The Lair of pdwxm29...

Hard To Watch, But....

2005-09-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Meet-the-Press-Broussard.mov

"Three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn’t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA, we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. When we got there with our trucks, FEMA says don’t give you the fuel. Yesterday — yesterday — FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards and said no one is getting near these lines…

I want to give you one last story and I’ll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I’m in, Emergency Management, he’s responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, “Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?” and he said, “Yeah, Mama, somebody’s coming to get you.” Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday… and she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night! [Sobbing] Nobody’s coming to get us. Nobody’s coming to get us. The Secretary has promised. Everybody’s promised. They’ve had press conferences. I’m sick of the press conferences. For god’s sakes, just shut up and send us somebody."

Beehive Forum Software

2005-08-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Beehive Forum Software

Since PHPbb style forums are a major PITA to navigate, I'm a huge fan of Beehive...

Not to mention gobs of features!

I might have to do a guide on how to set up a Beehive forum locally someday...

Pat Robertson Calls For Assassination of Venezuelan President

2005-08-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

MSNBC Article

So much for "moral values"!

Yet another thing we can add to the heap of stuff that proves the religious right is nothing but a crock filled with loonies...

Some Senators are speaking out against him too! Again, this is another case where the religious right speaks out a little too loudly, and stumble up.

This of course will only make them look worse in the public's eyes and psyches...

They obviously don't know about bad PR...

House Dems Podcast

2005-08-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

I was just browsing some music in the French iTunes music store (trying to find some new music; another story for another day; if I do stumble upon some good stuff, I'll post my findings here for all to see) and I went to the podcasting section to see if there was much podcasting going on in France, not to imply that I possess any level of fluency in the French language (I'm still in the infacy of learning it), but I quickly realized it's just the American podcast page.

After all, everything was in English.

And then I saw this on top.

I did some Googling, and the House Democrats actually have a podcast!

This post isn't so much about promoting the Democratic party, as it is wondering why they're getting into this.

From what I've seen, politicians and gov't agencies usually don't get involved in technological fads. Alot of them still have some ancient looking web pages, after all!

But this is a surprise. Maybe they're just trying this podcasting thing to seem hip or something in the sea of un-hippness that would be created by a bunch of older men gathered in a single room arguing about what most of the public would consider mundane...

Or maybe they're just trying technology in another way to promote themselves, after they saw the campaign Dean ran in 2002-2003, where he used the internet heavily for promotion, and organizing a grassroots effort in that manner...

Or maybe it's just some pot-shooting?

"HAHA! Stupid Republicans! We have podcasting and you don't! NANA!"

OK, I got a little carried away with that one, but you get my point...

Also, alot of politicians at the levels of local and state gov't get into it as well.

Just look at Podcastdirectory.com, where they use Google Maps to show the locations of various podcasters!

All of this, though, is completely ignoring the fact that huge media companies get into it as well.

NBC, with Hardball, Sundance with Al Franken, Rush Limbaugh with his own podcast of his show (though I think he's really missing out on a huge oppurtunity by making it accessible to pay-for subscribers only), EVERYONE is getting into it!

But politicians are a little unexpected for catching onto tech fads...

17 Years At Charles De Gaulle!

2005-08-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

You may have already heard about this...

I think it's 17 years this past August 16th that he's been there!

Bad Iraq News Worries Some in G.O.P. on '06 - New York Times

2005-08-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

NY Times Op-Ed Piece

Who knows? Maybe this will bite the GOP in 2006? But then again, the GOP CANNOT let the Dems get majority in Congress, as that would mean investigations of all sorts of things via committees that the GOP would rather keep under the rug.

The GOP, for their own sake, HAS to win. And we all know what they resort to when they absolutely have to win at all costs...

To go off on a tangent, here's another potential presidential runner for 2008, Russ Feingold. He was on a few Sunday talk shows...

His words on the general topic of Iraq:

...the Democrats are making the same mistake they made in 2002, to let the administration intimidate them into not opposing this war, when so many of us knew it wasn't a good idea.

And same thing with this taboo on talking about a timeline. It doesn't make sense.

If the terrorists and the insurgents really thought that, why wouldn't they just stop blowing us up right now? Why wouldn't they just let us leave and then take over?

More importantly, let me tell you the conversation I had in the Green Zone from one of the top generals in Iraq when I was there...

...I said, "Off the record, your own view, would it help if we had a timeline to let the world know that we're not staying here forever?"

