Happy New Year

By the way...I'm really busy getting ready to take this new class I'm starting in a few days. This is taking a lot of preparation, and I leave in a few days, so it needs to get done now. I had a wonderful Christmas, (how about yours?), but I didn't get any of my errands done, so I'm busy now. I hope I'll be able to post more often once I get settled in over there, and hopefully, I'll have pictures.

The Man Song

Sometimes life is just like this...check out the song.

Merry Christmas!!

I'm about to head over the river and through the snow. So, I won't be posting from there. Everyone, have a very Merry Christmas!


P.S. You should check this out. It will tell you how to track Santa's progress on Christmas Eve, so you know when you need to get the kids to bed.

New Look

I think I'm gonna stick with this look for a while. I added some adds and some google stuff.
If you use the search box I provide, well, I get some money for it.
If you click on some of the adds from down bottom, I get some money for it.
If you decide to use firefox, well, I get money for that too...but only if you click the button first.
So if you plan on switching over soon...click the box first. It's a great product, and I endorse it heavily. I use it for my own browsing, and it works great. It's much safer to use than IE, and it's much more customizable...I've got lots of cool shortcuts built in. Check it out if you're interested.
Thats the last I'm gonna say about the adds...I might move them up higher, but I haven't decided yet. If you don't like them, leave a comment.
thanks..bye now...

Light Posting

I want to appologize for the light posting that's been going on, and beg for forgiveness for the future light posting that will be happening in the near and somewhat distant future. It's just much harder to find blogable material when I'm not sitting at my desk at school, actively procrastinating and delaying starting my work. Well, more seriously now, I'm not at school, and my computer is. I've lost all my bookmarks for quick links, and a lot of my free time. I'm gonna be pretty busy for the next month, so I won't be able to find many things to link to. I will be writing about my thoughts and stuff here, and I'll hopefully be able to put some pictures in from where I will be.
In the meanwhile, you can wait patiently for my return, and stave off boredom by checking out these sites.
Humor - Mr. Sun. Also, IMAO.
General Politics/News - Instapundit, Ann Althouse
Military Coolness - The Officer's Club
Interesting Ideas - Mules With Brains, Asymmetrical Information

More food, same general flavor

All this talk about wiretaps and Bush overstepping his bounds brought something to my mind that is worth sharing. Let me lead you a little further down the path towards enlightenment…

Who is the father of modern-day liberalism? The immediate answer to that is: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He created the idea of “The Great Society,” which included social security, welfare, and the idea that government should be in the business of providing everything for everyone who can’t get it by themselves. *** FDR was also the first president to do some other things. He was the first President to order wiretaps without warrants from the court. In fact, he was the first president to order wiretaps at all. Back then, they were illegal in all circumstances, and you couldn’t get a warrant that allowed you to use them. But FDR felt they were necessary to protect the country in time of war. Turns out, he was right. Wiretaps were very helpful to break up axis spy rings inside the states. The administration, although it was in un-charted territory and was ginormous compared to its predecessors, was able to effectively monitor itself and ensure that no citizen’s civil rights were violated without a good reason. How much more capable of this would be the modern presidential administration? Especially since it can get the warrants when possible and only use the presidentially approved non-warrant wiretaps at the last resort.
Of course, there is one major exception to the protections of civil rights under FDR. FDR was the first president to do something else – order the incarceration, without trial or what might pass today for substantial proof of wrongdoing, of a huge section of the population. I am referring to, of course, the Japanese Americans who were placed in concentration camps during WWII. These citizens of America were incarcerated with no trials, and they were deprived of the most basic civil rights, while some of them suffered worse fates. This was not just a few families near the coast, caught with ties to people still in Japan. It was everyone who looked a little bit Asian, even families that had lived in America for generations, and had no ties to people still in Japan.
So far, this is something Bush has not done, nor will he ever do. Some might bring up Guantanamo Bay as an example of this, but please, remember that all the inmates there were non-American citizens caught on the battlefield, or in the act of aiding our enemies. And they were treated well, for their situations. I wouldn’t want my kids treated that way, but they weren’t exactly innocents. Some of the inmates who were captured in less than perfect ways were released, and then (80%) found their way back into American custody under more legitimate circumstances in less than a year.
This is just some food for thought to munch on while you listen to calls for Bush’s impeachment over these so-called “illegal” wiretaps.
***Side note: This is opposed to allowing charities to do their work. That’s the conservative alternative to government expansion, and I feel like it often gets lost in the shuffle so conservatives get branded as uncaring. That is not the case; we just disagree about the question of who should be providing these necessary services.

Food for thought

I was listening to Rush today, something I rarely do unless I want to get riled up about something. It was kind of fun, except for the fact that Rush oversimplified everything all the time, and it ruined his otherwise ok points. I did get to hear a liberal call in and complain about Bush taking away our civil rights. He went on and on, and eventually compared Bush to Hitler. Well, fine. Be silly like that. Here's a simple assignment for you, so you can prove your point better. Go onto google, and do a search for 'pictures of protesters against bush.' Write down that number. Then, go back, and do a search for 'pictures of protestors against hitler.' Since they are the same kind of person, there should be just about as many protestors for both.

