Speaking of my column, here's this weeks.

You may recognize it as part of the fundamentalism post from late December.

I believe I promised a story.

Here at Millersville, we have an unofficial online forum where people can post their thoughts on pretty much anything. Unfortunatly, I had the temerity to disagree. A lot of people disagreed, I suppose, but for some reason this individual picked me out. I suppose its because of the column I write for The Snapper that is always highly critical of the Bush Administration.

So this person instant messaged me. Here's the conversation:

Moe5460 (10:54:17 PM): All I can say is, you would feel very differently about terrorism and war in Iraq if one of your family members or someone you cared very deeply about was killed on September 11, 2001. Thank God people like you are in the minority in this country. As a Conservative Republican I hope it stays that way.

Pinderman1 (10:55:14 PM): err...someone i knew did die on 9.11

Pinderman1 (10:55:22 PM): and i feel no differently

Moe5460 (10:56:33 PM): I'm sorry for you...but I thought liberals at least believed in defending their homeland

Now, he did lose a friend on 9/11, and I feel for his loss. And someone I knew did die on 9/11. He was employed as Morgan Stanley-Dean Whitter's security chief, and my mom knew him when she worked for them. Actually, it was his security plan that saved Morgan-Stanley's employees, because the company had a policy that stated that if there was a bomb threat, employees were to get out and not go back in until the police gave the all-clear. There were 2000+ employees of Morgan Stanley-Dean Whitter at the World Trade Center on 9/11. All but 6 survived. My mom's friend died because he went back up to make sure everyone had gotten out.

The line "I thought liberals at least believed in defending their homeland" was the line I percieved (and I believe rightly so) as an attack on my patriotism. IT made me so mad that I stopped talking to the kid. It took me a good day to calm down fully because the line was so wrong. I suspect that if the kid had said this to me in person, I would have lost my temper and punched him, which in itself is wrong. I'm glad it was over AOL Instant Messanger and not in person.

Liberals not defending the homeland, eh? Hmmm...this is so easy to deconstruct. #1. My liberal air force cousin is stationed in Bahrain. He'll be flying the planes. #2. My liberal naval cousins are on ships steaming to the Gulf. #3. My liberal naval commander Uncle is stationed at the Pentagon in intelligence right now. All in my family involved in the military right now are defending the homeland. And all are pretty damn liberal.

My hope is that Moe5460 is reading this. My hope is that he stops reading Ann "Psycho-Nazi-Bitch" Coulter and pulls his head far enough out of his ass so that he can see the real world, and that his charges that liberals don't care about their country are weakining it. Bastard.

and if I ever meet him in person, I can't guarentee that my temper won't get the best of me.

Despite the fact that I despise FOXNews because they are nastily partisan, they do get some things right. This is an excellent article on how race really doesn't exist. It even went as far as bringing up class differences and hit many facets of the issue.

I'm still mad. Open forum. But first: Caption this. Be funny too.

Atrios is carrying a story that neary bought me to tears. Then rage.

In some more personal news, I had my patriotism questioned yesterday.


I am beyond livid.

When I calm down fully, I'll post a full report of my experience.

Mr. Rogers died this morning.

I grew up watching his show.

It's pretty sad.

It's official.

WAR IS PEACE.

It boggles my mind that a pedophile, freak, and pervert is making money, and his records are still selling.

As the United States and its allies rolled toward a just and most righteous war with Iraq to preserve the peace and Democratize the world, so sunshine, lollipops and rainbows will be able to bloom everywhere under the sweet, sweet beacon of freedom, neo-Stalinist dour xenophobic America-hating North Korea turned on its nuclear reactor. Again.

Christ Jesus Almighty!

I'm just hearing on Inside Politics that NASA engineers had raised concerns about the Columbia's left wing the day before the launch. Nothing was done.

I'll update when I learn more.

Blogger's working again, and not a moment too soon.

Blogging Around....the Best I've Seen Today

*Our friend Dima over at Overspill has some excellent commentary on Saddam's use of strategy. He also has some excellent economic advice. Now if I only had the money to buy a house . . . .

*Sean-Paul has a great piece on unilaterilism. If you haven't read it, go read it.

*The Rittenhouse Review is reporting that a Philadelphia restaurateur is not paying his taxes. He owes the city in excess of one million dollars. As a (technically) Philadelphia-area resident, I'm also signing onto the boycott that Jim has started and Atrios has signed on to. There's contact numbers up at the Rittenhouse Review.

*Lean Left writes about how the movement to save Affirmative Action is being hijacked by thugs. I'm dismayed. And a little angry.

*Jeanne D'Arc asks the important question. Where will the refugees caused by the allied invasion of Iraq go?

* Daily Kos reports my dream has come true. Ari Fleisher has been laughed off the stage.

*Maru made me laugh, got me pissed me off, then made me laugh again all in the space of a few seconds. I dig the camel pic. When do we see the elf-on-elf stuff?

*Les Dabney has a TON of excellent stuff up. Just surf through the entire site. I especially enjoyed reading this post. It was thought provoking. And freakin' scary as all hell.

and lastly...

*George Paine is a genius.


Some more stuff later.

Apparently, my University is planning on strengthening our already harsh Speech Codes.


Over.

My.

Dead.

Body.


I'll have more when more is available. This was just told to me third-hand.

And now...an interlude from the Global Diplomacy Players. . .

SADDAM: Yo I'm sick of dis shit. You wanna fight Bush. I'm callin yo' ass out, biatch. Letz' go Bush! Letz' have at it, yo!

BUSH: Yawn. You must.(pause) disarmm.

SADDAM: I ain't disarmin' I'm callin' yo ass out for a FIGHT. You a Man? You a BIG MAN? LetZ GO!

BUSH: Disarm. Or. We.(pause) Will.(pause) Disarmm you. I'm tired of all this. France, Germany, get on bourard or you're irrellivant. Resistance is Futile. We Are The Bush.

*Pauses and mispellings are deliberate.

My friend Lisa is studying in London (So is, incidentially, Timothy Gray of the Pennsylvania Gazette). She emails us here at home awesome stuff about her travels through London and Western Europe.

She hasn't said anything about them hating us. In fact, she's having a blast and I really wish I did study abroad. I think I will. Who cares if it takes me 6 years to get my undergrad degree (well my parents will). . . I'm going to spend at least 4 more getting a Masters and maybe ...just maybe...a doctorate. *

So perhaps all those neo-con arguments that the French hate us are specious and stupid, which they are.


*tangent.

Happy Birthday Jeanne!

BTW: the sources for the counter below are:
ABC - ABC News (USA)
AFP - Agence France-Presse
AP - Associated Press
AWST - Aviation Week and Space Technology
Al Jaz - Al Jazeera network
BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation
BG - Boston Globe
Balt. Sun - The Baltimore Sun
CT - Chicago Tribune
CO - Commondreams.org
CSM - Christian Science Monitor
DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
GUA - The Guardian (London)
HRW - Human Rights Watch
HT - Hindustan Times
IND - The Independent {London]
IO - Intellnet.org
JT - Jordan Times
LAT - Los Angeles Times
MEN - Middle East Newsline
MEO - Middle East Online
MER - Middle East Report
MH - Miami Herald
NT - Nando Times
NYT - New York Times
Reuters - (includes Reuters Alertnet)
SABC - South African Broadcasting Corporation
SMH - Sydney Morning Herald
Sg.News - The Singapore News
Tel- The Telegraph (London)
Times - The Times (London)
TOI - Times of India
TS - Toronto Star
UPI - United Press International
WNN - World News Network
WP - Washington Post

Okay...so I just saw that 4 US soldiers were killed in a Blackhawk crash in Kuwait on that ever annoying crawl...but nothing in the news anywhere.

I suppose it's because Joe Millionaire is on.

I will update as soon as more information becomes available.

UPDATE:
The big 3 Cable stations all have it, but I'm linking to CNN as a matter of preference.

Okay...

Everytime I take Haloscan out, the other comments system vanishes. So both are staying, and I don't care if it looks tacky. You can post comments at both, or one...take your pick. Haloscan is a little faster as the system's servers are based in the United States, and Enteraton (sp?) is based in the UK.

