And another thing...

When Israel disengages from the gaza strip next month, is it really necessary to bulldoze everything? Seems like a waste of money, not to mention petty, tacky, wasteful and counterproductive. At least, that's the plan according to a newsweek article I read recently. FeedBack

A Chink the Armor

MSNBC.COM -- This whole terrorism thing has been really concerning me for some time now. Every so often someone asks "How do we stop them?" or "How can we reason with them?" And we can't. There's such a deep-seated hatred, and they have no objective, other than to kill us. It's not about oil or invading holy land, it's about their perception that we are evil and that they will be rewarded for killing us. We can't reason with them, we can't come to an understanding, we can't bomb a country until they say "We surrender." There's no hive, no mother country, not head to be cut off. All there are is a decent number of really pissed off people who have perverted a religion and used their position to incite others -- uneducated, or seriously unhappy -- to their deaths.

Britain has made some headway in identifying and jailing those who have incited others to murder, but there are always people waiting to fill their places.

And while horribly failed (and even more horribly communicated), the US attempts to foster democracy world-wide also offers an opportunity for change. A recent article I read said that the middle east today is being compared to Japan after World War II. The Japanese culture was not that of democracy, but the US helped foster it and today, the Japanese enjoy their own brand of democracy, participate well in the world market and are a financial force to be reconned with.

In the same way, there are those who believe that the middle east can also be so transformed. Democracy (ok, consumerism) does not necessarily have to be diametrically opposed to their religion. And while it's easy to boil it down incorrectly into a chant "no blood for oil" the fight for democracy in the middle east begins with oil. They've got a lot of it, and we need it. We'll pay for it, but in a democracy, there's no reason that everyone in Iraq, for instance, shouldn't be rewarded. No one should have 22 palaces while the population starves. Eliminating abject poverty is a good first step to eliminating the breeding ground for content, anger, and a downtrodden, depressed people who are easy marks for redirecting their anger and discontent to someone else.

We see this ourselves in this country. We resent Bill Gates for his enormous wealth. If we were made to believe that he was engaged in all manner of despicable things contrary to our belief system and ethics, and that it was all made possible because he kept us oppressed, it might be easy to incite someone to kill him, because it would make us a hero and because we might be told that it would make the world a little less evil.

But, we'd have to be lied to. And we'd have to be ready to believe.

But this is where it gets really difficult. Now, the recruits needn't even be from an impoverish nation, they're seeing recruits who spent most or all of their lives in the country they would later attack, but in the impoverished sections of that country. Apparently as the world gets coarser, we need to raise the bar everywhere. (If I were ever President, I would have a team identifying "the bottom _____" or "the worst ____" and then I would be challenging the nation to change that. That would always mean a new bottom, but it would always mean improving where improvement was most needed.)

And herein lies the first cracks in the dam that I've seen. New recruits into this bloody suicide-bombing movement are often studied for a time before they are approached, to learn what weakness in their life might be used. Then, they are courted, sworn to secrecy, and eventually forced to cut all ties to their family and friends, often being asked to move, and later sent to another country (like Pakistan) for a brief time of training. (It's said now that many from the UK going to Pakistan don't even need indoctrination, that they're only receiving training, they've already been fully brainwashed.)

That's the first crack... so identifying when something like this begins to happen could possibly mean that the person is about to be activated.

The police have also seen in cases where they've aprehended someone before they've had a chance to blow themselves up, that with even a small amount of civility and compassion by the police, the bombers immediately open up and spill the beans. Their cultish indoctrination, their isolation and their impending death are all very scary to them and they are greatful to be able to get out of the situation. (I'm wondering also if their suicide brings sweet relief from a life that's gone so horribly wrong and/or there are threats of torture to them or their family if they don't go through with it?)

It would be hard to identify the four who were arrested last week, if they had not already participated in a failed attempt -- and if UK did not have the elaborate network of live video cameras that it does. But once arrested, they have been helpful and forthcoming. The UK police are now searching for four French-speaking muslims who are in the country and could be next. Let's hope they find them in time, to save their lives and the lives of many others.