For those of you not making the claim that Bush=Hitler, or those of you not carrying the signs that say BuSHitler. (say that slowly to get maximum effect), I'll give you the answer key for the above exercise. For the first search, you will find many, many pictures of the same protestor. For the second search, you will find no pictures, or very few of different people, because they got killed after the first time. So if they are the same kind of leader, why the difference?

Johny's wearing stripes

Damn You Johnny Damon!!!! I hope you enjoy wearing those stripes, when they let you out from behind bars to play. Did you think it was fun playing with the sox? Do you think every team is going to let you goof off as much as you did? Well, stienbrenner won't. You should have gone to the dodgers if you were going anywhere at all. I used to love you, now I see you for the worthless stoolpidgion that you are...

P.S. Did I spell stoolpidgion right? Who cares?

Update: I agree with this guy. I usually do.

Internet Schizophrenia

So how many internet id's do you have? I've got several...some of them even have their own websites. This one has two, (the other site is muleswithbrains.blogspot.com) but I have a different attitude on each site. Mules with brains elicits a little bit more seriousness and focus from me, while this site is a little more fun and general. I have personas for commenting on different blogs...and each has their own take on the world. I've got a gaming name, I've got a left-wing-wacko, and a right wing one, and I've got a comedian, and I've got the nerdy one. I feel like personalitites/names on the internet are sort of like shoes for a girl/woman. There is the exact right one for each specific situation. While I really only wear two different pairs of shoes and they get me through life, I feel like multiple personalities on the internet are more useful.
How many (split) personalities do you have?

Narnia

This movie is amazing. You should all go see it. It stays very true to the book, but that doesn't make it boring. I thought it was extremely well done.
The first few scenes are wonderful. Whoever the director was, did a great job depicting the Battle in the Skies over London, and I feel that he captured the emotions of the children's evacuation. This is a part of the book that present day readers, especially American readers, miss. The kids were not on a summer holiday in the country when they found the wardrobe - they were escaping Nazi bombings. One of Susan's (or maybe Peter's?) later lines brings this into especial focus...anyway, go see the movie. It's wonderful, and well worth the 8 bucks.

On a semi-unrelated note, Serenity the movie is not as good as the TV series. I'm glad I have it - it's a good movie, but it's nowhere near as good as the show. I'm not going to ruin it for anyone, just commiserate with Firefly fans who saw the movie as well...too bad. But go out and buy it anyway - I want more Firefly.

Serenity

Just a reminder that the coolest movie ever is out today. Actually, it was the coolest tv show ever...but I want them to make more. And that means you need to spend money on their products so they know that we want them to make more. Ok?

Hah!

Some good natured ribbing directed at people I look up to, over at The Officer's Club.
They posted a picture of their "World Map" from site-meter. It just so happens that I use the same service, and have the same type of picture...compare for yourselves!


If you look at total visits, the illusion evaporates. Good job to them, but Good Job to ME, as well. I expect that if you look at the referals page, you see the same sort of evaporation as well. And I can't figure out how to show the picture on my front page, but you can all click the links for yourself, just as well...

Anyway, goodnight.

