Humans 0, Tiger 1

File this one under the "WTF" heading. In San Francisco a tiger got loose in the zoo and killed a guy and injured a couple of other dudes?

They can't figure out how the tiger got loose?

When the wrongful-death lawsuit papers hit, I'm guessing they will figure something out about who to point the finger at!

The media tends to get bored with these kind of stories after awhile, so we never find out how it all shakes out in the end.

Whatever happened to?

the lawyers with the dog that killed that woman in San Francisco?

the radio station in California that had a "hold your wee for a wee contest" in which a woman died from an overdose (of all things) WATER?

the bus driver that ran off the road and killed a bunch of college students?

OJ running around with guns and a crew trying to steal his stuff back?

and many more.

I wonder if we will ever find out how this story plays out?

For now we will just have to be happy with the fact that the endangered tiger has scored one against the species that caused it's endangered status.

It is sad that some guy has to suffer death because someone "made a mistake" at the zoo, and I mean no disrespect to the families of anyone hurt, but what does it take for people to realize that life is not an episode of "Fear Factor" where the expectation is that no one will get hurt, or worse, Killed! if you make a little mistake.



Read the story I am commenting on here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22395368/

We Live In A "Task-Oriented" Society

Some time ago I had a job interview. Now, in the last few years I have had quite a lot of job interviews, however I don't seem to be getting the job offers. My resume gets me the interviews and something else doesn't get me the job, either it's my age (and experience) or my personality. I sure hope it's not my personality, but that's not what this post is about. At any rate in this job interview the person I interviewed with asked me to review these cards and decide which "working style" I figured I was. To make a long story short I figured I was an Analysis-type of person, in that I gather all the information and ask questions BEFORE I make my decision or take any action. Now I didn't see anything wrong with this style of decision making, in fact it makes perfect sense to me.

Just for kicks I thought I would ask the interviewer what her working style was, I mean after all IF I got the position I would be reporting to this person, so it only seemed logical. Well what do you know, she was a "Task-Oriented" person, in that she couldn't be bothered with the details or seeking any additional information, just was the "task" complete[period]. Done. End of story. Finished. Check that one off the list, let's move on the the next "task" on the list.

In her mind MY working style took too much time with analysis and gathering additional information, rather than her style which was just "get it done."

I knew right away I wasn't getting the job, but a few days later I realized "hey, that's what's so wrong with the world today." It's a task-oriented society, when you go the the airline and say "hey, my flight was crappy, I sat next to a screaming baby and we sat on the runway for 6 hours." The customer service agent for the airline says, "did the plane crash?," well no, "did you get to your destination Sir," well, yea, "than our task is complete, have a nice day Sir."

You see some advertising on the TV, or hear an ad on the radio and think to yourself, "some jackass at company XYZ paid for some dumbass at ad agency LMN to make that advertising and it's the worst thing I have ever seen or heard." But, in a task-oriented world the ad was done and ran on TV, so the "task" is complete.

Wal*Mart is a good example, do they offer lots of products at low prices, Yes. Is the store clean, well staffed, and with happy employees? NO, but we offered lots of products with low prices, so our task is complete.

Look around at a few things and see if you agree. I'm sure some things are not so "task-oriented" but you may find if you keep this in mind more and more things will begin to look like they have been "checked off the list as complete."

Hillary Clinton is a dolt!

I saw a short clip with Hillary on the TV this morning. A talking-head news person asked her why she didn't speak out against the MoveON.org ad calling General David Petraeus, General Betray-us, for his report delivered to congress this past week.

Her response was something about a senate bill about people who say bad things about people who "faithfully serve the United States."

I think her response should have had more to do with FREEDOM OF SPEECH than anything else!

Freedom of speech is very important in this country, it's one of the main things that set us apart from the "not-so-free" countries.

Seems Hillary forget what we are fighting for!

At what point did postage stamp sized video become acceptable?

I know lots of people that have Apple iPods and I've ask several of them what is the deal with the 2.5 inch LCD screen? They say, "it's cool, you can watch TV and video's on it" and I'm wondering whats so great about watching a video that is so small!



When I see network news with very low quality video that is really small and choppy I wonder at what point did something that, for all practical purposes is, un-watchable become the norm?

Wake up people, we should demand better!

No more summer re-runs

Some time later this month all the new and existing TV shows will start up again. I don't like much on TV these days, but there are a few bright spots that I like to watch for some good entertainment.

Heroes
Ugly Betty

maybe LOST (just to see how badly they can "f" up the plot-line)

I'm sure there are a few I'm missing.





