances with the terrorists, because anyone who couldn't smuggle something through that security wouldn't be able to come up with any kind of plan in the first place.

America's Most Wanted

So, I'm watching America's Most Wanted and noticing that the person they got to do a particular reenactment doesn't seem to me to look much like the perp (yes, I said perp, shut up, I saw it on NYPD Blue), which led me to wonder if they ever get tips called in that actually turn out to be sightings of the people from the reenactments.

This blows

So, Jacksonville is hosting SuperBowl XXXIX and someone came up with the idea that we need a new slogan to go with all the exposure, which I don't have a problem with, since our official slogan "Bold New City of the South" not only sucks, but is also dated, andother nicknames like "River City" and "Florida's First Coast" aren't so great either. But to spend $91,000 and come up with "Jacksonville. Where Florida Begins" is kind of a joke, as far as I'm concerned.

One of the problems with Jacksonville's identity, I think, is that a lot of people simply don't know where it is, and this new sloganwon't help with that, since it isn't even true. There is an entire county tothe North of us, an entire state both to the West and South, and even to the East where it is the most true (to those people arriving to Florida by boat, I guess), there is either Ponte Vedra Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, or Atlantic Beach before you actually get to Jacksonville, which are all their own cities, even if they are small. Technically, I guess we are the first large city in Florida when coming from the North, so I guess that's the thinking behind it.

But the other problem I have is, what the hell does it say? Where Florida begins.....so fucking what??? First of all, I'm not sure we should be all that proud of Florida at this point, especially with everything that happened in the 2000 election, but also, even if Florida is the best state in the world, where it begins means what exactly? Congratulations on our...geographical signifigance, I guess.

Now, I'm not the most creative person in the world, so I can't really say I could come up with something great, but give me $91,000 and I could find someone who can. To me, our slogan should say something about our city, more than just where we are located, which doesn't mean a damn thing. The city is spending a lot of money improving a lot of things including a lot of road work, new Arena, new Baseball Field, Library, Courthouse, things like that, or the SuperBowl and beyond. Our slogan should reflect that somehow. It has also grown quite a bit in the last several years and that is something that should be expressed. But I guess it's possible that these things were considered and the perfect slogan was found, but rejected, because our Mayor is an idiot. My idea would be "Jacksonville, it doesn't suck as bad as the slogan does"

Wasn't this a bad movie with Jon Cryer?

Yeah, Hiding Out, I knew it sounded familiar.

The Great Toilet Seat Debate

So I heard a radio commercial yestrday with some lame joke about guys leaving the toilet seat up, and I know it's pretty standard fodder for joke writers, but it always makes me wonder, is this seriously something that people argue about? Because it's not a problem I've ever had, and I don't understand why it would ever be a problem for anyone for a couple of reasons.

First, ladies, if it really bothers you that the toilet seat is up, why not just put it down before you sit down? Do you put it up when you're done in case a guy wants to pee next? Probably not, so why would you expect him to put it down for you? Also, are you blind? Do you just sit down without looking, and only realize the seat is up when you almost fall in? If that's the case, then what happens when the lid is down??? Do you make a big mess peeing all over everything?? If you want the seat down put it down, simple, problem solved.

Second, and this is why it really should never be an issue in the first place. Guys, why the hell do you put the seat up anyway? There's a big hole in it, you could just pee through that. It's really not that hard to aim. Are you honestly telling me that there are people in the world who can't manage to aim into that big hole, but somehow are able to aim into a slightly larger hole without peeing all over the floor? If that's the case then you really just need to sit down and pee like a girl anyway. And even if you did happen to hit the seat a little (you know if you're drunk or a slob or something), there's almost always a little roll of paper (sometimes known as "toilet" paper) conveniently located right next to the toilet that could be used to clean up after yourself. So just leave the seat down. Again, problem solved.

I honestly don't think anyone really has this problem, but I get sick of hearing about it from comedians and such. But if anyone really does, just shut up about it, already.

Pepsi Spice Update

Everyone seemed to enjoy my Pepsi Spice description, so I thought I would post an update. As further evidence that this stuff sucks, I noted last night that it was still sitting in the fridge over three weeks after I bought it, only missing the little of it that I drank. In a house with three teenagers, that's quite an accomplishment. I wonder if the dirt, errrr spice, settles to the bottom after it has sat this long.