Iraq

Well, a while I promised a post about my thoughts on Iraq. As people who know me will be unsurprised to hear...I supported the invasion.
I would have preferred Iraq to follow the rules outlined for it in the treaty (which it agreed to) that ended the first Gulf War. I would have preferred for the United Nations to act to enforce the resolutions it passed concerning the breaches in the agreement. I would have preferred for more nations to support the United States with more than words, in its 1998 decision (in the form of a law passed by both the Republican House and the Democratic Senate, and ratified by the Democrat President Bill Clinton) to pursue regime change in Iraq.
However, since none of these situations occurred, I was supportive of the US decision to pursue this position with military action. It was a unilateral action if you insist, though there were 38 other nations who supported the action militarily (though not all with boots on the ground). This coalition was smaller than the coalition from the first Gulf War, but larger than the coalitions that fought with the US to win the First World War, and also larger than the coalition that won the Second World War.
Since we invaded and caused Saddam to run and hide, I have been supportive of our actions. I am sympathetic to the calls for more troops to go to Iraq, if that would mean that they would all be safer, but I tend to defer to the Pentagon about stuff like that. I am also sympathetic to calls for more armor for our troops, but I also realize that sometimes speed and maneuverability are better protections than the thickest armor, and that you can't always have both. I also tend to defer to the pentagon about those decisions.
I think that bringing democracy to a dictatorship is a good reason for our actions. Especially if the dictator in question is murderous and crazy. Other reasons that justify our actions are as follows:
- There was legitimate concern, at the time, that Saddam was in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This was worrisome not only because it meant he was breaking one of the central tenets of the treaties he had signed, and that he was evidently able to hide said weapons from the best of the U.N. inspectors, but also because he had used such weapons before. Against not only the citizens of his country, but also against another nation (Iran). It's true that the newspaper headlines released after the American WMD investigation said that there were no WMDs in Iraq, but that isn't an accurate representation of what the report said. The report essentially said that there weren't any missiles loaded and ready to be launched. They listed programs that were close to being operational, and they listed components that they had found. They also said that they had not been able to search the whole country thoroughly. Watching the news, one could have seen many of these examples. 100,000+ chemical and biological ready missiles were found during the invasion, missiles that only lacked easily produced chemical and biological elements to be called WMDs. We found several mobile biological weapons labs. We recently found lots of nuclear material in the desert of Iraq, waste that could have been produced while trying to produce fissionable material for warheads. Such material could not have been produced for peaceful means, because Iraq was not allowed to have nuclear power plants. Those are things I've seen in the NYT...
- Iraq was suffering from lots of restrictions on its trade, meant to curtail its ability to produce weapons. These sanctions were not completely effective - Saddam was still able to obtain some things that he needed - but they were effective enough to hurt the civilian population. People were hungry, and couldn't get the medicines that they wanted. I don't like sanctions. In my view, they often kill more people than open conflict, and they don't hurt the people in power enough to make them change their actions.
Saddam was a dangerous man, and a crazy man. He is now in jail, and most of his henchmen are either dead, on in a cell as well. This would not have happened if we hadn't done anything. I regret that it wasn't done sooner. Iraqis are getting their country put back together, and it's nothing short of amazing. The government they have produced is not perfect, but it's a lot better than some of the alternatives. Our first attempt at self-government was also failure. It took us more than a decade to realize it, however, and I don't think that Iraq will take so long to fix its mistakes. They are already a long way towards that goal after their recent elections for the first permanent government.
As far as US troops staying in the country - it would be murder for us to withdraw now. We are doing our best to train the Iraq Army. We are doing pretty well with the equivalent of enlisted troops - they have quite a lot who are on par with the American standard. (something which not many countries can claim for their own forces) However, it takes a lot longer to train the higher ups to deal with strategy and many other things that are necessary for military success. I welcome the day when American soldiers can return home, but it won't the right moment for a few years yet. Iraqi troops already control a large amount of real estate, and every day more of them are stepping up, but our troops still provide necessary guidance.
The reason I'm thinking about this now, is that I came across a graph of civilian casualties for a number of different conflicts. You can look at the graph here. Please notice that it comes from the NYT, and that the statistics come from other than American government agencies. The numbers come from reported casualties, not predictions. That means they are accurate, but probably an under-representations. But realize that they are all under-represented in the same way.
Now, take a look at the numbers for the two Afghan conflicts - one is much smaller than the other. Thank you, American Soldier. Now, look at the numbers for the Iraq War, and the number for the Iraqi Internal Violence. Again, one is much smaller than the other. Remember also, that these numbers come from reported casualties. Please, direct your attention again at the numbers for the Iraq War, and then at the numbers for the Bosnian Ethnic War. One is the result of US unilateralism, and they occurred in the same amount of time. Thank you, unilateralism! I also noticed the numbers for Darfur - I wish we could intervene as effectively there, however, there are other reasons for our current position. I might explain them later, if you remind me.
I hope this has been informative, or at least interesting. Please feel free to try and tear me apart in the comments, I look forward to the debate.

Update: Here are some more thoughts.

Something new

Well, it's been a while, but I've been busy.
So there.
So what am I going to talk about?
Will it be 2008? Will it be Michael Moove-on? Will it be cindy?
Will it be something funny?
maybe - you decide.

I'm going to post an e-mail that was part of our general digest (an e-mail list-serve at my college where any student can post their opinions) a few days ago. It bothers me quite a bit, so I'm going to reproduce it here. I'm not sure about the legal stuff, but since I don't have any real readers yet, that won't matter.

"In case you may not have heard, the Venezuelan government will be distributing 12 million gallons of oil at 40 percent below market cost to low income communities in and around Boston. New York State recently brokered a similar deal with the help of Rep. Jose Serrano, D-South Bronx who is connecting nonprofit organizations and 45,000 low-income families in his district with 8 million gallons of discounted heating oil."

I have heard, thank you. I'm confused where they thought they had the responsibility/right to do something like this, but I've heard about it...and there isn't anything I can do to stop it. It sounds like a good idea, but we'll get to what's wrong with the program in a minute. (Hint: it has something to do with the fact that Hugo Chavez is a dictator!)

"What does this have to do with you?"

I'm glad you asked...since I live in Maine, (where it's colder than in those places, by the way) and I don't really like the dems who set this up - not a whole lot.

"You can support the humanitarian (and yes, political) efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez by filling up your tank at the local CITGO right next to the Irving on KMD. CITGO is the Houston, Texas-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company."

