30 April 2005

Canine Reflections

Last Autumn we started noticing bare spots on Majo's back. It caused a bit of a ruckus within the family, but I successfully lobbied to let the dog sleep inside. We set up the crate kennel, and the dog spent quite a bit of time inside. Eventually my dad made the decision that the dog needed to spend the lion's share of her time inside, though he humored me by letting me bring her in at night. The spots got a little bit better, but never really recovered.

Since Autumn, I'd been putting the dog out in the outdoor kennel every morning and bringing her in every night. That gave her more attention than just being fed every night, and I got into the habit of letting her run around the yard, investigating the various odors of our back garden, leaving her mark on the lawn. Most of the time, when I told her to come on, she'd finish sniffing whatever it was she was sniffing, and then she'd sprint ahead of me into the garage.

It was a hassle, especially on late nights when I came home from the radio station and had to take an additional five minutes away from my bed. Even so, I think that those bare spots on her back were a blessing in the end, for both her and I. She got a lot more attention, and a little bit more time out of the outdoor kennel; and I got a lot of quality time with her, even if it came in small doses a couple of times a day.

She was always so eager and bright-eyed, even when I wondered if her vision was going. I could hold up a treat, and she was so precise at grabbing that thing out of my hand that I eventually started letting go an instant before she nabbed it to keep from getting nipped accidentally.

What an amazing dog Majo was. There is absolutely a void on this little plot of land without a black lab sitting out in that kennel, and specifically without her sitting out there.

Loving You

Same episode of South Park last night. Check this out.

Jimbo: What we'll have to do here Carl is put a trigger on that bomb that makes it go off at a specific moment during halftime.
Carl: What moment would that be?
Jimbo: Well, John Stamos' older brother is all set to sing 'Loving You' during halftime. We want that bomb to go off when he hits that high F.
Carl: What high F?
Jimbo: You know, Loving you is easy 'cause you're beautiful doo-nn-doo-nn-doo-doo…Aaaaah
Carl: Right, right, so you want the trigger on the doo-nn-doo.
Jimbo: No, damnit! The Aaaaah.
Carl: Aaaaahh.
Ned: Aaaaahh.
Jimbo: Aaaaahh.
Carl: Aaaaahh.
Jimbo: Great, we…
Carl: Doo-nn-doo-nn-doo-doo - Aaah.
Ned: Doo-nn-doo-doo
Jimbo: You got it…
Carl: Doo-nn-doo-nn-doo-doo…
Ned: aaa - dooo
Jimbo: Aaaaahh.
Carl: Alright, yeah, okay…

Keep in mind, of course, that Ned Gerblansky was severely wounded in Vietnam and from smoking, and has to talk with the aid of a "cancer kazoo" so his voice is electronic and monotone. This scene was simply hilarious, especially with the three guys (including Ned) singing the "Aaaaahh"s at different pitches one after the other, repeatedly.

In Her Element


The Sandal Man/Dark Horse (I forgot that I called him that once) recommended during Finals Week last term that I get onboard with Flickr. We've been digging around for images of Majo to have laser etched onto her urn. We did the same thing for Buck, but just a face shot. I told Dad that we ought to use a different picture for Majo, and I think this is the one that will win out.

You can't really tell by the picture just how small Majo is. She was a couple of years old when Buck died. She was noticeably smaller than he was. My mother had brain surgery less than a year after we got Majo, and when she was recovering she'd call Majo "the little dog" to differentiate between her and Buck, and even after Buck was gone, it stuck.

What Majo lacked in size, she made up for in energy; Buck tended to be lethargic, particularly late in life. Majo could behave and sit still on certain occasions, but when she knew it wasn't really one of those occasions, she'd run circles around me.

Now tell me. With a dog that adorable, wouldn't you get pretty damn choked up if she just up and had a heart attack on you? Even when she was "older" than me, she was still my baby, and I'm going to miss her an awful lot.

29 April 2005

Accomplishedment Friday

Usually I have to use my Thursdays to get anything done, and to a lesser degree my Tuesdays. Here's what I've accomplished so far today:

  • E-Mailed the Feds, and a former co-worker in Engaland
  • Went to Class A (History)
  • Went to Joint Service Review (ROTC parade)
  • Started a budget sheet before Class B (Math)
  • Checked in at Class E recitation (Biology), then left for...
  • Went to Spring Awards Ceremony (Naval ROTC)
  • Made up weekly schedules up to Dead Week
  • Added some assignment due dates to schedules

    Here's what I'm going to try to have accomplished by the end of the day:

  • Return brand new, unneeded bag of dog food
  • Deposit refund money and paycheck
  • Finish making out weekly schedules/assignment sheets
  • Write up to-do list for next week
  • Do a little bit of writing
  • Stretch out muscles

    By the way, if anyone's in the College City (not to be confused with College Station, that's in Texas) area tomorrow afternoon, come by the Quad to see me and some other DJ as we host a game show for Mom's Weekend.