Meanwhile back on Earth, North Korea is testing missles.


Or we could say:

"Ladies and Gentleman, Miss Verna Kelly in an Act of Desperation!"


Go see Chicago, then you'll get it.

I just did my taxes.


I've discovered a sad fact of life. You make more. You get back less. Blah.

Eh well...I'm sure someone could argue that a tax cut would do me wonders, but I barely make $6,000 a year and I'm technically a dependant. Yes that means my parents are getting paid for me, heh. (They got to reap the benifits of my tuition reimbursement or whatever this new thing they're doing is.)

I guess the point of this rant is that I won't be going to Spring Break with all those nekkid chicks. But this is a good thing, right?

I dunno . . .

I am reading War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges. I'll review it when I finish it, either tonight or tomorrow.

Here's what war looks like. Warning...very very graphic. Weak stomachs...stay away.


Forward this site to your favorite warblogger.

I know it's a bit late, and everyone and their mother in Lefty Blogistan has written books on it, but I think sometime this week I'm going to have to talk about race and intelligence...you know, since I am apart of that ethnic group that's not supposed to have any brains at all, and is supposed to be lazy, and on welfare, and lustful of white women, and...

never mind. The rant was going places I didn't want it to...


Still...

Jeezus Eschaton!


Just scroll down...the permalinks in Blogger aren't functioning this afternoon. You'll get your fair share of outrage, bigotry, and stupidity.Update: Not from Atrios...from what he's found on the web from that usually god-awful Washington Times.


Humph. It usually takes till 3PM Eastern to get my blood pressure up. What a Monday.

Hiatus is over.

You may have noticed I added a little Iraq Body Count counter (thanks a bundle to Les Dabney) to my template.

















Now, I have indicated that I have some support for removing Saddam from power. But this little voice inside keeps telling me that I should loathe civillian deaths, and I do. The deaths of those innocents will eat away at my conscience. So I added the button. I suppose this makes me the most anti-war pro-war person out there.

I'm still pissed about the porn spam some idiot subscribed me to. I know it wasn't me....I'm not into beastiality. Thankfully, it's been blocked.

To keep my mood up, once a week I'm going to post some positive news...either about myself or others out there in the world. It's better for all of us. It'll be like those feel-good stories that are always buried in the evening news.

Not back from Hiatus yet, but a brief interlude.

Whoever subscribed me to the most vile type of spam, if I ever find you . . . . . .

End of threat.

Back on hiatus.

To my readers, friends, and fans...

I think I'm going to take a hiatus. I haven't felt this gloomy about the world in months, and I really don't feel up to writing about it. There's so little positive news anymore and it seems the news gets more and more horrific.

Reading all that bell curve stuff at Eschaton didn't help either.

Or maybe I'm just having a bad day.

At anyrate..I'm on a (hopefully) short hiatus. Feel free to peruse the archives and the wonderful blogs and online journals to the left.

Nitpicker (aka the other Terry), blogs about idiot neo-bigot child freak, Ben Shapiro.

Well said, Terry. Well said.

I'm sorry, France.

I like your wine and cheese and cool ass language and all, but your government is run by hypocrites.

This man should not be welcome anywhere.

Period.


UPDATE:

I should have read the entire article. My knee jerked cause I'm in a foul mood.

Mugabe was only able to attend the summit after Chirac obtained a waiver to a EU travel ban on the Zimbabwean leader, defending the invitation as a way to confront him face-to-face over human rights abuses and lawlessness in his famine-ridden southern African country.

But still...


UPDATE

Mugabe ain't so cool after all.


Ok.

Where is Raed is back!


via Body and Soul.

Is it just me, or has the news this week been overwhelmingly horrific.

*That nightclub (Christ, there were two) catastrophe has me pretty shaken, as I do like to go clubbing from time to time.

*That tanker explosion in NYC probably set all those people back to 9/11. Overspill has been on top of this all day, and we hope that everything is okay up in NYC.

*War jitters. Jesus, I'm dreaming about WAR. Third night in a row.

*Plane crashes in Iran and Pakistan.

*North Korea in general. Enough said.


Man. . . I need a beer!

DIMA? WHAT HAPPENED TO STAN?


I actually really did enjoy his posts! Even if I didn't agree 99.99999999% of the time...

Blogger insists on being a petulant bitch today, so I might post, I might not. It's up to Blogger to function.

Duct Tape and cover.





Blah.

****Dry Pennsylvania Sarcastic Wit On ****

In the new, always-Right Christian America bought to us by our fearless, democratically elected, bold, wartime President, nearly defaulting on the debt is a good thing.


****Dry Pennsylvania Sarcastic Wit Off ****

Check out this new collabrative project.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Verna Kelly in an Act of Desperation."



-with apologies to Chicago.

A visit to the Past:

Fundamentalism.

Grad School Watch


Suffolk University in Boston has made it into the top 5. Actually, it's the only one right now. But I'm still looking.

War-jitters got ya down? (or up, depending on what you're into.)

Well sit back, relax and enjoy because

It's Non Political Humor Time!

Pennsylvanian Notes (inspired by Sean-Paul's Texan Notes)

Hey youze guyz: (or yunz guyz if you're from Pittsburgh, but seriously, Pitt is full of Philly posers) This is the list of rules that apply when entering the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

* Coming to PA? Check your shocks. Unless it's wintertime, then don't worry about it. The potholes are filled with snow.

* It's pronounced LANG-kist-er. Not Lan-CAST-er. And it's also pronounced LEB-nin, not LEB-a-non.

*The word forever has been and forever will be pronounced "wooder."

*You don't order "subs." They're called hoagies.

*WE ARE (CLAP CLAP) PENN STATE!

*Road salt is for wimps. In Pennsylvania, we use cinders.

*We're progressive here in Pennsylvania. We elect pro-life Democrats and pro-choice Republicans. Rendell is just a fluke.

*The mere mention of snow in the forecast causes an uncontrollable and inexplicable urge to buy milk and bread. Trust me. I went out in the driving blizzard Sunday to get bread and milk, and it wasn't even for me!

* The beer is Yuengling and Rolling Rock. All others are secondary.

*The Pennsylvania Merge is complex and hard for outsiders to understand. Bascially, it involves slowing down at the end of an on-ramp to merge into traffic on the Turnpike or any other highway. Please respect this, because if there's an accident...you should have known that there was Pennsylvania Merging taking place.

* The word always has been and forever shall be pronounced "churry."

*Schuylkill is pronounced "SKOO-KILL". It's an expressway(where there's lots of Pennsylvania merging), a river, and a county.

*MMmmmmm....fashnachts. By the way, we fry them in lard. That's the way they should be made.

*A real cheesesteak is served on an Amoroso roll. And if you're not having chest pains after eating one, it wasn't a good cheesesteak.

*Directions to Intercourse? Well, from where I am, you hop on 30 East (yes, you have to do the Pennsylvania Merge), then get off at Rt. 340 . . .

*Mmmmmmmmmm . . . . Scrapple.

*We hoover in Pennsylvania. We don't vacuum.

*Pittsburgh is "out west" in Pennsylvania.

* Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... venison.

*It's called pop. Not soda. Unless you're from Philly, then you're already weird.

* "And in Delaware County... 443, 444, 445, 446, 446, 448, 449, 450, 451, 453, 454, 455, 456 . . . " (Those who know about KYW NewsRadio 1060 will know all about this one...those who know which district represents the missing number will really appreciate it too.) And if you miss your number, you'll have to wait another half-hour to hear it again because every town has its own school district.

*A foot of snow? Pshaw...snow flurries. Even then, should I go get some bread? What about milk? Oh god, that feeling is back!

* Hold this awhile, would ya?

*20 degrees is just a tad chilly. That's when you turn the heat on.

*We call Pennsylvania, PA. You should too.

OOooooooooo...remind me to stay on The Rittenhouse Review's good side. Poor Matt...ouch.

Apparently, there were tons of outrages over the last 4 days while I was in Storm Mode.


