Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Pat Robertson is double plus out of his fucking mind.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
David Blaine survives, millions dissappointed
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Truthiness comes to Washington. Hilarity Ensues.
Stephen Colbert's irony filled evisceration of both the White House and the press at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was merely latest example of how the assembly of talent put together at Comedy Central is the primary source of real dissent on television to the major powers in American media. This article from Salon is the best I've seen so far on Colbert's speech, and summed up what the politicians in Washington should start to realize...
"Make no mistake, Stephen Colbert is a dangerous man -- a bomb thrower, an assassin, a terrorist with boring hair and rimless glasses. It's a wonder the Secret Service let him so close to the president of the United States."
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Goodbye Scottie : A tribute to our departing chief of propaganda
"I do expect that the President will say something at the beginning of his remarks today, at the conversation. "
“Flood control has been a priority of this administration from Day One.”
“an obligation not to render people to countries if we believe they're going to be tortured.”
Getting Off Scott Free: AP Presents McClellan's Past Quotes on Rove and Plame
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says White House Reporter Helen Thomas opposes the war on terrorism
Friday, April 14, 2006
Friday Quote of the Day
“We have been chosen, ... by fate or providence or whatever you wish to call it. As far as we can tell, we are the best there is. We may be all there is. It's an unnerving thought that we may be the living universe's supreme achievement and its worst nightmare simultaneously.”-Bill Bryson
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Signs of the Apocalypse
The 33-year-old magician will perform his latest stunt by living underwater for seven days and nights in a "human aquarium" in front of New York's Lincoln Center.I hope someone breaks the supports on his spherical aquarium and sends him rolling down Broadway. Who else thinks that would be hilarious?He will conclude by attempting to hold his breath underwater longer than the record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Apathy is the order of the day
Perhaps I'm a victim of the 24 hour news blitzkrieg of which I'm so happily addicted. The saturation of political scandal has so infected my core that nothing moves me anymore. In fact, the only media that provokes anger in me anymore is watching Hannity and Colmes. And that's just because every word that comes out of Sean Hannity's mouth is venomous hate speech that has been tailored through years of practice to perform a unique brand of verbal fellatio on white males, Age 18-35 who don't like anyone that doesn't fit into their gated community, McDonald guzzling , SUV driving picture of life (hooray for demographic research!). Oh great, I just admitted that the only thing that can currently inspire my righteous indignation is the Jerry Springer of 24 hour news. Fan-Fucking-Tastic!
Am I truly defeated? Or do I just need some grilled meat and beer? Tonight I will test this theory. Stay tuned tomorrow for the results.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Oddities of a public restroom
Who the fuck clips their fingernails in a public restroom stall?
And why don't you have the common courtesy to clean that shit up when you are done?
Anyone else spot some fun items in public restrooms?
Friday Quote of the Day
Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills. [on causes of the Columbine High School massacre, 1999]Tom Delay
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Fat Kids: brought to you by the food and soft drink manufacturers of America
Ok, so this is a problem. But what are you going to do? Food and soft drink companies are big evil corporations who wield unreasonably large amounts of power in our nation's schools. Well, Congress has finally decided to step foward with some proposed legislation that will put minimum nutrition requirements for food served in schools.
Is this not the perfect analogy of corporate America today? Federal legislation is required to force school districts to provide a healthy meal to school kids instead of making a buck from Coca Cola or Frito Lay.
"We talk a lot about healthy nutrition, we teach the kids about the food pyramid, and then they go down the hallway and get the high fat, high sodium and high junk available in the vending machines," Ms. Murkowski said. "We need to be consistent. People are beginning to connect the dots between rising health care costs and obesity." - Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Picture Blogging France
Here is a view from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower looking up.
My sister's boyfriend proposed on the intermediate level of the Eiffel Tower. She accepted and here is the ring. It's a Platinum ring with a big Sapphire gem and diamonds. Quite the bling bling.
This is the cave at Lourdes where St. Bernadette saw a vision of the Virgin Mary.
I took this picture of the Pyrenees at dawn the last morning of my stay at the Farm house in Southern France.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
It's French... Bitch.
Monday, March 27, 2006
2008 : A premature preview
Hillary Clinton: I like Hillary Clinton. But she can't win, so I won't vote for her. The conservatives hate her. Despise her. She could energize the Republican base more than any other candidate. She will not be getting my vote.
The most infuriating thing about Hillary is that she has moved so far to the center that she will alienate her liberal base, while not picking up the centrists and conservatives she covets because they hate her. Sorry Hillary, but you are not well liked outside of liberal circles.