    More later... Okay, ready for more?

    There's this girl who's in my math class, who I sometimes see in the lab. She's kind of cute, but in a natural way; no makeup to speak of, et cetera. She's built a bit like the Mirror is; of course, the Mirror's figure isn't what I generally go for. Anyway, today she's wearing a lower-thigh length jean skirt, flip flop sandals, an unbuttoned blue polo shirt, and a grey zip-up hooded sweatshirt. She looks pretty damn classy, showing just enough off to get me to look. Will I ever even introduce myself to her? Certainly not, but she's nice to look at.

    Anyway, I'm off. Stay out of trouble, wankers; I'll try to post something from work tonight.
  • Thursday Night Goodness

    Last night before bed I was, of course, watching South Park. It was this classic episode, and had the following classic line:

    Kyle: Who cares if your dog is gay? Maybe it's not that bad.
    Cartman: No way dude, my mom says God hates gay people. That's why he smote those sodomies... In France.

    ... And I thought, "I'm going to post that tomorrow, because it's friggin' hilarious."

    And now I have.

    28 April 2005

    The Thursday Rundown

    Why do I always seem to do a personal rundown on Thursdays? Anyway...

    Morning cup of tea: $0.75
    Lunch: $8.03
    Extensive Birkenstock Repair: $60
    March/April Phone Bill to England: $121.24
    Remaining Tuition and Fees: $424.47

    The light at the end of the tunnel: Priceless

    I'm going to be basically broke when I graduate in about six weeks. I'm counting on getting some money and some gifts for graduation, and I'll have May's paycheck (which will help quite a bit, I think), but it'll be rough for the first couple of months. I'll also be getting a small influx of money next week when I go cash in on some work I've done for the radio station.

    It's funny how ugly a thing money can become, and how quickly it can happen. I'm very much looking forward to a time, hopefully soon after graduation (in one way or another) when I'll have a secure source of income, and I'll be able to build up my savings and have some financial security.

    I'm not to the point of selling bodily fluids yet, though if any of my attractive female readers are interested, I can probably cut you a deal.

    The World Gets Creepier

    He's a Scientologist midget, she's gorgeous, but I never, ever, would have predicted this crime against nature.

    Katie Holmes may have to kiss her mile-high stilettos goodbye. It looks like the former fiancée of Chris Klein has traded up -- way up -- the Hollywood food chain.

    Both People and the Insider report the onetime "Dawson's Creek" cutie, 26, is dating none other than Tom Cruise, 42.

    (Hey, don't look at us, we're just as surprised as you are. And that sound you hear? It's a million voices all saying "whah?" at the same time.)

    Cruise's rep confirmed the hook-up to People after paparazzi caught the new power couple holding hands in Rome Wednesday night.

    Holmes' spokeswoman was also refreshingly forthcoming, telling MSN Entertainment succinctly, "They are dating."

    A "friend" of the toothy megastar tells the mag that he's only been dating the wholesome Midwestern-raised starlet for "a couple of weeks," but it seems she's already made an impression.

    "She's a really genuine person," says the pal. "She's the real deal."

    Now, when I relay this, you have to consider the source (as I already have). My ex-girlfriend, affectionately nicknamed Mudflap to describe what an absolute bimbo and spaz she was, moved to North Carolina in 2001, and claimed to have done work as an extra on Dawson's Creek. (I could link to it, but... No.) When I asked her if she'd met Katie Holmes, she told me that all of the principle stars on the show were hardcore druggies. Is it true? Who knows, who cares... But if it is (and I can't think of any motive for Mudflap to lie, as being an extra on Dawson's Creek would in no way impress me or make me at all jealous), then it sure shatters the "wholesome" and "genuine" labels.

    And of course, this story is at least moderately less creepy than the news a month or two ago of Bruce Willis and Lindsey Lohan. I still want to vomit over that one.

    Whinin' About School

    Remember this moron? Well, today he was limping. He asked the teaching assistant several questions about the homework while he some folks were finishing up their quizzes, which is fine. Then he made a big scene out of using the chalk tray that hangs off the black board (yes, I said black board, not chalk board; it's descriptive, not derogatory, you politically correct half wits) and the front table to prop himself up. Then he proceeded to describe the amount of medications he's taken in the past day or something for some back problem he's got; as if the teaching assistant, who he'd already corrected once that day, cares in the least about his stupid back problem and why he's gimping it up. Did she ask? No. So keep your mouth shut, you oxygen-wasting gomer.

