The Reason Ranch

Time Rolls On, and With it Change

2007-09-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon everyone. Let me start by saying the state of the ranch is fine, save for slight neglect. T-Rex, Princess P-Chop and the wife are good. We spent the weekend at Lake Camanche, CA on a rental pontoon boat. The weekend before that, we visited the Avenue of the Giants, walking around and staring at trees taller than football fields are long, standing when Christ walked the Earth. The place is amazing and humbling.

I started my MS in Project Management at USF last week. I go every Wednesday from 6 to 10 at night. I still need to get my homework done (reading 6 or so chapters and writing a 3-4 page essay), but that will be no problem.

I do not think I mentioned this, but the site I work at is on a military installation, and due to BRAC, it will be closing 3-4 years from now. I wanted to capitalize on education benefits over the next few years to really sharpen my skills and resume. Ideally, I would like to stay with my present employer and have them move me to another site to work. I just need to continue to do a good job and get my resume to the point where I am attractive in many situations. I have a good reputation with them, so I think I'm on the right track.

I also have about 100 folks working for me at the site, and I am trying to motivate them to do the same; ready themselves for opportunities in the future. It is hard to get folks to do these things. Change is a tough thing to ready people for, to get them to realize the only constant is change, paraphrasing Heraclitus. I have so many great folks that could really open up doors if they would just spend the next 2 years getting that degree done, that cert completed, etc. For some, it is fear. They're afraid to go back to school and fail. For some it is conceit. They don't believe they need the degree...they're just fine and a degree is nothing more than paperwork. Our company even gives employees money to pay for the training! Ugh....

So, I hope by the end of my 3 years I will:
-Get my MS in Project Management at USF
-Get my PMP Certification
-Get multiple ITIL Practitioner Certs, maybe the big IT Service Mgr Cert (tough one to get!)
-Get my Security+ Cert, maybe my CISM

I think that's a healthy set of professional goals for now.

What else should I look for to continue in my IT/Telecommunications Manager career? If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to holler!

An Old Hand Returns to the Ranch

2007-04-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Immersed in study and self-actualization, your intrepid logic hand has not entered anything relevant to this blog-spot for many moons. I thought it best to simply abandon these 40 acres of reason ranch; let the weeds grow, the ponies run free and the fences fall. Who is reading, anyway?

Well, I will update on my status now although I think no one is watching. This is more for me than you anyway. Perhaps Howard Roark is rubbing off on me.

Thomassaurus Rex had a swollen lymph node that scared us. The doctors would not rule out the “C” word, specifically leukemia, until they removed the gland and let Stanford Hospital do a biopsy. They removed it and he was released, and then his wound became infected, he had a fever and the wound swelled up to the size of a tennis ball. This looked significantly scary on a 3-year-old boy’s neck. After a week, they released him to come home again, and the wound eventually healed.

Fanning the flames of rebellion, Princess Pork Chop has fought her parents tooth and nail regarding cleaning her room, doing her homework, completing her chores, brushing her hair…you name it! Confrontation leads to nothing more than denials of fault or control over her own responsibilities. Sending her to “time out” in her room only results in muttering of “Attica” under her breath, and Barbie-doll legs being sharpened into shanks “to stick it to the man” when he is not looking.

Buzz Lightyear is full-grown and very hairy. Someone told me that dogs see their human family as a pack, as they would see their own families of dogs. Buzz sees himself somewhere above both T-Rex and Princess PC in our family “pack”. He herds T-Rex, nipping him gently on the ankles and heels when they are on a run. He also puts up a fight with Princess PC, who acts a little too wimpy with Buzz for a 10 year-old girl.

Mrs. Ruslfish has started her Graduate program in Project Management at U San Fran. She is eating it up, but also far too nervous about her writing skills and ability to grasp course content. This is same strong, intelligent woman who received all A and A-s except for one B in her undergraduate program. I need to be nicer to her about this silly fear, but it just seams ridiculous at times.

I completed all my classes for my Organizational Behavior undergrad degree at USF. I still need to complete three general credits and then I graduate. Graduating from USF will also enable me to return to Foothill College and get my AA in Philosophy. Foothill allows a student to forego the math requirement if the student already has an undergrad degree. I tried to CLEP out the three units on Saturday, and totaling failed! I could not get a 50% on a College Algebra exam. Sure, I am more an English/history/philosophy type, but for crying out loud! College Algebra is logic! So, I have to hit the books again and find 3 general units I can complete. I am banking on Management Principles.

Work moves on. I have been making many trips to CO Springs and FL for a proposal called NSOM, which will be the follow on contract for my present contract. I am a defense contractor and a program manager working in telecommunications for the US Air Force. My type of work involves 5 year spurts of employment, followed by re-competing the work and hoping your company makes the best business case to the government so they retain your company. I feel confident in our abilities on this one.

I have nothing to say about Imus, VA Tech, or anything that has been going on recently. I have been reading Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, but do not spend enough time reading it as I should. I will remedy that tonight. Cool book so far, though.

I’ll have something more witty and thought provoking later this week. Or not.

O’Reilly vs. Coulter...the chick wins

2006-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

I am almost done with Godless, Ann Coulter’s latest sharp satire with the thesis that liberalism is a godless religion. It is a good thesis with a lot of supporting facts and ideas that Coulter slaps down on the table like my daughter slaps down mean Uno cards. “Ha! Draw Four!” I can “feel” Coulter’s sense of intellectual victory in each point she makes. This lady just loves her work. The book shows it.

Argue against her points if you can, but I cannot.

She Argues that Liberals:

Incorrectly believe everyone can be rehabilitated and too often opt for prisoner paroles
Believe in abortion and do not want to face the logic or science against it, instead labeling all opposition bible thumpers
Put up victims in front of them to make their ridiculous liberal points and then cry foul when you challenge the point, claiming you are attacking the victim
Only use scientific information when it benefits their argument and ignore it when it does not, treating scientific data and tabulations as relative information to apply only when it benefits their cause
Deeply “believe” in the theory Evolution when it fails every scientific test, and then hypocritically brand those who believe in the theory of Intelligent Design and backwards

Anyone attracted to her dry dark humor can also appreciate the well-researched facts she brings to the argument.

However, to be in the argument, people need to know you are arguing, or you are just alone in the room talking to yourself, as Bill O’Reilly often does.

Check out this recent column from Factor-Man.

http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/oreilly061906.asp

If Ann Coulter did not shake people into paying attention by using hard-hitting satire, no one would listen. I love how Bill writes that he has made the same points all along, even on the Letterman show. Really? I do not remember what he said being a big subject of conversation around my water cooler, or on TV (except for his show), or in the papers or anywhere else. How wonderful that you were able to make your points in a polite manner, Bill. I’ll hug the other 3-4 people who got your point later today.

Meanwhile, as Bill lifts up his pinky-finger while sipping tea, Coulter roles up her sleeves and jumps into the pit, fighting to be heard and succeeding. Now she looks like the bad person to some, but how many times will the liberals try to use the victim shield for their ridiculous logic and succeed? SHE DID IT, and Bill failed.

