Workouts this week: 1
Workouts/Total days: 49/90
I've no comment! Bah! Un"Lucky" number 13 I guess.
Since the new year is week 14 (and I'll be at work for four of those days), I'd expect some improvement.
A store that sells new husbands has just opened in New York City, where a woman may go to choose a husband. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates: "You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors and the value of the products increases as the shopper ascends the flights. The shopper may choose any item from a particular floor, or may choose to go up to the next floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!"
So, a woman goes to the store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs". The second floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs and Love Kids". The third floor sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Extremely Good Looking."
"Wow," she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going.
At the fourth floor the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Good Looking and Help With Housework."
"Oh, mercy me!" she exclaims, "I can hardly stand it!"
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads: "These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak." She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: "You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store."
To avoid gender bias charges, the store's owner opens a New Wives store just across the street. It too has six floors. The first floor has wives that love sex. The second floor has wives that love sex and have money. The third through sixth floors have never been visited.
time.blogs.com
Workouts this week: 4
Workouts/Total days: 48/83
Better. It’s still not exactly 5 times a week but getting better. At least I will not have to "have words with myself" as promised if I didn't improve.
Next week will be interesting as I have Monday, Tuesday, and Friday off from work. Since the gym is closed on Monday (Christmas day) and I have to be out of town that day anyway, there is no way to make it. Tuesday and Friday however could see me at the gym if I drag my lazy ass downtown just for a workout. Not the best commute just to hit the gym but fitness trumps convenience eh?
If all goes well, it’ll be another four days for week 13.
Credit: Solar Optical Telescope, Hinode Satellite, JAXA
Another cool shot. I wonder if my current fascination with the sun has anything to do with the fact that it's so damn cold up here these days; duh, it’s like uh, winter?! Deal with it!
Maybe a trip to Hawai’i is in order. I think I'll start a "Send-Rob-to-Hawai'i" charity fund (right after I start that "Buy-Rob-a-new-computer" fund).
Workouts this week: 2 (!)
Workouts/Total days: 44/76
Now this was a down-right crappy week for fitness. Monday and Wednesday were the only days that saw me at the gym. What a slacker! And the reasons (read “thinly veiled excuses”) for missing three days this week?
Tuesday and Thursday mornings I was at 0% energy when I woke up; I’d guess I was fighting some bug but that is pure speculation (read “wishful thinking”). Today my alarm (an electric one) didn’t go off because there was no power for it.
Yup, we got that big wind storm slamming Puget Sound last night. It actually knocked out power at least twice last night. Needless to say, without an alarm clock, I missed my wake-up time for the gym. The only reason I woke in time to get to work was that my backup alarm went off... in other words, my cat wanted to be fed.
It is a bit disturbing that I do not feel much guilt for missing so many days this week. I’ll need to work on that because I should be beside myself with grief, totally depressed, and unable to function... basically a total wreck for missing so many days. I’m slipping.
On the bright side, if there is still no power tonight, I’ll have to find something to do in the dark. If that is the case, I might as well do some push-ups and sit-ups. However, that doesn’t quite count as a workout so I’ll not include it in the count.
Next week better show improvement or I’ll have to have words with myself; and that will not be a pretty sight. On to week 12.
How cool is this!?
This imagery is shown on Astronomy Picture of the Day and titled, A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun.
According to the site,
"The rampaging tsunami took out some active filaments on the Sun, although many re-established themselves later. The solar tsunami spread at nearly one million kilometers per hour, and circled the entire Sun in a matter of minutes."
There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population reference bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, which comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each.
Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000 of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house.
Assuming each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks.
This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second-3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, and moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousands tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them---Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch). 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance, this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy. Per second. Each.
In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000 Gs. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.
If Santa ever did exist, he's dead now.
This made the rounds last year so I thought I'd resurrect it for this year as well
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed , color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.
This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
You learn something new every day! Who would have thought that the Bible would actually be waging a “War on Christmas?”
Jeremiah 10 (King James Version)So basically every “good” Christian out there with a tree in their house is doing exactly the OPPOSITE of what the good Lord said. Oh the horror! Where is a "good" Christian to turn now that even their own book has turned on them?
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Pastor files plan to reverse gay rights rules
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA -- A pastor opposed to new civil rights protections for gays and lesbians has filed an initiative to the Legislature to overturn them, but it's not likely to go anywhere because he would have to gather nearly 225,000 signatures by the end of the month.
The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, filed the initiative Nov. 28. The initiative, which has not yet been given a number and the language of which has not yet been reviewed by the state code reviser's office, would remove the sexual-orientation facet of the state ban on discrimination in housing, employment, insurance and credit.
State lawmakers passed the gay civil rights measure in January.
I just don't get it. For what possible reasons would a "man of God" want to be able to legally discriminate against a homosexual?
My guess is that the Rev. Ken Hutcherson is in fact a closeted homosexual who is so repulsed by his sexuality that he is lashing out at everyone else. His actions definitely fit the M.O. that seems so prevalent in religious and political circles these days.
Poor guy, we should pity him; pray that he might find peace within himself to accept that which God has made.
Workouts this week: 4
Workouts/Total days: 42/69 (oh sixty-nine!)
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to list workout totals so bear with me on this. Ultimately, when I get the time, I think I’d like do some sort of month/year at a glance; who knows.
Anyway, this week was pretty good overall. Obviously I missed one day (Thursday) but the rest of the week showed improvement. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, my weight stayed at 207 but today it was up to 209. However, I think that the overall trend is still loss of fat.
Today I concentrated on the chest for the second time this week. I’m starting to see a bit of muscle growth on the upper inner portion of my pecks. I’m trying to get the weight up but am still stuck at 55 lb dumbbells for inclined bench. Hopefully that will increase soon.
On to week 11.
Found this on Christmas News Letters.
Erma Bombeck's Christmas letter to Martha Stewart:
Dear Martha,
I'm writing this on the back of an old shopping list, pay no attention to the coffee and jelly stains. I'm 20 minutes late getting my daughter up for school, packing a lunch with one hand, on the phone with the dog pound, seems old Ruff needs bailing out, again.
Burnt my arm on the curling iron when I was trying to make those cute curly fries, how DO they do that?
Still can't find the scissors to cut out some snowflakes, tried using an old disposable razor ... trashed the tablecloth. Tried that cranberry thing, frozen cranberries mushed up after I defrosted them in the microwave.
Oh, and don't use Fruity Pebbles as a substitute in that Rice Krispie snowball recipe, unless you happen to like a disgusting shade that resembles puke!
The smoke alarm is going off, talk to ya later.
Love, Erma
Martha Stewart's Christmas letter to Erma Bombeck:Ya gotta love Martha parodies.
Hi Erma,
This perfectly delightful note is being sent on paper I made myself to tell you what I have been up to.