Mini Driver: (there is just something about her)

True dat

While it's true that I know very little about General David Petraeus, I do have some ideas of what is really going on in Iraq. You see my wife works for a very large Government defense contractor that send folks to Iraq to deploy some of the "latest and greatest" gadgets and doodads for the military to test and use. A lot of this stuff is for what is called "situational awareness," or so our guys will ALL know what each other is doing and we don't get caught in cross-fire, friendly-fire incidents and ALWAYS know where the bad guys are.

Anyways most of these guys are software engineers and hardware/software specialists, some retired military and some not, they never get to go beyond the "Green Zone" and even then they tell stories of isolation and the feeling you are cut-off from the rest of the world and the city your are in (in this case Baghdad).

Therefor when I say I think General Petraeus fed the United States Congress a line of BS in his report it is just "my opinion" however backed with some reasonable information.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks, I have had some computer issues (lost all my bookmarks, some links, email and several programs) so I haven't been updating my blog. On another sad note, there is only one person that I know of that has actually read my blog on a consistent basis. I don't know the guy personally, he does seem to be very intelligent and in a lot of things agrees with me. I enjoy reading his blog and occasionally will comment on his posts.

What's my point, well as my wife called me to dinner in the middle of this post, I don't really know.

My train of thought has completely derailed.

The World We Live In

In today's news, General "Betray US" gave his report to the Congress. Was his report fair and truthful? Was it the report the President wanted him to give, or was it the report on what is really happening in Iraq?

When Anderson Cooper said "the reason not as many Iraqi civilians are being killed is because . . ." and I quote here, "there just aren't that many people left to kill!"

What a great line to broadcast on a national newscast.

On to the next item.

Why do people let their kids behave so poorly in public? I mean, isn't it like holding up a neon sign saying "Hey everybody, I suck at this whole parenting thing!" In much the same way that having the entire front end of your car smashed in says "Watch out for me, I crash into things!"

People are just plain silly!

The Greatest Movies of All Time

in no particular order:

Starwars
Jaws
Alien
Big
Splash
Hunt for Red October
Die Hard (1988)
Toy Story (1995)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Terminator (1984)
Goonies
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Cowboys
The Breakfast Club
On Any Sunday
Independence Day
Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Stand By Me (1986)
Back to the Future (1985)
Indina Jones
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Body Double
Se7en (1995)
Fargo (1996)
Trainspotting (1996)
Repoman
The Graduate (1967)
West Side Story
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Memento (2000)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Breaking Away (1979)
Caddyshack (1980)
The Sandlot (1993)

That's all I have for now, I'm sure I'll think of some more later and I will add to this list as time permits. Feel free to comment on why you think a particular film is, either the best or sucks, or if you can think of films I left off, let me know.

What's the "real" story

So many times I talk to people who don't seem to either take the time to find out what BOTH sides of the story are or investigate something a little bit further. These people will watch their favorite newscast and believe everything they are told by the media (now I'm not saying that the media is liberal or Conservative) just that the media doesn't seem to give you ENOUGH information to make an informed decision.

[There are those that blame everything on the liberal media, I don't believe all media is liberal, or conservative, however I do believe all media is owned by some giant corporation, like 20th century Fox or Sony or Disney or some VERY BIASED company]

Let's take for example the whole "Iraq" issues: some folks would say it's the Bush administration's fault for the troubles in Iraq, and some would say it's all caused by the insurgency, or Al Qaeda, and still others would say it's all caused by Don Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney, or Paul Wolfowitz.

All I can say is take some time to read a few magazine articles, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, watch some TV about it, CNN, Fox News, listen to some radio, NPR, not just one but all of them. They will ALL give different opinions. Yes, all different. Then make up your mind and you can feel comfortable knowing you have made an INFORMED opinion on something.

I think it is much better to get several sides to a story before you TRUST the opinions of some corporate media talking head and call it the gospel.

Here is something interesting to watch on the Iraq issues:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/view/

(a brief overview for those that don't have hi-speed Internet and can't watch the video's, or just won't take the time to REALLY find out other sides to the story)

Today, as America looks for an exit strategy, FRONTLINE examines the initial, critical decisions of the U.S.-led regime in Baghdad in The Lost Year in Iraq. From the same team that produced Rumsfeld's War, The Torture Question and The Dark Side, the film is based on more than 30 interviews, most of them with the officials charged with building a new and democratic Iraq.

The Lost Year in Iraq begins on April 9, 2003, as American troops help a crowd of Iraqis topple a statue of Saddam Hussein. In Washington there was celebration, but in Baghdad the looting was beginning. Jay Garner, the retired general picked by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to lead reconstruction, was forced to wait in Kuwait for authorization to enter Iraq. He and his team had arrived from Washington without computers, telephones or a plan. "Everybody was focused on the war; they were focused on regime change," Garner tells FRONTLINE. "That took all of their energy. I wasn't the central focus." On the day Garner finally arrived in Baghdad, he received a phone call from Rumsfeld: He was being replaced by L. Paul Bremer.

