"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone."

3.29.2005

Aim for the Mountain

Now here are COUNTDOWN’s “Top Three News Makers of this Day.”

Number three, the Utah Department of Transportation. They couldn't hit the broad side of a mountain with a howitzer. What do I mean by that? I mean, they couldn’t hit the broad side of a mountain with a howitzer. That’s what they were supposed to do. It’s the way you start the controlled avalanche in Provo Canyon, but they missed it and the howitzer shell went over the top of the mountain and landed in the shed in the backyard of Scott and Laurie Conners. Miraculously, no injuries!

Go and practice.

>> "Countdown" [MSNBC, 3-28-05]

3.25.2005

Violence (2)


Violence (1)


3.23.2005

Political Cartoon (only one for 3-23-05)


3.22.2005

Political Football


3.21.2005

A Toy from Goodwill

Quote of the Day.
Slight backstory is necessary: a person I know, whom I'll randomly refer to as "R" is seeing a girl behind her boyfriend's back.
R: I told her she's just a toy. You take it home, play with it for a bit, then take it and leave it at Goodwill.
Me: Even though you got it from Goodwill in the first place.
R: (laughs for a minute) Yeah, I got her used.

3.17.2005

"Spring Training"

Got up around 5 pm and saw that MSNBC was carrying live the House Government Reform Committee's hearing on baseball's steroid problem. Maybe I'll be able to expand on some of this tomorrow (kinda got some unwanted "blocks" right now), but I found most interesting the grilling the committee members from either party gave Commissioner Selig, Union Chief Fehr, and most noticeably harsh towards VP Manfred. Some of the harshest came from Representative Waxman, the ranking Democrat, while VP Manfred really showed frustration when Republican Representative Shays gave him a run for his money (which I applauded Shays for when he was finished).

Some of the specifics for this topic I have to wait for until I can find a transcript or even partial transcript, as long as its the entirety of the part of the session involving MLB Management. Yeah, I'll have to compile something tomorrow, I've got to head of to work in about an hour now, so I'll just save any further notes on what to perhaps add in an upcoming post to Wordpad or something.

Two things I will also note here aside
(and perhaps again in a later more comprehensive post) from the first paragraph's contents are:

1. The committee was pretty sternly bipartisan, so much so that it almost represented what I'd consider an ideal legislative body to where party affiliation and party line and special interests have no play at all in the affairs and the stances of the representatives.

2. Keeping 1 in mind (to later frown at how it was a one time deal), Congress has more pressing concerns -- but I digress on that partially because I think Congress has a right to demand that wealthy sports athletes be held to the same criminal standards as most of the populous -- and Congress should tackle those concerns with the same candor the Gov. Affairs Committee is using on the Baseball Steroids matter.

But it won't.

3.15.2005

I _Am_ Doing My Job


3.14.2005

Well, We Could Use Some Volunteers


3.13.2005

Ignore a Subpoena?

MLB said [Union Chief] Fehr and [MLB VP] Manfred would testify voluntarily "despite serious legal concerns" but that players "will respectfully decline the invitations to testify".

In a rare show of unity over the steroids scandal that has battered the sport over the last year, the players and owners said they would fight the subpoenas, which are far more than simple "invitations" to attend.

>> Reuters
"Respectfully deline" to testify when you are told that you have to? I know if I was ever in such a situation I would not be able to get away with "respectfully declining". "Respectfully Decline" translates to: "Blow it out your ass!"


Reverse Rule

Reverse Rule Formula: If anyone else does "X" (action, words, etc.) it's ok, it's "cool", but if I do it it's "Wrong".

3.11.2005

The Effect of an Individual

It's remarkable how elements of our society can be sharply effected by just on person at the bottom of the food chain solely by the prestige and authority figures he murdered (Judge, Sheriff's Deputy...).


Reuters/WXIA-TV

It shows the power of the individual, not in the best light in this instance but one of the effects an individual can have nonetheless. Though most individuals other than political and corporate leaders remain insignificant - mere cogs in the machinery of our society, w
ith the "right" circumstances and factors, a particular individual can do quite a bit, for better or worse.

The prominent position of one of the victims in the Atlanta Courthouse Incident, Judge Barnes, is the only reason why the cold-blooded individual at large seems significant. If he had killed someone of lesser stature like an "average" citizen he would not have been mentioned in much else other than on the local metropolitan areas' 10 pm news since he was not popular or a government official himself.

Judge Killed By Man on Trial



Since then they have added another deputy and a court clerk to the casualty list while the suspect
, a man on trial for rape, is presently on the run. What gets me is he did the shooting, according to current reports, with one of the deputies guns that he managed to get ahold of.




UU

Been clicking around wikipedia for a while today and at one point looked this up and it caught my interest, among other things:

Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion. It is a syncretic religion, which respects all the major religious traditions
...
A large portion of its members consider themselves humanists, and many may hold Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, pagan, atheist, agnostic, pantheist, or other beliefs, or may not choose a particular theological label. This vast diversity of views is considered a strength by the UU faith, since its emphasis is on the common search for meaningrather than adherence to any particular doctrine.

...

