Bush Calls Criticism of Guantanamo Detainee Treatment Absurd

Oh ok, nevermind, then.

American Chronicle: Media Black Out Downing Street Minutes

With the revelations that came out recently with the Downing Street memo, one of the most interesting things about it to me was that no one that I talk to outside of the left leaning bloggers on the internet seems to have even heard of it. This article points out how that can be possible. It's simply because no one in the media seems to give a shit. That's pretty fucking sad. This is documented evidence that our President lied to us, and not over something trivial, but over the reasons we went to war. And while that's not very shocking to me, his supporters ought to be a little bothered by that. The only thing that's sadder to me than the media silence is that I'm not sure anyone would care even if they did know about it. But that doesn't mean the media shouldn't fucking report it. And something this significant should at least prompt some questions of the President, he should at least have to tell us whether or not what is in it is true, or false, or out of context, or something.

At least this should make one thing crystal fucking clear (not that it wasn't already to anyone with half a brain): The "Liberal" media is a myth created by the republican extremists and their allies in the conservative media.

Whipping Up Lather Over the Burger Ad

Shut the fuck up! If you don't like the commercial, much like every other fucking thing on TV, when it comes on either turn it off or change the channel. I know that is too difficult for most prudes, it's much easier to write letters and make phone calls and threaten boycotts, but seriously, those buttons on your remote are much more convenient. I am very pleased that the Carl's Jr. executives reacted with "flagrant defiance." Too often people give in to these extremist prudes and we all end up having our decisions made for us.

On another note related to this story, if your company is called Carl's Jr. in California, then it shouldn't be called Hardee's in Florida. What kind of bullshit is that? Make up your mind.

Seatbelt Laws

I've seen a lot of commercial over this holiday weekend encouraging people to buckle up. Which is great. I think it's pretty stupid to get in a car and not put your seatbelt on. The problem I have with these commericials is that they are explaining how if you don't buckle up, you could get a ticket? I don't care how many lives it saves, why is it the state's business whether or notI wear my seatbelt? If you want to give out tickets if I have a child that isn't buckled up, fine (although ironic, considering school buses don'thave seatbelts), but if I'm an adult, it should really be up to me whether or not I wear my seatbelt. Even if it increases my chances of getting killed. Especially in a state where it's not against the law to ride a motorcycle without a helmet(wtf?). Also, it gives cops another bogus reason to use when they are racial profiling. Adults should be able to decide for themselves how safe they want to be. So, ecourage people to wear their seatbelts, but don't make it the law.

Cell phones on planes worry US law enforcement

Is common sense a thing of the past? Something we can't afford in the post September 11th world? Because this article is just completely stupid. Ok, so terrorists could use cell phones to help coordinate attacks or remotely trigger bombs or whatever. Now, I don't give a fuck if people are allowed to use cell phones on flights or not, but how the fuck does anyone think that not allowing it is going to stop terrorists from using them. Like the terrorists are all sitting around planning their plot of death and destruction, and one guy says he will call on his cell phone when it's time to put the plan in motion, then another guy says, but wait, you can't use your cell phone on the plane. SO they all say fuck, let's just stay home and watch DVDs. Yeah, I don't think that's how it would go either. I don't think people executing terrorist plots are going to be too worried about violating a ban on cell phone use on a plane. As long as they actually let people take cell phones on a plane at all, the problems they describe are possibilities. But there are a whole shitload of activities we could restrict in the name of stopping terrorism, andsome of them might even actually work, but that doesn't mean we should always do them.

Canada suicide hotline to open only from 9 to 5 - Yahoo! News

I don't think I have any readers in Canada, but if you are and you are on Prince Edward Island and comtemplating suicide, try to do it during business hours. I don't know about anyone else, but a suicide hotline that isn't availabe 24 hours a day seems pretty useless to me.

I also like this part of the article:

The hotline received about 1,400 calls a year and about 50 were from people contemplating suicide, health groups said.

"One of the things I was hearing is the government felt there weren't enough suicide-related calls," Wright said.

Uh, yeah I guess not. What I found strange is that 1350 people apparently called for some other reason. What the else else do you call a suicide hotline for? I would imagine they get a few crank calls, but what about the rest? Do people just call it for someone to talk to? I don't even like talking on the phone to people I know, I certainly don'twant to talk to some stranger who is probably going to be mad at me because I don't want to kill myself.

Oh, crap

So, I got tagged with another one of those meme things. This time from maurinsky at laughing wild. I still don't know what the fuck a meme is (even thought my wife looked it up and told me, I've forgotten already), but in the spirit of participation, I'll go along.

Three names you go by (that won't give away your identity): My identity isn't much of a secret anyway. Let's see John, JRH, and Daddy.

Three screen names you've had: My screen names are usually pretty boring. JRHoward01, johnhoward00, RJ_Howard

Three physical things you like about yourself: I don't know, as long as my wife is happy, I don't care too much what I look like. People have said I have nice eyes.

Three physical things you don't like about yourself: I have really bad teeth, they look terrible, I'm in the middle of getting a lot of work done to them, so hopefully they'll look better soon. I don't like my hair when it starts to get too long, and I wish I was taller.

Three parts of your heritage: Hell I don't know, it always amazes me people are so interested in heritage.

Three things you are wearing right now: Shirt, pants, shoes.

Three favorite bands / musical artists: Metallica, Eazy-E, Beastie Boys. I don't listen to music much these days, but when I was a senior in high school, I had ...And Justice For All, Eazy-Duz-It and Licensed to Ill tapes that I used to play over and over and over again whenever I was in the car.

Three favorite songs: I don't know, I suck at picking favorites.

Three things you want in a relationship: humor, honesty, respect

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeals to you: I like shapely women (like my beautiful wife), no anorexic supermodels for me. Let's see, I like a great smile, but I never really realized how much until the first time I saw my wife really smile. And, I don't know a tattoo with my name on it.

Three of your favorite hobbies: reading, blogging, doing things with my family

Three things you want to do really badly right now: Fuck, I don't know, what kind of questions are these? Who thinks about stuff like this?

Three things that scare you: Death. Death of those that I love. Heights. (Well, not so much heights as not feeling secure at a height, like on a ladder).

Three of your everyday essentials: toothpaste, Mountain Dew, milk

Three careers you have considered / are considering: Let's see when I was really little, I think I wanted to be a fireman. After that I wanted to play Major League Baseball, then when I realized where my talents were, computer programmer, which is what I do.

Three places you want to go on vacation: Rome, Alaska, New York (I like DisneyWorld a lot, but we go there all the time)

Three kids' names you like: Jason, Elizabeth, nothing else comes to mind off the top of my head.

Three things you want to do before you die: get really, really old, have grandchildren, get rich

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy: I love sports, I hate the color pink, and I don't understand why you need 18 different kinds of soap.

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl: I don't like to barbeque, I don't mind doing laundry, and I'm not afraid to cry.

Three celeb crushes: People really have crushes on celebrities? I don't get it.

Ok, as for passing this on, the first time I had one of these no one I tagged did it, the second time I tried taking volunteers and that didn't seem to work either, so this time I'm going to demand that these peple do it: Rob at Offical Reality Check Daily Blog, the other Rob at Secular, Scientific, Socialism, and every other dirty liberal word and Christiana at Christiana Talks About Stuff.

ABC News: DeLay Blasts 'Law & Order'

Dear Tom DeLay,

Even if it was completely inappropriate for Law and Order to do what they did (it wasn't, but whatever), you still have far, far, far more important things to worry about. Aren't you a United States Congressman? One would think after reaching such a lofty position, you would be above petty squabbling over a TV show. Getting upset about one joke on a fictional TV show just really makes you look like a crybaby, and calls attention to something that most people would have otherwise not noticed.

Perhaps, if you don't want to be made fun of on TV shows, you should stop acting like a complete lunatic who lacks any sense of ethics. Just some friendly advice.

