Girl Calls 911 After Parents Killed

I'm sure everyone has heard this story by now, it's pretty sad. But what really bothers me is the emphasis I've seen being put on the Judge's failure to issue an injunction against the guy. While it may be fun to say "I told you so" to the judge, and wonder how he could possibly make such a decision when there was obviously a reason for these people to be worried, what the fuck do people think would have happened any differently if the judge had ordered the injunction??? Do they think that the killer would have been on his way out the door to kill these people then shoot himself and then on the way to his car, slapped himself on the forehead, said "oh fuck, that's right...the injunction" then went back inside and watched tv instead? Restraining orders are good for people who are harrassing, but people who are violent aren't going to be worried about them, especially murderers, and particularly suicidal murderers. As soon as the penalty for the actual crime outweighs the penalty for violating the order, then the incentive to stay away is no longer a factor. Common sense seems to be in ridiculously short supply these days.

Lost

Nice to finally see a new episode after so long. It was pretty good too, but I was really hoping we would learn something, instead we just got more mystery. With them doing Locke flashbacks again, I at least thought we'd find out how he ended up in the wheelchair. I wonder how long it will be until Charlie finds out there's a plane full of heroin on the island.

Why Charles lashed out

He's probably just upset with how the media brought down Barry Bonds

Bush Welcomes Results of WMD Report

I'm sure he does welcome it. He welcomes that it comes after the election when there's not much people can do about it. He welcomes that it comes on the same day Terri Schiavo dies, so most people won't notice it. He welcomes that it is framed as an "intelligence failure" instead of what it actually is: Bush's lies. I really like this quote:

But in an age where our margin for error is getting smaller, the consequences of underestimating a threat could be tens of thousands of lives.

He conveniently doesn't mention that the cost of overestimating a threat could be the same or greater, but I guess that's not important since most of them aren't Americans anyway.

Terri Schiavo Dies

Now maybe we can start pretending that there are other things going on in the world, other things that are important, other things that are newsworthy, other things that Congress should be concerned with, other things that the President and the Governor should be worried about, other things for the courts to decide, other people's lives that are important. Maybe people can go back to making decisions for their own families instead of trying to butt into someone else's. Any maybe now, most importantly, the abortion clinics will get all their protestors back.

I didn't even know he was sick

I hope Jackie Childs is ok, I always liked him better anyway.

Everyone is suing everyone

So, how does the length of time the ads were up factor into people's perception that they are wife beaters? I would think it would be the fact that they were in the posters in the first place would be what creates that perception. You'd think they would have thought about it before they accepted the job.

Reminds me of the Friends episode where Joey ended up on the STD posters.

Fort Lauderdale officer in trouble for ticketing doctor on way to deliver baby

Sounds like this cop was a real asshole, but what I'm wondering is why the doctor thought he should be able to speed in the first place. Presumably, there's a reason for the speed limit to be what it is. If it's dangerous for someone to go faster just because they feel like it, then it's dangerous for someone to go faster even if they have a legitimate reason.

Laura Bush to visit Afghanistan

Improvements in women's quality of life in Afghanistan? What? They now get to vote on who gets to beat them up?

Maybe she can make a similar visit to Iraq to highlight improvements in women's quality of life there. But I guess she'd better take a whole bunch of men with her to escort her around.

I wonder how the wingnuts will find a way to object to this

This looks promising, a way to get stem cells without having to destroy those sacred embryos.

"You don't have any political problems, either, like you would using embryonic stem cells," Hoffman said.

While I hope that this is true, I've learned (mostly this month) to never underestimate the ridiculous stupidity of the pro-life agenda. I'm sure they'll have some objection to this too. They just aren't big fans of science.

More posturing for a law suit

Much like the story I saw last week where the family "wondered" if Prozac was responsible for their son's muderous rampage, when I read this story all I could see was how this woman was lining up ammunition to claim her emotional distress or whatthefuckever. As disgusting as it would be to find a human finger in your food, to say you're losing sleep over it is just ridiculous. Trauma, shock, equally ridiculous. Disgust maybe, if she had thrown up I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm pretty skeptical of any lasting effects.

Georgeanna Jones Dies at 92; In Vitro Fertilization Pioneer

I had never heard of these people until I saw this story just now, but I really appreciate their work. Without it, I wouldn't have my son, who is just the most wonderfulthing in the world, along with my beautiful wife, of course. So, thanks Dr. Jones.

Carnivale

Wow, what a great show. I just warched the finale, and now I can't wait for next season already. I had heard people were eager for a third season, and I guess it hasn't been announced yet if there will be one. But until tonight, I couldn't figure out what there would be left to tell after this season.

A friend at work and I had speculated (sarcastically), that instead of another season, they could so a spin-off, much like Joey from Friends, it could be called Jonesy. Jonesy would go back to playing baseball and it would be about the various confilcts that arise when his whore wife sleeps with other members of his team. But, uh, well, I guess that's out now.

Seriously though, what a great job they did with the finale, and leaving it open ended as they did, I guess I should have seen it coming, but I really didn't. Well done again by HBO.

