Monday, June 29th, 2009
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8:24 pm - Cause and Effect
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How did Honduran President Zelaya NOT see this coming?
The Coup in Honduras has been denounced by everyone from other South American leaders, to American and European leaders, and only supported by the furthest right of the right-wingers like O'grady of the Wall Street Journal and Ed Morrisey of Hotair.com who uses the inescapably brain-hurting term "Military Impeachment".
That being said, it's rather amusing when a head of state Dismisses his Joint Chiefs of Staff, has the heads of each branch of his Armed Forces resign in solidarity, and then is really surprised when he is removed from power. That really should be a warning. And this dismissal stemmed from the Military refusing to carry out illegal orders (according to the Supreme Court, anyhow) so it is not like El Presidente can claim the moral high ground on this one.
It will be interesting to see how this one turns out. The military will not be able to simply appoint a government in the Western Hemisphere in 2009 without being a pariah, but President Zelaya will not likely return to power without either meaningful acts of reconciliation with his Military, Legislature and Judiciary - or without a foreign power imposing his return to rule.
At least this has validated one thing. School of the America's Graduates can still pull of a well orchestrated Military Coup, so whether we like it or not, we Yanquis are morally involved in this one.
current mood:  contemplative
current music: Molotov - Con Todo Respeto
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Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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7:30 pm - Sad... bring on the inevitable jokes:
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Everyone has heard, MJ is dead of cardiac arrest, some mourning for a global pop-culture force and an infinite number of jokes in poor taste will follow.
The humor-free mourning time formula:
[Average Life Expectancy] - [Age of Dead Celeb] ("The George Burns Factor")
Multiplied By
[Celeb's Peak Fame] - [Comparative Fame at Death] ("The M.C. Hammer Factor")
Divided By
[Eccentricity of Celebrity] + [Irony of Death] ("The Steve Irwin Factor")
Divided again by
[Number of Media Whores who surrounded them] ("The Kato Kaelin Factor")
This formula can let you know how long it will be before jokes about them are acceptable. Instantaneous for George Burns, less so for Lou Gehrig. If Lou Gehrig had been famous for juggling exploding knives on a tightrope, and he had 40 spokespeople who were all clinically insane... his Mourning time would have been far less.
Note: The following song/albums/videos are acceptable joke fodder or soon will be
Invincible
Gone Too Soon
Heart Breaker
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
Ghost
and... of course.... Thriller.
current mood:  melancholy
current music: Michael Jackson - Thriller
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(comment on this)
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Sunday, May 24th, 2009
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4:03 pm - Memorial Day
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Going off to the lake now... but first, I need to get something off my chest.
Image via Dave Grunland from Cagle
The graves of loved ones got decorated this weekend. This is the time of year I always wonder if I have done enough to deserve to be happy in paradise. I can think of so many I have known who have given so much more. Maybe this is what they call survivor's guilt. Thoughts like "Why did the building next to mine get hit, but I get to walk away unscratched? Why did the vehicle behind me get hit but I get to ride away with just a mild ringing in the ears? Why did the sniper hit the guy behind me and not me? What makes me so damned special that I get to come back alive and have the opportunity to be happy and grow old and people who deserve to be alive so much more than I do not get that?
The logical part of the brain tells you that "that's just how it is" that things don't always make sense. That the random working of the universe (or divine will of the almighty if you lean that way) is bigger than what we can wrap our heads around... but that feels somehow unsatisfying. Saying "It doesn't make sense" just feels like saying "I give up" when trying to make sense of it. For others, it feels like an obligation.... make DAMN sure you live this life to the fullest. NEVER forget those who don't get that chance. Do SOMETHING about this shit.
I'm not going to make a political post on Memorial Day Weekend. Everyone who reads me/knows me has no doubt how I feel about the lives we lost over there and whether or not it was worth it. Remember the fallen.
current mood:  thankful
current music: Amazing Grace
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Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
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7:56 pm - Things from the Internets
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Still hanging out in Springfield, MO.
Found a few things online that maybe not everyone has seen, check it out if you are as bored as I am:( Read more... )
current music: Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
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(comment on this)
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Friday, May 1st, 2009
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5:52 pm - This is going to SUCK! YAAAYY!!!
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Headed off to check out the Wolverine Movie. I KNOW that it is going to suck. I walk into this fully prepared, this is a Fourth Movie in a franchise. This is a Batman and Robin this is a Superman IV.
Bring on the suck!
current music: The Third World - Immortal Technique
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Friday, April 24th, 2009
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8:00 am - This is just wrong:
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OK, I usually don't do link posts but:
Today two children of a man detained in Gitmo died from a grenade blast. The sentence that stood out to me is:
"..when a grenade they were playing with accidentally detonated inside their home."
Playing with? A Grenade? I know it's Yemen and all, but an 8 and 10 year old playing with a grenade is just... WTF? I mean it's a sad and touching timely story but... WTF?
current mood:  curious
current music: Sev - Same Old Song
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
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4:14 am - Pure Atari Bliss
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Today I hooked up my Atari Flashback II. This is something I have wanted to do since I got the 50'' HDTV. Something is VERY right with playing PONG and COMBAT on the original controllers on the big screen.
( Pics and Such beneath Cut )
current mood: nostalgic
current music: Three Dog Night - The Road to Shamballah
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, April 9th, 2009
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11:25 pm - Been offline....
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I've been offline for a while. My trip down South was cut short by a call telling me my father was in the intensive care ward in Clinton, MO.
