you obviously have Too Much Time

2005-06-09T11:00:00.000Z

It's not a Draft.We're just kidnapping people and forcing them to enlistThis is really sickening, and should be a swift wake up call to those who are still in denial.

2005-06-08T15:00:00.000Z

Israeli Govt. report reveals land grabs ARE illegalBut carries on with them anyway.The scale of Israel's illegal land grab in the occupied territories was disclosed yesterday when the government's own investigation found at least £9 million of taxpayers' money was recently used for illegal Jewish outposts. While domestic and international attention is focused on Israel's plan to withdraw all its

2005-06-08T11:00:00.000Z

What do they mean 'Threat to Peace'?Well, how about this for example?Israeli outposts shell surrounding Southern Lebanese territories while Israeli warplanes continue to violate Lebanon's sovereign air space.NABATIEH: Violence erupted in the South on Tuesday, with several Israeli warplanes once more violating Lebanese airspace and Shebaa coming under fire from both tank and heavy artillery. An

2005-06-06T18:00:00.000Z

Rules of engagement? Pft! We're Israel. We make our own rules.In Israel, the weekends revelations are causing massive commentary.Haaretz EditorialIt is impossible to ignore the article published in Maariv over the weekend, which stated that on the night between February 19 and 20, 2002, Israel Defense Forces soldiers, acting under explicit orders, carried out untargeted killings in which 15

2005-06-06T09:00:00.000Z

Israelis stunned by TV indictment from withinWhen a Jewish person states the facts, can you still call him an anti-semite?A documentary series by a respected newsreader delivers a damning assault on the settler movement.A new documentary series stunned Israeli television viewers this week, not only by its unprecedented and searing indictment of Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories,

2005-06-06T08:00:00.000Z

Jerusalem orders Palestinian homes to be razed 1000 homes to be destroyed. But don't worry. They're not 'real' people. Only Arabs.Jerusalem's city council has ordered one of the largest mass demolitions in the city's recent history, with plans to raze the homes of about 1,000 Palestinians in a neighbourhood claimed by Jewish settlers.The council says about 90 buildings served with demolition

2005-06-05T09:00:00.000Z

Sometimes you gotta laughAlannis, take note if you ever want to rewrite 'Ironic'Looks like Rumsfeld should take this standup comedian routine on the road. How's this for an opening joke?"Rumsfeld rebuked China at a regional security conference in Singapore, saying it was pouring huge resources into its military and buying large amounts of sophisticated weapons despite facing no threat from any

2005-06-05T08:00:00.000Z

Disperse!Rocks verus stun grenades. Does Vegas take odds on this?IDF disperses riot with sound technology Military officials say new weapon uses voice frequencies; troops use weapon for first time during violent anti-West Bank separation barrier rally The IDF unveiled Friday a new crowd-dispersal tactic, emitting painful bursts of sound at a special frequency to help break up a violent

2005-06-03T05:00:00.000Z

Israeli soldiers confess: We killed police for revengeKilling cops and unarmed men. Way to go, Israel.Two Israeli soldiers have come forward to describe how they took part in what they say was an officially ordered "revenge" operation to kill Palestinian police officers among them several unarmed men.In graphic testimony, one soldier has confessed that he "really enjoyed" a chase in which he shot

2005-06-02T22:30:00.000Z

Israel ignores Bush's 'urging'. Grabs more land.They probably knew Bush was only speaking for the cameras anywayIsrael announced plans today to build 22 more homes in its largest West Bank settlement. This comes a mere week after Bush urged the Jewish state to stop expanding Jewish enclaves on occupied land.The Israel Lands Administration, a government agency, published a tender inviting bids for

2005-06-02T12:00:00.000Z

A real step forwardBut I'm curious... if these people have no blood on their hands, what were they in jail for? White collar crime?Israel releasing 400 Palestinian prisonersIsrael began the release of about 400 Palestinian prisoners Thursday -- the second phase of the prisoner releases promised under a cease-fire agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud

2005-06-01T18:30:00.000Z

Let's Begin:Israel to destroy 88 Arab homes to make room for parkOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The Jerusalem municipality wants to demolish 88 homes in an Arab neighbourhood of the city to make room for an archaeological park, according to Israeli government documents and attorneys representing the homeowners. If the courts approve the municipality’s request, (and it looks likely that they will) it will be