Thanks Arizona

It's not bad enough that you can't hang onto a 15 point lead for four minutes, but then with 11 seconds left, down by 1 with the ball inbouding after a timeout, the best shot you can get off is a desperation 3, pathetic.

My other two Final Four teams made it, including my champion, but it would feel a lot better to have three out of four than just two, especially when Arizona felt like a bit of a long shot, it would have been a nice one to get right.

UPDATE: Oops, I spoke too soon, I saw the Kentucky score, but I thought it was a final since I remember it starting so long ago, but I just flipped it on and it's in double OT.

UPDATE: Crap, so make that 1 out of 4.

I can't stand Jeb Bush, but this still bothers me

As much as I hate Jeb Bush, I really don't think he deserves the crap he's taken in this case, at least not from the side it's coming from.

``With the stroke of his pen, he could stop this,'' Bob Schindler said. ``He's put Terri through a week of hell and my family though a week of hell. I implore him to put a stop to this. He has to stop it. This is judicial homicide.''

He's been firmly on their side during this entire ordeal, going against polls which show the people disagree with him, signing laws that are clearly unconstitutional,and basically doing whatever he can for this people, and not only are they not thanking him, or even acknowledging that he has done everything he can do, they're actually blaming him. Unbelievable.

Just another reason to hate Duke

My Elite Eight took another hit. It doesn't look so good, four of eight if UK and UNC come through. However, I still have three of my Final Four alive. Although my champion is playing it a little too close at the moment.

Family Wonders if Prozac Prompted School Shootings

Call me a cynic, but why is it when I read this story, all I can think is that the headline would be more accurate if it said:

Family Wonders if there is anyone they can sue

Poor persecuted republicans

I didn't even know Starbucks put little messages on their coffee cups, since I don't drink coffee and even if I did would never pay that much for it, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't get upset about the messages on the coffee cups having a bias. I guess it's not enough to control the federal government and the entire media, the reuplicans now also want to make sure the coffee cups agree with them. Maybe they could pass some legislation or something.

A woman who wouldn't be Queen

So will she be the Queen or won't she? According to this, it looks like she actually will be the Queen, but she doesn't have to be called that if she doesn't want to, but if she did want to, they would pass legislation so that she wouldn't be. So the important thing isn't really whether or not she is the Queen, but whether or not people have to call her by the title. Well, I really didn't need any more proof that royalty is all fucked up, but there it is anyway.

March Madness

My bracket didn't take anymore hits after yesterday's games. I almost lost Arizona which would be bad, but they made it so hopefully they can knock off Illinois and make me look smart. I now officially have nothing left in the Albuquerque region. Anyone still have their Final Four intact?

Life Support

With so many issues involved in the Terri Schiavo story, it's hard to even keep track of them all. One thing I've noticed from the right to life people is the way they try to make a distinction between the feeding tube that keeps her alive and a respirator, or between her condition and that of someone in a coma.

"This woman is not on a respirator," he said. "All we are talking about is whether she should be given nutrition and hydration, and that would be considered the normal thing to do - to feed the person."

So, she's not on a respirator? So what? People need food to live just like they need air to live. What is the difference between requiring a machine to breathe for you and requiring a machine to feed you? Either way, you are dependent on the machine to live, so I really don't buy this distinction at all. The determining factor should be what her quality of life is and if she has any hope of getting better. Would the people who make this distinction be likely to feel differently if she were on a respirator? Adn if they would, then why? Since their argument seems to be that she is not in a vegatative state and that there is hope for her to get better. The fact that she needs a feeding tube to live and doesn't need a respirator doesn't necessarily mean that she is in any better shape, or that she has nay hope of getting better.

Ouch!

I don't know what else I can say about this.

Can't wait for this

Ok, there's a reason professional wrestling turned into a ridiculous scripted sideshow of sports entertainment, and the reason is that watching people really wrestle is pretty fucking boring.

And on PAX TV? What are all the regular viewers going to do when they realize the uninterrupted Highway to Heaven marathon is no more?

There are plenty of hungry people in the world to feed

And feeding most of them won't get you arrested. Regardless of what you think about Terri Schiavo or her medical condition or the removal of her feeding tube, if you're really so concerned about people dying of hunger, then just look around. You probably won't have to look very far before you'll find someone that you could help that not only won't get you arrested but would actually know that you fed them. How about we pass some emergency legislation for those people? Oh, but that's right, that would actually require a real committment to do something. That's the beauty of the empty gesture, you can pretend to stand for something, without really having to do anything.

S.F. girls soccer team run-ins prompt ban on post-match high fives

Because this is easier than just teaching them good sportsmanship in the first place. Even NFL and NBA players usually shake hands with opposing players after a game and we all know what big babies and prima donnas most of them are. I hate to see what sportsmanship will look like in professional sports in the future if the trend of not teaching them sportsmanship when they're young really catches on.

It's about fucking time

I can understand The Patriot Act being passed quickly following September 11th, even though I think it was ridiculous even then and should have been recognized for what it was, but I'm sure Congress got carried away with the emotion of the time and didn't realize what they were doing. But the time is long past to get rid of this thing, and it's about time that people start pointing that out.

