I Freaking Hate Microsoft
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: Gilmore Girls
People complain and people say rude things because they are the 800 pound Gorilla in the room. They are the biggest and most ubiquitous presence in your computer world. The very operating system you are using is some version of Microsoft or the other. The word processing program you might use is from Microsoft. Eighty percent of you still use the Microsoft browser. Me, I don't hate them because they are the biggest, although there is reason for resentment for that on general principles. I began to dislike them when they pretty much killed Netscape. Now, my little Pinnacle PCTV is completely dead on my computer. Impossible to use and impossible in any way to make work. My little bit of TV on my computer, not hurting Microsoft in any way whatsoever. But no, the evil empire has it's evil minions busy at work to take anything that doesn't belong to Microsoft and making it impossible to use on your computer which has their operating system on it. One of the latest `updates' from Microsoft, probably one of their `critical' updates did the evil deed. I can't uninstall, reinstall, wipe and reinstall. They are good. Evil and good at it. See, my little tv usb devise isn't sold to me by Microsoft and was sold to me before the DRM crap has been mandated to be put into any recording device. So god help me if I perhaps wanted to record something off of the tv to watch later, you know, like we are allowed to do. Well, I will continue to try to figure a way around this crap that they have done to my computer, evil bastards. Damn you to hell Bill Gates.

Pentagon TV-
It was bound to happen sooner or later and now it is finally here. The Pentagon Cable Channel.

If you are interested in the nuts and bolts aspects of being in the military and you want to hear from the military exactly what the military is doing then this channel is for you. A word of warning though. Please do expect that you'll see reports of the good things the military is doing and you'll hear from people who don't necessarily wish to badmouth the US Military. If you just want to see that then you would need to stay watching CNN or reading the New York Times. Just in the brief amount of time I've seen the channel I've seen military medical personel in South America treating crowds of people, cheerleaders visiting the soldiers in Iraq and memorials for the dead marines who died in the helicopter accident.

A welcomed addition if you value a balanced look at things and aren't afraid of having more information at hand to make all those normally uneducated opinions loudly known to your beer mates.

Personal Attack against Kiefer Sutherland - How Sad
Now Playing: The Quiet Man - Movie
Surfing around and found myself looking at the lgf blog Little Green Footballs Blog. My eyes caught the item about the public service announcement Kiefer Sutherland did in the middle of one of the episodes of 24. I thought that was an appropriate thing to say and I'm glad he said it. What happened was that various groups objected to the portrayal of the murderous Muslim family in the show and said that Americans could think that 'all' Muslims are as murderous or as evil. Well, knowing the history of the world it's understandable that the network is sensitive to that fear and responded to the complaints with a public service announcement stating the obvious. I know and you know that it is impossible to stereotype a whole group of people as one thing or another. It's ridiculous. It's intellectually lazy. But some people need to be reminded of that. Hence the public service announcement. Which brings me back to the item at the lgf blog. A right wing commentator by the name of Debbie Schlussel Debbie's Blog took objection to the announcement that all Muslims are not terrorists.

To push her point across Miss Debbie belittled Kiefer Sutherland as a actor and a human being. I mean really, how very sad to be that way. And of course, factually in error on many accounts. She says that Kiefer is a failed actor whose only success has come with this show 24. And she also goes on the belittle his personal life by referring to him being jilted at the altar by Julia Roberts. The personal attack is an ad hominem attack and perfectly worthy of any brown shirted beer hall Nazi and the argument is just as valid as any other beer stained personal attack is. It reflects upon the attacker.

I would also take issue with her argument that Kiefer is a failed actor. I guess I wouldn't expect someone as uneducated and ignorant as her personal attack would indicate her to be would have any knowledge of what she was talking about on any other level. But really, all it would take would be a quick trip to www.imdb.com and look up Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer's work to educate herself. Without even looking at that page I can tell you a good number of really good movies he has starred in. There are the Young Gun movies, very successful at the box office. The cult favorite and one you'll see at Best Buy 'The Lost Boys' a really cool vampire movie. Flatliners of course, with Julia Roberts another really good one. A Few Good Men, which also starred that Tom Cruise fellow. Dark City, a Science Fiction classic. The Three Musketeers, a great and funny movie. I mean really, we could all wish to be as failing an actor as Kiefer is. I really like him as an actor. I'm pretty sure he hasn't killed anyone and I'm fairly sure I might have heard about it if he had. He is the son of actor Donald Sutherland who has had a good run himself.

The point is, this lady, Debbie Schlussel has no idea what she is talking about. And to personally attack Kiefer Sutherland is really uncalled for. The point of her poorly written and conceived article is that Fox television and the powers involved in the show 24 knuckled under to pressure from some Muslim groups who are connected to terrorists by way of monetary support. That would be an interesting article to read, unfortunately the personal attacks on a otherwise fine actor make it so I don't feel there is any value in reading any further. If I want to witness phony intellectual rantings that descent into personal name calling I'll watch Crossfire or FOX News.

