What a Day

Sorry for the no posting today, but I haven't been online at all until now. I seem to have contracted some horrible plague, and after waiting about a week for it to go away, I finally just stayed home from work today and went to the doctor. He gave me some prescriptions and stuff to take, so hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon.

Anyway, today was not a good day to stay home, because I've been watching all this coverage of the tragedy from the hurricane. I don't know what I can say about it that hasn't been said many times already. But it's just terribly depressing stuff. I do wonder why on earth anyone ever thought it was a good idea to build an entire city on land that was not only below sea level, but also surrounded by water. I never thought too much about it before, but the more they say that on the news, the more I think that something like this was just inevitable.

Someone needs to tell the media that looting is not a big story right now, it's expected, we all know it's bad, but there's not much anyone can do about it at this point. So stop wasting people's time discussing the police failure to stop it. Even if they made it their top priority, how exactly are they supposed to stop it? They arrest people and take them where? And while they're tied up handling those looters, something else gets overlooked. The police should be worried about helping people survive, and that's about it. It's too bad that there are people out there who would take advantage of such tragedy, but there are much more important things to worry about now. Also, someone could mention to Anderson Cooper that I'm aware that dead bodies don't smell good without him reminding me of it every ten seconds on his show. I think that's probably the wrong angle to go with at this point.

'This is our tsunami'

Am I the only one who finds this a pretty stupid thing to say? Isn't it possible to comprehend a tragic event without relating it to some other tragic event? I think it is. To me, comparing the two is disrespectful to people invloved in either tragedy.

Broadcasters Piss me Off - Part 1

I'm always annoyed by things I hear broadcasters say, especially if it's something stupid that they do over and over. Since I watch a lot of football, this always stands out to me more during football season, and a lot of the things that irritate me are done exclusively or predominantly by football commentators. Anyway, I thought I would share these thngs to see if they piss anyone else off too. This one I was actually reminded of after hearing it on a radio morning show today.

Segue

I'm not going to look up the definition or anything, but as I understand it, it's when you transition from one subject to another. So, when you have a good segue, the conversation will flow smoothly from one topic to another without any noticeable akwardness in changing the subject. So I can understand why doing this well would be an effective tool for broadcasters. What pisses me off about it, though, is that everytime they are able to do this well, they seem to be unable to restrain themselves from pointing it out. They can't stop patting themselves (or their colleagues) on the back long enough to realize that any value the good segue has is completely ruined once they have gone out of their way to let everyone know how great it was. It's like they all take a segue class in broadcasting school where they are required to give each other positive feedback on any good segues, and because of that their minds are trained to be on the lookout for them and not let them pass unnoticed. Why they actually do this, I don't know, but I wish they would stop.

As football season begins, I expect to have many more examples of stupid things broadcasters say to piss me off, so stay tuned.

Hurricaine signs

Living in Florida for close to 30 years, I've been through a few hurricaine scares (although no actual hits), and besides the uncertainty of the storm and what damage it will do, there a couple of things that piss me off about all the hurricaine hype that leads up to them. First, the local weathermen seem poised to have an on-air orgasm at any point during the kinds of coverage these things get, along with trying to make the potential cone of destruction as large as possible to make sure that it includes the area they cover, and all their associated beachfront debris dodging reports. But the other thing is the stupid ass signs that are put up by local merchants addressed to the storm. You would think in preperation for a big storm, people would have better things to do that change their sign to some little clever (so they think) nugget which will only serve to make them look stupid and provide more fodder for the annoying weatherman previously mentioned as he describes your stupid sign being torn down by the high winds.

I almost forgot

I saw this was passed on to me the other day,but I was moving at work, so I didn't have time to do it then. Anyway, I'm convinced these things will be the downfall of blogs, if not the internets all together, but I do them anyway just to be a good sport.

1. What is your first name? John
2. Were you named after anyone? If I was, they haven't toldmeyet
3. Do you wish on stars? No, that's silly, I wish in wells.
4. When did you last cry? That Six Feet Under finale was pretty emotional, but I'm pretty sure no tears escaped, so I'm not sure.
5. Do you like your handwriting? Sometimes
6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Pepperoni
7. What is your most embarrassing CD? I don't have a lot of CDs, and I certainly wouldn't own any that would embarass me.
8. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Of course, everybody likes me.
9. Do you have a journal? I have a blog (see right here), but it's really not much of a journal type blog.
10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Me? Of course not.
11. What are your nicknames? I can't think of any, come up with a good one for me and you could win a prize.*
12. Would you bungee jump? No
13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Of course
14. Do you think that you are strong? Not really, but I don't think I'm weak either.
15. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip
16. Shoe Size? 10 1/2
17. Red or pink? Red
18. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I prefer not to dwell on those things.
19. Who do you miss most? I see most of the people that I'mclose to pretty regularly. I miss my Grandmother who died when I was younger, so I'll go with that.
21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Blue pants, no shoes
22. What are you listening to right now? Football game on TV
24. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Why would I be a crayon? If I was, I would have a lot more to worry about than what fucking color I was.
25. What is the weather like right now? It's fine in here, I'm not sure how it is outside, but if I had to guess, I would say hot and humid.
26. Last person you talked to on the phone? my brother
27. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? I always notice my wife's smile, I don't care about anyone else.
28. Favorite Drink? Mountain Dew
29. Favorite Sport? Football
30. Hair Color? Brown
31. Eye Color? Brown
32. Do you wear contacts? No, glasses
33. Favorite Food? Pizza
34. Last Movie You Watched? Fargo, but it was a sucky edited version with commercials.
35. Favorite Day Of The Year? This year? I don't know, it's not over yet.
36. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Neither, I like it to be unexpected and believable.
37. Summer or Winter? Winter, which is very short here
38. Hugs or Kisses? I'm not much of a hugger, so I'll say kisses.
39. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Chocolate Cake
40. Who Is Most Likely To do this Meme? Who cares? Hopefully visitor # 14, 700.
41. Who Is Least Likely To do this Meme and comment? Who cares? Hopefully, not visitor # 14,700.
42. What Books Are You Reading? So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
43. What's On Your Mouse Pad? Dell
44. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? football, Real Time
45. Favorite Smells? I can't smell anything right now, my nose is completely stuffed up.
46. Favorite Sounds? My son's laugh
47. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Neither, either, I don't care.
48. What's the furthest you've been from home? I used to live in Germany when I was a kid, my Dad was in the Army.
49. Do you have a special talent? I'm good at some stuff.
50. What is your ring tone? Depends on who calls. But I usually leave it on vibrate.

Ok, whoever thinks these things up has got to stop using the same questions. Anyway, there you go, hope you enjoyed it. I'llpass it on to whoever is visitor # 14,700, so be sure to check the Site Meter.