O’Reilly’s argument is stupid. I have a better analogy. Let’s say Bill O’Reilly figured out the cure for cancer, and politely told everyone he did, but those who prefered their treatment for cancer diminished and ignored him. Coulter figured out the same cure for cancer, but jumped into people’s laps on TV shows, called anyone who attempted to argue with her "retarded", made sure her cure was accessible for popular review and even insulted the alternative treatment’s crowd? Well, people would think she was a kook, and then would use her cancer cure and survive.

She is a true believer. True believers are not polite and sacrifice their time, treasure, reputations, and sometimes blood to ensure what is right happens. She is a crusader, with both its positive and negative ramifications.

This guy agrees.

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20060626_129699_129699#continue

O’Reilly is slowly becoming what he fought against early on. Truth outweighs civility. Getting out the truth will not wait for the civil.

Super-Size Me or Proselytize Me: Free Will v. Mob Will

2006-05-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

There is a certain grace inherent in my parent’s faith. They are Catholic and attend church every week, revere the holy days, believe in the virgin birth and the resurrection of Christ. They believe to follow Catholicism; one must adhere to papal edicts. They hope my family (wife, 2 kids and me) will take Catholicism as our own religion too. They will not disown us if we do not follow their faith. They do not browbeat my family or me into going to church. They are pleased when we attend on our visits to see them. They would NEVER vote for a government that would force a religion on their populace…or at least they would not vote one in knowingly.
But all this would be expected, right? In America, with Catholicism, they do not proselytize people; force them to praise God the way the majority or the powerful dictate…or do they?

The definition of proselytize is to
1. Induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith
2. Induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine
3. Convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another

Islam has always wanted to force conversion on those not Muslim. Dennis Prager had four interesting quotes in a recent article that made me think about this. Four famous and powerful Muslim leaders said the following. I quote from the article.

The Prophet Muhammad in his farewell address: "I was ordered to fight all men until they say, 'There is no god but Allah.'"

Saladin (great 12th-century founder of the Ayyubid dynasty that included Ayyubid Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and much of present-day Saudi Arabia): "I shall cross this sea to their islands to pursue them until there remains no one on the face of the earth who does not acknowledge Allah."

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (father of the Islamic revolution in Iran): "We will export our revolution throughout the world . . . until the calls 'There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah' are echoed all over the world."

Osama bin Laden in November 2001: "I was ordered to fight the people until they say 'there is no god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad.'"

My mentors taught me while in the church and through my theological studies of Catholicism that Catholics believe God gave all people free will. We must acknowledge, with our free will, that God is omnipotent and our salvation and the individual must sacrifice openly, knowingly and freely to God’s divine truth to be truly worth notice of Heaven. That is what duty is: giving up more than you get in return because you want to, like voluntary slavery. To force and subjugate people, compelling them to adhere to the tenants of a religion does not create true, faithful followers, but slaves. It turns that religion into a tyranny, a totalitarian entity, not a path to salvation. Islam has no problems going through the motions and creating slaves, as the previous quotes prove.

Liberalism also believes we should do “good things” by force. I am forced to donate much of my money to programs for people who make less money than I do. I am told I owe the population these “taxes” since the country allows me to make money here. BULLSHIT. The country did not give me wealth. I created my own wealth, through my own initiative, diligence and creativity. The United States does not control me. I control the United States. The nation does not allot me the power to run my life. I ALLOT THIS GOVERNMENT THE POWER TO MANAGE MY NATION. Liberals believe we all owe the country. Sorry, slick. The country has my loyalty, but I owe it nothing. I have a duty to my country that I will take up, but duty is voluntary.

The socialist “redistribution of wealth”, like unbalanced taxation to give those who make less money more wealth, is supposedly done to be “fair” and “equal” for all people; to ensure that everyone has their basic needs satiated. That is not fostering free will, and is un-Christian. Doing good deeds for those less fortunate must be voluntary to be worthy of merit, not forced on a person through the mob rules philosophy of socialism. They, the government, takes the money (by force) that I obtained through hard work, sacrifice and ingenuity and gives it to people who did not work hard for it, sacrifice for it or come up with an ingenious way to create it (unless you call the scams out there today ingenious). Do not give them money, and they will survive still on their own merit and through their own hard work. No, they may not make as much as me or Bill Gates or Brad Pitt or Tiger Woods. And so what? We are guaranteed the right to make that money, not the right to that money. The government does this taking of my possessions by force. If I do not give them what they want, they will take it at gunpoint.

Again, the definition of proselytize is to
1. Induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith
2. Induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine
3. Convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another

What is the similarity between the Socialist agenda and the Islamist agenda? The liberal with the socialist goal wants to take away my freedom to work and own through force so they can control power, carve out a world of their design. The Muslim radical with the Islamist goal wants to take away my freedom of choice through force so they can control power, carve out a world of their design.

Any wonder why the liberal says we are loosing the war with radical Islam, we are infringing on civil rights when we monitor the enemies’ phone calls? Why do they protest the war while waving old Soviet Union flags and wearing Che shirts? Why do the communist groups like ANSWER run these anti-war protests? How can they combine the protesting war on terror, their hate of the patriot act, and the incompatible arguments of keeping illegal immigration strong, doing a better job protecting our nation and raising the minimum wage? Check out this on the fence film on the little green football site and see what I am talking about last paragraph.

Why are we submitting to an irreligious religion? I am looking forward to Ann Coulter's new book and looking for answers in some of her arguments.

The Ugly Face of Moral Relativism: who is Madeline to judge?

2006-03-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Check out what Madeline Albright said in the LA Times today.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-albright24mar24,0,5251258.story?coll=la-home-commentary

Moral relativism once again shows it’s ugly face. And damn, Albright is fugly!

Leveraging the obscurity of what the word “is” is may have worked in the 90s, but not today, half way through a decade scarred by terrorist appeasement no more. There are no half-truths or rational opposing viewpoints when it comes to what is good and what is bad in the world today. Killing indiscriminately and doing so saying, “Allah wants it that way, just ask me” is evil. These morons cannot even accept responsibility, but blame their god.

Forget it, Madeline Notbright. You cannot compare the Western ideal to fundamental Islam. That is like saying the Union’s ideals in the Civil War versus the Confederacy’s manipulation of “states rights” argument in order to continue to enslave people is morally equivalent. It’s like saying the Civil Rights movement in the sixties is morally equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan’s outlook on how American Society should run.

Terrorists attacked us. We warned the world we could no longer allow the support of fundamentalist terrorist organizations. The globe has shrunk and terrorists easily traverse it when mayhem and murder is the goal. We went into Afghanistan to clear out a regime that supported terrorism. We went into Iraq to do the same. Iran now looms as a problem. In each case, a totalitarian, oppressive government that kills for thoughts and imprisons/tortures for disagreement threatens our safety by supporting terrorist organizations and creating/threatening us with weapons that could kill thousands to millions.

