Stupidity, Lack Of Compassion And Fantasy Edition

Ah yes, compassion has died and unreasoning stupidity has taken its place. Dropping off passengers in the middle of a national forest with no phone, water or food. Nice, so very nice. Even if he was drunk, which he wasn't, that is no excuse to abandon someone in the wilderness. Worse than that, it wasn't the first time it had been done. Good thing he wasn't on a plane, they probably would have strapped a parachute to him and thrown him out the door.

Oops, another judge refuses to reinstate charges against a Guantanamo detainee. The charges certainly seem bogus to me since it is expected that people die in a war and not just on the enemy's side. Especially during a firefight. I guess the enemy is expected to just stand there and die without fighting back. The stupidity that this administration has demonstrated has been mind boggling, to say the least.

Science fiction and fantasy books fascinated me while I was growing up. A Wrinkle in Time got the ball started, Star Trek added fuel to the fire and I never looked back. It got so bad at one time that people used to pick up my book and say "hey, where's the dwarf?" The only time I ever read romance novels was when I was married, I got divorced and it was back to the fantasyland that had the possibility of coming true. I also read the usual suspects; Grisham, Ludlum, Robinson, Nance, and Clancy. As soon as I went to Acupuncture school, that all stopped. Now I do most of my reading on the internet so I was excited to find a list of scifi and fantasy authors that blog. Too bad very few of them interest me anymore. Is Robert Jordan ever going to finish the Wheel of Time series? He should have stopped at five, the last few have been very slow so I never finished them.

Now that the iWait is over and the iHype has been confirmed, let the iBashing begin. I still want one.

Fake Steve Jobs is on a roll with some killer money quotes on the debut of the iPhone my favorites are from Brownback and Edwards. And yes, I'm pretty sure some Microtards bought the iPhone. Much love dude.

Reality Bites

So, it seems that the Supreme Court is trying to redeem itself after a week of bad decisions and even worse, bad publicity. They have graciously decided to hear from the detainees at Guantanamo regarding their indefinite confinement. This situation has been a black stain on America's honor for far too long. 375 detainees, most of whom have never been and never will be charged with anything, guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong skin color. Hmm, maybe it isn't a good thing the Supremes want to sit in judgment, they've done enough damage for one week.

Wow! In Japan they pay $30 a month for broadband speeds up to 50Mbps, in America Verizon will let you pay $180 a month for speeds up to 30Mbps and the powers that be claim that we have the most effective multiplatform broadband in the world. Considering that we lag behind Estonia (quick, find it on a map), that isn't the best example of being in touch with reality but it is consistent with the mindset of the crew without a clue. They think we'll believe anything.

Which brings me back to the "surge". In the US body count. Our military has just suffered the worst three months of the war in Iraq and it doesn't look like the dying is going to stop any time soon. Meanwhile, the never right wing has itself in a lather about going to war with Iran and we haven't finished the job in Iraq or Afghanistan (bin Laden, been forgotten, whatever). You can put lipstick on a pig, but it still remains a pig and it's still ugly.

Did she or didn't she wear a diaper? Who cares, she still wasn't on the same mental planet as the rest of us.

Thursday Morning Nibbles

The rats aren't just deserting the sinking ship, they are actively trying to help it go down in flames.

It was not illegal, and it was not unconstitutional, but it could not have happened unless the president permitted it and enabled it. And ultimately the president is responsible for what has become, in very large respect, the resulting wreckage of foreign policy, national security policy, budget policy, energy policy and environmental policy under Cheney's direction and on Cheney's watch.

Die Hard just rocked! $8.25 for a matinee ticket and worth every penny. Nonstop action, good quips (I was the only one who laughed when FBI agent Johnson was introduced), and great special effects. I'd actually like to see it again but there are so many other movies coming out in the next month and my budget just can't support the ticket prices.

I voted to give myself a raise, but it didn't work out nearly as well as it did for members of the House. $4400 for a cost of living raise, that's probably more than some people earned last year. The crew without a clue, indeed. While the average American is worrying about how exist with the current cost of living, the powers that be are worried about the cost of living extremely well (clew). Like they weren't rich to begin with. $170,000 a year each of taxpayers money just so they can ignore what their constituents want. Must be nice. Can't wait for the Senate version.

I'm looking for a new job, my current employers are not helping my finances, they keep making my hours later in the day and I can't leave mom alone at night, when she's tired she gets all wacky. I hate job hunting, I really do.

The Big O weighs in on the NBA college draft and how detrimental it is to young athletes. One and done, what a stupid idea. If anything happens to them, they have no education to fall back on, no wonder so many pro athletes go bankrupt.

Die Hard Wednesday

Finally! The movie is out and I am headed off to enjoy it this afternoon. The critics even like it, which makes me nervous but it should be a rocking good time.

Just like quite a few geeks (Kvatch snuck back in for a post), Blade Runner is a favorite of mine, especially the Directors Cut. From the special effects, to the philosophical issue of what makes one human, to the array of stars that populate the movie it was a movie that made you think. I went to see Harrison Ford and got Edward James Olmos, Rutger Hauer, Joanna Cassidy, Darryl Hannah, Sean Young, William Sanderson and M. Emmet Walsh with him. The soundtrack was brilliant and the visual effects were stunning, portraying a depressingly accurate version of our impending future, complete with bad weather. Belated, happy birthday wishes to a movie that has held up and even improved over time. Plus it has one of my favorite movie lines of all time. Almost unconscious from the beating that Leon is administering come the line "Wake up, time to die". Still cracks me up after all these years.

According to David Pogue and Dizzy Dean, "it ain't bragging if you've done it". I want an iPhone, I do, I do. Why couldn't it be on the Verizon network? That would have been sweet.

I am so surprised. It seems that in 2006 the rich got richer, like a lot richer. I'm surprised that they printed it, but then the cynic in me took over and I found a plausible reason. It seems that the Cost of Living Extremely Well (CLEW, no joke) has gone up. I guess we're supposed to feel sorry for them. Poor babies, it must be hard on them to realize that their money doesn't go as far as it used to.

More people should administer the verbal smackdown to she who should not be named. If the average person had made the same comments, they would be in jail. For making terrorist threats, but then she isn't normal, is she?