And this is what he said, verbatim. He said, "Nothing would take the wind out of the sails of the insurgents more than having a timeline in place."

So this is a false argument...that doesn't really address the reality that we are actually causing more insurgents, more terrorism and more problems from all around the world coming into Iraq because we don't have a vision for success and completion of the mission.

2008 Presidential Bid

2005-08-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is something someone asked me in an email, and I thought I might as well post my response here...

Question in red italics, my response immediately below...

This is a hypothetical question,as we don't know who is runnung,but who would you vote for if the elections were held tomorrow?

I really can't answer that, because today, we don't know who's running!

Depending on who runs for the Dems, I'd probably go with Kerry if he ran, or Dean over Kerry if Dean ran. But Dean says he won't run in 2008, though some say he's considering it for 2012, or 2016...

Dean's pretty moderate: socially liberal, fiscally conservative. It's usually those people that seem to do best...

I personally don't think that Hillary Clinton would get the nomination to run for president. It was something along the lines of what a teacher said about Colin Powell not running: that people just can't accept a black person (in this case, a woman) running for president, that even though people like to prance around about how we're so equal in everything, some people just can't accept someone of a different background running.

I think that's why Rush Limbaugh and so many Republicans are scared shitless by the thought of her running. They don't show it directly, but through vehemntly and enthusiastically saying "SHE'LL NEVER RUN! SHE'LL LOOOOOOSE!" you can tell their scared to death by it.

She doesn't have to win. Just the fact that she ran and stood a chance (I'm talking if she lost by less than 5%) would scare them to death. I think they're too old fashioned to accept it...

That said, there's not much with her I find totally wrong with. The wealth redistribution thing is a little looney, but she'd have to tone it down to something more sensible anyway for it to fly with the masses in the first place, so it's not like we'll get the worst of everything with her...

If it came down to Condi vs. Hillary, I'd choose Hillary in a heartbeat. We can't afford more neo-conservatives. Reagan, and Bush Jr. already have shown us how badly they run things, with fiscal irresponsibilty, and hyper-militarized foreign policy, which is a cause of the fiscal irresponsibilty...

If it was Dean, Kerry, and Clinton on the Democratic ticket, I'd go with Dean first, though torn between Kerry and Clinton for who I'd choose second.

Now, if Mcain or Powell ran, I might actually give the GOP candidates some thought. Powell and Mcain are moderates, and believe it or not, I can stand GOP moderates. Actually, I think Democrats are the real conservatives now, because there aren't any moderates in the GOP anymore, and the Dems feel obligated to fill the void.

Powell or Mcain might be a little too gung-ho in foreign policy and too scoially conservative for my tastes, and that would turn me off of them in the end, but just the fact that I gave them more thought than Bush, or Condi shows how badly neo-conservatives can screw things up...

I listened to the Audioslave song Bring 'Em Back Alive while I was writing this. You can obviously see what it's referring too. It's not really THAT political a song, but if you look at the lyrics, it is, though very subtley...

Attack on Iran: Pre-emptive Nuclear War

2005-08-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

This makes me wonder: Is Iran just being setup for tactical nuclear strikes?

Talk has been floating around for awhile about so-called "mini nukes"; small, low-yield nuclear weapons that would be used as bunker busters for destroying things that are too deep underground for conventional bunker busters to reach.

Needless to say, isn't it just a tad hypocritical to say to other nations that they can't build any WMD, while chickenhawks in the Pentagon call for building an arsenal of mini-nukes?

EDIT: Here is the link to the story. The post title actually has the link, but that isn't very clear and obvious...

Something's Pushing Me: Looking A Little Deeper Into Insider Trading On 9/11

2005-08-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

I feel a little compelled to look deeper into the insider trading stuff that went on in the days before 9/11. If for no one else, it's mainly for me.

I've always been interested in knowing things you're not supposed to know...

For a brief low-down on what's what, you can check out this San Franciso Chronicle article.
I posted a link to it in a previous post...

The companies who's stocks are in question are United and American Airlines, obviously the 2 airlines who's planes were used in the 9/11 attacks...

From the SF Chronicle article:

The Chicago Exchange, the largest options market in the nation and the board on which United options are officially listed, experienced volume eight times its normal levels in the trading of UAL Corp. put options on the Friday before the attack.

The purchaser of a put contract is guaranteed the right to sell a specific amount of shares at a specified price by a certain date. The purchaser profits from the deal when the share price drops lower than the agreed sale price.

