Jericho: Billboard of Stupid

This is just great.

So, let me get this straight: this idiot thinks that if we put a Democrat in the Oval Office we'll have another September 11th-like tragedy. Interesting.

I love that this article is posted on FoxNews' web site. Why? Because both this idiot and FoxNews missed a vital point:

Bush was in office on 9/11!

That's right, a Republican. There was a Republican in office when 3000 Americans died. Was it his fault? Hmmm .... ?

I love how this guy also thinks the terrorists have something to do with high gas prices. Sir? Did you miss the boat? Ya know, the oil tanker that Chevron named "Condoleezza Rice"? Bush, Rice and many others in the Bush administration have major ties to Big Oil. Big Oil has been posting record profits in the last several years. And it never occurred to you, Mr. Billboard, that maybe, just maybe, Big Oil orchestrated all of this?

The perpetrators of 9/11 were in Afghanistan. Yet, we have five times as many troops in Iraq as Afghanistan. Why? I'll tell you why: Iraq has oil and Afghanistan has none! The hype and fear generated by 9/11 has allowed the Big Oil politicians to put together a war that not only uses untold amounts of oil but protects their oil interests. Meanwhile, speculators have driven up the price of oil on that fear.

In Iraq, they pay $.50 a gallon for gas, that's right, fifty cents - and those prices are subsidized with your tax dollars. We are paying nearly $5 a gallon and that includes taxes.

Big Oil is complaining that they can't use several areas that have been reserved, preserved for natural and human use. Yet, they sit on millions of unexplored acres. Why? It's too expensive, they whine! They have billions in profits, but it's too expensive to drill in ares that they have had left for years. Spend some money, Big Oil! Make some jobs, Big Oil! Drive down the price of gas, Big Oil! Or ... give up the rights to the land you are not using!

But they don't want that, do they? They want the market to remain up. They make more money and don't put out additional cost or effort.

So, I agree with Mr. Billboard. I believe the terrorists are in cahoots. I believe that they and Big Oil and the Automobile Manufacturers are have conspired to rob us all. If they haven't conspired, Big Oil has certainly taken advantage of this tragedy. They are profiting from 9/11 and from our dead soldiers. That's called Profiteering. It should also be called Treason.

Who is Big Oil? Look to the White House and you will see it's most obvious incarnation.

Max: Why Are People Dicks?

I frequent a bass oriented BB called TalkBass. It is an interesting site, full of bass porn. Unfortunately, it is also full of people and as I was recently reminded, people suck.

I asked a technical question about acrylicized wood and how it differed from pressure treated wood. I was briefly excited to see my first reply was from a manufacturer of acrylicized wood. Then I read his reply. If you read only his reply, you might have assumed I had asked, "Why do you make shitty products and when are you planning to stop raping children?" He completely lost his shit because I mentioned pressure treated wood and acrylicized wood in the same sentence. Literally. It didn't matter that I was asking about the difference. It didn't matter that I hadn't even really addressed him in particular, mentioned his name or the name of his bidness. I had defamed his precious product and was now lower than Hitler in his estimation.

Naturally I responded by pointing out that he is clearly insane and that he could feel free to fuck off. But then a friend of his (someone whom I have recently developed more than a little respect for) jumped in and explained that my newfound enemy had problems with trolls making comparisons between his acrylicized wood and pressure treated wood. I figured that he was understandably touchy and explained that I was not trolling, just trying to acquire information. The dickhead replied by twisting my words around, calling me a troll and accusing me of engaging in a one sided pissing contest. Or maybe a pants wetting contest. He wasn't clear on that point.

Shortly thereafter one of the site mods closed the thread. So, for looking for a little bit of info I have made a new enemy, got publicly upbraided for something I clearly didn't even attempt to do and still don't have an answer to my question.

And people wonder why I hate people.

Max: TSA: Abusing You For Your Own Good

Ask The Pilot

"Is this yours?" she wants to know.

"Yes, it's mine."

"You got a knife in here?"

"A knife?"

"A knife," she barks. "Some silverware."

Indeed I do. Indeed I always do. Inside my roll-aboard I carry a spare set of airline-issue cutlery -- a spoon, a fork and a knife. Along with packets of noodles and other small snacks, this is part of my hotel survival kit, useful in the event of short layovers or other situations when food isn't available. Borrowed from my collection of airline silverware (some of us really have such things), it's the exact cutlery that accompanies your meal on a long-haul flight. The pieces are stainless steel, about 5 inches long. The knife has a rounded end and a short row of teeth -- I would call them "serrations," but that's too strong a word. For all intents and purposes, it's a miniature butter knife.

