February 12, 2010
Still Here!!
Just a quick post to let anyone still reading my blog that I'm still alive....just a little lazy in posting.
Believe me, there's a TON of stuff I'm reading about and pissed off over - I just haven't have the....initiative to post about. Long story short: President Obama -- he's totally fucked.
More later.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 23, 2009
Creaping Time
Just wanted to post something...anything today since I'm in a particularly good mood.
Why?
Today's my birthday and I got something that I didn't think I'd get: an iPod. It's a Nano I think and it's got 16GB of space on it; it's supposed to hold something like 4,000 songs on it. Wow!!
My wife surprised me with it today after dialysis. It's still charging up through the computer I'm working on right now. I'll start ripping some of my CD's onto the PC tomorrow and figuring out how to get them over to the iPod.
And the noteworthy part of this is that the whole family have their own iPods - mini-Mikey (my daughter) has a Nano from her 14th birthday, my wife has an iPod Shuffle she won at work last year in an office contest, and now I have one too. What's remarkable about this is that all of us now have 'modern technology' for our music needs; it was only three years ago that we decided to get with it and start buying CDs instead of cassettes.
It's nice to have something cool to offset the creaping aspect of old age.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 03, 2009
Don't Touch That Dial!
Hey!! Don't touch that dial!
(For those of you on the 'young' side: don't touch that digital remote control!!)
Still getting settled in here at Casa del Mad Mikey. Our biggest concern is finding place(s) for our stuff that would normally go on bookshelves; we're going to go for 'nice' shelfing and we're taking our time in selecting the right stuff. No cinderblocks and boards here.
As for this blog....well, it's still here. I've be having trouble with the archives and just haven't devoted enough time to rectifiying the problem(s).
In politics: President Obama......geez, what can you say about a man that's not batting very well since he's been in office. Seems to be the same crap: campaign speeches that promise everything and then turning around to see that his *cough* administration is falling apart like a sand castle at high tide. More on that later if I have the patience to look into it more closely.
Until then, I leave you with this: write a song or poem about Mad Mikey and how I've improved your live(s) by your reading my blog. (500 words or less)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 13, 2009
The Real Cause of Global Warming
Happy kitties cause Global Warming.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:35 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 27, 2009
Celebrate Human Achievement Hour
I just spotted this over at Michelle Malkin's site.
Human Achievement HourSo....tomorrow evening at the appointed time, celebrate humanity's achievement in not living in a cold, dark cave and use technology as it was intended to be used.This weekend, enviro-zealots will celebrate “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights. They’ve pulled this stunt for a few years now. But this time, they’ve added a new twist: “This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming.”
How about voting for human achievement? Michelle Minton at the Competitive Enterprise Institute has a good proposal:
This week CEI announced the creation of Human Achievement Hour (HAH) to be celebrated at 8:30pm on March 28th 2009 (the same time and date of Earth Hour).Our press release described ways people might celebrate the achievements of humanity such as eating diner, seeing a film, driving around, keeping the heat on in your home—all things that Earth Hour celebrators, presumably, should be refraining from. In the cheekiest manner, we claimed that anyone not foregoing the use of electricity in that hour is, by default, celebrating the achievements of human beings. Needless to say, the enviros in the blogosphere didn’t take to kindly to our announcement.
Matthew Wheeland, an environmental journalist called the holiday “mind-blowingly strange” and pondered if Earth hour folks are including in their numbers people in countries that don’t have enough electricity to make the choice to turn out their lights. Of course, they don’t have the choice to acquire electricity whereas anyone can choose to stop using human technology if they wish…
…Green and private conservation are fine. We have no problem with an individual (or group) that wants to sit naked in the dark without heat, clothing, or light. Additionally, we’d have no problem with the group holding a pro-green technology rally. That’s their choice. But when this group stages a “global election” with the express purpose of influencing “government policies to take action against global warming,” we have every right as individuals to express our vote for the opposite
If our Human Achievement Hour is at all a dig against Earth Hour, it is so only by the fact that we are pointing out what Earth Hour truly is about: it isn’t pro-earth, it is anti-man and anti-innovation. So, on March 28th I plan to continue “voting” for humanity by enjoying the fruits of man’s mind.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:05 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 13, 2008
Blogging, BP, and Paine
I got a call from a friend today. He was calling to see if I was in the hospital again because of the severe lack of blogging.
Sorry about that Bob! Just haven't been 'in the mood' to blog - I'm still battling with my blood pressure and it's tendency to spike high enough to where my wife takes me to the ER. So far.....it's okay. I just have to watch it like a hawk.
In the meantime, here's something that Bob passed along to me that....well, it says a lot about what's happening to American culture and the American nation.
Give it a watch.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:25 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
June 28, 2008
Lagging Today
Haven't been feeling well enough to blog about anything in particular lately....
The one thing that I can blog about for the moment is that the family just got back from spending a few days up in Los Angeles with some really good friends from Ohio. They flew in and we caravaned up to LA and went to Knott's Berry Farm and had a really good time. The best part of the trip was seeing my best friend Bob and his family.
Currently, I'm trying to get over a nasty head cold that's got one of my ears clogged up - as a result, I tend to walk in circles. Once I'm feeling better I'll try to get back to blogging about some of the inane crap happening around the world and especially in Washington.
Until then - keep a sense of humor about yourself and don't contribute to the stupid sh!t happening in the world today.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 27, 2008
Flat Al
The corpse that's still twitching is now talking in absolutes:
Gore's Message To Climate Change SkepticsWasn't it some left-wing ding-a-ling that vowed something along the lines of addressing matters in either black or white is stupid and a red flag that a Republican was thinking? While I won't swear that it came from some ass-hatted clown who's left-of-center, it sticks in my memory like that because I remember shaking my head when I heard/read it.
(CBS) Self-avowed "P.R. agent for the planet" Al Gore says those who still doubt that global warming is caused by man - among them, Vice President Dick Cheney - are acting like the fringe groups who think the 1969 moon landing never really happened, or who once believed the world is flat.
The former vice president and former presidential candidate talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl in an interview to be broadcast this Sunday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Confronted by Stahl with the fact some prominent people, including the nation’s vice president, are not convinced that global warming is man-made, Gore responds: "You're talking about Dick Cheney. I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view, they’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the world is flat,” says Gore. "That demeans them a little bit, but it's not that far off," he tells Stahl.
Anyway - would you consider Al Gore serious if HE was found to be a fraud (like the faked 1969 moon landing) or for that matter...flat?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2008
Mental Disorder?
This gave me a serious chuckle.
Read & enjoy!
(and you know that there is some truth to this....)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:35 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
February 12, 2008
Season Two at Last!
For those that are interested - we've been waiting for several months (more than I can quite remember) and the wait is almost over.
For what?
The premiere of the second (and hopefully additional) season of Jericho.
It premieres here in San Diego at 10:00pm; actually, I think it's the same time on the west coast.
If it's your cup of tea, tune in to CBS at 10pm, get some popcorn, and settle in for a good show.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 18, 2008
It's Friday!
(via PDA)
Sitting in a coffee shop near the house that has free Wi-Fi and thought I'd post something. The trouble is that there isn't much to post about 'quickly'.
However, there is something that most would agree upon: it's Friday!!
I hope yawl have a great weekend...the Girl Scouts kick off their annual GS Cookie sales on Saturday, so I'll be helping the munchkin.
(SAN DIEGO READERS: If you'd like to order any, )
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 04, 2008
2008 Beginnings
Howdy all - just thought I'd post something quick since I have access to a computer tonight.
We survived the holidays and are starting to get 'acclimated' to the new year. We've taken down the Christmas tree (and took it to get mulched) and have practically all of the Christmas decorations taken down & boxed.
Tomorrow I'll be setting up my work table and resuming my work on models.
The kid is enjoying her time off from school and interestingly enough - she's looking forward to returning to school next week so she can see her friends.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:03 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
December 27, 2007
Hidy-Ho
Nothing much happening these days - the daughter is home for 'Christmas Break' from school...trying to find the right day to severally sleep in past noon to properly recover from Christmas....cleaning the house. Like I said - not much 'happening'.
I did, however, have lunch today with some friends. We met at the Island's Resturant down in Mission Valley - included were Da Goddess, Citizen Smash(*_*), and Gracie from Protest Warrior; it was like a planning meeting for San Diego Protest Warrior. Also in attendance were my daughter (Mini Mikey) and DG's Little Dude. Good food, lots of laughs, and sincere statements made about not waiting for another six months to do this again.
Quite possibly this weekend, my kid & I might try to go explore the USS Midway Museum while we've got the time. Of course, this will be the first time the kid gets to see an aircraft carrier up-close....I've got more than enough time in close proximity to a carrier - this will be a 'pleasure' to visit the Midway since I know I'll be disembarking a few hours later.
Long-range plans for the month: getting my 'work table' set up again to continue working on my models.
*_* - Citizen Smash is currently in the Blogger Protection Program and while we know he's still alive & kicking, he is constantly on the move every second of the day and probably has more Frequent Flyer Miles than the entire human race collectively.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:27 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 03, 2007
You've Got to be Joking
Whenever my wife and I are watching television, I'll sometimes point to the TV if there's an aircraft on the screen and remind her that I can fly one of those; it's an inside joke from when I worked on flight simulators - when nothing was broke and I had time on my hands, I'd 'play around' with the simulator....I got pretty good at landing an S-3A Viking on a carrier flight deck.
And of course, she knows that I'm joking around.
However, here is an asshat that went a little too far.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 14, 2007
Wow....
.....I haven't posted much of anything lately.
Huh.....I guess I better get off my ass and do something about it. And that will most likely be tomorrow as I've got a whopper of a headache right now.
UPDATE: Well, it's about two minutes after I initially posted and there's still nothing happening right now.
Except the headache.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:27 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 23, 2007
A Turning Point Today
While today will be yet another ho-hum day for most people, it's significant to me.
Today, I turned 40.
Crap.....freakin 40. Forty!!! OMG!
My insurance rates are cheaper now.
UPDATE: One of the gifts that my wife and daughter got for me is something that I honestly have been wanting to get since around 1982: all three seasons of the original Star Trek series!!
Boo-Freakin-YAH!!
[/severe geek]
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:22 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 12, 2007
Gore Wins a Nobel
Some mornings when I first wake up and get out of bed I'm able to get it together and some mornings I can't.
When I first heard this on Good Morning America this morning....well, I thought maybe I should really go back to bed cause I couldn't believe this when I heard it. And when I got done with dialysis this morning and heard it again on the radio....I knew it wasn't an extended nightmare:
Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize for Climate WorkGore 'winning' the Nobel Prize cheapens it for those that win it for serious issues.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised both “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.”
The prize is a vindication for Mr. Gore, whose cautionary film about the consequences of climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth,” won the 2007 Academy Award for best documentary, even as conservatives in the United States denounced it as alarmist and exaggerated.
“I will accept this award on behalf of all the people that have been working so long and so hard to try to get the message out about this planetary emergency,” Mr. Gore said Friday in Palo Alto, Calif., standing with his wife, Tipper, and four members of the United Nations climate panel. “I’m going back to work right now,” he said.
Oh....and what do you bet that he'll be flying that Gulfstream jet and burning lots of JP5 to accept the award?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 06, 2007
Slackin Lately
If anyone has tried to e-mail me lately (at the madmikey address) and hasn't gotten a reply, it's because I've been slacking lately.
Hey....everyone has those periods of time where they basically blow off everything and it's more-or-less that time for me.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 28, 2007
Like I Care About This Crap
Because I know that a certain Nunya will whine like a 12-year old girl if I don't 'say something' about this:
Senator Larry Craig: 'I am Not Gay'Oh my....what ever will the Republican Party do now? For shame on him....for shame!!WASHINGTON — Denying that he did anything wrong and stating emphatically that "I am not gay," Sen. Larry Craig asked the people of Idaho on Tuesday to forgive him for being arrested two months ago in a police sting in a men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Craig, who was taken into custody on June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating reports of lewd conduct in the restroom, said he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in an effort to suppress a story — pursued by his home-state newspaper — that he has secretly engaged in gay trysts.
Craig said the story has been following him for nearly a year.
"For eight months leading up to June 11th my family and I had been relentlessly and viciously harassed by the Idaho Statesman. If you saw the article today, you know why. Let me be clear: I am not gay. I never have been gay," Craig said in a news conference in his hometown of Boise.
[/complete sarcasm][/truth][/concern]
Okay, that should satisfy the whiny demographic of my readers.....
ADDENDUM - Well, although I haven't been paying too much attention to how this has been playing out in the media it would seem that there's a lot of huff-N-puff happening about how Senator Craig should immediately resign because of the hypocrisy factor.
On one hand, those that are pushing for resignation due to Craig's stands on gay marriage and such have a point IMHO; for those that have read my stuff for the last few years know how I feel about hypocrisy. For those that haven't been reading my stuff for the last few years - get with the program and start reading ALL of the archived stuff.
On the other hand some of the finer points of the arrest, charges filed, charges dropped, and the final guilty plea should be considered. Like I said, I haven't been following this because....well, I really don't give a crap either way, but it apparently has been the hot-button topic on several talk radio shows.
I'll wrap up this addendum with what I initially thought when I heard about it on the Mark Levin Show while I was driving home from Vons about 20 minutes ago: if this U.S. Senator had been a Democrat or maybe even from the state of Massachusetts, how loudly would the drum beating be about
- How this was a complete set-up?
- Just how bigoted are those that are calling for the person in question to resign for such a.....'harmless' offense?
- Why such a 'crime' is on the books and who exactly put it there?
- And any other sort of 'reverse situation' aspects that I can't formulate at this moment.
For those that are not part of the Barking Moonbat Brigade, you know what the ramifications would be if the subject of this 'scandal' had a 'D' next to their name......
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:09 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
August 25, 2007
Death? What a Shame...
John Couey Sentenced To Death For Lunsford MurderAnd now the prosecutor's office should go after Couey's relatives that covered for his sorry ass - you know, the one's that knew what he had done and got him a bus ticket to leave town. At minimum, they should have to pull the switch on Couey and then be put to death themselves for abetting his sorry ass by having angry badger's jammed up their asses.
A convicted sex offender was sentenced Friday to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and then burying her alive in his yard.
John Evander Couey looked straight ahead as Circuit Judge Ric Howard told him he should be executed for the 2005 crimes that led to new laws in many states cracking down on convicted sex offenders.
Sheriff's deputies hustled the handcuffed inmate out of the crowded courtroom.
The girl's father, Mark Lunsford, teared up as he listened to the judge read a detailed history of the case for nearly an hour. He hugged relatives after the sentence was read.
The jury that convicted Couey in March recommended 10-2 that he die for his crimes, but the decision was left to Howard.
All joking aside, there are many ways in which to 'get the message' out to anyone considering abducting a child and most of them should involve public displays of violent deaths on the part of pedophiles. Maybe it should be on Pay-per-View, with the proceeds going to a victims fund.
In my mind, Hell has a special place dedicated all to child molesters and pedophiles like Couey....one that exceeds even the most twisted stuff that Quentin Tarantino could possible imagine.....and people like Couey will rot in the depths of such a place for eternity....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2007
VRWC Idea Stolen
Here's something for those sad, demented folks who were convinced that the FBI would be using library records to track what you're reading and were foaming-at-the-mouth about the *cough* 'invasion of privacy':
Not So Fast: E-Z Pass Data Used To Catch CheatersOkay, so instead of the evil big-bad-Bush-cronies using simple tracking information to get you, we're now seeing it utilized by a segment of the population that's slightly higher up on the food chain when compared to anyone who....oh, I don't know.....supported John Kerry back in 2004: divorce lawyers.Divorce Lawyers Find Toll Records, Prove Spouses Lied About Whereabouts
TRENTON, N.J. There's some potentially troubling and telling news for all you motorists out there who may be taking the Turnpike for the worst crime in marriage: cheating on your significant other.
E-ZPass and other electronic toll collection systems are emerging as a powerful means of proving infidelity. That's because when your spouse doesn't know where you've been, E-ZPass does.
"E-ZPass is an E-ZPass to go directly to divorce court, because it's an easy way to show you took the off-ramp to adultery," said Jacalyn Barnett, a New York divorce lawyer who has used E-ZPass records a few times.
Lynne Gold-Bikin, a Pennsylvania divorce lawyer, said E-ZPass helped prove a client's husband was being unfaithful: "He claimed he was in a business meeting in Pennsylvania. And I had records to show he went to New Jersey that night."
Yup, you got it - slimy divorce lawyers are using a play from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy to get you when you least expect it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:49 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 24, 2007
In Trouble Again
Dang...I hate it when this happens - especially when I've just gotten out of rehab:
Lohan Hit With Drug and Alcohol ArrestWhat is it with today's movie stars/public figures?? Addiction of not, this isn't the way to go about using the money you've earned from being a movie star.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - The troubled saga of Lindsay Lohan took another turn early Tuesday when police booked her for investigation of drunken driving and cocaine possession after a frightened woman dialed 911 to report being chased by Lohan's SUV.
Less than two weeks out of rehab, with another drunken-driving case pending, Lohan had a blood-alcohol level of between 0.12 and 0.13 percent when police found her about 1:30 a.m., Sgt. Shane Talbot said.
Lohan attorney Blair Berk said her client had relapsed and was again receiving medical care.
"Addiction is a terrible and vicious disease," Berk said Tuesday.
Somebody should leave a little note on her pillow (like when you find a little chocolate on your pillow in the hotel) that says 'Lindsay - there a BIG sale on clues on Rodeo Drive....'
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 05, 2007
Bad News
...the bad news is that I broke my glasses the other day while cleaning them off; broke them right at the section where the frame holding the right-eye lens meets the nose piece. And it really, really sucks walking around the house squinting at everything.
The good news....is that my wife reminded me that I have not one, but TWO sets of contacts that I got a few years ago and stopped wearing because of minor eye infections. So now after I got them out and cleaned them thoroughly, I have better vision then when I was wearing glasses - especially my peripheral vision. The only downside is that I have to 'plug in' my contacts in the mornings when I first wake up if I want to see everything.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:58 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 29, 2007
Son of News You Can Use
That's right - it's back! The news repeated ad nauseum, but with a refreshing twist of lemon/lime.
News You Can Use Son of News You Can Use:
- Do you think that those who support this garbage ever considered what sort of rights the terrorists bestow upon captured U.S. servicemen?
- I really hate it when this happens...
- There are some that think this is made up to get people 'scared'....I don't think so Lucy.
- Anyone who has a cat knows that inside every 'Fluffy' there lurks a ferocious beast...
- These might be 'hot' but what do you bet they'll be on sale with big discounts in two months?
- This is good news. Now what about DDT being taken of the list?
- Oh bummer....so much for 'dealing with talk radio' outside of the business market...
- Considering the nightmares people are having flying across the nation, I don't know if I'd tempt fate going this far out....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2007
D-Day: Crisis On Omaha
Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the invasion of Europe - D-Day, June 6, 1944.
For months and years everyone knew that it would happen sooner or later. Even the Germans knew that it would be coming around the corner and probably the only person on their side that wasn't aware of the significance of it was Hitler himself.
Everyone with a pulse on the planet knew that the invasion would eventually happen and that it would be a long, hard day - for everyone involved.
But I've always wondered just how F-ed up it would be if reported by today's MSM. And here's my (and your) chance to take a sneak-peek into this 'alternate universe'....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 25, 2007
Irrational Fears
I was skimming over some blogs this evening and I found this photo over at LGF. And it sent a shiver down my spine.
Why?
Well.....call it a completely irrational fear, but I've had nightmares about being eaten by....dinosaurs. Ever since I was a kid, it's been what I'd deem a 'crappiest way to die' scenario. The ironic thing is that I totally enjoyed all three of the 'Jurassic Park' movies.
Like I said - it's totally irrational, especially since the chances of my encountering a dinosaur in my lifetime are astronomical at best.
Now if you factor in the possibility of time travel......well, I digress.
So why would this photo spook me? Well, to be honest I have never ever seen a wild hog/boar this big; this sucker could easily eat a grown human and quickly.
So, now I have to strike 'wandering in the woods of Georgia' off my Things to Do in Life list.
UPDATE: Well, there was some controversy as to whether or not the photo was staged and/or faked. It turns out that this wasn't a fake photo, but the pig wasn't wild either - it was someone's pet pig that escaped a few days earlier.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 22, 2007
Another Earworm
Another entry in the logbook of earworms (a song that keeps creeping into your head throughout the day): 'Something About You' from Level 42.
Enjoy.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 16, 2007
And They Wonder...
....why we think they'll be the undoing of Western civilization?
Oh, I don't know.....maybe it how they react to someone dying?
Good God.....can you imagine the shear volume of foaming-from-the-mouth that would inundate the world if people cracked jokes about George Soros choking to death on a chicken wing? Or how about if SWWNBN was hit by a satellite falling out of orbit? (reference to 'Northern Exposure' and one of Maggie's boyfriends). Or what if Michael J. Fox died tragically in a Jenga accident?
Seriously - there would probably be people immolating themselves over such offenses.
Yeah, Reverend Falwell did make some.....unwise comments in his time but to be celebrating his death?
To me, that's pretty F'ed up.....and they wonder why some people giggle while watching leftists getting their heads THONKED by the police at protests.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 10, 2007
Shoot Me Now
I was going to start this post with the opening sentence beginning with:
Have you ever had one of those days where you're certain that someone or something is out to get you?
but after typing it out and looking at it, I realized that unless you haven't had one of those days then you're obviously living in a bubble.
Well.....today wasn't exactly one of those days that qualifies the usage of quotation marks, but it wasn't one of my nicer days either.
It started this morning when I was trying to get my daughter out of bed and ready for school. Typically, the only two known things that suceed in this endevour where I normally fail is my wife or the suitable application of high explosives.
Once my daughter was out of bed and starting her morning routine, every time that I'd speak to her she'd.....not quite bark at me, but her tone of voice was starting to make me feel like an idiot. Normally my daughter isn't cruel, mean, or harsh, but I just seemed to be getting the wrong tone from her. Well, I decided to minimize my talking to her just to avoid making a weird situation worse.
The rest of the day sort of went like that: not mean, cruel, harsh, but it seemed like everything that could irritate me actually did. And most of this 'action' was while I was at school.
Here's a typical example:
If you're walking along a sidewalk and come to an intersection (where you have to get to some destination across the street), what would you or any other typical person do:
- Stop, look both ways, and then cross the street, or
- keep walking without breaking your stride straight out into the street since you're obviously the most-important-person-on-planet-Earth and cannot be bothered to concern yourself for your own safety?
Seriously - practically every person that was walking near me as I was driving around the campus was just flat-out walking out into the street and not looking around. Or even worse: they were looking for oncoming traffic, see me coming along and still proceed to walk out into the street. This happened so many times that I lost count.
And honestly.....there were a few times that I almost didn't stop since I'd be doing the world a favor my taking them out of the gene pool.
But I didn't; if they were in a crosswalk that was marked on the street, then I'd be charged with murder or manslaughter since they were 'legal'. Besides, I'd also have to get out and clean the splatter off the hood of my truck.
Today was a slightly varied version of those days where I know for a fact that all of the stupid people in San Diego are coordinating with each other to purposefully impede me as I attempt to go about my business.
Ugh....just shoot me now.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 08, 2007
Please Don't Make Me Pay
This is probably complete crap, but if it's legitimate.....she's got some balls:
Paris pleads to avoid jailBesides the spectacular grammar, I.....well, I don't really know what to make of this. If by chance it's real, then Ms. Hilton has got some balls.PARIS Hilton has urged fans to sign a petition to keep her out of jail because she "provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives".
The 26-year-old was ordered by a Los Angeles judge on Friday to report to a county jail by June 5 to serve a 45-day sentence for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
Hilton's plea, on her MySpace website, came as her lawyers filed a notice with the court indicating their intent to appeal.
The hotel heiress urged fans to join her in a desperate plea to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to keep her out of jail.
She wrote on her blog: "My friend Joshua started this petition, please help and sihn (sic) it. i LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!"
The petition reads: "Paris Whitney Hilton is an American celebrity and socialite. She is an heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton. She provides hope for young people all over the US and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives."
"We, the American public who support Paris, are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that Drunk Driving is wrong...
"This petition is to ask Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon Paris Hilton for her mistake. Please allow her to her return to her career and life."
Normally, I don't really get into celeb-crap, but here's a spot of advice for the heiress: do the time and stop getting hammered. You've got enought money to hire someone full time to drive you around.
And for those of you that are really, really, ridiculously interested, the petition can be found here.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 05, 2007
Coming Up Fast
Today, May 5th is La Shawn Barber's 40th birthday.
Happy B-Day La Shawn!!
And don't worry about breaching the 4-0 mark - I'm coming up on that fast.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 28, 2007
'Jerico' on CBS
What is it about disaster stories/films that makes them popular? Ever since I read Stephen King's The Stand back in high school, I seem to be drawn to apocalyptic in nature. Maybe I should use the word 'apocalyptic' since that would indicate a religious undertone.
I sometimes wonder if somewhere in my psyche is a small desire to see most of the world's population wiped out. And I must say now NO, I don't secretly desire that. Not by a long shot.
The reason that I'm blogging about this is my recent introduction to the television series called ''Jerico'. Given that we no longer have 135 cable channels (all featuring crap) available to us, we have a whopping two channels - Channel 8 (CBS) and Channel 10 (ABC). When I first heard of 'Jerico' coming out on CBS, I had intended to start watching it but got sidetracked by school work. It wasn't until about three weeks ago that I discovered that all of the episodes were featured on their website and I could watch them all; the only downside was that I had to do it up at school since we also do not have internet at the house.
I find the series 'Jerico' interesting because of the strategic story about terrorists detonating small nuclear warheads (20-kT) in something like 22 American cities and what happens to the country overall and the more specific drama storylines of the people in the small town of Jerico and how they deal with what's happening in the country and how it impacts their little town.
From what I understand, there are approximately two or three more 'new' episodes appearing in the next few weeks and then the series will go into hiatus; after that, the series will probably repeat during the hiatus.
If you get a chance, give a look and see what you think about it. If you're not inclined to watch all of the episodes to try and understand what's happening, then go to the CBS website link up above - there's a metric ton of information about the plot, characters, etc.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2007
Full Dose
I heard about this a few days ago on the radio and thought it was a joke:
Saving the Earth: The Biodiesel Bus BlogSheryl.....you have to keep taking all of the medication sweetie.
