Friday, March 30, 2007

nellyville

I'm on the side of the defendant. Me, I experience road rage at least once a day sometimes more. And this story is proof of why I don't think I should own a gun. Hey, nothing says "speed up!" like a few well-placed rounds in the back of the car. Still, it's not that they didn't negotiate a turn fast enough but rather a total lack of concern for everyone else. Say you're making a right turn onto a street from a one-lane road. Now the one-lane road speed limit is 40MPH and you can safely make this turn at about 20MPH. Is it really necessary to make the turn at 5MPH? Yes, the safety of your family is paramount, but you can take the turn faster and remain safe, or you can take it really slow (which is the safest) and risk having the next four cars behind you plow into you at 40+ MPH. And what about the people behind you? You think where they're going is any less important than where you're going? And yes, I try to put the welfare of others before my own. On my way home from work everyday I have to execute a U-turn right at the entrance of my apartment complex. It's actually the highlight of my day. I've seen people make the same turn I make at less than 5MPH, darn near causing accidents (these people tend to swing out like a tractor-trailer making a turn). As I'm approaching the U-turn I speed up to give myself a little room behind me, down-shift, brake, and execute the turn. Yes, I'm safe, I look to see if there is any traffic where I'm turning ahead of time. I do it partly because I'm trying not to impede others in their journey, but also because it's fun as hell!

What gets me is the daycare comes equipped with bulletproof glass. Yeah... that can't be a good sign can it? Nah, I understand the need for bullet-resistant glass, it doesn't break when you toss a ball against it. Yeah, nothing is really "bulletproof" but bullet-resistant.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

white flag

Same news. Teachers having sex with students. Seriously though, is there just something wrong with them? Has this always been a problem, just one that wasn't publicized? Like the whole Catholic priest scandal? Whew. I liked it when I was ignorantly blissful.

I think we're just regurigating news stories here. How or why would any girl abandon a baby in a truck try, let alone do this three times. Seriously, take advantage of the law. Drop the kid off at a fire station. Like the days of ol', leave baby on doorstep, ring doorbell, run like hell. Instead she opted for the parked pickups and a bench. I say find her, charge her with two attempts of pre-mediated murder, and one 1st degree murder charge, plus a whole slew of other things. Then give her the electric chair.

I understand the drama of a life sentence but in modern times can't we find a better way to say things like life plus 30 years? To me I imagine the prisoner dies in jail, then for the next 30 years they keep the corpse in the cell. I realize it's a life sentence, eligible for parole after a certain amount of time but then it's not a life sentence. *shrug* I don't understand it.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

drop it like it's hot

Now this is what I call a good ol' fashion house of ill-repute. Nah, but it's a bit excessive. 80? Whew. What the hell was he doing with that many? Making his own clothes? Starting a clothing line? I dunno, but I'd probably call the cops when I saw the first one hit the streets.

OK, I'll credit the dealers with good marketing tactics. You know, the whole idea of sweetening the meth to appeal to a young crowd. I disagree with soliciting drugs to kids, but the marketing tactic is flawless. My other concern is I think the meth dealers are smoking too much of their own product. Look at your younger market. Do you really think they'll be able to afford your product? I don't know about you but "Dad, can you raise my allowance so I can buy some meth," really just roll off the tongue like you think it would. Sure there's stealing but I doubt they know the right people to fence items, even small ones. I guess they could always trade a stolen dvd player directly for some meth.

I think this takes the cake. See kids? Doing drugs makes you stupid. Beyond stupid. Or as I like to call it, a good mistake.

This really gets me on my soapbox. Seriously, because there's really no excuse for it. Killing newborn babies. There's programs in place (and there were back then) to handle unwanted babies, anonymously. I think they should get the death penalty. Instead they got a 6 year and 2 year sentences? Damnit, there's enough in the world going on to avoid crap like this.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

holst - mars

This guy has a problem? No, no, no. What's the square root of 289, now that's a problem. Still, maybe he'd fit in better in Japan. I really want to know what exactly is the punishment for stealing underwear is or how that's addressed in the docket.

Ha! Just when I gave up pizza. Of course the article says Pizza as healthy food, then highlights the fact that fatty toppings negate the effects. So in reality it's just slightly less bad for you now? OK, I'll buy that. Do you accept Visa?

As sad as it sounds, one thing I'll comment is that the mom of the first kid killed there was honest. She said that alcohol was a factor, now I don't condone drinking and driving but there's merit in honesty. She didn't come on there like "Oh my son was such a good boy, always living life to the fullest and now he won't get a chance to." I give props to the mom.

Now blacks can stop being stereotypically lazy and get back to work. Look, you've guilted whole states into apologizing. Isn't that enough?

I don't know, the opposition's case is a little on the weak side. For one thing the restaurant chain has been around for awhile but only when it came to their neighborhood did they complain about it. Secondly, "...the name is a reference to a slang word for female breasts..." - Good catch there genius, you only getting this now? You should be working at NASA with that kind of thinking.

