There are too many similarities here to just ignore.
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This is a letter from a typical person who'se life was ruined by President Bush.
Please Read:
Bush cost me my job, my kids and my houses
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind. I lost my job this past year. When Clinton was president I was secure and prosperous, but in the last year, we had to close our operations. We simply could not compete with foreign labor. This foreign labor worked for low pay under very bad conditions.
They worked very long shifts, and many even died on the job.
This competition could hardly be called "fair." I was forced out of the place where I had worked for 34 years.
Not a single government program was there to help me.
How can Bush call himself "compassionate?" Far worse, I lost two of my sons in Bush's evil war in Iraq. They gave their lives for their country, and for what? So that Bush's oil buddies can get rich. My pain of losing my sons is indescribable.
While it is trivial next to the loss of my sons, I regret to say that I also lost my home. I simply have nothing left. How can Bush call himself a Christian when he neglects people like me? I am a senior citizen with various medical problems. I'm not in a position where I can begin a new career. I was reduced to the point where I had to live in a hole in a ground, all because of President Bush.
And when the authorities found me there, did they have any compassion for my misfortune and ailments? No, I was arrested. Mr. Bush, I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a compassionate man! I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a Christian. If I had any money left, I would donate it to the Democrat Party.
If Al Gore had been elected in 2000 I would still have a job, a home, and most importantly, my dear sons!
Regards,
Saddam Hussein
I have a new poll.
Who will win the SuperBowl?
Go to the left side of my blog, and vote!!
First off, the liberal New York times ran a nice piece on the growth of the economy in the 4th quarter. Though it didn't match the 8% growth in the 3rd quarter, the 4% growth in the 4th quarter was evidence of a strong, growing economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy grew at a 4 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2003 -- a slowdown from the red-hot performance of the prior quarter but still compelling evidence of a recovery in full motion at year's end.
The reading on the gross domestic product for the October-to-December quarter, reported Friday by the Commerce Department, came after the economy grew at a sizzling 8.2 percent rate in the third quarter. That had been the strongest performance in nearly two decades.
Analysts were predicting a slowdown in economic growth in the fourth quarter as the stimulative impact of tax cuts and a refinance frenzy -- which propelled the economy during the summer -- faded with the onset of winter.
Which is true, the economy tends to slow down during the winter. People don't travel as much, don't buy cars, and tend to stay home. Who can blame then with the nast Northeast weather we are experiencing. 4% growth is still good, the only thing we are waiting on is a jobs boom, but that should follow. Just last week for eample we got this good news from Big Blue:
IBM will hire 15,000 new employees--50 percent more than originally planned--in areas such as software and services because of a rebound in the economy, a top executive said Saturday.
It's a start.
Meanwhile President Bush continues to spend like a drunken sailor. He just announced an increase in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts. A program much maligned for it's pork and for the types of art that sometimes comes out of it's grants.
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Thursday proposed an $18 million increase in next year's budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.
The 15-percent boost would be the largest percentage increase in funding that the agency has received in 20 years. It was announced by first lady Laura Bush at the endowment's headquarters in Washington.
I see what he is doing. Between funding AIDS research, pushing for a drug benefit in Medicare, his new immigration plan, and this NEA thing, Bush is trying to take away the pet projects of liberal Democrats.
Trouble is, conservatives don't like him spending like a liberal, and liberals won't give him credit for what he's done.
Despite pledging nearly 20 billion for AIDS work in Africa and around the world, he is still lambasted for it, and even though he promised and delivered a perscription drug benefit for seniors, freeloaders in our society say it's not enough. (these people won't be happy untill all their cares are paid for by you and me, but that's a different post)
It appears like there were no weapons of mass destruction. Chief weapons inspector David Kay did mostly exhonerate the exhonerate the Bush administration saying, while blasting the intelligence community's inability to get good intel.
It turns out that we were all wrong, probably in my judgment, and that is most disturbing.
We're also in a period in which we've had intelligence surprises in the proliferation area that go the other way. The case of Iran, a nuclear program that the Iranians admit was 18 years on, that we underestimated. And, in fact, we didn't discover it. It was discovered by a group of Iranian dissidents outside the country who pointed the international community at the location.
What is distrubing is indeed the fact that our intelligence community got it so wrong, but do you know who to blame? Well, look no further than John F. Kerry and Bill Clinton.
John Kerry had sponsored a bill to cut the CIA budget for intelligence gathering by $1.5 billion. Then after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, he asked why America's intelligence wasn't better.
Bill Clinton was indifferent toward the CIA, and despite CIA Director James Woolsey's request for increases in funding for islamic language translators and a shift to focus on that region, Clinton scoffed.
Scoffed indeed.
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I enjoy smoking cigars. I might have mentioned that. The ironic thing is that I detest cigarettes.
Cigarettes are an addictive drug delivery system for Nicotine. Cigars, on the other hand, are a flavorful way to enjoy life. The difference would be someone who enjoys and drinks coffee for the enjoyment of the cup versus someone who pops No-Doz. I know many cigarette smokers, and not a single one talks about the complex flavors of their Marlboro Lights. They are not an item to be savored, instead they are ingested to fill a physiological need. |
That brings me back to cigars. Cigar smoking is a way to enjoy your time. The varying flavors, qualities, styles, shapes, and sizes can keep a cigar lover busy trying the tens of thousands of smokes for years to come. Most cigar smokers do not smoke because of addiction, but do so because of love of smoke. Much like wine lovers love to drink wine because of it's taste.
