As I wrote back in August in Random Thoughts And Cogitations, the media obsession with missing pretty girls--married, engaged, pregnant, or otherwise--is complete crap.
What if you are a butt-ugly, hair-lipped, drooling moron, and you go missing? The police could care less and FOX News' Greta Van Susteren wouldn't twist her crooked mouth for ten minutes over a ten week period about your demise.
I'm happy that Jennifer is OK, but just look at how much time has been wasted by the media and police officials, not to mention John and Jane Doe Americans? Even I ended up getting caught up in this whole process at the last minute. I'm writing about it for the third time this morning.
As I said before, forget the media, forget the spotlights, if you want to worry about missing persons (there are over 900,000 missing persons reported each year and 100,000 missing at any given time,) it would be well worth your time to help out locally--on some poor regular guy or gal that doesn't get the attention of FOX news.
Make a difference, don't follow the crowd...I am.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
They Should Lock Her Ass Up
7:25 AM EST
The silly bitch ran away, riding to Las Vegas on a Bus, then on to New Mexico.
Her family and her boyfriend John's family has been totally embarrassed on national TV. As I write, the family is kicking FOX News off their front lawn. The old live by the sword, die by the sword--they invited them in there this morning and were proud to celebrate on camera so I have a hard time with them complaining.
I hope that she gets some help, along with a bill for the search efforts and about 6 months in jail.
The silly bitch ran away, riding to Las Vegas on a Bus, then on to New Mexico.
Her family and her boyfriend John's family has been totally embarrassed on national TV. As I write, the family is kicking FOX News off their front lawn. The old live by the sword, die by the sword--they invited them in there this morning and were proud to celebrate on camera so I have a hard time with them complaining.
I hope that she gets some help, along with a bill for the search efforts and about 6 months in jail.
The Media Hysteria Was Wrong--Again
At about 3:05 AM FOX News reported that Jennifer Wilbanks has been found alive in New Mexico. Thank goodness.
I feel sorry for the poor guy that almost everyone has suspected--John Mason, her fiancee.
Of course you can thank California's Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking in Colorado for this media and public mindset.
I don't blame John for wanting to control the circumstances surrounding his lie detector testing. Without impunging every member of law enforcment, I can tell you from personal experience that you want to avoid at all costs coming into their (the police's) sphere of influence if you can. They have a vested interest, once they get involved, in pinning the blame on someone and often times it seems that they don't care who it is as long as they can move on to the next case.
As I have written earlier, while the police have diligently prosecuted me in the past for traffic related offenses, not once in the past 25 years have they done one damn thing about robbers beating me in the head, stealing property from my autos, or breaking into my real estate.
All I know is that you don't want to become another crime statistic--that of false arrest and/or prosecution by the authorities, not to mention being tried and convicted in the media and the court of public opinion.
I feel sorry for the poor guy that almost everyone has suspected--John Mason, her fiancee.
Of course you can thank California's Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking in Colorado for this media and public mindset.
I don't blame John for wanting to control the circumstances surrounding his lie detector testing. Without impunging every member of law enforcment, I can tell you from personal experience that you want to avoid at all costs coming into their (the police's) sphere of influence if you can. They have a vested interest, once they get involved, in pinning the blame on someone and often times it seems that they don't care who it is as long as they can move on to the next case.
As I have written earlier, while the police have diligently prosecuted me in the past for traffic related offenses, not once in the past 25 years have they done one damn thing about robbers beating me in the head, stealing property from my autos, or breaking into my real estate.
All I know is that you don't want to become another crime statistic--that of false arrest and/or prosecution by the authorities, not to mention being tried and convicted in the media and the court of public opinion.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Burritos of (M)ass Destruction
I don't know whether to explode with gas or just submit this story about a potentially deadly burrito for your own review and cogitation.
School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon
CLOVIS, N.M. - A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito.
Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped into Marshall Junior High.
The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos and wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school Principal Diana Russell said.
Since I'm cooking Mexican food this month over at The Redneck Gourmet, I'll try to be careful and make small burritos so I don't have the swat team outside my window any time soon.
Any body got some Beano?
School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon
CLOVIS, N.M. - A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito.
Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped into Marshall Junior High.
The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos and wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school Principal Diana Russell said.
Since I'm cooking Mexican food this month over at The Redneck Gourmet, I'll try to be careful and make small burritos so I don't have the swat team outside my window any time soon.
Any body got some Beano?
More Headline Stupidity
Continuing on my theme of media bias and crap, check out the headline on this story about the new Iraqi government:
Iraqis finally form a government
By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 29, 2005
Iraq established its first democratically elected government in five decades yesterday after months of political wrangling and growing street violence and assassinations.
Yet Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was forced to leave five key ministries in the hands of "caretaker" ministers, indicating that the battle for influence in the new Cabinet is not over.
These biased "media professionals" just can't admit that things are moving forward in Iraq.
After nearly fifty years of military dictatorship by Sadam and his predecessors and almost two years of coalition intervention, the Iraqis held elections in January. So what if it took them nearly three months to put together a cabinet?
They "finally" establish a government...GIVE ME A BREAK HERE, PLUUEASE!
What does the Washington Post expect? We can't even get judicial nominations and social security reform here in the US after 52 months of the Bush presidency because of partisan bickering.
I'd say the Iraqis are doing pretty good, even by US standards.
Iraqis finally form a government
By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 29, 2005
Iraq established its first democratically elected government in five decades yesterday after months of political wrangling and growing street violence and assassinations.