...

Now, do I really need to point out that an airline pilot at the controls would hardly need a butter knife if he or she desired to inflict damage?

Max: When Mascots Attack

Max: The Universe Is A Cold, Twisted Bitch

Rush Limbaugh just signed a $400,000,000 deal with Clear Channel.

Max: Police Who Care Enough To Ignore The 4th Amendment

On CNN

Max: As Gas Prices Rise...

...St. Louis's meager public transit infrastructure begins to crumble.

Mass transit soon will become more expensive -- or more elusive -- in the St. Louis region. Take your pick.

Metro, the regional transit agency, today adopted a $221.6 million operating budget that left no room for the status quo without a new source of money.

Faced with a projected $8.4 million shortfall in the agency's operating budget for the year that begins July 1, Metro leaders are preparing for fare increases and service cuts that could kick in by New Year's Day.

Max: No Money + No Meds * Stupidity = My Weekend

Discontinuation symptoms have been systematically evaluated in patients taking venlafaxine, to include prospective analyses of clinical trials in Generalized Anxiety Disorder and retrospective surveys of trials in major depressive disorder. Abrupt discontinuation or dose reduction of venlafaxine at various doses has been found to be associated with the appearance of new symptoms, the frequency of which increased with increased dose level and with longer duration of treatment. Reported symptoms include agitation, anorexia, anxiety, confusion, coordination impaired, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, dysphoric mood, fasciculation, fatigue, headaches, hypomania, insomnia, nausea, nervousness, nightmares, sensory disturbances (including shock-like electrical sensations), somnolence, sweating, tremor, vertigo, and vomiting.

It is somewhat disturbing to find out;

A) I am a drug addict, prescribed or not

and

2) I am even more feeble than I thought I was.

Max: LHC v God

Why can't I have the kind of crazy that comes with fun stories?

Max: Puny Words! Why You Hurt BillO? BillO Smash!

Max: Science; Threat or Menace?

Max: The Demon Weed

On Arrests, Demographics, and Marijuana

Among those washed into Manhattan Criminal Court by the Tuesday morning tides was a 25-year-old man who works in technology support for a large company.

He had been caught with $30 worth of marijuana after his car was stopped on Riverside Drive, an offense against Section 221.10 of the New York State penal code. His case involved surveillance by an unmarked car and two officers who then stayed late into the night processing their prisoner, fingerprinting him, writing a complaint and taking his mug shot.

The court proceeding lasted about 45 seconds. The charges would be permanently dismissed if he stayed out of trouble for a year, which did not appear to be a big challenge, since he had never been arrested before.

...

Among the pretty large population of white people who have used pot and not been arrested for it is Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Asked during the 2001 campaign by New York magazine if he had ever smoked it, Mr. Bloomberg replied: “You bet I did. And I enjoyed it.” After he was elected and his remarks were used in advertisements by marijuana legalization advocates, Mr. Bloomberg said his administration would vigorously enforce the laws.

Max: A Fucking Travesty

Vets say they feel misled about GI benefits

Cheated. Baited and switched. That's how veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan say they feel about military recruiters who sold them on how the GI Bill would benefit them.

Soldiers, Marines and airmen spoke Tuesday at a Capitol Hill rally sponsored by a group called the "Campaign for a New GI Bill." They complained they were not given enough funds from the bill to cover college expenses.

Najwa McQueen said she joined the Louisiana National Guard in 2004 on what she thought was a promise to help pay for her college education.

"They kind of sell you a dream," she said after the rally. "You think you're going to get all of this stuff and in reality you don't get that. I just kind of believed what my recruiter told me, which is not the truth."

McQueen left behind her husband and 18-month-old daughter in October 2004 and served 10 months in Iraq. After her service she enrolled in college and found her total benefits from the GI Bill would be $400 a month for four months, totaling $1,600. Her classes alone, she said, cost $1,000 each.

Max: The Autism "Epidemic"

An explanation for the "increasing$quot; incidence of autism

Fashion is a strange thing, and many fields are susceptible to it—not least, medicine. There has, for example, been a vogue (among commentators, if not among doctors) to ascribe the rising number of cases of autism diagnosed over the past couple of decades to childhood vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella. That this is fashion rather than reality is suggested by the fact that the explanation proffered in Britain has been that such vaccines provoke an immune response that damages the nervous system, whereas Americans have blamed residual mercury in the same vaccines.