The Cowboys don't suck quite as bad, but it's not for lack of trying

So things are looking up for the Cowboys with Julius Jones running the ball so well. They got out to a 15 point lead late and with the running game so well, it should have been easy to hold. Unfortunately, Vinny (who apparently gives them the best chance to win) is a freaking idiot and throws two late interceptions that really turn the game around, letting Seattle not just close the 15 point gap, but actually take a 10 point lead. Luckily, Keyshawn was able to make a great catch on Vinny's desperation pass to get them a chance, then Whitten was able to recover the onsides kick and thankfully, the Seattle D was too shocked when Vinny threw it right to them on the game winning drive to actually catch it, which gave Julius Jones the chance to seal the game with his third TD.

Two things I see it this game. First, stop telling me Vinny is good, because he sucks, and anything good he does is offset by his stupid late interceptions. Second, Julius Jones looks great. Things may have been different if he had been in there all season. Oh, and the Quincy Morgan for Antonio Bryant trade was just as stupid as I thought it was at the time.

College Football is a laughing stock

If you go undefeated in the SEC (not the MAC, not the WAC, not Conference USA, the S E C) and have no shot at a national championship, then the system is a complete joke. Of course I would be saying the same thing if it was Oklahoma getting the shaft after doing the same thing in the Big 12. I'm really tired of everyone arguing about who should or shouldn't be in the championship game, because none of the arguments make any sense, and there is always an argument that is just as good for the other guy. The problem is there are at least three teams, maybe four, that deserve to be in the title game, but obviously, there is only room for two teams, so the system is all fucked up. Stop arguing about who should get screwed and instead just talk about how fucked up the sytem is. I know everyone talks about how bad it is, but then they also offer up their opinion on why one team should get shafted instead of the other. I say forget discussing that and say you don't know because they haven't played. And if Auburn wins their Bowl game, congratulate them on winning a share of the title, even though they will not "officially" have one. They should also hang a banner and get a trophy and in every way be recognized as a champion by anyone who thinks that the system sucks. Utah should do the same. If enough people recognize multiple champions, it will make the official champion all but meaningless, which could help to force a change in the ridiculous system.

Also, I'm tired of everyone talking about how now you can't excuse the BCS, now you can't tweak it to make it work, now we can see it's a joke. Was I the only one who saw that the same shit happened last year? We knew all this already. The system blows, and it will continue to blow no matter how much they "tweak" it until the top teams get on the field and determine a true champion

Employee of the Year

So, I've worked for the same company for 14 years. The past seven years, they've given out an Employee of the Year award at the Christmas Party. All of those times, I've felt like I deserved to win, and a couple of times, I almost expected to win, but I never actually did.

Which brings us to tonight, the company's annual Christmas Party, and this year I have no expectation of winning the award, not because I don't feel like I deserve it but because there have been other times when I did feel that way and did not win, so I feel like it's not something I have a shot at. So, my daughter is babysitting my son, and when we try to call to check on how things are going, the phone is busy, which is strange because we have call waiting. So we try several times over the next 15 minutes or so with no luck, so we decide to go home to see what's going on, since we've been at the part for a while anyway. So we kind of sneak out, so not to interrupt anything, and on the way home we hear from my daughter, everything is fine, and she doesn't know why the phone was busy.

A few minutes later, people start calling me from the party wondering where I went, and of course, at this point I have a lousy signal, so I'm having a hard time talking to anyone. Anyway, of course, since I had to leave early, I ended up winning Employee of the Year, and wasn't there to accept it. That's ok, I guess actually being there for the announcment was jinxing it the whole time. At least I didn't have to make any kind of speech. No congratulations, please, just send gifts.

Fallujah

Could we please stop patting ourselves on the back about our great success in Fallujah? I can't believe how much news there is about this major offensive without anyone mentioning what I think is the central issue in the story, which is that is was a failure before we even started. The reason I say this is because we announced our intentions ahead of time, thereby letting thousands of people flee the city. Also, our reason du juor for being in Iraq in the first place is to liberate the Iraqi people. So I say we failed before we started because we either let insurgents escape the city before the offensive began or we kept innocent people in the city and killed them, and probably a lot of both. I don't see any way that one or the other didn't happen. If we had some accurate way to distinguish between innocent civilians and insurgents, then there doesn't seem to be any reason to have destroyed the city like we did in the first place. And if we can't distinguish them, then we are definitely letting insurgents go free or keeping innocent people in, and most likely both.

