GOP Con, Day 2

I didn't really watch the GOP Convention last night, I listened to part of McCain's speech. The theme of the night was obviously exploitation of the 9/11 trajedy and trying to pretend that they didn't take advantage of the nation's grief to carry out the neocons long standing agenda / obsession to remove Saddam Hussein by force.

Afghanistan I thought was a justified but way too reserved counter attack. We were afraid of putting in large numbers of ground troops outside of special forces because of how it'd anger the Arabs, so we had the Arabs of the Northern Alliance do all of the fighting and dying, with our Air Force providing high-tech support, even when Bin Laden was cornered at Tora Bora. But yet we had no problem marching thousands of troops into Arab land, which has had very bad PR reprecussions with a majority of the Arab world.

Erm.. slight tangent from the main ramble. Oops. Anyway, it seems just like the Democratic Convention -- an orgy of self-aggrandizement to try and convince the naive that they are worth putting faith in. And with the GOP one I am just laughing my ass off at these text book answers and ignorance being played upon.

I couldn't help but notice that one of the themes of the GOP convention seems to be "America Can Do Better". That would have been more appropriate for the Democrats to have used in reference to Bush. But for Bush's own ass kissers to say we can do better by electing him seems like almost an admission that the first four years of his presidency have been shit. But, to be more accurate, too, shouldn't it be read like how Bush would say it: "America can do gooder"

Intruder Drills: What a Joke

In the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting, the Hazelwood school district, as well as many others no doubt, implimented a new set of drills for incase there is an intruder. And I have held off on actually rambling about them for quite some time. We had one on Friday, as a matter of fact, which I had practically forgotten about as soon as it was over.

I was reminded of it this morning when in first hour a classmate in the row right behind me and my friend Brenn mentioned how he got written up during Friday's intruder drill, and I went "How'd you do that, go out into the hall and go 'we're hiding in here!'?"

All joking almost aside, I'd say the intruder drills are similar in nature to the hide under your desk in the event of a nuclear attack: Utterly ridiculous. The intruder drills are just as unrealistic as the former nuclear attack drills from decades ago. Like all drills they do not conduct them during 4th and 5th hour, when there are the various lunch shifts. And one of the things about Columbine was it was during a lunch shift. Not to mention, people will know school is in session anyway. A locked door will not stop someone determined to hit a specific target or just random targets of opportunity.

The drills promote the illusion of safety; the self delusion many of us indulge in that we are in a place where we do not have to worry about harm. Now, being a school that's mostly true, unless you count the people who get picked on by their classmates, but that's a whole other topic entirely.

Fabricating a Pretty Face

As the Republican convention opens the GOP is hiding it's real face from the public. They trot out McCain and Schwarzenegger to put a pretty face on the pig. The neocons are being pushed into the background as they try to pretend to be reasonable.

If the GOP were honest they would be trotting out the real power behind their party. Ken Lay of Enron would be a keynote speaker. The Reverend Sun Mung Moon would be in prime time. Why not have John Ashcroft talk about civil liberties? Lets get Rummy to talk about why torturing prisioners is a good idea. Prince Vandar should speak about why high oil prices is good for America. Where's Tom Delay? Where's Newt? Where's Jerry Falwell? Where's Pat Robbertson? They should have a representative for Haliburton there - oh wait - they do have one.
- Mark Perkel Rantz >> Source Blog Entry

rofl. Yes, Aschroft and Robertson. That would have been hilarious.

EDIT - 7:26 PM: Same topic, better worded from the same source blog >> Link

Hostage Taking in Iraq, now for stupid reasons

Two French journalists were captured by Islamic militants in Iraq. Their demands? Repeal the no-head scarf law in French schools. (Feel free to roll your eyes)

OMFG these demands are getting more insane. First they were the expected unrealistic demands to release hundreds of prisoners or the hostage dies. Now they are making demands over etiquette in public schools.

Ha! It would be like someone here getting something stuck in their craw about the ban on baseball hats or CD Players or Cell Phones in the classrooms, and taking a hostage to get it reversed.

Three words for those religious nutjobs: GET OVER IT!

It'd be stupid to kill the two hostages over such ignorance.

Election Contemplation / Rambling

Cardsfan6734 (2:17:05 PM): as of right now, if the election were today- who would you vote for?

Not my favorite question, to be honest, mainly because I'm at a point where I don't like Bush at all, but, I can't get all the way behind Kerry, either, because of how his campaign seems to be run by idiots who think being considerate and polite will be able to defeat excellent attack propogandists who pretend to be all nice and peachy. Its almost as though the Democrats have no balls against the bullys.

And part of me wonders if that was intentional. Maybe that's why Kerry became popular instead of Dean, who would have been a more charismatic and probably more aggressive campaigner. Maybe that's why his campaign is so ineffectively run (In my own humble opinion, at least) -- because he's not meant to win, not meant to be serious enough of a contender to actually win in November. Maybe this is all just one big show for our own entertainment.

Which brings to mind "Metal Gear Solid 2" and the part where the admittedly puppet president of the U.S. outlines how a shadow government staged the entire heated election campaign as a show for the public, and some of the schools of thought that coincide with the themes of the "Matrix" trilogy such as what is real and what is not?

And, come to think about it, I have a perfect quote from a comments thread on a political blog to post here on that subject (its relevance pertains to the whole "Dean Implosion" and the media):

The establishment did not want Dean. The establishment instructed the media to tell the sheeple that he acted like a maniac, and the sheeple said , "Yeah, Dean is a maniac." It had absolutely nothing to do with the money.

Dean was anti-establishment, and he was gaining a head of steam. He had to be stopped. The establishment want Kerry or Bush, as they have BOTH proven their loyalty.
posted by "tomocious"
- Mark Perkel Rantz >> Post and comments thread

Inexorably the question being raised made me eventually go to Presidentmatch.com, and after taking a quiz, which I should probably take a week from now and compare changes (if any) in my own opinions on issues, I found out that obviously the candidate whose stances matches mine closest. It was -- dun dun DUN!! -- Kerry. 83% match. Heh, with a 64% match on Kusinich, who I did not was still a candidate. (Six months or so ago it was a 70 something % match -- did my opinions change, or was it the positions of Kerry's that changed somewhat?) -- Smirky McDipshit, btw, was a distant 23% match.

What made the match thing a load of crap though was it does not have Nader on there. So, you may closely match Nader's stances, but you're not going to know because the third party candidate is being suppressed by the media and the establishment as well. What a crock of shit to restrict it to the two elitist parties and their candidate.

"Dead South African couple to be married"

From MSNBC.com's Peculiar Postings segment:

Until death do us ... wed
Dead South African couple to be married

JOHANNESBURG - A South African man who shot his pregnant fiancee dead before killing himself will be posthumously married to her at the weekend.