On the minds of most bloggers

Paris Hilton was let out of jail after 2 days . . . what a load of crap that is. Mostly it just keeps our minds off the fact that we are paying record prices for gas, more Americans are STILL dying in foreign wars, and the powers that be can't seem to figure out how to do much of anything right (as in correctly, rather than right/left as the case may be).

In real news, it seems that Russia is not too happy with the good ol' US of A and it's plan to put a missile shield system in Europe.

I'm kind of thinking that Russia is looking at it as the US of A staking a claim to Europe and all it's glorious resources, whereas Russia figures that after the big WW (World War) and everything is divided up, Russia gets Euro-Asia and USA gets all of North America/South America, I mean that is why it's called "AMERICA." So in the divorce USA gets Canada, and up and Mexico and South America, but somehow I don't think it's going to be a smooth transition and I'm wondering who gets Australia on Christmas and who gets Australia on its birthday?

Ok, so I don't have much to say

I just couldn't stand to be looking at Rachael Ray's picture every time I loaded up my blog. Did I mention how much I dislike her?

Most of the TV shows I like have finished for the season, bummer for me. This means that the summer TV season of re-runs and bad TV is in full swing. With the absence of good TV to watch I have turned to watching DVDs, either movies or TV shows I like or DVD of my own creation.

I have been working slowly on my video editing for the Greece "Epic" film, well video at least. So far I have about 1 hour and 15 minutes of edited footage which isn't as painful to watch as your mother-in-law's slide show from her trip to the land of cheese wheels, but it's hard for me to tell because I'm in the video so I think it's cool.

Here is one segment of the video, you decide:

Ten things I hate about . . .

Rachael Ray!

1) Her TV talk show

2) Her TV cooking show

3) Her magazine

4) The fact that wherever I turn, there she is

5) The fact that she is always yelling at me

6) The fact that some network executives want to TRY to "sex" her up

7) Her cooking

8) They add video clips of her giving tips about "things" to my local newscast

9) What's next, Rachael Ray signature underwear?

10) Somewhere out there, someone is thinking about a Rachael Ray Theme Park

Rachael Ray makes me want to scream, and sometimes I do, like almost every time I see her image (sometimes called a "brand image") RayRay's brand image is everywhere and on everything, she is like the Nike or Coke of branding . . .

My only comfort is that site's like this exist: Rachael Ray Sucks

I am so glad that there are others out there that share my disdain for RayRay, in fact here is a little quote from the site I like so much It bears repeting here:

"This community was created for people that hate the untalented twit known as Rachael Ray.

Rachael Ray is annoying for many reasons but here are a few: she is repetitive, she talks with her hands way too much, she giggles incessantly, she puts olive oil and chicken stock in everything, she wears really ugly clothing, she talks out of one side of her mouth like she's had a stroke, she looks like "The Joker" when she smiles, and she can't stop talking about her family.

If you loathe Rachael Ray as much as we do, join this community and talk shit about her! If you actually like Rachael Ray and think this community is evil, go cry in your garbage bowl and shut the hell up."

Now Giada DeLaurentis is so sexy, well spoken and such a good cook, that I can't get enough of her!

Update to the LOST post

It seems I am not the only person who thinks the writers of the show "Lost" are just making it up as they go.

The "Lost" team and the network inked a deal to finish out the show by the year 2010. That leaves the writers 2008, 2009 and 2010 to answer some of the many, and I mean many! unanswered questions with regards to the characters, the island and the show.

I read something about each season being a shortened length of 16 episodes, rather than a normal 26 episode season. (Only time will tell if that is either good, or bad) Good that they [the writers] will get to the point faster, and if the story lines are good, bad that they will get to the end faster. Time will tell.

Now that they have a GOAL to reach, do you think some of the unanswered questions will resolve themselves? Will the story-lines get better, more cohesive?

For the sake of the show, lets hope so.

ABC's Lost is "Lost!"

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but when the show first started I liked it. The show seemed interesting and was well shot, had good character development, a reasonable plot line and, from all indications, looked to be a good show. I went out and bought the first season on DVD, and eagerly awaited the second season . . .

At which point all the BS started, J.J. Abrams, the executive producer for the show went off to produce MI 3 (Mission Impossible) which was for all practical purposes, a box office flop. What with the whole Tom Cruz jumping on Oprah's couch, TomKat and then the movie kind of sucked (although I didn't see it), but I believe the staff of the show "LOST" have lost their way . . .

Then for some odd reason they (the producers of the show) thought it was a good idea to give the show, and the fans a 5 month break in between the second and third season. WTF!

Now the show is just failing about, just flopping around on the ground like some kind of a fish out of water, the plot just doesn't make any sense, the writers are just putting up story ideas on a big wall and blindfolding themselves and throwing darts at them . . .

