Negatory Ghostrider, The Pattern Is Full

Deeply-Religious Pirate Crew

2008-10-01T15:07:00.003-04:00

Incongruences make me laugh.

Check this out. A group of Somali Pirates hijacked a ship loaded to the hilt with weapons while they were fasting for Ramadan and have now entered negotiations for the return of the ship for a ransom of $5 million, but the talks were recessed for the celebration of the Holy feast of Eid il'Fitur, the official end of the fasting season.

What?

Somali Pirates
Thievary during the Fast
Thievary of Weapons during the Fast
Pirate Negotiations
Ransom for a hijacked ship
Oh, and this is the best part, the pirates really want a large sum of money, but they have to wait until they are done loading the deck of the ship with fresh fruits, vegetables and livestock to be sacraficed for the Feast before they can collect it.

Amazing!

Welcome to the Real World America.

2008-09-29T16:48:00.003-04:00

Writer and Blogger for Skirt! magazine , Rhi B. posted a warning to great America about the consequences of not persuing a bailout. Great thoughts and I appreciate her industry insights thoroughly.

The reality is, however, that Democrat or Repubican, rich or even poor, everyone has reeped the ill-deserved rewards that you described so eloquently in her post. Even myself - a recent graduate in debt to my ears with no assets and a job that doesn't pay me enough to live without the support of my parents. I benefited through the my parents and the overspending I was entitled by the preditory lending of credit card companies (financial pimps who really started this thing even though no one is looking at that).

We have all ridden high on the bubble of unpaid debts, credit cards and loans. And now that the bills are in collections, everyone is looking at who should shoulder the burden. We all share responsibility for this debt.

BUT, the bailout does nothing to solve the problem, it merely delays the inevitable... like finding a debt consilidation service for the obnoxiously rich.

And whether we take our medicine now like good little kids by, as Rhi said, "tightening our belts" and not living lavish lifestyles that are grossly beyond our means, or we proceed with the bailout and pass on the debt to future generations, the fallout will surely come sometime.

By going forward with the bailout, the government will, in essence, be rewarding corporate greed - paying off the corporations who, according to Rhi, the politicians are in bed with for running their businesses into the ground. There will be resignations and rediculously large severence packages, and once again, the rich get richer. Count on it... Any deal that is overseen by the same people who caused the problem in the first place is sure to benefit the overseers even more.

This package stands as the first step in the socialization of the American economy. It will further shrink the middle class (without the tax exemptions that the wealthy in this country enjoy, they will be the ones to shoulder the burden once again)... so they got screwed in the consumer market, and now they look to be screwed in the investment market as well as banks continue to claim they cannot lend and interest rates plummet even further.

As it stands today, the investment market is actually functioning rather normally. Yes, it tanked today. But not at an irrepairable level. This is certainly not the Crash of 1929.

Personally, I say give the American middle-class the right to do what they do best: Stay resilient, be creative and entreprenuerial in their spending, work hard and preserve the market themselves through continual investment made with legitimate funds rather than lies and stated-incomes. This is the only way to preserve the American middle-class and our way of life.

Welcome to the real world America: We must suffer the consequences for the people to prevail.

(Read more)

Bailout: Why not buy my bad debt too?

2008-09-25T16:22:00.002-04:00

Last I heard, the American dollar is only worth 97 cents.

Now, Congress wants the Department of Treasury to spend $700 billion to buy a bunch of mortgages that never should have been lent in the first place as a bailout.

This is like a bad marriage on the horizon. A wealthy woman with a spending problem wants to marry a man with a gambling problem. Sounds like a formula for disaster to me.

The result of this deal: more inflation, lower interest rates, and more financial suffering for the middle class. The richer get richer, and the poorer get poorer. Oh, and by the way, they have built into the legislation that the $700 billion will be repaid to the Treasury. Who do you think is going to get that bill?

Inquiring minds want to know

2008-09-02T20:25:00.004-04:00

How do you keep from getting bitter in the face of an injustice that you aren't supposed to know anything about?

How do you start a publication without any moral, financial, or professional support?

How do you chase your dreams when the bills continue to pile up on your desk?

How do you let go of an ex- who texts you "good morning" and "good night" everyday?

How do you say you don't care when they end up in the hospital sick?

How do you walk away when you are the only person who cares that Lupus is not a form cancer?

How do you not say "I told you so," when you told her so?

How do you tell your best friend that she is being completely selfish without being completely selfish?

How do you balance your checkbook these days? Seriously.

How do you find happiness in the midst of the mass exodus of joys in life?

How do you strengthen your abs with a broken back?

How do you apply for grants to make a documentary about Iraqi refugees without losing your steady gig?

How do you tell your mother that you won't write press releases for her organization?

How do you look her into her teary eyes and tell her that you won't do it on principle?

How do you make baklava?

How do you hide your tears when the one you thought you were building your life with betrays you?

How do you make someone who has watched you stumble through life's trials and tribulations, failing at every turn only to rise up and try once more, see your success? How do you garner their respect?

How do you stop seeking it?

How do you say, "Bite me" in Arabic?

How do you tell your first love that you are still in love with them?

How do you get medical treatment when the insurance company won't send your medical card?

How do you explain to your attorney that you really have been living in pain and sucking it up while you waited for that card?

How do you pelt police officers with balloons filled with bleach and call yourself a "non-violent, anti-war protestor"?

And, for crying out loud, how do you solve a Rubix cube?

Hide My Mini Feed Google!

2008-05-23T15:58:00.003-04:00

Bothered by your Mini Feed being all open and exposed today on Facebook? Blame Google.

By ANICK JESDANUN
AP Internet Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Google Inc's online communities have little traction in the United States, but the search leader continues to seek a spot in the social-networking hierarchy.
First, it must contend with Facebook, the No. 2 online hangout behind MySpace.
Days after Google unveiled Friend Connect, which lets the sites of musicians, political campaigns and others incorporate profile data from several social networks, Facebook began to block the program.
Although Google was taking advantage of the same tools that Facebook made available free to other outside developers, Facebook said Google was violating Facebooks restrictions on data sharing. The two sides remain in a stalemate.
Google, whose Orkut social network has tens of millions of users in Brazil, tried to reach further into social networking with the November unveiling of a consortium called OpenSocial, which lets developers write applications for use on multiple social networks. News Corp.'s MySpace has joined, but Facebook hasn't.
This month, Google unveiled Friend Connect, which promises to pool profile data from Facebook, Google Talk, Orkut, LinkedIn, Plaxo and hi5, though not MySpace. The profile information gets incorporated into other sites [--] a political campaign, for instance, can build communities of supporters by tapping existing networks [--] with Google serving as the intermediary.
Facebook quickly objected, citing privacy concerns. Normally dealing with other companies one on one, Facebook can block a service it feels violates its rules. With Google as the intermediary, Facebook lost that leverage, so it decided to block Friend Connect entirely.
In a blog posting, Facebook developer Charlie Cheever said Google's Friend Connect "redistributes user information from Facebook to other developers without users' knowledge, which doesn't respect the privacy standards our users have come to expect."
Google responded, acknowledging it passes along data. But it said sharing is limited to links for profile photos of users and friends who have expressly consented to sharing with that particular site. The user's name and numeric ID on Facebook are replaced with Google's own identifiers, Google said in a company blog post.
Google also said it purges Facebook data from its systems every 30 minutes, more frequently than the 24 hours required by Facebook.
Facebook has run into privacy challenges before, most recently when it unveiled a marketing tool called "Beacon" that tracked purchases Facebook members made on other Web sites and sent alerts to their Facebook friends about the transactions.
But Rachel Happe, research manager at IDC, said the dispute is ultimately about control rather than privacy. She said Google's Friend Connect starts to eat into other peoples value proposition, which is why you saw Facebook object to it."

Facebook is reworking its security systems to protect its users from Google's web crawler, so be patient. The invasion of your privacy will soon cease, and your status updates, relationship status updates, personal pictures and wall postings will no longer be posted in all over the Web.

Bear eats trainer on film? Only in Hollywood

2008-04-23T18:40:00.003-04:00

Rocky the bear, a 700-pound grizzly, was called the best trained in the business. So much so that he responded to cues during a "wrestling match" with Will Farrel in "Semi Pro."
But something must of aggrevated him on Tuesday when he reportedly killed his handler during a video shoot at a training facility near Los Angeles.

Steve Miller, 39, was one of three handlers working with Rocky when the five-year-old bear bit him in the neck and killed him. The other two handlers sedated the bear with pepper spray and were unharmed.

Some are calling for euthanisation, while others are arguing that there is not enough evidence to show that the bear poses a significant threat. There has never been an incident with Rocky prior to Tuesday's attack, and investigators would not say what caused him to attack Miller.

But as every good Hollywood saga goes, cameras were in place when the attack occured for the taping of a training video. The Sheriff's Department would not comment on whether or not they were actually rolling, but according to Reuters, investigat ors will review the footage if they were.

Perhaps Predators in Action, the facility where Rocky was housed and where the attack occured, wants to protect the bear from vicious paparazzi and spare him the embarrassment of publicaly revealing his mental breakdown. I understand they are hoping to move him to a facility with Lindsey Lohan to make sure he doesn't turn to the bottle to mask his frustration with his life.

Lest we forget

2008-04-15T13:55:00.004-04:00

Summer is approaching. And with the rise in temperatures, there is always a surge in crime across the country, a surge in gas prices and the inevitable lack of concern. Our collective interest in news through the summer months tends to decline in America as we are progressively more distracted by beaches, sun tans, vacation and day care for the kids. Stories that were once topped the news hour are tossed to the back of the broadcast behind catchy pieces like shark attacks or kidnappings. And at a time when the media has been giving less attention to the war in Iraq, there is a fear that it will disappear.

But we cannot forget the war that our country is fighting.

According to a Pew Research study, Americans are starved for more news on Iraq. Quality news, that is, with context and validity. The media is meeting only a fraction of demand. Through June 2007, the study showed that Iraq was at the top of the list of interest, with 28 percent of Americans following the story closely. But the media only gave 9 percent of its coverage to it. We have failed.

Today, with gas prices soaring, a presidential campaign making history before our eyes and an economic recession settling in, it is easy to see how a war being fought 6 thousand miles away can take a back seat. But the fact that the story did not receive its due over the past year brings reason to the lack of understanding across the nation about the effect the war has on all three of these leading stories.

$2 billion per week is being spent in Iraq.
OPEC nations will not supply the US.
Our army is sitting on top of one of the largest oil wells in the world, but nothing is coming out of it - not legally anyway.
While we attempt to stabilize another country and rebuild the infrastructure we destroyed, a war is raging in the streets of our own country stroked by a failing economy and harsh realities ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giff poverty. We are losing that war.
All of the hope and change that presidential hopefuls are spewing links back directly to the Middle East. And its more than rhetorical. As a country we have come to view Iraq as a philosophical problem.

Don't forget, people are dying.

Just today, a bomb was set off in Baghdad killing 60 people. Sixty people.
Virginia Tech was on the top of our news broadcasts for a month after the "massacre" occured on April 16, 2007. Memorial services continued through the football season into October. Plenty of time was given to grieve. Not to discount the tragedy of it all, but only 32 lives were lost on that day. Twice that many were lost in Baghdad in one incident. There will be others. There will be no time to mourn.

So as we proceed through the mundane drudgery of making ends meet and throwing together a couple bucks to fill up our gas tanks and head to the next party, remember the gift we have in stability. Remember the sacrafice that our soldiers are making with more than just their lives, but their mental stability when the return home. And remember, although the media may not be reminding us everyday of the tragedy in the Middle East, it rages on. Be grateful. Be mindful. Be educated.

The face America's War, courtesy of the Associated Press and the brave men and women who serve us and continually inform us:

Education desparation on gay marriage

2008-03-18T18:07:00.005-04:00

Just to share a personal experience, my brother called me last Sunday to share about what he described as a "disgusting and devistating" church service. He attends Shepherd of the Hills in Porter Ranch, Calif. with his fiance, and apparently, the pastor invited a guest to speak on an ongoing lawsuit in Orange County. The guest was an attorney working a property rights case defending a client who wants to keep a cross on his property. The neighbors have obviously complained. According to my brother, the attorney spoke on this issue for no more than five minutes before launching into a political speech in support of Proposition 22.

California Prop. 22 was placed on the ballot in 2000 as an anti-gay marriage ammendment. It was not passed, but has lingered in Courts since that time. This attorney and people of his mind-set have seen to it that the Christian right continually expresses its condemnation of same-sex marriage through the touting of this already-defeated proposition.

"He went off about how homosexuality is a sin and how gay marriage is an abomination undermining the fundamentals of the institution of marriage," my brother said. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing."

Thouroughly bemused, my brother and his fiance made a poignant exit down the center isle of the church and proceeded to call as many people as they could reach denouncing what took place in the service.

Personally, I was more amazed that people like my brother and his fiance were so undereducated on the issue. How is it that this issue has been circulating the political arena for eight-plus years, and strong supporters of equality are still unaware of the threat that exists in gay marriage bans? How is it that so many are left scratching their heads when they are confronted with the reality of rights and privileges denied gays because of their sexual orientation?

In related news, today, the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee passed a proposed amendment to the state constitutiohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifn Tuesday that would ban both same-sex marriage and civil unions.

The measure was approved on a 10-4 vote. It still needs approval in the full Senate and in the House. It would then need to be approved again by both houses in the next session of the legislature before being put to voters.

Pennsylvania already has a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. Supporters of the amendment say they fear it could be overturned by a judge. (Read more!)

Educate and legislate. For more information on this issue, check out Human Right Campaign at

Why I can believe we may see an invasion on Iran

2008-03-12T14:00:00.003-04:00

Chuck O'Connell, a sociology professor of mine during my days at Pierce College and a frequent contributor to CounterPunch, once warned in a class that we needed to be aware of heightened "war rhetoric" as it pertains to specific nations. Heeding his advice, I have had a keen eye on the build-up against Iran.

It began with the pervasive accusations that Iran was the home of the terrorists who were behind the 9/11 attacks. Then there was President Bush's inclusion of Iran in the new "Axis of Evil" during his State of the Union address. Since that time, we have seen a ramp up in negative reporting about Iran in the American media and an increase in the reported animosity coming out of Iran from the Iranian people. President Mahmoud Amhedinejad, a powerless figurehead, has become the characture of the Iranian people and propagandized throughout the Western world as an evil dictator, when in reality he is a mouth-piece for a very small section of the Iranian populace. Nuclear power plants and nuclear technology funded and provided to Iran in the 1970's under the Shah has become suspect and a "threat" under the rhetoric of the Bush administration. In sum, the war rhetoric has been increasing over the past five years.

A lack of manpower has held us out of Iraq. But, with the reported decrease in violence following January's military surge, many of the troops pulled out of reserves are now in active duty and will be recalled back stateside in the early summer according to the administrations plan, still having six to twelve months left on their active status. Suddenly a surplus of manpower has been created. Even though upwards of 200 people are still dying each week as a result of the untamed violence in Iraq, we are beginning to exit. How does this make sense?

Well, manpower is needed for an invasion of Iran. Here is an article in the Washington Post by dan Froomkin outlining the same concerns. Are we looking at a third front to add to this war? Froomkin seems to think so, and I can't see why not.

Beating the Bitch with John McCain

2008-02-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

For comedic value.

Expert tactical youth appeal

2008-02-14T14:11:00.001-05:00

This is by far the most creative advertisement I have seen in years. The appeal to young voters is apparent, almost transparent in all honesty, but it is working. Barack Obama and his team have tapped the pulse of a younger generation and I am incredibally impressed with their creativity in mobilizing the forces of change.

Have a Happy VD

2008-02-14T13:53:00.002-05:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, allow me to be the first to wish everyone a happy, happy VD. Spread the love.

(Other meanings)

Ten Favorite Drinking Holes

2008-02-14T13:15:00.003-05:00

I had a disconcerting exchange with a dear friend from back east today, and in all honesty, I was so proud of the breakdown that I thought I'd go public. The following is an email polling a large group of twentysomethings:

Hello friends,
You're getting this email for one of two reasons. Either you are one of my favorite drinking buddies or I want you to be one of my favorite drinking buddies. What this means is that I trust your judgement. Philly Weekly is doing a cover story on the top 50 bars in the city and I've got to compile the list.

So, tell me, where do you like to get f!@#ed up in Philly?

xoxo,
E.

I responded with charm, charisma and very little humility:

You know I have a bias towards the bars between Broad and 11th, Walnut and South, but I will exercise a touch of diversity in my selections. Still, there are a few haunts in that beloved section of the city that deserve some love for their amazing drink specials.

1. 12th Air Command Thursdays. $5 pitchers and 9-midnight, $1 shelf, $.50 well drinks or $1 pints, $.50 12 oz. beers. They have pool tables too. Not bad for a quest to numb the senses without emptying the wallet - so long as you can tolerate the bad, gay thumpa-thumpa music.

2. Raven Lounge. My number one hide away. They even have games on the tables like "Jenga", "Connect 4", and "You Think You're Smarter Than A 5th Grader". Good times. Great people. Tell 'em Cheryl sent you and Jonathan will take care of you.

3 - 7. Eulogy, Nodding Head, Ten Stone, Good Dog and Jose Pistolas for the beer selection. Bear in mind that I am a self-proclaimed beer snob, so my stamp of approval comes wih great scrutiny.