Since it snowed last night, I got up early and made a sled with old barn wood and a glue gun. I hand painted it in gold leaf, got out my loom, and made a blanket in peaches and mauves. Then to make the sled complete, I made a white horse to pull it, from DNA that I had just sitting around in my craft room.
By then, it was time to start making the place mats and napkins for my 20 breakfast guests. I'm serving the old standard Stewart twelve- course breakfast, but I'll let you in on a little secret: I didn't have time to make the tables and chairs this morning, so I used the ones I had on hand. Before I moved the table into the dining room, I decided to add just a touch of the holidays. So I repainted the room in pinks and stenciled gold stars on the ceiling. Then, while the homemade bread was rising, I took antique candle molds and made the dishes (exactly the same shade of pink) to use for breakfast. These were made from Hungarian clay, which you can get at almost any Hungarian craft store.
Well, I must run. I need to finish the buttonholes on the dress I'm wearing for breakfast. I'll get out the sled and drive this note to the post office as soon as the glue dries on the envelope I'll be making. Hope my breakfast guests don't stay too long, I have 40,000 cranberries to string with bay leaves before my speaking engagement at noon. It's a good thing.
Love, Martha Stewart
P.S. When I made the ribbon for this typewriter, I used 1/8-inch gold gauze. I soaked the gauze in a mixture of white grapes and blackberries, which I grew, picked, and crushed last week just for fun.
So a couple of days ago I was trying to transfer some files and discovered that my little 250MB USB flash drive just didn’t have the needed space. Being the “any excuse to buy new computer-related equipment” type, I did the only “logical” thing; I went out and grabbed a new SanDisk Cruzer® Micro 4GB Flash Drive.
I have to say, I am pretty happy with the purchase (after the initial sticker shock of course). The added memory allows me to back-up the important files from my home computer and the U3 CruzerSync software makes the back-up quicker than hunting for the files each time I want to back them up. An added benefit of U3 is that I can be on other computers but use my personal favorites, contacts, and choice files without having to load them onto the computer; there’s even a virus scanner that loads from the flash drive to keep your files safe.
Of course, the lack of a protective cap in lieu of a retractable USB connector is da best... in fact, that was one of the main reasons I went for the Cruzer Micro. My only complaint is that I wanted to get the Titanium version but it only came as high as 2GB.
Thoroughly clean the toilet. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and have both lids lifted. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.
In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape).
CAUTION!!!!!
Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge, as his paws will be reaching out for any purchase they can find.
Flush the toilet three or four times.
Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door.
Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself.
Sincerely,
The DOG
So I'm minding my own business trying to keep warm while getting a little breath of fresh air and suddenly this big white thing falls from the sky and hits me on the head. "Great," I think, "another one of those birds just got me." Then I notice that there are an awfull lot of white things falling from the sky; enough to cover the ground. Pretty weird I know, but believe you me, it's true; I even have this picture to prove it... see!
You know what? This stuff actually turns into really cold water when you pick it up in your hand; yeah, I know, you're asking why I felt compelled to pick bird shit up with my bare hand. Don't ask me 'cause I don't know why!
Anyway, Seattle has some pretty strange stuff but this one has to be the strangest... I think I heard a neighbor call it "snow." And here I thought snow was that stuff on your television when the channel is not tuned correctly.
Sunday I stopped off at my local Starbucks (yup, I'm one of those idiots who pay US$300.00 for a cup of coffee)... anyway, as I was waiting for my coffee, I noticed the music playing overhead. Of course it was Christmas music; that time of year I guess.
Since I grew up in a Christian household, Christmas was an important part of the religion. We celebrated all parts of it including the music. As a result, I am still programmed to get that warm fuzzy feeling when I hear the stuff and this time was no different.
I actually have nothing against most of the music; believe it or not, I actually like music from many religions. Anyway, I was listening to the song and singing along in my mind... until it got to the part of "...Christ was born on Christmas Day."
* cue sound of screeching tires *
My mind could not deal with that outright lie and the warm fuzzy feeling faded quickly. Even most Bible scholars agree that Christ was not “born on Christmas Day.”
This got me thinking. I went from warm and fuzzy to cold and not-so-fuzzy. The lies that are perpetuated by those in religious power are unacceptable. However, a part of me longed for that time where I was more ignorant to such things. That state of being where ignorance bliss; there is something to be said about that.
Now keep in mind that ignorance is the root of most evil in the world today... but for those who are ignorant about the world but still do not judge (a rare bread indeed), I have a small amount of envy. To live a life without being connected to the rest of the world; to be able to have traditions and blindly follow them to the grave without ever feeling like you need to question them... now that would be bliss.
But unfortunately, any bliss one might have would be short-lived as the world is getting smaller by the minute. Even the most remote places are being suberbed into the rest of civilization. And when bliss is interrupted by the rude truth, usually ignorance turns into hatred and then pure evil.
Believe it or not, I actually have nothing against evil. Without evil, there can be no good. Just like a coin that has two sides; it cannot exist without one or the other; humanity cannot exist without good and evil. This is how we have our “soul;” an individuality that allows us to choose the path we follow. Even most religions got this one right.
In Christianity, there is God and Satan; the proverbial “good” and “evil.” However, I prefer to think of them only as Yin and Yang. God cannot exist without Satan and Satan not without God; they actually compliment each other. That, of course, differs from Christianity where their God is to defeat Satan. Notice though, that even their God does not eliminate Satan; he just casts him out.
Anyway, I’m not sure how I went from Christmas music to Satan, but there you have it, my ramblings for the day.
Recently a hiker was lost in the woods up here in Washington State. This hiker figured that if they "stay the course" and continue hiking blindly into the woods, they might find a way out... wrong.
Anyway, today’s Seattle Times paper is full of letters to the editor about the foolishness of the hiker and what she could have/should have done. The following letter stood out from the rest; not because of its admonition of the hiker, but because of its defense of hikers in general. Pay close attention to the last line.
Saving graceThat last line says it all. “...I think we also go to the mountains for the same reason others go to church.”
Doug Mercer's cautionary comments in "Dark side of the mountain: a climber's obligation" [guest commentary, Nov. 22] on one's responsibility to not die foolishly in the mountains are well-taken: It's selfish to forget about the ones left behind to do the crying.
Yet he almost makes it sound like we all go to the mountains for the thrill of danger.
That may be part of it, but I think we also go to the mountains for the same reason others go to church.
— John Wolff, Seattle
Alright, I've pretty much finished the Blog upgrade. This new template is a bit different than the old one but I think it's a little better looking.
So, the benefits of going fully "Blogger Beta" are that updating the template should be easier now. Hacks are also available and relatively easy to implement.
