Seemingly Random

Spore

2008-09-22T13:05:00.001-05:00

This is a widget that's supposed to let you see my creatures from Spore.

To Our Friends Who Are Still In The Desert

2008-04-11T14:35:00.003-05:00

"To Our Friends Who Are Still In The Desert"(I've used this title before it seems.)This is an old, old French Foreign Legion toast. I tried to look it up on wikipedia with nothing and google it without result. I likely read it in a book on the foreign legion years ago but I can't recall which one now.I think of this when I read reports of the numbers of soldiers we've lost in Iraq (and

Infantry Weather

2008-04-10T09:38:00.003-05:00

That's what I always say when people remark on the rain. No one ever understands, so I present something some of them may have heard at some point ..."Every day is a holiday ...Every formation is a parade ...Every paycheck is a fortune ...Every meal is a banquet ..."The last line is "God I Love the Corps" and I recall it from Aliens(1986) and ... well I thought it was in Jarhead but I guess not.

The NEW Granola State

2008-01-24T16:18:00.000-06:00

It used to be California, the land of "fruits, nuts and flakes". But I submit to you that the new granola state is the District of Columbia, Washington in fact. EPA Chief Defends Shielding of Global Warming PapersAnd Mister Johnson is right, California doesn't need it's own standard. There should be a Federal standard that everyone has to follow. But since "president" bush's government won't

Taxi to the Dark Side

2008-01-18T14:01:00.001-06:00

Taxi to the Dark Side I heard about this on NPR this morning on the way to work. I want to see it, maybe even own it. It sounds truly disturbing and ties in directly with what I've been thinking about posting about for awhile now. Congress is all up in arms about the CIA's destruction in 2005 of tapes of "harsh" interrogations of suspected terrorists in 2002. House Panel Criticizes CIA Tape

Have I mentioned

2007-11-30T16:55:00.001-06:00

that I love irony? Why Science Can't Save the GOPHahahahahahahaTo begin with, this is a man who has Parkinson's. So stem cell research could very well have a significant impact on his life and that of his family. So, while he's not a doctor or medical researcher, he has a vested interest and I think his opinion might be more important than mine (except, perhaps, to me). And I find another kindred

So Resign

2007-11-02T13:28:00.001-05:00

If you don't want to do your job then. Why Diplomats Won't Go to IraqI saw this topic come up yesterday and I'm still of the same opinion. I find it amazing that they're given a choice of their assignment in the first place. True you can ask for an assignment in the military but it's a well known fact that you go where you're sent. If they don't want to go to Iraq then they can resign the Foreign

This time he didn't save the ship!

2007-10-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, I may have been, just slightly, one of the Trek fans who was of the "Die Wesley Crusher, DIE!" variety. It seemed, back then, that lazy writers who had little idea of good science fiction would, too often, after having gotten the Enterprise and her crew into trouble, resort to using a brilliant idea by Wesley as the "Deus ex Machina" to get the ship out of the jam. That got old even the

And now for something

2007-10-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

totally strange. 123,910 PeopleJustSayHi - DatingUnusual Deaths in 1961 * On march 23, soviet cosmonaut trainee Valentin Bondarenko died from shock after suffering third-degree burns over much of his body, due to a flash fire in the pure oxygen environment of a training simulator. this incident was not revealed outside of the soviet union until the 1980s.People who died on November 21 (various

Satisfied for now

2007-06-14T15:20:00.001-05:00

Libby must begin perjury prison sentence: judgeI'm satisfied that the judge is standing up to this. I'm also dismayed that all these "constitutional scholars" are jumping on his bandwagon to appeal that he remain free during his appeals process. While what he did isn't, in my opinion, quite as bad as what they were investigating, he did lie while under oath and if the judicial system allows that

Amazed

2007-05-17T16:44:00.000-05:00

I thought I had a definite image in my mind of the limits of human incompetency. That I knew, or had some inkling, just how badly people could screw things up if they had absolute no freaking clue what they were doing. Apparently I was wrong. I stand amazed at the depths of corruption, incompetency and even malice. I figured that the republicans and Bush being in charge couldn't be that much more

"Me and the clipboard"

2007-04-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Okay. I was wrong. Men do need to do the thinking about abortion so that they have an idea where they stand. This is why. My Views on AbortionI have no words for what this guy went through. "Only now, my wife is so out of it, from blood loss, from the painkillers, that the doctor said she is no longer able to legally consent.""Made worse by being a decision of either kill the baby or potentially

Evil by Inferance?

