Iraq Elections

I'm really not sure where I stand on the elections in Iraq, now. Most reports seem to suggest that they went pretty well, with great turnout and a noteable lack of violence. However, I see other reports that say that people were forced to vote by threats of withholding food rations for those that don't vote, which, if true, just makes me sick. Even worse, I suppose would be if they actually follow through on withholding someone's food. Anyway, I'm not there and I don't know exactly what is going on, so I'm not sure what to think. What I hope, though is that all the reports of the election being a great success are true, and that these elections can be the beginning of a different Iraq, where people don't get killed everyday, and where people don't have to be afraid, and hopefully, where people have water and electricity. Also, I hope that the US can start to put together a clearer timetable of how long we are going to be fighting over there, and start looking to bring our troops home.

What I also hope, is that even if everything goes perfectly from this point on, and the Iraqi people are free and governing themselves, that we don't use that as an excuse to justify everything that has gone on to get to that point. There are still a lot of bodies that piled up, still a lot of families missing loved ones, still a lot of people that are never coming home. We need to remember that, especially if Bush is going to try to duplicate the "success" in Iran or somewhere else. We need to make sure people don't forget what a mess Iraq has been, no matter how it turns out.

Torture is wrong, no matter who does it, no matter what the reason

I could go on and on with great arguments against torturing people, or refuting arguments from the pro torture side on the right, but it all just boils down to this: It's wrong, we shouldn't do it, we're better than that (I hope). Not confirming Alberto Gonzales' nomination as Attorney General would go a long way to making that clear.

Jacksonville bashing

As my hometown gets ready to host SuperBowl XXXIX, it seems like everyone in the national media is taking the easy way out and writing or talking about what a hick town Jacksonville is and how it is not ready to host the SuperBowl. As a matter of fact, when checking my referral statistics, I see that someone found my blog by searching Google for "jacksonville host city sucks superbowl." Now, I'm no cheerleader for this city, I think there are as many problems here as anywhere else. All the W stickers I see everyday are a constant reminder that people around here aren't too smart. Having said that, though, I've gotten a little irritated with some of the crap I've heard about Jacksonville leading up to the game next week. It seems that most of the people doing the complaining have never been here, or haven't for a long time. This city has grown quite a bit over the last ten years or so, and despite what people nationally seem to think, it isn't just filled with a bunch of hicks (although we do seem to have plenty of them). Anyway, I really just wish people would save their complaining until after the game, if they still think Jacksonville isn't ready, that's fair. But complaining about it before the game just doesn't make any sense to me.

Social Security

Like many people (I think), I had always believed that there were big problems with out Social Security System. It seemed everyone who ever talked about it on TV or on the radio assumed there were big problems, I think there was an episode of the West Wing about it. It never made a lot of sense to me, because I always heard that the money I was putting in today was going to pay benefits to people who are collecting today, instead of being saved for me when I am old enough to collect, so that by the time I was a senior citizen, the whole system would be bankrupt. That seemed like a problem to me, but I didn't understand why when I was ready to collect, they wouldn't just be taking the money put in by workers then and giving it to me. So I never got why anyone would say the system could ever be bankrupt. As long as people are still paying in, I didn't see how that could ever be an issue. I realized there could be problems if more people were getting benefits and less people were contributing, but I didn't see the crisis people seemed to always assume was coming. However, I really didn't know much about it, and I figured people that understand this better than I do could explain it. Anyway, with Bush's ridiculous plan being talked about so much, I've learned a lot more about Social Security and realized that there isn't a crisis after all.

However, what I don't understand now, is why anyone thinks Bush's plan makes any sense. Even if there was a crisis, from everything I've read about this plan, it won't fix it, and will more than likely make it worse. I know that this administration just likes to be determined (stubborn) and decisive (rush to decisions regardless of facts), and it is pretty much their stance that if anything has a problem, then anything they do to respond to that problem is automatically justified. They don't seem to grasp the concept of making things worse. What I don't get is why so many people blindly follow this idiot and his ridiculous plans. Is it really so hard to see that he has made just about every single thing that he has any control over worse? Iraq, the economy, education, unemployment...nothing this guy touches gets better. Social Security is just another in a long line of things he is trying to fuck up, let's just hope that enough people wake up before he is able to shove this down our throats like he does with all his other dimwitted policies.

