I was e-mailing this to R and thought it might belong blogged... if only to tell of my amazingly interesting Friday at le office.
Friday, October 31, 2003
I've decided that, instead of annoying my coworkers with random stupid questions and thought, I'd start writing them here, while I think of them... this process will probably last upwards of one day...
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Now I'm watching and listening as Donald Rumsfeld is comparing post-war Iraq to Post war Germany. You can watch too HERE, but it'll be over in about 30 seconds, I'm guessing.
Today in the News:
I remember that episode! I thought it was hilarious. The study that's linked to below about 83% of Fox news regualar watchers having at least 1 misconception about the Iraq war seems to give some weight to their conservative reputation, but that doesn't mean they can't sue themselves to prove themselves liberal, right?.
and then there's this:
As if no one expected that the companies donation to the campaigns would benefit somehow. Wow! What surprising news!
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
In the News Today:
Satan says "Come on down!" to dead Price is Right announcer.
Friday, October 24, 2003
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Some British guy is going to run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents. Neat. I'm so bored with work I can hardly think of anything amusin... wait... I can't... oh no.
I'm still not sure if I want Cuba to turn into the next Cancun, but when the
U.S. Senate votes to deny Cuba travel ban funding, I feel like things might be turning around (politically, at least). I always thought the US position on Cuba was useless, costly and dumb and now some people on the hill have my back. Word.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Bush, Powell and Condi Rice were on a big pr campaign to talk about how we're winning the war on terror and how well things are going in iraq. But the Oct. 16th leaked Rumsfeld memo raises some good questions that throw doubt at the spin Bush and pals are putting on the current state of affairs.
My favorite quote (besides most of the ones mentioned in the press):
My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?
Whoa, if "shock and awe" wasn't bold, what the hell is? Who is this guy? Nevermind the fact that he used "although" and "but" in the same phrase, he also uses the word 'behinder'... which isn't a word. I love it.
US arrests Canadian and deports him to Syria for suspected terrorism. Just plain retarded.
Plunger acted on impulse.
This Niagra falls jumping guy article writes its own hilarity.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Watch this video of a bus crash and report from Today. Seatbelts on buses seem a bit unecessary to me, given that there were no serious injuries and not having them makes for very amusing footage.
Here's a transcript of one of the sniper suspects opening statements. My recommendation: If you're trying to defend yourself, don't say things about the prosecution in relation to the crime like "We know something happened. They wasn't there. I was. I know what happened." (can be read on page 3 of the transcript).
In July, the White House (and others) predicted budget deficits of at least $408 billion.
Then they come out with the actual deficit of $374.2 billion In October. Then they say that this shows how fantastically the Bush economic plan is working. I've got one for you: I predicted that I'd spend $6 Million dollars this week, but that, given a new economic spending plan, I now can reduce that number by $5,999,983. Won't you all be amazed with me come Friday when I've only spent $17?!? I'll get all your votes in the upcoming election, you'll be so amazed.
Monday, October 20, 2003
Not much for blogging today. Went to see a lecture at the National Museum of Natural History. I fell asleep. It was a slide show... so it wasn't really my fault. I can't stay awake for slide shows. It's a condition. So now I'm stuck at work late and trying to get a through a big batch of files. Thereby I have little time to write something that only I will ever read. Check this out in the meantime.
Friday, October 17, 2003
There's this fanatic general who wants to kill your god if it's not his god. And somebody is putting suspicious stuff on airplanes to test their security. It's about time somebody gave them a wakeup call as to how bad the security really is, though this isn't the way they should've done it. It's all about the illusion of safety.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
On Bush's radical speech
My comments are in Italics, whereas W's stuff isn't.
"Our challenges will be overcome with optimism and resolve..."
Don't forget money... Lots and lots of my money
Bush went on to play the blame game with a list of reasons why the economy sucks so badly. Among them: Sept. 11th, corporate scandals, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Basically giving the "I didn't do it" speech.
Bush then outlined his 6 point plan to get the economy back on track
1- Healthcare - giving small businesses access to the same assoc. Healthcare plans of big businesses.
That's lovely... What about me? I'm working a temp job. I don't have healthcare no matter what size businesses can offer it.
2- Effective legal reform to stop frivolous lawsuits against doctors - class action lawsuits that cross state lines should be held in a federal court.
This seems about right, though going after lawyers is pretty easy.
3- A sound national energy policy finding clean energy sources ("...for national security America must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy.")
So... you're planning on drilling in Alaska, then?
4- Needless government regulations hinder new jobs, so they should be gotten rid of
Basically saying that he wants to get rid of some paper work. How did this make it into a 6 point plan for the economy? If it was a 200 point plan I would understand a paper-work-reduction act, but I'm not sure I'm going for this one. Saying that you're going to "eliminate needless government regulations" just makes me worry about your definition of "needless".
5- Pursue free-trade agreements to open markets for us products.
In other words, force other countries to sell our genetically modified and hormone filled products.
6- Make sure that all the tax-relief we pass does not disappear in future years. The tax cuts are scheduled to go away and Bush wants to make them permanent.