We had once come to think of things like mumps, measles, whooping cough, etc as but extinct. But thanks to scientific and mathematical illiteracy, they will soon be on the prowl again. There is a scary degree of stupidity on the march in this country -- the sort of stupidity that thinks it is better to condemn thousands of women to cervical cancer than allow the use of a vaccine that would *gasp* make sex a little safer. Reason seem to still win most of these battles, but it can only win if we are willing to stand up for it -- even in the face of exasperating stupidity.

Max: IL Dem Declares Atheists Have No Rights

Jericho: Disappointing Weekend

I had a heck of a weekend lined up.

Then it fell apart and I ended up feeling like an idiot - twice.

Friday night I was planning to hang out with a friend. I ended up canceling that due to catching a stomach bug that Steph had earlier in the week. I thought the bug would be worse - but it just ended up being uncomfortable. I ended up feeling like a whiny ass and like I disappointed my friend.

Saturday was pretty good. I spent the morning playing WoW and enjoying the heck out of that. That evening, Steph and I hung out with friends. As we were leaving the friend's house, snow began to fall. The snow was pretty heavy and the temp was low and looking to get lower. By the time we got home, the forecasts were looking pretty nasty.

My plans for Sunday were pretty fun. I have a new D&D game going with some old and new friends and I'm excited about it. I even blogged about it.

However, the weather and the temp and the forecasts were looking like there were going to be icy roads and lots of traffic issues. On top of that - I'm a terrible driver. So, I did what I thought was the adult, responsible thing: I called the game.

I slept kinda late - might as well, I didn't have a game to look forward to. By the time the game would have rolled around, 10 AM, it was about 38, clear and bone dry. No icy roads.

I ended up feeling like a whiny ass and like I disappointed my friends.

Max: Oy

Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis - New York Times

Little by little, millions of Americans surrendered equity in their homes in recent years. Lulled by good times, they borrowed — sometimes heavily — against the roofs over their heads.

Now the bill is coming due. As the housing market spirals downward, home equity loans, which turn home sweet home into cash sweet cash, are becoming the next flash point in the mortgage crisis.

Americans owe a staggering $1.1 trillion on home equity loans — and banks are increasingly worried they may not get some of that money back.

To get it, many lenders are taking the extraordinary step of preventing some people from selling their homes or refinancing their mortgages unless they pay off all or part of their home equity loans first. In the past, when home prices were not falling, lenders did not resort to these measures.

Max: Pentagon = Pacifist Cowards

Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda not linked, Pentagon says - CNN.com

The U.S. military's first and only study looking into ties between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda showed no connection between the two, according to a military report released by the Pentagon.

The report released by the Joint Forces Command five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq said it found no 'smoking gun' after reviewing about 600,000 Iraqi documents captured in the invasion and looking at interviews of key Iraqi leadership held by the United States, Pentagon officials said.

I was once told only pacifist cowards who don't care about their family's well being hold such ridiculous beliefs.

In all non-humorous honesty, I don't see how anyone ever believed the Saddam/al Qaeda connection. My faith in certain people was shaken by their willingness to buy into such obvious bullshit. Some things said about me when I refused to drink the Kool-Aid still sting a bit. I try not to think about it most of the time. However, when the news finds time to slip such reports in between their Brittany updates, it all comes back. How many have died for this lie?

Sorry for once again failing to support the troops by pointing out the ugly truth that, regardless of how clearly brave and dedicated our military is, every troop who died in Iraq died for a FUCKING LIE.

Max: Dumb Ass

If at first you don't break your head, fall on your ass and twist your knee.

Max: Life in the Police State

Violent Message to a Gossip Web Site Leads to Arrest: "'I wonder if i could shut down the school … by saying I’m going to shoot as many people as i can in my second class tomorrow. I hope I get more than 50……….. For liability reasons and ip tracking I won’t leave it at that. But seriously, this site is rediculous, if it got big, and someone put the effort into writing a big long serious suicide note informing all readers that he would kill over 100 kids, they could shut down the school. Nice.'

One person who didn’t find the joke funny at all was Brittany Messenger, a sophomore at Colgate who was looking at the site as part of research for an article she was writing for the student newspaper.

She says she initially did not take the message literally, but after talking with her mother about it, she decided to alert authorities, just in case. 'You just can’t joke about this,' she says. 'That isn’t even funny for a second.'"

