Change For A Nickel

I’m sure anyone who has a TV, radio or streaming Internet knows what season we are in. Election season. You would think that some of these politicians would at least keep the gloves on while they are slinging all this monkey poo! But no, it’s every which way but loose out there. And the fact that the Democrats actually have a chance at winning not just the House but also the Senate would be the upset of the decade (by no fault of their own!). Scandal, corruption and the war in Iraq have finally brought the voters out of their long slumber. Unfortunately it has taken about 2800 American troops and countless thousands of Iraqis but who is counting? In my heart of hearts I wish we could simply dissolve the entire Congress and start over. I think they can do that in a Parliamentary system, right?

So the gloves are off and the spin doctors are mixing up some seriously fucked up logic to get you to vote their way. But one of the arguments I have been hearing lately just gets me dumbfounded. The Republican machine actually has the gall to make the argument that if Democrats gain control of the House or Senate there will be endless hearings and investigations. It is an absolute marvel of linguistic legerdemain how this could be twisted into a bad thing. Boys and girls, hearings and investigations is exactly what Congress is supposed to do! They are the body in charge of oversight! If there is a suspicion that money is being mishandled or Presidents are misbehaving etc., etc. then they are supposed to investigate it. Congress makes the laws and Congress allocates the funds. It’s that simple. This Congress hasn’t done jack shit! If the Dems get in I hope they turn the rug upside down and shake it, beat it and put it through the cleaners. Maybe they will find those WMD’s that the White House STILL lists on it’s website!

My friend Paula ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday. My friends Carrie, Marla and I were there cheering her on. It was a brutal hungover morning for me but I still had a great time.

At the 8 mile marker in Lakeview/Boyz Town. A little after 8am and the crowd is going ape shit! We are desparately looking for Paula but No Paula!

Finally caught up with Paula in China Town. Carrie is running with her and tooting her horn.

Here is a nice ass shot.

And a close up of the medal after the race. Way to go Paula!!!

You can also view short videos of the race I took with my phone. You will need a Quicktime player to view them. If you don’t have one you can download it here.

Video 1 Lakeview

Video 2 Lakeview

Video 3 Lakeview

Video 4 China Town

It has been one of those frustrating weeks when I’ve wanted to write a journal post but everything seemed inadequate. The Mark Foley Scandal (perv), the Military Commissions Act (scary as fuck!), the war in Iraq (really frustrating and sad), my love life (non-existent) and my weight loss (let’s not even go there)!! So what do you talk about in a journal when there is nothing to talk about? Apparently, you talk about the fact that there is nothing to talk about. The sign of a man who has (temporarily) lost his imagination. As you know I go in spurts with my journal. Lots of times there are one or two articles a week and sometimes you can’t shut me up. But I must say that my main goal is to connect with my friends and family to let you all know where my mind is at so when you have to call the “institution” you will have plenty of evidence why I need special attention.

Seriously, I’m really trying to have a conversation with a lot of people. Anyone who has spent any time with me knows I like to talk…a lot! And don’t get a drink in me. I’m surprised none of you has told me to shut the fuck up. And boy, do I have opinions. Lately many of you have joined in the discussion. That’s great because on days like today I could read what you have to say instead of rambling on about why I don’t have anything to talk about! So just remember if you think I am so full of shit or you just want to give a shout out feel free to add your voice to the conversation. Remember you can add your comment to any post, past or present by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of each post. I also add a comment field to many posts to make it easier. Happy Friday! But by the time many of you read this it will probably be Monday.

I think the title says it all. I’m not going to go on and on about what happened in last nights game between the Bears and the Cardinals. We won…barely. What I find more interesting are all the Tuesday morning announcers in the office. My co-worker and I talked about the game for 20 minutes. Then another co-worker came in and that killed at least 15 more minutes. Then I noticed how everyone else was getting their opinions vocalized about last night’s game. Wherever I was, there it was. The topic of the day. I could overhear snippets of conversation from my cube, when I walked down the hallway and when I went to the cafeteria. That’s all people could talk about!

Everyone has an opinion and we know what those are like! But I will say this. I’m sure there are some members of the team whose ears are ringing from all this chatter about how poorly they played last night. I wonder if the numbers crunchers have tallied up the amount of lost productivity time from all this football talk going on in the office? And here I am writing a post! There’s another 10 minutes out the door! Go Bears?!

Almost got through the whole week without mentioning it but I just couldn’t let it go. My boy Grand Master DJ Il (aka Kim Jong Il, aka Crazy Fucking Bastard) has done it (we think)! The North Koreans are now in the body of 8. Or is it 9 now? That is the number of nations in the world who are recognized nuclear powers. (Israel is not a formally recognized nuclear power but we know they got shit). Lets see, there is the US, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, Pakistan, India and now North Korea! Whoopee! They made it!! Couldn’t have done it without our help. They should really be thanking us for staying out of their hair and looking the other way.

Yeah DJ Il, you are swinging with the big boys now! If anyone gives you shit you can just make them take a radioactive crap! But I fear your reign as Nu(k) kid on the block might be short lived. It’s all about keeping up with the Joneses. Korea and Japan are considering changing the stance/laws to be part of the A-team also. Wouldn’t want to wake up one morning to a panoramic view of a mushroom cloud without being able to deliver the same view in kind! Yep, The US policy regarding North Korea has done wonders for the region.

