February 7th, 2004
UPDATE: And fun was had by all. Easily our mellowest bash, but we still closed down the joint.
Posted by fad at 5:02pm
February 6th, 2004
I'm done for the day. Have a nice weekend, everyone. Well, most of you. I have to reserve some enemies. Looking forward to seeing some of you at the bash tomorrow. I'll have a full report Saturday night as extensive as my Lost In Translation review.
Posted by fad at 5:11pm
For those in and around the St. Louis area, don't forget we're having a blogbash at Two Nice Guys in Kirkland (just West of Lindhberg on Manchester) tomorrow evening starting around 6:00pm. All are welcome; it doesn't matter if you have a blog or not. Show up. Have fun. I insist.
Posted by fad at 3:50pm
Now this is an interesting warm-up to the honeymoon.
When farmers in the rural region marry, the new bride traditionally milks a cow to prove her skills in the homestead economy.No word on what the groom does to the cow.
Posted by fad at 1:46pm
Truly the debate of our time is at hand. We've been avoiding it, pushing it off, trying our best not to have to come to terms with it, but it is unavoidable. The conclusions of this debate, the results of this dialectic, will drive the future. Will we survive, or will we fall. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is time once and for all to decide:
RESOLVED: David Hasselhoff Ended The Cold War.
The nations and societies of the world have 90 days to create their teams and prepare their arguments. By sacred procedure of drawing names from a hat, the co-captains of the PRO team are Lily Andreise, an Amsterdam performer and prostitute, and Ibrahaim al-Muhammed, an explosives expert in the 3rd cave from the left in northern Afghanistan.
Co-captains of the CON team are Jaques Chirac, President of France, and Kenny Smith, 3rd shift mechanic at the Earth City, MO UPS center.
The event will be held in the practice gymnasium at Ramona High School in Riverside, CA. Orange drink will be provided by the Dutch.
Posted by fad at 12:47pm
Our soldiers in Iraq are making all sorts of new friends.
Special Forces Sgt. Major William Gillette discovered Yo-ge (pronounced Yo-Gee) when he and his unit took over a border checkpoint between Iraq and Jordan. The full-blooded German shepherd was being held by one Iraqi and beaten by two others. Gillette, 34, of Clarksville, Tenn., "persuaded" the men to let the dog goThis is getting somewhat common over there.
[...]
"He'd walk with me when I checked buildings," said Gillette, who has been wounded in two prior military conflicts. "When I pulled guard duty, he'd go with me. He'd sleep at the foot of my mattress. Me and him just hit it off. So, I made the decision to bring him back."
Army Staff Sgt. Jason Cowart of Fort Hood, Texas, used Army rations to entice a scrawny puppy that he later named Ratchet from under a trash container. Throughout the war, Ratchet rode next to Cowart in the front seat of a Humvee.And now, as tours end or affection grows, they are working to homeside these dogs.
"We get three to six calls or e-mails a week from soldiers, fathers, mothers, wives and siblings trying to find out how to get a dog from Iraq to the United States," said Laura Salter, director of the World Society's U.S. headquarters in Framingham, Mass. "So, we've been trying to assist soldiers to find exit routes to bring their animals back to the states."It costs about $1000 not including shipping fees.
Posted by fad at 12:17pm
A pretty picture always helps the mood, too.
Posted by fad at 11:26am
Since the day just needs lightening, time to pull out an old favorite. Be welcome.
Requires sound.
Posted by fad at 10:49am
It's been a good month for monkeys. First we find that some apes are more populous than feared, and now this.
The Miss Waldron's red colobus monkey was declared likely extinct in 2000 by a team that included W. Scott McGraw, an assistant professor of anthropology at Ohio State University. None had been seen since 1978, but McGraw said he has evidence the species survives.Excellent! Unfortunately the evidence seems gathered comes from recent poaching.
Recently, he received a photo from an associate in Africa that shows a dead red colobus.Hmmm..so that's why it fell out of that tree.
Posted by fad at 10:34am
In a surprising twist, film companies are showing interest in that German cannibal story.
The German cannibal convicted of manslaughter last week for killing and eating a willing victim has received several inquiries from film companies about making a movie of the sensational case, his lawyer said on Wednesday.Bah! Wait until they get a load of what I've been cooking around here. Now that'll be a movie.
But the lawyer dismissed reports British actor Hugh Grant, famous for his romantic comedies, had expressed an interest in buying the film rights and playing the lead role. Grant's spokeswoman, Karin Smith, called the reports "absolute rubbish."Damn. Way to dash my dreams. I was really hoping to see, "About A Dickeater".
Posted by fad at 9:57am
I'm not defending nor condemning Sharon in any way, nor anything he has done. I just have a question.
Police questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for more than two hours Thursday about a bribery case that could force him out of office,When was the last time we read of police in any other nation or potential nation in that region questioning that nation's leader over corruption, or anything for that matter?
Posted by fad at 9:22am
Another evil judicial nominee faces the fire.
Senate Democrats on Thursday questioned an appeals court nominee about his past opposition to environmental regulations and sought assurances he would not pursue an anti-environmental agenda from the bench.Am I to assume, then, that they would have no problem with a judge who, in saying "nuts to the law!", pursues an agenda more to their pleasing?
''That in my opinion is the kind of example that you need to consider as you're deliberating whether I would disregard statutory mandates or congressional authority. I'm here to tell you that I would not,'' Myers said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.Yup. I guess so. "Since you disagree with me, you cannot be trustworthy." The assumption is that all judges will, no, should be activist, so we'd best get one that isn't so gosh darn evil.
Responded Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): ''That's my dilemma to figure that out, because I could not vote for you to be a judge based on the views you've expressed in your writing.
Posted by fad at 9:17am
So the last time I was approached by a crackwhore in a bathroom was about eight months ago. I was out with some friends including one's soon to be brother-in-law, a lovely chap who likes to intimidate old women, hit young women, including his fiancee, and has the charming habit of asking every guy he sees who, by appearances, fits a stereotype, "Hey man, you got some weed?", and getting angry at them when they say no using the same line, "Hey man, I'm cool. I'm no narc!" This happened about 5 times during the course of the evening. The concept that they indeed did not have any to sell him was alien to him. His only conclusion was that they must be holding out.