2007-04-03T16:32:00.000-05:00

I never really considers Mister Bush to be a Truly Evil man (like say, "Mister" Cheney is, shooting lawyers and all). He was certainly a few apples short a pie and not very articulate, but he seemed to be well-meaning in a moronic sort of way. But at what point do you become Evil(tm) by allowing Evil to be perpetrated by those around you (or who work for you)? How much Evil does it take for that?

Truth, Justice and the American Way

2007-03-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

means a whole different thing these days. Guilty plea the best news exhausted father could getThe most (to me) telling sentence in this pieces is 'Mr Hicks would only say that his son felt a guilty plea was the only way "he's going to get out".' So his presumed guilt is tossed aside, by both sides it seems, to make way for expediency. The only way he felt he could escape torture was to plead

Rot in hell

2007-03-16T10:18:00.001-05:00

We've all heard what a great guy "Scooter" Libby is (what kind of a guy goes by a name an eight year old would desperately try to shun? how does he hope to be taken seriously?). How he didn't mean to leak the name of an undercover CIA operative. How it was because he had so many important things on his mind that this one little fact may have escaped him, leading him to change his story about it.

Just how many

2007-03-09T16:53:00.000-06:00

Examples of the pot calling the kettle black do we really need? Newt Gingrich Admits To Having Affair While Leading Clinton ProbeAnd here enters in that fine line again. Clinton wasn't on trial for having an affair, he was on trial for lying to the grand jury and/or congress about it while under oath. Libby wasn't convicted of release a covert CIA operative's name, he was found guilty of lying

Firefly! :)

2007-02-23T15:44:00.001-06:00

What Firefly Character Are You? Hoban 'Wash' WashburnYou are a bit of a clown, with a pervasive and sometimes whimsical sense of humor. You are also fiercely protective of those you love, sometimes to the point of saying/doing things you may later regret. You are highly accomplished professionally and loved and respected by all.Take The Quiz Now!Quizzes by myYearbook.comThe problem is that if

A Moral Imperative!

2007-02-22T12:29:00.000-06:00

This is just too good not to post on. Sex scandal pastor says after therapy, he's heterosexual "Praise the Lord!"Three weeks of therapy? "It's a miracle!""Hallelujah!" "Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York psychiatrist who is an expert on issues of gender and sexuality, said that while it was people's prerogative to identify their sexual orientation as they wanted, the notion of being able to change

Miscellanity, Part 5

2007-02-21T11:30:00.000-06:00

I saw a few things today in my news scans that registered. Tossing MickeyDee’s Cup of Ice at Driver Gets Mom Two Years Jail Other places are calling it the "McMissile Incident" but that name, while snappy, doesn't convey the gravity of a mother being taken away from her three children (all under 10 years of age) for two years. Nor does it touch on how we treat the families of deployed servicemen

Life Path Number?

2007-02-19T13:33:00.000-06:00

Your Life Path Number is 22Your purpose in life is to use your power for goodOf all the life paths, yours has the most innate power.Your power lies in your vision, and you must recruit others to help you in this vision.You are able to be a great idealist, but you still have the practicality to get things done.In love, you tend to be a big romantic - but you also tend to keep your distance.You

Miscellanity, Part 4

2007-02-19T12:32:00.000-06:00

The other day I read this How the U.S. Army WorksMostly just to see if Mister Ed Grabianowski got it right. I stopped reading part way through so I guess he got it right enough to become boring to someone who knows it from the inside. However the very first page divides the army into an "operational branch" and an "institutional branch". This apparently started bugging me without my knowing it. I

A tough nut

2007-02-09T14:11:00.000-06:00

This isn't a position I would want to be in, not even now when my political views are more clear to me. Officer to fight against retrialI've been following this one for awhile now. He seemed to be a good officer. One of the lessons one of his colonels taught him was to research his assignments to be fully prepared. He got posted to Fort Lewis from Hawaii and he knew it was likely he'd be posted

The yo-yo

2007-02-05T12:48:00.000-06:00

Between despair and hope. On the one hand we have Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study Wherein scientists are offered cash ($10k) to attack the findings of the Global Ecology conference in Paris recently which determined that Man probably has been negatively affecting our climate. So we hear from the crowd who doesn't care if they trash the planet as long as their profit margins are

Another one

2007-02-02T08:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Molly Ivins died from breast cancer. I had never heard of her but she was another Texas firebrand woman who I should have known (like Ann Richards). One bit caught my attention when I heard the npr piece on it. Treasuring the Wit and Wisdom of Molly IvinsShe said "We in Texas are used to discerning that fine hairs breath worth of difference that makes one hopeless dipstick slightly less

The other day

2007-01-30T14:46:00.000-06:00

at the game, John told us he had been talking to his reading partner (a writing partner who reads and critiques your writing) and told him he was "homophonic". Even without knowing exactly what the word meant I could tell how funny it was and how the republicans would cringe at it. And it's only one letter different from their hue and cry! http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/

Liberal Democrat? Me?