Everything But The Kiss

The only thing I have to say about the recent Supreme Court rulings is this. Sandra Day O'Connor should never have another night of peaceful sleep. Every day that goes by erases whatever good she might have accomplished in her years on the bench. The senators who rolled over like little lap dogs begging for a treat and allowed Roberts and Alito to have lifetime positions on the bench should also never know a good night's sleep ever again. Then they can fry in H E double hockey sticks. We knew the court was going to tilt right but everybody pretended (or got paid off or blackmailed) that it wouldn't matter. Well it did and now not only are we truly screwed, but we didn't even get a kiss. And the best part is, it will only get worse.

Hold On To Your Hats

IMG_6327, originally uploaded by Toms World.

The opening performance of The Full Monty: The College Years, wasn't going as well the director had hoped since some of the performers didn't understand the definition of full and didn't look comfortable playing their parts. The red and white thongs were a nice touch, don't you think?

Anther random entry in the Random Flickr Blogging project from those fine people at If I Ran the Zoo

Sunday Morning Snickers

Quote of the week has to be from Juan Williams over at Fox, by way of Raw Story (with video). Something tells me he won't be getting a Christmas card from Cheney this year.

"Yes. There's an executive order," said Williams. "What you have is, not only is it that there is classified documents, we don't know where they go, what happens to them, emails disappear in this White House, and you say, 'Well, what happened to the emails?' 'Oh no, we have a private account.' This is all a dodge, this is a game in order to keep Dick Cheney in, I guess, some sort of secured undisclosed bunker of his mind."

As has been noted before, blacks are not joining the military (something about dying for nothing), which just goes to show that they aren't as dumb as some people think they look, are they? Unfortunately for the troops who are already being forced to serve past their commitment time, nobody else is either.

Sleep may be free, but a good night's sleep is priceless. Ririan over at the Ririanproject has some helpful tips on how to get effective, restful sleep. Sleep is one of the things that you should do on a daily basis to help maintain your health. From the commercials on television, one would think that everyone was suffering sleep deprivation and needs help, so try these tips before getting a prescription. Your body will thank you.

Konagod has pictures of the chiles he's planning on growing. There will be a hot time in the old garden bed next summer. I wonder where I can get some?

Did you know that your prescription medicine might be contributing to your weight gain? From slowing the metabolism (beta blockers) to corticosteroids (ramp up the appetite), they can undermine the best of intentions when it comes to being healthy. The researchers wonder why other drugs have this effect and can't make a generalization as of yet. In TCM we would say that since the drugs have to metabolized by the liver and kidneys, that they are overtaxed and can't do their proper jobs. The kidneys no longer have the energy to warm the cookfire, so there isn't enough heat to keep the cauldron boiling, which means the spleen can't do its job of transporting and transforming food and the system slows down proportionately. Birth control pills can be a major culprit also.

Yesterday I installed the new security update and then restarted the machine. When I opened Firefox it informed me that there were updates to four of my extensions and did I want to update? Stupidly I said yes, and when FF restarted I was at the Colorful Tabs homepage. I had been using the NASA Launch theme which is dark and the CT wasn't working on it, I had left a note on the developer's site so I thought the problem had been fixed. I opened the preferences, clicked on settings and my whole Mac froze, which has never happened in three years. I restarted, reopened Firefox and everything had been reset to the defaults. My home pages were gone, ForecastFox had to be reprogrammed and most of the cookies were nowhere to be found so I spent the rest of the morning trying to recover.

I never combine updates, what the heck was I thinking? And the worst part was, that I knew when I pushed the accept button that it was a stupid move. I got what I deserved and you can bet I will never do that again.

Sad, Glad And Very Bad

Sgt. Frank Sandoval died the other day and I didn't post about it because I was too upset. After a long and heroic battle against a traumatic brain injury, he finally lost the fight and succumbed to the odds and became another statistic in a war that very few people support and even fewer can tell you why it was important that he paid the ultimate price. Inquiring minds want to know, will he (and others like him), count in the Iraq casualty rolls or are they consigned to the dust bins of the don't ask, don't tell division of death statistics? Rest in peace Frank and thank you for your sacrifice, I just wish it hadn't been in vain.

Switching gears, nyah, nyah, nyah. As an eldest I say, "take that you interlopers, that'll teach you!" Oh well, one has to take pleasure in the little things, like being naturally smarter than your little brothers. Can you tell that I'm four years old, I mean older, than my brothers?

Speaking of childish behavior, I see that other people have noticed that Darth, Duck!, Dick Cheney can't, and even more importantly, won't. play well with others. By design, and it looks like, malice aforethought. I guess when your chief of staff gets convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, it's pretty easy to imagine that there is a better possibility of high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance occurring with the full knowledge of the executive involved.

My bicycle was in the shop for a few days getting a tuneup. I got it back this afternoon and it was riding so smooth, right up until the kid next door came around the corner against traffic and collided with me in a blind corner. I managed to stay on the bike, but the rear rim got bent and back to the shop it goes. I'm never going to get a regular routine going at this rate. Oh yeah, the kid's okay. And so is his bike.

Why Are We Stuck With These People?

It's official. All those heart problems have affected Dick Cheney's ability to comprehend reality and taken the people in his office along for the ride. The office of the Vice President is part of the Executive Branch, it isn't a separate entity that is accountable to no one. There are three separate and equal branches of government according to the Constitution that he supposedly swore to uphold, and crossing your fingers only counts in grade school. Of course, if you want to hold onto to that little fiction, it also means that you aren't covered by executive privilege and you can be subpoenaed and forced to testify on your way to the hoosegow. His parents definitely knew what they were doing when they named him. What a dick.

Instead of spending money on body armor, reinforced vehicles or ships that can actually float on water (how could an engineer screw up Archimedes's principle?), taxpayer money has been wasted on psychic teleportation, gay bombs, and other assorted fringe projects. Why not just go for the phaser or an ion gun? It's one thing to plan for the future, but the present needs attention too. Fourteen soldiers dead in two days tells me that maybe, just maybe, a little more money might be spent on protecting the troops we have now or there won't be any need to protect them in the future since there won't be enough left to protect the United States or wage war on another undeserving country. Barry McCaffrey can suck it up and unretire if he feels that the troops aren't giving their all in the debacle that is known as the Iraq war. Great planning, just what I've come to expect from the crew without a clue.

Whatever happened to common sense?

Wednesday Observations

Snicker. I've always wondered about annulments. When I was a little girl I was under the impression that you could only get one if you hadn't had sex in a marriage but then it started being granted to couples who had had kids. Such as Joe Kennedy II. He and his wife had twins before he divorced her to marry his former aide and then had his first marriage secretly annulled because the new wife wanted to be married by a priest. Tough toots, that little bit of stupidity has been reversed. His first marriage is as valid, if not more, than his current one. People running around acting like their heads have been cut off, hyperventilating over the defense of marriage because gays want to get married and not a peep about all the divorces and annulments which definitely give marriage a bad name.

