Friday, February 25, 2005

Does it really matter?

I've been reading about a supposed CIA front company in Oregon, Bayard Foreign Marketing LLC. Now, it's fairly apparent that this company is one of the CIA's "franchises", and it has recently come under a lot of scrutiny because their corporate Jet has flown to places most businessmen would never be seen. Like Guantanamo Bay, or Yemen. The real controversy is that this plane, as it has been dubbed by some foreign press, is the "torture plane" for the CIA. To be quite honest, I could care less. A lot of people like to demonize the CIA for various reasons. Mostly that they deny certain parties their civil liberties as humans. I subscribe to the age old philosophy of "Do Unto Others as they would to you" and sometimes we need a personification of this. It's not like the old days when the CIA could be counted on to create revolution in countries that needed it. The agency is clearly in a new era, and much as we don't like it, we have no choice but to accept it. We as Americans don't get to dictate what goes on, as much as we all think it's our right. Now back to my main point. So the CIA takes terrorists to countries that don't adhere to civil liberties during interrogations, in a number of cases these terrorists are being taken back to their country of citizenship. It's not like they're bringing these guys back to the White House Lawn to be beaten publicly and embarassed. If people aren't complaining about this, they're going to complain about something. It's the nature of people. My biggest problem with this is that European journalists like to brand something like this as the penultimate problem with American Anti-Terror Policy and the reason why we're the assholes. Like they haven't been whining since WWI about our place in the world and their diminishing role. I'm not anti-European, I'm anti-whining.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

She'll soon be a widow


What, no dress blues? Posted by Hello

This is Shamil Basayev, a muslim Chechen warlord. He is essentially Al-Qaeda's Eastern European commander. Islamofascists like to refer to him as the leader of the Chechen resistance against Russian interference. That's a load of garbage. His group's aim is to create an Islamic state out of Chechnya. They typically use woman as suicide bombers. You know, because it's much easier to find a new wife than get a new explosives smuggler. But I digress, Basayev has emerged from a month long "retreat" to take his third wife in Southern Russia (or Chechnya, depending on where you're from). He'll no doubt be taking a fourth, #3 will probably be strapping C4 to herself in the near future. This guy is grade A scum and should be erased. It takes a special kind of arrogance to publicize yourself like this, especially with International security services on the hunt. There are only so many times someone can put themselves in the public eye before they get tracked down, and I have to belive this guy will soon meet his demise.


Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Boredom is a Bitch

I'm so bored right now, I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe I'll finish Ghost Soldiers, which is an outstanding book. I thought I had a fantasy baseball draft at 12:30, turns out it was Pacific time, stupid Yahoo!! I keep seeing this Denny's commercial for its new breakfasts, and I really want the meat lovers scrambled eggs. How can you resist scrambled eggs with Ham, Sausage and Bacon (the great american vegetable) topped with cheese? Too bad it's at Denny's. I guess I'll have to stick to yogurt for now.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Rest in Peace, Doctor


The good Doctor Posted by Hello

"You better take care of me Lord, if you don't you're gonna have me on your hands. "

Last night, in what is being called an apparent suicide, Hunter S. Thompson died. Thompson was found with a gunshot wound by his son Juan. I'd like to think that somewhere he's marvelling at the coverage his death is getting. He wrote a fantastic article for ESPN.com's "Page 2" last week about his new version of golf and a conversation he had with Bill Murray about it. Of the books he wrote, or compiled, I've read The Proud Highway, Fear and Loathing in America, Hell's Angels and Better Than Sex. The first 2 are really compilations of his letters home from 1955 until the mid to late 60s. Hell's Angels was by far the best of the 4, but there are many more to read. I've also seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas more times than I can count. In recent years his body began to deteriorate, he had an artificial hip, broke his leg in Hawaii and had had back surgery which caused him a bit of pain. Not that he didn't know how to medicate himself. HST was a living tribute to freedom, his excesses were legendary, and his writing was, well, Gonzo to say the least. Not many people will ever live a life as colorful as Hunter Thompson's. Not many people have the gumption to live such a life. He will be greatly missed.

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die"

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Sir Charles


"Go 76ers, Charles Barkley Dissed Larry Bird..." Posted by Hello

For no apparent reason, I'm watching the NBA dunk contest and, as expected, it stinks. The only saving grace is that Charles Barkley is working commentary. Josh Smith of Atlanta tried to garner some votes from Julius Erving, but stepped about a foot past the foul line. When Kenny Smith tried to tell Dr. J that that's where he took off from at the first dunk contest, Sir Charles stepped in. "Hey Julius don't worry, the only thing you and Kenny got in common is that you're both black." Hilarious. It reminded me that Charles Barkley is easily one of the funniest people living. So I took it upon myself to find some more quotes from The Round Mound of Rebound:

“I don’t create controversies. They’re there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.”