Let us set aside that this guy is clearly a dumbass.

You don't generally start threats with "I wonder if". "I wonder if Max would be mad if I kicked him in the balls?" is a stupid question. But it is not the same as, "Max I am going to kick you in your motherfucking balls."

Even if this is eventually dismissed in court, he has still been made to suffer by the State for practicing his rights.

Max: FCC, Protecting America From Blurred Bits

Via Ars Technica

The FCC first issued a Notice of Apparent Liability on Married in 2004 after it received complaints about the program. In correspondence with the Commission, Fox TV acknowledged that in 2003, 161 affiliated stations broadcast the episode before 10 PM, the so-called "safe harbor" hour when risky material become more permissible. The "reality"-based program is no longer produced. It recruited single women and men who had never met but consented to become engaged and even marry each other in some instances.

The April 2003 episode in question featured the participants partying at a strip club. The strippers dance over the engaged couples, who massage, kiss, and even lick whip cream off the performers' bodies. Meanwhile, they make comments like "there's nothing wrong with kissing a stripper before you're married. Kissing a stripper after you're married, that’s when the trouble begins."

Fox attorneys noted in the network's appeal that the program visually concealed various parts of the strippers' anatomy. The FCC ruling acknowledges that, throughout the episode, the producers pixelated—that is, digitally distorted the performers "sexual" body parts—particularly breasts and buttocks. But the agency decision still classifies the scene as "graphic."

"The fact that isolated body parts were 'pixelated' did not obscure the overall graphic character of the depiction," the statement concludes. "The mere pixelation of sexual organs is not necessarily determinative under our analysis because the material must be assessed in its full context. Here, despite the obscured nature of the nudity, it is unmistakable that the party goers are participating in sexual activities and that sexual organs are being exposed."

The FCC is also considering banning nudity beneath clothing.

Max: Nanotech Declared Witchcraft

Via Science Daily

Is nanotechnology morally acceptable? For a significant percentage of Americans, the answer is no, according to a recent survey of Americans' attitudes about the science of the very small.

I was hoping this stupidity came from a failure to grasp what nanotech really is. But;

The moral qualms people of faith express about nanotechnology is not a question of ignorance of the technology, says Scheufele, explaining that survey respondents are well-informed about nanotechnology and its potential benefits.

Welcome back to the dark ages...

Max: Fucking With Writers Is Dangerous

Max: Shrub Getting Head

Disturbing

Jericho: Wanna be "dangerous"?

Read this article and laugh at George Bush!

According to the new estimates, Iran has stopped its nuke program. Even if it restarted its program, it wouldn't have enough enriched, weapons grade uranium until at least 2010, but probably closer to 2015.

However, enriched uranium could do more for the electrical power needs of that country than it could for building one, count'em, ONE bomb.

The Bush administration has repeatedly touted the joy and beauty that is nuclear power. But, when a country, who might have some questionable values and goals, gets enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear power plant, suddenly they are "dangerous". What? Did Haliburton lose the contract to build the plant?

I love this quote: "...Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon" - ummm, Dubya, buddy - that's not exactly top secret info any more. Fifty or sixty years ago, maybe. But not today!

So, just to make sure that we are all "dangerous" - here is all the info you will need to build a nuclear bomb. That's right! If you read the previous link, you will have "the knowledge". You won't have enough fissionable materials - but neither does Iran - so you, too, can be a rogue state and a future nuclear power!

If you can obtain some fissionable material, either from a friendly rogue state, a friendly rogue U.S. agency or your local University - you, too, can join the Nuclear Club.

Dubya, pal, have a look at the Internet some time. The truth is out there.

Jericho: One Milllllllion Dollars *pinky-mouth*

This is the funniest thing I've ever heard!

Okay, anyone trying to open a bank account will be closely scrutinized. Opening an account with cash will get you more closely scrutinized. Opening with a large amount of cash more so.

Opening an account with anything larger than a $100 bill will set off all kinds of red flags. The U.S. Mint doesn't make a larger denomination than the $100 bill anymore. If you have a $1000 bill, it's still legal tender, but the illegal drug trade have gathered most of those for their own use. Even they don't use them much anymore.

So, showing up in a bank with a millllllion dollar bill? Yeah. Good Luck!!

I would just have loved to see the look on the bank officers' face when she saw this bill. "Excuse me sir, I just have to run off and make a call to the Secret Service."