I had this classmate who swore by bee venom therapy for his rheumatoid arthritis and convinced other people to try it. Some people got relief but the pain of the sting is a definite deterrent to regular practice.

If you have an Ipod and Itunes there is very little need to continue to buy video and music software or portable stereo equipment which is probably one of the major reasons in the decreasing sales at electronic stores. I refuse to shop at Circuit City since they laid off their higher paid workers who had all the knowledge and Best Buy never has what I'm looking for. But maybe, just maybe, the economy is slowing down and this is one of the harbingers of bad news, FedEx thinks the economy is already soft and is hoping that things will get better by the end of the summer. Fat chance.

Which style of lacing uses the least amount of shoelace? Did you know that there was a mathematical solution to the problem? I didn't know there was more than one way to lace up my shoes, I thought velcro was the alternative.

I've Been Rated!

I got into trouble because I mentioned torture three times and drugs twice. I don't think it is completely accurate because according to my labels, I've mentioned torture at least 45 times. Oh well, I guess I should be grateful for small favors.

War, Discrimination, Denial And Other Insignificant Issues

Throwing good money after bad and it didn't help a thing, what a surprise. Two of the ten most unstable countries in the world are Iraq and Afghanistan, the rest are in Africa. We've rearranged the deck chairs as many times as we can and the ship is still sinking. Let's hope we don't go down with it.

I'm around mentally disabled people every day and some of them who can't even tie their shoes, can tell you more about Iraq or the deficiencies of George Bush than some of the "normal" people that I deal with. Almost every one of them votes regularly and at first I thought they weren't competent enough to understand the issues. They have changed my mind. With what normals call an inability to comprehend more than one concept at a time, I call focus. They take that ability and learn everything on the ballot and can tell you why they are voting a particular way, which is more than I can say about most of my acquaintances or some of the more radical people on the right. And it is very difficult to influence their choices. Most of them are liberal, but one of them is a hardcore Republican and even he admits that he couldn't vote for George a second time. It makes one wish that everyone paid this much attention to the issues.

Tha ability of the Japanese to deny that many citizens of Nanking were raped and murdered continues to astonish me. They remind me of those who don't believe the Holocaust happened, no matter what evidence is presented. I guess when you consider people of other countries to be not as valuable as you it is easier to dismiss the rapes, deaths and destruction as cleaning up the neighborhood. I wonder what the revised version of Operation Iraqi Freedom will entail since we haven't been treated to the complete truth on anything since the current administration took office.

Do you have a problem with productivity and getting things done on time? Well, here is a list of GTDs to help you organize your life to the last nanosecond. For both Mac and Windoze. With names like Remember The Milk and FusionDesk, how can you resist?

Zap those superbugs right out of the air. In hospitals and rest homes that sounds like a good idea but it shouldn't be everywhere. A totally clean environment won't help healthy people to stimulate their immune systems.

Tiger has a cub. Sportswriters think they're funny, but congratulations are in order and highly doubt that he would be interested in a cigar. I do hope they call her Alexis instead of Sam, not that my opinion is important.

It Is Pronounced Poke, Not Pock!

Lompoc, as in POKES along. I love The Closer, but when television talks about the prison in Lompoc, the absolute least they could do is to pronounce it correctly. Other than that, the show was very enjoyable.

Lompoc, as in pokes along. Please!

Converging Timelines

Wow! Some talented geeks cobbled together the plane crash scenes from Lost, using the perspective of Desmond, the Others and the Losties. What a great idea! It makes more sense if you have been watching the show and it might reignite some interest if you had stopped (that would be me).
It might not be perfect (how could I know, I haven't been watching since the last few episodes of the second season), but it does answer a few questions.

Avoiding The Obvious

Like quite a few bloggers, I am suffering from burnout. The same thing day after day except that the crimes become more obvious and the public less observant. So, I've been reading other people's comments to get an idea of how people are feeling and came across this insightful one from "trippin" over at Common Dreams..

This is precisely what this ludicrous immigration bill was intended to do: milk the working poor US citizen. And it’s expanding to the upper middle class. Besides importing slave labor from Mexico, this government (who is supposed to be working for us) pushes for increased H1B visas for skilled positions, provides incentives for exporting jobs overseas, and protects a runaway health care system.

These, coupled with astronomical housing costs, usurious homeowners insurance costs, gouging at the gas pump, an enormous deficit to fund an occupation without end, and endless tax breaks for the wealthy, and the picture is bleak for the middle class and working poor that have made America what it is today.

Either you’re a pig fornicating CEO in today’s America, or you ain’t. It’s really that simple.

Continuing in avoidance mode, I am really looking forward to the third season premiere of The Closer. Mom and I got caught up last week by way of Netflix, and we are really excited to get to watch Brenda and the crew solve another season of interesting stories. And unlike the Washington Post, it isn't just Breanda, all of the characters have fully defined personalities and their own little idiosyncrasies. I started watching because of J.K. Simmons and found out that G.W. Bailey has a great role as Provenza. I loved him in MASH and nothing has changed in all these years, he still cracks me up. And yes, Kyra Sedgwick (who I first noticed in Miss Rose White) is an awesome actress as well as beautiful.

Also from the Wa Po, we have the wonderful no-touching story. The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if students aren't going to be forced to wear uniforms, march to and from classes while singing the National Anthem and forced to participate in extremely structured activities so they will become obedient Americans. All in an effort to leave no child behind. Yup, these kids are going to have wonderful life skills, aren't they? Protected since birth, life really will be a series of hards knocks that they won't have a clue how to deal with.

Random Flickr Blogging 5788

IMG_5788, originally uploaded by Em Darling.

The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out, but the caterpillar steadily munches (up to 27,000 times its body weight) on its way towards beauty.




Another random entry in the Random Flickr Blogging project.

Sunday Morning Musings

I admit it, Shai Shai is spoiled. She likes to go out to eat with us (Rock Bottom is her favorite they have puppy ice cream) and wander through stores that allow puppy visits, but I absolutely refuse to dress her up in anything that doesn't serve as protection from the weather. Especially not in anything that says Biatch. I did take her to one of the pug meet ups in San Francisco and that was a real hoot but she hasn't been to any community events in a long time, San Jose is the opposite of dog friendly.