Yet Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was forced to leave five key ministries in the hands of "caretaker" ministers, indicating that the battle for influence in the new Cabinet is not over.
These biased "media professionals" just can't admit that things are moving forward in Iraq.
After nearly fifty years of military dictatorship by Sadam and his predecessors and almost two years of coalition intervention, the Iraqis held elections in January. So what if it took them nearly three months to put together a cabinet?
They "finally" establish a government...GIVE ME A BREAK HERE, PLUUEASE!
What does the Washington Post expect? We can't even get judicial nominations and social security reform here in the US after 52 months of the Bush presidency because of partisan bickering.
I'd say the Iraqis are doing pretty good, even by US standards.
I Told You So...
(NY Times Headline True To Form)
I just checked the New York Times Web site this morning and here is the headline and beginning of the story about President Bush's news conference last night:
Bush Cites Plan That Would Cut Social Security Benefits
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: April 29, 2005
WASHINGTON, April 28 - President Bush called Thursday night for cutting Social Security benefits for future retirees to put the system on sound financial footing, and he proposed doing so in a way that would demand the most sacrifice from higher-income people while insulating low-income workers.
Now I'm not going to argue that the opening paragraph is a reasonably accurate summary of the the President's statements, but the headline is so darn typical--scare the old people.
Anything to rile up the AARP.
They couldn't say "Bush Plan Cuts Benefits To Future Retirees."
Or how about "Plan To Cut Future Retiree Benefits Proposed."
Maybe I'm biased, but the people out there that get their news by reading headlines while standing in the grocery store checkout line might be mis-informed by the NY Times effort.
Is it just me?
I just checked the New York Times Web site this morning and here is the headline and beginning of the story about President Bush's news conference last night:
Bush Cites Plan That Would Cut Social Security Benefits
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: April 29, 2005
WASHINGTON, April 28 - President Bush called Thursday night for cutting Social Security benefits for future retirees to put the system on sound financial footing, and he proposed doing so in a way that would demand the most sacrifice from higher-income people while insulating low-income workers.
Now I'm not going to argue that the opening paragraph is a reasonably accurate summary of the the President's statements, but the headline is so darn typical--scare the old people.
Anything to rile up the AARP.
They couldn't say "Bush Plan Cuts Benefits To Future Retirees."
Or how about "Plan To Cut Future Retiree Benefits Proposed."
Maybe I'm biased, but the people out there that get their news by reading headlines while standing in the grocery store checkout line might be mis-informed by the NY Times effort.
Is it just me?
Opinion Polls
After President Bush's news conference, the followup talking head discussion on FOX News went something like this (paraphrasing):
Britt Hume: "Do you think that the president moved the ball forward tonight on the issues he discussed?"
Nina Easton (Boston Globe): "The president says that he doesn't follow polls. This whole news conference clearly was based on poll issues..."
So Miss Easton of the leftist partisan Boston Globe Newspaper thinks that the president should have gone on national TV and talked about what?
The NBA basketball playoffs?
Good bass fishing on Lake Eufala in Alabama?
The latest antics of the Bush twins?
It used to be that opinion polls in theory attempted to scientifically measure a true cross-section of American demographics.
Not anymore.
Have you ever been "polled"? No one has ever called my house. Who the heck are these people that they are polling anyway?
Just like the press conference questions, here is how poll questions are worded today...
Question #1: Do you believe that President Bush beats his wife? (yes or no)
Question #2: If the he does, should he quit? (yes or no)
The next day after the results are tabulated, the headline in practically every single newspaper would read as follows:
Americans Believe President Should Stop Beating First Lady!!
Am I not correct?
Britt Hume: "Do you think that the president moved the ball forward tonight on the issues he discussed?"
Nina Easton (Boston Globe): "The president says that he doesn't follow polls. This whole news conference clearly was based on poll issues..."
So Miss Easton of the leftist partisan Boston Globe Newspaper thinks that the president should have gone on national TV and talked about what?
The NBA basketball playoffs?
Good bass fishing on Lake Eufala in Alabama?
The latest antics of the Bush twins?
It used to be that opinion polls in theory attempted to scientifically measure a true cross-section of American demographics.
Not anymore.
Have you ever been "polled"? No one has ever called my house. Who the heck are these people that they are polling anyway?
Just like the press conference questions, here is how poll questions are worded today...
Question #1: Do you believe that President Bush beats his wife? (yes or no)
Question #2: If the he does, should he quit? (yes or no)
The next day after the results are tabulated, the headline in practically every single newspaper would read as follows:
Americans Believe President Should Stop Beating First Lady!!
Am I not correct?
President Bush Answers Age Old Question
Hopefully everyone with an IQ higher than room temperature knows that President Bush held a rare prime time news conference tonight. I missed the live broadcast, but I've sat here at 2:00 AM watching the re-broadcast on FOX news.
In my opinion, President Bush is his own best spokesperson--he should do a prime time discussion every sixty days. His silence in the vacuum of media spin is his own worst enemy.
After his brief prepared statement, he spent over forty-five minutes taking questions from reporters. As usual, most of the questions took the style of...
"Mr. President, have you stopped beating your wife?"
If he says yes, then they assume that he is admitting that he at one time beat first lady Laura.
If he says no, then they assume that he is still beating her.
In my opinion, President Bush is his own best spokesperson--he should do a prime time discussion every sixty days. His silence in the vacuum of media spin is his own worst enemy.
After his brief prepared statement, he spent over forty-five minutes taking questions from reporters. As usual, most of the questions took the style of...
"Mr. President, have you stopped beating your wife?"