Also, it seems obvious to me that the failure will have consequences in the future because every insurgent that was let go will be able to cause trouble elsewhere, and also for every innocent person that was killed, wounded, or left homeless, there are many new potential insurgents, who may not have had any Anti-American feelings, but do now that their home has been destroyed or their family member or friend injured or killed. And finally, how can we claim to be liberating people if we are killing them and destroying their homes? This doesn't seem very well thought out to me. After we get done blowing stuff up and killing people, anyone left gets to be free. As much as I love my freedom, this method for spreading it just doesn't seem very attractive.

I'm no military commander, and I don't know the best way to finish what we started over there, but there has to be someone intelligent in the chain of command in the military who can come with a better way, because the way we're doing it now really sucks.

Ken Jennings

Would everyone please stop pretending this guy is the smartest guy in the world? Obviously, what he did was impressive, but he's not that unique. There have been people on Jeopardy before who could have done the same thing or maybe even better. The only reason he is the first to go so long is because they just changed the rules. I don't understand why people are so fascinated by this guy. When did everyone start watching Jeopardy, anyway? Half the people I know who were following this closely can't even spell Jeopardy. Seriously, it's like Reggie White's sack record. Sure, he has the most since they started keeping track, but it's not like there weren't sacks before they kept track. And it's not like none of the previous 5 day championions from years and years of Jeopardy couldn't have done what he did.

Pepsi Holiday Spice

Out of curiousity, I bought some of this. I tried a couple of swigs and wasn't impressed. It tasted a little funny, but I couldn't really describe it. Well, tonight I saw it in the fridge and tried another shot of it, and I realized that it tastes like Pepsi, but with the teensiest little bit of dirt in it.

Stop recycling characters, new ones are more interesting

I saw this book at the store last night, and it caught my eye, because I've read several of DeMille's books and liked most of them. However, as soon as I read the jacket, I was disappointed that this book features characters used in two of his other books. The characters were pretty good, and I enjoyed the other two books, but at some point these characters get stale. Yet authors continue to churn out new books recycling the same characters over and over again. I guess it's because people continue to read them, and I guess I can understand that, so I'm doing my part not to perpetuate this terrible trend.

I first noticed how much I hated this when I read about 12 of John Sandford's Prey books. I was stuck, when I finished one, I just read the next one, then finally when I read something else instead, I realized I had been reading the same story over and over again. Once you get to know the characters, they aren't nearly as interesting, there's no mystery. Also, the writers (at least in my experience) seem reluctant to develop characters further after a certain point. They turn into superheros, almost. You know nothing bad is going to happen to them, and you definitely know they aren't going to die.

Later, I read Tim Dorsey's Florida Roadkill and the books following it. I thought the first two were hilarious. But after that, it was just the same characters doing the same things againa and again. I'd really love to see how Dorsey would handle a new group of characters, since he is a very good writer. I gave up after reading five books with the same characters, I think there are now seven he's written.

I've read four books by Dan Brown and he uses the same characters in two of them, which I think is about enough, unless you're telling some long epic continuing story. Unfortunately, Brown recycles the entire plot for all 4 of his books. And while he may not use the same characters, they all fit into the same roles in his single plot.

I know writers do this because it is what is profitable, but it's sad to me to see good writers writing the same thing over and over again, and I really wish people wouldn't read these recycled stories and recycled characters and encourage this.

The Cowboys won, but they still suck

I don't know what Bill Parcells is thinking about. Maybe Vinny gives them a slightly better chance of winning, but they need to find out if Henson is going to be the QB of the future or not, and if he is, let him make mistakes now and get some experience in real games, so come next season, he won't be so raw. And if he's not, they can find out now, so they can address it in the offseason. Vinny has no future with this team, so why play him? I could understand if they were contending for the playoffs, but even if they win the last 5 (which would have to include a road win overt he Eagles), they're only 9-7. And while 9-7 may be good enough to get in the playoffs in the NFC this season, I don't see any reason to believe that they can win all of those games. Why sacrifice the future of the team for an outside shot at winning now? Ok, myabe if Vinny was clearly much better than Henson, I could understand it, but let's not forget, it was Vinny that led them to the 3-7 record in the first place. In the last two games where both Henson and Vinny have played, Henson has looked pretty bad, but has led the team to two TDs. In the same two games, Vinny has led the team to...two TDs. Yes, he came in on Thursday and led the team to the victory, but it wasn't like they were losing when he came in and brought them back like Clint Longley. It was a 7-7 tie. Also, when he first came in, he looked terrible, throwing balls into the ground and throwing an ugly interception. And it's not like he really did a lot to guide them to victory, he played ok, but they won because of how effective Julius Jones was running the ball, and also because the Bears suck. Sure, Henson threw a pick for a TD to let the Bears into the game, but let's not forget that Vinny has done that the last two weeks.