* There is no prize.

Saturday Night Name that Song

Well, you guys sucked last week. Let's try and do better this time, ok? There is a theme, get it and all the songs and you might win a prize.*

1. It’s drivin’ me out of my mind That’s why it’s hard for me to find
2. When I look in your eyes, there I'll see All that a love should really be
3. Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
4. And now you’ve finally found Everything you wanted and need in me
5. Without wings, without wheels
6. It's been seven hours and fifteen days Since you took your love away
7. I don't know where I'm going Only God knows where I've been
8. Smack it up flip it, rub it down Oh no
9. get your booty on the floor tonight Make my day
10. When all else fails and you long to be Something better than you are today

* There is no prize.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is my beautiful wife's birthday. Feel free to send a gift.

Friday Name that Movie

Ok, I'm doing this early this week because I am moving at work and don't know when I'll have time otherwise. Guess them all (and the theme) and you may win a prize.* And be sure to check back tomorrow for Saturday Night Name that Song.**

1. You ever seen a grown man naked?
2. GET OFF MY PLANE!
3. Well, let me give you a word of advice. Always bet on black!
4. Just once, I'd like a regular, normal Christmas. A little eggnog... a fuckin' Christmas tree... a little turkey. But, no. I gotta crawl around in this motherfuckin' tin can.
5. There's only two men I trust. One is me. The other is not you.
6. Don't worry Wilson, I'll do all the paddling. You just hang on.
7. Those AREN'T PILLOWS!
8. That's a negative ghostrider, the pattern is full.
9. I saw it. Like, I don't know I just saw it. I saw it on the runway, I saw it take off. I saw out my window. I saw the ground. And-and the cabin starts to shake, right? And the left side blows up and the whole plane just explodes! And it was so real, just how everything happends, you know?
10. Looks like they'll be importing oil this year, Chappy.


* There is no prize.
** If I feel like it.

Rome' bears a heavy burden

I don't know if Rome is going to be good enough to deserve all the hype, and it will have a hard time living up to Six Feet Under, Carnivale, The Sopranos and Deadwood, which are all excellent HBO shows, but I am looking forward to it anyway. However, the thing in this article that stuck out to me was this section:

With 27.7 million paid subscribers, HBO is highly profitable and still commands the largest audience of pay-cable channels. But its growth has slowed in the last two years as programs such as the now-canceled "Carnivale" and the Lisa Kudrow comedy "The Comeback" struggled to draw viewers.

The most-talked-about recent addition to the HBO lineup, "Entourage," has gotten critical acclaim but modest ratings. The finale of "Six Feet Under" last Sunday commanded almost 4 million viewers, far short of the 13.4 million who watched "The Sopranos" at its peak in 2002. The hit mobster drama, which averaged 12.9 million viewers last season, is now expected to end its run in 2007.

I don't know how many people watched the Six Feet Under finale, but I do know a lot of people were talking about it the next day. I also know that you shouldn't be comparing numbers for a 2005 episode to something in 2002. Now, there are ever increasing ways to watch the shows, especially on a channel like HBO. First, there are about six or seven HBO channels, at least four or five of which will be showing encores of every new show many times throughout the week, so the number of people that watched the finale on Sunday might fall far short of the number who actually watch it at some point. Also, people have DVRs now, I'm not sure how ratings get measured with recorded shows, but people will record it while watching something else and watch it later. Also, with OnDemand, a lot of shows can be watched at the convenience of the viewer anyway. So I don't see how they could have any accurate number for how many people watched the Six Feet Under finale at all, and especially not at this point, when it hasn't even been a week since it was on, and it probably hasn't even shown up on OnDemand yet. Also, for individual shows, I can see why HBO would be concerned with ratings, but for the overall success of the network, the only thing they should be worried about is subscribers. I don't know if that number is down or not, but that should be the bottom line. It doesn't matter if anyone watches any of their shows, if they are all still paying for the channel.

Anyway, I hope HBO continues to deliver the kind of great programming we've seen from them in the last few years, but I don't think you can measure the network's or the show's success based on traditional ratings, because I don't think you can get an accurate representation that way. Also, that's my theory for why Carnivale got canceled, becuase I know a lot of people liked that show. So they need to come up with a better way to measure these things before something else I like gets canceled. Also, I am starting to wonder why they would cancel Carnivale, when as far as I can tell, they don't have anything as good or better to replace it with. Hopefully, they are working on something, because when the Sopranos ends, they will only have one proven drama left (Deadwood), although I imagine they hope that by that time Rome will be a success.

Man nabbed at Wal-Mart for handcuff prank

Ok, so this was a stupid joke and not funny at all, but what the hell is the point of arresting this guy?

War Mom vs. Peace Mom

Why is this administration (and even more so all the idiot pundits and bloggers on the right) making this into an issue of one against the other? Both of these moms have the right to speak their minds about the war or anything else for that matter, as do all Americans. Seems pretty simple to me.

Hey Wingnuts

I realize that now that your hero, George W. Bush has compared the war in Iraq to World War II, you all take that as your cue to parrot the same nonesense. But if any of you actually thought that, why hadn't you mentioned it before? Sort of like how you all thought it was a great idea to liberate the Iraqi people even though I never heard anyone say that until not only after we had already invaded but also after the weapons of mass destruction nonesense started to look bad.

Seinfeld becomes a father for third time

You either are a father or you aren't. If you already are a father, you can't become one again, no matter how many kids you have. I say we fire anyone who currently has the job of writing headlines and just start over clean.

In a related story, Julia Louis-Dreyfus said the baby was "breathtaking."

Tropical Storm Katrina nears Fla., could become hurricane

I hope this thing hits soon, just to spare me all the Katrina and the Waves jokes that people think are so clever.

Google Launches IM

Oh, great, just what we need another IM client. There aren't enough of those out there already. Wake me up when somoene gets all these companies together and makes them realize that people would be a lot happier if they didn't need to sign on to 12 different accounts to talk to different people. I guess because they're free, we're supposed to overlook such enormous flaws. We certainly wouldn't stand for it if people using Comcast phone service couldn't call people using BellSouth. Anyway, it also seems that Google's IM client lacks a lot of features that the other ones have had for a long time, so I don't see the appeal.

Halo game set for silver screen

This is a bad idea. Movies based on video games always, without exception, suck. And before anyone says, "What about..." whatever movie you might have liked that was based on a video game, I didn't forget that one, it sucked too.

Saddam Fires All but One Attorney

Does Saddam Hussein actually think it matters one bit who his attorneys are or how good a job they do? If he does, he's even more insane than I thought. Maybe if Johnnie Cochran were still alive, I'd give him a slim chance, but otherwise, I think his chances of getting any kind of favorable verdict are exactly zero.

