Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Check your facts Mr. Moore

I don't know who is the bigger idiot, Michael Moore for his despicabe, treasonous and provably untrue attack on a sitting President of the United States or the people who believe him.
Not only are his facts either greatly stretched or blatantly untrue but his logic in his claims in his recent film, Farenheit 9/11, just plain don't work.
Here is one example:
Moore claims in the film that nearly 1.2 billion dollars was paid to a firm, Carlyle corp's BDM contractor, with connections to family and friends of George W. Bush. True. But let's dig just a teeny tiny little deeper into that 'connection' and we find that...
Leave aside the tenuous six-degrees-of-separation nature of this “connection.” The main problem with this figure, according to Carlyle spokesman Chris Ullman, is that former president Bush didn’t join the Carlyle advisory board until April, 1998—five months after Carlyle had already sold BDM to another defense firm.

W's Father wasn't even on the board of the company that received the defense money.
Unbelievable. Moore's logic here is like saying that United Air Lines was involved in the attacks on the World Trade Towers because the terrorists used United Air Lines planes to attack them!
This is only one example. All of his major claims from the film fail miserably under even a tiny bit of actual fact checking and scrutiny.

What's in a word?

I had never thought about this issue before, but the actual results you get while searching on certain words on internet search engines can be, well, a little freaky.
The latest controversy on this topic is on Google where if you search on the term, 'Jew' you will get some, let's say, not so nice results. Snaps to Google and their explanation of this phenomenon. Although, now that I think about it, with all of the great technology we have available to us can't we get past these types of things?

Thanks to Hockeyguy for the pointer to this info.

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Surfin' USA

Now you can surf the web from your local wave. Someone has actually installed a wireless capable laptop into a real live surfboard.

The editors at Clariticity have come up with a list of the top 10 Google searches you might make from your iSurf:

10. Seaweed recipes
9. What happens if I drink too much sea water?
8. iSurf technical support
7. Pictures of jellyfish
6. closest power outlet
5. foghorn wavs
4. What to do if you get crabs
3. Navigating by the stars
2. United States Coast Guard rescue
1. Shark bite treatments

Dodge this!

Dodgeball
Arghhhhh! This be the foulest piece of stinkin anti-treasure ever foisted upon the seven seas!
If you listened really close you might have heard Steve the pretend pirate say this about the very movie he was in.
If you are thinking of seeing this film just remember the 5 'D's of Dodgeball.
1. Dodge
2. Dip
3. Dive
4. Duck
5. Dodge
So, whatever you do, dodge, dip, dive, duck and dodge this film.
ARGHHHHHHHH!!!

Friday, June 25, 2004

Disappointed

I saw the film, 'The Terminal' last night. Spielberg, Hanks, my expectations were high and I feel let down. In a word, I was 'disappointed'. The film had some good moments but overall it didn't click and had about a dozen two many 'wince' scenes. You know, when something in a film makes you wince and it's not supposed to. I wanted it to be good. If I could have willed it so I would have. Don't go see this unless you are a big Tom Hanks fan or unless you are in love with Catherine Zeta Jones. She is great to look at but her performance was, well, disappointing.

Thursday, June 24, 2004

C@L


On business in Seattle this week. Nice to get out of the heat of the desert. It's cloudy and in the 60's here. You wanna feel out of place somewhere? Be a non-coffee drinker and go to Seattle. I feel like carrying around an empty Starbucks or Tully's cup with me just so I will fit in.
This place is beautiful, too bad it's covered in a gray blanket most of the time.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

You say Tomato...