Now for the rest of us. Think hard boys and girls. Why would our illustrious leader put so much emphasis and concentration on Iran who, according to experts, does NOT have a nuclear weapon and is at best 7 years away from obtaining one and totally ignore a country like North Korea that everyone knows has been actively developing a weapon for years. Things that make you go ‘hmm?’

This is my favorite picture!

“We don’t do body counts.” From Gen. Tommy Franks infamous reply to a question from the press regarding the number of Iraqis who have died during the war and occupation. Being former military I often found that statement to be so full of bullshit I could smell the stench a mile away in a lilac field. The military is notirous for keeping statistics. That’s a huge part of what they do. They make fatality projections for military and civilian losses, compare projections to actual, blah, blah, blah. Hell, there is probably a whole section at the Pentagon devoted to just such a thing!

So now we have a brand new study from John Hopkins about the death toll in Iraq and these numbers blow all previous estimates out of the water. The study says over 600,000 civilians have been killed! Even I have a hard time believing that number. Regardless if these numbers are accurate or not I think it brings to light what has not been discussed enough during the current conflict. Civilians are being brutally killed at a rate 10 times the number of military. If we use GW’s (extremely low) estimate of 30,000 civilians being killed since the war began that is still a huge number. That breaks down to over 23 people a day since the beginning of the war. As trajic as it is to hear about one of our own being killed in this debacle of a war it is equally as trajic to hear the pain of an Iraqi mother grieving over the loss of her child. I think we need to look past the numbers and use our humanity to try and begin to understand what these losses actually mean on a human level. Then maybe we will have the collective will to end this mess.

The madness continues. There is definitely a singular voice coming from the Right regarding their speculations on why the Republican leadership did not act sooner regarding the Mark Foley scandal. The spin is on ladies and gents. Be careful or you just might get dizzy!

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (AKA Fag Bashers Inc.) has been making the rounds along with other conservatives. I swear they must have all had a meeting before they hit the circuit because they are delivering the same message and it is quite scary. Check out this slime bag on MSNBC’s Hardball. He was also spouting the same poison on CNN.

But then I went back to YouTube. I think this clip sums it up in a nutshell.

I am highly disturbed by what is going on in the media. The past couple of weeks we have been inundated by the Foley scandal. Yet another representative caught playing on the kiddie side of the pool. What I have found so disturbing is the rhetoric coming from the Republicans. So this scum bag said he is gay. So what? The justification from the Hastert office for not doing more was they didn’t want to come across as anti-gay. In the mean time Foley is loose on the Hill and no page boy is safe. What?!? How I have been interpreting this: The Republicans are saying gays and pedophiles are one in the same. I have heard this type of connection referenced on more than one occasion and frankly it sickens me. This is the kind of thing that can not go unchecked. Mark Foley is a dirty old man that should be prosecuted if he touched a child. Period. I don’t give a rat’s ass if he is gay or straight. But I do care how people will mistakenly make the wrong assumptions when they hear rhetoric of this type.

We already know how the leadership of this Congress feels about queers. We have a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, genocide in Darfur, health care issues in this country and what was the important legislation the 109th Congress put at the top of their agenda last year? The protection of marriage act?! And now some creepy pedophile who happens to be gay comes along and the spin doctors are at work saying queer=pedophile. Ugh! It’s enough to make you scream!!

After lamenting yesterday at the local pub about my new phone’s apparent watery demise I came home to find a modicum of life still remained. Unfortunately the camera/video function appeared to have taken a bullet and was non-functional.

But as in most things time heals all wounds. I woke up this morning and tried the camera function one more time. I must be blessed among techno geeks. The camera function worked!! Thank the techno gods!

‘Isn’t it Ironic’ that I just got a new fancy cell phone with all the bells and whistles. A phone that I have been coveting for months. Put my nickels and dimes together to buy. Had it for three days. Discovering all the wonderful features it has. Each day that went by I was falling deeper in love with my new toy. But all that was to change one fateful Saturday morning during a tragic incident.

While cleaning my apartment I carelessly let the new love of my life fall into the mop water. Yikes!!!!!!!! After several attempts at resuscitation and open heart surgery it would appear that my personal Holy Grail of geekiness was gone. I was so hoping to use Rump Shaker or Junk in the Trunk as a ring tone!!! I was blowing into the back of the phone and water was literally coming out of its little speaker. All would appear to be lost. Not to mention $300 down the drain. I placed it in the life giving warmth of the sun on my window sill in a futile attempt at resurrection then went for a simple repast (Along with a few beers) at my local establishment to grieve over my loss.

I arrived home a few hours later. In what I thought was a vain attempt, placed the battery and sim card back in the phone and the gods were half smiling on me. The phone powered up!!!! I was blessed among techno geeks. The screen still showed evidence of moisture infiltration but it worked. The camera still did not work but I surmised that these were my punishments for carelessness. That and the fact I didn’t pay the $34 for insurance. Techno gods, if you are listening. I swear by all that is geeky. I will cherish the gift of silicon that you have bestowed upon me, your poor shallow servant. And I will seriously consider paying for that insurance next time. Where’s that Rumpshaker ringtone at?!?

Sony Ericsson W810i