Father of the Pride
I have to say that even with the lame Sigfriend & Roy references (and John Goodman's lack of singing talent) this was an amusing show.
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August 31, 2004
More Communism Ranting
Dan Gilmore links to an article about Keyword Blocking in China. While some curse words are banned, you also have the following:
chinaliberal
freechina
freedom
making
simple
It's pretty obvious to anyone that the government would want to block those evil words "freedom" and "freechina". But "making" and "simple" are just confusing. Would sending an e-mail about "making a simple pot pie" get someone sent to a re-education camp?
One word about the new IMac
Clunky.
Honestly, I would hope for something more out of Apple than a laptop minus the built-in keyboard. While the price is a bit more palatable; to me this thing is more of an eyesore than anything.
August 30, 2004
I have to agree with Drudge on this one
This isn't good for John Kerry.
When your Democratic Hetero-Lifemate puts an ad out endorsing HIS brilliance for following the brave leadership of the opposing administration (the administration that you have lambasted for its leadership on the War on Terror); it's lights out for you.
Don't worry John, at least you didn't resign your Senate seat. ;-)
I'll take water torture for $200, Alex
Conversation with IT Help Desk regarding Citrix Outlook sessions dying on a random basis.
IT Sup: Well, I guess it doesn't matter anyway since we're thinking of moving to an all-Sun version of Outlook. Would you like to be on the beta for that?
Me: You mean you are porting Outlook to run over Java?
IT Sup: Yeah, that's the idea.
Me: I don't know, could I pull out my fingernails instead? Or maybe just switch back over to dialup. Decisions, decisions...
TalkLeft - Pining for Vietnam
With Vietnam circa 1968 being in the news so much lately; TalkLeft picks up on a current policy within Vietnamese prisons.
Can you imagine if every U.S.Independence Day we released all the rehabilitated prisoners--- if our Government put humane considerations above the economic benefits of the prison machinery?
Vietnam has released nearly 9,000 prisoners, including 10 inmates whose cases it says had drawn international attention, as part of traditional pardons granted ahead of independence celebrations on September 2.
What they miss is the obvious, America already has a system like this. It's called Parole. Each year, thousands of convicts are released from prison on this system. In fact, there are so many of them released every year, it can't be celebrated only on our Independence Day, but year round. Every day some downtrodden prisoner is given another chance through this revolutional system.
TalkLeft (one of the blogs I read daily) really misses the point on this issue...
#1. This is Vietnam. A communist country which according to Amnesty International still jails political prisoners regularly.
#2. Records in Vietnamese prisons are shoddy at best, conditions are deplorable. Comparing the Vietnamese prison system to the US system is like comparing a dead parrot to a LearJet.
If Vietnam really wanted to promote rehabilitation, they would release prisoners throughout the year and not on a politically conveinient day. And the NY Times would cover this for what it is, a PR Fluff story for the government of Vietnam.
August 27, 2004
Kerry Speak, Part 312
From RNS:
Can anyone make sense of this quote? (located about a third of the way down the page)
"The truth, which is what elections are all about, is that the tax burden of the middle class has gone up while the tax burden of the middle class has gone down," he said.
August 26, 2004
Back Home
Back home from Grandma's funeral. I was going to blog a bit about this but I don't know what to write. All I can say is that she will be greatly missed not only by me but by my family.
Flight home was hell, but I got a free RT ticket on ATA for the trouble. Ended up flying Hannah home with me which wasn't cheap but it saved me five hours of driving tomorrow. Of course, I turn my phone and and get deluged with calls and pageouts. Back to the grind tonight...
August 23, 2004
San Francisco on High Alert
All San Franciscans are to be on high alert for people wearing funny clothes running around looking for the Enterprise.
Yes boys and girls, someone invented transparent aluminium.