Seriously, what's with all the knife-wielding attacks on large groups? Knock the f***er out! One on one, yeah, the knife's got the advantage but in situations like 4-to-1, the 4 has got the advantage over the one guy with a knife! It's not like he can flip a switch to full-automatic and just spray down the whole room with a knife.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Overreact First, Stay Safe

You've got to love the freedom private schools have at taking away the freedoms of its students. Such is the case at St. Hugo of the Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Here's a link to the news article.
Now I want to chime in, because to me this is just more than a restriction on students First Amendment rights. Yes, I accept that private schools have a different set of rules and guidelines that you must abide by. I can understand blocking Myspace in the school computer lab, but to go as far as try to regulate what goes on at the student's home?
I went to a Catholic high school. I had a class on religion every year, specifically Christianity. Also, because I lived in Hawaii at the time, so I had to take a Hawaiian History class. Not a huge deal. I accept that as necessary. Learning isn't bad for thing for school. This though, goes against any sort learning policy. The restriction of an internet site such as Myspace isn't part of the learning process.
What gets me is that a school official is quoted as saying that 99.9% of the parents support their decision. Either Sister Margaret is lying (which I find hard to believe) or she doesn't know percentages. OK, she's probably exaggerating but still to me it would indicate that most of the parents would prefer the school regulate such things. Whereas I feel that internet usage at home should be in the realm of parenting. Yes, I realize that the parents are probably busy with work and trying to provide food and shelter. But this is important and should be treated as such.
- "The Internet can be wonderful for educational material, but it also can be unsafe," principal Sr. Margaret Van Velzen said. -
Yes, I agree. The internet can be unsafe. But do you know what else can be unsafe? Driving, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage, walking across the street, picking your nose, and playing on the playground. Damn near everything can be unsafe. The schools have a right to regulate those things on school property. Example: To play four-square at school I have to wear a helmet, elbow and knee pads. Fine, that's what I have to do. But if the school told me that I had to wear those things when I was playing in my neighborhood with my friends I'd probably tell them to go to hell. The school could even make it a policy that to attend the school I had to wear all the crap, I'd still tell them to bite me.
- "School officials felt it necessary to apply the new policy after recent cases of adults, some in authoritative positions, posed as minors to converse or meet with young boys and girls." -
*gasp* They posed as minors to talk! Oh my God! The Internet is unsafe! Wait, didn't my parents tell me never to talk to strangers? Huh. Well, I did anyway but when I went out to meet them I always told my parents. I guess I'm strange like that because MY PARENTS TAUGHT ME THAT! Yeah, that's right. Parenting. Still, they would try to stop me but I'd go anyway. At least they knew where I was going though even if they didn't approve of it. I rebelled within the system.
St. Hugo parent Kate Lynch said it's a great start. "I think we've got a long way to go because it's a very difficult situation to grasp in its entirety," Lynch said. "There's so many things going on on the Internet and there's so much vulnerability for children."
and
Another St. Hugo parent, Liza Stanczak, said all schools should implement the policy. "I think this is just the beginning of schools taking a stand against this kind of thing," Stanczak said. "I think this is going to have to happen because things are getting out of hand."
OK, I agree with the first parent's comment. Regulating what our children can and can't do on the Internet is important. The second parent comment just pisses me off, to me it just screams "I'm too lazy to parent so the schools should tell my kids what to do!" You know what I think Liza? It is getting out of hand, the lack of parenting in America today is just awful. Oh, you're talking about the Internet? SO WAS I!
And to the naysayers that would tell me that "you don't understand because you don't have children." You're right, and you know what? I'm not ready to be a parent but that's my choice and I accept responsibility of my actions and so should you.

white & nerdy

I'm going to go ahead and attribute gravity as the reason they fell. Yeah, I'm splitting hairs. I'm sure what the officials are trying to figure out is why the couple went over. Maybe a lovers' leap? Preliminary indications are there, but they won't know for sure. What I do know is why they fell. Physics.

Here's an innovative method. Flawed, but a worthy effort. I mean, it's not like offering women $500 to not have abortions. Still, imagine ordering a slice of pie from Papa John's and the delivery guy comes over and you see your face on the cover of a large pepperoni? I just don't like Cynthia Brown's reasoning.

Duh. Haven't I been saying this all along? Blanket medications of children is wrong. Blanket medications of people is just wrong. It's this modern world though, the mentality of the population that problems should be solved during a commercial break. Yes, a pill can provide temporary fix to a problem but like all drugs each time you do it, it just takes that much more the next time to reach that high. It can be just as bad as the "illegal" drugs. Pills don't solve everything and they shouldn't be expected to. Some pills, some therapy, or just talking about your problems, and you be able to cope better. It takes time though. It's not going to be solved in an hour like Murder She Wrote.

Indiana, PA police are conducting a state-wide search for the suspected killer of a IUP student. Anyone that has seen or has any information that could lead to the arrest of the suspected killer please contact the Indiana, PA police department at: R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D. OK, to be fair it's not their fault. The link on the CNN.com webpage said "Meningitis suspected in college death." What? I can't believe that we still won't take a stand on our comments just because we're afraid of being sued if we're wrong.

Wait. WHAT? This has got to be a messed up case to give the names of the victims but not of the suspect. I'm guessing that this guy's intention wasn't to kill anyone though. I mean seriously, stabbing people in the ER? And one more thing, for the reporting crew, it's a wifebeater shirt not a "white tanktop". Girls wear tanktops.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

one thing leads to another

Do what you say, say what you mean. I'll just say it. The weather here in Indiana is just plain weird and I dislike it. I've lived in various parts of this country and I've never quite encountered weather patterns like this. In the morning I got up, it was kind of dreary but I still went out and ran my errands. When I got back the weather was beautiful so I decided to take advantage and work a little on my car. I've been putting off some maintenance for some good weather like this. One of the things I attempted to repair was my front bumper. It sits in front of the hood instead of behind it. The knucklehead ripped it out but stopped about 1/10 of the way through and put it back together. By rip out, I mean actually rip out. Regardless, I managed to correct the problem. In my efforts, I had to remove some parts to gain access to the part I was repairing. Once removed I realized that I should probably clean it off, 16 years of crap buildup is extensive so I used more extreme methods. My cleaning method required that I repaint it, no sense in this metal part rusting on me too. It went from a dirty white/pearl to gunmetal gray. Of course the bolts were still white so I repainted them too, black this time. All in all, this took about 5 hours of my day. Just as I'm going down to my car to install the part, dark clouds take form overhead. Once my tools were out and I was in position it starts to rain. A few drops here, no big deal but I hurry up anyway. Don't want to be caught out in the rain with my hood open. My primary concern was lining up the two mechanisms that lock the hood down and release it. With the assembly complete it starts to rain harder. Dedicated to my work and knowing that God was laughing at me I knew that I hadn't aligned the two parts correctly and that my hood would be locked. Sure enough, I went to pop the hood and heard nothing. It's raining pretty good at this point and I manage to temporarily fix the hood problem. Rain delay. Will finish the rest after a good night's rest.

