Iffy at best

The rash of song re-makes really drives me crazy. Just because a song sounded good the first time it was made does not mean that you should re-do it.

For those of you who live(ed) in France and paid attention to Star Academy during season three will remember Elodie. Well, she's gonna pose nude in Gala. Oh my. (thanks for the link Amy!)

I thought I'd be in my new office this afternoon. No. I won't be able to move in until sometime next week. Maybe. We've been informed that the guys who move things around this place will be busy until well into next week. Frickin' A!

I now feel like this 24/7.

So I'm submitting this letter to our property management company tomorrow with our rent. Actually Ahniwa will be submitting it. I'm just writing it. It looks funny. It's only two lines that announce the fact that we don't want to renew the lease.

It's kinda scary knowing that your bedroom won't be your bedroom in a month. The last time I moved out was when I had my apartment in France. And I was so excited to come home that i just threw away anything I couldn't pack. Now I'm actually gonna need all the shit I have. On top of that, living in a house allows you to buy all kinds of crap that you never would have bought living in an apartment. I now have a huge entertainment center, a couch, a TALL bookshelf, a dresser, and tons more shit. What do I not have? Silverware. I think a trip to Ikea during the next month is in order. And some place to buy lots of art.

The swiss are insane.

I really wish that there was more to post about. I love to write, but I'm out of things to say and I really need to eat my lunch.

--THEONLYWAYTOPHONEHOME--

Well, I'm up to 8 visitors a day! Many of those are people looking for the little explanation of what a "hollaback-girl" is. They type that into yahoo and my blog is like 3rd or 4th. But hey, whatever gets me the readership.

Last night was bad. I ended up playing dice with some hooligans at a shady dive while hammered out of my mind on g&ts. Spent the early morning hours heaving over a toilet and trying to rationalize losing my money. God bless tuesdays.

So I turned in a rental application. It's a nice little one bedroom that is east facing so it gets the sunrise. It has a deck, a gas fireplace, gas heating, a nice bathroom, a decently sized bedroom and a pretty nice kitchen. I could definately see myself living there for some time.

My god I'm hungry for fried chicken. I hate that. You get all drunk and then you get a hankering for food ya really shouldn't have.

On a geo-political note, China made a bid for Unocal, the energy company. Unocal produces 1% of the energy used in the U.S. A 19 billion dollar bid by Chinese government owned CNOOC was made at the last minute. The shareholders will vote on this soon.

There seem to be two schools of thought on this. The first is that this is proof that China is becoming a superpower and this is the first sign of their strength. The other is that China is baiting the U.S. government to step in and stop them. Then China can call out to the world of abuse by the U.S. Honestly though, I doubt the U.S. government is going to step in. I don't think the shareholders will let the company go to china.

On a totally unrelated subject, I really hate NPR senior news analyst Daniel Shorr. The old guy needs to f'n retire. They got rid of Bob Edwards, they should take this guy out back and shoot his ass too. If he knew my grandmother had a stroke he could probably find a way to blame the u.s. government. The hatred this man has for the country he lives in blows my mind. But hey, it's a free country. He's allowed to say this stuff.

Now I'm gonna go pass out on the couch in my office and try to forget about the world. I'll let you know how the fried chicken tastes.

--CALLYOURINSURANCECOMPANYNOWANDREPORT--

So SCOTUS ruled on a bunch of stuff yesterday and after Ahniwa's comment I felt I wanted to make a second post. For those of you who don't care, ignore me.

This article talks about the file sharing ruling. My response to Ahniwa's comment outlines my opinion on that subject, except for one point. This article on MSNBC talks about some of the supposed consequences of this ruling as far as technology development is concerned.

I disagree with the idea that development will be stifled. File sharing is ONE aspect of technology development and before a few years ago it was a minor blip on the radar. Technology wasn't stiffled then. It won't be now. People, especially technically proficient young adults are constantly finding ways around the law and the fact that KaZaa, Limewire, et al. haven't been sued already, is a testament to the thriving underground technology business. If they survived this long, they'll continue.

One thing I find interesting about this particular ruling is that the suit was filed by MGM. So this particular ruling, though it did involve all media, was specifically about movies.

Now, movies i understand. I think that not buying movies is bad and I think we should all support the film industry. I know that won't make me the most popular kid on the block, but I believe it. I think that as far as music is concerned, the artists should be given the choice of how they want to release their art.

Whoah, wait, they already are!

Sure enough, the music industry only represents a group of concerned artists with large contracts. There are millions of independent artists who are self-promoting on the web and trying to make it by releasing free mp3s. Instead of a scary 'big business' I think that looking at the industry as more of an exclusive union of artists who want to keep control of their music is ok. There will always be people who aren't down with that, because it's a very exclusive union.

But this law reduces the number of protections that people who are committing a crime have. And to remember that it is and always has been a crime to distribute pirated music is very important. If you do it, there have never been legal protections for you.

If you check a book out from the library, you're not allowed to make copies of it for your own bookshelf. Even if you bought a copy from the book store, if it burns up in a fire, you don't get a free copy. The way intellectual property rights go in this country, that is the interpretation SCOTUS was using.