What is so important about colorable scroll bars? I was using the Redshift V2 theme and my scroll bar was the same graphite color as it is in any other application. I just downloaded the NASA Night Launch theme (and I'm going to play with the subskins), same thing. The new Firefox 3.0 rumors include that little tidbit and "intelligent hyphenation of text and automatic ligatures for web fonts." I'll alert the media.

Listening to the birds chirping in the morning is one of life's little pleasures. Outdoors where they belong. Unfortunately, if you live in Oregon, the birds are disappearing quickly due to environmental factors. This includes the meadowlark which is the state bird and the red-breasted robin, a personal favorite.

Pursuant to yesterday's rant about the security contractors, further investigation has revealed that they are treated no better than our wounded veterans when they get back. I guess it just goes to show that the little (as in not rich or powerful) people of the United States are as disposable as Pampers to those who aren't willing to serve, but want everyone else to do their dirty work for them. Sigh.

Just Because

Wisdom. You have to love a line that goes "worry is as effective as trying to solve an algebra problem by chewing bubblegum". The knees quote is extremely true, as are the ones about beauty magazines and getting to know your parents.

Stinking To High Heaven

The smell of BS is quite strong, which is what happens when there is so much of it being slung by the current administration. Unfortunately, it's just one more drop in the bucket.

While the 101st Fighting Keyboarders have encouraged everybody and their brother to join the military, to support the troops and the current idiot in chief, there has been a behind the scenes effort to conduct the war using a military that the citizenry were to know nothing about. But then they started dying.

It seems that we were so busy going to war with the Army we had and not the Army we wanted, that the administration arranged to buy their own private military. What would Patton, MacArthur and Eisenhower have to say about this?They are probably spinning in their graves so fast that they could be a whole new source of energy.

The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

snip

The military plans to outsource at least $1.5 billion in security operations this year, including the three largest security contracts in Iraq: a "theaterwide" contract to protect U.S. bases that is worth up to $480 million, according to Scott; a contract for up to $475 million to provide intelligence for the Army and personal security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and a contract for up to $450 million to protect reconstruction convoys. The Army has also tested a plan to use private security on military convoys for the first time, a shift that would significantly increase the presence of armed contractors on Iraq's dangerous roads.

Outsourcing the military, what a concept. What's next, a call center in India? You know, I've been wondering something. Why does the military need security? Don't they have their own weapons? Aren't they supposed to be trained to defend themselves? How did previous armies protect themselves? Isn't it enough that the lowest paid members of the military die the most often, supposedly defending democracy? But now we have new "unsung heroes" and our troops are considered to be equipment.

Wayne described security contractors as "the unsung heroes of the war." She said she believed the military wanted to hide information showing that private guards were fighting and dying in large numbers because it would be perceived as bad news.

The reason why it would be perceived as bad news, is because it is! For a variety of reasons, not the least is that with the largest military budget on the planet, we have to supplement our troops with civilian contractors in order to conduct a war? WTF is up with that?

Mr. Bush, you have destroyed our military. Hundreds of years of military history is worth nothing due to your continued incompetence. You have ruined this country in numerous ways, but what you have done to our troops went past unconscionable long ago. You forced them to go to war woefully unprepared; then you force them to go back time and again for extended stays; you have left the heartland of America unprotected by keeping the National Guard in a country that isn't their nation; you haven't taken good care of the troops who are injured, both physically and mentally; you refuse to acknowledge those who have made the ultimate sacrifice; and now you have shamed us and them by using mercenaries to do the jobs that our troops volunteered for, and then like everything else in your misbegotten administration, you tried to cover it up. Shameful doesn't quite cover your crimes against the United States, but treason does.

Fortunately for you, Americans just don't get as worked up as the Romanians, we just complain until the next election. And if history is any guide, we elect someone worse.

3B's

Saturday Morning Fripperies

Last night I was having this discussion with a friend about how great the DVR is. I need a dual tuner so I can watch something besides what I'm recording and he wants a triple, which could really be handy. The DiSH DVR is pretty basic, it only records exactly what you program, it doesn't search out shows by name and record only the new ones. Which is why I would like to get a Tivo that I could program from the computer. Glenn Derene over at Popular Mechanics has a great article about how the DVR revolution is changing how and what we watch and how advertising and programming are changing to catch up. I agree with one of the commenters, more shows like Firefly and less American Idol.

Time waster of the morning? How to whistle for those who can't. It didn't work for me but that's okay.

Happy story of the morning? This two year old girl managed to survive the currents of a raging river, two nights alone in the woods and then she found the searchers. With berries in her hand that she was saving for breakfast.

Self confidence isn't really an issue with anyone in my family, for some reason we always act like we know what we are doing and can fake it pretty well when we don't. Some others aren't so lucky, therefore these tips might be helpful.

Okay, enough avoidance. What kind of sick bastard goes around shooting dolphins? A $20,000 fine plus jail time for each count would be a great beginning of some type of justice. Being eaten by a Great White Shark, slowly, would also be appropriate for the perpetrators. Probably one of the reasons why this kind of crime didn't happen in the seventies and eighties is because we had grown up watching Flipper and considered dolphins to be water people. Or, we had a major crush on Luke Halpin.

Wasted Days And Wasted Nights

How anyone could be under the impression that things have improved in Iraq since we deposed Saddam Hussein and introduced daily bombings to civilian life, is beyond me. Unfortunately there are still some out there who foolishly cling to the idea that Operation Iraqi Freedom has made things better for the citizenry, despite stories such as this one about the elderly who have been abandoned in the war zone. It's sad getting old by yourself, but to have bombs and gunfire as a steady background staccato, must be terrifying.

I'm not fond of tunnels, I can handle the short ones but I worry about earthquakes when I travel through one in California, so I doubt if I would be comfortable for 21 miles through the Alps. At least it isn't underwater, I'm definitely not doing that. I understand why it's needed but I wouldn't want to trade the view for speed. On the other hand, I'm not commuting on a regular basis.

We finally got some warm weather here in the Bay area, which is making my tomatoes very happy. Unfortunately, this has also meant mosquitoes and they are finding me very tasty this year. I'm used to the occasional bite on the extremities, but the ones on my forehead and ear are a little irritating. Caught one in the act and it won't be doing that anymore.

You don't say. Who would have thought that this would happen? My normal answer would be "anyone with half a brain", but somehow it still slipped by the crew without a clue. It really doesn't look like protecting America and her citizens is part of the agenda of this administration. And by the way, it is nothing to be proud of that by 2014 the Guard would be at pre-2001 levels, which were only 75% of full strength to begin with. Is there any branch of the military that hasn't been thoroughly compromised? We would be up a creek without a paddle (love that picture!) if a real army attacked us. And don't think that the rest of the world isn't figuring that out.