THIS SITE IS CURRENTLY
UNDERGOING A REMODEL
 Mitch Reardon / Lonely Planet Images | News article: ...A first-ever museum display, "Against Nature?," which opened last month at the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum in orway, presents 51 species of animals exhibiting homosexuality. ... ...Scientists say that homosexual activity among giraffes is, in many cases, more common than heterosexual activity. ... |
It looks like some Christians are getting an early start on their imagined persecution. Some scheming businessman has decided to make headlines (thus promoting his product) by "donating" 4,000 talking Jesus dolls to the Toys for Tots charity.
Many Christians have this Jesus complex where they feel that they need to be persecuted in order to get into heaven. When that persecution does not happen, they manufacture it; a similar psychosis to that of those mothers who intentionally make their children sick in order to get attention and sympathy from their friends and neighbors.
As a result, this Toys for Tots issue has brought out these people in droves. On the message board attached to the article, many are complaining that Christmas is only about Christ (“CHRISTmas" = Christ) and what are Jewish and Muslim children getting Christmas gifts for anyway? A rather unchristian thought process if you ask me.
It’s funny how people do not know their own sorted history. They only blindly follow what they are told without asking questions. The following post does a better job of explaining the past than I could, so here it is.
Note: Dudepez, Alicrew, et al are some of those self persecuted Christians posting on the board.
Also:sfmom
Message #16711/14/06 03:51 PM
Dear Dudepez, Alicrew, et al: While Christmas, per se, IS a Christian holiday, it is a holiday that was established by the Christian Church as a deliberate attempt to co-opt, colonialize, overshadow, and steal the original PAGAN holiday. The Yuletide existed for hundreds if not thousands of years before the christian efforts to destroy an entire culture, religion and way of life.
IF your "Christmas" celebration involves "christmas" trees, wreaths, gift giving, stockings hung by the chimney, etc., then NO, it ISN'T a "christian" holiday, it's a pagan holiday --though we share it willingly with others who choose to observe it as the cultural holiday into which it has evolved. This may include Jewish, agnostic, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, etc. neighbors. The only really offensive practices are attempting to use the holiday as another excuse to try to attack other people's religious beliefs (just like when the christian church decided to steal this holiday in the first place) or using the cover of gift giving as a sneaky ploy to try to propagandize other people's children with YOUR offensive religion. "Gift giving" with an agenda like that ISN'T about giving; it's about TAKING.
NonBelieverButGoodMoralPerson
Message #17111/14/06 03:51 PM
Christmas was about children and giving presents BEFORE it was Christian holiday. And it is has been stated here many times, Toys for Tots do not only give toys to tots on Christmas so their toys have to be non-denominational. It is simple logic, but then again, logic is not a strength of the believer. If you don't like it, move to a country that does not have religious freedom.
And I am so sorry that Christians feel so put upon in America. We non-believers do not ever force our beliefs down your throat without it being done to us first. Is there even such a thing as a non-believer doll that quotes non-scripture when you pull a string? And please post the poll that says 85 percent of America believes in Jesus. I would like to see that.
Please study history and realize Christmas (the holiday celebrated on or around the 25th of December) is older than Christianity. Christians hijacked it just like they hijacked so many other customs of the pagans.
Mrs. Chicago does a good job of pointing out the hypocrisy of this whole outrage.Mrs. Chicago
Message #17011/14/06 03:51 PM
I've read everyone's comments. OK, Christmas is a Christian holiday but that isn't important to most small children. All faiths try to make that part of the year a pleasure for their children. As adults, we seem to be in the business of taking away every bit of a child's childhood. With the schedules we put them on and the way we work, kids often come second to what we want. The Marines have given toys to children for years regardless of their religious orientation. They don't need to start siding with any religion or politically correct group. Give the dolls to some of the many intercity churches who can distribute them at an annual Christmas party. If they had refused a doll that quoted the Qur'an, would some of you be applauding them? What about two "Bill & Bill" dolls? The list could go on and on. Can't have it both ways people. Our nation allows religious freedom, but religious indoctrination by using small unsuspecting children. That's another issue. Oh, by the way I am a very religous Catholic mother.
What a cool picture. I love this kind of weather... well, actually, I love all kinds of weather.
This picture is of the I-520 Floating Bridge that crosses Lake Washington in Seattle. It was taken during the wind storm we had on Wednesday, November 15.
Check out those waves. In years past, the waves would be large enough to actually break over the bridge deck.
Photo Credit: Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-IntelligencerSo now that the election is over, I have seen many conservatives berate the voters and announce that the terrorists are coming because they did not vote Republican. Being the hot-head that I am, I’d immediately jump on the defensive side and fire a couple of insults right back.
Deep down however, I know the only way to heal the nation is to do the “Jesus” thing (to put it in a religious context) and take the high road; in other words, to forgive. Now, we all know that I am just a simple male from the Homo sapiens species with way too much testosterone in my system. As a result, forgiveness of the vitriol that spews from their mouths does not come easy.
I think the following Letter to the Editor of the Seattle Times does a good job of trying to put the conservatives vs. liberals fight in perspective.
Our American cousins
Dear Republican letter writers:
Please take a deep breath, calm down, and try to get control of yourselves. I'm beginning to wonder if some of you aren't coming by my home anytime soon to lynch me for being too liberal, not conservative enough, or for voting pro-terrorist.
You know, a lot of people can have similar goals and dreams but have different ideas about how to accomplish them. Having a different plan doesn't automatically make you the enemy.
I'd be willing to bet that many of your co-workers — those who wait on you in restaurants, ring up your groceries, operate on your spleen and who just recently gave candy to your children while warmly admiring their costumes — are liberals: actual real people who live in your neighborhoods and walk your sidewalks and pay their taxes and abide the same laws as you.
They don't hate America any more than you do. They don't love terrorists any more than you do. They love their children and cherish their futures. They want safe schools, clean air and water, secure borders and a strong economy. They want to be happy and they want the same for their neighbors.
Now can all of this please be considered before jumping to the conclusion that anyone who didn't vote for your guy or gal is evil and must be destroyed? Please, before you hurt yourselves.
— David Brown, Seattle
The official count? TWENTY SIX.
Okay, so this was not a good week.
Monday, I had an early morning meeting with the FAA (yeah, sometimes I actually get to have a little excitement in my job) so there was not a chance to do the morning workout. However, I planned ahead and brought my gym clothes for an afternoon round of extended cardio.
Tuesday morning I woke to neck pain from sleeping wrong but still went to the gym. I probably should have not worked my chest that day but did anyway. The net effect was to screw the neck up even more. Needless to say, that was the last day that I saw the gym this week.
Hopefully, next week will show improvement.
Maybe Congress can use that $20 million for the end-of-war party now. The war on our constitution is over and the Democrats have won. I guess this calls for a celebration; the “evil doers” have been defeated. We are finally bringing democracy back to that lost nation of America.Perfect! This Letter to the Editor of the Seattle Times:
The all-seeing
Your Hubble servant
As a God-fearing fundamentalist Christian, I am outraged by NASA's blasphemous decision to fix the instrument of the Devil known as the Hubble Space Telescope ["NASA says repairs on Hubble are a go," News, Nov. 1].
