Current events - Just to recap

The Supreme Court has decided that free speech is entirely too free, unless of course you are a corporation or a religious organization, then it's open season.

Short version is the first amendment applies only to those who donated to the Bush campaign.

Current events - To be placed on your fossil fueled vehicle

A great bumper sticker for the Creation Museum

Geek - Ladies and gentlemen...

I give you the greatest t-shirt ever.

Movies - Eragon

Really disappointed in this one.

With Irons and Malkovich I really expected more, but I've never seen a more cliched movie. After several scenes I pointed out to my wife where they were ripping off the Star Wars script almost verbatim.

Farm boy, raised by his uncle, meets a mysterious old wizard and goes with him to rescue a princess only to learn he has magical powers (and a dragon) and battles a dark wizard. (During the rescue scene I expected him to say, "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!)

I give it one beep.

Personal - Next weekend...

Is Father's day and my lovely wife has given me permission to start a project I've wanted to do for a long time.

I'm going to build a boat!

I'll try to take pics and upload here as I go.

Current events - Oil and water

Think noted humanitarian Sam Waterston and conservative Fred Thompson have some interesting and heated discussions on set?

Politics - Sebelius the latest to be attacked by Dubya

I seriously fucking hate Dubya and every one of his spineless little cronies.

Now he's blaming my girl, Kathleen Sebelius, of dragging HER feet to help the residents of Greensburg. No person, let alone the President of the United States of America should be allowed to lie as often and as voraciously as this sorry excuse for a human and his cock-smoking administration.

It's never their fault! Ever!

He's a prick and anyone associated with him is a prick.

Humor - Mad cow

Two cows are standing around in a pasture.

One cow looks at the other and says: "Hey, have you heard about this new mad cow disease going around?"

The other cow says, "What do I care? I'm a helicopter."

Personal - Happy Birthday Yoda!

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Frank Oz, the man who gave voice to Yoda, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert... and my personal favorite... the Corrections Officer in Blues Brothers!

Geek - Thanks George!

Now please, I'm begging you... stop.

Current events - Two things...

that seem to be related:

The Democrats give into Bush and send him more money to fund his war

and

A toddler in KC destroys Buddhist monks hours of work

How are they related? Both show the lack of accountability in this country. First the dem's fold to Dubya's threats, thus not doing the job 70% of the country want them to do. Second the mother of the toddler doesn't even report what the kid did, she just grabs him and takes off!

Thanks to all the lawyers and congress, no one in this country is held accountable for their actions anymore. No one. All the way from the president to a toddler... but now I'm being redundant.

Personal - Monday data dump

Sometimes I wish I had tourettes syndrome so I could just spew a string of obscenities and get away with it.
====================================================
I have an idea for an animated short.

It's an analogy of the Iraq war. It starts with a young boy named Georgie discovering that a bunch of cockroaches have gotten into his kitchen and knocked over two boxes of his favorite sugar cereal. He gets all pissed off and starts killing cockroaches and rips open the walls to get at their hiding places. He's almost gotten every cockroach, but unfortunately, before he finishes the job, he remembers a story his daddy told him about some flies that he tried to kill once in another room of the house. Little Georgie drops what he's doing and runs into the other room with a box of fruit and starts flinging the fruit at the flies. He kills a few, but more flies lay eggs in the fruit and produce more flies. Pretty soon, the flies are everywhere and the cockroaches have rebuilt the wall in the kitchen.

Then his best friend shoots someone in the face.

Now I just have to learn how to animate stuff and come up with a better ending.

Politics - The 2008 Presidential race

I've watched three presidential debates (2 Pub, 1 Dem) so far and am astonished that in a country as large and diverse as ours that THESE clowns are as good as we can get to run for president?

If Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are not the two major parties nominees we are in trouble. Deep, deep, deep trouble.

Paul and Kucinich are the only candidates who have the integrity I think the office deserves. I could see myself voting for either of them.

In the wake of Dubya, Cheney, Rice and Rove completely raping our country, we need to change the course. These are the only guys I see being able to do that.

Humor - Explains everything

Q: Is it possible to get pregnant from anal sex?

A: Yes, where do you think the RIAA lawyers come from?

Media - Left hand, meet right hand...

The US military has taken the war in Iraq into cyberspace, with the launch of its own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube.

But wait...

The Defense Department will begin blocking access "worldwide" to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander.

Personal - A follow up

When the fuck did we stop holding people accountable?

Back in December I got t-boned by some asshole. He drove into me and damaged the passenger side of my car. I did everything I was supposed to do, (police report, contact my insurance company) he didn't. He did nothing. His insurance company is some fly-by night, "We insure ANYBODY!!!" type jobs and the only phone number my insurance company could find for them was a call tree that dropped you if you didn't have a claim number. My insurance company said they'd have to pay me for the damages and then they could (maybe.. maybe not,)pursue the guy.

Jump forward to last month. ANOTHER asshole, (high on prescription pain killers according to his girlfriend,) hits me on the drivers side of my car. Again, I do what I'm supposed to, (see above) and he does... nothing. His insurance company says they don't have a phone number for him and they have sent him a letter (!) asking him to get in touch with them. They refuse to talk to me until they talk to him. Have they sent a registered letter? No. Have they sent an adjuster to his house? It's a PO box. Have they gotten a police report? Nope. (BTW, the Allen County sheriff wants me to send them $3 for a police report, and no, they won't email it to me.)