I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.
Yeah....I could see this suggestion working for women when they conduct number one sitting on the pot. But what about those days when those bean & cheese burritos aren't working well with your intestinal tract?
OMG....this woman needs a serious dose of reality injected into her life.
UPDATE: Never thought I say this, but I have to agree with Rosie on her comment about this.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 08, 2007
Anna Nicole Smith Dead
Anna Nicole Smith dies at 39As screwed up/goofy her life was, it's a shame it was cut short.
MIAMI (Reuters) - Former Playboy Playmate and billionaire's widow Anna Nicole Smith has died at the age of 39 after apparently collapsing in a Florida hotel room, her lawyer said on Thursday.
"I can confirm that she is deceased. It's as shocking to me as to you guys," Smith's attorney, Ronald Rale, told Reuters. "I don't know anything further. (Her lawyer and husband) Howard (K. Stern) obviously is speechless and grieving.
Smith was found in her hotel room and given CPR by Seminole tribal fire rescue and Hollywood fire rescue workers, said Michael Bloom, president of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Smith's nurse called hotel workers at the hotel at 1:38 p.m. and security went to the hotel room, hotel officials said. Fire rescue workers from both the Seminole Indian tribe and from Hollywood arrived minutes later and Smith was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood at 2:10 p.m.
Rest in Peace Anna.
SIDENOTE: I'm up here at UCSD with my daughter so that she can use the Internet here to do research on a science homework project; she has to look up stuff about influenza.
She finished it quite quickly and is now busy playing the on-line version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'....and she's kicking butt doing it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 28, 2007
Ear Worm
Ever have a song from the past that you cannot get out of your head?
Here's mine for today.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2007
Patriotic Terrorism
I never - ever - thought I'd say this, but head over to The Huffington Post and check out Greg Gutfeld (whoever he might be) and the newest phrase to hit the 'blogsphere': patriotic terrorists.
Of course, "dissent is patriotic," and the left is only critical of America because it simply loves our country much more than I do.Never in my life would I have thought that I'd be linking to something from HuffPo that I liked.That's why calling them terrorists would be intolerant and pretty shameful.
But what about "patriotic terrorists?"
That's kinda neat.
(Hat tip to Charles at LGF for pointing me towards this gem)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 13, 2007
Busy, Busy, Busy
Still here - just been busy adapting to my new schedule for school/life.
The sunshine of my life - my daughter - is off to a Girl Scout camping event this weekend (leaving now as I type this) and that leaves me and the Mrs. at homek alone.
Alone? you say? Well, the typical assumption that goes through most people's minds is promptly gone out the window in our case.
Why?
Well, I've got my first Neural Networks homework assignment to tackle this weekend and my wife has to study for a "series 6 & 63 securities" exam that will enable her to sell securities here in California. So while we're both agonizing over studying, we'll be fondly looking at each other from across the dining room table....
For the moment, I'm up here at school to take care of a few errands - mostly downloading the data files for my first NN homework assignment since I have no Internet at the house.
More later if there's anything 'exciting'.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 06, 2007
New Goals for the Year
Okay, this is late.....being without Internet access at home just plain blows.
New Year's Eve was spent at a friend's house with my family. I actually had two Mike's Hard Lemonades and after that the Percocet kicked in and I worked at staying awake for the rest of the evening.
Yeah, yeah - I know: booze and narcotics don't mix!!
For this year, I didn't make any specific "New Year's Resolutions" as they never pan out. I did, however, make some goals for myself that I'll try to attain this year:
- Get more out of life.
Over the last year, I've caught myself being hampered by my illness - mostly my thinking I can't do this or that because I'm going to be in pain....
Probably the one thing that I want to do more is ride my bike......the $200-plus mountain/street bike that I bought just before I started doing dialysis. Even better is riding my bike to school to save a little on gas.
- Complain less.
This is kind of goes hand-in-hand with the first goal - I find that I complain a lot more about aches-n-pains and I find it irritating. People ask "How are you doing?" and I find myself responding with a 'shopping list' of medical crap.
Normally, I really don't want to hear this from anyone else and I certainly don't want to hear myself doing it either.
- Try to continue seeing the bright side of things.
Ever since all of my medical crap starting figuring into my daily life, I've always strived to see the silver lining in the clouds and there have been times where I've stumbled with it.
To be honest, there has been too much crap happening in the last year to keep smiling all the time, but one thing I've always realized is that despite all the crap that happens to you in life, there will always be more crap just around the corner and you might as well try to smile since crap is a universal constant....like death and taxes.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 14, 2006
Static
I wonder.....
Severe Geomagnetic Storm Expected From Tuesday's Solar Flare.....just how long before some moonbat points to President Bush and blames him for the disruption to global communications....all because the U.S. didn't sign the Kyoto Accords....wait for it.Space weather forecasters revised their predictions for storminess Wednesday after a major flare erupted on the Sun overnight, threatening damage to communication systems and power grids while offering up the wonder of the Northern Lights.
"We're looking for very strong, severe geomagnetic storming" to begin probably around mid-day Thursday, Joe Kunches, lead forecaster at the NOAA Space Environment Center, told SPACE.com.
The storm is expected to generate aurora or Northern Lights as far south as the northern United States Thursday night.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:49 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
December 12, 2006
Down Time
After finishing my two final exams in the last few weeks, it's time for a little downtime in my neck of the woods.
This basically means that I'll be focusing on Christmas and working on getting back some sort of Internet access in my house. Until I get the broadband back up and running, I'll have to go up to school to get on-line.
It sucks to be broke. But hey....at least it isn't something that can take me out of this world like being struck by a rogue meteorite.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 09, 2006
Really?
This is quite possibly the biggest instance of 'Doi!!' in recent memory:
Report says sugary drinks pile on poundsWhat next - a report that says that dirt has absolutely zero nutritional value if eaten?Americans have sipped and slurped their way to fatness by drinking far more soda and other sugary drinks over the last four decades, a new scientific review concludes.
An extra can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds in a single year, and the "weight of evidence" strongly suggests that this sort of increased consumption is a key reason that more people have gained weight, the researchers say.
"We tried to look at the big picture rather than individual studies," and it clearly justifies public health efforts to limit sugar-sweetened beverages, said Dr. Frank Hu, who led the report published Tuesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:38 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 07, 2006
Double Feh!
Still not in the mood to blog much these days....feeling tired and trying to get enough sleep.
It isn't working out too well in that arena.
There is lots happening to me (other than being in the hospital) and when I can think of a way to write about it without it sounding like I'm whining, then I post something about it. But I'll give you a hint: bills suck.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:50 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 06, 2006
Feh
UPDATE: Moved back to the top and comments reopened due to popular demand.
Not really in the mood to blog about much of anything.....
Been watching the news to see if there was any change(s) in the Israeli-Hezbollah fracus: only that Israel is starting to get serious. And watching the world's leaders wring their hands over this and having nothing substantial to say except "We need a cease-fire!!".
Sure......just like the last one that allowed Hezbollah to re-arm itself in southern Lebanon.
UPDATE: Okay, these two items still aren't 'blog-worthy', but I have to ask.....why are they even in the news?
Lance Bass of 'N Sync reveals he is gay.
Lindsay Lohan overcome by heat.
[/shaking head]
UPDATE II: While it is a life-sustaining treatment, hemodialysis still sucks ass.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:29 AM | Comments (58) | TrackBack
July 22, 2006
Good Movie Review?
Michelle Malkin has a wrap-up of various people reviewing the advance screening of the up-coming Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center.
When I first heard of Stone making this movie, I cringed and thought Oh great.....another conspiracy theory movie for the silver screen.
Well, apparently that's not the case for one person:
Conservative blogger Jack Yoest also gives Stone two thumbs up after watching a special Washington screening last night:And like Michelle says, I too will reserve judgment until I see the movie.What it was and what it was not.It was not a conspiracy movie.
It did not bash Bush.
It was not sappy.
It was not about stupid, church-going nuts.
It did not mock marriage.
It did not blame America.
It did not support radical Islam.
It did not mock Marines.
It did not mock Jesus.
It did not mock cops.It did not mock family, faith or freedom...
...This is a movie that you will see in a few weeks and you will be glad you did. After the viewing, there was no applause, little talking. At the end, the crowd audibly exhaled, as one.
One thing that I hope is that all the people reviewing the movie are right and that it isn't another moonbat production mainly because I cannot see Nicholas Cage associating himself with something that would do disservice to the New York heroes that are portrayed in the movie.
I could be wrong - what was filmed might be perceived along a certain 'path' whereas it could be completely changed in the editing room in post-production.
We'll have to wait and see.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:04 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 11, 2006
Out of Curiousity...
Does anyone know of a 'decent' way to make money....under the table?
And I know of the 'obvious' ones: gun running, illegal alien smuggling, drug dealer, etc.
Just curious......for research purposes.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:15 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
July 05, 2006
SWWNBN Loves Hugo
I can' t find the story, but I heard this morning (or rather read on the net) that SWWNBN said she'd rather live under Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
Michelle Malkin scouted out some one-way tickets on Expedia for her and if I had any money, I'd seriously consider kicking down some $$$ to help SWWNBN get on her merry way!!
I really wish a ticket could be procurred for her......let her see what an 'evil' empire America really is......I've always said that if anyone seriously thinks that we're a repressive nation that they should pick their favorite Third-World Sh*t Hole and live there for a few months.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:20 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 24, 2006
Catch All Post
Haven' t posted much lately - I've been recovering from a mini-vacation up in Los Angeles with some close friends over the last week.
I'll be going into more detail with the next post - including photos - of our trip to Disneyland and to Hollywood Blvd (my first time there).
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 22, 2006
We Are AOL - You Will Be Assimilated
Every-so-often I have episodes like Vincent has had, but this takes the cake:
AOL virtually refuses to cancel man's accountRead the whole thing - it is quite honestly something you'd see in a Monty Python comedy sketch. It's almost like being assimilated by the Borg.One man's attempt to cancel his America Online account is reverberating across the U.S. and world after the customer recorded the conversation and then posted it on his blog.
Vincent Ferrari tried to end his membership with AOL, but dealt with a company representative who apparently did not want to lose his business.
It makes me glad that I never, ever signed up for AOL.
To be honest, I did sign up for Compuserve years ago, but when they sucked $100+ out of my checking account because the connection number was an older 800 number that charged me basically $1 per minute, I learned to stay away from big companies like them.
And I only recently got away from dial-up service with my credit union.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 23, 2006
Fans Still Remember
Offered with little comment:
Country radio nixes Dixie ChicksAs I had commented in my last post concerning the Dixie Chicks, their fan-base isn't forgetting what went down in 2003. I guess the Dixie Chicks will have to crank out another album full of indignation....NASHVILLLE, Tenn., May 22 (UPI) -- It appears the war U.S. country radio stations mounted against the politically outspoken Dixie Chicks has not abated in the least.
The band is promoting "Taking the Long Way," its first album since Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 she was ashamed to be from the same state as U.S. President George Bush. The comment sparked a radio boycott of the group's music.
Although the album hits stores Tuesday, the first two singles from the album are not getting widespread airplay, Billboard.com reported Monday.
The first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," only peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and the second single, "Everybody Knows," is moving downward after its peak at No. 48.
WKIS FM in Miami reported it pulled "Not Ready to Make Nice" due to listener complaints after only one week.
The program director at KUBL/KKAT in Salt Lake City told Billboard he was angered by its "self-indulgent and selfish lyrics."
Neither the Chicks or their label, Columbia Records, would speak to Billboard for its article.
UPDATE: It would appear that the lack of airplay is starting to make a dent in their resolve: their website has a page dedicated to get fans to request airplay; radio stations that would play their stuff are listed by state on the page and some include phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
I think that while the Dixie Chicks aren't 'ready to make nice', they are ready to 'hedge their bets'.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:07 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 14, 2006
Speechless
This left me utterly speechless:
2 charged with rape of newbornI know they've only been indicted and they're 'innocent until proven guilty', but I am just speechless. What sort of a man would ingage in such behavior - especially with a newborn baby? And what sort of woman would condone this when her own child is involved?McKenzie police have charged two Carroll County parents with raping their child.
Jonathan Wayne Goodrum, 19, and Kristina Louise Sawyer, 18, are charged with raping their 1-day-old girl before she was taken home from McKenzie Regional Hospital about six weeks ago, said McKenzie Police Lt. Tim Nanney.
While both parents have been charged, Sawyer's bond was reduced because police still are investigating what role, if any, she played in the possible rape of her child, Nanney said. She was charged because "I could not exclude her from being part of it, so I had to charge her also," he said. "I could not exclude her at the time from being a participant of it."
I can only hope that they are both found guilty and sent to prison for life. A life sentence served while living in the general prison population would be the only fitting punishment.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:42 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 24, 2006
I Got Nothing
Nothing much happening lately.
Studying for my first midterm on Friday.
Getting annoyed with Mozilla Firefox because the latest update locks up my computer.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:05 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
April 19, 2006
Pain
Too tired to really blog about anythingi in the news, but the one 'interesting' thing is that my left foot hurts.
Why?
Well, I had what's known as a 'partial matrix' performed on my foot yesterday. It would seem that while I was in my coma that my toenails on my big toes (in medical terms it's sometimes called the great toe) decided to become ingrown.
What prompted the semi-surgical procedure yesterday was that I had developed yet another infection and the doctors are busting their humps to keep me away from anything else that would complicate a kidney transplant.
So...part of the toenail was removed. And dispite taking Percocet that was prescribed for the neuropathy that's brought on by dialysis, it sucks to walk.....at least for the next week or so.
Oh well - at least it wasn't another stroke, right?
Sorry if I grossed anyone out, but it's the only thing happening right now. I'm still working on getting my strength back and I've returned to school; I'm taking one (and only one) class this quarter.
So far, school is going okay - I've got my first midterm a week from this Friday so I'll be studying over the weekend.
And when I'm not studying, I'm helping my wife with her just-started insurance business - mostly updating her policy holder's files, faxing stuff, etc.
Oh and I finally did get my bass into the shop to get adjusted and re-strung. Now I just have to get my amp out of storage and work out a time to practice without annoying the neighbors or the family.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 31, 2006
Lame Excuse Time
Just got home from dialysis.....feeling crappy.
Will put those (*% photos up tomorrow.
Going to take serious amounts of pain meds......then sleep.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 04, 2006
Observations of Life, Part I
I was resting in bed last night while my wife was going through the day's snail mail.
One piece of mail was junk mail - an offer from American Express. She pulled the 'sample' credit card away from the poster card in the envelope and proceeded to remove the flexible glue that held the 'card' to the poster card.
She was enjoying playing with it until I told her what that adhesive was called by most technicians: Gorilla snot.
She groaned and tossed it in the trash saying that the fun had been stripped knowing that it was called 'Gorilla Snot'....same material, different name - ooggged out factor: 9.4.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:04 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 12, 2006
Still Illin
Just a bit under-the-weather....again. Think 'happy thoughts' about me getting better.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 11, 2006
Mislabelled Outrage
Heath Ledger angry at banHeath, Heath, Heath....just because a movie is made doesn't mean that all theaters are obligated to run the movie. If the theater owners and/or operators don't want to run yours or anyone else's movie, then that's that; this isn't a communist state where the state dictates what is to be shown and what is deemed 'offensive'.
HOT Oscar tip Heath Ledger yesterday compared US bans on his gay cowboy film to racism.
Ledger said he was not surprised a Utah cinema had banned Brokeback Mountain, which depicts a lifelong love affair between two Montana cowboys.
"I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected," Ledger said.
"Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society.
Heath, you've got the 'chops' for acting - stick to it instead of sitting on a fence post crowing about what is 'racism' and what isn't. (BTW, racism is not liking a person of a specific creed or ethnic group whereas bigotry is probably the word/label you were looking for...you dumb bunny. )
[/Daffy Duck]
Do I have a problem personally with 'Brokeback Mountain'? I dunno....hadn't really planned on seeing this movie. Maybe when it comes out on DVD, but that too is doubtful. But if we're to follow Mr. Ledger's mind-set, then I'm under obligation to watch it under penalty of being called a racist bigot.
And if that's the worst that happens to me in-the-near future, then I'd be lucky.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 01, 2006
Christmas Present Good vs. Bad, Part II
Good: Got six history books from a friend.
- STALINGRAD THE VITAL 7 DAYS
- Surviving the Sword : Prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East, 1942-45
- MacArthur's Victory : The War in New Guinea, 1943-1944
- Patton And Rommel : Men of War in the Twentieth Century
- The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
- SS HITLER'S FOREIGN DIVISIONS : Foreign Volunteers in the Waffen SS 1940-1945
Bad: Finding the time to read them all.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 31, 2005
Happy New Year 2006
Just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone.
Here's hoping that we all have a great year, that we're all in good health (including our families), and that we continued to find what we seek within our own lives & help our friends/family find what they seek in theirs.
The Mad Mikey family will be traveling to Scripps Ranch (a whole whopping six miles away) to help some friends of ours drink their liquor and usher in the new year in a festive manner. Hopefully, everyone else here will be having a good time as well.
As I remember the extreme fun I had on the Fourth of July drinking several Mike's Hard Lemonades, I will probably not be indulging/imbibing but will instead have fun at the expense of others at the party that will be drinking; there is nothing more hilarious than to throw calculus problems at people when they hammered...
See you all in 2006!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 26, 2005
Christmas Present Good vs. Bad, Part I
Good: New phone with new phone service cause Cingular sucks massive amounts of ass.
Bad: Entering 98 phone numbers by hand from old phone to new phone.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 25, 2005
Hanukkah 2005
Almost forgot to say Happy Hanukkah to everyone that honors it.
With my limited knowledge of Judiasm and Hanukkah, I do believe that tonight is the first of eight nights where a candle on the family menorah and the family celebrates.
Like I said, my knowledge is limited but from the way that Jews celebrate it, it's a great tradition that binds the family together.....it looks like it's got all the joy and happiness of Christmas - but spread over eight days.
Happy Hanukkah!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Twas the Night Before Christmas
This is something that I heard (in one variation or another) on the radio last night as I was finishing up wrapping presents.
I seem to recall hearing this last year and now, as then, it caused me to get misty-eyed.
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light.
Then he sighed and he said “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam’,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
“I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?”
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Christmas 2005
Unless something really, really, rediculously interesting comes up, I'll be off-line for Christmas.
I hope that everyone reading this has an enjoyable Christmas filled with joy, love, family & friends, and laughter. May Santa jam a buttload of presents under the tree for you and here's giving you tolerance to deal with those relatives (from out-of-town) that insist on talking politics with you when they're 180 degrees out of sync with your notions of what-is-what.
I myself will be bascially 'chilling out' on Christmas Day and we'll be heading over to the father-in-law's house for dinner. (This I like because we get to trash someone else's house for a change....just kidding).
Merry Christmas and have a great New Year!!
UPDATE: As of around 2:00 pm PST Christmas Eve, Drudge has switched over to more cheerful colors - red & green!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:26 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 24, 2005
First Present
My friend Elly dropped by last night right as I got home from dialysis - she brought presents for the family and my present was ultimately cool: a Pilot Serrated knife made by Buck Knives.
I had been without a pocket knife for a while since I lost my last one - most likely at dialysis. This one is beyond cool - very solid construction, the blade is semi-locked in place when folded (no accidental openings) and it's just beyond cool.
Nothing says 'Christmas' like someone getting you something that you'll not only appreciate but use daily.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 22, 2005
Of Vomit and News
Spent another six hours in Urgent Care last night and almost got admitted for this sinus infection that's kicking my ass. Three-plus weeks of migrain headaches and enough nausea to power a tug boat....just wonderful.
Since I'm not in pain or puking for the moment, here are a few interesting items I've spotted in the news.
Enjoy!
- My thoughts exactly....
- And they say that America is turning into a 'Big Brother' state....
- These guys have got some balls for asking for help....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
Random Thoughts
Just thought I'd post something inane to use the new graphic that I've imported from All Free Backgrounds.
Been sick for the last two weeks - got the 'creeping crud' from someone...
Got Christmas stuff all set up in the house....now I just have to populate the bottom of it with presents, i.e., still have to do Christmas shopping and I'm seriously not looking forward to it.
Does anyone know how to get a mini-photo/graphic to 'pop up' when you move your mouse over a segment of text? Go check out Yahoo News to see what I'm talking about....
Going to go to dialysis now - it sucks ass, but it is a method to keep my butt alive.
UPDATE: Well, I knew that today was going to be memorable - as soon as I left work, I had to drive directly to Urgent Care/Emergency. It would seem that my 'sinus infection' wasn't being contained with the anti-biotics that were given to me last week.
I won't go into the oh-so-lovely details, but I spent about six hours in Urgent Care and got two different anti-biotics pumped into me intravenously along with some morphine.
So, the moral of this story is: if you think you've got a bad time this Christmas, take a look at how often you go to Urgent Care in any given week like me....you'll feel much better about your situation almost instantly.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
News You Can Use
News You Can Use - Part 334, Section 6B, Subsection (iii):
- I'm a day or two late, but this past weekend marked the 102nd anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- This is what happens when you attempt to 'secularize' a Christmas event.
- Woody Allen admits he sucks.
- Here's a round-up of some of the more....psycho stories of 2005.
- This is something that was a long time in coming to the 'fore-front' of public discussion....
- Here is a harbinger of doom to some on the left-side of the political spectrum...
- Saddam Hussein starts using 'blame-the-other-guy' tactics in court.
- Teen smoking is reportedly down, but we're still getting taxed to death here in California to 'help teens not start smoking'....
- Nevada Senator Harry Reid seems to have forgotten the old axiom of when you point a finger at someone that you're got three pointing back at you....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 18, 2005
Post Christmas Pary Report
We had a Christmas party last night.
Almost all of the invited guests showed up and that's good considering that I made the invitation calls just five days in advance.
My wife put out a spread of food that was quite frankly too much.
A group of us and guests went Christmas carolling at a retirement home in downtown La Jolla. Even if we didn't sing that great, the people that came out of their rooms were all wearing smiles.
Our guests had a great time - I say great because we had one couple leave to go to a San Diego Gulls hockey game and returned later. Additionally, most people stayed until 4:00 am - I had gone to bed around midnight cause I wasn't feeling too hot.
I was a sucess because everyone was drinking and having a great time chatting with our other guests; everyone was invited to a New Year's bash that the Mad Mikey family was going to attend.....my wife told some of the guests about the long process of my trying to get a kidney transplant (I usually don't spout off about my medical problems to everyone I meet....too much to tell and I don't like 'whining' about it. But the end result is that three of our guests are going to make initial inquires about being possible donors.
The only ones who didn't enjoy the party were my cats: they hid under our bed all night.
My wife also made some new business contacts - mostly mutual friends of some of the guests that are looking for some sort of insurance. Still: networking is networking.
So today, the entire family is going into 'lazy bum' mode. We'll mostly sit around and veg out - the wife and kid are going to snuggy up our bed and watch a DVD on my notebook. Hell, even the cats are going into 'lazy bum' mose.
And me? I'll probably get all propped up in my 'comfy chair' and watch some Sci Fi Channel or maybe something on the History Channel - stuff that the rest of the family consider 'boring'....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:21 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 16, 2005
A Non-Issue in his Mind
Spotted this over at La Shawn Barber's blog this morning:
Morgan Freeman: Black History Month is "ridiculous"I myself have always loved Morgan Freeman's performances and as La Shawn says: Morgan in right. Race isn't an issue for the most part unless you bring it into the conversation under other than contextual circumstances.
It’s a little early for Black History Month, but I thought I’d share. I don’t really like actor Morgan Freeman, but I wouldn’t mind having a cup of coffee with him as long as he’s saying things like this:
"I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history..."Yeah, right. I wish it were so, Mr. Freeman. But the "civil rights"The notion of a special month for black history may be hurting rather than helping efforts for racial equality, Freeman believes. When Wallace wonders whether racist attitudes may be harder to eradicate without the education that Black History Month provides, Freeman retorts: "How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!" (SOURCE)
hustleindustry isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Itsrace-baitersworkers aren't about to give it up and get real jobs. They'll make sure we all keep talking about it. An honest day's work (for a change) would do their souls good, but hey, race baiters have to pay the bills, too, don't they?Also see What Black History Month means to me.
Note: I forgot to link to the source earlier.
Addendum: I take it back! I liked Freeman in Glory and on The Electric Company kids' show.
Personally, I've never really batted an eye one way or the other when 'Black History Month' is upon us. If anything, I've always learned something 'new' about black history that I didn't know before; I walk away feeling better that I learned something and I integrate it into my vocabulary and how I accord myself in life.
Morgan's statement(s) are indicative of someone striving to treat everyone he meets as an equal. What he said cannot be made any simpler: you don't refer to people as 'that black person so-and-so' or 'that white chick blah-blah-blah - you call them by name, not by their ethnic background.
It still boggles me that while I strive to treat people equally on every basis that there are still some that work to push a distinction into your face at every waking moment. It's the hypocrisy that boggles me: on one hand, there are groups that beg, scream, plead, and demand that they be treated 'just like everyone else' and yet they also want to be singled out for that very distinction like it's some sort of special label that entitles them to special treatment.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Red Herring Panic
I saw this over at Michelle Malkin's blog - a story about the White House authorizing what boils down to illegal wiretaps/phonetaps.
I thought to myself Uh-ohhh - the barking moonbats will be screaming about this for months. and then thought Have to wait and see what this is all about after the dust settles as there is always a 'jump to conclusions' when some big story like this breaks.
I then went over to Drudge Report to see if it had been updated and found this:
As I initially suspected, this 'story' isn't really anything earth-shattering - it's just a warm-up teaser for another 'tell-all' book.
Leave it to the NYT to shill for another author that will attempt to push another 'police state' theory-gone-true....yet another reason that:
- More and more people are getting tired of the same 'Bush Lied - People Died' mantra coming from the supposed 'neutral' media.
- Newspapers are losing readers for crap exactly like this.
- Internet news is becoming more and more sought after - if not for the 'neutral' bias that people hope to find in the news media, then for the sheer fact that people are seeking confirmation on the credibility of stories such as this.
- People are becoming tired of biased media.