And to the tune of $900 million, no less. Do they have any idea how many Bibles that money would buy?
If the good Lord had seen fit for us to study outer space, he would have given us the ability to build rocket ships and telescopes and computers and ... um ... er ...
Never mind.
— Dave Richards, Bainbridge Island
Here is an interesting article that puts into words what I have tired to figure out for a long time. It actually makes me look at the whole antigay sentiment in America in a whole new light.
I have an uncle who, when Oregon was trying pass some antigay legislation 10 years ago, was extremely outspoken against gays. This got so bad that my mother actually outed me to him to shut him up and get him thinking about what he was saying.
I think I now understand my uncle (not that I can forgive him because, after all, I am only human). Of course, this is the same uncle who was all about sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll in the first part of his life. He was a drummer in a rock band and has had two children (two different women) out of wedlock. Later in life, he found "religion." It makes sense that he would project his displeasure with his own past onto others to make himself feel all high-and-mighty.
Anyway, the full article is here.
Haggard, Foley and GOP Preach Against the Vices They Can't Shake
Are all homophobic Republicans secretly gay? The leaders of the party with a penchant for condemning others would do well to look inward. It's time to call them on their hypocrisy.
...
For answers to the puzzles that seem to infest the conservative worldview, we might dust off our old Freud texts. From the father of psychoanalysis, we learn the concept of "reaction formation" which describes how we react to our own unacceptable impulses. Reaction formation is a classic "defense mechanism" -- an unconscious behavior designed to ward off uncomfortable feelings. Sometimes we react to our discomfort with ourselves in harmless ways, such as when a man cheats on his wife and brings her flowers to ease his guilt. Other times, the reactions can be punitive-we judge and condemn others who exhibit the very impulses that we, ourselves, cannot control. This is frequently the case when dealing with lust or greed.
...
What is the solution to this misplaced effort to restrict others' behavior? For Freud, it was therapy. But more broadly, it's a dose of introspection, an ability to look inward, and to shift focus from others' behavior to our own. If hypocrisy in American political life is, in part, a symptom of inadequate introspection, if our fear that we can't control ourselves leads to an unconscious effort to control others, we'll continue to reach for a magnifying glass when what we really need is a mirror.
Republicans have no monopoly on hypocrisy. Most of us are guilty, at one time or another, of vocally denouncing something we ourselves have done, of shifting focus away from our own foibles by hoisting them onto others.
...
-Nathaniel Frank
A friend tipped me off to this video... makes me want to go out and dance!
In homage to the work of Herb Ritts (1952-2002)
I know; I’ve been a little remiss in updating the “…eye of the beholder” threads. I’ll do my best to get November up this weekend.
Have patience young grasshopper.
The official count? TWENTY FOUR.
Yes, that’s right; I missed a day at the gym this week. Before you condemn me to hell, hear me out. I had an early morning meeting on Wednesday so instead of sitting in the gym thrusting weights over my head; I was sitting in a chair trying to keep my head from falling like dead weight.
My heart was in the right place though; I brought clothes so that I might hit the gym after work. Unfortunately, I was also fighting a cold and was quite worn out to the point that I went home sick in the afternoon.
On to week six.
Earlier this month I set the goal to hit the gym 5 days a week for the entire month. Well, if you hadn’t noticed, today is October 31. Along with this being Halloween, it is also a milestone in my attempt to “be in the best shape of my life.” Yes indeed, today marks the 22nd time that I got my lazy ass out of bed and down to the gym this month; that translates into every day of the week (weekends excluded; some restrictions may apply).
Cool beans!
So, being Halloween, you’d expect people to come to work all dressed up in a costume. That was also true for some of the trainers at my gym. I found it hard to concentrate on the workout today because one trainer chose to dress in a 1970s fitness outfit; complete with the long hair and head band, short shorts, and tube socks almost up to his knees. Every time I’d catch a glimpse of him I’d get an uncontrollable grin from ear to ear… took a lot of energy not to start laughing. What a great costume; fit the venue as well.
Now this trainer had caught my eye the first time I started at the gym. He’s a handsome chap and I’ve not been able to fully place his ancestry. I’d guess that he’s a mix somewhere between Asian (probably Japanese), Latino, and maybe some Caucasian as well. Whatever the mix, it makes for a great look.
Anyway, the guy always wears long legged gym gear instead of shorts as well as sleeved shirts so a completely accurate view of his physique was never possible; until now. His costume was shorts, shirt without sleeves, and (at first glance) one of those shirts of old that showed the midriff. Cool, I get to finally see what his abs are like. Well, not so fast… upon closer inspection, it was actually a weight lifting belt that he had on. Oh well, at least I finally got to see the legs and arms. He’s got great quads and nice arms with one surprise; a band tattoo on one bicep. Who would have guessed?
I still have not been able to figure out what team he plays for though. My guess would be he’s str8. Oh well, at least it’s some nice eye candy to brighten up my mornings.
I’ve always valued the diversity of Urban America. You can walk down the street and see a hundred different skin tones and hear twenty different languages. This gives character and teaches one to not be afraid of that which they do not understand. Living in Seattle has definitely expanded my horizons and taught me to value most (no one is perfect) everyone.
However, on some of my hikes over the years, I have been to small country towns and one thing always stood out to me. These towns are usually very homogenized with only white people looking almost like zombies. Not to say that under the surface they were not good people, however, living a “sheltered” life, they are usually misinformed about the world and tend to fear that which they do not understand.
On the debate of English as the official language of the US… why? I think it’s just small-town-head-in-the-sand thinking. This thinking is already harming America because of the lack of Arabic speaking citizens. Instead of having an official language, we should require that everyone be bilingual. It’d defiantly make us more competitive in the world.
Anyway, I think this letter to the editor in the Seattle PI is quite eloquent and pretty much says it all.
Coffee shop tale shows need for multiple languages
The English-as-official-language debate ended for me one morning at my neighborhood coffee shop where caffeine and politics mix in a volatile and dangerous way. The topic came up, people ranted about immigrants and raved about patriotism when out of the vitriol and noise came the steady voice of an old man.
He said, "If it had not been for the Navajo language, we never would have been able to keep a secret from the Japanese in World War II." The room fell silent for a moment; you could hear the sound of a spoon stirring milk into a fresh cup.
That settled the debate for me. America is stronger for her rich diversity.
Carl Nelson
Seattle
So with all the computer problems this week, I’ve had little sleep. Seems like every night I went to bed after midnight. As a result, it was VERY difficult getting up in the mornings.
The official count? TWENTY! ! !