In the mean time, I'm shit outta luck. For all I know the second guy is in fucking jail for DUI and the first guy has left the planet.

You can bet your ass that if I was at fault I would come through and make damn sure it was taken care of.

Fuck.

Personal - Tuesday data dump

How the hell did I ever mow the lawn without an mp3 player?
==============================================================
I really, really want a nice stand mixer. (For to make cookies!) Jeeze they are expensive.
==============================================================
I used to drive through Greensburg, Kansas a lot when I was going to school. It was a quiet little town on highway 54 where even the gas station was closed on Sundays. I remember once my buddy's Mustang broke down in Greensburg and we had to wait almost two hours for the guy who worked at the service station to "finish his supper" and "drive back in to town."
==============================================================
Boston was cool. The mate and offspring had fun. I did get lost trying to find Salem, Mass.. Turns out there's a Salem, New Hampshire, too. Who knew?

Games - If JC played WoW

This is from a chat on linkfilter:

Hugh2d2> My favorite Manah-Manah
r03> ROFLMAO!
* * * pneum0nic tries really hard not to laugh....
crataegus> That's fscked up, hugh. What's funnier is that they have "all glory and honor to Jesus Christ" at the end of that video, and they play WoW.
Hugh2d2> JC would play WoW. He'd be a holy spec priest of course.
r03> ah. same ol same ol
Hughd2> Unless he wanted to f' with some people... then he'd hava an undead warlock alt.
pneum0nic> if JC played WoW would he be horde?
pneum0nic> or alliance?
Hugh2d2> He'd play on a carebear server... he'd have alts on both sides
Hugh2d2> I don't see JC having a high PvP ranking
Hugh2d2> but I bet he'd dominate in capyure the flag matches
crataegus> Unless he was into that whole "vengeful jealous" mode...
crataegus> Jesus could hide the flag in his stigmata.
Hugh2d2> he'd be like *boop* speed hack! or *boop* walkin on water hack!
r03> ouch....waiting for lightning
Hugh2d2> his guild "Da Ap0stlz" would be like ROTFLMAO! JC pwnz u noobz!

Personal - Car accident

On the way home from the funeral yesterday, I was hit by a guy who was high on painkillers. No one was hurt, and there was minimal damage to the car, but it was terrifying.

My pregnant wife was asleep in the passenger seat. We were coming up on an on ramp and I had just taken the cruise control off. I saw a guy in a little black car coming up behind me but didn't pay too much attention. As he got up next to me, he drifted over into my lane and I laid into the horn. He never stopped coming over, and after he bounced off of me, he kept driving. my wife woke up and started freaking out. I was livid. He showed no signs of stopping so I was going to follow him.

All of a sudden, a red car came flying past me and got up next to him. There was a girl in the car and she was screaming and gesturing at the guy. I assumed he must have hit her as well. She got in front of him and basically forced him to pull over. She was out of the car and screaming at the guy before I even got out of my car.

I came out of the car ready to beat the guy senseless.

The guy got out and stumbled. I thought, "crap... He's drunk." The guy looked at his car and up at me and was totally confused. All this time the girl is still yelling at him.

She finally tells me that she's his girlfriend and that he's on prescription meds for a torn rotator cuff and she told him not to drive, but he did anyway. He's stumbling around so I turned him around and made him sit in his car. (I was afraid he'd stumble out into traffic and become road-paste.)

I get her to find his insurance card and I go back and call the cops. He basically passes out in the drivers seat.

My wife stepped out of the car and the girlfriend sees that my wife is pregnant and she melts down. She starts screaming at the guy all over again.

The cops get there and I tell them what happened, they take pictures and statements and the girlfriend left. (She was on her way to work.) I asked the cop and he assured me the guy was going nowhere in his condition.

The best possible thing that could have happened to that guy was bumping my car. He could have killed himself or worse, someone else.

Personal - Rest well, G.O.M.

My godfather died.

I have to go to his funeral tomorrow.

He taught me what it meant to be a man, how to live up to my responsibilities, how to be a better friend. He did that all without ever telling me how to do it... he just lived that way.

He was a very faithful catholic and I hope that faith gave him comfort near the end.

I'll miss him terribly.

Geek - I think I found the Geek Holy Trinity

The KC Comicon this year will feature what could be the nexus of Geek... Darth Vader, Apollo and JIM FREAKIN' LEE!

(That's David Prowse, Richard Hatch and JIM FREAKIN' LEE for the non-geek crowd.)

Media - If it bleeds, it leads

I think I'm pissed at MSNBC for airing the videos and pics from Psycho-Cho.

It's salt in the wounds of Virginia Tech and reeks of sensationalism.

EDIT:

Once again, I can't put into words what others can...