Anyway, we were at a place called Cicero's near Blueberry Hill, all meaningless information to those who don't live here, I know. It seemed a nice place with a huge beer selection, good food, prices to emphasize those things and filled with beautiful people and me. Every place like that needs at least one ugly to remind everyone else how beautiful they are. I'm always glad to be of service.
The bathroom was down an out of sight staircase, narrow enough to require shoulder bumping when passing another person. It was empty, which is always preferable, of course. As I'm standing there, though, I hear the door open and a deep, but distinctly feminine voice say, "Excuse me, you wouldn't have any spare change, would you?"
I turned to look, being very careful to turn just head and shoulders, not hips, and saw....well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. Slightly flustered I responded with, "Well, I might, but I am a bit busy at the moment." So she just stood there and waited as I finished up.
I fished a buck out of my pocket and handed it to her. As I tried to walk out she said, "Thank you sir. And if there's anything else you'd like me to help you with or take care of..."
"Uh..thanks, but I have to be getting back upstairs."
Yes. I turned down my only chance to score. I'm still kicking myself.
Posted by fad at 7:45am
Another typical day already.
"Do this."
"Ok. It's done."
"You didn't do what I asked."
"Actually, I did exactly what you asked me to do."
"Oh, I didn't know what I was talking about, and you should have figured that out. You're still a liar and I'm telling your supervisor."
Posted by fad at 7:10am
I'd hoped for a nice Friday to end a really crappy week, but the headlines are hinting it won't be. That kidnapped little girl, whom I suspect as an 11 year old would have hated to be called a "little girl", but you can't help it when you consider the evil she must have faced, was found dead. There are 39 dead in an attack in Moscow. That's 9 more than were listed when I first read this story this morning.
Well, at least that winter storm that was barreling down on us like a shotgun full of snow failed to do anything. Free snow day for the kids, though, as many schools closed last night.
Posted by fad at 6:54am
February 5th, 2004
poor little thing standing
framed in the door
staged in a fancy dress
silent and dark
as my invitation was
here is your mail
and the scent of your name
hangs in air
as i shave with the curse of the blade
till you would harbor me in
baptized in blood and soap i clawed at
the envelope reads
dear meager things you wrote
could hit home, cut throat
come press my sour skinned and seedless lips to yours
come pass by, let me hear you talk again
let me be your seasoned friend
just let me hear you talk again
listen, i'm glad you came
i knew you would
i waited for months
now we'll...milk the dwindling hours
so where's the sun, i could sneak out the blooms
and bring out some joy
from the gloom, all morning
and afternoon, put on that song
and sway around the room
come press my sour skinned and seedless lips to yours
come pass by, let me hear you talk again
i want to be your seasoned friend
just let me hear you talk again
come pass by
Claw -- Trashcan Sinatras
Posted by fad at 7:49pm
The St. Louis Cardinals have been advertising a "Pujols Plan". That's 5 Cardinal games against "top opponents" this season. One question, though: isn't Pujols still unsigned? I'm pretty sure that's the deal, but maybe someone paying more attention can correct me.
Posted by fad at 6:22pm
I have to remember to act like this at my next trial.
aniel Salley went off on a bizarre diatribe Wednesday in federal court, calling the judge in his case a "devil worshipper" and predicting the fall of the U.S. government.Hmmm..if only I could decipher that code of theirs.
[...]
[The] United States government shall fall and be destroyed this month and this year,'' he said. He added: "George Bush Jr. shall be exposed."
As the judge asked U.S. marshals to escort Salley out, he added: "You can run but you can't hide. You reap what you have sown, you ungodly ... lying b-------."
Posted by fad at 5:36pm
Good news, everybody.
The Pentagon won't use an Internet voting system for overseas U.S. citizens this fall because of concerns about its security, an official said Thursday.Good call.
Let me use the word "good" again.
Posted by fad at 3:36pm
Yesterday in Chicago, one commuter train hit another. Today, we learn the reason.
The operator of a packed CTA train that rammed another train near the Merchandise Mart on Tuesday, injuring 45 passengers, has admitted he stuck his head out of a window to gape at a car accident just seconds before the crash, a federal investigator said Wednesday.Gawking strikes again.
Posted by fad at 2:00pm
Just saw a picture of the two-headed kid.
Wish I hadn't.
Posted by fad at 1:54pm
Cool. Some Churchill letters have been found.
The letters to Churchill's cousin, the Duke of Marlborough, have not been seen in decades, even by scholars, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said.Where were they?
The duke donated the letters to the library at the urging of Bainbridge Colby, secretary of state under President Wilson, but they were misfiled.Almost too perfect, that.
Posted by fad at 12:59pm
As if I wasn't afraid enough of Wesley Clark.
Wesley Clark (search) craves Cheetos and Gummi Bears, enjoys the "Lord of the Rings" movies and has a soft spot for the band Journey.Question my patriotism all you like, but there is no way in hell I will let Journey play an inauguration.
Posted by fad at 12:13pm
Welp. It's begun.
Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was ruled eligible for the NFL draft Thursday by a federal judge who concluded that the league's rule violates antitrust laws.This was inevitable, at least the general ruling. Clarett isn't really a good posterchild for a cause. Now starts a slow drip of kids too young, skills-wise, but too much potential to pass up. This will probably end up like in basketball where the level of play has deteriorated in both pros and college because too much talent is leaving before it is completely ready. It won't be as bad as basketball, but it'll still hurt the product. At least football is a *tiny* bit smarter about drafting bad apples ever since they ignored Laurence Phillips' warning signs with his habit of throwing his girlfriends down stairwells (after each time he was very, very sorry and would never do it again).
[...]
Clarett, 20, played just one season at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to the 2002 national championship. He was barred from playing in the 2003 season for accepting improper benefits from a family friend and then lying about it to investigators.
Ok, I'm getting nonsensical. If I don't stop here I know I'll start drifting into the Jodi Foster talk.
Posted by fad at 11:56am
Livestock exhibitions are getting nearly as bad as child beauty pageants.