The Unitarian Universalist attitude toward the Christian Bible and other sacred works is given in "Our Unitarian Universalist Faith: Frequently Asked Questions"
We do not, however, hold the Bible ... to be either an infallible guide or the exclusive source of truth. Much biblical material is mythical or legendary. Not that it should be discarded for that reason! Rather, it should be treasured for what it is. We believe that we should read the Bible as we read other books (or newspaper) - with imagination and a critical eye.

(I might add more to this post later. Dunno.)

3.08.2005

Good Quote

Dueling headlines: The little one “AIDS could kill 80 million Africans by 2025”; the bigger one: “Stewart to be released early Friday."
- Eric Alterman, MSNBC (3/4/05)

3.06.2005

Conflicting Claims: Deliberate Attack?

The Italian journalist wounded by American troops in Iraq after her release by insurgents rejected the U.S. military’s account of the shooting and declined Sunday to rule out the possibility she was deliberately targeted. The White House said it was a “horrific accident” and promised a full investigation.

Meanwhile, an autopsy performed on the agent who died trying to save Giuliana Sgrena reportedly showed he was struck in the temple by a single round and died instantly as the car carrying Sgrena sped to the Baghdad airport.

...

Sgrena, who works for the communist daily Il Manifesto, did not rule out that she was targeted, saying the United States likely disapproved of Italy’s methods to secure her release, although she did not elaborate.

“The fact that the Americans don’t want negotiations to free the hostages is known,” Sgrena told Sky TG24 television by telephone, her voice hoarse and shaky. “The fact that they do everything to prevent the adoption of this practice to save the lives of people held hostages, everybody knows that. So I don’t see why I should rule out that I could have been the target.”

...

The U.S. military has said the car Sgrena was riding in was speeding, and Americans used hand and arm signals, flashing white lights and warning shots to get it to stop at the roadblock.

But in an interview with Italian La 7 TV, Sgrena said, “There was no bright light, no signal.” She also said the car was traveling at “regular speed.”

Sgrena also recalled how Calipari, who led negotiations for her release, died after throwing himself over her when the shooting broke out as they were celebrating her freedom on the way to the airport.

“I remember only fire,” she wrote in Il Manifesto, which fiercely opposed the war in Iraq. “At that point a rain of fire and bullets came at us, forever silencing the happy voices from a few minutes earlier.”

Sgrena said the driver began shouting that they were Italian, then “Nicola Calipari dove on top of me to protect me and immediately, and I mean immediately, I felt his last breath as he died on me.”

Suddenly, she said, she remembered her captors’ words, when they warned her “to be careful because the Americans don’t want you to return.”

Sgrena wrote that her captors warned her as she was about to be released not to signal her presence to anyone, because “the Americans might intervene.” She said her captors blindfolded her and drove her to a location where she was turned over to agents and they set off for the airport.

>> Source Article [MSNBC]

3.05.2005

Fuckin Duh


Cropped screenshot of FOX NEWS headline

Naw, they go around with "I'M A MURDERER" on the back of their shirt.

Prep for Attack?

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese army troops took up positions Saturday near the Beirut headquarters of Syrian intelligence. The move came hours before Syrian President Bashar Assad was expected to announce a pullback of Syrian forces in the country.

It was not clear what prompted the deployment of the approximately 50 troops, three armored personnel carriers and several trucks, in the Ramlet al-Baida southern suburb on the coastal edge of the city.

>> Source Article [FOX NEWS]


Political Cartoon (#1 for 3-5-04)

3.04.2005

U.S. Troops Mistakenly Fire at Freed Hostage

Mistaken U.S. attack wounds Italian journalist freed in Iraq
Italian agent also reported killed in assault on car speeding toward airport


ROME - An Italian journalist was wounded Friday when a U.S. armored vehicle mistakenly fired on her car after she was released from her captors in Iraq, the Pentagon said Friday. Media reports said an Italian secret service agent was killed in the shooting, while another was injured.

The Pentagon confirmed that U.S. troops had mistakenly opened fire on a vehicle carrying Giuliana Sgrena, 56, a reporter for the communist daily Il Manifesto freed earlier in the day after a month in the custody of Iraqi insurgents, but said it had no details on the incident.

The Apcom and ANSA news agencies said that Sgrena was in a hospital in Iraq with a shoulder injury. The shooting occurred at a roadblock while the car was heading to the airport, the reports said.

The editor of Il Manifesto, Gabriele Polo, said the secret service agent was killed when he threw himself over the freed hostage to protect her from fire, according to Apcom. He also said Sgrena was in the hospital but was not seriously injured.

In an interview with Europe Radio 1, French terrorism expert Frederic Helbert quoted intelligence sources in Baghdad as saying the Italians had wanted to evacuate Sgrena from Iraq as soon as possible and had embarked on the airport road, scene of frequent terrorist attacks, without obtaining the proper clearances or communicating with the U.S. forces.

Helbert said the agent killed was the chief of staff of Italian intelligence in Baghdad.

>> Source Article [MSNBC]

3.03.2005


Political Cartoon (#5 for 3-3-05)


Political Cartoon (#4 for 3-3-05)


Political Cartoon (#3 for 3-3-05)


Political Cartoon (#2 for 3-3-05)


Political Cartoon (#1 for 3-3-05)