I say put Henson in for the rest of the season. Not because he's any better than Vinny, but because you need to find out how good he can be, and also because it's not like Vinny is Brett Favre or something.

$25 Million Dollar Hoax

$400,000 in prizes is great and everything, but this is a good way to make it seem like a disappointment. Especially for the kids who got guitars. Hey, your sister is now a multi-millionaire, no, just kidding, sorry, but hey, you do get a guitar. I only watched the last half of the last episode, so maybe I missed a lot of great TV with this show, but somehow, I doubt it. And either those people knew what was going on already and were poorly acting surprised, or they are a bunch of retards. That family looked really stupid throughout the entire listing of the prizes. When the guy said they were all getting PS2s and iPods, the mother looked like she was going to faint. They're PS2s and iPods! Nice prizes, but it's not like anyone can quit their jobs or anything.

Oh, and NBC, I realize that with some reality shows, production seems to have really gone into the toilet, but the $ in the title of the show actually means "dollar," that's why they call it a dollar sign. So putting $ and "dollar" in the title is redundant and makes you look kind of stupid.

Happy Birthday to me

Today is my birthday. Feel free to send gifts from my Amazon wish list.

N-ational B-rawling A-ssociation

What a disgusting display on Friday between the Pacers and the Detroit fans. As much as I think Artest and Jackson and O'Neal were wrong to go into the stands, and I think the suspensions that David Stern handed down are appropriate, most of my disgust in this situation is reserved for the Pistons fans. The first guy throwing the cup was bad enough, but at least that could be dismissed as an isolated act by a stupid fan. But when Artest went into the stands, the number of people who went over to take a shot at him, and the number of people who rushed over to the tunnel as the Pacers were being led off the court to pour things on them and throw things at them, was ridiculous. It made Detroit fans look really bad.

And what about the security? I'm sure that it's difficult to be prepared for something like that, but in all the stuff that was shown on TV, I didn't really see any security trying to break things up. I'm sure there was security in the arena somewhere, but it was noticeably absent in the worst parts of this incident. How did that fan ever even get onto the court?

This incident was disgusting all the way around, from the Pacers, to the Detroit fans to the lack of security, to Ben Wallace who overreacted in the first place.

The Cowboys Suck, Part 4

Ok, I should really be on, The Cowboys Suck, Part 7, but I didn't start until they had already lost a few. Coming Thursday to a television near you...The Cowboys Suck, Part 5.

This country has its priorities all fucked up

Everyday our soldiers and innocent Iraqis are dying in a war with no discernible objective and no reasonable plan for obtaining that objective if we even had one, other than "it takes as long as it takes" and it's "hard work," but not only are Americans not outraged by that, they seem to be just fine with it, and even supportive of the administration that has put us in that position. I have no doubt that the soldier who was captured on video killing an injured Iraqi wasn't just doing it because he could and because it was easier than helping him. I'm sure he was worried that the Iraqi was an insurgent that may throw a grenade when his back is turned. However, no matter what the circumstances, we should still be bothered by this either way. Whether you think the was is justified and necessary or not, we should all have a health disgust for the horrors of war, which I just don't see.

On the other hand, if a white woman jumps naked into the arms of a black man on network television, as in the intro to Monday Night Football this week, then people can't contain thier outrage. I hate to think that the race of the people involved had anything to do with people's reactions, but since there is no rational reason for this outrage, I have to consider that it may be motivated by such an irrational reason. Whether or not people were truly and honestly offended (which I doubt many people actually were), you should ask yourself, what harm this could have possibly caused. If you were getting ready to watch the football game with your children and this came on and you were not expecting it, I can understand feeling it is inappropriate, but honestly, is it that much different than anything you will see during the course of the game with shots of cheerleaders, and beer commercials? If you weren't going to watch the game and were just surfing by and saw the intro and were offended, then honestly, how long does it take to change the channel again, a second or two? How much could you have actually seen to be offended by? And finally, if you were worried about your children watching without your knowledge, and you think this is something that is not appropriate for them to see, then you really need to be more closely monitoring what they watch, because this is far from the worst thing they will see if they are watching television unsupervised. And honestly, what harm is going to come to your children from seeing something like this? I can understand not wanting them to see it, but if they happen to see it by accident, is it really such a tragedy that you need to immeadiately call, email or write ABC and the NFL? Please try to have some perspective. Nothing bad is going to happen to your children if they see a naked breast.

