Blogging My Life

Sittin' here this morning watching the morning news shows, and I see a report about mosques in Auckland, New Zealand, being vandalized in response to the bombings in London. I think that is wrong. The vandals have assumed that all Muslims are terrorists, and that is not the case. I believe that, logically speaking, it's a slippery slope from 'All Muslims are terrorists,' to, 'All Jews are vermin to be exterminated.' I believe it's the same thinking. Having said that, I find myself increasingly frustrated by, what I see, as the lack of response, in regards to protest against acts like these, from the Muslim community. I understand that many in the Muslim community have a sense of being 'damned if they do and damned if they don't.' Damned if they do protest because that would make them a target of those same extremists, and damned if they don't because they fall under the condemnation of the rest of society. That's not a good place to be. T...

Thank god for Air America . I'm sittin' here listening to the Randi Rhodes (no, not the guitar player) show on the live stream, and I hear an excellent turn of phrase about the "dark side of morality." That's what I think about the republicans. They claim to have a monopoloy on morality, but it's reactionary and based on fear. So they'll use any lie, any subterfuge necessary to establish their Kingdom of God. Also, Ms. Rhodes said that anything George Bush touched turned into "turd blossoms." Turd blossoms, I like that. If your 'liberal rage' meter is low and you need something to get angry about, tune in to Air america.

If you're not paying attention to the Tour de France , you're missing one of the finest examples of modern professional sport ever. Lance Armstrong is still the over-all leader for three days running, at the end of Stage 7 today, holding an almost 60 second lead over the rest of the field. But its not just Lance, its the rest of the team riding in support. A lot of people don't know most pro bicycle racing is a team sport, not every man for himself. Anyhoo, check out OLN 's coverage as well.

Wow! So, being back in school again after all these years is really bizarro. The majority of my classmates are young kids on their first time through. I feel like some old geezer in there. And oh, my, god,...I certainly made a mistake trying to take any math again (for the first time in 13 [?] years), during the summer quarter. Summer quarter is only 8 weeks long; a normal quarter is 11 weeks long. So we're moving along at quite a clip and I'm frequently lost. So I come home and go over it and over it. Anyhow, my other classes, software and hardware, are loads of fun! There are more older folks in those classes, and I hate to say it, but some of those geezers are slowin' shit down. Both are intro classes so its natural for there to be people whose skills aren't the samme as others. I think there should be an Intro I and Intro II. Intro I would be, "Ok, people, this, is a computer, and there is almost nothing you could do to hurt it." Oh well...I'm glad to...

So, a week ago, we had Vice President Dick Cheney telling us that the insurgency in Iraq was in it's " final throes." In the same week (almost at the same time), we had Sec. of Defense Donald (Satan) Rumsfeld telling us that we could expect the insurgency to continue on for another "twelve years!" Now, throw in the 'Downing Street Memo,' and it all adds up to an administration that wanted to go to war with Iraq (any pretense will do) long before the American public was lied to in order to accomplish the task, and long before 9/11; and an administration that had no idea how to prosecute the war it so badly wanted (open borders, insufficient supplies for the troops); and an administration that had no clue as to how to win the peace after hostilities had ended. How did these guys get voted in to office? Oh yeah, it's because most Americans are stupid.

Goddammit, man. Looked in the mirror this morning and I didn't like what I saw. I know I've gained at least 5 pounds since being laid-off in April. I'll be happy when I have the money to put my own bike together. A few years ago, I broke the deraillieur drop-out on my Bianchi. After having another drop-out welded on, I never put the bike back together and just rode my work bike all the time. Now I don't have a work bike, and I don't have the money to put my bike together. Wah! But I'll get some birthday money in July so it'll be okay then.

After perusing my website, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see just how long W has left. This countdown will stay until Bush's last day.

So, I'm kinda conflicted on just how to feel about this chick who got herself kidnapped in Aruba. Its horrible that it happened, but I can't help but think that there were 18 years worth of talking to by her parents that she probably ignored. Things like: "Don't talk to strangers," and, "Never get in a car with people that you don't know." Having been on a few school trips in my day, I can't help but imagine that there were probably rules governing the activities of the students, such as a cufew, to insure that students were safe and sound. It sounds like this girl was out partying the night before her group was to return home. I know I sound like an insensitive asshole, but I have the same difficulty feeling sorry for cyclists who have accidents and sustain head injuries when not wearing a helmet. I got in trouble a few years back when just such a thing happened to a fellow messenger. One day everyone was talking about _______ (name withheld to ...

I know...I know, its been far too long since my last post. But I'm here now and I'll catch you up on everything. So, since getting laid-off, I have been thinking about going back to school. The thing is, I've been thinking about going back for 10 years, but the thought of it always filled me with terror because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. Well, I decided to go to Seattle Central and get a certificate in computer networking. My thinking is this: get certified in something that leads to working smart instead of hard. Then, that job can take me back to school for something I really want to do. So anyway, there is a program through Unemployment Insurance called the Commissioner Approved Training Plan that allows one to go to school while still recieving one's unemployment benefits, without having to do the weekly job searches. The program doesn't pay for school, it just allows one to go to school and not have to work. Sounds like a great program, huh?...