Alternate Star Wars Casting List
Several years ago, Derek, Jamie, and I decided that the original castmembers of Star Wars had become a bit stale and needed some spicing up. So for Derek, here's the official Alternate Star Wars Casting List:
(BTW, this was orginally envisioned in 1996 I think so some of the actors are dated)
Luke Skywalker - Tim Allen
Leia Organa - Open
Han Solo - Gilbert Gotfried
Obi-Wan Kenobi - George Carlin
Chewbacca - Henry Rollins
Grand Moff Tarkin - Sam kinison
Darth Vader - Dennis Leary
Greedo - Open
R2D2 (Voice) - Richard Pryor
C3PO (Voice) - Eddie Murphy
Lando Calrissian - Ice T
Boba Fett - Steven Wright
Jabba the Hutt - Louie Anderson
Yoda - George Burns
Mos Eisley Band - Rob Zombie, Lars Ulrich, Neil Diamond
Salacious Crumb - Jim Carrey
Emporer Palpatine - Lemmy
Mon Mothma - Roseanne Barr
Giving Kerry An Out
The old adage:
Be careful for what you wish for, you might just get it...
John O'Neill, one of the Swift Vets has come out telling JFK II to sue him if any part of his book is inaccurate. I give the press about an hour to pick this up and start running with it....
My recommendation to you John is to make sure your lawyers are lined up. I think you just threw Kerry a bone and a way out of this mess.
Right-Wing News Rag Attacks John Kerry's Service
That is, the Village Voice is attacking John Kerry's leadership of the POW/MIA Committee back in the early 1990's. Here's a quote from the piece....
The Massachusetts senator, now seeking the presidency, carried out this subterfuge a little over a decade ago— shredding documents, suppressing testimony, and sanitizing the committee's final report—when he was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./ M.I.A. Affairs.
What was the body of evidence that prisoners were held back? A short list would include more than 1,600 firsthand sightings of live U.S. prisoners; nearly 14,000 secondhand reports; numerous intercepted Communist radio messages from within Vietnam and Laos about American prisoners being moved by their captors from one site to another; a series of satellite photos that continued into the 1990s showing clear prisoner rescue signals carved into the ground in Laos and Vietnam, all labeled inconclusive by the Pentagon; multiple reports about unacknowledged prisoners from North Vietnamese informants working for U.S. intelligence agencies, all ignored or declared unreliable; persistent complaints by senior U.S. intelligence officials (some of them made publicly) that live-prisoner evidence was being suppressed; and clear proof that the Pentagon and other keepers of the "secret" destroyed a variety of files over the years to keep the P.O.W./M.I.A. families and the public from finding out and possibly setting off a major public outcry.
John Kerry made his service in Vietnam a central point of his campaign. He told the Republican party to "Bring It On" when it came to his service in Vietnam. Wouldn't we all have loved it if he would have brought issues to the forefront instead of relying on archaic war references.
August 22, 2004
Booker Gone
Bears trade Marty Booker for Adewale Ogunleye
I don't know what to think of this. While I love the idea of getting a proven defensive end, losing Marty Booker is huge. Marty was the "proven old man" of the wide receiving corps which now consists of Ahmad Merritt, David Terrell, and Bobby Wade. Three guys who have shown small sparks of brilliance, but are NOT top receivers.
While the Bears are 2-0 in preseason, I have some deep concerns about the team finishing above .500 with making this huge change to the offense. As of right now, there's really no huge deep threat for Grossman's arm which means the DBs can play closer to the line, therefore shutting down our new "Running Back by Committee" program.
Ugh, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing I'm not.
August 21, 2004
Start Warming Up The Fat Lady
How fast will the major media pick up the "story behind the story" of 527s and who is funding them.
August 20, 2004
I Got Fired
No no no, not from work, from the band.
Bascially, the reason behind it was that I was unavailable for them when they wanted to practice (namely they all worked third trick and I, working first, can't really practice on Thursdays at 3:00 in the afternoon). But what clinched for them was what happened today....
Today my grandmother passed away. It was a shock to the family, but we move on, I'll blog that later. When I found about her ill condition this morning, I booked the first flight down to Florida to say my goodbyes. Unfortunately, I had band practice tonight and tomorrow night and called John on the way to the airport to say I wasn't going to make it. When she did pass away this afternoon (five minutes before I was to get on the plane), my dad called and said not to get on since she was already gone. OK, change plans, cancel seats and called John later (around 5:00 or so) to tell him I was going to spend some time with my family tonight, but that I would be able to practice tomorrow night.