Yet we should not judge, right Madeline? Bull crud. We must judge, for our judgments save lives, free the enslaved, bring fairness and justice and freedom to oppressed people in America and across the globe.

Yeah let’s put the liberals back in power. Watch us capitulate and die.

Marketing a Mountain

2006-03-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

“Sherpas are mystified that Westerners spend so much time and money to see what to them are sometimes sacred but not very interesting mountains.”
-Jim Fisher on page 90 of Everest, Mountain Without Mercy

“The wolves pounced on him in a flashing tempest of teeth and claws. And as they tore through his parka and closer to his flesh, Josh had to laugh. For as bleak as this looked, it was still like puppy time at the petting zoo compared to the first time he was attacked by the pure and natural peppermint in Everest – the mint gum without mercy.™”
-Author Unknown, from “Merciless Tale #103” on the inside wrapper of an Everest Powerful Mint Gum tin.

During our first session in the Mind-Surfing class, Dr. Lankford told us to write down what we knew about Mount Everest. One of my favorite gums is Everest Powerful Mint Gum. They are little chunks of mint gum that pack a real punch. They use Everest to signify how powerfully cool the mint flavor is when you chew one. That is a catchy sales pitch.
When I read about how the commercialization of Mount Everest increased the tourism trade and how the Sherpas did not quite understand the big deal about it (on pages 90 and 91 of the assigned book), I figured they were just accustomed to the humongous mountain. They did not see it as an icon of a huge challenge, great height and bitter cold as many Westerners see it. To them, the gum would be like one of us looking at “Los Altos Chewing Gum.” I am sure they sense a level of majesty related to the highest peak in the world, but they are so familiar with it that the impact is smaller.
The ad executives that put together the Everest Gum concept saw a similar opportunity to capitalize on the iconic mountain to make money as the natives of Nepal. And what a concept! I noticed that on the inside of the package there are small stories of great challenges in the daunting cold. These main characters, like X-Game action figures, go hiking in the forest or climbing a mountain of snow boarding off cliffs and get into some horrible trouble. In each story, they are about to meet some grizzly fate, but hearken back to the first time they chewed an Everest Gum and realize that challenge (the powerfully strong mint flavor) was a much greater test. Pretty funny.
Along with the story is a URL to their website: www.everestgum.com. I checked it out. They sure put a lot of time and talent into it. They have interesting information in the site like the equipment used to climb. They also had a “Sherpa” in there that they treated like a cartoon. It was a picture of a native with the mouth cut out that would move up and down when it talked, like the pictures in a Monty Python ‘s Flying Circus cartoon sketch. I am not the type to get all offended by things like that, but I could plainly see that others would feel it denigrated the Sherpa.
When you think of the tourism, the books, the movies, the mint gums and all the other things that go along with commercialization of Mount Everest, you wonder if all this capitalism is exploiting this majestic icon. I hope the natives around the mountain gain greater comfort and do not lose their identity and traditions. They are not inanimate mountains for catchy product manipulation.

My Mountain Manifesto Entry 1: Companionship and the Mountain

2006-03-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

“Breashears, the fax continued, is safe but is joining the rescue effort.”
-Tim Cahill on page 14 of Everest: Mountain Without Mercy

“Climbing with you was easy as a vow”
-W.H. Auden from his poem “The Climbers”

Tim Cahill wrote one of the first stories in the book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy. He explained his feelings when his friend and colleague, David Breashears, was in possible jeopardy while climbing Mount Everest. He did a good job expressing his feelings, making the tension of wondering if his friend was all right analogous to the feeling you get when you see a child run in front of a vehicle.
Cahill and Breashears held a common interest: their wish to scale Everest and make a movie in the IMAX format of the ascent. Cahill said, “No one had ever attempted this before because everyone knew it was impossible.” Cahill went on to describe Breashears as a “tireless worker, entirely professional”. They worked well together and there was a bond in place, a bond forged by mutual admiration and respect for one another and the tallest mountain in the world.
W. H. Auden wrote many great poems about companionship and love. One of these poems, “The Climbers”, uses scaling a mountain as a metaphor for the arduous journey he and a partner had in their relationship.
The first stance of the poem describes Auden’s escape from the mundane people that live around him. To escape, he must climb “the mountains” of his fears. His fear of being different, recognizing he is not like others, is a vast obstacle to conquer. His journey does not allow for valleys (cols) or water or anything that would make the obstacle easier, especially excuses or victim-hood.
The second stance turns the subject away from his own climb and focuses on a friend who is sharing the task. The first line is so powerful! Vows are easy when you take one for what you believe in. Auden could have also been alluding to a wedding-type vow, but a general vow feels more powerful to me, so I am sticking to my first interpretation.
Cahill showed his strong feelings of respect and admiration, and explained the great stress he felt when there was a possibility that Breashears could have been hurt or killed. They forged their relationship with the obstacle of Mount Everest as a common goal. Auden’s mountain represented the same thing: an obstacle. His mountain also honed a relationship he had with another. Although Auden’s mountain was not a physical height to climb, there were dangers, discomforts and tough points to overcome.

The Climbers

Fleeing the short-haired mad executives,
The sad and useless faces round my home,
Upon the mountain of my fear I climb;
Above, the breakneck scorching rock, the caves,

No col, no water; with excuse concocted,
Soon on my lower alp I fall and pant,
Cooling my face there in the faults that flaunt
The life which they have stolen and perfected.

Climbing with you was easy as a vow;
We reached the top not hungry in the least,
But it was eyes we looked at, not the view,
Saw nothing but ourselves, left-handed, lost;
Returned to shore, the rich interior still
Unknown. Love gave the power, but took the will.

-W. H. Auden

My Mountain Manifesto

2006-03-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

I wrote about Mount Everest when I was reading a cool book titled Everest, Mountain Without Mercy. I have some various journal entries relating Mount Everest to various things, and I want to start posting those entries. This was an idea that Dr. Scott Lankford put out in an English Seminar that he calls Mind Surfing. So be it!

I'm sick of doing anything else, and I want to re-inspire myself. I hope they inspire you some too.

First one is coming up....

Why So Long? I AM LAZY!

2006-01-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I have not been posting for almost 2 months. Many big things have been happening with School and Work and Home. They are all good things, but they suck away the time to ponder and plunk on the old keyboard. I also have been reading in my spare time instead of writing like I should. I finished The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science (awesome read!) and am half way through In, But Not Of by Hugh Hewitt. Please forgive that I forget.

Thanksgiving and Christmas went by with little issue (at least none I wish to publish). Thomassaurus Rex (2 years, 8 months) received Superman, Batman, Flash, Spiderman and Chewbacca action figures along with a little wooden train set and table. He was jazzed!

My beautiful Princess Lolo (9 years) received a camping set (pup tent, sleeping bag, inflatable chair and compass that she will put up in the back yard once it warms up outside), clothes and girly things, and a kiddo sized guitar with tuner, and CD on how to learn to play. She was stoked! I do not know Jack Scratch about playing a guitar, but I will help as much as I can.