On the Dream Team's chances against Angola: “I don't know anything about Angola, but I know they're in trouble.”

On the necessary etiquette for dinner with Prince Rainier: “We're supposed to stop eating when he stops? But what if we're still hungry? He may have had a snack before he came over.”

On the world as he sees it: "You know the world is off tilt when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese, and Germany doesn't want to go to war."

Sulphur Island


From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...Posted by Hello

At 8:59 a.m. 60 years ago today, U.S. Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima. The island was important to our forces because the Japanese had set up the island as a full service military base. They had built underground tunnels on the island, almost perfectly camouflaged artillery and set up an airbase that could be used to send B-29s on bombing raids of Japan. Iwo Jima translates to Sulphur Island because the entire Island was essentially a dormant Volcano. The whole island was pretty much covered in sulphuric ash. I won't go into complete details for fear of insulting someone smarter. But I will put up some statistics.

Total Losses

U.S. personnel 6,821 Killed 19,217 Wounded 2,648 Combat Fatigue Total 28,686

Marine Casualties 23,573

Japanese Troops 1,083 POW and 20,000 est. Killed

Over one third of the total Marines who participated in the invasion were either Killed, Wounded or suffered from Battle Fatigue.

They may bend, but they won't break...

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Who cares about Hockey?


At least he was honest...Posted by Hello

Well the baseball season is rapidly approaching, with Pitchers & Catchers reporting yesterday. The early season buzz will have more to do with Steroids than anything else. But I could care less. Well that's not true, I just don't get spastic about the fact that there's a steroids controversy. Every sport goes through some dark phase. Football had steroids and later pot (Nate Newton). Hoops had Cocaine and Pot. Hockey had Coke and 'Roids (John Kordic). I could care less because it's all about fantasy baseball. My partner and I participate in a 16 team pay league. This will be our fourth year in this league and the best part about it is either the draft or the amount of trash talk that goes on. I like our chances this year. We've got Clevelands catching prodigy Victor Martinez and Danny Kolb, the Braves new closer since Smoltz is going to be a starter this year. We've got the 15th pick in our draft though, but the bright side is we get 2 picks close together, which can generally be an advantage. We'll just have to see.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Father of the Year


Selfish Hedonism? Try winning an election first.Posted by Hello

You might think, based on my disdain for Kerry and McAuliffe and a few others, that I'm off of my right wing rocker. You can thank Alan Keyes for pushing me back towards the middle. Only a complete idiot would be so self involved that he would condemn his own daughter's lifestyle. I can respect his right to believe whatever he wants, but good lord we're talking about his daughter. I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I can honestly say sexuality is no reason to turn your back on your own offspring. Well unless it's necrophilia, that's just wrong. Every time people on the right wing make inroads with a community that they weren't previously associating with (or helping), a jackass like Alan Keyes comes along and screws it all up. The biggest problem with the 2 party system (in my eyes) is that certain leaders can't get past issues of race or sexuality and get down to moving our country forward. Alan Keyes represents this role to a tee. It goes beyond trying to pick up votes in the upcoming elections, it means embracing people as members of a particular party on either side.

Here is an ironic piece from Keyes' Illinois Campaign website:

Dedicated family man. Keyes and his wife Jocelyn have three children: Francis, Maya, and Andrew. Alan's stated purpose in life, like that of America's Founders, is to provide a secure future for our posterity.


Monday, February 14, 2005

Must have been quite a party


It's okay Terry, we both lost, but I only lost one race...Posted by Hello

There's something comedically ironic about the introduction ceremony of Howard Dean as DNC chair. The funny part has nothing to do with Dean. Take a look at this picture. The 2 biggest recent losers in the Democratic party: John Kerry and Terry McAuliffe, hugging it up looking like they're at a funeral. McAuliffe apparently spent a good portion of his exit speech complaining about how it was John Kerry who screwed up the election, not Terry. Of course not, because John Kerry blew all of those Congressional and Senatorial races. I never knew one man could run for so many offices at the same time. Not that Terry will ever read this, but he blew it and he deserves to be out of a job. It was his job to keep the Democrats on message and he didn't do it. If he were capable of holding himself accountable for blowing it, it's quite possible that he'd still have the job or, at the very least, a lot more respect than he's currently getting. Accountability, it's one of the keys to life.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

60 Sensational


For such a little guy he sure scores a LOT of points Posted by Hello

Last night I caught the second half of the Sixers-Magic game after I heard that Allen Iverson had 29 points in the first half. Generally when Allen goes over 20 in the first half, you know how the rest of the game is going to go. You just let him go and defend all of the other Sixers. And go he did. The mighty bubba-chuck hit 24 of 27 free throws and ended the game with 60 points, a new career high, and one of only 3 performances to go over 60 points in the regular season. To put that in perspective, Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point night in Hershey was one of them. Good Work, AL.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Central Park, Ukraine Style


Welcome to Kiev? Posted by Hello

I don't know much about art. Most of it looks like garbage to me. Today was the unveiling of "The Gates" in Central Park. I'm not exactly sure how it qualifies as art. It's quite spectacular to look at, and certainly adds a little extra flare to the Park, but to me it looks more like a belated tribute to Yushchenko's victory in the Ukraine. After all, it is orange. It actually kind of reminds me of one of the old Egyptian temple exhibits from the Natural History museum. You could walk through some of the chambers in the temple in order to get a feel for the structure.