Max: America's Armageddonites

America's Armageddonites: "Utopian fantasies have long transfixed the human race. Yet today a much rarer fantasy has become popular in the United States. Millions of Americans, the richest people in history, have a death wish. They are the new “Armageddonites,” fundamentalist evangelicals who have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about."

Jericho: Calling all Huds!

Hud? Hello, Hud?!?

I know you read this now and then. I have sent you a couple emails and gotten no response - I'm not sure I have your most recent address.

We are also not sure we have your most recent snail mail address - you've moved a bunch recently and when Steph's computer was stolen, so was the latest update to her Xmas Card address list.

And, after all, that's what this is all about. Steph is in her yearly Xmas Card tizzy. So, if there is anyone out there who wants to be added to our Xmas card list, feel free to spam any and all of our email accounts you might have with your snail mail addresses. You'll get added to the list. If you don't reply with an Xmas Card, Steph will chop you off the list with extreme prejudice. You gotta send'em to get'em!

Don't have one of my email addresses? Hmmm ... I don't think there is a regular reader of this site that doesn't at least have my old Hotmail account or my new Gmail account. Maybe if you leave a comment we can talk ...

Max: Be Proud America

Waterboarding [nearly drowning someone who may actually know something of value or may just be Canadian] is something of which every American should be proud.

Be proud.



Be proud!

Jericho: Should have let Colbert play!

We all knew Colbert was just joking. It was a publicity stunt. But, even so, this kind of stuff is just stupid.

How is it a waste of time to put someone on the ballot?

"Oh! It costs us 20k!" Big deal! Throw another $500 a plate dinner. Call it "The Colbert drove us to bankruptcy" dinner! People will eat it up!

"He'll take votes from serious candidates!" Listen, if your lame duck candidate can't excite a voter enough to keep him from voting for a comedian - who's not a nationally viable candidate now? I'm looking at you, Obama!

"He's not nationally viable!" If we are using that argument, no one should be on the ballot but Hillary. She's going to get the nomination. Why not save the 20k per head and just put only Hillary on the ballot? Oh, yeah, I remember now! This is America and we are pretending to be a democracy - only the pretense breaks down in the face of a comedian with national support!

I'm embarrassed for my party of choice. I'm sure it won't be the last time I will feel this way this year.

Jericho: Gaypublicans

They go out of their way to hurt the cause of gay rights and keep themselves as deep in the closet as they possibly can, often hurting general civil rights and stomping on the Constitution as they go - they are the Gaypublicans!

First we had Bob Allen, then Larry Craig and now Richard Curtis.

I'm really starting to feel sorry for these losers, especially Larry Craig (a.k.a. Tappy McWidestance). I mean, these morons have needs. But, instead of recognizing the needs and desires for what they are - they go into total denial mode. They still have to fulfill the need, so, they start doing it secretly. Go on "the down-low" as it were.

At that point, they are so totally in denial that it all begins to seem natural. Gay bash by day, wear lingerie and sleep with gay prostitutes at night. Write anti-gay legislation at work, get some action in the air port on the way home.

In the end, they have done a ton of damage to the cause of gay acceptance not to mention gay rights. Then they get caught and all the damage they have done comes back to haunt them. The anti-gay monster they have fed is now looking to eat them. They are trapped in their own web of hatred. Their careers are over - because they lied to and encouraged the anti-gay voters who got them into their jobs. Then, you get dolts like Larry Craig who is SOOOO deep in denial, he's trying to rescue his career. It won't work - the whole party is turning its collective back on him.

None of this is healthy. Having unprotected sex with prostitutes or with random strangers in bathrooms is just self destructive! If they simply came out, said they were gay or even bi-sexual, claimed and owned their label, then worked for their own betterment, some portion of the voting population would accept them. They would still have their jobs and be happy. Instead, they are so filled with hatred that they want to destroy - and the first thing they go after is themselves.

It's really sad. I wasn't kidding when I say I feel sorry for these guys. They are sick. They are not sick because they are whatever shade of gay they might be - they are sick because they are in denial and filled with hatred. They need help.

Max: NASA Fears Truth May Hurt Profits

An unprecedented national survey of pilots by the U.S. government has found that safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than previously recognized. But the government is withholding the information, fearful it would upset air travelers and hurt airline profits.