Ugh.


like Dubya thinking protests were irrelevant.


Oh well.

Sigh.


I'm back to the real world.

Can I have another blizzard, please? Or some real "good" kool-aid?

Speaking of costs, I have a number of questions:


1. When is Bush's bold new AIDS program getting funded? And where is that money coming from?

2. How much is this war going to cost us?

3. Can we afford it, given the $300 billion+ deficit we have already.

4. When are we going to hear from the Kean Commission? Oh wait, we answered that weeks ago (the answer was never.)

5. Is it right to "bribe" countries into cooperating, like we're doing with Turkey?

You know, I went 4 whole days without any outrage, and The Agonist just had to go and spoil it. I suppose it was about time. Four days is a long time to go without any outrage.


Apparently, Iraq can pay for its own reconstruction once we're done layin' the smackdown.


In Brazil, the characters were expected to pay for their own torture.

Capitalism, folks. It works.


I'm sure Ayn Rand is smiling down on whichever moron came up with that idea.

I'm really sick and tired of the moronic Euro-bashing. It's wrong. It's xenophobic. It's nationalism of the darkest sort and if we continue it, it will be our ultimate downfall. I was going to write a long and mostly incoherent rant about it, but the Mighty Reason Man, who was recently added to my blogroll simply because it's an excellent site, did it much better. So I'm linking to him, and you should read what he has to say, and read his comments section too.

This is hysterical.

Fellow Millersville Blogger Bryan has some pics up of the Blizzard of 2003.

Stan and Dima had an interesting article up. I wanted to comment on it over at Overspill, but Haloscan is still being evil. First, here's the article.

Foreign-born Blacks do better than US born Blacks

This was very interesting.

First, a misnomer. Ethnically, blacks in America are not the same as Blacks from Africa and the Caribbean. If you know your plantation history, then you'll know that almost all slave owners "got it on" with their slave women. Also, when the Irish and Scots first came to the US in colonial times, they were indentured servants which bascially means they were slaves. Especially the Scots, who lost the Jacobite Wars and lost a lot of their land. They intermingled with the slave and free black population here. This explains the rich diversity of colors and Anglicanized surnames seen in the American Black community today. It did occur in the Caribbean as well. Just because we have the same skin color doesn't mean we're the same. But that's a different argument. I just wanted to give a history lesson.

The study seems to be indicative of all immigrant groups. Example: Look at Miami. Cuban immigrants have done extraordinarily well. In my hometown, the Pakistani and Indian community is thriving. They own businesses (including a taxi service) and bring a diverse atmosphere to an otherwise lilly-white town. Asian immigrants historically have always done well, starting with the Chinese at the turn of the 20th Century, then the Japanese, and so on.

But back to the study at hand. I thought this paragraph was interesting.

But Kasinitz said the continued role of discrimination in job opportunities may be revealed in the new study: immigrants from Africa are one of the most educated groups in America, with an average of 14.5 years of education, compared with 13.9 years for Asians and 13.5 years for whites. Nonetheless, the median household annual income for African immigrants was $40,300, compared with $52,000 for whites and $64,200 for Asians, based on 2000 Census figures.

Hmmm... thought I.

This was also interesting.

While that drive to succeed has been well-documented, specialists argue that blacks who are at the bottom rung of the American ladder - many stuck in public housing projects and on the welfare roles - have been stripped of that desire.

By contrast, analysts say, immigrants from all ethnic and racial backgrounds tend to have a willingness to leave everything familiar for the hope of a better life in the United States.

''When you control for education, across the board, immigrants tend to do better than natives,'' said Philip Kasinitz, a sociologist at the City University of New York graduate center. ''That's true of black immigrants and black natives and it's true for white immigrants and white natives.''

Culturally, immigrants are more willing to do anything to get a piece of the American Dream. It's always been that way from the earliest days. It's also why the US has had occasional bouts with xenophobia.

So this really isn't a black vs. white issue, although it can be. It's more an immigrant vs. native-born issue.

Now, in the U.S., for the better part of a century following Emancipation, blacks (native-born blacks) were 2nd class citizens. Many lived in states were they were not permitted to vote. All attended sub-standard segregated schools and all were not permitted by a policy of racism to achieve all that America had to offer. Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement and all the things (affirmative action included) that came out of it, things are a lot better. But we're still not there yet, and this study, among many others, proves it. I have some suggestions for the native-born black community so that our foreign-born cousins don't pass us by. I have some suggestions to the government to help us, too.

1. To us: Get off Welfare. It sucks. And American culture doesn't support European-style social welfare. We're way too individualistic for that even though it works in Europe and frankly we should admit that to ourselves. Now, I know how hard it can be to get off of welfare because it bascially is free money so my suggestion to the government is to keep funding those job training programs. They work. I've seen the evidence. An example of a good working program that has done wonders for many who were on welfare is the Philadelphia Housing Authority Pre-Apprentice Program. I know a number of relatives who went through this program. Before, they were destitute. Now, they're working with the city, and they're much, much happier.

2. Go to College, Trade School, or some type of program (hell, even the military).

3. Fight for what's rightfully yours. Everyone in America deserves a fair chance at the American Dream, immigrant and native born. If you don't fight for it, you're not going to get it.

I had a number of big posts planned, so expect them within the week. The snowstorm distracted me from the real world.

Oh...those nutty North Koreans!


Um... HELLO? AND THIS ISN'T A CRISIS?

Begin the Crusade!

This is not good for my tough-guy rough-neck asshole image.


How Republican Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

My friend Larry has some good weather pics up, including shots of this weekend's blizzard.

This is my personal site. I made it two years ago. It's in pretty bad shape, but take a look if you want to.

You'll learn more than you need to know about me.

An Observation


I have to admit. Tony Blair has some huge cajones. His public doesn't want the war. Yet he stands up to them and doesn't flinch. It could cost him his job as Prime Minister.

The Spanish Prime Minister too...1 in 15 Spaniards marched, according to press reports.

I'm more then impressed.

No School Tomorrow.



Yes!

Central Pennsylvania Snowfall Totals...updated.

I'm taking a break from Storm Mode to bring you some really happy news.

Remember my rage, and others, when Eli Lily got immunity in the Homeland Security Bill?



IT GOT REPEALED!!!!!!



meaning: those corporate bastards will have to answer to the families who have children poisoned by their mercury-based additive to their vaccine. Someone is gonna get their comeuppance for possibly giving all those kids autism.

Pennsylvania is under a State of Emergency. But the state is open for buisness tomorrow.

Central Pennsylvania Snowfall Totals

The snow has finally stopped snowing. It's been snowing heavily for the last 27 hours.


The final tally: 20" to 28", with an average of 24" in the region. Sleet mixed in because of warm air aloft (it remained nearly at zero all night at the surface) and kept the totals down, especially toward Philadelphia.

There are drifts, like I saw overnight, 4' high.

So, who wants to go tubing?

The worst has arrived.

Wind howling.

This is great!

Haloscan has returned.

Whoever posted the 12" of Global Warming comment, somehow your post, and my response, got lost when I fixed the code for the umpteenth time. I didn't delete it.

All civillian traffic is ordered off of state highways in Maryland.
Snowplows can barely keep up with the snow, which is falling at a rate of 4" an hour.

Blizzard Warning over Much of New Jersey and Delaware.

(If you're wondering why there's a space between the DC post and now, well, I went out drinking. Heh. What else was I supposed to do in a blizzard? Blog?)


Oh yea...I suspect Matthew Yglesias will be blogging more than normal...the blizzard is heading his way with 6"+ expected up thataways. I'd prepare for a good 18" if I were you, Matt, this storm in its intensity has even surprised me.

If you wanted to hear about politics, then I'd advise you visit one of those fine blogs to the left because the only thing holding my attention for the next 48 hours is the biggest storm to hit the East since 1888. Unless something outrageous happens...

The total has been upped to 26"-32" and possibly higher where I am.


I'm gonna be snowed in for days! And I'm out of bread...

It looks like Russia in winter outside. (I suspect Mrs. Sean-Paul will say this is snow flurries, though....my friend from Utica,NY already has...he yawned...)

