Davey doesn't mince words:

I Don't Care What You Think

Oh, and don’t sign me up for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Someone already tried that once and it didn’t sit well with me. Just having those fruits in my room will probably bring down the resale value of just about everything I own.

Personally, I’d rather have a pap smear done on my butt than go out and try to dance to music I don’t like and make an idiot out of myself. If I’m going to make an idiot out of myself I’m going to do it on my own terms.

Word to your mother.

My heart bleeds purple slush water for this scumbag:

Akbar Convicted of Murder in Grenade Attack

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war.

Hasan Akbar, 34, now faces a possible death penalty, which the 15-member jury will consider at a hearing that begins Monday.

Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve "maximum carnage" on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.

Hangman's Noose.

UPDATE: YES!!!

Jury Returns Death Sentence in GI Killings

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A military jury sentenced a soldier to death Thursday for a deadly grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion, a barrage that prosecutors said was triggered by religious extremism.

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who gave a brief, barely audible apology hours earlier, stood at attention between his lawyers as the verdict was delivered. He showed no emotion.

Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign

SACRAMENTO — Calling the nation's borders dangerously porous, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday praised the private "Minuteman" campaign that uses armed volunteers to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.

Schwarzenegger said in a radio interview that the federal government is failing to secure the border with Mexico, and he cast the hundreds of private citizens who have been patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border since April 1 as a popular response to government inaction.

"I think they've done a terrific job," Schwarzenegger said of the "Minuteman" volunteers, who plan to expand to California in June. "They've cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants a huge percentage. So it just shows that it works when you go and make an effort and when you work hard. It's a doable thing."

The governor added that, "It's just that our federal government is not doing their job. It's a shame that the private citizen has to go in there and start patrolling our borders."

Well have to wait and see....

The History Channel's Mail Call cause it's fun to watch Gunny Ermey blow stuff up....

Another POS is about to become room temperature:

Avila Guilty of Killing Samantha Runnion

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A jury convicted a factory worker Thursday of the 2002 kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, an Orange County girl whose death prompted a massive public outcry.

After deliberating for less than nine hours over two days, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Alejandro Avila, 30, of kidnapping, murder and two counts of sexual assault.

The same Superior Court jury will decide in a separate penalty phase if Avila should get life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Opening statements in the penalty phase were scheduled for Wednesday.

Samantha's mother Erin Runnion, in the front row of the courtroom, cried silently as verdicts were read. She hugged the prosecutor David Brent as the jury left the courtroom.

As the first verdict was read, someone in the audience said, "yes, yes." Avila bowed his head toward the defense table but showed no emotion.

And while some might say that putting Avila to death won't bring back Samantha and that maybe he should be sentenced to life in prison, I say no. Put this waste of skin to death - a painful one - since HE didn't give Samantha the choice to live or die.

And that 'bowing of the head' thing Avila did when the verdict was read?? It sure as shit was him praying to God for forgiveness - it was him realizing that he's practically dead meat in prison if he's lucky enough to evade the death penalty. I'm no expert, but from what I've heard people like Avila become hunted - like gazelle - in prison. It would seem that even among criminals, doing anything to children is a big NO-NO.

Once again I'm compelled to say the best way to deal with present and would-be future sexual preditors like this is to just BLOW THEIR BRAINS ALL OVER THE PAVEMENT.

FACT: Hemodialysis sucks. If anyone tells you different, they're selling insurance.

But...considering the alternative, dialysis is okay since death is so 'not me'....

Lately whenever I have dialysis - currently Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays - that I'm getting that tingly feeling in my feet right afterwards.

And it doesn't end that day - now I'm starting to get it the following morning and it's just a world of fun I'm here to tell you. But I just happen to be going to see my nephrologist this morning right after my Control Systems class, so I'll chat with her about it and see what can be done since - and I'm really uncomfortable 'whining' about this - it's making going to school & work a bit more difficult.

As for kidney donors, I haven't really kept up with who is getting screened for donation since it'll probably be a let down of some sort; most of my friends that have offered to donate have been rejected for minor reasons and after the third one I honestly do not inquire anymore. A kidney will become available eventually and when the time is right, it'll happen.

Nothing really much on the news radar that I'm up to blogging about....

...so I thought I'd share my latest desktop view which is the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter (Carrier Variant) like I posted about previously.

Good news: Pablo *patooey* Paredes' claim for conscientious objector status was denied

From Michelle Malkin's site:

PABLO PAREDES: CO STATUS DENIED

This just in...

Military deserter and anti-war Left poster boy Pablo Paredes has been denied conscientious objector status. His request for Other than Honorable discharge in lieu of a court-martial trial has also been denied. In a press release e-mailed this morning by his brother, the Paredes family reported:

Massive support activities for Pablo Paredes are being planned for May 10th. These activities will include a staged symbolic public trial to denounce the war and its immoral impact on Americans and Iraqis alike. The May 10th proceeding will include the participation of other public military resisters such as Camilo Mejia. In addition, many important figures from the political and activist community are expected to participate. More details will be made public shortly.

...The rejection of his CO and OTH are strong indication that the military intends to firmly punish Pablo Paredes for his decision to follow his conscientious (sic) and not support inhumane acts of aggression. Navy jags have attended Pablo’s public speaking engagements and have provided sworn statements that will be used against him in his Special Court Martial

Good.

To quote Emperor Palpatine from 'Episode VI: Return of the Jedi': You will pay for your lack of vision.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this clown deserves all that's coming to him. Honestly, IMO he's not worth the power to blow him to Hell.

NOW - let's see how fast the anti-war goons 'forget' about Pablo....

UPDATE: I was just informed by an old friend that's far more knowledgeable on Star Wars that the quote You will pay for your lack of vision was from the Emperor - NOT Vader.

I feel sheepish now....the other geeks will harange me for this for weeks....

Democrats won't stop drivers license verification bill, Reid says

WASHINGTON — A controversial bill that would require states to verify the citizenship or legal status of anyone applying for a drivers license will likely become law because Senate Democrats don't have the votes to stop it, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Monday.

Aimed at illegal immigrants, the so-called Real ID Act is expected to be included in a final version of an $81 billion spending bill to fund the war in Iraq, according to Reid, D-Nev. House and Senate lawmakers begin negotiating a final version of the spending bill this week.

Reid and most Democrats had fought for months against the Real ID measure and succeeded in keeping it out of the Senate version of the spending bill. But Reid said Democrats have decided they would not hold up passage of the Iraq war spending bill solely because it includes the Real ID Act.

In any case, it's nice to know that since the various states cannot seem to get their sh!t together on who should or shouldn't have a drivers license that (for once) the federal government steps in to take the matter to a conclusion.

(Brain neurons to John Hawkins at Right Wing News for the lead)

Just got this from my gal pal Stevie and it's hilarious!!

Enjoy!

Here are a few things to think about that you probably have never thought about:

• Can you cry under water?
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
• If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
• Since bread is square, then why is sandwich meat round?
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. . but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
• Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

Today at school, I encounted the annual Coming Out Day on Library Walk.

Being slightly curious, I walked close to the tent/booth that was set up for it and what did I see? A cardboard cutout of President Bush with a rainbow boa wrapped around his head. Next to the cutout was some sort of posterboard with a write-up about how 'the Prez was coming out'. I didn't even bother to read it because life is precious and those wasted seconds could have been put to better use playing video games or picking my nose. I just turned around and shook my head.

As I was walking away my friend Elly was asking why I was shaking my head. I explained quickly that while I couldn't give a fig about the Gay Pride movement (more like a bowel movement IMO), I was getting quite tired of having GAY-GAY-GAY-GAY-GAY shoved in my face and down my throat and that in my humble opinion the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ movement was drawing more attention to themselves than would normally be deserved. I said that all this attention might be what causes some - not all, not a majority, but some - people to put the pinch on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ people and that someone might want to re-think their strategy on this.

Elly, being the open-minded liberal friend of mine (yes, I do have liberal friends) paraphrased what I had said with this:

When you have a junkyard dog snapping at your heels, the best thing to do is turn around and kick it in the chops....

BTW, Elly doesn't really refer to herself as a 'liberal' - she thinks that most of the barking moonbats on campus give the rest of the people left-of-center a bad reputation. She's right.

Now, to save some people a lot of vitriol about me being a 'homophobe' or 'anti-gay' or whatever, let me just say once again that while I don't give a rat's ass about the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ movement, I'm not too keen on some guy with a three-day beard sliding up to me and asking 'Are you here for some fun??'. Sorry - it's just not my cup of tea....I dig chicks too much. Just get on with life, do your job, and don't make me adapt to your not-quite-normal lifestyle. I don't constantly scream about heterosexual relationships and that we're just the same, do I?

Why 'not-quite-normal'?? Well, let's invoke some basic biology/evolution here: male-female pro-creation results in offspring whereas male-male, female-female, or WTF am I??-WTF am I?? cannot pro-create and therefore their genetic material(s) are taken out of the herd's gene pool. Sounds harsh to put it in such a blunt description, but let's face it: life finds a way to continue through conception of offspring - Bruce/Bruce combos don't make the cut.

This actually came as a surprise this afternoon when I heard it on the radio driving to work:

Murphy resigns

SAN DIEGO – First the quarrelsome city attorney demanded that San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy quit. And last week Time magazine named Murphy one of the three worst big-city mayors in the country. Then came rumblings of a recall movement.

Less than five months after starting his second four-year term, Murphy, 62, announced this morning he will resign effective July 15.

"I now believe to be effective the city will need a mayor who was elected by a majority of the people and who has a clear mandate to take this city forward," Murphy said. "A good leader needs to know when it is time to move on and I believe it is time for me to move on and time to bring a fresh start to our city."

Now - the scary part is who will be the new mayor come Novemeber? Citizen Smash has a great round-up of the likely (and unlikey) candidates.

I can just hear the whining from New York now:

White House May Go to U.N. Over North Korean Shipments

WASHINGTON, April 24 - The Bush administration, facing a series of recent provocations from North Korea, is debating a plan to seek a United Nations resolution empowering all nations to intercept shipments in or out of the country that may contain nuclear materials or components, say senior administration officials and diplomats who have been briefed on the proposal.

The resolution envisioned by a growing number of senior administration officials would amount to a quarantine of North Korea, though, so far at least, President Bush's aides are not using that word. It would enable the United States and other nations to intercept shipments in international waters off the Korean Peninsula and to force down aircraft for inspection.

But if the United States was to just take matters into their own hands, that's wrong too.

I'm guessing it'll take North Korea popping a nuke somewhere in the region to get the UN's attention (HINT-HINT: Iran).

President Bush is trying to do things the 'nice' way - the way that the UN would *cough* like, but the United States will still be labeled as a 'cowboy nation' for trying to do things that other nations would like us to do.

Another 'protester' putting 'peace' back in the venacular:

Peace activist faces trial after crossing the line of civility

It started out as a typical Wednesday for Preckshot, a 49-year-old who stands about 5-foot-2 and has hearing aids in both ears. She was standing on her normal spot on Providence Road, holding her signs in support of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. For nearly four years now, this has been Preckshot’s life from about 4:15 to about 5:45 in the afternoon once a week. She started her solo troop-support effort to counteract the peace protesters who stand a couple of blocks away at the intersection of Providence and Broadway. The peaceniks hold signs that say things such as "honk for peace" and "end the occupation."

They outnumber Preckshot every Wednesday, but she stands out there just the same, sometimes drawing another supporter or two to help her effort.

On this particular Wednesday - it was March 16 - her effort seemed to annoy a couple of the protesters. Not satisfied with their own peace protest, a pair of peaceniks grabbed their signs and made their way to Preckshot, who normally stands outside the Bloomers flower shop near Locust Street.

"Two of the guys from the corner walked down with a big sign that read ‘End the occupation,’ " she remembers. One of them started taking pictures of a Preckshot supporter across the street, she says. "At some point, the other guy starts coming toward me."

For a diminutive woman, Preckshot can handle herself. She’s a former police officer, and she isn’t easily intimidated. Still, a young man coming at her waving a sign in her face seemed a little aggressive, particularly from somebody supposedly advocating peace.

The man stepped closer. She backed off a step. He shoved a sign in her face, and she backed off once again.

"Don’t touch me!" she told him.

Then, she says, he pushed her.

"He started taunting me and reached out and pushed on my shoulder," Preckshot says. "Each time he pushed, it got a little harder. When I saw his hand come at me again, I grabbed it. I felt fearful."

As Preckshot pushed the man’s hand away, "he slugged me right in the face," she says.

Perhaps "Punch for peace" would have been a more appropriate sign.

And BTW, Rita isn't a slouch - she was named 'Citizen of the Year' in 2004 Military Officers’ Association of America for her (often) solo work at countering the *cough* peace activists in support of the U.S. military.

Rita: Kicking Ass & Taking Names!!

Here's a photo I took this afternoon while updating my anti-virus software.

One of my cats - Julie in this case - likes to sit up on my desk while I'm working and stretch out and 'tap' me on the mouse hand to get my attention.

BTW, cats and calculus do NOT mix well together.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a photo of my lazy cat demanding that I pay more attention to her than to my stupid computer.

Cheney Weighs in on Judicial Filibusters

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney warned Democrats Friday that he will cast the tie-breaking vote to ban filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees if the Senate deadlocks on the question.