Max: She Has To Be A Republican

[Police Sergeant] Andrea Eichhorn's attorney, David Heil, said she has persistent knee pain and will likely develop arthritis. He said city benefits paid by workers' compensation and some disability checks helped with medical bills, but it wasn't enough.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

"It's a situation where the Cosmillos have caused these problems, brought them on themselves, then tried to play the victim," Heil said.

And what lame excuse do these Cosmillo jerks use to make themselves out to be the victims rather than evil incarnate?

[Joey Cosmillo's] near-drowning... the 1-year-old boy, who suffered brain damage and can no longer walk, talk or swallow.

The boy fell into the pool outside the family's home in suburban Orlando in January and now lives in a nursing home and eats and breathes through tubes.

How could such a trifling compare to the suffering that befell Eichhorn?

[Eichhorn] slipped and injured a knee responding to a toddler's near-drowning...

[and] alleges Joey Cosmillo's family left a puddle of water on the floor, causing her fall during the rescue efforts. She broke her knee and missed two months of work.

Go Andrea, show them what suffering really is.

Max: Music Industry Continues Slow, Painful Suicide

Via the BBC

A car repair firm has been taken to court accused of infringing musical copyright because its employees listen to radios at work.

The action against the Kwik-Fit Group has been brought by the Performing Rights Society which collects royalties for songwriters and performers.

Max: At Last

Billion Dollar corporations are safe from single mothers.

Max: Say What Now?

Max: What Am I

As a long time narcissist, I am always fascinated to learn what people think of me. Back in high school - depending upon whom you ask - I was a drug dealer, a dangerous lunatic, a harmless geek to be taken under the wing of the cool kids, mildly retarded, too smart to be allowed out among the general public, etc.

It seems people are still playing the "What is Max" game, and are still getting it wrong.

Some people think I am a "liberal", other think I am "conservative". Jericho thinks I am a dangerous water-brain, but not in a bad way. Perhaps the clearest indication people think I am a fellow traveler (either on the left or the right) are the email forwards they send me. For instance, I was recently sent a forward, sent by one of my more leftish acquaintances, that crows about how Ronnie Regan, upon meeting his Veep's namesake, stated that the young W was slightly less intelligent than a lobotomized squirrel. Another I received today talked about how Oliver North once warned a Senate committee about the serious danger posed by allowing a little know terrorist named Osama bin Laden. He was, of course, laughed at by the know it all liberals who then controlled the Senate.

I am guessing the latter thinks I am part of the Faux News brigade - liberals are all evil and stupid, conservatives are all good, godly men trying to save the country from the depredations of the left.

Some call me a socialist because I support universal health care. Some call me a libertarian because I don't want the government to force me to pretend I am a good Christian. In fact, I am both and neither.

Yes, I support universal health care. Anyone who glibly dismisses health care - if you like the post office, you'll love government health care - has never been unemployed, uninsured, broke and told that someone they love is in dire need of surgery. Much less two surgeries in as many months.

Yes I oppose government enforcement of any religion. If you want to flagellate yourself because you think your imaginary friend will reward you after you die, that is your problem. I don't care to join in.

So what am I? I call myself a realist. I prefer facts to the brain-dead rantings of any ideologue of any stripe. That is why my reaction to the two forwards mentioned above was not amusement at those stupid (liberals/conservative). Rather, I was mainly disgusted. Why? Because neither of the above incidents happened. There is no record at all of what, if any, opinion Ronnie Rayguns had of GW. And at the time of the supposed Senate hearing, almost everybody considered ObD a hero because he lead the fight to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan.

If anything, I am tired. I am tired of the drooling fantasies of ideologues and demigogues. I am tired of people waving a book at me (Bible, Koran, The Wealth of Nations, The Communist Manifesto, whatever) expecting me to turn my brain off and join in the blind stupidity.

If anything, I am disgusted. I am disgusted at people who think that yelling and cutting off people's mics make them experts and the rest of us fools. I am disgusted at people who have never read a real book declaring that the founders of our country were all right wing fundies. Thomas Jefferson took greater pride in leading the fight to repeal a law making Christianity the official religion of Virginia than he did in authoring the Declaration of Independence. And I am disgusted at people who think that just because one or more of our (proud slave owning) founders blindly held to some belief that we all should.

So, yeah. That's me.

Max: Apple Aspiring to New Levels of Dickitude

The latest iPods have a cryptographic "checksum" in their song databases that prevents third-party applications from synching with the portable music players. This means that iPods can no longer be used with operating systems where iTunes doesn't exist -- like Linux, where gtkpod and Amarok are common free tools used by iPod owners to load their players.

via Boing Boing

Max: 9/11x6

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."