OK, I don't understand this, but apparently stupidity is bigger in Texas too. I lived there for the better part of two years and I really don't see how a $500 incentive helps. Yes, I admit 75,000 abortions is alot. However, that's not that simple. I wish it were, but it's not. It's not a solution. It doesn't address the problem. It's just stupid. Yeah it could potentially save 3000 lives. And to the "critics" it's not buying babies, it's saving lives. That'll be spending $1.5 million that could be better spent on other things, like say, sex education. *gasp* And what about the women and the families that already have decided on adoption as an alternative? I guess they should just walk into a clinic just for the $500. I'm sure that'll drive up the cost of the program. To be honest, it sounds like a political move to gain voters among the pro-life camp. It'll get shot down in appropriations.
To clarify, I'm not pro-life. However, it may be crueler to everyone if a baby is brought up in an unsuitable environment with inadequate funds. I just don't know.

Friday, March 23, 2007

jungle love

Update: It was an accident. You know those 31 year old pizza delivery guys always carry guns right? He accidently found it in his hand, he accidently loaded the weapon, then accidently chambered a round, accidently took the gun off 'safe', accidently pointed it the kid, and accidently pulled the trigger. Yeah, I can really believe that. It's like the scientific belief that the world evolved. I believe it (I really do) so I guess I believe that this is an accident. As far as the wife goes, yeah, I think it was right for her to attempt to commit suicide. I mean, who wouldn't? Married to a 31 year old pizza delivery guy with his highest aspiration to be a school band director? He's going places, hold on ladies for the wild ride!

Hmm, nothing quite says "be my valentine" like a gift-wrapped box with a severed dog head. Especially if the head belongs to that girl's dog. Look, I know Abby says to do something that sets you out from the crowd, but um, this is a bit much. Yes, she'll probably never forget you but then again you'll be in jail for a couple of years.

Why can't cool stuff like this happen to me? And no, I wouldn't share it with anybody but my closest friends that I trust. You know, the ones with big trucks. Yup, we'd go back with all sorts of containers and pump ourselves a little resevoir. You know what? I can't feel sad about this whole thing. Oil companies rip us off all day, every day, and only a few times does the little guy win like this. OK, I'd call a radio station after I'd gotten my fill.

Ah, more good news. I'm glad we take the time to tally up cometic surgeries. Breasts are up and so is the amount of augmentive breast surgeries or more popularly referred to as "boob jobs." Yay! Go America! To quote Daniel Tosh, "Plastic surgery gives people a chance to have their outer appearance match their inner appearance. Fake."

Oh yeah, I've been waiting for this exclusive club. Hot people only! Oh wait, they got to vote you in? Crap. Nevermind, I'll just wait in the proverbial alley behind the club and try to sneak in through the kitchen.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

bumblebee tuna

OK fatty riddle me this. You don't have ADHD but its cool to take the medication for it because you want to lose weight? I don't have anything against Alex, he got lucky. No major side-effects of the drug, well, none that wasn't intentional. I have a problem with the doctor prescribing the drug though. "Ziai (the doctor) says Adderall is the only option for many of his overweight kids." - Uh-huh. Have you ever recommended that THEY CLOSE THEIR MOUTHS AND STOP EATING SO MUCH? Put the fork down! Yeah, it's the only option...

OK, after taking that Mensa quiz and scoring "a little above average" I'm feeling super smart! Not as smart as the people that solved the Lie group E8 problem. That's totally cool, learn more here. Of course like most hobbies it has no practical application. Ha!

Only in Indiana. You got to love the level of stupidity here, and people wonder why technology companies won't come here and set up shop. To summarize, kids make movie about teddy bears killing a teacher, officials consider this a threat against the teacher, said kids are expelled. Really? Death by teddy bears? Of all the ways to go, I've never heard of that. Although I'll admit that my horror movie knowledge is lacking. I think it shows imagination, creativity, you know things that shouldn't be censored. Perhaps guided, but not censored.

Not to sound cold because gun safety is one of those things that I preach about, but I got to know was he a cop or robber? And no, I don't think that everyone has a right to bear arms. People that can't grasp the concept of what a gun is for shouldn't be allowed to have one. On the flip side though, I think people should at least have a basic understanding of how to handle one. i.e. Holding a loaded gun with your thumb and pointer finger isn't the safest method. A drop could jar the retainer pin on the safety loose and accidentally discharge it. The safest method of holding a loaded gun? Very simple. Unload it. You don't have to be a gun-fantantic to know how to do this. Unloaded guns have a very low fatality rate.
And like any other man-made device, it's not evil. Only the wielder.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

mr. smarty-pants

Here's a mental workout for you all.

http://www.mensa.org/workout2.php


I scored 15 out of 30. That's 50% for all you brainiacs. I think that's still failing.

Another one.

http://simple-iq.com/

The internet is fun!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Joining the Technorati Cult...
Technorati Profile

freak of the week

ARGH. Now it's 41 cents? It's doubled in the last ten years! Dang, I wonder if people complained this much back in the early 1900's. It's fricking insane! And these "forever" stamps? What a joke. I guess I'm going to be stockpiling stamps now right? Or am I just going to be lazy and pay the extra when they hike up the price again next year? Latter.