2007-01-29T22:55:00.000-06:00

I am:17%Republican."You're a tax-and-spend liberal democrat. People like you are the reason everyone else votes for guys like Reagan or George W."Are You A Republican?It's rigged I tell you!

Both sides

2007-01-24T13:40:00.000-06:00

Of the fence seem to contain a sufficient number of idiots and morons. Store's e-mail slams soldiers in IraqHere is a sergeant who is trying to get some gear for his troops in Iraq. Something the Army seems to have forgotten or neglected. On the one had he gets an email in response to his request telling him he should pull out of Iraq. "SGT Hess,We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did

Anniversary

2007-01-22T16:45:00.000-06:00

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the end of "forced pregnancy" (as I like to call it). Today women got at least some control over their own bodies rather than being forced in the dark of the night to go to men with coat hangers to "fix" the problem. Abortion Ruling Anniversary Marked "Fetal rights"??They're not even people yet but still they have "rights" (and thus attorney's, advocates and

It's my phone

2007-01-12T14:20:00.000-06:00

Mine!I don't want you all (or around here "yall") to dictate what sound my phone makes when it rings. I want it to ring like I have it set (which is to say with a ringing sound like a ... oh, I don't know, PHONE!). That way I'll know that my phone is ringing and I should answer it. If, however, some song starts, I sit here for minutes trying to figure out where that music is coming from. When I

The two sides

2007-01-05T12:41:00.000-06:00

On the one hand we have a guy who thinks he has the right to listen to our phone conversations and, now, read our mail. Bush claims power to open Americans' mail without warrants It sounds like a third grader telling all the first and second graders they have to do what he says. On the other hand, we have three men who are behaving as people should! New York's week for split-second heroesStar

Unbelievable

2007-01-04T12:25:00.000-06:00

The extent to which the man deludes himself. Message in a Vacuum: Bush Lists his Principles in the Wall Street JournalWhat the Congress Can Do for AmericaI agree with Kim, it should more accurately, be entitled "What Congress Can Do For Me!" It's amazing the extent to which he deludes himself into believing that what he has proposed and passed legislation for in the past has actually worked. "we

Wrong

2007-01-03T11:38:00.001-06:00

Well I always thought that it was silly to have all these religious disagreements since it seemed to me that at it's core, most religions seemed to hold the same or very similar views of One God. Survey Says: Multiple GodsThis seems to indicate that my perception was in error. There seem to be a number of "modes" of God and his position of human issues. The Authoritarian God (the whole "wrath of

Nine

2006-12-28T13:16:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three niner, roger, one-five troops, two BRDMs. Enemy dispersed, over."And these bozos are in charge of protecting us from terrorist???!!!()(#%*)#$(%$Homeland Security Admits Privacy Errors in Anti-Terror EffortSheesh!

Eight

2006-12-27T16:25:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, add one hundred and fire for effect."They're taking down all the "motivational" posters that they have on the walls. They're replacing them with images of tigers and from around campus. They were doing the "lobby" this afternoon and there were several of Jesse Hall and the columns. I wondered what the titles of them were and decided that Jesse Hall should

Seven

2006-12-26T13:50:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, shot, out."..."Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, splash out."...Read some interesting things today. Affirming our Way to Victory in IraqThis seems to indicate (or predict?) that the administration may be intent upon ignoring the report of the Iraq Study Group (84 pages?) and instead use a power point presentation (56 bullet pointed slides) by

Six

2006-12-22T09:14:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, add fifty, over." Okay, Wednesday I went to Urgent Care about my leg. The same shooting pains up and down it as I had back in April so I suspected that I had pinched the nerve again. The doctor confirmed it after examining me. He had me loosen my belt and when I redid it my pants were loose. So I undid it again and looked at the space between my belly and

Five

2006-12-21T13:21:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, shot, out."..."Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, splash out."...This proves that gamers can be fscking morons too! Nintendo Responds to LawsuitIt seems idiotic that people who accidentially throw their wii remote into their TV think that it's Nintendo's fault. Some lawyers somewhere see the potential to earn a fat commission on this as well, but