    Yesterday in my biology lab, we had a section on urine. What did they give us for this? You guessed it: actual urine. Five vials of it. When I realized this, the following public exchange took place between me and my teaching assistant:

    Fly: So wait, we're using actual urine in this lab?
    TA: Yes.
    Fly: (Quoting Uncle Jimbo) That's disgusting!
    Class: *squirrely laughter*

    As if the other four months of asinine stupidity didn't prove that the professor and the lab coordinator (who I swear are either both homosexuals, or are covertly having wild, passionate, hedonistic, out-of-wedlock biologist sex on a regular basis) are out of their damn minds, this most certainly did. Real urine, in a freshman level lab.

    Welcome to my nightmare.

    Contradictions in Headline

    Now this one is cute.

    Headline: "Titan 4 Rocket Fueled for Secret Satellite Launch"

    My reaction? If it's on the front page of Space.com, it's not very secret, is it?

    Bitchin' About Nukes

    Look! Another baseless study from pacifist "scientists"!

    Earth-penetrating nuclear weapons can destroy hard-to-reach underground facilities but could also kill more than a million people on the surface if used in heavily populated areas, an official US study has concluded.

    The congressionally-mandated study comes as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is pressing Congress for 8.5 million dollars to study the feasibility of designing nuclear weapons casings hard enough to bore through rocket and concrete before detonating.

    Conducted by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, the study found that earth-penetrating nuclear weapons could effectively destroy deeply buried bunkers with a smaller bang than nuclear weapons detonated on the surface.

    But, said John Ahearne, head of the committee that produced the report, "Using an earth-penetrating weapon to destroy a target 250 meters deep -- the typical depth for most underground facilities -- potentially could kill a devastatingly large number of people."

    This is pretty much akin to the following statement: "Throwing a balloon full of pudding will ruin lots of table cloths if it's thrown in a room full of table cloths!"

    The solution to this problem, of course, is for terrorist regimes not to do anything that might tempt us to use these weapons. It's called deterrence, and it's the reason we built nuclear weapons during the cold war and continue to research them today.

    UN-Effective

    Your tax dollars at work, folks. Link, link.

    Standing Room Only

    Having worked in the funeral industry in one way or another since I was a child, this is, in my opinion, a completely asinine idea.

    A cemetery in Australia will soon be offering people the chance to be buried feet first.

    A company in Victoria state has been given permission to open a vertical cemetery, where bodies are buried standing up and without coffins.

    It is an environmentally-friendly and cheaper option, says Tony Dupleix, director of the firm Palacom.

    Once stable, the site - in Derrinallum, 180 km (110 miles) from Melbourne - would be turned into grazing land.

    "When you die, you are returned to the earth with a minimum of fuss and with no paraphernalia that would affect the environment," said Mr Dupleix.

    "You are not burning 90kg of gas in a crematorium and there's no ongoing maintenance costs."

    What an absolute joke. Damn dirty hippies probably came up with this.

    British Common Sense

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair has reaffirmed that the Brits aren't likely to adopt the Euro in the foreseeable future.

    LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has reiterated that there was little chance of Britain joining the euro any time soon.

    Blair said on Thursday that while it was sensible to keep the option of joining the euro open, the economic conditions were clearly not right now.

    "It is not likely in the very near future that this is going to change dramatically," he told a news conference to launch his ruling Labour party's business manifesto just one week before the May 5 general election.

    While few have expected that euro entry was in any way imminent, Blair shocked many analysts late on Wednesday by his frank admission on a television interview that euro entry did not look very likely.

    Asked why he had chosen to speak now, Blair said: "I probably ... went a bit further than it was necessary to go" but did not draw back from his comments.

    "Politically the case for going in is strong. Economically you've got to meet the tests which are essentially to do with economic convergency otherwise you can do damage to your economy.

    "The sensible position that we have is to say leave the option open, apply the economic tests of what's in the British national economic interest, and at the moment it clearly isn't."

    For one reason or another, the Pound is one of the strongest currencies in the world. It's surprising enough that the Brits want to be teamed with nations like Greece and Spain in the first place through the European Union; jumping on the Euro bandwagon would be a bad move, and I commend the Prime Minister for this statement.

    The Ex-Mrs. Jackson

    Have you been following the Jackson case this week?

    SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's ex-wife returned to the witness stand Thursday in the pop star's child-molestation trial to testify about the circumstances surrounding an interview she gave boosting the singer's public image.

    Jackson's attorneys, however, were attempting to stop Debbie Rowe's testimony and have her previous statements struck.

    Court, however, was delayed briefly while prosecutors, defense attorneys and Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville debated a defense motion to strike Rowe's testimony entirely.

