Shiavo & GOP Politics
I've sort of tried to avoid this whole Terri Shiavo thing, especially since I had some disagreement over it with someone whose ideas I greatly respect. Suffice to say whenever I asked anyone 'What if that has you and not Terri?' The answer was always 'I wouldn't want to be kept alive like that.' But if you also then ask would you like to be staved to death in that case, you get nowhere near a universal answer. However just to make it clear, No I don't want to live that way; Yes go ahead and stop feeding me; No, I have no idea if I could make that decision about someone else, particularly a family member. I never pretended to know what her family should have done, but now that part is over. A real tragedy all around.
Being the political creature I tend to be, the really disgusting part about the whole damn affair was as usual the politicians and the news media. The congressional Republicans (the party of which I'm part, but often embarrassed by these days) completely abandoned all principles of the GOP to prove they are now just the lapdogs of the religious right. No regard of the federal constitution, the rights of the states or the separation of powers. Bravo for the federal judiciary for backing the state of Florida courts who had reviewed this case up one side and down the other. Most shameful of all is the way the Bushes and the republican leaders backed away as soon as they realized just how unpopular their buttinsky stand was.
I really long for a GOP that would learned to be it's old self. The old fiscal conservative with a social MYOB. Learn to Butt Out! It's hard to get moderates to act up like the extremes of political parties, just by definition. I really think the religious faction is driving us to become the libertarians we act like. We either need to do that or to make it clear to the GOP leaders that we don't want them humping the leg of some preacher. You don't speak for most of us when you do that.
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Ebay Again
Well Ebay and GoldenPalace.com, the online casino now famous for purchasing the 'Virgin Mary Cheese Sandwich', have struck again. After last week puchasing the rights to name the king and queen of the
Conconully Testicle Festival they have now purchased via ebay the right to rename a women
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/31/golden_palace_rebrand/
Kinda reminds me of the old joke about the guy with 'Shorty' tatooed on his penis. Turns out the gal he was with thought it was cute, until she discovers it really said 'Shorty's Truckstop and Roadhouse, Chatanooga Tennesee'.
I'm guessing that might be too far for Ebay.
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Robotic Arseworms
I mean this is scary.
article........
A paper in the Journal of Medical Engineering And Technology reveals all. Researchers Zuo J, Yan G, and Gao Z. have created a — oh, let's not be coy — monster. A very small monster, to be sure, just 12 cm long and 7.5mm across, but monstrous in all its tiny respects. Based on the principles of the earthworm, the robot can "move reliably in horizontal and certain declining tubes", driven by one of the micromechanical electric motors which are Shanghai Jiao Tong University's stock in trade. And the nature of these certain declining tubes? What Zuo, Yan and Gao have summoned is what they call a miniature endoscope for colonoscopy. The world will come to know and fear it as the Robot Arseworm.
I have been an avid consumer of science fiction for many years. I have inhabited cyber-dystopias under the cold, titanium thumb of imperial golems, and watched aghast as armies of mad mechanoids lay waste the worlds of their creators. There have been machines the size of planets bent on mankind's destruction, there have been awkward artificial dogs, the all-devouring grey goo of malfunctioning nanotech, even rebelliously sentient brown shoes.
But nothing from the fever dreams of Philip K Dick or Gene Roddenberry comes close to this Shanghai Surprise. It is science at its disinterested, impassive worst — creating for the nominal good a device of the most inhuman evil. What will happen when these things strike out on their own? When the goal of nanotechnology, self-duplication, is achieved? Powerful, autonomous, unstoppable, the creeping swarms will have but one thought in their shiny, snub-nosed artificial minds. To seek out their God-given destiny by any means necessary — and once there, to breed.
We are in the End Times, my children. Make your peace with man and deity, and prepare for the unthinkable.
snip........From Rupert Goodwins Diary 03.18.05I think I'll standup now
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Balls to the Wall
Did I say there was nothing that someone wouldn't try to sell on Ebay?
CONCONULLY, Wash., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- In a recent eBay auction, GoldenPalace.com won the right to become King and Queen of the Conconully Testicle Festival. The opportunity to become royalty came cheaply as the online casino closed the bidding with $1,225.,
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050321/nym221_1.htmlYummmm........
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VP DC in BFD
The Big Dick was in B'field yesterday ostensibly to hold a "townhall meeting" to promote his boss' social security reforms.
I guess that's why it was a closed invitation only event.
That's the way to hold a townhall meeting. No need to complicate things with any of that messy dissent from the uninformed, you know like seniors, democrats, libertarians or moderate republicans.
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Surfing Fun
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Movie News
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St Patrick's Days
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Bakersfield History & More
I see
Baketown has reciprocated my link. Thanks.
While I'm not too sure we have a lot in common one thing we both seem to do, is dig up Bakersfield history. On that note I've pointed out Gilbert Gia's stories that appear in
The Blackboard before. Many of his stories go way back beyond my half century here but often include people or places I've known in that time. Be sure to go to the archives and look up a lot of the old stories.