I mean what's next?

For one thing the writers don't seem to make the characters react in ways you would expect people to react in a given situation . . .

There are so many unanswered questions?

What is the black smoke that killed Echo?

Where are Walter and Michael?

What happened to the rest of the spiders?

Does Jack know that Claire is his half-sister?

Why is everyone Desmond's brother?

Sorry, but the show is "off the chain" going in way too many directions . . .

Hero's and Ugly Betty for me . . .

The downfall of western civilization

It seems scientists have discovered a new planet resembling earth in another solar system. This new planet might have liquid water and be very much like earth, however there is one small catch . . .

It would take 20 years to get there traveling at light speed, assuming we could figure HOW to travel at light speed . . .

So, I guess we better make due with what we got (note: this past Sunday was "earth day" so I didn't drive my big, gas-guzzling truck, and went for a bike ride and worked in the yard).

Sometime after desktop computers were invented, someone invented computer games, more specifically "first-person-shooter" games. Now I like FPS games like Quake, Doom, etc. and often times my co-workers and I would network up a game and have a big ole' game of chase your office-mates down with a rocket launcher and kill them session. I mean nothing says lovin' like hunting down your office-mate like the dog that he is and giving a good old fashion beat-down with a double-barrel sawed-off shotgun!

These type of activities seem to be very popular, often depicted in games like Grand Theft Auto, Socom II and many others . . .

Funny thing is, I know the difference between REALITY and FANTASY.

I believe we are raising an entire generation of people that treat other people "very badly" while hiding either behind the screen of a computer (email, chat rooms, online forums, etc.) or in the "safety" of their car.

People will happily talk "smack" about someone on the Internet, but if called out in person will generally not act as rudly.

It's easy to blow someone off, or disrespect someone on the Internet (hiding behind the anonymity of the computer screen-name) . . .

Problem is, at some point the person or persons being disrespected by all those people hiding behind screen names is going to snap, and go crazy . . .

I'm not sure, but the Virginia Tech shooting might be a good example of this activity.

There isn't much to say about the VT shooting event, other than it is a tragedy and highlights how badly people treat each other.

It is sad the level of hate and anger floating around in this world . . .

CNN has gone "round the bend"

I watched a piece on CNN the other day that talked about this "mind reader" psychic guy that was, as CNN put it, "the most popular show on Iraqi TV." They showed images of the guy, and interviewed him and the female anchor for the local Iraqi TV program. They were very polished, the woman with makeup and very western hair, the psychic guy was dressed very well in a nice suit with short hair, no beard and a very color TV "friendly" shirt and tie. As I sat and watched this drivel I wondered how many people were fooled by this blatant propaganda stunt! For those of you who have not been paying attention, let me break it down for you; for the most part, unless you are in the green zone of Baghdad, YOU DON'T HAVE ELECTRICITY, LET ALONE A FUCKING COLOR TV! You don't have jobs (the USA took out most infrastructure [telecommunications, that's phone service, communication - that's command and control targets, so radio and TV stations, water, sewer, garbage, and power] as well as simple things like social meeting places, with the exception of the odd street corner) when you see footage of streets in Iraq it's mostly bombed-out or shell riddled buildings with huge piles of garbage in the streets, right? CNN posted this story on Wed. April 11th:

Red Cross: Iraq situation 'ever-worsening'

POSTED: 5:55 a.m. EDT, April 11, 2007

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- The situation for civilians in Iraq is "ever-worsening," even though security in some places has improved as a result of stepped-up efforts by U.S.-led multinational forces, the international Red Cross said Wednesday.

It is difficult to determine the numbers of people killed in shootings, bombings and military operations, but the overall picture of what is happening the country has been steadily deteriorating, with numbers of refugees swelling, medical staff fleeing and other problems growing, a key official said.

"It is clear that the security situation has improved in certain instances," especially in southern Iraq, said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC.

But the central region, including Baghdad, remains greatly affected, despite American efforts to secure the capital.

"Whatever operation that is today under way, and that may be taken tomorrow and in the weeks after, to improve the security of civilians on the ground may have an effect in the medium term," Kraehenbuehl told reporters. "We're certainly not seeing an immediate effect in terms of stabilization for civilians currently. That is not our reading."

He said it was so dangerous for Red Cross workers to move around in Baghdad, however, that "we don't have on a day-to-day basis a full picture of absolutely every situation."

Kraehenbuehl spoke in releasing a new ICRC report titled "Civilians Without Protection: The ever-worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq."

"The conflict in Iraq is inflicting immense suffering on the entire population," said the report. "Every day dozens of people are killed and any more wounded."