Surprised eh? Even with the lack of sleep, I dragged my lazy ass down to the gym every single day this week. The only blip was on Wednesday when I actually don’t remember turning off my alarm. Luckily I woke up 30 minutes later and was able to get to the gym. Instead of lifting weights that day, I just did extended cardio.
Average weight has remained around 212 lbs. I think part of that is that I’m still weak when it comes to dessert. Friends brought a cake for the Sunday night dinner that I hosted and refused to take the leftovers; how rude! ☺ I couldn’t throw away perfectly good cake; that would be sacrilege. Bow before the lords thy gods Sugar and Fat for they are quick to make their mark on you yet slow to be purged.
On to week five!
To update everyone on my computer woes, last night I went ahead and flashed my BIOS; I’ll try almost anything at this point. Still no Windows load, just that blinking cursor mocking me.
Okay, so I break down and get onto Dell Technical Support chat again. The chap runs me through different things ruling out possible problems; been there, done that! Anyway, we get to the point where he tells me the only possible problem is my hard drive boot sector and we need to reset it and repartition the drive.
But… but… but…. I already tried a different hard drive and it still didn’t work so it couldn’t possibly be a problem with the hard drive. Besides, even though I backed up the most critical data from that drive (see, it works), it would still be a pain in the ass to replace all the stuff that I was not able to backup.
Oh well, I caved in and went ahead and did what he requested. I fixed the boot sectors and then unpartitioned the drive. *cry* After the repartitioning and reformatting of the drive (which took 2 hours), I proceeded to install a fresh copy of Windows XP.
Well shiver me timbers, it worked! Windows loaded!
Now my brain starts to go into a logic loop with smoke coming out of my head. It made no sense! I already ruled out the hard drive issue. Now it works?! If the second hard drive didn’t work and the first one worked after it didn’t work, then the second one should have worked but didn’t while the first one didn’t but did… error… error… error… does not compute.
Meanwhile, the smoke detector in my place went off when my head caught fire and exploded.
Enter today. As far as I can figure, there is was sleight oversight on my part. I think that the second hard drive was not formatted with a boot sector (no OS originally on it) so the only way for one to be written is to reformat the drive and then install the OS; I did not do this. At least that’s my guess.
SO! Tonight, I get the fun task of reinstalling the software and trying to get the damn thing back onto my network.
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When you have a nice bonfire going, jump in the middle of it and warm yourself up.
Last night I found the Dell Resource Disk that came with my computer. From this I was able to run system diagnostics on the computer… everything came up normal. Argh! This is definitely becoming interesting. Curse, grumble, curse! There seems to be no explanation why my computer will not boot all the way into Windows XP. Oh, and did I mention that F8 does not work? I can't even boot into Safe Mode (which would mean that I would not be having this problem). F2 and F12 work like a charm! But F8? Nooo! You'd think I was asking for a million dollars or something.
I think I’ll pull out my gargoyle statue and perform an exorcism on the computer tonight; maybe there’s a demon living in there (though I don’t think it will work if it’s just a gremlin infestation).
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When you see flames coming out of your computer, pour gasoline on it.
Monday resulted in no fix for the failed computer. Actually, I never had the time to work on finding a solution. Instead, I thought it best to pull the hard drive and try to back up the data using my older computer (the one that works).
Unfortunately, my old computer’s hard drives are not very large so I had to pick and choose what data was irreplaceable. Even still, there was not enough room to back it all up.
Enter the iPod. I have a 60Gb iPod that is not very full. How fortunate is that? I had to start iTunes in order to switch the iPod to data mode so it will be visible as a storage device. To my surprise, when iTunes loaded, it went to the internet to look up music track information.
“What information did it find,” you ask? Well, none other than that for 98 Degrees: The Collection album! I had forgotten that I had left the CD in the drive. All of a sudden, the CD was recognized as an audio CD instead of just a data CD (see previous rant here). Cool! Before doing anything else, I had iTunes rip it and transfer the album to the iPod! Woot! Told you I’d have that music on the iPod! OK, so it wasn’t anything I did per se but still….
So, the iPod finally gets more music and now I start a major data transfer to it. After about a minute, the transfer comes up with an estimated time of completion in about 220 minutes! Yuck! It was already 10:30 pm and starting to get a little past my bedtime. Oh well, I left it running but woke up around 3:00 am and turned the computer off since the transfer was finished. Funny how an earthquake will not wake me, but the thought of needing to turn the computer off does.
I will waste yet another night tonight trying to fix the damn thing. Now you are up-to-speed on my computer misadventures.
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When smoke comes out of your computer, blow on it until you see flames.
Ya gotta love computers! They are like spoiled brats that throw temper tantrums if you look at them wrong.
Friday night I come home and booted up both of my machines. One loaded Windows XP, the other did not. I think, “Interesting, this has never happened before… oh well, I’ll just ctrl-alt-del and reboot it.” OK, fine, so it starts its reboot process; gets through BIOS with no problem then hangs at a blank screen with a blinking cursor (BSBC)… no Windows XP.
Now I’m a little worried. “Great, just what I need, another money pit!” So I grab the installation CD and boot from that. First, I head into Recovery Console so I can run a chkdsk. Initially it says everything is fine so I add the old /p to tell it to do a full scan anyway. This comes up with some HD errors. “Cool,” I think, “all I need to do is fix the errors, run a repair of Windows and I’m back in business!” NOT! ! ! Damn thing goes through the process yet all I see is that stupid BSBC again.
Curse grumble curse! But oh well, just to make sure, I unplugged my master HD and turned my slave HD into a primary single drive (Drive 0). Started the computer with the installation CD in and proceeded to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. Installation goes fine and then on reboot I find myself once again at that damn BSBC! #$%@&!
Now I’m a little on the irritable side! So I use the computer that booted fine and hit the internet to try to find a solution. I spend Friday night, all day Saturday, and 4 hours Sunday on the internet trying to find a solution. Everything I did ended in failure. I even spent an extra 2 hours on internet chat with a nice chap from Dell Technical Support. All he did was run me through everything I already tried. I don’t think he fully understood what the problem was because every once in awhile, he’d type things like; “After the CHKDSK /R runs, see if your HD is found under ‘My Computer.’” Hmmm…. If I could get to ‘My Computer,’ that would mean that I am able to load Windows XP! If I was able to load Windows XP, then I would not be having the problem of not being able to load Windows XP now would I?
*takes breath and pulls hair out*
Well, I tried resetting CMOS by removing the battery from the motherboard for a couple of minutes with the computer unplugged… reset the BIOS but still no Windows load. I reseated the RAM, the HD, hey, I even dusted the damn inside with canned air at US$594.59 per bottle. OK, so the air was not that much but it still seems rather expensive just for a bottle of air… even bottled water isn’t that expensive! Hell, one person even got their problem to work itself out by letting the computer just sit at the BSBC for an hour… mine didn’t!