8. Black Sheep for the food.
9. Knock for the ambiance.
10. Tavern on Camac for the people.

And honorable mention must be given to $2 Miller High Life Thursdays at Irish Pub 22nd St. considering the amount of time the Metro staff spends in that joint. But I must say that their restrooms are deterrent. They are literaly a pain in the neck. At 5-foot 3-inches, there is no excuse for my head hitting the ceiling in your converted, basement janitor's-closet of a bathroom.

Compiling this list has made me homesick. Does that qualify as an alcoholic tendency?

Keeping the light on: Jolie visits Baghdad to address refugee crisis

2008-02-07T16:36:00.001-05:00

So the risk of Angelina's visit to the well-guarded Green Zone of Baghdad may have been a little over-hyped, but put it into perspective: Angelina is on the ground, where many a journalist, myself included, are dying to be. UNHCR cannot reach Baghdad for security reason, so their notorious celeb ambassador is doing some leg work.

While in Baghdad, Jolie gave an exclusinve to CNN in which she discussed her mission with CNN's Arwa damon. Although the interview was lacking in substance a bit, Jolie managed to hit all of the talking points: The potential instability created by the refugee crisis, the need of the global community to respond on a human-to-human basis, the need for internal security to provide an envirnoment in which reconstruction can begin without continues conflict, the devestation facing refugees, 4.2 million globally displaced and the undue burden being placed on neighboring contires such as Jordan and Syria, and the immigration debate in the United States (the US State Department has agreed to admitt 1,200 Iraqis refugee status in the United States this year. Last year, a similar promise only saw the admission of a handful of Iraqis).

It is essential that attention continues to be paid to this issue for, as Jolie said, the return of the Iraqi people is what will instill stability in the entire Middle East and the world at-large.

Props to the sexy star for getting her hands dirty and getting in the faces of the many officials who are trying desperately to depersonalize the war in Iraq.

One problem with the timing of her her mission was the lack of insight into internal politics. Just this week, there have been cries heard 'round the world that the Iraqi ministries are ill-fit to serve their purposes. Positions previously held by Baathists have been filled with incompetitent leaders who are unable to handle the level of beauracracy associated with their positions. This should make it interesting to see how well her message is recieved.

Name one accomplishment by Obama

2008-02-07T15:48:00.001-05:00

This is from a segment on FNC in which Frank Lutz, a renowned pollster, conducted focus groups with undecided Republicans and Democrats. In the Democratic focus group, the majority of the discussion surorunded the positive and negative attributes of each candidate, but did not include any discussion of credibility, experience or substance. So, Sean Hannity posed this question to the group, and the response was funny, but not shocking.

It's wonderful to make promises of change, but tell me how you intend to accomplish it. Otherwise, you're blowing smoke in places where the sun don't shine.

Back to Back Supers - That's, well, Super

2008-02-06T12:34:00.001-05:00

First it was the Super Bowl. A game which somehow managed to rise from the ashes at the end of the third quarter and redeem itself going from one of the poorest played Super Bowls in history, to the most exciting in recent memory. Allow me to say that I was the opposite of impressed by the lack of passion or desire to win on both sides of the ball, until suddenly, with 15 minutes left on the clock, both teams showed up and decided they were ready to play football. And the Giants final drive... there are no words for the miracle that emerged there: Eli Manning suddenly became a walking advertisment for "I Can't Believe It's Not [Covered In] Butter" and as I said at the moment that Plaxico Burress caught that pass with his head, he now has footage to post on a 42" plasma playing in loop in the entry way of his home.

With such a surprise finish in the first Super of the Week, I assumed that Super Tuesday would be anti-climactic at best. Refreshingly, it was not. I was not only ecstatic to see that the media covered it with thorough analysis and discussion rather than the typical horse-race style coverage that has become synonamous with Election Night, but the results were intriguing.

Hillary proved her abality to lock in middle-aged, white and Latino women, both groups which vote heavily. This victory in this market succeeded in making her a significant threat - more so than anyone had really thought previously.

Obama picked up the Southern, white male vote, particularly in Georgia. Wow. I won't elaborate for fear of being labled a racist (thank you Enterprise).

McCain was able to secure significant victories in extremely conservative states. Most important to mention was a solid victory in Oklahoma. Reports were that OK is the most conservative state not holding a large Mormon population - Bush won every single county in this state in 2004. Also interesting though was his narrow victory in Arizona. It should be interesting to see if this is more a result of an alienated conservative base, as many Republicans are saying, or if it was his flip-flop in the last week on immigration: Suddenly there are no more promises of amnesty coming from his camp... hmmm.

Romney was surprising for his lack of influence. Many thought that he had protential to carry more weight in conservative states considering his highly conservative platform. The lack of support given to him at the polls maybe a tell-tale sign of a shift in the Republican powerbase. But equally important, and perhaps even more surprising was the turn-out in favor of Huckabee. He was not expected to win anything, let alone five states. All five were conservative Southern states, which was more damaging to Romney than to McCain, but it does leave us asking, where do those votes really go in the event of a two-man race?

Most surprising to me, above all of the other rhetoric, was the voter turn-out ratios. Democrats came out with more than twice the strength of Republicans in every state except Montana which only saw roughly 1,500 voters yesterday. This is a sign that, not only are the Democratic candidates more charasmatic, they are generating more interest and excitement. They were able to lock in the so-called "youth vote", which was stunning. Young people represent a demographic that has a lot of opinions which rarely translate into votes since they have a tendency to stay home, not show up at the polls. Yesterday, they showed up. This leaves for some interesting questions: Do Republicans have the strength to compete? And, can they win over any young supporters?

You want to know about me?

2008-01-09T20:27:00.000-05:00

The following is an adaptation from a Web site which defines people by their astrological sign. Though I put very little stock in astrology on the norm, I found this to be a surprisingly apt description of me:

Leo is a semitic word, derived from the Hebrew labi. Leo is known as the "royal sign," symbolic of exuberance and leadership, and individuals who fall within its jurisdiction place courage and honesty above all else.

I have been described as having a radiant warmth and a personality that touches the hearts of others. This has been known to open many doors in my life. I welcome assignments of both authority and responsibility, but others often fail to fulfill the my expectations and thus, my life is often rife with disappointment. Though I maintain a cool, calm exterior on the norm, I am prone to a fiery temperament, so those who have suffered the wrath of my anger and disappointment are generally well aware.

People say I am a likable individual, being frank, open, honest and endearing, but above all, I believe it is my determination and dedication to idealism that makes me an entertaining acquaintance.

With all of that said, I do have a tendency to drown in egocentricity on occasion. And though I try my hardest to convince myself otherwise, I lack both the desire and the capacity for spiritual development. Still, I have a deep interest in the spirituality in the physical sense and am intrigued by the appeal it has for others.

I'm a natural extrovert which makes me impulsive, buoyant, communicative and sociable. I crave excitement... all of the time. This is a positive and a negative; while it keeps life interesting, it does get me in trouble - often. I'm a night owl as well, so that is a troublesome combination.

I am constantly challenged by two guiding principles: to create and to find joy in living.

Essentially, I deal in fun, games, gambling in ever sense of the word, writing, playing, acting and the use or misuse of creative energy. I constantly battle an innate desire to play ... all the time. Where there is fun to be had, I am there, whether the work is done or not. If I can't leave the work behind, I make it fun or I get extremely frustrated. Coupling that with my enthusiasm, creativity, motivation, frequent love affairs (both legal and illicit) and I guess you can say that I am pretty childlike. I live with a sense of excitement and a craving for pleasure.

Considering my desire for pleasure and my creative sense, you would think that I would find pleasure in my writing. But to be honest, I see very little of myself in what I personally create, whether it's a smile from a friend or an article. In fact, I am never really satisfied with what I create. But this constant criticism of my creations drives me continuously to better myself and to pursue perfection.

Positive Traits: generous, honest, warm-hearted, magnanimous, broad-minded, expansive, loving, proud, enthusiastic and creative with a flair for showmanship and drama

Negative Traits: pompous, patronising, bossy, interferring, dogmatic, intolerant, bullying, conceited, snobbish and power-thirsty

Likes: speculative ventures, lavish living, rich food, children, pageantry and grandeur

Dislikes: doing anything safely, day-to-day living, small-minded people, penny-pinching and mean spiritedness

This is the stuff armed conflict is made of

2008-01-08T19:22:00.001-05:00

In the American Civil War, it was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
In World War I, it was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
In Vietnam it was the bombing of the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy.

Where there is conflict, there is alway a build up of aggressive rhetoric and then a seemingly miniscule event that triggers war. This week, when five Iranian boats rushed toward three US Navy ships in the Homuz Canal, the markets shook because this is the way wars begin.

I have to say I am proud of the United States today that they stood down, didn't fire on the boats and have talked down this conflict over the course of the past 47 hours. But seeing oil prices jump up to $97 a barrel in panic speaks volumes to me. The money holders in this country are prepared for an armed conflict with Iran. The people need to be prepared as well. And if we go to war with Iran, we are going to war with the entire Middle East. This could almost be considered the modern day Cuban Missle crisis.

Thank God the American people are too preoccupied with trying to predict who the next president will be to notice. And perhaps, for once, we should be grateful for the troop surge in Iraq, because our military is equally preoccupied.

A micro-insurgency grows in Iraq prisons

2008-01-08T16:43:00.000-05:00

More than 30,000 Iraqi's have been detained over the last year by American military personnel, and many are still awaiting release. The Christian Science Monitor recently released an article including a statement from General Doug Stone which expressed fears that the majority of detainees, who are primarily motivated by money not by a desire to incite violence, may be reeducated by more radical detainees who are actually in bed with the insurgency.

At the moment, there are three primary detention facilities in Iraq: The famed Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca near Basra and Camp Cropper in Baghdad. All of these facilities have become overpopulated in recent months since US-led forces ramped up their efforts since the troop surge in January of 2007 and implemented the Baghdad Security Plan.

General Petraeus and the Pentagon hold that the release of even the most moderate detainees needs to be a slow process to secure a tight net and guard against the accidental release of violent insurgents. But many are calling for an immediate release of suspected nonviolent prisoners to ease the overburdened prison system in Iraq and warn that unjust detention will have a severe backlash effect if the US-led forces aren't careful.

"If you roll up 150 guys in a village and you don't have probable cause you've just created 150 terrorists," Marine Commandant General James Conway said after he visited Bucca in November.

Read more.

Iowa means nothing in the grand scheme

2008-01-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Sick of hearing about the Iowa caucus yet? Well, don't feel bad, the Iowans are too. In fact, polls have shown that the majority of crowd fillers we are seeing on CNN's endless coverage of the developing story are actually from other states. But that's okay, because the network has succeeded in at least one thing: disenfranchising the rest of the country.

With the overwhelming media coverage of Iowa this week, many people in the nation have begun to feel as if their vote is unnecessary. I mean, if Iowa is going to decide it all, why vote in your home states primary. Right? Here's the irony though: The majority of the country doesn't even understand what a caucus is, let alone why it is so important to our nation, and let's face it, they don't have to.

Caucuses are an antiquated process that have become a bad joke to our society. They are a meeting of party members from a given state (Iowa in this case) at the precinct level at which citizens express their candidate interests - in other words, it's like your typical primary but with a drawn out discussion and a verbal tally. Sounds rather dull and uninteresting to me. And regardless of the image portrayed via HD satellite CNN coverage, the reality is that Iowans aren't really interested either. Columnist Dana Milbank wrote the most insightful piece of political coverage I have read this season and ran it in Tuesday's Washington Post called "Iowa's show goes on - Without Iowans." He nails it. In 2004, only six percent of eligible voters actually turned out in Iowa. How sad is that?

BBC did a piece today too - got to love the outside perspective - on the significant primaries in the states. It named 12 of 50 states as being important in the nomination process. (Pennsylvania was not one of them.) In reality, the figures in the states mentioned will reflect a majority of the nation, but the problem with relying on these numbers only and disregarding the other 38 states is the geographical differences. Come Convention, believe me, your vote will matter because the delegates will be arguing over which candidate is THE MOST ELECTABLE, not the most popular. They will be using the numbers from the primaries to compile the most electable ticket as well.

So even though Obama might win the blue states, he won't get the nomination. Iowa is a good pace-setter, but it is not a tell-all.

Vote people. Vote.

The American Soldier: Oli North's Person of the Year

2008-01-03T19:17:00.000-05:00

Props to Oliver North for seeing through the "progress" made by Time magazines Person of the Year Vladmir Putin. North basically congratulated the past-Russian president of the oil and natural gas rich country on bringing financial success to the nation, especially considering how difficult it must be in the present market. Oil is so cheap right now, it's amazing anyone can be turning a profit. Really.

[Oli's] “Persons of the Year” are men and women who voluntarily took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies.” Though less than three percent of their countrymen know a single one of their names, they continue to make extraordinary sacrifices while wittingly and willingly going into harms’ way on our behalf. They are, on average, just 20 years old — yet they are brighter and better educated than their peers in the same age bracket. All of them have been entrusted with the awesome responsibility for the lives and safety of others, and all of them are held accountable for what they do or fail to do in carrying out those responsibilities.

And bear in mind that less than half of the men and women in ou armed services agree with this war on ideological grounds. They are in the sandbox fighting because it is their job and to ensure that the image of American military strength is preserved. In this way, they are also indirectly protecting the rights of people like me to spout off at the mouth. Way to go Oli. Tell it.

Dickey Chapelle: An Unsung Hero

2007-12-26T21:46:00.000-05:00

Dickey Chapelle is by no means a household name, but it is certainly should be. A heroic character from birth, "Dickey", or Georgette Meyer as she was named at birth, earned a full scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study aeronautical design at age 16. She graduated at the top of her class.

Upon graduation, she returned to her hometown of Shorewood, Wisc. and decided that she had more interest in piloting planes than in designing them, so she learned to fly. In hanging around with fly boys, she soon engaged in an affair with one, which undoubtedly enraged her mother. She was sent as punishment to Florida to live with her aunt.

Dickey floated around for a while before landing a job with TWA in New York. There she would meet her future husband, Tony Chapelle, a publicity photographer for the company. It was through Tony that Dickey gained a passion for photography and soon began working as a TWA photog herself. After 15 years of marriage, she divorced Tony and officially changed her name to Dickey.

Lacking experience and credentials, Dickey managed to convince someone at National Geographic to hire her during World War II, and she became a war correspondent posted with the Marines. Over the years, she went on to cover the Korean War and Vietnam. She even took up parachuting at the age of 40 and began making jumps into hostile territory over Vietnam as the first female to jump with the troops. In 1965, Dickey was killed when she stepped on a land mine in Vietnam and became the first female reporter to die in combat.

Read more about Dickey and check out images here.

The Sandbox

2007-12-25T22:09:00.001-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I met someone special a few weeks ago, an MP who returned to Iraq on Christmas Eve. I decided that I would attempt to put together a collection of military-related comic strips to send over to the war-zone, and hopefully elicit a smile or two. In the data mine, I came across a gem.

Doonesbury, the classic Gary Trudeau creation, has served as a conscience to both the government and the people since the '50s, ever-reminding us that the military serves a purpose that violent beyond imagination, painful and heartbreaking - but he serves the reminder with a dash of humor. This one in particular caught my attention:

In October, Tradeau launched The Sandbox, a milblog on GWOT-lit.

As Americans who try our best to not take what we have for granted, I am encouraging everyone to check this out. It will break your heart, and maybe give you some perspective.

Playing into my '08 predictions: Edwards a threat

2007-12-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

Hillary's camp came out today: They admitted their fear of John Edwards.

Washington Post reports that Edward's and Clinton having been mincing words in Iowa as the caucus nears, but Clinton is not making the best case for herself. In a discussion about Edwards signature issue of poverty, Clinton began citing the success of her husband's administration in the are of economics to bolster her rep.

"People talk about poverty in this campaign," Clinton said during a crowded event [in Independence, Iowa], noting her husband's ... was an era of great progress on the issue. "Well, we lifted more people out of poverty during the 1990s than at any time in our history. We had policies that actually helped to create 22.7 million new jobs..."

Let's pick this apart for a second.

Edwards claims that no one is talking poverty, so instead of citing her own record, Hillary jumps on the I-Used-To-Run-The-White-House train. Then, she claims that more people were "lifted out of poverty" than "any other time in our history." Huh?

Can you say Reconstruction Era? Can you say New Deal?

Emerging from the Great Depression the US did a 180 degree economic turn-around, and I'm sorry Hil, but you can't match the level of disparity that was reached in those days. Roosevelt raised GDP 128 percent in 1944 when the US joined World War II. In the '30s, unemployment fell 20 percent due to New Deal policies. Large families who were in poverty in 1930 rose to the top of the middle-class bracket because they had four or five workers in the labor force, all of whom were working overtime by the beginning of World War II. So, Hil, take a look at your history... you may have outnumbered the New Deal, but you - oh, I mean, your husband certainly didn't out percentage the era.

And what's with taking credit for Bill's record anyway? This is exactly what is going to kill Hillary come DNC time. She has no record of her own to call upon. Yes, she has international notoriety. Yes, she can pull on her husband for pointers. Yes, she has had White House experience. But she was the First Lady, not a politician or a bureaucrat.

In the end, when all polls have been taken and all the primaries are down, when the chips are laid down and nomination time rolls around, the Democrats will not nominate Hillary for one simple reason: she's not electable. No more than Barack Obama or me.

The DNC will see the nomination of John Edwards for Democratic Presidential Candidate. He is the only candidate with enough national name recognition, charm, whiteness, Protestant-ness, maleness and money to get the job done in November.