Hmmm....maybe he's not feeling good today. At least he's big enough to fess up to the mistake/error and put the real reason(s) behind the initial story out for the public to see instead of pulling some sort of 'fake, but accurate' crap like CBS News did.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:02 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
M*A*S*H Trivia
For some reason, I've been watching re-runs of M*A*S*H on the Hallmark Channel every night.
This morning, I was checking out some acting credits on IMDB about the show and found some interesting trivia:
- Jamie Farr and Alan Alda were the only two cast members to actually serve in the U.S. Army - Alda was a gunnery officer in Korea after the 1953 Armistice and Farr was stationed in Japan during the Korean War.
- Alan Alda's contract stated that there had to be one surgery scene for each episode filmed.
- After the news of Col. Blake's death shocked the world, the very next night on "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967), the opening shot was of "Henry Blake" in a smoking raft, waving his arms, hollering, "I'm OK!" I'm OK!"
- Frank Burns had three middle names during his time on the show: W., Marion and D.
- Frank Burns' nickname "Ferret Face" came from his brother; he mentioned it to Hawkeye and Trapper John once, during a rare drinking binge, and they never forgot it. (Even BJ's first words to Burns when they met were "What say, Ferret Face?")
- Colonel Potter was a cavalry officer during the first world war.
(Actually, he was an enlisted man during WWI - when his character was introduced, he showed Radar his Good Conduct Medal and pointed out that only enlisted men could get them.)
- McLean Stevenson, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake, died of a heart attack on 15 February 1996. The next day, 16 February, Roger Bowen, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the movie, died of the same cause.
- While he never played an instrument in any episode, one of Major Burns' prized possessions was a white award Bible he won for playing organ.
- Want to see something that will make your heart swell with pride? Check out these 'Get Well' cards that a Brownie troop in Texas put together for a wounded OIF verteran in Walter Reed Hospital.
- Smash isn't messing around when he issues a call to arms. I plan on following through this afternoon when I get home from work (the boss isn't too keen on this type of stuff happening here at work even though he understands why).
- Finals are over and I managed to stave-off a heart attack during the last exam.
- I have an HTML coding problem that I've trying to figure out: check out the Yahoo News page. You see how when you do a 'rollover' on a story link that a mini pop-up window appears?
How can I get that to work here? That is: when you 'mouseover' a link, you get a picture to pop up?
I know (and verified) how to make one picture turn into another picture - check out my photo over on the right - but what about getting a link to do the same thing?
- Murray may not own or care for any animals in the next three years.
- She must pay $3,200 to the Lake County Humane Society and $500 to the Metropark rangers for costs they incurred due to her actions.
- With statements like these coming from DHS Secretary Chertoff, it's no wonder that there are people volunteering for the Minutemen Project.
- Dicotomy: Clinton say one thing now whereas seven years ago he was singing a different tune.
- Glad they decided to leave well-enough alone.
- Well of course Harry Reid is 'concerned' - it's not his party that won the White House last year. It's called to the victor go the spoils for a reason Harry...
- SWWNBN is desparetly attempting to stay relavent in the anti-war movement.
- I wonder if some chicken soup would help or hurt....
- Yet another reason why I drive a Toyota.
- Now if they could only get rid of the rest of those pork-barrel projects that are 99.999% useless.
- That's right - they may not be referred to as 'cute' or 'cuddly' any longer
- I wonder why Paul is trying to help land mines...?
- This revalation will have some people kicking their dogs this evening...
- This is almost as bad as Are we there yet!? being asked for the 10th time in an hour.
- Here's a suggestion: how about making cars that don't suck so much?
- How about just blowing their heads off instead of special plates?
- Paul must have a terrific set of lungs to pull this off.
- The sad this about this is that if proven that it won't rate a small 'blip' on the radar screen of the MSM....
- I like his acting, but this doesn't mean much to me....then again, I dig chicks.
- I haven't really commented much on this, but I can tell you one thing: an indictment is just that - a suspicion of possible wrong doing.
- Well duh - of course they hate Israel and would love nothing more than to obliterate it off the map
- Groan!! Stick to acting Leo - this activism schtick just isn't you. Besides - just how many SUV's have you been driven in to an awards ceremony?
- With the normal alphabet exhausted, they're switching to using the Greek alphabet. I wonder how long until college fraternities and sororeties start bidding to have a hurricane named after them....
- I remember seeing Anna Nicole Smith in Playboy for the first time years ago, but inane crap like this just continues to make her look like just another bimbo looking for publicity.
- It was only a matter of time before this was announced and it was a good thing because a nominee should make anyone left-of-center want to hyperventalate....to the victor go the spoils.
- More and more we're finding out exactly why some people defended Saddam & Iraq for so long...
- If this turns out to be true, this clown needs to be quartered....on pay-per-view television.
- Communism is so confusing to translate: we will NOT accept hurricane relief aid. No wait - we WILL accept aid after all.
- Well what the Hell did expect - flowers & a box of chocolates?
- And this is pure insantiy from Berkeley considering that they'll never consider smelly bums begging change from you as a public nuisance.
- Another reason to hate the French. ** WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO **
- Donald Sutherland is a fine actor, but like most of Hollywood, he thinks he's an expert in politics.
- Just what San Franciso needs: another reason to include internet access in 'deserved human rights'.
- And people wonder why there's such a push to reform California's schools!?!
- President Bush nominates this woman to the SCOTUS? Not the most intelligent choice IMO....especially because of a resume like this.
- Cool geek stuff to expand your mind.
- The Religion of Peace™ makes another appearance in Bali.
- Another segment in the legacy of Justice Souter's lovely SCOTUS decision....
- More 'freedom fighters' at work defending Iraqis from evil Americans
- I'm trying to stay away from this, but this makes you wonder exactly what the prosecutor is up to...
- Another celebrity getting more attention that isn't necessary. (Does anyone really give a fig about crap like this?)
- Something of the ABLE Danger flavor - this is complete horsesh!t and it needs to be brought to into the light.
- And so is this. (I'm starting to see more of this lately)
- Like the Dems in Sacramento thought he'd do otherwise? (As my kid would say: Doi!)
- Oh yeah - here's a person that is just a shoe-in for Schwarzenegger's job...
- And here's a group that will back up their warning with action
- Some more of those 'freedom fighters' and their great work for the people of Iraq....
- Here's something that even *I* am scratching my head about...
- This brings Stephen King's The Stand to mind...
- That nasty eye infection I had in my left eye is now completely gone. Actually, it was gone two weeks ago....and,
- I am taking a somewhat drastic change in my appearance and an attempting to grow my hair out. This is only if I can avoid creating
- A blond 'afro' since my hair is very curly, and
- a mullet.
- A blond 'afro' since my hair is very curly, and
- Drag America into the Iraq war.
- Open up the Arctic National Refuge for oil drilling.
- Take over both houses of Congress.
- And, of course, win the 2004 Presidential election.
- My Three Sons
- The Banana Splits
- The Bugaloos
- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (I know - from a movie to the small screen and back)
- Mannix
- Hawaii Five-O
- Grape Ape
- Jabber Jaw
- 'Freedom Fighters' at it again in defending Iraqis.
- Never thought I'd here President Bush attempting to legislating equality but there's a scramble happeing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
- Does anyone really give a rat's ass about superfluous crap like this??
- And people wonder why the government shouldn't just hand over money to people with zero accountability?
- There should be more of this action happening except with more automatic weapons being utilized.
- And more of this too because there are too many people that are clueless about the United States Constitution.
- An interesting sequence of events about Louisiana's Kathleen Blanco...
- Their nuclear facilities should be 'taken out' and here is why.
- Using Hurricane Katrina for political fundraising? Doesn't surprise me one-little-bit.
- Would you honestly expect anything else?
- Al Gore (the one that lost the 2000 election) is showing signs of BDS and not being able to let it go....
- Glad you got *cough* what you wanted....now let's see if it doesn't just turn into a 'free-fire' zone under your new management....
- Anyone want to make a bet that Hurricane Katrina will be somehow tied to SCOTUS nominee John Roberts?
- Nope - this nothing like the first item above....not a chance.
- Cindy who? Maybe if she hovers out in the Gulf of Mexico she'll regain some strength...
- Well of course they do...because Bush is the epicenter of bad things that happen.
- This is coming as a shock. Can anyone say 'Eastern Airlines'?
- Haven't heard the word 'BOO' about this anywhere....wonder why?
- You initially go see your doctor about the problem. They prescribe something and you go home.
- The problem doesn't go away quickly so you go see another doctor. They prescribe more medication to deal with the problem and send you home.
- When the problem becomes acute, you go back to the doctor for the third time and they end up telling you that you'll just have to suffer through it since there isn't anything they can do about it.
- Deal with convicted rapists in a new manner: blow their brains all over the pavement on television.
- Maria at By Beauty Damned is losing her shit over 'right-wing thugs' making her look foolish on a myriad of topics. So serious that she's banning some and going on a deletion spree.
- Hemodialysis officially sucks cause you feel like shit when you get 'drained' to your body's 'dry weight'.
Take my advice: avoid it at all costs.
- It's not raining anymore here in Southern California, but the damage is done: big-ass mudslide up in my sister's neck of the woods and Eucalyptus trees are uprooting all over San Diego because the ground is super-saturated.
- The Winter 2005 quarter started yesterday - getting back into the groove of school and planning study-buddy sessions.
- More rain for San Diego - we sure could use it, but I hate the fact that IQ points seem to ooze out of people's heads when they're driving in the rain. Lots of fender-benders involving stupid mo-fos.....
- It is my firm opinion that hemodialysis just plain sucks; more on this later if I feel up to it.
- Worry and get an ulcer from caring too much about every little thing on the planet, or
- Get on with life and maybe try to cherish it just a little more considering that my apartment could be wiped out by a tidal wave here in La Jolla.
- The Israeli organization Latet ('To Give') filled a jumbo jet with 18 tons of supplies.
- A medical team headed by four doctors from Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday night (Dec. 27), carrying medicine and baby food. The doctors specialize in rescue operations, trauma and pediatrics.
- An IDF rescue team is now on its way to Sri Lanka with 80 tons of aid material, including 10,000 blankets, tents, nylon sheeting and water containers, all contributed by the IDF.
- A ZAKA rescue-and-recovery team arrived in the disaster areas Monday night, armed with its specialized equipment for identifying bodies.
- A Health Ministry contingent left for Thailand on Monday night to aid in rescue efforts. The group includes doctors, nurses and four members of the IDF.
- Israel has also offered its assistance to India ― a search-and-rescue team from the Home Front Command, as well as consignments of food and medicine.
- Final Exams were last week and they went 'fairly well'
Two finals - Physics 9 The Solar System (aka Dumb-Dumb Physics) and ECE 101 - Signals & Systems - went well. Well....at least I didn't have an aneurysm in the middle of the exam.
The one final exam that shreded my mind was ECE 102 - Active Circuit Design. It would seem that the professor for this class thinks that his is the only class that his students are taking and that we must use his website as our home page.
I preparted for this exam and then botched it anyway. I wasn't feeling too swift about it until my study buddies took their 102 final a few days later (different section) and they too walked out feeling like they'd been molested.
- Can't seem to get 'perky' about Christmas this year. It could be that I'm just too drained from this past quarter, but I'll probably get better when we put up the tree this week and I start doing Christmas shopping.
- Once again, my theory that the stupid drivers of San Diego are alerted to my leaving the house is confirmed by how many times I sat on the horn while driving to an appointment yesterday.
- Is it me or does it seem as though the 'wind was taken out of our sails' right after the November 2nd election? Ever since the election results were announced, I seem to be semi-blase about some things that only a month ago perked my attention.....
- Cats with grey/dark coats don't stand out very well in the middle of the night when they sprawled in the hallway just outside the bathroom and it's dark.
Consequently, cats also don't seem to understand sincerity when you explain that you didn't mean to step on their tails; they just give you an evil look.
- Looking forward to the 'season premeires' of both Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis closely followed by the premeire of the new Battlestar Galactica series - all on the Sci Fi Channel.
- Why couldn't being 'geeky' have been cool back when I was in high school instead of causing it to be an excuse for jocks to screw with you?
- Just realized that by using Mozilla Firefox, I've been missing a lot of cool crap on the Sci Fi Channel website. Have to learn to allow pop-ups there....
- Hauling my ass to the prescribed labs where MATLAB is available on campus is a pain, and
- the labs always seem to be locked and/or never staffed with TAs to answer questions, and
- I'm gonna have to use MATLAB for several other classes before I graduate anyway
- Act like an asshat, you get deleted and banned.
- Act civil and we all benefit.
- My blog, my rules and I reserve the right to be a hypocrite as it suits me.
- The severe lack of acknowledgement about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth commercial, nor anything about the Boston Globe's screwing the pooch in printing this article.
- New CIA Director appointment - hope he's better than Tenet.
- Amber Fry testified at the Scott Peterson trial - BFD.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 14, 2005
Fun with Audacity
Since I'm not in school for the moment, I'm taking advantage of the 'free time' to indulge in a little......silliness. Part of that 'silliness' is messing around with sound files using Audacity.
Check out Howard Dean as I imagine his voice in a surrealistic nightmare: Howie the Monster (MP3 file format)...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 08, 2005
Odds-N-Ends
Couple of things that I have been mulling about today:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 06, 2005
Wait Till the Cows Come Home
Theron and Townsend plan a wedding
Charlize is gonna be waiting a long time I think. But that's okay - she can occupy her time like she usually does these days.
Hot Hollywood couple Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend are planning to wed the day it becomes legal for gays and lesbians to wed across America.The longtime couple are tired of being asked about their marriage plans so they've come up with a novel line to keep the press happy.
Theron tells US news show Extra: "We came up with a new idea that we said that we would get married the day that gays and lesbians can get married - when that right is given to them.
"We've decided that we're gonna use that in a positive way, so the day that law gets passed then we'll get married."
But, I have a couple of phrases to impart to Charlize about waiting for gay marriage to become law here in the United States: common-law spouse and palimony.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 28, 2005
Crickets Chirping
What should you do if you wrote a book that no one wanted your autograph in it?
You'd wait....and wait....and wait some more.
Andy Warhol is rolling over in his grave about now since his prediction has come and gone for SWWNBN.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 22, 2005
Pre-emptive Resignation
Remember that numbskull prof that opened his big yapper a little too much? The idiot is not unemployed, but not because he was fired - he quit.
In an interview last night, Daly said that he was worried he would be fired Tuesday night and that he has already been told not to show up for the three classes he is scheduled to teach on Tuesday, the next day he would normally be on campus.
So the fool quit just before he got his ass canned.Daly said he stood by the e-mail message, but that it was being taken out of context.
Say what!? What is wrong with a freakin English teacher that cannot put something into its proper context? Read the email yourself and you decide what 'proper' context he was implying.He said that the comment about soldiers turning their guns on their superiors was meant "in the most metaphoric sense."
Metaphoric sense? Please....you're attempting to spin your complete loss of intelligence when you clicked on the SEND button. The only people you might convince are kindergarteners.Also, he said that because Beach was never one of his students and had sent the e-mail message from her personal e-mail account, he thought she was a Young America’s Foundation organizer, and replied with that in mind.
More CYA.Daly said that if he had known he was writing to a freshman, he would not have changed the political ideas of his note, but would have used a different tone.
Well, now you can practice your 'tone' in the mirror every morning while you comb the classified ads looking for a job moron.On a lighter note, I'm hoping that Mr. John 'Help Wanted' Daly has a nice Thanksgiving.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 21, 2005
Ticket for the Gravy Train
I know that I said I'd never talk about SWWNBN any longer as it gives her unnecessary attention.
This is an exception and not because SWWNBN is penning a book (yawn), but rather a photo that I glommed from Linda at Something...and Half of Something
This photo basically say it about about SWWNBN.
Meal Ticket from Something...and Half of Something Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:35 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 18, 2005
Numbskull Profs All Around
It would seem that the niche segment of dumber-than-a-bag-of-rocks professors isn't limited to UC San Diego
Prof urges fragging of U.S. officers
It's always a trip into WTFland when I see crap like this. And you do realize that if a professor had said something like this to an anti-war group on campus that they'd be foaming-at-the-mouth faster than you could spell hypocrite.
When Rebecca Beach, a freshman at Warren Community College in New Jersey e-mailed faculty announcing a campus program yesterday featuring decorated Iraq war hero Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, the response she got from one English professor took her aback.English professor John Daly replied: "Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors."
Daly added that he would ask his students to boycott the event and also vowed "to expose [her] right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like [Rebecca’s] won’t dare show their face on a college campus."
Besides organizing the event, Beach's offense was hanging up fliers contrasting the number of people killed under communism to those liberated under the late President Ronald Reagan, according to Young America's Foundation, which came to Beach's aid.
In response to the written tirade, Beach is demanding that Warren Community College President William Austin institute seminars on free speech and sensitivity to teach intolerant faculty members to be respectful of differing opinion.
The college has posted a statement on its website repudiating Prof. Daly's comments.
Press Release
Daly's e-mail also claimed that "capitalism has killed many more" people than communism and that "poor and working class people" are recruited to "fight and die for EXXON and other corporations."
November 17, 2005Warren County Community College is a "students first" college where learning without limits is always the main goal. We maintain a mission of building a community of learners through accessible, quality learning opportunities designed to meet personal aspirations for all students.
It has been brought to the administration's attention that a part-time instructor, Mr. John Daly, speaking for himself and using his personal email, sent a message to a student representing the Young Americans for Freedom in response to a personal email from her requesting him to announce an upcoming event on the campus. Mr Daly responded to her alone, and expressed his own personal views regarding his beliefs about this group.
The viewpoints of this professor in no way depict the views of Warren County Community College, its administration, or the Board of Trustees. The College does however support the constitution, the first amendment, and the right to free speech.
Additionally, Mr. Daly's message was sent as a one-to-one message, via e-mail, to one person, and not to the college community. Finally, the College is viewing this message as a personnel issue and will be addressing it according to the policies and procedures of the College.
Dr. Austin, college president stated, "I firmly believe every employee and student has first amendment rights, no matter how repugnant I personally find Mr. Daly's statements. [Emphasis mine - MM] Our attorneys have advised us of our obligation to follow state laws, board policies, and college due process in regards to any personnel matter. We are now investigating this matter further."
"John Daly was hired to teach English, not to verbally attack students and lead leftist protests," said Jason Mattera, spokesman for Young America’s Foundation.
Interesting note: I went to the Warren Community College to see if I could glom a photo of this dipstick - no joy. Additionally, when you eventually dig for this prof's information in the faculty pages, his e-mail addresses have been removed. I'm guessing the network administrator didn't want to contend with thousands of nasty-grams in the e-mail system.
UPDATE: Professor John Daly can be reached through his Yahoo! e-mail jpdalyca@yahoo.com.
UPDATE II: The full-text of Daly's e-mail to Ms Beach can be read here:
November 13, 2005
UPDATE III:It would seem that there is already too many people surfing over to Warren Community College's website - it's now password protected.Dear Rebecca:
I am asking my students to boycott your event. I am also going to ask others to boycott it. Your literature and signs in the entrance lobby look like fascist propaganda and is extremely offensive. Your main poster "Communism killed 100,000,000" is not only untrue, but ignores the fact that CAPITALISM has killed many more and the evidence for that can be seen in the daily news papers. The U.S. government can fly to dominate the people of Iraq in 12 hours, yet it took them five days to assist the people devastated by huricane Katrina. Racism and profits were key to their priorities. Exxon, by the way, made $9 Billion in profits this last quarter--their highest proft margin ever. Thanks to the students of WCCC and other poor and working class people who are recruited to fight and die for EXXON and other corporations who earning megaprofits from their imperialist plunders. If you want to count the number of deaths based on political systems, you can begin with the more than a million children who have died in Iraq from U.S.-imposed sanctions and war. Or the million African American people who died from lack of access to healthcare in the US over the last 10 years.
I will continue to expose your right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like your won't dare show their face on a college campus. Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors and fight for just causes and for people's needs--such freedom fighters can be counted throughout American history and they certainly will be counted again.
Prof. John Daly
Oh man....this clown will be working as a night manager at Wendy's come next Friday.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Punishment Fits the Crime
I like this judges train-of-thought:
Judge makes ruling to show suspect what it was like for the kittens she abandoned
She should also be spayed.Michelle Murray will now have the opportunity to experience what the dozens of kittens felt the night she abandoned them at two Lake Metroparks in September.
Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti on Thursday sentenced Murray, 25, of Painesville Township, to jail time.
But he added a stipulation to ensure that Murray "suffer the same consequences as those kittens."
"You can listen to the coyotes, hear the raccoons in the dark of night," said Cicconetti, who grew increasingly annoyed at Murray's apology attempts in court.
On the night before Thanksgiving, when Murray reports to the Lake County Jail in Painesville, she will be forced to spend a night alone in a remote area of a Lake County Metropark, according to Cicconetti sentence.
Being allowed only water, she will not be provided with food, beverage or shelter. Murray must remain in that location until "the light of dawn on Nov. 24," according to the sentence.
Ranger Chief Mike Burko said he has not yet chosen the Metropark, but will provide her with a walkie-talkie in case of emergency. Cicconetti, known for his unusual sentences, gave Murray the maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
But the judge suspended 60 days and allowed 15 days to be served under house arrest.
After returning from the wild on Thanksgiving, she will serve 14 days in the Lake County Jail.
The suspended jail time hinges on two conditions:
She said she tried to contact the Lake County Humane Society, but eventually panicked after three cages of cats were dropped off at her home.
"It doesn't make any difference," the judge said.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 17, 2005
Guilty of Murder - Doi!!
Smith Guilty of Kidnapping, Raping and Killing Carlie Brucia
The amazing aspect of this scumbag is that he's the father of three daughters. Three. And he did this with the (I know this had to cross his mind) notion that this could happen to his daughters.
SARASOTA, Fla. — A former mechanic and father of three girls has been found guilty of kidnapping, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose abduction was caught on a security-camera video.A jury reached its verdict Thursday in the murder trial of Joseph P. Smith. The penalty phase is set to start Nov. 28. He faces the death penalty or life in prison.
Smith nodded but showed no surprise or other visible reaction when the verdict was handed down Thursday.
Carlie's relatives hugged and wept after the decision was read.
Her mother, Susan Schorpen, said outside the courthouse that she won't rest until Smith was dead, "when he meets his maker."
"I lost one of the most precious things to me in my life because of an animal, a disgusting, perverted animal," Schorpen said. "The fact that I can never hold her again, never see her again ... I am broken."
She said the laws regarding repeat offenders need to change.
"This should never have happened," she said. "He should never have been out of jail. I think he should be sentenced and taken care of that day."
Well....with all scumbags like this that molest and murder children, I say this with the utmost sincerity: I hope you die mutherfucker. Die a horrible death at the hands of someone in prison followed by an enternity of being Satan's 'fluffer'.
This asshole should be put to death on live television followed by wild boars being allowed to tear his carcass apart.....let him serve as an example of what society thinks of shit-stains like him.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
What's in a Name?
Town Changes Name To Dish For Free TV
This makes me wonder if there will be a town that will change its name to 'Boner' in exchange for free Viagra or maybe 'Douche' for free Massengill products...
A town in Texas legally changed its name to "Dish" Wednesday in exchange for 10 years of free satellite television service from EchoStar Communications Corp., according to a Local 6 News report.The small town of Clark, located about 30 minutes from Fort Worth officially made the change to Dish, Texas, Wednesday morning.
City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to make the name switch.
All homes within city limits now get free Dish Network equipment and programming for 10 years.
The newly-named town of Dish only has a population of 125 people.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 16, 2005
Preparing for a Good Future
Mom Makes Daughter Stand on Street Corner
I see nothing wrong with preparing her kid to stand on a street corner and bum for handouts. Of course, if this mother didn't do something drastic like this and her kid did become a bum, who do you think would be 'to blame' in this oh-so-wonderful world that encourages the victim mentality? You get three guesses and the first two don't count.Tasha Henderson got tired of her 14-year-old daughter's poor grades, her chronic lateness to class and her talking back to her teachers, so she decided to teach the girl a lesson.
She made Coretha stand at a busy Oklahoma City intersection Nov. 4 with a cardboard sign that read: "I don't do my homework and I act up in school, so my parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food."
"This may not work. I'm not a professional," said Henderson, a 34- year-old mother of three. "But I felt I owed it to my child to at least try."
In fact, Henderson has seen a turnaround in her daughter's behavior in the past week and a half. But the punishment prompted letters and calls to talk radio from people either praising the woman or blasting her for publicly humiliating her daughter.
"The parents of that girl need more education than she does if they can't see that the worst scenario in this case is to kill their daughter psychologically," Suzanne Ball said in a letter to The Oklahoman.
Marvin Lyle, 52, said in an interview: "I don't see anything wrong with it. I see the other extreme where parents don't care what the kids do, and at least she wants to help her kid."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
News You Can Use Del Seks
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 07, 2005
Cynthia is On The Move
Wow....Cynthis McKinney must really be making her constituents proud with her efforts in Congress:
Congresswoman: Who killed Tupac?
Actually Cynthia, the question you really should be asking is Who cares?....actually, I'm sure that Cynthia will venture a theory or two about how those evil Joozzzz are behind it.
WASHINGTON – Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA, has introduced a bill to provide for the "expeditious disclosure of records relevant to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur," the rapper murdered in Las Vegas in 1996.The bill has been referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Committee on Rules.
Afenia Shakur, Tupac's mother and a former member of the Black Panthers, is reportedly supporting the effort.
McKinney and Tupac devotees say they believe Shakur was under surveillance by the FBI and other governmental agencies at the time of the murder.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 06, 2005
Stopping Cat Crime Wave
This seems a bit.....excessive and it makes me wonder: did the cat serve time in jail too!?
Man Jailed for Not Licensing Cat in N.D.
But then again - we all know the decay of the fabric of society that comes from allowing unlicensed felines to roam around at will. First, they'll pee in the yard to mark their territory and then it gets really intense: cats whizzing all over the place!!
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A North Dakota man has served an unusually steep sentence for having an unlicensed cat: two days in jail.William T. Dennis, 38, was charged with failing to license his feline, which normally brings a fine. But a warrant was issued for his arrest when he didn't show up for a court appearance on the charge.
Dennis spent two days in jail before appearing in court again.
"He basically just received credit for time served," said Bismarck Municipal Judge Charles Isakson.
Failure to license an animal carries a fine up to $1,000 and a possible 30 day jail sentence in Bismarck.