2005-06-01T08:00:00.000Z

ChallengeAlright 'Buzzkill', I'll do itI generally try to stay out of the whole Israel/Palestinian thing. It's an explosive issue, more so than any other issue I can think of (and that includes abortion, the invasion of Iraq, the causes of 9/11, and Dubya himself).But in a recent series of conversations with one of my online sparring partners, we hit one of those frequent impasses which never

2005-05-31T13:00:00.000Z

Religion and Schooling and Soldiering in the FaithWhat do you make of this?Here's a quote for you. I'd be interested in what people take from it, especially as it pertains to the current left/right divide.Secular schools can never be tolerated because such a school has no religious instruction and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all

2005-05-31T08:30:00.000Z

Tit for TatTwo wrongs don't make a right-winger happyFound this rather amusing, since it's tangentially connected to my area of the business world.White House to file case over AirbusThe thing is, that it is widely known, on both sides of the Atlantic, that the US and the E.U. illegally subsidise their respective airlines. What's more, not only is it KNOWN to be true, it can be proved as

2005-05-30T15:30:00.000Z

Well it's not like we're tattooing themBecause that would be wrongA U.S. Marine writes an identification number on the forehead of an Iraqi man detained during a search in Haditha, 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Wednesday, May 25, 2005.

2005-05-19T16:30:00.000Z

Tell us the one about how there won't be a draft.That always makes me laugh.For the full story go here.There is a serious crisis looming for the US military recruiters. It's already been reported that they are extending tours of duty, calling up people who have already done their tours, and changing the requirements (such as increasing the allowable age.)It has also been reported that the Select

2005-05-15T22:20:00.000Z

We think you're stupidThe sheer contempt from those not living in realityThere have been many blatant lies from the current US Administration, but this one seems to just reek with unadulturated contempt for those living in reality.I mean, to me, this ranks right up there with "We have always been at war with EurAsia". They know that the limp wristed mainstream media won't call them on their

2005-05-12T14:30:00.000Z

My new favourite quote"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from

2005-03-17T14:30:00.000Z

ChickenGeorgeVII does it againI just find his stuff hilariousI think Aint it cool news has declined in quality a lot in the last year or so, despite it's recent facial upgrade. But one thing keeps me popping back in from time to time... Talkbacker Chicken George.His latest rant can be found under the story that Joss Whedon will be helming the new Wonder Woman movie.I know three things by

2005-03-16T12:30:00.000Z

Another step in the wrong directionThese are the warning signs... Pay attentionOn Sunday, the New York Times reported that at least 20 federal agencies have made and distributed pre-packaged, ready-to-serve television news segments to promote President Bush's policies and initiatives. Congress' Government Accountability Office determined that these "video news releases" were illegal "covert

2005-03-14T12:00:00.000Z

I wanted to like itReally I didI saw the pilot episode of the new Doctor Who during the week. I've been a fan of Dr. Who since the mid 70's. Some of my earliest English reading material was Dr. Who related. When it was good, the show was very very good. But when it was bad, it was AWFUL.The BBC, never one to pay good money for things like, oh, special fx or acting classes, churned out some truly

2005-03-09T17:30:00.000Z

Something to think aboutWhen the end hoves into viewYou know how it is, when a deadline approaches and you're trying to get everything on your "To Do" list out of the way? I've been feeling like that a lot, lately.One of the things I really wanted to do was take some severely powerful psilocybin mushrooms, in an attempt to touch the numinous in life. Since I am frequently in Amsterdam, I recently

2005-02-25T17:00:00.000Z

Just a quick pointThe person who made this decision needs to go to jail. And the sooner Wacko Jacko dies, the better for the world.

2005-02-23T23:45:00.000Z

So the Pope weighs inI had to kind of figure the Pope would be conservative on some issues. He's in his 80's. So he's not going to change his tack on things like contraception, abortion, women priests and the like. He's not a modernist by any means. And that's fine, I suppose, in and of itself. If the County Club called Catholicism wants to set some weird rules for its members, more power to '

2005-02-21T19:00:00.000Z

I'm glad I don't know ParisHilton, that isI value my privacy quite a lot. How much more would a celebrity? Well, that blonde dumbfuck Paris Hilton has had the contents of her cell phone splashed all over the web, it seems. Whether it's photos of her making out with a chick, memo reminders to get "birth control kill pills" or the numbers of her celebrity pals and female fuck buddies... All have

2005-02-08T13:45:00.000Z

We are all of us living in the gutterBut some of us are looking at the starsNot any more you're not. No headlong rush back to the Dark Ages would be complete without dismantling the Hubble Telescope. So that's that cleared up then. And in words of Dubya "What's next?"

