Out of Context

That Bush Bounce

2006-08-01T14:11:00.000-04:00

As Mr. Atrios over at Eschaton persists to state that Bush is enjoying a huge bounce, he fails to notice that there is a new more sobering poll out there.

Here are some highlights from the wonderful article:

A new Gallup poll shows that, for the first time, Bush’s approval rating has fallen below 50% among total fucking morons, and now stands at 44%. This represents a dramatic drop compared to a poll taken just last December, when 62% of total fucking morons expressed support for the president and his policies.

This tidbit may resonate with Mr. Atrios a bit more, since he is such a big fan of Rick Santorum:

Faltering approval ratings for the president among a group once thought to be a reliable source of loyal support gives Republicans one more reason to be nervous about the upcoming mid-term elections. “If we can’t depend on the support of total fucking morons,” says Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), “then we’ve got a big problem. They’re a key factor in our electoral strategy, and an important part of today’s Republican coalition.

My challenge to anyone out there, including Mr. Atrios, show me some polls that show Bush going in the right direction.

(hat tip to my dad for the "article")

New Location...New Computer...Same Obscurity

2006-07-29T18:05:00.000-04:00

I'm in Chicago, J and I are officially moved in. Picked up a new tool for law school...A Macbook. With the new machiine, I figure it's time to keep all you updated on the goings on in my mind and elsewhere.

Here's something to get you all started....

Chicago, Unpacking, Birthday, and Global Warming Deniers

2006-07-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

To all my Philly liberals and friends, if anyone is checking this or still reads this, I wanted to let everyone know that Jen, Bella and I made it to Chicago alright and are in the process of unpacking. I would say we are about 95% done.

Taking a break today since it's my 25th birthday. Got some cool gifts this morning, Jen got me some nice books: Cooking with Beer, Beers of the World Book, and two books from The Art of Being a Man Series: How to Mow the Lawn and How to Keep House.

My parents got me a Sony CyberShot DSC H2 Digital Camera. I know it's not as nice as Albert's or Matt's, but it should do. It will definitely be more than suitable for posting some pictures of Bella, Chicago, and whatever else I encounter.

Tonight we get to go out to David Burke's Prime House.

For my one political note, it seems some people who are visiting my site because a post I made related to a South Park Episode called ManBearPig. The episode fun of Al Gore and his global warming exploits. It seems some people keep on citing entirely false articles such as this and this. The second article almost made me throw up, the author seems to think because of the way certain people such as ABC news, celebrites, or other people argue about global warming that man-made emissions must not have anything to do with the problem. He fails to acknowledge that not one credible scientist in the World has disputed the research used by Al Gore. Not one credible scientist in the World has suggested that we do not have an impact on the warming of the earth. Yet because he has a feeling that because of the way certain people their case somewhat innaccurately that all scientific research must be thrown out. I only wish I could argue that illogically and almost feel as if I am since none of what I just wrote really makes sense to me. Although I do feel that I have proved my point that the guy wrote the blogcritics.org is a total and utter idiot. Since I feel that way it most be true.

Editor's note: That was a wonderful tangent, anyway since not too many people check this site as of this day, I will probably send out an email updating all you philly people. Hope all is well.

Will

Let's See....

2006-06-27T16:06:00.000-04:00

So many things on the brain today and I can't think of one coherent thing to write about. Here's a laundry List:

Moving back to Chicago next Thursady and although there isn't much packing left to do, I still feel somewhat overwhelmed. The fact that we lost the key to the Cargo carrier that goes on the top of J's car is adding a bit to the overwhelm-e-ment(yes I know I made up the word

I'm feeling especially negative today about the amount of total idiots there are in this country. First of all Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant., How is the president allowed to disregard laws that he himself has executed into law?????, When did reporting on government's breach of the public trust become treason??? There's plenty more but I don't have the heart for it right now

Ok fine, one more to add to the political column. Can we please just call bullshit on certain aspects of the conservative movement. Will the real conservatives please stand up because the people that they have put into power are no conservatives. This in no way acquits the majority of democrats who are in office right now who either have their heads so far up their asses or they are complicit with the entrenchment of power that they will not stand up for regular people who can't give them their maximum quartely donations

Law school begins August 15, That means I will have a month and half to relax once we are moved back to Chicago. At least I won't have to waste my time hoping the Cubs make the playoffs.

That's about it for now, especially any of the philly folk, I promise I will try and keep this up to date with whatever is on my mind, etc.

Volcano the size of Washington D.C. Disovered

2006-06-22T16:14:00.000-04:00

That was the headline on CNN.

The real question is which one possesses more hot air?

What's the deal with all the Obama hating?

2006-06-20T15:37:00.000-04:00

My greatest fear when Barack Obama took the podium at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was that it would paint a big bullseye on his back for the right to aim at. I was proud of the words that Obama spoke that night, it gave me hope that there would soon be a leader in the Democratic party, a voice for Democrats to rally around. As he was speaking I thought in the back of my mind that with a guy like this, the republicans were going to come out extra hard and try and dig for skeletons in his closet.

Little did I know that so called "progressives" and people that I thought wanted to move this country forward have decided that he's not progressive enough(read the comments) or that he's not using his media presence to advance the democratic message(whatever message that may be), or he isn't thinking big enough.

All the comments under these posts make me want to scream,"HE'S ONLY BEEN IN OFFICE FOR LESS THAN TWO STINKING YEARS!!!!

He would be a fool to come into the senate and start a big racket. Remember, if you are a democrat and go against the grain you are a trouble maker or an obstructor, if you are a republican you become a maverick.

Now I am off subject, but seriously can we stop with Obama bashing it is of no help, there are much bigger fish to fry. No he may not be the savior that he was built up to be, but I believe he will be a strong voice in the years to come, despite what the whackos who call themselves progressive but really only want things to be exactly the way that they want them. I'm sorry but things just can't be that way you have to compromise. These people make me feel like my head is going to explode. They are the problem with this party, not Barack Obama.

That's all.

Editor's note: The whackos I speak of are those commenters in the posts, not the bloggers. Although Matt Stoller seems to be taking things a little out of context in proving his point

John Cornyn: Pro Man/Box Turtle Unions

2006-06-05T14:01:00.000-04:00

The Marriage Protection Amendment hoopla reminded of this quote by Senator Cornyn:

"It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right. Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife. "

Who the hell voted for this a-hole or a better question is why is he anti-Box Turtle, what did they ever do to him?

Only in America!

2006-06-05T11:03:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of some of the problems facing our great nation:

1. A war with no end in sight

2. A rising federal deficit

3. A slowing economy

4. An increasing divide between the rich and the poor

5. Many Americans cannot afford adequate Health care for their families or themselves

6. An education system that is failing a majority of our children

Just to name a few. There are many more, and what do the Republicans who control our Congress decide to focus their attention on, GAY MARRIAGE or THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT, as they like to call it. Let's put aside the fact that this is bigotry at its worst, let's put aside the fact that many of the Republicans who are the largest supporters have had more failed marriages or mistresses than they can count on one hand. Is this really an efficient use of government time?

Would a real conservative government meddle into the private lives of their constituents? Isn't this the big government interference that we have heard conservatives yell about before.

Democrats need to stand up against this bigotry, throw it back in their faces for the next election. I can't believe that the majority of Americans believe that this is what their elected officials should be using taxpayer's dollars to debate this amendment. Will the Democrats grow some balls, we will have to wait till November to find out.

E-mail to Rich Lowry Re:Commencement Hoopla

2006-05-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

Time to get back to blogging, been busy raising a new Golden Puppy so haven't had much time.

All the hoopla surrounding the commencement address of John McCain, the "heckling" done by students at the respective schools, and the great speech dissing McCain given by Jean Rohe, has spawned a rash of op-ed's and complaints by the extremists that still support the war. Big Surprise Huh!

No one has made a bigger idiot of themselves, than Rich Lowry of the National Review. Go here to read a bit more about that.

After reading Lowry's piece,"Fear and Loathing at Commencement", here is my email that resulted from my disgust:

Mr. Lowry,

I would like to start off by saying,"Shame on you, shame, shame, shame on you." Your coverage of the McCain and Rice commencement speeches has been deplorable and of course one sided. How can you chastise these students for being "rude and incorrigible", when you fail to mention the same sort of heckling behavior on the other side of the same type of behavior in their treatment of Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri and Jack Murtha during their commencement addresses. Some of those students in the minority that still support the war, I believe you might still be in this class of extremists, heckled both Murtha and Clay. Where is the outrage Rich? Heckling a war hero like Murtha, that is sacrilegious. Those spoiled children can't just listen respectfully.

It really boggles the mind how you can live with yourself and you total dishonesty.

Have a good Day
Your Friend

Will XXXX

Anyway, that made me feel a little better, maybe I will post some of the puppy pics in the coming days. We'll see if I remember.

Who will Bush nuke first, Iran or Colbert?

2006-05-02T10:24:00.000-04:00

If you haven't seen Stephen Colbert's hilarious speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, you must now. Go here for part 1, part 2, and part 3.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the truthiness really hurt the presidents feelings.

Colbert crossed the line," said one top Bush aide, who rushed out of the hotel as soon as Colbert finished. Another said that the president was visibly angered by the sharp lines that kept coming.

"I've been there before, and I can see that he is [angry]," said a former top aide. "He's got that look that he's ready to blow."

A great article
from Salon, writer Michael Schrerer on why the President's feelings were hurt.
The highligh of the article:

Then he turned to the president of the United States, who sat tight-lipped just a few feet away. "I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."

It really hurts when someone pokes holes in your version of reality.

Al Gore: Lifelong Environmentalist

2006-05-01T11:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome to all who have found this little blog through the "Manbearpig" post. It seems some commenters have a misconception about Al Gore, they believe he is capitalizing on global warming for his own political gain. This is just plain wrong.

Al Gore has been an environmentalist his entire political career. The first book he wrote, all the way back in 1992 called "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit", here's a little blip from an editorial review:

The book is arranged into three sections: the first describes the plagues; the second looks at how we got ourselves into this mess; and the final chapters present ways out. Gore gets his points across in a serviceable way, though he could have benefited from a firmer editor's hand; at times the analogies are arcane and the pacing is odd--kind of like a Gore speech that climaxes at weird points and then sinks just as the audience is about to clap. Still, at the end you understand what's been said. Gore believes that if we apply some American ingenuity, the twin engines of democracy and capitalism can be rigged to help us stabilize world population growth, spread social justice, boost education levels, create environmentally appropriate technologies, and negotiate international agreements to bring us back from the brink. For example, a worldwide shift to clean, renewable energy sources would create huge economic opportunities for companies large and small to design, build, and maintain solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells, and other ecofriendly innovations.

I also urge anyone who reads Wired to check out this article about Gore and his turn away from politics and into focusing on acting on the global warming problem that will only get worse the longer we put it off.

This isn't a political issue, its not republican or democrat, it's for anyone who lives here on Earth. Hopefully, the powers that be will not get distracted by focusing all their angst on the messenger when it is the message that really counts.

MANBEARPIG

2006-04-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

Half Man, Half Pig, Half Bear. Al Gore came to South Park to warn the residents about the impending threat of this creature. The episode also returned South Park to it's winning formula of focusing on the boys adventures as a group. I particularly enjoyed Cartman stuffing himself full of treasure in an effort ot keep it all to himself. In the end crapping it all out and then finding out that it was fake treasure. For a more detailed summary of the episode go here.

Overall it was a pretty good episode, I think Trey and Matt have made it abundantly clear that they don't care for the whole global warming alarm that is going off as a result of the record breaking Hurricanes this year and other weather abnormalities. I'm not sure where they really fall on the issue, I am leaning towards the opinion that they believe in global warming but that there is really nothing we can do about it. While I disagree with their position for the long term, in the short term there really isn't much we can do to affect what meteoroligical events might happen.