Police Captain Mohale Ramatseba said David Masenta shot 25-year-old Mgwanini Molomo after a quarrel before turning the gun on himself. But Johannesburg’s Sowetan newspaper said family and friends wanted to remember them as a happy couple destined for a happy life together.

The groom’s corpse would be dressed in a cream suit and his bride’s in a gown for the ceremony, at which a priest in the rural village of Ceres in Limpopo will bless the union before the two are buried, the Sowetan said.

“In African culture, there is no death -- there is merely the separation of body and soul,” said cultural expert Mathole Motshekga. “It is also important because the families are married together.”

“This does not mean the relationship has irretrievably broken down.”
- MSNBC.com >> Article (I'd say full article but the excerpt is of the whole article)

-- Yes... I'm laughing my ass off at this. It's so ridiculous of a predicament.

What's going to happen when they get to the part "you may now kiss the bride"? What about the honey moon!? Will they put both dead spouses in the same bed for the night? And if so......Okay, maybe I shouldn't go any further with that one.

But... seriously. He killed her. If he really cared about her he would NOT have done that. But then there's this renowned bullshit about the "sanctity of marriage".

Price of War thus far (as of 8-28-04)

Price of War thus far (as of 8-28-04)

graphic representation created using MSPaint, with numbers cited from an MSNBC article on the admission of miscalculations of the "post-war" period:

According to the Pentagon, 969 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the invasion, 828 of them since April 30, 2003. An additional 6,690 service members have been wounded, most of them during the occupation.
- Full source article

I can imagine quite a few of the wounded, especially those hit by roadside explosives, have had to have limbs amputated. Damn shame they all have to go through what they are and/or have.

From Deviantart: Aganippe

I was browsing through some of Mike's photos and came across one that was a desktop screen image with this background image that looks awesome, and in the caption he had a link to the desktop image >> Aganippe.

Another Beheading

Apparently it's not official (and I doubt it ever will truly be) that a CIA Agent was beheaded by an unknown group in Iraq, who posted the images on an internet website.

Supposedly the man - Jamal Tewefic Salman - admitted to masquerading as a journalist for the CIA to gain intel on the Rebel fighters (which is actually a smart and realistically plausible move by the CIA).

[Source of info -- Aljazeera.com >> Article on the matter]

Now, I haven't seen the photos, and whose to say they haven't been fabricated. Some people can do amazing alterations to photos that leave them still looking real, especially if they're low quality.

The only person that really knows if this is true right now is the dude they claimed to have beheaded. And either way, I doubt he'd be able to publicly state otherwise.

"The Bad or the Terrible?"

I came across this article a few days ago which is the most interesting Pro-Nader article I've seen. So, of course, I've got to post some excerpts of it to share with my fictitious audience. Heh. Some emphasis added to certain statements.

Those who insist Nader supporters should vote Kerry are holding back US democratisation
George Monbiot
Tuesday August 17, 2004

This is the question which people ask themselves before almost every presidential election: why, when the United States is teeming with brilliant and inspiring people, are its voters so often faced with a choice between two deeply unimpressive men?

I would have thought the answer was pretty obvious: because deeply unimpressive men continue to be elected.

...

So Americans should vote for the Democrats in 2004, and worry about the wider failings of the US political system when the current president is safely out of the way.

And their argument has merit. Bush has already launched two unnecessary wars, threatened 40 or 50 nations with armed aggression, ripped up international treaties and domestic regulations, granted corporations a licence to cook the planet, waged a global war against civil liberties and sought to bury that old-fashioned notion that the state should tax the rich and help the poor. The world would certainly be a safer and a better place without him.

...

Under the US electoral system, which is constructed around patronage, corruption and fear of the media, there will always be exceptional circumstances, because it will always throw up dreadful candidates.

Only when the Americans choose a man or woman who is prepared to turn the system upside down and reintroduce democracy to the greatest democracy on earth will these exceptional circumstances come to an end. In choosing the bad rather than the terrible in 2004, in other words, Americans will be voting for a similar choice in 2008. Whereupon they will again be told that they'd better vote for the bad, in case the terrible gets in.

Any president who seeks to change this system requires tremendous political courage. He needs to take on the corporations which have bought the elections, and challenge the newspapers and television stations which set the limits of political debate. Kerry, who demonstrated plenty of courage in Vietnam, has shown none whatsoever on the presidential stump.

Last week, when the Republicans were questioning his commitment to defence, he announced that "even knowing what we now know" he would have voted to give President Bush the authority to attack Iraq.

Ten days ago his national security adviser James Rubin told the Washington Post that if Kerry was president he would "in all probability" have launched a military attack against Iraq by now.
Kerry's ability to raise almost as much money as the Republicans is seen as a triumph for American democracy; but his corporate backers are funding him not because they believe in democracy, but because they believe that he will do what they want. And they are unlikely to be wrong. When Kerry gets his orders, he reports for duty.

...

I'm not an unhesitating fan of Ralph Nader's - I believe that some of his positions on trade, for example, are wrong - but no one could deny that he possesses courage.

His decision to stand in November, when even his former supporters are telling him not to, is as brave as it is foolhardy. He has spent his working life fighting the corporations and being attacked in the media.

This month he did something no other US politician has dared to do, and took on the Anti-Defamation League, the organisation which smears opponents of Israeli policy as anti-semites.

He won't be elected in November, of course, but that's not the point. The point is that if you want to change a system, you have to start now, rather than in some endlessly deferred future. And the better Nader does, the faster the campaign for change will grow.

The Nation claims that Nader would have "a far more productive impact" as "a public citizen fighting for open debates and rallying voters to support progressive Democrats".

But what possible incentive would the Democrats have to listen to him? He has influence over these cowering creatures only while they are afraid that he might take their votes.

...

The question is whether this difference is sufficient to justify the abandonment of the only current electoral attempt to democratise the US political system.

I don't believe it is. Progressives on both sides of the Atlantic are asking American voters to sacrifice liberty for security, and democracy for expediency. The voters should ignore them.
- The Guardian >> Full Article

The article rallies for the backing of Nader to reform the system we've got, which is a difficult task, and one that is unlikely to ever succeed regardless of who's proposing it. It's very good, but the idea of reforming the government, which has rooted itself in this debacle between the two parties for control of the nation with corporate sponsorship, is very unrealistic.

How can we focus on something 4 - 8 years down the road when events may not even end up leading us in that direction to where we then have the choice. Why plan to save a tree 8 years later when maybe in 2 years a truck uproots and kills it? Doesn't it defeat the purpose then? Maybe these third parties should make themselves prominent enough to compete (but, that means they'd have to gain support from voters, which in this election is not benefitial for the challenger).