Some Viagra users report blindness-Pfizer - Yahoo! News

Jesus do they even test these drugs anymore? I thought it was just those terrible third world Canadian drugs we had to be afraid of. Now, it seems like there's a new problem with some wonder drug everyday. Glad I don't need Viagra. Hopefully, by the time I get old and impotent they'll have all the bugs worked out.

Filibusted

Ok, so now that the "compromise" has been worked out to prevent the Democrats from filibustering these wingnut judicial nominees, the Republican extremists have apparently forgotten all the shit they spouted about the unconstitiutional use of the filbuster. Yeah, I know, it's only unconstitutional to use it on judicial nominees, like that makes any fucking sense. So now, I see that some of these wingnuts are threatening to filibuster the stem cell legislation that was passed in the House. Now, I support their right to do this, becuase the filibuster is an important tool for the minority in the Senate, I just hope that supporters will have enough votes to overcome it. However, if they do this, I hope that every reporter in Washington will stick a microphone in their face and make them explain the difference between using the filibuster against this bill and using it againt judicial nominees. Now, I'm sure they can come up with some rationalization that they are comfortable with, but make them do it, make them say it, so people can hear it, because it will sound pretty fucking hollow. Also, I hope stem cell research supporters will show up with signs reading things like "Why don't I deserve an up or down vote?" Since, you know, the Republican extremists are very fond of up or down votes*.



* Unless they're in the minority

Thieves Steal Historic Toys from Brothel

Now, I'm not exactly a prude or anything, but I don't really see much value in rare, historic sex toys. Not that there's anything wrong with sex toys, but I don't really have an desire to look at a museum full of them. Especially if I have to go to Montana to do it.

This is pretty fucked up

Head on over to Shakespeare's Sister, where she has a post about Bush's hypocritial stance on the death penalty/stem cell research. However, possibly the more interesting part of the post is at the end where she points out a pretty fucked up revelation associated with the Downing Street Memo:

On a semi-related warmongering-type note, in case you’ve not heard, one of the revelations associated with the release of the Downing Street Memo is that Tony Blair only agreed to support the Iraq War in exchange for Bush supporting the Afghanistan invasion.

Think about that for a moment.

Bush had to be convinced to go after al-Qaida. Blair agreed to go into Iraq to get us into Afghanistan.

Digby says:

Tony Blair had to make a deal with Bush that he'd support him on Iraq to get him to go after Al-Qaeda. Is there anything more pathetic --- and frightening --- than that?

I’d have to say no.

In the comments on that thread, people are organizing some kind of mass post to draw attention to this completely fucked up revelation, since we know it will be largely ignored by the media. Go check it out if you want to participate.

Probe of Stealth TV Ads Sought

Oh, who the fuck cares? Why do I give a shit about product placement in TV shows? If it gets to the point where it detracts from the show itself, then people will stop watching, which will destroy the market for it. So it's pretty self-policing. Also, why on Earth do I want to watch someone on TV drinking a can labeled "SODA" when in real life they would more likely be drinking Coke or Pepsi? It lends realism to the show, and if advertisers benefit, why the fuck should I care?

"It's OK if the broadcasters do this, but they need to inform the public that it's being done."

Not really. I don't care if they inform me or not. Actually I'd rather not think about it. But seriously, do we need some official disclosure to be informed that it's being done? Does anyone who watched the last couple of Survivor seasons not think that Pringles paid them a whole fuckwad of money?

These days advertisers pay as much as $2 million an episode to get their products featured on NBC's "The Apprentice."

Uh, yeah, and I'm pretty sure that everyone on the planet knows that Staples didn't get involved in that show so that those geniuses could design them a great new product.

I remember a time not too long ago when I rarely heard anything from the FCC, I think we need to get back to that.

Bush renews threat to veto stem cell bill - Forbes.com

I'm so fucking tired of the threats from the right. If you're going to veto it, then when it gets to your desk, fucking veto it, but quit with the threats, they just make you look like a pussy, who is trying to weasel his way out of having to use the veto and either look like a dick or go back on your promise to all the extreme Christian Right by hoping the Senate won't pass it if you threaten to veto it. It's about time that we all faced up to the fact that you were only popular in the first place because you happened to be the President on September 11, 2001, and that popularity is fading fast. If you ever really had all that political capital that you talked so much about after the election, you fucking squandered it in Iraq and Terri Schiavo just like you squandered the budget surplus that you had coming into office. So veto whatever the fuck you want, but if you do it, don't be suprised when you find out that pandering to the extreme Christian Right doesn't really do anything for your declining approval numbers.

U.S. 'Thumbs Its Nose' at Rights, Amnesty Says - New York Times

Now well get to hear all the wingnuts tell us what a lefty fringe group Amnesty International is. Then they'll tell us how even if we are violating people's basic human rights they deserve it anyway.

Lots of good stuff in this article:

Defending its human rights record as "leading the way," the White House dismissed the accusations as ridiculous and unfounded.

Are we honeslty at such a low point in journalism in this country where a statement as ridiculous as that can go unchalleneged by mainstream media?

When the U.S. government calls upon foreign leaders to bring to justice those who commit or authorize human rights violations in their own countries, why should those foreign leaders listen?" Dr. Schulz said. "And if the U.S. government does not abide by the same standards of justice, what shred of moral authority will we retain to pressure other governments to diminish abuses?

Exactly. But then what use do we have for moral authority when we can just bully people into doing what we want?

"It's not because the United States is the worst human rights abuser in the world but because it's the most influential," said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, via phone from New York. "United States disregard for international human rights standards is damaging those standards," he said, referring to some governments with poor human rights records "citing the U.S. record to justify their own."

Another good point for all those who say, "Well, we're not as bad as ... whoever." Who the fucks cares, we're supposed to be leading the way, not just saying we're leading the way, or leading the way to poor human rights records.

Dwayne Wade is a freak

So, I finally got around to watching more than a couple of minutes of a playoff game this year. I watched pretty much the whole fourth quarter of the Miami Detroit game. Which was enough to see Dwayne Wade turn into Michael Jordan, making big play after big play. It was great to see since I'm rooting for Miami to win it all. I love Shaq, especially after he got shafted in LA, and I've been a big fan of Alonzo Mourning since he was at Georgetown. It's strange that with those two and Laettner, the Heat have the top three picks from the '92 draft. Hopefully the Heat can continue to play the way they did in the fourth quarter tonight.

Oh, and can someone tell Richard Hamilton to take that stupid fucking mask off already? He could win ten titles and five MVPs, and if he doesn't ditch that thing soon, he'll always just be known as that guy that wore the stupid mask all the time.

Lost is fucking awesome

Ok, don't read any farther if you TIVO'd it or something.

I watched the season finale tonight and as pissed as I am that it left so much up in the air, I have to say that it was great. I knew that plane full of heroin was going to be bad for Charlie, but atleast he got the baby back. Most of the show to me tonight was a little too slow and I wasn't sure I'd be ver satisfied with where they left things. But the scene with the boat was so intense that it made up for anything else in the show being slow. I don't see any way they can survive out there now. I guess something will have to happen, I can't imagine them killing off three main guys, especially when no one else would know what happened to Walt. So I assume they will survive somehow, but what a great scene, and a lot of stuff left up in the air for next year.

I liked the conflict with Jack and Locke, especially when Locke wanted to let the monster take him. Oh, and is it wrong that I thought it was funny when the teacher blew himself up? The hatch disappointed me a little, but it leaves a lot for them to explore next season. I thought Hurley freaking out and Locke rushing to get the fuse lit before anyone could stop him was good.

So, what did everyone else think?

Search Terms

When I posted a while ago about how Uday looks (or looked, I guess) like Tim Duncan, no one seemed to agree with me. So I was glad to see on my referrals today that someone had found me by doing a Yahoo Search for "tim duncan and uday", so I'm not the only one who thought so. Also, I was the first result, whoohoo!