Wait for it. Oh yeah. What morons. I'm taking this quote and running with it.
"The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection," said Wolfgang Apel, head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals.
Oh I'm sure it was misquoted or edited, taken out of context or whatever. Still. That's just an awesome quote. Me, I'm going out and killing a bunch of animals now and post them at the nearest tree-hugger convention.
Or, I just thought of this for Mr Apel. You've got not right then to say anything if about killing the bear because you're the head of the PROTECTION of animals. So shut your mouth.
The bear is cute though. I want one.

Uh-oh. Looks like the price of stamps isn't the only thing on the rise. Coke will as be making a price hike. Umm, to clarify, by 'coke' I am referring to the street slang for cocaine. 19.5 metric tons of that crap was intercepted yesterday. Mmm, "OK boys I'll take it from here."

Oh yeah. I've known this was true since like January 2000. Let me take you back to the Playstation 2 and a game called Gran Turismo 2. Bill and I were logging in like 5-7 hours a day with that game, it was Winter Term and we both had it easy. After about a week of playing we run out of food and I borrow a friend's car to run to Krogers. Yeah, unlike the game, you can't take a fishhook turn at 40mph. Luckily he had good brakes and I slowed down in time. The bright side though is that because of those games I have a love for Honda CRX and Dodge Viper. Most of my car knowledge comes from that game. Plus, I push the envelop when I drive, especially with all the roundabouts in Carmel. You just need to be able to seperate video game from reality.

Genetically-altered mosquitos? Egads. The thing that gets me is the quote of how many people die of malaria each year as quoted by this article. 700,000 to 2.7 million? Isn't that a wide net? I could understand maybe a few thousand or even a hundred thousand, but 2 million? Geez. I'd hate to ask that guy how many people are on the planet. "Umm, anywhere between 2 and 6 billion." Well thanks, that really doesn't help me.

Damn this story. I'm not illiterate, but I do have trouble with job applications. What? No, seriously, I do! You should see how many mistakes I make. It's funny. I guess it's true then, they ain't teaching like they used to. 65+ group have the lowest illiteracy rate.

Monday, March 19, 2007

release me

This weekend, to be different my friend and I went to an indoor shooting range. In was inside of a gun store. Don's Guns and Galleries has been a staple of Indiana for many years. I decided that before going with more friends this weekend I'd go check it out for myself. It's small, but its got a nice selection for rent. I went for the Glock40, magazine-fed, air cooled, semi-automatic weapon. Oh yeah baby. I did OK, but I could've done better if my hand wasn't all worn out by loading my own rounds right before firing. Still, it was a lot of fun. The only thing was that I ended up spending like $66. The usual price is $45 but I decided to fire off two boxes of ammo (100 rounds). Not bad though, I plan on trimming down that price next trip because I'll bring my own hearing protection and eye protection.

Ah. More teachers going that extra mile with a student. Well, at least this kid was a senior in high school. And really, I think it's the wife that deserves to be shot in the head, not the kid. *shrug* Someone needed to get shot.

Ah, some news on the "groom shooting." Some police officers were indicted and yet somehow they feel that it sends a bad message to the police. How exactly does putting 50 rounds into a guy not send a bad message in itself? Learn to shoot guys. You especially, Oliver. 31 rounds? That's reloading twice, firing two full magazines. What the hell were aiming at? I admire you for firing off that many rounds in such a short period of time, but still, you got to know that enough is enough. And they are calling this police racism? How exactly is that? Three of the officers were blacks too, that sounds more like black on black violence. Just to be racist though, I'm going to say this; Bell was being black. *shrug* What can you do?

OK. No more violence news stories. I think I've got it out of my system now. So I think it might be an indication of school funds when this happens. Look, you're hard up for some cash but that? That's just crazy. He said that they didn't charge him the $2 transcript fee. I bet that put it on his record though and will charge him for it the next time he visits. It's a bit much to wait 30 years for $13, and I'd probably call him long before then to collect.

Yup yup yup. Can't sack me just because I'm a Reservist. Although it's sad that they actually has to be a federal law to enforce this. It's a bit much but I guess necessary in this day and age of business. I've had this discussion with my employer on several occasions because I work in a small business and the chances of my deployment have increased recently. He quotes Indiana state law, while I quote federal law. Still, I understand where he's coming from but he doesn't see (or at least hints that he can) my point of view. The whole thing is complex, but it works in favor of the Reservist and their families.

Friday, March 16, 2007

don't be a menace

Ah, just another fine example of why we should all have athletes as role models. I mean, who takes advice from an athlete? Well, besides for athletics-related stuff. Anyone that idolizes athletes should do drugs.

Oh. My. God. What the hell is this guy thinking? The Girl Scout Cookie Scalper... like there's a black market for this stuff. Although I'll admit, those thin mints are like crack. Still, I don't think I could pay $4 for them...

This sucks and I agree with them, but I really don't think that it's within the power and authority of the coroner's office to rule something unlawful and criminal. Is it? I thought that was for lawyers, judges, and law-makers to decide.

Wow. Talk about grasping at straws to sling some mud on a relatively good person.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

eye of the tiger

Wait. What? Look, I'm happy they imposed the death penalty on this sick f**ker. How is it a difficult decision? F*** rehab. I got a gun and shovel. I'll take care of this. I'll just use one of my vacation days to take care of this. Damn people. He had his whole life to do some good, instead he did this. Which is more than little Jessica can ever do.

