Some doozies here

So we got some doozies...

Where to begin, let's go first with Gov Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Conservative family values Republican who went and had an affair possibly using taxpayer dollars to cover travel with a woman from Argentina. Let's start with the typical family values hyporcisy. I'm pro- this, anti-gay, anti-sex that. But see that latina bonita, and you just have to have it. Well most men may think that, fewer married ones with kids act on it. Fewer still take money from the state to enable us to carry through with it. Just remember, Mark Sanford could take money from the state to have an affair, but it is not alright to take money from the federal government to pay teachers and cops. While I personally think that the affair is the least of the "public" problems Sanford has, the reality is that he embezelled/misled the people of his state. Any politico's personal behavior is just that, just don't use our time or money to do it. Next, if you're elected and you are of a position where there has to be a constant line of communication open to you, never lie about where you are. What happens if there was a flood or huricane that hit the state? Who would've mobilized the national guard? Hell, do you have a national guard to mobilize because they aren't in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Sarah the hatchet girl, you're next. First, could you see the Obama's in Russian from your house? I'll caviat this like all others, if there truely is something wrong with your kids, or the first dude or even your own health than this is an acceptable act. If not, you're a quitter. That's what people are who walk away when the going gets tough. You brought this on yourself. Your ambition to be something other than in Alaska had consequences beyond getting you name recognition your ambition cravenly desired. You have to take the good with the bad. The scrutiny will only get worse the more ambitions you have. You clearly lack a general working knowledge of the basics of Federalism that junior high students have, you show all the lack of curiosity and policy creation that Shrub showed but have none of his shrewd people skills, and more than one person who's worked with you has said you've lied to the public. Quitter/liar, all the same to me. It's a pattern of behavior that says ego first, everything else be damned. See Pat Buchannan, Al Shartpon, Dennis Kucinich, Steve Forbes and Ross Perot on that. But more likely, you're just a bully. In Alaska, you may have been the meanest and the toughest. But you tried to go beyond what you could handle, and got popped in the nose and bloodied. Than the people of Alaska reacted like all people do when a bully goes down, they show it's very easy to stand up and push them back harder than the bullying threats.

FRAKIN' Computers

My laptop decided to crash last weekend. Spent 3 days trying to format/reformat/install XP before it finally took. Things I'll need to try and track down are copies of EndNote, SigmaPlot, and Office. Not sure if I want to go open source or not.

It's been a busy 2 months...

Alright, let's start ranting here!!!

First personally there's a baby coming in December. The "plan" is I get to keep my little collection/customizing room till October when I'll pack it up, store it, and than assemble baby furniture.

Professionally: The University of Iowa is announcing lay offs. I don't know if I'll get hit, but if I am, I'll allegedly find out by Friday. Next, I'm going to take the GRE again and hopefully get into graduate school someplace. The problem right now is I'm slightly confused and lacking focus. I have a lot of ideas rattling around, and not one place/program/project would seem to fit them all. "Best Fit" is hard to come up with when I find so much not to like at particular places.

Away from me...

Healthcare reform: Alright, the Democrats were re-elected basically for one reason. GET THIS FUCKING DONE!!!! This ain't the time to accomodate everyone. Listen, incorporate the BEST IDEAS, not the ones most likely to be voted through.

Oprah's Quack Medical advice: THey're CELEBUTARDS. They have no training, no knowledge, no research. They're there to peddle some movie or video. I'm going after the VACCINES GAVE MY KID AUTISM crowd. NO THEY DIDN't. A random genetic event that happened at fertilization gave your kid autism. It just shows up on vaccines because the protiens involved in that gene are starting to be expressed (or in this case not expressed enough) to make the glial connections to re-enforce synaptic connections. It's called critical period in development. Events happen at their specific times. The vaccine just coicidently is given around the time these events occur. I could say the pajamas you put your kid in caused autism because I'm guessing they just grew into a new pair around that time too, but I won't. AUTISM IS GENETICLY BASED. That is not being PROVEN. There has never been linkage/correlation much less proof on Vaccines Cause autism. Just because you're a parent and you "know" isn't proof. It's proof that you're so desperate and angry that your child will not be "normal" that you'll lash out at everything. That's ok. It's human. But continuing to deny after it's been explained over and over to you, is intellectually dishonest if not treasonous. Oh oh, I shoot traitors here.

Jon and Kate. Oh this is a guilty pleasure disaster. Wow, the kids are adorable, but it's like a permament preschool all the time. Of course, fundamentalist Christians cheating...they have a place for that, it's called the Republican Caucus of the US Congress. (Thought I forgot you about your Sen. Ensign or Newt?)

GM and Chrysler went backrupt. Good. Detroit made their bed, live with it.