The wife is working harder and harder at a job that often sounds like it is not very rewarding and a little overbearing. I wonder at times if she is happy with the job. She says she is from time to time, but it does not show. I think we would do fine financially on my salary, and I have asked her if she would like to stop working and just stay home and raise the princess and dinosaur. She says no. I do not think her happiness and the kids’ watering and grooming by their mother should be sacrificed for only the sake of things. Things only gratify the senses. Things do not enlighten or strengthen or bring goodness. They are only ends for a set moment. I want my family to be about "each other" as a success, not about the accumilation of stuff that makes us "happy". Do you know what I mean?

At school, I finished a whopping six essays to gain some school credit (if it all works out, I will get 18 units total!). I had a break for about 4 weeks, and I return to learn about Organizational Behavior starting the 25th. I look forward to being done in a year...at least with the Bachelor’s degree. I am afraid that, a year from now, if I finish my degree and stop for a break, I will never go back. It took a lot of gumption and energy to go back this time. Next time I will be older and have better excuses.

At work, I absorbed managing some more work centers. It was a big deal for the various VPs involved, and they made a fuss over it. I am looking forward to those challenges in the new work groups and how to blend best practices between these work groups and my original cast of characters. I need to hire more managers too since one of my people left for Colorado Springs and a promotion. It felt great seeing the person rise from a tech controller to a full-fledged IT Manager and knowing that I helped along the way. Well, I am always just happy I have work. A lot of people have had to settle for less than what they would lie to do. I am just tyring my best to stay ahead of the game with making successful decisions and getting school under my belt.

Speaking of my belt…I made a New Year’s Resolution to go back to school a couple of years ago. So far so good; progressing to the point where I get my BS in Organizational Behavior (HR/Management stuff) December 2006. Last year I made the resolution to quit smoking. It has been a year since 30Dec04 that I smoked a cigarette (or anything else!). This year I need to lose weight! I am way over 300 lbs right now, and my sexy body is looking shabby. I need to release that inner Charles Atlas once again on the world. The women may not be able to control themselves, but I am not a healthy cat packing all this tubbiness on my ass. Therefore, the resolution is to carve off at least 100 pounds this year. I think I can do it. It has been a rough start so far, but I will keep at it and keep you updated, loyal and lonely readers!

That is it from your favorite Philosopher-Manager-Conservative-Parental mass media Junkie. I will make an effort to jot down more as time rolls on and my fat rolls off. Read you soon!

Buzz Lightyear vs. Dino-Boy!

2005-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

Our new Doggy’s name is Buzz Lightyear. My son, Thomassaurus Rex named him. When the dog wants to play, he will lick the dino-boy on the face. In response to the alien attack, Tommy will say “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!” and run from the dog. Buzz will chase the squeals around the kitchen island; his tail wagging for balance, his speed not enough to ever catch his prey.

Our new Doggy, Buzz Lightyear, is an eight-week-old Golden Retriever. He is well behaved and already knows where to pee (on the paper matt laying next to the back door) in cases of emergency. I confronted Thomassaurus with this issue, stating that the Star-Ranger Canine can pee in the appropriate places, yet my Saurian Son still needs a diaper. This caused Tommy to stop smiling and think over the issue. He then smiled and said he would try.

That’s a start.

They don't give me my props!

2005-11-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I have been feeling pretty down lately. In California, there were some props up for vote and they all failed to pass.

One prop (73) wanted to make it illegal to perform an abortion on an under aged girl without her parent’s permission. It also established a 48-hour waiting period for under aged abortions too. By the way, they just passed a law that made it illegal to pierce an under aged girl’s ears without a parents permission.

Another prop (74) changed the amount of time a teacher had to work before reaching tenure. It is 2 years now in California. The prop would have made it 5 years. What the hell is this tenure deal anyway? It is supposed to protect college professors who speak their mind from being fired. Why does a second grade teacher need tenure? Will she say something scandalous about Elmo that might get her fired? Does your job grant you tenure?

Prop 75 does not allow a union to spend a union members dues on political campaigns unless you give the employee gives them permission. The Union special interests spent $250 million in advertising against this prop to make sure they could spend $250 million against this prop. Ironic! Just think what GM’s unions could have done to secure pension plans with that $250 million….

So if Prop 76 would have passed, the state legislature would be restricted on spending increases to only a 3 percent or so increase per year. If the state later found that they spent too much and needed to cut something, the governor would call for a reduction. The legislature would then have 45 days to make the cuts, or the governor would be given the power to do it. Wow…how horrible. The state would have to live within its means like you and me. It sure is easy to spend money you didn’t earn….

Prop 77 was the biggy. If it passed, the legislature would not be able to rig elections by setting up their own congressional districts. Allowing this is allowing people to pick who they want to vote in their election. Ridiculous, right? Well, that made far too much sense for California. It was defeated, of course, by a 19.7% margin. You see, we like our elections rigged in California.

Props 78 and 79 were programs set up to socialize prescriptions. They both used “discount drugs” in the titles. Thank God they were shot down.

Finally, Prop 80 would have added more bureaucracy on the utilities industry out here. Yeah, that’s what we need…more government involvement in utilities. We already pay waaaaaaaay to much. Nothing like funneling tax money into it to slow the utility companies more so they charge us more. Talk about lose-lose. That was shot down too.

So, same old same old.

I just hoped something positive would happen. Instead, Union special interests and those who just want to get a Republican out of the Governor office fought some props that would melt the ice-lock-grip of these corrupt bastards on our local government. The TV commercials they played were just lies. It was so hard to watch as the lazy sucked up whatever they were told on TV and from their Union bosses.

Will California be saved, or is it just destined to crumble under its own bloated weight?

Stay tuned.

So...an update on school

2005-11-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

I finished my classes at the local junior college, Foothill, this summer. I now only need to CLEP Intermediate Algebra and I will have an AA in Philosophy from that institution. Yippee! It was fun and challenging, but I am glad I am moving on to bigger things.

I am presently enrolled at the University of San Francisco (USF) and taking classes in English and Ethics. The English courses here are harder than the Junior College classes I have taken in the past. Well…not so much harder as they are tedious. I have to write a ton of papers and I am lazy and I don’t want to…..waaaaa…. The English type class is fun, though. What makes it fun is that I am constantly wise cracking and the teacher does not come down on people. She is pretty open and does not mind.

The Ethics class is fun too. I love philosophy and the ethics class covers Kant and others.

The thing to remember is to stay focused and get your work done, Ruslfish! Ugh!

Protesting Proletariat…Commies leading the Clueless

2005-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who enjoy this type of stuff or those of you who believe there is no such thing as media bias, check out this article.

http://www.zombietime.com/sf_rally_september_24_2005/anatomy_of_a_photograph/

If you get a chance, look up some of those interesting organizations that are only for peace. You will see they have ties with North Korea and Vietnam and Communist Party groups. I feel the saddest for that girl, a useful idiot posing to further the agenda she may or may not understand. I wish she could understand that America is everything right in the world…that democracy and a freely decided destiny is what she is fighting against when she wears that mask, holds that sign and marches under that flag.