Pizza and Meditation


This is a picture of Robert Paschell, a artist and writer who resides in Yellow Springs. Yellow Springs is one of the remaining bastions of free thought and free expression left in this franchised homogenized world we live in. I was standing in the back of Ha Ha Pizza, waiting for my unique and delicious pizza to be made and was silent witness to a conversation Mr Paschell was having with the manager/owner of the little pizza shop. A short story had been written over dinner, the story gave a history of the owner, a long haired, gilligan's looking fellow of good nature and gentle soul. It was like listening to those times on NPR when they have an author reading one of his or her stories. Only better. It was really a treat to stand there and listen to a story I of course could not relate adequately or give justice to. Two pretty young ladies -the waitress and the cashier/pizza maker with enough earrings to make a Suicide Girl proud and the owner/manager sported wide grins as the story was read. Myself in the background, taking it all in. A real Northern Exposure type moment. I struck up a converation with Robert and complimented him on his storytelling ability. A friendly fellow, he talked with me for a while and gave me the picture you see blended in the picture I took of him with my trusty camera phone. He draws and designs and sells his pictures on tee shirts and sells them on the web. Way cool.

Year of the Cock - Happy New Year
Now Playing: Gilmore Girls -
Yesterday was Happy Chinese New Year day and the Year of the Rooster has thusly begun. Happy Chinese New Year to one and all. Of course a Rooster, as any person with a bit of farm knowledge knows, is a Cock and so happy year of the Cock to you. Of side and related interest is the new indie type movie having to do with the making of "Deep Throat" (70's blurry porn with Linda Lovelace and Harry Ream - made famous because it was the first porn movie to have popular buzz surrounding it and 'normal' people knew about it and saw it because it was cool and hip which of course is a fine excuse to watch porn) Deep throating is the slang term for putting a rooster down a females throat. If it involved putting a rooster down a male persons throat that would be a gay porn movie and much less cool. Especially for the people of the 70's. I know the 70's has The Village People as one of it's cultural icons but in the 70's many of us did not know they were five gay guys. Some of us thought that they were like the Bay City Rollers but only with Ameican costumes instead of kilts. And if you don't know who the Bay City Rollers were then you never watched the Merv Griffin Show in the 70's either.

I know nothing about the indie style movie detailing the making of "Deep Throat" but as with many crappy indie movies the way they make money is by being smarter than you and thereby attracting the 'smart' crowd of people who need the validation that they are smarter than you and so watch 'smart' indie movies. See, smart people don't cotton to those major corporation movies because they are created for the unwashed masses. This opinion is of course validated by the movies usually being uncommonly crappy and of such crapitude that the fabric of time and space itself is ruptured. Therefore, to avoid death and destruction from whatever demons emerge near showing of Gigli, Glitter, Troy, Alexander or any of the other other more recently spewed forth crapfests just don't go near those movies. Smart people are not part of the unwashed masses and so they desperately need the validation of smartness that only comes with superior pursuits. Indie movies, Opera and knowing that it's the year of the Cock are just part of that knowledge and part of the pursuits necessary to be superior. Oh, and Arrugula. You would need to know about Arrugula. :-)

Crips Founder- Four Murders in 1979 - Eligible to be Executed
Crip the Light Fantastic

The lawyers for Stanley "Tookie" Williams argued that the exclusion of black people from his jury was enough to get him a new jury but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to see it that way. His lawyers will appeal and so it continues. A murder over 25 years ago, a conviction over 25 years ago is still wasting resources and manpower. A life without possibility of parole would have accomplished the same exact thing - namely a life behind bars. What is interesting about this case, and it's typical in many ways, is that the convicted murderer is afforded a elevated status. Indeed, this man has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Prize in Literature (children books- extolling the nonviolent life) and is a cause celeb. Liberal folks just can't get enough of the idea of the transformed man, the noble savage that man is but who can be redeemed given enough love and understanding. Those folks will say indeed it is horrible that Tookie killed four people but he's an oppressed man in a white mans world and reacted to that oppression. And besides he has seen the errors of his ways and now knows that violence is not the way. Humm.

Personally I don't believe in the death penalty. But I don't believe that we should make icons of those who have committed murder or in this case murders. It should be about justice not celebrity.