AP's story about the unveiling is interesting in that it quotes an 8 year old saying "It's art." Wow, thanks kid. I need to keep an 8 year old with me in case I do anything worthy of notoriety, just so they can frame it properly for the general public. Maybe I'm just jealous that AP won't hire me, but you tend to lend more credence to something being art when you quote an art expert, or perhaps someone closer to adulthood. I'm not debating the merits of this "piece," I'm just splitting hairs, really. It's more fun that way.

Friday, February 11, 2005

It's actually a love story


Now this guy is unhingedPosted by Hello

Okay ladies and germs, this guy takes the Valentine's day cake. There are scant details about his personal life, but this is Gerald Krein and he tried to set up a mass suicide on Valentine's day. Apparently, he recruited women across the U.S. and Canada to off themselves. Now I'm not suggesting anything, but if this boob were smart, he would have followed Jim Jones' example and just spiked the Kool-Aid. I mean seriously, folks, this guy is obviously not mentally competent, just look at the picture. He's got that glossy look in his eyes. I'm going to assume that his master plan had something to do with unrequited love and some sort of revenge. Oh well, at least he wasn't successful.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Misadventures in Academia

"I'm not going to accept something I don't understand" -Ward Churchill

So I've watched about 15-20 minutes of Ward Churchill's "Fell Sorry For Me" rally in Colorado and I really can't stomach much more. He spent less time discussing the relevant issues than he did making a martyr of himself. Deflecting criticism with ad hominem attacks on people asking questions and at one point trying to deflect a question about the First Amendment by saying the Ninth Amendment protected him. At first I felt that for as stupid as his beliefs are, he has the right to express them in a "public" forum, that's the First Amendment, love it or leave it.

Because Colorado is a public university, most people are under the misguided theory that he can say what he wants and the students have to like it. I tend to believe that, for the most part, the classroom is a private setting in which students are to be taught based on fact, with a few exceptions (i.e. creative writing, philosophy, etc.) . But as Yeats said "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." Any educator dedicated to encouraging scholarship in their students knows this. I don't think that Ward Churchill is as interested in the scholarship of his students as much as he is interested in increasing his own profile.

I got the feeling watching the students in the crowd that most of them were just there to say they were there. It also dawned on me that college students go to certain events just so they can say they were there. When other students start to associate you with certain events, you begin to make a name for yourself, or at the least become recognizable. At a school the size of Colorado, a little notoriety can go a long way to help out one's reputation. It's stupid, I know, but so is your average college student.

Do I think Churchill should be fired? No. Do I think he should be punished somehow? Yes. My ideal punishment would involve family members of every 9/11 victim having the opportunity to punch him in the face, because it's a punch in the face to have some asshole in Colorado smearing people he never knew and never would have. Ward Churchill is not the face of scholarship, nor is he the face of the American Indian Movement, nor is he the face of common sense. Much has been made about his past and what he says and believes, and as well it should be. When you base your entire academic existence on a contrived family tree and espouse beliefs based on said family tree, you tend to betray yourself as a hypocrite. The more I write the more my anger grows, and writing angry makes my syntax sloppy.

Monday, February 07, 2005

Fun with Tyranny


Oh HerroooPosted by Hello

That wacky Kim Jung Il is at it again. Apparently he does not subscribe to the old saying "any publicity is good publicity." Of course it's hard to get good publicity when you're not in control of the message. For example, last summer Mr. Il's PR people released a statement that the commander had taken up golf. He had such golf acumen that he dominated on his first day out:

"Pyongyang media say North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il enjoys golf, having shot multiple holes-in-one during his first try at the game. He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The "Great Leader" routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported."

So the dimunitive leader is so adept at everything that he should be lauded by people of all nations as a hero to even the smallest man. Apparently he doesn't take jokes very well though. This story details the Great Leader's desire to clean up his image after those bastards at Team America besmirched his outstanding reputation. The best part about it (besides that they're serious) is the response from the Czech Embassy.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=13&u=/ap/20050205/ap_en_mo/nkorea_team_america


Friday, February 04, 2005

Sich Verpissen


The progressive party? I think not. Posted by Hello

You know, I'm all for Freedom of Speech, except when the voice exercising that freedom uses extreme stupidity. I find it hard to believe that Janeane Garofolo represents the thoughts and beliefs of mainstream Democrats. Having read through the transcripts of her appearance with Joe Scarborough et al, I can honestly say she is off her rocker. For every question posed to her, she came back with an ad hominem response that was off topic. It's shameful that party leadership hasn't asked this nut to associate herself with another party, maybe Lyndon Larouche is looking for a PR rep.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Hatred

This quote actually plays quite well to my Pro-Anti-Dean rant earlier today;

"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." R. Milhouse Nixon.