Three livestock exhibitors at last year’s Ohio State Fair have been disqualified for allegedly outfitting their Holstein cows with hairpieces.This is what happens when you start allowing gays to marry. Next thing you know there will be tumbleweed fucking on TV.
State Fair inspectors said the three glued or painted hair from another part of the animal or from another animal to create straighter backs on the cows and enhance their appearance in the show ring.
Posted by fad at 11:19am
Wacky.
Posted by fad at 10:45am
If you're going to get your ass kicked, let a chick do it.
Researchers from the University of Westminster found that people allowed women to turn the clamp much further than men.So all you dudes who let your woman beat you, and all you abused lesbians, quit your bitching!
[...]
He said the fact there were no differences in how men and women responded to the test suggested women do not actually handle pain better.
Posted by fad at 10:34am
Everything is right when it's for The Children™.
Maryland school districts have announced that they will offer up to two service-learning hours to students who join teachers, administrators and parents at a rally Monday at the state capital in support of education funding.This is one reason I'm not all that keen on these service requirements. They very quickly become politicized.
[...]
State law requires students to earn 75 service-learning hours to graduate, but it allows each school system to design its own programs, as long as they follow general state guidelines. The hours can be amassed on community or charity projects or a political event — anything that benefits the community.
"We all advocate and promote issues that concern us. They are public school students, and it will affect them," Meador said. "We're just saying, 'Hey kids, if you're interested, you can get two service-learning hours.'"The real test would be if they offer service-learning hours to kids who go and oppose them.
One of the main things I remember about myself and my fellow students when we got to college is that we were quite weak on the critical thinking, but really damn good at the being indoctrinated whilst thinking we were critically thinking. I couldn't count the number of times some kid in a class started their point with, "Well, my teacher said..." or "We watched this video/presentation and..."
Advocacy is always an attempt to indoctrinate. This is not in and of itself a bad thing. My problem is that in many of these cases they jump to the advocacy before they have properly trained the little mushers how to critically approach something.
Posted by fad at 9:40am
Howard Dean to Washington.
"We need to win Washington state," Dean told a Spokane audience. "Washington state will be the turning point, if we win, of this campaign."Dean to Wisconsin.
In an e-mail distributed Thursday, Dean wrote: "The entire race has come down to this: we must win Wisconsin.["]"No, baby. It didn't mean anything. I love only you. It was just a fling. That other state don't mean nothing to me."
He's cheatin' on you, Wisconsin! Show some self-respect; don't take him back.
Posted by fad at 8:17am
On the topic of viruses, trojans, worms, etc., my first job after college was creating new frontends to Microsoft Project. One of these was to integrate Project into Outlook. While working on this, I discovered that Outlook 98 was a complete whore. I could send you an email with an ActiveX control (as they were known in the day), and Outlook 98 would happily run it without question. Everyone knows that the internet is only used by the friendly and true!
During some of our many "we could set the building on fire" conversations, a coworker, with whom I created a parody of our boss that was a combination of Bill Lumbergh and Agent Smith, and I would talk about the havoc with which we could easily ravage the world via implanted email attachments. We knew that such an attack was imminent. The means of doing so was just too tempting. Then just a couple weeks later, Melissa hit email. We were very disappointed with its non-destructiveness.
One more quick story. I was at another company when the "I love you" wave hit. I had just read about this thing being in the wild, when I suddenly got an email from our CEO with the subject line "I love you". At that company, that was just too fitting. My desktop was a Linux box, my friend's was an early version of Mac OS X (btw, still one of the coolest moments to ssh into a Mac and compile Apache). Our IT department panicked and sent their most mouthbreathiest member to tell everyone to shut off their computer or else the building was going to blow up or something. We tried to explain that our computers were not connected in anyway to the Exchange server or anything else. He called us liars and unplugged out boxes.
After that we declared a technological snow day and went drinking across the street.
Posted by fad at 8:01am
Don't you love it when media discovers a new and growing phenomenon that isn't even close to new?
For years, many self-described computer geeks seemed eager to usher outsiders onto their electronic frontier. Everyone, it seemed, had a friend or family member in the geek elite who could be summoned — often frequently — in times of computer crisis.I'm sorry, but newbie contempt is as old as computers. Who (at least among those who've been online for years) doesn't remember the extreme hatred for anyone using AOL? One of my friends has a T-shirt from around 1992 or so that says, "The internet is full. Go away."
But as those same friends and family members are called upon again and again to save the computer incompetents from themselves, the geeks' patience is growing thin. As it does, a new kind of digital divide is opening up between populations of computer users who must coexist in the same digital world.
As the computer savvy member of my family, I've long grown weary of the problems they get into. My brother emails that his computer is dying and he needs a loan for a new one. Turns out it just needs a reinstall of Windows. Other times the problem has been because his wife tends to download every cute li'l link she's sent, so the drive will had 2megs of space left on it by the time I looked at it. My parents IE got taken over by porn popups and redirects.
Yes, I'm sick of it all, but this is nothing new. Just ask the car savvy member of your family. One thing that might make this version a little different is that a lot of computer geeks are arrogant assholes with complete contempt for anyone who doesn't know as much as them Hell, they war over which text editor to use. Vi, PICO or, the most dreaded of all, Emacs. Add in a healthy lack of basic social skills, and you're set for a grumpy gus.
Posted by fad at 7:46am
Believe it or not a long trail of thought brought me to this next statement:
Every song with the word Zephyr in the title or the lyrics sucks.
Did you ever see that show "Connections"? It had this dude tracing through how this event or invention sparked that one which then sparked even more until we come to the invention of the modern lovedoll. Ok, it was usually the space shuttle or something. The point was to show how inventions and events cannot be isolated as singular, nor can any of them truly be removed without affecting history. Just because in hindsight we can say something should or would have happen doesn't change the facts of how it actually happened (this statement is also the basis of an even longer and more boring discussion about the role of religion in history, but I'll spare you that one).
So, for the fun of it, here are the connections that brought me to that statement above. I was reading today's bleat, specifically this section.
McAuliffe said he was responding to the GOP’s attacks on Democrats’ patriotism. Examples given: none.Then my mind raced that I'm not looking forward to an election year in which the heavy topics are marriage and retread Vietnamism all while one party is busy debating the voices in its head.