Joseph Biden: A smart, savvy veteran Senate Democrat. He's a member of the Senate foreign relations committee. I've seen him on several television shows, including Meet the Press, and he has a superior command of foreign policy and relations. However, he comes off as a pompous know-it-all and would likely turn off voters who don't like smart people (i.e. the American voting public).
John Edwards: I'm completely indifferent to this guy. Did he actually do anything in the 2004 election?
Al Gore: He won an election and still didn't get to be President. Sorry, but you should have fought harder Al.
John Kerry: Oh joy, it's Al Gore version 2.0 Hey Kerry, if you couldn't win in 2004, when Dubya was fucking up everything, what makes you think you can win now? Well you can't, so you will not be getting my vote.
Russ Feingold: Now here is a real candidate. Between his campaign finance reform bill and his censure resolution, Russ Feingold seems to be a politician who actually has some testicular fortitude against both special interest and the Republicans. Did you see him on the Daily Show? He made simple but eloquent arguments for his censure resolution. He is probably the only candidate who can beat McCain if he runs. Feingold gets my vote. Hell, I'd go out and campaign for this guy. Go Feingold.
Bill Richardson: Only candidate besides Feingold that I would actually be enthusiastic about. Richardson was the head of the Department of Energy under Clinton. He was also chief negotiator with the North Koreans back when we actually were making progress on disarming them. As the Governor of New Mexico, he will not only keep that swing state in the hands of the Democrats, but he could swing the Latino vote heavily in favor of the Democrats. He's a winner. I'd vote for him if Feingold is out of the running.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Friday Quote of the Day
"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events"- Sir Winston Churchill
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Dick Cheney: Rockstar!
- Queen or King Size Bed
- Desk with Chair
- Private Bathroom
- All lights turned on
- Temperature set to 68 degrees
- All televisions turned to FOX News (hahaha! Big suprise!)
- Microwave
- Coffee Pot in Suite (Brew decaf prior to arrival)
- Container for Ice (and location of where ice maker is)*
- Bottle Water, 4-6 bottles
- Diet Caffeine Free Sprite
- Hotel Restaurant Menu (please also fax a copy to the Advance Office)
- Newspapers - N.Y. Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Local Newspaper
*Apparently Dick Cheney can't read the fucking signs that are EVERYWHERE in hotels telling you the location of the icemaker.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Illegal Immigration solutions
The most important reason is that we treat the cause of the illegal immigration, massive poverty in Mexico, instead of attempting to treat a symptom. Building a wall around the United States is not a realistic solution. The fact is that the U.S. could never build a wall strong enough to keep the wave of illegal immigrants from coming to the U.S. At best, a massive border wall would slow down the rate of illegal immigration. And for a country of immigrants to build a massive "Do Not Enter" sign on our border would not only be hypocritical but would be a knife through the heart of everything that the U.S. stands for.
Massive investment in Mexico will also help the U.S. economy. Mexico is one of our most important trading partners and if their economy grows it will create a larger market for exporting U.S. goods and services. In addition, this investment will create jobs on both sides of the border and raise the wages in Mexico. Once wages in Mexico begin to rise, the amount of illegal immigration will decrease because people can make livable wages at home.
While the idea of funding Mexican development may sound ludicrous, this investment would also benefit the U.S. economically, and the total is less than half of what the EU spent. Washington's $80 billion contribution would amount to about a third of what the Bush administration has spent in the last three years in Iraq.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Friday Quote of the Day
"When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, this you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motive "-Robert Heinlein
Bush Sucks Part 2000548433252342352... you get the idea
First Reaction: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Second Reaction: Are you fucking kidding me?!?! The head of the greatest fear mongering administration in decades is worried about a bad message being sent to Arabs? How many fucking times have we heard such classic lines as: "they are well trained killers", "they want to destroy our way of life", "we must fight islamo-facists over there, so we don't have to fight them here" etc. The American people don't do well with any level of nuianced arguments pal. You've spent the last 6 years convincing them to fight the evil brown people. Now you expect them to jump for joy when you let a UAE government owned Arab company run our ports.
Final Reaction: Marie Antoinette nailed this story.
This isn't about Republicans versus Democrats. This isn't even about outsourcing national security to a country with diplomatic ties to the Taliban. This is about how much you trust this president. And people are increasingly standing up and saying that they don't.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
I'm feeling left out of this whole crazy religious thing.