It's been an exhausting few days, but he has been released home, and after another week or so of taking care of him, he should be good to get around on his own. I don't have the patience to be a full-time aide. I really don't, not even for my own father. My brother was nice enough to give me an evening off to just get away from his side and get out and spend some time out of the house, but in another week or he should be independent again.
I had a WONDERFUL time in Mexico, San Antonio, Laredo and Monterrey. Sorry things got cut short and I had to take off, but this is really my only priority now. I'll be back online in a day or two.
current music: MDC - Poser Punk
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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
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7:09 am - I love April 1st
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Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
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3:34 am - Bulletin for tough gunmen with nothing left to lose:
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
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12:57 pm - Goin' South
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Friday, March 13th, 2009
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4:00 am - Arrgh!!!
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Reading about this proposal to "privatize" Veteran's health insurance...
Reminded me about this comic by Tom Tomorrow. This is definitely an "Arrgh!" moment.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
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10:22 pm - Cocoon 3: The Lazyass Recluse
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I am back and getting settled. Tomorrow I car shop and check with my unit about my future. Wish me luck.
I've hand a chance to travel around some and get my head "de-Iraqed". I should feel ready to take on the world, but I kind of want to just wrap myself up in a cocoon and do jack shit. I just want to veg out with my old copies of 2600, my NoFX albums, Salsa and Tortilla Chips.
Finally started working out in earnest again. The weather today almost demanded a long run to appreciate it. I love this place.
I could see myself holing up in a cabin in the woods and writing angry leftist screeds on a manual typewriter, taking breaks only to get Jolt Cola from the delivery guy and shoot old cans with 5.56 rounds. Get off my lawn you motherf*cking kids!!! Don't make me shake my fist even harder!!!!
current mood:  calm
current music: M.C. Rove
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
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5:24 am - Predict The Future For Me!
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Sunday, March 1st, 2009
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10:43 pm - The Frozen Apple
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So, spending a few days in NYC to see the sights. Apparently New York is a frozen wasteland that supposedly has really interesting sights underneath a giant blanket of snow.
(I'm back in the good ol' U.S. of A, so no real complaints from me. Hell, snow is a welcome sight after spending the Holidays in Iraq)
current mood: calm
current music: AVGN Theme Song
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, February 26th, 2009
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12:19 am - This place!!!
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Look at how damned gorgeous this place is!
If you climb the steeple towards the center, Altaïr can synchronize with the North half of the town.
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(comment on this)
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Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
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10:44 pm - Lebanon.
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Beirut, I am liking this place quite a bit. It's nice... very nice. After spending so long in a place where the everything shuts down at night - it is great to be in a place where things are just getting started at 2300. Taking a tour tomorrow - meeting some friends the day after.
It is still the middle east, there are still scruffy men with fatigues and assault rifles chain smoking and hitting on the local girls at strategic corners and entryways.
The little Arabic I know is geared towards being a soldier or a technician, not a tourist. This will require work.
The city is like if Mexico City and Miami were stacked on top of one another. Exclusive nightclubs and boutiques are often right next to shantys and bombed out buidings that sit unrepaired for some reason. There is also a pretty sizable middle class thrown into this mix which makes people like me feel at ease. Everyone smokes. Shops take dollars as happily as Lira (if not happier).
I sit full of Taboula and Hommos at the moment and relaxing at this hotel. In a few days I fly to NYC, but so far I am pretty happy with this leg of my trip.
current music: Something local
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, February 19th, 2009
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4:18 pm - Fundamentals...
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So I found myself agreeing with something Michelle Malkin wrote, so clearly this is some acid-flashback alternate reality type stuff going on, but here goes:
Malkin's prescription is the so-called suck-it-up strategy. Do nothing, and housing prices will eventually fall to their proper floor. Only then can a true recovery get under way.
Not that I am saying the "Do nothing and watch the world burn" is the right plan - it never is, but that housing prices need to fall back to sane levels. By that I mean where it would make sense to buy a house at a given price with Cash - no Bank, Gov, or Community incentives - and one could feel that was a good purchase.
I am fairly aware of the cost of Labor and Materials in housing (And the cost of construction labor has NOT shot up in tandem with the increase in housing - materials cost more but again - not in the same double-every-5-years way housing has) so that means the most of the steep increase cost is going towards the cost of land and to the douchebag from "Flip That House".
Every measure that seems designed to prop up the values of $250,000 houses that were listing for $500,000 is doomed. I need to pack, but I can't get this thought out of my head.
current music: Futurama Theme Song
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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12:05 am - Going Home!!!
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Man, I am very ready to head home in a couple days.
I really want to spend some me time these next few weeks:
Ideas
Visit Lebanon (Tickets bought, about 100% chance it will happen)
Visit NYC (Same thing. Must see Ellis Island and Times Square)
Get my Drink on in Kansas City
Then...
Road Trip to Mexico (My mother has invited herself on this with me, which kind of changes the whole "let me see what kind of trouble I can get into" to something less surly). Planning on swinging by Austin on that trip to see some friends.
And...
Explore Work Options (A couple are very promising)
Explore Education Options (Same thing)
Any ideas, suggestions, or random crap is welcome!
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
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11:11 pm - Baqoubah
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On a base with VERY sketchy wireless service right now:
Just wanted to post that...
I am OK.
I just started my last week in Iraq.
I have lots to say about politics/the wars/the start of the Obama presidency/etc... but I have been rather pre-occupied with my immediate personal future.
Peace and love, y'all
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