Clariticity? How do you say it? What does it mean?
Think 'Felicity' or 'elasticity' when you say 'Clariticity'.
It's based on the word, 'clarity'. Clarity has been a big thing for me lately. I want clarity in my career, clarity in my relationship with God, clarity with my wife and children. So, I started playing with that word and 'made up' Clariticity.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Cats and Dogs living together

I've been reading a lot about Reagan lately. Good and bad. I've been able to shake off the bad stuff pretty well. There was so much good. One common theme I noticed running through several of the articles I read was about the relationship between the two political parties. You know, the Democrats and Republicans. It seems that during the Reagan administration politics ended at 6pm. Pres. Reagan would frequently have 'the guys' over to the White House for drinks at the end of the day. Both Dems and Repubs. Even Reagan nemesis Tip Oneill would occasionally show up for a cocktail. According to more recent sources this type of activity is unheard of anymore. There is so much angst and even hatred between members of the two opposing parties on Capitol Hill that they wouldn't be caught dead together having drinks.
We need to fix this or we won't really ever get anywhere. It's ok to disagree. It's ok to even argue before each other about how much you disagree. But, at the end of the day after the chambers of Congress are cleared. After the lights in the offices in Washington D.C. are dimmed. We are all Americans. Start acting like it!
So, all you Elephants and Jackasses out there, call each other up and go have a drink together. Talk about what you have in common not about what you disagree with. I think you will discover you agree with each other more than you imagine you do.

Monday, June 21, 2004

A Good Friend and a Meal

In the last few days I have had the opportunity to share a meal and some conversation with two of my good friends. There is nothing like spending time with a good friend. I have been blessed with several of them. I use to wonder about the old men sitting in the cafe or sitting at the lunch counter. Don't they have anything better to do? It seems like they sit there all day long. I get it now. They are friends and they are sharing a meal together. They listen and they talk and then they listen some more.
I think if I could, that would be all that I would do. Go from meal to meal and friend to friend. If you're a friend of mine and haven't shared a meal with me recently, I will be contacting you shortly.

To the Utmost Furlong


I love horses. Always have. I can't say I have ever been on one more than once or twice in my life. I have loved these animals for as long as I can remember. To me horses are a testimony to the existence of God. Such an amazing creature could not have just randomly appeared or 'evolved'. When I see a horse I feel God's pleasure. I feel sorry for atheists. They miss out on so much.
I watched the film 'Seabiscuit' again last night. I enjoyed it even more than the previous two times I have viewed it. I especially enjoyed watching the horses this time. The filmmakers really caught the beauty of these majestic animals.
During one scene my son sitting next to me whispered, "beautiful" as we watched one of the horse races. It was exactly what I was thinking at that moment. It is a moment I shared with my son that I won't soon forget.

Saturday, June 19, 2004

Wanna buy a Garage?

I hate garage sales! The ultimate Bait & Switch. You go to these things and no one is actually 'selling' their garage. They are trying to sell you all the worthless crap they've been chucking in their garage for the past 10 years. I hate yard sales too. Right! You guessed it. No one is actually 'selling' their yard. So, DW (Dear Wife) decides to participate in a 'multi-family' yard sale in our neighborhood this Sat. Multi-family yard sale is actually code for, 'everyone drag your crap out on to your lawn and see how many idiots will come by at 6:30am on a Sat. morning to buy stuff for .50.'
Of course I got dragged into it. I couldn't schedule a business trip fast enough to be out of the way.

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Shelbyism


This morning at the breakfast table DW was humming a tune that got stuck in her head from a dream last night. I jumped up and checked iTunes but they didn't have it. So, I mentioned that I would check 'Napster' when I got to work and see if it was on their service. Shelby piped up and said, "No sleeping at work Daddy!" We got a good chuckle out of that. And, no, I didn't take the time to explain to Shelby what Napster really is.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Beam me up Scotty!

Someday we'll look back on this and realize it was the pioneering first step in understanding a whole new era.

Sorority Girls from Hell

Here's a short little flick sure to make you laugh a little. Dun dun. Dun dun dun dun.

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

ReaganBucks


Our beloved former President Reagan is still lying in state and there is already talk of replacing Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Finally, proof.