The Boston Tea Party was about paying taxes though

I'm going to comment on the idiots who aranged these so called "tea parties" on April 15.

First off a History Lesson for those that want to ban the books or make fun of the people who can read and remember the lessons from them. In 1773 a bunch of Bostonians protested the leveling of taxes on tea by dressing up as a local Indian tribe and dumping the tea into Boston Harbor. What they wanted was a represenative or two in Parliment to be able to vote on taxing, the amount, and where it was directed. It was never about not paying taxes but having a say in what and where taxes were paid. Sadly we have that already. It's called the US House of Represenatives. If you don't like the way yours makes taxes, vote him/her out next year.

Next, the leader of this so called grass roots movement is neither grass roots nor unknown. He's the former Majority Leader of the House of Represenatives, Dick Armey!!! He's trying the approach of trickle down organizing. Money pours down from the top, and people will spring up. Also, having a whole network say there's going to be this event, I'm going and speaking at it isn't reporting. IT'S STAGED!!!

That said, tea bagging, what the event was to be called, has an entirely different connotation now these days. It refers to the sexual act of sucking on the testicles. Yep, Dick Armey led an event to get one's testicles sucked.

That aside, if I take the theme that Faux Noise claims was the reason for the protests, the paying of taxes and out of control spending, can they answer me this. If the national debt is the biggest concern, than taxing is going to be the only thing that gets us out of it. You can only cut so much on the spending side of things. However, you are only brining enough in taxes year to year to pay for what you providing in terms of services and sallaries. You still have a massive debt, and the only way to get more money to pay it off is to basically take in more to pay it back.

So if you're truely against the national debt, you better be for higher taxes. Otherwise your hypocrisy is going to just explode the problem you claim to hate.

Best TV Finales

I am begining to think TV Finales are improving with time. I feel as if this year alone, and 2 shows that actually inspire an emotional response and not just entertain, should go on the list. So I'll make a brief list of what I consider to be the best FINALES of all time.

1) M*A*S*H*. Umm, is there any question? Kept true to the series in the end of the war push, fire induced bug out, truce, celebration and finally the indviduals saying goodbye to each other.

2) BattleStar Galactica. It took the best of M*A*S*H*'s ideas, applied it to itself.

3) Newhart. While the rest of the episode isn't that memorable (they all move out of their sleepy Vermont town because a Japanese developer bought it and will make a golf course), everyone knows the last 2 minutes or so. Bob wakes up from a dream in his 1970s sitcom show with his 1970s sitcom wife.

4) e.r. What is it about anything related now to the character of Mark Greene that makes me cry? How about after 15 years finally getting to see the building in the very last shot? The cliched use of a certain Beatles song? Duplicating the shots/actions of the pilot episode? No, it was Ernest Borgnine's character letting go of his dying wife. That was us, the fan/viewer, and our show. Finally letting it go and dying with dignity.

5) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. GIRL POWER!!! How do you stop the armies of hell from being unleashed? Basically be releasing the one constraint we had by allowing the Slayer's power to go to all potentials.

6) Star Trek: The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine. Each had slightly different things. But both brought a nice end but let us all know there are many more things left for them to do. Trek has never been the same.

All the rest were either cancelled so a rapid rewriting was needed to create a finale, not that memorable, changed the meaning of the show, or set up spin offs that sucked.

With e.r. ending, the two longest running "scripted" shows I'm watching now are CSI (the Las Vegas one) and Smallville. One is going down in its ineptitude, while the other still brings the quality. So that leaves me with 24, House, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Smallville, CSI, and Clone Wars as the only shows I'm still watching. 24 and Smallville seem to be the next likely ones to go. I'm sure I'll add Caprica and Stargate: Universe when it arrives, but whether they'll be worthy to stand on the shoulders of those that went down this year, who knows.

So long Galactica, we hardly frakkin' knew ya!

Battlestar Galactica ended Friday night. I know I'm sad about it. And I just can't figure out why beyond its over. The ending was done in a style that is very much like MASH's final episode. Everyone got their 5 minute send off, even the smaller parts, and not in the way you expected either.

The saddest has to be Lee's. He wants to go off exploring, about to invite Kara, and she vanishes. Equally sad 2 weeks after the fact is just how alone he is. He's no friend of the Tighs. His father is mourning Rosalyn and all the opurtunity and living he lost by not acting sooner (and probably taking relief from the burdens of the Fleet). Helo and Athena have a kid to raise, he despises Baltar, and with Dee killing herself just weeks before he's all alone.

Sadder still that I just remembered Dee. That's what losing all hope comes to, but also a cold warning to not place too high expectations on anything. But will we repeat the mistakes? Who knows. We'll soon find out about the Plan and Caprica soon enough.