So 24Sep05 was a day of big protest in the San Francisco? I did not hear much about it. Also, my favorite anti protesters, the Protest Warriors, make no mention of it on their website (http://protestwarrior.com/). Let us hope they made a showing of it.

TV Hawkeye or Movie Hawkeye?

2005-10-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

So who played the better Hawkeye in MASH: Alan Alda on TV or Donald Sutherland in the movie? I love the movie MASH. It was hilarious, and I used to want to get the DVD so I could watch it more often. That is what I did when it came to the Great Escape. The TV Hawkeye turned into an old preachy dork who was supposed to be a ladies’ man but was BORING! Alda was supposed to be this MR. Sensitive and it really got on my nerves. Ugh! Sutherland’s Hawkeye was my favorite. Well, now I do not want to buy the MASH movie. Donald Sutherland has just turned me off. Read the below URL.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4ds.htm

Honestly, I can overlook a disagreement with a person and still be there friend. One of my best friends is pro-choice. He is not anti-life or pro-abortion, he just does not believe life starts right at conception and thinks abortion is OK as long as it is before the point where a baby can live on its own. I disagree, but that is not the end all of our friendship or discussions.

I could not be a friend, however, with someone that acknowledges that babies lives start and conception and yet can and should be killed if the baby life support system (commonly incorrectly referred to as the “mother”) feels inconvenienced. I also cannot be a friend with someone who only wants to talk about that disagreement, rub it into my face all the time, or make a big public display about the belief.

That is enough with my analogy, now to my point.

I feel the same way with media folks. Donald Sutherland can have an opinion about things, and can even hold one that disagrees with mine. What I hate is that:
1) His opinion is so outlandish and crazy
2) He has to wag his opinion out there, acting as if he is an intellectual and that his opinion matters on a grand scale.

HOW ANNOYING.
SHUT UP AND ACT you ancient dumb ass.

Where is Alan Alda? Oh yeah, he is on the West Wing now, playing a conservative presidential candidate with a heart. Hmm….

Tomasaurus Rex

2005-09-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tommy is now 2 years and 4 months old. He is very funny, and a dancing genious. Yesterday, we both danced to the theme song of the TV Show Survivor if front of the TV in our living room. He is much shorter than I am, coming only to the top of my leg. You would think this would make it hard to have Tommy as a dancing partner. You would be wrong. Tommy did a great job with inerpretive dance to the Survivor theme music. He was also an exceptional dancing partner, allowing me to make some well placed interpretive moves as well. We both recieved a round of applause from my wife and 9 year old daughter as we took our bows and CBS went to commercial.

Tommy is also an exceptional interpreter for worldly creatures. He knows what noises several different animals make. Although he has never seen one face to face, he can also successfully imitate the roar of a dinosaur. I do not know what type of species of dinosaur (Tommy will not tell me for some reason), but I would guess the T-Rex. I will ask Tommy "What does a dinosaur say?" at some opportune moment during the early evening as we chew on popcorn watching some Pixar movie.

He'll look at me with that evil smile, the trademark of the Ruslfish family line, and say "Rwarhhhgh!" He'll then bare his fore claws, drop his head low and hunch over, pacing in a semi circle around me, looking for a weakness or opening to bite or claw at me. I must defend myself, grabbing Tomasaurus Rex and blowing hard on his belly until he laughs himself to exhaustion.

TV According to Me

2005-09-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

I watched a little of the Emmys last night. I saw David Letterman commemorate Johnny Carson into some hall of fame deal. Good. Carson was fun to watch even when he was old. He still made me laugh. I hope his retirement was fun while it lasted.

I didn’t watch much more of it. I just don’t like those shows like I used to. There was a time when I thought all those stars were witty and smart and had important things to say. As I’ve grown, I’ve come to realize they’re mainly narcissists and focused on the wrong things. They are not very well educated and act like poets do. “Can’t we all just plant trees and love each other?”

“No. We kill each other. Now shut up or I will kill you, dickhead.”

My favorite show right now is Battlestar Galactica on the Sci-Fi Channel. It is pretty entertaining. I also like Survivor, which many people like so no big deal there.

I’ve been watching that Rock Star: INXS with my wife. That show just shows you how self centered and moronic singers can be. Then thy have that Dave Navarro hosting. I swear he is Prince with tattoos.

There are two great cartoons I watch. The first is Justice League. Good stories and characters. They have the foundation DC superhero characters, and actually give them personalities. There are points when you can tell Superman just wants to haul off and punch Batman in the face. Nice! The other cartoon is the Venture Brothers. Man, talk about funny! It is a mock Johnny Quest cartoon.

Search for Justice League and Venture Brothers. The League is usually on Saturdays around 6 PM. The Venture Bros. are on Sunday nights at 9:30. At least, they are on the West Coast on Dish Network.

The Swiss Bring a Modest Proposal to the Next Level

2005-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Does anyone out there know who John Swift was? If you do not, he was an Irish Satirist. He wrote Gulliver's Travels, and also an essay named A Modest Proposal. In it, he offered a solution to stop the famine problem in Ireland.

This famine was due to government overregulation of what the Irish could grow. England forced them to only grow potatoes. When the potatoes were hit with a disease, the nation's entire crop was wiped out and the Irish had nothing to eat. That started the potato famine that drove many Irish immigrants to America.

Well, Swift said in this essay that one way to stop the famine was to simply have the Irish eat their own children. It would feed many, and put those little poor children out of their misery too. He wrote it so well, you could feel the snide passive-aggressive anger that must have boiled in his chest. You could read the rage that must have been there as he watched his country starve to death.

Oh well, that was then, right? We would never be so cavalier about life in our enlightened age of secular reason and consistency of rights....right?

Check out this amazing and insightful article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081701777_pf.html

Truly, does this excite you? Does it make you feel good to know that now they are skinning aborted fetuses to quicken the re-growth of burnt skin? Really read this article and ponder the ramifications. Note that further on toward the end of the article they talk about how the baby's skin cannot be shown to perform any better as a skin graft than an adult's skin. But look at the title of the article. Lies and lies and LIES! ARGH!!!!!

Also, check out paragraph 6 of this article. These sons of bitches at the Washington Post DARE to call this woman the "mother" of the 14 week gestating male! So the child bearing cow gave authorization, after killing the 14 week post conception baby, to skin him and use his body parts for experimentation!?! That's not a mother whether you like it or not! GOD SAVE US ALL!!!!!

Note that, to the Post, it does not matter that a child was killed for this Swiss experiment, but they do not fail to mention that burned children were helped. Is that not the most ironic spin technique you have ever seen?