Sitcoms suck

I noticed recently that I really don't watch any sitcoms anymore. The only comedy that I really enjoy is Curb Your Enthusiasm. Based on this article, it looks liek there just isn't any good stuff out there. And the commercials I'm seeing don't offere much hope. Last night I saw an ad for "Life on a Stick" which just looks terrible. I can't decide if people just don't have any good ideas anymore or if Seinfeld just raised the bar too high for the shows that have followed.

There seem to be plenty of good dramas on, particularly new ones, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Boston Legal, are all new shows that I make a point to watch. Maybe all the good writers are doing drama now, I don't know.

Minnesota School Shooter Wore Bullet-Proof Vest

Why wear a bullet proof vest when you're going to kill yourself anyway?

Do people just not think before they speak anymore??

"He was like a pirate. If he had been wearing a patch and a hat on his head and a parrot, she (the clerk) would have thought he was a pirate," Hebert said.

Uh, hey Herbert, if the had been wearing a patch and a hat on his head and a parrot, wouldn't he have looked like a pirate even without the fucking sword?

I hate movies with monkeys

Reading this article about the poor out of work chimps really didn't make me feel bad at all. Not because I don't care about animals, but because I just hate movies with monkeys. I can't think of a single movie that a monkey or a chimp was prominently featured in that I thought was any good. I'm not sure why people in Hollywood think they're so damn funny. But I hope that the move away from using live monkeys will lead to using no monkeys, whether live or digitally created. The article mentions Dr. Dolittle, which wasn't bad, but the monkey wasn't really a huge part of the movie. What really bother me are the movies where the monkey is in a starring role, like Project X, or that one with Joey from Friends.

Apparently the Vatican bookstore has The Da Vinci Code in the Non-Fiction section

I read this article, but I missed the part where Dan Brown claims that his book is fact. When I read it, I found it in the fiction section at the library, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Now I'm waiting for the NSA to come out with a statement saying that they don't have a secret supercomputer that can decode anything like I read about in another of Brown's thrillers, Digital Fortress. Then NASA can tell me about the object buried deep in the Artic Ice that they didn't plant there so their funding wouldn't be cut, like I read about in Deception Point. I bet if I looked in the book, there would probably even be a pretty standard disclaimer in there about how the people, places, events, etc. in the book are fictional and any resemblance to actual persons, blah, blah, blah.... But don't let that get in the way of a good story, I guess.

Maybe the Vatican subscribes to the same logical processes that Congress uses.

This is a shocking story

First I was shocked that Ask Jeeves is still around, then by the fact that anyone would want to buy it, then by the ridiculous price tag of $1.85 billion. Not that I really keep up with these things, but I didn't realize anyone even used Ask Jeeves anymore (or ever come to think of it). Don't people pretty much just use Google and Yahoo! when they want to find something online? Anyone use Ask Jeeves, and if so for what?

March Madness

Well, my bracket is all fucked up now, especially in Albuerque where I've got almost nothing left. The good news is 3 of my Final Four are still around.

Congress is apparently bored lately

With President Bush wielding all the power these days in our near dictatorship, it seems that Congess has been searching to find things other than running the country to occupy their time. First they drag in a bunch of baseball players to lie to them ina pointless excercise that even if it was well intentioned wouldn't be ridiculous because it will have no effect on anything whatsoever, and now they are sticking ttheir noses into a case that I would bet none of them are even remotely educated on, and trying to circumvent the laws of the State of Florida. Quotes like this one from House Ethics Violation Leader Tom DeLay make you wonder if these idiots have even a basic understanding of this situation.

We should investigate every avenue before we take the life of a living human being

Uh, hey dickhead, this isn't something that happened yesterday and the judge just decided to pull the tube because he had something better to do, it's been going on for fifteen fucking years,how many avenues do you want to investigate? Oh, and why on earth do you think the federal government can do this any better than the state that has been involved in the case all along?? Assholes.

Look, I still don't know all the facts, and I don't know for sure what Terry Schiavo's wishes are, but people who know the case far better than I do have studied it and decided it, and how can people who have no idea what's going on question that?

Oh, and by the way, Congressman, have you and your dickhead "small government" friends done anything that will do anything for this woman beyond forcing her to live when she may not want to? Have you thought about any legislation that would require she recieve any therapy, or any different care, or anything that would transfer her care from her husband to her parents? And if not, why not? If all you are doing is ensuring that she will be kept alive then you are ensuring that this nonesense will continue until her body finally gives up. But maybe that's what you assholes want, so you can keep using her as a political tool.

March Madness

I updated my bracket after the first day's games. I didn't do to badly. I lost one Sweet 16 team, but otherwise came out pretty good, especially since my biggest upset came through.

Terry Schiavo

As I said last week, I wish people would just stay out of this, since I don't think there are many people who really have a good idea of what the facts are. I really don't know how I feel about it, because everytime I think I know something there is a different story that contradicts what I thought I knew.

Anyway, as for the basic situation, I gather that her husband is in control of her care and wants her feeding tube removed because she has no hope of recovery, no quality of life, and being kept alive artificially is not consistent with her wishes. Her parents, on the other hand say that she is aware and tries to respond to them and could get better with therapy. Now, I don't know who is right or wrong, but I really think the system is messed up in this case.