Following his nomination (and this is just a hunch) Hillary's feelings will be really hurt and

Barack's war chest will seem a waste, so they will run independent - separately of course - massacring the Democratic vote by splintering it into three, and another Republican will become president. God willing it will not be another neo-con, but maybe someone with a little more heart and a little less passion for oil money.

But don't practice santeria; I ain't got no crystal ball; and if I had a million dollars, well, I wouldn't bet on this outcome. It's just a hunch.

Nominee for King of England: JoePa

2007-12-20T19:22:00.000-05:00

Happy 81st to the King of Happy Valley, Joe Paterno, and to the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, both monarchs reached a landmark - Queen Elizabeth is officially the oldest ruler in the history of England, and JoePa became the first Pennsylvania native to ever be linked directly with her for any significant historical reason. So, to commemorate this day, we are launching a new Campaign in 2008: JoePa for King of England.

It may not be an elected position, but Joe would certainly make it an interesting one.

(oh, and as a side note, while we are on birthday's, Samuel L. Jackson turned 52 today, but I don't think he's the Queen's type is you know what I mean.)

2007 Congressional session a bust

2007-12-20T18:19:00.000-05:00

Washington Post ran the following as "Hill Highlights" for 2007:

Raising the minimum wage to $5.85 an hour.

Increasing fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles.

Overhauling ethics and lobbying rules.

Instituting most homeland security recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Tightening mental-health background checks for gun buyers.

I can't believe they call this progress.

Unless you are 16 years old, work 65 hours per week or you live in shack in Centreville, Ky. $5.85 is nowhere near a living wage.

The fuel efficiency laws will not be entirely in effect for another 15 years.

There are no ethics in American politics, just look at the scandal record of the past - think Alan Mollohan, former House ethics committee chairman, who stepped down under the heat of an investigation into realty investments. He was later subject to an investigation into earmarks appropriated to a nonprofit run by one of his former aides, and cited for using public money to pay $220,000 to a Washington law firm to clear the whole thing up. Just a small example of business as usual in Washington - Ethics - Gawfah!

Most Homeland Security recommendations of the 9/11 Commission... and we are giving these guys accolades? For what? They're speedy reaction to a nation crisis that occurred six years ago? Or, wait, no... It must be their ability to steal our civil liberties without anyone taking notice. Yea Free Press!!

Tightening mental health checks for gun buyers. Now that is an important one. Just ask Michele Cossey, 46, of Plymouth Township, Pa. She bought a weapons stash for her 16 year-old son who then proceeded to plan a Columbine-style attack on a local high school. Fortunately he was found out and convicted prior to launching his plan, but I bet he sure is proud that his mom was able to pass the mental health checks. And, can you say "Black market?"

Let's get honest. Congress sucks, and they were especially bad in 2007.

Calif. emissions law slapped down

2007-12-20T18:04:00.000-05:00

The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency denied the state of California's petition to enact stricter emissions regulations within its boarders today. The reason: The EPA wants to see a unilateral federal program rather than a "piecemeal" state-by-state regulation scale.

Sure, this will make things easier to regulate from a national level. Sure, it will make it easier for automakers to comply. But in reality, it is only stalling the process.

Washington Post reports: The decision set in motion a legal battle that EPA's lawyers expect to lose and demonstrated the Bush administration's determination to oppose any mandatory measures specifically targeted at curbing global warming pollution. A total of 18 states, representing 45 percent of the nation's auto market, have either adopted or pledged to implement California's proposed tailpipe emissions rules, which seek to cut vehicles' greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016.

In a telephone news conference last night, [EPA Administrator Stephen L.] Johnson said he thinks that the higher fuel-economy standards and increased renewable-fuel requirements in the energy bill President Bush signed into law yesterday will do more to address global warming than imposing tailpipe rules in individual states.

"The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution, not a confusing patchwork of state rules, to reduce America's climate footprint from vehicles," Johnson said. "President Bush and Congress have set the bar high, and, when fully implemented, our federal fuel-economy standard will achieve significant benefits by applying to all 50 states."

Congress passed an emissions regulation Tuesday aimed at reducing gasoline consumption (read about it... it's a good article), but California's rules would target total greenhouse gas emissions, including auto air conditioning units and the so-called "carbon-footprint" of cars.

California standards are seeking a miles-per-gallon average of 33.8 by 2016 in every vehicle operating within the state. The federal energy law is slightly more lax, requiring an average fuel economy of 35 mpg by 2020.

You can anticipate a battle like many California laws that have come before (cough, cough: legal marijuana) over states rights.

Refugees in limbo

2007-12-19T19:44:00.000-05:00

Syria doesn't want them. Iraq is not safe for them. The US will not provide for them. The global community is uneducated about their situation. So where do the millions of "middle class' and impoverished Iraqi refugees turn? Less than a month ago, the government announced a plan to run free buses from Damascus to Baghdad in hopes of luring citizens back home and establishing an image of stability, but the plan was halted after only two runs. Security issues were cited as cause.

As for those who have made the return, their outlook is bleak. They return with no money, no jobs, no homes and a lingering question: "What will I do now?"

New York Times ran a piece on Maha Hashim, the widow of an Iraqi police officer, which encapsulated the problem. Read it here.

It is still my hope to pursue more stories exactly like this one in Syria. For more information on my plan, email me.

Media in media spotlight

2007-12-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

Congress seeks end to secrecy

WASHINGTON (AP) Tuesday — Congress struck back at the Bush administration's trend toward secrecy since the 2001 terrorist attacks, passing legislation to toughen the Freedom of Information Act and increasing penalties on agencies that don't comply. ... It would be the first makeover of the FOIA in a decade, among other things bringing nonproprietary information held by government contractors under the law. The legislation also is aimed at reversing an order by former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the wake of the attacks, in which he instructed agencies to lean against releasing information when there was uncertainty about how doing so would affect national security.

Monopoly regulations eased
Rupert Murdoch led the charge to convince the Federal Communications Commission to ease restrictions on media owners which had previously prohibited industry-moguls from owning multiple media companies on multiple media platforms in one market.

In english: Corporations can now own print, television and radio broadcasting outlets in the same American cities.

Yahoo! reported Tuesday:
There was never any doubt that FCC chair Kevin Martin, a Bush-Cheney administration appointee and acolyte, would lead the two other Republican members of the commission to a 3-2 endorsement of a move to begin dismantling the historic "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership" ban which has long served as the only barrier to the buying by one powerful individual or corporation of newspapers, television and radio stations and other media outlets in a community.

What does this mean for the future of the media? Look for a lot more advertising driven news. Period.

Crying 'Dyke'
CBS 3's soon-to-be-former newsanchor Alycia Lane was arrested in NYC last weekend and apparently got hostile with the officer attempting to take her into custody. She allegedly assaulted the officer, punching her and calling her a "fucking dyke." Great choice of words Alycia.

The gay community in Philly has had a notably silent reaction. Though a few civil rights groups spoke out against the use of the word, most people in "the life" shrugged and said, "We use that word all the time." My favorite lesbian comicstrip Dykes To Watch Out For is a prime example.

Today, PhillyBur bs blog started calling for Lane to do a spread in Playboy. But considering a significant portion of Playboy subscribers are lesbians, somehow I find the idea, well, unlikely at best.

Chicago Trib purchase

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Sam Zell completed the $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co., ending the newspaper publisher's 24 years as a publicly traded company. ...

"The whole newspaper industry has realized that the world is changing around them,'' said James Goss, an analyst with Barrington Research in Chicago. `It's clear that the changes are more dramatic than anybody was really envisioning and the business model revamp is going to be much greater than people were thinking.''

Look for a heck of a lot more uniformity across the board, folks. We are consolidating the industry... rapidly.

And to think I would actually consider joining the military for 'structure'

2007-12-18T18:32:00.000-05:00

Which Pixar Character Are You?
	You are Nemo. Your are the rebel in the group. You do things differently, not because you think they should be done that way, but because your Mommy told you not to do such "bad" things. This is cool if you ask us, and we are pretty sure your friends agree.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

"Marry sexy arab women," ad says

2007-12-12T21:59:00.000-05:00

This was too good to not share.

Perusing the volumous pages of dailies, the only thing I found worth sharing was an ad I saw on the lower rail of a European travel site:

Marry Sexy Arab Women
Meet Beautiful arab girls. Chat,
dating, marriage. Join free now
www.Arabs4Dating.com

Umm. Gross and a little bit amusing until it settles in just what exactly is being implied here.

She was too cute to be in jail.

2007-12-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post reports:

Gillian Gibbons, 54, a British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad as part of a class project, was released Tuesday. She is seen here (right) embracing her son John after arriving at London's Heathrow airport. (Photo: Steve Parsons/ AP)

Click here to see more photos of the freed woman who reminds me of my kindergarten grade teacher.

Why Iran NEEDS nuclear energy, not weapons.

2007-12-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

Iran holds the second largest crude oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It has the second largest gas reserve after Russia. It is geographically positioned ideally for export and has a sufficient infrastructure of pipelines, so this leaves two questions:
1. Why does Iran only supply 5 percent of the world's oil?
and
2. Why does Iran need nuclear energy?

The answers are actually much clearer than the American people like to see or the American government likes to admit.

Dirty deals for a cleaner energy source
Believe it or not, it was the US that actually sponsored the early atomic proliferation program in Iran. After the CIA-supported coup of 1953, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was brought to power and the US deemed the Iranian regime sufficiently friendly to possess nuclear technology. From a Cold War mindset, this was practical because it gave the US a nuclear-powered ally on the doorstep of the USSR and conveniently sitting atop the world's second-largest oil supply in the heart of the Middle East. Through the '60s, the Shah constructed a plan to rollout a nuclear program and, with the aid of the US, 23 nuclear facilities. He was emboldened by a firm belief that some day in the near future, the world's oil supply would be depleted and the need for energy would persist. Nuclear energy, in the Shah's mind, was the answer.

IN 1976, President Gerald Ford (with Dick Cheney as White House Chief of Staff and Donald Rumsfeld as Sec. of Defense) made an offer to the Shah to buy a US-built plutonium reprocessing facility - a nuclear reactor. The goal on both sides was to preserve the natural well beneath Iran, guaranteeing a long-term oil supply for the future, but the deal was put off by the 1979 Revolution.

Following the revolution, Iran attempted to restart its nuclear program with the same intentions as before: a need to prepare for the future. But the international community reneged on agreements signed prior to the revolution neither delivering fuels that were promised to Iran or aiding in the construction of new facilities, nor returning the billions of dollars that had been paid by Iran for the aid. This led to the tension between Iran and the West that we are still dealing with today and the placement of sanctions over Iran by the US.

US Sanctions
Now imagine for a minute that you are Iran and the West is, say, a case of Coca-Cola. Now every time you tried to deal with this case of Coke through the '80s, the cans were either empty or blew up in your face. What would you do? Switch to Pepsi maybe?

Well, that's what Iran did. Since the capitalists screwed Iran over, they turned to the Communists and began making deals with Russia and China. The US didn't like this very much, and when Iran purchased a nuclear conversion plant - much like the one they were promised by Cheney and Company twenty years before- the US (like an Amy Winehouse song) said, "No, no, no." Iran has been under official sanctions by the US for nearly two decades, but following this event, the US tightened its grip approved secondary sanctions over any country that does business with Iran. That was 1996. Since then there has been no (recorded) foreign investment into Iran - especially not by American firms.

Refineries, subsidies and a need to import energy.
No one is doing official business with Iran, but there are plenty of black market sales. Petrol is highly subsidized by Iran, which means easy access at low prices - the A-B-C of that means high consumption and a huge smuggling problem into boarding countries. And because Iran not seen a lot of capital for industry development, there aren't many refineries in the country. So lacking the ability to convert crude into a usable energy source coupled with an enormous consumption level, although Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, it still has to import petrol.

Pipeline projects and international pressures.
Iran actually has an enormous pipeline network and because of its massive production, it would be a contender for more pipeline projects, but sanctions have prevented investment in this area as well. To add insult to injury, the US has consistently negotiated to have pipelines circumvent Iran. They are even pressuring India to move their big project through America's favorite Pakistan.

You decide
Sure Iran has lots of energy sources. Yes, a massive quantity of their primary natural resource is being wasted through corruption and smuggling. They need to regulate their borders and find ways to secure their oil. And there is little doubt that the Iranian government is hoarding an incredibly valuable international asset. But are they wrong for doing it? Really? With all of the talk about global warming and all of the concern globally about renewable energy sources, the Shah of Iran was actually ahead of in foreseeing the day that the wells run dry.

To date, there is no evidence that Iran has weaponized nuclear technology. Nor is there evidence that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons. So ask yourself this, considering the magnifying glass under which the country is operating, doesn't it make sense that the people of Iran would trade oil that they can't refine for weapons rather then spend years and billions of dollars trying to figure out how to manufacture them?

Iran war rhetoric marches on.

2007-12-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

Today, President Bush responded to an intelligence report released Monday that

Still, Bush has maintained that Iran is still a threat and that they are operating a covert program to develop a nuclear arsenal. He says that this report is a sign that the international community needs to ramp up its efforts unearth such a program and that the responsibility lies at the door of the Iranian leadership to prove that they are willing to cooperate and cease such production.

New York Times reports, Bush said the Iranians had a "strategic choice" to make - to fully acknowledge past nuclear activities and suspend their uranium enrichment work, or to "continue on a path of isolation that is not in the nest interests of the Iranian people." He added, "The choice is up to the Iranian regime."

[Iranian President] Ahmadinejad said the intelligence report's conclusions had come about as a result of Iran's resistance to international pressure.

"This report tried to extract America from its impasse but it also is a declaration of the Iranian people's victory against great powers," Ahmadinejad said in a rally today in the western provice of Illam, the ISNA student news reported. "With the help of God, our people have resisted, are resisting and will resist until the end," he said, referring to Western effort to make Iran stop enriching uranium to make nuclear fuel. "They are disappointed that they cannot make you compromise even an iota," he added.

(Read more)

This all sounds strangely familiar. Recall the ramp up to the Iraq invasion in 2002 when the Bush administration was insistent, even after UN inspectors maintained otherwise, that Iraq was housing weapons of mass destruction. The problem with this stance is that it puts the accused in an inexorable position: You cannot disprove a double negative. How do you prove that you are not doing something without incriminating yourself?

If the US wants war with Iran, it is going to have it.

Remembering Our Troops for the Holidays

2007-12-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season to be selfish and greedy for an 8 year-old, but for those of us who are worried about the price of gasoline, crude oil and the stability of our IRAs, it is the time of year to think about others, and who better than the men and women overseas who work every day to ensure our ability to continue watching 'Family Guy' without Osama bin Ladan banging on our door. There is no time in the year more difficult to be deployed in a war zone. So, here are some ways to let the troops fighting to preserve the image of infallible strength which guarantees our liberty know that they'll be home for Christmas, if only in our dreams.

Christine Fulton put together a great starter list of gift ideas for troops serving in Fort Sandbox. Check it out, click here. This list includes everything from food stuffs to headlights and knee pads.

From what I understand, Halliburton's standards for quality food have fallen over the course of the last five years, so food stuffs are always a great gift. MyGiftBasketIdeas.com

offers two sizes "Treats for Troopers." The small box is priced at $28.95, and the medium is $34.95. If you were thinking something with a little more substance than just CheezIts and M&Ms, I have had two separate requests for non-perishables such as EZ Mac or packages of beef jerky (people say Slim Jim's, but before you buy them think about it... do you like Slim Jim's? Go for the Jerky. Try Jack Link's. It's awesome.) A few suggestions for beverages: Swiss Miss or Nestle hot cocoa, juice boxes, coffee supplies such as instant coffee, sugar packets and non-dairy creamer, or Crystal Light's On-The-Go packets.

At E.D. Foods Inc., you can find a package of 10 instant soups free. Just pay the shipping.

Sticking with food products, get regionally specific, and send troops a taste of normality. For example, servicemen and women from the tri-state area will appreciate TastyKakes as a reminder of home. The company has a highly unpublicized holiday season sale for troops: Buy one case and get a second case of equal or lesser value free. They even handle the shipping for you. Just call 800.33.TASTY.

Under Armour gear is a hot item among those stationed overseas. At Brigade Quartermaster's, you will receive 10% off all Under Amour products - including gloves, shirts and briefs - by using promotion code UA10 AND through Dec. 7, you also receive $25 off an order of $150.

Pre-paid phone cards are a great gift. These are hard to come by online, most of the time when you purchase a "card" over the Internet, you are just buying airtime minutes with an access code. But check out BaseOps for information on international cards for troops.

Gift certificates are also good. Believe it or not, troops have a wealth of access to the Internet and can do their own shopping if they have funds. Sites like Amazon.com or Best Buy are great places to find entertainment for the idle mind such as DVD's, CD's, books or video games.

Cigarettes are always in short quantity because, let's face it, soldiers tend to be heavy smokers. Order European cigarettes and save huge. Smokin'4Free also has a variety pack with 10 brands in one carton for under $15.

Personal hygiene products are always in high demand as well. Think shampoo and conditioners, body washes, face masks (yes, apparently even GI's care about the size of their pores and acne problems), and moisturizing lotions. Help The Soldiers can put together a care package with everything from Q-tips to Advil (and that's not the expired Ibuprofen that they give to our troops).