I am not alone, there are millions of cigar smokers in the US. Everday Americans love cigars, but there are many famous people who love them. Some include Rush Limbaugh, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Harrison Ford, and Demi Moore. It's almost a national obsession.
Cigar smoking also has it's own rites and rituals. Most cigar smokers share these rites, but everyone does their own thing more or less.
I enjoy smoking my cigars while I work and blog. As I write this I am enjoying a Drew Estate Clean Robusto, my current favorite.
One thing that irks me is when people try to ban smoking. In New York, smoking in bars and restaurants is illegal. In fact, even many previously established "Cigar Bars" were force to close, or jump through many costly time consuming hoops to get exemptions.
And now the smoking nazi's are at it again. A bill before the U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee could outlaw the shipping of cigars through the U.S. mail. The Senate has already passed its version of the legislation, and major cigar retailers and the Cigar Association of America are lobbying to keep it from being passed.
The bill, known as the Internet Tobacco Sales Enforcement Act, or HR 2824, went to the House Judiciary Committee after the passage of the Senate's Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, or S. 1177 in December. Championed by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in June, the PACT Act was introduced to prevent cigarette smuggling and ensure the proper collection of cigarette taxes. The bill was changed in its final stages when it was expanded to include all tobacco products -- including cigars -- and would prohibit the shipment of all tobacco products through the U.S. mail. With the passage of S. 1177, a similar bill was brought forward to the House Judiciary Committee -- HR 2824.
Why is it so hard for governments to allow a privately owned restaurants to cater to the clientelle they wish to? Why can't a restaurant which wants to be smoke free while a bar or restaurant which wants to cater to smokers continue to do so? And for people who may want to try various different smokes not available at their local smoke shop, why shouldn't they be able to buy cigars from the internet and through mail-order?
Smoking isn't that bad, it shouldn't be a crime. It is merely something enjoyes much like drinking alcohol, or enjoying a good meal.
I like what Winston Churchill, a famous cigar smoker, said about smoking when told he was not allowed to smoke at a state event:
"I must point out that my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after, and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them".
Is that too much to ask?
I hate Ted Kennedy. He's a drunked fuckwad. I just wanted to share this.
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Teddy the red-nosed senator
Had a very shiny car
And if you ever saw it
You were probably at a bar.
All of the other senators
Wondered how he got his dames
They thought he drank too many
To play in any bedroom games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, |  |
I find it amusing at the total volume of virus e-mail which I am receiveing. THe MyDoom Virus is spreading. There is no doubt
Since Monday I guess, I have received about 10 e-mails a day which said that an e-mail I tried to send could not be sent, and that I should click on the attachment to see why. A few of them said I had a virus, and an e-mail I sent had the virus. They all said to click on the attachment harmlessly called e-mail.zip or message.zip. Yeah right, even with OS X, I don't go there.
The only way to be sent the MyDoom virus is to have some dumbass that has you in their address book to open it, and open the attachment. Usually you can't find that dumbass and yell at them for being stupid because the virus is smart enough to disguise where it came from. Instead of your friend Joe at joebob@msn.com or something, it says fred@jiggy.au. Try to figure that out.
I never open an attachment from someone I don't know, and even if I do know them, I usually use my virus scan to check it for viruses.
For all the bitching people do about spam, there are a lot of people who respond to it, evidenced by the fact that spam exists. (Basic economics suggest you don't continue something that doesn't make money). I think these are the same people who open attachments which are unsolicited, and often contain viruses.
They just open up emails, click on every link they see, gleefully smiling like an idiot. And this despite the fact that you continually hear on the news not to do that.
These are the type of people who grab the red hot dinner plate immediately after they are told not to touch it by the waitstaff.
So in case you are infected, a simple anti-virus update and run will cure you. If you don't have an anti-virus program. Get off the internet, you are causing more harm than good.
Okay, since Rachel Lucas isn't posting anymore, I guess we need to pick up the slack and start showing pictures of our dogs.
Here is one from today my wife took of me and Oreo right after I came in from throwing snow.
I wouldn't mind being on Mars right now. Chances are they don't have the type of pain in the ass weather we've had here in PA.
We got some snow Monday, ice Tuesday, and 10 inches of snow last night.
Its a mess. I did go for a nice ride on my 4 wheeler. I went about 20 miles on the back country roads untouched yet by snowplow.
Regarding Mars, I found an interesting link from
Today in "Identifying Common Liberals 101" I want to show you what angry lefties look like. Lefties are often young, urban, trendy latte drinking shit throwers.
For lack of good ideas, they make up for it in shrillness and rude, innane comments.
Take Tekwh0re's Blog This totally wacked out person is a prime example of a pissed off liberal.
They drink a lot of wine, and talk about poetry and other bullshit.
Though they claim to love America and the Constitution, they are all about bad mouthing the NRA. The love to point out the fact that GW Bush didn't get the most votes, again ignoring the Electoral College (which is in the Constitution).
We just adopted a dog!!
Her name is Oreo, she is a 2 1/2 year old Poodle/Terrier/Shih Tzu mix.
Isn't she adorable?
The reason she is sitting next to a soup can is because my mother-in-law always asks to see pictures next to something she knows what size it is so she has an idea how big they are, so, that's why.