We in America are not far behind our modest ly proposing Swiss friends. Governor Swarzenegger of California, a.k.a. the Savior by the Left Coast Republican Intelligencia, has authorized $6 Billion over the next ten years to be committed to stem cell research, and embryonic stem cell research is part of that plan. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is flexing his liberal secular doctor death chops and supporting this infanticide/in-vitro fertilization recycling program as well (see previous post). Even Theologian and Conservative Radio Host Dennis Prager believes we should not compare the 30 million deaths due to abortion since 1973 with the 6 million deaths due to Hitler's Nazi Final Solution.

Read: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20050816.shtml

Sorry, Dennis, but your numbers don't add up and your rationale (that the fetuses do not think therefore the tragedy is less) is hog wash. These are lives treated less than human like the Jews and the slaves and every other group that was weaker than the majority in power. An Abortion Holocaust is what it is...and calling it that does not demean wha thappened to the Jews in Europe.

I am tired and wish sometimes that I could move away from all this horrible relativistic genocide. It makes me sick to my stomach that this article sidesteps and jargon-izes the whole situation, trying to show the reader what to think about this horrible practice. I would move to Canada, but I hear that it is worse there. Maybe Alec Baldwin has some ideas. I heard he was leaving too.

These Swiss experiments are quite simply cannibalism. They are killing our fellow humans, and then they are using their remains for life extension and creature comforts. A life for a life is evil. Ends do not justify means.

Frist Frucked: the new Doctor Death

2005-07-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Read the latest news about an aspiring Republican Presidential Nominee and weap.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/29/frist.stem.cells.ap/index.html

Thanks so much for not considering the lives of snowflake children valuable enough to live, Senator!

What is a snowflake child? Some people cannot conceive by normal means, so doctors harvest eggs and fertilize a bunch with sperm, and create embryos. These embryos are then planted in the woman so she can become pregnant and give birth. Sometimes, the doctors are incredibly lazy and just mass fertilize a bunch of eggs, producing more embryos than the parents wanted. Those embryos are then kept frozen for future use. These babies, no larger than a snowflake, wait for the chance to be unfrozen, implanted and birthed so they can realize the life and liberty we all enjoy.

There are those who do not want to house these embryos and wait for them to be adopted by couples that cannot conceive. The adoptive parents would take those embryos, implant them in the adoptive mother and birth/raise them. This is not a new idea by any means. There are many snowflake kids alive today; those children previously frozen and now birthed and enjoying life like the rest of us.

Some “doctors” (I do not know if they are still considered doctors if they break their Hippocratic Oath and kill babies) would prefer to throw away all those tiny lives instead of pay out the expense of keeping snowflake kids in a frozen state. They argue they are not lives, but commodities like potatoes or coal or other things we can easily buy and trade, and later destroy and experiment on for whatever rationale. These doctors, like the great Doctor Senator Frist, believe it a waste to throw away those commodities when they can be used for experiments that may better the lives of those we deem worthy of life.

Careful, Senator. Think this through.

Frist says he is against abortion because he believes life begins at conception. If that is the case, aren’t these “doctors” taking life by experimenting on these embryos?

How is Dr. Frist different from Nazi “Dr. Death” Joseph Mengela? “Well, the Jews will be killed in the concentration camps anyway, so why not experiment on them and better the rest of mankind?”
How about confederate doctors? “Well, the slaves are not quite human, so why not experiment on them.”

The only reason why there is a benefit to experiment on the snowflake babies or use their stem cells is because THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS! With this rationale, can't we just say "Hey, prisoners are different than we are, and experimenting on them will cure many diseases...save untolled lives. Let's do it!" We do not do that type of thing because prisoners have advocates that stop us from acting unethically like that. They have voices that respond with displeasure, make us realize they are human and deserve the respect all life requires. The Jews had voices and faces, and our better nature stopped the holocaust in Europe. The black slaves in America had voices and faces, and slavery was stopped through a Constitutional Ammendment. Further, Black Americans received equal rights by the rule of law through the advocacy of Dr. King and others; faces and voices that allowed us all to relate to their plight, to see they were humans just like us.

THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT CAN HEAR THE UNBORN'S VOICE, SEE THEIR FACE ON A DAILY BASIS, ARE DOCTORS, AND THEY ARE TOO UNETHICAL TO CARE!!! DOCTORS ARE, BY THEIR VERY NATURE, AMMORAL AND NEED TO STAY OUT OF GOVERNING!!!

I am sorry but I have yet to see a politician/doctor take a moral stand that was not politically calculated. Frist is no better than Howard Dean in ethical viewpoint.

Why is that? You’d think these “doctors”, being so close to the absolute proof of life at these early ages, being so close to the miracle, would understand the gravity of their misguided beliefs. Or is it that they are so familiar with the human body is seams to be more a machine than a sentient life to them?

Well, mark off another hypocrite of the Hippocratic Oath for president. Individual rights trump the fascist's perceived benefit of the collective.

Who judges the judges? Well...ME!

2005-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Check this article out my friends.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050728/D8BKE0R80.html

Ah...nothing like a liberal fighting terrorism. Just think, this would have been the attitude if Franken-Kerry won!

Oh, sure…the court does work so grandly when his honor is at the helm. Right. H e certainly has the right to tear into old W! Bush is violating the rights of people by taking away elected legislature's duly passed laws and manufacturing his own rules by “interpreting” them to mean the exact opposite. Oh wait…that’s not Bush, THAT’S A$$HOLE JUDGES!!

Meanwhile, this Millenium Terrorist guy gets 14 years for bringing 124 pounds of bomb to the US to blow up LA Airport. How man would have died? How many would have suffered?

14 YEARS????

Screw this judge and his self important, codescending remarks, his bloated idiotic notions and his stupid court. It took this judge since 1999 to come up with 14 freaking years for a punishment? For justice?!?!

I cannot wait for the originalist/constructionist/conservative courts to flourish through the next decades.

This judge is a condor. He’s big and powerful and scary…and going extinct. THANK GOD!

Celebrity Dumb-Ass Awards

2005-07-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Runner Up: Ricky Martin

Recently old Ricky, with responsible songs like “She Bangs” and “Shake Your Bon-Bon” professing his love for dignity and peace, met with some Arab youth in Amman, Jordan. There our favorite Latino heart throb said that he knew all about racism and that he would be there for Arabs that felt the racism of being different. He offered to be their “ambassador” to the world to ensure they would never feel the harsh hate of bigotry.

To celebrate his commitment, the Arab youth gave Ricky a scarf that he proudly wore for pictures. On the scarf, written in Arabic, was the slogan “Jerusalem is ours”.

Hmm…I wonder what that means…. That wouldn’t be a racist call for the death to Jews, would it…? Nah, Ricky’s too smart for that.

Award Winner for Today: Scarlett Johansson

Scar-Brain is presently starring in the fantastic movie “The Island”. See my last post regarding its importance. That movie decries the evils of cloning people for spare parts, or creating life to destroy for the convenience and longer life of other beings.

So she read the script, and even played the role of one of the clones they want to kill for spare parts. But in an interview in People Magazine, she talks like she never even read the freaking script!