If he says yes, then they assume that he is admitting that he at one time beat first lady Laura.
If he says no, then they assume that he is still beating her.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
This Is Too Good To Miss
Here is the amazing first hand story of the man who pulled Sadam Hussain out of the "rat hole" in Iraq.
"...I told him I was Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against him in 1991. I said he murdered my uncles and cousins. He imprisoned my father.
"All these years of anger, I couldn't stop. I tried to say the worst things I could. I told him if he were a real man he would have killed himself. I asked him: 'Why are you living in that dirty little hole, you bastard? You are a rat. Your father is a rat.'"
In Arabic, Saddam told Samir to shut up. And when Saddam called him a traitor, an enraged Samir silenced his prisoner with a flurry of quick jabs to the face.
"I punched Saddam in the mouth." "
Go to the link and read the entire story if you will. In light of the uproar of the prison abuse "scandals" and the Democratic left's desire to protect criminals and terrorists, I don't know if I would be telling all of the details like he does in the story.
I wonder if "Chappaquiddick Ted" Kennedy (the human derigable) will chime in looking for a Senate investigation?
"...I told him I was Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against him in 1991. I said he murdered my uncles and cousins. He imprisoned my father.
"All these years of anger, I couldn't stop. I tried to say the worst things I could. I told him if he were a real man he would have killed himself. I asked him: 'Why are you living in that dirty little hole, you bastard? You are a rat. Your father is a rat.'"
In Arabic, Saddam told Samir to shut up. And when Saddam called him a traitor, an enraged Samir silenced his prisoner with a flurry of quick jabs to the face.
"I punched Saddam in the mouth." "
Go to the link and read the entire story if you will. In light of the uproar of the prison abuse "scandals" and the Democratic left's desire to protect criminals and terrorists, I don't know if I would be telling all of the details like he does in the story.
I wonder if "Chappaquiddick Ted" Kennedy (the human derigable) will chime in looking for a Senate investigation?
Corporal Punishment Versus Prison
Unless you live on a desert island or in a cave, I guess by now everyone has seen the video of the little five year old brat being handcuffed by police in St. Petersburg, Florida this week?
I’ve set around and let this story go by with out commenting until now, but I think that maybe it’s time to wade in and offer a few intemperate thoughts on the matter.
First, this is a perfect example of why I believe that in many cases the state should be allowed to take children away from parents, just for being stupid. I heard the girls mother do a TV interview using rambling broken English full of “axes” and “you knows.” On at least a superficial basis, it is clear that this child is most likely doomed to a life of ignorance—following in her young mother’s and absent father’s footsteps.
I guarantee you that, in addition to providing the underlying costs of the “free” government school, the taxpayers of the State of Florida have paid virtually every single red cent of the cost of getting this little tyrant raised to the age of five including food (WIC) and clothing (welfare and “earned income credits.)
Meanwhile, the single “rocket scientist” mom has provided little or no education and discipline at home and has previously challenged the teachers and administrators to not lay a hand on her little disruptive darlin’.
I ask you, is this fair to the other 19 or twenty students in the pre-school classroom?
Not no but HELL NO!
In 1965, if I had acted in the manner that this little bitch acted, there would have been exactly five people involved in remedying the situation: the teacher, the principal, my mother, my father, and most of all ME. At least two of these individuals would have been wielding a wooden paddle and I would not be going back to school for at least a week on suspension.
No TV, no police handcuffs, no lawyers, just some serious conversations and a healthy dose of corporal punishment.
Let’s face it; this kid is five years old and already acting like this? Without some serious intervention, where will she be when she is twelve or fourteen?
DEAD, OR POSSIBLY JAIL?
Now the mother has fired the lawyer and removed her little monster from the Pinellas County Florida public schools.
Stay tuned to hear from this family again from Georgia, or Alabama or possibly Detroit, Michigan.
Just watch and listen…
I’ve set around and let this story go by with out commenting until now, but I think that maybe it’s time to wade in and offer a few intemperate thoughts on the matter.
First, this is a perfect example of why I believe that in many cases the state should be allowed to take children away from parents, just for being stupid. I heard the girls mother do a TV interview using rambling broken English full of “axes” and “you knows.” On at least a superficial basis, it is clear that this child is most likely doomed to a life of ignorance—following in her young mother’s and absent father’s footsteps.
I guarantee you that, in addition to providing the underlying costs of the “free” government school, the taxpayers of the State of Florida have paid virtually every single red cent of the cost of getting this little tyrant raised to the age of five including food (WIC) and clothing (welfare and “earned income credits.)
Meanwhile, the single “rocket scientist” mom has provided little or no education and discipline at home and has previously challenged the teachers and administrators to not lay a hand on her little disruptive darlin’.
I ask you, is this fair to the other 19 or twenty students in the pre-school classroom?
Not no but HELL NO!
In 1965, if I had acted in the manner that this little bitch acted, there would have been exactly five people involved in remedying the situation: the teacher, the principal, my mother, my father, and most of all ME. At least two of these individuals would have been wielding a wooden paddle and I would not be going back to school for at least a week on suspension.
No TV, no police handcuffs, no lawyers, just some serious conversations and a healthy dose of corporal punishment.
Let’s face it; this kid is five years old and already acting like this? Without some serious intervention, where will she be when she is twelve or fourteen?
DEAD, OR POSSIBLY JAIL?
Now the mother has fired the lawyer and removed her little monster from the Pinellas County Florida public schools.
Stay tuned to hear from this family again from Georgia, or Alabama or possibly Detroit, Michigan.