---

Another ruling was against reporters and 34 states trying to 'protect a reporter's right to protect their sources'.

I think SCOTUS did a great injustice to the system of ethics governing journalists by not clarifying a 1972 decision that said reporters could sometimes be compelled to reveal sources when being interviewed by a Grand Jury.

Starting with the NYTimes propaganda department reporting (or lack thereof) on the Soviet Union, I think that matters of national security make a good case for legally 'outing' a source. The case before the court works specifically.

An unnamed government official leaked the name of an undercover CIA opperative to a journalist. The journalist printed the name of the spy. The printing of the name violates laws, but what's worse is that the journalist would not release the name of the source who should be tried for treason.

If we're going to be honest, I believe revealing the name of undercover agents to the press should be punishable by life imprisonment, if not death. As a government official, it is your responsibility to keep secrets and to protect the lives of those around you who are in the business of protecting national security.

With this particular case I feel that there were two crimes committed. The first was the government official who leaked the name; the second was the reporter who decided to print it.

Irresponsible journalism is a serious problem in the U.S. and the protections available to journalists are extreme and for the most part unecessary. It is automatically in a journalists best interest to keep their sources quiet and in certain cases, it should definately be a legal right that they cannot be compelled by a court of law to reveal names. But in a case where a certain source comitted treason no law should protect their rights. The reporter should go to jail. It is their right to keep their source, but they must face the consequences.

But SCOTUS needed to rule on this. By not taking the case, protection of journalist's 'rights' will become an issue for state legislatures and I think that it will come back to haunt them.


---

Those are the two I really wanted to comment on. Tear me a new one now in the comments section.

Anyway, my point in all of this is that SCOTUS does use logic to make their decisions. Logic and some precedent. It may seem as though they simply decided for big business or against journalistic rights, but upon further analysis of the decisions (and not the commentary on them by CNN,MSNBC et al) one sees the common thread of thought. It's easy to listen to commentators lambasting the court for knee-jerk decisions, but I find that to be trite, erroneous, and condescending toward a group of well educated and diverse group of people, charged with interpreting the constitution and how it applies to specific situations.

That's my take. Have a great afternoon!

--TAKETHETIMETOSHARETHELOVE--

To start things off this morning, there's this from the msn women's section. It's about if he's mr. right. The questions are confusing, inacurate, and diabolically misleading, but hell, if it helps you find out if he's right for you, I say suffer.

Tom Cruise is an f'n moron.

"Lauer: But this wasn't against her will.
Cruise: Matt, I'm - Matt, I'm asking you a question.
Lauer: I understand there's abuse of all of these things.
Crusie: No, you see. Here's the problem. You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do."

Then I found a t-shirt that said, "Tom, teach me the history of psychiatry." I want one. But I can't find 'em anymore. So no link.

incoherrant is the word.

Cruise: No, no, no. Because, you know, it — but what it is, it's that thing where you just — in life, when it just happens, Matt. You know? It just — you meet someone. And it's — I can't even describe it.

I can't stand all the stupidity. More later.

--I'MANEDUCATIONALTESTINGSERVICE--

This article by one of my favorite opinion authors, Victor Davis Hanson, is a good read.

--STARBUCKSNOWHASASTOREINMYBRAIN--

Today the SCOTUS ruled on a case from Kentucky. The case involved a courthouse that displayed a copy of the Ten Commandments next to other "political and patriotic" documents such as the Magna Carta, The Declaration of Independence and the Star Spangled Banner.

The majority opinion struck down the right of the courthouse to display the document. The representative for the courthouse made the argument that the document is political in the context of the display because the Ten Commandments are the "backbone of the American system of justice." SCOTUS called bs. They didn't buy it because in two prior cases, all in lower courts, they argued that placement of the documents did serve a religious purpose but that was ok. By changing the argument completely the SCOTUS just said no. If you have about an hour and a half I suggest reading the decision. It's very well stated and a decent enough read.

This decision makes me wonder what is making people so angry about the Supreme Court. The idea that judges walk in lock-step with a certain political party or religious group shows a certain level of naivete about the court system and the judges themselves. Judges have the ability to act with complete disregard for previous rulings, for precedent in general, but there are repercussions. If one sits down to read not only the majority opinions, but also the dissenting opinions as well, one would see that there is actually logic and argument as the base for every decision, not simply emotional reaction as some would have you believe.

I'm not saying that the court is infalliable, because they definately are. I'm just saying that for the most part their decisions are very rational and interesting to read. If you've got the time.

--NUTRITIONFACTSLIEABOUTYOURBODY--

You gotta see this:

If an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of highway signs, they will eventually produce all the world's great literary works in Braille.

Well, anyway, how's your monday going? Mine's great. Last night Ahniwa and I went up to Seattle to play some darts at Murphy's again. Ahniwa played very well. I played well enough to finish 6 of our 10 games. We weren't on the same team and at the end of it, Ahniwa's team got $30 each for first place and my team got $20 each for second. It was great fun.

Whenever I start playing darts it always manages to create tension between myself and whoever I'm dating. I hate that. But I love darts. But I love my significant other. But I love darts. OH THE HUMANITY!!!