So Mr. Cho gets his fifteen minutes. The question bewildering journalism observers--why'd he send his goodie bag to NBC News?--has an easy answer: it was in gratitude for their firing of Imus.
Not so easy is the answer to the question: what is the possible journalistic explanation for splashing Cho's self-dramatizing poses and self-justifying bullshit over network and cable air? Did we learn anything useful during the spate of interviews of Charlie Manson years ago, except that he was one crazy motherfucker? Cho's pathetic outpourings deserved to be put back where they came from--in a small room, with FBI guys sentenced to read/see and parse them Instead, a hundred thousand self-pitying mentally ill young men (and women?) have just been shown the road to glory one more time. A society in which it's easier to become famous for killing people than for doing something useful or constructive is one remarkable place in which to live.

via HuffPost - Harry Shearer

Personal - Wednesday data dump

What's on the droids mind this week?

Baby boy on the way... he's gonna need a name.
Must sell house.
Must find new house.
Zero day exploits sure are a P.I.T.A..
Trip to Boston for training.
Proud of my nephew.
Documentation sure would be nice.

Tech - I'm lucky this email attachment came in or I'd have no idea I was infected!

"There's no patch for stupidity." - Unknown, but very wise.

Media - Who said what now? I'm offended!

Was Imus wrong to use those words? Yeah.
Is it as bad as the media is making it out? No.

Had any of the Rutgers team EVER listened to Imus? Probably not.
Had any of the Rutgers team ever listened to gangsta rap? Most likely.

Is a dumb, old, white guy with a comedy radio show a real threat because he used a distasteful phrase? Nope.
Are mainstream, black rappers and hip-hop artists who glamorize prisonand drugs, mock getting an education and condone beating and degrading women a threat? Yes.

Will Imus lose his job over the comments? Yeah.
Will "Half-Dollar-Cube-Killa" lose his recording contract for his lyrics? Nope.

Common sense - 0, Victimization - 1.

Personal - A picture share

Politics - I heard it on Real Time w/ Bill Maher

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” - Mark Twain

Music - Happy Birthday, Ric Ocasek!

The Cars were the greatest (and most under-rated) band of the 80's.

Here's proof:

Magic

Hello Again

Touch and Go

Heartbeat City

Personal - R.I.P. Larry Bud

Larry "Bud" Melman dead at age 85

You will be missed, funny man.

The Web - A feature I'd love to see

Why, if I can customize my viewing experience on all these news web sites, can I not have a filter to screen out any stories I don't want to see?

My list starts with:
Anna Nicole Smith
Brittany Spears
K-Fed
American Idol
Simon Cowl
Ryan Seacrest

Personal - Note to self...

It's "every time" not "everytime".

Current Events - Dubya visits KC today

And all I can think is...

"Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here."

Personal - St. Patty's Day in Kansas City

Harry's bar was a bit busy













Is it love or the green beer?













Pretty sure that's not his real hair color.













Westport at night













Fun at Blaney's













Our bartender really, really likes hotdogs














Danny and the Rev

Question - I ask you, intarwebs...

Can anyone name one thing that congress has fixed?

Just one.

I'll wait.

Yeah... me neither.

Games - WoW players are jerks

I'm a bad, bad, bad man for laughing out loud at this.

Media - Remember just... watching T.V.?

Yeah, me neither.

Heroes Wiki
Battlestar Wiki
Smallville Wiki
Stargate Wiki
Firefly Wiki

Sports - Tourney Time

Let's look at the Big 12 Tourney, shall we?

Kansas has an 11:30 a.m. game on friday. 11:20. In the morning. On friday.
Kansas State has a 2:00 p.m. game on friday. 2:00. In the afternoon. On friday.

Texas and Texas A&M? They get PRIMETIME slots on friday. Even Baylor gets a
Primetime game on thursday night! Unreal.

Really? I mean... BAYLOR!?!?

They are the ELEVENTH FRACKIN' SEED OUT OF TWELVE!!!

/sigh

Ten years they've been doing this... ten years of Texas screwing up the Big 8.

Personal - FSCK COMCAST!

Comcast.
COmcast.
COMcast.
COMCast.
COMCAst.
COMCASt.
COMCAST.

COMCAST!!!!

Last month my bill more than doubled. It was $120 for tv, internet and phone, but they started billing me $270.

I called and told them to get bent, that the service wasn't worth the $120 I was paying and it sure as hell wasn't worth $270. He claimed that was what the service was "worth" and that I had been getting a promotion price for the last 18 months.

After two days of calls to management, the guy said he'd re-issue the bill and put us back to the $120 price.

He lied. They never re-issued the bill and they withdrew the full $270 bucks. When I called to complain, they claim there was no record of that two day ordeal on my account. No notes. No records. Nothing.

To top it off, for the last three weeks the phone and internet service has been off more than it's been on. The morons, of course, kept blaming it on my configuration or the modem, but it's their lines that are the problem. (I had a tech out here today that confirmed that for me.)

Thanks to the illegal monopoly that Comcast has setup with the city I live in (the city gets a kickback to keep other cable co's out) I have zero options and Comcast has zero incentive to do anything to fix their broken system.

My next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau and the states attorney General to see if I have some recourse.

FSCK them.

FSCK them all up their stupid asses with a big rubber dick.

Humor - If I don't laugh, I'll cry

Q: What's the difference between Iraq and Vietnam?

A: George Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam.

Politics - 2008... time for REAL change!

