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This blog post goes out to my wife. She perpetually gets me off my ass to do things that she knows I enjoy doing. I haven't written in my blog in a little over a month even thouhg I really enjoy the outlet. I won't get cheesy, although I could. I just wanted to say I love you.

okay okay... on to something more substantive, well maybe not.

Dub is now a 'dynasty' if this were professional sports. 2 championships in 4 years!! Now the most famous recipient of the "Person of the Year" award was Adolf Hitler. So all you haters, take a breath since its not necessarily a positive award. Personally I think I have to agree. So the real question is:
Did the people @ Time consider this a Hitler/Stalin award, or a Charles Lindbergh/Eisenhower award? The article is very interesting and I agree with it wholeheartedly. At the end of the day, the world has shifted on his words for the past few years.

One more question...is this better than that bullshit cop-out "American Soldier" one from last year. Now, I completely believe in supporting the troops but I hate those crappy generic gift awards. If it is to continue to be a relevant award in the world, you can't mail it in once in a while.

Arch Stanton

I just watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and I have a few observations/questions:

1) WTF takes a gun into the tub with them?
2) YoY would you start wearing a poncho that required you to fling it over your shoulder everytime you had a pistol fight.
3) If you made $100k during the Civil War would you really need to keep being a bounty killer (tGtBatU was supposed to be a prequel)?
4) Isn't it slightly odd/confusing to use the same actors for different roles in two movies of a trilogy?
5) When did it get so hard to get to the label of a 1L bottle of Beam?

Badass List Revisited

I just watched For a Few Dollars More, and The man with no name and Col. Mortimer reminded me of the list of badasses that I started in grad school. I managed to find it on my computer, but a lot of the individuals no longer seem that badass, so I updated the list and posted it here:

The "Badass List" (still no order yet)

Politics:
-James Forman

Entertainment:
-John Henry Bonham (Bonzo to his mates)
-Robert Nesta Marley
-Brad Pitt's characters (Tyler Durden, the Piker and the dude from Ocean's 11)
-Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone
-Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke
-John Wayne (take your pick of roles)
-Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More as 'Monco' and Col. Douglas Mortimer respectively

Athletics
-Vladimir Guerrero

Let's play make-believe kids. Today we're an Iranian.

So the news has been filled with stories about Iran and their uranium enrichment program. I thought it would be entertaining to pretend to be an Iranian contemplating whether or not Iran should pursue nuclear weapons.

cue wavey (not those) lines
Hmm, I seem to remember hearing back in January of 2002 that President Bush mentioned us in his state of the union address, and it wasn't exactly flattering. He dubbed Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "Axis of Evil." A little more than a year after that speech, the Americans and their lackeys invaded Iraq looking for WMDs that they were certain they'd find. Turns out, they haven't found any yet and probably never will. So...even if we don't pursue an nuclear weapon program, the US still might invade us looking for WMDs. If you're going to get invaded for something, you might as well have done it, no?


Also, if/when the Americans finish up in Iraq, they're going to have a sizeable force in the area, and they may decide that we need some democratization too. They've dumped trillions of dollars into their military, and we simply can't compete. For his second term, it seems like Bush's goal for his cabinet was to eliminate dissent and fill it with like-minded "shoot first and ask questions later" types. Having a nuclear arsenal would serve as a pretty strong deterrent. We probably can't get to the level of MAD (mutually assured destruction), but it would definitely make them think twice.

cue wavey lines (still not those) and fade out

Next up: a Ukranian contemplating the hypocrisy of Americans criticizing election irregularities. Sample: "...at least in our country the guy with most votes won!"

Bare with us...We are trying to get a color scheme settled for the site so if it looks different everytime you visit...sorry.

Any suggestions, please feel free.

And the Winner of the Biggest Bush Basher is (triple B award)...

Maureen Dowd is the most complete bush basher around in my opinion. She's like some sort of triple threat small forward on the basketball court. She's the Kevin Garnett of Dub bashing. She is very politically astute and seems very aware of the events and movitvations behind things. She has some sort of Liz Phair mojo to her, a kind of dry sense of humor that allows her to say things that otherwise might not come off intelligent at all. And last but not least, she has the stones to essentially kill Dub at all times, in all arenas, (and sometimes) with no real evidence. Gotta love it.
~~Gama

Tax me, tax you, tax EVERYBODY

Here's something interesting about the "simplification" of the tax code Bush is trying to push in the next four years. Man I'm so disappointed since a more reasonable tax code was essentially the only thing I was hoping for with the re-election:

"Instead the administration plans to push major amendments that would shield interest, dividends and capitals gains from taxation, expand tax breaks for business investment and take other steps intended to simplify the system and encourage economic growth, according to several people who are advising the White House or are familiar with the deliberations.