Stem Cell Research

This issue makes me so mad. It makes me mad because it is so incredibly simple. Imagine you have a frozen embryo sitting around in a freezer somewhere. Now, if you have children, imagine them outside playing, laughing, having a great time, smiling, whatever. Now, do you think that embryo is the same as your child? Of course it's not. But if you're still not convinced, imagine that happy child has an incurable disease and imagine if you just destroyed that embryo that disease would go away, would you do it? Of course you would, in fact you would destroy as many embryos as it took. Now, of course that is simplistic, and that's not exactly the choice we have in front of us. So, instead imagine that if you destroyed the embryo that your child might have a slighlty greater chance of having thier disease cured, would you do it? I know I would, and I can't imagine a parent who wouldn't. Now, no one knows exactly what breakthroughs stem cell research might bring, but why stand in the way of that chance, that hope for so many actually living people? It's just not right.

And before you tell me about your moral values that need to be respected and how this can all be done without federal funding, I'll buy that agrument around the same time that anyone starts respecting my moral values against needless war and the war in Iraq is paid for without federal funding.

Republican extermists are not only crazy, they're also stupid

So after this "compromise" to avoid the nuclear/constitiutional option, I've seen a whole lot of lunatics on the extreme right criticizing the Republicans involved in the compromise. Now, I know it has been called a compromise, but all it is in reality is the Republicans get exactly what they want, and maybe later we'll have to do the whole thing over again for the judges that were not part of the compromise. Now, if you're a Republican and you're complaining about this deal, then let's face it, you're just stupid. You won, you lose absolutely nothing. You gain those precious up or down votes on three judges that you've been screaming about for weeks. Now, I know all you wingnuts would have like to pull the trigger on the nuclear option just as a show of how powerful you are and how in control you are of this country, but that's all it would have been was a show. You still would have had the same votes that you get now. And if your gripe is that you just really want to go nuclear just for the fun of it, then just wait, the oppurtunity has not been lost, only postponed. All you have to do is offer up some extreme judge for nomination, then the Democrats will filibuster once again, and you can all get your jollies off while we watch minority rights in the Senate go up in flames. But anyway, just shut up about how angry you are, because it just points out the fact that you don't really understand what's going on in the first place.

Suns dig deep hole

Please don't let the NBA Finals be the Spurs and the Pistons. I haven't watched much basketball at all this year, but I would like to wtch the Heat and Suns in the Finals. That would be an exciting matchup to see, which a lot of exciting players. The Spurs and Pistons would probably be the worst series since, well since the Spurs and Nets. I don't think I'd watch a single minute of that series. Let's get that NBA Conspiracy maching revved up and make sure we get the Heat and Suns in the Finals.

'Dr. Beach' picks Florida beach as No. 1 in U.S.

I hate the beach. I really don't understand the attraction. Hot, sweaty, sticky, sandy, salty, nasty feelings I get at the beach are really unappealing to me. If I want to swim, I'd much rather do it in a lake, river or pool. We live about ten minutes from the beach and never go. Maybe if it was less accesible, I would appreciate it more as a novelty. But for fun, I can't understand why people like to go to the beach.

Slashdot | Home Made Star Wars Movie Injury

The only thing I find geekier than these idiots blowing themselves up trying to create a light saber duel was all the commentors on Slashdot who offered up safer alternatives.

Lost cigarette leads to bizarre accident

Maybe he can sue the tobacco companies. There should be a warning label to prevent this sort of thing.

All right motherfuckers

Well, you all blew it with Carnivale and it got canceled. Well, I want to make sure nothing happens to the other great new HBO drama, Deadwood. If you're not watching this show, what the fuck are you waiting for? Especially if you already have HBO. And if you don't have HBO, you should get it just for this show. Go read Ace's post about it because he's better at telling you why this show is great than I am.

Great Fucking Compromise

Ok, I must be missing something. Please tell me that the "compromise" that the Senate just agreed to was something other than, "We'll let you keep the power to filibuster provided you promise not to use the power to filibuster." What?? Is this a joke? Seriously, I must have missed something because this can't be it. So the Democrats can just filibuster anyway after the 3 judges they agreed to vote on, and say that they find the nominees extreme, and then the Republicans can go all nuclear on their asses, anyway. Or the Democrats can just keep quiet and take it in the ass like the good little bitches they are. Either way, the worst case is we're right back where we started but the Republicans are three judges stronger. Please someone, tell me what I'm missing that makes this a good deal for Democrats.

Everything looks disgusting in bulk

Occassionally, when there's nothing on, we watch Unwrapped on The Food Network, which just basically shows the process by which certain foods are created. This has led me to believe that there is absolutely no food that looks the slightest bit appetizing in large quantities. They always have big slabs and vats and barrels of stuff, and it all just looks nasty, no matter how good the finished product might be.

Congressmen dare Bush to veto expansion of stem cell study

Good, it's nice to see that there are still people in our government with some balls.

Another fucking meme

Ok, my wife tagged me with this. I still don't know what the fuck a meme is, and she didn't do the one I tagged her with, but since I love her, I'll do it anyway. I was also tagged by Christiana with another one, but there's no way I'm doing two of these things in one day. However, a few of the questions intersect, so we'll just call this my answer to both.

1. If you could kill any celebrity by beating them with a book you own, which celebrity and book would it be?
Anne Coulter (because she's a cunt), and I really don't care what book, but I think I have one of Michael Moore's lying around somewhere that might make it that much more fun.

2. When you have sex, is there a certain TV show you like to sync the sex up with so that as you finish, the show begins?
Now, I watch as much TV as anyone, but when I'm having sex, I'm not thinking too much about TV. Besides, with a two year old, we have to take it whenever we can get it.

3. Is there a blog out there that you absolutely hate but are kind of afraid to say something on your own blog for fear that they’ll read it and come to kill you? If so, please share it with me.
I'm not really afraid to say anything on my blog, and I really don't hate anyone. But if I have to pick someone I'll go with this blog because this woman was exteremly mean to my wife. She also has one of those stupid 'W' stickers on her car.

4. Finish this sentence: If one more person asks me to pass on a meme, I’m going to…
Stop doing fucking meme until someone tells me what the fuck a meme is.

5. Total volume of music files on my computer?
I don't know. A lot. I don't listen to music much these days, but I know there's a lot on there.

6. The last CD I bought was?
I have no idea, like I said I don't listen to music much, so it's been a while since I bought a CD. It was probably something for kids.

7. Song playing right now:
None, I'm listening to sports radio, but for the last few weeks, the song for 64 Zoo Lane (some new show on the Disney Channel) has been stuck in my head, does that count?

8. Which people are you passing this baton to, and why?
No one, because last time I did that, none of my choices participated. Although Rob, who I didn't tag took it upon himself to do it. So this time I'll just take volunteers... anyone?

Sports Fans Cry Foul on Math Question

People are stupid. Obviously the question doesn't need to be accurate from a football sense in order for kids to be able to demonstrate that they can calculate the average yards per play. But how fucking hard would it have been to make sure that it was? Not very. Then, even worse, the guy gets all defensive about it:

"It has nothing to do with football," Bazemore said. "It has to do with the mathematical concepts that you're studying."

Then don't ask a question about a football team, jerk. Just give the kids the numbers and let them do the calculations.

Manhug!

Yeah, uh...unless we're related, don't hug me.

Do you Google? | CNET News.com

Now, I love Google, and I'm all for them expaning into different things, and if they want to become a web portal, I'd like to see it. There's only one problem. I set up one of these Google personalized pages as soon as I saw that it was available, and it sucks. I mean it sucks bad, it looks like something that may have been useful in about 1997 or so. Yahoo's personalized page as well as MSN's and probably about a million or so other portal are a billion times better than this thing. It's all text, it's extremely limited in content, and it's just ugly. If they improve it to be at least comporable to Yahoo, I'll use it, but if this is all they're offering, they shouldn't have even bothered.