Yes, the current lack of prominence of the third parties makes their vague bid for the White House a very unrealistic likelihood. Maybe if they start pumping the air waves with ads and join in on the presidential debates they'll have some success -- but whoever said many Americans are open minded enough to even consider someone else after their mind is made up about someone else?

"Casual Helplessness"

It was the typical school day, wandering the halls, irked by couples holding hands and practically making out here and there, the usual gossip about the fight on one of the lunch shifts the day before, and the usual pent up angst within me.

By lunch I was really just out of it, but like the rest of the hours I did my best mostly to hide it, pretending to be "tired" when I'm actually just a little down. Heh, meanwhile another one of my friends was really out of it. I mean, there was something really bothering her, it was written all over her face and the way she was during that time period. (out of respect I will not say her name)

There is something about seeing friends really down or frustrated about something that sometimes makes me wish I could help, since I know what its like to go through such angst and stress and not having anyone to be able to talk to about it. Heh, that really bad time was before I even started blogging (unless you count the "Summer relapse" that occured for a while). I mean, I want to help... but I don't want to be intrusive or pry. That would only make it worse.

Funks come and go in your attitude, but when you see someone you know seemingly hit a low you feel obligated to try and help. Maybe I'm just a fool for giving a fuck while whenever I have a problem no one gives a damn.

I know I should probably assume that she'll be fine, but, I can't whole heartedly buy into that. It's not that I don't think she can't handle it, I mean, apparently there have problems for quite a while, but, what happens if things get so bad in her mind to where she can't or subconsciously won't? And what if no one steps in to try and help? What might happen then as a result?

Why does it even matter to me so much? That's another question I'm posing to myself. And how am I supposed to do that when I've got some problems of my own (while I realize others have worse problems, or at least they are bothering them far more than me.). Granted mine I just ignore as best I can with some success, but... damn it. I'm uncertain what to do or what to think.

I used to have these self defaming jokes ages ago I did when I had little self confidence, which I called "Me Bashers". And this friend of mine partially does the same, mentioning how horrible of a person she thinks she is. How do you help someone when they are convinced what they feel is right? How can you justify that what you feel on the matter in comparison is right, though... Damn it, I don't want to get into philosophy right now, or else I'll never come to an answer.

Right now there is no option other than "wait and see". I mean, its bothering me, yeah, but, there have been bright sides to my day. My 6th hour for example kicked ass. Outdoor Ed, we just played ping pong. It was so retarded after a while that it was great.

So, if there is a bright side, and someone can't see it (like my friend who doesn't necessarily deserve to be so troubled)... Is there some way you can help them see it? That's part of the dilemma. The other dilemma is how tight lipped she is when like that. I can understand that, I am too, somewhat, unless I have friends around. That is something that always brings up my spirits at least somewhat. But then I really cling to privacy and isolation; "being alone". That also helps, too at times.

Blah. Helpless. It sucks to feel helpless, when you know trying to help is warranted (at least in your mind, maybe not in the person that you want to "help").

And, it took a day like this, where I ended up hitting a bit of a low because of the combo of my problems and those of a friend, to finally get back on AIM -- to kick things into gear, to better things. Heh. And when it comes to staying off AIM for a few days even after reinstalling it: I had been stalling the inevitable:

Cardsfan6734 (2:48:28 PM): hey mr. propaganda

*sigh*, but, other than the above stuff, there really isn't much to ramble about right now. All I can do about the above is hope for the best and just get on with my own life for the night... which'll include the obligatory insomnia until after 2 a.m. on school nights. Heh. And now that my post-walk home break to cool off (especially after "hardcore" ping pong all 6th hour!) is over, I'm going to get some errands and assignments done that I've been putting off for a few days now.

End note:
Ah, part of me has missed the following so much:

Cardsfan6734 (3:59:56 PM): president bush is a uniter not a divider
NR363avs (4:00:16 PM): rofl

Stuff

It started off well enough, I suppose. I had even come prepared for the 1st Model U.N. meeting of the year, with a graphic from the New York Times website, and an article from the Guardian. By the end of 4th hour Journalism class, since I was among a number of volunteers to write pieces for the student paper, I was going to write about how the start of the year went for the club.

Low and behold that I was the only "regular" to show up. Supposedly because they "didn't know who'd be there." It was a little disappointing. There sure were quite a few freshmen, though. I don't know if many of them will stick around. I imagine Joe won't like them cause 6 out of 7 of them are black (j/k). And I didn't manage to get any quotes, it was just discouraging not having the other regulars -- the meat of the group.

As for political affiliations of the newbies, I have no idea. The simple and flawed assumption is that they're all liberal, which would be a double whammy in Joe's book (j/k again).

Blah, I'm done for now, I don't want to ramble on uselessly.

To be covered some other time:
- A Pro-Nader article that was really interesting that I stumbled across
- Household dictatorships -- strict parents restricting "god given" freedoms (while they exercise their freedom to "oppress", blackmail, intimidate, and freedom to restrict others freedoms as they see fit)... hm. Maybe I need not go farther than that on the matter ever. Dunno.

Journalism class stuff, SBVFT...

From Journalism Class
That seems like a good start for a post I'm just wasting time writing in for the hell of it. Heh. Anyway, we "examined" the top stories from last nights Channel 4 broadcast, which was kinda interesting but also textbook propoganda, especially on several topics.

First up was the Prison Abuse hearings. Conveniently no one high ranking is implicated for the "good ol American ball fryin fun". Heh. I'm stuck between my opinion that since behind the scenes it would be all to easy for the Pentagon and White House to have authorized it, and the notion that maybe it really was just a few "rotten apples". If that's the case, how many more of our service personnel over there will we have who do something like that when they have the time and the inclination?

And then there was more blasting of the FDA's crap about getting the same drugs for less from Canada, which is oh so predictable because of the lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industries in our corporate controlled government. What matters is their profits, not making people's lives easier by making things fit in price with their income.

And then there was one story, not on the matter of textbook propoganda, but more about selectivity. They covered the story of a man who happened to get stuck on the same road that a friend of his died on in a car crash -- his friend and her whole family. And they go on and on about how oh so freakin good the three family members were... and then they mention two people died in the other car but did not even mention their names. What a service to the other two victims who should be included because they were killed to.

Blah, I could go really crazy about media and propoganda and corporate and political influence and manipulation, but, no thanks. Won't do any good any how.

----

"Guardian" article excerpt on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
I found when browsing the stories on "Guardian Unlimited", and this one appeared on the Republican section for the election, titled "Why America is still fighting the battles of Mekong Delta".

...
The truth behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is not simple. It appears to be a classic case of a 'surrogate' attack of the kind that has long been used by both sides.