The changes are meant to be revenue-neutral. To pay for them, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance, the advisers said.

As the tax discussion takes shape, "we're not talking about a replacement system," said a former White House aide familiar with the emerging policy.

White House aides warn that no decisions have been made. "The president believes the tax code should be simpler, fairer, and more conducive to economic growth and he looks forward to appointing an advisory panel to review options for reforming the tax code," White House spokeswoman Clare Buchan said."
-- Washington Post

So we are planning on paying for the tax reform by making it more expensive for employers to give health care? And the tax 'reform' that is going to apparently take place is essentially corporate and investment incentives? That in no way makes the tax code simplier for the average person. It makes taxes easier on people who have enough money to invest, but in no way is this the populist approach touted during the campaign. Anybody out there have a good approach for tax reform?

I'm stumped by this solution and it seems like the democrats don't know what to do about taxes either. A little help please...

Ugh.The borders are officially out of control. Apparently Mexicans are getting a little desperate...

Okay, this is a little ridiculous...and apparently absolutely true. Apparently Mexicans have developed an ingenious way to 'hop' the border into America. Money Link. Judge Gonzales has his hands full in my opinion. This is when we need Pat Buchanan to actually build that wall around the country that he planned to back in the day. I have nothing to say about this other than lining all the borders with Flubber. We could always just help mexico not be such a hell hole and maybe it wouldn't be such a problem. I don't see a ton of Canadians ski jumping across the borders. That's all I've got on this one.

Birrfffffday

My birthday was yesterday. My wife and I had a great day. I dont' usually like to make a big deal out of birthdays and such but she always draws the best out of me. First of all it was as we all know, Veterans Day. Yes its horrible to have to share your birthday with a holiday but I've come to the conclusion that Veterans Day is the perfect holiday to share. The thing is, I have not EVER had to go to school or work on my birthday. I mean NEVER. That is officially money. Now this is the same thing as having your birthday on Christmas or Easter but the kicker is the presents. Lets be honest, you're born even NEAR Christmas and you're screwed. Yo u get the combo gifts which are almost always lamer that just simple Christmas presents. Its painful. I always felt for my grandmother who was born on Christmas Eve. Not only was she getting the grandma gifts which were lame to start with, but she'd get the grandma-combo gifts. I mean that shouldn't even be legal. Whatever happen to respecting your elders? She gets a potholder, three trivets, and an afghan for living 80 years on this planet. And what for 80 Christmas's? yup...potholder, three trivets, and an afghan. pootacular. See Veterans Day has nothing to do with gifts, so I don't get screwed. Best of both worlds.

That's about it...the day was great. Spent about 2 hours in Whole Foods Market. Okay like a lot of things, I'm a wanna be health nut. I love the idea of eating organic foods, whole grains, and foods that grow naturally in the happy world of niceville. Unfortunately the niceville chicken is a bit more costly than the steroidandria or smallcrateington chicken. Its a compromise I guess. C and I went nuts looking around. Its now her favorite store, topping Loehmanns, World Market, and TJMaxx. Sounds like a slow day...it was, and that was exactly what I was looking for. We also went on the first official Gym search. Along with the whole foods thing, we are on the fitness kick too. We went all over the place trying to find that diamond in the rough. Apparently there aren't any $5 / month gyms with towel service. What a rip. So we got home...cooked crabcakes, sea scallops and fixed the rest of dinner. Great day. Relaxation, I have found, has become the premium activity in the time that I have to myself.

Then came the movie...Passion of the Christ. That is for another post...
~~

Not to say I told you so...

So the world of politics works in mysterious ways. I called the victory for W. and I was so right, it hurts. But Sam, you say, there is no evidence that people voted for W. because of the stupid OBL video, what are you talking about? Okay okay, I might have said something about the video. And according to most of the pundit's exit polls, the all informative "moral values" issue was the reason people who voted for GeeDub gave at a rate of 22%. Compared to Iraq, the Economy, and the equally vague War on Terror (all close to 20%) it was an initial shock to many who thought issues like a WAR would trump two dudes getting married. After looking at all kinds of rebuttles to the whole "moral issues" exit polls, I'm pretty confident that, equal to the initial incorrect exit polling being for Kerry, this Moral Issues...uh...issue is nothing more than bunk. Yes, bunk. Here's my take on the election in as short and as sweet as I can make it.