If you're looking to commit a social faux pas with minimal backlash, come to the Bay Area

Why should there be any backlash? This isn't even news. This article seems to be very proud of the Bay Area being so progressive that they weren't shocked by Randy Moss admission that he smokes pot. Who didn't know that already? He got kicked out of Florida State for it years ago. In equally shocking news, Randy Moss admitted that he is a man, a football player, and ... (you'll want to sit down for this one) black (who knew?). How this ever became a story is beyond me.

NCAA Will Let Florida State Use 'Seminoles'

Well, that didn't take long. The rule was stupid in the first place, but even stupider to be implemented without using any common sense.

But anyway, a more important thing I discovered in this article was this:

"When you make a mistake it's important to realize it and move on," Bush said.

emphasis mine

So is he planning on mentioning that to his brother? Because that could sure improve a lot of lives.

Reading

I just finished the book I was reading (review), which is the third in what look like it might end up being a long series. It was pretty good, although I can see that there is the potential for this to drag out too long and piss off readers. Hopefully, that won't happen, though. I think the next book is out now, so I'll look for that. If I can't find that, I'll continue re-reading the Hitchhiker trilogy, of which I have two more books left to re-read. After that, I will probably start Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson which looks pretty good.

What's everyone else reading?*


* Hopefully all the Pottermaniacs have long since finished that thing.

Olivia begs for help to find beau

Her statement reads:

Please Mr. Please, If You Love Me, Come on Over. Don't Stop Believin' You're the One That I Want, Let Me Be There, I Honestly Love You. I want to continue the Magic that I feel when we get Physical on those Summer Nights in Xanadu.

Curiously, Stockard Channing and John Travolta also made (somewhat puzzling) statements. their statements were, "Look at Me, Im Sandra Dee" and "Chang chang changity chang shoo bop", respectively.

Gay parents must pay child support

This is good news. Anything that makes sure same sex couple are treated the same as other couples is fine by me. When you make the commitment to have a child, it should be a lifetime commitment, whether you are adopting, or having the child yourself. And that should apply to straight people and gay people.

However, I can't help thinking that while I think this is a good thing overall, I do find it a little bit troubling when same sex couples are given the same responsibilities as other couples when they don't share all the same rights as other couples. Anyway, hopefully it is a step in the right direction.

No Proof Found of Iran Arms Program

This sounds eerily familiar. Better invade them just to be sure, if it does turn out they don't have an arms program (or if they smuggle it all out to Syria, sneaky bastards), we can just pretend we are there to fight the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th, and then if someone points out that most of those guys came from Saudi Arabia and were part of an organization based in Afghanistan, and that none of them had any ties to Iran, then we can just say we're there to liberate the Iranian people. Then if the Iranian people get mad at us for sticking around even after they've been liberated (ungrateful bastards), we can just talk about how spreading democracy and freedom is hard work, and we have to stay there until they are ready to take care of things themselves. Of course, if anything goes wrong, we can just blame it on those Iranians, so really everbody wins!*


* Except the people that get killed (Of course, they are heroes**, and it's perfectly acceptable to die a hero, even if you're just a kid).

** Well, the Americans are, anyway. All the innocent Iranians that will get killed (if they are mentioned at all) will be referred to as an unfortunate consequence of war.

Iraq delays vote on draft constitution

The great thing about arbitrary deadlines is that if you miss them, you can just replace them with another, equally arbitrary, equally meaningless deadline. And this can be done as many times as necessary. Isn't democracy great?

Barking Mad for Nintendogs

I've started to see commercials for this "game" and I just don't at all understand the appeal. I like dogs, but this is in no way like actually having a dog, and even if it was, it would be missing the best parts of having one. Why anyone would want to play this thing is beyond me, and the fact that people would actually pay money for it is just crazy to me. I think it shows that people have too much disposable income.

Six Feet Under Finale

I'll try not to really give away anything, but if you haven't seen it yet, you might want to skip this post. Anyway, after the big thing that happened a couple of weeks ago, I thought that the finale would really have to be pretty anticlimatic. Also, I didn't think this was a show that lent itself very well to the kind of wrapping up and closure that is typically done in a series finale, and I thought if they tried it, it wouldn't come off so well. But watching that episode last night, I think they did an excellent job. Particularly the last five to ten minutes, that was just brilliant. Really creative and moving. Seriously, I think someone needs to win an award for the end of that episode. As much as I hate it when a good show ends, I don't think that it can be done much better than they did it for this show. Anyone else see it? What did you think?

Saturday Late Night Name that Song

You guys seem to be quickly improving with this. Once again, sinceit makes it easier for me,there is a theme. Since I kind of cheated on the movie theme this week, I made this one easier. Get them all (and the theme) and you might win a prize.*

1. So you're having my baby And it means so much to me
2. As long as old men sit & talk about the weather As long as old women sit & talk about old men
3. Is just like a dream to me That somehow came true, yeah
4. But whatever road you choose I'm right behind you, win or lose
5. Can you imagine when this race is won Turn our golden faces into the sun
6. Baby just remember I gave you my heart Ain't no one gonna tear us apart
7. How many times must I say I love you Before you finally understand?
8. Sometimes it's hard to hold on So hard to hold on to my dreams
9. So what's the glory in living Doesn't anybody ever stay together anymore
10. As long as I can have you here with me I’d much rather be...


* Might, you might win a prize.

Space Shuttle Discovery Heads to Florida - Yahoo! News

Discovery rode piggyback atop a jumbo jet Friday for a cross-country trip to Florida, more than a week after it landed in the Mojave Desert to become the first space shuttle to return to Earth since the Columbia tragedy.

emphasis mine

Shouldn't that be the first shuttle to return to Earth since whatever shuttle came before the Columbia tragedy? Unless they consider dropping a bunch of pieces of itself all over Texas returning to Earth also.

Friday Name that Movie

Ok, once again, this week there will be a theme, since it makes things so much easier for me, but it won't be as easy as last week. Also, because of the theme I'm using, some of these movies may have been used in previous weeks. Guess them all (and the theme) and you might win a prize.*

1. The green felt on the table represents the earth and the balls represent all the people on the earth. Now the *object* of the game is for the white ball to knock all the other balls off the table. And what is the last ball to get knocked off, the black ball!
2. Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change.
3. Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood.
4. Tell me about it Stud.
5. I gave 'im that nickname. When he was little he had these buck teeth and big ears and he was so cute, wike a wittle rabbit.
6. If our lord wasn't testing us, how would you account for the proliferation, these days, of this obscene rock and roll music, with its gospel of easy sexuality and relaxed morality?
7. Do you still know the Muffin Man?
8. There are no victims in this classroom.
9. Well, it didn't look like a two-horse town, but try finding a decent hair jelly.
10. It's a decision a girl's gotta make early in life, if she's gonna be a nice girl or a cunt.