This just makes it so that in the future administrations will need to "raise taxes" just to get back to where we were before the tax cuts, instead of simply eliminating the tax cuts. Taxes will go up no matter what, having the cuts made permanent just makes the next administration lose more face.
"Who can possibly think that the world would be a better place with Saddam Hussein still in power?... Certainly not the victims of the rape rooms"!
That wasn't the question, you idiot. No one argued that he was a good guy, I think they argued that the way you went about removing him was stupid. And why do you always need to bring up rape rooms in every speech about Hussein's past (as he did in his speech to the UN on Sept. 23)? I know they're bad, but going after female voters like that is kind of transparent. And who's really the threat? North Korea is talking about testing a nuclear weapon!
Then, in reference to the new Iraq: "free nations are peaceful nations." But aren't we "free"? Aren't we at war on multiple fronts? Terror, drugs, etc. Who's peaceful?
Can Bush really be this transparent? I'm consistently astounded and baffled as to why the rest of the country doesn't pick up on this stuff. I recognize that all politicians do this same stuff, democrats, republicans, everybody, but that doesn't make it RIGHT. Does it?
The big idiot is giving a speech in CA before he goes to China to potentially throw up on people like his daddy. Watch it live from the bbc right here. What a world we live in that the signal is going from California to Britain and then to my computer.
The UN is voting on a new resolution, which will probably be really "symbolic" and "meaningful" but not actually "do" anything. It'll be great stuff and you can see it on msn live video. Personally, I'm happy for Iraq that the UN is getting involved, but sad that the UN folded so easily. They seem to just have accepted what happened on the ground in Iraq as unchangable and are going to jump on the fix-iraq bandwagon. What will this tell a war-mongering Bush administration? That it's ok to go against the rest of the UN because they'll all just come back around to sanction it later? Or is the UN telling the US that they failed and need UN support to prevent a total disaster with the occupation?
Be on the lookout for Bush to tell you he raised social security benefits by 2.1%, but don't be fooled; this is just a cost of living increase to keep up with inflation. And while he's telling you that, don't forget about today's announced raise in medicare premiums in 2004. Bush says that this raise shows that the system needs to be reformed. Isn't that part of his job? Fixing stuff? Not just waiting for it to happen and saying how telling it is of its need to be fixed? "Not my problem" seems to be his slogan as much as it is the rest of the country.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
China gets back from space just fine. Reports say that the astronaut circled the earth 14 times in 20 hours... I wonder if that gets boring after a while...
The saddest part about the bomb blast that killed three security guards is that they were in the Gaza strip to interview palestinian candidates for a fullbright scholarship. I sure hope that this wasn't an israli attempt to keep palestinians from getting an education or a palestinian attempt to try not to get an education. Oh well... at least there are hitler-hailing dogs named Adolf to fix things (see below) ....
Some German guy taught his dog to hail hitler. What I find amazing is that he's been arrested for this, when skinheads could get away with it any day in the US. I guess the thing protecting me from being able to write stupid stuff is the same thing protecting the skinheads... I wonder what the laws are like in Germany... I wonder if they hand out visas... Hmmmm
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
The supreme court's gonna talk 'bout el Pledge De Allegiance
Finally! I never liked saying that thing and it was b/c of the 'under God' line. So now maybe we can get some real action on this as the Supreme Court Weighs 'Under God' Reference in Pledge (washingtonpost.com)
I guess extra legs means extra meat. Check out the picture and then think about this: If the top legs don't function, those could be sold as "veal" and the others could be sold as "beef." Ah ha!
"What the Bush adminstation has done by invading Iraq and not N. Korea, is tell small countries that if they have a nuclear weapon, the US will not invade you..." This increases nuclear proliferation and "essentially makes George W. Bush the world's biggest suicide bomber." -can't remember the name of the guy who said this, but he was a priest and a guest on the Brian Lehrer show on wnyc today.
The trends that shape our world
Today's trend: getting your heads separated. All your conjoined friends are doing it...
Monday, October 13, 2003
Not much in here today. Mondays are the worst. More on that later.
For now, go to memepool and click around.
Friday, October 10, 2003
Mentioned on the list of terrorist attack locations since 9/11 (other than Bali, Casablanca etc.)
Najaf and Baghdad... I didn't know these were Al Qaida operations... Does Cheney?
Most of the speech seems to focus on justifying the war in Iraq: "material breeches", etc.
I just want him to justify having not used the UN. His stupid ass says that people wanted a unanimous decision by the UN and that the objection of just one country could have put us in grave danger and kept us from having the power to act. I'm pretty sure it didn't need to be unanimous, it just need to be unanimous among the members who have veto power. Of course, Cheney would never mention this... that wouldn't help the massive war-justification public relations effort going on right now.
Democracy not working in the middle east? Why not give it a shot somewhere South of Florida?
And don't forget to watch Cheney's speech today on how well the Iraq war is going...