Cars have literally vanished beneath snowdrifts.

I'm 5'5". The snow is WAIST HIGH.


I'm speechless.

Washington DC is closed for buisness.


Here's an interesting quote although I'm glad he made it home safely so he doesn't have to be out in this mess.

The wicked weather put a damper on Bush's weekend at the presidential mountaintop retreat in the Catoctin Mountains. He departed several hours earlier than planned, and it took his motorcade two and a half hours to wend its way back to the White House.

The same storm that has me trapped covered Kentucky with ice yesterday.

This is amazing!

Maryland added to the list of states declaring a State of Emergency, with Baltimore expecting almost three feet of snow.

West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey are under States of Emergency, with Pennsylvania expected to follow, along with New York later tonight.

Adams County (location of Gettysburg) reporting 10.5 inches of snow, with 20 more inches expected.


Check it out here.

I'm bascially snowed in.

Philadelphia International Airport is practically closed.

UPDATE:

As of 530PMEST, 13" reported at Philadelphia International Airport.

Areas to my immediate south in Delaware and Maryland are reporting over a foot and a half of snow. The storm isn't even at its peak yet.


The Storm is in storm mode.


Millersville has just under 8 inches (not including last weekends storm, or yesterday's 3")

I've done away with Haloscan, for the time being.

No School Tomorrow.


I'm going tubing.

SkyCams for the Lower Susquehanna Valley

Philadelphia is expecting 18"-27". Some areas, if sleet doesn't mix in, could recieve 30+", making the President's Day Blizzard of 2003 the worst since the Blizzard of '96.


By the way, it's about 9 degrees fahrenheit too.

Delaware and New Jersey have declared statewide emergencies. Only emergency personnel are permitted to be out on the roads in Delaware, and later this afternoon, New Jersey. I expect one for parts of Pennsylvania later tonight.

At Noon, snow was falling over parts of Maryland at a rate of 2"-4" an hour.


It gets better. The worst is yet to come. As the storm winds up later this afternoon, 30+ MPH winds will rake the region creating whiteout conditions. Power outages, 6 foot high snowdrifts. . .

This is so cool.




I'm going tubing.

Wow, my threat of war with Haloscan must have worked, because it's back now.

You can post at either or both, unless I decide later it looks tacky and remove one.

From here. Via Agonist.

30"+ in some areas.


El Nino? What El Nino?

I declare unilateral war on Haloscan.

And I've added a different comments system.

Haloscan is STILL down.

Update: Apparently, I could get as much as 24+, if not more.

The East will be paralyzed tomorrow and Monday.


So the question is: Should I study for that exam? Or put it off till Monday (since it's looking like I'm getting a blizzard the day the exam takes place.)

Looks like I'm getting 8" to 16".

And haloscan is still down, what's up with that?

Jeanne D'arc has a pretty neat breakdown on how much this war will cost.


And we must commend her on her first use of the TABLE function of HTML. The Storm still hasn't grasped this simple, yet complex concept. It looks good! Really! It does!

Remember this?

Peruse the site and think on it.

I have, and I've reached my conclusion.*


*I edited this post several times to these few lines. The pictures bought tears--something that hasn't happened since September 11, 2001. I think you can guess what my conclusion is.

Haloscan is down. Ugh.

The public (well those in countries with free speech) is saying no to War, today.

I saw that the White House had added their own spin on it. They stated something about protests being apart of the "free and democratic process," which I agree they are.

The right-wing of the blogosphere just wants to make fun of them. Eh, it is their right. Free speech, you know.


There is nothing wrong with wanting peace. War is ugly; there's nothing pretty about it. So if they want to protest the war because they have a desire for peace, then I appalud them.

I'm probably going to attend a peace vigil tomorrow at one of Lancaster's many churches. A good Christian should be a reluctant warrior, you know. And a Quaker (which is me) shouldn't be a warrior at all.

snicker.

Objective #1 (the one I had resolve about) accomplished.

I have to come out of the closet and say it.

I'm a trekkie.



Whew, I feel so much better!

I think I might post on the socio-political aspects of Star Trek later today, since it's snowing and I'm bored.


(hint...think socialism)

More on Heinlein

Was he a fascist or not?

I'm thinking he was a bit right-wing, but he wasn't fascist, and Starship Troopers (the book, the 1997 movie is obvious and ridiculous satire of fascism meaning Paul Verhoven interpreted the book wrong; typical of Hollywood)* shows that.

I told you nothing would make sense today.

Someone out there has to be a Heinlein fan, and I want to discuss this.

*tangent.

For my international viewers, this is the type of storm that's about to lay the Smackdown on the East Coast.

MY roommate just left for New York. He's staunchly antiwar.

Meanwhile the East bears down for what could be a snowstorm of historic magnitude. It's snowing heavily here. There's at least 4 inches on the ground. This is round one of the storm, which stretches all the way back to Iowa at the time of this posting.

And I'm resolved to get back with the ex cause I just don't feel complete.

So no posts today. At least none that make particular sense.

Has Israel used poison gas? This man thinks so.

You decide. I'm on the fence with this one.

I hate reading about the effects of budget cuts. Especially this budget cut.

The blog of one brave American.

So I have the duct tape now as no college student should ever leave home without it. And I got some cellophane.







Um...er....what do I do with it?

Also, and I must admit that this argument was shouted while we were all a little (ok, a lot) tipsy last night (It was Cheer-Terry-Up-Night-Because-He-Ended-Up-Being-Single-Again-The-Day-Before-Valentine's-Day....the spiltting headache I had this morning, er, afternoon, means it probably wasn't very successful)*

Where was I?

Oh yes.

My friends, and we are all fairly moderate people (we're a bunch of independents)*, think Bush will be reelected in 2004 merely because we cannot have an administration change due to the mess the upcoming War is going to cause.

Just a thought.

*tangent.

Given that war is bascially inevitable, and governments don't always listen to the public, is it possible that these, while noble, are a little bit futile?

I've decided to pick a friendly squabble with Bryan of Bryan's Monoblouge. I'm sorry to say this, but Robert Heinlein is much better then Issac Asimov. Heh heh heh.

(It's okay, he's a friend.)

Dima has a response to my question of yesterday.

Here's some thoughts I brainstormed (also posted over at Overspill)

a fix to the UN

*It would promote and require a democratic political system much like our own here in the States for all nations in it.

* Nations with poor records with human rights would not be allowed to join until they made siginificant improvements. Those nations would be isolated if they were poor with their human rights.

* Regional issues (ie the Balkans) would be solved at the regional level.

I've had it with blogger. But I own 25MBs here, and it cost me a pretty penny. Does anyone know if I can install movable type on blogspot? I have a domain name too, it just doesn't work the way it's supposed to.

Anyway, email me, because I'm about to lay the smackdown on Blogger.

Poor Dolly.

Jeanne D'Arc also writes about Ivory Coast, and adds a couple new angles.

Righty genius Stan D. andLefty genius Sean-Paul weigh in on European non-cooperation. Go read both.

I really have nothin' today. It's Valentine's Day, I'm single again, so I'm distracted.

You're just a little bit late, Saddam.

A one-two punch snowstorm is headed for my region.

God this winter sucks.

What on Earth is going on in Bolivia?

The new GOP welfare reform bill seems to be sound, and I hope that it works in practice. However, I disagree with this:

The bill includes up to $300 million per year for experiments promoting marriage. It also extends a $50 million program promoting abstinence from sex until marriage, which bans any discussion of contraception.

It isn't the marriage part that bothers me so much, its the program that bans discussion of contraception. I think that the use of contraception should be taught along with abstinence. You know how people can be, horny devils that we are.

All Estrada has to do is answer the questions. If he doesn't answer the questions, then he doesn't get confirmed. Simple as that.

It just so happens he's Hispanic.

Republicans are going shrill over this. They think the Democratic Filibuster is "race-baiting."

There's no racism going on here. I direct a blizzard of filibustering to the Senate. Until Estrada answers the questions.

If he answers the panel's questions, then he'll get confirmed. Simple. If he doesn't, then he should look for another job.