* There is no prize.

The Smart Lighbulb

Useless. What the hell do you need a text message saying your light bulb has burnt out for? It's pretty obvious when the light doesn't come on. Not to say the technology isn't kind of interesting, but absolutely useless in this application.

Police Say Man Critically Injured In Swordfight; Suspect Sought

Ok, I'm really starting to think I'm missing something. It seems there are swordfights going on everywhere these days. When did the sword become the weapon of choice? Why do so many people have them? If this keeps up, I may have to get one, just for my own protection, because sword crimes would be far less common if everyone had a sword.

People are Stupid

Don't people realize you're not supposed to believe in mythical creatures at least until after you've checked their DNA (I wonder how that one turned out).

UPDATE: Apparently, that wasn't Bigfoot hair after all (I know, shocking, huh?). However, don't get upset just yet.

"However, if you're a believer, we haven't disproved there is a Big Foot out there," Coltman said.

Oh, good. So the next time someone finds some bison hair, we can waste someone's time testing that as well. Good luck with that.

State Department experts warned CENTCOM before Iraq war about lack of plans for post-war Iraq security

So now we have more documents showing how early we were planning for regime change in Iraq (when we should have still been focused on fighting Al Qaeda and finding Osama bin Laden), as well as how poor the plans were for the post-war phase of the operation, oh and these new ones are American. Now, I'm sure this can all be spun into something different and innocuous by the administration, but at some point, don't you have to start to wonder why there are so many things they have to do that kind of spin on? Whether it's the Downing Street Memo, these documents, Karl Rove and the Plame leak, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Yellow Cake, Niger and Joe Wilson, there's just too much. Any of these things individually can be explained away, but as a whole, it should be pretty clear by now, that this administration says one thing, then does something else, then when caught, tries to change the subject, or lie until people aren't interested anymore, then hope that by the time the truth comes out people forget what was said originally. The sad thing is that that strategy is working fairly well for them.

At this point, I'm just waiting for a video to surface with W saying something to the effect of, "I don't care about September 11th, I just want to invade Iraq." Unfortunately, if there was such a thing, it would be ignored by the media, then if outraged citizens finally managed to push it into the mainstream, people wouldn't care anyway, since you know, Bush is someone they'd like to have a beer with. Assholes.

Republican Hypocrites

Go read all these great quotes from Republican politicians and pundits. Of course they would all apply pretty well to our current situation, only most of these people's positions have not only changed, but have completely reversed. Now, I'm sure there are Democrats who have been just as hypocritical, and if they ever happen to have any power again, I'll point those out too.

Outraged Sister stages Da Vinci demo

I don't care if this woman wants to protest if that's what she feels is necessary, but there are a couple of things about this that bother me.

She believes the book by author Dan Brown contains heresy.

Yeah, and so do a whole lot of others. Why does everyone think this one is so much different? It's fiction. What is the point of this protest? To let people know that the book is not true? If so, then most of us already realize that since it's fiction.

But this part is much worse to me:

Sister Mary said she had not read the book, but had read enough about it to understand its central errors.

She feels strongly enough about this to protest it based on second-hand reports, but doesn't even think to read the book just to be informed about what she is protesting? Sure, I bash Harry Potter at any oppurtunity, but at least I read a little of it. And if I had decided to stand outside those silly midnight book sellings protesting the thing, I would have made sure to read it first.

As a computer programmer, I found a lot more problems with Brown's Digital Fortress than The Da Vinci Code, but if they make a movie about it, I doubt I would feel compelled to protest it, since it's fiction.

P Diddy shortens name to Diddy - Newindpress.com

Since there is obviously nothing else going on in the world, I've heard all about this for the last couple of days. So let's see, first it was Puff Daddy, then shortened to P. Diddy, now shortened to Diddy, and his real name is Sean Combs. So can we just skip the next couple of steps (Didd, Di) and just call him D? Or better yet, skip that step too and call him "" (nothing), then when we can't say his name (since it's nothing), maybe he'll just go away.

Leak disputes Menezes death story

After seeing this new stuff yesterday, I was too disgusted to comment much on it. The whole story makes me sick from beginnning to end. But something that now bothers me about it is that now that it seems the poor guy wasn't actually acting suspiciously, wasn't wearing a bulky coat and wasn't carrying any kind of bag, the people who thought this was acceptable at first will now say it's ok to shoot the next guy who actually does wear a big jacket, or who does run from the police. So I just wanted to reiterate my original thoughts, even though the new information makes them moot in this particular case. But it is still not acceptable to shoot people in the head because they run from police or because they wear a bulky jacket. These may be reasons to be suspicious of them, but it's not enough to kill them for. Suspicious behavior does not equal guilt, and we shouldn't pretend that it does just because we're afraid.

Anyway, in this case, now all I can wonder is why was this man shot in the head? There doesn't seem to be any reason (even a bad one like they tried to give before) for why this would have happened. The only reason I can find in the new stuff is this:

Simply because it would appear that they were acting on information that this was a positive identification of Osman [Hussain], one of the suspect bombers.

And that just doesn't cut it. Obviously it wasn't a positive identification, since it wasn't him, but even if it was, since when did we start executing people without any trial or anything? The whole thing makes me want to puke.

Feds Urge Delay for '.xxx' Domain

Ok, I'm not really for or against the creation of a .xxx domain for porn sites, mostly because I don't think it will have any real effect on anything with the rules set up how I understand them. But some of the opposition to it is ridiculous. For instance:

The department received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails expressing concerns about the impact of pornography on families and children and objecting to setting aside a domain suffix for it, he said.

The impact of pornography on families and children has absolutely nothing to do with whether there is a separate domain for it. I could see these concers being an issue if there was no porn currently on the internets, and this domain would suddenly make it available. But it's easy to find porn on the internets. Actually, it's almost difficult not to find it. So any concerns over the effect of ponography itself are really beside the point when it comes to setting up a separate domain for it.

A Florida company, ICM Registry, proposed .xxx as a mechanism for the $12 billion online porn industry to clean up its act. All sites using .xxx would be required to follow yet-to-be-written "best practices" guidelines, such as prohibitions against trickery through spamming and malicious scripts.

Use of .xxx would be voluntary, however.

Skeptics note that porn sites are likely to keep their existing ".com" storefronts, even as they set up shop in the new .xxx domain name, reducing the effectiveness of any software filters set up to simply block all .xxx names.