There are two mugs of coffee on my desk. Two. I cannot survive without two 16oz mugs of coffee each morning. I wake up 15 minutes early in order to make the coffee that will get me through the day. As of two weeks ago I didn't need any coffee to get me through the day. If I had some it was a special little treat. Now I need the stuff and I'm scared that I'm getting addicted...or maybe I already am...

I'm still looking for an apartment. If any of you have any leads, let me know.

I'll post again later. I'm kinda brain dead right now.

--THECATALWAYSLANDSONITSFEET--

Darts has made my arm sore. Beer has made my brain sticky. Hunger has made me shaky. Coffee has made me high. And Love...well...I don't think I'm allowed to use the appropriate vocab at work.

Anyway. I've seen these shirts around, but this photo of Clinton is hilarious.

So how's your Friday afternoon? Mine's f'n fantastic. I've gotten a lot of work done without too many meetings today. The office work study is putting flyers up around campus, I'm calling people on the phone, and rumor has it that we get to have our old offices back soon! (they (the construction guys) have been upgrading it over the last week.) yay!

Other than that not much has been going on.

I'm kinda left wondering what the hell happened with the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)decision on housing laws in Chicago. One would think that it would be the republican judges that would have been for this, but Scalia and Thomas both dissented. Crazy. Goodbye homeowner rights. In his dissenting opinion Justice Thomas wrote:

Allowing the government to take property solely for public purposes is bad enough, but extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities. Those communities are not only systematically less likely to put their lands to the highest and best social use, but are also the least politically powerful.

Well said.

Wanna know more about Buckwheat Zydeco? Find more info here! I'm not a fan. Nor will I ever be. And I suspect suckiness around every corner. But rotating chilipeppers get my vote EVERYTIME!

Oh, a big shout-out to my friend Nat who sent me a cd full of Awesome music! I've listened to it twice through already and I'm listening to it at work. Forcing my co-workers to listen to M is great! THANK YOU NAT!

Now I have to head off and...you know...do stuff! Have a great weekend if I don't post again!

--TOOMUCHCOFFEETOOMUCHCOFFEETOOMUCHCOFFEE--

Yesterday wasn't that exciting. I got off work, played a few hours of darts, read the internets, thought about doing something fun but immediately forgot. I went to the g/f's softball game and that was fun but I was tired. Fell asleep and woke up late this morning. Not late for work, I made it on time, just late in general. I made two, count 'em TWO, cups of coffee this morning. I'm double mugging it today. I have a staff meeting to go to at 10am so I'm psyching myself up for it and doping my brain for the drain of meetings.

I hate meetings. They RARELY acomplish anything and are usually just a time for the boss to tell employees how badly they are doing. Donuts. Donuts are always a good idea for meetings. As well as free coffee. I love free coffee.

I really want to work for an idea company. My uncle did that for a while. There's a company in California called Ideo. He worked there. They invented that submarine in The Abyss, cool toothbrushes and that see-thru phone that we all had in the early 90s.

I'm an idea man. I'm the kind of creative genius that when teamed up with an artist of some repute I got hog wild and am completely unstoppable. If you have need of these kinds of creative abilities, lemme know.

So anyway, this meeting this morning is not a creative meeting of the minds. This is a bitch session because my bosses are stressed. And rightly so. The first group arrives on the 12th of next month. That's really f'n soon.

So I gotta go to my meeting now. Hope y'all have a great day. I'll write more later.

(Amy-I'll write back to you/call this afternoon! Promise!)

--REVENGEANDROASTBEEFAREISBESTWHENSERVEDCOLD--

Dude, wanna destroy the world? Here's how.

this is my favorite part:

Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks. Keeping the strangelet stable is incredibly difficult once it has absorbed the stabilizing machinery, but creative solutions may be possible.

A while back, there was some media hoo-hah about the possibility of this actually happening at the RHIC, but in actuality the chances of a stable strangelet forming are pretty much zero.

There really is no excuse for being as crazy as the cat that is living with us. Tim calls it his. I dunno.

So this morning Toby, that's the little bastard's name, decided that he was going to get into my room. At any cost. He started meowing as loud as he possibly could at the door and when no one showed up he began slamming himself against the solid wood blockade. I mean hell, it was keeping him from 'fun!' He not only managed to blast the door open, he knocked over my laundry basket that I had specifically put before my door to keep incidents such as this one to a minimum. Then he comes in and jumps on the bed. Stupid kitty.

You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it... perhaps Mars

The other night I got to hear one of my neighbors having loud and wild sex. I could only hear the female part but damn it was loud. Our house is surrounded by houses with women living in them so I have no idea where it was coming from. But it was loud.

"I don't know how to put this... but, I'm kinda a big deal... people know me... I'm very important... I have many leather-bound books... and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"

I had a donut and not enough coffee this morning. I'm eating a snickers right now. When I start eating more healthy food, you'll be the first to know.

"Hold me, Anakin. Hold me as you did by the lake on Naboo!"