This month's Out of The Past is by GEORGE GILBERT LYNCH -
The Old Historic Watermill at Hart ParkThe rest of that little rag ain't too bad either. From the archives be sure to read
Randy Beeman's Freedom - More Than a Word(move down the page - the target link is wrong)
article........
As the so-called “culture wars” played themselves out in the classrooms, on the airwaves, and in our political institutions, America became a much uglier and dumber place. Civil discourse and debate apparently has degenerated into who can shout the loudest and wave the flag the highest, and the level of corruption and cynicism within our political culture is overwhelming. The political parties offer dolts, theocrats, and primadonnas as candidates, and corporate America, so enamored with globalism and short-term profits, has completely lost the concept that there is still a sovereign entity called United States of America.
snip......And Baketown, be sure to check out
Eddie Ruff's The 5th Column with 25 things to like about Bakersfield
article.......6) I love La Cresta. The winding streets, the quiet hills. The proximity to the bluffs. It’s a beautifully designed masterpiece of a neighborhood, with small- and medium-sized bungalows mixed in amongst stately mansions. There is really no reason to go to La Cresta unless you live there, or are visiting someone who does – making it one of Bakersfield’s best secrets as far as wonderful neighborhoods go. Of course, the price of the homes there now belies the “secret” claim.
.......
8) Our mostly-undeveloped eastern hills. When the neighborhoods really start popping up out there, they will so blow Rosedale away. It’s going to be the must-live-in area, I guarantee it. You just can’t beat the nice breeze, the beautiful views of the mountains and foothills, and the look of a hillside community. The northwest can keep its flat boring landscape, its dust and traffic – the east side is the place to be!
snip.........Okay I might be a little prejudiced there.
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Deja Vu OJ
Robert Blake gets off and Scott Peterson is sentenced to death.
article..........LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A jury acquitted tough-guy actor Robert Blake of murder Wednesday in the shooting death of his wife four years ago, a stunning verdict in a case that played out like pulp fiction.
The jury also acquitted Blake of one charge of trying to get someone to kill his wife, but deadlocked on a second solicitation charge.
The 71-year-old star of the 1970s detective drama "Baretta" dropped his head, trembled with emotion, and let out several deep breaths after the verdict was read.
The jury of seven men and five women delivered the verdicts on its ninth day of deliberations, following a trial with a cast a characters that included two Hollywood stuntmen who said Blake tried to get them to bump off his wife.
snip.......http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/16/blake.trial.ap/Jury nullification I would guess. Have you met OJ?
article.......
REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- Members of the jury that convicted Scott Peterson of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son attended the sentencing Wednesday out of what some of them said was a need for closure. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi followed the jury's recommendation from November, sentencing Scott Peterson to die by lethal injection.
snip....... http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/16/peterson.reax/
Okay he just seems like selfish scum. He could've just divorced her.
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Haunted Shorts
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In Today's News
Now if anyone can tell me why Ken Lay hasn't been sent to jail yet.........
Bernie Ebbers did mastermind the $11bn (£5.8bn) book fiddling that torpedoed US telco WorldCom, a New York jury decided today.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/15/ebbers_guilty_verdict/and the FCC comes to it's senses - at least on this one.
WASHINGTON Mar 15, 2005 Sure, the steamy introduction to ABC's "Monday Night Football" was titillating, showing the bare back of "Desperate Housewives" actress Nicollette Sheridan as she jumped into the arms of football player Terrell Owens.
But U.S. regulators ruled Monday the racy clip didn't violate federal indecency standards. In a unanimous decision, the five-member Federal Communications Commission said the segment "simply is not graphic or explicit enough to be indecent under our standard."
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=581826
however Michael Copps is still in right field with this typical prudish statement
"There wasn't much self-discipline in this particular promotion," he said. "As stewards of the airwaves, broadcasters can and should do better."
I can just imagine the hoards of 11 year old boys overstimulated by Sheridan's bare back.
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Google News
By the way, I only caught that MJ article yesterday because I spotted it on Google News.
Really......really.....honest....I don't read EOnline. Y'all belive me right? Ah shit!
Google News
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Understatement of the Day Award
Goes to Court TV
Michael Jackson failed to show up in court this morning. His liar - I mean lawyer - said he was at the hospital for a serious back problem.
from E!Online
Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. said Jackson was being treated for a "serious back problem" at Cottage Hospital in nearby Santa Ynez.
"My understanding is that he does plan to come in," Mesereau said.
The excuse wasn't good enough for Melville, who cut Mesereau off, and issued a warrant for Jackson's arrest. He also announced he was forfeiting the entertainer's $3 million bail.
The judge put his order on hold for one hour--or until about 9:35 a.m. At 9:38 a.m., Jackson and his entourage, including parents Joseph and Katherine, arrived at the courthouse. He was moving slowly and wearing speckled blue pajama bottoms.