There's the problem, it would be voluntary and would require the sites to adhere to more strict rules. So why would anyone use it, particularly the sites that rely on the trickery, spamming and malicious scripts? If they're really serious about cleaning things up, then require the porn to only be in the new domain. That's the only way it would make any real difference. However, I still don't see how that would be possible, and even if it was, it would be almost impossible to police it.

Recidivist Journals: The police LIED about de Menezes

This is disgusting. I think it was pretty clear (to those of us with brains, anyway) that the police seriously fucked up when they killed this poor guy. But every little piece of new information makes it look less like a terrible case of mistaken identity and over reaction, and more like something that I can only describe as cold blooded murder. Go read Mark's take on it, because it makes me sick to think about it, anymore. And not just that it happened, but that so many people were so quick to say that the police did nothing wrong, despite all evidence to the contrary, and with the result being an innocent man dead for absolutely no reason.

Babies Caught Up in 'No-Fly' Confusion

This is ridiculous. I think everyone is in favor of doing our best to make sure we know who we are letting on planes, but some common sense has to be used at some point.

"I understand that security is important," Zapolsky said. "But if they're just guessing, and we have to give up our passport to prove that our 11-month-old is not a terrorist, it's a waste of their time."

That's right. If you can't tell that a baby is not a terrorist, then how can we have any confidence in anyone else that is on the list? If they're just matching up similar names, then the whole exercise is pointless. There are a lot of people with the same names. And I would imagine the actual terrorists have a lot of aliases available, and as those are found out, they probably end up on these lists. How long until everyone's name is on a list somewhere? And when there are so many names, and lacking any other information, then what is the point?

Clark said even with the problems the lists are essential to keeping airline passengers safe.

Not if they don't work. And based on things like this, I don't see how they possibly could.

Must we respond to every ring?

I get kind of tired of people complaining about people talking on cell phones too loud, or at the movies or wherever else they shouldn't be doing it. But that's just mostly because I think rude people are going to be rude anyway, with or without a cell phone. But the main point of the article, despite that I disagree that the cell phone is some major inconvenience, is a good one. And that is that you don't have to answer it every time it rings. I answer my cell phone whenever my wife calls, but otherwise, it just depends on who is calling, and what I am doing at the time, and whether I want to talk to the person and/or it is more important than whatever I'm already doing. I like to decide how I spend my time, not let any random person who may know or just accidentally stumble on my number do it for me. That also goes for the regular phone, as well.

People are Stupid

Apparently, you have to be an idiot to have your own morning radio show. It seems like there's always some idiot radio host in the news doing something stupid. And first of all, the claim that pretending to drown a dog to draw attention to recent child drownings is just bullshit. How the hell is drowning a dog going to accomplish that, and to what end, exactly? That's just the spin they put on it to make themselves look like something more than the idiots they are.

Now, as for the police being inconvenienced by having to take calls from people about the stunt, blame that on the idiot listeners who apparently believe anything they hear on the radio.

NFLTeams to Use Pill to Monitor Body Heat

That's some pretty space age shit, there. I hope it works, football players dropping dead really puts a damper on the season. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. I tried to take my son and nieces to the park over the weekend, and it was so fucking hot, I can't imagine anyone trying to work out in that heat, much less guys that weigh over 300 pounds.

Also, completely unrelated to the subject of the story, but am I the only one who can't help but think of Little House on the Prairie whenever I see Mankato?

Saturday Night Name that Song

You guys did much better last week, and this week there is a theme, since it makes things easier for me, and that's pretty much all I care about. Guess them all (and the theme) and you might win a prize.*

1. Can you love me again like you loved me before This time I want you to love me much more
2. Make sweet lovin' all night long Feels so right it can't be wrong
3. Rule number two: don't trust nobody especially a bitch, with a hooker's body
4. Chang chang changity chang shoo bop we'll always be like one
5. The clock's run out, time's up over, blouww!Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
6. Please, Louise Pull me offa my knees
7. Well maybe I'm in love (love) Think about it every time I think about it Can't stop thinking 'bout it
8. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of deathI take a look at my life and realize there's not much left
9. I bid farewell to old Kentucky The place where I was born and raised. (The place where he was born and raised)
10. I want to put on my my my my my


* Of course, you might not.

Friday Night Name that Movie- New and Improved

New and Improved because this week there is a theme. This may make it easier to get some of them so I made the quotes a little harder, but it definitely makes it easier for me to come up with the movies in the first place, and making things easier for me is my top priority. So, anyway, get them all (and the theme) and you might win a prize.*

1. My mama always told me never put off till tomorrow people you can kill today.
2. We're gonna drink this one to Ozzie. A good man who tried to save my ass by injecting me into yours.
3. They're gonna keep callin' us "cutters." To them, it's just a dirty word. To me, it's just somethin' else I never got a chance to be.
4. You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball.
5. Who was the best pilot I ever saw? Well, uh, you're lookin' at 'im.
6. I think we are on the verge of a major climate shift!
7. I will not rest until I have rid the world of every last one of you.
8. Hello, this is Mr. Foreman. If you give my daughter an alcoholic beverage or a joint, I will hunt you down and neuter you.
9. Well, if I'm going to hell, I'm going there playing the piano.
10. Oh cher, your luck about to change.

* There is no prize.

More thoughts on the right's response to Cindy Sheehan

The more I think about this, the more I just don't get how anyone can have a problem with what this woman is doing, and particularly those who attack her personally or have the gall to try to pretend they know what her son might have wanted. But the other thing that bothers me is the weak ass objections they raise. Frankly, if I was a conservative, I would still be calling attention to the idiots who can't seem to leave this woman alone, or at the very least, this would be an issue I would just shut up about. There's no good argument to be made that a mother who lost her son has no right to feel however she feels, whether it makes her think we have to kill every last Iraqi, or whether it makes her think maybe we shouldn't be over there in the first place, or anywhere in between. Also, there's no good argument to be made against her voicing her opinion, whatever it may be, this is America after all, and her son died protecting her freedom to do so, or at least that's what we're told.

So anyway, reading some of the arguments against this woman have made me wonder just what the people on the right are smoking. First it was the flip-flopper argument. They went right to that one ot of the box since they've seen it work before. Unfortunately, she didn't flip-flop on anything and she was able to make that clear pretty quickly. Also, even if she did change her mind (which is what those of us in the real world call it), that doesn't make a damn bit of difference anyway since a lot of time has passed, and there is a lot of new information available, as well as time for her to think about her loss. Its pretty easy to see how someone in those circumstancescould come to change her mind, but it's moot anyway, since she never did actually change her mind.

Anyway, another ofthe arguments I've seen against the poor woman (which I talked about in a post below) is that she was anti-war even before her son was killed. Not only does this completely contradict the original flip-flopper theory, it also doesn't do anything to discredit her. I'm anti-war right now, and I imagine if someone I love gets killed in the war, I'll be even more anti-war after,and probably more pissed off about it as well.