Michael Powell and the FCC

It wasn't that long ago that I was only vaguely aware of the FCC, and especially their role in regulating what is shown on TV. I knew that someone somewhere in the background was making sure no one said fuck or showed a boobie, but I really didn't think much about it, and I certainly never knew whothe comissioner was. That was until what I like to call, the greatest overreaction in media history at last year's SuperBowl halftime show. Since then, it seems like the FCC is everywhere, you always hear about affiliates afraid to show Saving Private Ryan (even though they had done it before) for fear of getting fined. Then the ridiculous outrage over the MNF intro with Terrell Owens. While I'm aware that there needs to be some regulation for what comes on network television (we can't have them showing porn, although it wouldn't really bother me much if they did), here's hoping that with Michael Powell's resignation, the FCC can fade back into the background and let the viewers decide what is appropriate for themselves and their children.

If that's too much to ask, however, there is one thing that offends me and perhaps the FCC could do something about that. There is an incredibly ridiculous talking half man, half monkey creature (his english is actually quite good, for a monkey) that comes on my TV quite a bit, he's always talking about freedom and liberty and hard work, but he looks like all he really does is scratch himself all day. So if you could keep this thing off my TV, I'd be pretty happy.

CBS News | Brits Not As Eager On Iran | January 24, 2005

Just goes to show that some people learn from their mistakes.

Things continue to go well in Iraq

From Baghdad Burning

It's amazing how as things get worse, you begin to require less and less. We have a saying for that in Iraq, "Ili yishoof il mawt, yirdha bil iskhooneh." Which means, "If you see death, you settle for a fever." We've given up on democracy, security and even electricity. Just bring back the water.

So maybe that is Bush's plan. Take away everything from these people, then when things can't get any worse, we'll turn the water back on, then they'll love us. That's one shrewd monkey.

Microsoft Outlook Live

I haven't actually seen this product, so I can't really comment too much on it. But just from reading the couple of articles I have seen about it, I wonder why anyone would want it. First, any of the online web/email functions seem to be just fancier versions of things you can get fro free now. And any of the Outlook functionality that you need can be had by ... buying Outlook, once, for one price. $60 a year seems like quite a bit for a souped up email service. I hope Microsoft is offering a lot more than the article describes, or this isn't going to be around long.

Iraq Elections

As the people in Iraq continue to prepare for the elections at the end of the month by watching shit get blown up everyday, and seeing people involved get assassinated, it really makes me wonder. Despite what a mess things are over there, these elections are supposed to be where we can really point out some little shred of something good that has come from this ridiculous war. But seeing all the reports of people afraid to vote, selling ballots, leaving the country, and just everything that can possibly go wrong going wrong, just makes me wonder if these elections really mean anything at all. Does anyone think we will honestly know the will of the Iraqi people afterwards? How can they really make an informed decision on who to vote for with everything else that's going on, anyway, assuming, they care enough, and are not too afraid, to actually vote? I just really don't see much good coming out of Iraq, now or in the future either, unless something changes dramatically. The only thing that seems certain about the elections to me is that a lot of people will get killed. I've been opposed to the war from the start, but I never really imagined it would go this badly. I can understand that for some people, the end justifies the means, but at this point, I can't really see any end in sight, or anything to make me think that the end will be any better than the beginning.

I hope I'm wrong, and that's what I think the wingnuts don't understand is that a lot of the anti-war people can see what a mess things are, and point out all the bad things that are happenning and could happen in the future, but we hope that we're wrong. The administration, on the other hand, just wants to be right, it doesn't matter who it's bad for, they just want to be right. When did admitting mistakes become the ultimate sign of weakness?