SAGS*, 24, slight beer gut seeks religion. Must allow/encourage all of the following activities:
- Daily consumption of Alcohol (would prefer some sort of daily ritual in which this is required)
- Watching sporting events, particularly violent ones (Football, UFC, etc.)
- Gambling (Hold 'em and blackjack are preferred)
- Smoking (Me likey the cigars and hookahs)
- Not believing in God
- Extensive use of sarcasm
- Pre-Marital Sex
- Post-Marital Sex
- Eating Meat (particularly beef. Mmmmmm... Steak)
- Hating on stupid people
- Idolatry
- Science
- Logic
*Single Agnostic Graduate Student
Another blow to "Intelligent" Design
Science teachers had complained that although critical analysis is part of all science, the wording was really a backdoor attempt to force educators to teach religious-based alternatives. In a 10-6 vote, board members agreed.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
I hate service fees
Can a merchant charge you a service fee for using a credit card or debit card? There is no federal regulation that prohibits this. The law that prohibited a surcharge on credit card purchases expired back in 1984. But both Visa and MasterCard say it would be a violation of their rules for a store to tack on a service fee for using one of their cards. A merchant can offer a discount for paying by cash or check, but they cannot charge more for putting it on plastic.So the next time a local store attempts to pull this crap on you, remind them that they are violating their merchant agreement. If they insist, reports their asses to the company that issued your card. And if they don't like it, fuck 'em!
Monday, March 06, 2006
All this foreign policy done hurt my think-bone
- Foster the strength of the empire by just legislation and economy at home
- The aim of foreign policy should be "to preserve to the nations of the world … the blessings of peace."
- "Even when you do a good thing," Gladstone observed, "you may do it in so bad a way that you may entirely spoil the beneficial effect."
- To avoid needless and entangling engagements.
- To acknowledge the equal rights of all nations.
Friday, March 03, 2006
No big surprise.
You're a Wild Drunk |
You can get enough drink. Seriously, you'll just go puke and start pounding them back again! |
People like to get drunk
Despite a food shortage going on in Tanaznia and a government ban on using grain to make alcohol, local brewers are continuing to use grain to make beer. Even with the food shortage, local customers continue to go to the local breweries and drink beer. Why? Because people love to get drunk.
Mama John, who produces the "libeneke" local drink in her backyard on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, says she needs to continue with her business to feed her family of four.
Her brew is popular as it costs $0.25 for a litre, the same price as a bottled cool drink.
Friday Quotes of the Day
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."-Martin Luther King Jr.
"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Universiy Science Education: A New Approach
For the full post, follow the link to Nice Shoes, Wanna Fock
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.
Now that I've got that mini-rant out of the way, onto the the actual point of this post. Some parents decided to try and get an elementary school teacher fired because Mr. McBeth decided to become Ms. McBeth.
I, as a parent, am appalled to have this issue brought into my child's psychology," Steve Bond said...I think these parents who were speaking against hiring back Ms. McBeth were just being paranoid, overprotective parents. I doubt these kids could even comprehend a sex change. Even if kids vaguely understood it, I doubt they'd even think twice about it. Besides, a good teacher is a terrible thing to waste. People should be judged on their talent, not their sexual preferences (obvious exception being rapists and child molestors).
"I will not allow you to put my kids in a petri dish and hope it all turns out fine," said Mark Schnepp, who had taken out an ad in a local newspaper urging parents to turn out for the meeting.
Several parents and students spoke at the same school board meeting in favor of hiring back Ms. McBeth. The school board ultimately voted 4-1 in favor of hiring back Ms. McBeth.
Monday, February 27, 2006
The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming
Mikhail had watched NBA games as a kid and it was a life long dream for him to go an NBA game. I took him to the Lakers v. Celtics game. Kobe scored 40 points and the Lakers still lost.
Mikhail is a huge Pulp Fiction fan, so he had to have this picture in the Hollywood Wax Museum.
Mikhail and I having some beers at a bar on Hollywood Blvd. I got him wasted that night.
Mikhail drinking at a bar in Costa Mesa. Aren't I a great influence on people?
Yes, that's right. I won an oscar. I bet you don't have one. Suck it!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Expect light posting
- The Management.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
And so it begins
The Supreme Court will review a case on late term abortion. Well, that sure was quick. Hey Democrats who didn't vote for the filibuster of Alito: WAY TO GO JACKASSES! Now that Bush has stacked the court with some more old conservative white guys (obvious experts on women's health issues), the Supreme Court is ready to start turning back the clock on women's rights.