"I never thought I'd sentence someone to two days in jail for this," Isakson said. "Since no situations like this are on record, I had no history to go on for sentencing."
It's a good think this judge put a serious stop to this uncivilized behavior.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:10 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 03, 2005
Thumbs up?
Vandals Should Have Thumbs Cut Off
Sounds good to me.
RENO, Nev. — Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has suggested that those who deface freeways with graffiti should have their thumbs cut off on television.Goodman, appearing Wednesday on the "Nevada Newsmakers" television show, said, "In the old days in France, they had beheading of people who commit heinous crimes.
"You know, we have a beautiful highway landscaping redevelopment in our downtown. We have desert tortoises and beautiful paintings of flora and fauna. These punks come along and deface it.
"I'm saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb," the mayor added. "That may be the right thing to do."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 31, 2005
Well Duh!
For your
approvalshaking of head:They need to be told this?
I don't really know what is worse: the fact that there are people stupid enough to need a phamplet like this or that the bozos who thought this up are serious about its necessity.....LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An exclusive California beach enclave has raised eyebrows by passing out tsunami safety brochures that warn residents, in capital letters, that they should never try to surf one.
The pamphlets, part of an emergency preparedness campaign, inform residents of Malibu that tsunamis often follow large earthquakes and advise: "NEVER GO TO THE BEACH TO WATCH FOR, OR SURF, A TSUNAMI WAVE!"
"I'm speechless," Malibu surfer Candace Brown told the Los Angeles Times. "I think the last thing people will think about when they feel an earthquake is surfing."
Malibu's emergency preparedness director said he thought it would be prudent to address all possibilities.
"Some people may feel that we are stating the obvious and some people may not," Brad Davis said. "We want to encourage people to move away from the coast rather than toward it."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 28, 2005
News You Can Use, Часть Пять
More news than you can shake two sticks at - New You Can Use, Part V:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 21, 2005
Common Sense Prevails
It's about time that this is addressed:
Congress OKs Gun Industry Lawsuit Shield
I have always thought that this was one of the more insane ideas to come to light when the notion of 'gun control' was talked about.WASHINGTON - Congress gave the gun lobby its top legislative priority Thursday, passing a bill protecting the firearms industry from massive crime-victim lawsuits. President Bush said he will sign it.
"Our laws should punish criminals who use guns to commit crimes, not law-abiding manufacturers of lawful products," Bush said in a statement.
The House voted 283-144 to send the bill to the president after supporters, led by the National Rifle Association, proclaimed it vital to protect the industry from being bankrupted by huge jury awards. Opponents, waging a tough battle against growing public support for the legislation, called it proof of the gun lobby's power over the Republican-controlled Congress.
This was something that needed to be dealt with because it's just plain ludicris to go after the manufacturers for what results in the use of their product. Instead of simply draining the makers of money, the people using those weapons should be dealt with instead.
Seriously - would you go after the maker of a blender that was used to mix a margarita that was consumed by someone who subsequently decided to cave in someone's skull with a hammer? No, you'd go after the numbskull directly - there's no difference here. You wouldn't go after the maker of the hammer either.
And the House passed a bill that would also stop insane lawsuits agaisnt fastfood resturants because people get fat from eating that crap. As my kid would say: Doi!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 17, 2005
Charles 'F-Bomb' Rocket Suicide
I missed this one:
Ex-'SNL' Comedian's Death Ruled a Suicide
I remember watching that episode of 'Saturday Night Live' when he dropped the f-bomb - I figured it was so late at night that no one (besides me) would have noticed. Of course, they canned him.Actor and comedian Charles Rocket, who had roles in a variety of movies and TV series and briefly gained notoriety for uttering an obscenity on "Saturday Night Live," committed suicide, the state medical examiner ruled.
Rocket, 56, whose real name was Charles Claverie, was found dead in a field near his home in Canterbury on Oct 7. His throat had been cut, the medical examiner said.
"An investigation determined there was no criminal aspect to this case," State Police Sgt. J. Paul Vance said Monday.
Rocket was a cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" during the season. The profanity incident happened during a spoof of the "Who Shot J.R.?" plot line on "Dallas," which created a nationwide sensation at the time.
"Dallas" star Charlene Tilton was the "SNL" guest host that week. Rocket, who came on stage in a wheelchair, uttered the profanity after he was asked what it was like to have been shot.
The incident sparked complaints from viewers and prompted NBC to issue an apology. Rocket was later dismissed along with other cast members and writers on the show amid weak ratings at the time.
He went on to appear in numerous TV shows, including "Moonlighting" and "Max Headroom," and provided voices for cartoon series. His movie credits included "Earth Girls are Easy," "Dumb and Dumber" and "Dances With Wolves," according to the Internet Movie Database.
The one thing that kind of boggles me is that if the police ruled his death a 'suicide', is it really possible for someone to cut their own throat?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:05 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 14, 2005
Generic Blog Post Title
I don't really feel like blogging about anything today.....just no energy to do it.
Actually, I've been getting a little burned out. Maybe I'll take a short break....dunno.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:39 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 03, 2005
News You Can Use 第四部分
More news than you can shake a stick at:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 30, 2005
News You Can Use Deel Drie
Bringing you the news cause in everyone's hearts - we're all lazy.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 29, 2005
An Angstrom of Vanity Please
In a brief moment of vanity - something I think that I have little of - I thought I'd post a photo of me.It's not something I normally do unless there's a specific reason that you need to see my ugly mug, but here it is anyway.
I'd like to point out two features:
I dunno, but considering that growing my hair long(er) is about the one thing that isn't malfunctioning on my body I'm want to enjoy.
SIDENOTE: I had just gotten out of the shower this morning and my face is slightly red because I got carried away in scrubbing my face....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:05 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Big Rat Escaping AAR
I'm guessing that Katherine Lanpher has seen the 'writing on the wall' and is looking out for number one:
Katherine Lanpher Bails on AAR
Can't blame her either. She might be able to make claims that she 'didn't realize what she was getting into by joining Air America Radio' and be able to return to the PBS radio with some shread of neutrality intact.It is with great regret that we write to let you know that Katherine Lanpher will be leaving "The Al Franken Show." Katherine has received a book deal from a new imprint at Time Warner to write a memoir of her move to New York.
As for Al Franken....who knows. I don't think even he realizes that he's riding Air America Radio down to the ground to become the next smoking-hole-in-the-ground™ of the *cough* progressive movement.
And Air America Radio isn't 'blazing a path to glory'....at least not in Philadelphia:
Air America Radio grounded by WHAT-AM
Sure you are...Al Franken and Randi Rhodes are getting the boot from Philadelphia airwaves, as WHAT-AM (1340) is pulling off programming from Air America, the liberal talk-radio network.
Friday will be the last day, and a new WHAT lineup will begin Monday, said general manager Kernie Anderson, adding that "things were not working out" with Air America after about a year.
WHAT aired Air America's programming from noon to 7 p.m. weekdays, sandwiched between the rest of its lineup. The juxtaposition of liberal talk and WHAT's African America-targeted talk programming seemed an odd fit from the start.
Ratings were abysmal.
Air America, heard on about 70 stations nationwide, also is streamed on XM satellite radio and carried at www.airamericaradio.com.
An Air America spokesman said: "While we hate to lose affiliates, it is very common to add and drop affiliates due to local market conditions. While we hate to lose WHAT-AM, we are currently in negotiations with another station and hope to make that announcement soon."
(Hat tip to Michelle Malkin even if she's approaching 18 e-mails and no responses....)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2005
Agent 86 Dead
Damn.
Don Adams of 'Get Smart' Dies at 82
Well this sucks.
LOS ANGELES - Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart," has died. He was 82.Adams died of a lung infection late Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his friend and former agent Bruce Tufeld said Monday, adding the actor broke his hip a year ago and had been in ill health since.
I loved 'Get Smart' as a kid and while this is going to happen - stars that you grew up watching dying - it is part of that 'circle of life' thing-a-ma-bobby.
There was something interesting in this article: did you know that Don Adams served as a Marine at Guadalcanal in World War II? Or that he was a Marine Drill Instructor?
In 1941, he dropped out of school to join the Marines, lying about his age. In Guadalcanal he survived the deadly blackwater fever and was returned to the States to become a drill instructor, acquiring the clipped delivery that served him well as a comedian.
Rest in Peace Don - you were a funny guy!Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:08 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
September 22, 2005
Don't Doink Rehashed
ACLU battles 'abstinence-only' education
Don't want to have 'restrictions' on that money you're looking to accept from the Federal government?The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a drive to persuade education officials in 18 states to reject federal government-affiliated abstinence-only programs.
The ACLU, citing data from a December 2004 report by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., claims the programs discriminate against homosexuals, contain too much religious connotation and spread false information, the Washington Times reported.
The civil rights organization began its campaign as Maine officials announced they would reject federal abstinence-only funding, becoming the third state to do so. Officials said the federal rules contravene state policy.
Maine officials said the state would refuse grant money offered through a 1996 federal welfare reform law because it could only be used to fund abstinence-only education and not "comprehensive" sex education.
"This money is more harmful than it is good," Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine's Bureau of Health, told the Portland Press Herald. "You can't talk about comprehensive reproductive information."
That's okay - you don't have to take it. You'll just have to budget money from the state general fund to promote/fuel your version of this program.
Of course, I've talked about this before and the message is still the same: Is getting some nasty disease really worth it for about 22 minutes of pleasure?
How's that phrase go...? Penny Wise, Pound Foolish?
You'll pay dearly later for 'getting some' now. And when you're rotting to death because of AIDS or some other nasty STD, you can think back to that little blond chippy that was a 'hot little thang' back when you were young....think back and remember that it seemed safe.
And then you'll have a better understanding of what we like to call 'personal responsibility'.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Air America Begs for Money
Just received this through my INTEL network:
Dear Air America Radio Listener,
And here comes the reason for this message...When we launched the Air America Radio network one year ago, the country was being talked to death by conservative zealots like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and others. Right Wing radio saturated every media market and every community – a dominance of the airwaves that has been a huge part of what allowed the Right Wing to:
To continue this great success story and start shaping the national debate the way that Right Wing talk radio does every day, we've got to reach into every community in this country. We know we can’t achieve this next stage of growth without significant help from you, our loyal listeners.
Of course when you click on the link, you'll find a page that 'allows' you to donate money.We’ve also been asked on many occasions by our listeners how they can help out. Today we are launching a new program called AIR AMERICA ASSOCIATES that gives you the opportunity to do just that.
http://airamericaradio.com/associates
As an Air America Associate, you are a member of a special group of listeners who support Air America Radio and are dedicated to building the Air America community. When you sign up, we will send you a packet of bumper stickers to remind you that your job as an Associate is to spread the word about Air America Radio to other progressives in your workplace, your family, and your neighborhood.
Also, as an Air America Associate, you'll be kept informed of events in your area and receive a monthly Associates insider newsletter with backstage news from our shows and our headquarters. And in time, when we launch our paid services, as an Associate you will be eligible for special discounts for premium content.
Rush Limbaugh didn't take over our airwaves by himself – he had an army of "dittoheads" behind him. We will never reach the same critical mass that he has without our listeners helping us as well. So, please become an Air America Associate today by clicking here:
http://airamericaradio.com/associates
Thank you very much for your support,
Danny Goldberg
Air America Radio CEOI love their 'message': We've made such an impact that we're begging listeners for money through a stupid scheme to 'empower' them....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 21, 2005
Don't Get Stuck on Stupid
I heard about this on The Laura Ingraham Show while taking my kid to school.
Don't get stuck on stupid
This is exactly how a press conference should go - reporters ask questions and the person giving the briefing tells them what-is-what at that moment and leave the second-guessing to arm-chair commentators.And we understand that there's a problem in getting communications out. That's where we need your help. But let's not confuse the questions with the answers. Buses at the convention center will move our citizens, for whom we have sworn that we will support and defend...and we'll move them on. Let's not get stuck on the last storm. You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. [Emphasis mine - Ed.] We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people. That's why we like follow-up questions. But right now, it's the convention center, and move on.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
Incorrectly Titled
I hate to say this about a movie....but this one sucked!I'm talking about 'Shark Boy & Lava Girl' type sucking.....'Matrix Reloaded' kind of suckiness.
We rented this and started to watch it today considering that it would be inappropriate for my daughter to watch and it had to be back to Hollywood Video this evening.
My wife got up and left 13 minutes into the movie. I suffered along for another couple of minutes, hoping in vain that it would pick up and get interesting.
Didn't happen.
This movie IMHO should have been called 'Suck City'. It should be shown repeatedly to Gitmo detainees; they'll be spilling their guts with all sorts of useful information after the second or third showing.
This is probably the first movie in about five years that I couldn't sit through and to me, it's indicative of the stretching that Hollywood script writers are facing. If it isn't adaptations of
comic books'graphic novels', then it's 'revamps' of every beat-to-sh!t television show from the late 60s/early 70s. Seriously, I'm waiting for appearances on the big screen for:Didn't someone predict that Western civilization would crumble under the weight of 're-envisioned' movies/television shows? Could the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse really be a Hollywood producer instead of the California Secretary of State with a fistfull of initiatives?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
No Nukes, Part ??
Where have we seen this before:
North Korea Agrees to Stop Building Nukes
How's that saying go?
BEIJING -- North Korea on Monday agreed to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, in a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.The chief U.S. envoy to the talks praised the breakthrough as a "win-win situation" and "good agreement for all of us." But he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good on its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
"What is the purpose of operating it at this point?" said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. "The time to turn it off would be about now."
Despite the deal's potential to help significantly ease friction between the North and the United States after years of false starts and setbacks, Hill remained cautious.
"We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead," he said.
Fool me once, shame on you Fool me twice, shame on me
Hard cash says that there is some sort of 'problem' with the inspectors entering the nuclear reactor site in Yongbyon....
UPDATE: And we all knew this was coming.....there's a catch to this entire deal.
Figures.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 16, 2005
News You Can Use, Part Deux
That's right - it's back! And you know you cannot live without it...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
NYTimes Heading for Wall at Mach Four...
Matt Drudge threatens N.Y. Times
I don't think that anything The New York Times has to offer is worth $49.95 a year or $7.95 a month is worth it - especially with such hacks as Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman. The money is better spent on crack cocaine or flinging nickels at hookers on the street."I will yank the Times scribes if I can't find other outlets that are planning to carry them," Drudge told the New York Post. "The Internet is losing its innocence."
Beginning Monday, the New York Times will charge $49.95 per year or $7.95 per month for online readers to access 22 columnists including Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman and Frank Rich.
I mean, it really isn't any skin off my nose - it just means that instead of quoting the New York Times directly, I'll have to rely upon 'reproductions' of those columns or articles.
Personally, I think is has to do with 'amateurs' like me linking to the Times as opposed to 'professionals' doing the same thing; pros can afford the fees to link to articles - I cannot.
And that's okay cause my opinion of the New York Times will remain the same: they're a has-been paper that needs to be recycled into so-much confetti....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2005
'News You Can Use'
'New You Can Use' is something that I dreamed up one afternoon when I wasn't really in the mood to discuss or opine about that day's current events, so I attempted to pull a slight ScrappleFace and make fun of the headlines.Sometimes it was easy, especially considering how the Assocated Press likes to create headlines that 'draw your attention' and sometimes it's not.
Today, I'm bringing 'News You Can Use' back with a different approach: just make snide comments about the story and let the reader determine if they want to read it. The onus is placed upon you, the reader.
Enjoy!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Recovering
I had some minor surgery this morning and am recovering at home. And recovering at home is far better than in the hospital which the doctor would have preferred - staying overnight due to all the 'fun' things happening to me medically.
As such, posting will be light for the next few days.
And my schedule switches starting on Monday since school starts for me soon; now I'll be doing dialysis on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This frees up my weekends - YEAH!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:52 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
It Hurts My Ears!
Oh my God - what a fracking moron:
Atheists: No prayer for disaster victims
Does the notion of someone asking others to pray really offend these nimrods that much!?! Are they seriously about to power honk over the notion that not everyone 'dances to their tune'? It must be causing their ears to bleed...
The American Atheists organization says President Bush should stop urging prayer for Hurricane Katrina victims because it violates the Constitution.Ellen Johnson, president of the group said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Bush "should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's unconstitutional for government officials to be promoting religion; and besides, judging from the speed of some relief efforts, officials should be busy working instead of preaching."
In urging her own flock to support disaster relief efforts, Johnson said: "Contrary to some, charity and mutual aid are not the monopoly of religious organizations."
I have yet to see President Bush (or any other religious person) instruct people on how to pray or to do it to a distinct religious sect, community, or a specific religion for that matter.
I'm no religious scholar - not by a long-shot - but I do believe that every religion on the planet invokes some sort of 'prayer' in their observance of whatever faith they're following. I bet if President Bush had said to not pray that he'd be getting a ration of crap from a lot of people.
Am I wrong?
If I am, I'm betting that if there is some religion that does not invoke the act of 'prayer' that there are probably fewer that 100 followers of that religion here in the United States. And if that's the case, this dim-witted broad Ellen Johnson can count on those particular people to not have been the intended audience when President Bush (or anyone else for that matter) said 'pray for the victims'.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:01 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 30, 2005
Bush Derangement Syndrome Surfaces Again
It had to happen sooner or later: the ever fun-loving Bush Derangment Syndrome (BDS) would now be attached to weather events:
Katrina Should be A Lesson To US on Global Warming
...a symbol of the sort of environmental terrors awaiting the world thanks to global warming??Seems like everything is President Bush's fault. One day after Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast, German commentators are laying into the US for its stubborn attitude to global warming and Kyoto.
Hurricane Katrina is big news for German commentators, whatever their ilk. For some, the powerful storm which slammed the Gulf Coast on Monday, is a symbol of the sort of environmental terrors awaiting the world thanks to global warming and proof positive that America needs to quickly reverse its policy of playing down climate change. For the more conservative, it is simply another regrettable natural catastrophe.
Firebombing Dresden was an environmental terror you schmucks.
Whether these German 'commentators' have an carte blanche in throwing this crap at us right after a freakin hurricane, they might want to take a moment....reflect on their world and realize that their Mercedes Benz aren't spewing out refreshing lilac scents.
And it's not surprising to see that they were the first (I believe) to show more symptoms of BDS. I honestly thought that the Extra Chromosome Gang over at The Daily Kos or the Democratic Underground would be the first, but I was wrong....it was the Germans.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:45 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
New Orleans - Bad & Worst Seem
During most natural or man-made disasters, you see that the best in people comes out....helping strangers or the police & emergency technicians, acts of extreme bravery. The kind of stuff that gives most people that 'warm, fuzzy' feeling.
And then sometimes you see that some people are just plain leeches and will take advantage of a bad situation:
Looting Takes Place in View of La. Police
I remember seeing the video of people looting everything in sight right after the LA riots in 1992. The next day, people were having yards sales to sell the stuff they looted - sometimes with the store's price stickers still on the stuff!
NEW ORLEANS - With much of the city flooded by Hurricane Katrina, looters floated garbage cans filled with clothing and jewelry down the street in a dash to grab what they could. In some cases, looting on Tuesday took place in full view of police and National Guard troops.At a Walgreen's drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers.
When police finally showed up, a young boy stood in the door screaming, "86! 86!" — the radio code for police — and the crowd scattered.
Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement.
"It's downtown Baghdad," the housewife said. "It's insane. I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not."Around the corner on Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, people sloshed headlong through hip-deep water as looters ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.
One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.
"No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store."
Why do people do this kind of crap? Are they that petty that that they'd steal a lollipop from a kid which is pretty much what this garbage amounts to, i.e., looting stores that are not protected.
I feel for the people of New Orleans after all this hit them in a very short time, but I would have no problem if the National Guard fired a few warning shots over the heads of these looters....none what-do-ever. Here's hoping that those looters pick up some nasty crap from the water....
UPDATE: Some one left a comment that quite frankly I wish I had thought of:
Where are all the foreign offers for aid in the wake of Katrina?
Seriously - does anyone seriously think that we'll be getting any sort of humanitarian aid from the rest of the world?F*ck no!!
We'll get criticism about how we're to blame because this is a symptom of 'global
whiningwarming' (see above post).And the next time there's another happenstance of 'shit happens' like the tsunami in the Indian Ocean last December, expect the United States to get a steaming hot mug of why-are-you-helpin-you-f*cking-greedy-Americans???
Ah hypocrisy - it is the fabric in which the world expects us to cover them in and we're to have shit-eating grins on our faces while we do it.
(Sorry for the f-bombs and the lapse in proper/clean English.....this sort of crap makes me lose my mind sometimes...)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:54 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
Plague Puppet
Well, it would seem that the 'mild infection' that I was diagnosed with last Friday has an official name: acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC).
The doctor I saw this afternoon about it called it a 'Three Doctor Disease':
The bonus is that I'm starting to feel the same symptoms in my right eye; the opthamologist says that the AHC virus will spread to the other eye no matter what I do. I'll just have to ride the storm out.
The one 'positive' thing about this is that I can now tease my kid with my left hand (the one that constantly rubs the infected eye) with what I'm calling 'Pink-Eye the Plague Puppet'.
The suck thing is that when the right eye gets acute, that my vision will be blurred - possibly enough that I'll have to have someone drive me places. The last thing I need is to wrap my truck around a phone pole cause I didn't see the darn thing....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
A Republican in Hollywood
Someone with the guts to 'out' themselves up in Hollyweird.
By way of California Conservative:
Help! I`m A Hollywood Republican!
Me, I’m a Republican. A conservative Republican. I believe passionately in free market capitalism. I believe in the Second Amendment, i.e., the right to bear arms (I even own several guns and go to the shooting range with friends from shul several times a month). I despise communism and fascism, and I believe there is a special place in hell for Islamic totalitarians and their Western apologists — probably 99.9 percent of Hollywood people.
Let’s be clear about one thing. Hollywood people are glamorous. But that’s about it. They are ill informed about jihad. They are ill informed about Islam. They are ill informed about Israel, the PA, Iraq, Afghanistan. They are ill informed about U.S. history, the Constitution, etc. The truth is, the movie people I’ve met are ignorant about most everything — save the weekend grosses of the top ten films. That they know like human computers.
Bravo Robert!
It's nice to see someone that isn't afraid to be themselves - especially in a 'hostile' environment like Hollywood although I'm thinking that really soon you'll be subjected to the treatment that 'unpossessed' people in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'....sort of like Donald Sutherland pictured here.
Good luck with not being turned into a pod person.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2005
Ouch
This has been a so-so day.
Last night while my wife and I were out, my elbow started hurting a little. This morning, it's almost on fire.
To top this off, the dialysis technician today couldn't seem to jam the *@$## needles into my arm properly; I felt like a human pin cushion!! We eventually had to call over no less than THREE other techs to attempt to get the damn 15-guage needle in.
Crap - two distinct pains in one arm. The only thing that will ease my suffering is to watch some classic sci fi tonight......family permitting.
UPDATE: It turns out that my 'sore' elbow is actually an infection.
Wonderful.
Got some anti-bioltics and some Darvecet to deal with. We'll see what happens...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 06, 2005
Pussification of America Meets Opposiiton
Good for them!
Florida State to sue NCAA over mascot-nickname rule
The NCAA can forget about Florida State University changing its "Seminoles" nickname any time soon.
Stung by an NCAA decision Friday to ban schools using Native American names and symbols from hosting championship events, Florida State President T.K. Wetherell said he will sue the organization for an "outrageous and insulting" decision.
"This university will forever be associated with the "unconquered" spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida," said Wetherell, who played football for the Seminoles 40 years ago.
The NCAA decided to ban the use of American Indian mascots by sports teams during its postseason tournaments, but will not prohibit them otherwise. Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1. Those schools also would not be allowed to host championship events.
Friday's decision comes after the Seminole Tribe of Florida's governing council unanimously approved in mid-June a resolution in support of Florida State's "Seminoles" nickname.
"It is unconscionable that the Seminole Tribe of Florida has been ignored," Wetherell said in a four-paragraph statement released by the university.
"That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole Tribe of Florida as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting," Wetherell said. "I intend to pursue all legal avenues to ensure that this unacceptable decision is overturned."
This 'PC Offensive Name' crap has got to stop. The ironic thing is that when asked, most Native American tribes don't get bent out of shape over the usage of such names as 'Seminoles', 'Braves', 'Apaches', or anything else associated with Native American titles. But when look at who is behind this renaming crap, it's a small group of whiners that find offense in practically anything and everything in the world - especially here in the United States.
It's an epidemic that spreads like AIDS. Hell, even the president of my former college - Southwestern College - gave in to the paranoia and changed the name of the football team there (don't ask why a community college would have a fracking football team) from 'Apaches' to 'Jaguars'. And I remember when he came in and announced this to the Inter-College Council (of which I was a member of at the time) - I told him that he was looking for trouble by changing the name to 'Jaguars' in that he'd have PETA all over his ass about it sooner or later. He stared at me for a moment and then thanked me for my concern.
Now at the graduations we have all sorts of stuffed jaguars that make stupid noises being sold to guests.
There will be some anti-religious psychos that sue to have the San Diego Padres change their name or the New York/San Francisco Giants having to change their names so as not to offend the vertically challenged i.e., midgets or dwarfs.
Then there's the distinct possibility of Greenpeace suing to have the name of the Tennesee Oilers name changed to reflect concern for the environment. Oh wait - they did change their name.....to the Tennessee Titans. Well, that will just royally piss off the anti-Greek god crowd because it yet again implies a religious context.
So here you have another glaring example of the Pussification of America....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 02, 2005
60 Years Later The Whining is Still Loud
Hiroshima, 60 Years Later
I saw this cover a few days ago while standing in line to purchase my Ortega Corn Taco Shells.
From radiation studies to restored photos to the rebuilding of Hiroshima, the web captures the bomb's lasting impact on Hiroshima today
After the atomic bomb was droppped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, historians and survivors, alike, have collected information on the bomb's destruction and future impact. The modern city of Hiroshima now honors its victims with museums, annual ceremonies and peace declarations. To learn about Hiroshima's recovery and read eyewitness accounts from survivors, check out these sites.My first thought was Oh jeez....more whining about this. I thought about it for a few more seconds and confirmed my initial thought - it was whining about it.