Four

2006-12-19T12:35:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, drop four hundred, right two hundred, over."Duty. I've been thinking about this some lately. Especially since people are out at work for various reasons and need someone to cover their operations center shift. I was in here all day yesterday, this afternoon, tomorrow morning and then my 2nd normal shift all day Friday. I suppose it puts me out where I

Three

2006-12-18T14:53:00.000-06:00

"Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, shot, out."..."Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, splash out."...Got about half of the Christmas baking done. And all the ice cream. Made three dozen English Muffins on Saturday. Karate on Sunday and then I tried Hardee's Red Burrito again. It was pretty good but I learned you should always eat the nachos before the burrito. But the burrito was *

Two

2006-12-15T09:38:00.000-06:00

Bravo two-six this is tango three-niner, grid four-one-seven-five-six-one, troops in open, IDPCM, over.The media are like cats, in the following ways; they tell you something you already know if they aren't telling you something you already know, they're telling you the same thing sixty-two freakin' million timesthey think the universe revolves around them they believe you should worship themThey

One

2006-12-13T17:05:00.000-06:00

"Juliet four bravo six-two this is romeo eight tango three-niner, fire mission, over." There, that pedal on the floor? The one on the right ... Put your foot on it and press down. Slowly. Not that slowly. That will make the car go. I've gotten some responses from the gang on my "what baked goods that I can make do you want for Christmas?". I made Jack's last weekend along with two extra loaves of

A new definition of

2006-11-15T09:46:00.000-06:00

Irony. I've lived in this state for awhile but even after I established residency and paid taxes here (following my departure from the military) I hesitated to tell people I was "from" Missouri. I only lived here. This is why. Flawed reasoning in Missouri reportMo. Panel's Report Links Immigration To AbortionImmigration report should be rewrittenNow I wish I could say I've never met any

Those immortal words ...

2006-11-09T12:07:00.000-06:00

"But if you want, you could come over to my house this weekend and we could play."Wil Wheaton's Geek in Review: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young GeekIt's been so long ago I don't remember anymore how or when I got into D&D. I recall clearly the "Little Black Books" that were the basic Traveler edition, that came in a little black (5"x7") box. I may very well still have them in a box which has

Well that went well

2006-11-08T10:43:00.000-06:00

The election turned out about as well as I could expect. Talent was narrowly defeated but Hulshof was reelected. On the state level, Amendment 2 on stem cell research narrowly passed, as did the minimum wage hike but the cigarette tax was defeated. I kind of think these days that each party should control only one house of congress. That may encourage compromise which will allow us to advance in

Go vote,

2006-11-07T12:19:00.000-06:00

GO VOTE, NOW!I may not agree with your politics, you may not agree with mine, but I spent 13 years of my life defending your right to have your opinion and to express it. And one of the most important ways to express your opinion is to VOTE!If you don't vote then you are definitely part of the problem and you don't get to have any complaints for the next 2 years. Plus you're a poopyhead! (a BIG

Spooky

2006-11-03T13:20:00.000-06:00

The one call, besides Brand calling to tell me to let the group know he's running late, I got this morning was from a woman who asked me if I had paged Doctor Patel. Odd but we get wrong numbers sometimes. Later I was reading this; Grand jury indicts former Midlander on murder charges and I see on the ads section one for a Doctor Vikram Patel, who specializes in Sinus, Ear, Nose and Throat in

Much more

2006-10-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

eloquent that I could ever hope to be. 'Beginning of the End of America'And kind of scary when you think too much about it. One of the criteria I was using to judge the effect of these various measures the administration was putting in place to deal with "terrorist" was to consider what I might be able to do if they picked me up mistakenly on these kind of charges. Could "they" use this law

Not sharing

2006-10-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

Man I don't know what the president is smoking but he's not sharing it with the rest of us. New US policy to interdict use of spaceNow he seems to think he owns space and no one else can use it. I found this after the How Stuff Works site I go to asked if the US should defend space by itself. That reminded me of an article that came up in news sources on Wednesday about some crazy crap the

Now this one

2006-10-17T16:07:00.000-05:00

isn't odd. It just pisses me off. Breast Cancer is Sexy, or Pink Ribbons, Advertising, Class, and RaceBut it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. We need to keep clearly in mind what Corporate America is after, our money, and they could give a sh!t about anything else. "... a much easier fear to exploit ..."An open letter to Yoplait yogurtAnd what about, as Suzanne points out, the other leading

A NEW EXCITING snack food

2006-10-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

I'm guessing that's what it is. But now we're apparently out of something called "popcom".