First let me send my heart felt congratulations out to the Bush family for officially becoming the most powerful family in the history of American politics. Don't forget good ole' Jeb which they have slated to at least make a run in 2008. Secondly the conservatives in this country have spent the past 15 years working a near perfect campaign to establish a media infrastructure out there that has no pretense of bias and exists only to perpetuate the conservative agenda. I mean its like setting up preachers to speak the word of conservatism. The Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannity's, and Bill O'Reilly's of the world are the green berets that sweep in before the army and set the scene up for easy pickins'. The hypocracy of entire news organizations, talk radio, and others gaining momentum on the statement that mainstream media is biased is absolutely brilliant. The strength of the Republican party has not been greater as it is today. Well Maureen Dowd has things pretty much nailed down the impression I have on where things are right now. Its a conservatives dream for the next 4 years and that's the way it goes.

Okay okay. why was I right in my predictions? Well due to the Osama tape, it is my contention that the 'undecideds' which typically vote for the challenger, voted for Bush. Why? Well in the back of their minds was the idea that Osama Bin Laden wants us to elect Kerry and f-me if I'm going to do with he wants. No one is really mentioning that but I really believe that was a good percentage of the undecided vote.


Okay Ryan and I are InfoSec people it is our duty to weigh in on the voting machines issue....
I also watched the Passion of the Christ last night which I will attempt to review without starting a firefight.
~gamalama

Dumb...

From this Op/Ed piece:

"72 percent who cast votes for George W. Bush, according to a University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and Knowledge Networks poll, believe that Iraq (news - web sites) had weapons of mass destruction or active WMD programs. 75 percent think that a Saddam-Al Qaeda link has been proven, and 20 percent say Saddam ordered 9/11. Of course, none of this was true.

Kerry voters were less than half as idiotic: 26 percent of Democrats bought into Bush-Cheney's WMD lies, and 30 percent into Saddam-Al Qaeda."

HI-larious

Get up on this...

OBL in the Hizzle

So Osama is still alive and getting on the campaign trail. I'm not sure what I think of this whole scenario. First off, its pretty evident he's not living in a cave somewhere communicating via smoke signals. His tape menions a great deal of current events which disturbs me. You had to kind of expect an appearance. I mean its like watching a Ben Affleck movie and just waiting to see Matt Damon walk in for some unnecessary cameo. The troubling thing was just that it now has to have an impact in the election. I mean this guy should be still running for his life, why has he made more movies than Ron Howard? I thought he was sick, I thought he was on the run, I thought he could "run but he couldn't hide". Well guess what, it doesn't seem like he having to run or hide too much and its PISSING ME OFF! For crying out loud, how do we solve this problem? I mean for real people, its just a little obnoxious, and quite embarrassing to have some ghost still taunting Americans.

RANT
All this crap reminds me of something pretty critical that hasn't been talked about much.
This guy Capt. Josh Rushing was on NPR yesterday. Its a great listen. He was a press officer stationed at CENTCOM. He was later assigned to the world wide media including Al Jazeera (the infamous anti-american news network), on the war in Iraq. How much experience did he have with Iraq? ZERO! How much Arabic did he speak? ZERO! He apparently learned as much as he could about IRAQ on the plane over seas reading a "for Dummies" book. He was also prominantly pictured in Control Room , a documentary on the perception of America in Iraq. Why hasn't America made a concious effort to explain, explain, expain and sell, sell, sell the actions of America in that region to Al Jazeera? I know I know, many people might say this is shit because Al Jazeera obviously has biases (one of which being that its famous for less than love for America). It does no good, however, to push the American agenda on TV networks that:
1. America propped up and has NO legitimacy in the Arab world.
2. Only support the war effort at home (BBC, FoxNews, CNN).