2005-02-08T11:30:00.000Z

No such thing as a stupid question?We got oneTaken from The Guardian's report on the Kansas educational crisis. John James, who warned that the teaching of evolution led to nihilism, and to the gates of Auschwitz. "Are we producing little Kansas Nazis?" he asked. Yeah, I think we have all established that the reason Hitler targetted the Jews was because he was a staunch evolutionist. Idiot.

2005-02-08T11:20:00.000Z

The price of the budgetCut $1.1 Billion from the Food Stamps program. Meanwhile, children in "low to middle" income housing starve to death.

2005-02-06T08:15:00.000Z

Garden StateFinally saw it. First thing, major props to Zach as this is a very accomplished movie for a first time writer/director. And starring in it as well. That's more than was done in Lost in Translation, of which this movie reminded me. I think it takes some balls to be able to say to a studio that you want to write and direct and star in a feature, when you're basically a little known tv

2005-02-06T08:00:00.000Z

Right versus LeftSanity versus insanityHere is an excellent article, which for me sums up beautifully the nature of the 2 dimensional dichotomy that so much of American media falls into. Basically, the point that the article makes is that the right-wing can get away with saying just about anything in criticising the left. Calls of traitor, demands for people to be fired, punched in the face, or

2005-02-05T15:30:00.000Z

Historic RulingLet's see how long it lastsI have to admit, I was both suprised and thrilled when I saw this story. But mostly surprised. By law, gays must be allowed to marry in New York It turns out that state protections of the rights of the individual are often stronger than federal ones. Still, this ruling comes from the New York State Supreme Court which is actually the lowest court in

2005-02-04T19:00:00.000Z

Since Holz was curious, I'm doing the quiz but sticking to English. (Even Celine Dion didn't make my list.) 1. Song that sounds like happy feels: Song 2, by Blur 2. Earliest memory: My mother singing a song at the kitchen sink "I'm nobody's child" which I hated hearing because it made her cry, even if I didn't understand the lyrics or know anything about the song. (Still don't.) 3. Last CD you

2005-02-04T14:30:00.000Z

Bush is basically a Mr. Potato Head with Dick's hand up his arse, working the controls. Now you can too. Build yourself a better Bush. (No, not some porn spam pussy excercise...)

2005-01-26T01:00:00.000Z

The best of televisionThe episodes that spoilers should never have touched. Babylon 5 : "Z'ha'Dum" American Gothic : "Requiem" Star Trek DS9: "Duet" Star Trek TNG: "The Inner Light" Galactica : "Kobol's Last Gleaming" And the winner is... BattleStar Galactica.

2005-01-24T21:53:00.000Z

Fixed Rate MortgagesThe only way to goOne of the great things about newspapers like the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times, is that they are not read by the majority of people. And they know this. So they tend not to couch their stories in the way that a more mainstream paper might have to. The onrushing collapse of the American dollar and the American economy are spoken about quite

2005-01-17T15:15:00.000Z

Friggin MissionariesRemember this the next time some church wants you to give them some cash for the poor and needy Most of the 200 people are homeless or displaced, battling to rebuild lives and locating lost family members besides facing risks of epidemic,disease and trauma. Jubilant at seeing the relief trucks loaded with food, clothes and the much-needed medicines the villagers, many of who

2005-01-17T13:00:00.000Z

Wooly thinkingVery comfortable when worn close to the skinI hate liberalism. And I hate 'X'. Therefore 'X' is liberalism. Does anyone think that's valid reasoning? If you're going to bitch about "liberalism", don't you think you should know what it actually IS, instead of shoving everything you don't like into one big pile, and throwing the lable "liberal" at it? According to the dictionary :

2005-01-16T22:45:00.000Z

How to legally avoid being draftedYeah yeah, we know the draft isn't really coming...Despite the Stop-Loss programs, the increased funding for the Selective Service, the "open ended" review of the ongoing situation, the Universal National Service Act of 2003, etc... we all know there won't be a Draft. But since "Be Prepared" is good advice in all situations, I thought I'd post this little missive