Bush, George H.W. 1989-1993
Clinton, William J. 1993-2001
Bush, George W. 2001-2009
Clinton, Hillary R. 2009-2013

Really? Still think we don't have a problem in Washington?

Stewart/Colbert 2008!

Personal - A Picture Share

Guess where I was on New Years Eve?

Personal - A picture share

Morning in St. Louis.

Personal - In memory of WJK.

Personal - Is there a required uniform?

Three... three of my frelling neighbors are mowing their lawns.
At the same time.

It looks like some kind of... sick lawn mowing club or something.

Personal - Star Trek Meme

Your results:
You are Worf

You are trained in the art of combat
and are usually intimidating.


Worf

---

60%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)

---

60%
Chekov

---

60%
Jean-Luc Picard

---

55%
Uhura

---

55%
Will Riker

---

50%
Deanna Troi

---

45%
Geordi LaForge

---

45%
James T. Kirk (Captain)

---

45%
Data

---

42%
Beverly Crusher

---

40%
Spock

---

34%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)

---

30%
Mr. Scott

---

25%
Mr. Sulu

---

15%


Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Personal - A Picture Share

Current events - Rocky Anderson

"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism." - Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson

Media - WTF, SciFi? Why you gotta do that to me?

I've avoided Stargate (all incarnations) since it left Showtime (ok, a bit after season one, really).

So what do the evil bastards at SciFi Channel do? They go out and get Ben Browder and Claudia Black from one of my favorite all time scifi shows.

Ok, I can do this... still not watching.

Not easily swayed, the maniacs have now gone and persuaded the most beautiful companion in the frontier territories, Morena Baccarin who played Inara from another of my favorite all time scifi shows, Firefly.

DAMN YOU, SCIFI! DAMN YOU!

Science - RIP, Pluto

Via AP Wire by way of the Kansas City Star

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

News flash: Plutonian scientists have downgraded Earth from "planet" to "annoying bunch of pricks who think they are so important." More on this story as it develops.

Current events - Comprehensive Iraq war timeline

Via Think Progress

We're officially involved in Iraq longer than we were involved in World War 2.

Current events - Eisenhower

A great quote from Ike, via a blog called, Get In Their Face!

"How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Current events - NSA Wiretapping Program Unconstitutional

But we all kind of knew that, didn't we?

Via Think Progress

Fox News reports a federal district court in Detroit has ruled that the Bush administration’s NSA warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.

No way the shrub will let this stand.

Personal - RIP

I like to get out of the office on my lunch break. It helps break the day up and makes it pass quicker.

Generally, I take my sandwich, yogurt and apple over to a park near the office and just enjoy the alone time.

Yesterday, as I was heading back to work, I saw a really pretty german shepard mix dog walking along the street. He had a collar and tags on and stopped to watch me drive past before continuing his stroll. I noticed a city employee in a truck pulling over and talking on h9is radio while trying to get the dog to approach him. I figure, Ok, hopefully the pup will be back with his family soon.

Not so.

Today at lunch, I found this beautiful animal dead on the side of the road. He was apparently run over.

I can only assume that the city guy couldn't get the dog to come and that animal control didn't get there in time to catch him. Maybe the dog took off into the nearby woods.

I hope it was a quick death and he didn't suffer.

Humor - Why beer is better than religion

Via Brewstraveler.com
Reasons Why Beer is Better Than Religion

10. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer.

9. Beer doesn't tell you how to have sex.

8. Beer has never caused a major war.

7. They don't force Beer on minors who can't think for themselves.

6. When you have a Beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away.

5. Nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of Beer.

4. You don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second Beer.

3. There are laws saying Beer labels can't lie to you.

2. You can prove you have a Beer.

1. If you've devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.

The Web - Is Firefox prefered by aliens?

Via Linux Users Group - Oregon State University

Firefox Crop Circle

Personal - Mr. & Mrs. Beaglebot have a son!

Welcome to the world Logan!

(Check the wonderful world of Fuzzytopia at the link on the right.)

Humor - Are you ready?

Current events - Randi Rhodes asks a great question

Via Hoffmania

"Why did the president cut and run from Afghanistan?"

Current events - Another anniversary

Via Think Progress

"It’s been four years, ten months and twenty-five days since President Bush pledged to capture Bin Laden “dead or alive.”

How's that workin out for you, Decider?

Current events - Cheney

Via Think Progress

From a teleconfrence interview with the biggest Dick (Cheney) on the planet.

The thing that’s partly disturbing about it is the fact that, the standpoint of our adversaries, if you will, in this conflict, and the al Qaeda types, they clearly are betting on the proposition that ultimately they can break the will of the American people in terms of our ability to stay in the fight and complete the task.

Sweet jumpin Jeebus on a pogo-stick…

al Qaeda knows we won’t “complete the task” because we showed them we wouldn’t when Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld let their collective ADD kick in and they stopped focusing on Afghanistan and bin Laden.

This just shows that the American people, at least those who are in touch with reality, have realized we let the wrong people get a hold of our country.