Then I thought about how these voices don't even qualify as straw men because they don't even bother to construct examples, false, weak or otherwise. These "straw men" are actually more like ghosts or zephyrs.
Then my mind shifted to how I used to think the word "zephyr" was really cool until my mind started to play that Madonna song from a few years ago involving zephyrs. Man, that song sucked, but it always gets stuck in my head.
Then I started to think of other songs that used "zephyr". Finally I came to the conclusion above.
See how it all works? It will probably come as no surprise that I'm thinking about zithers. Now that's a cool word.
Posted by fad at 7:23am
Turns out I was completely wrong about turnout yesterday.
Since Tuesday's results, state and local election officials have focused on the low turnout - 15 percent statewide. But in fact, the Democratic turnout was much higher. The 418,545 votes were almost 58 percent more than the number cast four years ago, when Al Gore battled Bill Bradley, a Crystal City native who emphasized his Missouri roots.That'll teach me (and everyone else) to live only on anecdotal evidence.
Posted by fad at 6:13am
February 4th, 2004
Posted by fad at 6:37pm
Warning: This is going to be so incredibly self-indulgent, insipid and whiny. You will think less of me when it is done. Oh yeah, it's also highly unorganized. It's just something I gotta say.
[Skip If You Don't Care]
Posted by fad at 5:36pm
Simpsons personality test. I came up Mr. Burns.
Posted by fad at 4:06pm
Argh! Emoticon spam? I fucking hate emoticons!
Posted by fad at 2:30pm
Wow. Talk about rent control.
A 1913 law allowed San Francisco to flood the scenic valley to build a dam and reservoir. The city has paid $30,000 in annual rent since the 1920s.For 80 years they've been paying the exact same rate. That's a pretty sweet deal. Oh, let me expand that contraction. That was a pretty sweet deal.
President Bush's budget plan includes a proposal to raise from $30,000 to $8 million the annual amount San Francisco officials pay to draw drinking water from Yosemite National Park.That's going to hit an already strapped city pretty damn hard, but I still think $8 mil. is probably still a low figure. It's amazing the subsidies you only find once someone tries to change them.
Posted by fad at 1:56pm
I hate talking business with my dick in my hand. When a man is at the urinal, leave him the hell alone.
Posted by fad at 12:31pm
It's good to be the king.
Peru is investigating claims that a beauty pageant contestant was lured to the West African nation of Gabon to become 67-year-old President Omar Bongo's lover - and held for nearly two weeks when she refused.No details on whether Marvin Gaye or Barry White was used in said seduction attempt.
[...]
Just hours after arriving Jan. 17 in Libreville with her boyfriend, Santa Maria was taken to the presidential palace, where Bongo tried to take her to his bedroom and seduce her,
Posted by fad at 11:27am
My apologies for the really low quality around here the last few days. I just can't seem to get it together.
Posted by fad at 11:13am
Note to self: Should the unlikely happen and I live to be 34 years old, commit suicide if I am publicly this naive.
The son, Wesley Clark II, 34, a screenwriter who lives in California and who has campaigned for his father, said, "It's been a really disillusioning experience, you know."Unlike all those straightforward and honest people he must meet daily in his screenwriting career.
[...]
But, he added, when "you go out and see how politics actually works, it's a dirty business, filled with a lot of people who are pretending to be a lot of things they are not."
Posted by fad at 10:49am
There is no more giving community than the self-proclaimed psychic community.
Grand Forks Police Lt. Dennis Eggebratten said the department has received more than 600 tips from those claiming to be a psychic or a visionary. He said none of the psychic leads have checked out in the Sjodin case.Maybe they can help me find my intelligence and confidence again, too. They should already know my number.
Posted by fad at 9:43am
Foxnews has a brief interview with Ray Bradbury discussing, wait for it, Mars, of course. Here are couple of my favorite answers.
Foxnews.com: How did you feel when you saw the NASA Spirit rover’s photographs of Mars?The perfect description. Well, it was more the 10-year-old for me. And then this, which I will take out of context instead applying it generally.
Ray Bradbury: Well, the 12-year-old boy in me jumped up and down and yelled. That’s how I felt.
Today we’ve lost interest. It’s a shame. Most members of Congress are politicians. They’re bores. They’re damn boring. They have no imagination, and they don’t know how to imagine the future. So my word to them is, get out of the way and let me happen. Let me predict it for you.Exactly. Politicians, bureaucrats, nannies: you're all boring. Get the hell out of our way so we can make the future.
Posted by fad at 9:18am
Quite clearly Titday was a Bush administration plot. Using all the chatter from the outrage over the outrage as well as the attention paid to the (probably planted) ricin, the Bush murder machine attempted another hit.
Gov. John Baldacci was injured in a car accident Wednesday morning when the SUV he was in went off Interstate 295 and rolled onto its roof, officials said.Missed 'em. This time. But keep your eyes out for more of these "accidents".
State police and governor's spokesman Lee Umphrey had no detail on the 49-year-old governor's injuries except to say they were not life-threatening and there were no broken bones.
Posted by fad at 8:31am
We're now down to essentially a three man race. Kerry, Edwards and Clark. Of these, the continued semi-strength of Clark is very disturbing. Hey, I like wacky candidate statements as much as the next guy, but Clark's really give me the willers. He says things like, "When I am president, I will personally slice your bread to within a tolerance of 1/1000th of a centimeter." Or "When I am president I will personally make ocean noises in your room at night so that you can sleep."
Yes, all the candidates, especially including Bush, are nannies. They want to tells us how we should live, or, more importantly, spend our money in order to encourage us to do so. But Clark is different. His is the most authoritarian voice out there. I guess this isn't so surprising coming from a general, but most high-ranking military men going into politics learn to put away or at least mask the natural authoritarian nature of their previous life. Put simply, Clark doesn't want to lead; Clark wants to command.
Edwards has the media-momentum now. For all talk of left-wing or right-wing bias, the media's true primary bias is to maintaining the story as long as possible according to the usual script. They don't want the nomination settled early. They want there to be a lurking underdog, so they will promote Edwards as he aw-shucks his way along. I don't think he will overtake Kerry barring, of course, the usual huge errors and alien abductions. This race will last a few more weeks, though.
