◊ One weird woof ◊

He's really starting to piss me off already and he is barely into his second term! He's back at it again trying to mess with the clean air bill by rewriting it and calling it his "clear skies initiative"! Unfortunately it makes it sound rather good unless you actually read the bill and understand what the current bill does. His bill would actually:

• Weaken protection from dangerous soot and smog, which cause tens of thousands of premature deaths and asthma attacks each year.


• Weaken protection from toxic mercury.


• Eliminate local air quality standards, resulting in dangerous toxic hotspots.


• Weaken protections for our national parks and wilderness areas.


• Eliminate the power of states and local communities to control pollution.


• Delay deadlines for cleaning up our air, forcing Americans to breathe dirtier air longer.

Wahahahehe! My daughter waiting to go to school this morning saw Prince William on TV because of the Charles and Camilla thing on the news and she exclaimed, "Hey, he was on one of the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies!" >.< Kids Have a very weird perspective in their limited view of current news and very little world view. The same daughter thinks A-teens did the Abba classic Dancing Queen first. :-P

Speaking of world view. Wooha, Korea officially has declared that they have the nuke. In a statement, they said that they needed nuclear capability in order to protect themselves from the US and Bush's "ever more undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK". NK went on to say that, "We have wanted the six-party talks but we are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for an indefinite period ..."

Way to go Bush! (dripping sarcasm) Can we NOW declare Bush an utter failure in international diplomacy? Perhaps it is standard rhetoric for NK, but they blatantly blame Bush for their nuclear stance. (Get that through your thick skulls red states! Bush has created a Nuclear crisis. Feel safe now?) This is exactly what Kerry was talking about. Bush basically spent all his time concentrating on Bin Laden and Hussein and totally ignored the issue with North Korea.

My theory is that Bush was scared. He knew they were near completion of a nuclear bomb and didn't want to potentially dirty his hands. He wants the US safe my ass. If he did, he would have found a way to get NK into those talks! He wanted a second election and possibly vengeance on Hussein for his Daddy. Period.

One more thing. Can Republicans do anything without getting their sticky fingers into big business? They keep pushing hard for torte reform stating that the courts must be cleared of "unfair" class action law suits. What do they consider unfair? I mean these things DO get reviewed by a judge before they actually do go to court. Isn't that part of the job for the judiciary branch? Why should republicans decide what is a legitimate law suit? It seems dubious to me. Meanwhile, big business lobbyists have spent billions to get this bill through because they know that by pushing class action lawsuits from the local and state levels to the federal level they face much better chances of winning their cases because federal judges look unfavorably on class action lawsuits. Now guess who benefits from that? Gah!

I got this from preyfar who got it from drfgeek. It's quite clever and right on the money too I have to say. Perhaps it should also be called "Pirates and Presidents"?

Oh yeah! If you have Itunes, or even if you don't you should install it for this freebie track. Every week Itunes gives away 2-3 tracks for free for you to download. One of them this week is a very raw and damning look at Bush's claim that he talks to God and that this is how he comes to his decisions. OK, so the song is quite raw, but it still brings up some interesting and important points. For those with Itunes or willing to install it, you can get the tune HERE.
( WARNING: SEMI-EXPLICIT LYRICS )

Hey! Let's see some more sexy game hero nominations! See last post!

Hmm, had another busy day today. Went and had a root canal done. Wasn't all that bad, but damn was the procedure long. This is my second root and crown. Anyway, while I was waiting, I picked up an old readers digest from May of '04 that had Mel Gibson on the front and an interview about Passion of the Christ. Now I'll tell you right up front that I haven't seen it and even though I was brought up Catholic and once considered myself "born again", religion sometimes just baffles me.

Even though I have major quarrels with religion, I think that Christianity has some things going for it. Some things still bug me though. Take for instance some of these comments from the interview with Mel Gibson in the Digest. When they asked him where the idea for the movie came from, he said that it was an idea that had been gestating in his mind for about 10 years and it came from a time where he was "lost" and void of a lot of things. He said that he was brought up as a Catholic and that in making this film, he had to question his beliefs. OK, I have a problem with this. It's good and all that he found himself, but how can anybody who truly questions Christianity reach any sort of positive truth? I mean, it's full of a lot of contradictions and fallacies. It advocates rape and pillage in the old testament and in the new testament there are all kind of passages full of ambiguities. Add to that modern interpretations that come with about 1001 versions of the same passages. The bible today as I see it is used to discriminate and incite hatred and war. In that respect, Christianity is no better than any other religion. Sure, there are all the warm and fuzzies in there about love, but in my everyday life I see people willing to judge and castigate way too easily. They use the bible as justification to hate, instill bigotry in their young, and act self-righteous about it while they are doing it. How can anybody who truly questions Christianity NOT come to the realization that they have been PROGRAMMED from the time of their birth?! Programmed to love, hate, lie and then confess, to try and be a better person when it fits their agenda and then turn their back when their fellow humans need them. It's enough to just make me sick.