This story has been in the news for a few weeks now. At first it seemed like a puff piece until people realized that we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the school of thought that says homosexuality is a "chosen" lifestyle. Consider that these tests show that people react differently from one another on a cellular, chemical level. This goes a long way towards proving the theory that sexuality is an inherent thing and not a choice. I can't wait for the day when that is proven for fact because on that day, the world will be able to say "Fuck You," to any religion that has persecuted homosexuals based on what they believe God to have said.

"So, last night, I started coming on to this woman at the end of the bar. It kinda freaked me out 'cause I didn't know I could shoot that far."

So, political affiliation has become a litmus test for one's standing in the Church. If one doesn't toe the pastor's political line, one can expect to be voted out? Oh well, we shouldn't be so surprised that this type of thing would eventually happen within a system as closed as Christianity. The Christian world view refuses to accept even the possibility that there might be room for other religions in the world (except for Judaism), so why shouldn't they apply their myopic views to politics? We don't know anything about the disciples' political beliefs, I wish we did. Then we would know which ones Jesus should have kicked out. Outside of the Gospels (first 4 books of the New Testament), one doesn't read much of anything about the majority of Jesus first followers, perhaps that's because they were all discovered to be Roman sympathizers and were then booted out of the club. Mind you, I don't know about that, its only a guess........

Well, Jessica and I are all moved in to our new apartment. It was hell I tell ya. I hate moving. You wanna know what I hate about moving? Well, I'll tell ya...It's not the packing or moving of boxes, either of those show progress. One can look at the empty shelves and see all the stuff you have packed up. It's not moving the heavy furniture. Moving the heavy stuff has a definite beginning and ending. What I hate is all the little crap that didn't get packed up in the previous 164 times I went through the house packing things up. The stuff you pick up and say "Do I need this? Hhmmm. I'll decide later." But I never decided, and now there it is, sitting on the floor, waiting to be picked up, again. I don't even mind the actual putting on the gloves and cleaning the bathroom as much as I hate picking up all the little crap. So, now Jess and I go on vacation, which works out well, I need a vacation! I'm going to that part of Jesus Land known as Indianap...

I have more on the 9-11 joke. MSNBC has a video from their nightly news that covered the story, but I couldn't find a copy of the whole transcript. Anyhoo, the girl the mother couldn't control was only 12(!), not 13, and it happened in Texas (even better), not Florida. Yep, they're doin' just fine down there in Jesus Land.

So, I was watching CNN yesterday (I know, I know, I’m a news junkie) and there’s a story about this woman who calls 9-11 because her kids are so unruly that she can’t control them. I have searched the interweb for the transcript of this call, but even CNN’s site doesn’t have it. Anyway, I’ll try to give it to you as best as I can remember: 9-11: “Hello, 9-11.” Caller: “Yes, I need help with my children. I’ve come home and they’re fighting and breaking things, the whole house is torn apart. I’ve got a 13 year old and an 11 year old and the 13 year old is as big as me and I just can’t control her anymore.” 9-11: “Sure, would you like us to come over there and shoot ‘em?” Caller: “What did you say?” 9-11: “I’m sorry ma’am. It was a joke. I am sorry.” At this point it is just her yelling at him and telling him she’s gonna speak with his supervisor and him apologizing again, and her yelling some more. Now, I gotta tell you, my sympathies are totally with the 9-11 operator. I probably would ...

Just a quick link to an excellent article about a bike messenger's favorite sport.

Only 87 shopping days left till my Birthday!

Here we have another fine example of former Democratic Party presidents actually doing something to make the world a better place. I truly hope the Clinton Foundation follows up this bit of goodness by going on to bigger things. President Clinton's foundation follows in the footsteps of President Carter's home building efforts. What did Reagan do when he got out of office? Nothing. Granted, he only had a few years of lucidity left. But what did Bush The First do when he left office. Nothing. Well, he did play golf and make money with his cronies. I expect that Bush The Second will probably not begin some sort of humanitarian foundation after his term in office is over. He'll probably go on to become the leader of a Christian, right-wing lobby group that pushes a Christian Taliban agenda.

Sittin' here watching CNN and reporter Chris Huntington is talking about how we here in the U.S. have the lowest gas prices in the world. And yet, even as the government keeps gas prices artificially low, people over here still complain and bitch about how expensive it is to drive. Consider that in England, petrol is about $5.64 a gallon. In Holland, its over $6.00 a gallon. The point Huntington makes is that in Europe, gas is heavily taxed. The actual price for a gallon of gas in England is about $2.30, the other $3.30 is taxes. Taxes for road maintenance and schools and public transit. Huntington goes on to say that in America, especially on the west coast, there is now a high demand for the new hybrid cars in response to the price of gas at the pump. I personally believe that we should do the same thing here in the States. We should tax gas very heavily in order to pay for things like public transit and road maintenance. Just like my proposed School Tax (which has people with ch...

This is an excelent response to the whole "activist judge" charge being bandied about by conservatives. This link takes you Lambda Legal's site which discusses further the idea of activist judges.