2005-01-16T22:30:00.000Z

The hidden price of Religious AidSay "Praise God" and I'll give you a Happy Meal You know, I was already pissed off at the attitudes that some religious people expressed. Namely that the Tsunami was God's way of letting those non-christian brown-skinned people know he was pissed off at them. But this goes above and beyond. Dozens of religious groups have moved in to Aceh, ostensibly looking to

2005-01-16T22:20:00.000Z

Be preparedIt's hard to argue to facts when they are marshalled before handYou gotta love this clip. Now if that had been a Michael Moore video, the right would be screaming that he never used the actual words "Iraq is an imminant threat". But anyone can see that that was clearly his intention. Rumsfeld just didn't expect them have a citation or two ready to hand. So he was quite prepared to

2005-01-14T09:00:00.000Z

Let's warn potential readers...The Bible doesn't meet the requirements for "fact" either.I suggest the following sticker be placed on all copies the Bible. In the interests of fairness, you understand.

2005-01-13T17:00:00.000Z

It's not all bad news...Some sanity prevailsA federal judge today ordered the removal of stickers placed in high school biology textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact," saying they were an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Full story here.

2005-01-13T13:45:00.000Z

Rather than bury it in comment... please clarify the "heart/mind/society" idea. Well, it's been touched on by both Stan and Kate. In the writings of Plato's Socratic Dialogs with Phaedrus, we read the following : "What is good Phaedrus, and what is not good? And need we anyone to teach us these things?" They were arguing that there is an innate instinct in man which can tell him what is "good".

2005-01-13T13:00:00.000Z

Compassionate Conservatives in action Now that's funny But not for the residents of D.C. I guess. Not only is this a first time ever, but the money to pay for this sturm-und-drang show is coming from... yes, money that was flagged for Homeland Security projects. It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security

2005-01-13T10:50:00.000Z

You have freedom of speech So long as you don't use it Not funny. We all knew about the Republicans idea of "free speech zones" designed to shelter Dubya and the Media from uncomfortable views of public annoyance. But they continue to chip away at the bill of rights, one incident at a time.

2005-01-11T18:20:00.000Z

Well allow me to retort... In response to KMan's post, I bashed out the following response. For those who subscribe to Judeo-Christian values, right and wrong, good and evil, are derived from God, not from reason alone, nor from the human heart, the state or through majority rule. And for those who don't, from Greek philosophers to modern scientists, good and evil derive from the heart, the mind

2005-01-10T13:00:00.000Z

Movie Round up You'd think someone with about 600 DVD's would go to the cinema more often. Copying Holz's idea (or "stealing" as the RIAA would no doubt have it) I ran down through the list of top 150 US movies of the last year. I saw 21 of them. Sounds like very few, but then, I obviously can't include non-US movies there. My top 10 for 2004 (from the list) 10. Collateral I wasn't expecting

2005-01-09T15:00:00.000Z

Way to win those hearts and minds Hint to Rumsfeld: Killing innocent people and showing little or no remorse, is NOT the best way to discourage terrorism. Or recruitment for terrorist organisations. Late Saturday, a U.S. military statement said an F-16 jet dropped a 500-pound GPS-guided bomb on a house that was meant to be searched during an operation to capture "an anti-Iraqi force cell leader.

2005-01-05T23:30:00.000Z

Oh Sydney... It's been too long Alias as woman analogy When I first saw you, oh I was blown away. The praise of a few friends peaked my interest in seeking you out, but oh, could not have prepared me. You were amazing. Like no-one I'd seen before. They were good times, those early days. And in the second year, you had matured so much. I got to see your parents, in action no less. I really thought

2005-01-04T18:30:00.000Z

Sometimes it takes time Inspired by the book I'm reading. Courage doesn't always shout. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, "I will try again tomorrow." Bertolt Brecht, the German playwright, tells the story of a man living alone who answers a knock at the door. There stands Tyranny, armed and powerful, who asks, "Will you submit?" The man does not reply. He

2005-01-04T11:15:00.000Z

A Prayer for the American Atheist Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want. He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests. Beside the still waters, he dumps industrial waste. He restoreth my fears. He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war, I will find no exit, for thou art in office. Thy tax cuts for the

2004-12-31T13:30:00.000Z

Aid Luke 21:1-4 The tragedy in the Far East has led to some criticism of the wealthier nations in the world. The Bush Administration seems to feel that the condemnation was aimed at them specifically. I guess that's an easy assumption to make, when you run dead last in the rankings. But then, that's just it.. It all depends on how you calculate these things. In real dollar terms, the US gave

2004-12-31T10:30:00.000Z

Loving thy Neighbour Now what sort of Christian message does this send? Way to go Kansas. Wouldn't you just hate your religion to be judged harshly due to the highly publicised idiotic actions of a retarded minority?