OK, this is not always the outcome. Like I said, there ARE some great positive for those that need Christianity to fill the void in their lives, but to me simply just trying to be the best person I can be without needing to be told is enough for me. I don't need a god to tell me to be tolerant and kind. But then again, I don't need YOU"RE god telling me that I'm going to be damned in hellfire because I boink another guy in the bedroom and hold him in my arms as somebody who is beloved. Another guy that I love and who loves me MORE than many hetero Christian couples love each other I might add! I thought that was the point of Christianity. To love all others. I just get so angry that some people have the nerve to push their beliefs on me because I don't fit in to their neat little mold of what is right and virtuous when THEY can't even fit so neatly into their own mold. Remember speck in the eye? People in glass houses?

Anyway, I just felt like venting a little. Oh, one other thing that made me smile in disbelief and shake my head about the interview with Mel about Passion. He said that Pope John Paul got a special private screening of the movie. The Pope's remark? "It is as it was." Uh, I know JP is getting up there in age, but he's not THAT old! Are we supposed to believe the same governing body that pronounced legal tickets to heaven can be bought (indulgences) can be able to say that "it is as it was"? OK, I know it was an opinion, but the problem is that when the Vatican says an opinion, suddenly it's considered dogma by many.

OK, now some silliness:
snitched from eselgeist
I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Ranger Bard


Alignment:
Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.


Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.


Primary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.


Secondary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.


Deity:
Mielikki is the Neutral Good goddess of the forest and autumn. She is also known as the Lady of the Forest, and is the Patron of Rangers. Her followers are devoted to nature, and believe in the positive and outreaching elements of it. They use light armor, and a variety of weapons suitable for hunting, which they are quite skilled at. Mielikki's symbol is a unicorn head.


Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)

You know who you are if you happen to see this. See you soon. Love you.

I have two kids of my own despite the fact that I'm gay. Long story short, I was trying to prove to everybody I was straight, including proving it to myself.

Anyway, my oldest daughter (12) got the bright idea that since my mate was going home to Munich for two weeks that she would make a nice "romantic dinner" for the two of us...well with my help that is. It was a cute idea and I thought it would be nice, so how could I resist? :) Anyhow, she doesn't cook. I do almost all the cooking at home. Anyway, we were making the steak rub and making Emeril's old stand by rub, "essence". We were mixing the seasonings and she wanted to use her hands to mix the spices together. My youngest (8) who was watching on then proclaimed that that was why it was called "essence" because Emeril probably used his hands to mix it and got some of his "essence" in it. >.<
From the mouth of babes... :-P

The menu is as follows:
Appetiser: Vine ripe red tomato stuffed with gremolata
Main: (certified organic) Sirloin Steak spiced w/ Emeril's Essence
Russet Baked potato
Baby Spinach Salad with garlic and balsamic italian dressing
Pear/apple juice spritzer

Yum! :)

My mate went out to have his car looked at last weekend and came home with a Gamecube instead. Wow. Now I can play Resident Evil: Zero! Still want a PS2 to have as a backup for my PS1 games should my PS1 ever give out. Also to play a few exclusive PS2 titles like Sly Cooper...eventually.

OMGZ #2
The "war on terror" is quickly approaching 300 BILLION dollars. source: NPR

That is all.

Under any circumstances japanese_rope. It's run by a user named guita who is clearly on a power trip and who chooses to humiliate and insult users who apply if they get ANY minor point wrong in trying to join. In the course of my trying to join, she rudely corrected the one point I did wrong (you know you are in trouble if the first reply to yours starts out with "sorry for sounding rude" as the very first sentence) and then when I tried to suggest a way that it could be made clearer on the front page on exactly what points that MANY people were getting wrong, she proceeded to scold me in all caps! At that point I told her off and said screw it and that I didn't need her crap to which she replied in a very humiliating tone. Afterward she erased any posts regarding HER rude behavior and my posts completely which I completely expected and understand. Before I tried to apologize, she had me banned from the group. Since I was feeling bad and I sincerely wanted to apologize for my ONE outburst despite all of her preceding rude behavior, I posted a rather meek and humble post apologizing on her personal LJ at which point she decided I was harassing her (what??) and that she was reporting me as such to LJ.