Read the last 2 sentences. That tells you someone know what was gonna go down, and thought they might as well make a little cash from all of it.

That might be enough to whet most people's appetites and get most people who are interested in conspiracies worked up into a fit...

But, you can't, and shouldn't, stop at just that...

Google, you're a saint...

That link takes you to a Google search for "insider trading before 9/11". You probably already know that the result at the top of a list of search engine results is the most relevant, so let's see where that most prestegious link takes us!

Although uniformly ignored by the mainstream U.S. media, there is abundant and clear evidence that a number of transactions in financial markets indicated specific (criminal) foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the case of at least one of these trades -- which has left a $2.5 million prize unclaimed -- the firm used to place the “put options” on United Airlines stock was, until 1998, managed by the man who is now in the number three Executive Director position at the Central Intelligence Agency.

A guy that now works for the CIA in charge of the firm that did the abnormal trades? As author Matt Savinar said: "out of the realm of “paranoid conspiracy that can be quickly dismissed,” and into the realm of “conceivable possibility that must be discussed.”"

More on this Krongard dude:

Until 1997 A.B. “Buzzy” Krongard had been Chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown. A.B. Brown was acquired by Banker’s Trust in 1997. Krongard then became, as part of the merger, Vice Chairman of Banker’s Trust-AB Brown, one of 20 major U.S. banks named by Senator Carl Levin this year as being connected to money laundering. Krongard’s last position at Banker’s Trust (BT) was to oversee “private client relations.” In this capacity he had direct hands-on relations with some of the wealthiest people in the world in a kind of specialized banking operation that has been identified by the U.S. Senate and other investigators as being closely connected to the laundering of drug money.

First, potential (I say potential, because I think there are some people who aren't convinced yet) insider trading on 9/11, then hired by the CIA, and, to back up the notion that he's not a very good fellow, we find out his firm is involved in drug money, representing some very wealthy people?

Krongard joined the CIA in 1998 as counsel to CIA Director George Tenet. He was promoted to CIA Executive Director by President Bush in March of this year. BT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. The combined firm is the single largest bank in Europe. And, as we shall see, Deutsche Bank played several key roles in events connected to the September 11 attacks.

This is already starting to stink real bad...

The SF Chronicle article mentioned that the profits from the trades was $2.5 million:

“The uncollected money raises suspicions that the investors – whose identities and nationalities have not been made public – had advance knowledge of the strikes.” They don’t dare show up now. The suspension of trading for four days after the attacks made it impossible to cash-out quickly and claim the prize before investigators started looking.

There's a ton more dirt in that article than I have time to look over, and paste into here, but you get the idea.

So, now, we're left with the question: "Who are the profiteers who leave their $2.5 million lump-o-cash untouched?"

There probably aren't many people on this earth would just let $2.5 million sit there, without taking it.

But, if they're willing to leave $2.5 million uncollected so they can keep their covers, that obviously tells you that they're some VERY high people who are in some VERY high-up places.

I saw this link to an article about the Carlyle Group sitting on the right side of the 9/11 insider trading article.

You probably have heard of the Carlyle Group if you saw Farenheit 9/11, and know that relatives of Osama Bin Laden had a small stake in it...

Time for another visit from our savior, Google!

Here, again, is the top link from the list of results.

The Carlyle Group has also served as a paid adviser to the Saudi monarchy on the so-called ``Economic Offset Program,'' an arrangement that effectively requires U.S. arms manufacturers selling weapons to Saudi Arabia to give back a portion of their revenues in the form of contracts to Saudi businesses, most of whom are connected to the royal family. A company spokesman said yesterday that arrangement was ended ``a few months ago,'' but said he did not know whether it was terminated before or after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The way I see this, we have 2 paths running in parallel. Both are thorny, dangerous, filled with dirt, and lead to some sick end.

What I do not know is whether there is any small patch of dirt in the middle that connects the 2 paths, or if both paths lead to the same end...

IOW, we have a ton of dirt on both the Carlyle Group being in bed with the Saudis, and a ton of other dirt on people profiting from 9/11, BUT, nothing to link the 2 directly, even though there's plenty of stuff to imply that the 2 are connected...

The way I see it, Osama Bin Laden was planning 9/11, his family, who's connected with Carlyle, and thus the Bush family, told the Bush family in advance about what was going to happen.