2004-12-31T09:30:00.000Z

Be careful how you pronounce it So what's a shi'ite ? Since it was asked in a comment below, let me explain quickly what the deal is with the Sunni and the Shi'ite tribes in Iraq. Sunni Muslims: They are mainstream traditionalists. They constitute a 90% majority of the believers worldwide, but in Iraq they are a minority. (20%) They have learned to keep their faith within secular societies,

2004-12-31T09:00:00.000Z

Islam for Dummies Not that there's anything wrong with that... Some comments I read recently, coupled with stories like this one made me want to take a quick time out to run over some of the basic tenets of Islam. I say again, a couple of points, as a matter of record. 1) I'm an atheist. 2) I was raised a Catholic. 3) I don't hate Catholics, Jews or Arabs and don't have an "agenda" to support

2004-12-30T13:20:00.000Z

They catch on quick, don't they? Seems like the Russians are embracing the concepts of capitalism in new ways all the time. According to BBC News, Russia has announced that it will no longer ferry US astronauts to space for free. It has been doing so for two years. From 2006 the US will be expected to pay. It should not come as any great surprise, really. With the shuttle grounded and NASA

2004-12-30T13:00:00.000Z

Merry Christmas, of a sort When they say "Bon Noël", or "Bon Noel", is that somehow taking "Christ" out of Christmas? Despite my fathers absence, we had a good christmas at my parents house. I flew back home late last night, and spent some time reflecting on how the week went. My brother bought a santa claus suit, and dressed up at Midnight on Christmas Eve. It was a nice surprise, and he gave

2004-12-29T02:30:00.000Z

So is BitTorrent dead? Hardly. Now maybe you're not the sort of person who used to use the BitTorrent service for downloading. If you were, then you could have been watching The Incredibles on 5.1 audio DVD over Christmas. (A copy of the Disney DVD hit the net the week before Christmas, I am reliably informed). For those who don't know, BitTorrent is the latest and greatest way to download

2004-12-28T23:30:00.000Z

The Top 10 Moments in Sci Fi As decided by Sky TV I was watching this run down on BSkyB's flagship channel, where they were detailing the top 10 moments in Sci Fi. I'm going to list them here, but I have to disagree with some of them. And after I think about it some more, I'll put my own top 10 up. But for now, here they are, and feel free to comment: 10) From "Empire Strikes Back" : Vader's

2004-12-27T22:00:00.000Z

Democracy In Iraq In True American Style I knew the alleged democratic regime in Iraq was going to be a fictitious pipe-dream. A puppet on the end of American strings. But I've got to admit, it's nice to see them being so upfront about it... America has very kindly offered to "adjust" the election results in Iraq next month. The Sunni are a minority, though they had a lot of power under Saddam.

2004-12-18T19:00:00.000Z

Only in silence, the word. Only in darkness, the light Fuck you, SciFi Channel. I had been working on an entry about Earthsea, the mini series run on the SciFi channel during the week. And it just got to the point that I was too angry to write. Now, I see from Aint It cool News that the author has spoken publicly about the awfulness. And she no doubt covers it better than I ever could. So a

2004-12-16T10:40:00.000Z

Random Thought Wouldn't it be great if the NRA were as passionate about every right, and not just the second amendment ? "You can have my rights when you pry them from my cold dead hands." Now that's a slogan I could get behind.

