Blogging My Life

Not long ago, one of the networks was covering a Bush rally, and I remember seeing a female Bush supporter holding a sign that read, “Islam supports Kerry.” My first reaction to that sign was, “Yeah, so?” But, being familiar with the mindset of the Christian Right, it struck me that the line of reasoning that accompanies that sign is something to be addressed. This woman’s unspoken proposition is: “All Muslims are fundamentalists and terrorists.” This proposition is, of course, patently false. My goal here is not to discuss the finer points of what exactly fundamentalism is, only to posit that fundamentalism is not the sole property of Islamic terrorists. In fact, we Americans are more familiar with fundamentalism and terrorism than we might remember. And the terrorism of which I speak is a much more home-grown variety. For a technical definition of fundamentalism, and an excellent write-up on the subject, click here I propose to you, dear reader, that the scourge of “fund...

(This artical copied in its entirety from Slate Magazine) Wrong-Way Bush In the war on terror, the worst defense is a bad offense. By William Saletan Posted Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004, at 3:42 PM PT Seventy-five years ago in the Rose Bowl, a University of California football player named Roy Riegels picked up a fumble by the opposing team, spun around, and started running for the end zone. Unfortunately, he was heading the wrong way. He ran with such purpose that people in the stands, including the play-by-play announcer, doubted their own sanity. When a teammate tried to stop him, Riegels—who would go down in history as "Wrong-Way Riegels"—shook him off. He was a man on a mission. This is what's now happening in Iraq and the presidential campaign. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are framing the election as a choice between playing "defense" and going on "offense" in the war on terror. The attacks of 9/11 presented the United States wit...

I usually go through the Seattle University campus on my way to work, and yesterday as I got there, I heard the sound of bag pipes being played. As I rode, I saw a young man holding the pipes and when I got closer I could see it was a Chinese kid! Now, perhaps I am easily amused, but this instantly struck me as very funny and something to be filed away under the "something you don't see every day" category. So I whip it out (my camera phone) and roll up to him and he starts laughing; he knows its funny! So, we both had a chuckle without exchanging a word. It was kinda cool.

Chinese Piper 

Hey, nice vaginas! There are some new works of art hanging in the connector lobby bewteen One and Two Union Square. Every time I get sent there, I find myself just staring at these.

Hhmmm....... 

What do you see? 

Sittin' here watching CNN and Kerry is speaking in Ohio immediately following the Republican's convention. He is finally saying what he's needed to say for a long time. Especially the part about the Bush administration misleading us into the war in Iraq. You'll remember that when it looked like no weapons of mass destruction were going to be found, the Bushies started the spin by suggesting that we really went to war to liberate Iraq. We did it to help out those poor Iraqis. Now, don't get me wrong, those Iraqis were in a miserable position, gassed, murdered and repressed. But that is the case for any number of back-water, shit-hole countries in the world, yet no one suggests invading them to liberate them. And that's not what George W. Bush told the American people. George W. Bush told us that Saddam Hussein had gone to Nigeria to obtain yellowcake uranium in order to produce "nookyooler" weapons, and that if we didn't invade Iraq, the smoking gun...

Can't you just imagine how this went down? It just gets funnier and funnier every time I think about it!

Just sitting here watching CNN's "pre-game show" to the RNC's big stroke fest. The "tens of thousands" of protestors who have showed up are getting a lot of coverage. Anyway, the commentator is explaining how most of the protests had been peaceful, but there "had been a few trouble-makers." At that point, the footage shows a pile of bikes and then shows some scruffy looking folks wearing Chrome (a brand) messenger bags! Fuck yeah. I can just see these guys protesting their right of access being taken away.

This artical is very interesting. I am particularly keen to see what the "mobile bloggers" are capable of.

(Or, Who's is Bigger?) 'Asked if he believed that he and Kerry "served on the same level of heroism," Bush replied, "No, I don't. I think him going to Vietnam was more heroic than my (avoiding service and staying in Texas to pretend*) flying fighter jets. He was in harm's way and I wasn't."' (From the artical) (* items in italics are mine) Bush's statement about flying jets is made even funnier because everyone knows that he didn't even do that! George W. Bush's time-in-service consisted of showing up to a dentist's appointment. In fact, I would like to see an ad that compares this size of each candidates service record file. See, having been in the service, I know that the feds keep all those records. Kerry, having actually shown up for his service and having won all those awards, and even coming home and then speaking out against the war, would have a large, robust, thick file of several inches , maybe even requir...