Statia over at Pizza Dreaming has a term for what I experienced last night. My grandmother called it "seeing your ancestors". It is basically when you have really fucked up dreams after eating yummy fattening food.
Last night I ate at this scary chinese restaurant. It was about 8 pm, and in this little town near me called Shenandoah (prounounced Chen doh!). We were the only ones in there, and since it was a buffet, it frightened me as that the food probably had been sitting there since the Tet Offensive.
Also frighteningly, one family who did enter while we were eating had to leave abruptly when two of the people in their party got sick after their first plate of Lo Mein.
Well, I didn't get sick, but I did have this really messed up dream.
I had this dream where I had to eat worms at the superbowl to win a million dollars. Not only that, but I had to do it at the top of a sliding board and then slide down the boad into turkey gravey.
 | Now, I don't know what that means, but for some reason it leads me to believe that I am seriously disturbed in some sort of subconscience level.
If anyone knows what dreams mean, by all means forward me an explanation, untill then, I will just assume that I should not eat ancient chinese food from shady establishments for fear of Pizza Dreams. |
Happy Birthday Macintosh!!
Happy 20th Birthday, Macintosh
January 24 - 10:39 EST Twenty years ago, on January 24, 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh. The machine—which introduced the first mass-market graphical user interface, mouse and 3.5-inch floppy drive—revolutionized the computer industry and changed millions of lives. Find below a collection of articles and special reports on the 20th anniversary of the Mac.
Foxnews has a story about the influence of Blogs on this year's campaign.
Here's an excerpt:
"A blog's not going to have the same reach as a Washington Post or USA Today or an AP article," said Cameron Barrett, a longtime blogger now with Wesley Clark's (search) campaign. "But it does have reach, and people consistently go to online blogs to find information that traditional media ignore."
Blogs are collections of links and ideas, usually frequently updated. Their most recent entries are on top, and readers can generally post comments. Blogs are increasingly popular, and the software behind them gets friendlier to use by the day.
For Marshall, who has written for such print publications as The American Prospect, blogs let him mix news, opinion and personal observations with no meddling from an editor.
Blogs are the people, back to what the internet was way back in the early 1990s. I remember in college in the early 90s. The internet was a way for people to communicate, share their ideas. In the late 90s the boom of internet companies all but put an end to that, but now thanks to Blogs, people are communicating more than ever, and even have things to say about political campaigns.
From News Reports:
OMAHA, Neb. — Officials disciplined students who papered their nearly all-white high school with posters advocating a white student from South Africa for the school's "Distinguished African American Student Award."
Peggy Rupprecht, spokeswoman for the Westside Community Schools district, said administrators at Westside High School discovered more than a hundred of the posters throughout the school first thing Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"The content of the posters, they believed, was inappropriate and insensitive to some members of our school community," Rupprecht said.
So this boy is not an African American? Is he not from Africa? If a person came to America, but was born in say, Italy, would they not be considered an Italian-American?
Is it not safe to assume that if you were African born, but moved to this country later, could they not be African-American?
I say he has more of a right to be called African-American than most "black" people who call themselves African-Americans because of the simple fact that he was from Africa!
Did you see Kennedy during the State of the Union? Everytime they showed him he was shaking his fat red face in disgust.
What is this guy's malfunction? I like what Glenn Beck said, he probably was shaking his head because he hadn't had a drink for 10 minutes and he was also h earing dead women's voices.
For one thing he was shaking his head when Bush talked about his education plan which was co-authored by Teddy himself.
And as far as the Democratic response; talk about smug. They had Nancy Pelosi and Tom Daschle. Nancy looked like her eyes were glued open and Tom looked like he was talking down to a person he hates (The American People).
I like the quote from Nancy, something about being a light for the world, and not a missle.
What the fuck does that mean anyway?
I got Garage Band with my copy of iPhoto and iTunes. At first I thought it would be a total waste of space on my hard drive, that is until I heard Howard Dean do his thing.
I wrote a brief song about Howard Dean, and you can hear it here. I just re-saved it as MP3. Have fun.
| Howard Dean really blew his top this time. Do you think something is wrong with him? Go to my left sidebar and vote in my poll.
What is wrong with Howard Dean? |
From Syracuse Post Standard:
Damon's Party House in Cicero is the first bar in Onondaga County - and possibly the first in the state - to win a waiver allowing tobacco smoking inside its premises because of financial hardship.
Damon's was granted a one-year smoking-ban waiver Friday by county Health Commissioner Dr. Lloyd Novick after presenting evidence it had lost approximately 40 percent of its bar business in three months. The state's smoking ban took effect July 24.
This is a common problem facing restaurants, bars, and other establishments who have had draconian regulations enforced upon them in the name of public health.
These public health zealots are forcing these privately owned establishments to disallow smoking. Many of these establishments are bars who cater to a professional after work crowd. These people enjoy a cigar or cigarette with their cocktail, and with the enforcement of these laws they are required to either smoke outside, or just go home to smoke.
If he would allow smoking to be present, his bar would be subject to highly punative fines, and possibly even revokation of their liquor license.
Before getting a waiver, Damon's was one of five bars in Onondaga County to be fined for violating the law, which prohibits smoking indoors at almost every worksite in the state. Damon's was fined $250 earlier this month after health department inspectors said they saw customers smoking cigarettes in the tavern. Damon said he will pay the fine.