2004-12-16T08:27:00.000Z

Death knell of the dollar If I had any lingering doubts about the collapsing dollar, they were dispelled when I read this as the most consistant thing to come out of Bush's mouth is good ol' Texas style bullshit. From the man who said "We don't want war" and "Support our troops" and "They hate our freedom" and "We never said there was a link between Saddam and Al Quaeda" comes the latest whopper

2004-12-01T10:00:00.000Z

Manchild and the Major "Facts? You can prove anything with facts!" - Homer Simpson Last night I went drinking with some friends, and a friend of theirs whom I was meeting for the first time. He is a major in the US Air Force. Now the Major is a very nice guy, very friendly, very funny. But I had mixed emotions about the evening by the end of the night. We had discussed various topics but

2004-11-30T13:00:00.000Z

Too late for Superman Stories like this give me hope. Just because Bush has foolishly turned his back on avenues for medical advances, doesn't mean the rest of the world needs to fall behind. Story here. Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since an accident in 1985 damaged her lower back and hips. Afterwards, she was confined to her bed or a wheelchair. Today, she can walk again, thanks to

2004-11-22T01:00:00.000Z

J.F.K. (1917-1963) I wrote this yesterday, but blogger is being a whorebitch again. I'm different to most people. I don't remember where/when I was, when I heard about Kennedy's death. It's all sort of a blur. But I do remember trying to put the newspaper together, and having to write about it. (Owners and Editors face deadlines too, and this was not something you could have prepackaged and

2004-11-21T23:45:00.000Z

Dream I had often heard that the recently dead visit our dreams. Obviously, I don't believe that. I don't think you can attribute any particular signifigance to dreams. They're just weird mental neuron firings. But that said, I wanted to use the blog to record my mental state in dealing with my fathers death. I mentioned that I had not exhibited any real grief to any great extent. In my

2004-11-20T04:00:00.000Z

So good I watched it twice. Holy shit. That was good. "DS9" good.: Comment seen on talkback at Aint It Cool News I'm not a fan of Star Trek. Haven't really watched or enjoyed an episode, with any regularity since DS9 season 2. But having heard that Manny Coto had taken up the reins for this season of Enterprise, I wanted to give it a look. Manny has talent, and knows and respects the Trek

2004-11-19T13:00:00.000Z

One Law For All? Okay, so maybe someone can explain this to me. Jim Taricani, a TV reporter with WJAR, was found guilty by a judge after a 45-minute trial and could get up to six months behind bars when he is sentenced next month. His crime? Protecting a source. He is refusing to say who leaked him an FBI videotape of a politician taking a bribe. So how come Robert Novak is still walking

2004-11-10T04:00:00.000Z

Why American Voter Reform is a pipedream Sometimes I despair. This is one of those times. Picture the scene. You're in a sports bar, watching whatever sport happens to be your poisen. (Mine happens to be football, or Soccer as Americans insist on calling it.) It is a tight game between your favourite side, and their bitter rivals. As their rivals are pounding towards their goal getting ever

2004-11-09T10:30:00.000Z

Calls for Vote Reform are not a partisan issue: It's not just the Democrats being pissed off that they lost For some time now, the opposition has been trying to overthrow Chavez in Venezuela. The populace had a chance to speak on the matter in a recent referendum. This was the first widespread use of electronic voting in that country. I would like to use it to illustrate a point about the calls

2004-11-06T01:45:00.000Z

They admit, Computers gave Bush extra votes in Ohio I've been reluctant to start blaming Diebold for Bush's win. But in the last 2 days, there's been a couple of new developments. First, we have CNN going ahead with the story (found here) that Bush got more votes than he should have. Of course, they downplay the seriousness of it. The thing is, they can't explain how it happened. And they

2004-11-03T06:46:00.000Z

Florida 2000 : Ohio 2004 At this point in time, it looks like Ohio is the make or break state So it is with a heavy heart that I recall the words of Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Bush is the President. God help us all.

2004-11-02T23:12:00.000Z

A platform you can believe in Okay, so maybe these are too well known to really come as a shock to some people. But then again, maybe not. For your consideration, a man stands for election with the following platform. How many of these are you in accordance with? Man has the right to live by his own law -- to live in the way that he wills to do: to work as he will: to play as he will: to rest

2004-11-02T11:39:00.000Z

The gullibility of the left I have insulted a fair number of Republicans in the last few weeks, by posting and commenting repeatedly, how such findings as the Pipa report, show they have a tenuous grip on reality at best. And how this is okay, because the Bush administration vocally rejects "reality" as a mere inconvenience, not worth bothering about. In the interests of fairness though, I have

2004-11-01T20:31:00.000Z

"I think the puppet on the left represents my views" As told by that great American prophet, Bill Hicks Tomorrow is election day in America. And like about 80% of the rest of world, I am fervently hoping that George is kicked out. Sadly, I don't think that's going to happen. For the same reason that Ahnold got elected, there is simply too much money at stake for those who hold the real power.