Just watch and listen…
Don't You Just Hate It When This Happens?
Call it elder abuse, I guess, but here is a story about Thai doctors finding 50 maggots in an old man's ears.
"BANGKOK (Reuters) - Doctors found around 50 maggots in the ears of an 84-year-old Thai man after he went to hospital complaining of an itch.
Wednesday's Nation newspaper said Anan Temtan, who lives in the tsunami-hit southern resort island of Phuket, had used cotton buds to relieve the itching, but had scratched so hard his eardrums ruptured and started bleeding.
"We believe flies might have gone inside his ears to lay eggs, which hatched into larvae and caused the itching," said Somsak Nonthasri, the doctor who treated him.
Somsak, who used tweezers and a small suction device to remove the maggots, said Anan would be kept in for observation for a while to make sure no more eggs hatched."
Excuse me while I go get some Q-tips--I got an itch...
"BANGKOK (Reuters) - Doctors found around 50 maggots in the ears of an 84-year-old Thai man after he went to hospital complaining of an itch.
Wednesday's Nation newspaper said Anan Temtan, who lives in the tsunami-hit southern resort island of Phuket, had used cotton buds to relieve the itching, but had scratched so hard his eardrums ruptured and started bleeding.
"We believe flies might have gone inside his ears to lay eggs, which hatched into larvae and caused the itching," said Somsak Nonthasri, the doctor who treated him.
Somsak, who used tweezers and a small suction device to remove the maggots, said Anan would be kept in for observation for a while to make sure no more eggs hatched."
Excuse me while I go get some Q-tips--I got an itch...
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
I Don't Feel Any Safer
Read this story about Federal Air Marshals and see if you feel any safer while flying on a commercial airliner:
“WASHINGTON — An air marshal who was grounded after criticizing the Federal Air Marshal Service over security issues was told last week to come back to work, a day after he and the ACLU filed a lawsuit that threatened to call wider attention to his complaints.Frank Terreri contends a dress code requiring many agents to wear coats and ties makes them easy to spot in the mass of casually dressed passengers and undermines the marshals' ability to protect passengers….
The marshals also have complained that policies on boarding and hotel check-ins make them unnecessarily conspicuous. At airports, marshals often must go through the exit gates to bypass security checkpoints, in full view of other passengers. Some field offices require marshals to stay at specified hotels and ask for special discounts, which requires them to identify themselves to clerks.”
Let’s see if we have this straight…Eleven million illegal aliens have been allowed to stream across our borders and, in addition to strip searching your grandma at the airport check in, the authorities are forcing the Air Marshals to act in a manner such that they stick out in public like a sore thumb.
Only the idiot bureaucrats running our imperial federal government could come up with such an inane set of procedures.
“WASHINGTON — An air marshal who was grounded after criticizing the Federal Air Marshal Service over security issues was told last week to come back to work, a day after he and the ACLU filed a lawsuit that threatened to call wider attention to his complaints.Frank Terreri contends a dress code requiring many agents to wear coats and ties makes them easy to spot in the mass of casually dressed passengers and undermines the marshals' ability to protect passengers….
The marshals also have complained that policies on boarding and hotel check-ins make them unnecessarily conspicuous. At airports, marshals often must go through the exit gates to bypass security checkpoints, in full view of other passengers. Some field offices require marshals to stay at specified hotels and ask for special discounts, which requires them to identify themselves to clerks.”
Let’s see if we have this straight…Eleven million illegal aliens have been allowed to stream across our borders and, in addition to strip searching your grandma at the airport check in, the authorities are forcing the Air Marshals to act in a manner such that they stick out in public like a sore thumb.
Only the idiot bureaucrats running our imperial federal government could come up with such an inane set of procedures.
FOX's Greta Van Susteren Makes Me Crazy
(but not in a good way…)
I watch FOX News a lot. I use FOX News like a screen saver for our TV’s. A good deal of the time the TV broadcast is just background noise. I just let it drone along and my ears perk up every now and then when something catches my interest.
Having said all that, I’ll also say that I am totally bored with practically everything that Greta Van Susteren has to say.
Martha Stewart…BORING
Michael Jackson Trial…BORING PERVERT
Missing/murdered pregnant housewife du jour…TRAGIC BUT BORING
Missing/murdered child from the Tampa, Florida area du jour…DITTO
Even if you have nothing else to do with your life, why watch this kind of television?
If you are extremely busy with your family, job, church, and hobbies and only watch TV for relaxation and entertainment—can you justify Greta’s show as entertainment?
I can’t…
As I have said before, if you want to worry about something, worry about something that has some meaning. Worry about an issue that you can take action on and actually do something about.
For instance, to listen to Greta, you could be lead to believe that the number one threat to children is child molesters.
IF YOU DO, YOU’D BE WRONG!
Only a few children are abducted by strangers and killed each year. How many kids are killed by their parent’s failure to adequately restrain them in car safety seats? Where’s the public outcry over this form of child abuse?
Another popular myth promoted by Greta and the balance of the main stream media is that firearms are killing how many kids each year? Thousands?
YOU’RE WRONG.
According to the Centers for Disease Control Website (the CDC is admittedly not a fan of guns), the total number of overall deaths relating to firearms has actually declined from 14.3 per 100,000 persons to 10.4 per 100,000 persons since 1970.
The number of handgun related deaths in children is also declining. In kids under the age of five it is down from 1.0 per 100,000 in 1970 to 0.7 per 100,000 in 2002. Likewise, the deaths in children under the age of 15 is down from 2.7 per 100,000 to 1.2 per 100,000.