Don't be

2006-10-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

what you hate. Yesterday started off okay. Not too sore from karate on Saturday. Matt was up and doing his chores. Got my laundry started and it was going (his goes on Saturday usually). Went to the store to get some things I needed, some groceries and some stuff. Decided to go to the big wal mart to get both at once (needed a web cam to test out the Jeff-gaming-from-Hawaii thing). Got everything

We need what?

2006-10-05T11:12:00.000-05:00

Matt's gotten good lately about writing down on our "shopping list board" the things he uses up so that I'll know to pick up more. However his handwriting could use some work. Yesterday we apparently ran out of something called "Blearb". I thought he'd been watching too much Futurama.

Why not?

2006-09-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

Bush declassifying intelligenceAnyone else find it funny that while he was telling us he's going to declassify the National Intelligence Estimate he was complaining that some of it had been leaked to the press? That "it wasn't fair" because it was distorted and not the whole picture. That it was timed to influence the elections in November. Well d'uh!I mean how many times will you have to beat

I think I know

2006-09-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

the main difference between Shi'ates and Sunnis. It involves who took over as leader of Islam (caliph or imam) after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Only his daughter (although there is some dispute whether he had one or four daughters) survived him so there was apparently, later (between 100 and 400 years later) disagreement over who should (have) take(n) over among his

Ponderings

2006-09-14T12:10:00.000-05:00

I heard a segment this morning on NPR, their reader reply segment. Normally I don't pay much attention to this since I rarely care what the great unwashed masses think. However three of them caught my ear. Letters: Sept 11 CoverageJennifer Folks, Amaganset, NY (it was a terrorist attack, not a muslim attack, what about all the catholic or protestant bombers in Ireland and the UK? what about

I'm in the wrong business

2006-09-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

Consider that today is day # 251 of this year. Week # 36, so 2 weekend days is 72, 251 - 72 is 179 work days so far this year. Down the Homestretch, the House Wanders Off CourseThe House of Representatives have worked so far this year, 80 days. And, except for the speaker, they make an annual salary of $162,500. That's $2,031.25 a day. I won't break it down into hours since I have no idea how

Sanctioned murder

2006-09-08T09:51:00.000-05:00

I read a lot of things in the news today about the upcoming "docudrama" about the events leading up to 9/11 that's going to be aired on ABC. I like something I read on BlogHer.org in reference to documentaries (or "docudramas") which are filled with factual errors (which even ABC admits this is), they say (in reference to one about the Holocaust a few years ago); "... either it’s not fiction, or

Spurious "Logic"

2006-09-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

War on TerrorMisters Frist and Mcconnell are mistaken. It's pretty much (from my laymen's understanding of logic) impossible to prove why something didn't happen. So claiming "The bottom line is that there have been no terrorist attacks in the united states since 9-11." (Frist)and "It's been because we've been on offense going after these people in Afghanistan, and in Iraq." (Mcconnell)Are just

Interesting

2006-09-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

I was poking around the internet as I'm wont to do on Fridays and I found the link to build your google home page. The default had some interesting things on it and I ended up adding some other stuff, including a section entitled "How Stuff Works". That lead me to What exactly is fascism?Which was an interesting read. Apparently there is no one clear definition of "fascist". Rather she presented

I say, I say

2006-09-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

(again) I've had enough of the fear mongering! Iraq war's ties to Sept. 11 have unraveledNow I don't often agree with Mr. Pitts, but he's got a good point there. "On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched a sneak attack that devastated the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. And the United States rose in righteous fury, immediately declaring war on Thailand. Because, you know, it was in the same part

Irrational!

2006-09-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

but then I'm not really surprised by that. Will a New Stem-Cell Technique Satisfy All?Religious, scientists debate stem cellsStem cell research: where it is atThe neo-cons opposed stem cell research. I can understand that even if I don't agree with their reasons, that harvesting the stem cells from embryos (destroying the embryo) destroys life. So the scientists find a way to get stem cells

I've got a hint for you

2006-08-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

Hollywood, Cruise missile hits deckMake good movies! Then we'll start going to see them again. I certainly wouldn't pay $15 for a movie with the crap you're putting out there now! "Snakes on a Plane"? Andy said it had a suck modulus of 1, the perfect movie. It can't be worse than you could possibly imagine. However I won't actually pay any money to see it. Even if it does have

Interesting

2006-08-16T15:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, really?Unfortunately it doesn't say whose opinion it is, even if it is interesting. And I can't much condone people who will say something anoymously anymore.