Republicans are moving the Senate toward a final confrontation with Democrats over judicial nominations. Internal GOP polling shows that most Americans don't support Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan to ban judicial filibusters - a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member Senate.

"There is no justification for allowing the blocking of nominees who are well qualified and broadly supported," Cheney told the Republican National Lawyers Association. "The tactics of the last few years, I believe, are inexcusable."

"Let me emphasize, the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate," Cheney said. "But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up or down vote."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the White House "has stepped over the line by interfering with the Senate to reduce checks and balances."

While I'm not too keen on the Republicans using a 'nuclear policy' to get rid of this road-block - it could easily come back and bite the GOP in the ass down the road - I can understand their getting irritated enough to utilize such tactics.

But while the decision rests with the Republican leadership in the Senate as to whether to 'kick ass & take names', it will also rest squarely on the shoulders of the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee since they don't appear to be moving at all on this and as such will prompt the Republicans to do something - anything - to get an UP or DOWN vote on those remaining nominees.

In all honesty, I can understand why the Dems are pulling these childish tricks - they're trying to wage a war of attrition on the Republicans.

Pragmatism - in any form, big or small - would dictate that eventually the Dems would realize that they've got a snowball's chance in Hell and will capitulate and give an up or down vote. I'm guessing that they're afraid to face the reality of the situation and that by 'holding the fort' for a long enough time that Al Gore or John Kerry will come riding in in the nick of time to save them.

Maybe someone should perform an intervention on the Senate Dems and make them face their fears...? Just a thought.

Moussaoui pleads guilty

Entering a guilty plea today, Zacarias Moussaoui became the only person convicted in the U.S. in connection to the 9-11 attacks.

The French citizen told U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema he realized he could be put to death.

"I expect no leniency," he said. (And you'll get none - Ed)

Moussaui, charged with six felony counts, said he was trained on a Boeing 747 "to use this plane to strike the White House."

He explained the training was in preparation for an attack planned to occur after the 9-11 attacks.

His defense lawyer, Alan Yamamoto, said he was satisfied the defendant understood what he was doing.

"When I have spoken to him, we have disagreed,� Yamamoto said. "He is facing the possibility of death or life in prison. He has told me that he understands that."

Brinkema said, "The court is accepting today the defendant’s six pleas of guilty to the six counts of the indictment."

Now ain't this F'd up?

GI: I held migrants in self-defense

Patrick Haab said he was a victim, not a vigilante, when he drew a pistol on several undocumented immigrants who he said rushed toward him out of the darkness of an Arizona rest stop this week.

"I acted in self-defense," the 24-year-old Army Reserve sergeant said during a news conference filled with contradictions Wednesday at the Maricopa County jail where he is being held on seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. "I thought they were going to attack me."

Dressed in prison stripes and shackled with chains at his ankles, Haab said he had no idea that the men were undocumented immigrants at the time he drew his pistol from a holster he often wears.

"I was not looking for any trouble," he said. "I'm not prejudiced in any way."

Patrick does what most Americans would do - detain criminals - and he's the bad guy? Give me a freakin break...next thing you know people will get arrested for looking cross-eyed at illegal aliens undocumented migrants.

Patricks' website can be located here. Send him a quick note of support.

UPDATE: It would seem that someone in the district attorney's office fired some neurons and made a smart (and obvious) choice:

Reservist who held migrants at gunpoint won't be prosecuted

No criminal charges will be filed against an Army reservist who held seven undocumented immigrants at gunpoint this month at an Arizona rest stop.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Thursday that Sgt. Patrick Haab had the legal right to make a citizen's arrest because the man smuggling the immigrants into the country was committing a felony and the immigrants themselves were conspiring with the coyote to commit a felony.

Arizona law allows a private citizen to make a legal arrest if a felony has been committed and the citizen believes that the person he is arresting committed the felony.

"I do not want the message to go out that people can start rounding up illegal immigrants whether or not they think they're here legally, whether or not they know all the facts," Thomas said. "This is a very unusual case with a narrow set of facts and very unusual circumstances that allow Mr. Haab to avoid prosecution."

I posted something last week about using Google to take a sky-high peek at any place here in the United States.

I was showing a friend of mine (let's just call her Elly) this feature on Google. I zoomed in on UCSD and showed her the Price Center and the parking lot where she parks. I then zoomed in on the Navy base where I work and showed her different landmarks on the base that look itty-bitty from orbit, specifically the static aircraft mounted on pedestals on the main drag.

As I was driving into work this afternoon and going past those static planes the thought occured to me: what is to stop someone from using this Google Map function to plan a terrorist attack?? Granted, the resolution of the satellite imagery isn't great, but it's still good enough to get a idea of the layout of any specific area.

For instance:

• here in San Diego taking a peek at NAS North Island overall
  
• or maybe checking to see what happening with some of the operational squadrons (showing aircraft on the tarmac) here and here
  
• or maybe the air terminal on the base
  
• or perhaps what the layout of the carrier pier is like. (That is the USS Stennis you see in that shot)

• Andrews AFB in Maryland?
  
• what type of ships are in-port at Norfolk Naval Station?
  
• Guantanomo Bay, Cuba?
  
• Bangor Naval Reservation which is the major submarine base on the West Coast?

Not the best way to express one's opinion:

Police: Man Arrested For Spitting On Jane Fonda

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police said they arrested a man for spitting on two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda during a book-signing stop in Kansas City Tuesday night.

Fonda, 67, spoke at Unity Temple, in The Plaza shopping district, about her new best-selling book, "My Life So Far," and her new movie with Jennifer Lopez called "Monster-In-Law."

At about 9 p.m., police said, a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.They said the man then ran away and was taken into custody by off-duty officers, who were providing security for the event.

Fonda declined to prosecute the man.

Sage words:

Ted Speaks

He drew the most cheers when he told gun owners they should never give up their right to bear arms and should use their guns to protect themselves if needed.

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Damn Ted - it cannot be said any simpler....

I've talked about this numb-nuts before and here's the Karma Train coming into the station:

Calif. student gets 8 years for SUV vandalism

LOS ANGELES - An aspiring physicist was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on Monday and ordered to pay $3.5 million for his role in a spree of arson and vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers and other sports utility vehicles.

Rejecting pleas for clemency from William Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics at the California Institute of Technology, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message.

The slogans Cottrell spray-painted onto vehicles included “Fat Lazy Americans,� “No Respect for Earth� and “SUV = Terrorism.�

Cottrell, who admitted only spray-painting and testified he did not know that two friends were bringing Molotov cocktails, promised he would never break the law again. The two friends have fled the country to avoid prosecution, authorities said.

“I want nothing more than to be a physicist,� Cottrell said. “I would do anything to earn any leniency the court could show in this matter.�

William (or as you'll be addressed in prison: BITCH), now is when you'll have a lot of time to really think about how 'neat' and 'cool' it was to pull such a mindless stunt. If you had been possibly framed for this, I'd give you some benefit of the doubt especially considering that you've flushed all that education down the toilet. But you didn't - you thought it out and I'm certain that you thought it over for quite a while and decided to do it.

And in between getting sodomized by thugs in your cell each night, you'll have lots of time to pay for your lack of vision [/Darth Vader]...

The notion of talk being 'cheap' is appearing to be quite true:

Schwarzenegger talks tough on illegal immigration

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the nation's policy on preventing illegal immigration is too lax, telling a group of newspaper publishers the United States needs to "close the borders."

"Close the borders in California and all across Mexico and in the United States," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Newspaper Association of America. "Because I think it is just unfair to have all those people coming across, have the borders open the way it is, and have this kind of lax situation."

And while I'm sure there will be some that will whine, gnash their teeth, and froath from the mouth like a rabid gerbil, you'll have a LOT of people here in San Diego backing you on this.

Honestly Mr. Governor - what have you got to loose?? Considering that anyone left-of-center wants you out of office, nothing.

(Hat tip to Right Wing News for the pointer)

UPDATE: It would appear that the governor is saying that he spoke incorrectly due to his 'substandard English':

Schwarzenegger Sorry for Border Comment

laming his faulty English, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he misspoke when he suggested that California's border with Mexico should be closed to help solve the nation's illegal immigration problem.

Schwarzenegger made the remark while speaking to newspaper editors and publishers Tuesday. He said he intended to say the border should be secured.

"Yesterday was a total screw-up in the words I used," the Republican said at a news conference. "Because instead of closing, I meant securing. I think maybe my English, I need to go back to school and study a little bit."

Stick to your guns - put the National Guard on the border and ignore the whinging/schreeching/yelling from your critics.

The dingbats in the anti-war cabal like to spout how their supporting Iraqi insurgents when they fight 'American aggression'. I wonder where they stand on this:

Report: Over 60 Bodies Found in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a bloody day in Iraq, the bodies of 19 executed Iraqis were reportedly found in a soccer stadium in a town northwest of Baghdad while at least six others died in a series of violent episodes in the Iraqi capital. Also, Iraq's president says the bodies of more than 50 people have been recovered from the Tigris River and were believed to have been hostages.

In the town of Haditha, an Iraqi reporter and residents said they believed the 19 dead people were executed Wednesday. There are no details on when or where the victims recovered from the river were abducted.

Taxi driver Usama Rauf said he heard gunshots and rushed to the stadium where he saw the bodies lined up against a bloodstained wall. The reporter and other residents counted 19 bodies and said all appeared to have been shot.

Makes me wonder if these dorks will ever see the situation for what it is and not what they'd like to imagine is happening over in Iraq.

Took a second read of this to get it to sink in:

Police in Ariz. Seek Monkey for SWAT Team

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it's looking to a monkey.

"Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it," said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for the suburban Phoenix SWAT team. "It would change the way we do business."

Truelove is spearheading the department's request to purchase and train a capuchin monkey, considered the second smartest primate to the chimpanzee. The department is seeking about $100,000 in federal grant money to put the idea to use in Mesa SWAT operations.

The monkey, which costs $15,000, is what Truelove envisions as the ultimate SWAT reconnaissance tool.

Since 1979, capuchin monkeys have been trained to be companions for people who are quadriplegics by performing daily tasks, such as serving food, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving objects and brushing hair.

Truelove hopes the same training could prepare a monkey for special-ops intelligence.

It is a smart move, but the animals-rights psychos (read: PETA) will be howling about endangering the poor monkey.

And as a pre-emptive strike against this stupid arguement from them, I offer this: instead of using a Capuchin monkey to do recon around a corner to see if a bad guy is there holding a weapon, the Mesa Police Department can use PETA members instead.

No wait,that wouldn't work out: that would mean that PETA members would actually have to work...

Good news...while at dialysis this afternoon, I got my monthly lab report and there was good stuff in it:

March 2005
Cholesterol: 290
Triglycerides: 1543

April 2005
Cholesterol: not recorded
Triglycerides: 840

They don't check cholesterol except for every three months, but cholesterol and triglycerides always track together.

What does this mean: it means that once the triglycerides drop below 500 I get on the national transplant list!!

Ted Nugent Slays Burglar At Houston McDonalds

HOUSTON (IFOC) - Rock legend Ted Nugent was held without charges today in Houston after he was seen shooting a man in a burglar's mask and striped pajamas at McDonalds.

"Ted was eating a hamburger and I wanted to get his autograph," said local auto supply store manager Charles Kuff. "All of the sudden, this weird guy in a mask shouts 'Robble Robble' and grabs his hamburger. That's when Ted pulled out a gun and shot him."

Nugent was in town to speak at the National Rifle Association Convention to promote gun ownership rights and campaign for increased membership among responsible gun owners. At a press conference after the shootingm Nugent was characteristically unrepentant for his actions.

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Because of Houston's lenient self-defense laws, Nugent has not been charged with any crime at this time according the District Attorney's Office. Furthermore, the slain baby-faced burglar has yet to be identified by Houston's Crime Lab, but a spokesman for the lab says they might have a good guess by mid-2007.

"We think it might be the elusive Ronald McDonald," said spokesman Bob Hardesty. "We've been looking for him for a long time."

To get myself out of a funk sometimes, I'll intensely listen to some song that really grooves and attempt to figure out the bass line to it.

Case in point: the recent remake by No Doubt of the song It's My Life originally by Talk Talk. Since I haven't really picked up my bass in quite a long time, I sometimes rely on others to figure it out for me; maybe it's a 'cheat', but in the end I figure if I'm blasting out the tune and those that hear it enjoy it as much (if not more) than I do, then everyone benefits.

VERSE
G|--------|--------|--------|--------|
D|--------|--------|-------7|--7--7--|
A|7-7-57--|--7-57-9|--9-79--|----9---|
E|-------7|--------|--------|-------7|

After-verse
G|--------|--------------|
D|--------|--------------|
A|8-8-6-88|8-6-----------|
E|--------|----8-----6-8-|
B|--------|------6-9-----|

Pre-chorus
G|--------|---------|--------|--------|
D|---8-6--|---------|---4----|--4---6-|
A|-68---8-|--34-64--|-46--64-|-4-4-6-6| X2the last without the 4th arpeggio
E|6------4|-6-----2-|-------2|----4---|

Chorus
G|------------|------------|
D|------------|------------|
A|-----6---6-6|-----4---4-4| X4
E|-6-9---9----|-4-6---6----|

bridge
E|-7-7-5-7--|
B|---------7|

after the bridge go to the second part of After-verse

This is one thing that I'm looking forward to once I graduate: being able to rattle plaster on my bass.