It is essentially using another group to raise the issues that the Bush campaign dare not address directly. In CIA-speak, this gives the campaign itself 'plausible deniability' for saying it has nothing to do with the issue while ensuring plenty of headlines.

- meanwhile the seemingly less controversial Moveon.org, another 527 ad, has a shit load of ads, which, comparred to the SBVFT ones, are a lot "better" in production, at least one that I checked out on the C-span website earlier this year was pretty humorous.

On the face of it, SBVFT is a collection of Vietnam veterans with a grudge against Kerry, especially over his anti-war activities when he threw away his battle ribbons.

They complain that Kerry let down Vietnam veterans after the war by criticising the conflict and detailing atrocities that took place in Vietnam.

- This would seem to be the meat of the issue, amid all the other crap mixed in such as the group members own inconsistencies on the record about the Swift Boat incident: Bitterness, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are purposely lying because of that hatred or easily bribed into it because it conforms to their negative feeling on the matter.

From the latest ad I must cite this bit of it:
KERRY:...razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan...
PAUL GALANTI: John Kerry gave the enemy for free, what I and many of my comrades, in the North Vietnamese prison camps, took torture to avoid saying. It demoralized us.
KERRY: ...crimes committed on a day to day basis...
CORDIER: He betrayed us in the past, how could we be loyal to him now?

- Read that very carefully, they seem to be mad over the fact, based on the Kerry quotes they have in the ad, that he blew the whistle on "imoral" activities being conducted by the Armed Forces in Vietnam -- namely civilian murders. I'd say it takes some balls to stand against a war when you fought in it, and saw what went on, and heard from personel over there what was going on, and tell something remotely more honest than the typical government pro-war propoganda.

It seems that they didn't like being exposed, either that or they're saying that he's a liar and that no Americans ever purposely shot any of the civilians that ended up dead and I'm just reading too much into their statements mixed with those of Kerry's 71' testimony. But to say that the military and the people in it are completely innocent and incapable of "wrong doing" is a pretty ignorant viewpoint, but common place in our society.

And... in all fairness, The Republicans needed their own prominent "527" group to counter MoveOn.org, which has been hammering Bush since around when Dean was still the Democratic frontrunner, and because the Dems have out raised them in money for that.

...And I'm always really skeptical when what is being said is advertised as the "Truth". Mainly because of how easily it could be a lie.

Misinformation earlier today...

I started laughing when I heard someone in my first hour say that he saw a headline on ESPN.com on the teacher's computer saying that the U.S. and Iraq soccer teams would be squaring off.

I am now pissed because I was looking forward to the prospect of that game- The Occupier vs. the Occupied. And I had passed the news on at lunch -- and now that I know it was bad information I'm pissed. I'm gonna like have to smack that guy when I get in class tomorrow. This was my first chance to verify it -- and I have discovered what was probably predictable: It's NOT true. Damn it all. That's what I get for believing what someone said, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson the last 15 times (exageration / estimate).

Today's Lesson: (as it has been a number of times before) Don't trust people, they could be lying. Simple as that. Always keep in mind that they could be lying their fucking ass off. -- that's what kinda pisses me off, because I spread the misinformation to a few people, oblivious to the fact that it apparently wasn't true. Ugh. So I look like either 1. A liar even though it wasn't intentional at all, or 2. A dumbass to those few who I "spread the word" to..

...But anyway... Damn it, I was really liking the idea of the Iraqi soccer team beating the U.S. soccer team's ass. That would have been incredibly hilarious.

From the Headlines - 8/22/04

Khorkina says ‘judges robbed me’
Russian ridicules judges, Patterson claiming ‘sport needs changes’

“I’m just furious,” Khorkina, who had been the favorite for the coveted title, was quoted as saying in the daily Izvestia. “I knew well in advance, even before I stepped on the stage for my first event, that I was going to lose.”

“Everything was decided in advance. I had no illusions about this when the judges gave me 9.462 for the vault after conferring with one another at length.

“I practically did everything right, still they just set me up and fleeced me,” she said in the interview published on Saturday.

Asked why she felt she was marked down by the judges, Khorkina said: “You better ask them. I think it’s because I’m from Russia, not from America!”
- MSNBC >> Full Article

-- It sounds like yet another Athlete over in Greece needs to have their diaper changed. This sounds a bit like what some Americans did earlier in the week, whining and complaining. 1. Either they are real sore losers, 2. The Judging is fixed in certain areas, or 3. Both (I wouldn't be surprised if its really number 3 behind the scenes there).

Iraqi athletes object to Bush campaign ad
Soccer players say president shouldn't exploit their success

ATHENS, Greece - Iraqi soccer players reacted angrily Friday after being told that their nation's Olympic participation was mentioned in TV commercial by the re-election campaign for President Bush.

The players called on Bush to stop using them to win votes in the United States.
“Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign,” midfielder Salih Sadir was quoted as saying. “He can find another way to advertise himself.”
...

The flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear in the Bush commercial ahead of the Republican National Convention, to be held in September.

A narrator says: “At this Olympics there will be two more free nations—and two fewer terrorist regimes.”
Another Iraqi player asked: “How will (Bush) meet his God having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes.”

-- I seriously laughed when I saw this mentioned in last nights Countdown. Why? Because of them calling Bush on the exploitation going on (which all politicians are and always will be guilty of), and at how they seem to naively think that this realistically valid election campaign propoganda will be effected by that. Don't like being exploited? Tough, you're exploited all the time whether you realize it or not. You're not going to cause things to change.

But Clark insisted journalists were wrong to take advantage of the athletes.
“It is a little naughty,” he said. “The players are not very sophisticated politically; they are a little naive. Whoever posed these questions knew that the reaction would be negative.
- MSNBC >> Full Article

Naive, yes, when it comes to trying to stop the exploitation (Along with Freedom of Speech there is the Freedom to Exploit). But, they live in Iraq, for one. Which still has a government struggling to stay upright because of a religious nutbag with delusions of grandier holed up in a religious monument that we are to scared to even put a scratch on.

Girl with digestive disease denied Communion
8-year-old cannot consume wheat wafers

BRIELLE, N.J. - An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a serious digestive disorder and cannot eat wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained no wheat, violating Roman Catholic doctrine.

Now, Haley Waldman’s mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl’s condition should not exclude her from the sacrament, which commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. The mother believes a rice Communion wafer would suffice.

“It’s just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It’s just rice versus wheat,” said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman.

Church doctrine holds that Communion wafers, like the bread served at the Last Supper, must have at least some unleavened wheat. Church leaders are reluctant to change anything about the sacrament.

“This is not an issue to be determined at the diocesan or parish level, but has already been decided for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world by Vatican authority,” Trenton Bishop John M. Smith said in a statement last week.