Wait a second - you want me to use capitalism to support a communist dictator? I thought capitalism was always evil, compared to communism? Or am I wrong here? Isn't it capitalism that put the people in the place where they need to take handouts from a dictator in another country? Well, maybe we could look at where they live - New York, and Massachusetts, two of the most highly taxed states in the country. And, mostly run by so called socially conscious democrats...so I would expect them to be doing a better job than most in providing for their poorer percentages of the population. Evidently they aren't. So, capitalism to the rescue!
One more nit-picky type thing - Hugo Chavez isn't president of Venezuela - he is correctly termed the dictator. And he is anti-free trade, something that has hurt his country a lot. Also, he is anti-America, so why does he want help from America?

"The recent oil crisis profited billions to oil companies and unlike our current administration, Chavez and CITGO have taken socially responsible efforts to make sure everyone can be warm during the coming winter."

Well, profits are what companies try to make...but I don't think it was so much the recent oil crisis that gave them ostensibly obscene profits, but the tons and tons of government subsidies they receive. Subsidies are bad, because they allow a company to get complacent, and then they don't have to innovate and find ways to push down costs, which, by the way, cuts down pollution almost by definition. What is pollution other than waste? And what is waste other than money pouring down the drain? It makes good business sense to try and cut as much waste as possible out of any business practice.

"While the Bush Administration {My words: It's Always Bush's Fault. Especially when it comes to the economy.} continues to try to cut LIHEAP funding (a program that supports people with their home energy needs), states have begun to look elsewhere make sure all families can live through the winter months. buy gas at CITGO and support socially conscious corporations--tell your friends and family."

Well, I don't like the program from Hugo Chavez. I think we're participating in propping up his repressive regime every time we buy gas at citgo, so I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon. I also don't like the fact that these U.S. Representatives went outside the normal channels to make this deal. They went behind the back of the administration, in a particularly sticky manner, and at a particularly sticky moment. One of America's greatest strengths in international politics has been the one face we officially show the world. In other words, our government deals with other governments through our state department, and we don't usually go outside of channels to make deals that benefits individual senators. This was much worst than normal, however, because the free trade conference of the Americas was around the time that this deal was made, and we had enough trouble with Hugo before there were two American voices about the debate.
I think the position taken by my fellow student was extremely short sighted, even by the low standards I hold for the arguments made by my fellow students.

Update: For your continued enlightenment: Here is something from the Wall Street Journal, but you can't read the whole thing without paying for it... but I happen to be special, and cheap. (try bugmenot.com)

Mr. Chávez's party or parties sympathetic to his Bolivarian revolution won all 167 seats in the country's unicameral congress. Every single seat. But that Saddam-like sweep was only possible because most Venezuelans decided not to participate. Even the government admits to an abstention rate of greater than 75%. While it's true the opposition boycotted, it did so knowing how the government had cheated to win the August 2004 recall referendum.

The War Against Christmas

Tonight I was in a department store, and when I was finished checking out, I said "Happy Holidays" to the clerk. I celebrate Christmas, and I wish my friends a merry Christmas, but I figure that Christmas is actually overblown anyway, so I don't want to risk offending other people that I don't know.
Well, as soon as I got done saying what I said, she looked me sternly in the eye, and said "Merry Christmas to you! See, that wasn't so hard to hear!"
"Well, that does sound better, anyway!" I replied.
You may not like O'Riley and the other blowhards that make a big deal about the "war against Christmas," But you've got to admit they are effective.

Update: For Clarification Purposes: I am a Christian, and I even have some responsibility in my youth group. However, I feel that Christmas is not a very important holiday to defend. People can worship/celebrate it however they choose. If people want to with other people "Merry Christmas," that is fine with me. If they would rather say "Happy Holidays!," that is also fine. Neither saying diminishes my Christmas celebration one iota. (Small Bit, oh HR of mine) Having a lot of secular people wish each other "Merry Christmas," however, might cause the holiday to become even more commercialized than it already is, which would be a horrible thing in my opinion. I won't stop anyone from saying what they want, but I would like people to realize that what other people say doesn't affect me (or you) in the slightest. My Christmas celebration would mean as much to me if I celebrated it with 100% of Americans, as if I celebrated it alone.
The whole "War Against Christmas" debate is a political trick which serves to get talking heads higher ratings, and some specific politicians more votes. It does provide some good material for humor, however.
So I'm cyincal, wish me a "Joyous Kwanza" anyway.

ANWR

Heh (!!) I need to read George Wills more often...like everything he writes. Today he talks about ANWR, and debunks the left...I am agnostic about drilling there...if there's lots of oil, we should drill, if not, we should leave it be, but I'm pretty ambivalent about the whole thing. But George might have convinced me to support the drilling. Here's a quote.

Few opponents of energy development in what they call "pristine" ANWR have visited it. Those who have and who think it is "pristine" must have visited during the 56 days a year when it is without sunlight. They missed the roads, stores, houses, military installations, airstrip and school. They did not miss seeing the trees in area 1002. There are no trees.