The most disturbing thing about this new law that the Supreme Court will review is that there is no health exception. So, if being pregnant puts the women's life in danger, well that's just too bad for her. Feministing seems to think this is a bad idea, and I am in complete agreement with them.
"Despite 33 years of Supreme Court precedent that women's health matters, the court has decided it will once again take up this issue," Cecile Richards, the organization's president, said in a written statement.
"Health-care decisions should be made by women, with their doctors and families -- not politicians," Richards added. "Lawmakers should stop playing politics with women's health and lives."
Friday, February 17, 2006
Friday Quote of the Day
O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it..."The War Prayer" by Mark Twain
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Expressing my poetic side
Entry One
Dick's thirst for blood was overwhelming
He was tired of bombers doing all the shelling
So he grabbed a gun and drank beer from a can
And then shot in the face, a 78 year old man
Entry Two
Dick was tired and needed a break
So he went down to Texas for some human steak
Shooting caged quail seemed kind of lame
Because Dick prefers The Most Dangerous Game
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
WoW addiction
Grad Student 1: "I've finally made it to level 57"
Grad Student 2: "Don't even talk to me until you make it level 60"
After hearing this conversation, I instantly did not approve of WOW. After a quick google search, I found that apparently alot of other people in the world just absolutely hate WoW.
I know it's sad but if he had a choice between keeping me or wow..he'd choose that game, unless we got engaged (in that case he promised me he'd sell it). Heh...riiight. I've just had enough with it. It's something that is between us...and is the main problem in our relationship. I know how addicted he used to be and I don't want that to ever happen again.If you want to get a really good laugh though, go check out Mikey's addiction. Some poor guy who lived with a WoW addict decided to document his roommate's addiction. He has a running count of how much sleep his roommate gets versus how much time he has spent playing WoW.
Alright, we're back in the swing of things here. Mikey played the game from midnight to 3:30 last night, got up at 7:30, and started playing again at 10:15 until 4:30 with a 2 hour break in between. At 4:30 he took a nap until a quater to seven and then got up and played until 9. So...
Today
Gameplay - 10:00
Sleep - 6:00 (Night - 4:00, Nap - 2:00)
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
My ode to the Daily Show
Shooting Dick in a Barrel, My ode to the Daily Show.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
Man's face intercepts Vice Presidential bullet.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
Whittinghams condition upgraded from stable, to stable but still shot in the face.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
Vice President Dick Cheney shot a 78 year old man, in the face.
A 78 year old man, was shot in the face, by the Vice President of the United States of America
Monday, February 13, 2006
Dick Cheney shot a guy
- One time, Dick Cheney stabbed a delivery boy just for forgetting his egg rolls.
- Dick Cheney has died 3 times already. Each time he dies, Donald Rumsfeld performs an obscure pagan ritual on him that brings him back to life. And each time, Cheney's hunger for the flesh of the living becomes more and more unquenchable.
- Dick Cheney once killed in a man in Reno just to watch him die. And by once, I mean once a week.
- If you see Dick Cheney, do not approach or taunt him, but keep your distance and call the authorities.
- Dick Cheney once beat a man to death with a copy of the book of Mormon If Dick Cheney has to tell you one more goddamned time to put the toilet seat back down, he's going to teabag you to death.
- Dick Cheney is personally responsible for the death of Rock and Roll. His next target: Happiness
- Dick Cheney once shot a man for snoring too loud
- When he gets bored, Dick Cheney likes to have a hooker dress up like a hobo, then kill her.
- If you send Dick Cheney an email forward that he finds insufficiently amusing, he'll kill everyone you've ever loved, but leave you unharmed.
- Dick Cheney killed Johnny Cash
- Dick Cheney is making a list, and checking it twice. If you've been nice, he will give you a barrel of oil and an Iraq reconstruction contract. If you've been naughty, he'll crush your skull with a tire iron.
Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney Random Facts, Dick Cheney Shooting
Picture Blogging: Easier than writing
Here's me with some of the ladies of my college years. The two girls on the right (Patrica and Reena) were two of my college roommates and the girl on the left (Tasha) was on the UT Drumline with me.
