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control their bodies. HA! Tell that to South Dakota.
Baseball great Kirby Puckett passes
Ma Bell continues to reassemble like the
T1000 from Terminator 2
Pakistan and Aghanistan start to get mad
at each other
Economy continues to crumble
Iraq on verge of civil war... Still
GM makes yet another stupid decision
Tales from the Wal-Mart (it's evil, you
know)
abortion
what is going to be on
this side of the page in
the future?
know what is best for women. After all,
I used to be one."
danger. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
We are about to test the new Supreme Court and see if everybody was right about Alito
and Roberts.
SD governor Mike Rounds said in a written statement that he expects the law to be tied
up in the courts for years and is unlikely to take effect unless the Supreme Court
upholds it.
So, basically this is a conservative "shot in the dark," hope through government action.
Ah, legislating via long-shot hopes and dreams. Just what America needs. Coat
hangers.
This reminds me of an episode of Battlestar Galactica (the greatest television show of
all time!) from a couple of weeks ago where President Roslin is faced with a dilemma.
There is a girl from a very religious family who has run away to get an abortion. The
religious wack-jobs in the fleet are demanding that she be returned to her family and
that the abortion not take place.
Under the law the girl has the right to an abortion but the fact that there are less than
50,000 human beings left alive and they are stuck on ships in space leads the
president to let the girl have the abortion but outlaw any future abortions in the fleet just
to make sure that the human race survives.
Maybe Gov. Mike Rounds is doing this because he is stuck in South Dakota where
there are almost no human beings and he just wants to make sure that the human race
can survive in the outer reaches of the plains states.
Seriously, watch Battlestar Galactica on Sci-fi every Friday at 10pm. It will blow your
mind.
Famer Kirby Puckett passed away yesterday at age 45.
that was truly ingrained in my head. The underdog Twins took the series from the
heavily favored Cardinals in an exciting 7 games. Underdogs that overcome against all
odds are always America's favorites. Kids just loved Kirby because he was always
smiling when he played. I know that I did. Good guy.
Christianity the official state religion, here. Well...
pushing for state sponsorship of religion
Excerpt:
Some religious leaders on Friday blasted a proposed Missouri House resolution that
supports prayer in schools and recognizes a "Christian God," saying legislators are
pushing Christianity as a state religion.
"It's an atrocity," said the Rev. Timothy L. Carson, senior minister at Webster Groves
Christian Church. "Thomas Jefferson would be rolling in his grave. It's indicative of a
movement within one segment of activist Christianity that wants to dominate the rest
with their views."
How week does one's faith have to be to feel the need to validate everything and make
it required and recognized by all? Doesn't that say something about ones lack of faith
in religion. If your power of faith in God can't hold up against a society that offers
freedom of choice you are weak and don't deserve to go to Heaven with the real
Christians who don't need state recognition to hold true to what they believe.
Zealots are really just weak, puss-bags that can't do anything themselves, or think for
themselves without having mandatory, legally-binding peer-pressure from everyone
else around them.
$44+ billion, increases the size of the second largest
telecommunications company on the planet
Excerpt:
Verizon promised to step up its efforts to acquire Vodafone's 45 per cent holding, after
the $67bn (£38bn) acquisition of BellSouth by its rival AT&T.
That deal, announced over the weekend, unites the ownership of the biggest mobile
phone company in the US, Cingular. Verizon Wireless trails Cingular by 51 million
subscribers to 54 million.
So, why did we spend all that money 25 years ago to break up Ma Bell? I will honestly
say this about Bill Clinton, a man that I respect very much; the 1996
Telecommunications Act was the worst move of your presidency and I wish it had never
happened.
starting to take out his frustrations with the U.S. on his neighbor. A neighbor who can't
leave his house or he's a dead man because he and the U.S. military only actually
control a third of Afghanistan.
Read it for yourself.
Excerpt:
Launching a tirade against his Afghan counterpart, Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf has said Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was "oblivious" to intelligence
operations in his country and was "unaware about a "deliberate attempt" to malign his
neighbour. Musharraf's comments comes after criticism that Pakistan was not doing
enough on intelligence provided by Afghanistan on the possible hide-outs of Taliban
leader Mullah Omar.