Here's a gross, yet practical one for you. A publication in Nova Scotia ran a piece on the persistent skin problems troops face. The article recommended a product called SkinFix, a paste that treats everything from psoriasis and rosacea, ecsema and sunburns to athletes foot, fungal infections and minor burns.

For something a little lighter that might just bring a smile, try CSL News Cartoons. They take military comic strips and put them on everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs.

If you don't have anyone in particular overseas, but you still want to help, Operation Troop Appreciation takes donations, both monetary and "new or gently used" items to send to troops.

Some Soldier's Mom has some great suggestions for gift items and how to go about shipping them as well.

How to have a Green Christmas

2007-11-28T18:02:00.000-05:00

Green. Environmentally friendly. The style of the day. Why not apply it to the most consumer driven season of the year and try to consume with a little bit less waste. Time magazine published a list of suggestions. Newsweek published one, too. Shoot, Metro Philadelphia even made one, which of course can't be accessed via the Internet because they are technologically challenged. But when I received an email from my Cousin asking mundane Holiday questions and I found myself answering with tree-hugger flare, I decided I should come up with a list of my own. So with the assistance of Time's Maryanne Murry Buechner, here is my list of ways to make it a Green Christmas.

THE TREE
Studies have shown that live trees are actually better for the environment than fake ones. I suppose they figure that if you recycle the thing, you can at least make enough paper to wrap next years presents. But, if the idea of having a tree for two weeks and then dumping it on the curb still feels like a wast to you, go the extra mile. Here are some suggestions.
1. Buy a potted tree. You can replant it in the backyard, or if you get a small one, even keep it for indoor decoration until you decide to throw the garland back on it for next year. Get a Charlie Brown-style tree and it just might make your parents feel sorry enough for you to open up their wallets, and it won't take up any space. Murray Buechner suggests donating potted trees to your local parks department if they will take it.
2. Rent a tree. Yes, some places will actually let you borrow a tree for a fee. LivingChristmasTrees.org rents living trees to the tree-loving people of Portland, Ore., for $75 each. Friends of the Urban Forest of San Francisco rents nontraditional trees, such as Southern Magnolia and Strawberry, for $150, and upon the end of the holiday cheer, plants them on the city streets.
3. Buy a "Green Tree." If you want a regular cut tree, there are environmentally safer ones to choose from. Organic is en vogue, so now you can buy a tree grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Look for the Green Tag when shopping at lots, or check out Freshchristmastree.com, a grower that ships to 46 states and uses sustainable methods.
4. Recycle, recycle, recycle: most municipalities collect trees to mulch. So when you are done with your yule tides and ferns, search Earth911.org to find programs in your area.

LIGHTS
Everyone's going LED (light-emitting diode). LEDs use up to 90 percent less energy that traditional incandescent bulbs, and it has finally become economical to use them when decorating your tree and home. They are a bit more expensive, but the trade is that last much longer and energy efficiency means you save on your power bill. Plus, they stay cool to the touch so they won't singe the tree or your dumb kid's lips when they try to suck the red ones that look like lollipops (or, maybe that was just me). Costco has 100-bulb strands for about $8, or try HolidayLEDs.com for a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

GIFT GIVING
I would never encourage regifting, but before you buy that gift for your cousin's uncle's boyfriend's daughter, ask yourself: Do the close relatives your list really need more stuff? Murray Buerchner suggests giving more non-traditional, service-oriented gifts such as a home-cooked gourmet meal or free night of babysitting, or donate to a charity in their name. "Oxfamamericaunwrapped.com invites donors to "buy," for example, a camel ($175), cow ($75), sheep ($45), building tools ($25) or the planting of 50 trees ($30) as a way to support Oxfam's programs in developing countries (the recipient gets a card with a photo, not an actual cow)." For green gift ideas ranging from recycled champagne glasses to Radio Flyer Earth wagons go to GreenHome.com or Treehugger.com.

GIFT WRAP
Think about how much paper is wasted during the holiday's. Eight crazy nights of Hanukkah, followed by one explosion of greed on Christmas day produces enormous amounts of paper gift wrap, gift bags, tissue stuffing, ribbons and bows that end up in the landfill. Why not help eliminate some of this waste and use some creative new ways to wrap this year like using the funny pages of the newspaper that you were going to toss anyway, or using brown paper bags with a pretty bow?

According to Murray Buechner, Danny Seo, author of Simply Green Giving recommends using old VHS and cassette tape (both curl nicely on a sharp scissors' edge), old Christmas lights, tape measures, shoelaces—really anything from the junk drawer that's long enough to tie around a box—for a vintage look. Instead of plastic bubble wrap to cushion the contents, try unshelled peanuts, dry pasta or polyester fill from old pillows. Seo also suggests using bandannas and other reusable cloths, and for bottles of wine, sleeves of old flannel shirts. Plenty of creative companies exist to aid in the gift wrap department so you can go green with style. For a few examples, Paporganics.com offers hemp stemmed poinsettias to spice things up Importica.com offers paper made from naturally shed mulberry tree bark and Smithandhawken.com sells recycled-paper wrap for $9 per 10-ft. roll.

ORNAMENTS
Artist Jeff Clapp turns discarded aluminum oxygen canisters from Mt. Everest into decorative bells for $2,400 a pop. The leftover aluminum shavings make a nice tree ornament that someone might actually buy (the "Everest" balls are $48 for four at Eco-Artware.com). You can also use that pile of holiday greeting cards you get in the mail to decorate. Use hemp twine to hang them around the house, or even use them as tree decorations if you are desperate. For those of us with slightly deeper pockets and less propensity for crafts, check out Sprig.com's Greener Holiday section for some suggestions on where to find fanciful recycled glass bulbs, red and white eco-felt birds, birch-bark trees, and reclaimed tin angels that will turn your living room into an eco-friendly winter wonderland this holiday season.

WREATHS
Murray Buechner was full of suggestions in this area. "An original door hanging fashioned out of retired aluminum street signs can be ordered for $140 at Eco-Artware.com, where you'll also find step-by-step instructions for creating a "silver bell" wreath using old soda cans and fishing line," she said. "McFaddenFarm.com, meanwhile, sells handmade garlands and wreaths of fresh bay leaf (harvested from the hills of Northern California, where it grows wild) that provide more than enough herb to cook with for six months or more."

CANDLES
My mother always liked to burn candles during the holidays. She said it brought ambiance to an already flammable situation. But Murray Buechner suggested an update. "Toss the old ones—they could have lead wicks, which are toxic when burned and were banned in the U.S. only as recently as October 2003 (visit cpsc.gov for details). And choose soy, vegetable wax or beeswax—all renewable and biodegradable materials—over paraffin wax candles, which are petroleum based. Big Dipper Wax Works' 100% beeswax candles run $10 to $24 at 3Rliving.com," she said. Another place to find awesome candles is Eco-Mall, which carries incense, baskets, stationary and toys that will make decorating, carding and gift giving a greener proposition.

But maybe your like me and you don't really feel safe with fire at family functions. In that case, try the Sun Jar, a jelly jar that will store the sunlight for you to use at night. It's an LED light with a small solar panel that will pick up solar energy, store and provide light for up to 5-hours. It's available for $40 at Elsewares.com. Don't want to spent the $40? Learn how to make one at home at Instructables.com. They make great gifts too.

Iraq's new export: Opium

2007-11-27T19:58:00.000-05:00

Someone once told me that, in today's world, wars are fought over three things: Land, Religion or Drugs. With that in mind, I've waited five years for this article.

A side-effect of every war is the surge of two markets fed: natural resources and the black market. Natural resources are generally an after effect - think the oil crisis of the late 1970's and the Iran/Iraq War, and cotton/textile market growth after the Civil War. As far as the black market is concerned, drug prices are an obvious reflection on business.

During the Vietnam, the US saw a surge in heroine sales, thanks in no small part to the entrepreneurial spirit of Frank Lucas, now famed through the hit movieAmerican Gangster. Today, the drug of choice is opium.

It is no coincidence that the opium crop was up 90 percent in 2006. And a report released in May in The Independent reflects the rise of the underground markets in Iraq as well. The problem that many exporters are having is getting their product out of the country, as the condition in Iraq are exceeding dangerous.

Cocaine prices maybe souring, but the heroin will be flowing by the end of next year around the globe. Expect a rise in the rate of heroine overdoses over the next six to nine months.

Buddhist traditions hang in the balance

2007-11-27T19:39:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press reports that the Dalai Lama has agreed to hold an election among his people prior to his death to determine his successor. This is an enormous break with tradition and his religious beliefs, but the step has been taken for political reasons: to prevent China from appointing the next Dalai Lama.

Buddhists believe that when the Dalai Lama dies, he is reincarnated, and the leader is found, not chosen. For centuries, the search for the reincarnation of religious leaders, known as lamas — including the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual head — has been carried out by Tibetan monks following the leaders' deaths. For an election to be held prior to the death of the Dalai Lama is to deny their entire belief system.

China has been pressuring the monks of Tibet for years to come into line with the leadership of the Communist Republic, but the predominantly religious state has resisted. Recently, China has ramped up its efforts to secularize Tibet, and attempted to assert the atheist, communist government's iron-fisted control. The Dalai Lama has obviously resisted. By initiating elections, he has side-stepped China's ability to appoint a pro-Chinese leader in Tibet upon his death.

"If I die today, there will be some setback to the Tibetan struggle," he said "But the Tibetan spirit will not go away with my death."

Heroes do exist: Cockburn Speaks

2007-11-27T19:22:00.000-05:00

From Antiwar.com, this is one of my heroes speaking on his ideas about Iraq.

Patrick Cockburn, discusses “The Surge: A Special Report” which he wrote for the Independent, where he is Middle East correspondent: the split between the Sadr and Hakim factions; American propaganda that Iran is behind Sadr and the Mahdi Army and the “new” EFP bombs; the widespread humanitarian catastrophe; the occupation and sectarian war it has created; divisions in Kurdistan; the crisis in Kirkuk; predictions in the event of an eventual withdrawal; the redirection toward the Sunni insurgency; the unimportance of Allawi, Maliki or anyone else America installs in power; the danger to U.S. soldiers in Iraq if Cheney bombs Iran; predictions for the short and long term

Visit the site for the MP3. The audio is long, 43 minutes to be exact, but well worth it to get some perspective on what is going on inside of Iraq from a journalist who spent two years in Baghdad both leading up to, and post-invasion. After leaving the country in 2006, Cockburn authored a book,The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq that has inspired me over and over again to be educated and open-minded in preparation for becoming a foreign correspondent.

Riots in France: Night 2

2007-11-27T19:09:00.001-05:00

You can mute you computer if you don't speak French, the visuals are compelling enough.

For the second consecutive night, riots broke out in Villiers les Bel, 12 miles north of Paris. The riots are in response to the deaths of two African-born youths which occurred after their motorbike collided with a police car.

Though police attempted to revive the 15- and 16-year-old boys using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the primarily poor, immigrant population of Villiers le Bel has risen up with a violent response as seen in the video above. Seventy-seven police officers have been injured so far, many vehicles and several business have been torched, and the rioters continue to elude police in pursuit by use of the labyrinths within local project apartment houses.

These images are nothing compared to what I found earlier on YouTube, but most of the private party produced posts have been removed due to "violent content."

This is reminiscent of the LA riots in 1992, following the Rodney King verdict. The police felt they were unjustified, and the people destroyed their own neighborhoods.

Check beck for better footage.

Bush Admin: Iraq "ready to stand up on its own"

2007-11-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

Violence is increasing. Infrastructure is still in disrepair. The whole world feels that the current government is merely a puppet of the United States. But according to President Bush's senior adviser on Iraq, Lt. Douglas E. Lute, "Iraq is increasingly capable of standing on its own."

Lute's statement came in response to a vague, ambiguous, non-binding agreement negotiated between Bush and Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, which effectively guarantees relations between the US and Iraq post-Bush. The declaration calls for the U.N. mandated control of Iraq, a condition that has been in effect since sanctions were put into place in 1990, to be extended one year. It will then replaced at the end of 2008 with bilateral governing the of economic, political and security aspects of the US/Iraq relationship - in other words, the US-led occupation will continue without a UN mandate.

It's dealings like this that make it clear the Bush Administration is looking to save face and abandon ship prior to his departure from office. Though there are no moves to leave Iraq militarily, politically the US is not making clear commitments to reconstruction.

Violence is continuing to increase and there is less support for the reconstruction effort.

Mideast peace talks breed stupidity

2007-11-27T16:58:00.000-05:00

“We meet to lay the foundation for the establishment of a new nation: a democratic Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and security.” - President Bush

Appearing in the United States Naval Academy’s Memorial Hall, flanked by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, President Bush announced today that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will resume by the end of 2008.

New York Times reports that Bush was insistent of a commitment to a return to the negotiation table because he believes peace in this conflict is central to the "broader struggle against extremism in the MIddle East."

It never ceases to amaze how out of touch this man really is with reality. Forty-nine countries in the world still do not recognize the Nation of Israel. Palestinians will not settle for a country "side-by-side" with Israel if it does not include the return of their land, especially Jerusalem, a city that the Israelis will not concede. And the issue in the Israel/Palestine conflict is neither extremist, nor does it have to do with terrorism. It is a fundamental struggle over land rights.

What history books are in the Oval Office anyway?

Verizon's expanding options

2007-11-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

Long-time dedicated Verizon Wireless customer are in for a pleasant surprise with their contract renewals: any phone will now work on the network. According to New York Times Technology, Verizon announced today that that they will make their network compatible with all phones on the market. The move will put Verizon on the forefront of the industry and prepare them for the release of iPhone competitors. (Read more.)
Interesting questions remain however, and anyone who has been with Verizon long enough to lose a phone is already asking: What about sim cards? Verizon has notoriously maintained a policy of not carrying phones equipped with sim cards as a "theft deterrent." It will be interesting to see how the company incorporates sim card-ready phones into their network.

Also, domestic Verizon phones have historically not been internationally compatible. If you wanted to take your Verizon Network with you across the ocean, you had to purchase a new phone. Does this new announcement mean that Verizon is officially going global? We shall have to wait and see as the details on today's announcement are ironed out.

Apologies

2007-11-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

I know it seems like I had an obsession with rape and violence today.

I apologize.
Those were the stories that stuck out like a sore thumb as I perused the wires and the pages of the Metro.

I promise, tomorrow will be more upbeat.

Rape. Murder. Interpol. Facebook. Better than OJ

2007-11-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

If this had happened in the United States, it would be bigger than the OJ Trial. In the eyes of the global community, particularly in Europe, it's bigger. Here's the run down:

Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old British international college student studying in Italy was raped and murdered Nov. 1.

Suspects from multiple countries have been arrested in the case.
On Nov. 6, Amanda Knox, 20, the victim's American roommate who is a student of University of Washington was arrested along with her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24. Knox implicated Patrick Lumumba Diya, 38, a Colognese musician and bar owner in an interview following her arrest.

Seems that there is a lot of finger-pointing going around, and that the young undergrads were highly interested in sexual experimentation. There have even been suggestions that Kercher was killed because she refused to engage in an orgy, and that upon refusal, she was raped while Knox held her down with a grip so strong that it left her fingerprints in Kercher's arms.

Today, in an Interpol operation, German police arrested Rudy Herman Guede, 21, whose fingerprints had been found at the bloody scene. Police found Guede trying to board a train between the German cities of Mainz and Koblenz without a ticket. He was tracked down in Milan when he momentarily turned on his cell phone, and then traced through a communication he sent on Facebook.

Following Guede's arrest, Diya was released from jail.

For gorey details, check out the dedicated Wiki page , or this article in The Independent.

Saudi rape victim sentenced to lashing, 6 months.

2007-11-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

Reuters reports Saudi Arabia defended a court's decision to sentence a woman who was gang raped to 200 lashes and six months in prison.

The 19-year-old Shi'ite woman and a male companion were abducted and raped by seven men in 2006. According to Saudi law, the woman was originally sentenced to 90 lashes for being alone with an unrelated man, and 10 months to five years in jail for each of the rapists, but the sentence was increased last week because the woman provoked response from the media.

The court also disciplines the girl's attorney, Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, forcibly removing him from the case for discussing it with the media.

The US State Department made a rare rebuke of the ruling, and New York-based Human Rights Watch has made a direct appeal to King Abdullah to intervene on the girl's behalf.

( Read more. )

Hit in head by airplane: Now that's a bad day.

2007-11-13T22:04:00.000-05:00

An NBC affiliate in Georgia reports that a 44-year-old woman was hit in the head by an airplane. Talk about a bad day. A 77-year-old man was piloting the plane and taxiing for take off when she walked under the wing. Genious move lady.
Read the story here.

I move that American medical insurance companies begin using IQ scores as another qualification for medical coverages.

Stardust Implosion - The End of an Era

2007-11-13T20:44:00.001-05:00

Everyone's talking about the implosion of the Sands in Atlantic City, but as usual, AC pales in comparisson to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. This weekend, the Frontier, my favorite place for hotdogs and blended margaritas saw its end. Check out the clip on CNN here.

But the video above is from the implosion of the Stardust, which closed in November 2006 and imploded Mar. 13, 2007.

Best of the best as far as I'm concerned.

Global warm my cold buttocks

2007-11-08T16:48:00.000-05:00

IN the famous words of Andre 3000 "You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather."

Two years ago, everyone was pointing to the skies saying, "See, all of these hurricanes are a sign of global warming." Some people even went so far as to say that "Hurricane frequency is a sign of global climate change." Fundamentalists we screaming from the rooftops that the hurricanes were a sign of end-times, and Jesus was back in fashion for a moment.

With Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth winning a Oscar this year and Green Week making its debut on Sunday Night football, it is clear that America has embraced the concept of global warming. Stage One complete.

But what the hell are we doing about it?

Generally, nothing. And Danish economist Bjorn Lomborg argues that as long as we continue to focus on socioeconomic problems in the world - like poverty, starvation and Bob Geldoff concerts - that isn't such a horrible approach. Lomborg released a "Cool It: The Skeptical Environment alists Guide to Global Warming" earlier this year in which he essentially argues that if global warming is happening, there is nothing that can be done at this point to stop it. What needs to be done at this point is to invest money into developing nations now to limit poverty and the harmful effects of developing without concern for the environment. At least this will slow the process of global warming a bit, and it will allow many impoverished people to die with a bit more money, right? (Click here to hear him talk about it.)

Is Lomborg right?

Well, from a hurricane standpoint, he may not be wrong. Perhaps the media is hyping this idea of global warming a bit. I mean, really, do you remember hearing about a hurricane this year?

As of Octobers end, the Atlantic listing with the National Hurricane Center was only up to Kiko, which means it was at 11 for the year, and believe me when I tell you they were mostly weak cyclones - certainly not the category 4 or 5's that Katrina and Rita showed us in 2005.

One. Hurricane Felix back in August, killed 101 people in clay huts in the Dominican Republic. One. Hurricane Dean threatened winds over 160 mph.
One. Hurricane Flossy posed any threat in the Pacific ocean at all.

Yeah, it was hot in October. So what? It's hot in January in California every year. You know what they call it? Earthquake season. The truth is that the weather is unstable, and you certainly can't predict what it is going to be. That's why network news stations pay so-called meteorologists millions of dollars to make their best guesses about it.

I'm not saying that global warming is a lie, merely saying: Stop looking at temperatures as a reflection of greenhouse gases. It don't work that way. I swear.

24 Postponed by writers strike

2007-11-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

Californication is sweeping the nation, and apparently even affecting the immortal Jack Bauer. The Associated Press reports that Fox's hit show '24' was not on the network's revised midseason schedule, and its premier will be delayed indefinitely to ensure that there will be a continuous 24-episode run.

Looks like Jack will have to wait to jump the shark one more time.

(Read more.)

New Jersey Gay Marriage TV Ads

2007-11-07T22:25:00.001-05:00

Two liberal New Jersey groups are debuting pro-gay-marriage television commercials beginning tonight. Garden State Equality and Blue Jersey are running the spots on News 12 New Jersey for the next two weeks to motivate lawmakers to pass laws that would allow same sex marriages in New Jersey.

The state presently sanctions civil unions, but the groups say that civil unions do not provide enoug protections for gay couples.

The groups say that the ads will run longer if they can raise enough funds to keep them on the air.

Best of YouTube

2007-11-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

IN RESPONSE TO Think Equal Ad

tuckerch Show Hide

We've had marriage equality here in Massachusetts for a few years now. We still have the lowest divorce rate in the US. Straight people are still getting married. Not a single church has been forced to marry a gay couple, nor will any church be forced to marry a gay couple.

So, to all you frothing homophobes out there: If you're so opposed to gay marriage, don't marry a homosexual!

Sarkozy and Bush get all buddy buddy

2007-11-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

President Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy met today at historic Mount Vernon, no doubt to tap into George Washington's old whiskey supply at the top of the American Whiskey Trail. In a surprising shift of policy, Sarkozy has agreed to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the US in international efforts, particularly as thery pertain to Iran.

But President Sarkozy says he would like to see aggressive action only as a last result to diplomatic efforts, or what he calls "the outstretched hand of dialogue" because he says Iran deserves better than isolation.

"It is unacceptable that Iran should have at any point a nuclear weapon, but Iran is entitled to the energy of the future which is civilian nuclear energy," said President Sarkozy. "I believe in the effectiveness of sanctions. I believe even in the need to toughen the sanctions."

Bush also emphasized the need for diplomacy. Guess the whiskey loosened his lips for the entire international community. "The idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is dangerous," said President Bush. "And therefore now is the time for us to work together to diplomatically solve this problem."

Iran says it is not secretly developing nuclear weapons. The government in Tehran says it is enriching uranium solely for the peaceful civilian purpose of generating electricity. While Russia and China are resisting tougher UN sanctions, France is with the United States and Britain in calling for harsher Security Council action against Iran.

(Read more.)

President Sarkozy says Bush needs to come to France and sample the wine selection at Palaise de l' Elysees soon.

Brace yourselves for the pro-France campaign due to start in December across the US. Public relations experts and press advisors for the President are already brainstorming ideas. I wish them luck in finding something more creative than "Freedom Fries."

Photo : Aug. 7, 2007 Bush and Sarkozy took a boat ride to Goat Island in Kennenbunkport, Maine. (BRIAN SNYDER/Reuters)

Pakistan can not be target for invasion

2007-11-07T18:10:00.000-05:00

Oh, no! Pakistan has nukes! And apparently the American media is emphasizing the military concern over the stability of the nuclear arsenal following President Musharraf's imposition of military rule according statements made in a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday.

In a traditional ramp-up for "preemptive strikes" American military and government begin the churning of the propaganda machine with talks of nuclear armament. Recall the UN imspections in Iraq (recent reports reveal that these the US military was preparing for them in the Clinton-era) and the present converstation about Iran. But don't let this rhetoric about Pakistan fool you. The US will not be invading Pakistan any time soon.

According to a Reuters report released today, the military is not only aware of the nuclear weapons, but it is monitoring their positions with a high level of priority.

"Any time there is a nation that has nuclear weapons that has experienced a situation such as Pakistan is at present, that is a primary concern," Lt. Gen. Carter Ham told reporters. "However, we'll watch that quite closely and I think that's probably all I can say about that at this point."

Pakistan houses its nuclear devices on the opposite end of the country from its launch devices, so any preparations for a nuclear strike would not go unnoticed by American military intelligence agencies. Additionally, Pakistan is an important ally for the military efforts in the Middle East.

Pakistan receives about $80 million a month from the United States for counter-terrorism efforts, which include manning posts along the Afghan border meant to help stem the flow of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

With that aid review ongoing, Ham said the military needs to ensure both the flow of supplies through Pakistan to U.S. troops and Pakistan's continued cooperation along the border.

"From an operational standpoint, those are the two most significant concerns," he said when asked about the U.S. review of aid.

Gorillaz usher in the era of Multimedia music

2007-11-07T17:51:00.001-05:00

Remember these guys? This song takes me back to ninth grade gym class when we used to convince Mr. Washburn that we had cramps and could run the mile on Friday's, then we would sit on the bleachers and listen to mellow music that rebelled against the mainstream of the period.

Well, if they we rebelling and forging ahead into new creative territory then, wait until you hear what they are into now.

Nov. 6, Gorillaz released an autobigraphical graphic novel entitled "Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre," (Riverhead Trade Paperback, $20) which was concieved and compiled by acclaimed comic book writer Jamie Hewlett ("Tank Girl"). The art is in the same style as their classic video "Clint Eastwood," seen above, and the story is a compilation of "half-truths, lies, jokes and time-wasting information" according to bassist Murdoc Niccals.

The story is a a spoof on "Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zepplin Saga," documenting the "virtual band's" rise to fame with demented tails of adventure and debauchery. It spans from demonic possessions, underworld dealings and amnesia to stupidity, stadium tours and high-profile collabroations with artists like Madonna and Ike Turner.

So bust out your Starter jacket, put on your headphones and let yourself jump back into the era when hit music-video station "The Box" played the music "You want to hear" and you could fall into the multimedia cartoon world filled with the disgruntled soft-rock of the Gorillaz.

AIDS vaccine got a cold

2007-11-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Time magazine did a piece on an AIDS vaccine developed by Merck called V520. Their analysis: Merck's drug failed due to a scientific anomoly, the vaccine contained a strain of the common cold, which made people who are "more immune" to the common cold that much more susceptible to contracting AIDS with the vaccine.

My analysis: Anyone who is will ing to put the AIDS virus into their blood stream, dead or alive, is insane. The idea that there can be a vaccine developed against a virus that is constantly adapting is insane as well.

Think of flu vaccines. Every year, people get the flu vaccine, which is essentially an injuection of dead virus cells from the strain of flu that reseachers feel is most likely to spread over the course of the flu season and allowing their bodies to develop an immunity to that strain. And every year, people inevitibly get sick from the flu anyway. Why? Because they catch a different strain of the virus.

The same thing will happen with AIDS.

"There is something magical about the replicating virus, because it has virtually its entire genome," IAVI head Dr. Seth Berkley said in the Time article and that genome adapts, adjusts grows and changes every year and with each new host.

A vaccine is not the answer to AIDS. It's not small pox or even chicken pox which are both stable viruses effecting each host in much the same way. Creative research by Berkeley's group is investigating ways to stimulate so-called neutralizing antibodies, a special class of antibodies that appear to be able to defuse HIV. This is the kind of research that needs to be funded with $25 million grants from the Gates Foundation, not vaccines.

Time: Facebook more popular than porn

2007-11-07T16:27:00.000-05:00

Yes. It's true. Facebook is officially more popular than porn among 18- to 24-year olds.

A study done by Bill Tancer, the general manager of global research at Hitwise.com, revealed that social networking sites are accessed more often by this demographic than even traditional email accounts.

A new era in communication has arrived, and Facebook seems to be rapidly taking over.

Visits to porn sites have dropped from 16.9% of all site visits in the U.S. in October 2005 to 11.9% as of last week, a 33% decline. Currently, for web users over the age of 25, Adult Entertainment still ranks high in popularity, coming in second, after search engines. Not so for 18- to 24-year-olds, for whom social networks rank first, followed by search engines, then web-based e-mail — with porn sites lagging behind in fourth. (Read more)

While older groups of web surfers are still caught up on their virtual sexual encounters, living vicariously through a camera lens which sees more action then most of they "whackers" will in a lifetime, the younger generation is happy hunting on social-networking pages.

Now the question waiting to be answered is: can Facebook resist the temptation to commercialize, and capitalize on this massive network by going corporate.

Please, Facebook. Don't sell out. We are begging you.

Congress has no balls

2007-11-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) sponsored a resolution in the House of Representatives that moved to impeach Dick Cheney on grounds that he misled the American public about the validity of motive for the war in Iraq: the presence of WMDs.

Is this a sign that Congress is prepared to send and international message and hold the present administration accountable? Don't count on it.

The vote started out along party lines, but midway through House Republicans began taking direction from GOP leadership and actually changed votes to bring the issue to the floor for debate. With the turnaround, the total was 251-162 against tabling the proposal. But in the end Democrats faltered, and they moved to refer the resolution to House committee where it will be buried.

Too bad Dems don't have the balls to push a trial in which Cheney has to atone for shooting his buddy in the face, war profiteering with the Hallibutonization of Iraq, or wagging the dog with tales of weapons buried in the desert. Too bad.

But this country has a record of challenging leadership decisions that were distasteful across the board. I thought, in honor of the gross politicking taking place on Capitol Hill, I would take a moment to examine what exactly impeachment is.

What is it?
The US Constitution states in Article II, Section 4 that "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be impeached and removed from office for conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors," and it commissions the House of Representatives to press charges and empowers the Senate alone to make the final decision on removal.

Ambiguity of it all
"High crimes and misdemeanors" is an ambiguous phrase. Abuse of power and serious misconduct in office fit this category, but one act that is definitely not grounds for impeachment is partisan discord. Several impeachment cases have confused political animosity with genuine crimes (think William Jefferson Clinton, impeached for saying he "Did not have sexual relations with [Monica Lewinsky]" which was probably a lie, but not an impeachable offense. Thus the reason it was important to prove that he had in fact committed perjury with this statement). This is often the most difficult part of the impeachment process for the public to digest and for the government to process because it is left up to Congress, the most bipartisan entity in the American government. Implication: The most political creature of government must put aside politics and put on their lawyer caps, viewing the issue at hand through legislative eyes.

It's a miracle anything ever happens in this country at all.

The History of Impeachment in the United States
There have been sixteen officials impeached in the US since the Constitution was ratified in 1796. Most were judges, and most were let off the hook or quit before they could be removed from office.

Small Fries

William Blount, Senator, Tenn., plotted to incite Cherokees and Creeks to aid the British in assuming Spanish lands in Florida. He was voted out of office is just five days 1797.
John Pickering, US District Court judge, New Hamp. An alcoholic with a propensity for disappearing and shunning duties, he was removed from office when he showed up drunk to hear a case in 1804.
Samuel Chase, US Supreme Court associate justice, was charged on eight fabricated counts primarily surrounding his ruling in a treason case against John Fries. His impeachment was really payback by President Thomas Jefferson for the Marbury v Madison decision. He was acquitted in 1805.
James Peck, US District Court judge, Tenn. Had a lawyer, Luke Lawless, jailed for contempt and revoked his license to practice for 18 months when Lawless published a letter in the newspaper rebutting Peck's ruling in a Louisiana Purchase land claim case. He was acquitted in 1831.
West Humphreys, US District Court judge, Mo. In a post-Civil War case, he was charged with publicly calling for secession, aiding an armed rebellion, conspiracy, serving as a Confederate Judge, confiscating theproperty of government officials, and imprisoning a Union sympathiser with "intent to injure him." He failed to appear for his own hearing and was removed from office in 1862.
William Belknap, secretary of war, was charged with taking bribes for appointing post tradesman. He resigned his office, but was acquitted in 1876.
Charles Swayne, US District Court judge, Fla. He was charged with 12 counts of corruption and abuse of power, including filing false travel vouchers, improper use of private railroad cars, unlawfully imprisoning two attorneys for contempt, and living outside of his district but wasacquitted in 1905.
Robert W. Archbald, US Commerce Court associate judge, was charged with 13 counts of corruption and abuse of power. His case revealed he had accepted gifts such as free trips to Europe. He was convicted on five counts and removed from office in 1913.
George English, US District Court judge, Ill. He was charged with corruption, embezzling, failure to give impartial consideration to cases and for his abusive treatment of lawyers and litigants. He resigned in 1926 before he was tried.
Harold Louderback, US District Court judge, Calif., was charged with corruption for his dealing of several bankruptcy cases and acquitted of all charges in 1933.
Halsted Ritter, US District Court judge, Fla., was also charged with corruption for his dealing with bankruptcy cases and for charging exorbitant legal fees with the alleged intent to embezzel. He removed from office in 1936.
Harry Claiborne, US District Court judge, Nev., was charged with tax evasion and removed from office in 1986.
Alcee Hastings, US District Court judge, Fla. He was charged with taking $150,000 bribe for a lenient sentence, racketeering, corruption and perjury and removed from office in 1988.
Walter Nixon, US District Court judge, Miss., spoke to a long-time friend and attorney, convincing him to drop a case against the son of Nixon's business partner. When asked by the FBI and before a grand jury about the matter, he denied involvement. He was charged with perjury and removed from office in 1989.

Big Fish

President Andrew Johnson. There were actually two attempts at this. Division in Congress over Reconstruction led to the entrapment of Johnson. He was ultimately charged for breaking a law he had vetoed when he replaced his secretary of war. He was acquitted in 1868.
President William J. Clinton. Remember Kenneth Starr. Remember the infamous blue dress. The charges initially began with a real estate scam commonly referred to as White Water. It turned into a sex scandal and Clinton was charged with perjury for stating that he did not sleep with a White House intern. He was acquitted in 1999.

The one that got away

Richard Nixon. I won't bother going into details. If you don't know the story by now, read this.

Open-Source Going Mobile

2007-11-06T18:37:00.000-05:00

If you thought your phone was still safe from those pescky hackers, you were wrong.

Google has announced that it is in the development stages on the first mobile open-source platform, Android. The basic principle: no one knows how to meet your needs better than you do, so why not give yourself the ability to choose applications for your phone that meet your needs.

Google released some details about its plans to alter how mobile applications are created and distributed, industry watchers are compiling a long list of follow-up questions about the Android platform and the Open Handset Alliance on Monday. A comprehensive overview is set for release on Nov. 12.

IDG News Service took a chance to talk to Rich Miner, a key member of Android's technical staff and a co-founder of the namesake company Google acquired in 2005, and ask him about the project.

2007 Election

2007-11-06T18:08:00.000-05:00

2007 Election | 'DP' Endorsements - Opinion

Here's my vote. And even my justifications. I think the only thing I disagreed with here was Michael Nutter's actual ability to deal with the crime rate in Philadelphia. He is the better choice, but it is because he has more overall experience and a better sense of the city's pulse.

(OMG!) Oh My Google!

2007-11-01T19:24:00.000-04:00

In a slam against open-source lovers around the globe, Google is creating an Alliance to regulate the programming content of social networking sites, and today, Myspace and Bebo, the most-popular network in Britain, signed on.

The alliance now presents a powerful counterweight to Facebook, which, after opening up its site to developers last spring, has persuaded thousands of them to create programs for its users. The addition of MySpace, the world’s largest social network, and Bebo, the No.1 site in Britain, could also put pressure on Facebook to drop its own standard and join the alliance, called OpenSocial.

Facebook is refusing to join the alliance, but has not yet offered an explanation why.

Why don't they call it the United Federation of Players for all of the people that have degraded the concept of online social networks to meet markets or perhaps an ode to all the people that understand what these sites are really for - fun -, and adopt a flag bearing a planetary symbol to represent the global reach of social networks? That would certainly appeal to the Star Trek-loving tech geeks out there, and perhaps it would make a statement about the futility of such a merger. I mean really, the only real benefit here is to Google as it will grow its outlets for advertising sales.