CSM, my guilty pleasure paper

I read the Christian Science Montitor and probably brought about its demise as a daily paper. That's because I only read the online version. IT has decent reporting, good guest columns and from time to time, interesting blogs.

I'll take 2 that appeared on my iGoogle page today:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0312/p09s01-coop.html
Is why can't we teach critical thinking if it is the most essential skill. I think I've said a lot on that the past few weeks, but agree that I've been sloppy, incomplete and maybe prejudiced. But I realize that, so does that make it any less critical?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html
This is some critical thinking by an Evangelical, the irony there. I could've told him most of that. But than you took a 1600+ old heresy of the Gnostics, used it to justify slavery, and have pushed everything from Temperance/Prohibition to faux-science and even religion without even having a theology. Bad ideas die for one simple reason, they're bad ideas.

Worst Senate Leaders Ever?

This idea actually first came from Charles Krauthiemer of all people, Harry Reid is the most inefectual Senate leader ever. I'd also add that Mitch McConnel should be added to that list. Both these guys deserve each other. They're afraid to bring any debate or policy fights to the floor of the Senate.

Reid is constantly out maneuvered by both the House leadership (on both sides), the White House (Da Chimp Shrub 43, and Big Ears Big Ideas 44).

McConnel has been made impotent because now only 1 person needs to break ranks on a party line vote, and there will always be between 3-6 who will break ranks because they're not as kooky as the base of his party.

Both fail to grasp that there is a coalittion of about a dozen (Gang of 14 anyone?) who really run the Senate. It is bipartisian, most of them fairly popular outside of their states and not with the bases of their parties. These are the Democrats favorite Republicans and the Republicans favorite Democrats. I'll ignore Republicans dropping the "ic" when referring to the Democratic Party where as the person of the party is a registered Democrat for now.

So Mr Inept leader, and Mr Impotent leader, enjoy each other. You're the only Senate leaders we go. God save the country.

Not State of the Union and the Big Budget

So 44 with the big ears dropped the budget on us this week. I don't know what is shocking me more, that he had the balls to include all things we spend money on or that he's being attacked for doing it. I mean, are Republicans so dillusional that they didn't think all these suplamental bills for Iraq, Afghanistan and disasters flew away into magic fairy land and not add to the national debt, deficiet and everything inbetween?

How does the human mind come to grips with trillions when concepually we can't get our minds around millions (fyi it is believed that 10000s are about what we can last understand because that's what it takes to fill an areana).



He also gave a hell of a good pep talk on Tuesday. What followed shows well total miscalculations. Obama gave us hope, optimism, longing for tomorrow. Jindal's response was at best read poorly and factually incorrect in places as well as fear mongoring. An idea has to be viable if it is something beyond, not what that guy says. We've been fucked over for so long, that any honesty is going to be shocking, if not overwhelming.

Gandalf the White said, "He maybe a fool, but he's an honest fool."

Facebook backs down from treason...

Read the last post if you want to know exactly what is treason. Oh, and the only time treason isn't a capital offense, is when you give up your co-conspirators and take life in prison.

Next, many users on facebook were upset with the change in the Terms of Service/Usage agreement. The crux was that anything posted to Facebook became Facebooks and deleting or revising it would mean that it still was Facebooks.

That upset enough people to make them change it back. After all, ideas are the property of the originator or the group that paid for the originator to come up with the ideas.

So anyone doubt that ideas and intellectual property doesn't matter anymore?

Ideas, Intent, and Civilization

"Pick a side," Adm. Adama. "I didn't know we were picking sides," Lee "Apollo" Adama.

Yes, we all have to pick a side. But this is probably the most insidious and vile thing imaginable and has been going on for far too long. I'm talking about the taking of an idea, incorrectly interrupting it, and than people propagate the mistake because they're too lazy to question or investigate on their own. This is happening in art, in politics, in science, and just about every facet of life. It is grotesque and it is an offense to civilization as we know it.

Ideas and their intent are the basis of a great deal of civilization. Where would we be without Jefferson, Locke, Hume? After all tyranny is the suppression of ideas and reason according to Kant, Bjerkley, Berkley and Kjerkergaard. But also, to those men, distortion or misinterruption of ideas makes one an offense to the very civilization and removes them from humanity. After all by distorting what makes us unique, they diminish themselves to the realms of animals, losing all potential to make them human.

I mean, what can be more simple? The thought of the creator is of an idea is that immutable. IT cannot be incorrect when compared to a third degree or fourth degree analysis especially when it contradicts the original basis or interruption of the creator's original thought. But those that claim the tertiary or quatenary thoughts are correct when there is a blatant contradiction are holding to a phallacy that assaults civilzation. No longer can the orignal thought or intent be correct, the incorrect assumption is correct. The creator of the original idea/art/work was wrong.