If the US withdraws from the UN, or, if the UN becomes irrelavent, what will the world put in its place?

This question requires some participation.

Dima's got a good one up today. It's a good analysis on skeptics of the upcoming war.

Stan's got one too, in response to my rant last night. In the interest of keeping a friendly decorum, I'll let him have the last word. I'm obviously not changing my mind, and he's not changing his. I agree to disagree. And it's all good.

Calmed down now, posts later.

Oh Christ almighty! Japan is threatening a pre-emptive strike on North Korea!

You know what? Screw Rant Day. Fuck North Korea. Fuck Iraq. Screw the Bush Administration. Fuck bigotry and racism! Fuck the vicious partisanship that embroils this country.

I'm taking a sleeping pill and going back to bed. I'm so pissed off, and my mood is so evil today, that blogging and being apart of society really doesn't seem worth it.

I'll be back tomorrow once I've calmed down.

Drudge is reporting that Michael Savage is getting a show on MSNBC.

Oh that liberal media.

Here's what this idiot believes in:

He advocated dealing with immigration by having the Army cordon off poor neighborhoods, then search them house to house to find all undocumented Hispanics.

He referred to Hispanics who sued a restaurant that allegedly made them wait for a table while seating whites who arrived after them as 'animals'.

He stated that Chinese immigrants keep secret weapons stashes across the country and are waiting for orders from Beijing to simultaneously get the weapons and start shooting whites. He repeated the same story the following day, speaking in the first person using a 'Charlie Chan' style Chinese accent.

He told a caller to 'take the Constitution and stuff it up your ass.'

He stated that when he used the term 'American', he was referring to conservative white Christians. Others are not Americans.

He stated that American soldiers killed in WWII 'died for nothing'.

He has said that women shouldn't be permitted to vote because 'Their hormones rage; they are too emotional.'

In one of the few incidents to actually draw public attention, he described female High School student who volunteered to assist homeless people as 'fresh white nookie' and stated that they were volunteering for the 'thrill and possibility they'll be raped in a dumpster'.

He said that the 'liberal media' was covering up the fact that James Byrd, the black Texan who was murdered and then dragged behind a truck, was a coke dealer, and his murder was an attempted sale gone bad.

This isn't the only instance where this 'conservative' has endorsed or virtually endorsed violence against disfavored groups. He labeled the victims of this notorious rape and attempted murder as 'sluts' because they were kidnapped from a known make out spot that they had gone to with their boyfriends.

When a gay High School student was beaten and had the word 'fag' carved into his stomach and arms, Savage responded, 'When a sissy in Novato gets a fat lip, the media treats it like it's World War III.'

From :Public Nuisance.
_______________________________________

Scoobie Davis, that genius from Hollywood (and I say this with the uptmost respect. He's got a stronger stomach then I as he actually read Savage's horrid little book and critiqued it...and he even read Ann Coulter's Slanderso I wouldn't have to.) has been all up on this. You can read it here.

My first reaction was that he shouldn't have a show, but I am for free speech. I say let the the little bastard have his racist, bigoted show. When MSNBC loses all of its sponsors for giving racism and bigotry airtime, I won't have the least bit of sympathy for them. They will have bought it on themselves.

So apparently, the Bush Administration wants to give Turkey up to 15 billion dollars in aid to offset the blow to their economy that the upcoming War with Iraq would cause.

I think I need to scream.

UM, Hello? $300 BILLION DEFICIT? Um, hello? Did you forget that you still haven't told us how much this new war is gonna cost us? Is anyone listening? Does anyone care? Christ!

I'm done.

Victim #1: Those congressmen wanting to boycott France because they don't want to cooperate with Bush's Iraq War.

France still has my business. I'm on the side of the Europeans on this one.

You fucking stupid morons. That's the most ASININE reason to have a boycott. The French government doesn't want a war. So they don't cooperate. So we're supposed to boycott their products.

What fucktoads.

Today is going to be Rant Day, because I am in an unbelievably foul mood. I'm taking no prisoners. I'm showing no mercy.

You might want to catch up on those other blogs you've been missing, unless you're in the mood for some progressive screeds.

Iditarod detoured due to lack of snow.

Well duh! All their damned Snow is down here! Come and get it! We don't want it anymore!

MIT drops policy for Minorities.


God forbid the ************ get any leg up. Sarcastic slurs added for emphasis.

I really can't say much about it. They are private schools, and they can do what they want.

Basically, this is the anti-affirmative action argument/meme that I see:

1. Affirmative Action discriminates.
2. Minorities take the spots of better-qualified white people.
3. Affirmative Action makes minorites feel unqualified. (Which it doesn't. I am, essentially, an affirmative action admit. I got into this university because I went to a minorities-only pre-college program. It was Hispanic and Black. I got into that program because I got As in High School. I got 1100 on the SATs. Do I feel unqualified? Fuck no.)

Now they say this bullshit "affirmative access" thing that probably doesn't work. Oh wait, studies have proven that it doesn't. Look here. Apparently "affirmative access" doesn't foster diversity. Look here.

Apparently, affirmative action is good for business.

This is one topic that I'll entertain no argument over. I feel strongly about it. You can clutter my comments all you want and email me all you want. I'm closing my ears and not listening. Am I being an asshole? Oh hell yeah. But this is because all those who oppose affirmative action to me, they just sound like a whiny bunch of white men who for some reason are bitter that they aren't included in something that helps minorities and oh yea...WOMEN white and black. Yea, I know those people suing Michigan were white women. I bet, and I dare someone to actually get their undergrad records, that they were dumb as doorknobs and they didn't get in anywhere. So, being a bunch of crybabies, they did the American thing and sued. (Bakke, incidentally, applied to 10 med schools and didnt get into one. Not one. So the loser sued. Bitch.)

That's my position. I'm gonna have to be stubborn as a mule on this one. I'm not listening to the opposition, cause I'm tired of hearing their tired old arguments.


***slurs censored. Children read this.

Another site that proves I'm right on this, and I'll always think I'm right no matter what people say to me.

Ed. Note...I am serious when I get stubborn about stuff like this. I can be an unsuffurable bastard.

I just want to say that Ed Davis (google him if you have no idea who he is...think Hanoi Hilton) is a great speaker and he told it like it is at Millersville this afternoon.

Remember that film paper I wrote about way back in November? You can read it here.


That's copyrighted material, by the way.

Concert of Europe

the Hauge Conferences

League of Nations

the United Nations


I'm going to be doing a historical review over the next few days, because it annoys me that I see people arguing points with very little historical knowledge. I mean people in my everyday life, not the blogosphere, although they do it too.

It's going to be my best post ever.

Y'all should review your history on these four important parts of the history of diplomacy.

Hey, I missed 24 last night because I was at a College Democrats meeting. Anyone want to email me the low-down?

Actually, since that bitch of a wife the President had betrayed him and the little she-terrorist too, I've missed a bunch due to illness and other stuff. Help me out. Email me what I've missed.

I really should remember to tape these things.

If you haven't read today's Daily Kos, you probably should.

Apparently, North Korean Missles can hit the continental US.


I think I need some more valium in my kool-aid.

Nothin to see here. This is not a crisis. Move along now. Move along. We're at war with Eurasia, not Eastasia. Move along now, or the Ministry of Information will get you!

Stan and Lisa seem to be having a silly fight that is oh so common in the blogosphere.

We should all just agree to disagree, you'll have much more fun that way.

I have yet to hear an explanation for this. I know it's old news, but still.

(That's Rumsfeld on the left.)






Oh yeah.

We've always been at war with Eurasia.

Why do they keep bringing these STUPID FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES back up?


Progressives, please call your congressman. I've said before I'm a devout Quaker, but frankly, I like my Church and State seperate, thank you.

The World Turned Upside-Down.


not relevent now, it will be in about...um...two weeks or so.

So apparently Ann Coulter is really the Chupacapras.

via Eschaton.


I'm not totally convinced. Her eyes don't glow red, but she could have special contacts in. You never know. . .

UPDATE


Powell looks real stupid.