2004-10-31T01:21:00.000Z

Well, it's late. I'm used to having my biological time/clock all screwed up, but it's usually either by choice, or by jetlag. Not this time. Since my dad died, I had been concerned about going to sleep. You see, vivid dreams have been a part of my life for a long time. And I was afraid of what might happen in my dreams. Not just in the dreams, but in the waking after. I guess I had heard too

2004-10-10T18:00:00.000Z

Gay Paree. Paris is like an old whore. If you didn't fuck her in her prime, you've got no sentimental feelings to mask the fact that now she looks decrepit and smells of piss. I've just returned from a weekend in Paris, with some friends and my brother and his S.O. I've been to Paris quite a few times before, but generally, I was immersing myself in the "cultural" aspects of it before. Wine

2004-09-28T13:00:00.000Z

And we're back... My Dad died last week. That's the main reason I'm coming back online to the blog. I will be keeping a record of sorts, to examine what I'm feeling, and how I'm dealing with my grief. I loved my Dad, as I'm sure most every kid loves their Dad. And regardless of my age, I know that to him, I was always his son, his kid, his firstborn. We had a great relationship, and in many

2003-12-17T23:53:00.000Z

The Return of the King Christopher who? Lee? Never heard of him. Tell him I'm in a meeting. It will probably come as no surprise to those who know me that I was in to see the final part of the Lord of the Rings today. Thankfully, I enjoyed it a lot more than that terrible "Two Towers" which left a sour taste. RotK is an amazingly good film, but like Two Towers before it, it has faults. Mis-steps

2003-12-10T10:56:00.000Z

The long road back. One of my long time careers, kind of fell by the wayside last year for a number of reasons. I wanted to spend more time with my parents, in particular because of my Dad's cancer. I had also become very stressed and wound up with the job, and some of the people I was working with. I felt like I had to take a break from it, and do something different, something laudable with my

2003-11-26T17:18:00.000Z

"And then we step to the r-i-i-i-i-ght..." I was watching Britains Prime Ministers question time, kind of by accident earlier. For those not au-fait with British politics, the opposition party (nearest US eqivalent to the Republicans) recently had a change of leadership. The quiet and inneffectual Iain Duncan Smith was replaced with Michael Howard. To really appreciate how messed up this is, you

2003-11-26T17:17:00.000Z

Cancer watch Though I haven't written about it, the last week or so my father was back in the hospital. It's been about a month or so since he was scheduled to go in and get a problem in his throat looked at. Naturally, we all had the fear that it was the cancer returning. Well, he had the endoscopic exam last Thursday. I got a chance to see him on my way to the airport. The doctors didn't see

2003-11-26T17:02:00.000Z

UK protests I was lucky enough to be in the UK last week, when the biggest week-day protest in their history took to the streets to say that Bush/Blair were acting illegally and without the backing of the British public. It was quite impressive. Originally, the police and official estimates placed the crowd in the region of 20,000 people. Now, I know from long experience that crowd sizes are one

2003-11-26T16:43:00.000Z

Interviewed HazzardX has recently been generating some unusual blog entries by interviewing some of his online friends and posting the results. Yesterday, it was my turn to go under the spotlight. It was interesting, if a little unusual. While I like to think I'm the sort of person who can talk/type easily on the fly, I know that it when it comes to blogging or entries on Bulletin Boards,

2003-11-17T10:54:00.000Z

Demi in CA3? I was never "good". I was great. I've mentioned before that I thought Full Throttle was a whores abortion of a movie, as unsightly and disgusting and offensive as it was possible to be. They took all the charm and cool campy fun from the first movie, and just shat right all over it in great big steaming piles of poo. Demi Moore, every which way you slice it, was the best thing in

2003-11-17T10:13:00.000Z

On Being Dumped I was out drinking with H last night. H, as I mentioned in an earlier entry, had been royally fucked over by the love of his life. At the time, I had mentioned two of the five stages he was going to go through at the time, and as we commisserated over hot whiskeys and pints of Guinness, I explained what the other stages were. Stage 1: Denial a.k.a. The "last chance" phase This

2003-11-09T00:30:00.000Z

Urgh! The sound of a script being delivered. I just got back from seeing Matrix : Revolutions. (From hereafter known as "Revolting") As a fairly forgiving movie fan, I have sat through quite a lot of substandard shit: Phantom Menace, Arthur 2, Bless the Child, Johnny Mnemonic, Exorcist 2, Time Changer, (actually most crap sci-fi). In fact, of the IMDB's top 100 worst movies ever, I've seen