When asked if she was pro or anti cloning, she stated “I’m pro stem cell research, if that’s what you’re asking. If that could eliminate diseases like Alzheimer’s and polio, that would be incredible. People may say you’re playing with fate. But I think the positive outweighs the negative.”

What?!?!?!

First off, POLIO HAS ALREADY BEEN CURED, cutie-pie!

Secondly, she MUST be talking about Embryonic Stem Cell Research. That is what is going on in the movie, people take life and grow it and dissect it for use by a “sponsor” of the insurance policy. Her very clone character was almost sliced open for her internal organs after the sponsor was wounded in a car accident. How can she be for the vrey thing this movie argues against unless she is for the killing of innocents to extend the lifespans of elites that can afford it? Talk about a sick little girl!

Thirdly, “…playing with fate.”??? What does that mean? Can we somehow adjust the space-time continuum and play with reality and fate? Unless you’re superstitious (or religious, which usually means the same thing to Hollywood-heads), there is no such thing as fate anyway. I only bring this up because it sounds like so much babble.

The Super-Genius goes on, mentioning she is part of a fund raising committee for Hillary Clinton. When asked why the person living in Hollywood is working on fundraising in Hollywood for New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Scarlett’s response was very moving and rational.

“I think she’s very socially active, and that’s important to me.” Good, a Senator is socially active. That is important, sweetie. What else? “In a country where we have no national health care, no national day care…that’s really important.” Wow, she’s so right. By the way, what country had socialized health care and day care? Oh, yeah, the Soviet Union and Red China. Yep, we need a socially active senator to help us out there, or at least a Socialist-Active senator. We trully want to model our economy and lves on those two nations.

Hey, doesn't China already sell organs of thier executed prisoners? Wow! They really know how to live! Good thinking, Scarlett!!!

Hollywood millionaires…gotta love them, comrade!

An Island Unto Itself

2005-07-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

The most important movie I have seen this year is the Island. It stars Obi-Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. The movie was directed by Michael Bay, who made other great action flicks like Bad Boys, the Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor (harbor sucked some…but it was still fun to watch at home).

It gets a B grade from me as a film. The storyline was good, the effects were exciting, but unfortunately the chase scenes and running around became too fanciful. Some of the crud just would never happen in real life, yet they try to sell it that way to an extent. I understand, its sci-fi and we need to suspend disbelief, but some things just go too far.

What makes this film so very important is the content of the story. It is about cloning people for the sake of spare body parts. The elitists that can afford it pay $5 million to have a clone of them created. That way, if they ever need a heart or lung, or want to have a baby and not go through the pain, they can just use their “policy”.

Well, the clones have to be kept somewhere, and Bay shoves them in a Logan’s Run asylum that has horrific ramifications for winning the lottery. Well, what does all this mean?

The one hard thing to do when arguing the cause of Pro-Life (both abortion and embryonic stem cell research) is to put a face on the cause. Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman became the faces, the humanity that drove the abolitionist cause. Dr. M. L. King and other African Americans in the 60s became the humanity that we saw when we enacted civil rights legislation.

How do we equate humanity to the faceless in the womb… the faceless frozen in a test tube? They have no voice, they cannot complain, therefore they do not deserve to be called members of humanity.

The Island provides them faces. Cloning is not the only concern here. If we can feel pity for and root on Lincoln 6 Echo, McGregor’s character, we can do the same for the actual children that die every day due to the convenience of abortion and privately funded embryonic stem cell research. Am I making a leap? No, not really. Watch the movie and then think about this memo.

If Lincoln 6 Echo deserves to live, why don’t the weakest and most defenseless deserve the same?

The Supreme Dorks

2005-06-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

The last session of the Supreme Court has been fantastic. I feel so secure in my liberties now!

1) You no longer own any land that cannot be taken away by the government as long as they justify the potential to make more property tax off it with the next owner.

2) Cable companies do not have to share their lines with other broadband providers. So what, you mention? Well, we the people allow them to string the cable up to provide us a service. That cable is them the people’s domain. The cable service can still charge other broadband providers a fee for using the infrastructure, but they still should have to allow the use. This type of issue first came up with the railroads. One company laid the line, and then claimed monopoly not only of the line, but also nay type of vehicle that passed. They controlled the rates for passengers and cargo. They also used their great power to slow other competition from mounting. The cable companies did the same thing. They built the infrastructure with our approval. Then they established monopolies on townships for cable providing. Then they lobbied congress and got them to not allow satellite TV providers to give their customers local TV. You thought that the satellite technology was not there to give people those local channels. Nope! The cable lobby manipulated your elected officials and made it illegal, not impossible! Now they have somehow manipulated the system again and are not allowing other providers for internet service to use your cable infrastructure.

3) Wishy washy as ever, the Supremes allowed some 10 commandment displays and not others. What? I’m still trying to figure out the delineation. It has as much concrete thought and support as Roe v Wade.

4) They spent time on making sure that big media can sue kids getting music off the internet, but…

5) They would not hear a case regarding the ramifications of reporters putting classified data from the CIA leaks out into the public domain.

Can you believe these geeks? Now Renquist and O’Connor look like they’ll be leaving. Plus, John Paul Stevens is 85, and isn’t looking all that great either. The Supreme Court could really see a shake up. So what if it does. These old farts aren’t interpreting the law and the Constitution. They’re making it up as they go along.

How can you allow a city to force out people from 3 generation family homes so that a developer can open a strip mall?

Why would you deny decades long decided law and not allow free competition over a government sanctioned infrastructure that has allowed the builder to already recoup its costs and then some?

When is a Commandment not offensive to the one anal atheist in the back of the court threatened by the word of God? When should we hide the rules that are the foundation of all Judeo-Christian and Western law?

When will the police break my door down for taping the radio, or my favorite TV show, now that the internet music is illegal?

How many secrets that hold our national security together…how many covers of American operatives need to be blown before someone can stop it from happening again?

The Supremes are buying into their titles. They have become elitist and decadent.

WE NEED TERM LIMITS ON THE SUPREMES! END THE FASCIST RULE OF UNVOTED JUDGES IN THE USA!

Old American Century... 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 2

2005-06-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

I now continue with my point by point mocking of Jack Asses from Old American Century.

Website: http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

4.) Supremacy of the Military: Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Do you ever wonder what is the #1 thing we pay for every year with our taxes? Is it the military? NO. It is Social Security Insurance. That’s right, the wondrous social program that takes your money non-voluntarily so the government can take care of you and give it back to you later in life at a 1-2% interest rate. Oh by the way, if you die before you get all your money back that you invested, it stays with the government. What a deal!

O.K. That said, what is #2…the military? NO. It is social services: Welfare, Medicare and Medicaid. You know, the redistribution of wealth from the tax paying rich to those people who are in need. This is a noble idea, but wrought with abuse. Why do you think medical professionals charge so much? Because they can! Either a) your medical insurance pays for the costs or b) you pay for the costs through government programs.

So, what are we looking at budget wise for #3? You guessed it; it is the $82 Trillion of the military. It is number 3 for cost, and the only service so far that is part of the constitution.