Here's hoping they take aim at the greedy oil companies or the global warming deniers in the future. I am more hopeful that they will take aim at the former, than the latter. They tend to go against the grain, and being out on the west coast, I am sure they are inundated by the environmental groups.

I'm still around

2006-04-20T13:44:00.001-04:00

Hopefully will get back to posting sometime in the near future. So many factors contributing to the lack of posting, bad internet connection at work, nice weather, not much to rant about that hasn't been ranted about, and I am going to Vegas this weekend.

I'm still around

2006-04-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

Guess who else got a Peabody award...

2006-04-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

no Bill O'Reilly did not get his Peabody's yet, though he still claims to have them.

Matt Parker and Trey Stone can be added to the long list of people who have one more Peabody than Mr. O'Liely, South Park took home a Peabody, they now join Jon Stewart as Comedy Central Peabody winners.

The Friday Rant "Steroids ERA???"

2006-03-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

First, a couple of announcements. I would like to apologize for the infrequent in posting, if anyone reads this. Work has been getting in the way, as well as the fact that I was planning something big. I had been planning a surprise proposal to my girlfriend this past Saturday, and I executed it flawlessly, so I am now engaged, boy that looks weird.

The main purpose of this post is to defend a great baseball player by the name of Barry Bonds. MLB announced an external investigation into steroid use in baseball. I don't mind the investigation what I do mind is the public lynching of Barry Bonds. Especially since he has never tested positive, unlike other players. We do live in America where you are innocent until proven guilty, and until I see a positive test or a public admission of guilt by Mr. Bonds I will not hop on the "Trash Barry Bonds Train". The thing that amazes me about this whole ordeal is how willing people are to believe what is being written in a book as if it were fact. Especially certain people in the liberal blogosphere who I would expect to question the general consensus and be a bit more skeptical. I guess it's okay to take every word that comes out of Michelle Malkin's books or Ann Coulter's books as fact.

One theory I have about the whole gangup on Barry Bonds is the fact that he is an easy target. He is not as likeable as a Mark Mcgwire or even a Sammy Sosa in his happier days. I believe some people in the press do not appreciate the way he treats the press and that is alright if they hold a grudge, but it's not alright if they tarnish a man's playing credentials as a result of speculation and conjecture.

As to the "steroids era". Before we start putting an asterisk next to the entire era, I think it is necessary to actually examine, what effect steroids really have on a ballplayer. It sure didn't turn Ryan Franklin or Alex Sanchez into hall of famers. No one can say definitively that it actually gave anyone an advantage, it actually could have caused more problems for players, take Jason Giambi and the "parasite" problem he had. It is disconcerting, that the sports media is so willing to tarnish an entire era without knowing what impact "steroids" had on the game. If they asterisk this era, we need to put an asterisk next to Hank Aaron's name because he played during the amphetamine era, and who knows what was going on during Ruth's era?

Damn you Tom Cruise, and all you other crazy scientologists

2006-03-17T13:15:00.000-05:00

First Isaac Hayes requests to be released from his contract due to what he feels is religious bigotry by South Park. Odd that he never had a problem with their mocking of everything from Islam to Christianity, but when they decided to mock the pseudo religion of scientology, that did it for Isaac Hayes. It's probably just a coincidence that he is a practicing scientologist nutball.

Then this week I was getting ready to watch a rerun of the episode "Trapped in the Closet", the one that makes fun of scientology, when they instead decided to show the "Chocolate Salty Balls" episode. I thought at first it might be a little tribute to Chef, Hayes' character, as he is now going to leave the show. Turns out it was not a tribute but that Tom Cruise got the episode pulled. It seems that Cruise threatened to not promote Mission Impossible 3 if the episode aired again. MI3 is a product of Viacom who owns Comedy Central.

Hopefully the episode will eventually be on DVD or be aired again, it is a great episode and shows what raving lunatics scientologists really are. Not that you needed a South Park episode to understand that. The most histerical part of the whole ordeal was the letter the statement that Matt Stone and Trey Parker released to Daily Variety, it follows:

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!" It was signed, "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu."

The Donut Hamburger

2006-03-13T09:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the infrequency in posts, but my job gets in the way and also just nothing to post about.

But this is huge. One of my favorite comedians is Jim Gaffigan. A lot of his material is on the topic of food, which is one of the reasons I love him. He has one bit where he is going to into the absurdity of some of our food items and talks about the possibility of a Donut Hamburger, which is a burger with ham and cheese using two donuts as the bun. He then alludes to the possibility that Dunkin Donuts may steal the idea.

Well, Dunkin Donuts didn't steal the idea, a minor league baseball team in Illinois did. The BallPark Sandwich:

The ballpark sandwich will include a hamburger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon -- all between a "bun" made of a sliced Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut.

Why is it that the absurd things comedians say seem to become reality? We are truly nuts.

First rant of the day

2006-03-03T10:32:00.000-05:00

This type of garbage, just pisses me off. “Conservatives” , “Evangelical Christians”. and “Republicans” have frickin control problem. I put the three groups in quotes because the ones who make the loudest noises are not necessarily representative of the majority of people in those groups.

This rant arose from reading this story on CNN.com, about the High School teacher in Colorado who was,” put on leave for anti-bush remarks.” I guess one of the students taped class, which I thought was illegal to do without the permission of the teacher, and then played the tape to his father.

“WAWAWAWAWA, Daddy teacher said bad things about the president. “

Supposedly the reason the teacher is being put on leave is because he did not allow for balancing perspectives. Maybe there would have been balancing points if this kid had spoken up instead of secretly taping class. Fricking little baby “conservatives” or “republicans”, think they can tape conversations illegally now because the president does it.

I’m sure these “conservative” students are also taping conservative teachers praising Bush without balancing perspectives and complaining to their parents.

This just gives me confidence that the next generation of “conservatives” will not differ from their parents in their unabashed whining and crying when someone doesn’t say something they like.

Next up on Out of Context, we discuss the new “Dominos Holy Land” in Florida, and why we believe it is a good idea, now if only the rest of the crazies would move there and we wouldn’t have to listen to their complaints anymore....

Update: Finally got around to adding “She Flies with her own Wings” to the read list, I read it all the time, just never remember to add it, shout out to Sir Oolius.

Phew, it was a dream!

2006-02-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

Funniest thing just happened to me, I was over at eschaton, scrolling through what I may have missed while I was catching up on the Soprano's last night, and it reminded of a dream I had last night.

In part of the dream I was watching Faux News and the always smarmy Brit Hume was reporting about Bush's bounce and reported his approval ratings at 48%, and I started screaming at the TV about how we are such idiots in this country and other rants such as that. Then I went on to dream about a mistake on my Credit Card bill or something of that nature.

Anyhow, I didn't realize this was a dream until 5 minutes ago when I read this:

(CBS) The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

I guess this country isn't that dumb after all, or at least not as dumb as I thought.

(via Atrios courtesy of CBS

10/10 for me too

2006-02-27T11:44:00.000-05:00

Yay, I passed eighth grade math as well. Now I don't have a PHD in Economics like Duncan, but I do have my undergraduate degree in accounting and I do love math. Hopefully, Mr. Cohen of the Wash. Post will realize that math is important when he is trying to figure out his retirement savings or how many more articles he needs to write till he can finally retire for the good of everyone.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Not too much on the mind...

2006-02-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

Nothing noteworthy to blog about today other than the fact that it's almost my favorite time of year again, baseball season. The Cubs first spring trainging game is only 3 days away and Opening day is a little over a month away. To celebrate almost spring training I will be going to my favorite street sausage griller out in Philly for a hot dog and hot sausage for lunch.

On another note...

I am really sick and tired of this whole port deal thing, the part that makes me the most upset is that the only reason there is such a massive uproar from both sides is that this is an arab country, I think the politicians are turning a blind eye to the bigotry behind the uproar and using it to make it a black and white issue, Are you for the terrorists or are you against them? I really hope we can get out of this Rovian method of painting things in black and white, it really makes us look like idiots, and in regards to the port deal this bigotry in no way whatsoever helps our image with the majority of Arabs who are not terrorists, I know this may surprise the majority Americans as well as our wonderful press corps who love the idea of the evil arab bad guy.

By the way...

Somewhat related to the port deal, but has anyone thought that Michael Jackson is behind all this?

I know this is in really poor taste, but maybe he bankrolled the port deal as a means for smuggling that which he holds most dear.

His Neverland amusement rides and animals...Sheesh you all have sick minds.

V for Vendetta

2006-02-22T12:08:00.000-05:00

It opens March 17th and I can't wait. Recently I haven't been too excited about many upcoming releases, seeing as that everything seems to be a remake of movies that should not be remade, Steve Martin I am looking in your direction.

V for Vendetta, seems to be a fresh movie, with a political message about how a government can use fear to control it's citizens. The Wachowski brothers of Matrix fame are behind the movie with their Assistant Director from the Matrix movies James McTeigue directing the movie. The best thing about the movie right now is that as with the Matrix, the Wachowski's seem to be keeping the publicity for the movie to a minimum, as opposed to the massive publicity storm that most movies get these days.

Here is the synopsis:

Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a young working-class woman named Evey who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as "V."

Profoundly complex, V is at once literary, flamboyant, tender and intellectual, a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance. He is also bitter, revenge-seeking, lonely and violent, driven by a personal vendetta.

In his quest to free the people of England from the corruption and cruelty that have poisoned their government, V condemns the tyrannical nature of their appointed leaders and invites his fellow citizens to join him in the shadows of Parliament on November the 5th – Guy Fawkes Day.

On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in a tunnel beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He and his co-conspirators had engineered the treasonous "Gunpowder Plot" in response to the tyranny of their government under James I. Fawkes and his fellow saboteurs were hanged, drawn and quartered, and their plan to take down their government never came to pass.

In the spirit of that rebellion, in remembrance of that day, V vows to carry out the plot that Fawkes was executed for attempting on November 5th in 1605: he will blow up Parliament.

As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious past, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to ignite a revolution, bringing freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

The early reviews look promising and the trailers at the official site look really good as well.

Now if anyone knows how to score sneak preview passes, I don't know if I can wait till March 17th.

Some more bright ideas....

2006-02-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

I want to get this out before I go into more details in the post, I am not opposed to handing control over our ports to the United Arab Emirates because they are Arabs, I am opposed because they have strong ties to Al Qaeda, The Taliban, and assisting rogue nations in their pursuit of Nuclear Weapons, something even Iraq did not do.

The Bush administration has once again proved that it is incapable of making decisions that make any fricking sense. From appointing a former lawyer from the Arabian Horse Association to this latest debacle involving a terrorist supporting nation being put in charge of one of our weakest security points, it seems to me that a four year old is simply rolling the dice and making these important decisions.

We at Out of Context, meaning me at Out of Context, have decided to look into our crystal ball and predict the next blunders of the Bush Administration:

1. James Dobson will be appointend the new Head of the Department of Education and Evolution will only be taught in the back alleys on university campuses.

2. In a surprise move, Manuel Noriega is pardoned and immediately appointed the new Drug Czar in our "War on Drugs". In a complete coincidence, deliveries of "sugar" to the White House quadruple and in public appearances Bush is viewed as a little paranoid and shaky.

3. After much thought about the global warming crisis, Bush decides to appoint fellow global warming denier Michael Crichton to lead the Department of Energy. As a rationale for this appointment, Bush states,"No one has done such thorough research in this field as has Mr. Crichton, it is my belief that America must be vigilant in preventing Dinosaurs from escaping from Jurassic Park and Mr. Crichton is the man to do it."