Goddamn it, stop fishing for straws!*

*edited slightly.

More Kool-Aid please.


UPDATE:
CNN removed the link. Fucking whores.

Kool-Aid please.

Praise the Lord for the Onion. I've briefly recovered.

Actually, when you look at this latest statement from the supposedly long-dead-but-not-dead-and-probably-alive-in-one-of-the-'stans Bin Laden, it appears that we're damned if we do, damned if we don't.

Everyone should start preparing for God knows what, now. I know people in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain do this from June-late November for hurricane season and people on the West Coast do this in case of earthquakes. I really do think that the government, if they're going to constantly warn us, should provide some type of list on what kinds of emergency plans American families should come up with. I'm going to start working on mine, although my family probably still has some stuff left over from Y2K.

With North Korea threatening to start stuff, war coming with Iraq in a matter of days that will disrupt the lives of millions and probably kill a few thousand of them, and a definate terrorist backlash that could range from managable to catastropic, it's becoming harder and harder to say "I shall fear no evil."

I am very afraid tonight.

I guess Catholics are now "objectively pro-Saddam."


I had to take that swipe. I really did.

UPDATE:

The swipe was at instapundit, not catholics. Oh man, would I be in the doghouse if I swiped Catholics!

But I bet those war-mongering Protestants aren't too happy with the Pope.

Then again, a lot of those same Protestants believe this. And this.

How long until this is proven false just like all the others?


According to What Really Happened, not very long. (Read the last line.) Or...yeah. Not very long.


As I've been doing for the last few weeks, I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude toward this before I get shrill. It will be proven wrong or right soon enough. I hope it's not another grad student's work.


UPDATE:

Story has changed. Stay tuned.

UPDATE part II:

I'm still skeptical. It bascially looks like what he's been saying all along: that he wants Muslims to do awful things to non-Muslims.

UPDATE part III:

I'm still not going gung-ho for this war, and if terror happens as a result of this war, I withdraw all support. Wait...er...I'm not going gung-ho for it. My support is still tepid. I meant if it means terror attacks us at home

Update number 3 made no sense when I went back to reread it, so I updated the update.

UPDATE part IV:

Al-Jazeera still denying. I'm still skeptical.

UPDATE part V:

I want to read a book about propaganda.

UPDATE part VI
statement at MSNBC

“With all the might of the enemy, they were unable to defeat us and take over that position. ... We hope that our brothers in Iraq will do the same as we did,” said the voice.
The speaker said the United States was waging a psychological war against Iraq and urged Muslims to stage suicide attacks on Americans.
At the same time, the message also called on Iraqis to rise up and oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who is a secular leader. "

so it really isn't a partnership, and I'm not getting shrill.

UPDATE part VII:

MSNBC has removed the sentence. And they put that damned terror alert thing back up. They've lost points.

UPDATE part VIII

The commentators at Eschaton note that MSNBC continues the edit the story to make it appear that Bin Laden is pro-Saddam...despite the above quote which was already removed.

What media whores. That's a case of blatent media fellatio. Live. Damn them to hell.

UPDATE part IX

Antiwar is all up on this.

The future Mrs. Sean-Paul has been added to my blogroll.

A post over at Warblogging got me thinking, and we had been talking about the subject of poles in Global Politics class over the last few days, so I decided to draw this:



Let me know what you think.

Damnit, she's right. Body and Soul is good as usual.

US News and World Report, a newsmagazine I read and have noted that it could be called "Fox News: The Magazine," also laid out the 7 fears. Although, it wasn't their lead story. Kicking the Oil habit was, which makes no sense because that's decades away. But oh well. Pick it up, I actually like US News and World Report. It balances my NY Times, which I also love.

Al-Qaeda still a threat.

Well, duh.

Did you ever wake up to headlines like that and want to go back to sleep, and wake up again and everything is sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere?

Or is it just me?

Reading this gave me some giggles. They were good ones too.

From now on, MSNBC is my new ntework. They have gotten rid of that annoying code orange thing CNN and FOX have floating around. and Frankly, they are pretty centrist, with far right and far left commentators. Down with CNN. Up with MSNBC!

Overspill went and changed their look. And we must say, it looks DAMN GOOD!

The draft screenplay of the movie Brazil.

Go see it if you haven't. You won't like if you don't like satire or dark humor. My brother watched 20 mintues of it and didn't get it. That incensed me, because normally he can be somewhat intelligent so I refused to explain it to him until he watched the entire movie. Then again, he likes movies that I cannot stand, like Starship Troopers (which ruined an excellent book, except the shower scenes...I liked those) and anything that Jerry Bruckheimer makes (his affinity for the color orange is annoying. His movies suck too.) He even wants to be a film director and will be taking lots of my parents money to do so when he heads out to school next year. He, as of this posting, has not watched the entire movie. And I won't say a word to him about the movie until he does. And that was one long tangent.*

The world in 30 years? we'll see. In the mean time, call your congressperson and make sure they know your displeasure and how angry you'll be if they vote for Patriot Act II when it comes to the House and Senate floors.

*edited to add the tangent

In keeping with my centerist position on Gulf War, the Sequel, here's an article that I totally agree with, even though I said I would support the war lukewarmly with a highly critical and skeptical eye. This line is particuarly telling:

During the Cold War, liberals were accused of being unpatriotic for objecting to the United States arming human rights violators. Forget about actually killing the human rights violators. We just didn't want the U.S. to be complicit in torture and murder as they were occurring. In the case of Iraq, there isn't even a hint of a genocide underway. There is no current policy of ethnic cleansing being executed by the Iraqi government. But nevermind. Saddam has used torture in the past, and is probably using it now, therefore it is the moral duty of the United States to kill him.

This from the people who opposed saving the Kosovars.

As I remember it, House and Senate Republicans were so nastily partisan due to the Clinton Penis-Lie/Cigar/Oral Sex Scandal, they absolutely refused to go along with it. The Kosovars got saved anyway. I actually was kind of against it, but for different reasons that I'll talk about some other day. These same partisans opposed Desert Fox, if I remember correctly. Just to be partisan and vindictive.

Now they want me to go gung-ho for a war that the world outside of the United States (and i'm talking public opinion, not what governments have decided) does not want.

I believe it's time for Saddam to go, and I think it's best that all possible avenues are exhausted before we commit tens of billions of dollars to disrupt the lives of millions. The idea of Iraq selling weapons (which North Korea probably already does, but we're way too busy avenging the threat on Bush's dad to pay any attention to those Stalinist freaks who want to turn the capital of our ally into a "sea of fire") does concern me. If his government has them, and is planning on using them, then we should stop them. If they've used them while we were enemies with them (since we all know they gleefully used them while we were friends with them), then they should be stopped.



*edited because it made too many tangents.

What's wrong with this logic?

we are Americans, therefore we are good.

Or...what's right with this logic? I'll entertain both sides in the interest of being "bipartisan."

Anyone else creeped out by groupthink?


It's like a bizarre version of The Borg.

While our "eye" is fixed on Iraq (apologies to Tolkien) , East Asia is buckling down in fear of a showdown between North Korea and the United States.

There's news of a blockade. If they start selling their hell-toys. Which I support (the blockade, not the sale of helltoys).

Japan is preparing.

Pyongyang expects an attack. They've already stated that they reserve the right to pre-emptively strike.

I'm still hawkish on the Korea issue. But I'm starting to have some concerns. Especially after reading this from GlobalSecurity.

Kevin Drum, like myself, offers his tepid support for the upcoming war.

I have my reasons for not being gung-ho about war. I think my general distrust of the Bush Administration, my somewhat anti-Globalist stance (down with the WTO and the IMF, that's what I say...I am kind of isolationist in that way), my religious pacifism, and the fear of the aftermath that I don't think America is adequately prepared for all factor into why I can only offer my support with a skeptical and critical eye. I have grave misgivings. And, frankly, I'm tired of all of this. If they're gonna do it, they should get it over and done with. I'm tired of the waiting. I'm tired of the global spats. I'm tired of the terror warnings. I'm tired of being lied to by all sides. Etc. Etc. I'm not going to ramble on about this.