"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes."

"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

Here's to what used to be what the USA stood for.

Fuck you all for the sheep you are.

Max: An Idiot Returns to His Village

Attorney General Gonzales resigns - CNN.com

"Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation Monday in a brief statement at the Justice Department. art.gonzales.ap.jpg Alberto Gonzales was dogged by controversial issues including wiretapping programs and fired U.S. attorneys. 'Yesterday I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government services as Attorney General of the United States effective September 17.'"

Jericho: All Hail the End of "Reality" TV

Have you read this?

FOX and other networks have got to be getting the picture by now. Taking a stupid person(s) and putting them in front of a camera without a script does not good television make.

I mean, really, FOX, when are you going to get this? The era is over. You have beaten this dead horse enough. You cancel shows like "Firefly" that are excellent before they get a chance to get a following (did you see how much the movie and DVD sales made?) and then you kept putting idiots and midgets on the air hoping to drag in ratings.

I never thought I'd say this, but it's obvious from the ratings that the American people are smarter than that!

FOX, look at your biggest successes - what do they have in common? Look at The Simpsons and The X-Files and even - like a FOX News wet-dream - 24. All of them have great acting and great writing. Solid shows built on solid premises and real possibilities for entertainment.

FOX isn't the only culprit - I'm looking at you MTV.

I don't watch a lot of TV anymore (cuts into my WoW time) - but I do wish that there was more better TV. Heck, I might watch more if there was something to watch!

Max: Panic! Panic Now!

There's darkies on our ferries.

FBI agents in Seattle have asked the public to help identify two men spotted behaving in an "unusual" manner during several trips on the nation's largest ferry system.

Federal officials released a pair of photos of the men to the public Monday after they were shown to employees of the ferry system. The two men appear to be of Middle Eastern descent and are seen standing against the rail of a Washington State Ferries system vessel.

FBI field agents told ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that the two men were observed on ferries and seemed unusually interested in how the boats worked and docking procedures. They were seen on multiple ferry runs over a period of four to six weeks and ultimately photographed by a ferry employee.

Jericho, you and your fattest, hairiest, whitest friend need to start riding the ferries. Take pictures. Ask questions. Show an excessive interest in everything about the ferry. Keep hope panic alive!

Max: Oh My

Pretty album covers.

Max: Dammit

In my hurry to get a new HD, I made an amateur mistake. Starbug takes ATA drives and the one I ordered is SATA.

On the other hand, somehow I got Starbug revived once again. I guess I am stuck with a buggy computer until I can afford a new one.

Or some generous person(s) buy me one.

Jericho: Hey, Baby! Nice set of ... brains!

People confuse me. A lot.

I need someone to explain this to me. A normal, intelligent woman puts on clothing. The clothing is revealing - it accentuates or some how shows off her breasts. This female then goes out into public and becomes angered when males examine her chest instead of making and not breaking eye contact. Now, if a store didn't want to sell an item, they wouldn't put it in the front window, would they? If you don't want people to look at your breasts, why show them off?

I ran across an ad on a dating site that just infuriated me. This woman had a very high opinion of herself to begin with. She was indeed somewhat attractive, but nothing out of the ordinary. This is one of my favorite parts of her profile:


The First Thing(s) People Usually Notice About Me

First, I get the dumb guy drool from those who notice my body.

Then, I open my mouth, and people notice the stark contrast between their foolish stereotype and who I actually am.


Then they notice I'm an ego maniac! Geez. The above would be just annoying, but the pictures she included with her profile make the whole thing insane. The first picture is of this blond, wearing jeans and a black top. But, she is squatting and leaning forward. So, the eye is immediately drawn to the deep "v" between her bra-less breasts. You can see all the way down to her stomach - no exaggeration. The second pic is the same girl in a red dress, cute but no big deal. The third picture illustrates the point beyond all else. Again, our blond brainiac is in a sexy top. This time, it's red lace and nothing else. Her nipples and tan lines are visible through the top. The caption was: "Eye contact, guys."

Okay. You put your tits out there and expect guys to not look? How moronic is that? Why set people up to fail? If you don't want guys to look at your boobs - hide them!

Just so you ladies who perpetrate this are aware, there is a reason why the guys you are attracted to never stick around. Think about this for a second: a guy approache