I really have no fear from LJ at this point because it is clear that she deleted everything and even if they COULD see what was going on, they would only see her psychotic behavior instead. Still, I wanted to post this here since I know a few people who read my journal are into this kind of thing. SAVE YOUR TIME. It will be less aggravating unless you feel that you can manage to navigate through and get accepted without trouble. However, avoiding this group will likely save you much aggravation. There are better places to join than this. Also for your FYI, she runs a website called "Whippersnappers". I also recommend that you avoid this website since she seems to be administrator there.

Sometimes I just have to wonder if I am just lucky or cursed, because it seems that in my whole adult life that every once in a while I get targeted by some psycho. It's like I am a psycho magnet. Is it just me though or do other people have experiences like this every once in a while? It does make me thankful though for the wonderful mate I have and the few people I am close to.

"We cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time" - President George W. Bush's inauguration speech, 2005

Hmm, does anybody else think this sounds really BAD coming from him? Almost like a KKK member saying that we must be less racist or something similar.

Elsewhere, my mate wannabeyote and I watched good fun action last night in the form of a movie.

"I felt a baby in the pussary!"

If anybody can name what movie this quote is from, they get a cookie! We were giggling quite madly at that quote.

Oh yeah, tonight is season premier of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis with a new Battlestar Galactica to follow! Whoot!

I was just catching part of a repeat of Battlestar Galactica the new series. I'm a little surprised and disappointed that there is not more buzz about this new show on Sci Fi network. I have been a big fan of Stargate SG-1(Richard Dean Anderson rocks and Michael Shanks is just downright sexy!) for years and I really like the new Stargate Atlantis a lot and even Farscape, but Battlestar Galactica is the best new TV Sci Fi series bar none IMO. It borrows just enough from the 70's series, but not too much. It combines suspense, drama and science fiction more effectively than any show on TV in years. I dare say in decades. The series just debuted this last Friday, but you can catch repeats this week on Sci Fi network and this Friday both Stargate season premiers will be followed up with episode #3 of the series. The new series was spawned out of a phenominal mini-series event filmed for Sci-Fi and screened back in December 2003. It was such a huge hit that people clamored for a series. I don't see much publicity though outside of Sci Fi now that it is here. The quality is just as high as the mini-series (space ships that don't act like planes in outerspace, what a novel concept!) I hope this thing sticks, because I want to be watching this one for years to come!

In other news, I finished Prince of Persia: Sands of Time finally. Once I got a better handle of combat, it became a lot less infuriating and hair pulling. It's a good thing too, because toward the end combat really became difficult again and you really need to know combat pretty well. It was satisfying though. It had a fairly good ending to the game even. It was a good game, but it didn't leave me with a certain mood as did Half Life 2 or the Silent Hill games did. It projected a feeling of fun, yes indeed, but when it was over it was done. I find myself still contemplating the endings of Half Life 2 which I finished about a month ago, Silent Hill which I finished 2 months ago (took 3-4 days), and Silent Hill 2 which I finshed 8 or 9 months ago. I'm looking forward to Silent Hill 3 and 4 and also Resident Evil 4 and RE Zero some day...

OK, I got this from eselgeist who also got it elsewhere, but upon reading the article he points to, I just had to quote part of it because it is just too damn silly! Apparently, the Air Force military scientists looked into ways of identifying enemy combatants easily by using varying chemicals, some of which for instance as an example would "affect human behavior so that discipline and morale in enemy units is adversely effected. One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior." (Taken directly from what appears to be authentic document which is linked from above mentioned article if you're curious where that claim comes from. Read it.)