These are just some of the bright ideas, we at Out of Context, I mean me at Out of Context have, we hope you enjoy and welcome future suggestions.

A new blog is added to the list of regular reads...

2006-02-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

I see a huge spike in this blogs traffic since my blog is so heavily read.

The great TBOGG is about to be added to the blogroll, I would like to thank the great and wonderful Suburban Guerrilla for guiding me to TBOGG's pre-friday random ten. As a result I have decided to purchase the latest album from the Black Keys.

Irrelevant Conservative Blogger of the Day

2006-02-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

We at Out of Context, meaning me, today begin a new feature where we highlight, actually poke fun at, an irrelevant conservative blogger.

Today's irrelevant conservative blog, Tim Saler.com. Tim Saler bills himself as,

" a nationally-recognized emerging political activist, analyst, and writer. He resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

After reading through his site I find his analysis to be somewhat longwinded, biased to the right, and the prediction maps to be somewhat juvenile as if they were pulled from a coloring book.

Since I am an irrelevant blog, I know how Tim must feel, especially since it looks as if he has put a lot of work into the design of his blog. He has even made up some credentials such as,

"Tim’s work has been highlighted on CNN’s Inside Politics, and his popular election projections have been featured on numerous websites as well as in newspapers such as the Times Record of Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Herald Leader of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and the Star of Pipestone County, Minnesota."

If I were you Tim, I wouldn't mention the name CNN in those conservative circles, that is the kiss of death. As for Fort Smith, Arkansas and Siloam Springs, Arkansas, making up cities in America is just not a cool way to self-promote. As for the Star of Pipestone County, Minnesota, I read that paper every day and have yet to see any of your colorings featured.

In closing, I would like to thank Tim Saler for being the inaugural Irrelevant Conservative Blogger of the Day, if I may be so inclined again I may take aim at another Irrelevant Conservative Blogger, I know the suspense will kill you.

Eritor's note: The proprietor of Out of Context would like to acknowledge his own irrelevancy as well, but he feels his irrelevancy is less relevant seeing as his blog is merely a cure for his boredom and not a self promotional vehicle like Tim Saler's site

It's been a week since my last post...

2006-02-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

and I would like to say what a week it's been.

Over the weekend we ventured to Beaver Creek, Colorado for my first attempt at skiing, thanks to my girlfriend's dad for taking us there for a great christmas present. All I have to say is Colorado is a beautiful place and skiing is a hell of a lot of fun. If I only had about 2 million dollars I could afford a one bedroom condo in Beaver Creek.

Oh yeah, and did you hear that the Vice President shot a 78 year old man in the face. If you didn't you must have been hiding under a rock.

The official word is that it was an accident, but my diagnosis is that the wounds to Harry Whittington's face were caused by stupidity. Dick Cheney is so stupid that he couldn't distinguish between a quail and Whittington's face. If Dick Cheney was not so stupid none of this would have happened. Even Ari Fleischer is somewhat critical of the response by Cheney and his staff.
Anyways I'll be back later with more....

Update: Here is one of the pics from the trip....

The nutjobs at the AFA are at it again

2006-02-03T13:07:00.000-05:00

The American Family Association is crying persececution against Christianity again. After aiding in the cancellation of The Book of Daniel , they have decided to aim higher at stopping an April 13 episode of Will and Grace cancelled.

Here is the letter:

SPECIAL ALERT! NBC to mock the Crucifixion of Christ

NBC, fresh from giving us the anti-Christian The Book of Daniel , has decided to hit back at the Christian community by presenting an episode of Will and Grace which mocks the crucifixion of Christ.

On the April 13 edition of NBC's Will and Grace , Britney Spears will appear as a Christian conservative sidekick to Sean Hayes' homosexual character, Jack, who hosts his own talk show.

Jack's fictional network, Out TV, is bought by a Christian TV network, leading to Spears contributing a cooking segment called "Cruci-fixin's." To further denigrate Christianity, NBC chose to air it the night before Good Friday.

Click Here to read the Associated Press article.

NBC does not treat Jews, Muslims or other religions with such disrespect. Yet the network demonstrates a deep of hostility toward followers of Christ.

TAKE ACTION

1. Call your local NBC affiliate and ask them not to air the April 13 episode of Will and Grace . Ask others to call. Click here to find your local NBC station.
2. Click here to send a letter to NBC Chairman Bob Wright. Ask your pastor to run a notice in your church bulletins and newsletters and request members to go to www.afa.net and send the email to NBC Chairman Wright.
3. Click here to print out a petition (pdf) asking your local NBC affiliate not to air the April 13 episode and distribute it to your Sunday School class and fellow church members.

Next, and this is very important, please forward this to your friends and family today!

If you feel our efforts are worthy, would you consider making a small donation to help us in this effort. Click here to make your donation.

Thanks for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Help stop the AFA's persecution of "freedom of expression", do exactly what they say but instead let NBC know that they should stop bowing to pressure for conservative christian nut jobs, let the American Family Association know that they can always change the channel.

Update: Here is the link to find your local NBC affiliate

What's next, turning the Governor's Mansion into a hotel?

2006-02-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

Just as I was thinking that there was nothing to blog about today, something comes along and hits right at home.

A foreign controlled private company that bought the rights to operate the Chicago Skyway Toll Road that connects Indiana and Illinois, appears to have locked up a deal to buy the 157 mile stretch of the Indiana Toll Road.

Having grown up in Chicago, I have driven across both the Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road many a time. I can attest to the fact that private ownership may do the skyway some good, since it is been constantly under construction and in disrepair my entire life. The Indiana Toll Road is not in as bad of shape, but I do understand that due to lack of federal funds as a result of poorly timed tax cuts during a time of war, Indiana and other states may need this funding.

I know privately owned toll roads have been successful in Europe among other places, but I can just foresee the contracts being abused, either through exorbitant toll amounts or insufficient maintenance. But then there is the other side of my thoughts that thinks, higher tolls may force people to travel by car less, carpool more, or demand that the government provide more public transportation. This type of trend could lead to more responsible driving.

This is what happens to me, I go into an article with the premonition that I will not like the privatization of the toll roads, due to my lack of trust in certain corporations, but after I think it through a bit more I realize, "Hey maybe it's a good thing!"

Your thoughts are welcome on this most recent stream of consciousness, if anyone's out there.

A new "food blog" to be added

2006-02-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Susie for directing me to a new coffee blog called "Smelling the Coffee", this blog will be added to the food section for all your food needs.

Hopefully I can get back to posting regularly and maybe I will get more than 10 visits a day. If you do read my blog and you like some of what you see, tell your friends. If not I will wallow in my anonymity, which is fine for now.

By the way, anonymity is one of those words that doesn't roll off my tongue, was just trying to spell it by sound. Anyways I'm out till next time.

In Re Alito

2006-01-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

Haven't posted in awhile, work has been getting in the way, but figured this morning was as good as any.

With the impending "upperdown" vote on Alito this morning, I feel that I have to express my displeasure at the democrat senators, especially those on the judiciary committee. I also have to express my displeasure with Senator Kerry who is acting on impulse every chance he gets to try and get the grassroots to embrace him.

First the democrats on the judiciary committee, except for Russ Feingold at times, obviously put very little effort into researching Alito's case record. They were too focused on a job application from 1985 that stated his views on abortion and that he was a member of a racist organization. I mean it was 19 frickin 85, it just does not resonate with people today.

Why not hammer him repeatedly on a few recent decisions he made, especially this one.
If there was any coordination, this question should have been hammered over and over again, Mr. Alito do you believe it was reasonable of police to strip search a 10 year old and her mother when they did not have the authority to do so? After he gives a long bloviating answer, a senator replies, so you believe its ok to just strip search 10 year old girls, at least that's what your decision said Mr. Alito.

This would have been playing dirty, but if they really wanted to stop Mr. Alito that was one of the cases that should have been repeatedly brought up. The headlines may have read, is Mr. Alito a card-carrying member of NAMBLA.(hopefully I don't get in trouble for googling NAMBLA)

Unfortunately our senators were too busy being their bloviating selves, including you Mr. Kerry, why not use some of your warchest to mount an ad campaign, you could even have a 10 year old girl in the commercial asking the question. But you didn't, because you don't care if ALito is on the bench, you just want to become president and you need our support. You must be really out of touch, oh yeah you are, Windsurfing, end of story. Seriously, you failed miserably in organizing and attempting to block this nomination, how does that help your presidential campaign. Mr. Kerry you have become Mr. Irrelevant.

I guess that's what happens when I don't post for awhile, it all sort of comes out, hopefully I will be able to post a bit more, it is definitely therapeutic.

Tom Cruise is such a bastard!

2006-01-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

Tom Cruise threatens to sue South Park.

There you go Tom, SUE ME SUE ME. What is the damage to your reputation Tom? It is fricking satire. The only person damaging your reputation is you Tom Cruise with these nonsensical lawsuit threats.

A quote from my girlfriend:

" obviously he is either gay or way scared about his reputation, otherwise he would realize it was funny and shrug it off"

To add to that I have one more question, what damage does someone saying you are gay have to your image?

They were also being critical of his acting, maybe that's why he is threatening a lawsuit, although then he would have to sue all critics of Mission Impossible 2 and other Cruise Bombs.

In closing, Tom I have three words for you:

GO SUE YOURSELF!

Please Stay Healthy Justice Stevens

2006-01-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

Although I haven't really read the decision, I have a feeling I know which side of the issue I would fall upon, and I am glad the supreme court upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law.

Once I saw that it was a 6-3 decision, I knew who the 3 were right away, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas with Scalia issuing the dissent. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come, but unfortunately I think it is, and once Mr. Alito is confirmed which seems likely, unless rumors of his relationship with Pablo the pool boy are true, there will be a solid block of four that will be methodically stripping away individual rights at the same time strengthening the "individual rights" of corporations.

That's why I will wish good health for the remaining 5, Stevens, Souter, Breyer, Ginsburg and Kennedy. Please stay healthy until 2008, and hopefully the democrats will get their butts in gear to save our court and our liberty.

MSG

2006-01-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

Just went down to Walgreens to buy a bag of baked doritos and the best drink ever Lemonade Vitamin Water, and while waiting in line I decided to read the ingredients label on the Doritos.

As a little kid I used to be terribly allergic to MSG, pretty much throwing up whenever it came into my system. We used to go out to restaurants and even when they said that there was no MSG in the product, if I threw up we figured either they were lying or just didn't know.

I'm assuming I am not that allergic to MSG anymore, since I am currently eating the Baked Doritos right now, and they haven't ended up on my computer screen. But I decided to google Doritos and MSG, and I found this website, MSGtruth.org and found out that some of the worst culprits are American Food Companies, BIG SHOCK THERE!!!!!

I'm glad I haven't eaten at KFC since I was about 7, because it seems they are one of the worst offenders:

FRIED CHICKEN - What could be more American than Fried Chicken? KFC chicken actually contains so much MSG that in one country at least, KFC exceeded the legal limit for adding MSG to their chicken.

Next up, Partially Hydrogenated Oils.

Maybe some of the "Supposed Liberal Media" could learn from South Park

2006-01-10T10:10:00.000-05:00

I definitely think some of our "Supposed Liberal Media" could learn a lesson from Comedy Central and the creators of South Park on how to not back down from the Religious Extremists, who though in the minority can raise quite a fuss.

A recent episode of South Park, called "Bloody Mary", caused quite a stir among some religious groups. The controversial part of the episode was the Virgin Mary Statue that was bleeding from it's nether regions.