Dean is broke and lost. The man has shown he can't handle setbacks. One good punch and he's dazed and scared. Maybe he can come back, but a lot depends on if he can recover the swagger. To this point, he's just exuding fear with the thousand yard look of a man seeing his dreams crumble.
Posted by fad at 7:18am
So Joe's out. Kerry continues to play one of the most disingenuous "You mean they voted for li'l ole me? Wowsers!" themes.
Kerry dominated in Missouri, though Edwards also finished very strong.
Kerry said he was "stunned" by the scope of his victories
One thing to keep in mind, at least about Missouri. I don't know if this was true in other states, but it is rather likely. When the candidates talk about their strong support and, oh! this state is totally behind them, remember this fact.
What most struck several area election officials was the paltry turnout of registered voters overall - despite the frenzy of media attention on Missouri's presidential primary.Remember, 50% of 4 votes is still only 2. At least in this part of Missouri, Kerry was the choice amongst a tiny fraction who really weren't all that interested.
For all the hype, county Democratic elections director Judy Taylor said turnout was pitiful.
"There's just no interest," Taylor said.
Posted by fad at 6:59am
February 3rd, 2004
Personally the ads don't bother me much on DVDs. They are easy to skip, unlike with tapes. Plus it still doesn't outweigh how great an experience DVDs can provide. Hey, it's not exactly how I'd like it to be, but still much better than it was with tapes. I just found that granting of permission to skip them rather amusing.
I let you know what I think of the movie later. I know you all value my opinion on such things so.
Posted by fad at 6:30pm
Uh oh. Bad news for those roving bands of Grief Counselors constantly on the move to be ready at a moment's notice.
It is commonly assumed in this therapy-oriented world that nearly every grieving person can benefit from bereavement counseling or therapy. But psychologists and a thorough review of literature on grief therapy suggest otherwise.And check this out: chicks and dudes, like, grieve different.
[...]
In fact, the studies indicate, grief counseling may sometimes make matters worse for those who lost people they loved, regardless of whether the death was traumatic or occurred after a long illness, according to Dr. John Jordan, director of the Family Loss Project in the Boston area.
For example, most bereavement groups focus on emotional issues. These are most helpful to women. But men tend to grieve differently, and they are more likely to benefit from an approach that focuses on their processes of thinking.As Red Foreman once said, "I have two stages: anger and drinking."
Of course who knows what the motivations are behind the study, but this still builds on similar things that have been in the news the last few years.
Posted by fad at 6:13pm
I've created a new category for idiotic statements by various public nannies comparing their cause to September 11th. I fear as the years pass it will become more common to read and hear things like, "As many die each year from bacterial infection from leaving the cap off the toothpaste." I'm going to try to track these statements and those who make them.
Oh, and if you have a better name for the category, let me know. I'm not happy with this one.
Posted by fad at 4:08pm
And now the most disgusting thing I've read today. First, let me preface this by saying I do not smoke. I hate cigarette smoke. I hate all the posing and whining that too many smokers do. Yet I hate more the state running lives. I hate more trying to make me pay for it.
It also urges that the cigarette excise tax be raised from the current 39 cents to $2.39, of which 50 percent of the proceeds or $14 billion would go toward paying for the various aspects of the plan.Oh, they say, the smokers will pay for it all? Ok. Then who is going to pay for all the costs for the law enforcement to stop the inevitable smuggling? Yup. All us non-smokers (who far outnumber the smokers). Oh, and we've federalized quitting.
hompson said more than $25 million would be dedicated for the toll-free, national "quitline" that will be established by year's end. States also would receive additional funding to either supplement or create their own quitline services.Well yay. And now for the most disgusting thing today. I'm going to bold it too.
"It is the equivalent of another 9-11 World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania disaster occurring about every two days," said Dr. Julius Richmond, the nation's top public health official under President Carter from 1977 to 1981.The voluntary, if unhealthy, activity of citizens is equivalent to the wilfull murder, and it's murder not a "disaster", Dr. Richmond, on September 11th, is it?
Dr. Julius Richmond, you disgust me. I will not let you make this about raw numbers. Go to hell.
Posted by fad at 3:43pm
Per the information here, I have updated all of today's posts below in order to officially qualify this site as a Marxist blog dedicated to highlighting class struggle.
(Found via struggling against the Instapundit class)
Posted by fad at 3:11pm
Add another $9.5 Million to the new Medicare bloatacracy.
The Bush administration launched a $9.5 million television advertising campaign Tuesday to rebut criticism of the new Medicare law.Goody. Oh wait, here's another $3.1 Million.
The administration is spending another $3.1 million for a newspaper, radio and Internet effort in both English and Spanish.Doing the cipherin', that comes to $12.6 Million so far.
Four actors who portray Medicare beneficiaries ask how the law is changing Medicare. "Can I keep my medicare just how it is?" one asks.Someone with lots of money should do a parody:
The announcer replies: "Yes, you can always keep your same Medicare coverage."
At the end of the ad, another senior says, "So, my Medicare isn't different, it's just more?"
The announcer: "Right."
"So, my Big Government isn't different, it's just more?"
"Right."
Just more pap to keep the classes asleep in their struggle.
Posted by fad at 1:52pm
Somebody's a few hobbits short of a Shire.
After a preliminary hearing for his murder trial in Van Nuys, Calif., Monday, Blake was handed a guitar from a fan on the street and started strumming and singing the Judy Garland classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."You get the feeling all these fans waiting outside "celebrity" trials aren't all that important to the economy. And more importantly they distract from class struggle.
Posted by fad at 12:41pm
I initially wasn't going to write anything on this article about Taiwan proposing a DMZ like setup with mainland China because I've already done my whole "too much like pre-WWI" thing. But they way this paragraph was written annoyed me a bit.
The global condemnation is deeply troubling for Taiwan - which tries to win the world's sympathy by being the nice little democracy that's bullied by the communist giant.As if its democracy is not nicer than communist rule? As if mainland China doesn't actually try to bully it? Seemed a little editorial there. But that is unimportant to class struggle.