Operation: Purple

MSNBC.COM -- There are 140,000 kids in America with one or more parents in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'm surprised at how small that number is, but it's nice to know it's not more. Anyhow, the National Military Families Association put on the second annual "Operation: Purple" this year -- a free series of summer camps for kids of deployed soldiers. Organizers, and the kids themselves, say that often, they don't know other kids whose parents are deployed and the camps help them to bond with other kids going through the same thing, helps them stay positive, and alows their deployed parents to be a little less worried. More...

Stop Reading This Blog

Go to this article instead -- while difficult to read due to a poor decision of not putting any style into it, this collection of this year's Bulwer-Lytto Fiction Contest Results are in!

Bad Granny

MSNBC.COM -- A grandma is complaining because she bought the rated "M" video game Grand Theft Auto for her grandson not realizing that it had sexually explicit content that could be unlocked. She only thought you could shoot people -- including cops, beat people with baseball bats, steal cars, do drugs and stuff like that. More...

(untitled 3)

Woke up with a heavy head
And I thought about leavin’ town
I could have died if I wanted to-
Slipped over the edge and drowned
But, oh no baby, I won’t give up so easy
Too many tire tracks in the sands of time
Too many love affairs that stop on a dime
I think it’s time to make some changes ’round here
Yeah, I’m gonna tear it up
Gonna trash it up
I’m gonna round it up
Gonna shake it up
Oh, no, baby, I will not lie down
I’m brave enough to be crazy
I’m strong enough to be weak
I see all these heroes with feet of clay
Whose mighty ships have sprung a leak
And I want you to tell me darlin’
Just what do you believe in now?
Well, c’mon over here baby
You ’bout to gimme a heart attack
I wanna wrap my lovin’ arms
Around the small of your back
Yeah, and I’m gonna pull you, pull you, pull you
Pull you right up close to me
Yeah we’re gonna tear it up
We gonna trash it up
Gonna round it up
Gonna shake it up
Oh, no no no, I will not lie down
Turn this thing around
I will not go quietly
I will not lie down
I will not go quietly
I will not lie down
I will not go quietly
I will not lie down
I will not lie down
Well, don’t you ever get lonely?
Don’t you ever get down?
Don’t you ever get tired
Of all the wicked tongues in this town?
Of, baby, I just wanna take you away from here
I ain’t no tiger
I ain’t no little lamb
Suppose you tell me mama
Who do you think I think I am?
And ooh baby, don’t you give a damn?
Yeah, I’m gonna tear it up
Gonna trash it up
Gonna round it up
Gonna rip it up
I will not lie down
Yeah I’m gonna tear it up
Gonna trash it up
Gonna round it up
Gonna shake it up
Oh baby I will not lie down
Turn this thing around
I will not go quietly
I will not lie down
I will no go quietly
I will not lie down
I will not lie down

(untitled 2)

I woke up on the floor next to the door with nothing to say,
it was the same damn feeling that I had yesterday.
I didn't feel like doing anything but running away,
it was the same damn feeling that I had yesterday.
I'm feeling down, down deeper down, am I here to stay?
This is the same damn feeling that I had yesterday.

don't wanna... do nothing
don't wanna... do nothing today
don't wanna... do nothing
don't wanna... do nothing today
except maybe part'e
except maybe part'e

No one seems to understand me now,
that's why I wake up every morning March, April and May,
with this crazy feeling that I never will change.
I'm sick of faking it, and taking sh from everybody,
but there's this same damn feeling that I never can change,
that I never can change,
never can change,
never can change,
never never never never never never can change.

don't wanna... do nothing
don't wanna... do nothing today
don't wanna... do nothing
don't wanna... do nothing today
except maybe part'e
do nothing...
don't wanna...
do nothing...

(untitled)

Gonna be some changes, changes made
Can't keep on doing what I've been doing these days
Look in the mirror I see clouds of rain
Gotta face it all, gotta get myself straight

Gonna be some changes, some changes made
Can't keep on doing what I've been doing these days
Better figure out something
Things are looking grave
Gonna be some changes, changes, changes made

Goodbye, Little Birdie

Barkley was acting weird this morning when I went out to start some laundry. I realized she had a hummingbird that she was playing with. And it wasn't dead. But it was obviously not in any condition to survive. So I put it out of its misery by stepping on it like it a was giant bug (stuff squirted out and everything) and then scooted it away from Barkley since I didn't know it was as diseased as many birds generally are.

