I feel ill. Numb and ill.
Salah Ahmed Al-Salami
Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi
Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani
Those are the names of the men I am complicit in killing.
Those are the names of the men who were murdered in my name.
Those are the names of men still awaiting justice.
Get Ready To Fire It Up
Angus Reid finds that a majority of Americans (53%) support the legalization of marijuana. 68% think the "War On (Some) Drugs" has been a failure.
Those numbers aren't even particularly split down party lines. 61& of Dems, 55% on Indies and (surprisingly) 43% of Pubs support legalization.
With the entire Left Coast looking at legislation and/or ballot measures to decriminalize the devil weed (and, hopefully, start making some tax revenue off the sale of it) it seems like it's just a matter of time before more states follow suit.
Next step will be to empty the prisons of all those locked up on pot charges.
Those numbers aren't even particularly split down party lines. 61& of Dems, 55% on Indies and (surprisingly) 43% of Pubs support legalization.
With the entire Left Coast looking at legislation and/or ballot measures to decriminalize the devil weed (and, hopefully, start making some tax revenue off the sale of it) it seems like it's just a matter of time before more states follow suit.
Next step will be to empty the prisons of all those locked up on pot charges.
Are There No Prisons? Are There No Workhouses?
It's a few weeks late, but Rep. Steve King does his best Scrooge impression anyway:
Funny. With Haiti in such desperate need of relief workers, I don't see King hopping on an airplane and heading down to pitch in...
The Obama administration said today that tens of thousands of illegal Haitian immigrants can remain temporarily in the U.S. while their country rebuilds after Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
The announcement to grant "temporary protective status," or TPS, to Haitian nationals allows immigrants already in the U.S. to live and work freely here until conditions in Haiti improve. After 18 months the status could be revoked.
...
While several liberal groups and members of Congress had urged the administration to declare TPS for Haitians, conservative immigration groups, as well as a Republican congressman, had said such a move would amount to a slippery slope to "amnesty."
"This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm Emanuel axiom: 'Never let a crisis go to waste,'" Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. "Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians."
Funny. With Haiti in such desperate need of relief workers, I don't see King hopping on an airplane and heading down to pitch in...
Every Little Bit
I'm going to donate half my poker winnings for the next little while to Haitian relief efforts.
As it turns out, my luck broke on FTP yesterday, and in the last two $3 90-seat KOs I've played I've notched two cashes, a 6th and a 2nd (one hand head's up when I was at a 3:1 chip disadvantage -- A4 vs A5, and the A5 held up... ah well.)
Clearly I have the Satanic powers of the Haitians to thank for that, since otherwise that's $27 bucks they wouldn't have collected. Right, Pat?
As it turns out, my luck broke on FTP yesterday, and in the last two $3 90-seat KOs I've played I've notched two cashes, a 6th and a 2nd (one hand head's up when I was at a 3:1 chip disadvantage -- A4 vs A5, and the A5 held up... ah well.)
Clearly I have the Satanic powers of the Haitians to thank for that, since otherwise that's $27 bucks they wouldn't have collected. Right, Pat?
From Roger
Whatever else happens, life always goes on. I hope Roger's able to make it up again in September. It's not like I know him personally or anything, but seeing him in line and nodding hello is one of the familiar rituals of the film fest.
The Daily Fail
Brought to us by Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas. This one's perhaps not as bad as Tweeting your Iraq itinerary, but it's pretty close.
2009 Final Tallies
Between April and December of 2009, I sang 258 different songs at karaoke by 184* different artists, ranging from AC/DC (It's a Long Way To the Top If You Want To Rock 'n' Roll) down to ZZ Top (Tush). Random trivia:
- Bowie leads the rankings with nine different songs. Tied for second with six are Radiohead, Prince and the Stones, which is a bit of a shocker. The Beatles just behind with five is also surprising. Nobody else has more than three.
- song sung in the most calendar months? Foo Fighters' Everlong, with five.
- I apparently tried to sing three different Queen songs over the last 3/4 of the year. Things like that make me wish I could blame alcohol for my poor decision-making skillz.