The Russians have come to the somewhat logical conclusion that the new solar array that was attached to the Space Station blew out the computers. I would have to agree since the timing matches. In addition to that little glitch, now there is going to be a spacewalk so they can staple down a thermal blanket that ripped loose during liftoff. What goes up, must come down, according to the old saying and that force known as gravity. Let's hope that no one gets hurt.

How lazy can one be? Well, for those of you who like to play rock-paper-scissors, there is an electronic version of the game that fits on your keychain and it's sold in packs of two for $8.89.

Can't afford an IDoll? Now you can build your own sex doll out of spare parts that you might have lying around the house. Depending on your job, this might be considered NSFW.

Thursday Morning Nibbles

Wil Wheaton elegantly states what most of us are thinking about the upcoming presidential election. My only quibble is that ever since 1968 I've thought that the campaigns went on too long. It only takes a few weeks to decide American Idol, why should it take years to decide who is going to be the next President? And then there is always the next election. It never ends.

You call them smoke angels, I say it looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

When something is built by the lowest bidder, you get what you pay for, the cheapest product. This is okay if you are buying a can opener, not so good if you are building a space station. The design sucks and it has taken way too long to get it stabilized. It makes me wonder what else is going to go wrong.

With all the so-called terrorists (formerly innocent Americans) running around, with Osama been forgotten still running loose, our government has the time, money and manpower to waste on setting up a Waco style situation. Over taxes. And then they say they have no plans to do anything except wait it out. Ooh, I believe that one.

Ten diet hacks to keep you slim and trim. Most of the them are pretty helpful, number three's timetable is a little optimistic. Adding a new habit is a good thing, but every day will be too much of a change, too fast and most people won't continue. Once a week is often enough.

It's Flag Day, is your's in good condition?

Health, Humor And More Health

We all know that healthcare has been fraught with problems lately, but to ignore a woman lying on the floor of the emergency who is vomiting blood is definitely a new low. Besides the sheer incompetence of the people involved, why are they even in the profession if they have no compassion for those who need help? In Chinese Medicine we believe that blood belongs inside the body and other than menstruation or deliberate needling to release blood, it belongs in the vessels and nowhere else. Involuntarily expelling blood is an emergency situation and should be treated at a hospital. Immediately. Too bad this lady was already there. Didn't they know the cameras were rolling? Everybody who was working that day should be fired and some should be prosecuted. Absolutely shameful.

Here there be dragons. Have you seen the map of the world according to the United States? Pretty funny and a little too accurate, especially if you're an isolationist.

Bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and frequent or urgent urination that suddenly appears and persists for longer than two weeks, should be investigated by a competent medical professional if they have not been your usual symptoms when you don't feel well. This is good advice for both sexes but for a woman they can be early indicators of ovarian cancer and the sooner treated, the better the chances of survival. The new guidelines are due to be released on June 25th, but it's good advice and should be publicized as much as possible.

You're only as old as you feel, which means that according to my joints I'm old but my spirit is much younger. I will admit that there are a few habits some might consider to be the province of old people but I am more than willing to keep trying new things. However, they can't be dangerous to my life or limb. The reason why the military is extending the ages where you can enlist is because they are desperate for recruits, not that we're aging better. Nice try though.

Tuesday's Oddities

Well, that was short-lived. Some people are way too vindictive for their own good and the Georgia Attorney General is a perfect example of how not to get along with people. Genarlow Wilson deserves to be set free and the effort to turn him into a hardened criminal must be stopped. Criminalizing sex between teenagers is ridiculous, you can't legislate them into not having sex or punishing them for behavior that comes naturally. Enough already, aren't there more important things that the Attorney General could be doing?

How is China like the Taleban? They knock down religious statues. When the Taleban did it in the nineties, the world was outraged, which is probably why China went to so much trouble to cover it up. It seems that China is undergoing a crackdown on religious activities. Buddhism is a peaceful religion but it looks like the efforts to eradicate it in Tibet are on the upswing.

Remember Bush's enthusiastic reception in Albania? It seems that someone stole his watch while he was mingling with the crowd.

I had the unfortunate experience of trying to match a printer with the Vista operating system. What a load of elephant crap! In order to use a USB 2.0 A/A cable, I had to install software and then I had to research as to why it wasn't recognizing the cable. Turns out I had to go into Properties and force it to run in XP compatibility mode, reboot and now Vista recognizes the cable. It never recognized the printer, no matter what I did, as far as Vista was concerned there was nothing on the other end of the cable. We're going to get my friend a new printer this week. All I had to do with my Powerbook, was to plug it in. That being said, I still wouldn't use Safari on a Windows machine because I prefer Firefox. I can customize it the way I want.

If you have completed the requirements for graduation, you shouldn't have to complete eight hours of community work to get your diploma because someone in the audience cheered as you went across the stage. Unless you are in Galesburg, IL. And aren't melanin impaired.

Monday Morning Musings

Big brother is watching you to make sure you don't take too long a tea break. Malaysia has installed cameras into government offices and not just for security reasons. According to one brainwashed worker it's all good.

Abdul Mubin Ismail, who works in the youth and sports department, told The Star that the move was "not to pinpoint our errors but to mold us into becoming more responsible." He added that the surveillance could also curb office politics and sexual harassment.

People look online for some of the strangest things. Someone came to my blog by way of "chinese woman with small A cup tits" and ended up here. Search engines can give very strange results.

Almost two years after Katrina made landfall and horrendous stories are still making their way into the headlines. It seems that in addition to all the other atrocities that occurred under cover of an emergency, pet dogs were deliberately shot and killed after forcing their owners (some at gunpoint) to leave them behind. We aren't talking Rottweilers and Pit Bulls, but toy poodles and other dogs, some of which were tied up and no threat to anybody. It really looks like the New Orleans police department used Katrina as an excuse to let their evil side out. I guess it makes it easier to spot the bad guys, they're wearing uniforms.

With what Army? If we get into a war with anybody else, it will have to be up to the Air Force, because the Army, Marines, National Guard and the Reserves are completely tapped out. The Navy can lob in some missiles and millions of innocent civilians can be killed because we don't want Iran to go nuclear. How in the heck are we going to get out of this handbasket? It's getting a little warmer than I'd like.

Finally! Common sense prevails over abject stupidity. Of course the prosecutor is going to object but this was a case that should never have been brought to trial. Ten years for a blowjob was a little over the top.