Everytime the husband makes any progress in his quest to have her feeding tube removed, it seems to be blocked, whether by the courts, the legislature, or the governor stepping in, which is fine with me if the parents are correct about her condition. However, it seems rather pointless to make such efforts to keep the feeding tube in if the people who do it aren't just as committed to getting her the therapy that they would seem to believe could help her. Why is it that the husband is trusted with her care enough to deny therapy, but not enough to remove her feeding tube? It seems to me the people making the decisions in this case should pick which side they're on, and their rulings should reflect that. They should go see her, talk to her doctors, find out directly what her condition is, then if they think that she can be helped with therapy, they should order that therapy. If not, they should decide what her quality of life is, and whether her husband can be trusted to speak for her. Either way, this should not be a political issue, and it shouldn't be decided by people who have never even seen Terry Schiavo.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee comes through

My big upset of the first round came through for me as Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Alabama. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh also lost and I had them going to the Sweet 16. Arizona is the team that could really screw me up. I have them going al lthe way to the finals, which is kind of a reach.

So, what about the 'crisis'?

So let me see if I understand this correctly, Social Security is in crisis, something must be done to fix t, according to President Bush, but his plan that he is going around the country wasting time on "do not solve the issue" but he just thinks that when we do get around to solving the issue, that his plan will make things better for people "with whatever emerges as a Social Security solution."

Huh? So let's just ignore for a minute the fact that Bush's plan sucks and there's pretty much no way it's going to help anyone except his Wall Street buddies, if there is such a crisis, why don't we focus on that and fix it first instead of focusing so much attention on something else that admittedly will not fix it? And how can you suggest that a plan will work better with "whatever emerges" when you don't know what will emerge?

Bush has been pushing this crisis nonesense for so long now, how can people not be outraged when he says his plan won't fix the problem and nonchalantly mentions "whatever emerges as a Social Security solution," like it's not a big deal?

This guy is such a moron, I honestly don't understand how he has a single supporter on the right, left or otherwise.

Well, if the White House says it's ok...

So the White House doesn't think there's anything wrong with producing videos to promote their programs and then pass them off as news stories. Well, I'm glad that's settled. Now if that pesky GAO could just get on board, maybe we wouldn't have to talk about these things anymore.

Seriously though, this administration does exactly what it does with any issue, and what's more frustrating is they get away with it every time, they say that's it's not a big deal then imply that if anyone does think it's a big deal then they don't know what they're talking about and besides it's someone else's fault anyway.

I'll bet they can't wait for the day when they can distribute propaganda without having to make all these excuses for it.

It's not a play-in game, it's just that the top 63 seeds get a first round bye

Congratulations to Oakland for ruining my chances of having a perfect bracket, and good luck against North Carolina.

But really, if this is a real NCAA Tournament game, why isn't it on CBS with the rest of the tournament? And why was there no mention of it on the main tournament page of ESPN.com?

Isn't "Identity Theft" two words?

And don't they both already have valid definitions in the dictionary? Same with digital camera. Since when did they start putting phrases in the dictionary, anyway? And "street cred," are they kidding? Cred isn't even a word, and for good reason. Are they going to add any popular slang or abbreviated words? WMD?? That's not a word, come on. Have they put "lol" in there yet? Ridiculous.

Why are people still talking about this?

As ridiculous as I think it is that this hasn't gone away yet, at least they made the right decision. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that intro, I still can't even believe this was ever an issue at all.

WebTV Virus????

This can't be real, what the hell is the point of creating a virus for a service only like 8 people even have. What a waste of time.

Oh, in reading further, I see that actually 10 people were infected, so he must have gotten all the WebTV users.

Bush's aide to woo the world

Uh...If Bush is really so concerned about Anti-Americanism, then maybe he shouldn't have been such an arrogant dickhead, which is what caused a lot of the Anti-Americanism. But hey, I guess hindsight is 20/20.

'I believe God brought him to my door'

Dear God-

Please do not send any killers to my door. Thanks.

Clearing the Way for the American Police State

An interesting article I ran across. I thought this quote was particularly interesting:

Despite the endless terror warnings, the likelihood of falling prey to Islamic radicals is so slight it hardly bears mentioning. The average citizen is at greater risk crossing a busy street than he is from a terrorist attack.

I think that's something that hardly anyone stops to think about these days. But as the article also says, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned about it, but I think it would be nice if people keep things in the proper perspective.

Damn activist judges

Who do they think they are to tell us that gay people are just as good as everyone else? Don't they realize how many normal marraiges are destroyed by gay people having the same rights? I don't have any statistics or anything, but I'll bet it's a whole lot.

FTC shuts down anti-spyware vendor

Hmmm, so selling anti-spyware software by using scare tactics and lying is a no-no, but selling war and social security reform and human rights violations and constitutional amendments promoting discrimination, etc., that's A-OK. I think I got it. It's nice that there's someone who will hold people accountable for the former, too bad there is no way to hold anyone accountable for the latter.

I used to like Dick Vitale

Now I'm just tired of him. He seems to get paid for doing absolutely nothing. In this article he whines briefly about a couple of teams that he says got snubbed, then makes his picks. The thing that stood out to me about this is that he picks his sleepers, who he defines as "a team seeded No. 5 or lower" and they are three 5 seeds and a 9 seed. Way to go out on a limb there, Dickie V. So he makes up his own defiinition which is a pretty crappy one in the first place, then he sticks very close to it with one exception.