I'm going to be sick.

Majority Rules

New This Week: Majority Rules -- front side says "baaa!" back says "Majority Rules Only Sucks if You're in the Minority" and encourages you to "Don't Be Left Out! Be a Sheep!" Limited time offer. Great as presents. (Also available, some that just say "Baaa!" on the front and nothing on the back.)

Sprint PCS, still evil

Sprint PCS sucks in San Francisco/San Jose, Sprint PCS is worthless in Indianapolis, Sprint PCS bites in New York City, Sprint PCS blows in Washington/Baltimore, Sprint PCS stinks in Raleigh/Durham, Sprint PCS is hopeless in Houston, Sprint PCS is useless in Detroit/Grand Rapids and finally, Sprint PCS deserves to die in San Antonio

120 seconds of lit

The old dog shuffled along the path before coming to the clearing. His eyesight was failing and everything was just blurry shadows. The camp, just a memory. He whined slightly from hunger, but there was no one to hear him. He turned in a circle several times and laid down, weary, hungry and alone.

"Daddy, I found him!" cried the little girl in the bright orange life preserver what seemed like only seconds later as she burst into the clearing.

Don't Mess with America

(to the tune of "Only in America" although possibly a better song, lyrically, at least to start with)

They never should have messed with New York City
Ha ha They don't want none of old Uncle Sam
We stare right in the face of terror
And you know Lady Liberty still stands
With F-15s and our special forces
God bless everyone we sent
To defend freedom and our nation
And thank goodness Bush is our President...

Don't mess with America
Or we'll beat you red, white, and blue...
Don't mess with America
That's the last thing that you want to do...
You already had your chance
Now we're going to kick your a(bleep)s...
Don't mess with America...

Bin Laden's going down like a White House intern
(Cledus - spoken: Kind of sounded like Ronnie Dunn...didn't I?)
And while we're at it let's get that nut Hussein...
When the threat of evil is finally silenced
You'll hear how loud freedom can ring...

They started something we're gonna finish
(George W. Bush: Those people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon)
And we won't rest until that day
(GWB: We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail.)
Everywhere you look you see them flags flying
(U-S-A CHANT)
(GWB: God bless America)
And what that stands for...ha ha...they can't take that away
(GWB: My fellow Americans, let's roll...)

Don't mess with America
Or we'll beat you red, white, and blue...
Don't mess with America
Bin Laden I'd hate to be you...
You don't stand a chance
We're going to open up a can of Whoop-a(bleep)s
Don't mess with America...

I said
DON'T (bleep) with America
You're over there and preaching about a holy war...
DON'T (bleep) with America
Ha! You're gonna be full of holes when one of them Navy Seals finds ya
DON'T (bleep) with America
And by the way get a beard trim.

(U-S-A CHANT)

120 seconds of lit

He peeled back the door, opened the screen and squeezed his way out the door. It was a hot and muggy night, but there was a breeze. If he could just stand there on the porch doing nothing, the weather would be perfect. But, even the slightest movement and he knew instantly that he'd be soaked by the humid air and his own sweat. It was a peaceful and calm night. He wished he could linger there, but there was no time, he had to get moving. He slung his pack over his shoulder, pulled the cap down on his head and began to walk down the drive, it was time to go. The diner wouldn't rob itself.

Statistic -- Creativity

NEWS.COM -- It takes eight minutes without interruption for the human mind to really get going, creatively. The average time between interruptions in the modern office is three minutes. More...

This banana brought to you by...

CNET.COM -- The days of stickered fruit are numbered. One new technology burns the farm's name, logo and maybe the price lookup code or barcode right into the outer skin of the fruit, in a way that's completely harmless to the consumer. And cheaper. But if they can do that, they can start putting ads for Will & Grace on the bananas and then all hope is lost. More...

Outsourcing

Sorry, but this joke has been outsourced to India. More...