His tavern, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, lost most of its regular customers after the smoking ban became effective July 24, Damon said.
His patrons - generally an older happy-hour crowd - drifted away as the weather got cold because they didn't want to have to go outside to smoke, said Damon, who smokes just under a pack a day. Damon said he hopes his regulars return now.
Is smoking bad? Yes. Though I sometimes smoke cigars. Other times I appreciate a place to eat where they do not allow smoking. But when I want to smoke, I want to be able to find a bar or restaurant that allows smoking.
The point is, it should be my choice. My choice to choose an establishment that allows or disallows smoking. It is also up to the owner. He or she owns the place, and THEY should make the decisions on things like this.
It is not the government's or public official's place in this world to watch over and regulate every possible thing that can hurt us. The world is full of danger, it is my place to watch out for it, not Uncle Sam's.
Dean apparently gets nervous about dealing with responsibility.
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 3:06 p.m. EST
Dean Details Treatment for Anxiety Attacks
Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean offered more details this week on psychological counseling he underwent for anxiety attacks suffered in the 1980s - and revealed that he had a panic attack the day he took over as governor of Vermont 13 years ago.
Reacting to news of Gov. Richard Snelling's death in August 1991, Dean told People magazine, "I hyperventilated and I started hyperventilating and I thought, You better stop that or you won't be much good to anybody."
The panic attack was understandable, Dean said. "To suddenly get told that you have responsibility for 600,000 people — it provokes a little anxiety."
Dean's history of anxiety attacks goes back to the early 1980s, when he said he sought counseling for the problem.
Wow, apparently he has trouble with responsiblity. He was worried about caring for 600,000 people. I hope I never get the chance to see how he deals with 290 Million. And it's not like Vermont has to deal with foreign countries. The French Alone could cause you to have seizures.
So this guy is a lightweight. It's not new news. From off the cuff remarks, to yelling at old men, this guy is not the guy to be in a national office.
Even if you agree with his beliefs, this guy does not have the constitution (or desire to follow the Constitution) to be President.
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First we have Boots. Boots is a
purebred Maine Coon Cat we adopted from a shelter after his previous
caretaker died. He is friendly and HUGE!! He sometimes comes up behind you and digs his claws into your but when you arent' looking. He is tall enough to reach up to your stomach when he comes up to you. His nickname is "Big Boy" |
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This is Nittany. We have had her for about a year. She is very sweet and loves to have her tummy rubbed. Some people call her "Crazy Claws" because she like to play rough, but its just fun for her. She play bites, and then likes you to make you feel better. Her nickname is "wee wee" because she is small. |
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This is our Guinea Pig, Jimmy Pig. When we first got him we thought he was a girl and named him Penelope. Now he still thinks he's a girl. |
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About Me Faq Return Home |
This is our newest addition, Oreo. We adoted her from the local SPCA. |
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For the person who wants to be totally informed when it comes to the upcoming Presidential election, I urge you to visit Politics 1. It has information on almost everybody running for President from the Republicans and Democrats to the various crazy "Third Party Candidates". Here is an example of a crazy.
 Jack and his 'companion' in homemade uniforms | This is Jack Grimes
He is running for President as a Fascist. He is the leader of the United Fascist Union. Jack Grimes -- who previously ran for President as a write-in candidate in 2000 -- bills himself as the "Leader and Director of the United Fascist Union." As for his use of the word "Fascist," Grimes explains he wants to restore a New World Order based upon the governmental style of Imperial Rome "to institute a military dictatorship form of government over the Earth." Grimes believes that "the psychic is the next great step in the evolution of humankind on this planet." |
Weird huh?
From a Reuters story
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - To a young generation of Americans, Jon Stewart may as well be Walter Cronkite.
A new study has confirmed recent surveys that suggest an increasing number of young adults are using late-night comedy and talk shows as their primary vehicle for getting their news, particularly about politics and the 2004 election.
Those same people are turning away from traditional media outlets, such as newspapers and broadcast network evening newscasts in favor of the Internet and cable news networks, according to the Pew Research Center report, which queried 1,506 adults between Dec. 19 and Jan. 4.
No wonder there are people out there who think Bush is a Nazi or that the tax cuts are 'for the rich' or other catchphrases. These people, I hear them a lot, they spout a lot of nonsense, rhetoric really, and this explains where some of their ideas come from. Here are some excerpts from late night monologues:
Kilborn
Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill says that President Bush was often disengaged and was easily distracted. In response to the statements President Bush today said, "Fruit Rollups rule!”
Leno
I’m not sure if Bush understands the intricacies of space travel. Yesterday he asked President Fox if Mexico has a moon, too.
I understand that these are just jokes, and they are harmless, but when you don't understand the context and if this is the only place for young people to get their news, that is disturbing.
Also disturbing are the softball interviews given to most guests. Liberal and Conservative alike. Guests are free to promote their agenda and influence young misinformed minds with diatribe and lies.
The fact remains, though, that there are traditionally more liberal leaning guests on these talk shows leads which leads to more liberal points of view being discussed.
The point is that a lot of people out there who spout opinions don't read newspapers or don't watch regular news. They get their news from comics or left or right wing only web-sites. They don't make their own ideas or know what a real thought is. They mistake passion or a lot of talk for true ideas.
These people are indeed the uninformed electorate.
Whenver I try to work, I have this large cat sitting on my desk, refusing to let me do my work.