The Bush family thought that they would let the shit hit the fan, allowing 9/11 to occur, so they could make some money off of it, and also so they could leverage 9/11 for political gain, so they could pass the Patriot Act, and bring about the war in Iraq, which, had 9/11 NOT occured, the US public probably would never have bought into. THEN, they could profit from the oil money coming out of Iraq, and also from the defense and reconstruction contracts that are sure to follow!

Convinced now?

Check It Out!

2005-08-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

I just got an XML feed working. It was there before, but wasn't with a neat little orange XML button, which would mean those with browsers that didn't support built-in RSS would never know it was there...

I did it with Feedburner.

I also added the new boxes on the side. "Contant Info", "Links" and obviously the "XML Feed" box...

Regarding 9/11, It's No Theories, JUST Conspiracy!

2005-08-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

I saw someone talking about 9/11 and how it may be remembered in US history "as the day that things changed" and all the right wing garbage you've heard before about how after 9/11, having Saddam Hussein around "wasn't acceptable anymore"...

It won't go down in history like that, at least not in education outside the US.

In other countries, they may remember it as they did the burning of the Reichstag: an event meant to scare and somewhat forcefully coerce the people into accepting their rights being taken away, and bigger gov't formed.

Only difference is, Reichstag was intentional. But despite the conspiracy theories that 9/11 was caused by Bush, I don't believe that, though I DO believe he saw it coming, and just didn't do anything, because he saw the oppurtunity it would present him.

How do I know he saw it coming?

Delay in scrambling fighter jets/jets not traveling at full speed to intercept hijacked planes:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO311B.html

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Abnormal trading of ONLY United and American Airlines stock in the days leading up to 9/11:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/09/19/BU184559.DTL&type=printable

Makes Martha Stewart's insider trading look like peanuts...

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Furthermore, the trading was done through a brokerage firm headed by a former CIA guy!

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/10_09_01_krongard.html

This is starting to stink REAAAALLLLL bad....

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There's a neo-conservative think tank called the Project for a New American Century. They released this report in Sep. 2000 outlining what should be done to preserve America's influence in the world:

http://newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

The report calls for:
1. Massive hikes in military spending;
2. The establishment of American military bases in Iraq and Saudi
Arabia;
3. US willingness to violate international treaties;
4. US control of the world’s energy sources;
5. US development of space-based weapons;
6. “Advanced forms of biological warfare that can target specific
genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of
terror to a politically useful tool;” (Emphasis added)
7. US willingness to use nuclear weapons to accomplish its goals;
8. Possible conflict with China.

Tell me which items in that list are currently happening now?

I think #6 is absolutely sick. Basically, the Republicans want to develop biological weapons that only target specific races of people. In this case, that race would be those of Arab decent...

Read those, and you'll see that none of it's conspiracy theories.

It's just CONSPIRACY, with NO theories or guesswork involved....

The Real Invasion, Threat To Our Nation, And Threats From Terrorism Is Right Here At Home, Not In Iraq!

2005-08-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.vdare.com/misc/custred_alien_crossings.htm

I know alot of people that lean towards the left in politics are all about giving illegal aliens whatever they want, bet it welfare, amnesty, safe passage into the US, whatever...

I get the impression that most are opposed to any locking down of the border, and especially opposed to stuff like this:

As the situation near Douglas worsened, some of the ranchers decided to take action on their own. Roger Barnett owns a 22,000-acre ranch outside Douglas. Soon he and his brother Don, like his neighbor Larry Vance and others, began rounding up aliens on their property and holding them until the border patrol arrived to arrest them. Advocacy groups howled in protest, as did the Mexican government. Their lawyers demanded that the ranchers be prosecuted for false arrest, kidnapping, intimidation, criminal assault, violation of civil rights, in short anything lawyers can come up with to advance their clients' interests. Larry Vance retorted that "the only rights that have been violated are those of American citizens whose privacy, property, and nation are invaded from Mexico."

I hope most of you are in favor of locking down our borders.

But, for those who aren't, let me explain why locking them down works in your best interests.

First, is the claims of human rights violations.

I'm here to tell you all of it's BS.

First off, coming in illegaly is dangerous in and of itself. Trekking through the searing heat, dying from dehydration, all of that, that's pretty inhumane, wouldn't you say?

Second, if you're wondering why I'm telling you to be opposed to illegal immigration, all I have to say is, look at who else supports it: employers who want cheap labor!

Basically, the business people we can blame so much on! The war in Iraq for their contracts, passing the anti-bankruptcy bill, wanting to privatize SS, and now, wanting to open the floodgates on illegal immigration...