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Tonight will be the fourth debate between the different candidates for the democratic nomination. Oddly enough, this debate is scheduled during the same time slot as the second game of the Yankees-Red Sox series. Also, it's the same time as NBC's Must See TV. I wonder: Who's scheduling these things, a worn out flip-flop? Did the Democratic National Committee buy the cheapest time slots without considering what else Americans might be watching? It's pretty obvious the answer is yes, given the other debates' scheduling.
Debate 4 - Oct 09th - Also scheduled: MLB Playoffs/Must See TV
Debate 3 - Sep 25th - Also scheduled: Premier of Friends
Debate 2 - Sep 10th - Also scheduled: still searching
Debate 1 - Sep 04th - Also scheduled: NFL Kickoff
Another important point is that this fourth debate is being held in Arizona, where the second Dem. primary will take place... and that the debate will air live at 5pm Arizona time on a Thursday. Nobody is home at 5pm on a Thursday. Unless Arizona democrats tape the debate, they'll only hear it through media sources, with the appropriate spin.
Am I just making excuses for having not watched the different debates? Maybe.
Should these people look at their scheduling a bit closer before they organize these things? Yes.
I wish I could have found the ratings for these different programs compared to the debates, but I can only do so little while I'm at work. Maybe you should do some research.
Next time I see a priest, I'm crossing to the other side of the street. Everyone knows they're gun toting thieves. Give me that old time religion.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
The new $20 bill is released tomorrow. They're actually doing a huge publicity campaign to the tune of $33 million dollars. Is this really necessary? I'll probably just get the bill when I get the bill, why do I need to be marketed? What's going on? This makes me even more angry than the govt. advertsing the Army to me with my tax money... what a world.
George W Bush is an asshole. You heard it here.
He announced that he's doubtful if the CIA leak will be found. What kind of administration is he running that he can't figure out who leaked classified information? Isn't that the whole point. There were only 150 some-odd people who knew that the ambassador's wife was an agent. Can't we just strap them into a lie detector and get this over with? Infuriating.
Arnold Wins! I can't say that I'm disappointed, but I hope Californians know what they're doing.
The full election results are pretty interesting. Gary Coleman made quite a showing, as did Mary Carey Cook, an aspiring adult film "actress". Lordy!
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Here it is, the comprehensive list of all the California Gubernatorial candidates and links to their respective webpages.
Found this on memepool It's neat!
What a boring day at work. Lord, it's dull.
Either way, at least there are plenty of tiger attacks to keep me reading the news.
There's that one in Harlem and then there's Roy.
Makes you wonder: Is there a link between these two attacks?
Here are two more recent attacks. I'm sure there're more, but googlenews is all backed up with news about Roy.
Oct 7th attack
Sept 4th Attack
Monday, October 06, 2003
I can't believe I'm just hearing about this Roy attacked by tiger thing! Man, that's umm.... really... really... ummm... sad.
I imagine the tiger has finally decided that magic is lame and it would be best to move into a more natural role of hunting, killing, lying around, being featured in nature documentaries, etc.
Were tigers meant for magic shows? Only mother nature could answer that question and she says "no".
Road Block for road map. Israel decides to bomb Syria a bit. Looking for the next Iraq/Afghanistan? The US recommends Syria. They're "on the wrong side of the war on terrorism," says the US ambassador to the UN. What the hell does that mean? If one side thinks you're on the wrong side of a war, doesn't that make you an enemy? Sword rattling runs rampant!
Friday, October 03, 2003
Right now some dude up in congress is using a deadpan delivery to talk about this. Apparently, gas only costs 10 cents a gallon in Iraq. Hmmm... That gas isn't from Iraq either... Hmmm...
At work?
Bored?
Think about this:
This week I had to part with 22% of my pay check for taxes.
What happened to the "tax cut"? You know the tax cut that was supposed to kickstart the economy and get me a job? The one that was supposed to... get ready for it... lower taxes! I just don't understand economics well enough. I understand that things take some time, but if that's the case, they should stop using the term "cut". It's too abrupt. Maybe they should just say a "tax diminishment" or something all wordy like that.
I bet I could tell you a lot more about that tax cut if I owned a house, had a maid and drove a Ferrari.
For boredom I also recommend this. It's even worse and will make you feel better. It's also informative.
And don't forget about Fark.com and Friendster.
Friday!
The US Dept. of Labor reports that there were 57 thousand new jobs filled in september. Strange that this report comes out only a few days after there was so much talk about the loss of jobs, W's administration being the first since Hoover's to have job losses and his drop in the polls. Hmmm.... Also a bit bizarre that everyone was shocked by this report. How can all the analysts get this wrong? Is the Bush adminstration just telling the Dept. of Labor to lie because he's dropping behind in the polls?
I think so.
Something else fun... the washington post says that a report shows Iraq has no banned weapons, but W still says that iraq was "a danger to the world" (AP story). I wonder who would have more of an interest in lying.....
Fun thought of the day on Propaganda
Choose which facts you report and you can sway public opinion any way you want.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
In the News this Morning
Finally, China bans icky commercials.
Not getting along with each other? Build a Wall. It's fantastic to see how far we've come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