So John calls me back and tells me that "Umm, you know, things aren't working out, etc, etc. Your availabilty is like, umm...." and he was pissed that I couldn't be there tonight.
Hey John. My grandmother died, you f***ing twit. My daughter is still in tears over it. In the grand scale of things, yes, you guys fall pretty low on the totem pole. Deal with it.
In the end, I'm glad I found out about it now instead of several months later when I built up more animosity towards him. I'm sorry that I won't play with Jamie or Toe anymore, but that's just how it is.
Agreeing with Allah
If this goes against John Kerry, only bad things can be in store for their campaign.
"In a statement released to reporters, Kerry's campaign announced it had "filed a legal complaint against Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) before the Federal Election Commission for violating the law with inaccurate ads that are illegally coordinated with the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign."
Basically if the evidence isn't there, the game is over. Kerry will look like a sour-puss and the moderates will turn against him.
Have We Flipped?
Think about this for the moment. Which party today is for:
Not intervening in the affairs of other countries.
Maintaining the status quo in Germany and Korea.
Asking bookstores to withhold sales of certain books.
BTW, this is a rhetorical question.
I am offically an "Old Fogie"
Krystal started high school today. Someone get me my walker....
August 19, 2004
Your Property Taxes Hard At Work, Part I
Some of the new homework that you can expect coming to a school near you. This was assigned to my eight year old son, who has the attention span of a gnat on speed.
And yes, this is verbatim from the blue sheet of paper sitting on my desk....
Active Homework
Your child will be participating in a new program this year called Active Homework. Active homework is 20-30 minutes of active play daily and outside of school hours. Your child will need to bring one 70-page spiral notebook to physical education class. Each student will write about each physical activity they participated in. They need to write about the activity, with whom, how long, and if it was moderate to vigorous. Every class will learn and understand what moderate to vigorous activity is and why physical activity is so important. After each physical activity logged, a parent or guardian will sign under each log. (Ed. Emphasis mine.)
Now while I don't have a problem with my kids playing afterschool, I do have a problem with the exercise/fitness police coming into my home to mandate that my child participate in "vigorous activity" daily. Especially for eight year old boys whose entire life revolves around "vigorous activity". Seriously, while I know childhood obesity is on the rise, do we really have to resort to daily reports of play?
Oh, but that's not all. The nannystate has decided not only do the kids have to be "vigouous" for 20-30 minutes a day, but they have to report who was playing with them as well, what they did, if they paid homage to the Adidas and Reebok Gods, etc, etc, etc. I'm just waiting for the request to videotape my kids playtime so it can be critiqued and then used in ongoing fitness enforcement investigations.
But this is only the beginning. Tomorrow I'll dive into Middle School Rules and Regulations otherwise known as "Stupid Stuff in Junior High".
August 17, 2004
Movin On Up
I would like to thank the five people that tolerate my website for contributing to this....
August 16, 2004
Two More Days
And they go back to school..... Yeah!!!!!
Psst, know any good fence builders?
Another iron curtain is falling across Europe, this time courtesy of an Israeli firm. RNS covers it.
What NOT to do with your 747
How to give your passengers a nice view of what only the pilots see during a landing.
The video is of a 747 on approach into Hong Kong with a heavy crosswind. The donor of the video apparently has landed there a few times and hasn't had the same problem as other less-qualified pilots.
August 14, 2004
SPLITTERS!
U.S. Sees Widening Crack in Taliban Leadership
References to the title can be found here.
KABUL (Reuters) - There are signs of the Taliban leadership "falling apart," a U.S. military spokesman said on Saturday, citing reports this week that a breakaway faction no longer recognizes Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The one-eyed Mullah Omar became one of the world's most wanted men for helping shelter Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his al Qaeda network until late 2001, when U.S. led forces drove the Taliban militia from power in Afghanistan.