My opinion is that the US must improve communications with Al Jazeera to get more rebuttles to the attacks they make against the US. That is the only legitimate news source to the Arab world in that region! And when I say legitimate, I mean the ONLY network repected by the people in the middle east. THEY DONT WATCH FOX NEWS!!!
/RANT

The real question is, was he saying that voting for Bush would be in his interest or voting for Kerry would be? It seemed like there was a hint that they'd love Bush because he's just like dealing with leaders of other states in that region. But at the same time, that could have been intentional to provoke a reaction by the people. So, what's the impact in the election? Well if the people know he wants them to vote for Bush, will they change their mind to be defiant? Wouldn't OBL know that Americans would do the exact opposite of what he suggested, so he'd plan for that too? Will Americans be a little bit more than annoyed that Bin Laden is making movies while we are losing in Iraq and vote for change? Will the people be reminded of 9/11 and vote Bush for the agressiveness of his war on terror? I guess the real question is does this matter in Florida, Ohio, or Penn? I live in the DC beltway so we always take this stuff much more seriously than everyone else in the country does. So how will this affect those three states since according to all the pundits (whatever they know)? Pretty pathetic that something as menacing as this video really only matters with regard to the election outcome not the potential for another attack which it seems like noone is really worried about. I am going to a football game tomorrow, and voting on tuesday and I'm just annoyed that I have to worry about the stadium blowing up, voting precincts being destroyed, or a train being hijacked and blown up (see Madrid). Its a scary world and its just a shame.

PS-My pick is that Bush gets the election on this video (which is sick). I'd love to be wrong.

Zack, where have you gone?

Rage Against the Machine 'dissolved' a few years ago, and all the members but Zack de la Rocha banded together with Chris Cornell and formed the band, Audioslave. They released a successful album in 2002. Zack, however, has been MIA. He's reportedly recorded tracks with Trent Reznor of NIN, Dan the Automator of the Gorillaz, and DJ Shadow, but no albums have been released. Zack and Shadow did release a song shortly after the war in Iraq began, but due to the oppressive patriotism that was pervasive at the time, it received little to no airplay.

Interestingly enough, it seems like some Rage songs are actually becoming more relevant as time passes. Let's examine some snippets:

Merge on tha networks, slangin' nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let 'em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let's capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord
Shock around tha clock, from noon 'til noon
Men grabbin' they mics, and stuff 'em into tha womb
Terror's tha product ya push
Well I'm a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages an scapegoats
Undressed and blessed by tha Lord
Tha same devil that ran around Managua wit a sword
Check out tha new style that Ollie found
I tune in wit a bullet ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Tha program of Vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound

-Vietnow, Evil Empire (1996)

Clearly, the original target of this song was conservative radio, but much of it is directly applicable to the current election. "Terror's tha product ya push" could be a reference to the spreading of paranoia by Bush and his cronies. "Sheep tremble an here come tha votes" is the what the Bush camp hopes results from their terror pushing.

The movie ran through me
The Glamour subdue me
The tabloid untie me
Im empty please fill me
Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning
Your voice it is so soothing
That cunning mantra of killing
I need you my witness
To dress this up so bloodless
To numb me and purge me now
Of thoughts of blaming you
Yes the car is our wheelchair
My witness your coughing
Oily silence mocks the legless
Boys who travel now in coffins

-Testify, Battle of Los Angeles (1999)

This one is pretty much self-explanatory. It seems more applicable to the current conflict in Iraq since this one is a prolonged war where we're constantly hearing reports of "X number dead today in Iraq."

Anyway, as the title indicates, the original purpose of this post was to question why Zack hasn't released anything in the months leading up to the election. I'm sure there are plenty of 18-yr olds running around out there who support Kerry, but would rather not be bothered with the whole voting process. A catchy song and video might be all the motivation these kids need to get themselves registered and to the polls. Every vote counts...

Top 10 indicators that you're a peon.

Ask and ye shall receive. Some of these are from personal experience. Others, I've witnessed, and some are just plain made up. I think everyone can relate to at least one of these, however, and that just means that we've all been a peon at some point in our life.

10) You are referred to as a 'vassal' or 'serf.'
9) Some guy keeps demanding half of your harvest.
8) When clicked on repeatedly, you involuntarily emit a series of nonsensical sounds.
7) You realize that the girl you've been sweating for the last month actually lives in your dorm. Ugh.
6) You answer the phone, and the person on the other end says, "Hello Ma'am" to which you reply, "I'm a boy!"
5) You're picked last in dodgeball. Even the exchange student who thinks the goal of the game is to get hit, and the guy who eats paste in the coat closet were picked ahead of you.
4) You've just accomplished something amazing in your favorite avocation, but you realize that you can't tell anyone because a) they wouldn't understand the significance, and/or b) it involves a 20-sided die
3) You're the only person in your company who didn't get a laptop when he/she started working there.
2) You're last in your fantasy league despite the fact that half the people autodrafted and haven't changed their lineups yet.
1) You've asked such questions as "Is the homecoming game going to be at home?" or "Are any of you guys going to join a sorority?"