According to the NY Post, conservative groups had claimed victory, saying that they had gotten the episode shelved since it did not appear on the end of year season marathon. A statement issued by Comedy Central and the creators of South Park stated that this was not the case and they were just being sensitive during the holidays, a nice gesture that probably won't be repeated because of the crazies who yelled and screamed about the episode.

Here is the statement that the press could learn from:

"As satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and religions and we will continue to defend that right," the letter stated. "Our goal is to make people laugh, and perhaps if we're lucky, even make them think in the process."

If you are a member of the press, subsitute "as a member of the press" for "satiriststs", "report on" for "poke fun at any and all". amd finally for the last statement substitute,"Our goal is to report the truth to people, and perhaps if we are lucky, open their eyes in the process."

And you probably thought South Park was just fart and poop jokes.

Brokeback Mountain Review

2006-01-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Saw Brokeback Mountain this past weekend with my girlfriend. I have to say it was a great movie, the acting was great especially Heath Ledger and the story flowed very well. I would have to say it was the best overall movie I have seen this year.

One aspect of the movie I liked was that there was not too much dialogue and a lot of the emotional interaction between the characters of the story was non-verbal, especially with Heath Ledger's character. I also really enjoyed the soundtrack, the music did a very good job of setting the mood. Well that's my review.

Here is a review from Focus on the Family's reviewer.

The part that I found most interesting:

"When two people love each other, they love each other. And people should hold on to it as hard as they can, whether it's homosexual or heterosexual," star Jake Gyllenhaal told reporters at the Toronto Film Festival. He's partly right. But if he's talking about the kind of love shared onscreen by Jack and Ennis, he's conflating the meanings of the words love and lust. The Bible doesn't isolate "love" to male-female relationships. It calls men to love other men, and women to love other women. (Look at the connection David had with Jonathan in 1 Samuel 19-20 and the bond Jesus had with John in John 13 for a biblical reference point. Also relevant are 1 Peter 1, 1 John 2 and John 15.) What it condemns is turning brotherly or sisterly love into sexual love—a form of love God reserves for a man and woman who have embraced the gentle bonds of marriage. That sexualization of love—and our growing cultural acceptance of it—is gradually making valid, chaste love between two men or two women harder and harder to accomplish. (Read 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 1, John 1, 2 Peter 2-3 and Leviticus 18-20.)

Since I am Jewish I had no clue what passages he was talking about, so I found out that I could read the bible online. Here is 1 Corinthians 6. I am a decent student of the English language and I didn't see anything about god condemning Man on Man or Woman on Woman chaste love.

Here is Romans 1, and although there is a vague reference to lust, it still doesn't condemn Homosexuality.

Nothing in John 1. Too lazy to read anymore, because I am pretty sure by now it is all the same.

I guess these nutballs in the Discriminate Against Homosexuals Community Through the Cover of Religion Club or DAHCTCRC as I like to call them, have to twist the bible's words in order to support their cause. That's what I figured from the beginning, but I just wanted to make sure for myself so I read a little bit of the bible. These people who preach intolerance in the name of the Bible are the real sinners and hopefully one day they will be judged accordingly.

I write a complaint

2006-01-09T12:58:00.000-05:00

I am not one to usually complain too much, but I just picked up a bottle of that Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and it was horrible. So I decided to contact Diet Coke via their comments section. We shall see how it turns out.
Here is the letter:

To my beloved Diet Coke Company,

As an avid coke and diet coke drinker, I have to say I am extremely disappointed with your Diet Black Cherry Vanilla product. I just purchased a bottle at the nearby WaWa and would have to say it tastes worse than cough syrup. I generally enjoy your other Diet products, my favorite is the Diet Cherry Coke. However, I have to reiterate that this product is horrible, I think it may be the vanilla, but it is utter garbage.

Thank you for your time, just thought someone would like to know.

Will

Alito Hearings

2006-01-09T12:12:00.000-05:00

Watching the hearings on C-Span's feed, All I can say right now is that he looks like he needs to go to the bathroom, I guess he forgot to make a pit stop before coming to the hearings.

Don't drink the water....

2006-01-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

at least I wouldn't if you live in Los Angeles.

Before I comment on this article I have to admit that I prefer to drink bottled water as well, mainly as a result of reading a Civil Action and with the lack of confidence I have in the environmental protections enforced by the Bush Administration. My girlfriend and I currently have a Brita filter attached to our tap, but if I ever found out that Philadelphia's Water Purification team was doing this, let me just say the Brita Filter would not be enough.

What is the LA water purification team doing?

Now it turns out that the Department of Water and Power has so much faith in the city�s drinking water that the agency spent $31,160 over the last two years on Sparkletts. That would probably be a wise move for many of us, but it seems strange for the DWP, which also spent $1 million in tax dollars to convince citizens of the quality of our delicious tap water.

Amazing just Amazing.

Some truthiness from the U.S. Army....

2006-01-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

well sort of. This is an article that was published on the U.S. Army's Professional Writing Collection section of their website, it is titled "Why the Stong Lose".

Initially I was skeptical, since I assumed I would be reading propaganda, but the points are legitimate and well thought out. The author, Jeffrey Record, is a professor at the Air War College in Montgomer, Alabama, so we can safely say "He knows his shit".

I could suggest another title for this piece,"Will we ever learn from our mistakes?"

Though it easily polished off Milosevic's Serbia and Saddam's Iraq, the United States failed to defeat Vietnamese infantry in Indochina, terrorists in Lebanon, and warlords in Somalia. In each case the American Goliath was militarily stalemated or politically defeated by the local David. Most recently, the United States was surprised by the tenacious insurgency that exploded in post-Baathist Iraq, an insurgency now in its third year with no end in sight.

The phenomenon of the weak defeating the strong, though exceptional, is as old as war itself. Sparta finally beat Athens; Frederick the Great always punched well above his weight; American rebels overturned British rule in the Thirteen Colonies; the Spanish guerrilla bled Napoleon white; Jewish terrorists forced the British out of Palestine; Vietnamese communists drove France and then the United States out of Indochina; and mujahideen handed the Soviet Union its own "Vietnam" in Afghanistan. Relative military power is hardly a reliable predictor of war outcomes.

One of the main reasons the strong lose, according to Record is:

the materially weaker insurgent was more politically determined to win because it had much more riding on the outcome of war than did the stronger external power, for whom the stakes were lower. In such cases:

The relationship between the belligerents is asymmetric. The insurgents can pose no direct threat to the survival of the external power because . . . they lack an invasion capability. On the other hand, the metropolitan power poses not simply the threat of invasion, but the reality of occupation. This fact is so obvious that its implications have been ignored. It means, crudely speaking, that for the insurgents the war is "total," while for the external power it is necessarily "limited."

The piece is relatively long, but definitely worth the read. If you don't get to the end, here is his conclusion:

The strong, especially democracies, lose to the weak when the latter brings to the test of war a stronger will and superior strategy(emphasis added)reinforced by external assistance. In the case of the United States in Vietnam, a weaker will and inferior strategy was reinforced by an apolitical conception of war itself and a specific professional military aversion to counterinsurgency. In the case of Iraq, the jury remains out on the issues of will and strategy, but the unexpected political and military difficulties the United States has encountered there seem to have arisen in part because of a persistent view of war as a substitute for policy and an antipathy to preparing for war with irregular adversaries.(emphasis added)

Maybe Wolfie, Rummy and Bushie should have consulted Mr. Record, before the decided to go with The Greet Us As Liberators Plan.

A little New Year's Hope

2006-01-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

....Well not really.

The title of the Op-ed is,"This won't be the American century", I found it to be very interesting well thought out and relatively realistic.

My favorite excerpt follows:

History is shaped not only by events but by individual humans. It is impossible to imagine the United States' reputation would have sunk so far and so fast, had Bill Clinton or Al Gore had been president. The next president, or presidents, will be able to regain some lost ground.

He didn't even need to mention the idiots name to get his point across.
George W. Bush, WORST PRESIDENT EVER!!!

Mr. Jones and Me

2005-12-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Cubs look to have completed their lineup for the 2006 season with the signing of Jacque Jones.

There has been a lot of criticism of this signing, but Jim Hendry signed him to a very reasonable deal, 3 years 16 million, which is a bargain considering the inflated free agent market.

Jacque Jones is an above average hitter, especially if he returns to his pre-2004 production numbers. Hopefully he can have the type of turnaround that Jermaine Dye had for the White Sox last year.

There are two things that this signing does do, first it solidifies the defense in the outfield, Juan Pierre should be able to cover a lot of ground in the less spacious outfield of Wrigley and Mr. Jones will be able to cover the rest, easing the pressure on Matt Murton.

The Second and final thing this signing does is that it will allow those who attend the games to hear some "Mr. Jones and Me", it gives me shivers just to think of that.

Could Tom Cruise sue South Park?

2005-12-20T15:40:00.000-05:00

Will Tom Cruise sick his Scientologist lawyers on Matt Parker and Trey Stone? It may happen as a result of the "Trapped in the Closet" episode that I wrote about here.

Julie Hilden, a Yale Law Graduate, attorney, and freelance writer, says,"no"

Actually here is some of what she says:

In sum, a Cruise-versus-"South Park" suit would almost certainly be dismissed on First Amendment grounds. Moreover, such a suit -- depending on the way it was framed -- might arguably be as ethically problematic, as it is legally problematic, at least for those who believe that bias against homosexuals is wrong.

Cruise has chosen, in the past, not only to challenge allegations that he cheated or lied to cover up his alleged homosexuality, but also to directly challenge allegations that he is gay. In 2001, Cruise's attorney Bert Fields was quoted saying to E! Online, that "[Cruise] is a great respecter of homosexual rights, but he's not gay, and he's ready to prove this in court. Tom is tired of it and it hurts his children. It's something that will be there forever. And damn it, he's going to stop it." (Emphasis added).

If Cruise is truly a great respecter of homosexual rights, then to comport with his own ethical beliefs, he should have been more careful in crafting his past suit.

Cruise already had a strong suit based on suggestions that he was an adulterer and a liar -- cheating on his wife and misrepresenting the character of their marriage to the public. Did he need to also directly take aim at the statement that he was gay?

The final section of the article brought up an issue I hadn't entirely thought about before. Should courts permit claims of defamation simply because someone labels you as a homosexual? Is there any damage done to the reputation because of a false homosexual accusation? I think not, but read the article and make up your own mind.

Have a little faith in Kyle

2005-12-16T14:51:00.000-05:00

I found this article to be very encouraging. Especially the part about quarterback guru, Jeff Trickey, where he stated:

"When Kyle threw one ball 72 yards on a dead line, I knew this kid had some special skills," said Trickey, 56, a quarterback guru who runs schools nationwide, including the Chicago area. "You knew he had an NFL arm."

Trickey still sees glimpses of Orton's arm strength when he watches Bears games on TV at home in Pewaukee, Wis. He agrees Orton's accuracy, as reflected by a completion percentage of 52.9, needs improvement, but blames inexperience that contributes to inconsistent mechanics.

Orton's predecessor at Purdue, Drew Brees, who has recently come into his own in the NFL has faith in Orton as well.

San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees, Orton's predecessor at Purdue, cautioned it may take time at the pro level, but he also said he believes Orton will develop into a worthy NFL starter once he overcomes those early growing pains. Just as Brees did.

"It's tough because mistakes are going to be made … you just have to weather the storm at times," Brees said. "Your No. 1 job as a quarterback in this league is to win ballgames, and his record shows he has done that. Not many quarterbacks can start this many games their rookie year and be 9-4. That's pretty impressive."

I have believed and still believe that Kyle Orton will be a successful quarterback in the NFL. Commentators around the league do not seem to realize that he is a rookie. Most are probably basing their beliefs that Orton should be better, based on Big Ben's success in Pittsburgh. Big Ben runs a different system, has better receivers, and doesn't throw that many passess. A majority of his passes are short screens anyways.