Other than that it's been a slow day. Kinda. I've had to prepare all kinds of crazy reports on the total number of host families our program has in its files. The crazy thing is that no one has ever compiled a complete list in the 20 year history of our program. I don't have the time to work on this project so basically I pulled a number out of my ass and gave it to my boss. We'll see if she believes it or not.

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

That is all. Have a great day!

--CALLANDCONFIRMYOURAPPOINTMENTATYOURCONVENIENCE--

Last weekend rocked. We hosted Joseph's bachelor party where I got way too drunk, delivered a moving but drunken toast, played the drums for about an hour and a half, waxed philosophic about Star Trek, talked movies, talked about my experience at Evergreen, but had a GREAT time. Ended up at Ribeye at 5:30am. That was crazy.

I slept most of Sunday, but I did manage to go for my first run of the season. I need to start doing that more. But it's raining right now so I don't think I will.

Today was Joseph's wedding. It was held WAAYYY out at Fry Cove Park and was very beautiful. Very moving vows.

Anyway, I have a LOT of work to get done before the day is out. PLease have a good day. Please.

--SAMSUNGSANGTWANGYSONGS--

Do any of you read Penny-Arcade? If you don't, you should.

This website is something interesting that I did with my students last year in France. I took a Cigarro & Cerveja comic and had them fill in the dialog.

The teacher who set up this website asked permission and then posted the strips. I asked for the author of C&C for permission to copy his strips. He never responded. Twice. So I did it anyway. Then destroyed every creation those poor French kids did.

Feel sorry for the destroyed works of art last year in France and then read this. It's my favorite one.

--LOVELOVEMEDO--

p.s. My most humble apologies to Tony Esteves if he's enraged at my blatent copyright infringement. But now he's probly got high schoolers reading in France. Thanks to me. gah.

damn.

Never liked PETA anyway. Too activisty for me.

--DRINKCOKE--

This post may piss many of you off but this is what I'm thinking about.

This article in the Washington Post (requires registration) caught my eye the other day but it's taken me a while to process it. It's based on an interview with a Syrian jihadist named Abu Ibrahim.

There are a few things about the article that I wanted to point out. The first is that this quote is a bit misleading:

"Since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, the notion of jihad has "had a galvanizing impact on the imagination and reflexes" of many young Muslim men, especially those with the means and resources to travel, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, based in Brussels."

What it implies is that Muslisms just weren't interested in Jihad before the U.S. invasion. The naivite in that implication is ridiculous. I could be misreading it, but I don't think so.

The article then goes into the kind of fundamentalist beliefs that many of the jihadists are following:

"His father was a Sufi Muslim, devoted to a tolerant, mystical tradition of Islam. But Abu Ibrahim said he was born a rebel, gravitating early in life to the other end of the spectrum of Islamic belief.

Salafism, or "following the pious forefathers," is a fundamentalist, sometimes militant strain of the faith grounded in turning back the clock to the time of the prophet Muhammad."

Now, that statement means that instead of advancing at their own pace like so many people would like to think fundamentalists are want to do, these people are trying to take society back a couple thousand years.

I remember something a conservative writer wrote a while ago, just after Sept. 11th and it was something like this (if I butchered it, apologies to the author):

'After only 200 years of existence, the United States created airplanes, tanks, smart bombs, nuclear weapons and instant sattelite communication. After a few thousand years of existence, Middle Eastern countries have to sneak their soldiers dressed as civilians onto our passenger planes in order to attack us.'

How any one could idealize that kind of evolutionary stagnation and still resist the teachings of the Bible is beyond me.

"The Koran is a constitution, a law to govern the world," he said.

That quote alone should send shivers down your spine. This is what I think a lot of people (including the French, who have been living with the threat of terrorism right under their noses since they opened their borders after the French-Algerian War) just don't understand about Islam. It's not just a religion. A Christian state can still exist without involving the Bible or Christianity in specific aspects of government. The Bible is more of a moral text book that guides a followers decisions about life and death and how one should act. The Koran is a map for a functioning society. Islam isn't just a religious philosophy, it's also a political and social philosophy. As a fundamentalist Muslim you're guided not only in how to pray, but how to vote, how to eat, how to speak, how to treat your wife...the list goes on.

"No one knew about us," Abu Ibrahim said. "But September 11 gave us the media coverage. It was a great day. America was defeated. We knew they would target either Syria or Iraq, and we took a vow that if something happened to either country, we would fight."




Two weeks after the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, the group felt bold enough to celebrate in public in Aleppo with a "festival," as it was called, featuring video of hand-to-hand combat and training montages of guerrillas leaping from high walls.

Afterward, Abu Qaqaa was arrested by the Syrian authorities, but he was released within hours. By 2002 the anti-American festivals were running twice weekly, often wrapped around weddings or other social gatherings. Organizers called themselves The Strangers of Sham, using the ancient name for the eastern Mediterranean region known as the Levant, and began freely distributing the CDs of the cleric's sermons.

Really, I wish the media did a better job reporting on this stuff when it's actually happening.

Jihad was being allowed into the open. Abu Ibrahim said Syrian security officials and presidential advisers attended festivals, one of which was called "The People of Sham Will Now Defeat the Jews and Kill Them All." Money poured in from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

"We even had a Web site," Abu Ibrahim said.