Justice Alice Robie Resnick - DUI
It doesn't really matter anymore who has a DUI. Everyone seems to have one. It's almost as if it's part of life. And like with most things that are ubiquitous it's not the offense any longer that draws attention but the response to it. Justice Alice Robie Resnick, of the Ohio Supreme Court and the only remaining democrat on that body got herself pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. In Ohio. And we know that police cars these days have video cameras on them. And microphones. So the whole exchange was as they say 'caught on tape.' Ha. Well, wonders of wonders. She asks repeatedly to be let go, and informs the officer that she often rules in the favor of police in such cases. And she refuses the breathalizer. And so her license is suspended for a year. Tipsy Justice

Super Dud
Man this has been a lame lame game. During the first few plays the director couldn't find the ball or the play. And continuing to watch it I see the director or directors are showing us a Madden Playstation game instead of a televised actual football game. Low angle cameras, moving cameras and just a bunch of crap. The pregame music - Gretchen Wilson who is pretty darn good, I like her just fine. She came up started singing "Here for the Party" and you couldn't hear her. You'd have thought these lameasses would have done a sound check or something. It's not like they didn't know what was going to happen. How hard is it to check the level of a microphone? Geez. Couldn't hear Charley McDaniels. The "Multi Grammy Award Winning" (I know this cause that came out loud and clear) Black Eyed Peas. A media made crapfest owned and operated by Sony I think just lamed on and on, thankfully their soundcheck didn't come through either. Then it was Earth Wind and Fire, I think even ol Phillip Bailey is back in the fold. They sounded good, put those hip hopping no talents to shame. Heck the best thing so far has been the reading of the Declaration of Independence by all those football players and coaches. Very well done, very moving. I hear Paul McCarthy sounding just fine, no big problems, his actual voice is coming through fine. Ah maturity, better than those Janet Jackson/New Kid on the Block crap.

Rumsfeld slaps Russert around.
Just watching Meet the Press and the Tim Russert interview of Donald Rumsfeld. Russert played the clips of Rumsfeld answering the question about the armored Humvees and their lack of said armor at that time. Well, Russert played tiny clips which of course made Rumsfeld look bad. The quote about going to war with the Army you have and not the one you wished you had. Well Rumsfeld saw that one coming and you could see the papers coming out of his pocket. A copy of the transcript with his complete answer highlighted in yellow. Rummy elevated his voice and announced that those clips were unfair and unrepresentative of his answer. Russert said well it was representative and at that point Rummy interrupted the hemming and deflected the attempt to continue forward. Rummy went along and went said he was going to read the whole answer. Which he did. The answer sounded like an actual answer to the question and not the characterized flippancy as widely reported. A good answer. And Rummy said it was a complete answer, followed by more response from the four star at his shoulder and then pointing out to Russert again his framed question was a cheap shot. Nasty little cheap shot. I call that a TKO against the media guy. A thing of beauty.

It continued to be a bad day for Russert cause the follow up guest, Ted Kennedy, was also belligerant and not willing to take the usual slamming by the Media guy. That's when I love politics.

Closing in on the Dreaded Day
Super Bowl. Brings to mind the Bronco's first Super Bowl win against the Green Bay Packers. So happy and so terribly sad at the same time. Nothing that Crown Royal and Tequila can't help.

Germany the Pimp - Get to hooing Beeaaatch
Germany Pimps Her Women

This story is off the charts. In Germany Prostitution is legal and taxed. Therefore Pimps who need new women can go through the unemployed listings. And if you don't take a legitimate offer of employment then your unemployment benefits can be cut. Such is what can happen to you if you happen to be German Fraulein who is looking for work and pulling unemployment benefits. Sorry if you have moral or religious beliefs which would preclude or prohibit you from engaging in such activity. Perhaps the worldwide exposure of this story will shame the German government into changing this particular unintended consequence of the legalized prostitution decision. It is unintended right?

Kitten licking your screen

Some folks think this is amusing. I think it's a bit odd. Terribly terribly odd.

Joys of Stomach Flu -
Topic: Physical Well Being
The only good thing I can say about getting sick is that it makes you appreciate not being sick. The sort of stomach flu thingee I have is something that is putting other folks in hospitals with IV's in their arms and such. Not me. Just a never ending quesy feeling. My previous foul moods can be attributed to that horrible nauseated feeling you get from those various nasty things of life. Bluuuuggghh.

Further Visual description of the pain in my head.


And then some days are like this. This is a website some folks look for and find my site because I discuss Megan's Law. The California site is here and it provides the ability to look for sexual predators under zip code, street address and any manner of way. So if you live in California and are looking to know if that creepy guy who lives down the street could be something to worry about you can check him out here. Of course, if he hasn't been caught and is a child molester then he or she wouldn't show up in the database. Also the person could still be a child molester and has not 'checked in' and has fallen off the police radar map. So it's always important to be careful and wary for the welfare of your children. Always.

Visual Description of the Pain in My Head


Some days you just want to run screaming. This would be one of those days. Oh the humanity.