Here are stats you should look at when rating Orton's performance.
Passing Rushing
G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD
(A) 12 | 111 178 62.4 1204 6.8 5 9 | 45 276 3

(B) 13 | 182 344 52.9 1798 5.2 9 13 | 23 42 0

(C) 13 | 176 321 54.8 2023 6.3 7 8 | 40 141 0

(D) 11 | 123 259 47.5 1663 6.4 7 14 | 28 146 1

I'll give you a hint, (B) is Kyle Orton. (A) is a former Bear who went on to success elsewhere. (C) is a product of the Jeff Trickey school of quarterbacking and one of the better current quarterbacks in the league. And (D) is a future hall of famer and those are his rookie year stats.

Answers will be forthcoming.

Chuck from Ivy Chat

2005-12-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

Chuck from Ivy Chat

If you read the Cubs Blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue, you may understand this.

First Business Idea Post

2005-12-15T15:43:00.000-05:00

I had a dream last night. With the recent slump in Theater Attendance these days, I figure the market is ripe for a new style of theater.

This article highlights why I think there is a need for new type of theater. Mainly the last paragraph which reads as follows:

Speaking of the box office condition, we're coming up on the end of the year and things don't look good. The box office is lower for the year than it was this time three years ago. Some are blaming the drop on the fact that this year has seen very poor quality films. I personally don't buy that, and here's why: for the first time in nearly fifteen years the movie industry is facing a drop in overall receipts. Movies are getting too darned expensive. With average ticket prices hovering around $8.50 ($6.00 for matinees) and concession stands charging outrageous fees for popcorn and soda, it can cost a family of four around $30-$50 to go to the movies and that's without any munchies to accentuate the experience. Tack onto that the increase in cost of living due to fuel prices and the short amount of time between theatrical release and more budget-friendly DVD releases and you've got the makings of a movie industry in overall financial decline. How will the studios respond? Again, insert your wild speculation. You never know quite what Hollywood is going to do. I can only hope it involves fewer comic book character revivals and an end to Wayans brother films altogether.

My Idea is basic:

Improve the interior of theaters to give it that at home feel: Comfier Chairs and Cleaner Atmosphere.

Concession Prices need to come down or the food offered needs to be worth the price. 6-8 dollars for popcorn and a coke is not going to cut it.

Personally I would not mind paying 10-12 dollars for a movie, if I knew that I could pay a reasonable rate for concessions once I was inside.

This is just the basis of my idea, but I think a movie theater that promotes affordable food and a comfortable quality movie experience would do well against today's unfriendly Cinema Chains.

At least he wasn't speaking Marklar

2005-12-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not posting in awhile, if anyone still reads this page, been busy at work. I found this article to be a little disturbing. Suspending a kid for speaking Spanish in the hallways. And no he wasn't cursing.

I wish I was in that high school I would start a revolution and have everyone speak Marklar to this teacher.

Marklar marklar marklar. Marklar Marklar marklar marklar marklar, marklar marklar and this marklar marklar marklar.

Catch my drift.

Trunity, a Mediar company, a division of True Mediar, a Unity Corpbopoly

2005-11-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

If you are reading this blog, you probably know that I am a huge South Park Fan. This weeks episode was one of my favorite episodes, actually almost every new episode becomes my favorite.

This week's episode was titled, "The Golden Child", it amounted to a pretty good ripping of Scientology and Tom Cruise, along with R. Kelly.

Two days after the episode ripping one of Paramount's biggest stars, Paramount signed Matt Stone and Trey Parker to a 3 year production deal. The name of the company, you guessed it look at the title of this post,Trunity, a Mediar company, a division of True Mediar, a Unity Corpbopoly, here's hoping that the new deal will allow Matt and Trey to make another South Park Full Length Feature Film, as the first one was probably one of the greatest movie musicals of our time.

The George and Dick Show, Behind the Leak

2005-11-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

The Ascendancy to the Crown (a condensed version of events)

It was March of 1999, when a man named George started his fateful journey to the throne of this great country. It wouldn't be until July of the following year that he would ask Dick to be his companion for the foreseeable future. Dick had been tapped by George in the spring with finding the right companion for George. But George was a fickle man, he couldn't take criticism from anyone otherwise he would get really really angry.

This is how George and Dick were united, and if you are reading this blog you know the rest of the story, and with the recent rising unpopularity of these two figures, we here at Out of Context, have decided to take you on a journey,"Behind the Leak".

A Long Way Down
Currently, only about 1/3 of the country approves of George. This makes George angry.

It's not much better for Dick, only 30% of Americans approve of him. As you can guess this makes Dick angry.

Taking a Leak
Where did it all go wrong? It was rumored that George was drinking again, and cavorting with the Prince of Oil. This infuriated Dick so much, that he decided to pursue Jenna or was it Barbara, or both.

Either way that made George angry again, see image above, so George decided to lay Dick out to rot by having Patrick investigate him for public urination or "leaking". As most of us were taught when we were younger, you should always keep your leaks private. Anyways Patrick couldn't get to Dick because Dick's good friend Scooter took one for the team and stepped right into the line of fire.

This made Dick angry, see image above, so he decided to try to throw Karl to Patrick, but this has yet to yield any results as Karl doesn't seem to ever take a leak.

The most recent development concerns Bob who is writing a book about all this and he just told Patrick that it was Stephen not Scooter who let the cat out of the bag first. Are you following me. So if Stephen is in trouble, then Condi might be in trouble, and maybe Karl is in trouble so does that mean that George is in trouble. All we know right now is that Scooter is definitely in trouble, but who else will be touched by the leak, all I know is it all smells really bad, I say look for the person who ate the asparagus!

Awaiting your resignation, Mr. Stevens!

2005-11-16T16:12:00.000-05:00

Anyone remember this little tirade by the "honorable" Ted Stevens from Alaska:

"I will put the Senate on notice -- and I don't kid people -- if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state and take money only from our state, I will resign from this body,"

He was railing against a proposed cut of the "Highway to Nowhere".

Well it looks like the project has been cut, I guess the house realized either: they didn't need Mr. Stevens anymore, Mr. Stevens is full of SHIT, there were real roads in need of repair that service more than 50 people, or all of the above.

I am awaiting your resignation Mr. Stevens, and I can't wait to taste your sweet tears of defeat soon.

Will anyone please ask the question?

2005-11-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

I watched Ken Mehlman on the Meet the Press this past weekend. Without restraint he spewed out countless misstatements, to my surprise some of them were even challenged by Russert.

The one glaring statement that I wish Russert would follow up on is the Administration talking point that Bush acted on:

"was roughly the same intelligence that the Clinton administration saw."

I was waiting for Russert to ask the question,"Based on this intelligence, why did the Clinton administration decide not to invade?"

Mehlman's response would probably be to the effect that,"9/11 changed the way we viewed the world," or something to that effect.

But Russert, if he was a good journalist, would follow up on the fact that Sadaam had no part in 9/11.

I was staring at my TV waiting for the question to be asked, it wasn't of course, and pretty soon I think people will begin to believe that the Clinton Administration decided to invade Iraq. Talk about rewriting history, but I wouldn't put this past the Bush administration to think of some way to place more of the blame on the Clintons.

Just a funny clip

2005-11-07T10:33:00.000-05:00

can't expect much more from Fox News!

Maybe Alito is no "Scalito"

2005-11-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

Checking out the diaries over at Redstate.org and found this gem, the diarist references a christian science monitor article on Judge Alito's abortion rulings,

The interesting part:

# A 1991 challenge to a Pennsylvania law requiring married women to notify their husbands before seeking an abortion. The court struck down the restriction. Alito dissented.

# A 1995 challenge to a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking to use Medicaid funds to abort a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest to report the incident to law enforcement officials and identify the offender. Alito provided the decisive vote striking down the abortion restriction.

# A 1997 challenge to a New Jersey law that prevents parents from suing for damages on behalf of the wrongful death of a fetus. Alito ruled that the Constitution does not afford protection to the unborn.

# A 2000 challenge to New Jersey's ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. Alito struck down the law based on a recent Supreme Court decision.

Maybe Justice Alito is an actual judge and just rules on the law, if so I don't mind him even he is a conservative. The Republicans did earn the conservative nominee, and as long as he is not an idealist, I am fine with him.

I have an idea!

2005-11-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hey Walmart, instead of wasting your money on a big Public Relations blitz that will not fix any of the labor-related problems of your company, Why not use the money on, IMPROVING YOUR LABOR CONDITIONS!!!!

Likelihood of Wal-mart doing this.... I'd say about .00001%

Isn't this funny?

2005-10-28T09:02:00.000-04:00

Anyone else find it comical that in consecutive days we have seen Sheryl Swoopes, a prominent WNBA star and George Takei, of Sulu fame on Star Trek come out of the closet.

Who is next?

OOH OOH wouldn't be funny if it was Karl Rove, he was pretty serious about that MAN-DATE!

I write a letter

2005-10-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

I was reading the usual suspects this morning and popped over to Eschaton, and I read the latest attack
on our soldiers by a conservative blogger.

I went right over to the General's site and found the email address for secretary of the College Republicans, Dan Schuberth, sexy isn't he, who wrote the letter and decided to give him my compliments for such patriotism and risk-taking on his part.

My Email follows:

Mr. Schuberth,

I would like to commend you on the great job you are doing in defending this country from the evil liberals. Your criticism of Mr. Houx was inspiring and almost moved me to tears. You took such a risk in attacking the political beliefs of someone who by enlisting in public service has already done more than you probably ever will for this great country. I was just curious as to whether or not you have actually taken a history class or maybe even read the Constitution, you might have learned that great men that have done great things for this country have both criticized the country while also serving the country admirably. On a side note, lay off the twinkies while your are attacking our soldiers it seems you have bulked up a bit, and I'm definitely not talking about muscle.

Sincerely,

Will

South Park Republicans?

2005-10-21T11:18:00.000-04:00

Well actually No! Although Matt Stone and Trey Parker are not liberals either, they are like most Americans, while more outrageous than most, they have positions on both sides of the aisle and some are far right and some are far left ideals.