"I am totally disappointed with their intelligence and I feel there is a very, very deliberate
attempt to malign Pakistan by some agents. Karzai is totally oblivious of what is
happening in his own country,"
Like I said, the honeymoon is over... And wasn't that just the worst honeymoon ever, by
the way?
More:
Asked if there was some kind of tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Musharraf
acknowledged that this was the case.
"...unfortunately, it is developing in the last one or two months. There was no tension. It
was going on excellent, in an excellent way...Now, I know that there is a problem..."
The two most important countries, strategically, in the "Coalition of the Willing" are
starting to get at each other's throats. This doesn't look good.
of going back home because they will probably be murdered by either
their government or the population at large
Excerpt:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Fearing militants or even their own governments, some
prisoners at Guantanamo Bay from China, Saudi Arabia and other nations do not want
to go home, according to transcripts of hearings at the U.S. prison in Cuba.
Uzbekistan, Yemen, Algeria and Syria are also among the countries to which detainees
do not want to return. The inmates have told military tribunals that they or their families
could be tortured or killed if they are sent back.
"Hey, dude, sorry about torturing you and holding you captive for four years--our bad.
Good news, though, we are going to put you on a plane and send you back to that
hell-hole of a village you are from. I heard from a little bird that there is an entire
welcoming committee there waiting for you with torches and stuff. Sounds like fun. I
sure hope there's cake!"
Excerpt:
At the heart of the dispute is a controversy over the second-term candidacy of the
Shiite prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, whose most powerful supporter is the
anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The Sunni Arab minority blames al-Jaafari for failing to control the Shiite militiamen who
attacked Sunni mosques and clerics after the Feb. 22 shrine bombing in Samarra.
Kurds are angry because they believe al-Jaafari is holding up resolution of their claims
to control the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
As always, "good luck with that." Everyone knows in their heart that we f-ed this up
three years ago with they way we ignored the infrastructure of Iraq and only payed
attention to the oil production. It is hopeless from here on out.
Excerpt:
The five-year housing boom is indeed over, judging from growing statistical evidence
and the performance of some of the nation's leading builders, and the slowdown is
already rippling through the economy.
In the last week, the Commerce Department reported that January sales of new single-
family homes fell 5 percent — the fourth decline in seven months — and the backlog of
unsold new homes hit a record. And the National Association of Realtors said used
home sales slipped 2.8 percent in January, the fourth straight drop and 5 percent below
January 2005.
Builders also reported a few hiccups. Upscale Toll Brothers Inc. said signed contracts in
the November-January period fell 21 percent from a year ago, and KB Home reported
more buyers backing out of contracts.
My sister has had 3 contracts on her house in the last few weeks, all of them backed
out within a few days.
Our economy is beginning to do the '80s slide. Advice: If you have lots of cash tucked
away buy butt-loads of real estate because in ten years when the Economy is back on
the upswing due to there being a Democrat who invests in infrastructure in the White
House you be a bajillionaire.
I wonder how the Orange County, CA market is doing right now. That's the place that is
going to have the biggest collapse out of all of America. There is no one in that place
that earns enough to pay for a $12,000 a month mortgage. My brother bought in
Orange County in '94-'95 for about $240K, his house was appraised for over $1.8
million last summer. That is nuts. No economy outside of Aspen or Monaco can
support that.
a communications satellite orbiting the Earth
and lasting through 2007
The next sunspot cycle will be between 30 percent to 50 percent more intense than the
last one, scientists said Monday.
Do you remember those solar flares from Spring 2004? Those things were awesome!
awesome solar flares sent the Northern Lights as far south as Jacksonville, FL but not
quite to Hawaii.
house cats
Excerpt:
VIENNA, Austria - Three cats have tested positive for the deadly strain of bird flu in
Austria's first reported case of the disease spreading to an animal other than a bird,
state authorities said Monday.
The sick cats were among 170 living at an animal shelter where the disease was
detected in chickens last month, authorities said.
The World Health Organization called bird flu a greater global challenge than any
previous infectious disease, costing global agriculture more than $10 billion and
affecting the livelihoods of 300 million farmers.