What am I getting at here? If you oppose illegal immigration, and put a stop to it, you're hurting the wealthy corporatists that put Bush into office!

Hell, if a draft ever came, I'd volunteer for Border Patrol!

So, who else here is with me in wanting to secure our borders?

Bush Administration and Christian Reich Object To Formation of .xxx Domain!

2005-08-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Bush administration is objecting to the creation of a .xxx domain, saying it has concerns about a virtual red-light district reserved exclusively for Internet pornography.

Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary at the Commerce Department, has asked for a hold to be placed on the contract to run the new top-level domain until the .xxx suffix can receive further scrutiny. The domain was scheduled to receive final approval Tuesday.

"The Department of Commerce has received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children," Gallagher said in a letter that was made public on Monday.

http://news.com.com/Bush%20administration%20objects%20to%20.xxx%20domains/2100-1028_3-5833764.html?part=rss&tag=5833764&subj=news

Worried about a red light district on the internet? That's the whole point! To contain it and keep it in one spot, or in this case, put it all in the same domain...

Blocking porno would be so easy if all you had to enter was "www.*.xxx" or whatever into whatever filters you setup, and THAT'S the biggest reason for putting it in the same domain!

>>""The Department of Commerce has received nearly 6,000 letters and e-mails from individuals expressing concern about the impact of pornography on families and children,""

More BS from the Christian Reich! If only they were a little more versed in technology, and had a clue, and decided to leave the protective womb that is AOL, they'd see how putting all the porno in one domain could work.

Besides, they're "concerned", so why object to putting it in one domain, when that makes it FAR easier to block?

>>"The Family Research Council, for instance, warned that "pornographers will be given even more opportunities to flood our homes, libraries and society with pornography through the .xxx domain.""

Hey numbnuts! It'll be a helluvalot easier to block!

Second Time Driving

2005-08-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

We gave the 2003 Pontiac Grand Am sedan another spin today, with this trip only differing slightly from the last.

This time, there was the complication (a tremendous one at that) of my sister being in the back seat. Today (actually yesterday, as I'm typing this at 1AM) was the first time I'd driven with another person in the car besides my dad in the front seat. I told my sister from the very beginning not to say a word. A teenage girl is this earth's richest source for distractions, to the point of not needing to be protected by endangered species acts or national parks...

"Not a WORD" I told her, speaking at just the right volume so that I could make the pitch of my voice deep for a chilling effect. As anticipated, she doesn't give a damn...

We had to stop by the library near our house first to return some movies I had checked out Wednesday (YES they have only 3 day rentals on DVDs). My dad stops on the pavement in front of the walkway leading to the door, the black color of the ground absorbing a tremendous amout of heat during the day, and conveniently releasing it when I walk over it. The only thing I hate more than feeling like I'm walking in a frying pan is feeling the back of my shirt covered in sweat as if it was vegetable oil...

I drop the movies in one by one, and run back to the car, cursing in my head at the sight of my sister getting out of the front passenger seat, and my dad taking her place.

I grudgingly agree to drive down the highway to White Marsh...