People have been reading my blog since it's inception will probably recognize this post. It's about turnpikes, and why I think they should eliminate the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and more importantly the PA Turnpike Commission. The reason I am posting it again is becasue the PA turnpike commission is passing a toll increase on the turnpike from 4.1 cents a mile to 5.9 cents a mile, rounded up to the closest .25 cents. It is an old road, and past it's time. It's like a rotary phone you pay for every month on your phone bill. It's a throwback to a different time. A time that should be forgotten.
Here's what I had to say 4 months ago:
I've about had it with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. More importantly, I hate the PA Turnpike Commission. In case you don't know, the turnpike is a toll road. You pay 4.1 cents per mile to drive on it. This throwback to the early days of interstate travel is past it's prime. The toll booths should be bulldozed, and the civil servant leaders at the commission should be sent to hold signs at PennDot.
Right now the Turnpike Commission is seeking to raise its per mile rate to compensate for rebuilding the aging road first opened over 60 years ago. The last toll increase was in 1991. But what do we get for these tolls?
The answer is, nothing spectacular. In its prime it was a marvel. A feat of engineering. It's just an old highway now. The road is bumpy and crumbling. If you stop at the travel plazas scattered along the state-wide 4-laner, you will pay rediculous prices for gasoline, and eat mediocre overpriced food. As I speak, the current rate for gasoline on the turnpike is about 15 cents a gallon more than that off the turnpike. A Burger King value meal is about $1.50 more on the turnpike than off.
The big wigs at the commission say the high food and gas prices is to compensate for increased costs of being open 24 hours. Well, many gas stations are open 24 hours, and they don't overcharge. Most restaurants located in travel plazas aren't even open 24 hours, so they have no excuse. Its just plain exploitation of a captive audience. They gotcha captive, and they may as well squeeze some more money from you.
In this day and age most of our highways are paid for with gasoline taxes and fees on auto registration and so forth. So why does this pay-as-you-go road still exist? Why are we paying twice, once with taxes and once with tolls, to support a road, where other superior roads are "free"?
I am further disgusted becuase our beloved hated governor Edward G. Rendell supports this toll increase. This comes after an income tax increase, cigarette tax increase, and newly mandated emmissions inspections which alone will cost $45 a year. All of these, and more, took efect January 1st.
For people who never drive the turnpike, this is a mute point. For a frequent turnpike traveler it's terrible. For many small businesses who rely on this road, this could be a killer. Between the numerous tax and fee increases, this toll increase could cause businesses to leave Pennsylvania.
All in all, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are throwbacks to a time when there were no highways, it was a grand experiement that was brilliant at the time. But now the petri dish needs washed out as the experiment has turned into some kind of funky furry mess that costs too much to feed, and keeps wanting more and more.
So I had a toothache. Having not been to the dentist in a while I decided to get it checked out. Turns out I had a cavity. Just a little one, and was actuall caused by the tooth being damaged by a previous cavity filling which chipped a piece of enamel off my tooth and made it get a cavity.
Of course the traditional Novocaine didn't work. Three shots and 30 minutes waiting did not numb the tooth. The drill caused pain, and so the doctor rolled out the big needle. Instead of shooting me around the tooth, he injected a huge shot of Novocaine right into the back of my mouth, and into the nerve. 10 minutes later I had a totally numb face, head, teeth...everything.
The drilling was done, and was charge $75 bucks for my visit. The reason I paid the money is because I don't have dental insurance. The miracle thing is that I actually was taken care of. In a day and age when we are told about the numbers of people who are uninsured and stuff, I realized that lack of medical insurance does not mean you will lack healthcare.
People fall into the trap of believing that just because you don't have health insurance you can't get health care.
I think the only thing you really need is catostrophic coverage. For the occasional visit to the doctors where he checks your BP, weight, height and asks how you are feeling I don't think you should use insurance for it. For one, it makes you go to the doctors less, reducing paperwork and reliance on the insurance companies. Since you are paying with money, it will promote competition between doctors to give you the best rate for regular office visits.
By not paying out of pocket for these sort of things you never see the bill, and doctor fees can be raised because you don't pay for it.
My old employer offerd dental insurance at the price of 100 dollars a month for coverage. Since I have not gone to the dentist in about 3 years, they would have paid $3,600 for a $75 exam.
Where is the logic in that?
Howard Dean loves to sing. Here he is singing his favorite song. I've included the lyrics so you know what he is singing.
 | Sing to the Motherland, home of the free, Bulwark of peoples in brotherhood strong. O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people, To Communism's triumph lead us on! |
Howard Dean apparently didn't like to be challanged by a man who does not appreciate his (Dean's) rhetoric. Dean let him know about his displeasure at being second guessed.
Dale Ungerer, a retiree from Hawkeye, Iowa, lectured Dean for nearly three minutes near the end of a forum aimed at winning voters for Iowa's Jan. 19 caucuses.
Ungerer accused Dean and other Democratic presidential hopefuls of dividing the country by bashing Bush instead of outlining their own plans and showing respect for authority.
"Please tone down the garbage, the mean mouthing, the tearing down of your neighbor and being so pompous," Ungerer told the former Vermont governor and Democratic front-runner. "You should help your neighbor and not tear him down."