Here's some food I got at Rudy's BBQ, one of the best bbq joints in Austin. That's almost 2 lbs of meat! You know it's a a good bbq joint when they serve the meat on butcher paper. There is the bachelor, Joe, infront of all the booze for the party. And we drank nearly everything in that picture. This is an instant classic of my picture collection. You might be asking yourself, why do all these guys have duct tape around their hands? Because virtually the entire bachelor party decided to start off the night with Edward 40 hands. In Edward 40 hands, one has a 40 ounce bottle of malt liquor taped to each hand, and you must finish both 40's before you can remove the bottles from your hand. Gluttony rules!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Shocking UCI
The Nice Shoes, Wanna Fock crew, Commandante Agi, and some non-bloggers attended a UCI basketball game on Thursday night. A member of the public relations staff asked our group for volunteers for one of the games played during the game breaks. After much debate, it was decided that The Disgruntled Chemist and I would participate the event. However, in an effort to be fair, I informed the P.R. staffer that I would be drunk and would probably just try and shoot the ball from half court or the 3 point line till I made a basket. She still requested that I participate. Foolish.
The game we were supposed to play was essentially a game of basketball musical chairs. There were 3 participants in the game to start and 2 chairs. In order to stay in the game, you had make a basket and then get back to an open chair. The winner of the game was to be rewarded with free In-N-Out burger. However, I had a few ideas of my own on what kind of game I wanted to play.
The game started from half court. So, mildly intoxicated, I was walked to the center of the court, and threw my initial shocker to the student section. Once the game started, T.D.C and the other participant ran towards the baskets to attempt layups. I decided to casually walk to the free throw line. Once there, I promptly turned around with my back to the basket, did a quick check for wind (note: this was in an indoor basketball arena) and proceeded to heave over my head backwards, reverse granny shot style. I turned around just in time to see that not only had a missed the basket completely, but I clocked a camera square in the forehead with my shot. Luckily for me, the ball ricocheted off of his skull directly to a ball boy, who then quickly passed me the ball.
Feeling particularly inspired, I then threw shockers to every direction of the stadium and walked off, as T.D.C. and random guy had already made their baskets and gotten back to the chairs. As I was walking back to the student section, I then heard an angry fan shout “What’s your problem man?” which was about the funniest thing I’d ever heard. Hey, fuck HIM if he can’t take a joke. But the true greatness of this story is when I handed the ball back, the P.R. staff still gave me a gift certificate for In-N-Out. Hahaha!
So to summarize:
- I was intoxicated on a college basketball court.
- I threw the shocker to several thousand people, multiple times.
- I clocked a camera man in the skull with a basketball
- And I got free In-N-Out burger for doing all this.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Shameless Promotion
To read the rest of the preview of Sperm Wars, go to my post at Nice Shoes, Wanna Fock.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Scottie gets schooled
Q: Does the president think he should obey the law? He put his hand on the Bible twice to uphold the Constitution. Wiretapping is not legal under the circumstances without a warrant.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Well, I guess you didn't pay attention to the attorney general's hearing earlier today, because he walked through very clearly the rationale behind this program.
Q There is no rationale --
MR. MCCLELLAN: And Helen, I think you have to ask --
Q -- (inaudible) -- the law.
MR. MCCLELLAN: I think you have ask are we -- well, he's not -- are we a nation at war.
Q That's not the question.
MR. MCCLELLAN: No, that is the issue here.
Q The question is, the point is, there are means for him to go to -- get a warrant to spy on people.
MR. MCCLELLAN: Enemy surveillance is critical to waging and winning war. It's one of the traditional tools of war.
Q But he says he doesn't have running room --
MR. MCCLELLAN: The attorney general outlined very clearly today how previous administrations have used the same authority --
Q That doesn't make it legal.
MR. MCCLELLAN: -- and cited the same -- and cited the very same authority.
Q (Inaudible) -- they broke the law, that's too bad.
MR. MCCLELLAN: And we're going to continue doing everything we can --
Q You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
MR. MCCLELLAN: -- within our power to protect the American people.
This is a very different circumstance, and you know that.
Q No, I don't.
Now check out the video at Crooks and Liars. Am I the only one who is pissed that they turned Helen Thomas' microphone down so low you can't even hear her after the inital question? Fuck those guys.
Monday, February 06, 2006
What the Fock?
I'll now be contributing to a collaborative UCI science graduate student blog called Nice Shoes, Wanna Fock. The content of this blog will consist mainly of science, science news, and the occasional rant about the life of a grad student. Check it out, it should be fun and informative.