The I notice in his Elite Eight matchups that none of this sleepers have made it there. Since three of them are 5 seeds, they are presumably supposed to win their first round matchup against a 12, and if they're not going to make it to the Elite Eight, then the entire insight of his sleeper picks is that they may possibly win their second round matchups against a 4 seed. Big upsets there. As for the one non 5 seed he picks, Pittsburgh, they have to get through Pacific and Washington to make the Sweet 16, so he doesn't exactly have anything earth shattering even when he strays from his self imposed ceiling of a 5 seed for sleepers.

Did anyone read this crap before they published it? Do they just send him a check for whatever nonesense he can come up with? Hell, did he even pick the entire bracket? All I see are his "sleepers", his elite eight and final four picks. Does he think they're going to stop at four this year? Does he realize there are games before they get to the elite eight?

While we're at it, let's bring back regular BASIC too

What are these people whining about? If you don't like the new language, then fine don't use it. But to get all bent out of shape because Microsoft is no longer going to support Visual Basic is just silly. First of all, if you like it so much, what difference does it make if Microsoft supports it or not? If you like it, keep using it. This is what happens in the computer world, we move on to better things. If you'd like to stay stuck in the past, then fire up the punch card machine, otherwise stop complaining. So VB.NET isn't like the Visual Basic you've come to know and love? Well, good! Visual Basic sucked anyway, if VB.NET isn't like it then chances are it is better. If you have a problem with it, maybe you should have hired some real programmers in the first place. You know, some that could write stuff in a decent language in the first place, or maybe learn a new language when it's necessary.

I haven't used Visual Basic much (because it sucks), and I haven't tried VB.NET at all, so I don't know what the differences are, but I would imagine that if you have competent programmers, that the differences should not be so overwhelming to them.

March Madness

I haven't paid too much attention to college basketball this year, but that doesn't mean I won't be watching the NCAA Tournament. This is one of the best events in sports, there are always a few great stories to follow, and plenty of excitement. Having said that, there are a couple of things about it that really annoy me.

First, stop whining about who got in and who didn't. If you're not a clear choice to get in, then you have no chance anyway. Also, if you got in, don't whine about what seed you are. I doubt there's is any team with a valid argument to move up more than one or two spots, and in that case, there isn't that much difference anyway. If you're good enough, you're going to advance, no matter what seed you are. It's not like there are teams out there that should be facing Oakland or Montana and instead are going to have to play Florida or Duke.

But the thing that really pisses me off about the tournament is the field of 65. Adding one team was such a ridiculous idea, I don't know why more people don't complain about it. It really fucks up a nice system. If you really had to add another automatic bid, then you just take away an at large bid, it's that simple. Sure that's one more team that will complain, but so what? I'm still hoping someone will realize how stupid this is and they can get rid of it.

Anyway, here's my bracket.

Guns don't kill people, four year old little boys kill people

Anytime I see a story like this, it just makes me want to throw up. I'll never understand why anyone would want a gun in their home, especially if they have children. If you have it secured enough to make sure that something tragic like this doesn't happen, then it's probably not much use for protection anyway.

ABC Writes Out Fox

I love Boston Legal, it has great writing and great characters, and manages to get in plenty of Bush bashing. I wish they'd been able to leave the FOX News stuff in, but hopefully, everyone will still know what they're talking about.

The Passion Recut

Why the hell would anyone go to see this in the theater when they could just rent the DVD and fast forward through whatever parts they didn't want to see? Especially when it's only freaking six minutes of footage anyway. And if you're going to see it as an Easter event, why not just put some money in an envelope and send it directly to Mel Gibson?

I wish he'd stop wasting his time on this, I'm still waiting for Lethal Weapon 5 to come out. This time, I hear Murtaugh is really going to retire.

Star Wars Trailer

I wasn't impressed. While I'm sure the movie will be great, and I'm not one of those people that hates the new movies, I really didn't think the trailer was very good. Of course, I downloaded it from the internet (i was not going to watch the OC just to see it), so maybe the one I got was incomplete or something. Anyone else see it?

I guess it was just a few bad apples

This is good news. Since the top officials were cleared, that means there must not have been any policy or anything, it was just a few isolated incidents. Just a coincidence that everywhere we have prisoners this issue comes up then, I guess.

International Agreements are for pussies

That world court crap, the Kyoto thing, this silly accord. We're Americans, we don't need any stupid Frenchies telling us how to do things. We make our own rules.

Shut up about Terry Schiavo

I hesitate to even post about this, since I'd really rather people just left this story alone. But it really bothers me that people are so vehemently on one side or the other on this story when the vast majority of them can't possibly have all the facts. To me it's very simple, is there a possibility that her condition could improve with treatment, and would she have wanted to be kept alive in the state she is in? Those issues really are the only thing that matters, and they can best be spoken to by the doctors involved with her care, and her family, and everyone else should stay the fuck out of it. It's very sad to me that this woman's life has been turned into a political issue. It's bad enough that someone will ultimately have to make such a tough decision, and the added pressure of politics and the media doesn't help anyone.