SO, today I bought a new CMOS battery (just ruling everything out). I will spend yet another night trying to solve this mystery.
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When your computer gives you lemons, kick it until smoke comes out!
Yet another week has passed; the official count? FIFTEEN! ! !
Yep, that’s right, five more days at the gym! The only difference this week was that on Thursday, my bus got stuck in traffic due to an accident and was 20 minutes late getting downtown. This drastically reduced the time available to workout so I had to adjust the routine. Instead of lifting weights, I just concentrated on cardio.
Unfortunately, I am not doing as good of a job with the fat apparently. My average weight for the week is now up to 212 lbs; 12 lbs above my goal. That means that I’ve increased muscle mass but since the pants don’t seem to be any looser, the partial spare tire is still exactly where it has been. Probably what will happen is that fat from everywhere else will go away before the stomach so I’ve a ways to go before seeing that disappear. Did I mention that I’m a rather impatient person and want immediate results?
Anyway, woot! for the third straight week… boo! for the weight increase (but that was not entirely unexpected).
On to week four!
I think I’ve almost had it with music companies and their "enhanced" CDs.
A couple of weeks ago I Netflix’d the Music Video DVD 98 Degrees: The Collection (hey, the boys are cute). Some of the music aint that bad and some have decent beats so I thought I’d do the correct thing and buy the CD to play on my iPod.
The album arrived last night in the mail so I fired up the old computer to upload it to said iPod. Well, guess what? The damn thing hijacks the computer and runs a full-screen program that gives me the option of viewing music videos (crappy resolution), going to their web site, and who knows what else. Needless to say, I’m pissed. All I want is to put the damn music on the iPod and be done with it.
That god damned music company Motown has their little copy protection crap on it so I cannot transfer it to iPod. Talk about feeding the illegal industry. All those law abiding citizens who pay for the music but find that they cannot use it turn to (thus support) the illegal web music downloads. When will these companies learn that you cannot bite the hand that feeds you?
Guess it’s time to hit the internet and see if I can find a work-around. I’ll have that music on my iPod somehow. Grumble grumble…
This is now the second CD in my collection that is worthless. Stupid $%&*#, idiotic, good-for-nothing %*$#%&...!
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2006-10-24 Update: here
And the official count? TEN! ! !
Today marks the 10th time in two weeks that I hit the gym! Who would have thought! Anyway, I worked the ol’ chest again this morning with the following routine:
I realize the weight is a little low but I don’t want to overdo it to the point of injury so I’m slowly increasing the weight over several weeks. My goal is to get to 75 lb dumbbells on the inclined bench press. This comes from a little friendly competition (all in my head) with my friend (mentioned below). He is currently pressing 75 lb dumbbells.
Let’s change the subject here for a bit… enough of these looser political and religious fools. How about we take a breath of fresh air and look to better ourselves.
So there is an old Bowflex commercial where this guy with his shirt off proclaims that he’s 40 years old and in the best shape of his life. Two years ago, a friend and I (both the same age) looked at this and joked that since we are 35 (that would make us 37 now), we have 5 years to get our act together and start working out again.
When we were younger, we went through the whole fitness thing but as we aged, we each stopped working out and started a more sedentary life. Well, that has changed. Last year, both of us made a new start with the fitness thing again. We both joined gyms and started (and stopped) down the road to being healthy again.
My friend has done a superb job getting the weight off and it shows (I think he is about 4% body fat now). With that out of the way, he is now trying to add more muscle onto his "swimmer's build" (and doing a great job at that as well). Sorry boys and girls, he's already taken; though not by me. Anyway, in all fairness, he does get obsessed when he puts his mind to something so this whole working out thing comes easily to him.
So, enough about him, lets talk about me and what I think of him… oh wait, I already did that. Anyway, I find it more difficult getting into obsessions and, as a result, have had more stops and starts than my friend.
Throughout the past year, I have never been able to hit the gym 5 times in one week; something would always come up (usually too tired to get my lazy ass out of bed and get down to the gym). Well, that has officially changed! Last week (October 2 – 6) I went every day and this week (October 9 - 13) I am well on my way to another 5 since today is the 4th time. Yay me!
I am also quite pumped about using the positions of flexion in my workouts. I have never done that before. Actually, I didn’t even know about it until two months ago when I Netflix'd a DVD called Iron Man Magazine: Critical Mass Positions of Flexion. This basically shows you how to work each muscle through a midrange, stretch, and contracted position for maximum performance.
Since I workout before work in the morning, I am relatively limited in time. As a result, I have currently been only hitting one muscle group per workout along with about 20 minutes of cardio. As I improve, I will probably start doing longer workouts (means I’ll have to get up that much earlier… did I mention that I am not a morning person!).
Anyway, my height is around 6’1” and I currently am pretty stable at 208 lbs (started last year at 220 lbs *embarrassed blush*). My goal is to get that to about 200 lbs with a LOT less body fat and more muscle mass. My build is larger than a swimmer’s so I hope to pack more onto my frame than my friend. The real challenge will to beat him in an arm wrestling contest (he spanked me last time we tried).
Well, it's a start at least.
Looks like Faux News is at it again. You really have to give these guys some credit for trying though. If it works, it will be a great example of the power of subliminal messages. If not, the old college try will be just that, the old college try; a failed Hail Mary attempt.
This from the 'Sweet Jesus I Hate Bill O'Reilly' website; a pretty funny site seemingly devoted to pointing out Mr. O'Reilly's love of hypocrisy and generally low self-esteme.
"October 3, 2006 - Republican Child Predator Labeled 'Democrat' on O'Reilly FactorAnd, yet another image from Faux News. Though, in full disclosure, this appears not to be specifically from the O'Reilly Factor. Again, check out the caption which states 'REID: Did Dems ignore Foley e-mails to preserve seat?' Brilliant! When all else fails, rewrite history.
We're not presumptuous enough to start naming Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World, but Christ, this one ranks up there.
Tonight on three separate occasions, during two different segments, Bill O'Reilly showed video of his fellow culture warrior, boy-crazy Congressman Mark Foley, with the tagline 'Former Congressman Mark Foley (D-FL).'
That’s right, kids. Mark Foley, that darling of the right and champion of child protection, was dubbed a Democrat as soon as it came out that he's child predator. This is what we in the business call 'a lucky accident.'
But will the average Fox News viewer see the three-time accident for what it is—a mistake? Consider that, according to the Columbia Journalism Review and Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) Research Center, Fox News viewers have far more misconceptions on such important issues as Iraq's involvement in the 9/11 attacks than viewers of other networks...
...So we can promise you that the average O'Reilly fan is sleeping well tonight with the knowledge that the creep in Florida who was trying to bed boy pages was a Democrat after all."