"Four Things" Meme
Four jobs I've had:
1. Balloon Artist (i.e. making balloon animals)
2. Private Lesson Instructor for Percussion
3. Mindless drone at Service Merchandise
4. Front Desk of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy library at UT-Austin
Four movies I can watch over & over:
1. Fight Club
2. American Psycho
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Boondock Saints
Four places I've lived:
1. Grand Junction, CO
2. The Woodlands, TX (yes, "The" is actually part of the name)
3. Austin, TX
4. Irvine, CA
Four tv shows I love:
1. The Simpsons
2. The Daily Show
3. Family Guy
4. Futurama
Four places I've vacationed:
1. London
2. Mexico
3. New York City
4. Las Vegas
Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Texas Barbeque
2. Sushi
3. Steak
4. Spaghetti Carbonara
Four sites I visit daily:
1. N.Y Times
2. CNN
3. GorillaMask.net
4. ESPN
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. My couch
2. My bed
3. Salt Lick Barbeque in Driftwood, TX
4. The magical land of no hangovers
Four books I love:
1. 1984
2. Coercion : Why We Listen to What "They" Say
3. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman
4. Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
By request, I'm tagging Allison with this meme.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Friday Quote of the Day
You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.Richard Feynman
Meat
1. Eating meat is unethical. Bullshit. Humans are omnivores. That sheep/pot belly pig/fill in the blank cute animal is not your child. Stop anthropomorphising everything.
2. Human digestive systems have not evolved to eat meat. Are you a fucking moron? Guess why people didn't just go out and graze on grass? Because we lack the enzymes to digest that shit. That is why ancient people let livestock, who possessed enzymes that can digest grass, graze on fields and then ate them. You learn that in an introductory microbiology class.
3. Vegetarian diets are healthier. Wrong. Balanced diets consisting of the proper amounts of fruit, vegetables, meat, bread, etc. are the healthiest diets. Vegetarians typically have to take suppliments of protein and certain nutrients to maintain their "healthy" diet. If you are taking supplements, that means your diet is NOT healthy.
4. Meat is disgusting. Liar. Have you had a steak? What about bacon? It's fucking delicious. Make your best vegetarian meal. The best meal in the HISTORY of vegetarian meals. Then we'll do the Pepsi challenge at some mall between your Cadillac of vegetarian meals and a juicy red steak. Guess which one wins 99 times out of 100? Steak, bitches.
5. Everyone who can afford to be a vegetarian, should be a vegetarian. You chose to be a vegetarian. I choose to eat meat. It's a free country, so quit your bitchin.
6. The meat industry mistreats animals. You're correct. Animals should be treated with respect, but they are still food.
7. Why are you so mean to vegetarians? I'm mean to everyone. I'm a bad person. But NOT because I eat meat.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
State of the Union Replay
Bros before proles
In Washington, Prince Turki, the Saudi ambassador, said he was puzzled by Mr. Bush's words in the speech. He said he wanted to know if reducing American dependence on foreign oil also applied to other suppliers to the United States. "Is that a declaration that the U.S. is going to work to be independent of Canadian oil, Mexican oil and Venezuelan oil?" he asked, adding, "I see no threat from America from receiving its oil from the Middle East."
Meanwhile, Republicans were acting like Dubya just cheated on them with their best friend...
Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said he was enthusiastic about nuclear power but questioned whether the government should be subsidizing alternative fuels like ethanol.But George W. Bush always takes care of his buddies. They obviously had nothing to worry about...
"It loses some of its shine when it becomes another government support program for an alternative fuel, which seems to be the pattern here in Washington," Mr. Cornyn said.
The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.
A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
It's 9:18am, the day after the State of the Union...
By the way, go read The Disgruntled Chemist's live blogging of the State of the Union. It guest stars some of your favorite O.C. liberal bloggers such as: Rob the Dirty Liberal, AC Patriot, Commandante Agi
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
A different angle on choice
Make no mistake about it: If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a nonissue. Men would never let anybody take away their right to choose.The more I think about it, the more I realize the undeniable truth in that statement. While debates about when life begins, and the morality of abortion are important, they are secondary to the core issue of this debate, which is equal rights. I can guarantee that if the U.S. government tried to regulate sperm, you'd have the 150 million man march showing up in D.C. ready to burn the politicians at the stake. Ladies, you gotta fight for your rights, because the U.S. government wants to regulate your ovaries.
Monday, January 30, 2006
State of the Union: Let's all ride magical hydrogen ponies in the land of Gumdrop Rainbows
CNN reports that George W. Bush (douchebag extraordinare) will focus his State of the Union address on U.S. energy policy. Am I the only one who finds this hilarious, in a severely depressing way? President Douchebag, the failed Texas oil businessman and the best friend a Saudi oil king could ever want, is telling us that he has figured out how to fix U.S. energy policy.