Dear Diary

2006-08-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

"Today I was pompous and my sister was craz..." wait, that's not the right entry. [looks through pages]Democratic Web ad angers some HispanicsHere it is: "Dear Democratic Party: Can you pretty please not fuck this election up and leave the neo-con 'republican's in charge of the country for another two years? They've really dicked things up so far and we really need someone with a brain in charge.

Amazing Audacity

2006-08-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

While he hasn't gone so far as to claim credit or anything, the claim is implied. Bush on high-profile visit to counterterrorism hubAnd I suspect that the neo-cons will continue to harp on this until after November. I hope people don't buy their crap but I fear they will, just like always. It's not like liquid explosives haven't been around for oh, say ten or fifteen years. My fellow platoon

A new definition

2006-08-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

For "Bogus" ...Luxury spending found in legal programI know we're supposed to hate lawyers but this seems to combine the desire to hate rich government pukes who are wasting our money on their limosine rides and expensive dinners along with that! How efficient, killing two birds with one stone. Hot Dogs May Cause Genetic MutationsAnd here they thought hot dogs only caused colon cancer ...

Saw

2006-08-11T10:41:00.001-05:00

This the other day and it was particularly disturbing. Announcing to the world that you won't follow the law strikes me as the precursor to lawlessness. Read the fine printAnd brings to mind the question "Just who does he think he is?". The answer is "The President" but the first qualification of being president is that you're a citizen. You're one of us to begin with. And now he seems to think

Byte me

2006-08-11T10:41:00.000-05:00

You pretentious ASS!!!Portrait of a Blogger: Under 30 and Sociable(and it's strangely gratifying that a woman can be a pretentious ass as well as hairy [or hairless] old neocon white men) [goes off to read the article, having only so far read reviews of it at Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad (Woman) Blogger?]It's a bit difficult to tell if the wildly stupid claims (bloggers are mostly young, they

I have you now!

2006-08-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

I just found out the other night that my neice Hannah has become a science fiction fan. Score! I've corrupted another one! Well not really. But that particular voice in my head goes to extremes. I've gotten Neverwinter Nights up and working and have been having fun with the Infinite Dungeon module. I'm playing around with some of the DMG presige classes again. It seems that someone tied the

Another question

2006-07-21T14:58:00.000-05:00

"Was your head with you all day today?" [Bill Cosby]I'm sitting here in the Operations Center (which someone had dubbed "the octagon" but that sounds silly to me) listening to half of a conversation Zach is having with a customer. I wanted to ask him but that might be considered rude. Last weekend I finally saw Sling Blade. What an odd film. But a very good one. I kept seeing quotes from it on

America, I have just one question for you

2006-07-19T15:46:00.000-05:00

What is YOUR MALFUNCTION ?First, if you don't pay attention to what's going on around you, how do you not get run over by a bus (a self correcting problem really)? Or as Chandler asked Joey all those years ago How do you not fall down more? And, if you ask a question of me, I think it's implicit in the asking itself, that you would like to have an answer to YOUR FREAKING QUESTION that you're

Lethargy Incorporated

2006-07-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

Well it's hot out there. And true to Missouri form, while it's not hot in terms of how hot it gets in some other places, the humidity nearly matches the temperature. A really annoying tendency, if you ask me. I saw the doctor about my leg a week ago Wednesday. He recommended physical therapy and last Monday was my first appointment. I'm going every Monday and Thursday mornings at 08 for three or

Post your favorite quotes

2006-07-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

I found one today in the comments on Wil Wheaton's blog. "Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." So here are a few of my other favorite ones. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."Albert Einstein (1879-1955)"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."George S. Patton (1885 - 1945)Okay I had one more but

They're not all ...

2006-07-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

Good Ole Boys. Tom danced over the lineMy favorite line ... "Sparks relies on the Constitution. DeLay and Benkiser (his lawyer) lean on clever lawyers.Voters who feel victimized have that crew to blame, not the judge.DeLay has for years danced at the edge of the law – whether taking trips from lobbyists, pushing bills for contributors or raising corporate money to influence local races.This time

Usual Business?

2006-07-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

Or perhaps it sounds better as "Business as usual". Judge Rules DeLay Stays on BallotWhen I first read the headline I thought it was stupid on the part of the judge. However now it seems to make much more sense. DeLay ran in the primary, handily beating his rivals, likely on the strength of his name alone ("plus favors done and bribes paid" the cynical part of me says) since he was under

So I'm NOT going to die?