Just because you worship George W. Bush doesn't mean I worship Bill Clinton

As frustrating as it is to try to talk to wingnuts at all, I find that it is made infinitely more frustrating by their obsession with Bill Clinton and their assumption that I must love him as much as they love Bush. Anytime I make a point about something W does or says, instead of trying to refute it or tell me why they disagree with my assessment, they just try to counter with something as bad or worse in their minds that Bill Clinton did or said. This pisses me off for a lot of reasons. First, tell me why I'm wrong, don't tell me that someone else did something as bad or worse, so that makes anything Bush does ok, that's some pretty fucked up logic, even if I assume that every bad thing you have to say about Clinton is 100% accurate. Second, I don't think Bill Clinton is the standard by which we should judge all future Presidents. Just because you can't seem to pry your mouth off of George Bush's cock doesn't mean I feel the same way about Bill Clinton, and even if I did, you don't know that, and it's irrelevant when talking aobut George Bush. Finally, Bill Clinton is not the President anymore. Even if every bad thing you have to say about him is true, and even if he is a million times worse than George Bush, it doesn't matter, his time is past. Even if electing him President was the biggest mistake in American History, it doesn't matter anymore because he's gone now. George Bush is the President now, his policies and decisions affect people today.

If I say George Bush is a liar, and you disagree, fine (you're wrong, but fine). Tell me why you believe that, don't say, "...well, Clinton lied under oath." So what? Does that mean George Bush is not a liar? I'm pretty sure it doesn't. If Clinton did it, does that make it ok for Bush to do it too? I certainly don't see why it should. Clinton has paid the price for his lie, whether you think that price was too low or not is irrelevant, it's over, forget about it. Bush's lies are affecting people everyday, it's not the same.

So if we are arguing about who it the better President, then it's perfectly valid to talk about Bill Clinton, but if we are talking about George Bush and the direction this country is going in the present, then shut the fuck up about Bill Clinton, already.

Haloscan Comments

I have added Haloscan comments to the blog. I don't know why, really, just because everyone else was doing it, I guess. No, actually, it just seems a little faster, and I'm hoping it will inspire more people to comment since they won't need a Blogger ID. Unfortunately, this wipes out all the old comments, so if you said anything important, just go back and say it again, or something.

Conda-sleez-a Rice

At this risk of being branded a racist by Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity, I have to say that this woman is ridiculously incompetent. It really made me sick to watch her get offended at the one person who actually asked her tough questions and didn't accept her bullshit answers. Hey Condi, if someone calls you a liar, a better defense than being outraged would be to point out why you are not a liar. Although I suppose that's hard to do when you are on the record with comments that directly contradict each other. Anyway, the most disgusitg thing about this whole proceeding was that it was already assumed going in that she would be confirmed. If it's such a slam dunk that someone this imcompetent will be confirmed, then I wonder why Kerik withdrew. Sure he made a lot of mistakes, but clearly mistakes don't hurt you in this process. I guess he made the wrong kind of mistakes. So let's see, disgracing the memories of the people killed on September 11th by having an affair at ground zero is bad, but disgracing the memories of the people killed on September 11th by attacking the wrong country on a lie and killing a whole shitload of other innocent people in their names is ok. Ok, I think I got it.

Why on Earth should I give a shit about this?

Why do so many people care about celebrities love lives? Does anyone really expect these marraiges to last, anyway? If so, based on what? I care about these people to the extent which they entertain me through their acting/singing/performing, I don't care who they marry/date/fuck. At least no one tried to morph Pitt's and Aniston's names together into some new character, as I htink the coining of the term Bennifer was probably one of the lowest points in American History. Although, I'm sure if George Bush has anything to say about it, it won't remain there for long.

Boston Legal

Anyone else watching this show? James Spader's character is great, and Whilliam Shatner is pretty good too. Candance Bergen recently joined the cast, and brought a lot of great Bush-bashing dialogue with her. It's on ABC, Sunday at 10, check it out.

Yeah, this is a good idea

Ok, so apparently we're already warming up for the next round of the War on Terror. While we should be concerned about Iran, can't we finish one clusterfuck before we start the next one? I really don't have any confidence in this administration to plan or execute a war of any kind against anyone, and I really wish we'd get out of the preemptive war business altogether. How many of these things do we have to go through before the next Axis of Evil represenative decides it's in their best interest to preemptively attack us?

This is another thing that bothers me about the ridiculous, useless, failure of a war in Iraq. It's that Iran may be an actual threat, and we may not have the authority necessary to deal with it diplomatically, after Iraq. And if we do decide to deal with it the same way as Iraq, are we going to have the resources to do that? How could we? And finally, if we hadn't declared them as part of The Axis of Evil, and then showed them what we do to the members of The Axis of Evil, it's entirely possible that they may not be the threat that they are.