Check it out.

Day By Day

You need to check out the comic from today...good pun.

New Planes

Check this out. Sweetness!

Free-Style Walking Points

These guys get a bunch...plus they're from Russia...so if you know me well, and want to see something similar to where I lived for a while, or you're planning to go there soon, check it out.
It's long, but pretty cool.

Missle Defense

I'm glad to hear it's starting to work better. .500 might be a good batting average, but it's not such a great record when the score is keeping the country safe.
I like the idea of a ballistic missile defense system, and while some of the people who complain about them have good points, I think the benefits outweigh the problems. If we had a good missle defense system, we would no longer need to deter people with our own nukes, so we could finaly get rid of them.
In my opinion, this is long overdue. No one in the world actually believes that America will use it's nukes again. It's just too big a cost...not only is there the environmental and death tolls, but there will be a huge political toll as well. Also, the longer we keep our nukes, the longer other coutries feel the need to do so...and those stockpiles draw terrorists like flies to honey. If we could get rid of our nukes, then the world would be a better place...not to mention our defense budget would decrease dramatically.
The last benefit to a missle defense system is that no country could launch ballistic missiles at any other country. That means that the whole world would be protected, not just America. This is good. It wouldn't fix the problem of suitcase nukes, but getting rid of the nukes we and other countries have would go a long way towards fixing this. The suitcase nukes still need to be produced, and if there is no demand for the one type, then it'll be harder to make the other.

Planned Parenthood

These guys are my ablsolute favorite. Check out what they are bragging about doing this time...thanks to them, a rapist is walking more freely than he would otherwise...

Napoleon Dynamite and Big Government

Is this really necessary? I mean, come on, doesn't the government have better laws to be working on?

Kyoto

This funny post brings up something that is worth remembering: the Democrat controlled senate was never given a chance to approve a treaty ostensibly supported by a Democrat president. This is probably one of the best political moves that Clinton made. He supported something that was politically beneficial for him, but he never gave the treaty a chance to become law in America, thereby avoiding the consequences of signing the treaty. He probably knew that the treaty either wouldn’t work, or would be bad for America. The way it was written, both choices were true.

The treaty isn’t working. The third-world continues to produce pollution at the same rate as before, and the rich countries of the world can only do so much more than they are already doing. As technology continues to advance, we will produce far less waste, but it is the desire to find a healthier bottom line that will produce this, rather than a strict desire not to pollute. Tony Blair, among others, has admitted that the treaty, as written, isn’t working, and it’s not exactly America’s fault.

If we had been part of this treaty, it would have been bad for America. We are already beginning to use environmentally clean technologies, and to crack down more would have hurt our economy. That by itself isn't really a good reason not to join the treaty. The fact that China, a country which uses technologies that produces far more pollution per unit of energy than we do, was not required to clean its act up is a good reason to stay out. While we would have had to make sacrifices for clean air, China (and other less annoying third-world dictatorships, and some good countries like India) would have had all the benefits of clean air and none of the responsibilities. That is assuming, of course, that the air got noticeably cleaner even with America participating, while China et. all did not. My opinion, which I have reached after extensive research, is that we would not have had that much effect.

In principle, Kyoto is a good treaty. It uses market mechanisms to promote healthy environmentalism, and those are always more effective than simple limits. However, not including third-world powerhouses like China and India, and others, caused the treaty to miss the mark. Most of the rich countries in the world already use a lot of clean energy sources, and while it's good to convince them to use more, our time would probably be better spent cleaning up the third world. Giving them more efficient energy producing capability not only reduces pollution, but also helps provide more resources at a cheaper price, thereby making poverty more bearable, and less prevalent.

It is encouraging to hear that Tony Blair (I heart TB!) is already talking about the next round of Kyoto. He is saying that any second round needs to include technology sharing with poorer countries, along with limits on their production of pollution. It is much easier to develop a country with nothing into a country that uses clean sources of energy, instead of converting an already developed country into something that is only marginally more efficient. It also has more and better returns.

Thanks for reading the econ and foreign policy blurb. I love this stuff...you'll probably see more of this as soon as finals are over.

Update: Check this link out. More opinions...

Tookie monster?

Check this out...IMAO is the bestest, IMHO.

Update: Here is more about Tookie from IMAO.

UpdateII:

For reader information: I am generally against the death penalty. Allowing the government to kill people who aren't in a war worries me. As does allowing the government to start wars, but some things are necessary evils. Also, I don't think it (the death penalty works like it's supposed to. I mean, have you ever thought "I'm going to kill this person with the gun I'm holding in my hand. Oh Wait! I better not! In 20 years I might get killed after sitting in jail and watching cable TV!" The correct answer is 'no.' People who are going to kill others are simply not deterred effectively by the death penalty, so they should just sit in jail for the rest of their lives. I don't think, mind you, that those people need to be very comfortable, or be given any parole opportunities. But the government should not be in the business of killing people.