The young men around the cleric found themselves wielding a surprising amount of power. They were allowed to enforce their strict vision of sharia , or Islamic law, entering houses in the middle of the night to confront people accused of bad behavior

The next time I hear someone refer to the Republican's as Nazis, I think I'm just going to hand them a copy of this article.

"Once the Americans bombed a bus crossing to Syria. We made a big fuss and said it was full of merchants," Abu Ibrahim said. "But actually, they were fighters."

Oh, so maybe the military knows what it's doing?!

In January, shortly after Abu Ibrahim returned to Syria, he was summoned to Amn Dawla headquarters along with scores of fellow jihadi cell leaders. The security agents said the smuggling of fighters had to stop. The jihadis' passports were taken. Some were jailed for a few days. Abu Ibrahim's jailers shaved his beard.

The shaving of the beard is the interesting thing here. In the false story about the flushing of a Koran down a toilet at Guantanimo, there were 'accusations' of the shaving of beards. The beards represent leadership in a clandestine batter for worldwide religious supremacy. Why not shave it off? It's not inhumane and all it does is take the guy down a notch.

Alright, that's if for now. Piss on me in the comments section if you feel the urge.

--MANTHISSTUFFSTINGS!--

ARE YOU?!

Find out with this easy checklist from MSN's "helping you to save yourself" section.

Has your son ever been suspended, expelled, or truant from school?
Has he had problems with the law?
Are you worried that your son may not finish high school?
Is his appearance or personal hygiene slipping?
Does your son display violent behaviors?
Is he manipulative or deceitful?
Do you suspect that your son lies or is dishonest?
Have you had money or valuables missing?
Have you witnessed your son being high on drugs?

--SOMETHINGWICKEDTHISWAYSTOPPEDBYSAFEWAY--

One of my pet-peeves is when a dude tries to strike up a conversation with another dude in the restroom.

I'm not homophobic, I'm not insecure, I just don't wanna talk when I've got myself exposed. ESPECIALLY when the the urinals don't have partitions between them! At baseballs games one encounters the trough style urinal which I flat out refuse to use. The excitement of a game that is either going well or the fear of loss when a game is going badly induces exaggerated conversation that is much worse than that in a bar or during a break in classes or even at work.

In any case, trying to be congenial with me when I'm in the restroom is a bad idea. You will get rebuffed.

Girls I can understand. The restroom can be a kind of refuge away from the overattentive ears of male counterparts, but guys tend not to gossip in the bathroom. We go in, do our business and go out. Maybe if we had entire stall in which to do said business we might be more talkative, but we don't and we aren't.

I mention this right now because today I was in the guys bathroom and through the wall I could hear a gaggle of girls talking at such a volume that I could distinguish the subject matter of what they were saying. There was a guy waiting by the door to use one of the urinals and he had the courtesy to wait until I was done even washing my hands before he said anything about it to me. Thank you gentleman. Whoever you are. You did not puncture my bubble.

--THEBUBBLELIVESTOSEEANOTHERDAY--

So last night at the bar some friends and I were talking about all the stuff that I posted about on my blog yesterday. It was a really spectacular conversation but, as in every one of these arguments, it comes down to how we each view the world. Especially on when children become decision making adults. My point of view is that I wouldn't want my kids trying to emancipate (or otherwise free) themselves from me because I had punished them for not doing their chores. Yes, I'm an evil human being.

If you're gonna be stupid, do it big.

So the job is still pretty hectic. I'm here all the time now and since we're getting down to the last few weeks before our first group of students arrive, everything's getting intense.

Other than that I've been playing darts. And listening to NPR. I don't really like NPR because, and I really wish that people would just admit it, it's really biased to the left. Now, I have no problem with that, at all. It's their right to do with their broadcasts as they please. But I'm sick and tired of hearing about how they give both sides equal representation when they are severely anti-Republican and very anti-war.

I totally understand why. They are, in a large part, funded by the government and many republicans don't like that fact. So, with republicans trying to cut their funding, OF COURSE they're gonna be biased.

As far as the war is concerned, if people die, NPR is gonna be against it. If people are hurt, NPR is against it. If people are stupid, NPR is going to feel sorry for them. They're one big human interest story. Take it as such, and you'll never be disappointed.

There's a big Eagle Scout reunion banquet happening this saturday and I'm giving the main address. Still have no CLUE what I'm gonna say. I started writing out something but got two pages into it and had to stop because it wasy way too hoaky. But maybe that's what they want.

Honestly though, when I was a scout the troop was awesome. As I started to get older and new boys signed up, their parents started to take more and more control until the trips they take are more for the adults than for the kids. Personally I think that's wrong. I believe that for Scouting to work as a program for young boys, it needs to develop certain skills: Leadership, trust, and outdoor skills.

If the parents are too involved in their experience, the boys don't get the experience and they don't grow up. That's what I see in the troop now.

I wouldn't give up my scouting experience for anything. I went around the world, helped start one of the first scout troops in Russia, hiked 50 miles of the grand canyon, explored the canadian wilderness twice, hike the entire washington section of of the pacific crest trail and created friendships with other guys my age whom I will forever trust with my life. Worthwhile experience? You bet.