"He looks pale, but he always looks pale," an anchor observed on Court TV.
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,16094,00.html?tnews
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Drag Racing Memories
Searching for some old images on Google in came across some pictures by a guy from Chicago that includes a trip he made out here to drag race at Famoso in 1965. Yes I was only 14, but I was, besides the electronic geek I became, a freak for cars, model building and in particular drag racing.
And why not, Bakersfield was big on racing and racing was big on Bakersfield.
Proof enough that this fellow Norb Locke made a trip out here in 1965 to race his twin rail.
http://hometown.aol.com/nlocke7458/Bakersfield.htmlLots of nostalgic racing pics here besides Bakersfield
http://hometown.aol.com/nlocke7458/NorbsHistoryInDragRacing.htmlAnd just for fun, the last Bakersfield pic shows he made a trip to Dineyland and Marineland as part of the trip. A quarter to park at Disneyland! I think it's at least $15 now just to park. Arghhhhh.....
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Good vs Evil
Better that I had expected - HA!
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Blogging Bakersfield
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Freedom of Speech - Free to be an ASS
Well I like Bill Mahr and his show
Real Time. No I don't always agree with him. When he made the comments on the 911 hijackers that got
Politically incorrectt canceled I was mad as hell at him. Mad because it was a stupid comment and madder because he didn't realize when to admit it and say so.
I think he's learned a few things but not always. His interview with Ward Churchill on this weeks show was abysmal. Reminded me somewhat of when he had Noam Chomsky on, two of the biggest assholes in the world. Churchill's comments on 911 victims was insensitive as well as stupid. They were designed to promote his agenda of telling all the white males what terrible things we've done to everyone else in the world. He has the nerve to suggest that the victims had it coming to them and the 911 highjackers were right. JERK!
Wait. Didn't I just defend free speech and political incorrectness in my last post?
Yep.
Sure did. Sill do.
And I have the right to call it the bull manure I think it is. Yes it's painful that that makes it sound like I'm on the side of pit bulls like Hannity, Rush and O'Reilly. I find their tactics just as bad. They call Churchill a traitor. I'll just call him an ass.
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Politically Incorrect - Free Speech
Anyone who knows me knows I'm Politically Incorrect - and proud of it. Frankly it's honest. To pretend that no other opinion disagrees with yours is wrong. Ask Larry Summers. Of course it's sometimes wise to be prudent and just keep your mouth shut, Hey I'm way out numbered by the women in my family - far be it from me to pull a Summers. Of course he didn't say they were dumber. He didn't say anything about individuals, just that men and women as a whole have different strengths. To anyone with their eyes open that should be obvious enough.
Here's a good article at
Tech Central Station worth reading
http://www.techcentralstation.com/030105B.htmlarticle.......
Big academia suffers from the same problem of bias that afflicts the mainstream media. It's fine to be overtly politicized, but when you hide your biases behind a posture of perfect, disinterested neutrality, you insulate your biases from critical scrutiny. Behold the debacle of Memogate. Would CBS have behaved so recklessly but for its irrational certainty that its left-wing biases were nothing more than tough, objective journalism? Having concealed its prejudices for so long that it even fooled itself, CBS was rendered helpless when those same prejudices consumed its professional judgment.
snip.......
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Living Graciously
Martha Stewart is free from jail but still under restrictions.
Don't we all feel safer now that she's been taught a lesson?
Did we all learn how to behave when officials ask questions?
Lessons learned but probably not what you think.
Read Jerry Pournell's take on it.
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/view351.html#Fridayarticle.....
And again I ask: why is it a crime to lie to a federal investigator? Submitting a signed statement under penalty of perjury is one thing; to blow off an inquisitive investigator on a fishing trip is quite another, and should the the right of any citizen (as opposed to a subject).
snip.......Just keep your mouth shut and be good subjects. Man I'm in trouble.
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Some more HST
When Hunter S Thompson checked out I saw a lot of people write RIP. Didn't seem quite right to me.
PLH (party like hell) sounds better. Maybe it was just not fun here anymore.
The last half of the 20th century will seem like a wild party for rich kids, compared to what's coming now. The party's over, folks. . . [Censorship of the news] is a given in wartime, along with massive campaigns of deliberately-planted "Dis-information". That is routine behavior in Wartime— for all countries and all combatants— and it makes life difficult for people who value real news.Hunter S. Thompson - "When War Drums Roll" (September 17, 2001)Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of the rat race is not yet final.attributed
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Million Dollar Baby
Good Ol' Clint.
Meanwhile various commentators on the right have protested the film on political and ethical grounds. They say “Baby” endorses euthanasia.
Eastwood has responded to the talk radio criticism by noting that if you go far enough to the right you encounter “the same idiots coming around from the left.” He deserves another Oscar just for that comment.
snip.......
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/
entertainment/11032357.htm
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Ordnung! Ve must see your papers!
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