2006-07-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

I saw the doctor today (and I really like Doctor Kinderknect). My blood pressure was a bit high so I'm having some blood taken tomorrow after I drop the Boy off at his appointment. Then we'll see what my blood pressure is and my cholesterol. I might have to start taking the Lipitor again. But he seemed to think the pain in my left leg is a pinched nerve in my back. So he gave me some Prednisone

Nope, 1 Wrong Writer ...

2006-06-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

5 wrong justicesEven the title of his piece hit me wrong from the get go. "This bozo thinks he's smarter than these five Supreme Court Justices?" [goes off to read article to see what else he can find that's stupid/bogus/wrong/idiotic/moronic/etc]Well he's not entirely stupid. Or perhaps he is given his creditentials (you'd think someone who was on the inside wouldn't say something that blatantly

Still Sweltering?

2006-06-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

Well I *think* the AC has been fixed but it was kinda warm when I got here this morning. I was running late since the bus "skipped" the Boy and I had to drive him. And the doors were again closed but the fans inside were still around. Some on and some not. And it seems to have gotten cooler since I got here. So it could just be taking awhile for it to cool off again after the AC comes back on. (I

The Sweltering, Day 3

2006-06-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

Well the AC is supposed to be fixed tomorrow morning. When I got here this morning the doors were all closed and none of the fans were out as they had been yesterday. It turned out that I must have just been early. Brian asked me to go cover the Op Center so Brand could continue his Unending War with IBM and work on TSM. So I packed up (before I had unpacked) and headed out. It was nice and cool

The Sweltering, Day 2

2006-06-27T13:09:00.000-05:00

The AC is out in our building. And word yesterday afternoon was that there was a problem with the compressor. And the part it needed wouldn't be in until tomorrow morning. So it would be fixed some time tomorrow or Thursday morning. Fortunately (and I can say that as I sit here sweating) the weather in town has only been in the low to mid 70s so far this week. With impending rain looming on the

Well that was

2006-06-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

a bit alarming. I found out that Ryan and Julia had broken up so I was going to remove her blog from my links. While I was scrolling through I found the link to the Erikson book I'd finished reading so I put in the link to the new book I'm reading ("The Truth" by Terry Pratchett). Somewhere in the mix I lost about half of my template. D'oh! So I backed through all the pages I'd been to until I

Smoking for charity

2006-06-23T08:47:00.000-05:00

Remarks, testimony clash in Ney probe'The report, Walsh said, merely shows the lengths Abramoff and his partners, who "have pleaded guilty to deceiving their clients, employers and member of Congress, would go to further their own greed."' Exactly how is going to jail "furthering greed"? So not only is the Congressman a liar, but his spokesman is a moron. Well, should I really be surprised? The

Assorted Nonsense #2

2006-06-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

Must-have Products for Raising Sluts "DoctorMama was elated to read that the FDA approved an HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccine that prevents cervical cancer. And then surprised to read that some people believe giving the vaccine to young women may encourage them to engage in premarital sex."Well then if their children don't get the vaccine and then (later) die of cervicle cancer, that particular

Support for the war VS Support for the troops

2006-06-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting idea. As I read Lieutenant Barnett's blog (Midnight in Iraq) archives I find some interesting things. At one point he got an email from a journalism student at the UW Madison. She asked him about how war protestors affected him and other soldiers (technically he's a Marine rather than a soldier - soldiers are Army) there. It caused me to examine what I think about the war,

Tell me why

2006-06-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

exactly, Diane Miller from DRM, that it is important that we talk. If you had said something about the topic you might have stood a chance of having me call back, even though it is a toll free number you left. Instead you get religated to the category of telemarketer (which you probably are) and consigned to the bit bucket where all voice mail and answering machine messages go to die. And I won't

Assorted Nonsense

2006-06-14T09:41:00.000-05:00

Well the link to the MilBlogWire didn't seem to work out. It's not surprising. The guy running it calls himself "Uncle Jimbo" and I found myself disagreeing with him on the issue of the retired Generals speaking out against Rumsfeld. Shortly after that he seemed to stop updating things, although I found some of the blogs he linked to really good. Good stuff from the guys on the ground in Iraq and

So who's the one who is

2006-06-08T16:25:00.000-05:00

Inarticulate? Doomed gay-marriage ban creates hysteria'Said Exodus International's Alan Chambers, who said he quit homosexuality 14 years ago: "Our children are being raped every day of school by what's being taught. Are you mad? I'm mad. I'm so mad. God have mercy."'Mister Chambers or the reporter, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post? Exactly how is what is being taught "raping" your children

What ARE they afraid of?