(This bass tab glommed from Taborama.com)

Oklahoma City Marks 10 Years Since Bombing

OKLAHOMA CITY — With 168 moments of silence and the message that goodness can overcome evil, victims of the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history were remembered Tuesday at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Some 1,600 people inside the First United Methodist Church fell silent at 9:02 a.m., the moment the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed exactly 10 years earlier.

My Navy buddy Time Keeper is wishing he'd taken me seriously about putting those twin-.50 caliber machine guns on his car:

Thing that make me go hmmmph

If you are one of those flaming anuses who must listen to your bass-heavy, Two-Nikes-in-a-Kenmore music at a deafening level, I am sure that there is a special ring in hell reserved for you, wherein you will be forced to listen to Lawrence Welk and the 101 Strings for eternity, at the same mindsplitting volume you inflicted your aural dreck upon the rest of us.

(This screed brought you by the idiot who drove down the street behind me with his music—and I use the term loosely—blasting loud enough to cause all of the windows in the house to rattle in sync. I think it would have set the alarm off if it had been armed.)

A comment that surprisingly hasn't been quickly deleted by those fine, upstanding bastions of intellect over at San Diego Indy Media; it's located in a thread about 'Discuss SD Peace & Justice Movement April 18':

liars

In 1991, near the end of the so-called Persian Gulf war, it became shamefully obvious that the anti-war movement in the US had some deep problems regarding class and race.

Demonstrations were largely lily-white affairs. San Diego’s anti-war movement back then, which was led by the San Diego Coalition for Peace in the Middle East (SDCPME), was no exception.

The issue was addressed at a SDCPME open meeting toward the end of the war. To try and remedy the problem a motion to change the march route from Downtown/Balboa Park to Logan was proposed. Marches in this community of color and others would help build solidarity with working class people. The motion was voted on by the body and approved. The new march route was to take effect in the upcoming weekend protest.

But something happened that remains a stain in the anti-war movement in SD. Three or four days after the new march route was approved, leaders of the SDCPME held a secret meeting. At that meeting the new march route was overruled and the original (safe for whitey) march route was reinstated.

Democracy had been hoodwinked by the despotic leadership of the SDCPME.

The SDCPME disbanded in the 1990s for dubious reasons. The real reason may have been because its misleaders wanted to wash their hands of their treachery to the peace movement and start out with a clean slate. In other words it seems that they did what many misleaders do - disband and regroup under a different name.

The new organization’s name is the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice (SDCPJ). The leaders of SDCPJ say they want to have an open meeting to discuss: “The Political Message� and “Movement Tactics� as “…only the beginning of a process of building a democratic movement that says no to war, so please join us to express your ideas and have your voice heard!�

Or so reads an invite to their April 18, 2005 open meeting that was suddenly placed in the SDIMC Newswire archives on April 12, 2005 after comments about the 1991 affair had been posted.

Now, after the comments have been wiped clean, the invite has reappeared as above.

To SDIMC and ne1,
You people don’t have the integrity to deal with this issue. You subverted democracy in 1991 and now you pretend to be interested in democracy. Yet when I mentioned your treachery in 1991 you censored it. You haven’t changed one bit from 1991. The lily-whiteness of your protests speaks volumes.

I doubt they'll answer but here goes: What do you folks have to say about this, hmmmm?

Of course, this comment - like most/all of mine - will be deleted as soon as they catch wind of this because we all know that they're like squirrels: chatter and scurry away at the first sign of a response.

If you're feeling funky, give them a call and see if they're willing to talk: (619) 263-9301

Today I walked into work and was peeling back the day-by-day calendar featuring historic aircraft and was reminded that today was the 63^rd anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.

On April 18, 1942 sixteen B-25 Mitchell medium bombers performed a first-time take off from the USS Hornet while 600 miles off the coast of Japan. The initial plan was to have the Hornet close to within 400 miles and launch Doolittle's bombers, but the discovery of the task force by a Japanese picket boat hastened the departure. Better to launch now instead of having the bombers on the Hornet's deck when the presumed air attack came.

The B-25 crews hurried to take anything non-essential off the planes to lighten the load enough to accommodate the extra gasoline that would be needed to cover the extra distance to their targets in mainland Japan. This even included the .50-calibre machine guns, which left the planes virtually defenseless while flying into the heart of the enemy airspace.

Most of the planes were to target military targets around the Tokyo area. And while their payload was light - four 500-pound bombs, one of which was an incendiary bomb intended to make as much damage as possible to the multiple wooden buildings near the target areas - and there wouldn't be much strategic damage done, the mere presence of American bombers over Japan would not only strike a blow to Japanese moral, but would give American moral a much needed boost.

There's a ton of information on the Internet about this raid and it's always been fascinating to me ever since I read '30 Seconds over Tokyo' by Ted Lawson as a kid.

Sadly, this historic raid was somehow tied into the storyline in the movie Pearl Harbor and I cringe whenever I think about how these brave crews were minimized for a Hollywood plotline. The one aspect (that I spotted) that was preserved was that one of the B-25s was dubbed 'The Ruptured Duck' and this was retained in the movie.

This is the kind of bravado that distinguishes American soldiers, sailors, and airmen from the rest - doing what is deemed impossible, doing it with panache, and making sure that everyone knows it was American know-how that got the job done.

Everybody - be a mensch and click on some of those Google Ads on the left-hand side - Mikey needs a new kidney....[/shameless plugging]

Tribune Co. to Show Circ Losses; 'L.A. Times' Down More than 5.5%

NEW YORK Circulation at Tribune Co. papers will show declines in the next Fas-Fax report, with the most troubling plunge at the Los Angeles Times, Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith confirmed during a conference call with analysts this morning.

Though executives declined to break out individual paper's Fas-Fax numbers, which are due out in May, Smith acknowledged the Times will drop slightly more than 5.5%.

Smith said that for the entire group, home-delivered copies are down about 4% while the drop in single-copy sales is even greater.

Because someone suggested I give this a try....

Help Mike deal with his mounting medical bills

Found something over at Smash's place about living here in San Diego that got me thinking - could I find the places I haven't seen in 15 years from an overhead image?

Here's what I found:

Since it was easier to locate due to it's proximity to the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia, I located George C. Marshall High Schoool (my old high school).

From there, I was able to follow the local roads back to the apartment complex I used to live in (two different times) and also the high-rise I used to live in. I lived in the southern building on the left-hand side on the 8th floor where I'd attempt to zing pennies across the way to the northern building.

Damn - Walt was right: It's a Small World After All.

The funny/strange thing is that from this high up everything looks pretty much the same. But I know for a fact that I'd get lost attempting to find my way around there; I definitely did when I went back 13 years ago.

I was talking to my study-buddy about the Joint Strike Fighter the other day and started digging around on the Internet to find information about the variants of this aircraft.

I hit paydirt when I found the official Joint Strike Fighter Program web site.

What's really interesting about this aircraft and the (so far) three variations of it is that 70% of the parts are compatible/interchangeable between the three versions.

SIDENOTE: For some reason, the 70% number sticks in my mind although I cannot find this particular figure on the JSF site. If I'm in error on this number, please forgive me.

Commonality
Commonality is the key to affordability – on the assembly line; in shared-wing planforms; in common systems that enhance maintenance, field support and service interoperability; and in almost 100 percent commonality of the avionics suite. Component commonality across all three variants reduces unique spares requirements and the logistics footprint. In addition to reduced flyaway costs, the F-35 is designed to affordably integrate new technology during its entire life cycle.

This increase in redundancy will not only allow the Defense Department to reduce the necessity of spare parts for all sorts of front-line aircraft in the 21st century, but it will also enable 'cross-decking' (pardon me, it's a Navy term) of spare parts AND maintenance personell between the services.

The differences between them might not be obvious:

• The F-35A Conventional Take & Landing (CTOL) variant will be slated to replace the F-16 Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II and complement the F/A-22 Raptor (currently in development).

• The F-35B Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) will replace the AV-8B Harrier and F/A-18 Hornet as the only strike fighter in use in the U.S. Marine Corps airwing.

• The F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) will be utilized to augment/compliment the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 E/F Hornet.

As I said to my friend about this: Overall, freaking cool.

GrouchyMedia.com has a new video up on it's site: Infantry.

Download it, slip on those headphones, and let 'er rip!!

And if you like that one, definitely take a gander at the other ones. My favorites are 'Die Terrorist Die' and 'Harrier Boom'.

From the insightful Chris Muir at 'Day by Day':

I can't tell you how many times I used to lock horns with some of the women I worked with over the heating/cooling issue; I'd be sweating bullets while it's 90+ degrees outside (right outside of MCAS Miramar here in San Diego) and I'd be an oppresive ogre for putting on the air conditioning.

These women would typically be close to 90 lbs wet and would FREEZE!!; it's much better to work with over-weight couch potato engineers who can agree on what the ambient air temperature should be....

Damn - read this and be prepared for what happens....

Coming Home
What I learned serving in Iraq.

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.--There are no longer generators running, or armored vehicles rumbling, or mortars exploding, and the roar of the silence is deafening to me. What I hear at night now is the gentle breaths released from the perfect lips of my sons. The same lips that I cannot kiss enough. The lips that make my eyes fill with tears every time they touch my cheeks.

My release from Fort Drum came earlier than expected, so when I pulled into my driveway at noon the house was empty. I dropped my bags inside and walked alone through the rooms, soaking in the images and smells that had been only a memory during ten months in Iraq.

My older son's first-grade teacher had been wonderful to me while I was away. She sent school updates and pictures via e-mail almost weekly. So when I popped my head into her classroom she came running and gave me a "welcome home" hug.

"Easton is practicing a song. Why don't you surprise him?"

My heart was racing. I followed the sound of the piano and the little voices singing, then stood and watched. Trickles of love and pride started involuntarily down my cheeks as I listened to my son. He has gotten so big. The anticipation built as I waited for him to see me.

The little girl next to him was the first to notice the uniformed man standing in the doorway. The image she saw and the facts she had been told were doing battle in her brain. Then her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

"Easton! Easton . . . your Daddy's here!" she said in an electrified whisper.

My son's head snapped around. The excitement and disbelief on his face is something I will never forget. I motioned him to me and he ran into my open arms. There was no hiding my tears, and I didn't care to. This was the day I had waited for.

I choked out my words of love and hung on to this boy who had cried so many nights, who said he didn't care if he got any other presents for Christmas, he only wanted his Daddy to come home. This boy who had used all his wishes on me. He kept pulling his head back from my shoulder to look at my face. Cheers rose from the other kids and teachers.

Hand-in-hand, Easton and I stepped outside and drove to the other side of town. I had another little boy to catch up with. When I went inside he was napping. "Marshal, wake up. I have a surprise for you," I heard his day-care provider say.

She came out with his head on her shoulder. When he looked up his eyes grew wide and all signs of sleepiness disappeared. "Daddy!" he exclaimed in pure excitement as he fell forward into my arms. My heart ached with love, and pure joy soaked my cheeks.

I was complete again. I had my boys. And there have never been more perfect words spoken to me than "I love you, Dad."

It may take my wife and children a long time to realize that while I look the same, I am not the same person who said goodbye to them many months ago. I will never be the same again--thankfully so.

Each day now I am acutely aware of what makes me happy, and what it is I do that makes other people happy. Walking point through the volatile streets in Iraq helped me see this much more clearly, and I will make every effort to preserve that awareness for the rest of my days.

When I look through my photo album I think about the men I served with, and learned to count on, who are no longer by my side. The men who had their bodies pierced by the hatred of terrorists, men who left their last breaths in a place far away. Great men doing a job that allows this noble country the freedoms it deserves.

I have seen the dark side of humanity and it has forever changed me. As I sit here in my house, with the sun streaming through the windows, I look out and see the boughs of the evergreens blowing in the breeze.

There are no armed guards on the roof. No sandbags. I don't call in grid coordinates of my whereabouts any more.

Mission briefs have been replaced by wonderful communication between two parents. As I drive through town, I am alone; with no turret and no gunner above me. I don't have to scrutinize every pile of dirt, every plastic bag to check whether it may explode.

Amazingly, I am safe.

Mr. Moore is a staff sergeant in the New York National Guard's Second Battalion, 108th Infantry. This article appears in the April/May issue of The American Enterprise.

« All done with "Coming Home"?

Got a question for y'all:

Should I embrace the Dark Side of the Blogsphere and put ads up here?

Huh I thought - Never really thought about that too much.

Actually, I have thought of it - back when I was debating the format of this blog, i.e. two column format or three columns. I basically decided that having three columns would be good if I had a buttload of links to slap up here, but I don't. I could/would also use that extra column to put up some sort of ads that might - might garner some funding for me. Not enough to buy anything really...just enough to offset my blogging addiction.

So the question is: should I?

It would be nice to do something constructive in a financial manner from all the blogging I do. But the thing that makes me wonder is do I get enough traffic here to generate any appreciable income from those ads?

Additionally, for the most part I've always considered my *cough* contribution(s) to the blogsphere to be mainly for my personal enjoyment; it's not like I've influenced anyone with any of my thought-provoking quips about not being an ass-hatted clown - created a few chuckles, but no apparent influence. In my blogging experience(s), I've mostly gained more personal insight into politics and some-what improved my righting skillz.