Games - RPG Motivational Posters

RPG Motivational Posters

Current events - BP knew about their leak months ago

Via Common Dreams
Oil Gushes into Arctic Ocean from BP Pipeline
by Leonard Doyle
Published on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 by the Independent / UK

The first indication of the spill came in early March, when an oily patch was discovered near the elevated oil transmission pipeline, but the full scale of the accident is only becoming clear with time. Environmentalists who vociferously objected to the construction of the BP pipeline may now see their worst fears realised.

Clean-up crews have removed more than 190,000 litres of crude oil and melted snow off the frozen tundra but reports indicate that the leak is the second largest crude oil spill in Alaska - second only to the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

Humor - Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self

Via The Onion

Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self
"In a decisive 1–0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.

President Bush announces announcement of the new power-granting announcement.

'As president, I strongly believe that my first duty as president is to support and serve the president,' Bush said during a televised address from the East Room of the White House shortly after signing his executive order. 'I promise the American people that I will not abuse this new power, unless it becomes necessary to grant myself the power to do so at a later time.'"

Personal - Barbeque!

I'm judging my first official BBQ contest as a Certified Barbeque Judge. It's this weekends Cabela's Bar-B-Que Challenge

As Bozino said: "lucky droid."

Personal - Last night I became certified

A certified Kansas City Barbeque Society Judge, that is.

What does that mean? It means I am now qualified to, "celebrate, teach, preserve, and promote barbecue as a culinary technique, sport and art form."

Oh... and I get to taste some of the best barbeque in the country!

Current events - US Gubment now suing MO & NJ for asking too many questions

Via Reuters.com

The US gov't sues Missouri officials on AT&T subpoena - The U.S. government, citing national security concerns, on Tuesday sued Missouri officials for demanding that AT&T Inc. disclose whether it gave customer data to the government's spying program.

Missouri Public Service Commissioners Robert Clayton and Steve Gaw, state utility regulators, had served subpoenas to AT&T Missouri and its affiliates in June amid speculation over their involvement with the National Security Agency.

The government's civil suit, submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice to a district court in Missouri, said the state officials' attempts to obtain the information from AT&T and its affiliates were invalid.

'This court should therefore enter a declaratory judgment that the State Defendants do not have the authority to seek confidential and sensitive federal government information and thus cannot enforce the subpoenas they have served on the telecommunications carriers,' the suit said.

The federal government has also sued the New Jersey Attorney General who also subpoenaed AT&T over the issue.

Shut up. Get in line. Take what we give you. Got it.

Current events - All the REST of your money are belong to Conoco Phillips

Via Yahoo! News

ConocoPhillips profit leaps 65 pct. in 2Q - The nation's third-largest oil company earned $5.18 billion, or $3.09 per share, compared with $3.14 billion, or $2.21 per share, in the second quarter of 2005. Results far surpassed Wall Street expectations, as analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipated earnings of $2.81 per share.

Revenues rose 12.6 percent to $47.1 billion from $41.8 billion in the year-ago period.

Current events - All your money are belong to BP

Via New York Times

Profits Pour in at BP; Chief Sets Exit
John Browne, the chief executive of BP, confirmed today that he would leave the giant oil company at the end of 2008, after reaching its mandatory retirement age of 60. At the same time, the company announced a profit of $7.27 billion in the second quarter, 30 percent more than the comparable period a year ago and the equivalent of more than $55,000 a minute.

$34.00 for less than 11 gallons yesterday. Mission accomplished.

Current events - AT&T/NSA get a pass from accountability

Via BusinessWeek Online

Judge dismisses lawsuit over phone records

Citing national security, a federal judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at blocking AT&T Inc. from giving telephone records to the government for use in the war on terror.

'The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities,' U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said.

Kennelly ruled in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on behalf of author Studs Terkel and other activists who said their constitutional rights were violated because of a National Security Agency program of gathering phone company records illegally.

If you are still patronizing these steaming piles of corporate crap, you haven't been paying attantion.

Personal - ABC Meme

Only cause Shiggy & PAgent did it first..

ABC Meme
Accent – Midwestern, so... none.
Booze of choice – Guinness or a Martini.
Chore I hate – Mowing.
Dog or cat – Both. Bear and Zoe.
Essential electronics – PC.
Favorite perfume(s)/cologne(s) – None.
Gold or Silver? - Silver.
Hometown – Where I'm from originally? Parsons, KS.
Insomnia? – Never. I have a very clean conscience.
Job Title – Network Admin... not a good one, but...
Kids? - One 3 year old girl.
Living Arrangement – With my wife, daughter, cat, dog and fish.
Most admired trait – Sense of humor.
Number of Sexual Partners – Total? Not sure I'm ok with answering that.
Overnight Hospital Stays – Pneumonia when I was 8.
Phobia – Spiders.
Religion – Apathetic-agnostic.
Siblings – One younger sister.
Time I wake up - 4:30 AM.
Unusual talent/skill – Not one damn thing. Sad, no?
Vegetable I refuse to eat – Beets.
Worst habit – Surfing the web at work.
Yummy foods I make – Chili, pancakes, anything on the grill.
Zodiac sign - Capricorn.

Personal - A Picture Share

Current events - Time to play... "Who Said That?"

See if you can guess who made the following statements...