Random Flickr Blogging 1515

IMG_1515, originally uploaded by peelwheel.

One of my favorite sayings and the one most Americans forget. RFB reminds me of the shuffle function on the Ipod, not all that random.


Another entry into the Random Flickr Blogging Meme.

The Stench Is Strong

The first thing I read this morning was the sad story of the shooting in Wisconsin and I decided that maybe I should read something else since it was so depressing. That was how I discovered that George Will had gone off his rocker once again. Like most people who don't have to worry where their next meal, much less their next check, is coming from, he displays how extremely capable he is at playing with numbers and not reality.

In the 102 quarters since Ronald Reagan's tax cuts went into effect more than 25 years ago, there have been 96 quarters of growth. Since the Bush tax cuts and the current expansion began, the economy's growth has averaged 3 percent per quarter, and more than 8 million jobs have been created. The deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product is below the post-World War II average.

Oh George, please stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes. In the eighties I made more money than I do now and I had benefits. In the nineties I made minimum wage while studying for my Masters and was able to live on it. Not very well but I could survive and still go to the movies. Now I have said Masters and make more than minimum wage but I can't pay all my bills and I certainly can't attend the movies because the price of the ticket is ridiculously high. I can honestly say that the only thing that has increased in the last 25 years is my level of debt and my inability to pay it off. It isn't that I'm still paying for a meal that I ate in 1989, I'm paying for the schooling that was supposed to improve my ability to earn money but is instead an anchor pulling me to the bottom of the debt sea.

By the way, after 26 weeks people drop off the unemployment rolls but that doesn't mean they are employed. Eight million new jobs. Wow, I wonder where, Wal-Mart or Burger King perhaps? I can drive around Silicon Valley and find continuous blocks of business centers that are standing empty with large For Lease signs on every corner. We have skills but the jobs got outsourced to India and China. A radiologist has plenty of skills that are needed, but now the hospitals can and do have someone from India look at the X-rays over the internet, so that expensive education is more of a liability than a help because the student loans still have to be paid off.

Extreme poverty has increased in this country but he conveniently doesn't mention that. Or that food insecurity thing either. Of course some fine upstanding Republican will say that if they would get an education and apply themselves they wouldn't be in that position and to that I say, get a grip on reality. How can one get an education, especially a well-rounded one, if the budgets are so tight that the schools can't afford to buy modern equipment to train the students for the future? How can one get an education if you are working two jobs that replaced the one that used to pay the bills, to keep food on the table and a roof over your head? It is so easy to sit in an ivory tower and think you and your friends have all the answers because your privileged world looks so perfect, that you are so much better than everyone else. Paris tried that and look where she ended up.

Oh and by the way, John Edwards isn't unemployed, he has a full-time job running for President and unlike most of the other candidates the government isn't paying him a salary while he campaigns. Which is quite different from a previous VP candidate, since he didn't run for a Senate seat at the same time he ran for a higher office, but hey that's a positive and you can't mention anything like that, can you?

Big Brass Blog

Oh Happy Day

For a great Saturday morning laugh, head on over to to the Manbottle Library (of arcane knowledge and questionable humor) for a great story about anger management. Even the icon for the website will make you smile. Too funny.

Common sense has left the building. Charging an eight year old boy with sexual misconduct because he admitted touching the breasts of his 14 year old babysitter during a game of truth or dare, is a little over the top, don't you think? Yes, the charges have been dropped, but what were they thinking? Of course an eight year old boy is going to be a willing participant at doing something that gives the illusion of being forbidden. Sheesh.

Deja vu is an interesting subject. I have only had a few instances of it so, this explanation might be true, but it doesn't fit what happened to me. We lived in Puerto Rico when I was in elementary school and I had this dream one night of being in a classroom and having answered a question correctly. The teacher was writing on the blackboard, and I was sitting two rows back with a kid in black glasses sitting directly ahead of me. I thought it was a strange dream because I was older in it and I had never had a male teacher, much less one with a bushy black mustache and acne scars. Six years later, I'm in a U.S. History class, I had just answered a question and Mr. Lemon with his bushy black mustache and acne scars turns from the blackboard with his chalk in his hand, just like I remembered. Exactly like I remembered from the dream, not a similar situation. He was the only teacher I ever had until college that had a mustache. Very weird.

Perhaps they could supplement their ranks with donut eating champions. Cut out the middle man. Sort of. Or maybe Hollywood could come up with a buddy cop show as an incentive since Cops doesn't seem to be helping with recruitment.

Whatever you do, don't hold up a sign that says Equal Rights for Robots in front of religious groups. That can and will get you hauled off to jail. Ah yes, the police state is just around the corner.

Helpful tips on eating to control your mood. Also will work as a great way to lose weight if you follow the advice and then add some exercise.

The 100 hottest women, according to lesbians. It is a much more rounded list, not so youth focused, but the site is very busy as you might imagine.

Well worth listening to and will bring another smile to your face. Enjoy!

Friday Morning Quickie

Did you know that if you take too much of a migraine medication containing sumatriptan, that your blood can turn green from the excess sulphur? It happened to this guy and it totally shocked the doctors in the surgery room. Boy would I have liked to have heard the audio during this operation. Oh and by the way, acupuncture works really well for migraines. I've been known to knock one out in one needle, sometimes two. Then you start working on the underlying problem.

Supposedly my tomato plants will bear fruit this year. I hope so, it has been unseasonably cool and the plants are lagging. Hmm, WD-40 dissolves hard kitchen grease. Who knew?

Well, we all knew that the crew without a clue doesn't really have one, but to call and request a meeting with a senator who had passed away earlier in the week and then use the excuse that they were just following up since they hadn't heard from him since May, is just freakin' stupid. Don't they read the papers or listen to the news? Or how about gossip? Yesterday the VP's wife's name was floated as a replacement and they still didn't know that Senator Thomas had passed away? Shameful, just shameful. But somehow, not unexpected.

The Shawskank Redemption. Jon, that was absolutely brilliant. This story never ends, but it gets funnier by the moment. Hopefully Ms. Hilton will have to return to jail to serve out her sentence. Just because she has the DTs is not a reason to be let out early. Especially not to a home filled with luxury items. I don't know too many convicted felons that get to dine on caviar, drink champagne and have celebrity guests drop by while they are incarcerated. Even sitting at home she causes trouble. A showdown between the judge and the Sheriff's department. Why chase the police car, don't they know where it's headed? Besides the helicopter should be able to follow car 865 to its destination. I'm almost starting to feel sorry for her because she is probably going to be penalized because everyone is so irritated.