Reuters reported Monday that a dissident group named Taliban Jamiat Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Muslim Army of the Taliban) had broken away, taking with it about one-third of the Taliban's fighting strength.
"That's a significant development which demonstrates the Taliban are falling apart a little bit on the leadership side," Major Scott Nelson told a regular news briefing in Kabul.
Nelson said the military was still assessing what impact the split was having on the Islamist militants' strategy and operations against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
"That fissure is widening -- we see that. Specifically what that means we're still looking into it," he said.
The new group was being led by Mulla Syed Mohammad Akbar Aga, a 45-year-old commander from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, Sabir Momin, who was the Taliban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, told Reuters Monday.
The rift within the Taliban comes hard on the heels of a series of arrests of al Qaeda members in neighboring Pakistan, suggesting success on two fronts in the U.S.-led war on terror.
There are around 18,000 U.S.-led troops combing the south and east of Afghanistan for Taliban and al Qaeda members.
Another eight thousand peacekeepers are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stationed in Kabul and northern parts of the country.
Friday, one U.S. soldier was wounded in a Taliban ambush of a convoy in southeastern Paktika province, and another was hurt when his patrol vehicle was hit by an explosive device in neighboring Zabul province.
Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi told Reuters four fighters had been wounded.
The U.S. military has lost 98 servicemen in Afghanistan since late 2001, the most recent a soldier killed when the Black Hawk helicopter he was traveling in crashed due to a mechanical problem Thursday. The U.S. military says there was no hostile fire involved in the incident.
The peacekeeping force has been beefed up ahead of Afghanistan's landmark presidential election in October, as the Taliban and its allies are expected to intensify a campaign of violence. Close to one thousand people have been killed in the past year, including militants.
Taliban remnants are believed to have links with al Qaeda, the group they sheltered from the 1990s, and militant Islamic forces loyal to former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
August 13, 2004
NBC News and Best Intentions
I think when news organizations decided to "test" certain parts of our national security system, they should have to foot the bill for causing the pain. Especially when they pull crap like this.
AAAE ISSUE ALERT
Transportation Security Services &
Non Hub/General Aviation Committees
www.airportnet.org/security
To: AAAE Transportation Security Services Committee
AAAE Non Hub/General Aviation Committee
AAAE Regulatory Membership
From: Rebecca Morrison
Transportation Security Policy Department, AAAE
Re: Attempted Security Breach at GA Facility
Date: August 11, 2004
The following is a description of an incident that occurred today at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, a large GA facility. We are sharing this story with you as there are indications that it might be repeated throughout the country. We would like to thank Bob McDaniel, the Director at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, for sharing the details of the incident outlined below.
Earlier today two Middle Eastern men attempted to penetrate our security. They telephoned one of my helicopter FBOs and asked about a charter flight. After discussion of price and directions to the business, they arrived an hour later. When the office agent asked how they were going to pay for the flight they produced cash. When asked for ID, they produced driver’s licenses from two different states and they were driving a car licensed in a third state.
Things didn’t smell right so the mechanic took them into the hangar to see the aircraft while the office person called the FBI and local police. The helicopter they were going to fly was blocked in by other aircraft so the mechanic was able to stall them by having to slowly shuffle the blocking planes. Meanwhile the two men got their backpacks and odd-shaped luggage out of their car. Soon the local police arrived and they were hauled off to jail in handcuffs.
After a little time behind bars, the FBI verified that the two men were employed by NBC New York and were on assignment to get a story of how easy it is to charter a helicopter for a terrorist attack. The men had stayed in a local hotel and purchased box cutters, leather-man knives, and other potential weapons at the local Wal-Mart using a credit card. The box cutters had been hidden in the lining at the bottom of the back packs and the other weapons were hidden throughout their baggage. They had audiotaped the telephone conversation with Arlene and were going to use it as part of a national news story about how easy it is to get information and directions to the location of the helicopter and then hijack it to commit a terrorist attack.