When free speech costs too much

2007-11-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

A Kansas-based fundamentalist group was ordered to pay nearly $11 million in damages to a mourning father for picketing at a military funeral and claiming that American deaths in Iraq are punishment for U.S. tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder sued Westboro Baptist church after a protest last year at the funeral of his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. He claimed the protests invaded and violated the sanctity of what was supposed to be a private ceremony.

The Associated Press reports that a jury agreed. On Wednesday, the church and three of its leaders — Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress. Jurors awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages.

Snyder, of York, Pa., said he hoped other families would consider suing.

"The goal wasn't about the money, it was to set a precedent so other people could do the same thing," he said.

There is a point when any freedom goes too far, and although this is neither hate speech, nor is it speech intended to insight violence, treason or coup, it is blatantly disrespectful to, well, just about everyone.

The media is qualifying this group as right wing, but face it, they are challenging the boundaries of free speech, that is not a very right-winged thing to do. They are also doing so in the face of mourning survivors of dead Iraq War soldiers - ummm, hello McFly, that is no way to gain support with the right, or to be aligned with conservatives. It's no way to be aligned with anyone for that matter.

IN truth though, the Westboro Baptist church is not political, but rather they are fundamentalists, and the politicized label holds no water here anyway. But political labels, alignments and support are not what this group seeks.

The Christian Post report read:
Westboro Baptist, which is not affiliated with any Baptist denomination, holds an unorthodox view on predestination, the idea that God determined at the time of one's creation whether they were bound for heaven or hell.

While the belief, stemming from the teachings of John Calvin, is also taught in mainstream churches, members of Westboro Baptist particularly emphasize God’s hatred in spreading their message.

The members of the church, made up of mainly Pastor Fred Phelps and his relatives, also believe that they must alert the condemned of their fate even though such people have no chance of going to heaven. According to past media reports, the congregation prays that all of God’s chosen people will come to this church. When the last person comes, they believe, Christ will return and the world will end.

Given their background, it is not a surprise that most members of the church seemed pleased with the ruling. The Associated Press reported that they left the court room with tight-lipped smiles.

Rev. Phelps was confident an appeal would rule in their favor.

“Oh, it will take about five minutes to get that thing reversed,” he said.

Jonathan Phelps, son of Fred Phelps Sr, said the national media attention will just give church members another platform to preach their message.

Singapour Airlines offers private memberships to the Mile-High Club

2007-10-31T19:45:00.001-04:00

Want to become a member of the Mile-High Club without concern over falling in to the toilet? Not is Singapore Airlines has anything to say about it.

Singapour Airlines made a public announcement today requesting that its passangers not to engage in sexual acts onboard its planes as it has begun flying its new A380 Airbus which are complete with 12 first-class private cabins. Though the cabins are not much more spacious than the standard airplane port-a-potty, they are more private. The airline released its statement according to BBC News upon learning that the cabins are not sound proof.

"All we ask of customers, wherever they are on our aircraft, is to observe standards that don't cause offence to other customers and crew," the airline said in a statement.

"Nothing different applies for our Singapore Airlines Suites customers."

Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first A380 earlier this month, with the first services between Singapore and Sydney starting on Oct. 25.

It is now set to take delivery of a further five A380s in 2008, out of its order of 19.

Can I cheer for my Lakers again?

2007-10-31T18:57:00.000-04:00

The day the seemingly-indomitable franchise of the early 21st century announced that it would trade my main man Shaq and keep ball hog (and by hog I do mean pig) Kobe Bryant, I vowed not to cheer for the Lakers.

But just as time heals everything and the tides will always change, LA's devotion to the overrated NBA star has finally come full circle. These days, they hate him and like a bad McDonald's commercial: "I'm Lovin' It!"

Sports Illustrated reports that Kobe is being greated to Boo's in the Staples Center. Though that might be a bit extreme, considering that the guys has played in LA since 1996... that's eleven seasons people. And he has helped take the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships. He still holds the record for the most points scored in a game, 81 - which feeds into the whole ball hog thing, but let's not linger on that. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star. And he still averages 24.8 points per game.

Sure, he has had his fair share of scandal, and he whines like a girl when he doesn't get his way, but we the people created this monster.

What do you expect from a guy that came into the NBA at 17-years-old and has been told since childhood that he IS the next Michael Jordan?

But perhaps the Lakers will get lucky. I understand that the 76ers are looking for a sound franchise player, and their so-called cornerstone guard Andre Iguodala leaves much to be desired. Send Kobe home, and pick up Ben Gordan from Chicago. Gordan can't seem to get a start because he has been labled as a weak defensive player, but last time I checked, Kobe isn't much to write home about in the defensive end either. Gordan also averages about 22 points per game, and he even has the LA look about him. Pick him up while you can Lakers, cause Kobe isn't going to last long.

And the thumpa-thumpa rages on

2007-10-31T17:22:00.000-04:00

Center City Philadelphia, the heart of gritty, urban social-life, became the scene of a "24-esque" pursuit last night. Apparently, an SUV pulled up alongside a car parked on the side of Sansom St. near 15th and dispute broke out between a three people in the car, and the man inside the SUV.

Shots were fired.

One man in the car was hit in the shoulder, the other in the arm and the woman was wounded, but not severely. All of them were taken to Jefferson University Hospital. The SUV sped off, but was pursued by police and caught at 22nd and Sansom streets, only seven blocks from the shooting. The suspect crashed the SUV, fired at the police car hitting it twice, and the police officer in the vehicle was shot in the shoulder.

The suspect then abandoned the vehicle and jumped into the Schuylkill river.

Read more from the story we dropped at midnight in Metro or get a more updated story in the Daily News.

What was amazing to me was walking around the scene of the shooting at 15th and Sansom streets less and an hour after it occured, there was no sign of anything abnormal. Partiers dressed in Halloween customes were slinking in and out of bars, panhandlers were doing there deed and the mood in the air was jovial, festive and, well, party!

This morning, there were the usual signs of a hard-party night in the city. A few broken bottles, puke stained sidewalks and confetti strewn in the streets.

Four shot, including an officer... Just another night in Philadelphia.

Katrina of Fire

2007-10-25T22:06:00.000-04:00

Associated Press is doing it.
Reuters is doing it.
The New York Times is doing it.

In fact, find me a media source in this country that isn't equating the fires in Southern California to Hurricane Katrina.

Here inlies the problem.

This is not a situation in which poor people were unable to evaqate their homes for lack of transportation or access to information. This is a situation in which rich people have been evacuated from their homes, watched them burn down and will have them replaced by fire and homeowners insurance companies.

This is not a situation that was anticipated and not responded to. No, quite to the contrary, more than 6,000 firefighters backed by a squadron of 90 firefighting aircraft, including a DC-10, 25 air tankers and 40 helicopters, were battling the blaze through coordination of local and state government and promises of support if needed from the national level.

This is not a situation in which a huge population of people in an urban setting were thrown into chaos as they watched their homes and their cities sponged off the map. This was a situation that took place in primarily rural outskirts of the metropolitain centers of Southern California.

This is not a situation in which hospital patients were sacraficed and left for dead, thousands were injured, dead or missing, and people were left stranded for days without access to food or water. In this instance, there was an orderly evacuation of nearly half a million people to shelters and places where they will recieve support.

Southern California has four seasons, contrary to popular belief, though they are not winter, spring, summer and fall.
They are fire, earthquake, mudslide, and draught.
The people of Southern California, though still traumatized, surely, have done this before, they will do it again, and unlike the majority of the country, most of them are not really stunned by this fire.

Stop the comparissons people. It cheapens the recent memory of a true American tragedy.
Rest in peace to the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Jay-Z is not the richest man in the world

2007-10-25T20:16:00.000-04:00

I attended a meeting on Monday of last week in which the procurator asked a group of about 100 people who the richest man in the world is. From the back of the room - as a testament to the education level of the people in this country - there was a loud and confident response: "Jay-Z."

Contrary to popular opinion in West Philadelphia, Jay-Z is not the richest man in the world.
He was however, voted by Forbes Magazine as the richest Hip-hop mogul of 2007.

Using only 2007 gross incomes, Forbes compiled a list of artists. This is not including the majority of residual income collected, liquidable assets or investment capital - it is merely a reflection of what these cats earned last year... and it is still disturbing.

Here was the list:

1. Jay-Z - $34 million : Keep in mind, will you, the majority of Jay-Z'a income is from endorsements and other investmests, no tfrom record sales... which makes him a business man. I think it's also important to note that he didn't spent half of his billions on getting his teeth capped with gold and diamonds.

2. 50 Cent - $32 million : "Fiddy" presides over a business portfolio that includes apparel, ringtones, video games and cheap fiction. Not bad for a guy that knows niether how to spell nor pronounce his own name.

3. Diddy - $28 million: I'm just so sick of this guy and his lavish trips to Dubai.

4. Timbaland - $21 million: I think the majority of his income comes from boot sales or something.

5. Dr. Dre - $20 million: He made $6.2 million on a revolutionary brain transplant that he performed on George W.

6. Eminem - $18 million: His fortune is in the candy industry.

7. Snoop Dogg - $17 million : The sales of the New Merriam-Snoop Dictionary for "the hip-hop afficianados who can't understand the language that the rapper is speaking" have padded Snoop's purse.

8. Kanye West - $17 million : West made a bet that next year his income with quadruple that of 50 Cent. If it doesn't he will get his teeth capped to match Fiddy's.

9. Pharrell Williams - $17 million : Dude just makes awesome shoes.

10. Scott Storch - $17 million : Who? This a-hole is Canadian... I think just for that, Nelly and his Pimp Juice sport's drink should take this slot... because I said so, and because he will hit the $100 million milestone with his clothing line, investment in a basketball ball team and caffine sales within the next 18 months. Might as well make room for him on the list.

11. Ludacris - $16 million : The majority of Luda's wealth is generated from his bad acting, not his bad rapping.

12. T.I. - $16 million : He is invested in the film industry too, but in the "I just opened my own production company" sense. Look for T.I. to be moving into echelons of P-Diddy soon. Hey, maybe he'll even date J-Lo for a while.

13. OutKast - $14 million : When you write, produce, create the two-disc sound track for and star in your own film, there has to be some residual benefit. But I don't think that Forbes was aware that Outkast is comprised of two people... so does that mean that they really only earned $7 million each?

14. Lil Jon - $14 million : Now that's sad... He made $14 million on three words... and Dave Chappelle was the one who made them famous.

15. Ice Cube - $13 million : I thought he was dead.

16. Jermaine Dupri - $12 million : I think Janet could have something to do with this listing... I mean, for real, it never hurts to have a Jackson on your team in any facet... unless you are an 11-year-old boy with cancer and you get invited over for the family Thanksgiving extravaganza.

17. Swizz Beatz - $12 million : Another producer on the list. Puerto Rico represent. He is the best talent scout in the business at the moment... which says very little for his talent.

18. Chamillionaire - $11 million : Krazy Bone put him here. Don't forget it. Holla.

19. The Game - $11 million : You know that salaries are just higher in California.

20. Yung Joc - $10 million : I've got nothin'.

I though it was interesting that there were no women on this list, AND hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons was not recognized.

Revolutionary HIV treatment may be released

2007-10-13T12:42:00.000-04:00

A new drug is on the market fighting HIV at its genetic root.

Merck & Co. is developing a new drug called Isnetress, which attacks integrase, an enzyme produced by the HIV and AIDS viruses which enable it to integrate with a cells DNA and essentially corrupt it with virus. This new drug would essentially take an aggressive approach, attacking the HIV virus, as opposed to previous treatments which have been designed to build up the body's immune system and create defenses from HIV/AIDS.

Merck will recieve a decision from the FDA which could allow the drug to be used on adult patients who are resistent to other forms of treatment. More research is needed before it can begin to be used on children.

Todays Knights of Templar

2007-10-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

I went onto Wiki for a different post, and this was the "Featured Article of the Day." I had to share it.

You know how they say you need to know your history so that you can learn from it? And you know how they say history repeats itself? Put some sand-brown camo on these guys and replace their swords with rifles. Then read the article again.

They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built churches and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import and export; they had their own fleet of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of Cyprus. The Templars arguably qualify as the world's first multinational corporation.

Seperately, it's a beautiful piece anyway. Makes me wonder what ever happened to chivalry. Is it dead? And, would the Knights of Templar have had a scenario like Abu Ghraib?

Answer: It would a heck of a lot worse... remember the famous Pulp Fiction quote, "I'm going to get middiaeval on your ass."

PA Prof's Partners getting Benefits

2007-10-11T22:35:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press reports the governing board of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities approved a new four-year contract Thursday that gives raises to about 5,900 unionized faculty members and expands benefits for same-sex partners. (Read More!)

Peppermint Patty

2007-10-11T21:52:00.000-04:00

I haven't done this in a while, but I was out at a club not too long ago (last night) and the bartender shot me a sample of this lovely drink. Props to Joe at 12th Air Command.

The Peppermint Patty (shot)

1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz Creme de Cocoa
1/4 oz Peppermint Schnapp's

Peppermint Patty Martini

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
3/4 oz Godiva Chocolate
1/2 oz Creme de Cocoa
1/2 oz Peppermint Schnapp's
1/4 oz Half and Half

Serve in a Chilled cocktail glass with mint leaf garnish

Who's the real Turkey

2007-10-11T19:28:00.000-04:00

So, the Turkish ambassador to the US was called back. And?

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs brought HR 106 to the floor last week, a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide of World War I in the US official record - I love that this is what our leaders are preoccupied with. The resolution was met with a great deal of hostility and concern from a military perspective. ( Read Rep. Skelton's Letter to Speaker Pelosi on the matter ) Some in Congress feared backlash from the Turkish government and the effects that it might have on the US ability to use air and land space in Turkey.

Presently the US has one military outpost within Turkey. Incirlik Air Force Base is a fully equipped base, complete with the coffee shops, movie theater, basketball court, public park, hotel and of course the golf course. Don't believe it? Check out the pics posted on the base website.

IN reaction, the US embassador to Turkey was called home. Turkish citizens protested. Government officials took supercilious stances on the issue.

"Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball." (CNN.com)

And, of course, the American media lapped it up.
Take a look through the glitz and glamour of the story though.

There was a holocaust in Turkey during WWI. The Turks know it, it must have been hard to miss. The Armenian's certianly know it. But why rub it in the face of the Turks right now? Is it really that essential that it goes down in the record books? Especially with the other issues we have facing this country right now... say, i don't know, the war. A rapidly slowing economy. Allocations, people. Let's talk allocations.

For once, I agree with the Bush Administration. The Associated Press reports that a White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel, meanwhile, reiterated that the vote by the House Foreign Affairs Committee approving the resolution would be problematic for American efforts in the Middle East.

"While the House is debating the Ottoman Empire, they are not moving forward with appropriations bills," said Stanzel. "The House has not appointed conferees, they aren't coming to the table to discuss children's health care, and they haven't permanently closed the intelligence gap that will open up when the Protect America Act expires."

Iraqi Refugees Beginning to Get Their Due

2007-10-10T20:05:00.001-04:00

BBC is beating me to it.

Check out this article on the refugee crisis. The writer makes the point that I have been stressing as loudly as humanly possible for quite some time: With 12 million Palestinians already dislocated within the region, the presence of nearly 2 million Iraqis displaced literally on top of them is only serving to further destablize the region. This situation is, by far, the largest humanitarian crisis in the world right now... have you heard about it?

Keep your eyes peeled on this blog for updates as I make my journey to Jordan and Syria for personal coverage on this issue.
Giving a voice to the voiceless...
Giving power to the powerless...
Giving a face to those who are suffering as a result of the war in Iraq...
And, above all, telling the story of the Iraqi people... finally.

On this Day: Pac-Man Love

2007-10-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

It is my dream to someday own one of these machines!
Bryan Los quotes it at around $1700 on The Scripted Lizard ... so you better start saving if you want to buy it for my 30th birthday. Actually, nah, forget it. I am going to buy one for myself on my 30th simply so I can say : "I bought a Nerf dart board for $17 on my 26th birthday. I bought a Pac-Man video game for $1700 on my 30th."

Why the ode?

According to Wired.com, Pac-Man made it's world debut in Japan as Puck-Man in Japan on this day, 1979.

To this day, that little chomper still beats Mario Kart and the Sims on entertainment.

The American courts in turmoil

2007-10-03T22:13:00.000-04:00

A gift in the form of email from my roommate... I never pass these along, but this one was too funny.

The following are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty.

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh.... I was gett'in laid!

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you shitt'in me? Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that?

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh....are you qualified to ask that question?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Six-packs are coming!

2007-10-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

Fact: Pennsylvania has the mos backward liquor laws in the nation.

Fact: Pennsylvania is also the single largest purchaser of alcohol in the world... Why? Because the state buys it and then resells it at a higher rate for profit. Thus, the added expense and strange regulatory laws.

But, all of that is in motion to change.

A state Senate committee approved a bill designed to give beer drinkers more options today. The bill, which passed the Senate Law and Justice Committee on a 9-1 vote, must still receive approval from the full House and Senate.

Under the bill, beer distributors could sell quantities as small as a six-pack - currently, the state's approximately 1,300 distributors must sell quantities of a case or more, the only law of its kind in the nation, according to Senate officials - and individuals the ability to buy three six-packs per person for take-out at bars. Present law allows only two.