I bet you thought that guns were killing more and more kids each year, right?
I was actually surprised at these numbers since Greta doesn’t broadcast these statistics and the CDC hides them in obscure spreadsheets on their website.
Live and learn...I’ve got to go now and find something else that matters to worry about…
I watch FOX News a lot. I use FOX News like a screen saver for our TV’s. A good deal of the time the TV broadcast is just background noise. I just let it drone along and my ears perk up every now and then when something catches my interest.
Having said all that, I’ll also say that I am totally bored with practically everything that Greta Van Susteren has to say.
Martha Stewart…BORING
Michael Jackson Trial…BORING PERVERT
Missing/murdered pregnant housewife du jour…TRAGIC BUT BORING
Missing/murdered child from the Tampa, Florida area du jour…DITTO
Even if you have nothing else to do with your life, why watch this kind of television?
If you are extremely busy with your family, job, church, and hobbies and only watch TV for relaxation and entertainment—can you justify Greta’s show as entertainment?
I can’t…
As I have said before, if you want to worry about something, worry about something that has some meaning. Worry about an issue that you can take action on and actually do something about.
For instance, to listen to Greta, you could be lead to believe that the number one threat to children is child molesters.
IF YOU DO, YOU’D BE WRONG!
Only a few children are abducted by strangers and killed each year. How many kids are killed by their parent’s failure to adequately restrain them in car safety seats? Where’s the public outcry over this form of child abuse?
Another popular myth promoted by Greta and the balance of the main stream media is that firearms are killing how many kids each year? Thousands?
YOU’RE WRONG.
According to the Centers for Disease Control Website (the CDC is admittedly not a fan of guns), the total number of overall deaths relating to firearms has actually declined from 14.3 per 100,000 persons to 10.4 per 100,000 persons since 1970.
The number of handgun related deaths in children is also declining. In kids under the age of five it is down from 1.0 per 100,000 in 1970 to 0.7 per 100,000 in 2002. Likewise, the deaths in children under the age of 15 is down from 2.7 per 100,000 to 1.2 per 100,000.
I bet you thought that guns were killing more and more kids each year, right?
I was actually surprised at these numbers since Greta doesn’t broadcast these statistics and the CDC hides them in obscure spreadsheets on their website.
Live and learn...I’ve got to go now and find something else that matters to worry about…
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Don't Start Packing For Vacation Yet...
I guess that you already saw the news that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah was hanging out with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford over the past few days. I guess George gave some demonstrations in firewood chopping and bush-hogging before saying a few encouraging words to reporters about oil prices.
Then a Saudi spokesman on Fox News, Adel Al-Jubeir, let the cat out of the bag for all to hear. Paraphrasing, he said that “the US needs to increase their oil refinery capacity in order to substantially affect gasoline prices and availability.”
Haven’t you already heard this from me right here in this blog before?
All of this, of course, is lost on most of the media and our population as we see this optimistic story about the Saudis spending $50 billion to expand their oil production capacity.
“The plan was announced during Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s talks with the US President, George W Bush, at his Texas ranch. Oil prices have been rising steadily over the past one year and have crossed the $58 per barrel mark. As per the plan, the Saudi Kingdom intends to increase its output from 9.5 million barrels a day to 12.5 million a day by the end of the decade and boost production to 15 million barrels over the longer term.”
Well I offer a big old whoop-te-do over this news…
You do remember that we currently need over 9 million barrels of oil per day just to fuel our cars?
Then a Saudi spokesman on Fox News, Adel Al-Jubeir, let the cat out of the bag for all to hear. Paraphrasing, he said that “the US needs to increase their oil refinery capacity in order to substantially affect gasoline prices and availability.”
Haven’t you already heard this from me right here in this blog before?
All of this, of course, is lost on most of the media and our population as we see this optimistic story about the Saudis spending $50 billion to expand their oil production capacity.
“The plan was announced during Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s talks with the US President, George W Bush, at his Texas ranch. Oil prices have been rising steadily over the past one year and have crossed the $58 per barrel mark. As per the plan, the Saudi Kingdom intends to increase its output from 9.5 million barrels a day to 12.5 million a day by the end of the decade and boost production to 15 million barrels over the longer term.”
Well I offer a big old whoop-te-do over this news…
You do remember that we currently need over 9 million barrels of oil per day just to fuel our cars?
Making B.C. Politically Correct
My head is spinning around…again. This time it’s over the Political Correct Police’s efforts to eliminate the terms B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini) from textbooks and other reference books…
“ALBANY, N.Y. -- In certain precincts of a world encouraged to embrace differences, Christ is out.
The terms "B.C." and "A.D." increasingly are shunned by certain scholars. Educators and historians say schools from North America to Australia have been changing the terms "Before Christ," or B.C., to "Before Common Era," or B.C.E., and "anno Domini" (Latin for "in the year of the Lord") to "Common Era." In short, they're referred to as B.C.E. and C.E.”
There are clearly a number of people out there that have way to little to do with their time. The modern calendar works quite well, in my opinion, and just like the government’s force feeding Americans the metric measurement system in the 1970’s, I think that this effort will be doomed to failure. (Being an engineer, I am quite comfortable with the metric system, by the way.)
But there is more…
“The terms B.C. and A.D. have clear Catholic roots. Dionysius Exiguus, an abbot in Rome, devised them as a way to determine the date for Easter for Pope St. John I. The terms were continued under the Gregorian Calendar, created in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII.