I do feel for the woman on the cover having lost her entire family in the fireball that consumed Hiroshima, but that's why they call it WAR. What were we supposed to do - use really, really harsh language!?!
What boggles me is that while everyone is content to whine and bitch & moan about the destructive powere unleshed on innocent civilians, they seem to forget the alternative: the cost in casualties by having to invade the Japanese homeland.
The plans for invading were in two parts: Operation Olympic, the invasion of the Southern Main Island of Kyushu, scheduled for 1 Nov, 1945 and Operation Coronet, to assault the Central Main Island of Honshu, and drive into the Kanto Plain, and Tokyo, set for the Spring of 1946. The casualties projections weren't pretty.
From the Federation of American Scientists' white paper on the of the events leading up to Hiroshima:
With the casualty ratios of those battles applied to Operation Olympic, the estimate for U.S. casualties would have been 94,000 killed and 234,000 wounded.(8) The total casualty estimate of 328,000 equates to 57 percent of the U.S. ground forces slated for Olympic.
And that was only American casualties. The casualty estimates of Japanese civilians were much higher.In addition to U.S. casualties, the Japanese on Kyushu would likely have suffered upwards of 2,000,000 military and civilian casualties. These projected figures for Kyushu far exceed the casualties inflicted by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended the War with Japan.
Up to 2 million military and civilian deaths.Two million.
You would have to have 20 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseums to accommodate two million people.
Had Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet been launched instead of dropping atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there would still be people bitching & moaning about the loss of life and there had to be an alternative to this! shrill speeches.
And I can say that I had a personal stake in the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: my father flew a Navy divebomber in the Pacific during the war and would have most certainly been involved in the invasion of Kyushu and Honshu. Had these invasions taken place there was a significant chance that my father would have either been shot down and captured or been outright killed. And it doesn't take a PhD in time travel theory to decern that had this happened, I would not be here today.
What I'm getting at is that YES, there is much (if not too much) grief, pain, horror, and suffering stemming from the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - I'm not denying that. What is often overlooked is that while there were many, many deaths from the bombings, there would have been more had the United States gone the conventional route.
The bombings were a part of history that takes on a horrific meaning - both bad & good. Bad in that many people died that weren't directly involved in combat operations; good in that there's a lesson to be learned here.....that lesson is: if you're going to start a war, be prepared to reap its rewards and its punishments however harsh. It's called WAR for a reason and if it weren't for events like this, war would be called 'unpleasant disagreement'.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:04 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
July 21, 2005
AMF Michael
First Madonna, now Michael Jackson:
Michael Jackson wants to move to Berlin -newspaper
I wonder what the penalties for child porn and pedophilia are in Germany. Could they be more lenient than California?BERLIN (Reuters) - Michael Jackson wants to move to Berlin because he has fallen in love with the city, his father Joe told Germany's Bild newspaper on Thursday.
The mass-circulation paper and several German dailies said the U.S. pop star, who dangled his baby from the railing of a fourth-floor hotel window on a 2002 visit, was fond of Berlin's zoo, the beauty of nearby Potsdam and supportive European fans.
"Michael Jackson is going to become a Berliner!" Bild wrote on top of its front page. "His father is already looking for a house. The King of Pop wants to move to Berlin -- his father tells Bild in an interview."
Well, in any case - you can have him Germany.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
The Horror
Guantanamo interrogators forced male suspect to wear bra
Oh the horror.UNITED States interrogators at Guantanamo Bay subjected a suspected terrorist to abusive and degrading treatment, forcing him to wear a bra, dance with another man and behave like a dog, military investigators said yesterday.
Will anti-war protesters start wearing bras to 'simulate' this torture like they do with Abu Grahib prisoners knealing with hoods on? I'm sure it'll be a first for some of those female protesters....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 08, 2005
Dukes of Hazzard
I saw the preview for this recently and was surprised to see that they kept the General Lee in it's original form. That is - they're not PC: there's a Confederate flag on the roof of the car.Now, I've grown up in the South and I personally do not equate racism with the Johnny Reb flag. I've always looked upon it as a sign of southern pride - not for starting the freakin Civil War - but for being part of a sub-culture that's recognized all over the world. A sub-culture that prides itself on its cooking, its weather, its beautiful countryside (no pun intended), and its hospitality.
And for anyone that's gonna raise the premise of the Klan, or of Poll Taxes, or of Segregation and how it's all manifested in piece of cloth: jam it.
I grew up in a South that didn't equate blacks below whites. I grew up with one of the first bra-burning feminists in the late 60s/early 70s, so I can confidently say that while I might not exhibit some of the more liberal traits here, I have been educated in them enough to know that they're not all they're cracked up to be - but I digress.
It's a shame that people would look upon a segment of American history and react like it was plutonium; like it or not, that Rebel Flag IS a part of history and burning all of them isn't going to erase a....well, a really fucked up segment of our history. It was a nasty period, but we moved out of it....moved on. Gazing upon a relic from that era doesn't mean that we're racist - it just means that we admire history....good or bad, we admire it.Consider this if you're still steamed about my opinion: many people say that burning the American flag is symbolic - that's it's just a piece of cloth. Think of the Confederate Flag like that and it won't hurt you. Not one-little-bit.
[/amateur historian]
Let us not forget the past unless you're gunning to repeat it.
And here's hoping that I don't get a ton of nasty comments for expressing an opinion....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:02 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 06, 2005
Busticated!
Lying doesn't pay:
Rapper Lil' Kim Gets a Year for Perjury
Sorry, I have no pity for Lil Kim. She lied and she got caught in that lie. Now she's going to jail for a year.
NEW YORK (AP) - Grammy-winning rapper Lil' Kim was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in prison and fined $50,000 for lying to a federal grand jury to protect friends involved in a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station.While many rappers have served time in prison, Lil' Kim is the first big-name female to do so.
Lil' Kim (real name: Kimberly Jones) could have gotten up to 20 years - five years each on three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy - at her sentencing before U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch. She was convicted of the charges in March.
Lil' Kim, who turns 30 next week, was the sidekick and mistress of the late Notorious B.I.G. As a solo artist, she has become known for her revealing outfits and raunchy lyrics. She won a Grammy in 2001 for her part in the hit remake of "Lady Marmalade."
The rapper told the grand jury she did not notice two of her close friends at the scene of the shootout - her manager, Damion Butler, and Suif Jackson, known as "Gutta." Both have pleaded guilty to gun charges.
Jurors at Lil' Kim's trial saw radio station security photos that depicted Butler opening a door for the rap star, and two witnesses who once made records with Lil' Kim said they saw her at the station with Butler and Jackson.
The gun battle happened outside WQHT-FM, known as Hot 97, when Lil' Kim's entourage crossed paths with a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga.
Lil' Kim's group confronted the others about the Capone-N-Noreaga song "Bang, Bang" that contained an insult to Lil' Kim from rival Foxy Brown. One man was hurt in the shootout that followed.
I'm guessing she'll treat this as 'research' and bust out some Gangsta material when she's released.
As one of the girls in my daughter's Girl Scout troop would say: Busticated!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 30, 2005
Some People's Children
By way of Geoffery at Dog Snot Diaries comes a tale that makes you really wonder about some people:
'Mother's Day' too offensive?
Campus administrator says newsletter reference must be 'Parent's Day'A pre-school in Maryland has lost at least one customer after a student's father working on the school's newsletter was told he must change a "Happy Mother's Day" greeting in the publication to "Happy Parent's Day."
David Becker of Kensington, Md., had a 3-year-old son at the Kensington Forest Glen Children's Center, which is overseen by the umbrella organization Montgomery Child Care Association.
"My wife and I have always been very involved with the school and with the teachers," Becker told WND.
The trouble began when Becker, while typing the newsletter, changed a hand-written greeting from "Happy Parent's Day!" to "Happy Mother's Day!" After submitting the final draft, a teacher contacted Becker and said the greeting would have to be changed back to "Happy Parent's Day!"
Becker says originally it was one of the teachers who talked to him about the issue. When he asked why, he says he was referred to an administrator.
This is the type of politically correct....insanty that I fear facing one day at my daughter's school. This fear is magnified because she'll be transferring to middle school (junior high for those that speak English) and I just know that this type of ultra-PC crap will be prevalent there.Becker said he was told: "We cannot say 'Mother's Day' because we might exclude someone."
"I was confused," Becker told WorldNetDaily. "Everybody has a mother. Not everyone has a mother who is alive, but everyone has a mother."
Becker then asked the administrator: "Who would we be offending on Mother's Day?"
The response: "What about families with two fathers?"
Becker then asked about Father's Day. He says he was told: "You can't say 'Father's Day' either."
Retorted Becker: "You are insulting all the parents – the mothers, the fathers, the two-mother families, the two-father families – you're insulting all of them."
The administrator responded, according to Becker: "That's our policy."
Becker says the Mother's Day incident was the "straw that broke the camel's back" and says he won't be sending his son back in the fall.
"I tell the school they can white-out my disrespectful words and my child's registration for the fall semester," Becker wrote in a Washington Post feature called "Life is Short, Autobiography as Haiku."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Flag Burners Arrested
Now here is the difference between people burning a U.S. flag because they cannot formulate a cohesive arguement and a couple of punk kids that are in serious need of an ass-whooping:
Fla. Teens Charged After Allegedly Burning American Flags
Uhhh.....yeah man....burn it!
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Two Sarasota teens accused of burning six American flags have been charged with arson and manufacturing a firebomb.Scott A. Baber and Brian A. Richard III, both 18, told deputies they burned the flags because they are anarchists and disagree with the war in Iraq and other U.S. government policies.
They set fire to six flags Sunday and tried to firebomb a car, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said.
Richard remained in jail Tuesday on $402,120 bail. Baber was released Monday on $101,120 bail.
The pair were charged with arson, manufacture of a fire bomb and criminal mischief.
Baber and Richard burned about five flags at homes in the Bent Tree subdivision, where they live with Baber's parents, then set fire to a flag at its clubhouse, said Lt. Chuck Lesaltato, a spokesman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
"Our deputies came up on them as they were returning to their car," he said.
The arrest of his son surprised Brian Richard II.
"His grandfather was a decorated military man. The whole thing really stunned me. I was really sad that they made that choice," the elder Richard said.
Residents of the golf course community were also upset.
"How stupid," Pat Davidson said, straightening the stones surrounding her blackened flagpole. "What kind of thrill would you get burning an American flag?"
Dumbasses.
The Smoking Gun has a lot more on this:
JUNE 28--Meet Scott Baber and Brian Richard III. The two Floridians, both 18, will hereinafter be referred to as the Baby-faced Anarchists (BA). The duo is facing felony arson charges (among other raps) for a flag-burning spree early Sunday morning. According to sheriff's investigators, the BA drove around a Sarasota subdivision, red gasoline canister in hand, and set fire to several American flags flying outside homes. For his part, Baber, a cook at Tijuana Flats, said he targeted the flag because he "disagreed with Free Trade, how the American Government is being run and the war in Iraq." Richard, who is unemployed and goes by the nickname Lil' B, said he torched Old Glory "because of who stands behind the American flag," adding that he disagrees with the Iraq war and believes President Bush has brainwashed Americans. Facing many years in prison, perhaps the BA may want to consider fashioning a better defense of their antics.
Hope you two enjoy sitting in jail with guys that will make you squeal like pigs....you dumbass punks. At least some barking moonbats have the intelligence to take the flag down before torching it.Damn...you mother's must be really PROUD of you.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:58 PM | Comments (6)
June 28, 2005
News Roundup
Just what every president needs: advice from the guy who lost the election
Dead horse beaten into crimson stain: No abuse at Gitmo
Russia stumping for 'Most Stupid Nation on Planet' award: Russia wants to build more nuke reactors for Iran
Submitted without comment: Flesh-eating aliens were chasing me
Somehow, President Bush will be blamed for this: Internet crashes in Pakistan
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:49 AM | Comments (1)
June 23, 2005
Supreme Crap
This is a complete load of crap:
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes
To be honest, I don't own property but this would make me really think about where I'd buy it.WASHINGTON -- Cities may bulldoze people's homes to make way for shopping malls or other private development, a divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday, giving local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.
In a scathing dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the decision bowed to the rich and powerful at the expense of middle-class Americans.
The 5-4 decision means that homeowners will have more limited rights. Still, legal experts said they didn't expect a rush to claim homes.
"The message of the case to cities is yes, you can use eminent domain, but you better be careful and conduct hearings," said Thomas Merrill, a Columbia law professor specializing in property rights.
The closely watched case involving New London, Conn., homeowners was one of six decisions issued Thursday as the court neared the end of its term. The justices are scheduled to release their final six rulings, including one on the constitutionality of Ten Commandments displays on public property, on Monday.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, said New London could pursue private development under the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property if the land is for public use, since the project the city has in mind promises to bring more jobs and revenue.
"Promoting economic development is a traditional and long accepted function of government," Stevens wrote, adding that local officials are better positioned than federal judges to decide what's best for a community.
My thinking on this is that if there was any 'choice' property to be snatched up, some people will re-consider buying for fear that it'll be stolen from them. This is gonna make people want to buy property in area(s) that are out of the way and not near urban centers.
Way to go Justice Stevens - you've just increased 'suburban sprawl' and increased the pressure on people looking to sell property.
What do you bet that in the next week that someone in Congress - Republican or Democrat - will introduce legislation to kill this ruling?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:21 PM | Comments (4)
June 18, 2005
Hysteria Under a Microscope
I always find that putting information into a cohesive format makes the information a lot easier to understand.
From a new blog that I've never heard of and will make all attempts to read it on a daily basis comes a comparison of what Dr. Sanity calls 'MSM hysteria' and how they don't seem to see the 'bigger picture'.
Beautiful Indifference
It's almost like watching a child throw a temper tantrum and for all the wrong reasons.Curiously, because they are journalists, and I would think that journalistic instincts are easily aroused by curiosity, the crop of journalists we must deal with today seem to be suffering from a form of mass hysteria. Their journalistic insticts; their curiosity; their "nose" for a story has been severely impaired--almost paralyzed you could say, and they don't much seem to care!
Here is a partial listing (in no particular order) of what the media is Obsessed by (on the LEFT) , compared to what they appear Indifferent to (on the Right):(Hat tip to the Analog Kid at RNS for steering me to this)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:04 PM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2005
Don't Doink
Pope Promotes Abstinence to Fight AIDS
Seems quite simple: don't doink around with lots of people and you severely reduce the chances of contracting the Black Plaque of the 20th century.VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI urged African bishops Friday to keep up their fight against AIDS, reiterating church teaching that abstinence is the only "fail-safe" way to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Pope's simple message reminds me of something Sam Kinison once professed:
If you don't trust the pu**y, why are you fu*king the pu**y!?
Next time you get that I-gotta-get-me-some-of-that-fine-looking-stuff feeling when looking at a member of the opposite sex (yes, chicks do stupid things too) just consider if DEATH is worth getting a piece of trim or a hot meat-stick....Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:53 AM | Comments (17)
June 08, 2005
People Steaks from PETA
Must be nice to have lots of time to do dipstick things like this.
From those 'touched' geniuses at PETA comes.....People Steaks!
Makes me want to go grill some animals now....
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, member Chris Link of Norfolk, Va., top, adjusts the cellophane covering on the costume of demonstrator Dezeray Rubinchik of Philadelphia, top right, during a protest in front of the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I., Monday, June 6, 2005
The protest, in which three people placed themselves in containers resembling supermarket meat trays, was meant to compare eating meat with cannibalism. PETA member Karolina Colwill of Sioux Falls, S.D., appears center.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:35 AM | Comments (5)
June 06, 2005
Need Clicks
Hey - I need more people to click on those ads on the left.
Please.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:25 PM | Comments (1)
If Only....
.....this was the definition by which I went through life every day....
You are the king of smooth -- enough said.
Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz.
(Glommed from Analog Kid at Random Nuclear Strikes)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:10 PM | Comments (2)
June 02, 2005
Ted's Meds
Turner: CNN Focuses Too Much on Perverts
Well, if barking moonbat liberals like Ted would allow us to execute perverts then there would be a lot less news about them....huh, Ted?
"I would like to see us to return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and, maybe, maybe a little less of the pervert of the day," he said in a speech to CNN employees outside the old Atlanta mansion where the network first aired.And this is the one thing that made me guffaw out loud:
And at one point he claimed partial credit for ending the Cold War.
Don't really know how to respond to this one Ted. I do know that you had about as much in ending the Cold War as Barney the Purple Dinosaur though.Amanpour asked his if he honestly thought he had a hand in it.
"I'm absolutely certain I did," he said.
Ted - really...take the medication. It's for your own good.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)
May 26, 2005
Who Are You
Sitting here in the Sun God Lounge working on Control Systems homework and I found the gem of homework music in my music library: The Who. And the perfect song for Control systems?? Who Are You.
Pity though.....I can't blast it here so I have to just enjoy it on headphones and try not to sing along with Roger Daltry....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:36 AM | Comments (1)
May 25, 2005
Burger King is EVIL!!
Group asks Burger King to halt 'Star Wars' deal
Oh please shut up. Organizations like this are why the average IQ in America are so low....The Force may — or may not — be with Burger King's latest Star Wars-themed Kids Meals.
One day after a record-shattering weekend for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, an advocacy group is asking Burger King to stop the tie-in of its Kids Meals with the film because it is rated PG-13.
The same group, Dove Foundation, got McDonald's 13 years ago to apologize for "confusion" from its promotion of PG-13 Batman Returns with Happy Meals. Now, it's going after BK's latest Kids Meal promotion — targeted at kids ages 4 to 9. The meals feature characters from Sith or other Star Wars films.
"When Burger King puts that in a Kids Meal, there's an implicit endorsement of the movie," says Dick Rolfe, chairman of Dove Foundation.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:39 PM | Comments (5)
Sucking Eggs
Air America Radio is finding out that you cannot simply get a few millionaires to back you and throw money at the radio to make an impression:
Time For New Excuses?
I occasionally tune in KLSD to hear the constant screech of crap from Air America Radio, mostly from Randi Rhodes. She seems to constantly be whining/screeching like she's just woken up from a nap and found her house full of armadillos.Liberals Flat, Others Mixed, Air America Owes Wages
Newly released Arbitron radio ratings bring some questions to mind, such as:
--- Will Air America's apologists finally come up with a fresh batch of excuses, after insisting more time was needed for it to catch on? Isn't that one getting stale?
--- Will some of the traditional talk stations, now showing audience declines, make changes soon?
The Radio Equalizer has been providing a monthly forum for discussing talk radio's national performance, broken down city-by-city and based on available data. There's been a consistent pattern of lackluster showings by liberal talk radio stations running Air America and other "progressive" programming.
This month's data, so far, has not provided any rays of hope for the leftist talk radio format.
[....]
KOGO-AM takes a half-share dip from recent highs, to a 4.8 share from a 5.3. Nothing to sound the alarm over, yet. This is the Limbaugh station in San Diego.
Rival KFMB-AM hasn't recovered from a massive recent ratings drop, which took it from a 4.8 to a 3.2. This is the Savage affiliate for the market. A lack of local programming has stalled this station.
Air America's KLSD-AM weighs in at a flat 1.6 share, no change since last month, but off the earlier high of 2.3. This is the station touted as lib talk's great hope, but it's in no danger of taking off, ever.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: you cannot just create an audience of radio listeners and expect to take off like a Saturn IIB rocket.
Ehh....they'll tank inside a year.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:42 AM | Comments (3)
May 23, 2005
Buried Alive
When will this crap end?
Suspect Charged After Fla. Girl Buried Alive
Jesus Jumpin Christ - what will it take for this to end?LAKE WORTH, Fla. — An 8-year-old girl who was raped and buried alive told a friend she remembers her attacker towering over her before she passed out, then awoke seven hours later beneath a pile of rocks and concrete blocks when she heard the voices of rescuers.
The girl, who had been staying overnight at her godmother's house, was reported missing early Sunday. She was hospitalized in good condition Monday and a teenage boy who also had been staying at the home was arrested. Authorities said he confessed.
"She said the last thing she remembers is that he looked over her with these big eyes and then she said she went to sleep. She said she was waiting for us to find her," said 18-year-old Danielle Holloman, a family friend who calls the girl her sister.
[...]
Authorities said Milagro Cunningham, 17, confessed and was charged with attempted murder, sexual battery on a child under 12, and false imprisonment of a victim under age 13, police said. A court appearance was scheduled Monday.
The teen initially told investigators that the girl may have been abducted by five men in a station wagon, and that he tried to follow them. He changed his story during questioning, Boland said.
Just thank God that she's alive.
I'll stick with my original proposal: public executions with a .45 calibre slug in the head.
Seriously.
And put it on pay-per-view.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:39 PM | Comments (5)
Beyond Wiped
Went up to Disneyland yesterday as a chaperone for my daughter's Girl Scout troop and I am beyond wiped/dead.
It always amazes me that 10-year old girls have that much energy! We started out in the park around 8:30 am and I was just stone-cold dead-on-my-feet by 10:00 am! And by 7:00 pm....well, not even crack cocaine would have revived me.
The nice part is that even though it was a recipe for crankiness with the temperatre being on the H-O-T side and all the walking we did, all of the girls were extremely well-behaved (as they typically are) and everyone had a great time.
I took some great photos of the park and of the troop; I might post some this coming week....if I recover that is.
Word of Advice: if you go to Disneyland with a big group (or even a small one), designate one person to be the FASTPASS runner. One of the troop leaders would constantly sprint away and get FASTPASS tickets for the really busy rides and they enabled us to avoid at least an hour of waiting in the broiling sun. They are indeed worth the effort to get them in advance!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
Down the Crapper
Yup.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:59 PM | Comments (11)
Gagging, not Homphobia
Via John Hawkins at Right Wing News:
Most readers will know that I don't place a metric ton of faith into pollings, but this does give a bit of impact on the wooden stake being pounded into the chest of the 'right-wing homophobia' monster.
While the numbers can be a bit sketchy and possibly the way the questions were asked might be iffy, the overall result is still the same IMO - having 'gay marriage' brought to the fore-front of political discussion results in what I talked about before: throwing this crap in our faces constantly will result in people getting fed up with it.
Gay Marriage!! Gay Marriage!! Gay Marriage!! Gay Marriage!! Gay Marriage!!
Uhhhh.....Hell no!!
This graphic does shed a little light on the topic and the resulting thunder-clap is resounding: many Americans aren't too keen on having gay marriage brought into the American lexicon. You will not that this isn't an indication of gay concentration camps nor is it an indication (unless you're part of the Barking Moonbat Brigade) of directed hate/discontent at homosexuals - it is an indication IMO of a BIG chunk of people just getting tired of having gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-gay jammed down their throats and when they gag being called 'homophobes'.
Action - REaction. So simple that even a first-year physics student can get it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:27 AM | Comments (21)
May 14, 2005
Combatting Spammers
Hey, I need a favor: I want everyone to send me all sorts of useless crap to my Hotmail account: madmikey1@hotmail.com. Please, this account ONLY.
I'm trying to get the Inbox soooo full that any spam coming in will be bounced back to the spammers.
I know, it's a useless attempt to stop this 'plague of locusts' in the digital age, but it's worth the attempt. And even though I have another primary e-mail account, I still use this one for some things.
So....send me all sorts of useless crap - the larger the file, the better.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:35 PM | Comments (3)
May 10, 2005
Nobody's Home Dumbass
I'm sitting here in the Sun God Lounge at school, reading the news and blogs in my links section and I start to here a cell phone ring.
Like practically everyone on the planet, I stop what I'm doing for a second and reach for my cell on my belt and as soon as I reach it, I realize that it's not my phone.
Okay - not mine.....who's is it?
It's sitting in a backpack about 15 feet from me at another computer station here in the lounge.
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!!
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!!
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!! After about the 2oth ring, I'm wondering if the owner will suddently rush up to answer it.
Oh hell no - they're no where in sight.
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!!
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!!
R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g!!! The freakin phone rings constantly for about 2 minutes and I'm wondering does the caller know that there's no one home??
Apparently the caller is a retard and is convinced that their call will draw their intended recipient from anywhere in the world.
Can people really be that stupid to think that if their call isn't picked up in three to five rings that letting it continue for THREE MINUTES will make any difference!?
It's a freakin miracle that humans survived being eaten by dinosaurs.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:32 AM | Comments (1)
May 06, 2005
Student Suspended for Phone Call from Iraq
Student Suspended for Phone Conversation with Mom....calling from Iraq
Kevin Francois gave up his lunch break to talk to his mother, but it ended up costing him the rest of the school year.
Francois, a junior at Spencer High School in Columbus, was suspended for disorderly conduct Wednesday after he was told to give up his cell phone at lunch while talking to his mother who is deployed in Iraq, he said.
If I had been that kid, that teacher would be nursing a bloody nose for attempting to grab the phone...His mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, left in January for a one-year tour and serves with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
"This is our first time separated like this," said Francois, 17, on Thursday.
Bates came to Fort Benning with her son from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga. She enrolled him at Spencer in August. Since her deployment overseas, Francois, whose father was killed when he was 5 years old, lives with a guardian who has five children in Columbus.
The incident happened when Francois received a call from his mother at 12:30 p.m., which he said was his lunch break. Francois said he went outside the school building to get a better reception when his mother called. A teacher who saw Francois on his phone told him to get off the phone. But he didn't.
According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education's policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but cannot use them during school hours.
"They are really allowed to have those cell phones so that after band or after chorus or after the debate and practices are over they have to coordinate with the parents," said Alfred Parham, assistant principal at Spencer. "They're not supposed to use them for conversating back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging each other for test questions."
Francois said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."
Francois said the teacher tried to take the phone, causing it to hang up.
The student said he then went with the teacher to the school's office where he surrendered his phone. His mother called again at 12:37 p.m. and left a message scolding her son about hanging up and telling him to answer the phone when she calls.
I understand the need to keep the kids off their phones during school, but you'd think that the administation would cut Kevin some slack considering that the call was from his mother in Iraq.
Freakin dipsticks.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:02 PM | Comments (4)
Athletic Bias
SUPPORT THIS PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER
My intial read of this says that there might be more to this than appears, but it's still has all the appeal of a 10 pound bag of Cricket Crap from Dicker & Dicker of Beaverly Hills.From the unbelievable public school follies file. Well, actually, entirely believable:
A Gwinnett County teacher was fired early Friday after refusing to raise a student athlete's grade he lowered because the student appeared to be sleeping in class.