My only question is, is Iran Eastasia, or Eurasia? I can never tell those two apart?

"Intelligent" Design "Theory"

I really hate to even post on this, because it's such ridiculous nonsense, but I keep seeing so much about it lately that I thought I'd add my thoughts. Obviously, the word "intelligent" doesn't belong in this crap any more than the word "theory" does. I'm no scientist, but I do know that when talking about scientific theories, we're not just including anything that is not incontrovertible fact. I can't just imagine that the universe was created by Magic Monkeys, call it the Magic Monkey Theory, and therefore assume that it is on the same plane with Evolution, just because it makes sense to me, and falls in line with what I believe.

Now, Evolution may have a lot of gaps, which these ID nutbags are quick to point out, but this ID "theory" has a BIG GAPING FUCKING hole in it. If you're arguing that the universe is too complicated or too efficient or whatever to have evolved from nothing, which leads you to conclude that it therefore must have been designed, then you've got a big problem, assuming that you are correct and it must have been designed by some higher power, then where the hell do you think that higher power came from? Wouldn't a superior intelligence with the capability to create the universe in all its complexity also be too complex to just exist on its own, and therefore wouldn't the very same ID "theory" also apply to that higher power, and therefore there must be an even higher power, thus setting up a big circular argument that will never fucking end?

Iraqi Civil War

I hear a lot of talk these days about how Iraq is on the verge of civil war if the US leaves, or when the US leaves, or whatever. But it makes me wonder, with a bunch of people over there trying to move forward and have elections, and another bunch trying to assassinate everyone involved in the elections and threatening to kill people who particiapte, aren't they kind of already in the middle of a civil war? Or is there some nuance I'm missing that means it doesn't qualify?

Rathergate vs. WMD

I've posted several times about how angry I get over people making a big deal out of stupid things, whether it's Randy Moss' endzone celabration, Janet Jackson, or a MNF intro, expecially considering all the important things going on in the world that people don't seem to make a big deal about. The Poor Man has an excellent comparison over one of the most current examples of this, showing real-life effects of Rathergate (which everyone seems to think is the worst thing ever) vs. the hunt for WMD in Iraq (which we started a war over and no one cares about). Check it out.

Desktop Search

With hard drive sizes being so enormous and allowing you to store so much information, I can see that it would be handy to have a search tool that works better than Windows Find, but I really don't understand the rush to get these tools out there. First of all, I really haven't seen much demand for them, and second, based on the Google tool, which is the only one I have used, I don't see any great functionality that I was missing before. Whenever I have used the thing, all it ever seems to find is files from my internet cache. I'm sure they will improve, but right now, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

ABC Wednesday - Lost, 8:00 - 9:03

What the fuck? I had noticed earlier this season that this show showed up as being scheduled from 8:00 - 9:01, and also that ER was at least once scheduled from 9:59 - 11:00. But then tonight, this crap was just too much. First, it actually started at about 7:59, and it did last until 9:03, causing me to miss the first few minutes of The West Wing. Also, if I had not been home and recorded it instead, I would have missed the ending. I guess that is the point is they want to fuck up your schedule so you'll just watch Alias instead, and they don't want you to record it and skip the commercials, but this seems like a fucked up way to go about it. It just seems really petty. Does this bother anyone else? Or am I the only one to notice it?

I Love The Rude Pundit

His take on Social Security is not only well thought out, but very entertaining as well. I love the teaser at the bottom, how can you go wrong with goat fucking?

My Review of the Iraq War (so far)

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Ok, so we went to war to disarm Saddam, because he had weapons of mass destruction which posed a direct threat to the United States. Well, we haven't found those weapons yet, and apparently we have now abandoned the search. So either we were wrong in the first place, or we were lied to (or both), or he did have weapons of mass destruction and we haven't found them, therefore we have completely failed to achieve what we set out to do. Well, at least we got rid of Saddam thereby eliminating the threat of him working with Al-Qaeda against the US.