I doubt they will be back at our airport soon and this is a story that will never be seen since they were caught. A very “well-done� to my FBO and staff and the local FBI and police response forces. We have since learned that we were the first airport where this had been attempted and NBC planned to attempt similar penetration stories around the country. Please helm me spread the word to other airports.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments.
**********************************
Rebecca K. Morrison
Staff Vice President, Transportation Security Policy
American Association of Airport Executives
Hey, who ordered the Hurricane?
About two weeks ago, the wifey, kids, and I spent a wonderful week on the Pinellas Sun Coast. Today the beaches and condos are closed due to Hurricane Charley which should make landfall this afternoon.
I spent part of the time explaining to the kids why the condos are built on stilts. Since the most damage from a hurricane came from the storm surge, the parking lot would flood while everything else above would be relatively safe from the storm.
My stepmom and family are going to ride out the storm instead of heading for higher land. They live about three miles inland. We're all hoping for the best.
Update: Cool radar track of the storm can be found here
August 11, 2004
A New Business Model
Here's my idea.
Buy an OC-3.
Put a huge PoD machine behind it.
Enter IP Address of Blog Spammer.
Enjoy.
I'm sure bloggers everywhere would pay $5 for five minutes of shutting that asshole down completely. That or something that would sniff out vulnerabilities and, umm, "make them aware" of open ports they might have open on their machine.
August 10, 2004
Only words that came to mind were "Tree Surfing"
Landslide in Japan caught on video. (warning, it's a Windows Media file).
Busy Day
Not only because I was on a four hour marathon conference call with one of my largest customers, but because I was pretty busy with the Kerry/Swift Boat thread on TalkLeft.
Dave Matthews Is Full of Sh*t
Well at least his bus is. This has all the makings of an ER episode or a really bad German porn flick.
August 9, 2004
The Darker Side of X-Prize
Or at least in this case, the humorous one....source of the story can be found here.
Warning: Link below leads to large video file.
http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/2004_08_08/48InchCrash.mpg
Dell Dumbasses
A week ago, I ordered a Dell Aixm handheld to play around with. It had built in 802.11b and Bluetooth, so I figured I could at least get online in the house or on those rare occasions when I'm near a free hot spot.
A day later, I felt a bit of buyer's remorse and called and cancelled. No big deal, it hasn't shipped yet, here's your confirmation # showing it's cancelled. Imagine my surprise when the next day, guess what was at my door. Yup, Dell's wonderful customer service did it again and I got the box. OK, no big deal. I signed for it and decided what the hell, try it otu and if it blows, send it back.
Open the box, and low and behold, no USB cable. Can't sync the handheld to the PC. Call Dell, get some guy in Panama who takes twnety minutes to find the info (after I gave him the part number he needed to ship it to me) and he tells me the part will be shipped in the enxt day or so.
Today I get a phone call from one of the other Brian Wohlgemuth's on the planet (last count, there were six of us) to tell me he received a FedEx overnight from Dell with some weird cable in it. Call Dell, finally get someone who is in the US. Said he's going to get it sorted out and call me back....
I'm guessing by the time all this is done, I'll get the cable sent to me at my retirement home located in Florida fifty years from now.
Update: DHL showed up this morning with the cable at 10:00 exactly. OK, maybe I'm a bit more impressed that they actually got me the right cable.
August 8, 2004
Last Night
As posted before, we had our first gig last night. For a group of guys having only one practice under our belts, it wasn't a bad job. We muddled through about ten songs and then took a few requests, which mostly consisted of old Metallica tunes. Overall, not a bad job, but we still have a bunch of work to do. It also sounds like we have our first paying gig as well in September, date TBA.....
August 5, 2004
First Gig
I haven't said much about what I do in my free time, but over the last few weeks I've been jamming with a few guys on the weekends and thinking about throwing enough songs together to do a show.
So the call comes tonight. We've been asked to play at a party somewhere in Fort Wayne Saturday night. After a quick counsel with the wife, it's on. The four of us have played together once (last Saturday). Our musical tastes are classified as "no where near each other". But we've all figured out at least ten songs to keep things interesting. Have to see how it turns out...