Genetic intolerance
Haley was diagnosed with celiac sprue disease when she was 5. The disorder occurs in people with a genetic intolerance of gluten, a food protein contained in wheat and other grains.

When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten (pronounced GLOO’-ten) damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer.

The diocese has told Haley’s mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten wafer, or just drink wine at Communion, but that anything without gluten does not qualify. Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer, saying her child could be harmed by even a small amount of the substance.

-- Just because there is no wheat. When my dad saw that he went "Can you believe that?" Heh, "Yes I can, actually" I replied. I doubt the church has much regard for diseases. And it's all over a very minute technically that the church created itself -- not anyone at the last supper. The little wafers were to symbolically represent "Jesus' body" and the wine "his blood", whether there is wheat inside or not is a ridiculous thing to harp a girl about who'll get sick if she eats anything with wheat.

Pelly-Waldman is seeking help from the Pope and has written to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, challenging the church’s policy.

“This is a church rule, not God’s will, and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith,” Pelly-Waldman wrote in the letter.
- MSNBC >> Full Article

U.S. not winning favor in Muslim world
Diplomacy efforts lack funds, follow-through

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is facing growing criticism from both inside and outside its ranks that it has failed to move aggressively enough in the war of ideas against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups over the three years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Sept. 11 commission last month called for a vigorous strategy for promoting image and democratic values of the United States around the world, and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the administration is working hard on those efforts.

But Middle East experts -- and some frustrated U.S. officials -- complain that the administration has provided only limited new direction in dealing with anti-American anger among the world's 1.2 billion Muslims and is spending far too little on such efforts, particularly in contrast with the billions spent on other pressing needs, such as homeland security and intelligence.
...

It's worse than failing. Failing means you tried and didn't get better. But at this point, three years after September 11, you can say there wasn't even much of an attempt, and today Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the U.S. and the degree of distrust in the U.S. are far worse than they were three years ago. Bin Laden is winning by default," said Shibley Telhami, a member of a White House-appointed advisory group on public diplomacy and Brookings Institution scholar.

Fucking duh. That's been painfully obvious since last year at the least.

'Dangerously underfunded'That thinking tracks recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, which besides calling for reorganization of U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism urged a diplomatic offensive: "If the United States does not act aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world, the extremists will gladly do the job for us."
- MSNBC >> Full Article

Police Taser old woman, old man jumps officer

My dad just pointed this article out to me in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Forwarded the link to a local radio host who usually features news stories along these lines for one of his segments. I laughed so hard when I heard this -- its funny because its just awful.
---

KC police discipline two officers after they used Taser on woman, 66
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
08/21/2004

KANSAS CITY - Police said Friday that two officers had been disciplined and department policy changed following an investigation into the officers' use of a Taser when arresting a woman who honked her car horn at a police cruiser.

Louise Jones, 66, was arrested in June on charges of misuse of a car horn on a city street, resisting arrest and intentionally inflicting bodily harm on an officer. Her husband, Fred Jones, 74, was also arrested and charged with interfering with an arrest.

Police said Louise Jones scuffled with officers when they tried to give her a ticket for honking the horn. One of the officers used the Taser, which is capable of issuing a 50,000-volt shock, to stun her. The officers said Fred Jones then came downstairs and jumped on one of the officers' backs.

Louise Jones said she pulled away from the police when one of the officers grabbed her arm, and her husband said one of the officers had his knee on his wife's chest.

8.8 billion missing in Iraq funds

Sounds like it was just another day for profiteers. Heh.

WASHINGTON - At least $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds that was given to Iraqi ministries by the former U.S.-led authority there cannot be accounted for, according to a draft U.S. audit set for release soon.

The audit by the Coalition Provisional Authority’s own inspector general blasts the CPA for “not providing adequate stewardship” of at least $8.8 billion from the Development Fund for Iraq that was given to Iraqi ministries.
...

Ghost workers
Among the draft audit’s findings were that payrolls in Iraqi ministries under the control of the Coalition Provisional Authority were padded with thousands of ghost employees.

In one example, the audit said the CPA paid for 74,000 guards even though the actual number could not be validated. In another, 8,206 guards were listed on a payroll but only 603 people doing the work could be counted.

Three Democratic senators — Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota — demanded an explanation from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the use of the funds by the CPA, which handed over authority to the Iraqis in June.

“The CPA apparently transferred this staggering sum of money with no written rules or guidelines for ensuring adequate managerial, financial or contractual controls over the funds,” said the letter sent by the senators on Thursday.

‘Serious questions’
“Such enormous discrepancies raise very serious questions about potential fraud, waste and abuse,” said the senators.
- MSNBC > full article

... Talk about plagued with errors - not just the CPA (whose head was the de facto governor of Iraq) but the Administration that the occupational authority got its orders from. So much money mismanagement. I don't think it's incompetence though behind it. Probably just simple corporate greed.

What a cut

I laughed when I read this part of an Olympic coverage article in Thursday's St. Louis Post Dispatch. It's in reference to the U.S. Basketball team, if I read that part of the article right.

One London Paper commented, "These young men, their ears studded with diamonds and their limbs fashionably tattooed, would not tie their own shoelaces unless paid to do so by Nike or Reebok."

McDonalds, the Official Restaurant of the Olympics

For a four-year investment estimated at $65 million, McDonald's has been designated the Official Restaurant of the 2004 Olympic Games. As such, it is the only brand-name restaurant in the Olympic athletes' village, main sports complex and press center, ensuring that virtually no Olympic athlete, fan or journalist starts the day without passing by a McDonald's.

While McDonald's has used the Olympics to sell its burgers and fries in the United States for decades, the fast-food giant is thinking globally now. And its global marketing strategy is in full swing in Athens, where the 2004 Games serve as a vehicle to extend its reach and portray its menu as part of a healthy lifestyle.
MSNBC >> full article

1. That's gotta suck balls when you have McDonalds shoved in your face. I hope a lot of these athletes go to what are probably better local choices for food. 2. How long until the other fast food restaurants become global empires that give the workers at the restaurants shitty pay. 3. They weren't "democratically" chosen as the Official Restaurant -- they used that $65 million bribe.

And I'm going "easy" compared to what others I know could have to say about it.

Special Treatment for Halliburton

I'm actually browsing the news headlines right now, and I came across an article on MSNBC.com from the Washington Post which is on how the Army is for the 3rd time giving Halliburton an extention for paperwork to justify their bills.

Only hours after deciding to withhold some payments to Halliburton Co. because of questions about billing for its work in Iraq, the Army reversed itself yesterday and said it would give the giant contractor more time to justify its claims.