Cheeto Glove

A friend at work has invented this handy glove to wear while eating cheetos to avoid getting that orange crap all over your fingers. I think he's going to send it to Frito-Lay. We have some strange people working here.






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Teen faces charges for semen prank

I've heard of "special" brownies before, but I think this is a little disturbing. At least he had a good reason for doing it.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mother's birthday. I don't think she reads this, but thought I would say it anyway.

Apparently, they didn't talk much

This story can't be real. Wouldn't he have missed paying his rent or something?

Mullah Omar Vows Attacks After Winter

I'm glad we made sure everything was stable in Afghanistan before we focused our resources somewhere else.

That pesky Government Accountability Office

Someone should let them know that the accountability moment for this government has passed, so their services probably aren't really necessary anymore.

Why is Congress involved in this?

I love baseball, and I think it has some problems that definitely need to be addressed, but there is no reason for Congress to have anything to do with it. Don't they have more important things to do? Not that I don't think baseball is important, I do, but I don't see any reason for Congress to get involved in sports. And if they want to get involved in sports, I think hockey has much bigger problems than baseball, or maybe the Canadian government will step in there. Anyway, we are at war, a lot of people in Congress would like us to believe that Social Security is in crisis, there are problems in this country that are actually the business of Congress, and I would prefer if they focused on those instead of sticking their nose into baseball, where it doesn't belong, and where nothing will come of their intervention anyway.

Fuck

I just noticed that three of my last four subject lines contain the word fuck, and I think I've been using foul language in my posts more often lately. This is probably because my son is two years old and repeats everything he hears, so I can't actually say fuck much anymore, so instead it comes through in here. Not that I give a fuck how many times I say fuck, but I just thought it deserved an explanation. So if you don't like it, well, fuck off, I guess.*


*just kidding, don't fuck off

What...the...fuck???

Ok, I like Russell Crowe fine, and I don't want to see anyone kidnapped by terrorists, but are you fucking kidding me???? As big a story as that would be, are we all going to be cowering in fear, thinking "If they can get Russell Crowe, they can get anyone" or something? I don't really understand what the point would be. I guess maybe terrorists aren't particularly bright.

Some people are just fucked up

Shouldn't we be firing people the first time they lick someone's bloddy wounds, especially a teacher? Why on earth would a student let this guy do that, anyway? The article seems to focus on a health issue, but really, I don't care if this was actually perfectly healthy, or even if it was good for you, this is freaky, and this guy needs to be fired, then pointed at and laughed at.

How the fuck can you be stunned?

I didn't feel like reading this entire article, because I'm sure it would just be depressing, but I thought this part was strange (emphasis mine):

Bolton, widely considered the most unilateralist and least diplomatic of senior U.S. officials during Bush's first term, will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate where some Democrats, a few of whom were said to be stunned by the nomination, are expected to put up a fight.

Ummm, how the hell can you be stunned by any nomination this guy offers up? And it's your own fault, you confirmed the incompetent liar as Secretary of State and the guy who looks for loopholes in the law in order to justify toture as Attorney General, not to mention the new Homeland Security head who only looked good by comparison because the first guy looked so bad. So go ahead and confirm this guy too since it's inevitable, but I don't want to hear how stunned the Democrats are.

link via Blondsense.

Terror Suspects Buying Firearms, U.S. Report Finds

I'm really not in favor of taking away people's rights just because the government identifies them as a suspected terrorist, but I really do find it odd that we have no problem taking away a lot of basic rights in the name of fighting terrorism, but somehow, the right to buy a gun doesn't seem to be included in those. Why is it we can detain people indefinitely, ship them off to other countries, deny them due process, toture them, etc., but somehow, we have a problem keeping them from buying weapons. Oh well, at least they probably can't get on a plane.

TiVo is out of control

I didn't watch much of the Oscars, but I did catch Foxx's speech, and it was nice and everything, but why on Earth would anyone want to see it again? I really can't think of any reason to replay anything that happened at the Oscars. Once you know who wins, why would you need to see it again? Maybe a lot of people just missed it, so they replayed it to see what they missed. I hope that's it, because I hate to think people would sit and watch an acceptance speech over and over again. As it is, I'm tired of hearing about Sally Field's stupid speech, it was 20 years ago.

This sounds dangerously like "science"

I thought we didn't do that anymore. Oh, well it does say these guys will be overshadowed by Europe. I'm sure Bush will be happy about that. When The Rapture comes, he can say "I told you so" to all these scientists and their fancy book learnin'.

Blind Justice

Yipppeee! Tomorrow is the day, finally. I've really been waiting for this show to start. Not so much because I think it will be a good show, I'm not sure if I'll even watch it, but once it starts, that means I can stop seeing the fucking commercials for it.

Seriously, I get it, he's blind. That's unusual for a detective, he must prove himself, yadda yadda yadda, his wife is unhappy, he has a lot of shit to deal with, what with the being blind and a detective and all. So anyway, thank goodness it finally starts.