So I say it again, please DMV hire Howard Dean to be your mouthpiece.

Attn DNC: Please hire this boob!


If he hates Republicans now, what happens when he blows the next election for the Democrats?
Posted by Hello

I'm going to take a cue from National Review and beg that the people at the DMV (err, DNC) hire Howard Dean. It should be interesting to see how Dean divides Democrats. Think about it, Dean and his cadre of socialists should alienate a large portion of the more intelligent left with his (pardon the pun) claims, or shrieks, from left field. In order for Dean to effectively run the DNC, he's going to have to extricate himself from some of his alliances (think predatory insurance policies while Governor of VT). What he really needs to do is tone down the blind rhetoric and start pointing out the inroads that Democrats have made around the country. No more of the "Republicans are bad because they're evil" chatter, it's counterproductive to the DNC message, which nobody even knows, because they haven't produced a coherent one on McAuliffe's watch. Taking the default candidate over somebody more qualified should worry Democrats (think John Kerry), Howard Dean is on the fringe and can surely put out some quality rhetoric, but can he unite the many factions of the DNC to produce a winner? Give him the job and we'll find out. I doubt it, but if anything it should be fun to watch.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

A Little Kidnapping News


Damn plastic infidels!Posted by Hello

I have 2 explanations for today's amazing kidnapping attempt. First, somebody at The Onion is smart enough to hack their way onto an Islamofascist website and fooled everyone on earth. The alternative explanation is that the local terrorists have become so frustrated that their best effort is kidnapping G.I. Joe. One of the interesting things I thought about today is this: Whenever you see coalition troops undertaking some variety of mission, they are rarely alone. Hell, you rarely see any soldier without at least 2-3 of their comrades alongside them. What makes Joe Terrorist think he can fool Billions of people with an action-figure? I wonder if this one had the "kung-fu grip."

John Kerry's Lost Winter

"Meet the Press" viewers must have been as disappointed as I was to see that John Kerry was Tim Russert's guest this past Sunday. Mostly because he's apparently still campaigning for President. Especially with quotes like this:

"I won more votes than any candidate on the Democratic side has ever won in history. I lost, Tim, to an incumbent president by a closer margin than an incumbent president has ever won re-election before in the history of the country, and if you add up the popular vote in the battleground states, I won the popular vote in the battleground states by two percentage points. We just didn't distribute it correctly in Ohio." So if you add New Jersey to New Mexico, subtract Dade county and then redistribute the Ohio vote, the French would love us. Right and I'm going to be named Secretary of Aggie-culture sometime before Friday. There are some other rich quotes as well, such as the epiphany that ALL of John Kerry's military records have been released, a non Christmas visit to Cambodia, and an ad hominem suggestion about his critics:

"Yes, I did go into Cambodia on a mission. Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec-- you know, it's part of the Navy records. It's been documented by the other guys who were on my boat. And Steve Gardner, frankly, doesn't know where we were. It wasn't his job, and, you know, he wasn't involved in that. But we did go five miles into Cambodia. It was on another day. I jumbled the two together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents--I believe they were CIA agents--CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it."

"SEN. KERRY: I'd be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren't even relevant to the record. So when we get--I'm going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn't in the record and we'll put it out. I have no problem with that.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim...

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim--everything we put in--I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I'd call on those who have challenged me, let's see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it hasn't been appropriate...

MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?

SEN. KERRY: You bet."

It seems odd that Kerry continues to cut himself short on the subject of his military records. (I know, the election is over- it shouldn't matter, I just happen to take hypocricy seriously.) He says that "Yes, I will" sign Form 180, which suggests that he hadn't previously. Then he moves over to what his people put into his records, which contradicts his claim that his records have been released by the Navy rather than doctored by his own flacks.. I think the real problem here is that John Kerry has never really been called to accountability in a public forum. Sure he's had debates with John O'Neill 30-some years ago, but as long as the questions don't involve Master Kerry himself, you're sure to get the truth. At every instance he's managed to weasel out of it by directing certain claims to his subordinates who then create a circular flow of misdirection. "If you'd check my website you can see the documentation for yourself" Or you could ask the reporter who got denied on a Freedom of Information act request for Kerry's Naval Records and original discharge (not the updated Jimmy Carter version) at the Pentagon. Okay enough of me ranting about a windbag who lost.

Here's the transcript link if you want to look for yourself:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886726/