If people were able to get have as outraged about violence and death in real life as they do about the possibility of sexual innuendo on television, then maybe we could make some meaningful changes in the world.

Personally, I was far more offended by the fact that the Cowboys came out and played like a Pop Warner team on defense, than by anything that happened in the intro. Maybe if TO had stayed in the locker room, they would have looked a little better.

Who the hell decided this was the Virgin Mary?

Ok, granted, it looks like there is a woman's face on this sandwhich, but who gets to decide it is the Virgin Mary? What a bunch of nonesense. Is there some picture of the Virgin Mary somewhere that I'm not aware of, so we know it's her? How do we know it's not actually Cleopatra, or some woman we never heard of who lived in the 1300s, or someone lady who's now living in Boise, Idaho, or some future woman who will do great things. The only thing worse than someone automatically labeling this the Virgin Mary sandwhich is people accepting that label. Ridiculous. No wonder George Bush is still the President.

The Cowboys Suck, Part 3

Ugh!

The guy is dead, can't they get a picture that doesn't make him look like a crackhead?

I guess it's the teeth mostly that make this picture look bad, but really a Google Image search for ODB will quickly produce quite a few more flattering results. Have some respect for the dead, Iowa's News Leader!

Emmitt Smith

I can understand that Emmitt was supposed to be over the hill, and the Cowboys didn't want to pay him if he wasn't going to produce. But he's got almost as many yards now as all three of Dallas' running backs combined, and he has 3 more TDs. He's not doing great, but he's a solid back and is on pace to rush for over 1000 yards this season. For the CARDINALS. As bad as it is to watch this guy put on another uniform, it's even worse when he's out-producing his replacements. I can understand wanting to build a team with younger guys, but Richie Anderson and Eddie George don't qualify for that, expecially when they're not getting the job done. I hope that Dallas can find someone who can run the ball soon, but I also hope that Emmitt continues to make them look bad for letting him go.

The BCS

What a ridiculous system. I hope we end up with three unbeaten teams from major conferences, so this thing can be exposed as a joke once again. Last year, we had a split championship, which is just what this system was supposed to avoid, and this year we may have an unbeaten team with no chance at a title shot. Why is this so difficult? People shouldn't have to argue about whether USC or Auburn or Oklahoma is the best team, they should get out on the field and find out for sure. Stupid NCAA.

Dallas vs. Philadelphia

Well, both teams are undefeated this season on Monday Night, so something has to give. Seriously, I'm almost afraid to watch. TO should be open all night long, since they don't have anyone with the ability to cover him. I'd love to think Dallas could win this game, but I just don't see it.

Blues Clues

My son loves this show. Actually it's more like an addiction. But now they've screwed it all up. The clues draw themselves, then talk (?), then move around. I don't get it So far my son doesn't seem bothered by it, but it bugs me, why change something that works so well. Kind of reminds of how they changed Suffleuffagus (or however you spell it) from Big Bird's imaginary friend to a "real" mammoth that everyone could see.

Exit Polls

I always pretty much assumed, as most people did, I think, that these things were pretty accurate. Why shouldn't we think that, they always seem to be pretty good at projecting things. That is until the 2000 election, when I guess everyone just lost faith in them and dismissed them as inaccurate after the Florida mess. But for me, the 2000 election really just made it clear to me that it's the actual vote couting itself that is inaccurate. I'm still convinced that the first projections were correct and Gore won Florida in 2000. I said it at the time, and the more I have seen since about the voting problems has convinced me even more.

Which brings me to this election. We hear so much now about how badly wrong the exit polls were, which no one really seems to question much. Without the 2000 election, I think people would be much more confident in the polling and would be asking a lot more questions about the voting/counting instead. But since we all conveniently lost confidence in the exit polls in 2000, no one is suprised that they were wrong again. And horribly wrong. But it just makes me wonder how we can dismiss this so easily. We put a lot of confidence in these things over the years, they always worked before, why not now? Where are the people who conducted the polls standing up for their methods and standing behind their results? I'm not suggesting that John Kerry actually won the election, but I do have a lot more confidence now in a scientific poll than I do of the vote counting process after seeing wat a fiasco it is in 2000. I wonder why I don't hear more about this on the news? Am I the only one that thinks when there are two methods of finding the same result, that the "official" one must somehow automatically default to being the correct one, is somewhat silly? Especially after seeing what a mess it can be to count all those votes. I haven't seen anyone point to any evidence that shows why the exit polls would suddenly be wrong, but I have seen evidence that makes me believe that there could be lot of problems with the official vote counts.