Are violent video games affecting those who play them? That question has been asked a thousand times in the last several years as video games become ubiquitous. Can playing a violent video game make a child (or even an adult) act out in real life? Scientific studies have started and the results are rolling in.
Here is a quote from one of the scientists in a recent study.
"It was just amazing," says Weber, who, as the group's methodologist, has been analyzing the data by comparing, in 24-second intervals, exactly what was on the computer screen with what was going on in the participants' brains. "It was like they were unaware of anything but the game." Though it's too early to draw definite conclusions, Weber says he thinks "we can see aggression-like brain activity when they play."

So many people don't want to believe it. Come on people! As Forrest Gump says, "Stupid is as stupid does..."

Who is the real enemy?


I was sitting at home last night and just after the news ended something occurred to me.
The news was chock full of media massaged images and words about how awful the world is. How horrible things are all over the place.
Everyone hates us.
Gas prices are skyrocketing.
Hundreds are dying in Iraq.
President Bush is an evil dictator that cuts peoples heads off.
The President is manipulating the price of oil for political benefit.
Womens' rights are being taken away from them.
Then I asked myself, "Self, where are all these things coming from?" "Self, are all of these things true?"
Then it occurred to me. It's an election year and the Democrats want things to look bad. The worse they look or appear to be going the better to get 'their guy' into the White House for the next 4 years.
Maybe we're not looking in all the places we should to find our enemies. Afghanistan, Iraq, maybe even Syria or Iran? Possibly even North Korea? NO! Our worst enemy is ourselves. Right here in River City. The Democrats. Too bad Bush can't send troops to do a little 'Shock and Awe' on these bloodsuckers.

Monday, June 07, 2004

A New Perspective

Went to a church group meeting last night that featured a Major from the US Army that has just returned from a year in Iraq. He came to tell us about his experience in Iraq and Kuwait. He is part of a Military Intelligence unit from my area. He actually spent some time working in the Abu Ghraib prison. He was there last October and made the specific comment that neither he himself or any of his unit witnessed any prisoner abuse. His job was to be the 'greeter' at the prison. Capturing units would bring the captured Iraqis to the prison and his unit would take them from there and interrogate them and sort them into 'people of interest' or not. If they found interest in them they would be sent into the main prison population and wait for further interrogation. He told us that all the MI personnel in his unit signed a document promising to "not touch the captured Iraqis". They were not to even touch them at all and signed a paper to that affect!
He told us story after story about his dealings with the average Iraqi person that they came in contact with and they seem to be pretty decent people. They want the same things we want. Food, water, work and a comfortable place to call home. He had many pictures of smiling Iraqi citizens. We don't see much of that through the media these days.
This definitely gave me a new perspective on how things are going over there. I suspected there was more 'good' than the media was showing us. I now have proof. Proof from one of our soldiers.

Thursday, June 03, 2004

This just in...

It's God stupid! Evidently it's not the economy or even the war in Iraq that is going to decide the next President. It's whether you went to church last week or not.
A new study in USAToday showed that most people that attend church regularly vote Republican and most people who don't vote Democrat. Hmmm. Wow, that really says a lot I think.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

Day After Tomorrow


I saw it and it saw me. I have no idea what that means. It just sounded good.
Anyway, I saw "The Day After Tomorrow" yesterday. Or was it the day before yesterday? Ah, no, it was the day after the day before yesterday.
I liked it. Others I know didn't like it so much.
I enjoyed it. That is really all that means much to me in seeing a movie. Did it ENTERTAIN me. The science of the movie didn't bother me. I didn't even really think about it all that much to tell the truth. I don't go to the movies and 'believe' everything that is portrayed. I more or less view it all as fiction anyway. Even so, the science of the story was kind of cool I thought. I also enjoyed the special effects. They had me gripping the arms of my chair a few times. It was predictable I will admit. My biggest litmus test as to whether I give a movie the thumbs up or not is if it keeps me 'on the screen'. Meaning if at any time during a movie I 'realize' I am in a movie theatre or start looking around at the decor etc. then I'm not 'on the screen' anymore and that is a problem. This movie kept me engaged. It didn't hurt that one of my favorite actresses was in it!