 "Sit down old mother fuckin bastard!! Why don't you go and eat some soup and take a nap" Responded Dean to criticism |
Dean then angrily responded by saying "Sit down!, you've had your say, and now I am going to have mine!" Do you have any doubt that this guy is a loose cannon? This guy is a far left angry liberal. The only reason he is doing so well is because of a campaign fueled by unintelligent liberal "children" who never had to really work to support themselves and a family. They mistake "passion" for "policy" |
I was playing around with my .Mac account, and they have this program called iBlog. Apparently it's like a non web-based version of Moveable type.
My cat, Boots has his own Blog on my .mac account. Take a look.
It's just for fun.
Update
So far, iBlog sucks, I can't for the life of me figure out the templates and stylesheets. I've worked on blogger, moveabletype and typepad, so I shouldn't have that much trouble.
How is this for the pot calling the kettle black?
A senior microsoft manager came out in an interview saying that the recently announced deal where HP computers would sell the popular iPod and have links to the iTunes digital store a deal which would hurt customer choice.
"Windows is about choice, you can mix and match all of this stuff," said David Fester, general manager of Microsoft's Windows digital media division. "We believe you should have the same choice when it comes to music services."
Windows is about choice? It took a court order for computer hardware makers to be allowed to take the Internet Explorer icon off their desktop.
As usual, Microsoft is behind the 8 ball in the innovation front, and have plans to offer a music store through their MSN service later this year.
A Dell spokesman also said that he thinks it will hurt consumers because customers will want industry standard choices.
So let me get this straight, ACC and MP3 aren't industry standards while Windows Media are? Until Microsoft decided to push thier own digital media standard (WMV), MP3 and ACC were close to being universally accepted standards.
I think that the big guys like Microsoft and Dell are shocked to see that some other company has come up with an idea that has actually brought innovation and new gizmos to the desirious computer buyers.
Apple computer only has about 5% of the market share. In order for Apple to survive they need foresight and have to continually innovate. The big guys can continue to offer 6 month old technology and consumers are stuck with it.
I have disagreed with Apple in the past, but in the end, I must admit that their decisions are good for the company and good for technology.
The branding of their iPod to be sold as an HP product will further bring high technology digital music players to more and more people.
And so what if the little guy beats the big guys to the punch and offers truly innovative technolgy instead of stagnation?
To take a page from Frank I want to have a picture gallery of freedom.
I ask you to send pictures with your best freedom pictures. Send me pictures of you with any kind of self protection device or something like that to
psugrad98 at mac dot com
Below are some examples from my private enclave of awesomeness.
 Me with my trusty Glock 17. It has nightsights and the clip holds 17 rounds |  Here is a picture of my wife shooting clay pigeons. |
This comes from the Chicago Sun Times:
First, a Chicago man was charged with burglarizing a Wilmette man's home twice. Now the Wilmette homeowner, who shot the intruder, is charged with firearms violations.
On Thursday, Hale DeMar, 54, was arrested for allegedly violating the North Shore suburb's ordinance banning handgun ownership. DeMar also was charged with failing to renew his Illinois firearm owner's identification card, which expired in 1988.
Both charges are misdemeanors. A law enforcement source said it was unlikely DeMar would receive any jail time.
Wilmette Police Chief George Carpenter defended his decision to enforce the village's handgun ban, which took effect in 1989.
"Wilmette homes are much safer without a handgun, even if this situation on Linden [Avenue] last week was replicated," he said.
But Todd Vandermyde, spokesman for the National Rifle Association, gave Wilmette police a mixed review.
"As far as the FOID card goes, the law is on the books, and you have to comply with it," Vandermyde said. "He was clearly in violation of the law."
Vandermyde criticized the village ban on handguns, yet he acknowledged that Carpenter was required to enforce the ordinance.
"Obviously we think it is ludicrous to charge someone for defending his family, but you have to stand behind the laws, no matter how ridiculous the situation, or take them off the books," he said.
Carpenter said he does not think the law will come off the books any time soon, though. He said e-mails and conversations with residents have reflected their support for the ordinance.
DeMar, a restaurant owner, shot Morio Billings, 31, on Dec. 29 after Billings allegedly used stolen keys to enter the house and set off a security alarm. Billings crashed through a front window to escape.
Billings had previously sneaked into the house through a dog door and stole DeMar's BMW sport-utility vehicle as well as a television and a ring of keys. Billings, a convicted thief, was arrested at a hospital where he parked the BMW, police said.
After the shooting, police seized a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and a .380-caliber Llama Especiale handgun from DeMar.
What can I say. This is totally fucked up. This is a two part piss me off story. First when they say the suburb's ordinance of banning firearms I would assume that this is a homeowners association rule. These pain in the ass two-bit politicians who run these associations should but out and let me live my life, in my house, in my way.
That's why I live in the country. I own my house and I am free from some halfwit ninny do-gooder telling me I can't burn trash or that I can only hang out laundry on Saturdays or something.
Second, the assertion that homes are safer without a gun in the house must indicate that they are able to instantaneously transport thier police to my house in times of crisis.
Oh, wait, the only place a transport beam exists is on Star Trek. So I guess when a madman breaks into my house, I can obey the law and call the police. In the meantime, I will be dead, my wife will be raped and my cats boiled in a pot.