Here's a bit of true Family Values for ya. I think it's definitely a great thing that we are teaching our children the value of money. And what better way than to start them off in life deep in debt. I've always thought that immersion was the best way to learn.
God bless America and the tax-and-spend and tax-cut-and-spend parties!
This has so inspired me that I thought I'd add a debt clock to the Blog so everyone can see how great we, as a nation, are. Bow before our unlimited credit limit!
So Congress is planning for an end-of-war party. Don't you think that's a little premature?The military’s top generals have warned Iraq is on the cusp of a civil war and that U.S. troops must remain in large numbers until at least next spring. But if the winds suddenly blow a different direction, Congress is ready to celebrate with a $20 million victory party.
Talking about wishfull thinking. But then again, the government of the (not so) United States tends to get it wrong more often than right and this is no exception.
Fools!
I couldn't agree more with John Danforth (as summarized by Joel Connelly of the Seattle PI).
...The Christian right has virtually taken command of one major political party, ruthlessly uses "wedge" issues, and often demeans those who dare disagree with it.I see little of the proverbial "Lord's work" being done in religion and politics. In fact, from a strict biblical standpoint, I only see "Satan's work" being done. There is more "hate the sinner" than "hate the sin," and a very large amount of “judging of one another” going on.
Liberal punditry? Nope. Such are the conclusions of John Danforth, an Episcopal priest, abortion opponent and former three-term Republican senator from Missouri...
"...Followers of the Rev. Jerry Falwell have distributed a bumper sticker bearing the slogan 'Vote Christian,' thereby conveying the clear message that there is a Christian way to vote, as opposed to a non-Christian or anti-Christian way to vote," Danforth writes.
Nor, he argues, does the religious right do the Lord's work...
...Christian right groups, in our state and elsewhere, sent out propaganda and recruited foot soldiers for the campaign of personal denigration directed at state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander in this year's primary election.Many so-called Christians see that politics is something to be avoided and refuse to speak out against it. In my opinion, that is a great "sin." Just as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, those who walk by and do not help are just as bad as those who cause the problem.
Danforth does not see such tactics as compatible with what he reads in the Gospels as well as the letters of St. Paul.
"When politics evolves into character assassination, all Christians should speak out against personal destruction," he writes. "We may never agree on the issues, but we should all agree that in America, the pursuit of a political cause does not warrant the intentional destruction of a fellow human."
Danforth sounds a note familiar from this year's U.S. Senate campaign here. He blames wedge issues for Americans' inability to unite and solve their country's urgent problems.
"When they divide America between 'people of faith' and their 'enemies,' Christians become not the means of peace but the cause of conflict," he argues. "They are powerful contributors to what has gone wrong in American politics."
Gotta love those Republicans. This reminds me of the spliner vs log in the eye leason.
”Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former teenage male page...”I think this is more evidence why gays should not be repressed. The repressed ones always turn out to be conservative Republican pedophiles. Frankly, they give homosexuals a bad name. And what is it with these ugly gay male Republicans anyway? Aren't there any cute ones?
“…Foley, who represents an area around Palm Beach County, e-mailed the page in August 2005. The page had worked for Alexander and Foley asked him how he was doing after Hurricane Katrina and what he wanted for his birthday. The congressman also asked the boy to send a photo of himself, according to excerpts of the e-mails that were originally released by ABC News...”
“…According to the [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington website] posting, the boy e-mailed a colleague in Alexander's office about Foley's e-mails, saying, "This freaked me out." On the request for a photo, the boy repeated the word "sick" 13 times...”
So Clinton has a bit of an edge to him with his recent out-Foxing of Fox News reporter Chris Wallace. Well, I’ll be, a Democrat actually has the ability to stand up against the machine. Wonders never cease.
This bit made the rounds on most media outlets including MSNBC. I found the following on their "politics" message board.
Interesting commentary.
MSNBC - Politics - Thread 96512:
jcpetz
Message #43
09/24/06 02:05 PMTo Bush supporters: how do you respond to Clinton's statement that Bush did nothing to get bin Laden his first 8mo in office? Where was Bush in the days leading up to 9/11? I'll tell you where - In Crawford chopping wood. That is an indisputable fact. The incoming Bush admin told outgoing NSA Sandy Berger 'you guys give this bin Laden fellow too much credit'. That is also indisputable. Berger told incoming Condi Rice 'you'll need to be on bin Laden 24/7'. But Rice had a cold war mentality and like her boss believed only nation-sponsored terrorism was a real concern. Since Al-Qaeda did not fit that definition they were not their top concern; Iran, N. Korea, and Iraq were. Again, those are the indisputable facts; any other interpretation is revisionist history. As Clinton suggested, read Richard Clarke's book. BTW - Clarke does not let Clinton off the hook in his book. He believes Clinton could have done more. But the question stands - why was Clarke demoted? We all know the answer - because his top concerns were not the administrations. Bush made missile defense top priority his first 8mo in office. A lot of good missiles did to stop bin Laden."
So Rev. Jerry Falwell has followed his heart again I see.
“I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate,” Falwell said at a breakfast session Friday in Washington. “I hope she’s the candidate, because nothing will energize my (constituency) like Hillary Clinton,” he said. “If Lucifer ran, he wouldn’t.”With followers of Christ acting like this, who needs Satan? What is even scarier is that no so-called religious leader there raised concern about the comments.
"Falwell told the AP that he did not intend to demonize the former first lady. “That was totally tongue-in-cheek and everyone in the building knew that and everyone laughed,” Falwell said."I wonder if the "tongue-in-cheek" alibi would work if El Presidente Bush commented in jest about nuking the Middle East back to the Stone Age because of all those crazy Muslims running around there. “It’s just a harmless joke! Get over it! Of course we will only use conventional weapons to bomb them back to that Age.”
The unholy spiritNow I have to say that I agree 90% with Derek. I found myself falling into the old "they are just misunderstood" line, but really, as with most religions, Muslims are just as wrong. However, the comment about non-Muslims not “strapping a bomb to themselves with the intent of blowing up innocent children” is not entirely accurate.
In no way am I a religious man; agnostic perhaps, but not religious. The following statements aren't biased by religious affiliation in any way:
In regard to Muslims around the world expressing outrage at remarks made by the pope, I say if you can't get over the fact that many, many people see your religion as not only governed by the sword, but as represented (and taken over) by a bunch of psychotic zealots with no regard for life and certainly no foundation in reality, then y'all have more problems than I had initially envisioned.
I'm not a fan of Christianity either (see gay marriage, pro-lifers, an equally foundation-less base in reality, and that whole Inquisition thing), but I don't remember the last time I heard of one of them (or a Hindu, or Buddhist, etc.) strapping a bomb to themselves with the intent of blowing up innocent children.
You don't get special treatment just because you think your way is right, and certainly not when it comes to me chastising you for your distorted perception of your religion.