Is it really disproportionate to the domestic agenda? It sure looks like it takes a back seat to Social Security payments to the old and social services to the poor. In addition, the website says even when there are widespread domestic problems. Unemployment is now at 5.1%. Homeownership is at its highest in history. Pay is at its highest too. What are they talking about?

Well, maybe the next one makes sense.

5.) Rampant Sexism: The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Where do we start here? Read over the examples on this site. What a bunch of B.S.

Since George Bush thinks that the government should not recognize same sex marriage, he is a sexist? What? Why is this anti-gay? Look, I cannot marry a guy under that type of law just like any other guy. I am straight. So, this law is not against gays, it affects everyone. Secondly, just because the government does not recognize a marriage does not mean you cannot get married. I could give a shoot less if the government recognizes my marriage to my pet goat!

What we’re talking about here is the legal enforcement of entitlements and benefits that come with a sanctioned marriage. The agenda for the left to bring this up as an issue is not to ratify love in the public square. It is to allow more people to get free stuff. QUIT IT!

Being against abortion is being against the death of small babies. This now amazingly qualifies for sexism.

I’m sorry, but I believe Hitler and Stalin were more than happy to abort babies and anyone with defects or who were old or infirm, etc.

Well, this one does not make much sense at all. How about the next one?

6.) Controlled Mass Media: Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
...
...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Forget this flipping list. How can anyone read further down after this one?

I can’t wait to read the next Lampley article!

Shut up and Just Play Music!

2005-05-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when you enjoy a musician or actor and then they open their mouths and ruin it for you?

Check out what Cold Play member Chris Martin said in this article.

http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/18707189?source=Evening%20Standard

This is the clown who married Gwyneth Paltrow and named their first child Apple.

POOR BABY! You are such a slave. You sound great when you play music, but how dare you trash talk the company that fronts the cash for you to make music…something you love? Those slave owner evil share holders were willing to pay you millions of dollars to put an album together. You agreed to a date and did not come through. Now these guys, who provided you a livelihood, want a return on their investment. They did not fire you and take their money back after you dick around too long, did they? You should kiss their ass and thank them all for their charity and patience.

And BTW, since I am an EMI stock holder, F Off! Never call me evil again simply because I save my money and invested instead of buying stupid crap, like your dumb CD, with it.

And what the hell is wrong with you, naming your kid Apple? Why not just name her Freak and get it over with. Or just name her Jane and I’ll beat her up for you instead of letting the playground kids do it.

What a dick!

Old American Century… 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 1

2005-05-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

So I was cruising the web and went to check out Arianna Huffington’s new Blog site, the Huffington Post. I thought I’d check out who is really writing for her.

Dianne Keaton? …wow…and she seems so smart in all her movies. I bet she is really good. [lol]

Jim Lampley? …isn’t he the sports guy? What the hell is going on? This is a guy whose debates include whether or not Mike Tyson should box again.

Well, Lampley was complaining about a politician and calling him illegitimate and a fascist. Guess who? Hmm……

Well Check out this website he links on as his evidence that we are descending into evil. Read them over carefully. There will be a test later.

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

OK. So, let’s go over what we learned, and the key 14 points.

1.) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism: Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

So, according to Laurence Britt (who?), patriotic things like symbols, slogans, songs, etc are fascist indicators. That’s kind of dumb.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
-Paraphrased slogan from the Fascist FDR when he set out to combat the Great Depression

Uncle Sam Wants You.
-Slogan attached to the symbolic Uncle Sam to help draft an army to stop Nazism.

Loose Lips Sink Ships
-Slogan used to remind people not to let intelligence out during World War II.

“Glory, glory Hallelujah! His truth keeps marching on!”
-Song filled with conviction that kept the Union army marching, eventually putting an end to the separation of the United States and an end to slavery in the country.

In a nutshell, this use of symbolism rallies troops. It is not a tool of fascism anymore than a gun is a tool of fascism. Just like a gun, symbolism can be used to rally good guys too, like it has throughout American History.

Well, it’s only the first point. Maybe this will grow as the countdown continues.

2.) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights: Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

The site shows proof like all the Geneva Convention violations America has on the Gitmo detainees from Afghanistan. SO?!?! They were not wearing uniforms. That alone is reason enough not to apply the Geneva Convention rules. Let alone that they never signed the Geneva Convention, and therefore cannot be part of the TREATY! It is not international law. It is a treaty we signed so that when our combatants get captured, they will be treated halfway decently and not summarily killed by the other nations that signed. You know, we won’t indefinitely detain and torture your country’s people, and you guys don’t arbitrarily kidnap our people and cut off their heads while filming the results for primetime Al Jazeera. Or, how about you guys not blowing up citizens and soldiers with suicide bombers not identified with uniforms. Or not torturing us. In fact, how about not stealing commercial American jets and ramming them into the Pentagon and the Twin Towers. Each one of these acts is against the Geneva Convention.

Once Al Qaeda signs the Geneva Convention Treaty, stops indiscriminately kidnapping, torturing and killing non-combatants and puts on uniforms. Until then, this point is considered BS. The Geneva Convention and Human Rights are not synonymous.

America is the most companionate nation in World History. No other nation does what we do to take care of our neighbors. Heck, we even sent money to Iran to help their earthquake relief. We oppose human rights? Work harder than this, please.

3.) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause: The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Welcome to the frenzy, all!

How pathetic! Liberals are saying there are being picked on. Boo hoo. They are saying the conservative media’s accusations are akin to Nazi Gas Chambers. Look at the list above.

“liberals, communists, socialists, terrorists, etc.”

Yep, that about does it for me. :)

I do not see them as scapegoats. That would imply that we are in a horrible state right now and need to point at someone to blame for our poor conditions. The Nazis did this.

I see the liberals and communists and socialists as just wrong. No offence intended. They just have bad ideas that do not work out. American liberals and socialists prove themselves wrong all the time. They support big government agendas and they just don’t work long term. Communists…true communists…are anarchists and believe in the estate-less state, no monetary system, the redistribution of wealth, etc. Show me when that has actually occurred, and I’ll give you my opinion. In the mean time, call the Soviet Union and Red China and Cuba what they are: socialist. In any event, no one is identifying these entities for any other reason than that their ideas are stupid. Some of the conservative writers go to the extreme and say imprudent things. You will not, however, see the Republican Party or the Bush Administration defend those words. Last time I checked Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh and the rest do not work for the Bush Administration. They make tons of money writing books about the irony and idiocy of socialist thought.

Then there are the terrorists. Do I need to expound on this one? Do I need to point out they are not scapegoats? Hitler round up the Jews and others and killed them. Stalin rounded up the Jews and Christians and anyone who disagreed and killed them. Phol Pot, Chairman Mao, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara all the same. None of them rounded up the enemy, forced them to stop attacking and threatening others, rebuilt their economy and assisted in democratic reforms.

Sorry. Well, that’s only the first three. We’ll check out the rest later.