Thursday Morning Nibbles

Requiring passports in order to leave the country and then not being able to handle the requests for all the people who now have to get one, seems to be standard operating procedure for the crew without a clue. As usual, the government requires something and then neglects to plan for the amount of people who need to comply. Wait until the fingerprint requirement kicks in. This would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

Seriously, does this woman look comfortable to you? To me she looks like she is asking Putin to get that grinning lout off of her. Again.

Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images

Oops, I forgot to post this the other day, but then I remembered. Funny how that happens.

Ooh, ooh, newsflash! It seems that ignoring Democrats for the last six years is going to make it harder for President Bush to get anything done in Congress. I'm glad they told me because it wasn't as obvious as the nose on Cyrano's face. And the study is trying to lay the blame at the Democrats door because of some instance where Congress didn't do what Lil' Bush (can't wait to see that show) wanted. Hope they find the right person for the job of dealing with the Senate, but given their previous track record, I doubt it.

Oh no they didn't! Arrested a woman for making faces at a police dog, how childish can you get? If the police dog felt threatened by a drunk woman, then that dog needs a different line of work. Or maybe the handler does. And why would the DA wait almost a whole year before watching the video? I thought everybody's budgets were strapped, that maybe stupid cases wouldn't go to trial and that the government wouldn't waste the taxpayer's money but it seems that I was more foolish than the woman making faces at a dog.

Lying, cheating and stealing. Another one bites the dust. Those wacky Republicans, bringing law and order to the unwashed masses while simultaneously rolling in the dirt with other people's money. I'm afraid to ask how low they can go because every day reveals another disgrace that is quickly forgotten. At this rate we will find out that the United States has been sold to the highest bidder with escrow closing on January 20, 2009.

Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous

What a travesty. The system of justice in this country has completely fallen apart. Unless you are rich, then you can buy your way out. Poor widdle Paris couldn't hack her time in jail and instead of making her serve out her sentence like you or I would have to, they sent her home with an ankle bracelet. When did the rich get to be so special that they are above the law? As we furiously build new prisons to isolate children who have been declared adults, people who have been convicted of minor drug crimes and anybody else that those in authority have deemed to be dangers to society, the rich can whine and moan about how unfair it is that they have to go to jail and get to spend their jail time at home. Surrounded by creature comforts that the average citizen could only dream of. Does anybody doubt that Scooter Libby will be pardoned? If the rich can pay a fine when they commit crimes, how long will it be before they move to eliminate charging them altogether? I guess it boils down to if you can't pay the dime, don't do the crime.

Remember when Dynasty was just a television show? As if the Bush-Cinton-Bush-possible Clinton again presidential scenario wasn't enough to conjure up enough nightmares for the average man, now we have the possibility of such a dynasty in Wyoming politics. Another Cheney in a position they don't deserve and will only use to benefit themselves and their cronies. Lynne Cheney as a senator, give me a break. At least Hillary worked for the position instead of spending her time bashing others and repeating lies that have been told so often that all semblance of reality has left the building.

Maybe daddy can pay a fine and then little Nicole won't have to go to jail either. One suggestion though. Have dad mail it in, the blond hair might convince people that you are one of them, but seeing daddy will blow that little fiction wide open and you might be subject to the penalties that normal people have to endure.

Wednesday Morning Wonderings

Thank goodness. Julie Amero was convicted of a crime that anybody who has ever used a Windows computer, knows were bogus porn charges and that a little common sense should have prevailed. Instead she was railroaded by a system that was so focused on protecting children from sex that it lost the moral high ground. That situation is on its way to being rectified. By way of a new trial. Hopefully she will be acquitted this time, but she will probably never be able to work with kids again. Nice going.

Jon Stewart nailed it when he said "so this is what it takes for Washington to pay attention to a black man from New Orleans." Too bad I can't find the video, I'm sure it will be up soon. Update, here it is.

Every time I read about this case, my blood pressure rises at the extremely obvious injustice, the stupidity and dare I say racism that is glaringly obvious. Teenagers have sex and that isn't going to change. No matter how many laws are passed, it isn't going to change and trying to make an example of an outstanding teen who was on his way to being a contributing member of society and deliberately ruining his life for something that quite a few people do, is downright stupid. Child molester? I don't think so. Just for curiosity's sake, how old was Mary when she gave birth to Jesus?

I've Been Remiss

A few days ago, JollyRoger tagged me with the Random 8 meme, and I haven't done it. Bad girl. These are the rules:

Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.

Hmm, I don't know about 8 other people but I can be a party of the first part.

1. I love rock music, with a partiality to Southern rock but my favorite band is Pink Floyd and my favorite album is Winelight by Grover Washington, Jr.
2. I've lived in five different countries, seven different states and seventeen different cities, sometimes more than once.
   
3. The Army taught me to troubleshoot missile guidance control systems but now I use that same skill for everything from car problems to people.
4. I have serious authority issues. Just because one is white, black, tall, short, rich, poor, your parents helped you out, wearing a uniform, older or bigger than me is not a reason for me to do something that doesn't make sense. A gun negates this attitude
   
5. I worked on John Anderson's campaign in 1980 but I didn't vote because when I got off work at five, the election had already been called in Reagan's favor.
6. My favorite cake is coconut layer. Preferably more coconut than sweet, I'm not really a sweet fan but I love meat and potatoes. Veggies too. I guess I like real food.
7. Injustice, of any sort, sets off number four which makes me say "it's not fair" at least once a day.
8. I'm a five. And proud of it.

There are some people I would like to tag, but they aren't they type who would want to do this. I also forgot to add a link that someone asked me to do several weeks ago. I'm sorry. And I really do believe in sex education.

Sigh. Military hospitals are overworked. Now there's a surprise. Not. And guess what? I don't think it's fair.

The poor hardly ever right wing must be so disappointed, it IS a crime to obstruct justice. Fortunately for Scooter he won't be forced to spend extra time in a mental facility after he completes his jail sentence (like that's going to happen!), unless he has a competency hearing. Now, that's fair.

Dumbing Down

According to one of the commenters at this ABC post on gifted students, there aren't that many gifted students because they aren't being schooled in a "classical" education. Since he is obviously not one of the gifted, it needs to be explained to him that just because one doesn't have the opportunity to learn, much less master, what he considers to be important (Greek, Latin, Philosophy, Art) doesn't make one less gifted, it means one didn't have the opportunity or the exposure.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, someone has come up with a solution for those kids who are gifted but are forced to wait for their classmates to "catch up". A public school where they can go at their own pace. We make allowances in society for people who are below the norm, the same should be done for those who are above. It should be obvious that the farther you deviate from the norm, the harder it is to get along.