Templates

I keep changing templates. I think I'll keep this one for a while. Not that I think it's great or anything, but it's one of the few that doesn't look incredibly narrow and stupid when viewed on a screen with any decent resolution (at least 1280 x 1024, my screen is at 1920 x 1440). Most of the ones available from Blogger seem to use images which restricts their ability to resize at all, which seem kind of stupid to me. So, I'll use this one probably until I feel like trying to figure out how to make my own.

Prescription strength without a prescription

I'm getting tired of seeing this claim on drug commercials. Isn't the only real definition of "prescription strength, " the strength at which a prescription is required to get it? And since that is the case, then this claim is just a lie. I know, I know, it's probably something that used to require a prescription, and for whatever reason no longer does. But still, it sounds pretty misleading and ridiculous to me.

As a matter of fact, I'm pretty much sick of all drug commercials in general, especially the ones for prescription drugs. "Ask your doctor about..." I go to a doctor so he can tell me what I need, not the other way around. Besides, half of these commercials barely even mention what the drug is supposed to treat, so I would look pretty stupid asking my doctor about some of them if they don't even apply to my symptoms.

Doc: Looks like you've got a bit of indigestion.
Me: Yeah, just hook me up with some of that Ortho-Evra.
Doc: Uh, well...
Me: Yeah, I know about the side affects, they listed them on the commercial, no problem.
Doc: It's not really something I would prescribe for your condition.
Me: Oh, I see you have some deal with a competing drug company, but luckily they have all these great ads now, so I don't have to rely on your biased advice.
Doc: Lucky you.
Me: Yeah, your days of kickbacks are over.
Doc: Boy, you really have me all figured out.
Me: Yeah, so anyway, how long will it take to know if this stuff is working?
Doc: Well, it's working fine as long as you don't get pregnant.
Me: Huh?
Doc: Maybe I could explain to you exactly what Ortho Evra is.
Me: Oh, is that not the right one? Well, just give me a little Claritin, then.
Doc: I quit.

See, I really don't want to go through that, it would make me look pretty stupid, then I'd have to find a new doctor. Not worth the hassle. Maybe I'll just let him decide how I should be treated, and if I'm not comfortable with it, or I don't agree, then I'll go get a second opinion from another doctor. Stupid commercials.

The Cowboys Suck Part 2

As I observed a couple of weeks ago, the Cowboys suck. It's really depressing, especially since I know they'll lose next week. I guess last week was a fluke. What really makes me mad is a lot of problems seem to be related to coaching and lack of discipline. Bad calls on 4th down, stupid plays, bad personnel descisions, penalties, turnovers, these aren't things you expect to see from a Parcells team. Very disappointing,

Let me get this straight...Morals are important to you, and this guy is your choice?

Do people not understand what the word morals means? I guess they don't. Hey "rural voters", way to reinforce the sterotype that you're all a bunch of ignorant bigoted idiots! I think everyone who voted for this guy should be required to sign their kids up to be sent to Iraq. It really makes me sick how people are so cavalier about the lives and freedoms of other people. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it's pretty clear people already think stubborn = strong.

Meaning of MORALITY
Pronunciation: mu'ralitee


WordNet Dictionary

Definition: [n] concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct
[n] motivation based on ideas of right and wrong

The more of these stories I see, the more pissed off I get

Despite the fact that I don't really know many gay people, for some reason this issue just really gets to me. There is absolutely no reason for people to support these things so strongly. If you are straight, gay people getting married is going to have absolutely no affect on you.

If you're voting this way because you just think homosexuality is wrong, then you're just a bigot trying to force your beliefs on everyone else. Guess what, gay people will still be here, whether they are allowed to get married or not. If they truly are doing something wrong, then isn't that really a decision that should be left up to them?

If you have a religous objection to homosexuality, guess what, not everyone shares your religion. Do you want to outlaw anything that doesn't fit in with your own religous beliefs? That pretty much directly conflicts with the principles our country was founded on. You practice your religion, let others practice theirs.