The bill still has to be approved by the full House and Senate, but this is a small step forward for beer drinkers, and a giant leap for PennsyPimp-kind.

Burning chilli sparks terror fear

2007-10-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Firefighters wearing protective breathing apparatus were called a London restaraunt after reports of noxious smoke filling the air.

Police closed off three roads, homes were evaquated and crews broke down the door to the Thai Cottage restaurant Monday where they discovered the source - a 9lb pot of chillies.

I think America's "War of Terror," as Borat calls it, has everyone sufficiently terrorized.

BBC reports the restaurant had been preparing Nam Prik Pao, a red-hot Thai dip which uses extra-hot chillies which are deliberately burnt.

But the smell prompted several members of the public to call the emergency services.

Iran: US too thin to invade

2007-10-03T21:50:00.001-04:00

Iran’s Foreign Minister made a fervent statement that the United States’ military is spread too thin to attack Iran the Associated Press reports.

"Our analysis is clear: [the] US is not in a position to impose another war in our region, against their taxpayers," Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

He warned Washington against making such a "mad decision".

Despite its conviction that the US would find launching another military assault extremely taxing, Iran was making preparations for such an attack, Mottaki said.

In the meantime, Mottaki said Iran is working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to answer questions and calm speculations about its nuclear program. In return for its cooperation with the IAEA, Iran was granted a reprieve until November on sanctions placed on its nuclear program.

The Bush administration, which contends that the nuclear power program in Iran is merely a cover for a weapons program, ceded to demands from China and Russia to give Tehran more time to address questions from the IAEA about its nuclear program.

Winning the War on Drugs?

2007-10-03T21:49:00.000-04:00

Illegal immigration is still out of control, but maybe the “Great Wall of Mexico” concept is accomplishing something.

According to BBC News, John Walters, head of the Department of National Drug Control Policy, reported that is achieving success in its efforts to disrupt the flow of drugs from Mexico.

US authorities are working with Mexico to combat cartels throughout the country. An estimated $1 billion will be spent on the cause this year. But, Walters said that there is evidence the investment is paying off.

"What's happened for the first time in two decades is we now see widespread reports of cocaine shortages in the United States," Walters said.

Thirty-seven cities in the US have shown a rise in the price of cocaine because dealers are having difficulty receiving supplies.

North Korea, Kim Jong-il back down on nuclear program in exchange for oil.

2007-10-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

Talks that began Aug. 27 in Beijing appear to bear the fruit of progress as the North Korea has agreed to shut down its primary nuclear reactor and to give disclosure of information on its nuclear program by Dec.1.

Seeking to remove North Korean from the American list of terrorist nations, a blueprint has been drawn for the slow process of removing North Korea from the terror list.

A US-led team of technicians to oversee the dismantling of the major nuclear power plant which produced the weapons tested over the Indian Ocean last November.

As a concession, and despite suspicions that North Korea supplied Syria with nuclear weapons, members of the negotiation team agreed to fulfill a pact made in February to re-supply Korea with oil (The US, Japan and South Korea stopped the influx of fuel supplies Nov. 11, 2002, check out the CNN timeline ). Russia, South Korea and China have agreed to send nearly a million tons of oil to North Korea. President Bush added another 50,000 tons, worth approximately $25 million, to the tally.

North Korea joined the six-way negotiation talks seeking a “non-aggression” pact with the US, and has made some headway.

Japan stated Wednesday that it would cease providing aid of any kind to North Korea because Pyongyang has delayed response to a dispute over the return of several Japanese nationals kidnapped in North Korea.

South Korea has come to the table of negotiation with North Korea for the first time since the Korean War.

Prego? The flavor of the day.

2007-10-03T21:20:00.000-04:00

Looks like questionable pregnancies are in high fashion.

Don’t know about Kid Rock’s assured sentiments about Pamela Anderson’s miscarriage… we probably never will. But it appears we will also forever be in judicious curiosity about Princess Di as well.

In today’s paper, we took a look at Kid Rock’s Rolling Stone interview, in which he claims that ex-wife Pam made up a story about a miscarriage to lure him home from a basketball game. Gasp! Scandalous.

The latest and greatest with the recently reopened Princess Diana investigation: She was killed to cover up a pregnancy and to protect the Royal family image.

According to BBC News Lord Justice Scott Baker, lead counsel, said in opening statements of the inquest that accusations of Diana’s pregnancy were relevant.

"First, her pregnancy or suspected pregnancy is said to have provided the motive or part of the motive for killing Diana," he said.

"Second, her body was embalmed by the French and it is said that the purpose of this was to conceal that she was pregnant."

In questioning, the coroner added that no pregnancy test was carried out on Diana at the Paris hospital where she was taken after the deadly accident, as there appeared to be no reason to do so.

Mohamed Al Fayed, the son of Dodi Al Fayed, who was killed in a car crash along side Princess Di in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, called for the inquest to investigate the liability of paparazzi in the death of the princess, his father and their driver. But it doubtful he anticipated the hyper-focus the case has had on the intimate details of Diana’s life.

Did you really need to know she was on the pill?

Scooter's Speech at the UN

2007-09-26T23:25:00.001-04:00

Here is the speech I was speaking of in the last post

Scooter's Trip to the Big Apple

2007-09-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

Let us take a moment to review what the latest, winner of the Most-Demonized World Leader" Award, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (or, Scooter as we have dubbed him) had to say on his three day stint stirring the pot in New York.

On Human Rights:
(In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly)
"Unfortunately human rights are being extensively violated by certain powers, especially by those who pretend to be their exclusive advocates. Setting up secret prisons, abducting persons, trials and secret punishments without any regard to due process, extensive tapping of telephone conversations intercepting private mail... have become commonplace and prevalent."

On Nuclear Weapons:
(At Columbia in Q&A)
"Our nuclear program, first and foremost operates within the framework of law. ...[And] they are completely peaceful. We don't believe in nuclear weapons, period."

Ahmadinejad said Iran's nuclear program was for electricity generation.

On the nation of Israel:
(To Scott Pelley in a 60 Minutesinterview Sept. 23 in Tehran)
PELLEY: Mr. President, you say you love all nations. I have to assume that includes the Nation of Israel.

AHMADINEJAD: Israel is not a nation. Well, we like the people, yes, because they are victims as well. They used to live in their own countries, in their own cities. They were given empty promises, false promises. They said that we are going to give you jobs, we are going to give you security. And they pushed the local Palestinian people out and made them refugees and also made refugees of another community. In other words, from thousands of miles away, people have been emigrating to this country and they are living in fear every day. And we feel for them. Last year in my speech I said that the Zionist entity should open the borders and the gates. Let the people decide where they want to go and settle. They are good people as well. We have no bones to pick with them. We are against terrorism. We are against wrong policies. We are friends with all people, Jewish people, Christians, different people of different faiths. We are, well, we’re in contact with them. Here in Iran there are Jewish communities; there are Christian communities; we’re all friends. Also, non-Muslim countries, we help them when a natural, let’s say, calamity breaks. We love all people. We are opposed to Zionism, occupation, terrorism, dropping bombs on behalf of people when they are inside their own homes, killing men, women, and children. Very openly I have said time and again that I oppose these.

PELLEY: If the Palestinians reach an agreement with Israel for a two-state solution, will you then recognize Israel as well?

AHMADINEJAD: Well, the decision rests with the Palestinian people. This is exactly what I’m saying.
On the Holocaust:
(At a meeting with Quakers in NYC)
He backed off earlier comments which questioned the magnitude of the Holocaust, calling it "a reality of our time, a history that occurred." However, he still said the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews required more research.

On Global Domination:
(In an address to the United Nations Security Council)
AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): A scientific and careful analysis shows that the root of the present situation lies in two fundamental factors.

Without doubt, the first factor lies in the relations arising from the consequences of the Second World War. The victors of the war drew the road map for global domination and formulated their policies not on the basis of justice, but for ensuring the interests of the victors over the vanquished nations.

Therefore, mechanisms arising from this approach and related policies have not been capable of finding just solutions for global solutions since 60 years ago.

[Second,] some big powers still behave like the victors of the world war and regard other states and nations, even those that had nothing to do with the war, as the vanquished and humiliate other nations and demand extortion through condescending positions similar to that of the master-servant relationship of the Medieval ages.

They believe that they should have more rights than others and also are not accountable to any international organizations.
On the Occupation of Iraq:

On Iraqi refugees:

"Iran and Iraq are two countries with great nations. Insecurity in Iraq will inflict the most damage on Iran."

Ahmadinejad made left a clear impression that Iran is prepared to fill the void of leadership created by the occupation of Iraq. But he was mum on the issue of opening the borders to refugees.

He did say that Iran is receiving Afghans though. According to PressTV, Ahmadinejad said that more than 2.5 million Afghans live in Iran legally and enjoy all legal rights. "Certain Afghan groups have entered Iran illicitly. A legal position should be adopted towards them to preserve the rights of Afghan refugees."

On Homosexuality:
(At Columbia)
“In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it.” This statement was removed from the official transcripts printed in Farsi in Iran.

On Iran's plans in the global community:
(In address to the United Nations Security Council)
Today, the problems that people around the world face are mainly rooted in the disregard of human values and ethics, and also in the rule of the selfish and incompetent.

Friends, ladies, and gentlemen, the only sustainable way to the betterment of mankind is the return to the teachings of the divine prophets, monotheism, respect for the dignity of humans, and the flow of love and affection in all relationships, ties, and regulations, and to reform the present structures on this basis.

To fulfill this objective, I invite everyone -- everybody to form a front of fraternity, amity, and sustainable peace, based on monotheism and justice, under the name of "Coalition for Peace," (ph) to prevent incursions and arrogance and to promote the culture of affection and justice.

I hereby announce that, with the help of all independent, justice-seeking and peace-loving nations, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be heading down this path.

Monotheism, justice, and compassion for humans should dominate all the pillars of the U.N. And this organization should be a forum for justice, and every member should enjoy equal spiritual and legal support.
Read More...

On respect:
According to a USAToday report, at a dinner Tuesday night with 60 journalists and Iran scholars, Ahmadinejad listened in silence for more than an hour, taking notes as attendees commented and asked questions. He then responded to each statement, addressing his questioner by name.

For a man who's country has been dragged through the mud for the past five years in the Western media to come to the United States and address the United Nations with humility that is so entirely uncharacteristic is shocking. Everyone anticipated "Madman Iran" outbursts, but there were none. Everyone expected blatant anti-US rhetoric, but on the whole, there was none. Everyone expected words of violence and threatening speech, but instead there was a dissertation on the Islamic views on modern international events.

Was this calm, religious speech on respect and peace a rouse? Was it designed as a public relations stunt to improve the image of Iran? Probably. But if the people of the United States feel threatened by such a display, perhaps they are looking in the wrong places.

News Gone Wild: Media on E!

2007-09-26T19:46:00.000-04:00

Elton John was found with nudey picks of underage {gasp!} girls! Read It!

Michael Vick was caught smoking weed. Read It!

Barry Bonds record-breaking ball will go to the Hall of Fame bearing an asterix, literally. Read It!

Halo 3 steals two records: most sales and most complaints on the first day. Read it! Here and here.

Cops' accusal in Biggie's murder turns out to be a lie, part of one inmates attempt to make some money by suing the city for wrongful death. Read It!

Idiocracy is a real thing. Congress is actually debating the "enhanced" value of Gatorade. Read It!

Super Troopers had its place today, too. But instead of insects, it's the super-germ kind of bugs. Read It!

And these were our leading headlines today... Oh, wait, I forgot, the US condemned Iran again.

Mow Your Lawn, Power Your Car

2007-09-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

Admit it, you can't imagine living without your car.
Admit it, you really do think those hybrids are ugly.
Admit it, you too suffer from "Oil Addiction."

Wired Magazine reports There is a cure in sight if we are willing to bear the costs. Turns out your lawn clippings will do the job of powering you car.

Seems Forrest Gump was on to something.

Scientists have the technology to convert cellulose into fuel. It's pretty simple too, or at least it sounds simple. Take a plant, extract the cellulose, add some enzymes and convert the cellulose molecules into sugars. Then, like they do with wine and beer, ferment the sugar into alcohol and distill it to maximum potency. High enough proof= flammable. Flammable= combustible, which means, powering an engine with plants instead of Middle East oil.

Even God Gets Drunk Sometimes

2007-09-25T17:39:00.000-04:00

Jack Bauer is a god. He has died and been reincarnated on three seperate occassions, and every time, he is back to chasing the bad guys within 20 minutes. If that's not god quality, then what is?

FoxNews reports that Kiefer Sutherland, the actor who plays Jack Bauer on Fox's hit show "24", was busted on a DUI in Los Angeles at 1:15 a.m. today. Though they would not divulge Sutherland's actual blood-alcohol level, the actor was taken to jail where he was booked, charged and then released at 4 a.m. on a $25,000 bond. LA County Sheriff's said he will appear OCt. 16 in court.

What can you say? It has to be tough being a god. But considering this is Sutherland's second DUI since 2004, perhaps he needs to stop thinking he's god and start thinking about not driving after a few brewskys.

Deja Moo

2007-09-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

There is actually a law in California's Driver's Manual which prohibits honking or other means of frightening cows.

YouTube Television: Philly's Latest Creation

2007-09-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Public access television is taking on a new face, and it in the process, it may just redefine the way we think about journalism.

As my buddy Brian X. McCrone at Metro Philly pointed out, public television is synonamous with Wayne's World in the mind of the average American. The words conjure images of hippies with guitars giving the weekly review of medical marijuana initiatives, Korean dramas and, if you are lucky, a whack-job teaching you how to bake a pie the southern way.

If WYBE has it their way, that's about to change.

MiND TV, set to launch late this year, is the brain-child of WYBE's new CEO, Howard Blumenthal. It's a completely new format compling five-minute spots of member-created programming into one hour sets. Basically, its YouTube-style television.

The challenge: keep it education, yet make it entertaining. It should be interesting to see what they come up with. To learn more about MiND, click here.

WYBE recieved a boost this week as the City of Philadelphia and Comcast came to an agreement over a the city-based cable network's obligations to provide funding for public access within the city. Metro reported today that this dispute has been ongoing for the past three decades.

The public access television agreement requires approval of two ordinances that are expected to be introduced in the City Council within the next two weeks. Specifically, the ordinances outline the franchise agreement between the city and Comcast and for a long-term lease on a new public access television headquarters, according to The Bulletin.

If approved, Kathleen Sullivan, regional director of government and community relations for Comcast, said they pledged an initial one-time capital grant of $1.8 million and a second grant of $900,000 due in two years. The funding will go to five stations within Philadelphia, and include the construction of a new studio, set to open at the old site of South Philly's Free Library, and to purchase equipment for the newly established nonprofit organization, Philadelphia Access Corporation, which would oversee the programming.

Rather Sues CBS for "Old News"

2007-09-19T19:15:00.000-04:00

Remember this story?

Pentagon Says Bush Records of Service Were Destroyed
HOUSTON, July 8 - Military records that could help establish President Bush's whereabouts during his disputed service in the Texas Air National Guard more than 30 years ago have been inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon.

It said the payroll records of "numerous service members," including former First Lt. Bush, had been ruined in 1996 and 1997 by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service during a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. No back-up paper copies could be found, it added in notices dated June 25.

The destroyed records cover three months of a period in 1972 and 1973 when Mr. Bush's claims of service in Alabama are in question.

Source: New York Times, July 2004

Dan Rather does.

In fact, Rather narrated a story on CBS's "60 Minutes II" back in Sept. 2004, and is suing the network for $70 million under the premise that the story caused him serious financial loss and damage to his reputation.

Rather and Mary Mapes, the producer of the piece, have since left CBS.

Network spokespeople scratching their heads about the lawsuit filed by the veteran newsanchor, and are calling the story "old news."

Read more!

Mercenary Security Forces Under Fire

2007-09-19T18:24:00.000-04:00

Eleven Iraqi civilians were killed Sunday when guards from the Blackwater company, a "private security company", opened fire in a busy Baghdad.

Blackwater, which is basically a mercenary group, was founded in 1997 by a former Navy Seal and is presently handling security for US State Department employees in Iraq. In a statement today, the group said its guards acted in self-defense Sunday, protecting an envoy that came under attack in al-Nisur Square.

Iraqi eyewitnesses disagreed, accusing the security team of "firing randomly at civilians."

Nouri Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, has described the shooting as a "criminal act" and vowed not to tolerate killing of citizens "in cold blood," and stated that this was the seventh shooting of its kind involving Blackwater employees.

Eggs Not Hot on Rice

2007-09-19T17:47:00.000-04:00

Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI thought Condi Rice was a Thai dish. After all, it does sound like one. And, perhaps Thai isn't his favorite cuisine because the pope refused a request from the Secretary of Defense for an audience late last month.

BBC had a couple, slightly more intellectual thoughts on the matter. They suggested that the pope's refusal was the result of Bush administration policies which run contrary to the Vatican on Iraq's Christians and the immorality of launching an invasion in 2003.

Read more!

Clintons Making the Rounds

2007-09-05T22:04:00.000-04:00

Bill and Hillary are on the campaign trail making appearances on talk shows around the country. If you own a TV, you have seen them somewhere in the last two weeks. They have covered the Today Show, Letterman, Larry King, Oprah, and Ellen. Not too shabby for the post-Labor Day blitz.

But does anyone else feel that it is a bit strange that they aren't appearing anywhere together, and that there is a distinct Clintonian advantage as they double-team the country?