* - if you count Johnny Cash as a separate artist from Johnny & June Cash
- Bowie leads the rankings with nine different songs. Tied for second with six are Radiohead, Prince and the Stones, which is a bit of a shocker. The Beatles just behind with five is also surprising. Nobody else has more than three.
- song sung in the most calendar months? Foo Fighters' Everlong, with five.
- I apparently tried to sing three different Queen songs over the last 3/4 of the year. Things like that make me wish I could blame alcohol for my poor decision-making skillz.
* - if you count Johnny Cash as a separate artist from Johnny & June Cash
Phone Phollies
So, I finally decided to get a new phone. My poor old Nokia candy-bar is ready for retirement - the buttons are worn, the casing battered, the battery fading. The thing is so old, it has an extendable antenna. Really, it's given me service way above and beyond, and I'll miss it, but it's time for me to join the early part of the 21st century.
Here's the problem. I decided the phone I want is the Samsung Rugby, because I need a phone that can take a pounding. Some fragile little slider or touchscreen webphone would be lucky to last a week in my "care". I treat phones like, well, phones, not objet d'art. The Rugby is built to military specs (which makes me giggle, it's so ridiculous) and is $50 cheaper than the comparably-brick-like Motorola Tundra. Sold!
Apparently though, in the entire GTA, the only version I can find of the damn thing is this:
If I worked construction, maybe that would be an OK colour. Or drove a school bus. Since I do neither, I want either the burgundy, or even the black, version:
There's just one problem. Nobody has them. Nobody. It's butt-ugly yellow, or nothing.
In short, after years of not buying a new phone just on general principle, I now actually want a new phone and can't have the one I want. Typical, really.
Here's the problem. I decided the phone I want is the Samsung Rugby, because I need a phone that can take a pounding. Some fragile little slider or touchscreen webphone would be lucky to last a week in my "care". I treat phones like, well, phones, not objet d'art. The Rugby is built to military specs (which makes me giggle, it's so ridiculous) and is $50 cheaper than the comparably-brick-like Motorola Tundra. Sold!
Apparently though, in the entire GTA, the only version I can find of the damn thing is this:
If I worked construction, maybe that would be an OK colour. Or drove a school bus. Since I do neither, I want either the burgundy, or even the black, version:
There's just one problem. Nobody has them. Nobody. It's butt-ugly yellow, or nothing.
In short, after years of not buying a new phone just on general principle, I now actually want a new phone and can't have the one I want. Typical, really.
Finally!
After two days of trying I was able to get through to this work of pure genius:
Truly we doth live in the Age of the Mashup, although really this is just one (genius) step removed from 10 Things I Hate About Her and the like. (Holy crap, who did the casting for that? I always forget Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in it as well as Heath Ledger, and both before they were considered anything. That's arguably the James Dean and the Monty Cliff of their generation right there.)
That reminds me... I've got a script to finish. The zeitgeist seems just about ready for it.
WALTER
In sooth, then, faithful friend, this was a rug of value? Thou wouldst call it not a rug among ordinary rugs, but a rug of purpose? A star in a firmament, in step with the fashion alike to the Whitsun morris-dance? A worthy rug, a rug of consequence, sir?
THE KNAVE
It was of consequence, I should think; verily, it tied the room together, gather’d its qualities as the sweet lovers’ spring grass doth the morning dew or the rough scythe the first of autumn harvests. It sat between the four sides of the room, making substance of a square, respecting each wall in equal harmony, in geometer’s cap; a great reckoning in a little room. Verily, it transform’d the room from the space between four walls presented, to the harbour of a man’s monarchy.
Truly we doth live in the Age of the Mashup, although really this is just one (genius) step removed from 10 Things I Hate About Her and the like. (Holy crap, who did the casting for that? I always forget Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in it as well as Heath Ledger, and both before they were considered anything. That's arguably the James Dean and the Monty Cliff of their generation right there.)
That reminds me... I've got a script to finish. The zeitgeist seems just about ready for it.
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