First leg of the journey is to pull out of the library parking lot. I speed up a little, turn left into a row of parking spaces, left again, forward a little, and left again, past more spaces, and out of the library parking lot. Basically, we turned around.
I drive down the curvy road leading away from the library, to turn right onto one of the main arteries leading out of the subdivision. I turn right, and notice a county sheriff passing by. Seeing the way some people drive, I figure that he's there for them instead of me...
We go down the road, through a curve, and to a roundabout. The turn goes smoothly all the way through, though accelerating out I notice my foot is shaking trying to hold the accelerator in the same spot to maintain speed. It's not that it's hard to hold it, it's just that I'm not used to having it stay in the same spot for so long. It didn't affect any speed.
We come to another roundabout, but instead of going straight through, we have to turn onto the road to the left of us. Being a roundabout that moves to the right, this makes it the longest path through, and I feared, the most difficult one on which to maintain a crisp turn without hitting something and trying to fight back the ambulance chasers that swarm in for the prey.
Fortunately, no ambulance chasers smell blood, because I didn't screw up. Of course, going downhill to the highway was hairy, because the speed limit was 35, and I all of a sudden found myself pushing 60. I notice a few people behind me not slipping away, which surely meant that they were going the same speed. It's just really comforting knowing that not only can you get away with some gross speeding, but other people don't give a damn, and even try to catch up!
We turn right onto the highway after pulling out a little to make sure no fools were coming. The coast is clear, and off I go!
You have to accelerate to 55 on this road rather quickly, which kinda scared me, it only being my second time behind the wheel, and the "stickiness" of the accelerator I mentioned last time. Basically, when you push hard enough on the accelerator to accelerate really fast (as is required on MD route 24) it lulls for half a second, and then kicks in, a little more than anticipated. Then, when you let off the pedal, it still accelerates a little. My dad says it's just me, but I think that the automatic transmission must be between gearshifts or something.
We go to the stoplight nearest the entrance to I-95, and I have to slow down because of some soccer mom (remeber last time?) in a minivan going slow. She changed lanes, and I slow down to 40 for the on-ramp, and then gradually up to 70 for I-95.
Merging out of the vanishing right lane is the hardest part, but the freeway drive goes smooth.
After 7 miles we have to exit. Scariest part is merging onto the boulevard. My dad starts raising his voice as I drift out of my lane, and into the left one as we merge into traffic.
We go down the boulevard, and I go all the way to the left lane, so we can turn into the complex of parking lots for the mall. There are some people collecting change for charity, and I was almost afraid to hit one. We turn left, and this time, I stay in my lane.
We go down a road surrounded by parking lots on either side, and have to turn left one last time at a light. I sit behind an old, hippy looking blue van, the paint faded. Who knows how many joints have been lit up in the back...
Turning at the light, we go a few hundred feet, and then pull into a parking lot. I find a spot, drive head in, and I'm finished.

I didn't want to make the return trip home, but it was dark when we left the mall anyway...

First Time Driving

2005-08-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today, it was the first time after getting my learner's permit that I actually drove. My sister always thinks that she can lay it on me that I'm scared about having no experience with a 2,000lb hunk of metal with several gallons of explosive gasoline, but anyone rational would cut me some slack because they understand that I'm justifiably concerned, right?

Anyway, the trip consisted of this:

Getting out of the sub-division we live in, to a 30mph road to a roundabout. It was kinda scary getting out not only because I was constantly thinking that some kid would run out into the street, but that there were also cars parked on both sides. It was aggrivating until get went farther to the main road that leads out of the subdivision.
Once out of the sub-division, there's a 30mph road for a few hundred feet to a roundabout. Only hard part here was turning right onto the road, because trees were blocking my view, and several cars were turning into the road I'm trying to leave. Going through the roundabout was easy.
Next, we went 35mph for about 700ft, to a state route highway. The speed limit here is already 55mph, so I was scared as hell going that fast thinking that you had to make decisions in a flash or else your ass is burnt toast. Fortunately, the road is pretty wide, with nice fat lanes. Not a lot of room for error, but not as bad as anticipated.
We went through a few lights to the light that controls access to the on-ramp to I-95. We sat there for about 30 seconds waiting for the turn signal, and I felt like I was on a roller coaster, in the sense that, you're strapped in, you're going on the ride, it's too late to turn back now, and there ain't a damn thing in this word you can do about it. Whether I liked it or not, I was going on that highway.
Actually accelerating to a higher speed wasn't the scary part. What WAS scary was trying to blend in with the traffic so I wouldn't have to make some sudden move to get out of the rapidly vanishing right lane. I was going 65-70mph the whole time, and was worried about people making rapid lane changes and reducing the safety cushion the driver's manual was constantly harping on maintaining at all costs...
After 5 miles, we got off at an exit, and had to slow down for the next road, but not by much, as the speed limit was 40mph. There was more traffic, so it was the scariest part of the whole trip.
We went to a pool parking lot, and turned around and then went the way we came back home. I almost went out of my lane leaving the parking lot, but at least the turn onto the on-ramp back to the highway was smooth. There was a minivan behind me, probably housing a soccer mom and screaming kids, and I kept thinking "she's almost as dangerous as me!".
After the highway home, the off-ramp was the hairiest part of the whole trip. The right lane that the ramp leads you to ends in what can't be more than 200ft, so you have to accelerate, merge, change lanes, and make sure you don't crash into anyone, all at once, and FAST! What made it harder is that the acceleration on my dad's car seems to be a little delayed. If you push the pedal hard (as I had to coming off the highway) there's a .50 second delay from when you push the pedal to when the engine actually kicks in. It's annoying, because you could be accelerating when you really don't want to, and at higher speeds, .50 seconds is ALOT of time. Add on top of that the fact that once you accelerate at a certain rate, the engine wants to stick at that rate, and keep going. Not very good for a first time driver...
We went down the state route the way we came, but went past the road to turn towards our subdivision and kept going straight towards the mall. There were a few lights in between, but turning off the state route, onto another road, and almost running up on the curb when turning into the parking lot wasn't a highlight...