Star Wars

Inspired by seeing Episode III the other day, then my wife getting upset because I got my son Apple Jacks because they came with a light saber spoon, I decided to watch Star Wars with him for the first time today. He's a little young, but he follows all those PIXAR movies real well, so I thought I would see how he liked it.

He was pretty interested in the battle scenes and whenever Darth Vader was on, and he didn't seen to care much for Han Solo. Oh, he did like Chewbacca a lot, but he kept calling him a bear. The funniest thing was when Darth Vader showed up to fight Obi Wan and had his light saber out, my son pointed at it and said "a spoon, he has a spoon" because of the aforementioned light saber spoon. He also kept confusing Obi Wan with Oobi. If you don't know who Oobi is, just be thankful.

Anyway, it was fun, maybe tomorrow we'll watch The Empire Strikes Back, since I haven't seen that in quite a while anyway. Oh, and as I said in my post after seeing Episode III, Vader and Obi Wan's light saber skills really, really, really fell off in their old age because the battle in Star Wars was nothing compared to the one in Episode III. Also, I always forget that Darth Vader doesn't really win, Obi Wan just gives himself up. Oh, and I thought it sounded strange when he called Darth Vader "Darth", like it washis first name or something. I thought he would more likely call him Anakin, or Vader if he thought of him as a different person than Anakin. Anyway, watching it again and noticing these things just made me really feel like a geek, so I'll stop now.

US abuse of Afghan prisoners 'widespread'

When the fuck are people going to stop buying that "few bad apples" crap about the treatment of US prisoners in the War on Terror? Abu Ghraib, Guantanmo Bay, now Afghanistan and wherever Saddam is being held. If you can't see by now that we don't treat these prisoners very well and that it isn't some kind of isolated thing, then you're not very bright. And please spare me the "these people don't deseve to be treated well" argument. Because the other side can make the same argument when they want to mistreat our guys. And also spare me the "well, they already do it to our guys, ever hear of Nick Berg?" argument because in case you forgot, we're supposed to be the good guys. We're supposed to be better than they are. Anyway, this is just entirely fucking unacceptable to keep hearing this crap. Hell, even these people do deserve to be treated like this, it would be a bad idea just because of how it makes us look to the rest of the world. Assholes.

White House Condemns South Korean Research

What the fuck is wrong with these fucking fuckers? I guess this is the kind of bullshit that happens when you start trying to change around the definition of science. We shouldn't be taking a backseat to anyone in research of anything. This is just ridiculous. Bad enough that we aren't the ones making these breakthroughs, but to condemn it is just the kind of thing that makes me feel like my head is going to explode. If I hear the phrase Culture of Life one more time from a guy who has brought more than his share of death and destruction to this world, I think I'm going to puke. Assholes.

Link via Paul the Spud at Shakespeare's Sister.

Frist Implodes on Senate Floor

I saw this yesterday, and I figured I would see more talk about it, but since I haven't, I thought I would point it out. Not that I needed anything further to convince me that Bill Frist is a hypocrite, or that all his arguments about "constitutional" options are just bullshit, but still this should be pointed out at any oppurtunity. The only reason he's opposed to the filibuster of judicial nominees is because he is currently in the majority party. Not surprising at all, but again, it should be pointed out, lest anyone only watching FOX News believe that the Democrats are just doing this because they hate Priscilla Owen. Assholes.

The Globe and Mail: U.S. protests British tabloid's photos of captive Saddam

I really have no desire to see Saddam in his underwear for any reason, but it's not like I can really muster up any sympathy for the guy or anything. However, the part that bothers me is this is just another example of things we say we don't do to prisoners, only to find out that we actually do do it. And with all the things we have found out about, I wonder how many there are that still remain secret.

“We take seriously our responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all detainees,” the statement said.

How is anyone supposed to be able to take that statement seriously at this point? If these pictures of Saddam were some isolated incident, that would probably be pretty believable, and anyway, who really cares what indignities Saddam has to suffer? But the fact is, these pictures are actually about the least objectionable thing out of all the examples we've seen of this kind of thing. It's really hard to even get upset about this at all, considering who the subject is, and how tame these pictures are compared to others. But that's kind of sad because we are supposed to be above this kind of thing, and any indication that we don't treat prisoners how we say we do just makes us look like a bunch of hypocrites. And while it looks like all the officails are saying all the right things in this case, it's really hard to believe anything when this seems to be part of such a pattern these days.

I wish we were in a position where we could say that these pictures are a fluke, that they don't represent how we treat our prisoners, and that it would be investigated and not allowed to happen again. A position where we could say we are above this kind of thing and mean it, and be believed, but sadly, we aren't, and I think that sucks.

Wired News: Give Your DVD Player the Finger

How do they have an entire article about a stupid fucking idea like this without mentioning the most obvious point that makes this fantasy unrealistic? Most of us aren't sad hermit people that live by ourselves. For instance, most of the time I buy DVDs, they are kids movies for my 2 year old son to watch. I'm pretty sure he'snot going to be able to work the fingerprint thing himself. And if it uses mine, then how will my wife play these movies when I'm at work? Do we have to buy two copies? What a ridiculous fucking idea.

5,000

I just passed 5000 hits. No prizes or anything, especially since I don't know who was actually the 5000th visitor. But thanks to the 5 or 10 of you who kept coming back over and over again to get those numbers up there. Actually now I'm averaging around 50 visitors a day. Woo hoo!

Finger allegedly bought to try scam / Husband paid $50 to 'create a lawsuit,' court records say

Such a clever plan. It's really hard to figure out why it didn't work.

Local libraries find many books urine-stained

Nasty.

That's probably why they wouldn't let George return that book that had been in the bathroom.

Eight is enough

Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with people? It's great that they're now going to sell buns in the same quantity hot dogs come in. But what the fuck made them have to sit down and talk about it to figure out if it was a good idea? It should have taken one guy at wherever they make the buns mentioning it to a superior. Congratulations to them for only taking 100 years to figure out something that is incredibly obvious.

Link via Slack.

Episode III

Ok, I really liked it. But then, I liked Episode I and Episode II. It was pretty long, but there was a lot of story to tell. I thought it was done very well. It was very dark, which is expected since it's all about Anakin turning to the Dark Side.

Both Obi Wan and Anakin's light saber fighting skills really fell off in their old age because the fight in Episode III was much more impressive than the one in Star Wars.

Star Wars

So, I didn't realize it started tonight. For some reason, I was thinking that it was tomorrow. In any case, I hadn't planned to see it for a while. Anyway, when I realized it was tonight, I called a friend of mine who I had went to Episode II with at midnight to see if he was going tonight. He was and convincedme to go with him. So on the way home, I stopped and got a ticket. There were already people in line at 5:30, so I expect tohave lousy seats. Anyway, I'm getting old, and I remember having a hard time staying awake at Episode II, so I hope I can still make it that long. Sonow I'm loading up on Mountain Dew. I was hoping I might be able to get a nap in, but I just got my son to sleep a few minutes ago, and I have to leave in about an hour, so that's out. Anyway, if I can drag myself to work tomorrow, I'll post about how I thought it was.

Spurs Win Western Conference Semis

Unless they played a game today that I missed, that headline is a little premature. Last I checked the Spurs are up 3-2 in a best of seven series.

State says JOHN3:16 plate is OK

Jesus Christ. I'm all for the separation of church and state, but I don't see how on earth anyone's vanity license plates violate it. I'm offended by vanity license plates in general. Why pay extra to have some stupid scrunched up phrase on your plate that only means something to you anyway and on the off chance that someone else understands whatever crap you have on there, it just makes them think you're an idiot? But, regardless, I don't care if someone is driving around with plated that say FUCKU on them, what the hell difference does that make to me? Even if I found one that was truly offensive (maybe if someone had the N word or FAGGOT or something), I still can't imagine wasting my time to complain about it to anyone. And I really can't see why anyone who complain about the ones at the end of the article:

FIVE PLATES THAT COULDN’T BE KILLED

Here are some other vanity license plates that the Department of Licensing permitted to remain after complaints:

UDORK: A complainant said it was rude.