Although most calendars are based on an epoch or person, B.C. and A.D. have always presented a particular problem for historians: There is no year zero; there's a 33-year gap, reflecting the life of Christ, dividing the epochs. Critics say that's additional reason to replace the Christian-based terms.
"When Jews or Muslims have to put Christ in the middle of our calendar ... that's difficult for us," said Steven M. Brown, dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.
The new terms were introduced by academics in the 1990s in public elementary and high school classrooms.”
So they want to replace “Christian based terms in our calendars” and “academics” have already introduced the terms into public elementary schools and high school classrooms?
What I want to know is…
WHO THE HELL APPROVED THIS BRAINSTORM?
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?
What are they teaching your kids in our government schools? I don’t have any kids myself, but this really pisses me off.
Why don’t we just throw out the calendar all together. Let’s toss out the alarm clock while we’re at it.
Let’s just re-number everything as before Clinton (BC) and after Clinton (AC.)
Or how about using the terms before gay marriage (BGM) and after gay marriage (AGM)?
Let’s have a calendar that completely skips the birthdays of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and eliminates Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. There would just be a blank square on the page with no number and no title—just a big smiley face or a picture of a condom.
I know...lets design a clock that runs backwards and only chimes on Martin Luther Kings’ birthday, Earth Day, and Gay Pride Day? Let’s eliminate the minimum wage and pay everyone $20 an hour to stay home and smoke dope and watch Public Television.
I’ll see y’all, I’m moving to Costa Rica.
“ALBANY, N.Y. -- In certain precincts of a world encouraged to embrace differences, Christ is out.
The terms "B.C." and "A.D." increasingly are shunned by certain scholars. Educators and historians say schools from North America to Australia have been changing the terms "Before Christ," or B.C., to "Before Common Era," or B.C.E., and "anno Domini" (Latin for "in the year of the Lord") to "Common Era." In short, they're referred to as B.C.E. and C.E.”
There are clearly a number of people out there that have way to little to do with their time. The modern calendar works quite well, in my opinion, and just like the government’s force feeding Americans the metric measurement system in the 1970’s, I think that this effort will be doomed to failure. (Being an engineer, I am quite comfortable with the metric system, by the way.)
But there is more…
“The terms B.C. and A.D. have clear Catholic roots. Dionysius Exiguus, an abbot in Rome, devised them as a way to determine the date for Easter for Pope St. John I. The terms were continued under the Gregorian Calendar, created in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII.
Although most calendars are based on an epoch or person, B.C. and A.D. have always presented a particular problem for historians: There is no year zero; there's a 33-year gap, reflecting the life of Christ, dividing the epochs. Critics say that's additional reason to replace the Christian-based terms.
"When Jews or Muslims have to put Christ in the middle of our calendar ... that's difficult for us," said Steven M. Brown, dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.
The new terms were introduced by academics in the 1990s in public elementary and high school classrooms.”
So they want to replace “Christian based terms in our calendars” and “academics” have already introduced the terms into public elementary schools and high school classrooms?
What I want to know is…
WHO THE HELL APPROVED THIS BRAINSTORM?
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?
What are they teaching your kids in our government schools? I don’t have any kids myself, but this really pisses me off.
Why don’t we just throw out the calendar all together. Let’s toss out the alarm clock while we’re at it.
Let’s just re-number everything as before Clinton (BC) and after Clinton (AC.)
Or how about using the terms before gay marriage (BGM) and after gay marriage (AGM)?
Let’s have a calendar that completely skips the birthdays of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and eliminates Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. There would just be a blank square on the page with no number and no title—just a big smiley face or a picture of a condom.
I know...lets design a clock that runs backwards and only chimes on Martin Luther Kings’ birthday, Earth Day, and Gay Pride Day? Let’s eliminate the minimum wage and pay everyone $20 an hour to stay home and smoke dope and watch Public Television.
I’ll see y’all, I’m moving to Costa Rica.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Preaching To The Choir
It seems that liberals are expanding their strategy of “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
Rankled by the success and reach of conservative talk radio shows like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Neil Boortz, last spring they started their own liberal talk radio network called Air America.
Air America only has one problem—no one is listening to their whining, mean-spirited whimps like Al Franken. They are ranked somewhere down in the twenties in number of listeners in New York City, their primary market. They are not fairing much better in Los Angeles, their number two market.
Why the poor ratings? Because if you want to listen to the liberal viewpoint, all you have to do is tune in to the Clinton News Network (CNN), or ABC, CBS, NBC, and MSNBC.
Liberal talk radio is redundant. An Oxymoron...heavy emphasis on the moron part...
This NY Times story says that now the mainstream media and hollywood types are trying their hands at blogging.
"LOS ANGELES, April 23 - Get ready for the next level in the blogosphere.
Arianna Huffington, the columnist and onetime candidate for governor of California, is about to move blogging from the realm of the anonymous individual to the realm of the celebrity collective.
She has lined up more than 250 of what she calls "the most creative minds" in the country to write a group blog that will range over topics from politics and entertainment to sports and religion. It is essentially a nonstop virtual talk show that will be part of a Web site that will also serve up breaking news around the clock. It is to be introduced May 9.
Having prominent people join the blogosphere, Ms. Huffington said in an interview, "is an affirmation of its success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation." Among those signed up to contribute are Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman."
Walter Cronkite and Clinton’s black soul-brother lawyer friend Vernon Jordan blogging?
I’m laughing my butt off.
Why don’t they include OJ Simpson…he could continue his search for his wife's killer(s) online…
“But unlike the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post will be interactive, offering news as well as commentary from famous people and allowing the masses to comment too, although not always directly with the celebs.”