But anyway CalPundit says it much better so you should read him instead.

I thought I'd explain how my blogroll works.

You may notice that certain sites are always up top. I have it set that way. Sites that update more frequently, and are in blogrolling's index, get pushed up to the top.

I don't have seperate rolls for West(conservative) Blogistan and East(liberal) Blogistan like some other sites do. Some people are hard to classify. For example, I don't mind being in Sean-Paul's East Blogistan. I do mind being called a bleeding hearted liberal, because I can be a cold-hearted bastard if I want to.

I'm not sure where I was going with this ramble.

Oh yeah, I don't link to people just to get linked back to, although it is nice when people do, and I appreaciate it.

Did you call your congressperson today?

I think my archives are back!

UPDATE:

They ARE back! Praise God!

My self-made links are staying up incase they decide to go away, again.

UPDATE:

DAMNIT! They're gone again!

I can't tell if Matt is being snarky, or what.

If you want to keep up with Pennsylvania issues, you can check here.

The next installment of my sci-fi serial will be up by the end of the weekend, if I don't get too distracted by Friday.

The Original Patriot Act.


Makes good toilet paper.

As will the second.

Russia is having second thoughts about Gulf War II.


Good for them. They have the right to question, instead of blindly follow.


I've been surprised at the amount of anti-war feelings at the school I attend. This place is very conservative. Of course, it really didn't surprise me when a large anti-war poster made by the students that was hanging in the dining hall was torn town. There were even pro-war statements written on this poster, and someone tore it down. It wasn't some drunk kids either, the poster was hung a good seven feet off the ground in the stairwell leading to the upstairs dining room, so someone actually had to put effort into ripping it down. Like getting a ladder, or something.

If they didn't like the anti-war sign, then why didn't they just hang up their own pro-war sign? Duh, that's what I would have done. Idiot.

Now the antiwar crowd here (all 9 of them) are going to plaster this campus with signs. And I'm going to help them.

Is That Legal sublimely "fisks" that Congressman from North Carolina. Good.

Fox's new reality series. Title: Married By America.

Reality TV is so freaking lame.

That time is coming up soon. You know, the thing that libertarians and fiscal conservatives hate: Tax Time. Luckily, there's a tax blog out there to answer all your questions. It'sTax Observer. Give it a looksee.


I'm thinking I'll file this weekend, so I can have my money back by Spring Break and be a good little American and spend it on some stuff I probably don't need. Or I could save it. . . and have a surplus. Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

The Brand America Project.

Interesting . . .

I'm not really all that concerned about India and Pakistan expelling each others diplomats. I imagine it's something they do on a semi-regular basis. Probably for Indian and Pakistani domestic consumption. I could be wrong, but that's just how I see it.

I saw this and laughed.

Stupid, sure. But we at The Storm find humor in some fanatics. And yes, that is an SUV, and yes, we hate SUVs. No, we wouldn't damage someone elses property. That would just not be cool.

Rereading some old posts, I realized that I really must try harder not to go off on tangents, like this one.

Apologies for name calling. Well, no, I won't apologize to Vernon Schaefer, but I will apologize to Sean Kirby who I may have insulted the other day and I really didn't mean to.

Yes, I'm eating my words. This is a rare moment. You might want to bookmark this.

This guy really hates CNN.

Iraq Disarmament Plan gains momentum...

Hmmmm... I think I'll just wait and see on this plan. I doubt it will go through. We've been hell-bent on this war since July.

However, I really enjoyed watching Rumsfeld getting told off. He really shouldn't have insulted the Germans. If we're gonna give it, we are gonna have to take it too.

Whether you hate the UN or love it, I think the danger I'm sensing is this: If the UN breaks up, every country in the world will get to do whatever the hell it wants. Frankly, I'd rather not see 190+ different nations with vastly competing interests and conflicts. I actually do like the U.N. and I don't want it to go the way of the League of Nations.

Lastly, I hope they get aggressive on North Korea real soon.

Iran has a plant too...

What the hell?

I'm not going to get shrill. . . not gonna do it...wouldn't be prudent...

er....

So apparently, Camp Al-Quaida:Iraq is located in the northern no-fly zone. It's in that Kurdish area. We could have bombed the living fuck out of it. But we didn't. Why?


I'm just a bit confused at the moment, so I'm not going to get shrill yet.


UPDATE
Ok, Hesiod and Katie the Goblin Queen both are annoyed about this whole Camp Al-Quaida:Iraq thing.

If no further explanation is given, I'm going to get really shrill.

My War Support

Keep in mind, I am a Quaker.

War on Terror: Support. I want Osama Bin Laden's head on a pike.

Iraq: Tepid. I've been waffleing on this for weeks now. I think, at this point, I want it to be done and overwith.

North Korea: Hawkish. This could be the struggle of the ages if it escalates, but I will be behind the President on this issue if war breaks out with North Korea. They test my life tenet to fear no evil on a daily basis now, it seems.


It can be argued that Iraq is an extention of the War on Terror, and I suppose it could very well be.

Stan D asks me a legitimate question.

How do you feel about the Second Amendment?

Let's examine.

A Well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Both sound good to me. A state militia (and I don't mean those nutty far-right Christian Identity folks) is a good thing. I think, and I welcome corrections, the National Guard falls into this category. This part of the amendment, to me at least, is a protection from fascism even though fascism didn't even exist in 1789 when this was written. The Founders had some forsight: if a leader goes nuts and takes over, the people at least have the arms to force him, and whatever military force he might have backing him, out.

The second part, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, is fair to me. I'm for this. Now, I will never own a gun. I just don't think it's for me. However, I think honest, law-abiding people should have the right to own a gun. I, however, don't believe that if everyone carried a concealed weapon, there'd be no crime. American culture is violent and it always has been, and that's my reasoning for that belief. We aren't Japan, which has no crime but also has no guns. Our culture is based on the individual and not the collective, like Japan, and almost all of Asia, is.

I agree with background checks to an extent. Lunatics and felons should not have guns. Period. Other than that. . . well you get the picture.

Pilots should be armed. I agree with that.

I agree with training programs.

I also agree with the banning of certain machine guns. There's no need for a private citizen to have a weapon of war, unless he's a military man. Then, I can understand if he has an AK-47 in his closet. He needs it to go off to war.

Overall, I'm for the Second Amendment.


an UPDATE:

I think lefties who scream bloody murder about the infringement of civil liberties are being hypocritcal when it comes to second amendment issues. Not all, because there are quite a few on the Left who don't. But some. And it's irksome.

According to internet muckraker Drudge (via Overspill) , Saddam only has 48 hours to leave Iraq. Which is interesting, because my Geography Prof. said two weeks ago that he had heard through the grapevine that the go date was February 10th, which at the time of this posting is just under 48 hours.

I sure hope Drudge is wrong on this one. I'm sticking with March 1st because it's a new moon. But if the go-date is indeed the 10th, then it would explain the terror warnings that the sluttish, liberal, right-wing, whorish media has been hyping up 24 hours a day.

Now, a couple nations have been evacuating their people over the last few weeks, including Japan. We are so going to war. I wish they'd stop saying "possible." It's a total misnomer.

UPDATE: (via Stan of Overspill via Drudge)
48 Hours or else.

UPDATE part TWO:
Having read fully what the Telegraph had to say, it seems that the 10th is not the go-date, but an Allied Assault can begin within 48 hours of the last inspection report due this week. I'm still sticking with March 1st, because that's the next new moon.

Dave Matthews, musical genius, speaks out about Iraq. The world yawns.

This kid, and another kid, think it's cool to call those in charge at the UN morons, when both of them are basically minors and have few real rights. Actually, it's the second kid who thinks partisan name calling is fun. My suggestion to Kid #2: if you know more about running the UN, KID, then you should apply for the job. If it came down to a choice between you, KID, and Kofi Annan, I think I'd choose the man with the advanced degrees and decades of experience in international diplomacy.

The kid (kid #2 that is) is of course silent on Patriot Act II, which I have shown my righteous displeasure for. Kid #1 is not silent. Good. You're learning.