The ICRC continues to operate in Iraq even though it has cut back operations since attacks on its staff and Baghdad headquarters in 2003. It has 415 Iraqis working for it in the country and has an additional 57 international staff based in Iraq and Amman, Jordan, but relies on the affiliated Iraqi Red Crescent for much of its information.

Based on the Iraqi society's count, about 600,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the upsurge in sectarian violence in February 2006, Kraehenbuehl said. Medical professionals have been fleeing the country after cases where their colleagues were killed or abducted.

"Hospitals and other key services are desperately short of staff," Kraehenbuehl said. "According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, more than half the doctors are said to have already left the country."

Thousands of bodies lie unclaimed in mortuaries, with family members either unaware that they are there or too afraid to go to recover them, he said.

I'm thinking that there are not that many "happy-go-lucky" folks in Baghdad that are sitting home watching big-screen plasma TV's. So, if you fell for CNN's "big-ole'-load of crap" story about Iraqi TV, Shame on you for believing such drivel.

File under "who really cares?"

Don Imus is a racist, wow did it take a rocket scientist to figure that one out?

The NAACP is calling for Don's head on a platter, as well as the end of his career (I wonder if Howard Stern is helping in any way, shape of form?)

I would guess Howard called Al Sharpton and said something like this "yo, homie you know I be grooving on de brothers and dat Imus honkie should get a beatdown like nutin' before, you smell what I'm cooking dog?"

And I bet (Bee, e, tee, ha ha get it BET) anyway I bet ol' Al says, "let me axe you a question, should we hang the man or just make him spend an afternoon playing a little one-on-one with the ["knappy headed whoes from Rutgers U!?"]" to which the self acclaimed "king of all media (Howard Stern)" would reply "KILL HIM, KILL, KILL, KILL."

It's odd that an African American rap star can use the terms: Nigger, knappy headed whoes, and a host of other degrading terms and yet the only person who makes a fuss is Tipper Gore, go figure.

I don't like Howard Stern, I think he is an ass. I've listened a few times and sometimes he can be funny, but not for any length of time, mostly he is just degrading to woman and an ass.

I've only heard very small segments of any of Don Imus' programs and I don't care for his style either, he too is just a loud-mouthed jerk.

Shock jocks are not changing the world and making anything better (even if you call it comedy, which it isn't) with their crass, rude babbling.

So, I say dump em' all, they all suck!

What's the deal

It seems gas is up to almost $2.80 per gallon, ouch. All those poor shlubs with big trucks and giant SUV's are paying $50.00 for 3/4 of a tank of gas! Wait, I'm one of those poor bastards!

If there were more effective options, I'd be all over that, but "it is, what it is" and "I got what I got" so I deal with the high gas prices and big SUV's and trucks.

I guess if I didn't have such a big truck I wouldn't be able to haul all my materialistic crap around and at such a high rate of speed.

It's good to have a big bad truck!

But, when it comes to the pumps, maybe not . . .

I guess I should come clean

I'm not really a youth anymore so I changed the name of my blog from Disenfranchised Youth to Just Disenfranchised. I don't know if you ever consider yourself as a youth, it's mostly older folks that just consider you as a youth, 'cause when you are an actual youth you consider only those younger than yourself to be youth.

Wow, could that be any more confusing? At any rate, there are a number of things I feel somewhat disconnected from or, oh what's the word I'm looking for . . . how about Disenfranchised! Yea, that's it - I'm Just Disenfranchised.

I often feel like I don't fit in with groups, I'm too old to hang with the younger generation (although I still enjoy most of those "younger" activities and music) and I'm too active to hang with the older generation . . .

I don't know anything about wine and I don't like jazz. I'd rather ride my skateboard or bike in an empty swimming pool while listening to Rise Against than fill it up and sit beside the pool drinking some "hoiti-toiti" french wine. When in Paris, I'm more interested in street food than shopping for wine or clothes.

I don't have kids and have no interest in having them in the future. Often times I will be in the store purchasing a pair of skateboard pads or a batting glove to use at the batting cages to swat a few pitches and the sales person (usually some 20 something kid) will ask "Is this for your kids" and I say, "no, it's for me." I sure love the expression on the persons face when that happens! God forbid someone MY age should be buying a skateboard or a cellphone that plays MP3's.

Here are some issues I'd like to address: (in no particular order)

People suck, in fact the more people I meet, the more I like my dog! (and I don't even have a dog)

Noam Chomsky says that the war in Iraq is not about access, or profit it's about control, and if you think about it, that makes sense. We (the US) don't care if the Middle Eastern countries give us access to all their oil, we want CONTROL of it all! Boy are we a long way from achieving that!

My parents suck

Young pricks with that "entitlement" attitude suck

Customer Service sucks

Gas prices suck

The economy sucks

The war on the middle class

Most fast food sucks

I'm not sure what else to bitch and moan about right now so I'll just leave my post at that and figure I'll address these items in future posts.