My dad drove home from Best Buy. I'd had enough for one day...

Right Wing Punditry Because We Hate America

2005-07-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

It seems like saying that you're a conservative and that you hate liberals because their stupid has become a fad of sorts.

But, why has it gotten like this?

I'm just gonna call them wanna-be conservatives, because:

They're usually Republican.
The Republican party completely abandoned any REAL conservative values it once had...

There are a few ways the wanna-be leverage their ideas, most with the objective in mind of getting more votes.

It all arguably started with 9/11. The country was reeling in shock after an event of such magnitude, and that creates a dangerous situation where almost anyone can exploit that fear and sadness for personal gain.

You could even call 9/11 the New Pearl Harbor.

Bush leveraged it to gain popularity, and establish a connection with his core base/demographic, which are unfortunately extremely gullible to such appeals.

He establishes the connection, tells people he's keeping them safe by increasing the military budget and taking on a he-man masculine image that he's a strong supporter of the military and that he takes a pro-active approach to fighting terror, which only furthers and strengthens the connection he established previously.

That connection and image that he forms convinces people that it is only Bush and people like him that can keep America safe, and that anyone else who comes forth with a dissenting opinion (or in some cases, someone who IS a Bush supporter, but just has suggestions for improvement) is quickly labeled with the usual un-American, Commie, terrorist tags that are so familiar to all of us.

Now, that's where it began.

Next, we ask, how does it manifest itself?

Obviously, hatred, and vehement disagreement for any dissenting opinions on how the country should be run that are contradictory to the President's own are an obvious side effect.

Another is the constant hypocrisy that can be found if you dig just a little...

People often like to complain that liberals screw up education, can't defend America, and can't balance the budget, though the Republicans have seemed to lay off the last one for the past few years, as they can't disguise the fact that Bush has spent recklessly more than any liberal in existance.

But, for education, screaming that liberals are ruining it couldn't be farther from the truth.

No Child Left Behind is a scam. All it does is hold teachers accountable for shortcomings of students, completely disregarding the fact that some kids do badly because of poor situations at home, or other problems of that sort.

Basically, NCLB is asking schools to take the fall for parental shortcomings.

And you thought liberals were the ones hell bent on destroying the family unit?

Too many people fail to realize, gov't can't take the place of, or make up for, bad parenting.

But, there are things like after school avtivities, music programs, clubs, and things like that to keep the kids occupied, right?

Well, with a $400 billion federal budget shortfall, you can bet a limb of your body that these things will be among the first to go.

But, there's another resource available that may go up for the chopping block: school counselors.

You can consider school counselors as portals of sorts.

If a student has some problems, the first place they would go is the counselor's office at their school. That counselor can refer them to services provided by police, social workers, other counselors (for example, people who specialize in a spefici type of counseling, eg. grief counseling), or even personal friends the counselor knows, such as pastors, or anyone else they feel can help.

But, counselors are another thing that could go on the chopping block.

Remember, there's a $400 billion federal deficit, and that's probably without the costs of Iraq added in, as those are sneakily kept off the budget to give people a false impression that things are going better than they really are.

Next up, we have the thought/revelation/right-wing created pop culture phenomenon that Dems are incapable.

In order to confront this, you have to realize why the whole concept of "war on terror" is a flawed one.

It's estimated that there are 18,000 to 20,000 al-Qaeda operatives around the world. Note the "around the world" part.

Now, a traditional military campaign would only work if there were those 20,000 terrorists in one country. But, and here is the kicker, terrorism is an ideology.

Big deal, you may say. Why does it matter that it's an ideology?

Ideologies are everywhere. That means terrorism is everywhere. London, Madrid, Beslan, Russia, the Moscow theatre, Bali, Israel/Palestine, Tokyo (the sarin attack in the subway), Riyahd (the bombing of the American compound) and of course New York and Washington DC are all living proof of that.

When you have an ideology that's everywhere like terrorism, a traditional military campaign just won't work, no matter how you cut, dry and spin it.

This is where Bush and the Republicans fall very short.