If you're worried about gay marraige having some negative affect on families, take a look at any family, chances are some of them won't look anything like yours, but will be perfectly happy and healthy, and some of them will look just like yours and have any number of problems. What's important in a family is that the members love and support one and other, not what one's sexual orientation is.

If you're worried that not condemning homosexuality will somehow encourge people to "switch teams", then you just don't understand it, and you should take some time to learn what you're talking about before you make judgements that will affect the lives of others. Homosexuality isn't a disease that can be stamped out if we just don't encourage it. Face the fact that there are and will always be gay people and they have just as much right to be happy as you do. It might encourage people to be more open about who they are, and that's a good thing.

If you just want to deny rights to other people because you don't like them, then you're a bigot. And voting for measures like this may make you feel good about yourself, but in the long run, all you've done is document the fact that you're a bigoted asshole. You're not going to make anyone stop being gay, you're not going to get them to stop having relationships, and you're not going to stop them from committing to each other if they want to. All you can stop is their unions from being officially recognized, and even that will only be temporary, until stupid bigots like yourself are dead.

Finally, why do you really care? If you're straight, why should it bother you that other people are not? What's so terrible about other people being happy? You don't have to like their lifestyle, no one is asking you to, but is it really to much to ask to just leave them alone? As much as Bush's re-election upset me, seeing these bans pass so eaily really, really depressed me, because now I realize that I live in a country that only pretends to be accepting, but when it comes time to vote, they vote for hatred and bigotry.

What the fuck is wrong with you people?!?!?!?

I could rant for hours about how stupid it is to vote for Bush, but it's clear he has most people fooled. I don't understand it, it makes no sense from any perspective. Wake up, America, look around you, things are bad and getting worse. Your freedom is being taken away, your family members are being sent off to die, the economy sucks, your children are not being given a decent education, and Bush seems to think things are just fine. How can anyone vote for this idiot, much less a majority? I guess people are more impressed with someone who pretends to be a tough guy then with anyone who has any real substance.

Nice to know that bigotry is alive and well

I cannot understand why so many people are so concerned with something that does not affect them in any way. Assuming all the homophobes that voted for these bigoted bans are straight, why should it even matter to them at all? These nonesense arguments about the "sanctity" of marraige are clearly ridiculous. No matter what you call it, gay people will continue to have relationships, so the only real reason to vote in favor of these bans is for people to deny the rights of others that are different from themselves. A vote in favor of one of these bans is a vote that says, "I'm better than you are, so there!" If you're not gay, don't like gay people, think it's disgusting or whatever, fine, but why do you think you should have any say in how they live their lives? I'm pretty disgusted today. I thought America was about freedom, but it's really more about freedom to be an asshole.

Stories about candidates voting for themselves are stupid

Especially on TV where we have to watch them do it, then hear some asshole ask who they voted for (funny!). These stories rank right up there with coverage of lines at the post office on April 15th.

Cowboys Win

The Roy Williams showdown never materialized as Detroit's Roy was sidelined by injury. But Dallas' Williams and the defense stepped up after letting Detroit go right down the field to begin the game. With Cincinnati next week, Dallas has a shot at getting to .500 before getting waxed by Philly on Monday Night.

In a related story, according to some ridiculous trend, the Redskins' loss to Green Bay means Kerry will win the election. I guess anything helps.

This is freaking ridiculous

Banning a white T-Shirt because gang members wear them has got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of. I realize the school is in a difficult position, and that they cannot tolerate gang activity. But even if EVERY gang member wore a white shirt and NO ONE else did (which I'm sure is far from true), that doesn't mean that the shirt in any way promotes gang activity. Making them wear something else just simply means they will be gang members wearing something else. And if an article of clothing can be considered to promote gang activity simply by the act of a gang member wearing it, then as soon as you make them cover up the white T-Shirt, there is now by your definition something else which promotes gang activity. If I were the leader of any of these gangs, I would immeadiately tell everyone to wear red T-Shirts, until those are banned, then switch to another color. I assume that a lot of gang members wear white socks too, should these be banned as well? The point is that it's not the clothing that is the problem, it is the behavior, and changing the clothing does not change the behavior. I could understand if the shirt in some way depicted or reflected some sort of gang activity, but merely because it is associated with it seems a little ridiculous. It also does seem to unfairly target fashion that would appeal more to African Americans.