The decision capped two days of confusion over whether the Pentagon would withhold 15 percent of payments to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. under federal procurement rules that require contractors to provide clear justification for their bills.

...
[Army Material Command spokesperson] Theis said Halliburton has received extensions because there are not enough people in the government or at Halliburton to review the many bills the company has submitted, in part because no one anticipated how much work they would need to account for.

... So, yet again the government can't handle the outcome of something. Comforting. Are there too few because the rest are committed to aiding the Pharmaceutical, Tobacco, and Oil Industries?

Congressional Democrats have accused the Pentagon of going easy on KBR, which has received about $6 billion for work it has done in Iraq and Kuwait under the logistical services contract known as LOGCAP. Halliburton has also received at least $2.5 billion for helping Iraq rebuild its oil industry. Government investigators and Defense Department auditors have repeatedly raised questions about whether KBR overcharged for food, housing and fuel and kept proper records.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) has questioned whether Vice President Cheney, who was Halliburton's chief executive before reaching office, played any role in helping the company. Cheney's staff has derided such suggestions as politically motivated.

In response to a new Defense Department audit that described Halliburton's cost estimating system as inadequate, Waxman said last week that the Pentagon is not doing enough to hold the company accountable.

'Special treatment'
"The Bush administration is giving Halliburton special treatment yet again," he said in a written statement. "Even after eight critical audit reports by three different government agencies, the Pentagon is still waiving procurement rules and extending deadlines for Halliburton to submit accurate cost information."

Accountability, eh. How can you expect accountability from one of the largest companies that is essentially in the White House -- whose Administration has no accountability, whether it be on the top or the lower echelons of the hierarchy.

No doubt Cheney is involved -- he's one of the benefactors of the Halliburton contracts other than the company itself. Our capitalist ideology promotes this, it's profiting for crying out loud, its the taking advantage of a situation to where it'll benefit you. When you have a chance to get more millions, especially CEOs, they won't hesitate.

It's always interesting to see the way this bureaucracy is going under Bush, especially when it comes to the major departments and the foreign policy, and then things like this such as payments to the VP's company by the Army, under the command of men who's superior is Rumsfeld, who is one of the top "neocons" in the Bush Administration aside from Cheney.

Special Treatmen? No way! (sarcasm)

Accu-Terror Forecast

This was the opening scene to last week's "Real Time with Bill Maher" episode. It was freakin hilarious. Its as good as the one where you have the little black girl writing a letter to President Bush.

[COLD OPEN: MOCK NEWSCAST:]

“TAKIYAMA” [News Anchor]: Thanks, George. That is one big litter of puppies! And now here’s Sonny Daye with tonight’s Accu-Terror Forecast.

“SONNY DAYE” [Bill Maher]: Thanks, Takiyama. And folks, wasn’t it just a perfect day for a terror alert. Bone-chilling in the morning, clear and present danger in the afternoon, tapering off into cold sweats at night. [laughter]

All right, tomorrow, Accu-Terror is predicting 100% chance of a really big terror alert to take our mind off the bad economic news. [laughter] [pointing to map of U.S.] Tom Ridge says an Al Qaeda cell coming down from Canada into here, the Great Lakes region. [laughter] So folks in the Detroit and Saginaw, as far away as Kalamazoo, you might want to put on that extra layer of Kevlar. [laughter]

Okay, our exclusive Accu-Terror radar is picking up a lot of chatter out here in the Denver area, so stay away from chemical plants, nuclear facilities, and of course, the French fries at Arby’s. [laughter]

Okay, back out here in the West, some light showers of ammonium nitrate or perhaps a little Saran gas possible in the Los Angeles area, but don’t expect loss of life. The Santa Anas are going to push all that nasty gunk out to sea. [laughter] [applause]

Okay, here’s your five-day: yellow, bluish-yellow—[laughter]—yellow again, yellow gradually becoming orange, and orange back into yellow. And we’ve got an orangish-red weekend on tap so be sure to have plenty of bottled water and canned goods on hand. [laughter]

And that’s terror. All right, make it a great day. George and Takiyama, back to you. [applause] [cheering]

Kinda my philosophy

Some quotes from Mike's journal:

One thing struck me: a lot of people are really self-centered and egocentric. Well, you could expect that from a blog. But how can you get love and attention from an anonymous blog? Duh.

You have to understand my point of view. I accepted the concept that I'll never be loved by anyone outside my family, even just a little. Obviously, the first few years it was pretty difficult to accept that, but now I accept it. Really.

So when I read posts like "I want to be loved! PLEEEEAAAASE!", and people being depressed because they're not loved, I get angry. Get over it. No one will love you. So either spend the rest of your life sobbing, or accept it. We call that "maturity".
[which Tigas had gotten from some invisiblog post]...
...

Hold me accountable for this: Next time I look forward to a school break, don't EVER let me get my hopes up. Even when things look like they're going to be great, the dynamics of life make everything shift around before you even have a chance. Potential is nothing. It's what actually comes out that matters. And that never lives up to the potential.

I was talking about futures and stuff and how I've been so undecided on things for years that I might as well be at McDonalds in a few years. A friend told me to never talk like that again. Said I had the potential to do great things.

I'm saying it. Never let me get my hopes up. Potential, even though it's a logical thing to believe in, means absolutely nothing until it happens.

Life gets no breaks. Well? I'm still fighting. And I'll keep fighting. I have a mission now. And unless you're going to help me or be at my side or keep me sane and happy, piss off for the time being--I'm in the zone. I wish everyone on earth (particularly at school) could hear this.

Last Semester of HS - Days 3

Hung out with Brenn before everyone showed up, and, well, Ms. Horner brought up when she passed by how its like 3 weeks until Labor day. It expanded in the following discussion to something along of the lines of doing labor for week.

My response: "Yep, we'll be in labor until December."

I wasn't too keen on todays kooky little group assignment in Sociology class -- a cumulative resume for the group -- but early on in the book - the first chapter, is a part I wish to quote, which is about the first Persian Gulf war:

From the beginning of the Persian Gulf crisis, attention and blame focused on one man, Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. U.S. President George Bush said that half a century ago, "our nation and the world paid dearly for appeasing an aggressor [Adolph Hitler] who should, and could have been stopped. We are not going to make the same mistake again" (quoted in Miller and Mylroie, 1990, p. xii). Secretary of State James Baker echoed this view: The crisis in the gulf was "about a dictator who, acting alone and unchallenged, could strangle the global economic order" (quoted in Miller and Mylroie, 1990, p. xiii). The media, too, focused on the individual. "What kind of man would cold-bloodedly gobble up a neighboring country?" Asked Time magazine (August 13, 1990, p. 23). "Saddam is a tyrant and a bully," declared Newsweek (August 13, 1990, p. 17). To many Americans, Saddam Hussein became the personification of evil, and the war in the Persian Gulf was "Saddam's war."