Another argument I've seen is that she is dishonoring her son's memory. And for anyone actually arguing this crap, all I can say is Fuck You! How on Earth does anyone think that they have a right to tell anyone else how to honor the memory of their dead son? Its just insulting.

Another thing I've seen is that she is simply a puppet of varioous ant-war groups. This one also makes no sense, since her only motivation to allow herself to be their puppet would be if she agrees with their position in the first place which means she isn't just a puppet.

Finally, the argument that I've seen that seems to make the most sense and is the least offensive is that Bush has already met with this woman, and that he can't meet with every family of every fallen soldier or he wouldn't have time for anything else. Of couse this is always followed by some comparison to Vietnam or World War II and how many dead troops those wars produced and what a logistical nightmare it would be to try to meet with all of them. Now, like I said, this one makes the most sense. However, the problem with it is that there aren't families of all 1800 or so Americans killed in this war standing on Bush's doorstep, there is just one. Meeting with this one would do a lot to make him at least look like he gave a shit and wouldn't really require much effort on his part. Now, if after meeting with her there was some flood of families wanting to suddenly meet the President to demand answers for what happened to their loved ones, then I could see making the logistical argument, but if that was the case, then maybe it would be time to reconsider what you're getting these people killed for in the first place.

The bottom line is that I can't see any good reason to argue that there is anything wrong with what this woman is doing, and even if you disagree with it, then I still don't see any reason to attack her personally. And the fact that so many people are doing it anyway really worries me. Not just because it makes it look like there are a lot more assholes in the world than I thought, but because it seems more people are loyal to George Bush than they are to America. And that sucks.

Michelle Malkin: "THE GRIEF PIMPS"

More crap from this idiot and her readers on Cindy Sheehan. One comment in particular struck me as strange:

She admitted she was AGAINST the war BEFORE her son died.

What?!?!??! The gall of this woman, to be against the war. And even before her son got killed in it, where does she get the nerve?

Seriously, though, if that's the best they can come up with then that's pretty sad. Also, how does this argument fit in with their last argument that she supported Bush when she met with him before and only flip-flopped (read: changed her mind) after being bought by all the anti-war groups? These two arguments seem to conflict with each other. If she was against the war before her son was killed, she probably wouldn't have supported Bush when she firts met with him. And anyway, neither of those arguments says anything bad about her or has an relevance to the present and what she might feel now. What a bunch of idiots. I understand that they disagree with her, but this would seem to be a good issue to just agree to disagree, because bad-mouting a mother who lost her son (especially when you have to take things out of context to do it) just makes you look like a real asshole.

Harry Potter bewitches Guantanamo Bay prisoners

Well, if I didn't already believe that we were treating prisoners unfairly, this story would certainly convince me. Harry Potter? I guess we've stepped the torture up a notch.

State: Bush blasts NCAA as FSU plans response

Finally, something I can agree with Jeb on. I honestly think some people are just happier if they can be offended by something. In the list of schools affected by the new NCAA rule, the only one I see as inappropriate is the Savages. I could also see that you could make a case for Redmen being offensive. But the rest, Indians, Braves, Seminoles, Illini, etc. What exactly is it that is offensive about that? Maybe some of the mascots could stand to be changed, I don't know what all of these look like, but if any of them are like, say the Cleveland Indians Chief Wahoo, then I could see where people might have a problem. But the names, themselves, I see it more as honoring the people than degrading them. I mean no one wants to use a derogatory name to represent their teams, they are using those names because they think they are good things.

I also remember seeing in the last couple of years some college with a nickname of Warriors who changed to be more sensitive to this issue. That one really surprised me, because I would had never once considered the term warrior to be in any way exclusively used to describe Indians or Native Americans.

And can someone tell me how Fighting Illini is somehow more offensive than Fighting Irish? Or do we just not give a shit about offending Irish people?

Anyway, while I see there are legitimate issues here, and it's not ok to be disrespectful of people, sometimes we can go way to far with political correctness, and I think this rule definitely does that.

Roberts inquiry brings up Schiavo / High court nominee tells senator his view on end-of-life case

Well, I still don't really know enough abut this guy to have much of an opinion on him one way or another, but things like this make me feel more comfortable.

"I asked whether it was constitutional for Congress to intervene in an end-of-life case with a specific remedy," Wyden said, in a telephone interview after the meeting. "His answer was, 'I am concerned with judicial independence. Congress can prescribe standards, but when Congress starts to act like a court and prescribe particular remedies in particular cases, Congress has overstepped its bounds.' "

At least he seems to understand the separation of powers better than most of the extremist wingnuts that are currently running our country, or at least he knows how to pretend he does. So, who's going to break it to the extremists that this guy is just another activist judge? After all, using words like "judicial independence" certainly don't line up with the extremist agenda.

Day 3 of the Peace Occupation of Crawford

Think what you will about Cindy Sheehan and/or her motives, as those on the right try to discredit her, but she has a good point:

Why do the right wing media so assiduously scrutinize the words of a grief filled mother and ignore the words of a lying president?

Yeah, why is that? Especially since it is so much easier to catch an inconsistency coming out of the White House, even if you're not scrutinizing every word and trying to read in alternate meanings.

Anyway, the bottom line for me is that whether or not I disagreed with her (and I certainly don't), I certainly wouldn't trash her the way people on the right are doing. Because I don't know the grief that she feels, my son is alive and well and I see him everyday. I'm sure there are other grieving families who have lost loved ones in this war and who would not approve of her actions, and I wouldn't say anything bad about them, either. As a matter of fact, I think they're the only ones who can have any legitimate criticism of Sheehan, because they know how she feels. It doesn't surprise me that Bush won't talk to this woman, or that people on the right think that that is ok. It does surprise me that anyone would attack her the way they have (I don't know how many times I've seen her called a bitch, or read that she is dishonoring her son's memory), especially from the crowd that is so proud of their support of the troops that they stick magnets on their cars to make sure everyone knows. I guess they need to get some new magnets that say "Support the Troops, Fuck the Grieving Mothers." Assholes.

UPDATE: It looks like I've been linked to some conservative blog, where I've apparently been branded a sheep for thinking that it's up to Cindy Sheehan alone to decide what is the right way to honor her son's memory. I've seen a lot of visitors from that site, but none have left any comments. So I'm asking any conservative readers why you think it's ok to call a woman who has lost her son a bitch for simply disagreeing with you, or why you think you know better what her son would have wanted than she would? Or if you don't think that, let me know that as well, because the only conservative voices I'm hearing from this story are the ones saying those things.