Until Next Time

I guess it just needs to be said

OK, so here is the setup:

ATLANTA - A small college in Ohio was thrown into mourning Friday after a bus carrying the school’s baseball team tumbled over the side of a highway overpass and slammed onto the pavement 30 feet below, killing four students and the husband-and-wife drivers.

The team from the close-knit, Mennonite-affiliated Bluffton University was making its annual spring trip to Florida before daybreak when the charter bus crashed, scattering bags of baseball equipment across the road and splattering blood on the overpass. Some of the athletes climbed out the roof escape hatch, dazed and bloody.

CNN ran a show titled Tragic Journey in which they talked about the confusing nature of the exit/HOV lane where the bus crashed and how if Motorcoaches had seat belts and more secure side windows passengers wouldn't be ejected (ejection is the leading cause of injury and/or death in Motorcoach accidents). The program continued with interviews from team members on the bus about their sad ordeal and grieving parents of the players that lost their lives . . . and yes it is tragic when someone is killed in an accident, especially young college students, but . . .

It must have taken 15 or 20 minutes for the program to get to the real culprit of this tragic accident, Tickle Me Elmo! No, that's not it, I just wanted see if you were paying attention. I'm guessing it was the bus driver. When the bus driver got into uncharted territory why didn't he slow down? If he saw a road sign that was not familiar to him, again why didn't he slow down? It was reported that this wasn't the first time this gentleman had piloted a Motorcoach like this one filled with the team to it's Florida spring baseball tournament.

I have no idea what the real reasons are, but I believe a contributing factor is what I'll call the "Fear Factor" effect. People watch shows like Fear Factor and see regular people flipping cars and doing dangerous stunts and never get hurt, so they assume there is no danger or assume no responsibility for the lives of either the other drivers around them and/or their passengers.

In MOST places in the good ole' US of A we drive 5 to 10 mph OVER the speed limit and when the speed limit on the highway away from the city center is 75 mph that means MOST drivers are driving anywhere between 75 and 85 mph, dang that's fast. When driving at 75 mph things happen pretty quickly.

So let's say the Motorcoach driver was driving at 65 mph, or even 60 mph what is the distance in feet it would take the bus to stop given its fully loaded state?

Assuming reaction time and brake application causing skid marks on the roadway we can determine at what point the driver applied the brakes to stop the bus, right. Well yes in theory, however the bus driver would have HAD to apply the brakes . . . Yep, that's right NO skid marks were found, the driver thought he could make the turn? OK, a Motorcoach doing say 50 mph making a 90 degree right hand turn, with NO indications on the roadway that the driver tried to slow that big ole' bus down?

What exactly happened here?

Someone needs to step up and take responsibility (like the driver) I know, I know it's sad that he and his wife passed on in the accident, but in the end isn't HE responsible for his passengers?

On the lighter side of things

For some reason the news media thinks Anna Nicole Smith deserves it's full and undivided attention. After all she cured cancer, stopped world hunger and single handily saved the world from the scourge of dumb blond jokes!

Remember way, way back when she was the Guess Jeans Model? (you know before the Anna Nicole Show, where we heard her speak and realized she gave creed to the dumb blond jokes) I know it's poor form to speak ill of the dead, but please let her sole rest and move on to the "next big thing."

Some people think things in Iraq are "not going well"

While others think "it's not so bad."

I'm sure you've herd the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words."

look at some pictures:

Iraq War photos

Really gross Iraq war photos

I gonna have to say some of those images will "put you off your lunch."

All in a days work

When I saw that CNN reported that Prince Charles visited Independence Hall and the Liberity Bell, I laughed so hard I didn't hear the rest of the story. Oh the Irony!

As a park service ranger talked about the Liberty Bell, Camilla reached out and touched it, running her finger along the bell's storied crack.

Camilla wore a periwinkle dress and a brown tweed overcoat and a broach, along with pearls and pearl drop earrings. Prince Charles sported a navy suit with a red, blue and gold striped tie, and a dark overcoat.

Like I CARE what the wankers were wearing!

It's a sad state of things when things like this happen

A radio station in Sacramento California created a contest called "Hold your wee for a Wii" in which a woman died from, of all things, water intoxication.

A woman called the station during the contest and commented that "those people could become very sick or even die" the caller, who claimed to be a nurse, offered this useful information to the station's on-air personality. The station employee anounced over the air that "it's ok, because we had everyone sign a waiver so we are not liable."

There are so many things wrong with this and on so many levels.

Employers hire inexperienced and unseasoned employees to run promotional campians and generally hold positions of responsibility throughout the organization.

20 something gen-X'ers claim they can do anything (fake it till you make it, right) then when things go wrong [we] society points the finger at someone else (there is NO such thing as Personal Responsibility).