BCHRWFE: Someone complained it was about spousal abuse. The plate turned out to belong to a butcher’s wife.

AMXTC: Someone thought it was a reference to the drug Ecstasy. The plate referred to the joy of owning a classic car called an AMX.

STROKIN: A complainant thought the message was sexual, but the plate referred to a Ford Power Stroke diesel truck.

SEXTY7: Someone thought the plate was racy, but it was allowed because it was used on a classic 1967 car.

Get a fucking grip people. How are any of these things offensive, even if they actually meant whatever crap you thought they meant? Find something better to do with your time.

Top U.S. Pro Leagues Face Steroid Hot Seats

I've already posted my thoughts about why Congress shouldn't be involved in this at all. They simply have more important things to do that are actually their responsibility. What I thought interesting in this story was it was the first time I'd seen the NHL ivolved in the whole thing (and the MLS, but who gives a fuck about that?). And while I'm sure there are more important things for Congress to focus on than this, I know without a doubt that the NHL has more pressing matters to attend to. What the fuck good is a solid steroid policy if you don't play any games, anyway? Not to mention the fac tthat I've never heard even an inkling of a possibility that there might be any kind of steroid abuse going on in the NHL (or the MLS, but again, who cares). Maybe the NHL should work on actually playing games before they waste time on drug policies. I can see it now, the NHL and it's players finally agree to a deal and they are going to start the 2005-2006 season on time, then suddenly they have to discuss Congress' steroid policy and this leads to further disagreements where they don't end up playing at all and the whole league folds. Anyway, if any government should be getting involved in the NHL's business, it should be the Canadian government, since it is their sport after all, even though we have all but completely stolen it from them (and pretty much ruined it in the process).

Oil movie

I saw a preview last night on FX while watching The Shield for a movie about the coming oil crisis. I wanted to go see if I could find any more information about it becuase it looked pretty interesting, but I forgot what the name was and I can't find anything on the FX Network site. Anyone know what it's called?

I guess I shouldn't be too concerned if I miss it, it will probably suck like the last FX movie I watched (or I watched as much of it as I could without getting bored), Smallpox, about a biological terrorist attack.

The Desk Apprentice

I posted a while back about this thing wondering if anyone would actually buy it, then noticed that it was sold out at the time, so apparently people would. Now, I see that because of that post, the most popular thing to bring people to my blog from a search engine are various combinations of the words staples and desk and apprentice. I guess there's a lot of demand for that thing.

On a related note, my blog is the top result in a Google Search for Upon Further Review. That's pretty impressive.

Mother says yearbook photo of son offensive, wants recall

I could see how the picture would be offensive. But how do you recall a yearbook? And if the kid had a problem with it, he shouldn't have posed for the picture. Personally, I think it's a good thing that the kids didn't ever seem to think it was an issue in the first place. It shows that attitudes towards race really are changing for the better. The more serious question to me than whether or not the picture is appropriate is how did it get put in the yearbook in the first place? And why do they have superlative categories like Most Whipped and Most Likely to be on Jerry Springer in the first place?

Oh, and my favorite part of the article was this:

Students voting on superlatives — a staple of yearbooks for decades — elected Richards as "Most Whipped" by his girlfriend, using the slang term for a person who is controlled by another in a relationship.

[emphasis mine]
Thanks for clearing that up, Palm Beach Post, I was thinking they meant like whipped cream or something. These kids today and their slang...

Milan-to-Boston flight diverted to Maine

Why do they keep sending these things to Maine?

Blog

I changed some stuff. If you don't like it, get your own damn blog.

Newsweek Needs To Do More Than Apologize, White House Says

More from the How do they say it with a straight face department: White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan:

“While Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refuse to retract the story," McClellan said. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard that should be met. In this instance it was not. The report has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives.”

If I was the ediitor of Newsweek, I would point out that the White House is the last place on Earth where anyone should be lecturing about the wrong facts leading to lost lives.

But I guess those thousands dead in Iraq don't really compare to the 15 people that were apparently killed by Newsweek.

Newsweek Magazine Apologizes for Errors in Koran Report

I don't know what happened or didn't happen. I don't know if somoene desecrated the Koran or not, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had. But how credible is a story that someone "flushed the Koran down a toilet?" How do you flush any book down a toilet? Are these some super toilets or something? In my experience, even a paperback book won't fit in a toilet, and even if it would, I doubt you could get it to flush down. Now maybe someone threw the Koran into the toilet, and maybe even flushed it while it was in there, but to say it was flushed down the toilet, is just pretty ridiculous.

Candling

Over the weekend, my wife was telling me about a spa she wants to go to, and in the process mentioned something about ear candling, which I had never heard of. Apparently, it's some process where they light a candle in your ear and it somehow sucks all the crap out of your ear. Hearing the process described didn't make me any more eager to try it. I'm sure there's some nasty stuff in my ears, but unless it interferes with my hearing or equilibrium or something, I'd rather it just stay there. So, even after hearing about this cleansing process, it never even occured to me that something that works in your ears might also work in other orifices as well. So when my wife told me about this site she found when looking for information on this ear candling stuff, I was shocked and pretty thouroughly disgusted. As much as I'd rather not see the stuff that's in my ears, or have a lit candle stuck in my head, this site manages to make that seem like a pretty comfortable option by comparison. The only thing that disgusts me more than the fact that people actually do this is that I'm sure some people take sexual pleasure in it, and there are probably dark corners of the internet where it's discussed in graphic detail. Anyway, it sure puts the ear candling thing into perspective.

Pro-gay group blocked from Communion

This is fucking disgusting. Bigotry and homophobia are bad enough all by themselves, but when they are endorsed by religion, it just makes me sick. Do they interview everyone before giving Communion, so they know whether or not they agree with all the teachings of the church? If someone doesn't agree with the churches position on something besides homosexuality (the death penalty, maybe), are they too denied Communion? Or is it just people who aren't afraid to hide what they believe? If the issue is really about protesting against the church, like the Archbishops suggests, then I wonder why protesting should deny anyone Communion. He may not feel that it is acceptable to protest while taking Communion, but doesn't it make him look pretty bad to deny Communion to anyone? If he feels that protests do not belong in the church, then how does his denial of Communion fit in? Isn't that kind of a protest against the people protesting? Also, if your religous beliefs are such that the reception of Communion is considered important (as I would think it would be to the Archbishop) to your faith, isn't it kind of petty to deny it to someone regardless of your opinions on their actions? How hard would it be to give these people Communion, then make a statemnt saying that you don't agree with their position?

Big tent folds as HBO cancels 'Carnivale'

That sucks. If you're a fan of Carnivale, I'm sure you'll agree with me. If you're not a fan, then that means you probably weren't watching it, which means I blame you for this. Thanks a lot.

What do they have in common?

First, Penny Hardaway was supposed to be the next Michael Jordan. Then suddenly he wasn't. Then Kobe became one of the best players in the league, now he can't even lead his team into the playoffs. Now people are saying Shaq shouldn't be the MVP because he's not even the MVP of his own team, that that honor belongs to Dwayne Wade (42 points tonight). These guys all have one thing in common, and people should consider that before they say Shaq is a one dimensional player.

This is a little bit confusing

Because I always thought that FOX News was the RNC Headquarters. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

BBC NEWS | Technology | TV download sites hit by lawsuits

Do people have no common sense? How long do people have to keep stealing content for the providers of that content to realize that people aren't stealing it because they just like to steal, they're stealing it because that's the easiest way to get the content. If someone misses a TV show these days, it's much more likely that it will air again soon than it was in the past, but still you have to find out when that will be and then make sure not to miss it again, and if you only realized you missed it a week later (and it's not on HBO or something, where they show encore after encore and mini marathons to catch you up) then you're probably out of luck until it comes on as a re-run. But if it's one of these new shows with an ongoing developing plot, like Lost, or Desperate Housewives, missing one episode can really get you lost, and by the time you can see it again, it will be irrelevant. So people steal them instead, because the content is available on demand. I don't understand how people don't understand that it's the convenience that people are looking for. If there are legitamate means of acquiring the same content, less people will steal it. I don't hear so much about the RIAA getting all freaked out about music file sharing these days, that's because there are legitimate means to buy content that are just as convenient as stealing it. Someone needs to find a way to do the same thing with movies and TV shows.