To claim that they are Republicans is a bald-faced lie, although that should be expected of republicans, a recent interview with Charlie Rose debunks the myth that they are Republicans:

Charlie: Ahhm. Politics. [to Trey] You. Are you a libertarian?
Trey: [laughs] That's a great question.
Matt: What does that mean?
Trey: Yeah, I I think there's a um,
Matt: He believes in liberty.
Trey: Yeah, I believe in liberty.
Charlie: Hehehe, what if... Are you?
Trey: [long beat] It's po-, it's possible. [Matt doubles over in laughter]
Charlie: You've never taken ??? for this?
Trey: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. It's possible. Maybe. Yeah, no, there, we did a South Park episode in which
Charlie: [to Matt] Why is he embarrassed by this?
Trey: I'm not, I'm not embarrassed at all, it's just, actually, it's a very-, it's a difficult question, because I-
Charlie: Why is it so difficult?
Trey: Because it's, it's um,
Charlie: It's like saying, are you..?
Trey: ...It's like, are you gay? It's like, a little. [everybody laughs] On a Friday night-
Charlie: There's nobody-
Trey: -there are no chicks around, sure!
Charlie: Can you imagine? It's on Friday...
Matt: You go, you go, Charlie.
Trey: You go, Charlie. You know how it is.
Matt: It's Friday night, you're a little drunk,
Charlie: Yeah, what the hell!
Matt: There's nothing good on TV, mhm mhm, I don't know.
Trey: It's so really fascinating, we always, we would always talk about how we, we grow up, sort of, I think we met, we were both Python fans and we were both sort of punk rockers. We wanted to do a punk rock TV show. And you know, and when we were growing up the way to be punk rock was to be really liberal, you know, because we grew up with Reagan in high school and all of that, you know, and then. But then we moved to, the problem is we moved to L.A. when we did the, you know, and then... The only way to be punk rock in L.A. is to be a Republican. Because it's the only way, you know, you're in a party, the only way to be is "Uh I think George Bush is awesome!" and everyone's like "WHAT??" It's just like, you know, and that, REALLY, I mean, it's just amazing! And when we did Team A-, Team America
Matt: I thnk I've even seen him do that before, too.
Trey: Yeah yeah.
Charlie: Go into a party and say-
Trey: "I think he's great."
Matt: The thethe there was this lady in Mali-, it was in Malibu, he just said, "I love George Bush and I love my gun." and this lady just face just ...melted, her skin melted-
Trey: Her face melted off. [they laugh]
Matt: It is like, you know we've got this, you know we got this reputation, there was this book that came out called South Park Conservatives where ah, you know, and it was a label I think originally given by Andrew Sullivan, uh, to the show, and I think there's a little bit of like libertarianism
Charlie: Is he your number one fan. There's some great quote about him.
Matt: Yeah, he's he's our biggest fan, and, and like he's written some really cool stuff about... the show and Team America the movie, but... I think that some of, uh, you know, we did grow up in Colorado, which is kind of a Republican state, but it's more of a libertarian kind of, live and let live kind of attitude. And, I'm sure some of that seeps though in, in, in the work, but. I mean, we've done, we've taken so many different conservative ideals to task, too. But we have just ripped on a couple of liberal ones, like, uhhh, Barbar Streisand and Rob Reiner, and all of a sudden like, we're conservatives, and it's like, to live in L.A., to live in California, those are the sacred cows. I mean literally and figuratively. Rob Rob Reiner.... oh, that was a joke, that was a bad joke.
Charlie: [laughing] Oh, it was a terrible joke.
Matt: Well, you know, I mean it IS true, I mean, it's like Trey said, it's like, you know, if you go, if we sit around in our writers' room, and we all sit around and go, and, and what I, and I think that our best stuff comes out is we try to personify this side of the argument and this side, and then we take a little, funny way out, and... uh, I'm just not interested in in, and Trey can, well just vouch for this, I'm not interested in sitting around and agreeing with other people. And where we live, it is like, the liberalist liberal part of the world, and, not because I don't-
Charlie: You mean ther's a, there's a groupthink.
Matt: There's a groupthink, and you only get to some new truth by argument and by dissent, and it's like, some of it is just. We just play Devil's Advocate all the time, you know.

Charlie: Here's what else you've said: "I am just sick of actors on CNN parroting what they read in the paper." I keep expecting Larry King to say "And now, for a work on Iraq, the Cookie Monster"
Trey: [laughs] Yes, it really was, and I mean, and that's, when we were writing Team America, I didn't know, I was-
Charlie: What is Team America
Trey: Team America is the, a movie we made, um, last year, that was all done with marionettes, and it was basically about a world police for-, international world police force that obviously parodied every, everything that's been going on, and it was so fascinating because we, you know, the whole movie starts where the international police force shows up in Paris and just blows away all of Paris in order to get one terrorist, you know, and I mean, and it's basically like, and and and it was a condemnation of that but, on the other hand, it, at it, in the middle, it sorta took a turn and started ripping on the liberal, you know, on the, on the actors that, for us, we live in L.A., we know a lot of actors, they're not smart people. Right, I mean, and, and, just like we shouldn't be on any TV show discussing what, what should, what world policy should be, you know, uh-
Charlie: I was gonna ask you to take us to the next segment, we're gonna talk about it.
Trey: Right, right. Say, rock and roll...
Charlie: Right.
Trey: You know, ah, believe me, you don't wanna hear our opinion.

So basically they just like to rub people the wrong way and see their reaction, big surprise there.
Glad I was able to put that one to rest and by the way Michele Malkin is not a South Park Conservative I guess the show is a bit too racy for her, but as we know she has a problem with teaching children to respect each other instead of fight, I guess Michelle is a bit confused. We already knew this though.

How many hearts does America have?

2005-10-21T09:03:00.000-04:00

According to G.W. the heart of America is everywhere except Hollywood, that is unless he wants Hollywood's money!

Greatest Mug Shot Ever...

2005-10-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

and hopefully there are more to come.

And I thought Canada was a place

2005-10-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

where everyone was a given a chance, no matter your race, religion or sexual orientation.

I was surprised that they wouldn't let a Human Piece of Poo run for office!

A truce is finally called....

2005-10-18T10:51:00.000-04:00

In the pizza war between Chicago and New York. I will join them in stating,"Can't we all just get along and enjoy some good pizza."

What are your accomplishments Tom?

2005-10-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

From a story on Tom Delay's Media Campaign on CNN.com

"I know when you stand up for what you believe in, this kind of thing is going to happen," DeLay boasted on a Houston radio show. "It's part of the fight. I know Democrats hate me and they hate what I believe in and they hate the amazing things we've been able to accomplish ever since we've been in the majority."

According to a Christian Coalition of America article:

"Four words describe House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's greatest accomplishments: Terri Schiavo and Clinton's impeachment."

Not to be too picky but that's five words if you count the "and". That is besides the point, Tom Delay has been in office since 1984, so in 21 years of federal public service all the Christian Coalition of America can list as his accomplishments are Schiavo and Clinton. That is frickin pathetic.

When it rains it pours!

2005-10-12T10:12:00.000-04:00

The special investigation by Pat Fitzgerald may be leading to an indictment of the entire Bush Administration, specifically the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) that allegedly orchestrated the press releases and coverage that lead up to the Iraq War.

Here is a link to a great article about WHIG and the possible implications.
(via Atrios)

Updated Food List

2005-10-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

After some correspondence with Adam Kuban, editor and publisher of SliceNy, I have decided to add his pizza site and his hamburger site to my Food Blog list section. Adam seemed like a very nice guy who had no hatred for Chicago Style Pizza, he just hasn't had it since 1998. So here's hoping that Adam gets to sample his Chicago Style Pizza this upcoming Thanksgiving, here's hoping I can do the same when I go home for Thanksgiving.

I also added, Iron Chef America and Jamie Oliver's site.

Also I am pondering starting a Chicago Food Blog, if anyoone is interested in joining me email-me. Since I have a good knowledge of Chicago food, from the steak houses, the Italian Beef, Chicago Style Pizza, Chicago Style Dogs, as well as the many Fine Dining Experiences, I figure that should the next of my pet projects. Another reason is the fact that I just love good food.

Finally found this link.

2005-10-11T15:21:00.000-04:00

Andy Dick is great and is he also "Bush's Brain".

I have been looking for this forever, check one thing of my to do list

(via All-Spin Zone)

What am I looking at today?

2005-10-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

I recently began taking cooking classes to enhance my repertoire. I had always kind of cooked based on feel without really knowing what I was doing, now I am beginning to not only understand the basics but also improvise a lot in whatever recipe I am doing.

Today I have been looking at a bunch of cooking related websites:

First is Jamie Oliver's website, he is a British Chef, who I saw on the today show, and his recipes seem to be very basic and easy to build on to make them your own. The one I am keeping my eye on is this Basic Risotto Recipe.

The Second is none other than, Iron Chef America, if you are into cooking, this show is awesome because it is amazing to watch these guys do what they do in 1 Hour, and you can even pick up a couple ideas as you go, although I recommend TIVOing it so you can go back since they do move quite quickly.

Finally here is a blog that should hold its head down in shame. I never thought I would dislike a Food Blog, but there is one, The Pizza Blog. They call themselves America's Favorite Pizza Blog, yet they don't even like the best Pizza in the Country which either resides at Lou Malnati's or Due's which is my personal favorite.

So the idiots at Slice Ny can keep their generic thin crust that can be replicated all over the U.S.A. and I'll take my Chicago Style Pizza, where the only good stuff is found in Chicago.

I was bored

2005-10-07T12:23:00.000-04:00

So I messed around with the layout on my site. CSS and HTML are fun, I still have a lot to learn though, like how to get an image in the banner or on the sidebar.

If this post is too boring for you, at least I put a cute Golden Retriever Puppy, screw Cat Blogging!

Yeah I said it, I hate Cats!

June Griffin, Crazy Old Bat Part II

2005-10-05T14:45:00.000-04:00

When I first saw June Griffin on the Daily Show, I wrote this post, where you can see the video of her craziness as well.

I decided to google her and found her most recent column in the People News of Tennessee, it is titled, Sodom and Gomorrah - Revised Standard:

This is just the first paragraph, if you want to read more bring a barf bag:

"Verse l. Abraham was a very good man whose nephew, Lot, was a city officer in Sodom. He had been warned that there was coming a destruction to Sodom because they had gambling, voodoo, prostitution, violating the Lord's Day, pagan worship, wineries and liquor distributors, they hated preachers, and worst of all, most of their people were on some form of public support, which is the product of living like this. Lot never did like redistribution of the wealth because it was one of the reasons that the Great Flood had come. Many of his ancestors had been destroyed in that Flood but his best ancestor, Noah, was spared because he didn't do these evil acts."

Where do these people come from? Which copy of the Bible did she read? Seems like she has what you might call a black heart.

Reminds me of Shakespeare's quote from Merchant of Venice, I believe Antonio said,"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."

Is this Kosher?

2005-10-05T11:21:00.000-04:00

Matisyahu: The Hasidic Reggae Superstar

I thought it was a joke when I first read about this guy, but after listening to a few of the tracks on the website, I have to say he is pretty good.

His Bio is pretty interesting as well.

Here are some interesting blips from the Bio"

Matthew Miller was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on June 30th 1979, corresponding to the Jewish date of the 5th of Tamuz 5740. Shortly after his birth, the Miller family moved to Berkeley, CA and eventually settled in White Plains, NY. Growing up, Matisyahu's parents sent him to Hebrew School a couple of times a week, but like many kids, he resisted the additional school hours and was frequently threatened with expulsion for disrupting the lessons.
By the age of 14, Matthew Miller slid comfortably into the laid-back lifestyle of a teenage hippie. Having fallen in with the "Dead-Head" crowd, he grew dreadlocks and wore his Birkenstocks all winter long. He played his bongos in the lunchroom and learned how to beat-box in the back of class. By 11th grade, despite his carefree days, Matisyahu couldn't ignore the void in his life. After nearly burning down his chemistry class, he knew his mission must begin immediately. He decided to set off on a camping trip in Colorado. Away from his suburban life in White Plains, Matisyahu had the opportunity to take an introspective look at himself and contemplate his environment. It was there in the awe-inspiring landscape of the Rocky Mountain's, that Matisyahu had an eye-opening realization: there is a G-d.

After Colorado, his spiritual curiosity piqued and Matisyahu took his first trip to Israel. There, for the first time in his life, he felt a connection to the G-d he discovered in Colorado. Israel was a major turning point. Matisyahu relished the time he spent there, praying, exploring, and dancing in Jerusalem. In every nook he encountered, his dormant Jewish identity stirred into consciousness.

Go to the website to learn more about his interesting life and be sure to check out a couple of the songs!

If only Bill Bennett had been aborted

2005-10-04T14:36:00.000-04:00

....then I wouldn't have to write this post and waste my energy.

Most people have heard about what Bill Bennett, former education secretary under Reagan, recently said on his radio show, if you haven't here is the transcript, courtesty of Media Matters.

CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all.
BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens?
CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.
BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.
CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.
BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --
CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.
BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

Bennett was obviously making a reference to Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Levitt, the economist who was one of the authors of the study about abortion takes Bennett to task point by point, on his blog here. The highlight of his point by point response to Bennett was this bit:

"7) There is one thing I would take Bennett to task for: first saying that he doesn't believe our abortion-crime hypothesis but then revealing that he does believe it with his comments about black babies. You can't have it both ways."(emphasis added)

Bill Bennett should make sure he reads the studies that he cites the next time he decides to pretend to be educated on an issue.

I'm back again

2005-10-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks from finishing up law school applications to actually having a ton of work to do at the office. But I'm back and ready to go.

I decided to visit one of my favorites, The Hot Sauce Blog, and as I was scrolling down I found a new blog that caught my eye, The Burrito Blog.

As some of you who know me, know that I love food and if you didn't know that, now you do. The Burrito Blog seems like a nice site, I think the blogger comes from Massachusetts, but he has rated burritos in other states including my home state of Illinois, it seems he has visited to joints in Chicago, one at Midway Airport, which I could've told him was a big mistake and the other was Angelos Burrito Style on North Clark which is a great place.

On to more food discussion since thats what I feel like talking about today. If you are in Philly and vegetarian, kosher, or just like mediterranean delights such as falafel(not Bill O'reilly's falafel), hummus, fried eggplant, and other delights which I have yet to sample go to Mama's Vegetarian, its on 20th between Market and Chestnut and it is to die for. Also did I mention the Potato Latkes are amazing.

Glad to be back for anyone who is still out there. Chow!

A crazy old bat

2005-09-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

....and that would be a nice way to describe June Griffin, who was featured on evolution week at the Daily Show. Watch the clip.

I guess she was an independant candiate in Tennessee's third district, the republican party is not extreme enough for her. Her campaign was focused on placing the 10 commandments in public places, bashing homosexuals, and a return to biblical laws.

After she lost she was a little bitter, I guess.

My only question for Mrs. Griffin is when she was driving all over the state promoting the ten commandments placement in public places, did she take a break on the sabbath?

Oh boy are there a lot of kooks out there.

I bet Pat Roberston wasn't praying for this!

2005-09-06T13:42:00.000-04:00

As some of you may know Pat Roberston has been praying for a supreme court vacancy, he has even started a campaign where you too can pray for another court vacancy!

I wonder if he actually knew who the real William Rehnquist was, would he still have prayed for his death?

An article posted on the Huffington Post, written by Alan Dershowitz really shed some light on who the real William Rehnquist was, to tell you the truth I never really liked the man much and this article didn't help much. The usual stories of Republican thuggery were performed by Rehnquist, blocking the minority vote. He also was a Nazi sympathizer although this is the only documentation of his anti-semitism:

Rehnquist later bought a home in Vermont with a restrictive covenant that barred sale of the property to ''any member of the Hebrew race.”

There is also an interesting tidbit in there about the threats Dershowitz received after going on Hannity and Colmes and telling his side of the story. He received the usual Hannity treatment, a verbal lashing when he was unable to respond. Way to be a big man Sean.

On a side note I would encourage everyone to recite this prayer in hopes of creating a vacancy in the Host position on the 700 Club.

When Corporations Do More Good Deeds

2005-09-06T10:27:00.000-04:00

I was reading the Wall Street Journal today while in the "office", and I came across an open note from Chevron. It spoke of the energy problems facing our country and the world in general, and it guided me to this website called "Will You Join Us?" I went to the website and liked what I saw and hopefully you will too. It provides a base education for those who are unfamiliar with the looming energy crisis and there is also an oil barrel consumption counter, during my visit over 600,000 barrels of oil were consumed.

My hope is that this is not just a public relations stunt, I am hoping that they are spending as much money on their research as they are on this ad campaign.

The "office" I reference is the bathroom stall for those who don't know the location where I do my best thinking!

Twisting the facts on Global Warming

2005-09-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

While there is no evidence that the increased frequency of hurricanes can be attributed to global warming, there has been research done by an atmospheric physicist, Kerry Emanuel of Mit, said that the Net force of these hurricanes can be attributed to global warming.

As usual, this blog on the right has blasted environmentalists for saying that this hurricane and others are the result of global warming, stating that "science does not support their conclusion."

Well Mr. Laer, I await you response, unfortunately I know how people on the right have trouble dealing with opposing view points, so I don't expect too much.

It's all Clinton's fault

2005-09-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

This is all Bill Clinton's fault, he could have established a program in 1995 for the South Eastern Louisiana region or SELA as they now call it to prevent the flooding that could have minimized the damage of hurricane Katrina, oh wait he did start the program, but our Dear Leader decided it wasn't worth funding, I guess tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals were more important than establishing preventively measures that might have saved lives.

Conservative Blogger takes a shot at Black Charities

2005-09-01T16:27:00.000-04:00

A conservative blog has taken a shot at black charities who have failed to put donation links on their site for Katrina. Here is the article, and it so happens that the Naacp has a donation link.

I found the final quote to be very intriguing,

"They've had several days to organize their help campaigns, and there just
isn't evidence that they are doing so."

Seems like instead of attacking the black charities we should be asking our president and homeland security director what they were doing. We know where Bush was I guess.

What am I looking at today? September 1, 2005 Edition

2005-09-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

In between working on a project for work, I still have time to search the net for interesting finds.

The first one today was The Hot Sauce Blog, on the blog I discovered what makes peppers hot, some of you may already know but its Capsaicin. If you are so inclined, you can order pure capsacin crystals, 1 oz. will cost you about $199, it is rated 16 million on the scoville scale(used to measure hotness of peppers and sauces). This is the product review of the capsaicin crystals, product is called Blair’s 16 Million Reserve, maybe some day I will try it out.

Another thing that was on my mind, was energy, renewable energy to be exact. I have always wondered if human feces or poop can solve our energy crisis, so I googled " poop energy". I guess the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York had the same idea.

I also found a respectable Bush, that's Greg Bush of Renton, Washington who is using the cities sewage waste to create electricity through fuel cells.

Did you know that the Power of Poop is an integral part of NASA's future plans for a manned mission to Mars?

That's all for today, we will see where my divergent mind takes me next time. For now imagine the enhanced Poop Power one would produce if combined with Capsaicin!

A really fun game

2005-08-26T11:28:00.000-04:00

This game is a great time waster. Being a movie buff myself, I figured I would try it out. It is an excel spreadsheet with 72 movie stills with the Actors heads removed. The goal is to fill in the movie title.

Currently I am at 31, will update my progress as I go along.

One thing has bothered me for awhile

2005-08-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield, and other past presidents have lead men on the battlefield. I'm sure past legislators have done so as well. I don't necessarily think military service should be a requirement for political office, but I would like to propose a law that might make our current legislators actually think about the human costs of war.

Any legislator who votes for a war, has to go fight the war, or if they are physically unable they must commit their children or a loved one to the war. If the war is really worth fighting they should be willing to put themselves or their loved ones at risk.

This law may give some people second thoughts about running for office, but that is good, because if one is willing to serve the country then they should be willing to actually SERVE THE FRICKING COUNTRY!

I have one question for anyone out there, If this was actual law do you think we would be in Iraq right now?

When Big Corporations Do Good Deeds

2005-08-16T11:54:00.000-04:00

I have a tendency to only point out the bad deeds done by big corporations. There are a lot of them and they usually get more news coverage than the good deeds.

I think it is time to report the good deeds done by the big corps. just to show both sides of the story and that corporations can do good if they try.

Radio One Inc. gets the award for today. Radio One had bought the rights to FM 107.9 in Philadelphia that had belonged to Haverford High School since 1949, it was the oldest High School radio station in the country. Read the article for the entire story, but it seems that Radio One Inc. helped the high school pressure the FCC to grant them a special license to get a new station on FM 99.9. After the year long process finally was complete and the Haverford High station was set to get back on the air, Radio One Inc. also donate newer radio equipment to help the High School out in their endeavor.

I would like to pat Radio One Inc. on the back for doing something they didn't need to do and something that probably won't improve their bottom line, but I'm sure it will make some high school students and alumni very happy.

What's the deal with Oil?

2005-08-16T10:39:00.000-04:00

This is ridiculous!

Where is the outrage at these gas companies reporting record profits? Where is the outrage at our public servants for continuing to subsidize oil companies?

The average gasoline price is about $0.80 greater per gallon than it was last year. Is it any wonder that these Oil Companies are posting record profits? Does anyone else find it ridiculous that we are paying multiple times to fatten the pockets of these Oil Companies? We pay once at the pump and then again in our tax dollars that go to subsidize the Oil Companies.

With the impending shortage of oil, this problem will no doubt worsen. As Oil Companies raise prices to maintain profit margins while also demanding more subsidies to increase their net income, have to worry about those shareholders.
They will milk our oil dependency to the last drop, wasting precious time and government money, that could be spent on reducing our oil dependency.

What is the solution to alleviate our dependency on oil?

First, the oil companies should become government property or prices should be regualated and established by the government. This will prevent Oil Companies from recording record profits at the expense of American Taxpayers. This would enable the government to maintain affordable gas prices for the average american, especially the poverty stricken who are affected more severely by high gas prices.

If gas becomes a government run business, it will create more of an incentive for private companies to invest in alternative sources of energy that are not derived from oil. It will also give the big oil companies more of an incentive to spend money from their deep pockets on researching renewable energy sources. By taking away a huge chunk of their profit, Oil Companies will invest more resources in new enery sources which are bound to be more profitable than gas if prices are regulated by the government.

It is imperative to give Oil Companies an incentive to accelerate their research on new non-oil derived energy sources. Currently they have no incentive to do so, since their profits are guaranteed to be maintained because of our dependence on oil and the govenrment subsidies they continue to receive. The only solution is to take away the record profits of Oil Companies, by enacting new regulations on gasoline prices and ending subsidies. This will force Oil Companies to use their deep pockets to fund other sources of energy and ease our dependence on Oil.

This is an issue all Americans will unite behind. Whether you are Democrat, Republican, or Other, the cost of Oil and our dependence on Oil affects us all. Even if you don't drive a car you are dependent upon oil, most of our technology, such as this computer I am typing on takes barrels of oil to produce. To improve the quality of life for all Americans it is necessary to take this first step, in order to accelerate the development of non-oil derived sources of energy.

Update: Karl Rove has been spotted hiding in Canada

2005-08-04T09:55:00.000-04:00

And he is fondling young boys!

Why can't we be more like the Canadians?

2005-08-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

Instead of using fear to debate policy issues Canadian's use humor, to be more specific potty humor!

Steroids and our President: Why is George trying to hurt our Children?

2005-08-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the news surrounding Rafael Palmeiro's steroid suspension I felt it necessary to examine our President's relationship to steroids in baseball.

Here are Bush's remarks about steroids from his 2004 State of the Union Address:

To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now

The interesting thing surrounding the steroid controversy in baseball is that Texas seems to have been a breeding ground for many of the alleged steroid users. The list includes Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, and the list could continue. Most of these players except for Mr. Canseco, who implicated the president in the steroids scandal, can call Mr. Bush a friend. The president maintains a good relationship with Palmeiro, calling him most recently to congratulate him on his 3000th hit.

What kind of message is the president sending to our children when he maintains a friendship with proven performance enhancing drug users? For our children's sake our president must show resolve and admonish his friends? He must ensure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our we to assume that those words he spoke in his state of the Union address were hollow? Does our president stand for anything other than ensuring the advancement of his friends?

Our president has a chance to set the record straight and set a good example for our children by letting his good friend Raffie know how he feels about drug use.

If George W. Bush cannot stand against the steroid users, then he must be for steroids.

I will close by asking the question:

Why does George W. Bush insist on hurting our children?