Most of the spending and attention should be focused "in some rather mundane areas. Hardening soft targets, improving our ability to respond to attacks and securing dangerous weapons overseas before they fall into the wrong hands all run headlong into conservative thinking in some irreconcilable ways..." ...and this is why Bush and Co. feel a tremendous urge to woo potential voters by proudly increasing military spending.

They know that with a soundbite driven media, they can beat it on their chests that they care for the troops, that having a strong military makes America the best country on earth (completely disregarding all other factors), and just plain fool every person who has the slightest chance of giving them a vote.

It almost seems to be an insecurity about masculinity thing, in the sense that voting for the guy who pledges to make the military strong and who projects that "go-getter, pro-active" image preserves your masculine sense of pride.

I leanred quite a long time ago that what a "real" man is (it doesn't even have to be restricted to males; females can have the same qualities) is someone who keeps their cool, talks through things (the former is a prerequisite for the latter), and doesn't start a gung-ho splurging spree, whether it's with money, taking all the wrong steps in the heat of the moment, or making thoughts without seeing what most of the consequences could first be.

Anyone else is just a drunken college fratboy.

So, where am I going with all of this? By voting for Bush, you're not preserving "Americana", or your masculine spirit. You're promoting the attitude/overall feeling of drunken college fratboys: You don't care what other people think; you can't keep your cool; you can't talk through things; you don't see what potential consequences of your actions could be, and you just can't hold any amount of responsibilty, whether it's college life, or holding the most powerful office in the world.

Nevertheless, voting feeling that they preserve their false sense of masculinity is probably why "liberals" are hated so much. This would explain why they're so passionate about it.

And then, finally, we have the constant railings by pundits that liberals, by not supporting the war on terror the way the conservatives want to, are un-patriotic, and un-American. I've already outlined above why the concept of having a "war on terror" is flawed, but even if you still somehow believe such a thing is necessary, Bush still isn't helping it with the invasion of Iraq.

And this is where everything else I've outlined, namely, the preservation of a false sense of masculinity deal, comes into play.

Loooooonnggg Distance....

2005-02-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

A man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco, and started working east from there.

Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign which read "$10,000 a minute." Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he paid the price he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
Finally, he arrived in Alabama. Upon entering a church, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read "Calls: 25 cents." Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor. "Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 25 cents a call. Why?"

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in the South now, and it's a local call.

Gizoogle

2005-02-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

This is probably swarming over the Internet as I speak.

http://www.gizoogle.com/

Just enter a URL to translate (you have to have the http://) like http://cnn.com.

I am laughing so hard my abdominal muscles are cramping!

We can only pray Google doesn't shut them down...

The Lair of pdwxm29...

2005-02-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

The Lair of pdwxm29...

Grand Theft America

2005-02-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

To think that this country was so close from not having to go through all of Bush's BS...

Grand Theft America

Glad I Have Eyes...

2005-01-31T19:53:00.000-08:00

I have integrated graphics so the only way I can enjoy the nex-gen graphics is making the screens from games like Far Cry and Age of Empires 3 my desktops.

These are from Age of Empires 3. AoE3 should be coming out around the second half of the year. It will be using Pixel Shader 3.0 and HDR lighting for that terrific looking glow effect on many of the objects.

I'll stick with this...

2005-01-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

After messing around with the old template, I decided to just add a background image to spice things up.

Then I looked at the templates to see if there was one that went with the background image better. So here I am. Until I brush my HTML skills up, I think this is the way I will be keeping things for awhile.

By the way, the HTML editor I was using is called Nvu. It is just like the Composer part of Mozilla, but is much more advanced and is stand alone. Get it today!

Does anyone else agree?

2005-01-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday, and we all know what Sundays are about: DREADING MONDAY!

This of course takes all of the fun out of anything that we could do on Sunday, because we always think about how much Monday is gonna suck.

Well, at my Monday won't suck. Tommorow we start a new semester at my high school, so the same boring classes are GONE!

Hopefully my semester grades don't suck...

How is the new banner?

2005-01-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

The first fruits of my labor in my attempt to mod the template has been finished.

Does the new banner look good or does it suck? If it sucks, let me know and I'll change it back to the template default.

Anyone want Gmail?

2005-01-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

If anyone wants a Gmail invite, mail me or post an email adress and first and last name in the comments. I have 10 left, so the first 10 get 'em!

The first post, hopefully not the last

2005-01-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

I know that I am using a template. I know that I am going to tweak it out. I know my HTML skills need work.

The one thing I don't know is whether people will actually come here. Post some comments. Even if you don't really say anything, it at least lets me know that someone has been here!