Posted by fad at 12:17pm
Bob Knight will be suspended 5 days.
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight has been suspended for five days, a result of his verbal confrontation with university chancellor David Smith on Monday at a grocery store in Lubbock, ESPN's Dick Vitale reports.Knight, who considers himself a god above all men, unsurprisingly can't take a joke.
One eyewitness told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that Knight raised his voice to Smith after the chancellor approached him at a salad bar to compliment the coach on his recent good behavior.Well, until now. Seriously, what a fuckhead. And right-wing apologists will crawl out to defend him, usually on NRO, saying he's just being picked on. They love to say how he's one of the last of the old school, demanding respect and discipline. This is bullshit.
The witness told the paper that Knight flew into a rage and accused Smith of being a liar, saying that there had been nothing wrong with his demeanor this year.
Bob Knight believes in one thing: That Bob Knight is a god and you'd best not forget it. He demands respect be shown to him that he shows to no one else and therefore does not deserve. He shows no respect to any authority but himself. Nor does he show respect to basic humanity such as when he grabbed a secretary at IU and pinned her against the wall so he could scream in her face (just one of many such incidents and assualts on people while he was there).
Just as with anything else in sports, his behavior is tolerated purely because of his status. I think it speaks badly of many right-wingers that they will give him a pass when they wouldn't for an athlete. Which is why we need to focus on class, class, class.
UPDATE: Well fuck me.
Contrary to Tuesday's earlier reports, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight was not suspended by the school and will coach the Red Raiders tonight against Baylor, his son Pat Knight told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.They spineless shits backed down before the great and powerful Knight once again. Yeah, that'll learn him.
Posted by fad at 12:03pm
I sense much anger here.
The rage inside Dino Greco, the onetime law student with Eddie Haskell politeness, kept growing and growing after his girlfriend dumped him.Repayment of fees? Hmmm...have to say that sounds like someone who would go into law.
He demanded she repay thousands of dollars he claimed to have spent on her while dating.
Greco, 28, of Hoffman Estates, mailed copies of a videotape, showing the two of them engaged in a sex act, to the young woman's parents, her aunt and uncle, and her co-workers, prosecutors say.Nice touch.
And he threatened to castrate her current boyfriend and force the man to eat his genitals.Just like gespacho! Mmmm...genital gespacho.
"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Greco was fond of saying.
The fury came to a head in April 2001, when Jeannette Morgan, living in Schaumburg, opened the door of her red 1994 Chevy Cavalier and a pipe bomb Greco planted inside exploded.She survived without serious injury.
Police also found when searching Greco's room a piece of paper that had personal family information involving a police officer investigating him in a separate case. In that incident, Greco was accused with two other men of attacking a man with a baseball bat who came after Greco after Greco [sic] egged his car. Greco was acquitted in that case.At least he's a diligent bugger. Everything he did was out of love. None of this would have happened if she hadn't left him. It must be all her fault. She definitely should have stuck with him through it all. And then participated in class struggle.
Posted by fad at 11:10am
This is genius. Take the smoker's persecution complex and overdeveloped sense of being edgy, combine that with the alternative artist's senses of the same, and you have one hell of an ad campaign.
Considering Vain hair salon's punk/vegan image -- edgy with an undercurrent of good for you -- the smoking lounge comes as a surprise.Tobacco companies know these markets are lousy with heavy smokers. It just makes plain sense to pursue that niche.
[...]
Turns out Vain has good reason to buddy up to tobacco, and it's financial.
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. paid for the smoking lounge as part of a subtle new ad campaign. It debuted in Seattle last year and is designed to win new friends for an old brand, Lucky Strike.
Big Tobacco has also been great to Seattle's alternative press -- The Stranger and The Weekly -- as well as its alternative arts groups, such as the multidisciplinary contemporary arts center known as ConWorks, the Center on Contemporary Art, Bluebottle art boutique and the dance group 33 Fainting Spells.But instead of direct advertising, they play on the sense of entitlement in these communities.
"I resent the idea that it's dirty money," said Richter. "With it, we present some of the best contemporary arts programming in the city. I don't care what they did to get it."Some are a bit more realistic.
"We're all liberal nannies here," said Stranger editor-in-chief Dan Savage. "It's easy to say cigarette companies are evil. However, a lot of our readers smoke, and a lot of artists smoke. If Lucky Strike is giving Seattle arts money in the hopes that smokers will change brands, I don't see what's wrong with that."It also helps that the company is being very smart by not interfering. It lets word of mouth of where the cashpipe is do the work. But we all know whose fault it is that these people have to take this questionable cash.
"Far better to say shame on the whole damn country for not sticking up for the National Endowment for the Arts, for not making arts funding a priority. Meager public funding of art is the real disgrace. Write about that, and you'll be writing about something important."That's right. Because the state doesn't forcibly take other people's money and give it to them, they have to lower themselves to taking voluntary donations. Which just highlight the differences and struggles of the classes.
Posted by fad at 9:10am
Um. Ok. Class struggle!
Posted by fad at 8:56am
I have a habit of, as my friends call it, acting up now and again. One example of this I told here. I have to do something to spice up life. It's not like there's the excitement and drama of relationships or interesting work around. This story came to mind because....because...well it just did, ok! Stop staring at me with those accusing, undressing eyes!
This happened back in college, probably around '96. It was one of those first perfect days of spring that you can only really appreciate when you live in a place that has real seasons. In this case, it was Mankato, Minnesota. A friend and I were walking back from class to the dorms. Classes were now done for the week, though most likely only because I was going to ditch the rest of them. I don't say my degree is in Tuition Check Clearing for nothin', you know.
Anyway. As we hit the main campus mall, crowded with between classes traffic, I joked that that day had the kind of weather that just made you want to sing or something. Then, surprising everyone, including my friend, I broke into a very loud rendition of the first lines of "Springtime For Hitler".
Please remember, this was 1996. In Mankato. No one, including most of the theatre ("re" cuz it's classier) geeks I ran into, had heard of The Producers. I can tell you right now that the crowd reaction shown in the movie to that song is not wholly inaccurate. A number of kids stopped in their tracks. I got quite a few horrified and confused looks (for a different reason than normal) too. It was glorious.