2003-11-08T20:13:00.000Z

Made me laugh From the "You can't make this shit up" file. It's official. The latest Harry Potter book is so bad, it hurts your brain. Last months New England Journal of medicine had a letter from Dr. Howard Bennett. In it, he reported that threet little tykes aged 8 to 10, experienced a dull headache for two or three days, caused by reading the latest Harry Potter novel. "If this escalation

2003-10-10T18:25:00.000Z

Sad, but True. We've seen it before, where members of the public prove more courageous in standing up to political bullshit (famously with Margaret Thatcher on live TV after the Falklands War and the sinking of the Belgrano) but this sort of thing always makes me smile. There's still some hope for us while people are still willing to speak out. Friday Oct. 3rd, at Von's supermarket in

2003-10-08T15:20:00.000Z

Dude, Where's My Country? Or Stupid White Men, Volume 2 The book goes on sale today, and I'm off to pick up a copy in a few minutes. Much as I do like Mike's work, and have enjoyed his other books and movies, I do wonder that he does such a half-arsed job at times. Is it because he's genuinely unaware of the full story behind his "reports" or is he deliberately holding back because he knows the

2003-10-07T19:44:00.000Z

Total Recall. Total Fix. I'm going to go out on a limb here, (granted not much of one) and congratulate Ahnuld on being elected the new Governor of California. Ahnuld had often expressed a desire to enter politics, which was lampooned in movies such as "Demolition Man". But his path to the governership really only began in earnest back in May of 2001. It was at the Peninsula Hotel in Los

2003-10-07T18:45:00.000Z

Marathon Update London Marathon. Sunday 18 April 2004 Well my training is still ongoing, and I'm in better shape than I have been for quite some time. My joints are still in danger of giving out on me though, so I'm taking it easy on my knees. It has also caused a problem with an ingrown toe-nail. I guess these sorts of things are common enough for runners. I'll get a doctor to look at it next

2003-10-07T18:33:00.000Z

How do you get what you want, without being a complete bastard About a week ago, my brother flew in from Amsterdam to surprise my sister on her birthday. It was a great surprise, especially since that weekend, he was coordinating moving into a new apartment in London. His life is really on the up and up right now, and it's only natural I suppose that I'd make comparisons between his and mine.

2003-09-26T13:19:00.000Z

Wow, has it really been that long? I guess so. So this isn't going to be a blog entry in the usual sense. More like an open letter to no-one in particular. At the moment, I've been awake about 20 hours, and intend to go stream of conciousness through this, with apologies to any misspellings that may happen along the way. So, first thing first, I guess, is that I have tried to blog a few times

2003-08-05T00:35:00.000Z

Never say Never Here's a handy hint for those who play NeverWinterNights... Save your game frequently. Not because it's particularly difficult (it's not) or that you die often and easily (you don't). No, the reason you should save often is because the game is so FUCKING BUGGY it should never have been released to the public. I've worked in software testing, and I've lead teams of QA engineers,

2003-07-28T15:50:00.000Z

Hope is dead And not in the metaphorical sense The news just came in about an hour ago. Bob Hope, legendary entertainer, has finally passed away, at the ripe old age of 100. I guess we all knew it was coming. On his birthday, he reportedly said to his family: "I'm so old, they've cancelled my blood type." After George Burns had managed to hang on to see his 100th birthday, I had wondered if Bob

2003-07-27T21:51:00.000Z

Sunday Bloody Sunday I hate Sunday's. Ever since I was a child, when Sunday meant the end of the weekend, a return to school the following day, a compulsary early night, doing all the homework I'd ignored since Friday afternoon, and of course, going to church. In many ways, Sunday was the worst day of the week. In the calandar we traditionally use, Sunday is the last day of the week, but in other

2003-07-25T16:40:00.000Z

The Tumor is Dead I just got the word about 15 minutes ago from my Dad, that the results of the biopsy show that the tumor is dead. FUCKING A!! Suffice to say, I'm beyond pleased. I fully expect to go out this evening and drink myself into a coma. I rang my brother in Amsterdam and told him, and my sister knows as well. Still have a few other phone calls to make, but it's a nice task to have