Hootie & the Blowfish

My wife was reading the other day in some free local magazine that Hootie and the Blowfish would be in town in a couple of weeks. Not at the Arena, or at some local club or other venue, but at the local Wal-Mart signing copies of their latest album (I didn't know they had one either). Now, I was never a big fan or anything, but it seems to me like only ten or so years removed from having a multi-platinum ablum and having several hit songs, you should still be able to get a better gig than a Wal-Mart parking lot. I guess we'll be seeing at least one of these guys on The Surreal Life soon.

UPDATE: Ok, so I looked it up and apparently they're going to be at the Wal-Mart in conjunction with a date at the Florida Theater. So I guess that's not so bad, except it looks like they're going to Wal-Marts all over the place, so I guess Wal-Mart owns them now or something.

Police shoot sword-wielding man

Ok, so not having ever been to the UK, I'm just trying to get the police procedures over there clear in my head. So, if the guy has a sword, you shoot him with a plastic bullet, but if he's wearing a heavy coat (aka, a jean jacket), you use real bullets and aim for the head (several times)? I think I got it now.

And what is it with everyone pulling out their swords lately? Actually, why the hell do people even have swords? Is that a common thing? I don't have one. Should I get one?

State Takes On Radio Station, Ending Face-Slapping Contest - New York Times

Ok, this contest sounds pretty stupid, and I don't see why anyone would volunteer to participate in it, but why is the attorney general worried about it? The people involved weren't forced to do it. It also sounds like it was pretty boring, especially on the radio. Can't we just let stupid ideas like this run themsleves into the ground?

Mr. Spitzer said: "You can see how disturbing this is, how appalling. We'd like to think that we've advanced beyond the days of the Roman Colosseum.

Yes, people slapping each other in the face for money is exactly the same as slaves fighting each other to the death. Way to be on top of this before it turned into that, Eliot.

Poll shows most Americans feel more vulnerable

But I thought everyone voted for Bush because he made them feel safer. Oops. It's too bad there aren't some more corners we can turn in Iraq to help make people feel better about it. Oh well, at least we all have the next war to look forward to.

Michelle Malkin: THE FRIENDS OF CINDY SHEEHAN

I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for his mother's crazy accusations that he was murdered by his commander-in-chief, rather than the Iraqi terrorists who ambushed his convoy. I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for a bunch of strangers glomming onto his mother's crusade and using him to undermine the war effort as they shouted "W killed her son" in front of countless TV cameras.

And I can't imagine how disgusting someone must be to claim that they know more about what someone who they never met would stand for better than that person's own mother would. I rarely read anything this racist bitch has to say, because it's always so devoid of logic and common sense, but I ran across this, so I thought I would comment.

Maybe Malkin would endorse locking up all the parents of soldiers killed in Iraq based on her opinion of this one family. Because we know she is all for using the actions of a few in order to justify doing horrible things to many, based on the smallest of similarities.

House chair expects Palmeiro records by end of week

When Congress held those ridiculous steroid hearings back in March, I thought that surely that must have something better they could be doing. But apparently not, since they're not only still focused on it, they're ignoring any common sense in doing so. First, if the hearings were supposed to help address the problem of steroids in baseball, then it looks like they worked. There's a new testing policy, and even big names like Palmeiro are not exempt from getting caught by it. So, mission accomplished, move on. Second, Palmeiro may have lied to Congress, that seems like common sense. But he did that in March, and only recently tested positive, so there's no more evidence now that he lied to Congress than there was at the time of his testimony. There is certainly fuel for speculation, but nothing concrete. And even if you can somehow (I don't know how) show that he took steroids before his testimony, he's most likely going to stick with the "didn't do it knowingly" defense that he is going with now. I don't see any way that you can prove that he's lying. You may be able to create a lot of PR problems for him, but that's about it, and he's done a pretty good job of that on his own.

Now, if you are really concerned about people lying to Congress (as opposed to just exploiting a big story for political gain), I know someone who has done it, who you can hold accountable.

Stevens Cites 'Serious Flaws' In Use of the Death Penalty

I agree. I would actually be all for the death penalty if we could be 100% sure that anyone executed was actually guilty. And certainly, if someone I love was murdered, I would have no sympathy for the person who did it and would absolutely want them dead. But the fact is, it doesn't seem like we can be 100% sure that we are executing the right person. I think we have a good criminal justice system, for the most part, but I'm not sure it's good enough to trust it to decide if people should be executed. I certainly wouldn't want to put my life in the hands of twelve people who have already said they don't have any issues with imposing the death penalty. If we execute one innocent person, that's too many.

AP Poll: Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq reaches low point

This isn't news, this happens every time they do a new poll. What someone should be reporting on is what the fuck these people see differently now than they did last year.

Saturday Night Name that Song

Ok, quite frankly, you guys suck at this. Or if you don't then you don't participate enough for me to realize that. But anyway, since I don't care if you guys suck or not, I'm just going to continue this anyway. Guess them all and you could win a prize.*

1. Don't call it a comebackI been here for years
2. You're so fine and you're mineI'll be yours 'till the end of time
3. Now your mom threw away your best porno mag
4. Picked up the telephone, then dialed the 7 digits Said, "yo, this marquis, baby! are you down with it?"
5. I'm a freakI like the girls with the boom I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom
6. ...and the road becomes my bride I have stripped of all but pride so in her I do confide
7. I get up, and nothin' gets me downYou got it tough, I've seen the toughest around
8. every time that I look in the mirror all these lines on my face getting clearer
9. Clockin much dollars on tha 1st and 15th Big wad of money nuttin less than a twenty
10. I only came for two days of playingBut everytime I come I always wind up stayin


* There is a prize.**

**Not really.

Friday Night Name that Movie

Ok, so I didn't post all day, get over it. Those who haven't killed themselves in despair already. Anyway, it's time for Name that Movie. I'm really not into it this week, so these may really suck, don't say I didn't warn you. Yadda, yadda, get them all, win a prize.*

1. Ain't gonna be no rematch.
2. GIVE ME BACK MY SON!
3. Shut up! Just shut up! He doesn't get it! He'll never get it! It's been 4 hours! The cows can tape something by now! Forget about it please!
4. Yes, they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!
5. Yeah, it is a bit nipply out. I mean nippy. What am I saying, nipple?
6. You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers.
7. They were decently treated. They were decently fed and then they were decently shot.
8. As a wise man once said, "Wherever you go, there you are."
9. Alex, I would like 'Foods that start with the letter Q.
10. Bull shit ten minutes! This thing will be over in two minutes! Get on it!


* Ha, a prize, right, like that's gonna happen.