Imagine not talking about Mona Lisa's smile but instead whether her frown follows you like her eyes. Imagine some one saying Heart's Crazy On You isn't a response to critics saying the Wilson's were lesbians but how Nancy or Ann committed murder. Just wrong. That's just art. The assault hits science, particularly by uninformed supporters of evolution; the deniers assault all science but they also assault religion too. It attacks religion by the use of fundamentalism/literalism of scriptures. Soon, the ideas that are great will be diluted out and replaced by sheer idiocy and paths of least resistance.

What we'll have is a bunch of lazy, dishonest, and intellectually vacant discourse in all creative fields. The analogy would be letting Paris Hilton set national policies. We'd all look good and have online pornos, but it would be meaningless and contribute nothing to the greater good.

"The first duty is always to the truth. Personal, moral, scientific truths," so wailed Jean-Luc Picard.

I live in a country and society that is based on idea, as it seems to be said more than once here. Assaulting ideas especially with incorrect ones is treason. Treason has only one punishment in any society. Who's to blame? The people who do the first offense or the people who run with the offense and propagate it as truth? I cannot say. Often, the intial offender when pointed to their mistakes, retracts and appologizes. That leaves the person who continues with their treason to thought and ideas in the face of the truth!

There is no greater good than to generate a work of art of logically viable idea. But those who would distort it are an afront to all this greatness. They are traitors to our species, to our civilization, to our culture. Sadly, they'll claim ignorance but ignorance is no defense in the law except for those with diminished capacity. They will cling to their belief that they are fully awares, but they can be only one of two things. Blatant traitors, or people with such diminished capacity that they should be pittied on for not getting to enjoy the full extent of the human condition.

44th Time, 1st of its kind

Obama's Inaguarl Speech.

My reflections on some passages.

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

In otherwords, I'm not a Baby Boomer and am sick of their crap too. I said the same thing way back when writing the platform at the county level. Actually I said, I'm so sick of this Baby Boom Vietnam shit that no one cares and you've cost me politically the military and generationally have screwed us with a debate that means nothing in the end.

"Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

We're not going to go shopping to fix this. There will be rules, taxes, and sacrifices. No longer is it the 90% don't have to do the 10% or the 10% receive 90%.

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works "

I saw the McCain's also rans and the governator say the same thing. But it is sort of an acknowledgement that cutting programs and spending isn't the answer if things work. If it works it gets money. If it doesn't, than you make the cut. You don't take a hatchet to do an operating room.

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."

That right there is the correct response and George Shrub still didn't get it. WE NEVER SACRIFICE THE FREEDOMS THE PAST EARN FOR FUTURE SAFETY. Freedom is too precious because it can only be bought by blood. To give it back for any reason is to say to that price paid, no, didn't want it, sorry, no thanks. If the false argument is that they hate us for our freedom, than let's really be free and open. To give that freedom some have said they regret they only have one life to give for their country. Never ever cheapen that price again.

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

My guess is that this will be the phrase forever remembered. Once you buy into an idea, and leave all other things behind and are tied to that idea, you may understand. Until you do, there is only one nation, one idea on this Earth that for the moment does.

"This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

Not in a long time have I heard that, and it makes me wonder why we haven't unil now.

"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
'Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]'"

See what I said earlier. The price has been paid, now we honor that payment.

God bless President Obama and these United States.

The Orlando Expierence, lines

Anyone who has ever gone to Disney World or Unviersal Studios or just about anything in the Orlando area (that includes the Kennedy Space Center) knows the feeling of a cow right before it becomes hamburgers and steaks. You are snaked through long lines, pushed and prodded, before finally reaching the end of the line.

There are ways around it, paying for extra at a place like Universal, using the Fast Pass at Disney (1 per 2 hours though). Overall though I do enjoy this once every 5-10 years.

My favorite expierence I think was the Kennedy Space Center. We went on the extra tour called UP Close which takes you out to the observation stations of the actual launching pads. You also get more interactio with a tour guide instead of a bus driver pressing play on a video.



We got to stop here at the building assembly facility. We saw the launch pads for the Apollo and Shuttle programs. Standing underneath one of the Saturn V rockets that went unused was most impressive. You realize this is what human achievement is. There perhaps is nothing more mechanically impressive to date than this.



Daytona Beach was a nice different relaxing time on the Atlantic Ocean. We skipped the track and the following morning rushed back to Sea Worl on pure whimsy. It was a very nice trip, but returning is a whole other story.