Polls...

So, I'm full of chicken wings, beer and Amphora chocolate mousse and feeling rather lazy, but I'll try to make a coherent post.

As Sam alluded to in his post, the polls have been back and forth in the last few days, but for the most part they have been within the margin of error. To the intelligent voter, this means that the polls really don't tell us anything other than the election is very tight. Given the closeness of this race, what I want to know is if it's more advantageous for a candidate to be ahead or behind on the eve (literally, definition #1) of the election. Here are some theories:

1) Being behind is better, because it will motivate voters who support a candidate, but are lazy, to hit the polls. (Similarly, lazy voters for the leading candidate might decide that they aren't needed)
2) Being ahead is better, because it will 'energize' a candidate's supporters and encourage them to hit the polls.
3) Being ahead is better, because people always like being on the winning team, so some undecided voters will vote for the leading candidate simply so they can be on the victorious side.

I'd like to think that #3 is unlikely, but given some of the reasons that people I know support Bush, I would not be surprised if it is a factor. Anyway, it's just something to mull over while you're driving to work over the next week.

And another thing...

Alright I'm relying on Ninjax's abilities (or lack of life) to think of a top 10. I'm really not the brain of the operation. I'm not sure I'm the brawn either but who really cares.

I am officially poll weary. I'm also officially poll addicted. This race is ridiculously close for a lot of people which is certainly understandable. In the real world (somewhere between marioland and candyland) there are some pretty high stakes. The polls however, I have decided are complete shit. Not that they might not end up being right. By all means a broken clock is right twice a day. A weather man can tell the world its raining outside. Ummm...The race is close. So to make it more interesting, it keeps blipping around!!! Up 2, down 1, the big O, I mean MO. Lets be honest here. Its all crap...Ninjax would say craptastic or such things but all the same, its useless. I suppose it makes everyone feel better about feeling the way they do.

I'm watching hardball yesterday and Chris Matthews has approximately a 2.3 second interview with Senator Kerry. Best part about it? They were both outside in chilly Philadelphia weather, and Kerry looked the grittiest I've seen him. Worst part of it? Same old 'sleeper hold' effect from Kerry's speaking.

I went through a few weeks ago, what I predict every Kerry supporter has gone through this year. I mean, is this guy for real? Not in a sarcastic sense, is he completely and seriously running for president thinking the world is just waiting for him to arrive? I mean does he think that a republican congress is going to do anything close to what he's promised? I'm sure Poland will be very quick to deliver thousands of troops. I mean HE FORGOT POLAND!!! Can he seriously think, with the economic mess we are in, healthcare is going to come rolling out the Whitehouse door and everyone will have the same healthcare "congressmen give themselves"? I'll give all these an understated probably not. So I have friends that say he is actually serious. Hmm.
All this goes away everytime I see the Pres. not acknowledging anything bad going on in Iraq, or handily screwing up the economy, or alienating our allies, or...I give up.

Ah well, it passed and apparently I didn't need the flu shot to keep myself from dying. At the end of the day, Kerry is a safer choice to lead us through the next four years. Why? Simply his view that America NEEDS help from the rest of the world in fighting terror, the war in Iraq, the 'global' economies (anyone know anything about the EU, and whether they have any impact what-so-ever? Yeah neither do anyone in the Bush administration). Kerry is going to be tougher with the Saudis, since there aren't any 'extracurricular' ties there. This is huge because they are this band of thugs that have been living under the US protective wing of wonderful happy times for too many years. I'm tired of them always getting left out of the freedom in the middle east talk. how many of the suicide bombers from 9/11 were Saudis? Ninjax, look that one up!

At the end of the day, a liberal politician, in a republican congress, who hasn't quite out grown his vietnam war wounds is a safer choice than a fortunate son who's six shooter always seems to have plenty more bullets, but no real aim.

This blog I do not expect to be totally politics, but since we are a week away, Ninjax and I will be sure litter this blog with politicy junk. enjoy.


Puhlease post comments and email so we can get this blog active!