As I said - it's just a thought.....but a thought that makes you think Hmmmm....maybe, just maybe I could....

UPDATE: At the advice of several commenters, I've submitted applications for two different ad sponsors - Google Ads and the other one that's still being discretely not named.

Will I be approved? Dunno, but I figured what the hell, let's see if anything comes of this and maybe - just maybe - I'll be able to generate enough income through this that I can do some things with this site and a domain I've reserved that I've been wanting to do for some time.

Thanks to all that made recommendations!! I really DO appreciate the feedback!

Just got the domain e-mail account configured using Mozilla Thunderbird.

My new e-mail address is: mikey-AT-madmikey-DOT-mu-DOT-nu so be sure to update your address books!!

Sanders paid wife, stepdaughter for campaign efforts

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bernard Sanders used campaign donations to pay his wife and stepdaughter more than $150,000 for campaign-related work since 2000, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Jane O'Meara Sanders, his wife, received $91,020 between 2002 and 2004 for "consultation" and for negotiating the purchase of television and radio time-slots for Sanders' advertisements, according to records and interviews.

[...]

Jim Barrett, chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, used Sanders' family payments to highlight what he said is Democratic "hypocrisy" for fiercely attacking DeLay. "It's the standard hypocrisy from the left," Barrett said. "When a Republican does it, it's inappropriate and front page news. But now it turns out, our own Bernie Sanders has been doing it for a long time."

He added: "If it's corruption when Tom DeLay does it, then it's corruption when Bernie Sanders does it."

I'm not going to defend Delay for this - IMO it's bad politics and it smacks of Jesse Jackson putting his entire family on the dole of the Rainbow Coalition (I think that's the group), but before anyone starts to froath-at-the-mouth and sputter inconsistent sentences about the 'evil that is Tom Delay', they'd better take a serious look at their own houses and make sure they're in order.

Make issue of significant instantances of crappy politics, but for the love of Mikey, stop slinging crap just for the ripple-effect in the pond, huh?

Another chunk of humor for this slightly cold Wednesday morning.

Please, save the you male chauvinistic pig!! comments - it's humor.

It's great to be a man:

• Your last name stays put.
  
• The garage is all yours.
  
• Wedding plans take care of themselves.
  
• Chocolate is just another snack.
  
• You can be president.
  
• You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
  
• Car mechanics tell you the truth.
  
• You don't care if someone notices your new haircut.
  
• The world is your urinal.
  
• You never have to drive to another gas station because one’s just too icky.
  
• Same work...more pay.
  
• Wrinkles add character.
  
• Wedding Dress $5,000; Tux rental $100.
  
• People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
  
• New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
  
• One mood - ALL the time.
  
• Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
  
• You know stuff about tanks.
  
• A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
  
• You can open all your own jars.
  
• You can leave the motel bed unmade.
  
• You can kill your own food.
  
• You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
  
• If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be your friend.
  
• Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
  
• You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger seat.
  
• Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
  
• You can quietly watch a game with your buddy for hours without ever thinking: "He must be mad at me."
  
• You can drop by to see a friend without having to bring a gift.
  
• If another guy shows up at the party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong friends.
  
• You are not expected to know the names of more than colors.
  
• You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
  
• You almost never have strap problems in public.
  
• You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
  
• The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
  
• You don't have to shave below your neck.
  
• One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.
  
• You can do your nails with a pocketknife.
  
• You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
  
• Christmas shopping can be accomplished for 25 relatives on December 24th, in 45 minutes.

Just when you thought you'd heard the most depraved thing ever happening, along comes something new:

Disabled Girl Punched In Face, Forced To Perform Sex Acts

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A 16-year-old disabled girl was punched and forced to engage in videotaped sexual acts with several boys in a high school auditorium as dozens of students watched, according to witnesses.

Authorities are investigating and no charges have been filed in the alleged attack last month at Mifflin High School. Four boys suspected of involvement were sent home and have not returned to class.

And the kid with the video camera?? He needs to be sodomized by angry goats.

On second thought - naw, let's just waste his ass too.

UPDATE: Just to let you know that as harsh as I may have sounded about punishing these kids - I wasn't kidding. Although the thought that this might just be something less-than-truthful did occur to me.

Because I just thought this was fracking funny...

50 Fun Things To Do In An Elevator

• Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.
  
• Blow your nose and offer to show the contents of your kleenex to other passengers.
  
• Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, dammit, all of you just shut UP!"
  
• Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.
  
• Sell Girl Scout cookies.
  
• On a long ride, sway side to side at the natural frequency of the elevator.
  
• Shave.
  
• Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"
  
• Offer name tags to everyone getting on the elevator. Wear yours upside-down.
  
• Stand silent and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.

Just found out that Alan Colmes is no longer on KFMB 760 here in San Diego. He's been replaced with Mr. Michael Garibaldi otherwise known as Jerry Doyle:

Jerry Doyle hosts a nationally syndicated evening radio show. Listeners enjoy Jerry's anecdotal humor, satirical observations and well-rounded social commentary. Jerry's ability to choose compelling topics provokes lively conversations on the issues of the day. The program is caller-driven, issue-oriented, and fast-paced. Listeners enjoy Jerry's wit, as well as his ability to seriously engage callers from across the nation in fascinating conversations.

Huh.

Flight Plans? DHS May Resume Airlifting Mexican Illegals Back Home

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is thinking about resuming a program to transport illegal aliens back to their hometowns in Mexico, rather than the present practice of expelling them at the Arizona border.

The main clue that it might renew a program that was tried out last year was an unheralded notice from the department’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection that it is looking for a firm to provide charter flights from Tucson to Mexico, posted online April 6.

Queried about the initiative, DHS officials, legally barred from releasing details of a procurement before an official solicitation, would not confirm that the notice referred to last year’s interior repatriation program. But the similarities are uniform.

Use a trebuchet: it's much more eco-friendly and there's ZERO emissions....

What a waste of science & technology:

Scientists Create Remote-Controlled Flies

Yale University researchers say their study that used lasers to create remote-controlled fruit flies could lead to a better understanding of overeating and violence in humans.

Using the lasers to stimulate specific brain cells, researchers say they were able to make the flies jump, walk, flap their wings and fly.

Even headless flies took flight when researchers stimulated the correct neurons, according to the study, published in the April 7 issue of the journal Cell.

These people should be made to pay for introducing such crap to the world...

Of course, I should inform everyone that for my senior engineering project, I plan on creating a Rap/Hip-Hop Seeking Missile and I might be able to tie it in with a chem majors project and have it yield a powerful explosive....

Stevie is one lady that you don't want to aggravate - ever....especially when she's "having a day"

Oh yeah... Reba.
Die bitch.
Nobody'd miss ya.
Yer band is pissed and waiting...

Big-earred, no lips havin', horse hatin' hag.
Die.

Oh, and for God's sake: do NOT slaughter a song in someone's name least you want an entire freakin BARN to fall on you.

Here's a man that cannot let somethings go:

Kerry cites voter intimidation examples

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Many voters in last year's presidential election were denied access to the polls through trickery and intimidation, former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry told a voters' group Sunday.

"Last year too many people were denied their right to vote, too many who tried to vote were intimidated," the Massachusetts senator said at an event sponsored by the state League of Women Voters.

Puh-leaze.....I loose IQ points readin drivel like this.

This is fracking cool!!

U.S. Navy tests Wasp micro air vehicle

If the Wasp buzzed your backyard barbecue and sent out a live video feed, you probably wouldn't notice.

The new robotic plane is designed for troops who need a peek at the enemy before going in.

The diminutive drone, about the size of a magazine, was tested recently during Navy exercises off Southern California, according to Monday's edition of the C4ISR Journal, part of the Army Times publishing group. The journal covers military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Though made with off-the-shelf products, the Wasp is nothing like remote-control planes sold at hobby shops. Its wings, which span 13 inches (33 centimeters), carry 4.25 ounces (120 grams) of lithium-ion batteries. The whole rest of the plane — including video cameras front and back — adds just 1.75 ounces (50 grams) to the total takeoff weight.

It is launched by hand.

In 2002, a rudimentary Wasp set an endurance record for micro air vehicles of 1 hour and 47 minutes. It has since been outfitted with an autopilot feature that uses the Global Positioning System.

The drone was built by AeroVironment in Simi Valley, Calif. with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

One application might be to check out enemy ships when no helicopters are available for the task.

Ah yes, the inevitable quagmire that the U.S. was supposed to be sucked into in Iraq:

U.S. Commanders See Possible Cut in Troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON, April 10 - Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the American-led military campaign in Iraq is making enough progress in fighting insurgents and training Iraqi security forces to allow the Pentagon to plan for significant troop reductions by early next year, senior commanders and Pentagon officials say.

Senior American officers are wary of declaring success too soon against an insurgency they say still has perhaps 12,000 to 20,000 hard-core fighters, plentiful financing and the ability to change tactics quickly to carry out deadly attacks. But there is a consensus emerging among these top officers and other senior defense officials about several positive developing trends, although each carries a cautionary note.

Attacks on allied forces have dropped to 30 to 40 a day, down from an average daily peak of 140 in the prelude to the Jan. 30 elections but still roughly at the levels of a year ago. Only about half the attacks cause casualties or damage, but on average one or more Americans die in Iraq every day, often from roadside bombs. Thirty-six American troops died there in March, the lowest monthly death toll since 21 died in February 2004.

Not much to report, huh?

No, not since everyone left-of-center was convinced that Iraq would become another [tired cliche alert] quagmire and that we'd never make any progress in Iraq.

Surprisingly, this story comes from The New York Times where quagmire was THE buzzword two years ago.

And while there are still attacks happening and killing U.S. troops on the ground, you'd think that someone would take notice of the decrease in Islamo-psycho attacks....but if it isn't bleeding, it isn't leading.

Freedom - 1, Quagmire - 0

I'm sitting in the Science & Engineering Library waiting for MATLAB to get fired up on the school's computer and reading the news in the meantime. The first thing to escape my lips - very LOUDLY - as I read this in the library was: Are they f*cking HIGH!?

Man's Conviction for Threatening Bush Nixed

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court Friday overturned an inmate's conviction for writing a crude, rambling letter endorsing President Bush's death at the hands of terrorists — two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The letter from Oregon State Penitentiary prisoner Jonathan Lincoln, who was charged with threatening the president and given an 18-month sentence last year, read, in part: "You will die too George W Bush real Soon they Promised That you would Long Live Bin Laden."

Corrections officials intercepted the letter; Lincoln had been serving a 46-month sentence for robbery.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the letter was protected under the First Amendment, calling it "Lincoln's crude and offensive method of stating a political opposition to the president." The court noted "such political hyperbole does not constitute a 'threat."'

Then again, this comes from the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Insane Judicial Thought....

I got a joke e-mail a few days ago that was very similar to this and my first thought was that this was the same thing.

Apparently, life is stranger than fiction:

Man arrested, cuffed after using $2 bills

A man trying to pay a fee using $2 bills was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail after clerks at a Best Buy store questioned the currency's legitimacy and called police.

According to an account in the Baltimore Sun, 57-year-old Mike Bolesta was shocked to find himself taken to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, Md., where he was handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service was called to weigh in on the case.

I just bet those Best Buy employees are up for a big commendation from their bosses for this stellar catch....[/talking smack]

When I first read about this inciden today, I thought naw, it couldn't be the same Bryan I know.

Turns out it was:

Officials: Man Not Held Against His Will

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities determined Thursday that three volunteers involved in a civilian project to watch the border and report illegal crossers did not hold an illegal immigrant against his will.

The Mexican man had told sheriff's deputies that he was detained and forced to pose for a picture holding a T-shirt with a mocking slogan. The shirt read: "Bryan Barton caught an illegal alien and all I got was this T-shirt." Barton was one of the three volunteers.

"The county attorney's office reviewed all available evidence, that indicates that there was no forcible detention, therefore the case is not substantiated, and no charges are pending," said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Department.

By the way, Bryan is running for Congress; his site is here. Vote Barton!!

Mikey start another thread where I can blast this a$$hole...

Just a general thread to shread that special someone in the blogsphere...

Minutemen catch 141 illegals so far

In its second day of operations, the civilian volunteer Minuteman Project claimed to have aided the Border Patrol in the apprehension of 141 illegal aliens along the Arizona border and deterred many more from attempting to cross from Mexico.

With the project gaining favorable attention, a city official from New Mexico announced he would like to expand the project to his state. "It has been successful," said Chris Simcox of Civil Homeland Defense, a group aiding the Minuteman Project. "No one has come across."

I'm hoping that this is such a sucess that someone brings it here to California....

UPDATE: Apparently the bit about some city official in New Mexico complimenting the Minutemen Project is a bunch of hooey:

A city councilman from Santa Fe, N.M., today disputed a news story reporting that he wants to bring the Minuteman Project, the citizen border-patrol effort in Arizona, to New Mexico.

As WorldNetDaily reported, City Councilman David Pfeffer told the Albuquerque Journal he wants to be personally involved in the volunteer effort to patrol the border for illegal immigrants and smugglers.

"I would be willing to get involved with an effort along New Mexico's borders," Pfeffer said, according to the report.