Inevitible

MSNBC.com -- Apple's been talking to studios about licensing music videos. Who didn't figure that music iPods would be next? This is the kind of thing that could encourage me to buy one. Granted, I'd need the ability to record analog video onto it (so I could get stuff off of the PVR) and it would need a much larger screen. And, granted, Archos and others have already had neat devices that do this, but it's going to be Apple that gets their first with the full equation... content, hardware and software in one easy-to-use package.

Extra crispy

Well, the Wienerschnitzel mystery is solved. No thanks to local media websites who seemed to have nothing on why it was closed. We figured health code violation, but what made it odd was that shortly after the closure, a WS truck (those party rental ones) had been parked right in front of the store for a few days selling burgers and corn dogs. But then it was gone. We wondered if they had tried to snub a health code violation by selling from the parking lot, but reasoned that that wouldn't have made sense, seeing how they'd probably need a permit. Since then, new signs had appeared, spray painted saying sorry they were closed with frowny faces. Today we went into the parking lot and saw the doors had been boarded over and the painting on those boards said remodelling. We were skepical, until we drove around back to see part of the roof gone and the side of the building blackened from a fire. Aha, that expained it.

Then we got home and looked some more on the internet and all we could find was that their health code scores were 95 and 90 in 2002 and 2003 then after that, all in the low 80's. I wonder if eliminating that manager sooner would have prevented the fire? Hopefully the snooty girl who wouldn't let us mix up a combo (two combos, one 10 cents more than the other... one has two corn dogs, the other two chili dogs... why can't I get a combo with one corn dog and one chili dog??? Every other person I ever ordered from always let me...) anyhow, hopefully she can't find another job and has to mope around mom and dad's house. Maybe she caused the fire. Oooh. I bet she did. I hate her.

I had some ice cream today, even though it's not ice cream week. But it was only a little bit. Overall, I'm still doing well. The month off the diet really hasn't changed things one way or the other, which is both pleasing and also a little annoying. Maybe I'm stuck at this weight no matter what I do.

It's hot in herre

It's warm in the house right now because we have the doors open. It should ultimately cool the place down because it's colder outside. The doors being open lets the dog lay on the floor in the dining room, one of the few highlights of the poor creature's life.

It's also hot in here because I'm in hot water right now.

Well, we'll be safe from flying boats

MSNBC.COM -- The Coast Guard will most likely soon assume the responsibility of protecting the airspace over Washington, DC. Right now it's being protected by the Customs and Border Protection something (agency?), a civilian something (agency?). The Coast Guard is the first choice because of its dual role as both a law enforcement agency and a branch of the military. Granted, they do have some really cool bright orange helicopters and some planes, but are they the best ones for the job? Surely there's a better option than a group that patrols the water looking for drug runners and disabled boats? Some sort of military force that specializes in air or something?

On a side note, I saw a few really fierce looking helicopters flying over the water as I stood in the Jefferson Memorial at twilight last fall. It was a pretty awesome contradistinctive point in time and place.

Gay horse?

MSNBC.COM -- Ok, this story is just so bizarre. It creates more questions than it answers.

1. Why is it not illegal in Washington State to have sex with an animal?
   
2. Why is sex with an animal ok, but at the same time, sex with a smaller animal might be considered animal cruelty? Maybe the state should maintain a list on their website so as to help those farms who host beastiality parties.
   
3. If a guy has sex with a horse, but the horse plays the man's role, does it make the horse gay?
   
4. How do you get a horse to agree to have sex with a man? Actually, nevermind, I don't want to know.

My parents keep asking us to move back to Washington State, but it seems to be a pretty messed-up state.... Bufford Furrow (1999 killing spree in Los Angeles, Olympia), Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad (2000 sniper attacks in DC, Tacoma), Joseph Duncan (Idaho killings and kidnappings, Tacoma).

The scary part? I, Kevin and World Girl all went to school in Tacoma. It was a crummy town, but who knew it was generating future scum of the earth? Maybe it was the public school system? Or the proximity to the military bases. Or something in the water?

Fear, not.

All week I keep thinking about the terrorists and I keep re-realizing that I just don't understand them and I don't think most of us do. It's one of those cases where I think I know that I don't understand, but that ultimately, it's beyond my ability to really grasp the terrorist mind.