Remember when I said I wished for the high school aged blogger who could discuss politics or anything of worldly affairs? I put the wish back out there. It's not that I dislike his conservative stance. It's the name calling that irks me. Now, yes, I did call Berks County Commissioner Vernon Schaefer a "bigoted toad of a fuckwad," a few days ago, but he deserved it for trying to deny the Spanish-speaking population of Reading, PA the right to have ballots in their native language, and therefore, the right to vote. Anyone who hates people, and then wants to deny those people rights, is a bigoted toad of a fuckwad, and frankly, they're wasting my air.

Future of Conservative America, right there, folks.

Now, Lime Jello is a fine high-school blog.

BTW, here's the # for the White House Switchboard, if you'd like to voice your displeasure with Patriot Act II.

Be polite.

202-456-1111

The Agonist seems to be malfunctioning. hmmm...

Praise God, Patriot Act II in the Press!
here too.

May they savage it the way they savage people who recieve blow jobs in office.


You know, those Ad Council commercials that say "Freedom: Love it. Cherish it. Protect it." are eerie now, in light of this new proposed legislation.

Despite the outrage felt by myself, Les, Sean-Paul, Cobb, George Paine, and a few others the blogosphere is unnervingly quiet.

Um...HELLO?

When I said "Start Your Engines," that wasn't a request. When I said act now, that wasn't a request.

Do what you will, but The Storm believes in freedom. I get misty-eyed at good playings of our national anthem. I feel a twinge whenever fanatics overseas burn our flags. This Act will shred the Constitution and line the proverbial kitty-litter pan with it.

If people don't make their congresspeople's lives misreable over the next few weeks with faxes, letters, and phone calls, I'm really going to be beyond outraged. I might just have a stroke.

Get moving, people! Those are your orders.

This is what I think of Patriot Act Redux.

"O'er the Land of the Free...And The Home Of The Brave!"

I'm just putting this out there: If Muslims get interned in camps in this country, I'm going with them.


and on the subject of Patriot Act Redux, Sean-Paul is enraged. So are the commentators over at Eschaton. And rightly so.

I'm not enraged yet, but I am nervous, dismayed, and overwhelmingly concerned. If it passes, I'll be enraged. If there's no debate in the House or Senate about this, I'll be enraged. But as of now, it's a proposal, and it can be shuttled down the memory hole quickly if we act fast.

I really don't see how anyone can defend this. Safety or not, we already have to put up with the Patriot Act of 2001. Libertarians Left and Right, start your engines!

I expect a Warblogger post of pure and sublime genius on this sometime this weekend.

UPDATE:

Cobb has suggested flying the Gadsen Flag. So we are.

UPDATE Part II:

The post of pure genius has been posted. And not a moment too soon.

UPDATE Part III:

I am now outraged. See above.

Apparently, the left Blogistan has another Terry and he has his own blog. With the same template. And we even started in the same month!

Creeeeepy.

But at least he's on our side.

Well, had I read Eschaton today, I would have known that he was all up on top of Patriot Act Redux, so while I thought I had a scoop, I was wrong. I bow in the general direction of Philadelphia (which I should be doing anyway since it's my hometown).

And this terror alert=orange thing? I've been mocking it all evening. Code Orange sounds really funny over Rolling Rock. I probably shouldn't mock matters of national security, but they could have picked a more, alert, color, then orange. Like magenta, or something. Maybe a neon color. Unless it's hydrogen bomb-orange, then I can see where they're coming from.

The outrage from Patriot Act Redux is spreading and rightly so. Libertarians...start your engines.

The transcript of the Holy Domestic Spy Program!

Holy Domestic Spy-Program!

This thing has hit the airways like crazy, man!

"I think this is a quite radical proposal. It authorizes secret arrests. It would give the Attorney General essentially unchecked authority to deport anyone who he thought was a danger to our economic interests. It would strip citizenship from people for lawful political associations,"

oh dear.

Patriot Act Redux


Looks scary.

Need to do more research.

It's GOOGLE SEARCH TIME!

"Many of the accidents being reported on the Long Island Expressway involved SUVs. WCBS TV station was reporting that SUV drivers often spin out of control because their four-wheel drive vehicles give them a false sense of security"

How very sad for them.

Read the story (which really isn't related to SUVs) here.

You may have noticed the new banner. I have to thank Sean-Paul, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Especially the lightning bolt. That's the best part.

This Code Orange deal has me nervous, but like my mission statement above states: I shall fear no evil.

And neither should you. Life is too short to behave like an ostrich.

Do what Atrios says and give Wolf Blitzer spasms. And not the good kind of spasms.

I'm guessing that students are doing projects or presentations on Emmitt Till, because the majority of my hits today seem to be from web searches for Emmitt. No wonder. I'm #4 on the google search.

I guess I'll be nice and help them out with some places to start:

Here are those pictures you've been looking for. Man's inhumanity toward his common man.
Here's a story about a modern-day lynching in Mississippi.
Here's a song.
Here's the website of the recent PBS series on this subject. I found viewing this series heartwrenching.

Hope I could help.

Sean-Paul's got a map up.

If you're bored, here's where you can make your own Republican speech.

The Millersville College Democrats are looking for a way to raise some money. An unfriendly Student Senate (headed by a very partisan Republican), the downturn, and bigger groups wanting more money from the common fund has forced us to this point.

If you have any ideas, email me.

I also came up with the idea to become lobbyists too, but I have no idea how that would work out.

Code Orange, Code Orange.

Although I enjoy living in the Northeast, because of its culture and amenities, we have to put up with snow. And this storm has completely ruined my day. I'm not going to see Crossfire now. Trip was postponed until March.

I totally forgot that I was going to post on what I thought of the budget, but as I thought about it it really became quite simple:

The Federal Government is doing what I do all the time.

SPEND MORE THEN IT MAKES.

If it keeps doing that, it will have the same issues that I tend to have with money. It won't be able to buy that new toy, just like, currently (because, well, I spend more then I make, which really isn't that much in the first place...I'm one of the WSJ "lucky duckies"), I can't buy anything on this list.

What to do? How to fix it?

STOP DOING THAT!

See? Simple!

Oh wait, I should take my own advice. So I will.

There's an update to this post.

This weekend marks both one of my closest friend's birthdays, but also the deaths of two girls that I did know here at Millersville. Also, during the afternoon and evening on Friday, I'll be in our nation's capital attending a taping of Crossfire. So if there's a lapse in posting between Friday night and Sunday, it's probably because I'll be drunk, or gloomy, or probably both. Just letting you know, since I have a tendacy to have hiatuses without announcing them. I thought I'd let my public know in advance.

I suppose my hawkishness on Korea means I'm a dove on Iraq. Well, I suppose that's right, because I've stated that the most support I can give to an Iraq conflict, because I fear the aftermath, is tepid at best.

Halfdove, halfhawk?

As of this moment forward, despite my pacifism and the fact that I'm really trying to be a good Quaker, I am pro-war on the North Korea front. It's bad enough when they say they have the right to pre-emptively strike. It's even worse when the White House dismisses the threat!

Yep. Hawkish on N. Korea. I'm not changing this stance. I'm going to be stubborn as a mule on this one. I don't trust them. They're deciteful. They are many times more dangerous then Iraq is. I don't understand why no one else is seeing this threat right under our noses!


UPDATE:

Dima's comments, which can be read in the thread below, are interesting. Perhaps we aren't dismissing them because North Korea is merely playing "Nuclear Brinkmanship." But to the untrained eye, and I'll admit my reaction was knee-jerk because it aggravated me so, it looks like we really don't give a flying monkey's ass. I'm not sure what to think, but I really do believe that this situation is getting a bit out of hand and North Korea needs to be made to sit in the proverbial corner with their nose to the wall.

It's going to SNOW again.

Yes, in December I was all for the snow.

But now I'm tired of it. And, technically and astronomically speaking, there are five more weeks of this misery.

Does this ever happen to you?

I was writing my magnum opus of an evening post, and Internet Explorer errored for no apparent reason at all. It was a response to a response to a post I wrote over at the Agonist.

Growl.