There is little doubt that Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait and bears personal responsibility for the bloodshed and destruction that dollowed. But can one man single-handedly creat an international crisis and alter the course of history? Sociologists think not. They argue that to understand events like the invasion of Kuwait we need to look beyond individuals to the social forces that shape human behavior. Even when certain people play critical roles in history, we need to understand the social factors that enable them to do so. Thus, the crisis in the gulf was not caused by a single villain acting alone, but was the result of preexisting tensions, cultural misunderstandings, political miscalculations, and a struggle for power in a region of strategic and economic importance. If Saddam Hussein were to disappear tomorrow, the problems in the Middle East would not suddenly disappear with him.
"Understanding Sociology" - page 3

Iraqi Delegates heading to Najaf

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The deadly showdown between U.S. troops and Iraqi militants in Najaf dominated Iraq’s national conference Monday, with tribal and religious leaders deciding to send 60 delegates to the holy city to persuade a radical Shiite cleric to call off his fighters.
...

Late Monday, Iraqis at the conference agreed to send a delegation to meet with al-Sadr, who has vowed to fight “until the last drop of my blood has been spilled.”
...

The delegation will travel in a convoy to Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, early Tuesday. U.N. envoy Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said he would join the mission if invited, spokesman Nejib Friji said.
- MSNBC.com article >> Iraq conference urges cleric to leave Najaf shrine

... My concern is this: Al-Sadr wants that government to stand down, didn't he? Whats to stop him from taking the delegates hostage? Our tanks 500 yards from the shrine won't -- because we're too afraid to storm the place but Sadr's people have no quarrel with using it as an HQ and firing position. Or maybe he's just using the "peace process" if he agrees to it to allow him time to rebuild his forces -- He'd still have his army no doubt, and their position within that shrine. In which case he'll just rise up again in a few months to cause another set of problems, and another string of American troops coming home in body bags. Though thats going to keep happening even without Sadr.

Less than 12 hours / Randomness

One thing I've noticed with a number of my friends is how a lot of their motivation to get out and about and socialize and what not no doubt stems from their hatred of their parents which means finding ways to get out of the house as often as possible.
----

And being in a slightly reflective mood. Everything else I'm just trying to keep off my mind when it comes to reflective or introspective. There are certain things that do not help when I analyze them or try to determine the meaning of (that obviously being a reference to the reasons why certain events occur, things of that nature, not as in "complexity).

----

I'm tired, but I have done practically nothing today. Its a typical Space Out Sunday when it comes to that.

----
And I heard the promo for this segment on a Fox News program about "smart ammo" that could turn corners... What if it doesn't home in on the intended victim? What if it accidentally homes in on a civilian? How can they really guarantee that it'll go after a specified target and not go berserk? And how would it know where to turn if an enemy did turn a corner say 100 meters away before you shot? How will it turn a corner like that, too.

I mean, missiles home in and when you're going at the speed of sound you can't turn your angle 90 degrees instantly.

Just finish the job already...

5,000 U.S. troops have Al Sadr and the remaining elements of his Mahdi Army's forces constituted in Najaf (among other cities like Fallujah) holed up in a Mosque and a cemestary (if I heard right). And so what do we do? We negotiate for an end when we are in position to capture or kill a major rebel figure in Iraq.

We didn't learn from Fallujah in April, we didn't learn from the deaths of troops there that were essentially wasted when the U.S. pulled out of the city instead of defeating its opponent (which it is more than capable of erradicating). But, the military leadership and political leadership are being "sensative" about this. Yet another hypocritical irony of one of the election campaigns (first the flip flop crap which they are also guilty of, and now blasting "sensitivity" while practicing it them-fucking-selves).

Hello!? When Sadr was left in power after Fallujah he gained more supporters for having stood up to the occupation and won. He may have lost more people but in the end it was the U.S. that retreated. The only difference in Najaf is we know where he is and we have almost all of the city under our control except for that Mosque and the nearby buildings.

See these pro-Sadr rallies going on, with Iraqi police marching with them? That's a danger to the U.S. picked government of Iraq, and we keep letting them gain strength.

Okay, so you can't have Cobras or Apaches lob a spread of hellfire missiles into the mosque (even though the insurgency recently exploded bombs at a number of Christian churches in Baghdad and Mosul), I partially get the insensitivity of doing that, but you sure as hell can storm the place with backup from the machine guns mounted onto Humvees and Bradleys.

It could be over so fast then, and the best case scenario would be that you'd have him alive and able to be put on trial and accountable for whats happened (seeing as how accountability isn't present in the U.S. government gotta apply it somewhere else at least).

And no surprise that the peace talks broke down because each side blames the other for the violence. That outcome was inevitable. Finish it now if there really is a desire to try and attain peace there.

But given how we seem to be purposely botching our own war efforts to let our enemies regroup for more strikes to make the war more potent and paramount as violence then escalates, I'm not counting to much on us finishing off Sadr's Mahdi Army in Najaf.

It's Big, it's destructive...it's called Charley?

I got up a little afternoon to turn on cable news and see the radar images of Hurricane Charley turning sharply to the east of its original track (it has since seemingly shifted and gone more northwards again). At one point it was affecting the entire state when you checked radar, as is its partner in "controlled chaos", the remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie. Also, it had made a giant leap in a few hours from a Category 2 to a collosal Category 4 with roughly 145 mph winds.

Now, original estimates of damage (based on how it was originally thought to be on track to bullseye Tampa) costs would make it the second costliest Hurricane that has hit the U.S., outshadowed by the utter devestation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which was a Category 5, which is the strongest out there by the current scale. Andrew caused 31 billion dollars worth of damage and killed forty some-odd people.

Why do we give Hurricanes benign human names? Andrew, Charley, Hugo. Seriously, why not name them a little more appropriately, like, oh, say, Hurricane Devestator, Hurricane Mayhem, Hurricane Chaos. These things have sustained winds along the lines of tornados, especially a Category 4 storm. Sure, there are more human names to cycle through each season for each storm, but then just call them Devestator II, Mayhem IV, Kiss Your Home Goodbye III.

Or if you want to stick with the human naming convention, pick people whose names fit the nature of Hurricanes, whether it be Hitler, King George, Napoleon, Bin Laden, etc. The same convention could apply here for the naming once the cycle of names is used up and needs to be gone through again.

And why am I ranting about something a little less relevant than the damage caused by such a magnificent destructive power of nature. I have no idea, I just thought they should have better names than Bonnie and Charley.

The last Category 4 hit the U.S. in 98(?), while the last Category 5 hit in 92 (but wasn't there a Category 4 or 5 that hit the Yucatan peninsula a few years back real hard as well?).