The other day I was standing in front of 720 Olive Way waiting to pass off some work I had picked up to another messenger. As I waited, I watched a pigeon peck at something in the road. So the bird is doing its thing in the road when along comes a car. The bird tries to fly away but is not fast enough and the car hits the pigeon. This must have broken one of the bird's wings because now it can't fly at all and just helplessly flaps it's wings in the face of another oncoming car. The car hits the bird square which means the tire caught the bird perpendicular to it's body. The force of being crushed causes the pigeon's head to pop off, sending a spray of blood all over a car parked next to where I was standing. I really had to fight the urge to snap a pic. I worried about offending the delicate sensibilities of some of my readers.

It absolutely blows my mind that Bush is getting any play out of this military service record stuff he's using, a la the "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth." How much money did Rummy have to pay these guys to go on national TV and lie like that? It also blows me away that the Bushies are crying foul over the moveon.org ad that pretty much says W. was A.W.O.L. during his own time of service. Bush's only experience with the military was avoiding it and that should get as much play as possible.

Jesus Fucking Christ on a Crutch. Can't you just hear the sound of 'jackboots' echoing through the streets late at night as the fucking thought police come for you. The fact that these Nazi tactics are approved by the same branch of the justice dept. that gave thumbs up to the torture that went on at Abu Grahib prison should come as no surprise to anyone. That it's so brazen reveals the true, thug-like nature that has found expression in this Bush administration. I wonder what Rumsfeld and Wolfowits are gonna think up to top the "Beerhall Putsch."

What was it, three days ago? Anyway, a few days ago channel 13 news was running a story about some women being angry with Starbucks because an employee had asked a breast feeding woman to either "cover up or go to the bathroom." As part of the story, they talked with a big fat woman who said, "society needs to lighten up and I need to be able to live my life outside my house, and if that means feeding my child when he's hungry, then so be it." I say, "Fuck that." Lady, society did not ask you to squeeze out any kids, and I think society has a right not to see your flat, flappy, nasty, stretch-marked tit shoved into some screaming brat's mouth.

(Read this first sentence in the voice of that kid from "The Sixth Sense.") I see car commercials. (Okay, you can read in normal voice now) I sit here and watch TV and I see car commercials. The cars are being driven fast along a beach somewhere, or fast along some mountain road with no other vehicles in sight, or fast out in the woods. These commercials lie. The fact is, motorized vehicles are banned on most beaches in the US. The fact is, when those mountain roads are accessible, you're going to get stuck going behind someone else who's car shouldn't be attempting the hill climb. And, let's be honest now, most 'Trailblazers' and 'Mountaniers' and 'Pathfinders' never... ever... do what their names say they're built to do. Most of them never leave the paved, mean streets of Bellevue or Kirkland or (insert any suburb name here), except when they drive to the city to go shopping at "Nordy's," or Pacific Place Mall. Aft...

This is beautiful. Definately worth a read.

This Artical was copied in its entirety from Slate Magazine on-line. California's SUV Ban The Golden State has outlawed big SUVs on many of its roads but doesn't seem to know it. By Andy Bowers Posted Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004, at 11:42 AM PT Unless you drive one of the largest SUVs, such as the Chevy Suburban, the Cadillac Escalade, or the Ford Excursion, I'll bet you've watched them thundering down quiet residential lanes and wondered to yourself: Why is that monster allowed on this little street? Well, here's a surprising piece of news. It may not be. Cities throughout California—the nation's largest car market—prohibit the heaviest SUVs on many of their residential roads. The problem is, they don't seem to know they've done it. I discovered this secret ban after noticing the signs at both ends of my narrow Los Angeles-area street (a favorite cut-through route for drivers hoping to avoid tie-ups on bigger roads). The signs clearly prohi...

Right at 4:30 this afternoon I was at King County, just getting done with a filing, and just as I was getting ready to leave, about 10 camera crews came rushing through the door. I asked one of the guys what all the fuss was; come to find out Mary Kay was in the building registering as a sex offender. I hung out for a while to see if I could snap a pic on my picture phone, but she was taking her sweet time and I had to go. I'm sure I'll catch her on the news. I think I'm suffering from what the Onion referred to as "Liberal Rage Burnout." There's so much to be pissed-off about the Bush administration that I just don't know where to focus my attention. This makes it difficult to blog....