I did the same thing a couple months later, this time doing a lounge rendition of Depeche Mode's "Fly On The Windscreen". "Death is everywheeeerrrreee, Hey! good to see ya". But that was less funny. And then we worked on our struggle to bring down the capitalist class.
Posted by fad at 8:30am
Does anyone know, even in very general terms, what cab rates are in the general LA area? Because cabs are the best means of class struggle.
Posted by fad at 8:09am
So there's Ricin in the Senate mailroom apparently sent to Bill Frist (R - Nospinedia) who is the Senate Majority leader. The most ridiculous response so far can be found in The Corner where we are reminded that Saddam had ricin so ergo, concordantly and vis-a-vis. This could be international terrorism (though I really doubt it) or home grown batshitism. Personally I think this is home grown just as I thought the anthrax was. The anthrax was timed close to September 11th, but I think someone just took that time as their chance to stir up the most trouble. I do not think these incidents came from the same people, but I still believe they are domestic in nature.
The thing is that ricin isn't as difficult to produce as things like anthrax and other nasties. Also, as anyone who mentions ricin on their site knows, people are constantly searching for the recipe for ricin especially when that one episode of CSI reruns or the story of that one assassination pops up.
But if this effort is all in the name of class struggle, then struggle that class I shall!
Posted by fad at 7:24am
Missouri is part of the Super Tuesday primary action. The last polls I saw had Kerry way the heck out in front, and I suspect he'll cruise. We've had some winter weather the last couple days, at least in the greater St. Louis area, which has lots of people running late and will probably suppress turnout quite a bit for something that not too many people were all that burned up about in the first place. It'll probably be Kerry in a walk. I wouldn't be too surprised if Edwards came in second, but with the weather it's a good chance Dean might sneak in because his solid supporters are a bit more determined to get their votes out. A lot depends on how things are in Kansas City this morning.
And there's your completely uninformed Missouri Democratic primary update. Complete with all the candidates specially chosen by the capitalist class to keep us in chains e'er needful of struggle.
Posted by fad at 7:00am
February 2nd, 2004
UPDATE; Yup. Featured on the Quiznos site and everything. *Sniff* Internet crap making good.
Posted by fad at 6:42pm
"Get out of here, you wrong biscuit buying slut!"
"I like pie."
Gets me every time.
Posted by fad at 6:32pm
I think for the rest of the day I'm going to start every post like Stanley Kurtz does in The Corner.
Posted by fad at 6:31pm
At no time in our history has the threat to the very fabric of our national character been so threatened. Facing such a threat, I shall now compose a stirring and unchallengeable post about this threat that shall outshine even the shinyness of all my posts to this point. Commission your trilateral and spit out your KFC, should Kerry get the nomination, the shadow government shall rule. Truly this is its most shameless manipulation of politics.
President Bush and Senator John Kerry are not only graduates of Yale but also fellow members of the university's most elitist secret society, Skull and Bones. So if Mr. Kerry becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, the 2004 campaign will represent the first skull-to-skull match-up of Bonesmen in history.Heh-heh, "Bonesmen".
Posted by fad at 2:45pm
Once again the need has arisen for another brilliant post from me. Some will try to disagree, but we know they are just fools dashing against the cliffs, adding their bones to the chalk of Dover. This time on the deleterious effects of lottery winners on society and phone civility.
Jack Whittaker has heard a lot of hard luck tales in the past year from people seeking help from the winner of the largest individual Powerball jackpot in history.-Insert lousy joke referencing the "You Don't Know Jack" game-
But he can't help them. He's not that Jack.
"When he first won the money, I was getting thousands of calls and letters," Whittaker said. "They all told me their hard luck stories."Hey, these people took the effort to look up a "Jack Whittaker" on the internet! They deserve some cash for all that hard work!
[...]
When Whittaker tells callers they have reached the wrong Jack, some become irate.
"We had one guy call and my daughter answered the phone," he said. "My daughter told him I wasn't that Jack Whittaker and he got pretty wild and started cussing her."
Posted by fad at 2:09pm
In my last post, which was quite easily the most important collection of words of our generation, perhaps even since Christ spoke the Beatitudes (and even that may have been exceeded, but I'll leave the overstatement there to others), I discussed the effects of the low-carb craze on pizza. Now comes a story once again requiring my genius to explain and expose.
A woman was shaken but unhurt after a wild, 75-mile ride at speeds over 100 mph that began when her brakes failed and her car accelerated out of control.They should make a movie about this. But make it a bus. And put a bomb on it. And have her saved by a monotone hero.
Police finally stopped the car on Interstate 70 in west Denver by getting a cruiser in front of it, slowing gently till their bumpers touched, then bringing both vehicles to a stop.
[...]
Eck was westbound on I-70 in Limon Friday night when her 1997 Pontiac Sunfire began racing out of control. Nothing she tried would slow the car down.
[...]
She nearly slammed into the back of a semitrailer and swerved off the highway three times to avoid hitting other vehicles, including one packed with kids, she said.
Posted by fad at 1:30pm
In my last brilliant post completely exposing in a manner becoming a god the idiocy of anyone who disagrees with me, I once again proved my point beyond the reaching of the highest tides. In this post I will take on the topic of low-carb pizza.
And in Escondido, Calif., John Pontrelli, owner of Pit Stop Pasta, offers what may be a traditionalist's worst nightmare: "pizza in a bucket." It has all the pizza toppings placed in a crock or, for takeout customers, a metal can.Pizza in a bucket. It's about damn time. Oh, and tubby? Yeah, it ain't the crust that's your problem. Eating all them pizzas suggests some strong lifestyle problems too.
UPDATE: Link fixed.
Posted by fad at 1:18pm
So I've always wondered: Who is more annoying to you, those who overreact to something or those who overreact to the initial overreaction guaranteeing that something can never die? One has moral outrage, which is always dull, but the other has smug moral condescending.
Right now I'm leaning towards the latter mostly because of the "guaranteeing it will not die" aspect because bitching about how you want something to die doesn't actually help it die.
Posted by fad at 1:06pm
Though I have no local readership other than those already in the know, I figured I'd mention this in case some random search hit wanders in.