It's the drugs fault, the drugs made me do it.

It's just the ravings of a drunken madman. (tell us Mr. Gibson)

It's ok, they signed a waiver.

The sun was in my eyes.

My dog ate my homework.

Well I hope they all rot in jail, yes real JAIL time to have these people think about what they have done!

A wrongful death lawsuit was expected in the death of Jennifer Strange, a mother of three who died hours after a water-drinking contest at an Entercom radio station, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Strange's death made national news. She died a week ago in her home; earlier she had participated in a "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest, "drinking what one contestant said was nearly two gallons of water in the kitchen of the station's Madison Avenue office," the paper reported.

Reuters reported that the coroner's office called the death consistent with water intoxication.

The contest at KDND(FM) was to drink the most water without going to the bathroom; the prize was a Nintendo Wii video game system.

Reuters reported that the station has fired 10 staff members. "They are no longer with the company for violating the terms of their employment agreements with the station," it quoted a spokesman. Also according to Reuters, an online audio recording of the show reveals the DJs making comments joking about people dying from water intoxication. Entercom Sacramento VP/GM John Geary posted a notice on the station Web site informing visitors that the Morning Rave show had been canceled. "I also want to assure you that the circumstances regarding this matter are being examined as thoroughly as possible," he wrote, expressing sympathies for Strange's family.

A fellow contestant told AP, "I was talking to her and she was a nice lady. She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for her kids."

Christina Aguilera told Ellen DeGeneres she has Naked Sunday. I don't know anything about Christina Aguilera, her music style or anything, but I do know this works for her.

This Naked Sunday thing may not work for the "corn feed midwestern housewife with 3 kids and a c-section scar" but it sure works for Christina.

What now?

Ok, so the U.S. neo-con war-machine is puffing up its chest at Iran!

If the Bush administration is able to take the U.S. to war with Iran, I hope Iraq won't be the ONLY place where there is an all-out civil war!

Here's the thing, and it's IMPORTANT. The U.S. says to Iran, "you can't have nukes" and Iran says, "give us some assurances that you (the U.S.) won't invade" and the Bush administration says, "well, I'm sorry but we just can't make those kind of promises." So Iran says, "if you invade us, we'll nuke Israel" and the whole process starts over again.

I think to understand this you need to look at a much bigger picture than the average blinders-on media outlet.

Lets cover some givens:

After 911 the us invaded Afghanistan because the U.S. said that is where Al-Qaeda is based (but really it was because Haliburtion Corp. wanted to get a contract to put a natural gas pipeline across the entire country, but that's another story). So in the eyes of Iran, the U.S. has control of all the airports and cities in Afghanistan, as well as having a lot of military presence there.
Let's call that phase 1.

Suddenly the U.S. is tired of Saddam and his corrupt regime in Iraq, so there is a lot of who-ha and red tape and dancing around the truth, but in the end the U.S. invades Iraq. The U.S. now controls "most" of the country of Iraq.
Let's call that phase 2.

Dang, this is some complicated shit.

Let us review:
In the hearts and minds of Iran and it's leaders . . .
Afghanistan=U.S.
Iraq=U.S.

Geography lesson 101. See if you can guess what country is smack dab in the middle of Afghanistan and Iraq?

anyone?

You in the back there, what's your answer?

Why yes, you are correct, it's IRAN!

So, do you understand why one of the most oil-rich countries in the world suddenly thinks Nuclear power is a good idea?

Also, in the minds of most Middle Eastern Countries:
Israel=U.S. (I'll give more details on that later)

Look at the map so you can see what I'm talking about.

Speaks for itself

Image is everything

What would we do without big business and massive advertising/branding budgets?

It's enough to make your head spin

There is so much going on in the world, some things are important, and others are just perceived as important.

Martin Luther King holiday

Excerpt from the O.J. Simpson book If I Did It leaked

Paula Abdul is a drunken lush at 7:00am

The U.S. is rattling it's saber at Iran

The Democrats somehow think the U.S. is ready for a woman President (I don't think it's gonna happen) or better yet, ready for an African American President (I don't think that's gonna happen either). I know that either one, Senator Hillary Clinton or Senator Barack Obama would make a fine leader (well maybe) but I just don't think the general population is ready for either a woman or an African American to sit behind the big desk.

You have got to give the Republicans some credit, at least they know who their leadership is. Crooked, gay lecherous big-business loving neo-con's that they are, at least they got that part spot on.

Iraq, it's like a rubic's cube

The issues with Iraq are so complex it almost deffies explaination. Let's look at some of the issues:

Remember when France and Germany didn't want to support the U.S. lead coalition of international forces to invade Iraq and overthrough Saddam. You know when the Washington D.C. lunch rooms were selling "Freedom Fries" rather than "French Fries" because the U.S. was upset with France for not supporting it's efforts in Iraq. I mean after all the U.S. did liberat France and save the poor frogs from Natzi Germany.