You don't like many people's views of you? Stop it at the source (see above zealots).
— Derek Einhaus, Seattle
What you loose on EarthYeah, funny how everyone loves to conveniently forget the past. And, as the old saying goes, those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. I think our Fool-in-Chief is the poster child for that leason.
Referencing "Rare personal apology from Pope over words that offended Muslims" [page one, Sept. 18], it is ironic that the pope didn't quote the Byzantines regarding the absolute savagery with which the Western Crusaders (sent to war by Pope Innocent III) treated Byzantine citizens (fellow Christians!) and their cities during the Fourth Crusade in 1204:
"Indecency was perpetrated ... They slaughtered the new-born, killed matrons, stripped elder women and outraged older ladies. They tortured the monks, thrashing and rending their bodies with whips. Mortal blood was spilled on holy altars, and on each, many were dragged like sheep and beheaded, and on the holy tombs, the wretched slew the innocent." — Nicholas Mesaites, witness to the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders.
Isn't it time we stopped using religion as justification for our political actions? There is more than enough blame to go around. And that President Bush even mentioned a new "crusade" in the Middle East is an absolute outrage!
— Scott Zema, Woodinville
Oh, now here’s some fun; let’s all poke needles in our eyes and rip our hair out (it’d be less painful than watching or reading the fake spin that our friends at Faux News have to offer). Of course I’m a masochist by going to Fox News and even more of one when I read what Billy boy has to say. But in the end, it proves quite entertaining to see how small these extremists are when it comes to their refusal to admit they are wrong and that the truth lies in the opposite direction from which they are facing.
I submit, for your torture, Bill’s Sunday article. Items in red are my comments.
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The 9/11 Movie and the Torture Allegations
Sunday, September 10, 2006
By Bill O'Reilly
Many "Factor" viewers have pointed out that few Democrats had any problems with the distortions in Michael Moore's propaganda film or the outrageous TV movie about the Reagans, which CBS ultimately declined to air. But some on the left are now outraged over distortions in ABC's upcoming movie about 9/11.
That is called partisanship.
Are you really that dense Bill? The difference between the ABC’s propaganda 9/11 movie and Moore’s anti-Bush propaganda film is that ABC/Disney is offering theirs for free with little commercial interruption to the entire population of the US (well, at least those with access to TVs) while to see Moore’s (which Disney refused to distribute), you had to fork out cash to see it in a movie theatre, thus reaching a much smaller audience.
As for The Regans, the key here is that it never aired on free TV (so using this as an example is just as absurd as using Fahrenheit 911). Once again, this movie reached far fewer people than the free 9/11 Movie. It’s all about money Bill. If you give something for free and sweeten the deal with the promise of few commercial interruptions, you are definitely going much farther and reaching many more people than those who would require people to pay for it.
In full disclosure, I don’t care for Michael Moore and his antics anymore than the typical Republican. I find that he is tacky and out to make a buck just like our friend Bill here.
Bill continues…
----------------------------But since you can't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior, fair minded Americans should realize that if a film uses real people like Madeline Albright, for example, an actor plays her, then there is a responsibility to treat those real people honestly. So I applaud ABC if it edits out any fictional words attributed to real people, no matter who they are.
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Now I'm not going to watch the movie, because I lived 9/11. I'm still living it. And I don't need Hollywood to tell me about it. I don't object to the movie if it's honest, but it's not for me.
Kudos to Bill, there is a very slight glimmer of hope that he is actually pulling his head out and trying to see the light. Let’s repeat his statement; ”… you can't justify bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior….” Amen to that. I wish that more people would actually understand and practice this little piece of wisdom. But too many just love to counter the “Bush is a bad president” comments with “Clinton got a BJ and lied about it under oath.”
I think we need to let Bill talk some more; I sense he is getting a little antsy (he seems to have a hard time listening to others with opposing view points)…
----------------------------I do, however, really object to real life people putting us all in danger. And that's what's going on over this torture issue.
----------------------------
The editorial director of CBSnews.com, Dick Meyer, writes: "'I've said to people we don't torture. And we don't.' That's what President Bush told Katie Couric yesterday. The president's statement here is beyond doublespeak and above spin. It's untrue. We've been lied to and we are still being lied to by the president."
Meyer fails to provide evidence of this charge. What's he talking about? Is keeping people awake for long periods of time torture? Has the USA gouged anybody's eyes out?
Bill, Bill, Bill, you were doing so well there for a second. But now you digress into your little sad world of delusions again. The USA might not have gouged anyone's eyes out but they have killed many.
----------------------------Meyer would not appear on "The Factor" to explain. Thus, I can only conclude that he is an irresponsible partisan who should not be running any responsible news organization's website. We'll have more on this story, coming up.
----------------------------
Hmmm… I’ve watched “The Factor” and know how Bill allows people with opposing views to ”explain” their views. Bill, interrupts, chides, talks down to, and never allows anyone from the other camp to make their point. While on the other hand, he carries on a literal love fest with those who share his views allowing them more talk time and a friendlier atmosphere. This is his idea of “fair and balanced.”
I would guess that Mr. Meyer would not want to waste his time appearing on a show that is, to use Bill’s own words, “irresponsible and partisan.” However, because Meyer does not appear on Bill’s show, he starts with his name calling; now that is real professional of you Bill. Somehow, I think “responsible” is a word Bill is not familiar with.
----------------------------Now ironically, The Wall Street Journal answered Meyer today, even though its editorial writers hadn't seen his inflammatory column.
----------------------------
The Journal puts forth: "The demagogues alleging senseless 'torture' at 'secret' overseas prisons have now gotten a proper replay. It appears a substantial number of plots were foiled because of the CIA interrogation program. They included attacks not only in the U.S. but on targets such as a U.S. Marine camp in [Africa] and the U.S. consulate in Karachi [Pakistan]. Mr. Bush said that information from the [interrogation] program played a role in the arrest of 'nearly every' senior Al Qaeda member in U.S. custody."
Now the Bush haters simply will not accept that, but the fact is that the USA has captured a number of terror killers. And tough interrogation is the reason why.
As "Talking Points" stated earlier this week, the accused London terrorists targeting American jetliners were rounded up after Pakistani interrogators chatted with a captured al Qaeda guy over there. I'm sure the questioning was gentle.
One has to love the Bush apologists and their self delusions about how perfect and infallible America is. Arrogance will definitely be our downfall. Since Bill is inept at research, I’ll list a few sites he can go to for his evidence of secret overseas prisons and torture. A simple Google search reveals:
This comes down to wanting to protect lies. I am tired of guys like Meyer accusing this nation of torture. Put up some evidence if you have it, sir. If you not, go down to a New York City fire station and see what happens to you.----------------------------
And that's the Memo.
| Zero Point: Four |
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