Frist Not Invited to 'Justice Sunday II'

What a bunch of fucking whiny babies. Look, I hate Bill Frist as much as they do (or as much as they do now), but if you're a crazy extremist wingnut, you have to realize that he has done plenty to help advance your crazy extremeist wingnut agenda. Just because there is one issue that you don't agree on is no reason to act like the guy isn't every bit as crazy and extremist as you are. But if you want to abandon him, then by all means do it, that just makes it even less likely that he'll get elected President and set policy based on your crazy extremist positions.

Inspiration for Doubters of Darwin

I'm so tired of this debate, mostly because I don't see why there even is any debate. Intelligent Design and Evolution are two completely different things. Evolution is a scientific theory backed up by research and evidence, and Intelligent Design is a belief. Furthermore, they don't even really contradict each other, there could be an outside force that created the universe including the process of Evolution, so there is no reason people can't believe both. But they are not equivalent ideas. And Bush's remarks only further confuse that point. He makes it sound like they are two different opposing views and since we don't know for sure which one is correct, we should teach both. But in reality, one is a scientific theory that is and should be taught in science class, and the other is a belief that cannot be proven, and which has no evidence behind it, and therefore has no place in a science class. And the ongoing debate that Bush references isn't about which one is correct, and therefore we must present both sides of it. The debate is about whether or not Intelligent Design should be taught along side Evolution as science. And of course it shouldn't. If we did that, we'd have to also alter the science curriculum to stop teaching the scientific method, since it would no longer make any sense if we are teaching Intelligent Design in the same classroom. No matter what your thoughts or beliefs about Evolution or Intelligent design, there is no logical reason to teach Intelligent Design as science. How would the people pushing Intelligent Design feel if they were required to hear about Evolution at Church? Clearly, discussions about Evolution are a little out of place at Church, the same way teaching Intelligent Design does not belong in a science class.

Country Club Must Make Gays Even Offer

This is good news, but I'll be much happier one day when such an obvious, common sense decision like this isn't even newsworthy.

On a related note, just like gay people need to find a better term than partner to call each other, they also need to find a better legal term than registered domestic partner, which sounds way too much like registered sex offender. I'm still in favor of using the same terms for everyone, husband, wife, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, I think the fact that a man calls someone his husband will be enough of a tipoff that it's a gay couple without having to have a term that further distinguishes it. And maybe if we all use the same words, people will start to recognize that we should also all share the same rights.

Farewell Pluto?

I like science, and I believe it is very important. But this article was pretty amusing to me. Because I don't think it makes any practical difference one way or another whether we call Pluto a planet or not.

I think the obvious solution in this debate is for someone to start an International Planet Registry for all of those objects out there that are around the same size as Pluto, and through radio commercials, encourage people to name a planet after someone as a gift. I can't think of a better gift than naming a planet after someone. Maybe it could also be recorded somewhere in book form, so it seems official. Because naming a star after someone is so last century.

Warning! Soft drinks injure, Coke, Pepsi mum

First, let me say that I really don't care if they put warning labels on soft drinks. It's certainly not going to hurt anyone, but are you kidding me? Does anyone think this is going to make the slightest bit of difference? Is it because the ones on cigarettes worked so well?

A US Consumer group on Wednesday called for cigarette-style warnings on soft drinks to alert consumers that too much of the sugary beverages can make people fat and cause other health problems

Are there really people who don't know that? If there are, then I guess these labels might actually be a good idea, but somehow I doubt anyone thinks that soft drinks aren't bad for you.

Senators seek Web porn tax

When are legislators going to move into the 21st century with the rest of us and understand how the internet works? There is plenty of stuff on the internet that is inappropriate for children and there always will be, and not all of it is porn. Taxing porn will not do anything to make it less likely that children will see porn on the internet. There is plenty of free porn, so I don't think you can really effectively tax that. And there will also always be people who don't know and/or don't follow the law. The way to keep your kids from seeing something inappropriate online is to set up software to block inappropriate sites and monitor where they go, and to talk to them and know what the fuck they are doing whether online or off. Because let's face it, if your kids are corrupted by internet porn, does it really make a difference ifthey're corrupted by legal internet porn or illegal internet porn?

Let's have the government stop trying to parent everyone's kids for them, and instead encourage the parents to do it for themselves. Also, whether you like porn or not, it's a legal and lots of people do seem to like it (or it wouldn't be so easy to find in the first place) and punishing law abiding (if horny) citizens because other people are too lazy to be parents to their children seems like overdoing it to me.

Bush: Rove has 'my compete confidence' despite leak

Well, of course he does, you told him to leak something and he leaked it. I'm sure you also madw sure that he knew that if anyone goes down for it, it would be him and not you. So I'm not at all surprised that he has your confidence. Assholes.

Cartoons

Recently, my son has been watching cartoons that seem to be for older kids on Nick Toons and Toon Disney. To me, these cartoons all look pretty stupid, and really aren't anything like the cartoons that I used to watch when I was a kid. But tonight, there was one that he really seemed to like that I just couldn't believe. I didn't really pay much attention to what it was about, but the name of it is Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go! Are they kidding? I don't know about anyone else, but I think seven words is a few too many for the title of a cartoon. And presumably, it's about some kind of robot monkeys. Robot monkeys? Why would anyone build robot mokeys? I'm beginning to think the way it works is that if you can come up with an idea for a cartoon, with so many cartoon networks, they will just put it on no matter what it is.

Second Presidential Debate -- President Bush and Sen. John Kerry

The other day, my beautiful wife asked me why I always put an S on the end of internet, so in case anyone else is wondering the same thing, this is why:

BUSH: Yes, that's a great question. Thanks.

I hear there's rumors on the Internets (sic) that we're going to have a draft. We're not going to have a draft, period. The all- volunteer army works. It works particularly when we pay our troops well. It works when we make sure they've got housing, like we have done in the last military budgets.

emphasis mine

Palmeiro suspended for steroids, denies using them

Maybe they accidentally tested him for Viagra.

And who wants to bet that people are more outraged by Palmeiro lying to Congress than they are when Bush does it?

Oil passes $61 a barrel on Saudi king's death

Why the fuck should oil be any more expensive just because some old guy dies? Especially since it looks like he hasn't really been in charge for ten years anyway. Do people think that despite doing pretty well with this whole oil thing, that Crown Prince Abdullah is suddenly going to give it up and devote his country's recources to something else, just because his brother died? I'll never understand economics.

Reading...

I just finished rereading Life, the Universe and Everything (review). I didn't like it as much as the first two books, but it was still very good. I thought about rereading, the other books in this series, but I don't remember liking them too much the first time around, so I'll probably just move on the the next book in the Saga of the Seven Suns series that I'm in the middle of, Horizon Storms. However, I'm a little disappointed that what I read about that series seems to indicate that the author is kind of dragging it out. I guess I might do that too, if it could make me some money, but it's still frustrating as the reader.

What's everyone else reading?