1. “It’s part of God’s plan for the future of mankind.”
(A) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iranian revolutionary)
(B) Ali al-Sistani (Iraq's top Shiite cleric)
(C) Rep. John Carter (Republican representative from TX)

2. “It wasn’t our idea, it was God’s.”
(A) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iranian revolutionary)
(B) Ali al-Sistani (Iraq's top Shiite cleric)
(C) Rep. Mike Pence (Republican representative from IN)

3. “We best not be messing with His plan.”
(A) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iranian revolutionary)
(B) Ali al-Sistani (Iraq's top Shiite cleric)
(C) Rep. Bob Beauprez (Republican representative from CO)

4. “I think God has spoken very clearly on this issue.”
(A) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iranian revolutionary)
(B) Ali al-Sistani (Iraq's top Shiite cleric)
(C) Rep. Phil Gingrey (Republican representative from GA)

Tough, huh?

Current events - He's "Decided" not to let you see him sign his first veto

Via Think Progress

SNOW: The president will, however, before he delivers remarks this afternoon, veto the Castle bill.

Here's how it works, because I know a lot of you have had questions. There will be no photographers, no ceremony. What the president will do is, in his office, he will sign a veto message, he will hand it to a clerk, who will convey it to a clerk of the House, and then you go through the formalities of announcing a message from the president, and at some point the House will vote on the veto.

QUESTION: Is there a reason why he's not having photographers in, at least?

SNOW: Because he doesn't feel it's appropriate. He's signing a veto.

Incompetent prick.

Blogs - Cenk Uygur: Our President is an Imbecile

Excellent commentary on our Great National Embarassment.

Via The Huffington Post

What I found to be the most damning is the least quoted part of Bush's comments. As you read this transcript, remember that this is not a small child talking, but the President of the United States of America:
------------------------------------
The camera is focused elsewhere and it is not clear whom Bush is talking to, but possibly Chinese President Hu Jintao, a guest at the summit.

Bush: 'Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. Go to the airport, get on the airplane and go home. How about you? Where are you going? Home?

Bush: 'This is your neighborhood. It doesn't take you long to get home. How long does it take you to get home?'

Reply is inaudible.

Bush: 'Eight hours? Me too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country.'

At this point, the president seems to bring someone else into the conversation.

Bush: 'It takes him eight hours to fly home.'

He turns his attention to a server.

Bush: 'No, Diet Coke, Diet Coke.'

He turns back to whomever he was talking with.

Bush: 'It takes him eight hours to fly home. Eight hours. Russia's big and so is China.'
------------------------------------
Russia's big and so is China??????? This guys sounds like a third grader. Do you know anyone who would have a conversation like this with their neighbor, let alone a business associate, let alone a world leader? Who's proud to know that Russia is big and so is China?

Can anyone now credibly claim that Bush is secretly working on a master plan behind the scenes and that he's just playing cowboy for the cameras? I hope the master plan doesn't involve figuring out how long it takes to get to China.

Comics - I have sinned against one of the best webcomics around

Please forgive me for not having a link to the awesomeness that is Sinfest.

As penance, please accept the following "teh funny"...

Politics - Bush and Tony discuss the Mid-East

So I'm watching this video of Dubya talking to Tony at the G8 lunch, and the thing that struck me most... the guy chews with his mouth open.

The "leader of the free world" chews with his fracking mouth open.

He's an embarassment.

Thanks to Crooks & Liars for the vid.

Movies - A Scanner Darkly

Trailer for Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly

The Web - Uncrate

Found via gizmodo

Uncrate: The Buyer's Guide For Men, is a web magazine for guys who love stuff. Our team finds the best gadgets, clothes, cars and more so you can blow your rent money easier. Updated daily.

I love how "stuff" is defined.

Politics - Kathleen Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius for President, 2008!

Personal - Worst part of using online job search sites

I have received two spam messages from this Padma clown in the last day. He's spaming me using two different names. If I block the address he is using, I'll block all email from careerbuilder.com.

+++++++++++++++

From: "Kothapalli Radhika"

Req for the position "Desktop support Analyst II"
Hello,

This is Padma, and I am a Recruiter for Everest Business Solutions. I am currently trying to staff a "Desktop support Analyst II" position with one of
our clients in Kansas

Please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss this position further.
*snip*

+++++++++++++++
AND
+++++++++++++++

From: "Andrew Clark"

Req for the position "Desktop support Analyst II"
Hello,

This is Padma, and I am a Recruiter for Everest Business Solutions. I am currently trying to staff a "Desktop support Analyst II" position with one of
our clients in Kansas.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss this position further.

*snip*
+++++++++++++++

A-holes.

The Web - Firefox headlines

A pair of stories about my favorite web browser.

First, via InformationWeek

Firefox's share of the Web browser market has surpassed 15% in the U.S. and 12% globally, according to Web analytics company OneStat.com.

and again, via InformationWeek

Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) can be downloaded from Mozilla's FTP site, although the official Beta 1 won't be released until July 11, according to notes published by the open-source developer.

Think Progress

Via Think Progress

Here’s the top five budget deficits of all time:
1. 2004 (George W. Bush) $413 billion
2. 2003 (George W. Bush) $378 billion
3. 2005 (George W. Bush) $318 billion
4. 2006 (George W. Bush) $296 billion (projected)
5. 1992 (George H. W. Bush) $290 billion

"Fiscal conservative" my ass.