We're having a St. Louis area blogbash this Saturday, Feb. 7th, at the Two Nice Guys in Kirkwood. Our host, Charles Austin, promises victory and good times to all.
Sparkly nipple jewelry optional.
Posted by fad at 10:11am
That'll show them libruls!
College Republicans have won approval to put a little red, white and blue in every classroom at Winona State University.This will spark outrage, boring mentions of Big Brother ("What next? Screens to monitor our movements?") and cries that the flag is oppressive to ovaries creating a hostile learning environment.
The flags will be covered in Plexiglas to prevent theft and vandalism.Sorry. Ain't gonna stop it. People will destroy the walls to get at one of these, at least. And then the noisemakers will claim it isn't vandalism, but free speech. Only question now is, will it be done by someone in the art department, English department, political science department or just some guy trying to get laid by impressing someone in one of those.
P.S. The link may be protected by subscription. If I find another version online, I'll switch to that.
Posted by fad at 9:08am
Hey! We just passed Super Bowl Sunday, and I didn't see one column or editorial promoting the "This is the biggest day of Domestic Violence in America" myth. I sure hope they aren't giving up on that lie. It's almost as much a part of the hype as everything else.
Posted by fad at 7:57am
Speaking of Groundhog Day.
The world's most famous furry forecaster "saw" his shadow this chilly Groundhog Day morning, which according to tradition means six more weeks of winter. The prediction drew boos from thousands who gathered in 17-degree weather to witness the 118th annual weather prediction.Several fans tried to rush the stage, but were repulsed when, in an obviously staged act, an official pulled back some of Punxsutawney Phil's fur to reveal a giant metal pasty.
The spirited crowd, some clad in furry groundhog hats or even full-length costumes,Great. Furries. And I think it's safe to say "spirited" is code for "drunk off their asses".
One of these days masked ALF (not Mr. Shumway, the idiot brand) commandos will descend on all these towns and liberate these noble animals from this humliation burning Gobbler's Knob (seriously, that sounds like a Porno Award) to the ground. At which point, all the groundhogs will be eaten by dogs.
Ok, maybe that won't happen, but, really, why hasn't PETA jumped on this yet? It seems right up their alley to do something stupid over this.
Posted by fad at 7:22am
Well, nice to know the great American tradition of the Championship Riot hasn't gone away.
Police were out in force in Boston's Kenmore Square, where college-aged fans poured into the streets and lit small fires. A local television station reported that one of its vans was vandalized, and fans flipped as many as six cars near Northeastern in Boston. At the intersection of Brighton and Harvard avenues in Allston, firefighters hosed down revelers in hopes of dispersing the crowd.NBA championships produce the best riots, but that's mostly because they happen in June. Rioting in June is much better than rioting in early February. Especially in Boston, I'd think. Unfortunately one person was killed by an inanimate object which sprang to animation on its own.
An SUV backed into a crowd of revelers near Northeastern University, killing one person and injuring several others before speeding off, according interim Boston Police Commissioner James Hussey. The person who was killed was a Northeastern student, according to WBZ-TV.Damn SUVs driving themselves everywhere including into crowds.
The driver was arrested a short distance away.Wait. There was a driver? I thought SUVs did this stuff all on their own.
Posted by fad at 7:06am
The youth of St. Louis are all charged up about tomorrow's primary.
"It's all very low-key," said Professor Petrocik. "You'd think political science students would be following the campaign avidly, but when I tried it on my class this week, a couple of them were unaware of the primary."Ok, so maybe they aren't. This could be largely because, until the day after Iowa, this state was a given for Gephardt. No one was spending any money on Missouri when they knew they couldn't win. The first attempts to get in here were Wednesday last week. The only campaign commercial I have seen or heard was for Larouche.
Still, that bit is strange. I remember in my political science classes, even many of the forced upon you "intro" ones, were filled with Eager Young People who wanted to be Involved! and Active! One professor gave out extra credit if you attended a caucus or proved you participated in a primary.
Posted by fad at 6:54am
Now that football season is over, it's officially time to go back onto suicide watch. Well, at least until the brief reason-to-live known as March Madness.
Hopefully I'll last long enough for tonight's viewing of Groundhog Day.
Posted by fad at 6:39am
February 1st, 2004
Posted by fad at 9:58pm
I still want a sword (pronounced "sa-WOARD-eh").
But not this one.
Posted by fad at 2:20pm
And now the obligatory Super Bowl predictions:
Patriots 27, Panthers 16. It will be close, but the Patriots will have it in hand by the end of the 3rd quarter.
Since this is the anniversery of the loss of the Columbia crew and the game is in Houston, they are planning to honor the crew somehow. I'm already cringing over this. Odds are it will be really schmaltzy and bad. Sports by nature goes to 11 as much as possible. The Super Bowl is the 11 of all 11s. Add in the media's need, especially sports media, to point out repeatedly the meaning or this, or the emotion of that.... Yeah, I think I'll try to find a way to avoid that segment of the show.
Posted by fad at 10:17am
One year ago, on a Saturday morning, many of us woke up to the news that we had lost contact with the space shuttle Columbia. For me, and many others I read that day, irrational optimism initially took over. Even after the video clearly showing the breakup I had hope that they crew might survive. They did. For a time. We know now the crew module broke free cleanly, but could not withstand the pressures. Eventually it gave way and the crew was killed. At least we know the deaths, when they came, were quick.
In the days that followed those who are sick of progress and fear it because they cannot control it, who see exploration as only wasteful exploitation, got their chance to crow. This, they said, was more proof that we just shouldn't try. Someone in the Independent said it was, "likely to mark a further stage in coming to terms with the limits of human endeavour."
These people will be the ones left behind. Looking behind you may give the comfort of the familiar, looking down just where you are may allow you to avoid a few more pitfalls, but only by looking forward can you enjoy the view of the new.
The space shuttle is no longer progress. NASA, as it is now, is not progress. But they represent the idea of progress, the idea of exploration. Because of this, we remember these names:
Rick Husband
Ilan Ramon
Laurel Clark
Kalpana Chawla
David Brown
William McCool
Michael Anderson
Posted by fad at 10:10am