 Doesn't this guy look like a born loser? | Meanwhile asshats like the police chief are allowed to own guns to protect themselves. Or I can break this assinin law, cap the motherfucker and put him out of his miserable existance and save my tax money from paying for this guy to get a sexchange operation while in prison. |
What is wrong with Dean. He is some sort of loose cannon. For like the 15th time during his candidacy something he said has come back to bite him.
This time it is a comment made in 1998 about the Iowa Caucus.
“If you look at the caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests in both parties,” he said. “[And] the special interests don't represent the centrist tendencies of the American people. They represent the extremes. And then you get a president who is beholden to either one extreme or the other, and where the average person is in the middle.”
When comfronted with the issue he said this:
"If I knew then what I know now ...
"Iowa has been very good to me. I couldn't run for president if I didn't have Iowa," Dean told Fox News before leaving the scene.
So much for shooting from the hip.
He also made comments in 2000 about how he thought George W. Bush was a "moderate"
"George Bush, I believe, is in his soul a moderate."
Dean now calls Bush a "radical."
What is wrong with this guy? Seriously. He is frighteningly bad at keeping his mouth shut. I believe that this shows this guy is a lightweight. This isn't even close to President Bush speaking poorly or saying abonobablebleble instead of abonobable.
It's frightening.
From a Foxnews.com Story
NEW YORK — A campaign to market a new line of condoms to teens has some people wondering if it's conveying a message that condom use — and, in essence, sex — is cool for kids.
Jimmie Hatz condoms (search) — "jimmie hat" is a hip-hop slang word for condom — are slated to hit some store shelves Feb. 1 and are aimed at urban teens across the country. The company that produces the condoms says it's promoting safe sex, but critics decry the idea of marketing contraceptives directly to teens in a way that seems "hip."
Basically, what we've tried to do here is make it the cool thing to do, the 'in' thing to do, to protect yourself," said Harry Terrell, CEO of Common Ground USA (search), which produces the condoms.
The marketing campaign targets what Common Ground calls the "hip-hop kulture," particularly in minority communities that are hardest hit with HIV and AIDS. That culture is defined as any group of people — regardless of race — that enjoys emceeing, deejaying, breakdancing "or just loves music," Terrell said.
When you look at the numbers and the rate of infection continues to rise within the minority population, they're having sex," Terrell said. "We say abstinence is the only way that you're going to be OK. But the fact of the matter is, we can't hide and think that they're going to stop having sex."
To appeal to youth, the condoms are named "Great Dane" and "Rottweiler" and come in shiny wrappers adorned with a cartoon dog wearing a thick gold chain.
This is a tough topic to talk about. I don't think young teens should be having sex, but the United States has one of the higher rates of teen pregnancy in the western world.
Kids have gone wild, and there are stories about wild kids everywhere
With diseases like AIDS out there, you want people to be protected. Condom's are very effective against HIV transmission, despite what the Pope says.
As a conservative, it would be too easy for me to blame the parents, or just say teens shouldn't be having sex, and condemn this marketing of condoms to children.
But the realist in me who works in the prevention field knows better. I know that teens will always have sex. Talking about sex or giving them options regarding safe sex will not increase the number of kids who have sex. Just like having drug and alcohol prevention and education programs will not make kids want to go out and smoke Marijuana.
I think we need common sense education about sex. Kids need to know what sex is all about, what the risks are and how to protect yourself. We also need to stress that the only truly safe option is abstinence.
In this debate you can't let your moral beliefs get in the way. Common sense discussoins on sex and realistic attitudes regarding sex are the only way to address the issue.
Teen pregnancy and HIV infections are the alternative of ignoring the subject entirely.
Howard Dean, M.D. That is what his campaign loves to play up, the fact that Howard Dean is a doctor. And it's obvious why. A doctor should know what to do about healthcare when problems arise.
Dean even goes so far as to tout his record as Governor at controlling out of pocket costs and keeping people insured. According to his campaign, he cites 96% of children have health insurance, and 90% of the total population have health coverage. The dirty lie is that it wasn't really a problem when he took over.
When Dr. Dean took over as Governor the number of uninsured was about 9.5%, and about 9.6% when he left office, but due to massive regulation that number nearly doubled during his term. Due to the legislature's passage of guaranteed issue and cost ratings on rates due to age and not health status, premiums rose and health insurers left the state in record numbers.
To combat the problem he initiated massive price controls on insurance companies, set control on budgets of hospitals, and form a massive new government agency to do it all.
Again, it had the reverse effect, costs rose, profit margins fell, and insurance companies lost money had over fist, prompting more and more companies to flee the state.
His idea was simple, expand Medicaid, the medical assistance company for the poor. (Whereas Medicare is medical care for the elderly). To do this all he took bags full of money from the federal government. He doubled the rolls of Medicaid to about 20% of the population. This did indeed bring down the number of uninsured to the exact numbers that existed before any government regulation. But instead of free market prices, high costs lead to the programs costing more than if they were freely available though a free enterprise market.
Furthermore, the whole mess was paid for partly with huge tax increases, but mostly through federal subsidies. This in effect lead to non Vermont residences paying the bill for the healthcare of Vermonters.
He has the same plans for The United States if he is elected. Though he won't have a larger cash stream (the Federal Government) to pay for his ideas. He will be the Federal Government.
Though this may indeed increase the number of those who have insurance, it will far be outweighed by the huge tax increases and regulation that will be needed.
It will also serve to make the healthcare industry less profitable leading to less innovation, research, and fewer jobs.