Games - He gets a plus 5 against diaper rash

Humor - Two patients

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The second patient sees his family doctor after waiting a week for an appointment, then waits six weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another month and finally has his surgery scheduled for three months from then.

Why the different treatment for the two patients?

The first is a golden retriever.
The second is a senior citizen.

Blogs - More from the brilliant Radley Balko

Via TheAgitator.com

Consult the Declaration of Independence. Among the greivances the signers aired against King George:

- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

- He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

[...]

- For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

- For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States...

- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

[...]

- He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

- He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

Let's see. By my count, you've got your 'military tribunals,' your 'indefinite detentions,' your 'black sites,' and your 'militarization of police' all neatly tucked into that passage, the whole of which sounds as if it goes quite a bit further than mere 'money and taxes,' no?

Personal - It was four years ago today...

7:00 p.m..
89 degrees.
Mostly sunny.

She wore a white strapless dress with her hair up.
I wore a black tux with a burgundy bow tie and cumberbund.

I actually gasped when I saw her coming down the aisle.
I knew I made the right decision.

Politics - Kansas Reps prove they have no idea what they are talking about

Via The Office of the Clerk of the House Of Representatives

QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution
BILL TITLE: Supporting intelligence and law enforcement programs to track terrorists and terrorist finances conducted consistent with Federal law and with appropriate Congressional consultation and specifically condemning the disclosure and publication of classified information that impairs the international fight against, etc.

So here we have the House voting on a resolution basically condeming the NYT for disclosing the supposed classified info that Dubya and Co. were looking into financial records to catch terrists. Only... President Cheney, Vice-President Bush, Connie Rice... everyone in the administration has been saying for three years that they were going after their financial records. HOW can that be classified when they use it as talking-points all the damn time?

Buncha retarded monkeys in that House.

Anyway... Ryun and Tiahrt voted for this insane waste of time. (Moran didn't vote which is the only good thing he's done since getting there.)

Politics - Pat Roberts... flip-flopper?

Via Think Progress

Today, Senate Coverup Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) attacked the media for writing about the SWIFT bank records tracking program, and he called for a “formal damage assessment” to be done by Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. (Dan Froomkin today explained how the “existence of SWIFT itself has not exactly been a secret.”)

Roberts began his attack on the media yesterday:

If another attack occurs because of this information going out…the people who have written these stories and the people who have made their decisions should look in the mirror.

But Roberts is the one who needs to “look in the mirror” about the effects leaks have on national security. The National Journal’s Murray Waas reported in April that during the start of the Iraq war, Roberts disclosed sensitive intelligence in a speech he delivered (ironically enough) to the National Newspaper Association:
[T]hree years ago on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Roberts himself was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence officers, impaired efforts to capture Saddam Hussein and potentially threatened the lives of Iraqis who were spying for the United States.

On March 20, 2003, at the onset of military hostilities between U.S. and Iraqi forces, Roberts said in a speech to the National Newspaper Association that he had “been in touch with our intelligence community” and that the CIA had informed President Bush and the National Security Council “of intelligence information from what we call human intelligence that indicated the location of Saddam Hussein and his leadership in a bunker in the suburbs of Baghdad.”

The former intelligence officials said in interviews that Roberts was never held accountable for his comments, which bore directly on the issue of intelligence-gathering sources and methods, and revealed that Iraqis close to Hussein were probably talking to the United States.

As former intelligence officials told Waas, the incident showed “how rank and file intelligence professionals now have much to fear from legitimate and even inadvertent contacts with journalists, while senior executive branch officials and members of Congress are almost never held accountable when they seriously breach national security through leaks of information.

Sounds like a flip-flop to me.

Politics - Net Neutrality still up in the air

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday rejected a network neutrality amendment, handing cable and phone broadband access providers yet another victory over a coalition that has demanded the application of strict nondiscrimination standards against entities that control access to millions of Internet users.

The panel voted 11 to 11 to defeat an amendment sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who had backing from Google, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, Microsoft and other firms that deliver voice, video, and information services and applications.

Under Senate rules, a tie vote means the amendment failed.

Via Daily Kos

You can contact the members of the Senate Commerce Committee via the main switchboard toll free at 1-888-355-3588. Or you can contact them individually at the following phone and fax numbers:

GOP Members
* Chairman Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004; (202) 224-2354 FAX
* John McCain (AZ): (202) 224-2235; Fax: (202) 228-2862
* Conrad Burns (MT): 202-224-2644; Fax: 202-224-8594
* Trent Lott (MS): (202) 224-6253; Fax: (202) 224-2262
* Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX): 202-224-5922; 202-224-0776 (FAX)
* Olympia J. Snowe (ME): (202) 224-5344; FAX (202) 224-1946
* Gordon H. Smith (OR): 202.224.3753; Fax: 202.228.3997
* John Ensign (NV): (202) 224-6244; Fax: (202) 228-2193
* George Allen (VA): (202) 224-4024; Fax: (202) 224-5432
* John E. Sununu (NH): (202) 224-2841; FAX (202) 228-4131
* Jim DeMint (SC): 202-224-6121; Fax: 202-228-5143
* David Vitter (LA): (202) 224-4623; Fax: (202) 228-5061