Pfeffer attended a gathering Friday of Minuteman volunteers in Tombstone, Ariz.

The Journal reported Pfeffer said he would "absolutely" be willing to get involved with a New Mexico citizen border-patrol project.

After reportedly receiving heat for the alleged comments, Pfeffer contacted KRQE-TV in Albuquerque to refute the story.

Also, the Journal published a letter to the editor by Pfeffer today contradicting the story.

"The headline and the first three paragraphs are completely false," Pfeffer wrote in the letter. "The impression conveyed is completely false. The alleged quotations attributed to me in support of this impression are completely false."

The paper says it stands by its reporting and has checked the reporter's notes to verify the story's accuracy.

When I first saw this yesterday, I thought huh....it'll be another Air America on the net and that was that.

Then I read about it again this morning and how Warren Beatty would be a part of it:

SOURCES: WARREN BEATTY TO BLOG!

The Observer has learned that Warren Beatty, the 68-year-old actor and director, will likely join a lineup of liberal all-stars who will "group blog" on a Web site to be launched next month by columnist Arianna Huffington.

"I probably will," Mr. Beatty said, on the phone from his production office in Los Angeles.

The "Huffington Report," as Ms. Huffington has dubbed it, will also feature such boldface bloggers as Senator Jon Corzine, David Geffen, Viacom co-chief Tom Freston, Barry Diller, Tina Brown and Gwyneth Paltrow. If the name seems to echo that of the Drudge Report—the mega-site operated by the rightward-tilting unofficial editorial director of America’s news cycle, Matt Drudge—well, it’s supposed to. And Mr. Beatty approved of that.

"I applaud the effort to tell the side of the story that Arianna Huffington seems to be engaged in," he said. Mr. Beatty was all too aware, he said, of the power Mr. Drudge has to steer the American media.

Blogging in my opinion isn't just sitting down each day and banging out X number of words like so many chimpanzees with typewriters. It takes a commitment to convey your thoughts on all things big and small, famous and infamous, relavent and inane.

And this 'all-liberal' blog will end up like Air America: left-of-center whining that's subsidized by rich patrons of the whining arts.

Sometimes I like to post stuff I see or have seen at school, especially from the student-run newspapers.

This particular article comes from The Muir Quarterly, now simply called 'The MQ' and this is from an issue that came out in September 2003.

Enjoy.

Perspective: Um, what’s going to be on the midterm?

Cindy Li

Hi. I appreciate you distributing the syllabus today, the first day of class. Despite the fact that I studied the printout for less than two entire seconds, I have a few questions that have yet to be answered. I’d like to assault you with these questions now while everyone rolls their eyes at me for holding up the entire lecture and wasting the time of nearly 300 of my peers. I know you have yet to speak a word on the actual subject matter of this course, but what exactly is going to be on the midterm?

Yes, okay. Thanks. I understand now that whatever is covered during weeks one through five will be included in the midterm. I appreciate you humoring my asinine question with such patience. Unfortunately, you have yet to satisfy the level of detail that my irrational mind cares to obsess over. I’d like to know exactly, in a bulleted list, what will be asked of me on the upcoming exam.

Well, yes, I concede that this is precisely the sort of thing we come to class every day for. I understand that I essentially asked you to teach the class before you could even begin to do so and that my question basically made a mockery of any kind of course structure that you set up. Still, I’d like you to break it down so I can diligently copy down every patronizing word you say into my newly bought sparkly purple notebook.

Well, okay. I guess I’ll just attend lecture on a regular basis like the rest of the class. I will, however, continue to interrupt at every opportunity to confirm whether or not a specific principle or passage will appear on the midterm. My incessant chorus of “Will this be on the midterm?� will constantly remind you of your dislike for your job and your hatred of grade-chasing shitheads like myself.

Before you get back to speaking after I derailed your fledgling attempts at an introductory lecture, I’d like to rudely pursue another shallow, time-wasting question: what kind of curve will be used in grading this class? It’s pointless, I know, but I have a pathological disorder and need you to pander to my simpering little needs. I know that my classmates will forgive me in due time, and I just positively must know.

Oh? It says on the syllabus? On the first page? Oh, ok. I’m sorry, I guess my eyes just glazed over the 16-point “Grading Policy� heading. Thanks.

One last thing: what chapters will be covered on the final?

I've written about Sam Kinison before, but was reminded of him when I thought about what the Pope had done for the world.

Sam Kinison and the Pope you say?

Yup. Sam had this bit about how the Pope came down on gay people in San Francisco when he visted in the 80s:

This group of gays came to visit the Pope. They brought along all these people suffering from AIDS and asked Can we be saved? and the Pope said No. Next!

Enjoy.

Sam Kinison's Love Song

Just when you thought that they couldn't loose their minds any more up in San Francisco, they go and prove you wrong.

From Personal Democracy Forum:

San Francisco May Regulate Blogging

Just when you thought the Federal Election Commission had it out for the blogosphere, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors took it up a notch and announced yesterday that it will soon vote on a city ordinance that would require local bloggers to register with the city Ethics Commission and report all blog-related costs that exceed $1,000 in the aggregate.

Blogs that mention candidates for local office that receive more than 500 hits will be forced to pay a registration fee and will be subject to website traffic audits, according to Chad Jacobs, a San Francisco City Attorney.

The entire Board is set to vote on the measure on April 5th, 2005. I wonder if they'll be forced to register their own blogs!

The legislation was written by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.

And if this is a late April Fool's prank, it's a good one cause it just boggles me as to why these kooks would even consider trying to regulate blogging within the city limits. That would be like trying to herd cats with a snow plow....

Didn't post much about this until it was all said & done:

Don't weep for me

POPE JOHN PAUL II died peacefully last night in his Apostolic apartment above St Peter's Square, ending a period of public suffering that spoke of the sanctity of life and the dignity of death.

In a ritual that has not been altered for centuries, bells tolled mournfully in the Vatican to mark the demise of the 84-year-old pontiff. They were soon being echoed by bells all over Rome.

The death, at 9.37pm local time, was confirmed by the Spanish cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, the papal chamberlain, and announced within minutes by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Pope's official spokesman, who distributed the news to journalists via e-mail.

A formal announcement that followed from Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the Vatican's undersecretary of state, was heard in silence by 70,000 in the square. "Our Holy Father, John Paul, has returned to the house of the Father," he said. "We all feel like orphans this evening."

Some of the crowd then broke into applause for the life of the Pope; others sobbed uncontrollably at his passing.

Rest in Peace Your Holiness. Kick ass & take names up beyond the pearly gates.....

Sorry for the light posting this week but the new quarter started on Monday of this week and I'm taking four classes this time around:

• ECE 107 - Electromagnetism
  
• ECE 108 - Digital Circuits
  
• ECE 171A - Linear Control System Theory (this is the first of my depth courses)
  
• MATH 187 - Intro to Cryptography

So with this new schedule, not to mention dialysis and family, it might be that I'll be light on posting throughout the week and probably doing it mainly on Fridays and/or the weekends.

Davey doesn't mince words:

I Don't Care What You Think

Oh, and don’t sign me up for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Someone already tried that once and it didn’t sit well with me. Just having those fruits in my room will probably bring down the resale value of just about everything I own.

Personally, I’d rather have a pap smear done on my butt than go out and try to dance to music I don’t like and make an idiot out of myself. If I’m going to make an idiot out of myself I’m going to do it on my own terms.

Word to your mother.

My heart bleeds purple slush water for this scumbag:

Akbar Convicted of Murder in Grenade Attack

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war.

Hasan Akbar, 34, now faces a possible death penalty, which the 15-member jury will consider at a hearing that begins Monday.

Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve "maximum carnage" on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.

Hangman's Noose.

UPDATE: YES!!!

Jury Returns Death Sentence in GI Killings

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A military jury sentenced a soldier to death Thursday for a deadly grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion, a barrage that prosecutors said was triggered by religious extremism.

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who gave a brief, barely audible apology hours earlier, stood at attention between his lawyers as the verdict was delivered. He showed no emotion.

Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign

SACRAMENTO — Calling the nation's borders dangerously porous, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday praised the private "Minuteman" campaign that uses armed volunteers to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.

Schwarzenegger said in a radio interview that the federal government is failing to secure the border with Mexico, and he cast the hundreds of private citizens who have been patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border since April 1 as a popular response to government inaction.

"I think they've done a terrific job," Schwarzenegger said of the "Minuteman" volunteers, who plan to expand to California in June. "They've cut down the crossing of illegal immigrants a huge percentage. So it just shows that it works when you go and make an effort and when you work hard. It's a doable thing."

The governor added that, "It's just that our federal government is not doing their job. It's a shame that the private citizen has to go in there and start patrolling our borders."

Well have to wait and see....

The History Channel's Mail Call cause it's fun to watch Gunny Ermey blow stuff up....

Another POS is about to become room temperature:

Avila Guilty of Killing Samantha Runnion

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A jury convicted a factory worker Thursday of the 2002 kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, an Orange County girl whose death prompted a massive public outcry.

After deliberating for less than nine hours over two days, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Alejandro Avila, 30, of kidnapping, murder and two counts of sexual assault.

The same Superior Court jury will decide in a separate penalty phase if Avila should get life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Opening statements in the penalty phase were scheduled for Wednesday.

Samantha's mother Erin Runnion, in the front row of the courtroom, cried silently as verdicts were read. She hugged the prosecutor David Brent as the jury left the courtroom.

As the first verdict was read, someone in the audience said, "yes, yes." Avila bowed his head toward the defense table but showed no emotion.

And while some might say that putting Avila to death won't bring back Samantha and that maybe he should be sentenced to life in prison, I say no. Put this waste of skin to death - a painful one - since HE didn't give Samantha the choice to live or die.

And that 'bowing of the head' thing Avila did when the verdict was read?? It sure as shit was him praying to God for forgiveness - it was him realizing that he's practically dead meat in prison if he's lucky enough to evade the death penalty. I'm no expert, but from what I've heard people like Avila become hunted - like gazelle - in prison. It would seem that even among criminals, doing anything to children is a big NO-NO.

Once again I'm compelled to say the best way to deal with present and would-be future sexual preditors like this is to just BLOW THEIR BRAINS ALL OVER THE PAVEMENT.

FACT: Hemodialysis sucks. If anyone tells you different, they're selling insurance.

But...considering the alternative, dialysis is okay since death is so 'not me'....

Lately whenever I have dialysis - currently Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays - that I'm getting that tingly feeling in my feet right afterwards.

And it doesn't end that day - now I'm starting to get it the following morning and it's just a world of fun I'm here to tell you. But I just happen to be going to see my nephrologist this morning right after my Control Systems class, so I'll chat with her about it and see what can be done since - and I'm really uncomfortable 'whining' about this - it's making going to school & work a bit more difficult.

As for kidney donors, I haven't really kept up with who is getting screened for donation since it'll probably be a let down of some sort; most of my friends that have offered to donate have been rejected for minor reasons and after the third one I honestly do not inquire anymore. A kidney will become available eventually and when the time is right, it'll happen.

Nothing really much on the news radar that I'm up to blogging about....

...so I thought I'd share my latest desktop view which is the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter (Carrier Variant) like I posted about previously.

Good news: Pablo *patooey* Paredes' claim for conscientious objector status was denied

From Michelle Malkin's site:

PABLO PAREDES: CO STATUS DENIED

This just in...

Military deserter and anti-war Left poster boy Pablo Paredes has been denied conscientious objector status. His request for Other than Honorable discharge in lieu of a court-martial trial has also been denied. In a press release e-mailed this morning by his brother, the Paredes family reported:

Massive support activities for Pablo Paredes are being planned for May 10th. These activities will include a staged symbolic public trial to denounce the war and its immoral impact on Americans and Iraqis alike. The May 10th proceeding will include the participation of other public military resisters such as Camilo Mejia. In addition, many important figures from the political and activist community are expected to participate. More details will be made public shortly.

...The rejection of his CO and OTH are strong indication that the military intends to firmly punish Pablo Paredes for his decision to follow his conscientious (sic) and not support inhumane acts of aggression. Navy jags have attended Pablo’s public speaking engagements and have provided sworn statements that will be used against him in his Special Court Martial

Good.

To quote Emperor Palpatine from 'Episode VI: Return of the Jedi': You will pay for your lack of vision.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this clown deserves all that's coming to him. Honestly, IMO he's not worth the power to blow him to Hell.

NOW - let's see how fast the anti-war goons 'forget' about Pablo....

UPDATE: I was just informed by an old friend that's far more knowledgeable on Star Wars that the quote You will pay for your lack of vision was from the Emperor - NOT Vader.

I feel sheepish now....the other geeks will harange me for this for weeks....

Democrats won't stop drivers license verification bill, Reid says

WASHINGTON — A controversial bill that would require states to verify the citizenship or legal status of anyone applying for a drivers license will likely become law because Senate Democrats don't have the votes to stop it, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Monday.

Aimed at illegal immigrants, the so-called Real ID Act is expected to be included in a final version of an $81 billion spending bill to fund the war in Iraq, according to Reid, D-Nev. House and Senate lawmakers begin negotiating a final version of the spending bill this week.

Reid and most Democrats had fought for months against the Real ID measure and succeeded in keeping it out of the Senate version of the spending bill. But Reid said Democrats have decided they would not hold up passage of the Iraq war spending bill solely because it includes the Real ID Act.