But I feel ok making light of the current situation, because I'm not the first to do so. The philosophy professors who admitted to nominating Tookie Williams (a founding member of the Crypts Gang, and someone who killed more than twice, with a grand payday of less that $100) for the Nobel peace prize because he had written three children’s books which sold a total of less that 500 copies, did that first. So in this situation, I'm ok with calling him the "Tookie Monster."

Happy Aniversary!

And, Saddam, I hope you have many happy returns of the aniversary of the day you were finaly caught and put in jail.
Here is a link.

Nostalgia

I wasn't gonna post anything today. It's the first day of reading period, and since I used loudness to the fullest extent, I needed to be working all day. The Iraqis deserve their shoutout, however, and I am easily distracted from work. (Especially when I have a lot of it.) I was lead to a wikipedia article by a friend and I decided to share it. Check it out.
Wiki is pretty cool, and this is all true as far as I know...and to anyone who has ever been confused by the way I speak, check out the Lingo Section. Now I better get back to moting my vids, or else I'll shank this oral. It's too bad today is so mellow...

Update: This is fun too, but it doesn't have as much information. We'll have to do something about that. While we're looking at it, we should check this out as well.

YAAAYYY!!

Good luck, Iraq, and choose wisely.
Today they are voting again.

Greatest High School of all time

Not only do we have graduates who run big financial companies, but we also have graduates who compete at the highest levels in Hockey, Poker, and the Great Outdoor Games Boom Run. So fie on you, all you pretenders at greatness....there is only one true greatest high school, and thats mine.
Foo.

A question, Since I'm procrastinating

Was tookie the infamous 1000 person killed since sometime? You know, that person who was gonna be 1000 a few days/weeks ago? How often does our government kill people? It seems right that he would be the next in line, but was that the right milestone?
I don't remember...continue on your daily business folks...there's nothing very interesting here...just finals.

Help

By the way, does anyone know a good place to stay in london? I'm looking for cheap, around the first week of the new year...if you've got connections, or I know you and you're gonna be over there...
let me know..

Take the quiz

Just like in Cosmo! **Looks away, mubles under his breath, 'sort of'** Where do you fit in? Give me your scores in the comments...
Quiz

New Video

I, for one, will not call for the white flag. Read this post, and watch the video it leads to. Supporting the troops mean more than just words, and it means more than just calling for them to get more stuff. It certainly doesn't mean saying that, because they aren't getting the job done, we should bring them home. I don't believe that. I feel like they are getting the job done, and while it is hard to see the overall effect now, in ten years (or possibly sooner, or possibly later) the effect our brave and honorable soldiers have had in Iraq will be clear as day.

End of Semester

Today was the last day of classes.

Here is a cool picture as a reward for finishing.
And here is a game to play while I wait for finals...(and it's appropriate since I have tonights game on the brain!)

P.S. Quick note about our rivals. Our rivals wear black uniforms, and have a type of bear as their mascott. Don't they know that bears are always eating people, and are considered evil in stories? And that, in literature black is commonly used to denote evilness? I guess they don't read many books down there, or do much literary analysis if they do end up opening a book. If they had, they would wear blue, which everyone knows denotes loyalty, and general all around swellness...and they would be able to come up with a mascott that they could bring to games for support.
However, what can you expect from a safety school?

Baseball

I thought I was going to write a post about the hot-stove baseball season today. But I think I'm depressed about all the moves, plus the fact that we have nothing like a garuntee that Johny Damon will be back with us next year. He might even go to the Yankees...and if he does, well, he's a slimy sack of goo in my opinion.
If you want some good opinions about Red Sox baseball...check here.
I might put up more later, but I don't think I want to think about it.

Squirrels

Squirrels are my least favorite animal. They are as good as rats with tails in my opinion. Here are some people who agree with me, but I think they might be going a little too far. They certainly did a good job documenting some of the evils of the squirrel population, including the recent hit and run in Russia, which resulted in the death of a dog.

I have something to add to this list. When I was a few years younger than I am now, I was on a camping trip. While we were away from our campsite for the day, we left our food locked in a wooden box, with no holes. When we returned at the end of the day, some squirrels had managed to get inside the box - how, I do not know. We found that our bread was rummaged through - but that they left us the crusts. The eating of the bread, that I could probably live with. However, when we discovered the watermelon, we discovered that the blasted squirrels had gone too far. They had tunneled into the watermelon, so that most of it looked normal. Then, they gorged themselves on the sweet fruit inside...and left us only the rind and the seeds – some of which we later found spread throughout the rest of our food cabinet. It was good that they left the cheezits alone. They had already committed sins that would be hard to forgive, but if they had touched the cheezits they would have purchased more than they could afford to pay.

So, now that you have heard my story, I recommend that you look at the website I linked, so that you can educate yourself further on the dangers of the squirrel race.

Very Hot!

G Rated Pictures Here.

Update: More Pictures here. Not the same thing, but related.

Hello!

You're only about 10 years late...no Chealsea Clinton here...Check in California.