Here are a few real solutions to help the U.S. break its dependency on Foreign Oil...
- Force the big car companies to produce more hybrid vehicles through forced quotas and incentives.
- Make large scale investments into mass transits systems in the largest cities in America. How about using that $50 billion we are wasting on missile defense?
- Introduce a large gas tax (50 cents per gallon) to force a reduction in demand. Use that money to invest in mass transit, road maintenance and alternative fuels.
Guess how many of these Bush will mention in his speech? If you guessed zero, then you win the prize.*
No, ole Georgy is focusing on hydrogen fuel cell technology. Now, hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to one day replace gas powered cars. However, the best estimates put the first practical hydrogen fuel cell car being introduced no earlier than 2020.
So why would Georgy push technologies that, at least for now, have zero practical application to reduce the current demand in foreign oil? My guess is that Dubya is a little busy making sure his buddies at Exxon are making some money and doesn't have time for energy solutions that will have an immediate impact. He would rather talk about the magical hydrogen ponies in the enchanted land of Gumdrop Rainbows and privatized Social Security.
*There is no prize
Update: I've been cross posted on Shakespeare's Sister and AlterNet Peek. Big thanks to Shakespeares Sis for the cross posts.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Beat them without becoming them
In one case, a secretive task force locked up the young mother of a nursing baby, a U.S. intelligence officer reported. In the case of a second detainee, one American colonel suggested to another that they catch her husband by tacking a note to the family’s door telling him “to come get his wife."This is one of the more disgusting tactics I have ever seen from the U.S. military. Doesn't the Geneva Convention prevent us from using such tactics? And just a little food for thought...
Tactic | Insurgents/Terrorists | U.S. Military | ||
Torture | Yes | Yes | ||
Kidnapping | Yes | Yes | ||
Execution | Yes | No, we let state governments handle that |
Friday Quote of the Day
Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individualThomas Jefferson
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Changing the look
And thanks to The Disgruntled Chemist for helping me figure out some of the blogger template shit.
Summing up 6 years of douchebaggery
In 2000, Bush ran as an outsider who would usher in "an era of personal responsibility." In six years, he and most of his party have done nothing but dodge questions and pass the blame. It took Bush two months to admit that maybe Brownie didn't do one heck of a job after all
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
If you give me your privacy rights, I'll give you this SHINY quarter?
Gonzales told his audience: “You may have heard about the provision of FISA that allows the president to conduct warrantless surveillance for 15 days following a declaration of war. That provision shows that Congress knew that warrantless surveillance would be essential in wartime.”Some might interpret the explicit 15 day time limit on warrantless surveillance as a stringent control on warrantless spying because it is a grave threat to civil liberties. Others might interpret the 15 day warrentless surveillance as an emergency power that is only to be enacted if the country(and I mean U.S. soil) is under attack during the initial declaration of war. Gonzo's statement that warrentless surveillance WOULD BE essential in wartime is gross misinterpretation of the FISA law. A half dozen students listening to Gonzo's speech held up a banner summed up my viewpoint on the matter, Ben Franklin style
“Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”I think this spy program comes straight out of 1984 and every other novel about a totalitarian government using technology to spy on its own citizens. So to Bush, Gonzo, and the NSA employees participating in this illegal program: Suck it.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Shit + Trash = CW
CW will feature the best shows (ok, I'm trying not laugh as I wrote those last two words) from the UPN and WB, includings suchs gems as "Smallville","Gilmore Girls", "America's Top Model", and of course "Smackdown". I imagine the effect watching a few hours of CW will be something along the lines what Mad Cow Disease does to your brain: turning it into Swiss cheese.
Monday, January 23, 2006
And he streched forth his hand, and darkness fell upon the lab
Apparently, as my labmates and I installed a new router for the lab, the computers in our lab began blasting the school network with large amounts of data. So either some hacker took over our lab computers and used them for a denial of service attack, or we wired a loop into our lab network and this led to bad things. Either way, the network administrators shut down our ports and showed up at our lab. I've attempted to accurately reproduce the experience in the diagram below.
To be honest, giving the guy a columbian necktie popped into my mind, but then I realized that he was just a sad little man. Besides which, he stood between me and high speed internet access and thus I just ignored him. The funny thing is that the network engineer was nice, it was just his crony that was being a jerk.