But that's not the same thing that the other boys in my old troop are getting. They are being sent around the world by parents who want to live vicariously through their kids. That's almost as bad as forcing your kid to play sports when they wear really thick glasses and can't run. Boys won't grow up if you take all control away from them. The situation is ridiculous.

But I can't go off on that in my speech because it's a reunion and I doubt anyone would apeciate it. Especially the parents. That's another thing that bugs me. Long after their kids left the troop, there are adults still associated with it because they feel they have more to contribute. My feeling is: When your kids are done with scouting, you should be too. Let other parents fill in the gaps.

I gotta run. Check back tomorrow.


--INTHELANDOFTHELOSTONLYTHELOSTWILLHAVEGUNS--

So, I think the only thing I haven't opined on recently is the Michael Jackson trial. Which is a shame, really. It's almost over and here I am, just now weighing in.

Michael Jackson has represented more than just pop culture for decades; he has represented a lifestyle that at once fascinates and confounds us. He lives almost like a hermit on his ranch in the hills of California with a zoo and all the toys a child could want. He's essentially the Peter Pan we all want to be. And he's rich enough to pull it off. So it is little wonder that he was brought up on charges of assaulting a minor.

Just a look at the man and everything comes out. Surgery and a life of vain excess has warped not just his physical appearance, but has let him say, on camera no less, that it is ok for a man to sleep in the same bed as children. I, myself, do not have any kids but had I any, they would never have been allowed to spend an hour, let alone the night, at The King of Pop's house.

American culture has stooped to a new low at this point in history. The fact that so many people are able to justify the sexual acts of a 47 year old man with an adolescent is not only mind boggling, but seems to say more about American culture than about the man committing the acts. Jackson has already justified his actions so if we do not say anything, there is no one left to condemn him.

As much as I have heard it argued that there is a Christian majority sneaking up on the 'normal people', where are they when things like this happen? The Terry Schiavo case didn't get more publicity but was argued on more moral points, dealing with the humanity of the case, whereas the Michael Jackson case is argued by celebrities and de-humanized completely. The morality of sex is no longer under debate. There is no other reason to allow someone attributed with excesses that make Nero look like Santa Clause to sleep with young boys.

By making morality ambiguous, we have developed a split personality that makes parents absolutely responsible for their children in every way possible and then allows the children to walk behind their parent's back to get contraception and abortions. If we allow our children to make adult choices such as taking birth control and having abortions, maybe we should emancipate them sooner and allow them to take on life at an ever earlier age. Like getting a job. Paying taxes. Going to war.

But we don't do this because innocence is still admired, something to be held up on a pedestal and revered. Children can't do anything wrong because they are innocent. But this is the crux of the dilemma. We see children as innocent but with puberty happening earlier and earlier they are having sex at ever increasingly younger ages and this leads to the idea that we must protect their rights as adults against the people charged with their care. Then we are shocked that situations like that of Columbine occur. A parent cannot be expected to leave their child alone completely and then be held responsible for their actions.

When morality becomes ambiguous, the rich and powerful are allowed to break the rules at the expense of not just the innocent, but subordinates in general. Bosses taking advantage of their employees; priests taking advantage of their parishioners; teachers taking advantage of their students. And we sit back and watch, making snide commentary but incapable of acting.

I'm not arguing for the enforcement of strictly Christian morality, there isn't a valid argument in the world that could justify that in my mind, but a moral debate in this country is severely lacking and until a hard line is drawn in the sand between right and wrong, the President will be allowed to have sex with interns while other bosses are not, and pop stars will get away with pedophilia while others are sent to prison. Otherwise, precedent makes everything right.

--TOOMUCHCOFFYMAKESMETHINKREALLYHARDABOUTTRIVIALTHINGS--

He was just comparing a full work day to selling your fingers.

What the hell does that mean? The irony here is that Evergreen students, in general, are in for a nastier treat than most. Leaving Evergreen is the eye-opener of a lifetime because suddenly that intellectual bubble is burst and they realize that they must sell their souls, if not just their ideals, until they have enough money to do what they want.

The speaker was talking generalizing that all bosses are 'the man'. That they all abuse their employees, that they all take advantage and that they are all evil. This gross generalization is typical of commencement speakers and helps to perpetuate every myth about the 'real world' that Evergreen students get from their teachers.

Thank God...I think it's over.

So right now I'm listening to Derrick Jensen give the commencement address at my alma mater, The Evergreen State College.

So far he's made jokes about us not living in a democracy, education not being education, and the importance of growing up.

His message is, do what you love and you'll find happiness. You won't be rich, but rich people are unhappy. He's talking about how much salmon there used to be. He's now quoting Joseph Campbell. If I ever hear a liberal calling a conservative an elitist again, I'm going to go crazy.

Ok, his first good point. 'There is no support for students who graduate.' I like that one.

Then he goes and screws it up again. He was listing off all of the reasons he thought he was crazy when he graduated and then he said that he realized he wasn't crazy, it was the culture. Everyone cheered.