Premature Electionation?
Are Kerry and the DNC blowing their wad too early?
Kerry hits Bush reaction to 9/11 attack news
Now, this is the type of stuff I expect from Michael Moore, but you have to think maybe JFKs digging a bit. I mean, just as radio talk show hosts were saying, the economy is recovering, Iraq isn't that much of an issue anymore. What's left? Monday-Morning Quarterbacking your opponent's facial reactions during the worse national crisis in sixty years? I would hope a national party like the DNC would realize that their opinions of 9/11 are only one of several different ones out there. And theirs isn't necessarily right....
You would have to think that the DNC would have a better long term plan in place to deal with GWB, seeing as how it looks like the president is just following what he's done before....
Vacation Pics
For those of you on the edge of your seats...here are some lovely vacation pictures.
http://wohlgemuth.megacity.org/pics/aug2004/florida/page1.htm
August 4, 2004
What If???
A damn good question to be asked and answered.
Caption Contest, Part Deux
By the power of Scarecrow, I will win Iowa!
Should I point out that most corn ears are tasseling at this point and that full ears won't be ready for at least another month?
Intent to Distribute a Gardening Substance
This story just makes me laugh... I'm just surprised this happened in Texas and not in Florida.
Full Story listed below.
Fox News - Texas cops thought they'd made a major drug bust when they raided a home northwest of Houston last Tuesday. After all, it looked like there were huge marijuana plants growing in the front yard.
"All of a sudden, they burst in with their guns loaded, pointing at me, screaming, 'Get on the floor! Get on the floor!'" northwest Harris County resident Blair Davis told KHOU-TV.
It turns out the tall plants with the narrow leaves arranged in a fan pattern weren't pot plants at all, but specimens of Texas Star hibiscus, which Davis grows for his landscaping business.
That didn't convince the 10 or so members of the Harris County Organized Crime Unit who stormed around the house.
"I just put my head down, shook it and said: 'Guys, you are making a terrible mistake. That is Texas Star hibiscus, not marijuana,'" Davis told the TV station. "They just told me to shut up."
At one point, the officers discussed whether the bamboo in the window might be the demon weed as well, Davis told the Houston Chronicle. They also asked him what he planned to do with the watermelons and cantaloupes growing out back.
"What would I do with them?" Davis said he responded.
It turned out a concerned citizen had seen the native Texas plant, which has little white flowers and smooth green leaves — marijuana has rough leaves and dense flowering buds — in the yard and tipped off the authorities.
"My guys went out there, and they looked at the plants and stuff, and they believed them to be marijuana," Lt. Dan Webb told KHOU-TV.
After about an hour, the officers decided the search was over. They gave Davis a "citizen's information card" with the words "closed-report" written on it.
"No apology, no nothing," Davis complained to the Chronicle. "I realize they have a job to do, but this seems a little bizarre."
Lt. Webb defends his officers.
"I'm sure it was traumatic," he told KHOU. "Any time there's a search warrant served at your house, there's gonna be some trauma involved."
Davis thinks the narcotics officers might need a little more training.
"If they don't know what a marijuana plant looks like, maybe they should bring a picture with them," he told the TV station, "before they invade a citizen's home."
August 3, 2004
Dumb Ass....
From Transterrestrial Musings:
Gotta love John Kerry's loyalty to sports teams.
Irony, Pt. 26,912
Here's a pic of Lynddie England going into her court martial today. Notice the car just to the right. I'm assuming that isn't her Explorer. :-)
August 2, 2004
Caption Contest
(Ed: Anything distasteful or inappropriate for a 18 month old kid will be instantly deleted, blacklisted, and I'll subscribe you to a Jehovah's Witness mailing list. That being said, enjoy!)
And to answer any questions about the suit, it's a wetsuit that has styrofoam in it to keep the kid upright while in the pool. They say it lower the drowning risk significantly, personally I think it exists for posts like this....
My Submission: "The Adventures of Steroid Boy!"