I guess this is how it starts, huh? I sure am glad that Chertoff is still in charge at DHS.
Supreme Court to overturn Roe, compared with 25% who said they did.
country. Just goes to show you that most Americans don't vote with their brains. They
just don't vote period.
crap out of Iran
Excerpt:
A last-ditch attempt to find a formula to end the dangerous standoff over Tehran's
nuclear programmes got under way yesterday, with optimistic talk of an agreement to
revive negotiations that broke down in January.
But Iran and the west continued to trade verbal blows and headed towards
confrontation over the US and European resolve to shift the dispute to the UN security
council in New York this week, launching a process that could result in sanctions.
Tehran is threatening to retaliate with full-scale uranium enrichment.
There is no way that the nations of the world are going to let a bunch of religious
wackos like the Mullahs in Iran get "The Bomb." Tehran should just pack it in now.
All Israel needs is a reason and the rest of Europe seem pretty willing to take this one
on. Musharraf is in power in Pakistan simply because we don't want nut-jub clerics to
have the power that they do in Iran. Iran is far more important than Iraq by a long-shot
because.
Saddam wasn't stupid, he knew better than to make any WMDs after the UN and the
U.S. blew up his military every couple of days throughout the '90s. Iran's leaders are
not that smart and I see a lot of innocent people getting killed in all of this.
the company further into the red for the next decade, sells stake in
Suzuki
Excerpt:
Suzuki Motor Corp. said Tuesday it has bought back nearly 17 percent of its own
shares from General Motors Corp. for 226.8 billion yen (US$1.96; euro1.63 billion)
under an agreement to reduce the U.S. automaker's stake and help in its restructuring.
individuals in America? There is a whole lot of stupid in that chain of command.
Bill Ford is at least smart enough to turn Ford Motor Company around by making the
company green and putting its engineers and designers on the task of making
environmentally responsible and fuel efficient cars.
I guess that is why Ford manages to make a profit while Gm gets it credit rating reduced
and posts an $8 billion loss.
Excerpt:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 6 -- Pakistani security forces battled pro-Taliban rebels
holding out in a town near the Afghan border on Monday, killing 19 of them as the toll
from three days of clashes rose to more than 120, the military said.
The rebels launched attacks on government positions in Miran Shah on Saturday as
President Bush met Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in the capital. The
fighting has raged since.
I think that this might be what the Musharraf/Karzai spat is over. No leader wants all out
wars to be taking place in his country. Just imagine if in Montana there were thousands
of enemies of the state that launched attacks against government bases daily. What
would that do to our national outlook? Morale? Trust in leadership?
Bush should be tip-toeing through the tulips at this point but something tells me he's not
that smart.
Excerpt:
Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan for ongoing clashes in one of its northern territories,
saying more should be done to stop militants crossing the border.
Bush has got to get more troops into Afghanistan to control that region before we lose
Pakistan's support in the War on Terror. Jesus, did that man ever play Risk as a child?
You want to maintain a nation you invaded you have got to boost the number of troops
there. Letting your enemy escape to the neighbors backyard lends us no credence in
Musharraf's eyes.
If Bush wants to keep buddy, buddy with Pakistan he is going to have to offer
something miraculous in return for all of their service. What, I don't know
NOTE: This is important. Don't trust everything you read on the net, not from
me or any other blogger out there. Good sites like bartcop.com, rackjite.com,
crooksandliars.com, etc.. are there to give you something to think about. This
Brian Pickrell is a douchebag.
Excerpt:
Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state
legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health
insurance. "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards — no great friends of
business — are ripping the bills," he wrote.
It was the kind of pro-Wal-Mart comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact,
it did.
Several sentences in Mr. Pickrell's Jan. 20 posting — and others from different days —
are identical to those written by an employee at one of Wal-Mart's public relations firms
and distributed by e-mail to bloggers.
It is story time.
In the summer of 1999, when the economy was still booming and I could actually get a
job as a network engineer, I was hired as a technical consultant by Wal-Mart to install
all the computers and electronics in a store that was opening in Orange County, CA.