In any case, it's nice to know that since the various states cannot seem to get their sh!t together on who should or shouldn't have a drivers license that (for once) the federal government steps in to take the matter to a conclusion.

(Brain neurons to John Hawkins at Right Wing News for the lead)

Just got this from my gal pal Stevie and it's hilarious!!

Enjoy!

Here are a few things to think about that you probably have never thought about:

• Can you cry under water?
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
• If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
• Since bread is square, then why is sandwich meat round?
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. . but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?
• Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

Today at school, I encounted the annual Coming Out Day on Library Walk.

Being slightly curious, I walked close to the tent/booth that was set up for it and what did I see? A cardboard cutout of President Bush with a rainbow boa wrapped around his head. Next to the cutout was some sort of posterboard with a write-up about how 'the Prez was coming out'. I didn't even bother to read it because life is precious and those wasted seconds could have been put to better use playing video games or picking my nose. I just turned around and shook my head.

As I was walking away my friend Elly was asking why I was shaking my head. I explained quickly that while I couldn't give a fig about the Gay Pride movement (more like a bowel movement IMO), I was getting quite tired of having GAY-GAY-GAY-GAY-GAY shoved in my face and down my throat and that in my humble opinion the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ movement was drawing more attention to themselves than would normally be deserved. I said that all this attention might be what causes some - not all, not a majority, but some - people to put the pinch on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ people and that someone might want to re-think their strategy on this.

Elly, being the open-minded liberal friend of mine (yes, I do have liberal friends) paraphrased what I had said with this:

When you have a junkyard dog snapping at your heels, the best thing to do is turn around and kick it in the chops....

BTW, Elly doesn't really refer to herself as a 'liberal' - she thinks that most of the barking moonbats on campus give the rest of the people left-of-center a bad reputation. She's right.

Now, to save some people a lot of vitriol about me being a 'homophobe' or 'anti-gay' or whatever, let me just say once again that while I don't give a rat's ass about the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/WTF am I?? ™ movement, I'm not too keen on some guy with a three-day beard sliding up to me and asking 'Are you here for some fun??'. Sorry - it's just not my cup of tea....I dig chicks too much. Just get on with life, do your job, and don't make me adapt to your not-quite-normal lifestyle. I don't constantly scream about heterosexual relationships and that we're just the same, do I?

Why 'not-quite-normal'?? Well, let's invoke some basic biology/evolution here: male-female pro-creation results in offspring whereas male-male, female-female, or WTF am I??-WTF am I?? cannot pro-create and therefore their genetic material(s) are taken out of the herd's gene pool. Sounds harsh to put it in such a blunt description, but let's face it: life finds a way to continue through conception of offspring - Bruce/Bruce combos don't make the cut.

This actually came as a surprise this afternoon when I heard it on the radio driving to work:

Murphy resigns

SAN DIEGO – First the quarrelsome city attorney demanded that San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy quit. And last week Time magazine named Murphy one of the three worst big-city mayors in the country. Then came rumblings of a recall movement.

Less than five months after starting his second four-year term, Murphy, 62, announced this morning he will resign effective July 15.

"I now believe to be effective the city will need a mayor who was elected by a majority of the people and who has a clear mandate to take this city forward," Murphy said. "A good leader needs to know when it is time to move on and I believe it is time for me to move on and time to bring a fresh start to our city."

Now - the scary part is who will be the new mayor come Novemeber? Citizen Smash has a great round-up of the likely (and unlikey) candidates.

I can just hear the whining from New York now:

White House May Go to U.N. Over North Korean Shipments

WASHINGTON, April 24 - The Bush administration, facing a series of recent provocations from North Korea, is debating a plan to seek a United Nations resolution empowering all nations to intercept shipments in or out of the country that may contain nuclear materials or components, say senior administration officials and diplomats who have been briefed on the proposal.

The resolution envisioned by a growing number of senior administration officials would amount to a quarantine of North Korea, though, so far at least, President Bush's aides are not using that word. It would enable the United States and other nations to intercept shipments in international waters off the Korean Peninsula and to force down aircraft for inspection.

But if the United States was to just take matters into their own hands, that's wrong too.

I'm guessing it'll take North Korea popping a nuke somewhere in the region to get the UN's attention (HINT-HINT: Iran).

President Bush is trying to do things the 'nice' way - the way that the UN would *cough* like, but the United States will still be labeled as a 'cowboy nation' for trying to do things that other nations would like us to do.

Another 'protester' putting 'peace' back in the venacular:

Peace activist faces trial after crossing the line of civility

It started out as a typical Wednesday for Preckshot, a 49-year-old who stands about 5-foot-2 and has hearing aids in both ears. She was standing on her normal spot on Providence Road, holding her signs in support of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. For nearly four years now, this has been Preckshot’s life from about 4:15 to about 5:45 in the afternoon once a week. She started her solo troop-support effort to counteract the peace protesters who stand a couple of blocks away at the intersection of Providence and Broadway. The peaceniks hold signs that say things such as "honk for peace" and "end the occupation."

They outnumber Preckshot every Wednesday, but she stands out there just the same, sometimes drawing another supporter or two to help her effort.

On this particular Wednesday - it was March 16 - her effort seemed to annoy a couple of the protesters. Not satisfied with their own peace protest, a pair of peaceniks grabbed their signs and made their way to Preckshot, who normally stands outside the Bloomers flower shop near Locust Street.

"Two of the guys from the corner walked down with a big sign that read ‘End the occupation,’ " she remembers. One of them started taking pictures of a Preckshot supporter across the street, she says. "At some point, the other guy starts coming toward me."

For a diminutive woman, Preckshot can handle herself. She’s a former police officer, and she isn’t easily intimidated. Still, a young man coming at her waving a sign in her face seemed a little aggressive, particularly from somebody supposedly advocating peace.

The man stepped closer. She backed off a step. He shoved a sign in her face, and she backed off once again.

"Don’t touch me!" she told him.

Then, she says, he pushed her.

"He started taunting me and reached out and pushed on my shoulder," Preckshot says. "Each time he pushed, it got a little harder. When I saw his hand come at me again, I grabbed it. I felt fearful."

As Preckshot pushed the man’s hand away, "he slugged me right in the face," she says.

Perhaps "Punch for peace" would have been a more appropriate sign.

And BTW, Rita isn't a slouch - she was named 'Citizen of the Year' in 2004 Military Officers’ Association of America for her (often) solo work at countering the *cough* peace activists in support of the U.S. military.

Rita: Kicking Ass & Taking Names!!

Here's a photo I took this afternoon while updating my anti-virus software.

One of my cats - Julie in this case - likes to sit up on my desk while I'm working and stretch out and 'tap' me on the mouse hand to get my attention.

BTW, cats and calculus do NOT mix well together.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a photo of my lazy cat demanding that I pay more attention to her than to my stupid computer.

Cheney Weighs in on Judicial Filibusters

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney warned Democrats Friday that he will cast the tie-breaking vote to ban filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees if the Senate deadlocks on the question.

Republicans are moving the Senate toward a final confrontation with Democrats over judicial nominations. Internal GOP polling shows that most Americans don't support Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan to ban judicial filibusters - a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member Senate.

"There is no justification for allowing the blocking of nominees who are well qualified and broadly supported," Cheney told the Republican National Lawyers Association. "The tactics of the last few years, I believe, are inexcusable."

"Let me emphasize, the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate," Cheney said. "But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up or down vote."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the White House "has stepped over the line by interfering with the Senate to reduce checks and balances."

While I'm not too keen on the Republicans using a 'nuclear policy' to get rid of this road-block - it could easily come back and bite the GOP in the ass down the road - I can understand their getting irritated enough to utilize such tactics.

But while the decision rests with the Republican leadership in the Senate as to whether to 'kick ass & take names', it will also rest squarely on the shoulders of the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee since they don't appear to be moving at all on this and as such will prompt the Republicans to do something - anything - to get an UP or DOWN vote on those remaining nominees.

In all honesty, I can understand why the Dems are pulling these childish tricks - they're trying to wage a war of attrition on the Republicans.

Pragmatism - in any form, big or small - would dictate that eventually the Dems would realize that they've got a snowball's chance in Hell and will capitulate and give an up or down vote. I'm guessing that they're afraid to face the reality of the situation and that by 'holding the fort' for a long enough time that Al Gore or John Kerry will come riding in in the nick of time to save them.

Maybe someone should perform an intervention on the Senate Dems and make them face their fears...? Just a thought.

Moussaoui pleads guilty

Entering a guilty plea today, Zacarias Moussaoui became the only person convicted in the U.S. in connection to the 9-11 attacks.

The French citizen told U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema he realized he could be put to death.

"I expect no leniency," he said. (And you'll get none - Ed)

Moussaui, charged with six felony counts, said he was trained on a Boeing 747 "to use this plane to strike the White House."

He explained the training was in preparation for an attack planned to occur after the 9-11 attacks.

His defense lawyer, Alan Yamamoto, said he was satisfied the defendant understood what he was doing.

"When I have spoken to him, we have disagreed,� Yamamoto said. "He is facing the possibility of death or life in prison. He has told me that he understands that."

Brinkema said, "The court is accepting today the defendant’s six pleas of guilty to the six counts of the indictment."

Now ain't this F'd up?

GI: I held migrants in self-defense

Patrick Haab said he was a victim, not a vigilante, when he drew a pistol on several undocumented immigrants who he said rushed toward him out of the darkness of an Arizona rest stop this week.

"I acted in self-defense," the 24-year-old Army Reserve sergeant said during a news conference filled with contradictions Wednesday at the Maricopa County jail where he is being held on seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. "I thought they were going to attack me."

Dressed in prison stripes and shackled with chains at his ankles, Haab said he had no idea that the men were undocumented immigrants at the time he drew his pistol from a holster he often wears.

"I was not looking for any trouble," he said. "I'm not prejudiced in any way."

Patrick does what most Americans would do - detain criminals - and he's the bad guy? Give me a freakin break...next thing you know people will get arrested for looking cross-eyed at illegal aliens undocumented migrants.

Patricks' website can be located here. Send him a quick note of support.

UPDATE: It would seem that someone in the district attorney's office fired some neurons and made a smart (and obvious) choice:

Reservist who held migrants at gunpoint won't be prosecuted

No criminal charges will be filed against an Army reservist who held seven undocumented immigrants at gunpoint this month at an Arizona rest stop.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Thursday that Sgt. Patrick Haab had the legal right to make a citizen's arrest because the man smuggling the immigrants into the country was committing a felony and the immigrants themselves were conspiring with the coyote to commit a felony.

Arizona law allows a private citizen to make a legal arrest if a felony has been committed and the citizen believes that the person he is arresting committed the felony.

"I do not want the message to go out that people can start rounding up illegal immigrants whether or not they think they're here legally, whether or not they know all the facts," Thomas said. "This is a very unusual case with a narrow set of facts and very unusual circumstances that allow Mr. Haab to avoid prosecution."

I posted something last week about using Google to take a sky-high peek at any place here in the United States.

I was showing a friend of mine (let's just call her Elly) this feature on Google. I zoomed in on UCSD and showed her the Price Center and the parking lot where she parks. I then zoomed in on the Navy base where I work and showed her different landmarks on the base that look itty-bitty from orbit, specifically the static aircraft mounted on pedestals on the main drag.

As I was driving into work this afternoon and going past those static planes the thought occured to me: what is to stop someone from using this Google Map function to plan a terrorist attack?? Granted, the resolution of the satellite imagery isn't great, but it's still good enough to get a idea of the layout of any specific area.

For instance:

• here in San Diego taking a peek at NAS North Island overall
  
• or maybe checking to see what happening with some of the operational squadrons (showing aircraft on the tarmac) here and here
  
• or maybe the air terminal on the base
  
• or perhaps what the layout of the carrier pier is like. (That is the USS Stennis you see in that shot)

• Andrews AFB in Maryland?
  
• what type of ships are in-port at Norfolk Naval Station?
  
• Guantanomo Bay, Cuba?
  
• Bangor Naval Reservation which is the major submarine base on the West Coast?

Not the best way to express one's opinion:

Police: Man Arrested For Spitting On Jane Fonda

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police said they arrested a man for spitting on two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda during a book-signing stop in Kansas City Tuesday night.

Fonda, 67, spoke at Unity Temple, in The Plaza shopping district, about her new best-selling book, "My Life So Far," and her new movie with Jennifer Lopez called "Monster-In-Law."

At about 9 p.m., police said, a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.They said the man then ran away and was taken into custody by off-duty officers, who were providing security for the event.

Fonda declined to prosecute the man.

Sage words:

Ted Speaks

He drew the most cheers when he told gun owners they should never give up their right to bear arms and should use their guns to protect themselves if needed.

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Damn Ted - it cannot be said any simpler....

I've talked about this numb-nuts before and here's the Karma Train coming into the station:

Calif. student gets 8 years for SUV vandalism

LOS ANGELES - An aspiring physicist was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on Monday and ordered to pay $3.5 million for his role in a spree of arson and vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers and other sports utility vehicles.

Rejecting pleas for clemency from William Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics at the California Institute of Technology, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message.