Even OnDemand, while it's great only makes certain content available for limited periods of time. I could start watching a season of Six Feet Under on OnDemand, then if I forget about it for a couple of weeks, by the time I go back, it might no longer be available. DVDs have been great for watching old TV shows, but then you have to buy an entire season or more, and you have to wait for it to come out, if it ever does. These kinds of issues just don't come up when people steal content from the internet. If the content providers could at least minimize these kinds of issues and make things at least as available legitimately, then there wouldn't be so many people stealing.

I'm not saying that they shouldn't go after these sites that make it easier to steal their content, but they should also be focusing on making their content more available legitimately to make these sites irrelevant. While there are people who are going to steal if they can, no matter what, I think most people that download stuff would prefer to do it legally, if given the option.

Great Speech

From Pam's House Blend , I read this great speech by Texas Represenative Senfronia Thompson, just when I thought everyone in Texas must be some kind of bigoted homophobe. She manages to point out not only how wrong this constitutional amendment against gay maraige business is, but also how many more important things there are for lawmakers to focus on. When I finished reading it, I felt like I should stand up and applaud, but realized I was at work and that would look really strange. Anyway, go read it, it's nice to remember that not everyone in government is either so crazy that they support discrimination or too much of a pussy to speak out against it.

Social Security

I've been asked by a commenter to open a discussion on Social Security. It looks like the guy is a conservative, so I'm curious what he wants to say about it, or why he wants to do it here.

I'll start the discussion by offering my opinion on Social Security.

First, there is no "crisis" that's a scare tactic used by Republicans (they're good at playing on people's fears, that's why they're still in control in the first place) in order to distract the public from the fact that the main plan that has been suggested (Bush's private accounts) will not do anything whatsoever to alleviate any problems that Social Security does face.

If by some miracle, I'm wrong and there is a Social Security crisis (there's not, but hypothetically), then the Republicans pushing private accounts is even more disgusting, since as I mentioned above, they would do absolutely nothing to fix that crisis. So, if there is a crisis and they believe that Social Security must be fixed, then they should get off this push for private accounts and suggest something that will actually address the problem.

Also, any problems that Social Security does have can be pretty easily fixed by raising (or eliminating) the cap on income that social security is collected on. Or the retirement age could be changed, people are living longer, I don't see any reason they can't work longer. There are any number of simple tweaks that could address the real problems with Social Security. Republicans don't want you to know about these, because then you won't be afraid, and then you won't blindly support whatever plan they suggest.

Finally, if people really want to be part of an "ownership society" and invest their own money for retirement because they think that they will get a better return that way, well, there is nothing stopping them from investing their own money for retirement. But wouldn't it be nice to have Social Security just in case your investments don't pan out? Investing means risk, risk means you could lose. Social Security is not supposed to be risky, it's supposed to be solid and something you can count on. And even if it wasn't, I should mention again that private accounts do absolutely nothing to address potential future Social Security shortfalls. So, even if they were a good idea (they're not), we would still have the same problems (or "crisis" if you're a republican) that we have now. And in addition, we would have to borrow money to payout to replace the money that is diverted into private accounts, so we would actually have more problems. Nice plan, huh?

So, feel free to discuss Social Security here. I imagine most of my readers will agree with me on this subject, but please add any thoughts you have.

The Apprentice

Ok, I really hope they don't try to have another three hour finale like they did last time. That thing dragged on and on and on. Actually, I can't even see why they should make it two hours. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Trump had just fired Tana last night and they just skipped the finale all together.

Air France flight diverted to Maine

If the guy had already made it onto the plane, then what the hell difference does it make if they land in Boston or Maine? Aren't both in the US? Did this guy have some Boston-specific terrorism to accomplish? Maybe he wanted to blow up some of those newly obnoxious Red Sox/Patriot fans.

Senate committee advances Bolton as U.N. envoy

Yeah, great, so no one likes him, but they're going to go ahead and advance his nomination. Let's hope there are a few senators outside of the committee, who disagree with the selection and have some balls. I'm tired of these people voting with reservations, whether it's Voinovich this time, or Biden with Rice's nomination. If you think it's the wrong person, then just stand up and fucking say so, and vote against it. Expressing reservations, then voting in favor just makes you look like a pussy. It makes it seem like you're too much of a pussy to risk being the one to kill the nomination, but if it goes through and turns out to be the terrible choice we all know it will be, you can say you were against it. Assholes.

Is typing so hard?

Lately, I see more and more people using acronyms for titles of movies, tv shows, books, video games, whatever. Is it really so hard to type these things out? Does it really take a lot longer to type Revenge of the Sith than RoTS? I don't think it does. Whether it's LOTR or HHGTTG or TNG or GTA, just type the name out already. It's not that hard.

lawmakers object to fake penis for drug tests

Jesus Christ, is Congress really this bored? Not that I think people should really be trying to cheat on drug tests, but is this something Congress should be wasting any time on? Is this such a big problem? The only reason we've heard anything at all about this thing (and the only reason Congress is interested) is because Tom Sizemore got caught trying to use the thing, and Onterrio Smith got caught with one. I don't see anyone complaining that there is an epidemic of people faking drug test results which requires federal intervention to put a stop to. Maybe Congress could put even the tiniest little bit of it's time into trying to fix the economy, the war, our fucked up education system, or anything that actually has real problems.

Does the Real ID act contain a Constitution-busting Trojan horse?

I found this via Wil Wheaton dot net. I haven't seen it anywhere else. Is it true? If the article is accurate, then this is just overwhelmingly ridiculous. Is this even still America? How is it even legal to sneak shit into must pass legislation that is completely unrealted to that legislation? And why wouldn't the Democrats make a big fuss about some shit like this?

ABC News: How Could a Pilot Stumble Into White House Airspace?

Am I the only one who finds it a little bit suspicous that the President is suddenly having all these security scares? First, that false alarm a week or two ago when he had to go hide in his bunker, then the grenade in Georgia, now this. That stuff can't be bad for his sagging approval numbers.

Next Blog Button

Occasionally, I'll get a little spike (well, it looks big, since my traffic is pretty low, but it's not big) in my visits when looking at my site meter stats, and looking at the referrals and seeing lots of completely unrelated Blogger blogs that don't link to me leads me to the conclusion that I have somehow magically gotten into the rotation for the Next Blog button. So I was wondering if anyone knows how that happens. I don't really see much of a pattern to the times that I've noticed it. Anyone have any ideas?

Gay Men Respond Differently to Pheromones

Yeah, right. We all know they chose to respond differently. We all know that everytime they recruit new members, the first thing they do is teach them how to control their hypothalamuses.

Runaway Bride Enters Treatment Program

I've read a lot lately about how embarrassing this whole "story" has been for the news outlets. And it should be, they wanted to find the next Scott Peterson story and jumped all over it before they had any idea what's going on. But, despite that embarrassment, they just keep on covering it. Who cares if the woman was charged with shoplifting, who cares that she's getting treatment. The second they found out she had left on her own, this story should have been over. Continued coverage of this mess just shows that they're a bunch of idiots and that they think their viewers/readers are too. Well, actually, I guess they might be right about that.

Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Shoe

I really hope that if someone finds one of my shoes in 2,000 years, that they don't make a big deal about it.

Bush Wins Enthusiastic Welcome in Georgia

Well, I'm not surprised. It's not like people are all that bright in Georgia. That's where a woman actually believed Mike Vick when he told her his name was Ron Mexico. Oh, wait, the country Georgia...well, now that is surprising.

