DON'T VOTE!

...unless you care about your world.

Paying for it

Got a new movie trailer for you. Yes, it is a movie about money. No, Tom Cruise is not in it.



Interested? Go visit the website for more information.

http://www.iousathemovie.com

Pink song

Got a video for ya...



I never thought much of Pink before. Now, I'm a fan.

Worst. President. Ever.

The Washington Post thinks... maybe. And they have a poll.

The Nation says, "well, its possible, but what do you think?"

Discourse.net just wants to talk about it.

Various blogs have some graphs and charts they want you to look at. Some don't bother with them.

And, Donald Trump just flat out says it.

You don't get to be that rich by pulling your punches.

So, Jimmy. Don't feel bad. You're not alone.

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See!

What's so scary about a geek with a whiteboard?

Nothing.

What's scary is that column B is still being chosen.

(Note: want more? This guy did a whole series of videos. Google "wonderingmind42" and see them all.)

Political Update

Summer hiatus is over. Time to get back to the ranting...

Do you remember when they told us that there was a connection between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein? THEY LIED!

Did Congress do anything about that? Did Congress say anything about the blatant mudslinging against Senators John Kerry or Max Cleland? Did they speak up when Colin Powell lied to the UN about Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq? How about when President Bush ordered unconstitutional phone tapping?

They don't seem to have time in their busy schedule to stop the war in Iraq, but they do have time to vote on rebuking a newspaper ad that criticizes General Petraeus.

Is it still a free country when private citizens can't speak their minds? Is the government so fragile that it can't take a bit of criticism?

George Bush is telling you to sit down and shut up, and Congress is agreeing with him.

All of you.

Everyone.

Yes, even you.

Just take a seat and let them run the country as they see fit, with no backtalk from the peanut gallery. You need to pay more attention to what Britney and Paris are doing, and let the old white men do as they please with your country.

Rights? Yes, you have rights. You have the right to remain silent. That's it.

What's that? Did I hear you say something?

The President and Congress just want you, all of you, to just SHUT THE FUCK UP!

What are you going to do about it?

Its a Disaster!

In this case, I am referring to the U.S. Government, specifically the Bush administration, not a disaster of natural origin.

But, that does not mean that FEMA is not involved. The agency responsible for managing emergency situations seems to be, itself, one of our biggest disasters. According to CREW, this agency is unable to follow its own instructions.

The latest abuse of power from the White House involves the "Scooter" Libby case. This is the report from http://www.reuters.com/. Here's a report from http://www.smartmoney.com/. Sources not respectable enough for you? How about this one from Fox?

My favorite comments on the situation, oddly enough, come from MSNBC. Good opinion pieces, Keith and Michael, respectively.

Thanks!

The Gun Control Issue

Every time there is a shooting, expecially when it involves young people, the debate over gun control heats up. In the case of the Virginia Tech shooting, the issue is particularly divided.

On the one hand, the killer was able to roam and kill freely on a college campus that had a No Guns policy. The pro-gun factions are quick to point this out. If any of the students had been carrying a legal concealed firearm, the incident could have ended quickly, with fewer deaths.

On the other hand, there is evidence that the killer had a long history of mental illness. Those on the anti-gun side of the issue are asking how he was able to obtain firearms so easily. And why were the campus police so ineffective at stopping him?

The debate will not be resolved here, and I have larger issues that I would like to address.

The real issue is about FEAR, and what it takes to make us feel SAFE.

The pro-gun lobbyists are afraid the government will take away their guns. They need their guns in order to feel SAFE.

The anti-gun lobbyists are afraid of the wrong people carrying guns. They want to restrict the sale of guns to only sane, responsible people. The fewer the better. This is so they can feel SAFE.

With global warming such a serious issue, why are sales of massive SUVs still on the rise? Do soccer moms like to go off-roading in the mud before picking up junior after school? No. They think that the extra ton of steel around them will keep their families SAFE.

Everyone is afraid. FEAR has been the epidemic of the twenty-first century.

The media pushes FEAR because it sells. FEAR is sensational and draws attention.

At this rate, within another twenty years we will all be living in underground bunkers, living virtual lives through the internet. Afraid to leave our homes.

I have said this before, and I will keep saying it. STOP SELLING YOUR FREEDOM FOR A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY! The only real safety in this world is your Freedom - the freedom to take action to protect yourself whenever necessary. The more resticted you are, the more vulnerable you become.

Guns are not the issue. The issue is FEAR.

Get a grip, people.

Congratulations!

Survived another year? Good for us!

That's for the glass-half-full crowd. For me, I look at it as another year closer to the eventual end of the world, not to mention one year closer to death for me.

We still have things to worry about:

-- A rampaging budget deficit that shows no sign of slowing the United States' descent into national bankruptsy.

-- We still have a President who lacks any resemblance of common sense or decency. They tried to impeach Clinton for less (Getting a bj in the White House, and lying about it, has no comparison to starting a war on false pretenses - and then lying about it).

-- The media still seems to be more focused on Hollywood gossip than hardline reporting of events that effect the nation. Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins for this generation?

-- The poor are still getting poorer and the rich are still getting richer. Granted, this has been the way of the world since the days of Babylon and Sumer, but the rate seems to be accellerating at an unprecidented pace.

-- We have 6 more years before the start of the next Mega-Ice Age, unless it is counter-acted by Global Warming (though there is some evidence that Global Warming might actually trigger an Ice Age - the debate continues...).

This is just my opinion, of course. You don't have to worry about any of this stuff.

Have some more bread, and enjoy the circus.

Too long without posting

Life has been relatively good to me lately, so I have not felt the need to vent, which is, after all, the point of this blog. I shall try to find more to be gloomy about and post more regularly in the future.

In the meantime, here is an essay written by my daughter for a school project:

Does the Media Have a Liberal Bias?

Does the mainstream media have a liberal bias? Like Al Franken said “On a couple things, maybe.” Occasionally a news station will take a different side on an issue or try to be fair or truthful on an issue. Which might make some conservatives distrustful because they are not showing the side they wish to see. And it’s usually the conservatives that are doing the accusing. Most of time you could rarely consider news media liberal.
A lot of issues come into hand with what the media covers and why. Advertising, the news media company holders, and what’s marketable are some of the main things they have to keep in mind. Advertisers and the men who own the media are conservative. And those are two sets of people you don’t want unhappy with you. Truthful or not, you still need to be able to pay your bills.
And then there are the American people. If they are unhappy everyone else is going to be unhappy. And as last election showed, the majority of people tend to be conservative. So if CNN had someone come on to talk about the revolutionary technology seen in sex toys today, they would have a lot of upset people calling in. And not because they’re favorite toy wasn’t mentioned.
So yes, I would have to say that the media is conservative rather than liberal because it’s safer. Liberals encourage change, and change is scary and unsafe. The conservatives have a system set up for success. Their uncontroversial way is profitable and keeps most of America happy. So like the saying goes “don’t rock the boat”.