2006-06-07T12:33:00.000-05:00

Amendment Fails, Supporters Vow To Keep PushingI don't understand them at all. I fail to see how an institution which may be thousands of years old is now so frail, so decrepit, that it could be toppled at the mearest hint of a breeze of the mere mention of gay couples getting married. How does two women or two men getting married hurt any other high school football star from marrying his

Answers indeed

2006-06-07T12:10:00.000-05:00

No Easy AnswersNot being a Marine, never having been deployed to Iraq and not ever having been in combat, I don't consider myself qualified to have an opinion ... well, perhaps that's not the term I need, I don't consider myself qualified to render judgement on others, particularily when the bullets start flying or when they see comrades, friends and squadmates killed. The reporter did, at least,

Bad Definitions?

2006-06-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe we do need someone (Congress??) to define some terms for us. This morning, on the way to work I was listening to this; Immigration Raid Roils Kentucky CommunityThe reporter, Jennifer Ludden, uses the phrase "reputable" to describe the home building firm (Fischer Homes) who's sub-contractor hired illegals. Perhaps I've been mistaken for years about the meaning of that term. ...Nope,

So who is our

2006-05-31T09:41:00.000-05:00

Himmler? Our "Minister of Propaganda"? Scott McClellan? Tony Snow (does his name making anyone else think of the term "Snow Job"? Is that indicative of the Republican Agenda?)? I don't think so, both of them are "too public". Anyone ever see "Wag the Dog"? Remember how Conrad Brean (played by Robert De Niro) made Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) "disappear" at the end of the movie when he

More tragic?

2006-05-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

By now everyone has seen the news about the CBS reporters who were killed in Iraq. I don't recall what it was but something on the NPR reporting of it this morning pissed me off. About how dangerous it was. Hello!, it's a war zone? What did you think was going on there? Did you think your "Press" flak jacket would miracuously render you immune to bomb blasts and shrapnel? That the insurgents

Leaving the show

2006-05-30T12:54:00.000-05:00

You know I've watched a few shows over my tv-watching "career". I've loved some of them and I've hated ... well when I hate them I just stop watching (or don't start - I can't really stand the few things I've seen Steve Carroll in so I never watched "The Office" except by accident and I turn it off as quick as the buttons will depress). But when a loved character leaves a show, for whatever

An interesting academic

2006-05-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

debate. This idea of our responsibility to people around us. Who's responsibility is it?However I don't see the issue, I see it as our obligation as "civilized" beings. The obligation of having opposible thumbs and a mind.

I wasn't going

2006-05-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

to harp on the fact that Lay and Skilling had been found guilty. It seemed it should have been sufficient to know that they couldn't hookwink everyone and someone was going to call them on their crap. Then I saw this ... Guilty Verdict For Former Enron Execson BlogHer. Not Ms Vest's summary but the third one down by "Right Thinking Girl". The idea that they *shouldn't* be found guilty if they "

Above the law?

2006-05-23T16:06:00.000-05:00

I ask this question (should members of Congress be above - or immune - from the law) not from the position I appear to have made so many other of my political rants. Convinced I know what's right. I ask from a curiosity point of view. Should members of Congress not be subject to searches? I believe the law enforcement officers should have a warrant, which require convincing a judge that you have

There they are

2006-05-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

I knew the Dems weren't a great deal better than the Republicans. I knew there had to be scandals with their names on them. Troubled congressman keeps his coolAfter all, when the Republicans took congress 10 years ago they used the exact same phrase the Dems are throwing around now, a "culture of corruption". What we seem to presume is that they're honest when they imply that it's the other side

Okay, time to go

2006-05-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

check the voting records. I want to know if Senators Talent and Bond voted against this! US Senate votes for EnglishAnd for those senators who did vote against English as our national language, I have one question, "What language do you want to be ours?".

Patriots vs Cowboys

2006-05-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

No, it's not the first football entry I have in here. Today (well perhaps yesterday late since Ryan keeps odd hours) Ryan posted something interesting to his blog (which he calls a "blop"). i'm going to need a flare gun and ice. lots of ice...He has some interesting things to say when comparing President Carter with president Bush. Let me add that Carter studied Nuclear Physics, served in the

When will they wake up?

2006-05-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

Not only is it frightening to think that the government can listen in on our phone calls and read our emails, now they're targeting journalist to whom whistle blowers intent on leaking illegal government activity may contact. The Patriot Act vs. The First AmendmentShe points out that in any given conflict between a law and the Constitution, the Constitution will win. But the question becomes how