I don't mean the anarcists who live on our block and like to throw firecrackers at people's cars, but the real terrorists, who will blow people up, or blow themselves up. They really can't be stopped, because they really aren't looking for a resolution. They want to make their point, or do their thing, but aren't really progressing towards any end.

And as long as they don't have any agenda beyond blowing people up, then there's really no way to stop them.

And that's where I think we fail. Invading any country, for any reason, all it does is fuel their anger, give them something to point at. Should we not be in Iraq? No, I definitely think we need to be there. We won't stop terrorists, but maybe we can make it harder for them to operate, receive funds, and communicate.

And I'm not even sure everything I'm thinking here is making sense entirely. (I had a train of thought but people kept interrupting me.)

I was told there would be no math.

Actually, this is worse... test your spatial ability in this game that gets more and more complex as you go. The concept is pretty simple. You are presented by a series of dots connected to each other by one or more line. Your goal is to drag the dots around the screen until none of the lines cross each other. Play now

Oh, great.

Wonderful that the shot until morning is half of my stomach as I stood in front of the computer to turn it off as I was running out the door. Ironic and lame.

I had cookies today at a birthday party for my stupid boss. I only wrote "Happy Birthday" in the card and put my name. And I didn't sing or hang out much for the party. This morning we got in an argument because we're offering something new to one group, while it's the other group that's been asking for it, and he says we're not going to offer it to them yet.

My colleague summed it up best when he said "You don't tell someone they can't have a hamburger because you don't serve hamburgers until 10:30 am and then go behind the counter and grill one up for yourself and eat it in front of them."

Every day my colleague and I waste so much time fantasizing about quitting. Although I'm not sure if he's being serious or not. I know he's at least half-way serious. He's lucky, that boss isn't his boss. My other boss is his boss. My other boss shows up in the office for maybe 20-60 minutes a week, spends most of that time on the phone working on consulting gigs and always leaves us hanging because he doesn't fully trust us, so all of our tasks are waiting for him to finish stuff. But his wife's a flight attendant, so he gets free flights, and he buys alot of stuff for work on his own credit card and gets reimbursed but gets to keep the Hilton points, so he's always flying places and stuff and we never know where he is. And his boss is completely oblivious to that fact. It's pretty annoying.

So I don't know how serious my colleague is, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some truth to it. Of course, the flipside is true... he probably doesn't know how serious I am or not, either.

So we laugh and think how wonderful it would be to work anywhere, elsewhere, but our laughter is a little nervous because we both know it would be a fate worse than death if one of the two of us remained and the other was gone. We're what gets stuff done and makes sure the other two in the department get stuff done, since our boss doesn't care.

I want ice cream.

I want ice cream. I had some chips from the break room and a sip of Lori's pepsi, but I will not give in. I will not have ice cream. Instead, I will eat the baby's last container of all natural applesauce. (It's regular adult applesauce, just purchased for her.)

Ok, identify tonight's tour destination. Paste this into the search box on Google Earth:

35.63, 139.88

The first one to correctly identify it doesn't win anything. Sorry. Hint: Lori was the one looking for this location.

Un-supersize me

MSNBC.COM -- Man attempts to walk from San Diego to NYC to lose weight. He's in Arizona now, having completed 700 miles and lost 40 pounds. He was 400 pounds and he began walking on April 10. It would have been cool to have joined him with a digital camera and a wireless laptop to do reports from the road.

BS Publicity

I am getting tired of non-news stories about people who have accidentally sold or purchased the latest Harry Potter book and whether or not they've read it or been ordered by a judge not to read it.

That's B.S. Everyone keeps talking about everyone "reading it together." Trust me, we won't even be buying the book until the start of the new week and within a few days I'll already be several hundred pages ahead of Ryan Seacrest. Trust me, the world don't all read at the same pace.

I think that if someone were to get ahold of a copy ahead of time, they're not likely to be the types who will "spoil" it for someone else. (No, leave it to Entertainment Weekly to spoil everything as usual.)