So I don't know what to make of this story. First he gets caught for taking bribes. That's a two-year stint in jail. You got caught, do your time. Stop making up stupid sh*t to cover yourself. You took the bribes for "the people?" Tell me how that works. Then his lawyer asks for leniency because Callaway didn't try to disguise the bribes as campaign contributions. Well, that just means he's stupider than previously thought. So let's say all this happens, what the hell else can you do? Oh I know, set up one of your rivals on the council. Yup, that should do it. Blackmail too. "I stand before you today extremely remorseful, with a heavy heart." Callaway told the judge
Does he have a heavy heart because he's extremely remorseful? And how can anyone be extremely remorseful?

Awesome! People are sleep-driving. That's so cool, I don't even know how it's possible. Still, that's cool.

And if identity theft wasn't bad enough as it is with the internet, you've got to worry about your copier now too? Damn.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

yesterday

I'm not saying that gay couples can't raise children, but what I'm saying is that former Gov. James McGreevey went about this whole issue wrong. He's suing his ex-wife for custody of their kid and child support. OK, first off, she probably does make some money. Six-figures and all, but shouldn't an ex-governor be able to make almost the same too? Or do ex-governors go back to their jobs as burgerflippers at McDonald's? Secondly, if you can't afford to take care of your kid (without the child support) then you probably shouldn't get custody. I'm not saying that he's not a good father (I really don't know) but he's a terrible provider. McGreevey, you should've just sued for custody because the child support just weakens your position.

Speaking of McDonald's, here's going a little overboard for $2.16. To be perfectly honest though, I'd do the same thing (except resist arrest and punch a cop) because it's not about the money. It's about the service and quality of food.

I'm no forensic scientist, but you'd think police at the scene could figure this one out. Story a) man hits wife with van. Or Story b) wife falls down chasing van. Umm, not to say that you gotta call in the FBI for this but those two stories aren't even closely related! The injuries wouldn't even be similar. Derr, she's got tire marks all over her back. She must've fallen down chasing the van. Morons. Service and Protect? Not likely.

Huh. I'm really shocked. Eric Schorling looks like he got the crap kicked out of him... by a gay guy. Ah, when hate crimes fight back. I'm still waiting for the first heterosexual hate crime. You know, where a gay guy starts belittling a heterosexual couple and then beats the crap out of them. Now that'd be news.

And WOW! Colorado, the home of the hardcore criminals. First gay-bashing and now stealing from Cub Scouts. Look out St. Louis, I think we might have a new Most Violent City in the US.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

release me

I like the title: Murder They Blogged. I dunno, I'm worried about the future if teenagers don't have enough sense to not post these things to MySpace. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. I don't know what exactly the circumstances were, all I know is that they're stupid criminals.

More crap on the stupidty front. Not that I agree with the ACLU or the school district but both sides are just acting stupid. On the one hand, the ACLU has a point, but on the other, the school is just being retarded. Yeah, I think it's moronic that the ACLU has to sue a school district to get them to stop holding graduation in a church. Still, it's just a building. Not like every person has to splash some holy water on them, and the audience has the kneel and make the sign of the cross before sitting down at the pew. Conversely, the school could be less retarded by not showing favoritism by giving students 2 extra tickets for those that attend the Mass. And the excuse that there's no secular spaces available to handle the school's roughly 250 seniors and guests is a crock of shit. Umm, it's lame but how about the SCHOOL? Oh wait, he said secular. Nevermind.

See? Another reason to count my lucky stars that I live in America. Oh well, I guess people take stuff like that for granted.

Oh boo hoo! Cry me a river! Look, they just need to learn how to deal with it. Simple as that. Integrate it into their life and carry on. "Boo hoo, a mortar landed near me, I have PTSD." Look, I don't use it as an excuse. Neither should anyone else, not for anything. It's not like being mentally retarded, I don't think anyone's just woken up one morning and decided not to be retarded. Yeah, the retard can overcoming some of the obstacles but he'll always be limited by it. You, with PTSD, get over it, it doesn't limit you. Just remember, there's people that's gone through more and don't have PTSD, what's your excuse?