Again, I ask. Do you see any similarities between these two fools?
 |  |
I have about had it with Macs, actually computers in general. I don't like Windows because it isn't that great an OS, though I have little experience with XP, and now am beginning to hate my mac, thanks in part to the shrewd business practices of Steve Jobs.
First off, Macs are expensive, but are worth it for the quality design, and smooth running OS and application integration.
When OS 8.6 was first offered they had a service they touted as a perk to owning a mac, a free service called iTools. With a @mac.com email address and a few features, it was woth the 0 price tag. Then, during a Macworld Expo he announced for the same shotty service you had to pay $99 a year for it.
Then there were three costly updates to OS X. First the patetic OS X 10 was introduced, then after a while a $129 update to 'Jaguar', and then only a year later another $129 update to 'Panther'.
A free "perk" to owning OS X was some iLife applications such as iPhoto, to view and manage photos, iTunes to manage your music, among others. They advertised them as part of the Mac experience.
Well, today is was the keynote at the Macworld expo, and Steve Jobs has again showed his contempt for the people who have made Apple profitable again. He announced that although the iLife software will continue to be offered for new computer buyers, those of us who have older computers are out of luck, and will have to pay $49 for the iLife suite, which includes the hugely popular iPhoto.
So I, with my computer which is only 3 months old, can never get the updates to iPhoto (the only iLife program I run other than iTunes) unless I buy the whole suite. I cannot use iMovie or iDVD because I don't have a digital camcorder or DVD writer. They also include some stupid program called GarageBand so I can make my own music, but I have zero desire for that.
So in a page taken out of Bill Gate's playbook, they take a program you like, which was free, bundle it with annother 3 or 4 which you don't want, and charge you for it. One size fits no one.
Why should I pay for programs I don't want, need, or can't run? Why do Apple users put up with it? It is one is a long line of decisions by the bully from Cupertino which will only alienate Mac fans, and if gone too far, will destroy Apple.
Do you see any similarities between these two fools?
| |
Do you remember the video game "Lemmings"? You control these lemmings and they do whatever the main one does. I like sending them to their deaths by falling off a cliff. Well that is exactly what the Democrats are doing now by following Howard Dean as he moves the Democratic party out of the mainstream and into the far left fringes of American Politics.
The newest Democrat to endorse Howard Dean is none other than Bill Bradley.
Foxnews.com
HARLES CITY, Iowa — Former Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley endorsed Howard Dean on Monday, giving the former Vermont governor another boost in the Democratic race for president.
Dean's "campaign offers American new hope," Bradley said. "His supporters are breathing fresh air into the lungs of our democracy. They're revitalizing politics.
This Howard Dean really freaks me out. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, spent his summers in a all-white and no Jews allowed country club, had a live in nurse, and was very well-off.
In a recent interview from her three bedroom Park Avenue apartment Howard Dean's mother, Andree said
"Howard didn't have the least bit of a glamorous upbringing.''
She noted that everytime she had a child they had to convert the dining room into a nursey to accomodate his live in nurse.
As many limosine liberals who were given everything in their life, they actually believe that money does grow on trees. They feel sorry for those of us who have to work for a living and think higher taxes are justified even though they hurt those who are supposed to be helped by their socialist programs.
Dean has basically promised to repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts and even go beyond that to support his liberal agenda despite the fact that partially due to these despised tax cuts we are experiencing economic growth not experienced in 20 years. (20 years ago was also about a year after President Reagan's tax cuts).
Dean and his supporters are angry, bitter, and in some ways Anti-American. They hate the success of President Bush because they wrote him off as a dumb southerner. They have moved the Democratic party so far to the left that when their agenda is taken away from liberal bastions like New England, New York, and L.A. they will get trounced, and the once proud Democratic party will be a shell of itself.
Every once in a while I get these really deep thoughts, then my head starts to hurt so I stop. Usually it's about the nature of the universe or something.
For example.
Why does the Universe exist? What purpose does it have? Where did it all begin?
Do you realize how big the Universe is? Well, if you shined a flashlight across our Galazy (The Milky Way) from one side to the other, it would take the light 100,000 years to get to the other side. It would take 3,000 years for the light to get from one edge of the bulge to the other. It would take 25,000 years for light to get from this Galaxy to the next, which we are also colliding with.
There are millions of galaxys in our universe. But where is the Universe? Most experts agree that our universe is expanding at the speed of light. But what is it expanding into? Is it expanding into anything? If you could get to the end of the universe, what would be past that plane and what is it? Is it matter? Or is it totally nothing, and the expansion of the universe causes something to be there.
Just remember that you're standing on a planet
That's evolving
And revolving
At nine thousand miles an hour.
It's orbiting at nineteen miles a second,
so it's reckoned,
'Round the sun that is the source of all our power.
Now the sun, and you and me,
and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm,
at fourteen thousand miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred million stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle
sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us
it's just three thousand light-years wide.
We're thirty thousand light-years
From Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.
I've been a very bad blogger. I've neglected to vote in my required votes for new blog showcase.
I am voting today for Banning Smokers posted by Self Composed.
Hello again, I thought I'd share with you a few pictures from my trip to Philly to see the Mummers.
 To commerate the Mummers return to Broad Street, they featured some Flyers Alums. Here are two alums from the 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup teams. |  Here is the captain of the Greater Overbrook String Band strutting his stuff. |