This is all a big to do about nothing and it's getting tiresome. I'd not read in protest if I weren't already invested, even if the last book was a bit boring.

Wow, I feel bad for them

MSNBC.COM -- It's a two-fer... Paris' City Hall goes out of its way to criticize Tom Cruise because of his cult and Mariah Carey finally joins the bandwagon of terrorist-bashing, suggesting that Glitter tanked because of 9/11.

Today: The Day that Was

By all regards, I guess I should appreciate the day. Nice weather, good drive in, excellent drive home, Panda for dinner. Express, not bear, that is. The first half of my day sucked and as usual, some of us fantasized about quitting, some more than others. A deadline looms for me to get a job application in elsewhere, and even more deadlines hang over my head if I remain. The second half of the day was much better, I got jazzing on a project and a new way of thinking brought about a easier solution and suddenly I'm into uncharted territory, hacking a program in such a way that I'm not sure's been done before. There's one guy who might have done it, somewhere in Florida, and he's agreed to check my work, so I'm waiting for his response before I dive in full force. Hopefully tomorrow will be more like the afternoon than the morning today. Did not get up and walked the dog. Stayed in bed and dreamed that my parents told me I had older brother but they had never told me about him because he was mentally challenged and they had shipped him off somewhere. Maybe it's because I was thinking of my uncle Jim the other day. This supposed brother would have been the same age as Jim was. Jim was a miracle, but it's sad sometimes to think that he's now gone. I think about that a lot these days... there's a lot of memorials happening at church and I know that there will be more people in the future that I know who will pass away. In many cases, I can take solace in the fact that I will see them again in heaven, but I'm still confused about some aspects of heaven, like when they say there will be no husbands and wife in heaven. How can this place be so awesome if Lori and I aren't around each other the way we are now? Anyhow, I don't mean this to be a downer, I've just been thinking about people and pets who will probably be buried before me. Not people in general (though specific pets, yes), but how I will miss people when I'm no longer able to just e-mail or call or see them whenever I feel like.

In other news, a serious question for anyone who wants to respond. If there's a fortune cookie, and one person opens it, but another person eats it, who gets the fortune? I say it belongs to the person who ate the cookie. Agree? Disagree? (If you agree with me, then my dog's fortune today was something about a visitor from afar will bring good news.

For Sale - Big Robot Toddler

CNET.COM -- I had a link to this guy before; he was making his own 18-foot tall mech. He's got it to the point where it can stagger around and shoot fire from its fists. But he says it's got some fundamental flaws that would prevent it from being potentially useful in battle. He thinks he's learned enough to do it right, but he would need to start over from the ground up, versus trying to fix the first one. So, he's offering it on eBay. I feel a little bad for the guy. He seems earnest and not entirely geeky. And now he has to sell his baby.

Is it Monday already?

So I've officially been off my diet for real for a month now. It wasn't intentional, but there was a birthday party, a trip out of town and a plethora of opportunities where I chose poorly. But, Supersize Me was my version of scared straight. I know, it's the latest in my long line of ideas that may or may not work. The good news is that during my hiatus, I gained only two pounds. But, 'tis easier to gain than to lose.

But, losing shall be my joy.

Today I did well. Got up at 5 and walked the dog. Had toast with peanut butter for breakfast. This is part of the upcoming diet that Lori will have us working on. Lunch was left-overs from yesterday, plus water. Dinner was nachos with water. No dessert. Am thinking of a small glass of water or milk, but may have a swig of water and call it good, since it is about time I head off to bed.

In other news, there might be other news. Please say a prayer for guidance and direction as I consider something. I don't know who reads this, so I won't say much.

PETA: Self-Righteous Whackjobs

In recent news, PETA employees were arrested for dumping the bodies of puppies in a dumpster behind a grocery store in North Carolina. Apparently, PETA routinely "adopts" animals from shelters only to kill 85% of them. The particular website I'm linking to (Peta Kills Animals .com) in this article is anti-PETA, so you might think that they're blowing it out of proportion or something. But I think it will be around longer than any of the news articles, so it makes the most sense as a long-term link in my blog.