Monday, March 12, 2007

standing outside the fire

Let me tell you about my weekend! Whew! Never has so much gone wrong that all amounted to nothing. OK, well, my weekend started Thursday after work. I got off an hour early because I didn't exactly know how this new "Super 70" construction would affect my travels and I wanted to be prepared. So obviously, there would be an accident on I-465 just a few miles after I get on it. OK, not bad, it's four lanes so you can avoid that usually if it's just one or two cars. Eventually I get off 465 and onto 70. Yes! I get on 70 right at the edge of construction, it doesn't even pertain to me. Woo! La-la-la. Driving at a steady 80mph it takes me over an hour to reach what would usually be my first stop. Well, I ain't stopping today. I'm making good time, I've got plenty of gas to reach my destination, and so I keep on truckin'. Now there's a ton of construction going on in both Indiana and Ohio on 70. Still, I make good time until I reach the I-675 junction, about two miles from the exit to my relatives'. I'm listening to my CB, apparently two Synder drivers decided to have a race and see who was stupider. It ended in a tie. I think 4 or 5 cars got caught in it too. So my whole side of 70 was at a dead stop. Ugh. It was stopped for awhile before I got there and I sat around for another 40 minutes for them to clean up the mess. Well, there goes all of my lead time. Of course by now no one is letting anyone over and I'm in the far left lane. So I miss my exit and I have to take a back route to get to my aunt's place. It's cool though, the way I ended up taking had lots of gas stations and I could take my pick. I pull into the Speedway and some lady is working the fuel cap on her car. Originally I stop but then it's taking her awhile so I end up circling the station to get another spot. I fuel up and just as I finish the same woman comes over and asks me if I know anything about those locking fuel caps. "Not really, but I'll take a look." I say, she gives me her keys and I take a look. Now, there's three (3) keys that make up her set of keys. One obviously looks like a car ignition key. The one she handed me <- (that's important) is like a mailbox or door key. The third has "GAS" in raised letters on it. So I use the "GAS" key to open up the "GAS CAP" on her car. Viola!
Yeah, that was a lot of work to get to that point. Still. So Friday, I have to wake up around 0100hrs to get dressed and start my car by 0130 and drive off at 0200. Yes! Get there at 7pm and just getting up in a scant 6 hours. No, I didn't over sleep. I wake up on time. Get dressed. Start car at about 0120hrs, I figure if I leave earlier then I can go stop for some coffee and water, and gum. Heading up back to the house I get to the front door and turn handle. Uh-oh. It's locked. My cell phone(s) are inside. My lock picking tools are inside. Ring doorbell, bang on door, ring, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, Ad nauseam. OK, don't panic, you've got your pants and shoes, keys to the car, just go to your cousin's, he's got a key to this house. Doh! He's not home. I get back around 0149hrs and the door is open. My aunt explains that she thought I was packing or something that was loud so she didn't want to be rude and interrupt. I'm laughing though because I really didn't know how else to react. I mean, I couldn't even explain this to my Army superiors. Still, I was on schedule-ish.
Well, I get to the unit on time and we get on the buses. "Umm, aren't this buses supposed to move to get us where we're going?" I ask everyone. Someone tells me what's going on. Two new soldiers came to the unit and weren't told that this was an overnighter sort of deal. They didn't have clothes or basic hygiene stuff and so they went to Wal-Mart to get it. The only problem was that they weren't from Columbus and they didn't know how to get to Wal-Mart, let alone navigation the streets at 3am. Then I'm told that it's one of my soldiers. Ah crap. Hey, I didn't know I had another new soldier! Nobody tells me anything until they mess up!
I ended up doing much of nothing all Friday. Oh, well, I cleared two jammed weapons (with live ammo in them). OK, to be honest, it was the same weapon that I cleared twice. Somehow, "Don't fire this weapon" translate into "Wait five minutes and try again." Ugh. People always trying to kill me.
Saturday was my bread and butter. The weather called for showers throughout the day. Still, "if it ain't rainin' we ain't trainin'." Wake up is 0430hrs to have formation at 0515 to go to chow at 0530. Be back by 0630 to go out to the range. It takes about 30 minutes by bus to get to the range. So what time do you think it would start? 0700? or somewhere around there? Nope, 0900hrs. I sit around more before 9am than most do all day! Just before 9, it just starts to pour down. Woo! Aww, it's easing up now. We get our brief and I get on the first firing order to zero my weapon. Since it's been raining for about 20 minutes now, 10 of them heavy, all of the fighting positions are just puddles of water. Sweet dude! "OK firers. Lock and load one 18 round magazine. Rotate your selector switch from 'safe' to 'semi' and watch... your lanes." Pop, pop, pop (pause) pop, pop, pop (pause) pop, pop, and pop. OK, zeroed in 9 shots. Not bad, usually it takes 18. Go sit back in the bleachers. About thirty minutes later they start letting us qualify.
"Go ahead firers and take up a good prone supported position. Lock and load one 20 round magazine. Rotate your selector switch from 'safe' to 'semi' and watch... your lanes. OK firers, push your sandbags to your right. Get in a good prone unsupported fighting position. Once you're set go ahead and lock and load one 20 round magazine. Rotate your selector switch from 'safe' to 'semi' and watch... your lanes.
I didn't do as well as I would've liked, 35 out of 40. On one of my shots, the little display off to the side that tells us how to zero nearly fell on my and I panicked for a second a pulled my shot to the right. Also, I just plain didn't see one of the targets pop up so I didn't fire. Otherwise I would've shot expert. And apparently if you qualify once they don't let you try again.
After we find out our scores it stops raining. Yup. For the rest of the weekend. God felt that it was necessary for me to qualify in the rain. I look at my watch, it's now 10:20. Great. I just zeroed and qualified in less than an hour and a half. What to do now? Go qualify on some other weapons? Nah. Fired them. Not as much fun anymore. After awhile it became clear which soldiers needed help so I offered to coach them. As I was coaching one, I saw someone else that needed my help. The person I coached qualified. And so I moved on to this guy. Hardesty, one of our medics. He shot a 16 (out of 40). So I went through and showed him what he was doing, pointing out what was right and wrong, and how to shoot better. We go back out a little later and he qualified with a 37 out of 40. Damnit! He did better than me! He did better than about 98% of the company. He did better than about 99% of the battalion! What the hell? Still, I was proud.
So not to ruin the rest of my day, I went back to the barracks after that. What? You got to end your day on a high-note! Look, it don't get better than a 105% improvement with just a few minutes with Coach Dan. And I wasn't about to have my record sullied by some crappy shooter. No, no, no. Of course by going back to the barracks I left two of my soldiers out there that needed help. I sort of felt bad until I hit my bunk. That was a nice guilt-free nap.
I didn't do anything Sunday except clean-up and sit around joking with friends. Cutting each other down and sometimes ourselves, trading stories, jokes, and the likes. Some of the new people are integrating well. Got up at 0430 Sunday and I didn't get home until 10pm that night. It was a 5hr bus ride back to Columbus. So where exactly did the other 12 hours go? Sitting around. Sitting around. And more sitting around.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

sweet child of mine

OK, I can't find the link now but yesterday I decided to take an some surveys yesterday. Not of the Myspace variety either, the serious ones. Or at least I thought so. The site had a specific section geared towards the military. So I thought I'd go ahead and answer a few questions to get some results. I clicked on the link to answer some questions to see if I had PTSD. For such a complex disease you'd think there would be a lot of questions. Instead, I got like a 20 question survey like "Have you every felt worthless in the last six months?" No moron, I'm a ray of sunshine 24/7. "Have you every felt intense anger in the last six months?" Again, no, because I'm a fricken saint! They also asked if I ever been deployed OCONUS (Outside CONtential United States) but didn't ask where or for how long. You know Hawaii is considered OCONUS right? Umm, great. So guess what? I've got PTSD. Anyone can have it if you just answer honestly. On the results page they tell me I should get checked out.
Then I went ahead and answered some of the other surveys. I'm also depressed (true), bi-polar (also true), and an alcoholic (very true). Ha! That's awesome. Ugh. I need some happy news. And by happy I just mean funny.