Blogger Winfield Myers has been following the story and has much more. Students are trying to rally around Neace. 114 of them have signed a petition asking for his reinstatement.The Gwinnett County School Board voted 4-1 early Friday _ after a marathon Thursday night meeting _ to fire Dacula High School science teacher Larry Neace, said school system spokeswoman Sloan Roach.
Contact info for the Gwinnett County School Board is here.
This is one of the reasons that I chose UC San Diego over San Diego State University - athlete's in the classroom.
Now, athletes aren't the scourge of the univerese - trigonometry is - but IMHO I see no reason for colleges to have any sort of athletic program outside of Phys Ed.
None what-so-ever.
And I don't see the logic is allowing jocks to slide where I'm busting my ass and in the end of things I'll be an engineering making lives better for people whereas the jock is pulling down seven figures in what ultimately comes down to 'playing a game'.
Sorry, you won't get any sympathy from me about the 'poor athlete struggling to stay awake cause they had an AWAY game and were on the bus all night'. B-O-O H-O-O.
You also won't be getting any alumni contributions to get the team new uniforms. Let them do a bake sales or a car wash...
Anyway...this is crap. That school board knows it, the students know it, and now lots more people know it.
And that student athlete sleeping in class? Throw erasers at him....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2005
Tuesday Afternoon in my Life
Nothing interesting to post about this afternoon.Dialysis was just *cough* wonderful...recovering from the mass sodimization everyone in ECE 107 had this morning with a midterm.
Sitting through a lecture right now in Digital Circuits class that would put anphetimine freaks to sleep. Honestly, the prof is a nice guy (he admitted me even though I didn't meet the prerequisites), but his lecture style needs a bit of improvement.
And now I'm getting IM'd from my cousin in Washington, D.C.
So, I thought I'd put up a beatiful painting of the plane my father flew in World War II - the Curtiss SB-2C Helldiver divebomber. The bonus of this painting is that the white stripes on the vertical stabilizer were the markings of my fathers air group - Air Group 9 on the USS Lexington. (Pretty sure it was Lexington....) My father's squadron was Bombing 9. As my brother says: Good stuff.
(Painter can be located at Dave's Warbirds.)
UPDATE: The website says that this painting is of one of USS Hancock's bombers. Honest - I was always told that Air Group 9 on USS Lexington had the white stripes on the vertical stabilizer.
I'll have to chat with my brother Tim and clarify this.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:31 PM | Comments (1)
May 02, 2005
Say What? Behind the Counter?
Oh good - another example of people wanting to regulate practically every freakin aspect of your life in the name of 'protecting you'
Group Pushes Restricting of Cold Medicine
Ain't this great? Not only do you have to stand in line to get something for the creeping crud, but they'll want to know exactly who you are.WASHINGTON - An association representing more than 36,000 pharmacies is issuing guidelines for possible federal legislation to restrict sales of cold medications containing a substance often used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine — or "speed."
Pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient in a number of over-the-counter drugs like Sudafed, Nyquil and Sinutab, can be extracted by boiling down the cold medicines; toxic chemicals are then used to turn the substance into highly concentrated meth.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores, moving to avoid a hodgepodge of state laws, is calling for an overarching federal law that would require that such products be kept behind the pharmacy counter and sold only by a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy personnel.
Purchases should be limited to 9 grams — or 366 30-milligram pills — in 30 days, the association says.
The guidelines also suggest that drugstores be required to keep written or electronic logs of all pseudoephedrine purchases to assist law enforcement efforts.
Oh and here's something that's really possible: if pharmacy's have to start stacking this stuff behind the counter, who do you think will be paying the extra money for the stock clerks and pharmacy techs to do this?? It sure as hell won’t be Sav-On or Walgreens - it'll be you.
I understand the reasoning behind this - San Diego was at one point (and maybe still is today?) known as the crystal meth capital of the world. Believe me - we've got a TON of crystal freaks, mostly out in the East County and in the South Bay. You don't need to impress upon me the need to crack down (no pun intended) on this crap, but this is ridiculous.
Just another example of trying to deal with a problem by regulating the crap out of everything slighly associated with it. Now where did I put my 14 cases of Vicks.....?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:29 AM | Comments (4)
April 25, 2005
Gay Pride - Gay Annoyance
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....
I was laughing my ass off at that quaint analogy: Homosexuals and junkyard mutts!!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.Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:33 PM | Comments (1)
April 24, 2005
Lazy Cat
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.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:52 PM | Comments (2)
April 22, 2005
Arrested for a Citizen's Arrest
Now ain't this F'd up?
GI: I held migrants in self-defense
WTF is the world coming to when someone does what the freakin police are supposed to do and gets arrested?
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 aliensundocumented 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
Smart move Mr. Thomas.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."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:45 AM | Comments (3)
April 20, 2005
Saliva Assault
Not the best way to express one's opinion:
Police: Man Arrested For Spitting On Jane Fonda
Jane, considering how betrayed most Vietnam Vets feel when they're reminded about your actions back in early 70s, you're lucky he didn't power puke on you. And if he had, you'd deserve it.
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.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
The Message
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....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
Coming Soon: Monkey Cop
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.
Kind of reminds me of the line from the Disney movie Aladdin: "The monkey's got a sword!!"
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...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:26 PM | Comments (1)
Grooving Line
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.
What I dig about this particular bass line is the pre-chorus which has this tight yet rambing segment.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)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2005
Going Deaf One Lowrider at a Time
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.)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Looking into the Past from Orbit
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.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:00 PM | Comments (2)
April 14, 2005
Global Office Warming
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....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:17 AM | Comments (1)
April 12, 2005
Go To T=300K Immediately
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
Sounds like these four boys need to be taught what being quartered is like....and I'm serious: these kids just need to be taken out of the gene pool and taken to room temperature immediately.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.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2005
Sling Em Home
Huh.
Flight Plans? DHS May Resume Airlifting Mexican Illegals Back Home
As an eco-friendly type person, I feel I should point out that this would just be introducing more flurocarbons into the atmosphere from the jet engine's exhaust.
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....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:55 PM | Comments (4)
April 07, 2005
Stupid is as Stupid Does...
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
As with this case and almost everytime that I get screwed at the drive-though cause they cannot understand NO PICKLES!!, I am reminded that it doesn't take an advanced degree in rocket propulsion theory to work at some places.
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]
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)
Illegal T-Shirt?
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
Bryan is/was the former editor of UCSD's most excellent humor newspaper The Koala.
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!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:49 PM | Comments (6)
Shread Thread I
Mikey start another thread where I can blast this a$$hole...
Just a general thread to shread that special someone in the blogsphere...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:16 AM | Comments (2)
April 06, 2005
The Catchin' is Good
Minutemen catch 141 illegals so far
No incidents so far and if there are any, what do you want to bet it's not because of the Minutemen?
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.
I'm guessing that this guyAs 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.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:41 AM | Comments (3)
March 29, 2005
RIP Johnnie Cochran
Smack your head, Johnnie is dead:
Famed Atty Johnnie Cochran Dies
Rest in Peace Johnnie.(CBS/AP) Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who became a legal superstar after helping clear O.J. Simpson during a sensational murder trial in which he uttered the famous quote "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died Tuesday. He was 67.
Cochran died of a brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles, his family said.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:39 PM | Comments (5)
March 25, 2005
Terri Schiavo
I've resisted the urge to blog about Terri Schiavo for the simple reason that I don't know which way to feel about her situation.On one hand, I completely understand the notion to honor her wishes (as related by her husband) to not be maintained on life support. I've told my wife in the past that I too do not wish to be maintained on a machine (or other means) if I was 'gone' mentally. Now I have to get it in writing soon so as not to burdern her with this type of grief.
On the other hand, the full weight of the law concerning this is all based on what the husband is reported to have heard from Terri and it would seem that to 'convict' someone of a crime simply based on hearsay is putting the entire will-to-live versus right-to-die argument on very shaky grounds.
All I can really say about Terri and her situation is this: my hopes and prays are with her and her family that this will end soon and that all will find some sort of peace in their hearts.
One additional hope: please - for the love of God - do NOT make this a plank in some political argument, left OR right. It serves no purpose to use this woman's life as ammunition. Doing so only makes this entire situation seem cheap and tawdry and it makes the one using it appear to be the type of person that would hide behind anyone.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:05 PM | Comments (5)
March 23, 2005
Revisionist History, Revisionist Fact
There's always the element of sheer stupidity that pops up in American culture every so often and here's something that meets that criteria:
School to vote on renaming Jefferson Elementary
President's slave holdings perturb families, teachers
Parents, students and teachers at Berkeley's Thomas Jefferson Elementary School will soon vote on whether to rename their school because the nation's third president was a slave owner.The question of whether to rename the school has been debated for more than two years -- since several teachers, including an African American mother of three former Jefferson students, said Jefferson's moniker offended them and suggested a name change.
On Monday, Principal Betty Delaney released a list of potential new names -- one nominated by a student, the rest by adults. Parents, students and teachers must first vote on a new name, then take a second vote on whether to replace Jefferson with the new name.
The school board must officially approve any name change.
Contenders for the new name included Ralph Bunche, the African American diplomat at the United Nations who was the first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize; farmworker organizer Cesar Chavez; and Florence McDonald, the late Berkeley city councilwoman, leftist political leader and mother of singer Country Joe McDonald.
Other names suggested were Sojourner Truth, a woman who fled slavery in New York in 1828 and became one of the best-known abolitionist orators; Ohlone -- for the indigenous people who lived in Berkeley before European settlers arrived; Peace; Rose; and Sequoia.
Marguerite Talley-Hughes, a kindergarten teacher at Jefferson who is African American, said she thinks it is reasonable to want a name that is not offensive to some in the school community.
"It's very clear that the name is offensive to a significant part of the population,'' said Hughes, who lives in the neighborhood and sent her own three children to Jefferson.
"There's no reason we can't have a name that everyone likes and can feel good about,'' she said.
I came across this early this morning over at Michael King's site (another Munuvian) where he had this to say about it:
So they figure that naming the school after a former US President is offensive.
The 'dipstick' factor here is that if you went through all of America's schools, libraries, parks, bridges, buildings, etc, and renamed them because of some nasty aspect of their historical prescence is offensive by today's standards, well....it would be a multi-generational undertaking.And people wonder why I refer to the place as "Berserkley."
Just damn.
For example: if we were to follow this trend of renaming public institutions because the namesake was B-A-D, then I guess we'd have to re-name all of the high schools that are named after Robert E. Lee - GENERAL Robert E. Lee, Confederate States of America.(Ironically, the first one on the list is in Fairfax County Public Schools where I went to high school. Not Lee, but George C. Marshall High School)
And you know what? Most of the kids going to any of the Robert E. Lee high schools wouldn't give a fig for the fact that Lee was fighting for the Confederate States. They'd probably just say "It's part of our history" and leave it at that. At least, that's what I'd do.
To those num-nums that think they're doing people and society a service by trying to eradicate all traces of B-A-D stuff from our history: don't. You're just making a fool out of yourselves and of our history.
YES, slavery in American history was a deplorable institution and it took way too long to eradicate both it and it's legacies from modern America, but it IS part of what makes America the nation today that it is. Accept history for what it is - something that happened in the PAST - learn from history, and work to prevent it from happening again if there was some part that was indeed B-A-D.
And if you insist upon revamping history cause you're 'offended', you'd better roll up your sleeves for all the stuff in West Virginia that's named after Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)....former Grand Kleagle of the Ku Kluz Klan. (Yeah - him).
Going back and (pardon the pun) 'whiting-out' all the nasty stuff just makes you look...well, stupid.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:23 PM | Comments (11)
A Question of Ethics
Hey all you engineering types - I have a question concerning work-place ethics that I need to bounce off you.
Drop me an e-mail and I'll mass-mail it to everyone => madmikey1-IN THE DIRECTION OF-hotmail-PERIOD TYPE UNIT-com.
(Hopefully, you'll all 'get it' with that)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)
Preventative Bifurcation
Suspect worked at Jessica's school
Yet another reason to just deal with these vermin as soon as they're found guilty: 9mm excavation of the cranium.HOMOSASSA - For five months, convicted sex offender John Evander Couey worked as a mason's helper at Homosassa Elementary School, where 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford attended class.
A mason on the job said Couey had direct contact with students and teachers during the project, though it was unknown whether he had contact with Jessica.
Before that, Couey, who was formally arrested Monday in connection with Jessica's death, worked on the Crystal River Middle School remodeling project.
"Oh, my God," said School Board member Ginger Bryant. "I can't believe he ever set foot on any of our school sites. I feel yucky. I'm ready to throw up."
Harsh? Maybe, but these scumbags did something to merit such a severe punishment; Jessica didn't.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:46 AM | Comments (5)
March 18, 2005
You Scumbag!
Damn - just finished my last exam for the quarter and was looking forward to posting about it until I read this story on FoxNews. If this isn't a good enough reason to just outright execute all sex-offenders, I don't know what is:
Cops: Couey Admits to Killing Girl
You freakin scumbag!!
A registered sex offender has confessed to killing Jessica Lunsford, the 9-year-old Florida girl who has been missing since February, police said Friday."I've got my man," Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy told a news conference.
Authorities said that John Evander Couey admitted that he abducted Jessica from her bedroom more than three weeks ago. He also told them the general area where the young girl's body could be found, according to police.
Yet another reason to come down on these scumbags like a freakin anvil and eliminate a threat to society....just blow their brains out and then there's no reason to worry if these piles of filth can possibly be a threat to children.
This clown had better pray to the pedophile god that he isn't left alone for a minute in prison.....Damn it - this hits a little too close to home for me.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:26 PM | Comments (4)
Short Straw
Damn - I'm wondering if they had to draw straws to determine which model would drastically shorten her career by strutting the runway wearing this concoction.
It reminds me of some of the funky costumes I saw at the San Diego Comic Con a few years back.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Perspective
I'm sitting here in the library listening to songs that I've downloaded from iTunes when I should be preparing for my last final exam and I'm hit with a perspective that makes me feel old: music form 25 years ago is so much better than the crap that's being pumped out today.
Case in point: I'm listening to I Know There's Something Going On by Frida - I've had the song going through my head for weeks - well, the opening drums anyway - and I finally thought to get it. So I'm listening to it and I think about the technology utilized to put this album together.I thought about the level of recording technology that's available today and I'm still amazed that recordings sounded so good for that 'primitive' ability.
I listen to Tina Turner/Bryan Adams singing It's Only Love and again I'm hit with a warm & fuzzy feeling of hearing an era of music that won't be heard again.Then I listen to Joe Satriani on One Big Rush and yet again, there is a style of music that's faded from view: the Guitar Hero.
Ugh - maybe I'm just nostalgic and missing those days of getting an actual vinyl record and slapping it on a turntable. Cause when I listen to stuff from the 80s, I get that over-whelming feeling of trying to teach these kids here at school what it's like to rock....old school cause practically all of the crap coming out today is IMO only so much white noise. (And no, that wasn't a racist comment.)
I guess it's all just a matter of perspective and how that perspective is utilized.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:24 AM | Comments (6)
March 14, 2005
Ring-Ring!?
Poll: Public Cell Phone Use Annoys Most
No, not them talking on their phones - just those fracking annoying and idiotic ringtones. Especially with those clowns in my classes that forget to silence their phones AND can't seem to understand that it's their freaking phone that's ringing....WASHINGTON - A majority of cell phone users acknowledge they get irritated at other people for using cell phones in a public place.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:25 AM | Comments (3)
Union of Forrest Gump
Sometimes the capacity for some person or organization to just baffle me with their actions is limitless:
Marines driven out of UAW lot
And the UAW is correct: they do have the right to show their dissatisfaction with how members of the United States Marine Corps choose whom to vote for and for what type of vehicle they choose to drive by pulling a childish stunt such as this one.
DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers says Marine reservists should show a little more semper fi if they want to use the union's parking lot.The Marine Corps motto means "always faithful," but the union says some reservists working out of a base on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit have been decidedly unfaithful to their fellow Americans by driving import cars and trucks.
So the UAW International will no longer allow members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines to park at Solidarity House if they are driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers
"While reservists certainly have the right to drive nonunion made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn't mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by the members of the UAW," the union said in a statement released Friday.
Shocked and disappointed, the Marines are pulling out.
If they want to shoot themselves in the foot - repeatedly - that's their prerogative.
Of course, Marines (and everyone else in the nation for that matter) also have the right to show their dissatisfaction with how the UAW acts like a spoiled child, especially when considering their next vehicle purchase. You see - free will works for everyone, especially when a sizable chunk of change is involved.
Hey, nobody said life had to be fair and equitable and if you proceed to alienate your consumer-base with psuedo-Forrest Gump maneuvers, be prepared to pay the bill when it's placed on the table.
UPDATE: The Marines have secured another parking lot and have told the UAW to go pound sand after they try to 'make nice' at damage control:
The United Auto Workers union waved a white flag Monday in its parking skirmish with neighboring reservists, but the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines are not accepting surrender.
Too late UAW - you pissed off the Marines and a lot of Americans who will give their next car purchase some serious thought.Facing intense criticism, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger reversed his decision to ban Marine Corps reservists driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers from parking at the union's Solidarity House headquarters in Detroit.
"I made the wrong call on the parking issue, and I have notified the Marine Corps that all reservists are welcome to park at Solidarity House as they have for the past 10 years," Gettelfinger said in a statement.
Wounded by what they consider an unpatriotic ambush, the Marines rejected the union's olive branch and secured an alternative parking lot.
"I talked to Ron; I let him know that I understand he has rescinded his decision," said Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge, a top-ranking officer at the reserve infantry rifle battalion. "However, I've made my decision -- either you support the Marines or you don't."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:27 AM | Comments (1)
March 11, 2005
Say What? Bonehead Manuever
Um.....yeah - here's a monumentally bad idea:
Vancouver Tries Free Heroin Program
This is a bad move on so many different levels.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Just over the United States northwest border, addicts will soon be able to get their fix from the Canadian government in the form of free heroin administered by nurses and doctors on the taxpayer's dime."They're using heroin. They'll continue to use heroin. What we're trying to do is prevent them from getting something irreversible like HIV, hep [hepatitis] C and overdose death,†said Dr. Martin Schechter, the director of the heroin program.
Vancouver is the first city to take part in the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, which plans to enroll 470 participants at three sites in Canada. The Toronto and Montreal sites are expected to begin recruiting candidates this spring.
Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham is among supporters who say the heroin giveaway will let junkies shoot up without having to resort to theft or prostitution to buy their drugs. Breaking that cycle of crime, they argue, is the first step toward turning an addict's life around.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:43 AM | Comments (12)
New Goal
Dispite all that's happening to me these days, I've got yet another goal to aim for when I finish UCSD - going back to playing my bass guitar and eventually getting one of these bad boys:
This is the Billy Sheehan Signature Model Attitude LTDII bass guitar and it will be mine. And I'll get one of these to rattle the plaster.
If you don't know who Billy Sheehan is, go here and get a clue or two. The man is almost God-like in his playing and his technique. His is a style that I strive to attain in my playing.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2005
A Pest to Many
Another sad case of Post Election Stress Trauma (PEST)
Police: Bush/Cheney bumper sticker sent man into road rage
Will this get much attention? I bet if it was some psycho-Republican chasing down a mother and her child cause she has a Kerry/Edwards sticker it sure as hell would.
TAMPA - A Tampa man is out of jail after a possible road rage incident that gives new meaning to the term "driving left of center."Nathan Winkler, 31, was arrested overnight and charged with aggravated stalking for allegedly terrorizing a mother and her two children.
According to police, Winkler pulled up alongside Michelle Fernandez as she was headed south on Armenia and began beeping his horn and flailing his arms, pointing at her. Fernandez, meanwhile, could not see Winkler's face because of a handmade sign in his window that read, "Never forget Bush's illegal oil war murdered thousands in Iraq."
"Apparently, this starts over political views or bumper stickers. She had a Bush/Cheney sticker on the back of her car. There's just no excuse for it to escalate to what it did," observed Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin.
Winkler apparently grew more agitated as they continued to drive along, allegedly trying to run Fernandez's car off the road several times over the next few miles.
UPDATE: Michelle Malking refers to this as Democrats Gone Wild!....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:03 AM | Comments (4)
March 08, 2005
Say What? Illegal Thin Mints
Oh My God - let's give this cop a medal:
Man Ticketed For Selling Girl Scout Cookies With Daughter
Clap.
NEW YORK -- A Long Island man was ticketed in Brooklyn for selling Girl Scout cookies with his 13-year-old daughter.Hoi Louis was in Williamsburg delivering the cookies with his daughter over the weekend. Louis said it was his old neighborhood, before he moved to Bethpage, and he and his daughter have been selling Girl Scout cookies there since his daughter was in first grade.
At 4:50 p.m. Saturday a police captain and a uniformed officer pulled up to their van as they were unloading cookies. Louis said the captain from the 94th Precinct ticketed him for selling cookies without a license.
The NYPD said the man and his daughter were not delivering the cookies, but instead were selling the cookies from a table they had set up on the street.
The child's grandmother, who was in the van, said her granddaughter was frightened by the police and the girl's father was flabbergasted.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap. Brilliant - just brilliant. This cop deserves a medal or a commendation for thwarting this heinous crime.....I mean, we all know how addictive those Dos-si-dos are.
(Reminder to Self: Get more Dos-si-dos from munchkin before going out to sell cookies....)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:06 PM | Comments (2)
March 07, 2005
Ann-Margret is a Class Act
I've always thought of Ann-Margret as a classy lady and this story proves it once-and-for-all. It freaking rocks....
Richard, my husband, never really talked a lot about his time in Viet Nam other than he had been shot by a sniper.
He had a rather grainy, 8X10 black & white photo he had taken at a USO show of Ann-Margaret with Bob Hope in the background that one of his treasures.
A few years ago, Ann-Margret was doing a book signing at a local bookstore.Richard wanted to see if he could get her to sign the treasured photo so he arrived at the book store at 12 o'clock for the 7:30 signing. When I got there after work, the line went all the way around the bookstore, circled the parking lot, and disappeared behind a parking garage.
Before her appearance, bookstore employees announced that she would sign only her book, and no memorabilia would be permitted. Richard was disappointed, but wanted to show her the photo and let her know how much those shows meant to lonely GI's so far from home.
Ann Margaret came out looking as beautiful as ever and, as 2nd in line, it was soon Richard's turn. He presented the book for her signature and then took out the photo with many shouts from employees that she would not sign it.
Richard said, "I understand. I just wanted her to see it". She took one look at the photo, tears welled up in her eyes and she said, "This is one of my gentlemen from Viet Nam and I most certainly will sign his photo. I know what these men did for their country and I always have time for "my gentlemen".
Later, at dinner, Richard was very quiet. When I asked if he'd like to talk about it, my big strong husband broke down in tears. "That's the first time anyone ever thanked me for my time in the Army", he said.
Richard, like many others, came home to people who spit on him and shouted ugly things at him. That night was a turning point for him. He walked a little straighter and, for the first time in years, was proud to have been a Vet.
I'll never forget Ann-Margaret for her graciousness and how much that small act of kindness meant to my husband. I now make it a point to say 'Thank You' to every person I come across who served in our Armed Forces. Freedom does not come cheap and I am grateful for all those who have served their country.
If you'd like to pass on this story, feel free to do so. Perhaps it will help others to become aware of how important it is to acknowledge the contribution our service people make.
God Bless Our Armed Forces!Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:24 AM | Comments (4)
March 04, 2005
Slow News Day?
Why is this even a news item....?
Damn, I've heard of being hard up for something to put out as 'current', but this is about as stupid as FoxNews putting up a 'News Alert' last night.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:54 AM | Comments (1)
March 02, 2005
Indignation Only Opens the Door
CNN flops in February as Fox News surges
Well yeah - of course they're gonna do a face-plant: you cannot market indignation as the corner-stone of your programming. I'm no television news expert, but I do know what I like: facts instead of whining all the time and quite possibly another side to the story to give me perspective on what is what.
FNC only cable news network to see gains in primetime
CNN posted steep viewer losses during the month of February, slipping 21% in primetime and 16% overall, according to Nielsen Media Research.Fox News was the only cable news network to see gains in primetime during February and beat all other cable news outlets combined for the sixth straight month.
FNC averaged 1.57 million viewers in primetime, up 18% from the same period last year, while CNN fell 21% to 637,000 viewers from the same time period.
February marked what has been a rocky three months for new CNN U.S. prexyprexy Jonathan Klein, who came to the network hoping to improve CNN's primetime performance, where it has been most hurt by a strong FNC lineup built around tentpole "The O'Reilly Factor."
With this winning programming strategey, I'm surprised that Air America is still around...
UPDATE: Consider this after you read this post.....it'll make sense.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
Cruel?
High Court Ends Death Penalty for Youths
Cruel? Cruel is when a teenager knows that they can kill people and not be expected to be executed.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Constitution forbids the execution of killers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes, ending a practice used in 19 states.
The 5-4 decision throws out the death sentences of about 70 juvenile murderers and bars states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes.
The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel.
No, this decision is cruel - cruel to those that were murdered for mere pleasure and cruel to those family members that survive hoping for ultimate justice to be metted out.
I have an alternative to executing these *cough* children: life in prison at hard labor with absolutely no possibility of parole. And it should be publicized.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2005
Read the Fine Print
Be careful when reaching into your bag for a Jolly Rancher cause 'Fire' flavor looks almost the same as 'Watermelon'....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2005
That Was Close!
Whew!
Your Brain is 33.33% Female,
66.67% MaleYou have a total boy brain Logical and detailed, you tend to look at the facts
And while your emotions do sway you sometimes...
You never like to get feelings too involved
(Glommed from Horologium)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)
Get Bent You Clown
Ted Rall is whining that David Horowitz cannot use his photograph on Horowitz's website. He even threatened to sue him if he didn't cough up $5k right away.I've solved the problem - everytime someone needs to refer to Ted, they can this picture instead.
Hey, it's true....try not to laugh.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:34 AM | Comments (2)
February 26, 2005
Say What?
I was told by my wife today that our kid ushered in a new era of parenting when she uttered the phrase:
Yo dog! Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:49 PM | Comments (2)
February 25, 2005
Cool Videos
It took me a while to locate it (mainly searching Mike the Marine's site) but I found the site where there is a bunch of cool military videos. It's called Grouch Media and it located here.