The losses of property and pain caused to people down there is unfortunate, but its almost inevitable that if you have a home in Florida or one of the Carolinas predominantly that sooner or later a Hurricane will damage or destroy your home.

When I see footage of rooftops being blown off, trees and people struggling to stay up, and branches, roofing tiles, and other miscellaneous objects airborne at 80 mph its awe inspiring from a distance.

The flock of media being blown away by the wind because they stand out in 60 someodd mph winds is also very humorous, and a bit tragic, too, especially when it will probably someday cost a journalist his or her life because they were out to cover the big story (kinda like the media correspondents who were killed in action in Iraq). A moment in last nights "Countdown" recapped some of those kind of moments from last years hurricane season, including one where while the guy is talking about what is going on around him the video camera providing the live feed suddenly has the "Battery Low" indicator fill its screen. D'oh!

And then there is the superstitious convenience of how today is Friday the 13th.
----

I've got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there goes another house to the ferocious winds of this hurricane, leaving yet another family homeless.

The good news is I just saved a load of money on my car insurance. Oh... shit, no! There goes my car! No don't hit that concrete barricade -- Aw Fuck!!

Switcheroo

My mood from the last week or two has seemingly done a complete 180, and all it took was doing somewhat good at my first 9 holes of golf. I sucked. 65, not counting a number of scratched off swings that my dad and his friend deducted. Otherwise it'd been like an 80 (which sucks). Heh.

How that cheered me up I don't know, especially when around the 6th hole when I started to get a blister on the back of my feet. I probably would have shot a little better if there hadn't been 1. 3 other people there, and 2. them watching me. Eh, excuses, right?

I should probably feel really dead and not wanting to walk around but I still am up and around anyway. What the crap is wrong with me. Heh. Then I watched tonights "Countdown" a bit ago, among things. I don't know, having to start from scratch on this computer also adds a bit of a feeling of liberation, of being able to start fresh from a new point.

If how that system crash coincided with the 24 hour period encompassing yesterday afternoon with it ends up bringing about a "fresh start" of some kind there too, if it didn't already (I dunno, after spacing out at the creek glancing up at the stars I just left, I didn't pop in to hang out again for a bit, I did it out of consideration but I still feel kinda bad for doing so.), then I'll be very surprised. And since part of me thinks it will happen, it therefore won't more often than not.

Hm... I need to see about uploading older entries onto this server, too. Probably just the stuff from after the end of June. Heh. I don't want to go down memory lane to May and April most definitely.

Clean Slate

I started the computer so I could get around to writing a bit about last night, but a giant error forced us to reinstall windows which deleted everything I had worked on in the last year or kept in reserve. I'm vaguely sad; there's more of this feeling of emptiness.

That feeling initially started last night as I laid by this creek by myself staring up at the stars after everyone else had gone their own way, some without warning (last night was the old crew back together for the first time since April. We all seemed to get along well enough after the awkwardness subsided).

It was so peaceful looking up at the clouds and stars, but I was spacing out real bad, I mean, at one point there were clouds and then next thing I knew they were gone. Heh, also saw my first shooting star around 9:30. But while it was peaceful, I also took it as a chance to try and figure out what the hell was going on inside me.

Thoughts about how dangerous delusions are have been on my mind since last night. Ah, the power of delusions.

I just know I've got no grudge towards her, it seems to be the other way around, which I know is my fault. I dunno.

Losing everything on the computer has really gotten to me though, I feel so dead right now, so unidentifiable... don't know if that's the right word for it...

Whatever, I'd do better to get my mind off of at least one of the subjects I've covered here. It's bad enough I couldn't sleep as usual mostly because of that vague emptiness from last night.

Chickenhawk

Definition:

(noun) A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person's youth.

Faking Beheadings - The Home Game

I heard about this a few days ago, which the duped media bought as legitimate at first, and I've got one thing to say about that:

It shows how easily one of those beheadings can be faked, whether it be by some domestic computer expert not affiliated to a political organization, or an equally if not more capable intelligence agency (though that may be giving them too much credit (j/k)) that is affiliated with geopolitical and military interests.

What do you do when people outside the government start heavily manipulating the media and the news cycles?? O_o

Lately / Community Service rant

There is a reason that there hasn't been a balance of entries about news stuffs and journal entries about how things have been going -- Because there is very little of one and quite a bit of the other. Most obviously because its the summer and most of the introspection that has gone on hasn't resulted in anything other than angst that had to be suppressed until it retreated to inevitably become an internal problem another day.

That and there haven't really been any get togethers with friends. Kevin, who is somehow both really funny and obnoxious at the same time (how that is possible in the first place I don't know) calls me several times a day, and I'm now left out of the fun he and his friends and Amy have. Don't know why, and it doesn't seem to be intentionally, at least consciously. And I never call anyone any more (not like I ever really have), and I'm never on AIM anymore, I don't even bother to load that up when I get online.

Essentially I'm half consciously, half subconsciously keeping myself distanced from people, keeping myself from giving too much of a damn so it doesn't cause me trouble when things inevitably change.

That and I'm enjoying the freedoms on being single, of course. Of not having to answer to someone else, of not having to worry about the inevitable pain that the end of things brings, despite some of the minor drawbacks.

And a spur of the moment get together's goin on tomorrow at a friends house since Ben S. is in town for a bit. I think the bad blood there was is gone, I had figured he was mad at me for a while, which appears to have cleared since then (seriously, who can hold a grudge for a long time?), it doesn't sound like at least one person will be there, no doubt because of hard feelings for both Ben and me. Oh well, makes no difference, really.

Got to go to the make up registry for my last semester on Thursday to try and register. I say try because they've sprung up the bullshit community service crap for graduation on me, which they shouldn't since I was in the last freshman class before they implimented that crap, and everyone else gets what, 4 years to do the forced labor / "volunteer" work since they hold your diploma hostage for it, and I have half of a school year to do that bullshit that I was exempt from in the first place (though obvious I don't like that policy for the other classes either), as though it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't graduate on time but now I have this crap tossed at me last minute that shouldn't even be required to graduate. How the hell is community service, something that criminals are forced to do as punishment, even warranted as now being a prerequisite alongside the 22 credits from passed classes to be able to graduate when it has nothing to do with classroom academics?

Then I'll get to cool off (hopefully), depending on the outcome of the registration process. The options are A. Transfer to a school without that community service requirement (if its at all feasible), B. Protest by not doing the community service crap but getting the credits that I need to get out of school in December, C. Be some sort of appeaser to the reich and get both the 3 credits I still need and the unnecessary community service, D. Not have to do the community service because I wasn't part of the first freshmen class hit with that crap, or E. an extreme option that is not very feasible at all: Dropping out.