Don't get me wrong... some causes are good. When Greenpeace rows little boats out and gets run over by oil tankers, I'll applaud them for their convictions. When they chain themselves to trees, ok. But when these activists start burning down houses, firebombing car dealerships, killing animals, they aren't activists. They're terrorists, plain and simple.

PETA seems to think that anything to do with animals is wrong. You can't eat them, you can't wear them, you should let them explode rather than extract the milk from them. As a blind person, it's wrong that you would demand a dog accompany you around town, giving you freedom. As a human being, you cannot enjoy the company of a domesticated pet who just as much enjoys your company. And now it comes out that PETA's killing animals themselves. It seems more like PETA is afraid of animals. Have the animals been infested by thetans or something? Any shred of respect I might have had for any part of PETA's overall misguided attempts is now gone.

Frankly, this isn't ethical, and it certainly isn't ethical treatment of animals.

PetaKillsAnimals.com

Holy Cow

Just saw Supersize Me. Wow, an eye-opener. Makes me want to walk to the store and buy some fruit, though I probably would only get as far as the Jack 'n the Box where I'd order a large orange soda. Sorry, sad but true, especially now that the fast food places take credit cards. Grocery store is about two miles from here, I've walked it before and just purchased water. Safeway still owes me 50 cents. I didn't have the club card with me and they couldn't locate it with any of the phone numbers I gave and they wouldn't just key in their own like they do at Ralphs and Albertsons. Stingy Pavillions jerks.

Anyhow, yeah, I think we should keep that on the DVR as a reminder. We are starting a version of the pregnancy diabetes preventing diet in two weeks, but next week I'm going back to my diet as well.

Bin Laden aint no dummy

MSNBC.COM -- Evil, to be sure, but no small mind on that one. One thing the article mentions is that Bin Laden takes credit for the Soviet Union's fall by suggesting that it was the war in Afghanistan that bankrupted the union, and that they're now trying to do the same thing in Iraq to the United States. More...

This is a really good article, but there's one thing about it that scares me. As the world looks more and more to these smaller London and Madrid bombings and whether or not they can be predicted and stopped, and that the general consensus is that Al Qaeda doesn't feel the need to top itself, as it has in the past, that maybe it still does and that these smaller attacks serve as a diversion so that we miss the fact that another, larger 9/11 is still to come.

Hey Mr. President

Hey Mr. President
I don't think I'd want your job
I can barely handle the simple one I got

Hey Mr. President
How cool is Air Force One?
Are those guys in the House and the Senate
Ever gonna get anything done?

I ain't no Democrat
I ain't no Republican
We're fathers and mothers
We're wives and husbands
And we pray
That we dance at our daughters' weddings
And our sons grow to fine men
And for peace on our land.

Hey Mr. President
How 'bout that money I sent?
Must take a lot of pork barrels
To run the government

Hey Mr. President
Our kids in the Middle East
I guess you gotta fight sometimes
To find a way to keep the peace

I ain't no Democrat
I ain't no Republican
We're fathers and mothers
Sisters and brothers, wives and husbands
And we pray
That we dance at our daughters' weddings
And our sons grow to fine men
And for peace on our land.

I cannot imagine how hard it must be
To tell some soldier's mother
That he died for their country
Mr. President
Won't you thank her for me

Hey Mr. President
Do you ever feel alone
Surrounded by all those ghosts
In the White House
That you wish you could move back home?

We ain't just Democrats
We ain't just Republicans
It's all-for-one
And one-for-all
We're all Americans
And we pray
That we see our children's children
And our sons grow to old men
And for peace, yeah, peace, on our land.

Hey Mr. President.....

© The Warren Brothers

No Star Hotels

MSNBC.COM -- Heh. An article on MSNBC suggests that investing in prisons might be a good way to make money. Lots of parallels between hotels and prisons, apparently.

Fake Bono Rocks!

Ok, this article is way too long, but it's the same thing retold by different people, so if you only read part of it, you'll still be amused. Hours before a real U2 concert, an Improv group stages a fake U2 rooftop concert. Good stuff.

Rich v. Poor

Link above is to an interesting picture showing a shanty town in the foreground and then a body of water and then highrises as far as the eye can see on the other side.