The slogans Cottrell spray-painted onto vehicles included “Fat Lazy Americans,� “No Respect for Earth� and “SUV = Terrorism.�

Cottrell, who admitted only spray-painting and testified he did not know that two friends were bringing Molotov cocktails, promised he would never break the law again. The two friends have fled the country to avoid prosecution, authorities said.

“I want nothing more than to be a physicist,� Cottrell said. “I would do anything to earn any leniency the court could show in this matter.�

William (or as you'll be addressed in prison: BITCH), now is when you'll have a lot of time to really think about how 'neat' and 'cool' it was to pull such a mindless stunt. If you had been possibly framed for this, I'd give you some benefit of the doubt especially considering that you've flushed all that education down the toilet. But you didn't - you thought it out and I'm certain that you thought it over for quite a while and decided to do it.

And in between getting sodomized by thugs in your cell each night, you'll have lots of time to pay for your lack of vision [/Darth Vader]...

The notion of talk being 'cheap' is appearing to be quite true:

Schwarzenegger talks tough on illegal immigration

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the nation's policy on preventing illegal immigration is too lax, telling a group of newspaper publishers the United States needs to "close the borders."

"Close the borders in California and all across Mexico and in the United States," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Newspaper Association of America. "Because I think it is just unfair to have all those people coming across, have the borders open the way it is, and have this kind of lax situation."

And while I'm sure there will be some that will whine, gnash their teeth, and froath from the mouth like a rabid gerbil, you'll have a LOT of people here in San Diego backing you on this.

Honestly Mr. Governor - what have you got to loose?? Considering that anyone left-of-center wants you out of office, nothing.

(Hat tip to Right Wing News for the pointer)

UPDATE: It would appear that the governor is saying that he spoke incorrectly due to his 'substandard English':

Schwarzenegger Sorry for Border Comment

laming his faulty English, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he misspoke when he suggested that California's border with Mexico should be closed to help solve the nation's illegal immigration problem.

Schwarzenegger made the remark while speaking to newspaper editors and publishers Tuesday. He said he intended to say the border should be secured.

"Yesterday was a total screw-up in the words I used," the Republican said at a news conference. "Because instead of closing, I meant securing. I think maybe my English, I need to go back to school and study a little bit."

Stick to your guns - put the National Guard on the border and ignore the whinging/schreeching/yelling from your critics.

The dingbats in the anti-war cabal like to spout how their supporting Iraqi insurgents when they fight 'American aggression'. I wonder where they stand on this:

Report: Over 60 Bodies Found in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a bloody day in Iraq, the bodies of 19 executed Iraqis were reportedly found in a soccer stadium in a town northwest of Baghdad while at least six others died in a series of violent episodes in the Iraqi capital. Also, Iraq's president says the bodies of more than 50 people have been recovered from the Tigris River and were believed to have been hostages.

In the town of Haditha, an Iraqi reporter and residents said they believed the 19 dead people were executed Wednesday. There are no details on when or where the victims recovered from the river were abducted.

Taxi driver Usama Rauf said he heard gunshots and rushed to the stadium where he saw the bodies lined up against a bloodstained wall. The reporter and other residents counted 19 bodies and said all appeared to have been shot.

Makes me wonder if these dorks will ever see the situation for what it is and not what they'd like to imagine is happening over in Iraq.

Took a second read of this to get it to sink in:

Police in Ariz. Seek Monkey for SWAT Team

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it's looking to a monkey.

"Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it," said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for the suburban Phoenix SWAT team. "It would change the way we do business."

Truelove is spearheading the department's request to purchase and train a capuchin monkey, considered the second smartest primate to the chimpanzee. The department is seeking about $100,000 in federal grant money to put the idea to use in Mesa SWAT operations.

The monkey, which costs $15,000, is what Truelove envisions as the ultimate SWAT reconnaissance tool.

Since 1979, capuchin monkeys have been trained to be companions for people who are quadriplegics by performing daily tasks, such as serving food, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving objects and brushing hair.

Truelove hopes the same training could prepare a monkey for special-ops intelligence.

It is a smart move, but the animals-rights psychos (read: PETA) will be howling about endangering the poor monkey.

And as a pre-emptive strike against this stupid arguement from them, I offer this: instead of using a Capuchin monkey to do recon around a corner to see if a bad guy is there holding a weapon, the Mesa Police Department can use PETA members instead.

No wait,that wouldn't work out: that would mean that PETA members would actually have to work...

Good news...while at dialysis this afternoon, I got my monthly lab report and there was good stuff in it:

March 2005
Cholesterol: 290
Triglycerides: 1543

April 2005
Cholesterol: not recorded
Triglycerides: 840

They don't check cholesterol except for every three months, but cholesterol and triglycerides always track together.

What does this mean: it means that once the triglycerides drop below 500 I get on the national transplant list!!

Ted Nugent Slays Burglar At Houston McDonalds

HOUSTON (IFOC) - Rock legend Ted Nugent was held without charges today in Houston after he was seen shooting a man in a burglar's mask and striped pajamas at McDonalds.

"Ted was eating a hamburger and I wanted to get his autograph," said local auto supply store manager Charles Kuff. "All of the sudden, this weird guy in a mask shouts 'Robble Robble' and grabs his hamburger. That's when Ted pulled out a gun and shot him."

Nugent was in town to speak at the National Rifle Association Convention to promote gun ownership rights and campaign for increased membership among responsible gun owners. At a press conference after the shootingm Nugent was characteristically unrepentant for his actions.

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Because of Houston's lenient self-defense laws, Nugent has not been charged with any crime at this time according the District Attorney's Office. Furthermore, the slain baby-faced burglar has yet to be identified by Houston's Crime Lab, but a spokesman for the lab says they might have a good guess by mid-2007.

"We think it might be the elusive Ronald McDonald," said spokesman Bob Hardesty. "We've been looking for him for a long time."

To get myself out of a funk sometimes, I'll intensely listen to some song that really grooves and attempt to figure out the bass line to it.

Case in point: the recent remake by No Doubt of the song It's My Life originally by Talk Talk. Since I haven't really picked up my bass in quite a long time, I sometimes rely on others to figure it out for me; maybe it's a 'cheat', but in the end I figure if I'm blasting out the tune and those that hear it enjoy it as much (if not more) than I do, then everyone benefits.

VERSE
G|--------|--------|--------|--------|
D|--------|--------|-------7|--7--7--|
A|7-7-57--|--7-57-9|--9-79--|----9---|
E|-------7|--------|--------|-------7|

After-verse
G|--------|--------------|
D|--------|--------------|
A|8-8-6-88|8-6-----------|
E|--------|----8-----6-8-|
B|--------|------6-9-----|

Pre-chorus
G|--------|---------|--------|--------|
D|---8-6--|---------|---4----|--4---6-|
A|-68---8-|--34-64--|-46--64-|-4-4-6-6| X2the last without the 4th arpeggio
E|6------4|-6-----2-|-------2|----4---|

Chorus
G|------------|------------|
D|------------|------------|
A|-----6---6-6|-----4---4-4| X4
E|-6-9---9----|-4-6---6----|

bridge
E|-7-7-5-7--|
B|---------7|

after the bridge go to the second part of After-verse

This is one thing that I'm looking forward to once I graduate: being able to rattle plaster on my bass.

(This bass tab glommed from Taborama.com)

Oklahoma City Marks 10 Years Since Bombing

OKLAHOMA CITY — With 168 moments of silence and the message that goodness can overcome evil, victims of the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history were remembered Tuesday at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Some 1,600 people inside the First United Methodist Church fell silent at 9:02 a.m., the moment the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed exactly 10 years earlier.

My Navy buddy Time Keeper is wishing he'd taken me seriously about putting those twin-.50 caliber machine guns on his car:

Thing that make me go hmmmph

If you are one of those flaming anuses who must listen to your bass-heavy, Two-Nikes-in-a-Kenmore music at a deafening level, I am sure that there is a special ring in hell reserved for you, wherein you will be forced to listen to Lawrence Welk and the 101 Strings for eternity, at the same mindsplitting volume you inflicted your aural dreck upon the rest of us.

(This screed brought you by the idiot who drove down the street behind me with his music—and I use the term loosely—blasting loud enough to cause all of the windows in the house to rattle in sync. I think it would have set the alarm off if it had been armed.)

A comment that surprisingly hasn't been quickly deleted by those fine, upstanding bastions of intellect over at San Diego Indy Media; it's located in a thread about 'Discuss SD Peace & Justice Movement April 18':

liars

In 1991, near the end of the so-called Persian Gulf war, it became shamefully obvious that the anti-war movement in the US had some deep problems regarding class and race.

Demonstrations were largely lily-white affairs. San Diego’s anti-war movement back then, which was led by the San Diego Coalition for Peace in the Middle East (SDCPME), was no exception.

The issue was addressed at a SDCPME open meeting toward the end of the war. To try and remedy the problem a motion to change the march route from Downtown/Balboa Park to Logan was proposed. Marches in this community of color and others would help build solidarity with working class people. The motion was voted on by the body and approved. The new march route was to take effect in the upcoming weekend protest.

But something happened that remains a stain in the anti-war movement in SD. Three or four days after the new march route was approved, leaders of the SDCPME held a secret meeting. At that meeting the new march route was overruled and the original (safe for whitey) march route was reinstated.

Democracy had been hoodwinked by the despotic leadership of the SDCPME.

The SDCPME disbanded in the 1990s for dubious reasons. The real reason may have been because its misleaders wanted to wash their hands of their treachery to the peace movement and start out with a clean slate. In other words it seems that they did what many misleaders do - disband and regroup under a different name.

The new organization’s name is the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice (SDCPJ). The leaders of SDCPJ say they want to have an open meeting to discuss: “The Political Message� and “Movement Tactics� as “…only the beginning of a process of building a democratic movement that says no to war, so please join us to express your ideas and have your voice heard!�

Or so reads an invite to their April 18, 2005 open meeting that was suddenly placed in the SDIMC Newswire archives on April 12, 2005 after comments about the 1991 affair had been posted.

Now, after the comments have been wiped clean, the invite has reappeared as above.

To SDIMC and ne1,
You people don’t have the integrity to deal with this issue. You subverted democracy in 1991 and now you pretend to be interested in democracy. Yet when I mentioned your treachery in 1991 you censored it. You haven’t changed one bit from 1991. The lily-whiteness of your protests speaks volumes.

I doubt they'll answer but here goes: What do you folks have to say about this, hmmmm?

Of course, this comment - like most/all of mine - will be deleted as soon as they catch wind of this because we all know that they're like squirrels: chatter and scurry away at the first sign of a response.

If you're feeling funky, give them a call and see if they're willing to talk: (619) 263-9301

Today I walked into work and was peeling back the day-by-day calendar featuring historic aircraft and was reminded that today was the 63^rd anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.

On April 18, 1942 sixteen B-25 Mitchell medium bombers performed a first-time take off from the USS Hornet while 600 miles off the coast of Japan. The initial plan was to have the Hornet close to within 400 miles and launch Doolittle's bombers, but the discovery of the task force by a Japanese picket boat hastened the departure. Better to launch now instead of having the bombers on the Hornet's deck when the presumed air attack came.

The B-25 crews hurried to take anything non-essential off the planes to lighten the load enough to accommodate the extra gasoline that would be needed to cover the extra distance to their targets in mainland Japan. This even included the .50-calibre machine guns, which left the planes virtually defenseless while flying into the heart of the enemy airspace.

Most of the planes were to target military targets around the Tokyo area. And while their payload was light - four 500-pound bombs, one of which was an incendiary bomb intended to make as much damage as possible to the multiple wooden buildings near the target areas - and there wouldn't be much strategic damage done, the mere presence of American bombers over Japan would not only strike a blow to Japanese moral, but would give American moral a much needed boost.

There's a ton of information on the Internet about this raid and it's always been fascinating to me ever since I read '30 Seconds over Tokyo' by Ted Lawson as a kid.

Sadly, this historic raid was somehow tied into the storyline in the movie Pearl Harbor and I cringe whenever I think about how these brave crews were minimized for a Hollywood plotline. The one aspect (that I spotted) that was preserved was that one of the B-25s was dubbed 'The Ruptured Duck' and this was retained in the movie.

This is the kind of bravado that distinguishes American soldiers, sailors, and airmen from the rest - doing what is deemed impossible, doing it with panache, and making sure that everyone knows it was American know-how that got the job done.

Everybody - be a mensch and click on some of those Google Ads on the left-hand side - Mikey needs a new kidney....[/shameless plugging]

Tribune Co. to Show Circ Losses; 'L.A. Times' Down More than 5.5%

NEW YORK Circulation at Tribune Co. papers will show declines in the next Fas-Fax report, with the most troubling plunge at the Los Angeles Times, Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith confirmed during a conference call with analysts this morning.

Though executives declined to break out individual paper's Fas-Fax numbers, which are due out in May, Smith acknowledged the Times will drop slightly more than 5.5%.

Smith said that for the entire group, home-delivered copies are down about 4% while the drop in single-copy sales is even greater.

Because someone suggested I give this a try....

Help Mike deal with his mounting medical bills

Found something over at Smash's place about living here in San Diego that got me thinking - could I find the places I haven't seen in 15 years from an overhead image?

Here's what I found:

Since it was easier to locate due to it's proximity to the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia, I located George C. Marshall High Schoool (my old high school).