I highly recommend watching 'Die Terrorist Die' - download it and you might want to get the kids out of the room cause there's some B-A-D language in it.You've been warned.
Download it here and enjoy.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:42 AM | Comments (2)
February 18, 2005
How Southern Are You?
I scored a 69% - Definitely Dixie! (Not bad for someone who's been in California for almost 20 years)
(By way of Let's Try Freedom)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:19 PM | Comments (2)
No Love - None At All
What did you expect - hugs & kisses??
Kyoto protest beaten back by inflamed petrol traders
But what was funny was this:WHEN 35 Greenpeace protesters stormed the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) yesterday they had planned the operation in great detail.
What they were not prepared for was the post-prandial aggression of oil traders who kicked and punched them back on to the pavement.
“We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,†one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.â€
“They grabbed us and started kicking and punching. Then when we were on the floor they tried to push huge filing cabinets on top of us to crush us.â€
Filing cabinets - heh.What the hell did you clowns expect - passive acknowledgement?
Please - you deserve every punch and kick to the head for pulling a stupid stunt like this.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:47 PM | Comments (2)
February 14, 2005
Can You Talk...?
I don't care if you're an Emergency Room physician helping out - don't answer your cell phone when you're on the toilet....there is something just so wrong with that.
If you get a call, let it go to voice mail or at most answer it and say I'll call you back in a few minutes.
Damn - some people's children....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:23 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2005
The Finger
The U.S. gives North Korea the Internation Sign of Friendship:
U.S. Refuses One-On-One North Korea Talks
You got nukes?? So do we.....lots of them. Your call.....
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Friday that it wasn't interested in one-on-one talks with North Korea about its nuclear programs outside the six-party negotiations involving the communist nation's neighbors."It's not an issue between North Korea and the United States. It's a regional issue," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "And it's an issue that impacts all of its neighbors."
North Korea has plenty of opportunity to talk to the United States within six-party talks, McClellan said.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2005
Sunday Blahs
Like yesterday, today it's difficult to get motivated about semiconductor physics.....just can't seem to get into it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
Halle Berry is Cool
Rented Catwoman with Halle Berry on DVD the other night.It was actually a decent movie - not just another re-make flash-in-the-pan. Halle Berry puts an excellent face on this incarnation of the 'Catwoman' - well worth the bucks to rent it. It's especially good when Halle Berry/Catwoman takes the controls of an Apache chopper in the middle of the movie.....oops - just watch it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:58 AM | Comments (4)
February 02, 2005
Grrrr
You know what is really annoying??
People who talk on cordless telephones - loudly - and insist on standing right outside your cubicle when you're trying to concentrate...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:15 AM | Comments (1)
Operation THUNDERING SILENCE
Yeah buddy -
Naysayers tight-lipped since success of Iraq vote
Dispite my earlier prediction that there would be a plethora of psychotic excuses as to why the Iraqi elections could not possibly be considered 'legitimate', there has in fact been a thundering silence about them.Skeptics of President Bush's attempt to bring democracy to Iraq have been largely silent since Iraqis enthusiastically turned out for Sunday's elections.
Billionaire Bush-basher George Soros and left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore were among critics of the administration's Iraq policy who had no comment after millions of Iraqis went to the polls in their nation's first free elections in decades.
Makes you wonder, huh?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)
February 01, 2005
Boners are Now Formulary
Sometimes crap like this really makes me want to sling Chihuahuas across a field with a trebuchet:
Medicare to Cover Drugs for Impotence
This is why this really pisses me off: I can't get smoking cessation products to help me stop smoking yet if I wanted to get something that would allow me to hammer six inch spike through a board with my penis - sure thing.WASHINGTON — Medicare's new prescription benefit will cover sexual performance drugs, like Viagra, in addition to medications for such ailments as high blood pressure and heart disease, program officials confirmed Monday.
The move into what some consider "lifestyle" — rather than life-saving — pharmaceuticals is being criticized by conservatives, who see it as an unnecessary frill for a program that already is projected to cost at least $400 billion over its first decade.
WTF??
Don't get me wrong: I have no problem with people getting medication(s) that help in life - even those that help men rise to the occasion.
Sorry - that one was hard to resist.
[/loud groaning]
But if I'd like to quite smoking, the insurance company says hell no....even if it's something that will save them a ton of money in the future.
YES, I realize that this is Medicare we're talking about and I've got private insurance......it's the principle.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:02 PM | Comments (2)
January 31, 2005
Early Morning Vapors
Have you ever been watching something on television and just started giving whatever it is you're watching the MST3K treatment?
My wife was watching - more like staring vacantly at it since it was barely 5 o'clock in the morning - The War Of the Worlds about 35 minutes into the movie. The scene was of Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) and Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) had just crashed their small plane and had taken refuge in an abandoned house only to have one of the Martion war machines sitting right outside.Just as the war machine sends in it's 'television camera' into the house and it sneaks up on Ann Robinson is when I started my MST3K treatment:
Martian camera lens sneeks up on Sylvia and looms above her head as she slowly turns around
Sylvia: "AAAAAAaaaaaggggghhhh!!!!"Mikey's ad-lib: "Hi - could you tell me where the interstate is?"
Clayton swings the axe in his hands and severes the camera lens from the supporting cable attached to Martian war machine
Another scene that popped out was when the military had decided to drop nuclear weapons on the Martians and were going to do it at the initial landing point in California - just outside of Los Angeles.
Scene of hundreds of people sitting & standing on rocky hills with deep valleys running below - obviously displaced people...refugees from Los Angeles
Military Announcer: "Two minutes to bomb drop - two minutes!! All personnel take precautions!"
Mikey's ad-lib: "And prepare your marshmellows and hotdogs for roasting!"
Anyway....it's weird how you can be looking forward to seeing something and when you're actually watching it, your mind starts to fill-in-the-blanks at strategic moments in the movie.
This particular episode was probably cause I was running on vapors - I got maybe three hours of sleep cause I just couldn't seem to relax long enough to drift off.
Well, just remember this the next time you're watching something and your mind starts to drift off of it....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:15 AM | Comments (1)
January 30, 2005
American vs. Import - The 'Dings' Have It
Geoffery at Dog Snot Diaries tells the tale of an American truck versus a Mazda in a classic not paying attention to WTF you're doing while driving traffic collision.
Short version: he get's slammed from behind and his Dodge truck gets minor damage while the Mazda is totalled. I'm hoping that he'll post some photos.
This gives me pause to re-think that notion I have about getting another Toyota truck once I graduate from UCSD - seriously re-thinking it.
I'll have to wait and see what's on the market when the time comes, but for the most part I have no complaints about my 1996 Tacoma truck - it's got over 137k miles on it and it's still running stong. Of course I bought it knowing that Toyota trucks have a history of being very dependable, plus I was trying to get something that was decent on gas mileage.
Like I said - I'll have to wait and see what's available. Who knows....maybe there will be some sort of hybrid gas/electric available in a truck.
Wait and see.....
UPDATE: I erred in reporting that Geoff was in a Dodge truck - it turns out it was just a typical Dodge car. More later after I stop feeling stoopid.....
UPDATE II: I called Geoff's car 'typical' - my mistake.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:05 AM | Comments (6)
January 28, 2005
Looking Good
Lately, whenever I hear of a 're-make' of something I usually tend to groan - loudly. But no so with Marvel Comics taking some of their heroes to the big screen, such as The Fantastic Four.
Take a peek at the trailer here. As Chet describes it - it's fantastic!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:41 AM | Comments (1)
January 25, 2005
No Oscar for Mikey Moore
I'm thinking this is a 'self-preservation' move on the Academy's part:
'Aviator' Gets 11 Academy Award Nods
If his piece of crap *cough* movie had been nominated, I would almost being willing to bet hard cash that there would heve been such a backlash against the movie industry; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would have lost a ton of creadibility to such an extent that movie studios would feel the pinch where it hurts the most: box office receipts.[...]
Michael Moore's gamble to hold his hit film "Fahrenheit 9/11" out of the documentary category - to boost its best-picture prospects - backfired. The movie was shut out across the board.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
Do This.....or Else!
Company Fires All Employees Who Smoke
But downing a quart of Jack Daniel's on your off-time is okey-dokey? And going to a gay porno theater and getting slammed by a complete stranger is fine with company executives??Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time
LANSING, Mich. -- Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours or at home.
Company founder Howard Weyers has said the anti-smoking rule was designed to shield the firm from high health care costs. "I don't want to pay for the results of smoking," he said.
The rule led one employee to quit before the policy was adopted. Four others were fired when they balked at the smoking test.
Chief Financial Officer Gary Climes estimated that 18 to 20 of the company's 200 employers were smokers when the policy was announced in 2003. Of those, as many as 14 quit smoking before the policy went into effect. The company offered them help to kick the habit.
"That is absolutely a victory," Climes said.
On the company's Web site, it states:
Weyco Inc. is a non-smoking company that strongly supports its employees in living healthy lifestyles.
Oh please - spare us the 'we're doing this for your own good' crap.
Even though I quit smoking back in late-October to get on the transplant list, this kind of crap still irritates me.
Personally if I had been in this position and was faced with either quitting smoking or being fired, I'd probably tell them to go pound sand and make them fire me. With very few exceptions, I do not take do this....or else threats lightly.
If a company is going to dictate what you do in your off-time with this one little thing, what is to stop them from telling you how to cook your food, or how to raise your children, or how you should vote.
All it takes is one thing that leads to another, which leads to another, etc, etc.
It's a 'slippery-slope' that I'd prefer to not get pushed onto.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:17 AM | Comments (7)
January 24, 2005
Heeeeeerrrreeee's Johnny!
Damn.
Ex-'Tonight Show' Host Johnny Carson Dies
Rest in Peace Johnny.
LOS ANGELES — The king of late-night talk shows, Johnny Carson, died Sunday of complications from emphysema. He was 79."Mr. Carson passed away peacefully early Sunday morning," his nephew, Jeff Sotzing, told The Associated Press. "He was surrounded by his family, whose loss will be immeasurable. There will be no memorial service."
[...]
"Johnny Carson made an awful lot of people laugh and an awful lot of people happy. I always say that any time a man provides laughter to the masses, he should get eternal life," comedian Jerry Lewis told FOX News. "His talent was exceptional ... I adored him and loved him as a friend."
"Laura and I are saddened by the death of Johnny Carson," President Bush said in a written statement.
"His wit and insight made Americans laugh and think and had a profound influence on American life and entertainment," the statement continued. "He was a patriot who served in the United States Navy during World War II and always remembered his roots in the heartland of America."
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:01 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
Treating the Symptom, Not the Problem
CDC recommends preventive AIDS drugs for those exposed to virus
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Health professionals applauded the federal government for including people exposed to the HIV virus through isolated episodes of unsafe sex or drug use among those recommended for emergency treatment, calling the new policy an overdue surprise from the Bush administration.
Previously, federal health officials advised a preventative 28-day regimen of AIDS drugs only for health care workers accidentally exposed on the job. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded its guidelines Thursday, saying rape victims, as well as some individuals who knowingly put themselves at risk, should receive the drug cocktail that can keep them from becoming infected with HIV.
I got an idea: let's reduce/eliminate the need for this by doing the following:
(Gee, can you tell that I have ZERO compassion for anyone guilty of rape?)
Maybe the though of sitting in jail for 15 years might not be enough - public executions in a graphic manner might be the ticket.
The same goes for drunk drivers that kill people: 9mm slug in the back of the head - on the side of the road might get some to re-think that I'm okay to drive attitude.
As for 'unsafe sex', here's a thought: if you can't trust your partner, why are you screwing your partner??
And intravenous drug use: don't do drugs. If you cannot handle that concept, see my plan for rapists and drunk drivers.
Things would be much easier if I were just made Evil Overlord....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:25 AM | Comments (2)
January 19, 2005
Gimme-Gimme-Gimme
Someone buy this t-shirt for me.
It would go over really well at school - especially when near the smelly-hippe-organic-food-cooperative-store....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
Oh My Dog!!
Although I'll give him credit for being tenacious, this clown just doesn't know when to quit:
Atheist Appeals to Supreme Court Over Inauguration Prayer
I wouldn't be suprised - not one bit - if Newdow also wanted all dogs cleared out of the district because you can anagram D-O-G into G-O-D.
WASHINGTON — The atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration.In an emergency filing, Michael Newdow argued that a prayer at Thursday's ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs. His request has been rejected by two lower courts.
Newdow also asked that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who is designated as the justice to hear emergency appeals for the D.C. Circuit, recuse himself because he is scheduled to swear in Bush and thus has a conflict of interest.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:48 PM | Comments (4)
January 16, 2005
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
The wife & I watched this last night and both of us almost choked to death from laughing so hard.While this movie isn't for the 'faint of heart', it is one funny-ass movie.
I highly recommend it - just do not eat popcorn while watching it.
ADDED BONUS: If you rent this on DVD, put the disc into your player and turn it on - but don't select any of the options. Just watch it first.....you'll like it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005
Putting on the Ritz (Cracker)
Dispite feeling 'crappy', it's a quite evening at home....helping the kid with geography homework - specifically, the 13 American colonies.
The wife is having some sort of 'candle party' - the house is full of chicks, all gauking at candles & froo-froo crap like that. The nice part is that I can hide out in the bedroom and occasionally venture out to pick up nummies that are spread out all over the dining table.
Mmmmmm......pepperoni & cheese on a Ritz cracker.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
SoCal Blech Squared
Different day, but it's basically a repeat of yesterday - especially the 'feeling crappy' part.
The only upside is that I get to go home and watch 'Battlestar Galactica' again cause I taped it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 04:36 PM | Comments (1)
January 12, 2005
SoCal Blech on a Sunny Day
Nothing 'interesting' to post about today except:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:57 PM | Comments (5)
January 07, 2005
Control Group
Dodd takes notice of the insanity of some people:
Some days I'm convinced that these people aren't really this nutty but, rather, that stuff like this is just an act designed to make left-liberal Democrats who want to nationalize health care look "mainstream." But it's fleeting since the evidence is pretty overwhelming that they really are this crazy.
I'm kind of bummed that I didn't think of this (as a joke) before the theory that the evil U.S. was behind the tsunami was put forth (with a straight face too). This is the kind of thinking that makes (and breaks) television sit-coms.I don't think it is so much attributed to insanity than we're seeing what the control group for anti-retard medication does in their spare time.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
By Jeff's Example
I'm gonna follow Jeff's lead and become a philanthropist. The problem is a severe lack of cash flow.
For those that would like to assist me in becoming a greedy, rich conservative jerk hell-bent on spreading common sense around, I've put in a DONATION button over on the left-hand side.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)
Prediction
Moxie makes a prediction about the relief efforts going down in South Asia:
You know -- after we spend hundreds of millions to rebuild the devasted island of Sumatra in the next few years -- the left will continue to bitch and moan that GWB is not doing enough.
And IF in however many years ONE person who lives there, visited there or thought about visiting Sumatra is involved in a terrorist attack on the US, the very same lefties will be the ones pointing fingers at that evil George W. Bush. "He rebuilt that area and funded terrorists!"
Mark my words.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:35 AM | Comments (5)
January 04, 2005
First Blech of 2005
Nothing of note to blog about today except:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:04 PM | Comments (4)
January 03, 2005
Stereotyping & Crocodile Tears
Gee.....didn't see this one coming:
Muslims decry '24' depiction
I would have thought that Hollywood writers would be jumping al over the virtual 'goldmine' in using Swedes and Danes as terrorists.
The New York Daily News says a Muslim group is complaining about the first episode of Fox TV’s "24" because it features a Muslim terrorist.The show hasn’t even aired yet, but a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations got ahold of a preview trailer and described himself as "dismayed."
At issue is a scene in which a teenager helps his parents plot to kill Americans. "What we will accomplish today will change the world," the father tells the son over breakfast. "We are fortunate that our family has been chosen to do this."
CAIR’s Rabiah Ahmed said the scene "casts a cloud of suspicion over every American-Muslim family out there."
It's funny how CAIR will wave its arms in the air, stamp their feet, and scream bloody murder when Muslims/Arabs are 'stereotyped' but it's nothing but cricket-cricket-cricket when stuff happens to confirm these stereotypes.
Yeah - let's see some more of those crocodile tears.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:34 AM | Comments (1)
January 01, 2005
Happy 2005
Taking it easy today since this is my last weekend of 'freedom' - school starts again on January 3rd.
Part of this will be reading some of the books that I got for Christmas, especially a biography of George Washington.
Although I seriously doubt I'll finish that one by the beginning of the week, I also got the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant from my mother-in-law; this one also looks like a good read.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:25 PM | Comments (2)
December 31, 2004
New Year's Eve 2004
Just a quick post to say Happy New Year to everyone that happens to be surfing the Net instead of partying like a rock star.
We're having some people over tonight; loud music, booze - the usual.
And to those that might be wondering, I will not be wringing my hands over the tsunami disaster as some would compel me to do.
It's a horrible event, lots of people died, but my curtailing my ingestion of alcohol tonight will not alleviate the suffering of those survivors..
Call me an asshole, but to me there are two distinct options when reacting to this:
See you all in 2005.....unless a tsunami takes out Southern California.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:02 PM | Comments (1)
December 29, 2004
Saddam's New Lawyer
Why am I not surprised?
Ramsey Clarke to defend Saddam
I'm so glad to hear that Clark is looking out for the rights of people. Too bad he wasn't around to defend the rights of all those people found in the mass graves.
Former US attorney-general Ramsey Clark is to join Saddam Hussein's defence team, a spokesman for the ousted Iraqi president's lawyers says.Ziad Khasawna said on Wednesday that Clark, who held the office of attorney-general under US president Lyndon Johnson, had "honoured and inspired" the legal team by agreeing to help defend Saddam.
The former top US justice official, who arrived on Tuesday in Jordan where the defence team is based, has become known as a left-wing lawyer and firm critic of US foreign policy since leaving office.
He visited Saddam in Baghdad in February 2003 just before the US-lead invasion and has also been involved with the defence of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, on trial for war crimes at a UN court in The Hague.
Clark said in the Jordanian capital Amman that his principle concern was protecting the former president's rights, who only saw a lawyer for the first time this month - a year after his capture.
"In international law, anyone accused of crime has the right to be tried by a confident, independent and impartial court, and there can be no fair trail without those qualities," he said.
Yup, this sure gives a lot more credence to those barking moonbats over at International ANSWER.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:47 PM | Comments (6)
'Say What?' Redux
They say that when people come together during a crisis, it brings out the best of most people. Apparently, this isn't applicable to MSM reporters in Israel.
By way of FrontPage Magazine and HonestReporting.com:
Israeli Aid, Unreported
The silence is deafening.All major media outlets ignore Israel's massive humanitarian aid to South Asia - an indication of a national ethos of caring.
When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Israelis can be counted on to help. So it's no surprise that within hours of the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the following humanitarian missions
This is all the more surprising given the fact that the major news agencies have entire teams of reporters in Israel, who submit at least one 'Israel-article' each day.
So what did the Associated Press send out today to its 15,000 subscribing news agencies? A dreary story about the construction of a new IDF base near Jenin. AP sarcastically remarked in this 'news' story that the base's 'elaborate color scheme and landscaping shows that the army is not planning to pull its forces out of the area anytime soon.'
The lack of media interest in this Israeli humanitarian effort means that Israeli benevolence toward other peoples is not fairly conveyed to the western world. Perhaps if it were conveyed, observers would come to understand something else ― that Israel's response to Palestinian violence is also motivated by the highest ethical concern for all human life, and is not (as the media so often portray it) driven by an oppressive, mean-spirited national ethos.
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write a letter to your local paper, praising the massive Israeli humanitarian mission to South Asia ― which the major media have apparently deemed 'not newsworthy.'
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:13 AM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2004
Merry Christmas 2004
I'm starting the 'final stretch' for Christmas - last minute shopping, wrapping a ton of presents, and getting the house 'clean' for our guests tomorrow.
So with that in mind, I hope that everyone who reads Mad Mikey's Blog has a wonderful Christmas, that you have a great day filled with fun, family, friends, and more fun, that Santa brings everyone what they asked for for Christmas, and that no one gets a lump of coal or a bag of onions.
I personally am looking forward to the great Christmas Dinner that my wife makes - turkey and ham and the works.
Ugggghhhghghghghghghghghhh - turkey and gravy.......[/Homer Simpson]
Merry Christmas to all!!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:42 PM | Comments (6)
"All We Want for Christmas"
By way of Citizen Smash:
A CHRISTMAS POEM by Major Dad:
Twas the night before Christmas, the house seemed so sad,
Early this year, this family lost “Dad.â€
He’d been a soldier, in Afghanistan serving,
To help people live free, now thankful, deserving.His wife and the kids have cried a river of tears,
They had known this could happen, through all of the years.
It’s a dangerous business, no place for wimps.
Some don’t come home, some others with limps.As I slipped down the chimney, I really did dread…
That I’d fall straight apart in this house with war dead.
I crept from the hearth, wondering what would I see,
What my eyes would behold, in this land of the free.The home was decorated, with the tree and some lights
The milk, plate of cookies, and some other tasty bites.
Next to this was a note, from the boys up in bed,
I picked the page up and here’s what it said."Dear Santa we know that you’re busy and need to be speedy
So we’ll keep it short, we don’t want to sound greedy.
You know already that our Daddy’s not here,
He went to heaven, that's perfectly clear.Tonight as you travel across the cold Christmas skies.
We want you to help, take the tears from the eyes.
Of the other kids missing a Mom or a Dad.
Please help them to realize that it’s not so bad.Our Dad died doing what was just, what was right.
His nation had called him, to head off to the fight.
To free the oppressed and protect us all here,
He went with a smile, a heart without fear.One month ago, we had gotten the news
An airplane was missing, along with its crew.
Up in the mountains with weather so cold,
One of the missing, our daddy…a pilot, so bold.Later we learned that God had called him that day
He needed a pilot, so tough and so brave.
We cried and we cried, the tears would not cease,
Daddy’s West Point friends wrote, “Mike…be thou at peace."We need your help Santa, for our Mommy tonight,
She misses him so, they were so tight.
All we want for Christmas is for her to be happy,
Knowing Daddy still watches over us, a flier so scrappy."Could I help these kids? I scratched my old head.
I snuck up the stairs and found Mom in bed.
Her eyes were still red, it was plain she’d been crying.
But a smile on her face, in her dreams she was flying.Along with her pilot…her husband…her mate…
This lady was special, so obviously great.
My task wasn’t tough, really it ain’t.
After all, my name is Nicholas and I am a saint!I straightened my suit, combed back my long hair…
Then as quiet as a mouse, I pulled up a chair.
I touched her calm face and closed tight my eyes…
My mind it was reeling, I started to cry.Then inside my head, I heard a soft voice…
“Santa it’s Mike. Buck up, you don’t have a choice.
You know where I am…and I’ll tell you quite clear,
If I can’t have Christmas there…it’s not so bad being here.I’m no longer with them, they know that it’s true,
That doesn’t mean I can’t see what they do.
When you pray for my wife and my kids Christmas night,
Let them know I’m on duty and I am alright.My crew's here too and we’re flying tonight…
Take a look over your shoulder, make it your right!
You need to be careful. You need to “check six.â€
That’s us behind you…Chief, give the lights a few flicks.â€Santa it’s time:
Your job here is through…
The night’s not half over,
you’ve still plenty to do.No need to worry, you need to be quick.
They’re in great hands, Jeanette’s got the stick,
You prayed for them all and showed them the way,
A soldier still stands guard over them every day.â€I knew Mike was right,
it was getting late.
The world only half covered,
I just couldn’t wait.I stopped by the rooms of each of his boys…
I had to be careful to avoid clothes and some toys.
Mike Jr., Thomas, and Ricky lay snug in their beds…
I gave this blessing to each as I touched their heads.“Your daddy was special, fighting for peace.
May you boys be spared from combat when all conflicts have ceased.â€With that I took leave from this Hawaiian home,
Through the skies I’d be flying, though not alone.
I did look back a number of times, more than a few.
And yes, on the horizon was my escort crew.Across the world tonight, I saw the same scenes,
Homes full of sorrow, homes full of need.
After you read this, give it some thought.
Can I be happy with just what I’ve got?Dig deep into your pockets, you’ve got spare cash.
Drop it in the kettle; it’ll help tighten your sash.
It will make you feel good; it will make you feel right…
Merry Christmas to all, and to all….a good night!In memory of LTC Mike McMahon (USMA Class of 1985), and his family.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2004
Twas' the Night Before Christmas
Something I came across this evening; it was so good - it gave me goosebumps reading it.
Read it, let it sink in, and pass it along.
Twas' the Night Before Christmas…
GI VersionThe embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
Alone figure stood, his face weary and tight.A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.What are you doing? I asked without fear,
Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light,
Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right,I'm out here by choice, I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,
And now it is my turn and so, Here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The Red, White and Blue....an American Flag."I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother
who stand at the front against any and all,
to ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money, I asked, or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.Then his eyes welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:43 PM | Comments (3)
December 15, 2004
Odds-N-Ends
Can't really think of anything major to blog about, so this will be an 'Odds-N-Ends' type post:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:53 PM | Comments (3)
December 13, 2004
Clue Needed in Aisle Four
This guy needs to get seriously bent:
Bush photo at farmers' market causes row
There is an ancient Chinese saying that goes: BOO-HOO.LANCASTER - A Democratic city councilman has demanded that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's venerable farmers' market, saying the city needs a "healing period" following the bitterly contested presidential election.
City Council member Nelson Polite approached David Stoltzfus last month and asked him to remove the pictures. When Stoltzfus refused, Polite vowed to pursue a city ordinance that would ban all political items from public places in the city.
Polite said the photo offended city Democrats.
"I just feel that since it was a close election and the city's so divided, that we should have a healing period," Polite told the New Era of Lancaster.
After the New Era published a story about the flap earlier this month, conservative pundits from around the nation skewered Polite as being clueless about free speech.
Republican Mayor Charlie Smithgall said would-be tourists have told him they will skip Lancaster -- an old city in the heart of Amish country -- because of Polite's statements.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:15 PM | Comments (7)
December 12, 2004
Blase Sunday
Since school is out and I (apparently) did not have a massive MI over final exams, it's time to tackle those pain-in-the-ass chores that have been waiting for the right time.