Dear Blogger -

While I'm sure it is distressing for you that so many of your users use Haloscan's comment system because yours sucks ass, and I can appreciate and even encourage you to make your comments more Haloscan-like, I think your resources may be better invested elsewhere, like making sure your users can actually post messages, or read messages, or any of the other basic things that Blogger is supposed to do. I know it's free, and for that reason, I hate to complain, but waiting 10 minutes for something to post, only to find it doesn't post at all, or to think it doesn't post, so I can wait another 10 minutes trying to post it again, only to end up with the same post twice, really blows. Please make this issue your top priority. Thanks.

Uday looks like Tim Duncan

While reading a post about Uday at WillBardwell.com, I noticed that Uday looks like Tim Duncan, but since no one over there wanted to respond to my keen observation, I thought I would bring it over here where I'm in charge.

Ironically, the site that I found the picture of Uday on was one that says that he looks like Carlos Boozer, which I don't think he does at all.

Rocker Durst battles sites over sex clips

What the hell's he mad about? If it wasn't for this, the only things people would ever say about him would be, "Who's Fred Durst, again?" or "Fred who?"

Actors act even before I know who they are

I always think it's fun to watch an old movie or TV show and find actors who I've come to know since, back when they were in smaller roles where I hadn't noticed them before. Like the last time I watched GoodFellas and noticed that Christopher from The Sopranos (Michael Imperioli) played the kid that served them at their poker game. He was also one of the losers who got expelled in Lean on Me.

So this weekend, I was flipping around and noticed that Ben from Carnivale (Nick Stahl) played the kid in Man Without a Face. And later I watched the end of Young Guns II and noticed that Josh from The West Wing (Bradley Whitford) played the reporter talking to Billy The Kid. And speaking of Carnivale, I just saw Jonesy (Tim DeKay) on an episode of Seinfeld (The Soul Mate) , which I thought was strange since I had noticed him before on another episode (The Bizarro Jerry) and had never thought of those two guys as being the same character, but apparently, they were.

Another thing I realized when watching TV this weekend, was that I don't watch many comedies anymore. I watch plenty of new shows, from all the stuff on HBO to Lost, and Desperate Housewives, and some reality shows, but I can't think of any comedies that I really watch regularly other than Curb Your Enthusiasm. Am I just missing some great comedy (don't tell me Arrested Development) or are there just not as many good ones anymore?

Italians don't want to forgive US troops.

Setting aside for a minute the conspiracy theories and allegations against the US, even if we just assume this was completely an accident, shouldn't we really closely examine our policies if killing innocent people, just in case, is the result? I understand that the troops are in a difficult position, and must make quick decisions on which their lives depend, but if we really have no idea how to decide who is a threat and who isn't, and it means randomly shooting people whose only crime was to be in a country that we decided to invade, in order to keep our soldiers safe, isn't it just time to bring them home?

What good is it if the people who we are supposed to be protecting have to fear our soldiers as much as the insurgents? Especially when our presence there may be a large part of the reason that there is an insurgency in the first place. We've transferred power, they've had elections, we've turned a million fucking corners, just start the process of bringing our troops home, already, so we can stop looking like assholes to the rest of the world.

I know a lot of people, even those against the war think that since we broke it, we have to fix it, and I might agree, if I thought there was any hope that we could fix it. But as it is, I say we just get the hell out of there as soon as is realistically possible.

Sports Illustrated

Shut the fuck up about the swimsuit issue. If you really have such a huge fucking problem with it that you're going to cancel your subscription, then you never would have subscribed in the first place. It's not like this is the first year they've done this, there has been a swimsuit issue for as long as I can remember. They don't keep it a secret and then send it to you without your knowledge. If you didn't know they had this when you subscribed then wake up and join us in the real world. Oh, and hold on to your hat because there are a lot of things you're going to see that are worse than women in bathing suits.

Rome

If HBO only had movies, I wouldn't even bother with it anymore, but as it is, I happily plunk down whatever it is I'm paying every month because of the great shows they keep cranking out. I came around a little late on The Sopranos, then I watched Six Feet Under right from the beginning, then tried to watch Carnivale from the start, only to give up and realize later what a mistake that was, and now I'm also hooked on Deadwood. While watching the premiere of Deadwood tonight, I saw a preview for Rome which is going to be the next series I'm going to get hooked on. I studied a lot of Roman History when I took Latin and high school, so I'm very interested in the subject. Combine that interest with HBOs record of producing great drama, and the ability to show graphic sex, violence and profanity, and I just can't wait to see this show. Even the preview was great. Anyone else addicted to HBO?

This is getting confusing

Now, I'm all for finding Bin Laden, since he was the guy who attacked us after all. But I thought Bush said he didn't know where he was, didn't care, and it wasn't a priority, some six months or so after he said it was our top priority. I mean, if we're really worried that he may attack us again, maybe we should have spent the last 3 and 1/2 years actually looking for him. I know, I know, we've been looking for him the whole time, but I might be more convinced of that if thousands of troops and billions of dollars weren't focused on something else.

Anyway, let's hope he means it this time, because I have no doubt that if we truly focus our resources on finding Bin Laden that we can do it. I just wonder who Bush would use as the bogeyman if we find him.

Why?