The only thing to say is

Cool!
Foldable batteries.

Nobel Prizes

Wonderful people get them...including Harold Pinter. Who used his acceptance speech to bash American Foreign Policy since WWII. Why does he pretend to understand this stuff? He is a playwright. He writes plays titled "The Caretaker" and "The Homecoming," granted, I know nothing about them, and possibly he is very well informed, but I doubt it, considering how and what he was bashing about American Foreign policy.

I think it's telling that Nobels are consistantly awarded to leftises.

"The literature prize has in recent years often gone to writers with left-wing ideologies. These include the European writers José Saramago of Portugal, Günter Grass of Germany and Dario Fo of Italy."

I wonder when it will stop being considered such an honor, an be recognised for the back-scratching that it is?

And, by the way, great people are nominated for these awards. Just look at Tookie Williams...

Ahhh

I just shaved my beard. Am I crazy? I think so. I'm entering a beard growing contest, and come valentines day, I'll be judged against the others for thickness, fullness, length, and hopefull, scrappyness, since I'll win that one.
I had a beautiful beard this morning, and I've had one since about three years ago. My face hurts, and I'm already cold. But it better be worth it.

Update: I had to walk outside to where they are registering people for this contest, and my face was cold. And then, all through my meeting tonight, I kept feeling the air currents. This is going to take some getting used to, and I better get it back quick.

Update II: The mixed bag of reactions is very interesting...some people, even those that I saw this afternoon, notice, and then try to pretend like it's been that way for a while, and don't mention anything. Some people just have thick heads. And some people go crazy...
Alos wierd, are the reactions when I tell people I shaved it off for the contest. The guys have mostly gone "Hey!! Cool, me too," while they rub their smooth cheeks. The girls have (almost all) asked me what the prize is for winning. To be honest, I have no idea. The material goods are not important. The important thing is winning, and therefore having the best beard on campus. That's prize is what makes this worthwhile...
Plus it's fun, right?

Update II: It's now about two-three weeks into the contest (I could figure it out, but why bother?) and my beard has come back ok. It's still woefully short, but it's comming along nicely. At least I no-longer look like a young child.

Sage Advice

Concerning time: When a woman says she'll be ready to go out in five minutes she using the same meaning of time as when a man says the football games's just got five minutes left. Neither of them is counting time outs, commercials, or replays.

Go here.

Required Reading

There are some people at my school who desperately need to read this.
The military is overqualified.

Hmmm...Food? For thought? Sorry, I'm not hungry, I was just at Foss.

So check this out, it's funny. I also find this to be very true. Where do you fit on the academic food chain?

Here's another one that's great. Rules Guys Wish Girls Knew.

Tonight's bonus'

So, here's a good quote, again from Firefly, again from the sage, Jayne.

Jayne: You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with until you understand who's in ruttin' command here.

Plus, I'm going to give you an extra special bonus. Tonight I'm going to share with you, how to make plasma...thats right, the form of matter that's even hotter than gas...so enjoy!

Jellyfish are cool

Check out this picture.

Also, read the article...but skip down about halfway. And don't miss this part:

In some places jellyfish density is reported to be a hundred times higher than normal. Worst of all, no one yet understands why. One theory is that global warming is heating up the seawater and encouraging jellyfish breeding.

That's right! Never miss up an oportunity to show that it was global warmings fault! I am yet to be convinced that global warming is all it's cracked up to be. I admit that I'm not a meterologist, I'm not a geologist, and I've never even looked in those textbooks for a class project. But I am a politics geek, so I have read a lot about it. And let me tell you, there is no problem in the world that can't be blamed on Global Warming...unless it was Bush's Fault. But Bush is causing global warming at the same time that the rise in temperature is addleing the brains of voters, causeing them to pick the candidate with the initials GWB. Don't worry about the proof, it's there.

Update: More Pictures, here.

Che-ck this out.

Che-mart has come to town.

A day for remembering

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.
I am far too young to remember what happened that day. In fact, my parents are far too young to remember what happened that day. But today is still a day worth noticing. Today, we got sucker punched, and our nose was bloodied. We were expecting to get into the war eventually, but we didn't want to go in this way...and we didn't think we had anything to worry about.
Today is a day worth because of it's similarities with 9/11. I was in NY on 9/11, and I watched the smoke billow and the towers collapse. I waited in my car, stuck about 10 cars from getting over one of the bridge...but we stayed there all day. I can remember the confusion that everyone felt in the street, and the way rumors spread. NYC on 9/11 must have been worse than what the soldiers felt in Hawaii, but I'm sure the citizens were as confused as we were.

I've been to see the Arizona. (check out this for more info about that vallient ship) It was so serene at the memorial, it was hard to immagine how the few hours before the ship went down felt.
It's worth looking back at both of these, and reviewing the similarities and the differences, and then thinking about what ultimately happened as a result of Pearl Harbor.
Today is a good day for reflection.