Links to Al-Qaeda

Apparently, we also couldn't find any links to Al-Qaeda or to the September 11th attacks in Iraq. Oh well, at least we are freeing the Iraqi people from a terrible dictator.

Liberating the Iraqi People

So, despite our original reasons for going to war turning out to be completely bogus, we can at least comfort ourselves in the knowledge that no more people will be killed by Saddam. Which sounds great of course, except that plenty of innocent people are getting killed anyway. If you get killed, is it really all that much better to get killed by the liberating army instead of the evil dictator? Maybe it is, I'm just asking. Anyway, at least the people that are left will be free.

Hmmm, but free to do what? Sit around in their houses with no electricity, no water and afraid for their lives? Live in constant fear of a stray bomb falling on their house? I'm all for getting rid of Saddam, but not if the alternative doesn't actually make people's lives better. Ok, but now that they are having elections, things will be better for them in the future.

The Future of Iraq

Free elections are a great thing, however, what is the point if people are too afraid to actually go vote? Or if they don't know anything about who is running because it is not publicized for fear of getting candidates assassinated. Is there any real reason to believe that Iraq will be a better place once (if) we are done there? I'd say at best it is just uncertain. Even if the war could be completely justified and the Us was proven correct in all its reasons for going to war, that is still no excuse for the poor job that was done in planning and execution of this war. We have removed a terrible man from power, however, we have also left the country a complete mess, and with no reason to think that it will not be ruled by someone just as bad once we leave. But at least the American people are safer, now, right?

The Safety of America

Well, maybe if Saddam had had WMD and link to Al-Qaeda and we had found those weapons and disposed of them, then perhaps we'd be safer. But we didn't find them and have given up the search. So either he didn't have them, which means it wasn't a threat anyway, or they are still out there somewhere and we are not looking for them, and they could already be in the hands of terrorists. I don't think that's the case, but if you really believe Saddam had WMD, then you should be really concerned that we have given up the search.

Also, now that we have invaded one of the "Axis of Evil" countries, we have demonstrated to the others who were publicly put on that list that we are not above attacking preemptively, which seems to me like it would only encourage those countries to pursue their own weapons programs, as seen in North Korea and Iran. They now have good reason to be afraid of us, and reason to prepare for when it is their turn to be liberated.

Also, we diverted so many resources into Iraq that could have been better used actually trying to fight actual terrorists instead of countries with possible links to terrorism. This would have made America safer. Creating new enemies does not make America any safer. But at least we shown the rest of the world who we are.

The World

Regardless of how you feel about the war, you have to acknowledge that it has hurt our standing with the rest of the World. No one else agrees with us (yeah, yeah, I know, we have a coalition, right) and we've pretty much said fuck you to all of them. I know a lot of people in this country are arrogant and really don't give a fuck what any other country thinks about us, but in reality it is important if we are going to be a leader in the World.

Hindsight is 20/20

I've heard a lot of people lately responding of criticism of how the war is going by saying that it's easy to say that when things aren't going as well, and that it's easy to second guess these things. The problem with that argument is that what is now going on in Iraq was predicted beforehand by a lot of people. Of course they were dismissed as UnAmerican by the prowar crowd, so it's easy for them to forget that this was all pointed out ahead of time. It's important that those of us who aren't crazy remind everyone of why were told we were going to war, how it was predicted that it wouldn't be easy, how the reason has changed when politically expedient (flip-flopping) and that being American doesn't mean following blindly along with whatever the government tells you.


I don't expect everyone to agree with me and I don't expect the government to only implement policies that I agree with, but I do expect people to demand real explanations for why we do things, especially when people's lives are at stake. Simply saying something is the right thing to do because we are the ones doing it is scary.

CBS News - Forged Documents

The most ridiculous part of this story as far as I'm concerned is watching people on the FOX "News" channel talking about how CBS screwed up by letting political bias get in the way of accurate reporting. How do they say that with a straight face? CBS does it once and apparently it's the worst thing that ever happened in the history of broadcasting, FOX does it every day and no one cares.