Dem Members
* Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI): 202-224-3934; Fax: 202-224-6747
* John D. Rockefeller (WV): (202) 224-6472; (202) 224-7665 Fax
* John F. Kerry (MA): (202) 224-2742 - Phone; (202) 224-8525 - Fax
* Byron L. Dorgan (ND): 202-224-2551; Fax: 202-224-1193
* Barbara Boxer (CA): 202-224-3553
* Bill Nelson (FL): 202-224-5274; Fax: 202-228-2183
* Maria Cantwell (WA): 202-224-3441; 202-228-0514 - FAX
* Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ): (202) 224-3224; Fax: (202) 228-4054
* E. Benjamin Nelson (NE): Tel: (202) 224-6551; Fax: (202) 228-0012
* Mark Pryor (AR): (202) 224-2353; Fax: (202) 228-0908

If one of these clowns are your senator, contact them. Tell them they are making a huge mistake by selling the internet to their corporate masters.

Make sure you explain it to them using small words and simple sentences.

Personal - Retinoblastoma

Late last week, a good friend and his wife took their daughter, born on March 5 this year, to have her eyes checked. She was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer called (bilateral) Retinoblastoma.

So far, they know that one eye is 50% covered with tumors and probably will be removed. Her other eye is less severe and they hope to save it and some of her vision using chemotherapy and other treatments.

If you have a child under 5, insist that your doctor check the “red eye reflex,” especially if you have seen any indication of a “cat’s eye” (a white "glow" or "glint" in the pupil of one or both eyes) type reflection in flash photos.

Retinoblastoma in children

Current events - Guess he "decided" to bankrupt my grandkids

September 27, 2000

June 13, 2006

Current events - AT&T can bite my shiney metal ass

Via SFGate.com:

AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'

As of tomorrow, AT&T is out of my home. No more internet. No more phone service. Nothing.

Fuck them with a big rubber dick.

Current events - NSA, can you hear me now? Redux.

Via Salon News

In a pivotal network operations center in metropolitan St. Louis, AT&T has maintained a secret, highly secured room since 2002 where government work is being conducted, according to two former AT&T workers once employed at the center.

That's in addition to the one that was discovered in San Francisco.

Sleep well my little sheep.

Politics - Will the real "decider" please raise his hand?

(Photo via AP)
Via Reuters

President George W. Bush has reassured Saudi Arabia's king that he will continue to cooperate with the kingdom on energy issues even after his pledge to wean America off Middle East oil, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday.

Bush's pledge in January to cut U.S. oil imports from the Middle East rankled some kingdom officials, because Saudi Arabia had announced plans to spend $50 billion expanding oil production to meet rising global demand.

'When that statement came out we got in touch with the White House,' Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal told reporters at a news conference hosted by the United States Energy Association.

Bush later sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah pledging to honor a 2005 agreement the two reached at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Al-Faisal said. His remarks provided new details on how the White House smoothed relations with the Saudis after Bush's speech.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude oil exporter and the leading voice within the OPEC cartel, and the United States is the world's biggest oil guzzler.

Personal - I believe the Germans have a name for it...

scha·den·freu·de
Pronunciation Key (shädn-froid)
n.
Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

Nature - The coolest picture you'll see today

Photo of a rare "Rainbow" spotted over Idaho

Humor - Pearls gets us

Politics - Kansas Pubs go Dem

Via KC Buzz Blog

The ol' switcheroo continues.

With the 2006 filing deadline just hours away, Kansas Democrats today claimed a total of eight Republicans who have switched to the Democratic Party to run for office this year.

That list, of course, is headed by Mark Parkinson, the former GOP chair who is running as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' running mate, and Paul Morrison, the Johnson County district attorney running for attorney general.

The other six:
Steve Lukert, seeking re-election in the 62nd House District.
Cindy Neighbor, former GOP lawmaker running to again represent the 18th House District Shawnee area.
Duane Mathes, current Edwards County Commissioner, in the 117th House District.
Judy Leyerzapf, current Abilene City Commissioner, in the 68th House District.
Kent Goyen in the 114th House District.
Walt Chappell in the 91st House District.

Maybe it's my inherent lack of faith in anything humans do, but I wonder how progressive (or even moderate) you can expect a former Kansas GOPer to be. I keep thinking it's a ploy to get the free publicity and if the Dems start sliding in the polls these fair-weather 'crats will change back.

Why not just run as an independent moderate and be done with it?

Politics - Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239

Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239

All four of the representatives from Kansas voted "No" on this.

Jerry Moran, Jim Ryun and Todd Tiahrt I expect to suck off the corporate teat, but I thought Dennis Moore would do what was right.

Bunch of cocks, all of them.

EDIT: The more I think about it the more pissed off I get. These clowns are not "representing" their constituents. They are representing their god damn bank accounts. How much money did these pricks take from AT&T/Sprint/Satan to get them to look the other way while these corporations analy probe their customers?

Jeebus, I need a drink.

Movies - Yeah boieee! Snootch to the bootch!