From there, I was able to follow the local roads back to the apartment complex I used to live in (two different times) and also the high-rise I used to live in. I lived in the southern building on the left-hand side on the 8th floor where I'd attempt to zing pennies across the way to the northern building.

Damn - Walt was right: It's a Small World After All.

The funny/strange thing is that from this high up everything looks pretty much the same. But I know for a fact that I'd get lost attempting to find my way around there; I definitely did when I went back 13 years ago.

I was talking to my study-buddy about the Joint Strike Fighter the other day and started digging around on the Internet to find information about the variants of this aircraft.

I hit paydirt when I found the official Joint Strike Fighter Program web site.

What's really interesting about this aircraft and the (so far) three variations of it is that 70% of the parts are compatible/interchangeable between the three versions.

SIDENOTE: For some reason, the 70% number sticks in my mind although I cannot find this particular figure on the JSF site. If I'm in error on this number, please forgive me.

Commonality
Commonality is the key to affordability – on the assembly line; in shared-wing planforms; in common systems that enhance maintenance, field support and service interoperability; and in almost 100 percent commonality of the avionics suite. Component commonality across all three variants reduces unique spares requirements and the logistics footprint. In addition to reduced flyaway costs, the F-35 is designed to affordably integrate new technology during its entire life cycle.

This increase in redundancy will not only allow the Defense Department to reduce the necessity of spare parts for all sorts of front-line aircraft in the 21st century, but it will also enable 'cross-decking' (pardon me, it's a Navy term) of spare parts AND maintenance personell between the services.

The differences between them might not be obvious:

• The F-35A Conventional Take & Landing (CTOL) variant will be slated to replace the F-16 Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt II and complement the F/A-22 Raptor (currently in development).

• The F-35B Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) will replace the AV-8B Harrier and F/A-18 Hornet as the only strike fighter in use in the U.S. Marine Corps airwing.

• The F-35C Carrier Variant (CV) will be utilized to augment/compliment the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 E/F Hornet.

As I said to my friend about this: Overall, freaking cool.

GrouchyMedia.com has a new video up on it's site: Infantry.

Download it, slip on those headphones, and let 'er rip!!

And if you like that one, definitely take a gander at the other ones. My favorites are 'Die Terrorist Die' and 'Harrier Boom'.

From the insightful Chris Muir at 'Day by Day':

I can't tell you how many times I used to lock horns with some of the women I worked with over the heating/cooling issue; I'd be sweating bullets while it's 90+ degrees outside (right outside of MCAS Miramar here in San Diego) and I'd be an oppresive ogre for putting on the air conditioning.

These women would typically be close to 90 lbs wet and would FREEZE!!; it's much better to work with over-weight couch potato engineers who can agree on what the ambient air temperature should be....

Damn - read this and be prepared for what happens....

Coming Home
What I learned serving in Iraq.

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.--There are no longer generators running, or armored vehicles rumbling, or mortars exploding, and the roar of the silence is deafening to me. What I hear at night now is the gentle breaths released from the perfect lips of my sons. The same lips that I cannot kiss enough. The lips that make my eyes fill with tears every time they touch my cheeks.

My release from Fort Drum came earlier than expected, so when I pulled into my driveway at noon the house was empty. I dropped my bags inside and walked alone through the rooms, soaking in the images and smells that had been only a memory during ten months in Iraq.

My older son's first-grade teacher had been wonderful to me while I was away. She sent school updates and pictures via e-mail almost weekly. So when I popped my head into her classroom she came running and gave me a "welcome home" hug.

"Easton is practicing a song. Why don't you surprise him?"

My heart was racing. I followed the sound of the piano and the little voices singing, then stood and watched. Trickles of love and pride started involuntarily down my cheeks as I listened to my son. He has gotten so big. The anticipation built as I waited for him to see me.

The little girl next to him was the first to notice the uniformed man standing in the doorway. The image she saw and the facts she had been told were doing battle in her brain. Then her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

"Easton! Easton . . . your Daddy's here!" she said in an electrified whisper.

My son's head snapped around. The excitement and disbelief on his face is something I will never forget. I motioned him to me and he ran into my open arms. There was no hiding my tears, and I didn't care to. This was the day I had waited for.

I choked out my words of love and hung on to this boy who had cried so many nights, who said he didn't care if he got any other presents for Christmas, he only wanted his Daddy to come home. This boy who had used all his wishes on me. He kept pulling his head back from my shoulder to look at my face. Cheers rose from the other kids and teachers.

Hand-in-hand, Easton and I stepped outside and drove to the other side of town. I had another little boy to catch up with. When I went inside he was napping. "Marshal, wake up. I have a surprise for you," I heard his day-care provider say.

She came out with his head on her shoulder. When he looked up his eyes grew wide and all signs of sleepiness disappeared. "Daddy!" he exclaimed in pure excitement as he fell forward into my arms. My heart ached with love, and pure joy soaked my cheeks.

I was complete again. I had my boys. And there have never been more perfect words spoken to me than "I love you, Dad."

It may take my wife and children a long time to realize that while I look the same, I am not the same person who said goodbye to them many months ago. I will never be the same again--thankfully so.

Each day now I am acutely aware of what makes me happy, and what it is I do that makes other people happy. Walking point through the volatile streets in Iraq helped me see this much more clearly, and I will make every effort to preserve that awareness for the rest of my days.

When I look through my photo album I think about the men I served with, and learned to count on, who are no longer by my side. The men who had their bodies pierced by the hatred of terrorists, men who left their last breaths in a place far away. Great men doing a job that allows this noble country the freedoms it deserves.

I have seen the dark side of humanity and it has forever changed me. As I sit here in my house, with the sun streaming through the windows, I look out and see the boughs of the evergreens blowing in the breeze.

There are no armed guards on the roof. No sandbags. I don't call in grid coordinates of my whereabouts any more.

Mission briefs have been replaced by wonderful communication between two parents. As I drive through town, I am alone; with no turret and no gunner above me. I don't have to scrutinize every pile of dirt, every plastic bag to check whether it may explode.

Amazingly, I am safe.

Mr. Moore is a staff sergeant in the New York National Guard's Second Battalion, 108th Infantry. This article appears in the April/May issue of The American Enterprise.

« All done with "Coming Home"?

Got a question for y'all:

Should I embrace the Dark Side of the Blogsphere and put ads up here?

Huh I thought - Never really thought about that too much.

Actually, I have thought of it - back when I was debating the format of this blog, i.e. two column format or three columns. I basically decided that having three columns would be good if I had a buttload of links to slap up here, but I don't. I could/would also use that extra column to put up some sort of ads that might - might garner some funding for me. Not enough to buy anything really...just enough to offset my blogging addiction.

So the question is: should I?

It would be nice to do something constructive in a financial manner from all the blogging I do. But the thing that makes me wonder is do I get enough traffic here to generate any appreciable income from those ads?

Additionally, for the most part I've always considered my *cough* contribution(s) to the blogsphere to be mainly for my personal enjoyment; it's not like I've influenced anyone with any of my thought-provoking quips about not being an ass-hatted clown - created a few chuckles, but no apparent influence. In my blogging experience(s), I've mostly gained more personal insight into politics and some-what improved my righting skillz.

As I said - it's just a thought.....but a thought that makes you think Hmmmm....maybe, just maybe I could....

UPDATE: At the advice of several commenters, I've submitted applications for two different ad sponsors - Google Ads and the other one that's still being discretely not named.

Will I be approved? Dunno, but I figured what the hell, let's see if anything comes of this and maybe - just maybe - I'll be able to generate enough income through this that I can do some things with this site and a domain I've reserved that I've been wanting to do for some time.

Thanks to all that made recommendations!! I really DO appreciate the feedback!

Just got the domain e-mail account configured using Mozilla Thunderbird.

My new e-mail address is: mikey-AT-madmikey-DOT-mu-DOT-nu so be sure to update your address books!!

Sanders paid wife, stepdaughter for campaign efforts

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bernard Sanders used campaign donations to pay his wife and stepdaughter more than $150,000 for campaign-related work since 2000, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Jane O'Meara Sanders, his wife, received $91,020 between 2002 and 2004 for "consultation" and for negotiating the purchase of television and radio time-slots for Sanders' advertisements, according to records and interviews.

[...]

Jim Barrett, chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, used Sanders' family payments to highlight what he said is Democratic "hypocrisy" for fiercely attacking DeLay. "It's the standard hypocrisy from the left," Barrett said. "When a Republican does it, it's inappropriate and front page news. But now it turns out, our own Bernie Sanders has been doing it for a long time."

He added: "If it's corruption when Tom DeLay does it, then it's corruption when Bernie Sanders does it."

I'm not going to defend Delay for this - IMO it's bad politics and it smacks of Jesse Jackson putting his entire family on the dole of the Rainbow Coalition (I think that's the group), but before anyone starts to froath-at-the-mouth and sputter inconsistent sentences about the 'evil that is Tom Delay', they'd better take a serious look at their own houses and make sure they're in order.

Make issue of significant instantances of crappy politics, but for the love of Mikey, stop slinging crap just for the ripple-effect in the pond, huh?

Another chunk of humor for this slightly cold Wednesday morning.

Please, save the you male chauvinistic pig!! comments - it's humor.

It's great to be a man:

• Your last name stays put.
  
• The garage is all yours.
  
• Wedding plans take care of themselves.
  
• Chocolate is just another snack.
  
• You can be president.
  
• You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
  
• Car mechanics tell you the truth.
  
• You don't care if someone notices your new haircut.
  
• The world is your urinal.
  
• You never have to drive to another gas station because one’s just too icky.
  
• Same work...more pay.
  
• Wrinkles add character.
  
• Wedding Dress $5,000; Tux rental $100.
  
• People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
  
• New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
  
• One mood - ALL the time.
  
• Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
  
• You know stuff about tanks.
  
• A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
  
• You can open all your own jars.
  
• You can leave the motel bed unmade.
  
• You can kill your own food.
  
• You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
  
• If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be your friend.
  
• Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
  
• You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger seat.
  
• Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
  
• You can quietly watch a game with your buddy for hours without ever thinking: "He must be mad at me."
  
• You can drop by to see a friend without having to bring a gift.
  
• If another guy shows up at the party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong friends.
  
• You are not expected to know the names of more than colors.
  
• You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
  
• You almost never have strap problems in public.
  
• You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
  
• The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
  
• You don't have to shave below your neck.
  
• One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.
  
• You can do your nails with a pocketknife.
  
• You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
  
• Christmas shopping can be accomplished for 25 relatives on December 24th, in 45 minutes.

Just when you thought you'd heard the most depraved thing ever happening, along comes something new:

Disabled Girl Punched In Face, Forced To Perform Sex Acts

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A 16-year-old disabled girl was punched and forced to engage in videotaped sexual acts with several boys in a high school auditorium as dozens of students watched, according to witnesses.

Authorities are investigating and no charges have been filed in the alleged attack last month at Mifflin High School. Four boys suspected of involvement were sent home and have not returned to class.

And the kid with the video camera?? He needs to be sodomized by angry goats.

On second thought - naw, let's just waste his ass too.

UPDATE: Just to let you know that as harsh as I may have sounded about punishing these kids - I wasn't kidding. Although the thought that this might just be something less-than-truthful did occur to me.

Because I just thought this was fracking funny...

50 Fun Things To Do In An Elevator

• Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.
  
• Blow your nose and offer to show the contents of your kleenex to other passengers.
  
• Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, dammit, all of you just shut UP!"
  
• Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.
  
• Sell Girl Scout cookies.
  
• On a long ride, sway side to side at the natural frequency of the elevator.
  
• Shave.
  
• Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"
  
• Offer name tags to everyone getting on the elevator. Wear yours upside-down.
  
• Stand silent and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.

Just found out that Alan Colmes is no longer on KFMB 760 here in San Diego. He's been replaced with Mr. Michael Garibaldi otherwise known as Jerry Doyle:

Jerry Doyle hosts a nationally syndicated evening radio show. Listeners enjoy Jerry's anecdotal humor, satirical observations and well-rounded social commentary. Jerry's ability to choose compelling topics provokes lively conversations on the issues of the day. The program is caller-driven, issue-oriented, and fast-paced. Listeners enjoy Jerry's wit, as well as his ability to seriously engage callers from across the nation in fascinating conversations.

Huh.

Flight Plans? DHS May Resume Airlifting Mexican Illegals Back Home

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is thinking about resuming a program to transport illegal aliens back to their hometowns in Mexico, rather than the present practice of expelling them at the Arizona border.

The main clue that it might renew a program that was tried out last year was an unheralded notice from the department’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection that it is looking for a firm to provide charter flights from Tucson to Mexico, posted online April 6.

Queried about the initiative, DHS officials, legally barred from releasing details of a procurement before an official solicitation, would not confirm that the notice referred to last year’s interior repatriation program. But the similarities are uniform.

Use a trebuchet: it's much more eco-friendly and there's ZERO emissions....

What a waste of science & technology:

Scientists Create Remote-Controlled Flies

Yale University researchers say their study that used lasers to create remote-controlled fruit flies could lead to a better understanding of overeating and violence in humans.

Using the lasers to stimulate specific brain cells, researchers say they were able to make the flies jump, walk, flap their wings and fly.

Even headless flies took flight when researchers stimulated the correct neurons, according to the study, published in the April 7 issue of the journal Cell.