Wal-Mart opens something like twenty stores a month and has crews that travel the
country whose sole job it is to get stores ready to open once construction is finished.
They install all of the registers, train the employees, stock the store, etc...
Well, the normal tech-guy was out for a while with mono or something, so for a good
chuck of change an hour Wal-Mart got me, an 18 year old punk-ass kid to do the job. It
was a very strange place, Wal-Mart, I was in charge of about 15 temp workers on loan
from AppleOne. All of them 20 years my senior and exactly what you would expect from
out of a middle aged temp worker...
in an hour than all of them put together. Then we started to get along when they
realized that everyone else was really, really creepy and I was their buffer from the
freaks from Wal-Mart...
employees stock the departments they were to work in. Makes sense. This way the
newbies can learn where everything is and get to know their way around the store. But,
this meant that the employees were in the store at the same time as the temps and the
construction workers so we got to see the nitty-gritty of what makes Whore-Mart tick.
Zombies. Zombies make Wal-Mart what it is. No joke. Just ask anyone who has ever
managed to quit and not disappear...
employee would have to swear his or her allegiance to Wal-Mart. And I mean every
employee. These were downright oaths of allegiance more serious than the pledge
school kids do. They dance, sing and cheer about how wonderful Wal-Mart is and how
much they owe to Wal-Mart for being so wonderful. The temps and I would watch as a
new employee would come in bright and early at 9AM and everyone would circle up for
their propaganda session. The cheering would begin and new-guy would stand at the
back an be like, "there is no way in hell you'll ever catch me doing that. This is
sooooooooo gay."
Well, new-guy was about to get bit by the zombie king and become an unwitting
member of the zombie army. The store manager lady would call new-guy into her office
and five minutes later new-guy would be ready to lead the next round of cheers. It was
the creepiest thing ever.
Add to this the sheer number of Sam Walton portraits that were absolutely everywhere.
It was like Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution in the back rooms of that place.
The guy had been dead for years and his presence was still everywhere, always
watching. Maybe a better analogy would be Kim Il Sung of Korea, dead since 1994 but
he is still the head of state.
Anyway, all of these pictures were horribly photoshopped with greeter's hat, smily-face
button and name tag crudely added on. The tag read "Wal-Mart Associate Sam."
Which raises another question. Why are Wal-Mart employees called "associates"? I
don't get it. It's not as if they are going to make full-partner someday. The store is not
called "Walton, Dombroski, Goldburg, Johnson, Wallace and Wallace-Mart".
The place gives me the heebeejeebees and I want no part of it. The Wal-Mart here in
Hilo is the most profitable store in America. That place is hopping at all hours....
...And people wonder why there is 20%+ unemployment where I am.
It is really pissing me off.
he opposed the first AT&T SBC merger
Excerpt:
As head of the Federal Communications Commission during the Clinton administration,
Reed E. Hundt killed talks about a possible merger in 1997 when he said that a
proposed deal between AT&T and SBC would be "unthinkable" under antitrust laws.
Last year those two companies combined with little resistance. And on Monday Mr.
Hundt said that AT&T's proposal to buy BellSouth for $67 billion was "eminently
thinkable," and that if he were still at the commission, "I would bless the deal."
It's like the Republicans just want to have another market collapse like 1929. Didn't
anyone in elected office have to read Keynes in high school?
with America?!?
row! It's a miracle! Temple must really be terrible.
games of the World baseball Classic.
Should be interesting stuff. Who the hell plays for South Africa? I bet my old team in
Austria could clobber them and those guys didn't get an invite to play in the WBC.
Excerpt:
Treasury Secretary John Snow notified Congress on Monday that the administration
has now taken "all prudent and legal actions," including tapping certain government
retirement funds, to keep from hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.
In a letter to Congress, Snow urged lawmakers to pass a new debt ceiling immediately
to avoid the nation's first-ever default on its obligations.
Remember when the "debt clock" was turned off because it was going backwards so
fast? Ah, memories.
one. Good golly, if I am going to keep this page in top-shape I am going to have to
figure out how to do it without failing school.
Don't forget to shoot me a note with any comments or suggestions; I'd love to hear from
you.
houstonwade@houstonwade.com
famous. Thank You.