Of course they won’t allow comments or force these morons to actually live with and answer to their readers.
When are the hollywood idiots going to learn that just because you can stick your boobs and pretty face or pectorals and penis on a TV or movie screen doesn't mean that anyone gives a damn what you think about politicts?
This won’t be a blog, it will be on-line newspaper—probably with more of the same leftist drivel.
Rankled by the success and reach of conservative talk radio shows like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Neil Boortz, last spring they started their own liberal talk radio network called Air America.
Air America only has one problem—no one is listening to their whining, mean-spirited whimps like Al Franken. They are ranked somewhere down in the twenties in number of listeners in New York City, their primary market. They are not fairing much better in Los Angeles, their number two market.
Why the poor ratings? Because if you want to listen to the liberal viewpoint, all you have to do is tune in to the Clinton News Network (CNN), or ABC, CBS, NBC, and MSNBC.
Liberal talk radio is redundant. An Oxymoron...heavy emphasis on the moron part...
This NY Times story says that now the mainstream media and hollywood types are trying their hands at blogging.
"LOS ANGELES, April 23 - Get ready for the next level in the blogosphere.
Arianna Huffington, the columnist and onetime candidate for governor of California, is about to move blogging from the realm of the anonymous individual to the realm of the celebrity collective.
She has lined up more than 250 of what she calls "the most creative minds" in the country to write a group blog that will range over topics from politics and entertainment to sports and religion. It is essentially a nonstop virtual talk show that will be part of a Web site that will also serve up breaking news around the clock. It is to be introduced May 9.
Having prominent people join the blogosphere, Ms. Huffington said in an interview, "is an affirmation of its success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation." Among those signed up to contribute are Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman."
Walter Cronkite and Clinton’s black soul-brother lawyer friend Vernon Jordan blogging?
I’m laughing my butt off.
Why don’t they include OJ Simpson…he could continue his search for his wife's killer(s) online…
“But unlike the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post will be interactive, offering news as well as commentary from famous people and allowing the masses to comment too, although not always directly with the celebs.”
Of course they won’t allow comments or force these morons to actually live with and answer to their readers.
When are the hollywood idiots going to learn that just because you can stick your boobs and pretty face or pectorals and penis on a TV or movie screen doesn't mean that anyone gives a damn what you think about politicts?
This won’t be a blog, it will be on-line newspaper—probably with more of the same leftist drivel.
Are You This Stupid?
I grew up in a fairly rural area in south Alabama where you could actually see the night sky. Not just the Moon and a few major planets like Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, but back in the 60’s you could see the Milky Way on a clear winter night.
Now that we live on an island located on the Atlantic Ocean, we have an excellent view of the night sky, particularly looking to the east. One of my favorite websites is Spaceweather.com. I get a regular E-mail update from them each week that tells me about things like sunspots, eclipses, and meteor showers.
The Perseid and the Leonid Showers occur in August and November each year and have, in recent history, provided a spectacular display of “shooting stars” if you were willing to stay up late or get up early to watch.
There was a minor meteor shower predicted for this past weekend—the Lyrid Meteor Shower, caused by the earth passing through debris from the tail of a comet. There apparently were a bunch of DUMB ASSES up in New England that are not used to being able to see anything in the sky other than the moon, airplanes, and UFO’s.
"BOSTON (AP) - A meteor shower Sunday night sparked a flurry of frantic phone calls to police departments across New England from people who saw bright lights moving in the sky, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The meteor shower was seen as far north as Portland, Maine, and as far south as Long Island. Some witnesses apparently mistook the meteor shower for a plane crashing in Connecticut, the FAA's Holly Baker said.
"We've checked all around. There are no aircraft unaccounted for," she said."
I just have two questions…
Are these people are allowed to vote?
Are they allowed to have kids?
(I bet if they voted at all, they voted for John sKerry)
Now that we live on an island located on the Atlantic Ocean, we have an excellent view of the night sky, particularly looking to the east. One of my favorite websites is Spaceweather.com. I get a regular E-mail update from them each week that tells me about things like sunspots, eclipses, and meteor showers.
The Perseid and the Leonid Showers occur in August and November each year and have, in recent history, provided a spectacular display of “shooting stars” if you were willing to stay up late or get up early to watch.
There was a minor meteor shower predicted for this past weekend—the Lyrid Meteor Shower, caused by the earth passing through debris from the tail of a comet. There apparently were a bunch of DUMB ASSES up in New England that are not used to being able to see anything in the sky other than the moon, airplanes, and UFO’s.
"BOSTON (AP) - A meteor shower Sunday night sparked a flurry of frantic phone calls to police departments across New England from people who saw bright lights moving in the sky, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The meteor shower was seen as far north as Portland, Maine, and as far south as Long Island. Some witnesses apparently mistook the meteor shower for a plane crashing in Connecticut, the FAA's Holly Baker said.
"We've checked all around. There are no aircraft unaccounted for," she said."
I just have two questions…
Are these people are allowed to vote?
Are they allowed to have kids?
(I bet if they voted at all, they voted for John sKerry)
Try this Test
I'm still learning about Blogging. I'm also still learning about myself. I did this posting mainly to test installing HTML tables in my blog. Guess what? It WORKS!
I got the link from Gut Rumbles. (Careful if you go there, he's bites I hear...)
You can go to the website and find out which American Cities Best Fit You?
I'll agree with Honolulu, somebody buy me a one way ticket and I'm there. Same for Miami.