Coast Guard says missing sailors found - one alive

I saw this story on Google News and clicked on it because the first line

One of two sailors who abandoned their boat in rough seas hundreds of miles off the Virginia coast was pulled to safety on a merchant ship early Monday and the body other was found soon afterward, the Coast Guard said.

[emphasis mine]
made me wonder why exactly they would "abandon" their boat. It seems like staying with the boat would be favorable to swimming around in the ocean. So, I read on and find out exactly how is was that they "abandoned" their boat, which led me to this:

Tighe activated an emergency beacon and he and Reidy were preparing a liferaft to evacaute the crew when they were washed overboard the 45-foot sailboat Almeisan be 16- to 20-foot seas, Hannum said

[emphasis mine]
Are reporters just lazy or stupid or what these days? How does being washed overboard constitute abandoning your boat?

I'm glad that's over

Not that I care very much about the Pacers or the Celtics, but the prospect of Boston having any chance of owning all three major sports championships was not an attractive one. No matter how little chance the Celtics actually had to wint the NBA title, the possibility was still there as long as they remained in the playoffs. And I'm sure if they had advanced, the story of Boston winning another title would have gotten more and more coverage. So, anyway, I'm glad that's over. Although, I'm not sure hearing about Reggie Miller for a couple more series' is that much better.

Nash Named NBA MVP

Congratulations to Nash, but Shaq should have been the MVP. Actually, Shaq probably should have won the MVP three or four more times than he has. I think the voters just almost have him in a separate place in their minds, and don't even consider him the same as other players. Otherwise, I can't explain why he wouldn't have won more MVPs. Either way, the NBA is pretty unwatchable.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lots of mothers in my family, and I'd like to wish them all a very happy mother's day! My mother, who since I am the product of her mothering must be pretty gifted at it, to say the least. My brother turned out ok too. Also, two of my three sisters-in-law are mothers to my three nephews and three nieces who are all great kids. So happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Congress weighs 4 IDs for licenses

I'm not sure I even have four forms of ID. But what good would this do? If someone is trying to illegitimately obtain a driver's license and is able to fake the one or two forms of ID now required, does requiring a couple more really add any significant hurdles to them? It doesn't seem like it to me. It just seems like this will make it more difficult for people who aren't doing anything wrong to get a license. Assholes.

`Mouse special' reveals Dorchester eatery not squeaky clean

I wonder how long it willbe before we find out this woman put it in there herself?

Charlestown resident Delphine Hamilton swore off dining out six months ago after being sickened by news reports about restaurant patrons finding rat heads and fingers in their fast-food orders. Now she's wishing she had followed her own lead.

[emphasis mine]

What he hell does that even mean? Wishes she had followed through, maybe, but followed her own lead. How does anyone ever not follow their own lead? Do reporters eventry anymore?

Anne Rice Gets Biblical in Her Next Book - Yahoo! News

"Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" will tell the story of Jesus' early years in his own words.

It seems to me, if Anne Rice is writing it, then it can't be in his own words. Also, if someone has his own words somewhere, then what would she need to write this for?

Who needs forests, anyway?

What with the rapture coming an all. Bush seems pretty hell bent on destroying the environment before leaving office. Asshole.

Disturbing

I was listening to Sean Hannity on the way home from work yesterday (I do that sometimes just to amuse myself) and he had Ann Coulter on to explain her "ordeal" in Texas last week. How he pried his lips off the cock of the runaway bride "story" I'll never know. But anyway, Coulter was on her cell phone so Hannity suggested she come back on Monday to tell her story. Coulter said she wasn't sure if she could make it, but that they would talk about it on IM that night. I'm not sure why this bothered me so much, but there really isn't much that could disturb me more than a latenight chat session with Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter.

Watching Bill Maher

Andrew Sullivan looks like someone beat him up right before the show. He also sounds ike he feels pretty guilty about being a Republican, though he also seems a little defensive about it.

In Kansas, Darwinism Goes on Trial Once More - New York Times

Well, after seeing that Kansas was looking into teaching "intelligent" design, I really thought that the people there must not understand what the word science means.

My bad, because they actually want to change the definition of science to more closely fit their beliefs. Wow, that's convenient. Why not just change the definition to "the search for god." Even by their new definition, I don't see "intelligent" design fitting in anywhere. I suspect they think it fits in the "logical argument" part, but I think they must have also changed the definition of logical, then.

Man allegedly defaces Virgin Mary image

Good! Not that I'm for people defacing any public property, but in this case, I think it works out well for everyone. Now people don't have to go look at a stain on the wall and think they're having some religous experience, and the rest of us don't have to hear about it anymore. Look, I dont care if you're religous, I don't care if you think that stain looked like the Virgin Mary (even though it actually looked like a vagina), but I cannot in any way understand people who felt the need to go light candles or bring flowers to it. Anyway, we're all better off with the thing gone.

Now, if someone would just eat that sandwich.

Pimp My Ride

Whenever I watch this show, all I can think of is that those cars are just begging to get stolen, or at least broken into. They put these outrageous paint jobs on them that make them easily identifiable to any criminals who may happen to watch MTV, so they know if they see this car it's got thousands of dollars of electronics inside. I would think this would be a problem for the owners of these cars. I wonder how many of them have been broken into. I wonder if their insurance rates go up after they get pimped.

De-Lurking Week

Inspired by The Disgruntled Chemist who was inspired by Shakespeare's Sister, who was inspired by After School Snack, I am participating in De-Lurking Week. I don't think I have many lurkers, but let's find out.

So, you readers who never comment - who are you? Why don't you comment? Don't you have anything to say? Out with it already.

And thanks for reading, I'm still not sure why anyone does.

9 Afghan Soldiers Killed in Renewed Raids by Insurgents - New York Times

Insurgency? In Afghanistan? I thought Afghanistan was our model for successfully spreading freedom across the globe. Apparently, things aren't quite as rosy there as we are led to believe. Maybe if we had stayed there (in force) until the job was finished before running off to Iraq to look for imaginary threats, we really could have done something there that we could all be proud of. But I guess pretending it's great over there is just as good, as long as most people believe it, and not nearly as difficult.

No Child Left Behind *

Maybe next week, they can have hearings about whether or not they should continue to teach gravity. This would be funny to me if it weren't so sad.

"Public science education is an institution," said Bill Harris, a University of Missouri-Kansas City professor of medicine and intelligent design advocate. "It appoints a teacher to be a referee among ideas.

"Nobody would tolerate a football game where the referee was obviously biased."

However, if one team was playing football, and had all the proper equipment and was playing by the rules of, you know, football, and the other team came out with tennis rackets and said they were ready to play, then demanded that a net be put up in the middle of the field, then got upset when the referee tried to tell them it was a football field and they had to play football here, and they were perfectly welcome to go play tennis on the tennis courts, and they said they wanted to play football, just with tennis rackets, then I don't think anyone would have any problem with the referee declaring the football team the winner by forfeit. Not that there's anything wrong with tennis, but you don't play it on a football field. No one is saying children can't be taught creationism, but a science classroom is not the place for it, that's what churches are for.


*Void in Kansas

Audit of Iraq Spending Spurs Criminal Probe

Is there anything in this war that has been managed properly? Even if you support the war, how the hell can anyone support the way this administration is running it? From lying to get us into it, to lying about how much it would cost, to torturing prisoners, to losing millions of dollars. Isn't this the second time they've lost a fuckload of money over there? Assholes.

Town Without Pity Offers Hisses to a Runaway Bride

This is such a fucking non-story that it makes me sick, but since it's the only thing being covered, I'll go ahead and give my thoughts on it. It looks like a lot of people think she should pay for the cost of searching for her, and at first, I thought that sounded fair, since she lied about being abducted and all. But, as I thought about it, she didn't lie about being abducted until after all the hoopla surrounding the search for her (which I blame the "news" channels for). Maybe if such a big deal had not been made of her dissapearance, then she wouldn't have felt the pressure to lie in the first place. And if she had not lied, the city still would have spent the money looking for her. She has no obligation to tell anyone where she's going or call anyone when she gets there. Sure it would be the nice thing to do, but it's not against the law for a grown woman to run away from home. Now, if they want to prosecute her for some sort of false police report or something for her made up abduction, I think that's fair. But if they're looking to stick someone with the bill for the search, they should go talk to Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.