Now if I were somebody who was drug addicted, I would be saying right now give me some of what that scientist was smoking when he wrote that proposal! The weird thing is that the military probably DID look into such a biological weapon. Funny though, it's the dream of so many gay men. "Yes, turn that marine's head our way!" I do admit that a man in military uniform does look good. I could imagine there would be a lot of angry women if there was such a thing that could cause a man to "switch teams" as it were to quote a phrase. Still I can't get over the sillyness of the whole thing. It appeals to my weird side. Could you imagine if suddenly a large portion of male society turned gay? I find the idea amusing, but at the same time I have to wonder how our lives would change. Something like that I think would about completely eradicate bigotry against homosexuals. In fact, I think we would suddenly find that we would have every single human right that we have been asking for in our campaign for equality. Of course then again, many of ours would probably be so busy bonking each other that we wouldn't notice women taking over the government and then we would really be screwed! You all know ... a woman scorned ... :-P We could all find ourselves sexual slaves doing the bidding of all the women, but only longing to get back to our cells so that we could get it on with our cell mates because we had little interest in women. Heh, sounds like either a bad porn flick or a rejected script from Start Trek the original series. :-D

My mate and I have been beta testing various MMO betas. We bought pre-orders for Guild Wars. God, I love that game. I think it's going to be awesome. It's being made by the guys who left Blizzard and did Battlenet. The code is ingenious in that once it's up and running, there are NO major patches! The client streams new code as your playing it, so no waiting for 30 minutes (or 5 hours or more if you're on dial-up) just to have the game fixed. Awesome! (EQ2 and WoW better be looking at this technology and think about getting it in their respective games.) GW is kind of like Magic the Gathering in that you collect skills for your profession. You can learn as many as you have points for, but you're only allowed to have 8 available at any one time. You have to find trainers and they are not plentiful so far. Some are really out of the way.

I haven't had a chance to play either EQ2 or WoW in beta and I feel I've somehow missed out. Everybody is raving about how great they are. Well, I'm not crazy about grinding, so I have some doubts about them and I am certainly not going to buy the damn game AND pay for one month to try them out. Dummy's should give out 14 day trials or something. No, they'll probably wait another 9 months. Oh well. Screw them. My mate did play WoW for one weekend in November during the open stress test. It seemed nice, but he ran a little script that showed him is various activities in game and how his time was spent. He sobered up when he realized that 30% of his time was spent traveling from point A to B! That kind of sucks. One nice thing about City of Heroes is that once you get a travel power, it merely takes a few minutes to get just about anywhere in game. Travel powers are available at level 14. As I understand it, you can't get you're travel power in WoW (steeds) until level 40?! Holy shit! >.<

My mate and I were recently beta testing Wish. It wasn't particularly well known, but it seemed like it was fun. The economy was terribly broken however. Crafting made you lose money. The graphics were OK, but it had KILTS! There were plenty of server issues though. Last week, there were days where the server was down more than up. Well, this week Wish kicked the bucket as it were. Apparently they pulled the plug because they felt that they wouldn't make enough money, or that was the reason they gave in the forum.

Now we're looking into beta testing a few other MMO's like Dark and Light, Darkfall, and Mourning. I think out of those three, DnL looks most viable and Darkfall as well. Well, here's to hoping about getting into beta! :)

We had a pretty good holiday here. My mate managed to put up with my family for 3 days. I feel like I am getting sick though. I think 2 8-9 hour trips in 5 days with only one day to recuperate is too much for me when on my medicine. Either that or my kids gave me a cold or something. :P

I finished Half Life 2. It is a wonderful game and makes me hungry for more. It was over too quickly. The ending of course is wide open, so plenty of room for a sequel.

I've now started playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time since my mate got a free copy with his new Geforce GTS 6600 card. Very fun game, however some of the 10-15 minute battles with Sand Demons can be so infuriating that I want to pull out my hair. There are times that you can fight demon after demon just fine, but then suddenly you're surrounded by 3 or 4 of them with pole arms and they just take turns pounding you down into the ground until your health bar goes from full to zero and you can't get away or up to fight back. You CAN use the dagger of time and reverse your way out a limited amount of time, but it becomes so frequent that you can easily run out of reversals.Who the HELL thought up this AI?! Everything else about the game is completely wonderful, but this ONE element is driving me crazy! It's just not right. Maybe I need to learn the fight mechanics a little better or use block more, but damn it when you replay the same fight for 1½ hours, it's not fun! But then you get past it and BAM, the game sucks you in again. Frankly, I can see myself using a trainer on this one, because the fights are getting crazy. I hate the idea because it makes the game feel cheap to have to resort to a trainer, but dang it. Half Life 2 was well capable of being handled, why are Sand Demons such a big deal after hunters and zombies in HL2? I think the problem is that the game gives you too many pole arm enemies at once and you're supposed to cope. I'm not coping so well and it's making me angry.

My mate keeps getting upset because I grumble about this when I am way ahead of him. All I have to say is wait and see... :-P