Oh no! It's Daylight Savings! Run for the hills. It's the end of the world! OK, well maybe it's not that severe but it is pretty bad. Part of Congress' Energy Policy Act included the fact that we'd observe daylight savings 3 weeks ahead of schedule and keep observing it one week past. So we'd get more "daylight" for an extra month. Keep in mind that this is just for the US and Canada. They got sucked in because they're in the same time zones as us. Now what this means is that for 3 weeks we'll be "ahead" of the rest of the world, then it'll go back to normal, then the rest of the world will fall behind us again while we bask in our glory for one more week. Hey, I like the sunlight. I don't understand the purpose behind daylight savings but hey, I grew up with it, I've learned to deal with it.
This is what pisses me off. Congress did this with the "intention" of saving energy? How does it save energy? That's like taping your car's odometer to 000001.0 and driving around. Yay! The car only has a mile on it. Just because you alter the readings doesn't mean anything. Businesses are still going to be working for 8 hours a day right? What did daylight savings do? Oh, well, it puts more of the sunlight during the work day. Oh, well, great. Thanks. The only thing that affects is the automatic light system in the parking lot. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think that changes anything because well, it's still only 9 hours of sunlight and 15 hours of darkness. It's just that now the 9 hours is between 9am to 6pm instead of 8am to 5pm. Brilliant plan people.
It wouldn't be such a big deal except that we're so dependent on our computers with the automatic time update, our cell phones that get accurate time, and all the other computerize crap. It's a nuisance to the rest of the world. And not to sound un-American, but the US is not the center of the world! This kind of crap affects the whole world. Well, it really doesn't bother the little Nigerian kids starving in the streets. They got other things to worry about. I'm just implying that this unilateral action affects a great deal in the world. Like if you decided that instead of driving between the lines on the highway that you drove on the line so that you take up two lanes. Well, that's great but you've effectively congested two lanes instead of one, not something to be proud of. Shame on you Congress!

Didn't I say this would happen?

All I can think is, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." - Mark Twain

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

back up

Now I don't claim to be a legal beagle or fluent in idiot, but only 5 years? So let me get this straight, you get 2 years for locking up 11 kids (yes, I'm not letting that go) in cages and 2 years for tossing ice out the window at someone. But, if you use a baby as a weapon that's 5 years? I'm saying that some punishments for crimes against minors are just too lenient.

I'm not saying this guy is not mentally retarded, but he sure isn't right in the head. Yeah, it's one thing to kidnap, rape, and bury a little girl alive. It's a whole other thing to assume that you're going to heaven after that. I don't care if he's found Jesus and Waldo. Shoot him in the head (let him go the way of Lennie from Of Mice and Men), incinerate his body, and fire his ashes into the sun.

Listen craterface, if you keep stressing about your pimples it's just going to get worse. I guess I just wasn't all that stressed as a teen. Lucky me.

This article reminds me a lot about the argument of national security. In a sense it does involve national security but only on a larger scale. One could call it a "cosmic" scale. Here's the deal, it'll cost $1 billion potentially track any possible killer asteroids. I think that's being very conservative. I'm thinking more along the lines of 4-5 billion dollars. Still, people don't want divert the money for projects like that. Why? Because it's an unseen threat. If you look up in the sky and see an asteroid coming, it's too late. Then people are crying about "Why didn't the government do anything?" Uh, well, because we didn't want to spend the money. Well, we should've, but how to do justify spending that much money on something that may prevent something that may or may not happen, and if it happens won't happen for a very long time. I'm sure Bill Gates could fund the project with the interest that he's accrued in the time it took me to write this.

Update: the uncle of the 2 kids smoking pot makes some valid points. I mean, those kids were going to smoke pot one day. You want them to get into it as soon as possible. You know what's also possible? They could get shot in some act of violence (like a drive-by or something gang-related) so you know what? Just shoot them now, get that out of the way too. One other point he made too was that the media is making a huge deal out of this. I don't think they're exaggerating things, but making a lot of noise about this.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

sine, cosine, and tangent

There's an old Army saying, your new unit is never as good as your old unit. I can't say for sure, but I think that's the case here. Granted I'm talking about going from an active duty unit to a reserve unit, but still...
Here's the deal. We're supposed to go fire our weapons this upcoming drill. I've known about this for months so the people that are in-charge have probably known about it longer than that. Maybe not much longer, but you'd think they know what they're doing. Right? Obviously from my tone you can conclude that they don't.
OK. Here's what we were told last month. Be at the company area at 0200hrs Friday. I'm not happy about it but its a necessary evil. I get a call last week telling me that the drill has been moved up a week. Great, I just told my boss which weekend I was going to be away. Now I've got to tell him something different? Fine. I get that out of the way. Oh wait though, I get a call a little bit later, it's been changed back to the original weekend, but instead of 0200hrs it's now 0300hrs. Yay! An extra hour! But now I have to tell my boss forget what I just said and remember what I originally said a month ago. Now I get a call, now its 0330hrs. What is really going on? Is it 0300hrs? 0200hrs? Which Friday? Damnit, make up your mind! Or I swear I'm going to choke someone.