I'm not "gifted" but I will admit to being above average. Twice in my life I have been put on answering restriction. When I was in fourth grade I wasn't allowed to participate in the spelling bee, because I read at a college level. It wasn't my fault, I had been a very sick toddler and my dad read to me (I'm a firstborn) and I picked it up rather quickly. Books were much more pleasant than people, there were worlds where I could observe but didn't have to participate in. I'm actually not much different today but that isn't the purpose of this post.

When I was getting my Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it happened again. Concurrent with my schooling, I had a full time job working with a very busy acupuncturist. Since I was almost forty at the time, I had already figured out that book learning had nothing to do with real life and I was determined that when I graduated I wouldn't look like I had just graduated. So, it's now a few years into the program and we were to spend a year following around a teacher in clinic and answer questions in front of patients, to sharpen our skills or embarrass the crap out of us, I never could tell which.

One day there had been this really interesting patient and our teacher asked several questions and nobody knew the answers, except me and I was trying to hide against the wall. Our teacher made me answer (the patient was getting worried that the people treating her were clueless) and we left the room. Just outside the door one of the other assistants bursts into tears. She starts blubbering to the teacher about how she is never going to be as smart as me, etc. The teacher tells her that it wasn't that I'm smarter, it was because I had been apprenticing. Then she told me I wasn't allowed to answer any more questions until the rest of the class caught up.

I was talking with a friend of mine who was a therapist and she got really upset and made me promise to go back to school and object, her reasoning being that they might never catch up. Which I did, then I changed teachers. As our school system leaves more and more children left behind, maybe some changes should be made that don't include standardized testing for every level and allows those who are different to pursue what interests them. Have you tried to find a good mechanic lately? The dumbing down of America is proceeding with breakneck speed and pretty soon the smartest guy in the room is likely to be Chauncey, not that anybody would notice.

Majorly Bummed

I just found out that Steve Gilliard of the News Blog passed away on Saturday at the extremely young age of 41. I had exchanged emails with Steve a few times and the world will be a little less for his passing. Rest in peace, you will be missed.

Random Flickr Blogging 7154

IMG_7154, originally uploaded by mona_kiriakopoulos.

Sushi, beauty in every bite. A feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. And no, it doesn't taste fishy.


RFB explained.

Questions And Observations

Knowing how sensitive men are about this subject, even in the privacy of my own home and with no males on th premises, I kept my smile small. Not to add fuel to the fire, we measure the the thickness, not the circumference. Oh yeah, and time well spent.

Rude change of subject, but maybe one of the reasons that crime is increasing is because opportunities to improve one's lot in life are decreasing. Setting new minimum jail sentences isn't going to prevent crime, it will just fill the already overcrowded prisons to overflowing. Why is it, according to their own statistics, that crime goes up after a few years of a Republican administration and down during a Democratic one? Is it because people find it more difficult to feed and clothe their families, send their children to schools that actually teach them something valuable and to plan for the future? Or is it because when you cut taxes, you have to cut services which include fire and police? Or maybe a combination? Just wondering.

Now that is a great question. Why are retired generals allowed to speak out against the Iraq war but members of the individual ready reserve, aren't? We all know that rank has its privileges, but this is a little ridiculous. Especially since it is almost always the enlisted soldier who is dodging, and sometimes catching, the bullets. If they have fought to bring "freedoms" to the Iraqis, then they should be able exercise those freedoms when when they get home. Opposition to the war is not disloyal, letting your fellow soldiers continue to suffer, is.

Does it really need to be said? Okay, well duh! Of course education is going to help overcome racial biases and the better trained the police officer, the less likely to shoot indiscriminately. But the budgets have been squeezed and training has been condensed, you do the math. Besides, pushing a button in a testing situation is different than confronting a suspect in a tense situation. Testosterone gets added to the adrenaline. Not good for intellectual processing.

One of the funny things about war is that amidst all the death and destruction, the ability to create more weapons to inflict death and destruction has a tendency to increase. On both sides. Until there is an an ultimate weapon, and then we start all over. The longer we are at war in Iraq, the more sophisticated their IEDs will become. While the insurgents continue to be viewed as stupid brown people, little better than savages, they continue to learn from our mistakes and are becoming increasingly able to fight back in an extremely effective manner. So far the only thing that the surge has brought us is the highest two month toll of dead soldiers since the war began and it doesn't matter to the dead (or their families) that it took six times as many bombs. Four years after mission accomplished. Imagine that.

Ten years later and we have a new Babylon 5 trailer for the direct to DVD movie but it should be bittersweet to revisit my old friends. No G'Kar or Franklin for obvious reasons but no Garibaldi? Hopefully, there will be a little bit of Vir, who in a previous life was known as Flounder.

I got one of those scam checks in the mail. I knew it wasn't real even though it looked like it. Yes, I have entered some contests but I never win so I make sure they are free entries. Imagine my surprise to find a check for $2,940.30 in my mailbox. No conditions attached. Yeah and I want to buy a bridge with some swampland underneath it. I did some quick research using the Google and voila', I'm on my way to the post office to add to the ongoing mail fraud case. Wishing just won't make that check worth the paper it's printed on.

Friday Flights Of Fancy

Hmm, the pot calls the kettle black. No hypocrisy there.

Eugene, I totally agree, the next president should be one of the smartest people in the room. I've always wondered why IQ was never a factor and looks were.

I plan on waiting to see Shrek 3 when it comes out on video, but now I know to be aware that the Ugly Stepsister is just a ploy to get kids embrace the transgender lifestyle. At least according to the Illinois Review, and they are specialists at looney ideas.

While on the subject of conspiracy theories, now people are wondering if Heroes will be shut out of Emmy nominations since sci-fi isn't considered to be worthy entertainment. Well, my response to that is just because the show had special effects doesn't make it science fiction. The show was extremely well written with well developed characters and a coherent plotline. Battlestar Galactica suffers from the same problem, people get stuck on the setting and don't pay attention to the work and it languishes in Emmy outer space, like a forgotten child. But if I'm not mistaken, Taken won a big Emmy a few years ago so there is still hope.

Right on. I graduated from Cabrillo High School and I'm proud to say that they were named a Distinguished School this year, the only one in Santa Barbara County. Woohoo! Congratulations.