According to him, it's ok to not have a job. Dedicate your life to finding yourself. Awww...

Whoah, there's an idea. Do with your life what you want.

Serving the environment is what this guy is all about and he keeps slipping back into that. Evergreen has this problem every single year. The speakers always end up slipping back into whatever rhetorical background they have. It's sad.

He's quoting Joseph Campbel again.

He was just talking about the phrase "Thank God it's Friday!" and he was lamenting that it is a stupid thing to say because you're celebrating yet another week gone of this short life that we have. In fact, I believe that quote is celebrating the fact that responsibilities are taken care of and it's now time to live in the moment. I see where he's coming from, I just think he's wrong. It's a celebration of the moment, not of time passed.

cont.

Stupid people really piss me off.

In this blog post on Huffington's website (that I referenced earlier) there's an argument defending Howard Dean.

For those of you who don't know, Howard Dean made a few comments that really should have embarrassed him. But they didn't. Suddenly, the Democratic party middle of the roaders and less "activisty" (yes, I made up a word) liberals began to distance themselves from him. Apparently not everyone thinks he was wrong.

Insinuating that Republicans are stupid is not new. Jann Wenner said this:

The party elite jumped on Dean when he said white guys who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flags should be voting Democrat because voting Republican was against their own interests. But Dean was right. We were letting Bush and company fool these good folk, and we turned our backs on a voting bloc that helped cost us the election.

Mr. Wenner, I can only imagine, feels that it is his duty to enlighten the masses. How condescending is that? Well, I think that it's time he look at the Democratic ideology on the issue at hand and realize that the Confederate flag is about state's rights and less federal government rather than just 'working class'. Both of these are things that make the Dems go crazy. Don't get me wrong, I think that with the history it has, the Confederate flag being flown by anyone is a sign of ignorance, but saying that these people are lock-steppers with Republican rhetoric is ignorant.

As far as Mr. Dean's comments about who the Republicans are, I think these people would have something to say:

The Republican Jewish commission

The African American Republican Leadership Council

The Log Cabin Republicans

Granted, these groups don't make up the majority of Republicans, BUT THEY AREN'T THE MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS EITHER!!! Do you want to see who the democrats are? Check THIS out. Whoa, an old white guy. Hmmmm...

This idea that the Democratic party can save minorities is just as ignorant as saying that the Republicans are trying to kill them. And any time a Democrat says that they are the best party for the working class, they are instantly separating "us" and "them". Maybe that's why so many people crossed party lines at the election, leaving Dems scratching their heads.

Dean's comments don't help the situation at all. In fact, it creates outsiders of all working class Republican entrepreneurs, let alone working class cubicle dwellers.

For those of you who care, I consider myself a conservative libertarian. I'm completely agnostic, verging on atheist. I don't own a gun and never will, but that doesn't mean that I think other people should have their guns taken away. My favorite political shirt said,

If guns kill people, then spoons made Michael Moore fat.

If you don't find that at least slightly amusing, you're taking me waaayyy too seriously.

--DON'TLAUGHNOW--

So there you have it. Two days and no post. WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?!

Not much if you ask me. Lately I've been so bored that I've been going back and reading old postings. It's funny looking back at the last year through ones own blog. I know I try to give the impression that I'm completely honest on this thing, that I write down things that actually happen to me, but it's actually quite censored. A lot of things happened to me that I just didn't write down and others I made up. (I never actually found Pandora's box in the arctic circle. Hell, I've never been north of Anchorage.) I kinda wish I had been honest, but then again...it's probly for the best that I wasn't. I don't think you guys could handle being me. Seriously. I'm that fucking intense.

So I'm listening to the radio this morning and I hear that f'n song by Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl." Now, I try to keep up with pop culture. I watch mtv, (too much really) and I think I have a pretty sturdy finger on the pulse of America. That being said, WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?!!?!?!?!??!

Well, thank you wikipedia:

"A "hollaback girl" is a girl that just gossips and talks "smack" behind the offender's back instead of actually confronting a person who has been talking "smack" themselves; alternatively, it might be a girl in a cheerleading squad who "hollas" back the cheers, repeating them instead of leading them (in the song, Stefani sings that she "ain't no hollaback girl")"

I love that the word "smack" is in quotes.

and it continues:

"There has also been suggestion that a "hollaback girl" is considered to be a sort of "second choice" by a guy: if a guy were to flirt with a girl in a club or bar, then leave her to see if there were any better women, then return to the original girl after realizing that she was his best option (or after failing with a "first choice" girl), the original girl could be described as a "hollaback girl", since the guy would "holla back" at her in the end of the night."

but my favorite explanation is at this site. On the site they break down the lyrics and get to the heart of issue:

"I heard that you were talking shit
And you didn’t think that I would hear it

Gwen has been the victim of some slanderous high school gossip, and she doesn’t appreciate it. Gwen is 35 years old sliding into MILF status at this point, but we’ll grant her some poetic license."