And am I the only one that thinks this whole story was set up by Karl Rove or someone from the Bush administration? I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but I remember when I first saw the story about the documents and something about the White House releasing them without comment, which I thought was odd. I wouldn't put it past them to put out obvious fakes so someone could get caught making up a story about W. Seriously, everyone now seems to assume that because the documents were fake that it somehow proves that the entire story was false, when actually it has no bearing on the story at all. All the things alleged could still have happened. It really took the spotlight off of any questions about Bush's "military service." They also got what seemed to be the only mainstream media organization that had anything critical to say about Bush to not only look terrible, but to join the ranks of media outlets blowing him on a regular basis.

Give me a freaking break

After hearing all weekend how terrible it was that Randy Moss left the field of last week's game 2 seconds (yes, seconds) early, the media was ready to jump all over him when he decided to do a tasteless end zone celebration in last nights game against the Packers. I'm not defending Moss, his celebration, and leaving the field early were both out of line, and are just little things that when added together with earlier incidents show that Moss probably isn't a very good guy. However, the level of outrage about this incident (much like the TO/Desperate Housewives intro) is just ridiculous. I'm tired of people whining about things that just don't matter. What difference does it make if Moss is a nice guy? He's paid to play football. He does that very well. You don't like what kind of person he is, fine, don't buy his jersey, don't go to Vikings games, don't watch him on TV, but for God's sake, shut the fuck up about it already.

I was listening to the game on the radio, so I didn't see what happened, and thought I would see it later on ESPN, but no...they're above showing such terrible things. However, they felt free to go on and on about how bad it was. If you're not going to show me what happened, then don't talk so much about it. If you're really above it, then be above it and ignore it. If you want to have a discussion about it, then show me what we are discussing. It didn't help me feel any better that these are the same people who were falling all over themselves to talk about what a great guy Reggie White was. So, for the record, offensive endzone celebrations are worse than being a bigot and a homophobe, and not only being one, but actively promoting bigotry and homophobia. Great job ESPN, maybe you could tell me a little bit about why OJ is great because he never had any questionable endzone celebrations.

Another thing that bothers me about this whole thing is that this is what we reserve our outrage for in this country. Hundreds of thousands of people get killed a couple of weeks ago, and it only inspires us to argue over who is charitable and who is not. We are involved in a war, with people (Americans and others) getting killed everyday, but we are largely apathetic about it. We make no demands on our government to do things right, or even to explain why the war isn't a complete waste of human life. But Randy Moss pretends to drop his pants and suddenly we're outraged and we all want to have our say. I love sports, and football in particular, as much as anyone, but there are more important things going on in the world. Who is hurt when Randy Moss celebrates? No one! Who is hurt when he leaves the field early? No one! Could we get over this? Could we talk about real things going on in the world? Actually, I'm sure that we can't, which saddens me. But, if not, could we at least stop making this seem like a big deal?

Oh, and please, please spare me the, I was watching this with my kids and now I have to explain this to them, arguement. If you don't want your kids to see anything bad, then blindfold them and lock them in a closet. And if this is the worst thing that your kids see, consider yourself lucky. Think of the terrible things kids in Asia have been seeing lately, or Iraq, or a million other fucking places in the world. If your kids saw Randy Moss pretend to drop his pants and you were bothered by that, then tell them that that kind of behavior makes people look like idiots. Tell them that you don't want to see them acting like that. Tell them whatever you want, teach them your values, they're your kids, not Randy Moss', not the NFL's, not FOX Sports'. You teach them, don't let the TV do it for you.

Playing with colors

Subject to change without notice.

There must be an alternate definition of "exclusive" that I am not aware of

I was watching Hannity and Colmes tonight (I don't know why either) and they had an "exclusive" interview with Amber Frey. I thought that I must have misheard what they said since I just saw an entire edition of Dateline with her the other day. But everytime they went back to the interview, there was the word exlclusive plastered all over the screen, hell on the website, the word is even in italics. Just further evidence that the people of Fox News would rather just make up what they want the truth to be then tell you what it is than actually tell you the actual truth which may not be as favorable to their agenda.

No wonder the media can't ask any tough questions, they're too busy with hard hitting stories like this

Hey, that dog was born on my son's birthday. I know that doesn't have anything to do with anything, but it was about the most useful piece of information that I could find in this "story."

Shocking...