Also, could we stop being outraged when people make up criminals who are minorities. Honestly, there are plenty of real instances of racism to be concerned with that I just don't see the need to worry about whether a woman who went crazy and ran away blamed it on imaginary hispanics, or a woman who drowns her children blames it on imaginary black people. That aspect of the latter case really bugged me since there were way bigger reasons to hate that woman (like drowning those two cute little boys) than the fact that she might be a racist. Just please stop demanding apologies from these people, what good does that really do?

Soldier: England Pics Had Legitimate Use

Well, I guess that depends on your definition of legitimate.

...Graner testified that three pictures he took of England holding a naked prisoner on a leash were meant to be used as a legitimate training aid for other guards.

Uh, no, I don't think that qualifies as legitimate. Assholes.

Jeff Van Gundy vs. David Stern

Dear David Stern:

As commissioner of the NBA, I realize that you can't tolerate coaches and players criticizing the officiating, as it really calls into question the integrity of the game. Especially when the coach suggests that he had contact with an official the way Jeff Van Gundy did. So I fully support harsh penalties for this offense.

However, another thing that may help to alleviate this problem in the future is to stop having officials who suck. The officiating in the NBA has sucked for at least the last 10 years. Now, I realize it is a tough game to call. I know that you can't call every foul, or get every call correct. However, fouls should never be called on people who cleary didn't touch anyone, and officials should be able to recognize when a player is out of bounds. I'm not sure the best way to fix this problem, but there are ways you could try. Instant Replay in certain situations could be used. You could have some system for evaluating officials (if you have one now, start over, because it sucks). You could add another offical. There are ways to fix this problem. Making Jeff Van Gundy pay a stiff fine may be appropriate, but it only addresses a symptom of the bad officiating, and does nothing to cure the problem.

I realize you're never going to make everyone happy, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try.

Brain-damaged firefighter speaks after ten years - World - Times Online

How long 'til some "Culture of Life" nutjob suggests that this could have been Terri Schiavo? I would say it wouldn't take long, except that they've all seemed to have forgotten that story already.

Poll Most Americans say Iraq war not worth it

Now, if we could just get people to realize these things a little fucking sooner. Seriously, lately the only thing that makes me madder than the crazy wingnuts who are 100% behind this war are the people were sort of behind it back when they thought we were fighting terrorists and eliminating the threat of Saddam blowing us all up, but now that they know what's really going on, aren't behind it anymore. As glad as I am that these people have come around to recognize the fact that the war was a bad idea, I'm just as mad that it took these morons all this time to realize it. It's not like things were going any better before the election. If you're unhappy with the war and you voted for Bush, I wonder what the fuck you expected. Must be all those "can't change horses in midstream" people. As stupid as the hardcore war supporters are, at least they know what the fuck they want. If you weren't sure what was going on in the world before you cast your vote, would it have killed you to find out? Or maybe just don't vote if you don't know what the hell you're voting for. But if you're upset about this war, as these polls seem to show, then make sure not to make the same fucking mistakes in 2006, or 2008.

People are stupid

What exactly is fun about making the wheels of your car spin around while not moving? It makes noise and smoke...whoopee! Go buy some fireworks. Are people really this easily amused? And not just this easily amused, but this easily amused and also so desperate for that amusement that they ignore the risks? Not to mention that it's probably really, really bad for the tires. I wonder how people can possibly stupid enough to think something like this is fun, but then I see what the kid's father had to say about it:

''Accidents happen," Pettinelli's father, Robert, told WBZ-TV yesterday. He said he was relieved that his son was not hurt.

Uh, yes, accidents do happen. I'm not really sure how that's at all relevant to this story. Here are a couple of definitions of accident:

anything that happens by chance without an apparent cause

An unforeseen and unintended event

I guess it is an accident in the sense that it was unintended and he didn't do it on purpose, but it's not an accident in the sense that it happened by chance or that it had no apparent cause. I really hope they take away the kid's drivers license.

Cheney says al Qaeda is still 'very active'

I wonder how the administration manages this, really. That's one fucking delicate balance they've got to maintain. On the one hand, we have to believe that we've wiped out 70% of Al-Qaeda and that we're winning the War on Terror and that the fact that we haven't been attacked since 09/11/2001 is a testament to the great job they are doing with Homeland Security, but on the other hand they want us to know that Al-Qaeda is still "very active" and that we should constantly be in fear of the next attack. I don't know how they manage to reconcile these two confilcting postions, or how the freaking media doesn't call them out on it, or how half of the country buys this bullshit without subjecting it to at least a little fucking common sense first.

The homophobes are right, after all

I hate to say it, but this is what happens when kids are raised by same sex parents. They grow up to be...Major League Baseball players. Oh, the horror. The next thing you know this guy is going to be taking steroids, and it all could have been avoided if people had just believed in the sanctity of marraige.

I've got a crazy idea

Why don't they start giving the Heisman Trophy to players who are actually good? I know, it sounds silly, but they used to do it occaisionally. Tony Dorsett, OJ Simpson (yeah, but he was a good player), Tim Brown, Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, Marcus Allen, Roger Staubach, these guys all won it, so it's not like they give it out exclusively to people who suck, although it's starting to look that way lately. Arguably the best guy to get in in the last 15 years quit football so he could smoke pot. Yeah, I know, it's a college award, so the fact that these guys go on to suck shouldn't matter as long as they produce in college, but look at the list over the last 15 years. How many of these guys were honestly the best player in college football? Maybe three or four, maybe.

Laura Bush is not funny

Furthermore, her lame ass attempt at being funny is not newsworthy. I know it's going to be reported on, especially considering who the audience was, but it's been three days already, this story should have gone away by now. And please, it you must keep reporting on this crap, stop sucking up to this woman. Having people politely laugh at some really lame jokes at a dinner is not the same as being a comedienne. If she did the same jokes at a third rate comedy club on amateur night, she would have had things thrown at her before being booed off the stage. So let's stop pretending that just because she told jokes that they were automatically funny.

This and some woman who ran away from her wedding are the biggest stories in the world right now, at least according to what our "news" stations are covering. That's pretty fucking sad. Oh, and of course there's that 15 pound hamburger.

NPR : Technical Error Reveals Classified Info on Death of Italian Agent

What the fuck? You mean changing the background color of text isn't good enough to make it unreadable? Wow, who would have thought that. These computers are so hard to figure out.

Canada: Cancer teen search slows

Too bad this is in Canada, if it was here in the US, I'm sure Congress would jump right on it and pass some law specifically for this girl. Then they could drag her in and strap her down and Bill Frist could give her his own blood. And they could do it in a live broadcast to our nations churches.

Astronaut Hall of Fame Inducts 3 Members

I didn't realize there was an astronaut Hall of Fame. Now, I'm all for recognizing these people, that's a pretty scary job that takes a lot of hard work and skill. But do we really need a Hall of Fame for them? Isn't it already a pretty fucking elite group. And what does that say to the ones who aren't in the Hall of Fame? And other than being in the Hall of Fame, how does this distinguish them from other astronauts? I just don't get it.

People are idiots

Yeah, like this is the biggest problem in society today, and what we should be focusing our outrage on. Even if you think the word ass is too harsh to be on a public sign (which is just a little bit ridiculous), aren't there more important things to worry about in the world? If you don't like this coffee shop, then shut the fuck up, stop causing controversy that will no doubt help them. Also, if a company is based in fucking Utah, and that bunch of prudes doesn't have a problem with the name, then people in Florida really don't have any reason to be upset. Aren't there bigger problems to deal with in Florida? A lot of the rest of the country laughs at us already, why do we need to make it any worse?