One of those tasks/chores is re-arranging the living room to accomedate the soon-to-be-bought Christmas tree. My wife grew up with live trees every year and cannot stand the thought of an artificial tree, so that's another task that will be tackeled on Tuesday: buying a tree.
The living room needs to be re-arranged cause the tree always takes up a lot of room and not to mention the present explosion that results from all the presents that end up under the tree.
Hopefully it'll get done with few problems and then it's time to sit down with the kid and teach her about electronics and how to make a Flux Capacitor.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)
November 24, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving 2004
Just an early message to everyone to have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow.
I'll be jamming lots of turkey and gravy into my pie hole tomorrow and being thankful that I'm alive, that my family is well and happy, and that I live in the greatest nation on the planet.
Enjoy Thanksgiving Day everyone - savor the time with family & friends.
NOTE
I was reminded of this by Rob at Left & Right:Don't be an asshat and think you can make it home if you're HAMMERED.
Be a freakin intelligent person: take a cab or let someone else drive.
Make it home ALIVE.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:39 PM | Comments (3)
November 23, 2004
Unconventional Weapons in Iraq
It's always the simplistic methods that work the best in warfare:
As tanks geared up to trample Fallujah and American troops started circling the city, special operations officers rifled through their CD cases, searching for a sound track to spur the assault.
I'm actually waiting for Amnesty International to start campaigning against this 'torture'.....What would irk Iraqi insurgents more: Barking dogs or bluegrass? Screaming babies or shrieking feedback?
Heavy metal. The Army's latest weapon.
AC/DC. Loud. Louder!
Let's roll.
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives
Nobody's putting up a fight
I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell
I'm gonna get you . . .
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2004
Real-life Forrest
What was it Forrest Gump said? 'I'm not a smart man'?
It's true:
Robbery suspect leaves big clue for cops
I won't feel so bad from now on when I absentmindedly attempt to put the milk into the dishwasher, realize my mistake, and then try to put it in the cabinet....LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Police had help in tracking down a robbery suspect ... from the suspect. Police Chief Tom Casady said officers investigating a Nov. 11 robbery had a strong clue in a $75 check from the Cass County Jail to 39-year-old Kevin Martzett.
Court records on the robbery say a 19-year-old Lincoln man was standing in his yard at about 2 a.m. on Nov. 11 when two men drove up, pointed a gun at him, forced him to get in their car and drove to an ATM.
The records say the men took $45 from the victim's wallet, then forced him to deposit the jail check, withdraw $60 and give it to them. The men then let the teenager go.
The victim identified Martzett - with help from the check - as one of the robbers. Martzett was arrested Wednesday on a robbery charge. The other suspect was being sought.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)
November 11, 2004
Veteran's Day
If You Are Free, Thank a Veteran! Honoring all veterans who have put their lives at risk to keep our great nation free.
Take a moment today and thank a veteran - they'll appreciate it immensely!
(Graphic glommed from Stevie)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:47 PM | Comments (3)
November 09, 2004
Just Another BLECH in the Wall
Still recovering from election burnout. Too tired to post about much of anything that involves thinking today.
Although I feel like fried whale sh*t and I have a quiz tomorrow on BJTs - bipolar junction transistors - I still giggle (man style) at the copious amounts of different analysis methods some are using to attempt to make sense of November 2nd since they just cannot seem to allow the truth to settle in.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:15 PM | Comments (1)
November 08, 2004
The Day After
I'm thinking that the owner of this car was kicking themselves on Wednesday morning for what seemed like a 'cool idea' the night before....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:45 PM | Comments (8)
November 04, 2004
Subtle Media Bias
Michelle Malken takes notice of subtle media bias:
What Media Bias?
And I'll include the following obeservation that is almost cliché (say it with me):
Apparently, someone who works for the Netscape/CNN.com news website wasn't too happy with the election results. A bunch of readers and bloggers who went to this page yesterday and tried to save the photo of the president and the first lady noticed that the file name contained a rather biased editorial comment.Click here.
The photo file name has now been changed.
But not quickly enough...
Update Catching up on my surfing, I see the FReepers noticed this too last night. There's another photo of the president and first lady that contained a different editorial comment. It's also still on the server here.
If this had been discovered on FoxNews, the planet would be hip-deep in spittle and foam from 'outraged' Democrats.
And if this is even reported to the CNN ombudsman, it'll be attributed to an 'intern' or someone low on the food chain cause CNN would never exhibit any sort of bias towards President Bush.....nah.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:09 AM | Comments (1)
November 03, 2004
Plenty of Lives Left
Eight-week-old kitten Milo sits Monday Nov.1, 2004 in the washing machine that nearly killed him earlier after he climbed in through curiosity. Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:16 PM | Comments (3)
October 30, 2004
Kerry Supporters Go Get Gas
So yesterday after dealing with yet another doctor's appointment, I went down to Price Club/Costco to get some gas.
I pull up the shortest line and shut off the engine. The car immediately in front of me is some japanese import (Honda?) with a Kerry/Edwards '04 sticker taped up in the back window.
I thought: 'Well, there has to be someone around here that's a Kerry backer...' and turned on the CD player to listen to some Oingo Boingo.
I also notce that the car in front of that one was a Ford Astro van that also sported a Kerry/Edwards '04 sticker to which I thought 'safety in numbers....?' and turned up 'Just Another Day' on the CD player really loud.
The lady in the japanese import gets out and she's sporting a Kerry/Edwards button. 'Wow....' I thought, 'she's really into it'.
I then spent the next two and a half minutes listening to Oingo Boingo and watching this lady attempt to slide her Costco card into the gas pump's card reader with the card UPSIDE DOWN.
Slide....stare....slide again.....stare again....slide once again.....blame Bush....
She finally realizes that she's doing it wrong and gets it right. Another indication of the Democratic mindset here in San Diego?
Now, while I was enraptured with watching the Kerry/Edwards lady minion performing a simple task the wrong way, the guy in the Astrovan in front of here has been chit-chatting on his cell phone about three feet away from the gas pump.
**BIG NO-NO** This is a good way to start a fire at the gas pump incase you didn't realize it.
While he's been chit-chatting, the gas pump nozzle had already gone CH-CHUNK (because of the back pressure from the gas tank being 'full') and was just sitting there. After about a minute or so, this clown finally realizes that his minivan if full and proceeds to replace the nozzle back into the gas pump - all while blathering on this freakin cell phone!!
After closing the tank, he then proceeds to walk in front of his van and continue chit-chatting on the cell phone even though he's done.
Now I mention this because in addition to not only myself wait patiently to get gas, there were another three or more cars behind me also waiting.....and this dork is just blatthering away.
A firm hand on the horn of my truck got this man's attention - and scared the crap out of the Kerry/Edwards lady with the defective CostCo card. Cell phone man looks a little 'annoyed' by the horn interupting his important phone call and he starts to get into his van finally.
About this time, the Kerry/Edwards lady finally finishes her gas pumping and also leaves right after cell phone man.
As I pulled up the the pumps to get my gas - 10 minutes later - I really had to stop and think: Is this indicative of most Kerry/Edwards supporters? Are they either too dumb or too wrapped up in their little world to realize what's happening right around them?
It kind of put a chill in me to think that Kerry might win the election and then it's four years of upside down credit cards and being oblivious to blatant danger.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:55 AM | Comments (6)
October 23, 2004
Ba-Da-Bing!
I got what I wanted for my birthday: Ann Coulter's new book and it came from my daughter.
I also got some flannel jammies, a remote control for the PlayStation 2, and some new shorts. (I know it might sound lame, but it's nice to get things that I don't have to buy).
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:38 PM | Comments (6)
October 22, 2004
No Rush What-So-Ever
I hate being kept waiting.
I had what I thought was enough time this morning to take care of something at the hospital, yet what should have been 35 minutes total turned into 90 minutes instead.
I had to get some blood drawn for an upcoming doctor's appointment and I had to get a flu shot.
The flu shot took almost no time, which is ironic cause I thought it would take a lot longer to be confirmed as needing a flu shot. Not the case here - in, jabbed, and out in 10 minutes.
Getting blood drawn took forever though. It would seem that all of the old people here in San Diego all needed bloodwork too and decided to do it this morning. I was waiting so long I actually dozed off in the lounge.
So....all this made me late for work. And I hate being late for work.
UPDATE: Now my arm frelling aches where they injected the vaccine. Crap.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:03 AM | Comments (7)
October 18, 2004
Rain? What's that?
It is raining today here in San Diego - first time in over 180 days - and it's about time.
Of course, with the increase in humidity in the air, the average IQ of Southern California drivers decreases exponentially....by the end of the evening commute, there will probably be somewhere around 200+ accidents.
This might explain why my lab partner is late getting to the library where I'm attempting to build/simulate a circuit using PSPICE. The only problem is that I'm attempting to remember how I used PSPICE last spring and I'm about ready to scream 'FRELL IT!!!' at the top of my lungs.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:31 AM | Comments (2)
October 16, 2004
The Things You Find...
I was browsing through the articles of World Net Daily and was about to close it when I found a link to an article about travelling to Mars in 90 days. So I clicked on the link here.
University of Washington -- A new means of propelling spacecraft being developed at the University of Washington could dramatically cut the time needed for astronauts to travel to and from Mars and could make humans a permanent fixture in space.
Now, the practicality of this new propulsion is that it is YEARS away from being utilized, but it's still way cool.In fact, with magnetized-beam plasma propulsion, or mag-beam, quick trips to distant parts of the solar system could become routine, said Robert Winglee, a UW Earth and space sciences professor who is leading the project.
Currently, using conventional technology and adjusting for the orbits of both the Earth and Mars around the sun, it would take astronauts about 2.5 years to travel to Mars, conduct their scientific mission and return.
"We're trying to get to Mars and back in 90 days," Winglee said. "Our philosophy is that, if it's going to take two-and-a-half years, the chances of a successful mission are pretty low."
What I discovered wasn't the news article, but the entire website called Red Nova which in itself is also way cool....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2004
Hoping....
My birthday is coming up soon and here's hoping that the wife took my 'hint' about wanting to read Ann Coulter's new book seriously....Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:05 PM | Comments (5)
October 13, 2004
Debate Chat
Chit-chatting in Yahoo about the debate....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:45 PM | Comments (2)
October 11, 2004
Comes in Threes?
First Rodney, now Ken & Christopher.
Double Bummer.
1996 NL MVP Ken Caminiti Dies at 41
Dispite the crap happening to Ken lately, he was quite popular here in San Diego back when he was a Padre.NEW YORK — Ken Caminiti, the 1996 National League MVP who later admitted using steroids during his major league career, died Sunday. He was 41.
Caminiti died of a heart attack in the Bronx, said his agent-lawyer Rick Licht. The city medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be performed Monday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
"I'm still in shock," San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers said. "He was one of my favorite all-time players."
The three-time All-Star third baseman often was in trouble the last few years. His 15-year big league career ended in 2001, five seasons after he led the Padres to a division title and was a unanimous pick for MVP.
Actor Christopher Reeve Dead at 52
BEDFORD, NY — Christopher Reeve, the star of the "Superman" movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.
Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.
Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:07 AM | Comments (5)
October 10, 2004
Academic/Intellectual Honesty II
I posted something a few months ago about some of my daughter's school assignments.
She's in 5th grade now and she still has to do weekly assignments in her 'A to Z Journal' much like last year except that the letters are highlighting different countries around the planet instead of counties in California.
And as with last year's journal, she is tasked with decorating the borders of her weekly entries with drawings of things beginning with that weeks letter, i.e., for the letter C, she drew 'cat', 'cow', 'corn', etc.
This week, the letter is 'E' and one of the sub-topics she has to research is 'elephant', so I suggested this image.
As Whitney Houston sang (in between bong hits): '....teach the children and let them lead the way...'
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:19 PM | Comments (1)
October 09, 2004
American Empire?
Here's a photo of U.S. 'imperialism' in action:
Afghan women wearing burqa line up to vote at a polling station in Kabul on Saturday, Oct. 9. 2004. Across Afghanistan voters went to the polls in the countrys first-ever direct presidential elections. Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:37 AM | Comments (3)
The Phoenix
You are Form 0, Phoenix: The Eternal."And The Phoenix's cycle had reached
zenith, so he consumed himself in fire. He
emerged from his own ashes, to be forever
immortal."Some examples of the Phoenix Form are Quetzalcoatl
(Aztec), Shiva (Indian), and Ra-Atum (Egyptian).The Phoenix is associated with the concept of life,
the number 0, and the element of fire.
His sign is the eclipsed sun.As a member of Form 0, you are a determined
individual. You tend to keep your sense of
optomism, even through tough times and have a
positive outlook on most situations. You have
a way of looking at going through life as a
journey that you can constantly learn from.
Phoenixes are the best friends to have because
they cheer people up easily.
Which Mythological Form Are You?
brought to you by QuizillaPosted by Mad Mikey at 08:09 AM | Comments (2)
Thhhhuffering Thuuccotash!
Up early this morning cause I...well, just happened to wake up early.Tackled some 'honey dos' and am trying to get up the courage to tackle a lab assignment using MATLAB. I say 'get up the courage' cause I've never used MATLAB before and it seems to be the preferred engineering software tool of most professors in the Jacobs School of Engineering.
I decided to just go out and buy the freakin software package because:
Watched the debate last night and IMO President Bush got 'medieval on Kerry's buttocks'[/Forrest Gump]. Bush was in his element with the Town Hall format and dispite the *cough* moderator forgetting that Bush was allowed to a quick rebuttal a couple of times (he's from ABC News - no surprise there), Bush dominated the night.
The one thing that boggled me was this: where did they find all the lispers in the audience? It seemed that half of the people asking their questions seemed to be drooling excessively and/or were keeping marbles in their mouths. Maybe there was a Sylvester the Cat Impersonation Contest in St. Louis...?
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:30 AM | Comments (7)
October 06, 2004
I Got Nothing
I got nothing for the moment, so here's a photo of my other cat Julie.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:09 PM | Comments (4)
October 05, 2004
Bummer
Well, this sucks:
Comic Rodney Dangerfield Dies in L.A. at Age 82
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rodney Dangerfield, the goggle-eyed comic famed for his self-deprecating one-liners and signature phrase "I can't get no respect," died on Tuesday at age 82, his publicist said.Dangerfield, who became a pop culture sensation with a string of broad film comedies starting with "Caddyshack" in 1980, died at 1:20 p.m. PDT (4:20 p.m. EDT) at the UCLA Medical Center, where he had undergone heart valve replacement surgery in August, spokesman Kevin Sasaki said in a statement.
Rest in Peace Rodney. You've finally gotten the respect that you richly deserved.Posted by Mad Mikey at 05:29 PM | Comments (1)
The RULES
Just a quick reminder to all about the reality of 'Mad Mikey's Blog':
I just had to teach one person a lesson on being a smartass, especially when putting bogus e-mail addresses in the comments section.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:07 AM | Comments (7)
October 04, 2004
You Think It's Bad HERE!?
Do you think that we currently live in a 'fascist' state where you might get in trouble for saying something off-the-cuff?
Keep your response in mind and go read what Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities has to say about Sweden - it'll make you re-think your response to the above question.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2004
Madame Puffy Tail
Almost lost one of my cats to a coyote this morning.Normally, we don't allow the cats to venture outside in the mornings as there's a chance that they'd encounter a coyote coming up from the canyon we have behind our house.
I let the cats out around 10:00 am this morning and they did their 'normal' thing: eating grass near the patio, peaking around the corner to see what is in their territory, etc. After a few minutes, one of the cats decided to come back inside while the other one stayed on the patio.
Didn't think much of the cat outside until I hear the cat tearing around the corner and slamming into the screen door. When we heard that, we knew something had scared the cat silly.
As we opened the screen door to allow a fully-inflated/puffed up cat back inside, a freakin coyote come bounding up to the porch. It stood about four feet away staring at us as the cat tore inside the house. After about two seconds, the coyote decided that confronting two humans wasn't worth the chance of getting cat tar-tar this morning.
Katey was Madam Puffy Tail for quite a while and wasn't in the mood to be consoled about being almost eaten, so we left her alone.
What's freaky is that normally you don't see coyotes outside the canyon except at night or maybe the early morning.
They're doing some sort of construction down in the canyon - presumably to build more student housing for the University - and the coyotes (and the wabbits and other critters they eat) are getting squeezed out. I guess we'll have to keep the cats inside from now on.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 03:22 PM | Comments (3)
October 02, 2004
Mozilla
I downloaded and installed the official version of Mozilla/Fire Fox to use instead of Internet Explorer.
So far, I like it although I have to get used to the idea of having 'tabs' instead of multiple pages open. Time will tell.
The one think I DO like is that annoying pop-ups have been killed. That's a good thing to paraphrase Martha Stewart.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:01 PM | Comments (4)
September 21, 2004
Cough-Sputter-Cough...*indignation*!!
Some people really surprise me in their vitriol. From the *cough* 'prose' that passes for thought from Daily Kos:
LGF is for mentally-ill sadists who live in the basement of Mom's house in the suburbs and own porn videos that feature the (simulated, hopefully) mutilation of women. It's for teenaged guys who read Soldier of Fortune and fantasize about spending their summers "slithering around on their bellies in Survivalist camps in Idaho." It's for people who wished the Klan was still around and influential, for people who used to like David Duke but hate him now that he's sympathetic to Palestine, for people who thought the Columbine massacre was "a good thing that they wish they had been in on."
Huh...sounds like someone needs to check the dosage of their medication....In short: LGF is sicko-ville deluxe. And irredeemably so. This is Stormfront stuff.
The LGF guys are the kind of guys who would think an AK-47 is the only answer to girls like "Carrie" from "Sex and the City."
Think I'm exaggerating? Check the comments on LGF sometime and view the splendor of people eaten up from the inside by total hate. This is Aryan Nations material.
We tend to think of the Bush Administration as being right-wing, but even they would recognize LGF for the steaming pile of crap it is and not go anywhere near it, simply for fear of being fouled by the odor and moral disease emanating from it.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)
September 17, 2004
Face of a Patriot
This is worth reading - a guy who bounces back after being wounded in Iraq. This is the face of a patriot.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 06:19 AM | Comments (1)
September 14, 2004
Whole Lotta Fury
It looks spectacular from high above, but I wouldn't want to be hanging around New Orleans tomorrow.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:07 PM | Comments (2)
Moral Decay of Film
Simpson Puts Up Her 'Dukes' for First Feature Role
I'm all kinds of glad for Jessica Simpson, but have we as a society decayed into such stagnation that we have to resurrect dead shows for new film ideas?LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Pop star Jessica Simpson has been cast as Daisy Duke in the big-screen remake of "The Dukes of Hazzard," a project that essentially marks her feature film debut.
Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville already had been cast as Bo and Luke Duke, respectively, in the Warner Bros. project. Jay Chandrasekhar is directing. A start date has not yet been set.
At the rate Hollywood is going, The A-Team will premeire sometime around Summer 2008 and Gary Coleman will have buffed up enough to play Mr. T.
[Wait - didn't Governor Schwarzenegger just sign a law that outlaws messing around with the dead?]
ADDENDUM: While searching for a link to The A-Team for the initial post, I stumbled across something that made me think I better stop prophesizing about weird crap....:
Yes, it is true Mr. Cannell himself confirmed the rumour, an A-team movie is going to be made.
So far for the good news. The bad news is that Mr. Cannell is planning to recast the team.Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:10 AM | Comments (4)
September 07, 2004
Endangered Industry
Hollywood is in danger of becoming 'officially useless':
Moore to Pursue Best Picture Oscar
Now, will the Academy take a chance of making themselves look like complete idiots and risk loosing the 'credibility' of these awards?
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Moore says he won't submit "Fahrenheit 9/11" for consideration as best documentary at this year's Academy Awards. Instead, he's going for the bigger prize of best picture.
Moore's critically acclaimed film slams President Bush's war on terror as ill-advised and corrupt. The movie has cheered Democrats but enraged the president's supporters, who booed Moore when he visited the Republican National Convention last week.
"For me the real Oscar would be Bush's defeat on Nov. 2," Moore told The Associated Press during a phone interview Monday from New York.
The $6 million film has become a sensation that collected $117.3 million in the United States this summer, despite an early roadblock when the Walt Disney Co. banned its Miramax Films division from distributing the political hot-potato.
Let's wait and see....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:35 AM | Comments (2)
September 06, 2004
Page Turner
A present from my wife for finishing up summer school - all three classes in 10 weeks.
I highly recommend this book. Even though I'm not finished with it yet (I'm up to the part where Franks is negotiating death ray technology from the aliens so Bush can conquer the planet), this book is very hard to put down.
From the amount I've read, General Franks is my kind of guy - no BS and he strives to get the tasks given to him done. Excellent book!
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)
August 30, 2004
Hypocriticism
Yesterday was laundry day, which means that I'm jumping up every 33 minutes to go out and switch the loads of clothes. In between, I was vegging out and flipping channels - C-SPAN...Sci Fi Channel...FoxNews....Food Network (my wife set the 'Favorites' on this one)....C-SPAN. I don't recall which channel it was on, but there was one commercial that got me thinking about something.
The commercial was about consumer protection on your credit card(s). The actor was saying "I got a call from my credit card company asking if I had purchased two surfboards in Redondo Beach. I said NO!!".
What puzzled me was this:
People aren't getting all foaming-at-the-mouth about Citibank or Bank of America or whoever monitoring your credit card purchases and noting 'peculiar purchases' but they are getting rabid about the government possibly using library records to see who checks out 'Bomb Making for Dummies'.
What's up with that?
At least the government is trying to keep Americans safe whereas the credit card company is trying to reduce it's net losses from credit card fraud.
It just stymies me - people get really nervous about the government doing it's job yet don't bat an eye when the private sector does the same task.
Ugghhhh - go figure.....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:15 AM | Comments (1)
August 19, 2004
Uhhhh....Yeah
When I first read this, I thought it was something like a ScrappleFace parody:
Seems silly, but it's a legitimate article.
Plankton poo key to global warming
IN science the little things really do count. Just ask Tasmanian researcher Dr Karin Beaumont, who is making it her life's work to discover how the microscopic poo of tiny ocean organisms is affecting global climate change.
The minuscule zooplankton feed on ocean algae which, like all plants, use carbon dioxide to photosynthesise.
The carbon absorbed by the zooplankton is released in its faeces and if it floats to the surface it can be reabsorbed into the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
If it sinks to the bottom of the ocean it is locked up in sedimentary rock for thousands, if not millions, of years, keeping down the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Now if you're still not convinced you care whether zooplankton drop sinkers or floaters you should know there are more than 1500 million tonnes of protozoa, a type of zooplankton, in the Southern Ocean alone.
I don't know what is funnier: the idea of studying biology for years and years to study how plankton takes a crap or the reference to 'sinkers or floaters'...
Posted by Mad Mikey at 09:38 AM | Comments (1)
August 10, 2004
Status: Blech
This is one of those days where I just cannot seem to 'wrap my brain around' anything.
I've taken notice of some items in the news, but just can't seem to get motivated about them:
Posted by Mad Mikey at 11:55 AM | Comments (3)
August 09, 2004
Product Defect
Offered without comment:
Man shot dead as bulletproof magic fails
Accra - A Ghanaian man was shot dead by a fellow villager while testing a magic spell designed to make him bulletproof, the official Ghana News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Aleobiga Aberima, 23, and around 15 other men from Lambu village, northeast Ghana, had asked a jujuman, or witchdoctor, to make them invincible to bullets.
After smearing his body with a concoction of herbs every day for two weeks, Aberima volunteered to be shot to check the spell had worked.
One of the others fetched a rifle and shot Aberima who died instantly from a single bullet.
Angry Lambu residents seized the jujuman and beat him severely until a village elder rescued him, the report added.
Tribal clashes are common in Ghana's far north, where people often resort to witchcraft in the hope of becoming invulnerable to bullets, swords and arrows. - Reuters
Posted by Mad Mikey at 07:45 AM | Comments (4)
August 03, 2004
Eye Candy
Woof!
Of course you must remember this: some where, someone is sick of putting up with their shit....
Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:52 PM | Comments (3)
August 02, 2004
Odds-n-Ends
Sometimes your mind starts working on something before you realize it like when I read these headlines, here is what I initially thought of:
'Jap Road' to Get Name Change
It's probably the best thing for all involved considering how people get 'offended' by practically everything.'Nip Avenue' or 'Kamikaze Street' would be much better.
Drug Sniffer Dog Dies of Overdose
I guess no one was around to intervene....Frenchman retains snail spitting world title
Besides pulling off the "don't-shower-for-a-week" feat, here is another reason to be jealous of the French.Coach questions call, shot to death on field by referee
He was all out of red cards....Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)
July 29, 2004
Forrest Gump Protest Style
What's wrong with the protestor in the upper left corner...?
Duh.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:00 PM | Comments (2)
July 20, 2004
Today = 'Blech!'
I got nothing much to blog about for the moment.
I had to go to freaking Traffic Court to deal with an 'Unsafe Lane Change' ticket I got about a month ago on the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. Of all the times to do this one stupid maneuver - I did it right in front of a motorcycle cop.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 12:15 PM | Comments (2)
July 14, 2004
NOW HERE IS HOW YOU SUPPORT THE TROOPS
United States Marine Corps Sgt. Andrew Mrozik, 28, left, of
Chicago, receives emotional homecoming hugs from his
daughters, Autumn, 8, and Dakota, 2, right, Tuesday, July 13, 2004,
at Camp Pendleton, California
Makes you want to find your kids, hold them tight, and never let them go.Posted by Mad Mikey at 01:19 PM | Comments (5)
Wiped Slate?
It figures - I move up the evolutionary ladder here in the blogsphere and what happens?
I get 'writers block' and cannot think of anything to write about this morning.
No, wait.....I could do one of those 'Frequently Asked Questions' and/or 'About Me' blurbs, but that will take time. Yeah, I will eventually do one of those very soon.
Posted by Mad Mikey at 08:00 AM | Comments (4)
July 12, 2004
And So It Begins...
Just a quick (and my first) post here at Munu. It's early on Monday morning and I just got into work so I don't really have a lot of time to 'blog' right now.
Blogging....hell, I have a whole new one to set up. (Thank you Stevie and Pixy!!)
Posted by Mad Mikey at 02:44 PM | Comments (15)