More than a blitz, this feels more like a full-court press.

Defeating the Purpose: Volunteering in America

2007-09-05T19:40:00.000-04:00

I have to admit, I was a bit jaded when I saw this piece pop up in Time Magazine because I pitched the same story to Philly Weekly about two months ago and got the cold shoulder. However it's refreshing to know that someone picked it up... it needed to be done, and what better venue.

Our country is changing, as are the priorities of our youth. I went to Washington D.C. in June on a lead from a friend about a protest to end the occupation of Palestinian territories. Originally, I was told that the Palestinian front was going to hold their rally on the east lawn of the Capitol Building, a Zionist group was setting up camp on the west lawn - which is a formula for disaster - and that the Capitol Police were revoking licenses for barricades between the two groups because of a Gay Pride event taking place down the street. It was an odd mix that day.

That was not the case when I got there. Three city blocks and a monumental fountain sufficiently separated everyone.

Nevertheless, I was fascinated by the concentration of gray-haired hippies in the crowd, and the ethnic diversity amongst the much smaller percentage of young people participating.
Naturally, I went to find out more about the disparity by talking to the young people.

The findings were interesting. On both sides of the fence, the fountain and the political issue, the majority of the youth were not there to voice a concern, they didn't want to dialog with the opposition, they on a mission to educate or even to get their side of the issue heard. They participated because it made them feel as though they were doing something for the cause they were so passionate about. It made them feel good.

This is the new wave of community service. More young people are signing up for programs like Teach for America, AmeriCorps and Peace Corps. each year, and they are also finding new outlets to serve their communities. It's a movement being exhibited all around the country - service for service sake - and the way it is happening is a postmodern conception.

This weeks cover story, "A Time to Serve" honored some of New Yorks leaders in community service, and it detailed several ways to get involved.

This kind of service is inspiring politicians to bring service under some sort of federal control to help funding reach more people and to get everyone involved. In fact. according to the article, 70 percent of Americans are in favor of a universal service plan in the US. Proposals are currently in Congress that would create just such a national service program. Some have even suggested creating a cabinet position for national service and volunteerism. FDR would be impressed.

However most of the programs being proposed are offering services presently met by other organizations - public, private and nonprofit alike - there is a movement to develop a system in which these organizations could collaborate with federal support. This raises the question, why recreate the wheel if its is rolling toward progress? Of the 10 recommendations discussed in the Time article, five of the are replicas of existing programs, and two were bond measures. So much for service for service sake.

The fact is that this trend toward community service among young people would be stifled by government involvement. Why?

As the author of the piece states in the article, "People, especially young people, the the government and the public sphere are broken, but they feel they can personally make a difference through community service." They will not contribute to a broken system.

The postmodern youth are too smart for that. They believe in their communities. They believe in the small, nuclear groups that they can touch. They don't trust the big guns of the federal government, nor do they respect it. Believe it. They will see many of the proposed programs are thinly veiled attempts manipulate people into civil or military, rather than community, service while simultaneously removing the burden of certain social programs from the central government.

The best example of this is the proposal to create a National-Service Baby Bond. The concept here is that the government would create a bond in every American child's name at birth which could be applied to college education under the condition that the child commits to one year of military service.

Bear in mind that at 7 percent interest, the $5,000 bond would be worth about $19,000 by the time th child turns 20. Let's do the math here. A child born tomorrow will graduate high school at 17 in 2025. That child, say he/she volunteers for military service straight out of high school, will complete his/her one-year military commitment at age 18 in 2026. If he/she goes directly to college, he/she will still be too young to reap the full benefit of the $19,000, so say there is a student loan taken to cover tuition until the bond matures. Interest must be paid on the student loan, generally around 4 percent. The majority of student loans are federal, so that 4 percent goes back to Uncle Sam.

Also consider that the present growth rate for tuition is approximately 7 percent annually (7.1 percent last year, out-pacing inflation and taking the annual average to over $30K according to an October 2006 CNN Money report), so in the end, the bond will only cover the growth difference.

The gray-haired hippies still attending Washington protests might think mandatory volunteerism is a great idea. Most Democrats do too. But don't expect America's youth to embrace the idea. If you want everyone to volunteer, leave them alone. Leave them to their own devices to see the benefits that lie on the other end of getting involved.

Eggs Hot on Syria

2007-09-05T19:09:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI was today in Syria to meet with Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa to discuss Syria's role in restoring peace in the Middle East. The International Herald Tribune reported that the pope focused on the condition of Christians in Syria and the international influence presently held by Syrian leadership.

Seems the Vatican's stance is that Damascus is going to be a key factor in developing peace throughout the region. No doubt this will prove to be true if Syria continues to hold its doors open to refugees from Palestine and Iraq, a practice supported by the pope. But policy seems to be shifting in another direction.

Reuters reported Monday that Syria is to have imposed visa requirements on Iraqi nationals, limiting entry to those in the economic, commercial and scientific sectors, in a bid to control the flood of Iraqi refugees into the country. This moves is to take effect on September 10.

The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees estimates that Syria is presently hosting approximately one million Iraqi refugees, and that number is growing by 30 thousand each month.

Gmail: Behind the Scenes (Final Cut)

2007-08-30T04:27:00.001-04:00

Bucs Season Looks Uphill From Here

2007-08-29T21:24:00.000-04:00

I miss Mike Alstott! And I miss Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Simeon Rice.
Whatever happened to the days of the dominant defense at Raymond James?

The Bucs season is shaping up much like every every one in the past - with weak prospects. The defense last season left us wanting and the inability to find a solid quarterback made offensive development difficult at best.
So far, this season isn't looking to much different.

Signing Jeff Garcia after his strong 2006 season with the Eagles had eyebrows raised across the country. Garcia looked great in the preseason, but one week to regular season and coach Jon Gruden still could not commit to him as his starting QB. There are currently two other QB's fighting for that spot. Gruden is still flirting with the idea of putting the ball in the slippery hands of Chris Simms (spleen). He should some play time this weekend. Bruce Gradkowski, last years surprise rookie performer has been solid throughout the preseason. Frankly, any of these guys will do, but Gruden needs to make up his mind already. The team has got to have time to adjust to the leadership of their quarterback and going into the first game without a settled starter is never a good sign.

Receivers are unreliable based on the past performances. Word on the street is that the Bucs are shopping WR Michael Clayton. So that leaves Joey Galloway.

Galloway has been consistent over the past three seasons with the Bucs - last year he gained more than a thousand yards, averaging 17 per reception. For a team without a quarterback, that's not bad. But Galloway is 35-years old and not getting any younger. The question will be if he has what it takes to lead this offense.

The Bucs lost their long-time offensive anchor in full-back Mike Alstott when he announced his retirement on Aug. 9. And just this week Gruden cut problem child Michael Pittman. As a running team, the Bucs might be in trouble. But, who knows, maybe there is a surprise up Gruden's sleeve. Somehow they are currently ranked 3rd in the league in preseason rushing yards. Rookie Rb Ken Darby out of Alabama can take credit for that, and there is also the powerhouse Cadillac Williams. Though Williams charged out of the gate strong with a huge first season in 2005, he did not quite meet expectations last year rushing for less than 800 yards. The Bucs need him to step up this year.

Defense is a scary place to be for the Bucs. After winning the 2003 Superbowl, key players like Warren Sapp left, Tony Dungy's defense was dismantled and Jon Gruden has been trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again ever since.

There has been a lot of chatter about LB Jeremiah Trotter working out with the Bucs this past week after being released from the Eagles last Tuesday. But Trot was allegedly released from Philadelphia due to his weight and lack of mobility. Though his experience and leadership might be just what the Bucs defense needs, he may have a hard time adjusting to the high-speed cover-2 defense in Tampa.

Ronde Barber is always a influential presence on the field, but he's getting old over at Corner.
Julian Jenkins is solid, but his isn't the dominating force of Simeon Rice. And, Jermain Phillips may have come up with 2 picks last season back at strong safety, but the Bucs haven't been able to recover from the loss of leader-safety John Lynch.

There is still work to do on the defense, and the shape up of the D-Line will make or break this teams season.

Larry Craig is NOT GAY!

2007-08-29T18:42:00.000-04:00

So the story on this has shifted in the media from the facts to the sound bytes, and the one that is sticking is:

"I should not have kept this arrest to myself, and should have told my family and friends about it. I wasn't eager to share this failure, but I should have done so anyway because I'm not gay."

Story in brief, in case you missed the first two minutes of coverage and are at a loss on why this guy is so emphatically defending his sexual orientation, is that Craig was arrested on June 11 after an incident in a Minneapolis airport restroom.

Apparently Craig was rolled into a sting operation that was being conducted by the police to catch men using this particular bathroom to commit "lewd acts." Edward Morrissey gives a great synopsis of the arresting officer's statements on Captain's Quarters.

So, why is this such a big deal?

First, everyone knows that if you tap your right foot in a men's room, you are looking for sexual favors... right? The story itself is vague enough to make the details irrelevant and still allow room for the media to paint this highly conservative Senator as a creep. After all, there is no need to bog down a great headline with the details of the story. Key words: sex scandal. They always make great press.

Second, Craig's conduct upon arrest was pompous and obnoxious. Apparently, the Senator passed the arresting officer a business card to prove that he was in fact a Senator. Of course, no one wants to face the fact that this is standard procedure for our leaders in this country and that one of the perks of public office is the VIP treatment. Public officials receive special treatment every day. But Craig is being chastised for expecting to receive what Kat Williams would refer to as a "hook up."

Finally, we should be looking at Craig's advisers on this one and questioning their judgment. After all, this botched political strategy most likely killed Craig's career. Craig did not go public after his arrest. Instead he went to court on the matter over the summer, plead guilty and prayed the whole thing would go away. Unfortunately for him, it didn't. It came out from under Craig's rug three months later with a neon sign attached to the front of it that flashes with the word "SCANDAL."

So why is the media focusing attention on the sex and Craig's sexual orientation? The American public might like sensationalism, but they are trained for it. We might enjoy stories about sex, but we are conditioned for that too. But story does have legs of its own, and they are being ignored.

If coverage of this story emphasized the fact that Craig was allegedly abusing his position to escape arrest, and that he shunned his duty as a civil servant by not being forthright about his arrest, Craig's constituents would have been equally harsh on the Senator and the image of political leadership in America would not have been tarnished with yet another sex scandal.

Instead, this has become a media assault on the purity of the Republican party which bears the public label of the "party of conservative moral values."

Wisc. Attorney Finds Goat's Head in Office

2007-08-29T17:45:00.000-04:00

A Milwaukee attorney may have been expecting Victoria's Secret gift set from a client Victoria's Secret when a pink bag was found outside of her office. Instead, attorney Robin Shellow found a bloody goat's head.

There was a note in the goat's mouth which reportedly contained a name, but not the name of a suspect.

So far, Milwaukee police have been unable to trace where it came from. They have checked area meat-packing plants but found none that processed goats.

The culprit is either a practitioner of Santeria or an enormous fan of CSI. This story is somewhat reminiscent of that episode of CSI:Miami when they discovered a goat's head in the closet of a dead woman (CSI:Miami, Curse of the Coffin, 2006). Based on Shellow's somewhat tongue-in-cheek response, she might actually agree.

"August 27th was a full moon and also a lunar eclipse. It is my understanding there haven't been any of our elected officials' sons or daughters charged with slashing tires or voter fraud, and since I haven't invented any new criminal defenses for any clients in the last few months, I assume the individual was trying to get my attention."

Shellow may be best known recently for representing one of the men convicted of slashing the tires of Republican campaign workers in Milwaukee during the 2004 presidential race.

Check out video on the story here.

Taking the Side of Bush

2007-08-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

President Bush was in New Orleans to remember the one of the nations largest natural disasters in history which occurred when Hurricane Katrina struck two years ago today.

The president arrived in the region on Tuesday, meeting Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin at the city's famous Dooky Chase restaurant.

He praised the efforts of the people of New Orleans in their efforts to rehabilitate the city.

Mr Bush observed a moment of silence at the Dr Martin Luther King Charter School for Math and Science, the first school to reopen in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, one of the areas most affected by the flooding.

"Hurricane Katrina broke the levees, it broke a lot of hearts, it destroyed buildings, but it didn't affect the spirit of this community," he said in a speech after the ceremony.

Mr Bush listed federal government moves to get the ravaged city back on its feet, including the $114bn (£57bn) allocated for the relief and rebuilding efforts.

Props to him for not giving into the frustrations expressed by many about the tediousness of the reconstruction effort, or the blame game being played by Nagin and Blanco.

Nagin refused to share the stage with the President.

Holocaust denials hot, but are they legit?

2007-08-28T17:59:00.000-04:00

There are always interesting and thought provoking emails coming across my screen. I received one today that begged an investigation into its validity. I was fascinated by what I found, and reassured when I put the issue into logical focus.

It read:

In Memoriam: Recently this week, the UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it "offended" the Moslem population which claims it never occurred. This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide. Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world. Please don't just delete this email, send it to the people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain. It will only take you a minute to pass it along - Thanks! >

Anti-Semite Rationale
Now it is not an unnatural idea to grasp, but Palestinians and Arabs, in turn are generally anti-Semetic groups. They hate the Jews. So, is it logical that they would resent the global attention given to The Holocaust. It's a natural progression to understand that they would deny any harm done to Jews throughout the world. And with this in mind, it then makes sense that they would draw resentment over the fact that genocides around the globe - Armenia, Durfur and Rwanda as examples - are drawing such limited response or concern from the global community in general and the Western world in specific.

Muslim Rationale
Muslims in general can't be labeled as universal Holocaust deniers. And we must remember most Muslims are not anti-Semetic. Radio Islam did a piece on this very issue and concluded: "For purposes of their own, powerful special interest groups desperately seek to keep substantive discussion of the Holocaust story taboo. One of the ways they do this is by purposely mis-characterizing revisionist scholars as 'deniers.' But the truth can't be suppressed forever: There is a very real and growing controversy about what actually happened to Europe's Jews during World War II. Let this issue be settled as all great historical controversies are resolved: through free inquiry and open debate in our journals, newspapers and classrooms."

They did not embrace the statements of the deniers, and they agreed that this is a topic which needs to be examined through open-minded and academic means.

So the removal of The Holocaust from United Kingdom curriculi cannot be directly attributed to the Mulim community.

Radical Islamic Rationale
Radical Islamic leadership, however, have embraced this idea of Holocaust denial. In April of 2000, a senior member of Hamas issued the following statement in Stockholm:

This conference bears a clear Zionist goal, aimed at forging history by hiding the truth about the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and invented story with no basis. . . . The invention of these grand illusions of an alleged crime that never occurred, ignoring the millions of dead European victims of Nazism during the war, clearly reveals the racist Zionist face, which believes in the superiority of the Jewish race over the rest of the nations.

Not only does this attempt to focus on an alleged story ignore the suffering of our people and disregard the massacres committed by the Zionists against them, such as Dir Yasin, Kafr Qasem, Tanturah, Jerusalem, Hebron and Sabra and Shatila...

The Zionist entity is using psychological and ideological terrorism through the Stockholm conference and the alleged Nazi Holocaust...

We call the free scholars of the world and its vital forces to expose the crimes of global Zionism against our people, our nation, and against all human civilization, and to refute them and not to fear the hostility of the Jews and their ideological terrorism or their influence through which they shut mouths and prevent objective, unbiased scholars from revealing the Zionist claims as lies. By these methods, the Jews in the world flout scientific methods of research whenever that research contradicts their racist interests.

From their perspective, this position makes absolute sense. By taking a hard-line stance, they draw attention to the issues that effect their people directly and also expose Western Zionism as self-serving.

Ahmedinajad and the Iranian Rationale
As for Mohamed Ahmendinajad, it is important to realize that the man may be the president of Iran, but according to the constitution of Iran he is powerless for all intents and purposes. He is a figure-head with less power than Prince Charles of Wales. While he is a public figure, and a representative of the government, his statements often differ from the official line of the Iranian government and he is often denounced for being too outlandish and a showman to the point of self-indulgence.

Though he never specifically denied the Holocaust, quotes I found from President Ahmedinajad implied that he feels the number of Jews reported to be killed as part of the Holocaust was inflated to gain sympathy throughout the world for the Jewish cause. For example but that it was unconfirmed and therefore untrue. He used the reaction of the press and the people to draw attention to a new agenda he is promoting: encouraging the European states to create a Zionist homeland in Europe rather than continuing to for the Arab nations to endure the Jews.

I could find no material in which Ahmedinajad's statements are were endorsed by the Iranian government. But there is no real benefit to Iran in denying The Holocaust. There will be no revision of Israeli territories, nor will there by any additional aid or clemency awarded to Iran as a result. A public denial of the Holocaust only positions Iran even more in conflict with the West and reinforced the image being painted of the country as backward, confrontational, ignorant and irrational.

But, in a Boston Globe article from December 2006, discussed the preparations being made for a Holocaust denial conference in Iran. It said "Last week, as he prepared for the conference [Khaled Mahameed, an Arab citizen of Israel] told the Globe that his message to Ahmadinejad would be: "Do not deny or even argue about the authenticity of the Holocaust. By doing this, you are not helping the Palestinian people. You are hurting their cause.'"

Perhaps this is a more official stance for the Iranian people.

UPDATE
As for the Jewish / Israeli Rationale, (neccessary to provide balance as I was informed by the person who sent the original email)
Ummm.... I think they were there.