This is something I can't understand

What is this "divided loyalties" crap? I've never understood this. I've been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys as long as I've watched football, but I live in Jacksonville. I can root for Jacksonville to do well, and I usually hope they do, especially when the Cowboys suck, but if the Cowboys and Jaguars were facing off in the SuperBowl, I wouldn't have any home team sentiment. I wouldn't feel like I couldn't lose either way. I would be rooting for the Cowboys all the way, hoping they embarass the Jaguars, humiliate them, set records against them. If the Jaguars won, I would hate it, there would be no appreciation for the home team. So I really don't get these fans with supposed "divided loyalties." If your loyalty is divided, it really just means that you have none.

Would you prudes just get over it already

This is the third article I've seen recently about this story. Leave the poor woman alone. Regardless of what products she may sell, it's pretty clear that at the incident in question, the most questionable thing available was a vibrating bath sponge that looks like a duck. So what, if it vibrates it's automatically obscene? I guess she shouldn't try to sell any cell phones or power sanders. Maybe people might use a vibrating bath sponge for sexual purposes, but if we start throwing a fit over anything that fits in that category, there's a long, long list of perfectly legitimate items that we'll have to keep an eye on. Who exactly are the victims in this story? I don't see any, so just shut up already, prudes!

Early Voting

I hadn't thought much about voting early, and I'm still not sure why we have that option all of the sudden this year, but I went to the library to return some books and it happened to be an early voting location. I was a little worried that I hadn't had time to study the amendments like I wanted to, but they all seemed pretty clear. I was a little unsure of my vote for amendment 3, not that I think lawyers don't make enough money, but I'm a little worried that it might make it harder for some people to get decent representation in some circumstances. But in the end, I think the amednment sounded good overall, so I voted for it. I also voted for Kerry, Castor, and to keep all the judges, since I hadn't heard anything about any of them to make me think any of them should be removed. I also voted for some minor office between two people I've never heard of, and the rest of the amendments which were not as difficult a choice for me as amendment 3.

The Cowboys suck

What I want to know is, why are Roy Williams and La'Roi Glover apologizing? I'd much rather hear Terrance Neuman's and Tony Dixon's apologies. Next week, it's the Roy Williams showdown vs the surprising Lions. Let's hope the same Roy Williams comes away on top as the last time they met up.

Surviving Christmas

So, this movie didn't do very well in it's opening weekend. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that it's a CHRISTMAS movie! It's not even Halloween yet, why would anyone want to go see a Christmas movie? Why does it seem like someone wants to start the Christmas season earlier every year?

Post Via Email

Supposedly, you can post to these things via email, so
I am just trying that out.



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ABC News: Bush: Kerry Unable to Win War on Terror

Bush thinks Kerry can't win the war on terror, well then I guess it's a good thing that the mission has already been accomplished, so he doesn't really have to. But even if Bush may have been a little premature in his victory speech, it still shouldn't matter whether or not Kerry can win the War on Terror, since Bush doesn't think it can be won anyway. But then I guess no one really understood what he really meant. And this guy calls someone else a flip-flopper? Amazing.

Hey, Jerry, just go away already

Ok, Jerry Rice is one of the greatest football players ever. And I've never been one to say athletes should quit before they are ready. But this from Jerry Rice just makes me wish he would go away. Rice will be in The Hall of Fame someday, but Steve Largent is already there, his number shouldn't be un-retired to accomodate a washed up superstar with an oversized ego. I realize Largent gave his permission, but what's he supposed to do? Say no? Then he looks like a jerk. He should not have even been asked. Jerry Rice should have worn whatever number was available. I know he's worn the number his entire career, but it's the number 80 in a 49er jersey that should be special to him, not the number itself. No matter what number he wears, he is going to look wrong in a Seahawk jersy, just like he did in a Raiders jersey, so just leave Largent's number alone.

Here's hoping some future 49er wants to wear number 80 someday, and when Rice refuses, this story is thrown in his face.

Stop stealing campaign signs!

My brother got us a Kerry sign, and also got one for my parents, both have been stolen. And I see stories like this one all over the place, with this kind of nonesense happening on both sides. What is the point of stealing campaign signs, anyway? If you are that motivated for a particular cadidate, I'm sure there are many, many much more effective ways to contribute to the cause. Try getting some like minded people to actually vote. Maybe put up your own sign. I never cease to be amazed by how stupid some people are.