Good News from Iraq

This might be a good day to take a look at the other side of the story, which you don't see on the front page of the MSM...so here's a round-up of iraq stuff, along with some front line perspectives, and whatever else cool I find. I'm probably not going to post my opinion on iraq today, because I've got some other stuff planned, but feel free to go for it in the comments, I'll probably join you there..

• Where's all the good news about Iraq?
• Dean's Scream takes it's toll
• Are we winning or loosing? Or does that matter?
• Where, oh where, is Osama Bin Ladin?
• Where, oh where, is Saddam Hussein?
• Cool Picture again
  
• How do you spell Iraq? Is is V-I-E-T-N-A-M?
• Reconstruction, but not like in Gone with the Wind.
  

More might come later if I find some good stuff...but that's it for now.
Enjoy.

Firefly

Isn´t it crazy how your mind works when you are up too late and need to be working? I was just totaly sidetracked by a friend talking about my current favorite TV series...
well, here is a bunch of quotes. But here's one to get you started:

Jayne: [into radio] Testing. Captain, can you hear me?
Mal: I'm standing right here.
Jayne: [into radio] You're coming in good and loud, too.
Mal: 'Cause I'm standing right here.

Enjoy the rest...
and tell me how much you love the series as well...


Update: Jayne gets the best lines. Try this one on for size as well.

Jayne: [stops] Oh, see - they don't know a damn thing. It's all over your face and I ain't even... I was gonna get me a ear, too. Aren't you an officer of the law? Well don't they teach you how to withstand interrogation? Can't even tell a damn lie.
Lawrence Dobson: Okay. I can see you're not an idiot
Jayne: Wish I could say the same, Laurence, but this is disappointing as hell.

I always laugh at this line, but no one else does...
probably cause I've just watched it too many times when I should have been doing work. Just like now...
But will that change anything?

I like pretty pictures.

These are pictures of space. From Harvard, so you know they're from out there.

Walmart

Wal-Mart is good for the poor

That's the basic conclusion of Jason Furman's essay "Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story" posted at the Center for American Progress website:

That is for all you Wal-Mart haters out there...
It's my opinion that Wal-Mart has crappy stuff...when I shop at Wal-Mart, I don't expect whatever I buy to be very high quality. That's why I usually just by candy, or a book, or cd's that are the same you would get anywhere else. But does that mean I think it is a force for evil, as so many other college students apparently do? No. Wal-Mart should be free to hire people with the wages they want to pay, and to price it's goods however it wants. It is only because Wal-Mart has been so sucessful that people don't like them, and thats really jealousy, in my opinion. The other thing Wal-Mart-detractors hate about the company, is that it proves so many people are willing to work for such low wages and small benefits. Part of the reason for that, is that our government has done such a 'good' job providing these benefits at the cost of the taxpayer. So the same people who hate what they think Wal-Mart stands for are the same people who made it possible in the first place.
To me, Wal-Mart is no better or worse a corporation than any other. They just have a better business plan. If you don't like the way they do business, don't shop there, and don't work there. But don't say that they are doing something wrong.
Full Disclosure: Even though I don't think Wal-Mart has done anything wrong, I still don't shop there. I don't feel comfortable in the stores, and what I buy there usually breaks before I open the box. I know full well that the prices are lower at Wal-Mart than where I shop, but I'm willing to pay the price. That's how capitalism works. Vote with your money, and if enough people agree with you, the place you don't want to shop at, will soon go out of business.

Playing around

I hope you like the new layout...
not that I'm talking to anyone yet.
But I still need to republish the blog, so I needed a new post...

These are a few of my favorite things...

When the do...oh! Hello!. Heh.

Anyway...

This is one of my favorite humor blogs on the web.
Make sure to wear sunglasses when you read it...otherwise, you might go blind from his brilliance.

British Politics

Yay for Conservatives in England. David Cameron gets elected as the party leader.

The Media

Do you think the media is biased? Do you think that a headline can affect your judgement? I think that whatever you read first, will affect your thoughts about the whole piece.
With that in mind, check this out...

Daniel J. Solove at Concurring Opinions has a nice round-up of how the Delay news was greeted:

Washington Times, DeLay's Conspiracy Charge Rejected

Washington Post, Felony Charge Is Upheld For DeLay

New York Times, Texas Judge Lets Stand 2 of 3 Charges Against DeLay

Fox News, Judge Tosses DeLay Conspiracy Charges

LA Times, Judge Upholds DeLay Money-Laundering Charges

CNN, DeLay Conspiracy Charge Tossed Out

MSNBC, DeLay Money-Laundering Charges Upheld

Just for your information...The Washington Times is as conservative as the NYT is Liberal.
And Move-On.org said that the LA times was their favorite newspaper...
I must admit that CNN's headline surprised me. I have been slowly rethinking my position on CNN...I used to boycott them, but now I like the situation room...
As for the rest of you, discuss in the comments.

Cool Stuff

I like this picture. In fact, I like the whole site. You should check it out.