The laser safety guy showed up in the afternoon and that went well. Apparently, he was quite impressed that our lab bought safety glasses. Apparently, people using high powered pulsed laser that can burn through skin and blind you don't really think that much about using safety goggles. Go figure.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Deep Thoughts
For a long time, I would just pack anything into my system that I could. Pizza, beef fried rice, and Freebirds burritos were the college favorites. Back then, I thought sheer volume of food was the key to victory. I quickly learned however that massive amounts of food can work against you. I ate 5 pieces of fried chicken before attempting to join the century club... hilarity did not ensue. Vomiting did.
Grad school has introduced a far greater variety of pre-drinking foods. I think I've had everything from fish tacos, to sushi, to meatball subs. My birthday this last year taught me that soup, even beef barley soup, is no match in a head to head contest with whiskey.
Last night, however, was an epiphany. I've discovered the perfect pre-drinking food. And it was right there in front of me all this time. Thoebrama, thy name is Double-Double meal (animal style )from In-N-Out burger. First of all, it is delicious. But it has all the essential elements that a good predrinking food needs.
1. Meat. Good predrinking food needs meat. It forms the backbone of the meal.
2. Bread. That delicious spongy bun for the In-N-Out burgers gives you a little extra alcohol absorption.
3. Vegetables. You need to have some veggies for a hard night of drinking. The nutrients and water in veggies will help you when you get to that 8th beer.
4. Fried potatoes. The fries provide bulk and salt, both of which are good for drinking.
5. Cheese. Is there ever a bad time for cheese? Is there? (no)
6. Correct amount of food. Not too much but enough to keep the drunkeness at bay for a while and keep the hangover stomach damage to a minimum.
So, anyone else have special pre-drinking food?
Friday, January 20, 2006
Called out by one of their own
What will it take for evangelicals in the United States to recognize our mistaken loyalty? We have increasingly isolated ourselves from the shared faith of the global Church, and there is no denying that our Faustian bargain for access and power has undermined the credibility of our moral and evangelistic witness in the world. The Hebrew prophets might call us to repentance, but repentance is a tough demand for a people utterly convinced of their righteousness.
Friday Quote of the Day
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or Worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", thus building a wall of separation between the Church and State
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The truth about Dick Cheney
From the health the U.S. economy to the latest in the War on Terror, Neil sits down for a powerful one-on-one interview with Vice President Cheney. Got a question for the vice president? Drop us a line to: cavuto@foxnews.com and maybe Neil will ask it!Hat tip: Newshounds
So here is the email I just fired off to Cavuto. I decided to keep this one short and direct.
Cavuto,
Here is my question for Dick Cheney.
Mr Cheney. Are you a robot or zombie?
Rob the dirty liberal
robthedirtyliberal@hotmail.com
http://dirtyliberalwords.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
I'm having an Emergen-C
So I finally tried some Emergen-C, mixed with my gatorade. I can only describe the feeling afterward as buzzed. But not like a beer buzz. Closer to a caffeine buzz. But not quite. My muscles definitley felt kind of tingly, but I don't think I really felt energized. Just like something was off. Anyone else encounter this stuff?
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Acceptable error
To humanize this statement a little more, let me put this another way: How many innocent people are we willing to kill for the satistfaction of executing the worst criminals? No matter how far forensic science advances, innocent people will die if we have a death penalty.
But we can estimate. The error execution rate has to be at least 1 in 1,000--the "1,000" being Kenneth Boyd and the "1" being Ruben Cantu, who the Houston Chronicle seems to prove that he died for a crime he did not commit. The Death Penalty Information Center lists another eight people as "executed but possibly innocent." That pushes it to about 1 in 100. Estimates for the number of people on death row who have been exonerated range from 25-30 from a prosecutor's estimates to 73 from a University of Michigan study. The maximum possible error rate, depending on very loose assumptions, then surges up to 1 in 30 to 1 in 12. These rates are undoubtedly too high, but they help to establish an upper bound.
Monday, January 16, 2006
The Corporatization of American Youth
And yet, my friends and I weren't the scariest thing at that basketball game. The Corporate plush whores were in full forced on Sunday, determined to push subliminal messages to all little children of So Cal. Let their indoctrination begin!
Worship the Red Robin. Buy more Hamburgers or you will foresake me!
Don't forget to buy cookies too! Consume, Consume, Consume! And now they pacify any further resistance with their hypnotic plush dance. Come on kids, you're not real Americans unless you buy stuff.
It's enough to drive someone to drink.