But this is my favorite part:

"A few times I’ve been around that track
So it’s not just gonna happen like that
Cause I ain’t no hollaback girl
I ain’t no hollaback girl

Gwen is apparently the captain of the cheerleader squad; she is the girl who “hollas” the chants, not one of the girls who simply “hollas” them back. Given that the squad is preparing to beat somebody up on Gwen’s behalf, she’s picked a strange time to remind them that she is their leader and they are her sheep-like followers. Gwen obviously rules her squad with an iron fist."

Thank GOD we cleared that up. But how the hell am I gonna work all this new vocab into my life?

--I'MEATINGCHOCOLATEDIPPEDSTRAWBERRIES--

edit-- Here's the last bit of the song. I thought this was great:

"Oooh, this my shit, this my shit [repeated four times]

As the song fades out, Gwen is left only with her “shit,” the mindless exercises that bring her no comfort from the raging emptiness within. As much as she “hollas,” no one hears her cries for help"

So this morning I caught up on the debate over a documentary that is being released on the subject of webcomics.

I'm a huge fan of web comics. Huge. I love them, for the most part, but there are a LOT OF THEM that I simply can't read. I think it's great that anyone can say anything in any way they want to, but seriously, you're only gonna get readers/make money, if you do something that is palatable to a huge group. You MUST be funny, interesting, poignant, and at least a reasonably good artist in order to survive.

Here's my rant though: IF YOU DRAW COMICS/KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WEB DESIGN, YOU'RE AN F'N NERD!!! I am. I know this, and if someone wants to mock me for it, then let them! I can deal with it. The fact that people are saying PA was mean to Cat Garza is ludicrous. He's a huge boy with a goatee and and a 'fro. If he's comfortable with how he looks, then he'd laugh it off.

Unfortunately the 'fringers' of society have always taken themselves too seriously. Nobody is actively shitting on web comics. It's just not happening. That's because nobody cares yet. I love comics but my feeling about it is that comics should be done because to not draw would mean death and not because you feel the world owes you something for your talent. If I don't have the money nor the desire, I shouldn't have to pay for that kind of entertainment.

S*P did something unprecidented by asking for donations but strictly saying that if you didn't feel his comic was worth it, don't worry, he wouldn't make it subscription based. THAT is progressive in my eyes. Subscription based comics lead to elitism and are JUST as bad as syndication.

The point is, the web is open so do with it what you want. If you make ANYTHING online subscription based, I'm not going there anymore. I love PA, but I'm not gonna pay to read it.

more later, on some other topic.

--GIVEMEAN"A"--

This weekend was LONG! On Friday I was really tired and there was a meeting of the Oly Swing Team. It went well but after it was over the g/f and I watched a movie, then crashed.

On saturday she had a softball game out in Shelton. I had a LOT of errands to run so I couldn't go to the game. That evening I had to attend the retirement dinner for our current president. It was fun shmoozing with the rich and famous from the college. I got to meet a lot of people and had a great dinner.

After the dinner Tim and I went up to the Owl and Thistle, an Irish pub in downtown Seattle. We played darts and held the board all night. It was a LOT of fun hanging out and throwing some great darts. We finally had to leave when they kicked us out at 2am.

On Sunday I went the see the g/f play softball out in Shelton again. I got lost downtown and got to see only the last inning of her first game. Then we waited until about 2pm when she played her second game. They won after 5 innings 21-3. Well played.

After that we went up to Murphy's, an Irish pub in the U-district of Seattle to play darts. I arrived 25 mins late for the tournament but we watched them play and then I got some pickup games afterward. I totally got schooled but had a great time and was invited back. The reviews on that web page suck. The bar rocks, if it is a little smokey. The food is great, the pints are well poured and I thought the service was good. Plus there was a guy with a parrot sitting at one of the tables. Eventually the smoke gave the g/f a headache so we left, but I had a great time and will go back again and again. Hello second home.

started looking for an apartment today. Got some phone numbers. I hate moving.

That's it for the morning. Unfortunately I'm moving my office this week so updates will be sporratic at best so just hang in there. And the comic will be updated irregularly as well.

--I'MGONNATAKEASMUCHTIMEASIWANT--

Thought I'd start today off with this.

I've been pretty much arachnaphobic since I first saw Arachnaphobia, that movie where the spiders come from the Jungle and start killing people in a small town. That movie scared me so much I can't even tell you. So it was a great moment in the history of theo being a screaming bitch when I saw this.

Apparently there've been quite a few myths built up around these creatures. What I found out was that they don't have venom, though they do bite, they're nocturnal, they only go for prey smaller than they are, and...there was something else I was gonna say but I forgot what it was. Oh well. Doesn't matter.

Last night was 'guy's night' and man...I finished off a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in one sitting. Let me tell you, it was nearly impossible to get out of bed this morning.

I woke up late, came in to work late and now I'm sitting at my desk completely unable to concentrate. Loverly. I went to Winchell's this morning then got some drip coffee at Starbucks. The donuts were too much. I'm now hyper and tired all at the same time.

During my lunch break I have to go to Rants Group and pay rent. Ugh.

Laugh it up fuzzball.

so I bought a couple shirts online yesterday. Fun one but I can't talk about them right now because they're a secret. Shhhh.

--TURNTHATDAMNEDRADIODOWN--