The Anti-Abortion Anthem

2005-06-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

I believe this song puts everything in perspective!

This is a children's entertainer using his puppet voice to sing this song, make sure you listen all the way through, after all the dates are listed, for the rousing chorus at the end.

2005-06-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

"these are working man's hands! it's hard work!"

Update: Thanks to Pete for putting words to the picture

Damn Liberals

2005-06-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

This is hard work. We must spread freedom throughout the Muslim world. The facts are all there; Sadaam was ready to bomb us if we didn't invade, he staged the 9/11 attacks, and he tried to kill the former President Bush. If this is not enough to declare war I don't know what is.

Now I know that none of the reasons mentioned in the preceeding paragraph nor any other reason used to lead the United States into war was actually proven to be true. There is actually this pesky Downing Street Memo, that says our fearless leader "Curious George" was all intent on spreading freedom that they actually altered the intelligence to lead the country to believe that Iraq actually was a threat.

Who cares, all I have to say is Freedom is on the march, bitches!!!

None of this would have come to light if not for those DAMN LIBERALS and their treasonous questions. Who are they to question the necessity for war, if our President wants a war we should trust his judgement. If he says gays are bad then gays are bad. Who do those stupid liberals think they are, questioning our leader.

I guess our leader isn't so confident that we are getting the message, because now he has to go out campaigning to put us in the "right" frame of mind. Instead of maybe changing his ways, Bush will remain strong and firm in his ideals, he doesn't care if he was wrong to go invade in the first place and that he is wrong to keep our troops over there. All he cares is that he is consistent and he must tell us over and over again that what we are doing is right, even when the people who elected him think its wrong.

That is why he is so great, he understands that even though the majority of Americans don't support his policies, whether it is the war, social security, or other horrible policies. We don't care if he doesn't listen to us, that's not why we voted him in, we voted him in because he did not waiver, if he starts something he finishes it. Georgie doesn't care if he is wrong or if he is right, he is seldom if ever right, but thats not why I support him. I support him because he will not waiver in the face of adversity, he will not change just to save some lives or improve the state of the World.

I support him because he is our leader and to question his policies or decisions is wrong, that's what liberals do, and I am not a liberal nor will I ever be until the end of the World, which unfortunately may come sooner if Mr. Bush stays in office any longer, but at least I will die without a liberal bone in my body.

Lock them all up

2005-06-10T13:38:00.000-04:00

In Ann Coulter's column of June 1, 2005, she makes the case against the 7 "mavericks" in the U.S. Senate who brokered the compromise with the Democratic minority. You can read it here.
Although it was a good article, I don't think Ann goes far enough.

Here is a passage from the latter part of the article:

The only way for Americans to get some vague semblance of what they voted
for is to elect mammoth Republican majorities — and no "mavericks."
(Fortunately, for the sake of civilization and the republic, that process seems
to be well under way.) Chuck Schumer could be the last Democrat in the Senate
and the new rule would be: Unanimous votes required for all Senate business. But
at least we could count on Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike DeWine, John McCain,
John Warner, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Lincoln Chafee to strike a deal
forcing Schumer to agree not to block the 99 other senators except in
"extraordinary circumstances."

I disagree with Ann here. I don't think we should wait for the voters to install a one-party system, I think we should create it now. Seriously, who do those "maverick" senators think they are, do they think that country was divided in the last election, by what a 51%-48% margin or something like that.

We won now we should get what we want, I would like a law allowing us to lock those damn "maverick" senators up. And for that matter we should lock up anyone who represents any liberal idea that is not supported by conservative ideals. Seriously, this democracy thing, especially the minority rights part needs to be re-evaluated. My vote is for a one-party system representative of the people who delivered this election for Mr. Bush, we are the Conservative Christian Party and our will should enforced, GOD DAMMIT!

The search begins.....

2005-06-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

NOW!

I'M BACK.....

2005-06-10T11:12:00.000-04:00

Not that anyone reads this of course. I've taken the past couple weeks off in an attempt to regain my motivation. The life of an unknown, unread blogger is really tiring.

To tell the truth I have been reborn as a conservative commentator. You might think whoa!!! What made him do this? Well you know I am just tired. It is tiring always blogging about issues that you care about and that are grounded in real problems of real people. So I figured why can't I just make shit up?

So I thought about who gets to make shit up? Who doesn't really have to be grounded in reality? Who doesn't give a shit about the problems of real people?

The answer is so simple CONSERVATIVE BLOGGERS(WINGNUTS or whatever else you call them)

So I am taking the Wingnut Oath:

I, "anonymous blogger", swear to uphold the principles of the conservative
blogger, I will not let truth get in my way, nor will I let the suffering of
innocent people cloud my posts, I will be pro-war without ever fighting in one,
my duty is to type on this keyboard until freedom is spread across the World.
Freedom is on the march and as freedom marches I will not leave my post, I will
stay on my computer by my keyboard, folgers in hand, those liberals can have
their Starbucks and their lattes, I will push on the propaganda....I
mean....unbiased message of Messrs. Bush and Rove.

It is with great honor that I take this oath of dishonesty, like the great bloggers that have come before me, such as John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson, Michelle Malkin, Patrick Hynes and Bulldog Pundit of ankle biting fetishes.com, and all the other wonderful sites that I will be visiting on my journey to conservative blog ecstacy.(I've heard this ecstacy involves Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman, George W. Bush, and Grover Norquist in.... I can't tell you here... use your imagination).

Now it is time to travel into the world where reality is not a limit, where truth and lies are one in the same, where Rush is Socrates and Michael Moore is Heinrich Himmler. I bid you all adieu!!

Damn Activist Judges!

2005-05-06T13:40:00.000-04:00

CNN.com reports that in Greenbelt, Marlyand a federal judge has blocked a school district from teaching a new sexual education program because of the way the program deals with homosexual issues. He instituted a 10-day restraining order on the program and will hear further arguments to see if the order should be extended.

If you only read the headline and sub-headline, it would lead you to believe this was purely because of the discussion of homosexuals. Thank you CNN for some wonderfully misleading headlines. As you progress down the article the real legal issue is discussed:

Williams[the judge] said the curriculum juxtaposes faiths such as Quakers that support full rights for gays and lesbians with groups such as Baptists, who are painted as "intolerant and Biblically misguided."
This made me think of something I was reading today about a Baptist church kicking all Democarats out.

In the CNN article they also mention this group, called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). They were one of the groups that brought the suit. If you read the web page linked above you find such interesting tidbits as:

What is PFOX and who are ex-gays?

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is a national organization that supports families touched by homosexuality, advocates for the ex-gay community, and educates the public on sexual orientation. PFOX's statement of principles is found at www.pathinfo.org

PFOX promotes an inclusive environment for the ex-gay community, and works to eliminate negative perceptions and discrimination against former homosexuals and lesbians. PFOX conducts public education and community-building activities to further compassion and respect for all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation. PFOX envisions communities characterized by more stable families and a tolerant understanding of sexual orientation.

Each year, thousands of men and women with same sex attractions make the personal decision to leave homosexuality through gender affirming programs, including secular therapy and/or faith based ministries. Their choice is one only they can make. According to Dr. Raymond Fowler, CEO of the American Psychological Association (APA), gender affirming therapy should be made available to anyone who wishes to explore developing heterosexual feelings or behavior as part of every client's right to self-determination. Indeed, Dr. Robert Spitzer, the scientist who led the APA to remove homosexuality as a mental illness from the psychiatric diagnostic manual in 1973, recently completed a Columbia University study of former homosexuals and documented that same sex attractions may be overcome.

And this:

Why must questioning youth have access to sexual reorientation information?

Teenagers’ same sex attractions do not automatically mean that they are homosexual. Many teens go through temporary episodes of idealization of same sex peers and should not be urged to prematurely label themselves as homosexual. For those teens who do actually show gender-identity confusion, PFOX supports the availability of information on sexual reorientation. Most parents hope to maximize the likelihood of their child growing up to be heterosexual and comfortable in affirming his or her own masculine or feminine nature. Teens themselves need to have all the facts presented to them. Schools that address the issue of sexual orientation must present all of the facts in a fair and balanced manner instead of encouraging confused and impressionable youth to immediately label themselves as “gay” and thus ensure a future homosexual outcome when it may be unnecessary.

(It would seem whoever started this group needs some reality reorientation)

And this:

Do I have to dislike ex-gays if I have gay friends or family?

No! You can have friends who are gay and other friends who are ex-gay. Befriending the ex-gay community does not mean that you are being disloyal to the gay people you know and love. Just like you have everstraight[What the hell is everstraight?] friends, you can also have ex-gay friends.

And it goes on and on, with this type of gobbly-gook. This group seems a little ridiculous but it does lead me to a good idea, maybe the homosexual movement should start labeling itself as the Ex-Heterosexual Movement, and maybe conservatives will endorse marriages between Ex-Heterosexuals.

I guess it is all about how you frame it.

I'm on a humor kick today

2005-05-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

Some of this is wrong, but it's still funny.

Spring Cleaning

2005-05-04T13:16:00.000-04:00

Since it is spring I have decided to give my blog a more springy look, let me know what you think.

more changes to come......

This is really funny and a lot of fun

2005-05-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

Make Ah-nold Dance!

Way off topic but funny

2005-04-25T11:31:00.000-04:00

I was watching this movie last night called "envy" with Jack Black and Ben Stiller. Jack Black comes up with this product called "Vapoorize" that makes dog shit disappear when you spray it.
Not a bad idea, and the movie was pretty funny.

Anyways, I thought wouldn't it be a great idea to have something that sprays poop and makes it hard, thus making it easier to pick up. Living in Philly I have found that people have a hard time picking up their crap.

This morning I googled"Dog Poop Spray" and found this site Poop-Freeze. So my plan to make millions is foiled again.

Required Reading for Congressman

2005-04-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

After reading an article about the Justices going in front of Congress for the budget hearings, I saw something that somewhat confused me. Here is the article.

It seems that Todd Tiahrt, a republican representative from Kansas, should have read his copy of the Constitution. He probably would have avoided making this statement:

"Tiahrt, the only panel member who criticized rulings by the high court, said he was concerned that the court has cited international law in rulings. "Lately we've had rulings that seem to go beyond the rule of law," he said, referring particularly to a decision last month that struck down the death penalty for those who committed their crimes as juveniles."

I remember reading something in 8th Grade, about any International Treaties (International Law) we sign, supercede any Federal Laws.

Article VI

Clause 2: This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. (emphasis added)

This is Hilarious!

2005-04-13T11:26:00.000-04:00

I remember the days when I used to idolize The Ultimate Warrior, now after reading this post found via atrios, I now pity the fool, as my main man Mr. T used to say.

Is this for real?

2005-04-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

Looking at CNN.com, and saw a story called "Congress seeks to extend Daylight-Savings Time." They said they were going to extend it to save on energy. The quote that really got me was this:

"The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use," said Markey, who
cited Transportation Department estimates that showed the two-month
extension would save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil a
day.

Either I am really confused and reading this article wrong, or this is a late april fool's joke, or THESE PEOPLE REALLY ARE MORONS!
Can someone explain to me how increasing daylight-savings time will give us a couple more hours of sunlight. Here is the article, maybe someone can explain this to me.

I'm Still Here

2005-04-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

Just have no bloggin motivation. My brain has been overwhelmed by the Schiavo/Pope news.

That does bring me to one point. How is it that the death of Terri Schiavo, may she rest in peace, has almost overshadowed the coverage of the Pope's health. Do you think Mrs. Schiavo ever would have thought that she would become more newsworthy than the Pope? It amazes me.

This world has been turned on its head, you couldn't write a better novel than what is currently going on today. It is surreal!