Didn't Netscape get soundly beaten in the browser wars? I think that should be the end of it. As much as people have been hyping Firefox, it still only represents something like 10% of the market, and it's growth has slowed lately. Also, many people like to ditch IE just because of a hatred of Microsoft, but I think people hate AOL just as much, why would anyone want to use their bowser? So now that Firefox has settled in as a distant second, and Microsoft has announced plans to release an updated IE in the near future, what will be left for AOL's Netscape browser? If you answered, "nothing", you win.

Oh, and please stop sending me those stupid AOL CDs. I like my internet without the training wheels, thank you.

Self checkout Machines are not that complicated

However, if you are someone who doesn't understand how they work, or isn't good at following directions, or if you just aren't very bright, then don't fucking use them! I understand that there are a lot of problems with these registers that aren't your fault. They tell you that the weight is not correct, or to let the item settle, or to remove the item and scan it again. These things are all expected and are not your fault. But when you have to study the screen before even beginning to scan your stuff, then that is your fault. Guess what? You don't even have to read the screen, you can just start scanning stuff. Oh, and if you have a doormat, don't try to fold it up and put it into the bag, just press the "Skip Bagging" button, that's what it's there for. And when it comes time to pay, all the options are exactly the same as they were the last time you were here, just press one and get on with it. If you have cash, you can just press the Cash button, you don't have to study all the other options, it's not a test. And when you do put your money in, the slot is the thing with the blinking lights on it, so I don't know why you stare at it like it's a puzzle, just put your money in.

I realize that most of you are idiots (not you, the other ones) who voted for George Bush, so you're obviously not playing with a full deck to begin with, but this machine really isn't all that hard, so either figure it out, or just wait in the regular line. Oh, and the same thing applies to ATMs.

Why isn't this deal done yet?

This is interesting, someone wants to buy the NHL for $3.5 Billion. Billion. So why haven't they sold it yet? I wouldn't give a nickel for the NHL at this point, if they can get $3.5 Billion for it, they should jump on it before the buyers come to their senses. The NHL is nearly dead, anything they can get for it should be considered a bonus.

Thank you, Mr. Obvious

According to FOX News, "Serial killers really do live among us." You're kidding! Up until now, I had always thought they lived in some special group home, or on some Serial Killer Island somewhere, but looking back on it now, I see that's a little silly, since that would make them a lot easier to catch.

Jesus, should we really be surprised that serial killers' neighbors had no idea they were serial killers? Presumably, if they had some idea, they may have turned the guy in. It really is in his best interest to keep it a secret. But I guess since there's really nothing else going on in the world, like a war or a White House scandal or something, we have to have stories like this, or there wouldn't be anything to report.

Hey asshole, if people thought there was something wrong with it, they would stop watching

And they would definitely not pay for it. These shows are successful, because people like them. It's bad enough the "small government" republicans want to make sure we don't see anything offensive on broadcast television, but to try to extend the same rules to cable television is simply ridiculous. People pay for cable tv, they pay for it because they like it. And premium channels like HBO and Showtime, people pay even more for. If there is something on cable that you don't want to see, you don't have to buy it anymore. And if you want some things, and not others, then you can change the fucking channel, or even turn the TV off. Why do these "small government" people have such a hard time with such basic functions of radios and TVs? They certainly don't seem to have any problem tuning in FOX News or Rush Limbaugh.

Yaaaaaaawn

If "Sir" Bill Gates throws on a suit of armor and goes off to slay dragons, then let me know, otherwise, shut the fuck up about ridiculous shit like this.

In related news, I have been made a Super Excellent Really Great Special Commander of the Best Greatest Most Excellentest Order of the Empire of http://jrh1972.blogspot.com. Which carries exactly the same weight as Gates' award.

Stop me if you've heard this before

So, Iran is lying to weapons inspectors now? Hmmm, that sounds familiar. Now, this may very well be true, this time. The problem is, it's like the boy who cried wolf, there is no way to know for sure, since this administration has no credibility. Also, the invasion of Iraq has given them incentive to develop weapons to protect themselves from a US invasion, since it's clear that we will invade if we feel like it, whether they have any weapons or not.

How do they manage to keep a straight face?

So, we're now criticizing the Iraqi interim government for toture, prisoner abuse, and poor condidtions, and at the same time, Bush lectures Putin about democracy and liberty. One of these days, one of these administration lunatics is going to bust out laughing when they're trying to sell this shit. I wonder if they get some kind of special training to be able to maintain themselves while spouting such ridiculous, laughable nonesense.

The Pope speaks

Yesterday, I heard a story that the Pope had spoken, in two languages. In two languages was emphasized. Didn't he know how to speak multiple languages before his tracheotomy? If so, then is it really news that he spoke more than one language? I don't think so. The news is that he spoke at all, and as far as I'm concerned, that's not really news either. Now, if he could only speak one language before the operation, but now is bilingual, then this should be a much bigger story, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

What the fuck is this "barista" shit???

Since when is someone who works at Starbucks a "barista?" What kind of made up crap is that? It reminds me of the way Subway tries to call their employees "sandwich artists," only people don't seriously use that one. But somehow "barista" has been legitimized like it's a career or something. I think it just means people drink way too much coffee.