Well, this blogger thinks that it might have something to do with the fact that France has been supplying Iraq with arms, wepons and (here's the biggie) money! Yes, money in the form of loans in exchange for "favorable" prices for it's crude oil, and if the U.S. takes over in Iraq those French dudes would NEVER get their money back and would have to pay REGULAR rates for crude oil from OPEC and others.

I'm guessing Germany was in the same boat just with the money thing. If Germany even thinks about building up a war machine like a tank or a fighter jet because of NATO treaties they would be squashed like a bug on the sidewalk.

Here is some info I found in the Libary of Congress:

Iraq
Arms from France
France became a major military supplier to Iraq after 1975 as the two countries improved their political relations. In order to obtain petroleum imports from the Middle East and strengthen its traditional ties with Arab and Muslim countries, France wanted a politico-military bridge between Paris and Baghdad.

Between 1977 and 1987, Paris contracted to sell a total of 133 Mirage F-1 fighters to Iraq. The first transfer occurred in 1978, when France supplied eighteen Mirage F-1 interceptors and thirty helicopters, and even agreed to an Iraqi share in the production of the Mirage 2000 in a US$2 billion arms deal. In 1983 another twenty-nine Mirage F-1s were exported to Baghdad. And in an unprecedented move, France "loaned" Iraq five SuperEtendard attack aircraft, equipped with Exocet AM39 air-to- surface missiles, from its own naval inventory. The SuperEtendards were used extensively in the 1984 tanker war before being replaced by several F-1s. The final batch of twenty-nine F1s was ordered in September 1985 at a cost of more than US$500 million, a part of which was paid in crude oil.

In 1987 the Paris-based Le Monde estimated that, between 1981 and 1985, the value of French arms transfers to Iraq was US$5.1 billion, which represented 40 percent of total French arms exports. Paris, however, was forced to reschedule payment on most of its loans to Iraq because of Iraq's hard-pressed wartime economy and did so willingly because of its longer range strategic interests. French president François Mitterand was quoted as saying that French assistance was really aimed at keeping Iraq from losing the war. Iraqi debts to France were estimated at US$3 billion in 1987.

French military sales to Iraq were important for at least two reasons. First, they represented high-performance items. Iraq received attack helicopters, missiles, military vehicles, and artillery pieces from France. Iraq also bought more than 400 Exocet AM39 air-to-surface missiles and at least 200 AS30 laserguided missiles between 1983 and 1986. Second, unlike most other suppliers, France adopted an independent and unambiguous arms sales policy towards Iraq. France did not tie French arms commitments to Baghdad's politico-military actions, and it openly traded with Iraq even when Iranian-inspired terrorists took French hostages in Lebanon. In late 1987, however, the French softened their Persian Gulf policy, and they consummated a deal with Tehran involving the exchange of hostages for detained diplomatic personnel. It was impossible in early 1988 to determine whether France would curtail its arms exports to Iraq in conjunction with this agreement.

Data as of May 1988


Let us review, there is the MONEY and OIL side of things in Iraq. (anyone who says the war in Iraq is not about oil is full of crap)

More money angles:

Jubilee Iraq, founded by Iraqis and citizens in creditor countries, calls for:

* Immediate and unconditional cancellation of all odious debt and reparations.
* Disputes settled through a fair arbitration tribunal, representive of Iraqi views.
* We have no other agenda, which is why people of opposing political views support us.

There are a variety of issues with the World Bank, and the IMF (International Monatary Fund)

Follow this link to read about the World Bank and Iraq: World Bank & Iraq

Follow this link to read about the IMF and Iraq: IMF & Iraq

Yes, it's true

Even though Time Magazine selected me as "Person of the Year" I am not one of the great intellectual minds of our time. I am however, smarter than your average bear, "eh boo boo!"

And while I sit here and ponder my own stupidity it occurs to me that those that would judge me are far more closed-minded and narcissistic than I.

Who, or what was it that tells everyone that THEY are the center of the universe? Was it the media (wait Time magazine told us all we were "Person of the Year") maybe that's part of it. Most advertising tells us that if we buy this car or that product we will be and have EVERYTHING we want. Maybe that's another part of it?

At any rate, it's a load of crap, yes crap. We are all equal.

Sure if Noam Chomsky or Henry Kissinger walk up to me and say "you're and idiot," well than I'll buy that, but if it's just you than I say you suck!

Remember this, the next time you deem yourself more important than the person or persons around you in the store, on the freeway, at the bank, or whatever treat them with respect. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. Than you will be treated with respect and dignity as well.