beloved

Holy drinking waters Batman! It's holy drinking water. Now it's not just for blessing, it quenches thirst too. So, the next evolution of this business is what? Flavored holy water? Juniper Jesus? JP2 thirst busters?
OK, I'm not going to rip on Ann Coulter, she's cool. She's kinda hot. More brains than an average person. But what's this? She called John Edwards a faggot. OK. It's an opinion. Oh, she called a heterosexual male a faggot. Oops. Well, that's cool too. What confuses me is that during the whole Isaiah Washington/Grey's Anatomy nightmare, news outlets were saying that Washington was quoted as calling a colleague "the f-word" and not faggot. Was that only because he was actually referring to a faggot, while John Edwards isn't? Are we not censoring the word? Or just when it applies to faggots? I admit that "the f-word" is vague. When I think f-word, I'm thinking of the four-letter variety. Starts with an "f" and ends in "uck." If you haven't noticed, I'm taking the liberty of saying faggot as many times as possible.
I like that "Kentucky Fried Hillary" but she can't pull that off. Obama, on the other hand, can. So can I for that matter. I am a master of it. Down in Texas, I've got my drawl on. I still got a little of my pidgin left too. Better though is when I'm all down with the n-word talk. Droppin' letters off words like they was ho's in the club.
Here's another reason why I fear the dentist's office. It used to be the drill, the attempts to talk with my mouth open, and my self-consciousness about my breath. Now I got to worry about dying? Crap.
And now when I get into a helo I not only have to worry about small arms fire and RPGs, but moose as well? The news just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? What's next? The tooth fairy is imaginary?
OK, not to end on such a dark note, here's this. Scientists using an MRI can predict behavior. Not to rip on this discovery or the people that volunteered for the research, but the article says that adding and substracting is a high-level mental activity. Ha, I know a couple of people then that aren't capable of high-level mental ability. Yeah, I realize that it is a high-level mental activity but to actually see it printed is laughable. Question: "You have 2, how would you make it 4?" Answer: "Uh... add 2." See that hesitation? That's what I'm laughing at.

Monday, March 05, 2007

come on eileen

Well, in all honesty, you gotta learn this stuff at an early age. Puff, puff, give. See? It's sharing.

This on the other hand, is not progressive. Now, you don't have to say "Thank you" just because its a robot? Ugh, damn Japanese people. OK, true, the robot doesn't have feelings and doesn't care that if you say thank you or not, but that doesn't make it right. Manners are important, it's one of those things that separate us from animals. That and building robots to do things like serve tea.

I have to say, those people up in Congress? Quick like sloth. Dude, if you ever visited Walter Reed and looked around you'd notice that 40 percent of the campus wasn't in use. I guess the Army did its best to shield visitors from it, but I walked around the place for a bit. Abandoned building after under-construction building after reburishing project. There's a couple just on the main strip, but for the size of the place it's not living up to its full potential. Understandable though, monies can't be diverted to building more beds from filling those beds.

See? This should be what the world is focused on. The exploration of the solar system, the galaxy, the whole universe. Instead, we've got to squabble over nukes, 2 year olds smoking pot, and robots that serve tea.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

amazing

First off, I'd like to thank my friend Wes. Without him, this "miracle" would never have taken place. No really. It wouldn't have. If he didn't get his car stuck on some country road I never would've had to gotten out and pushed it out. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been so tired that I collapsed, spilling the contents of my jacket pocket.
Nah, I'm kidding. Wes was driving along said road and spotted my camera, and my keys. Which I picked up from him today. Look, I wasn't expecting to recover either of them. Lots of snow, lots of rain, both make it likely that it got washed away into some ditch, and then buried under some mud. This didn't happen though. So my keys are a little worse for the wear, 2 weeks in the snow will do that. It's a little rusted but I don't care. What I do care about is of course that I've got two complete sets of keys.
Since I wasn't really expecting to get my keys and camera back, I guess I wouldn't have been surprised if I did get them back and my camera was dead, damage, or destroyed. Huh. Another surprise there. Camera works fine. The lense was a little cloudy but I fixed it right up (wiped it down). I don't even know how it still works, but I'm grateful that it does.
So if anyone is shopping for an indestructible, little digital camera, I suggest the Pentax Optio S. Weather proven. Well, OK, talk to me after I go back to Iraq with this thing. Who knows, maybe it'll survive an IED, then it'll be indestructible.

Friday, March 02, 2007

black betty

Update. So that's why they were giggling. See kids that's why drugs are bad. M'kay? They were 19 years old, but police thought originally that they could be as young as 16. Is that a good thing that they thought they were younger? Or bad that 16 year olds can look like 19?

Damnit! Seriously, where were these types of teachers when I was growing up? I think I'd pay more attention in class.

So in the past week, I've learned that two of my friends are pregnant. Well, OK, one is a guy and his girlfriend is pregnant, so he's not technically pregnant. The other is a married couple, of which I'm friends with both. Anyway, I've known them since freshman year of college, which is a long time. Didn't really reconnect until after coming back from Iraq. I can't believe I'm so excited about babies. Hehehe. Yeah, I'm giggling, but it's not because I'm high.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

hit'em up

Laughing all the way to the bank, but the story usually ends with a deposit, not a withdrawl. Well, you can't say that these girls weren't motivated. Although, I'd have to say if I robbed a bank with sunglasses and a note I'd be giggling too.

My plea. Watch Studio 60 and How I Met Your Mother. Both are comedies, but of different calibers. You can't group them all together. I love them both. Which is why my Monday night is packed.

Got herpes? Ew. Ew. Ew. Yeah, well at least they're just dating each other now. Good for them.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting I was thinking about getting this shirt.