Already done Atlanta for 27 years, and whoever thinks that I'd live in Austin, Texas or hang around in the rain with the liberal panty-waists in Seattle has clearly lost too many brain cells.
I got the link from Gut Rumbles. (Careful if you go there, he's bites I hear...)
American Cities That Best Fit You: |
| 70% Honolulu |
| 60% Atlanta |
| 60% Miami |
| 55% Austin |
| 55% Seattle |
You can go to the website and find out which American Cities Best Fit You?
I'll agree with Honolulu, somebody buy me a one way ticket and I'm there. Same for Miami.
Already done Atlanta for 27 years, and whoever thinks that I'd live in Austin, Texas or hang around in the rain with the liberal panty-waists in Seattle has clearly lost too many brain cells.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Live By The Sword, Die By The Sword
(The flying fickle finger of fate..)
Remember the Tylenol Scare?
If you are younger than 30 you probably don’t. It makes me feel old when I looked up the Tylenol tampering story and found out that it happened in 1982. Seems like just yesterday…
Just to refresh you memory, in the fall of 1982 some moron took Tylenol capsules off the shelves of grocery stores in the Chicago area and replaced the contents of some capsules with Cyanide poison. The idiot ended up killing seven people and causing a recall of all of Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol products, ultimately costing the company over $100 million.
The only positive outcome was an industry wide change in the packaging of pharmaceuticals and many food items that continues today. There were a number of copycats that tried the same thing after the initial story broke and they never caught the person(s) that did the initial poisoning, but a second idiot, James Lewis, was arrested for claiming responsibility and demanding money in return for information to prevent further deaths.
Mr. Lewis finished serving thirteen years of a twenty year sentence for extortion in the late 1990’s. HE GOT LESS THAN HE DESERVED, IN MY OPINION.
This brings me to the recent story of Miss Anna Ayala of Las Vegas, Nevada--the Wendy's "finger-in-the-chili extortionist.
I hate to point this out, but Miss Ayala could be getting a raw deal in this situation since they can’t absolutely prove that she put the severed human finger in her bowl of chili, but since she has a past history of filing lawsuits asking for money over stupid circumstances I guess that I can't blame the authorities.
Like Johnson & Johnson, Wendy’s has taken a huge hit financially and can do little to prove that the finger didn’t originate in their chili—other than proving that none of their employees and suppliers are missing any fingers.
As for Miss Ayala, I have some advice…When you live by the sword, you risk dieing by the sword.
Know what I mean?
Remember the Tylenol Scare?
If you are younger than 30 you probably don’t. It makes me feel old when I looked up the Tylenol tampering story and found out that it happened in 1982. Seems like just yesterday…
Just to refresh you memory, in the fall of 1982 some moron took Tylenol capsules off the shelves of grocery stores in the Chicago area and replaced the contents of some capsules with Cyanide poison. The idiot ended up killing seven people and causing a recall of all of Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol products, ultimately costing the company over $100 million.
The only positive outcome was an industry wide change in the packaging of pharmaceuticals and many food items that continues today. There were a number of copycats that tried the same thing after the initial story broke and they never caught the person(s) that did the initial poisoning, but a second idiot, James Lewis, was arrested for claiming responsibility and demanding money in return for information to prevent further deaths.
Mr. Lewis finished serving thirteen years of a twenty year sentence for extortion in the late 1990’s. HE GOT LESS THAN HE DESERVED, IN MY OPINION.
This brings me to the recent story of Miss Anna Ayala of Las Vegas, Nevada--the Wendy's "finger-in-the-chili extortionist.
I hate to point this out, but Miss Ayala could be getting a raw deal in this situation since they can’t absolutely prove that she put the severed human finger in her bowl of chili, but since she has a past history of filing lawsuits asking for money over stupid circumstances I guess that I can't blame the authorities.
Like Johnson & Johnson, Wendy’s has taken a huge hit financially and can do little to prove that the finger didn’t originate in their chili—other than proving that none of their employees and suppliers are missing any fingers.
As for Miss Ayala, I have some advice…When you live by the sword, you risk dieing by the sword.
Know what I mean?
Give Me A Break
You can tell when there are too many lawyers in a given society by the number of frivolous lawsuits. Of course it takes a few stupid people to form the basis of the litigation, but when people make a living by suing McDonalds for selling hot coffee or get caught trying to sue Wendys for putting fingers in bowls of chili, you can be pretty sure that things are out of hand.
I'm proposing that we might be facing a similar over-supply of psychiatrists since they've recently started running around offering counseling to people doing genealogical research.
"LONDON -- Genealogists want psychotherapy to be made available for people who stumble across unpleasant discoveries while researching their family history.
Britain's Society of Genealogists is one of several organizations concerned that amateur historians are not sufficiently prepared for the secrets they might uncover in their family records and could need counseling to help them through the emotional process."
So finding out that your family tree doesn't have any branches is considered stressful?
I'm offering some advice of my own...
GET A GRIP AND DEAL WITH IT.
I'm proposing that we might be facing a similar over-supply of psychiatrists since they've recently started running around offering counseling to people doing genealogical research.
"LONDON -- Genealogists want psychotherapy to be made available for people who stumble across unpleasant discoveries while researching their family history.
Britain's Society of Genealogists is one of several organizations concerned that amateur historians are not sufficiently prepared for the secrets they might uncover in their family records and could need counseling to help them through the emotional process."
So finding out that your family tree doesn't have any branches is considered stressful?
I'm offering some advice of my own...
GET A GRIP AND DEAL WITH IT.