Ok, not really. People have been saying things like this for quite some time. Of course our administration tells us that things are going fine, and that there definitely won't be a draft. What's amazing is that people can still buy that line of bullshit.

And what really pisses me off is that 50 million people voted for Bush, which I assume means that they support the clusterfuck in Iraq. Well, in that case, I shouldn't think we should have any problem with troop strength. I mean a good number of those 50 million have got to be of fighting age, or have children who are. Why haven't they signed up? They obviously support what is going on. Or is it that they support it as long as someone else is doing it? If you're not willing to go do something yourself, then you should really examine why you expect other people to go do it for you. I also haven't heard any of these right wing nutjobs on the radio or TV urging their gung ho listeners or viewers to sign up to fight, which I think they should do if they really believe in the war. They've all made Pat Tillman into a saint, these people should follow his example, or if not, then think about why they aren't when it is time to vote.

Congratulations to College Football National Champions, USC, Auburn and Utah

Hopefully all three of these teams will claim a Championship this season, get rings, hang banners, the whole thing. The more people do to make sure that the "official" National Championship doesn't mean anymore than any other team's claim to the Championship, the quicker we can get rid of it and get a real system.

I'm sure anyone can argue that one of these teams is better or more deserving or whatever, but let's not do that. Let's just recognize them all, so the official one doesn't have any significance. The only way to really decide the issue to everyone's satisfaction is to do it on the field. So until the NCAA pulls its head out of its ass and does that, let's just recognize anyone who has any realistic claim to it.

Who's Your Daddy?

I'm not one to complain about Reality TV. If people really hated it as much as they claim to, it wouldn't be on TV, and I watch as much of it as anyone. I also am not under any illusion that producers of these shows work with any kind of ethics in mind. But when I watched Big Brother this season and they had a half brother and sister on together without their knowledge, I thought it was a little shady. That just seemed to me like something that they shouldn't have done, but it didn't bother me a lot, just made me cringe a little.

Then, I saw the preview for this new FOX show, Who's Your Daddy? and it just makes me sick. I don't really know exactly what the rules or the scenario are, and I don't intend to find out, because there is no way I will watch this crap, but it just seems like a terrible thing to do people. I really hope people don't watch this, so maybe FOX will think twice about it next time, not because it's in poor taste (that's definitely not going to stop them), but because it will get poor ratings. I've never been one to complain about what is on TV, I can always change the channel, but this show really disturbs me for some reason.

This is kind of sad

So, the guy who drew Alfred E. Neuman died. On the bright side, whenever we want to see Alfred E. Neuman, we can still always look to the White House.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

I didn't mind when they were the California Angels, I don't have any problem with the Anaheim Angels, and I wouldn't be bothered by them changing the name to the Los Angeles Angels. But two things. First, make up your fucking mind already. And second when you make up your mind, do it from one of the three reasonable choices listed above, not the incredibly stupid sounding, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I understand wanting to name the team for a larger metropolitan area instead of a small city where they are actually located. This happens all the time in sports. But you can't have it both ways, pick one or the other. If you want to make everyone happy, go back to the California name, otherwise pick one. This ridiculous name is only going to make Los Angeles, Anaheim, the Angels, and Major League Baseball look stupid. Also, no one is ever going to use it. It will always be shortened to something more managable. Hopefully Major League Baseball or the City of Anaheim or someone will be able to do something about this, if the Angels aren't smart enough to fix it themselves.

Back to the Sucking

The Cowboys managed to end their season on a crappy note, which is fitting for this season. And to lose after taking the lead with less than two minutes left makes it even more impressive. I still can't see any reason why Testaverde has been playing in the second half of the season. If they're going to lose anyway, better to lose with a guy who may help you win in the future. At this point, it makes me wonder just how bad Henson must be for Testaverde to be a better option the way he has played this season. Maybe they can do something to address this need in free agency. It would be nice if they could at least make an attempt to sign Drew Brees. I'd just really like to see any evidence that they realize that Troy Aikman is gone and that they have to address it once and for all. Now, it looks like they have a solid running back, they have some good receivers, and the defense just needs some depth and experience in the secondary, and they could be a much improved team next season. But only if they actually find a real QB somewhere.