    "If (the testimony) goes too long, it's hard to undo it," defense attorney Robert Sanger told Melville.

    Melville did not rule on the motion, telling Jackson's attorneys it "might be well taken, and it might not ... she barely got started yesterday. I would have to know more."

    So basically, if you read the whole article, Michael Jackson's lawyers are trying to have her testimony stricken from the record because she lied in an interview. Why did she lie in the interview? She lied in the interview because Michael Jackson and his handlers pressured her to lie. It reminds me of a scene from Liar Liar...

    Fletcher: Your honor, I object!
    Judge: Why?
    Fletcher: Because it's devastating to my case!

    Abbas Lays the Smack Down

    Once again, President Mahmoud Abbas of "Palestine" is telling the terrorists to keep the truce, or else he'll smite them.

    JERUSALEM — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas threatened to use "an iron fist" against anyone who violates a cease-fire with Israel, his toughest warning against militants since taking office in January.

    In a speech to Palestinian police, Abbas also pledged to maintain quiet during the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip planned this summer.

    "We have to give them a calm departure," he said, according to a summary of the speech published Thursday by the Palestinian government news agency Wafa.

    I still think this guy's the best thing to happen to that particular region of the Middle East in decades, save of course for the death of Yasser Arafat.

    Two Faced Mullahs

    It appears that The Hague is proving once again to be useless when it comes to holding terrorist regimes accountable for breaking international law.

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Iran threatened on Thursday to resume its uranium enrichment program if talks with European nations this week fail.

    Speaking after a meeting with his Dutch counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Friday's talks were critical.

    "If talks with European Union are not successful tomorrow, negotiations will collapse and we will have no choice but to restart the uranium enrichment program," Kharrazi said Thursday.

    France, Britain and Germany have been negotiating with Iran, seeking guarantees that it won't use its nuclear program to make weapons, as Washington suspects. Tehran insists the program — kept secret for two decades — is only for peaceful energy purposes.

    Iran agreed in November to freeze uranium enrichment, but insists the move is temporary.

    Allow me to once again translate the Iranian rhetoric into plain, tangible English.

    "Yeah, okay, so we pretended to stop enriching Uranium in November, but it's only temporary; we have the right to do it, even though it breaks international law, and when these negotiations fall apart, we're going to keep doing it... But if we don't get what we want from the European Union, and the talks fail, we'll resume enriching Uranium openly. So basically, you Western infidels are damned if you do, damned if you don't."

    Dig?

    Argento and Scarto

    Out of Texas, there's good news for French carnivores!

    27 April 2005

    Rumsfeld: Balls of Steel

    I can just see the Europeans defecating in their trousers to this speech.

    US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday it makes "all the sense in the world" to study the feasibility of designing a nuclear weapon capable
    of penetrating deeply buried targets.

    Rumsfeld defended the proposed 8.5 million-dollar study of a "robust nuclear earth penetrator" at a Senate hearing after it came under fire from Senator Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat.

    Feinstein noted that Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has acknowledged in previous hearings that no missile could bore deep enough into the earth to trap all fallout from a nuclear explosion.

    "It is beyond me as to why you are proceeding with this program when the laws of physics won't allow a missile to be driven deeply enough to retain the fallout which will spew in hundreds of millions of cubic feet if it is a hundred kilotons," Feinstein said.

    Rumsfeld said more than 70 countries have programs to build facilities underground, and have available to them equipment that can dig chambers the size of a basketball court from rock in a single day.

    "We can't go in there and get at things in solid rock underground," Rumsfeld said.

    "The only thing we have is very large, very dirty nuclear weapons. So the choice is: do we want to have nothing and only a large, dirty nuclear weapon, or would we rather have something in between. That is the issue," he said.

    As if Diane Feinstein knows anything whatsoever about the laws of physics; she can barely get around man-made laws as it is!

    This goes along with something you've probably gathered already if you're a frequent reader of TSTF. I'm very much in favor of international cooperation, but if foreign countries don't have a desire to be our allies and help us do what's in our best interests, they'd better be pretty damn afraid of us. It's not the job of the federal government to worry about fallout in a hole in some terrorist nation; it's their job to protect the life, liberty, and property of American citizens.

    Freedom Watch: Egypt

    I guess the push for liberty in Egypt won't be quite as easy, though I think it will still happen, and sooner rather than later.

    Organisers of a series of pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt say police arrested about 75 people in connection with protests held across the country.

    The Kifaya movement says all but two of their activists were later released.
    Events were held in 15 cities to call for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's presidency and the lifting of emergency laws imposed under his rule in 1981.

    In Cairo, more than 1,000 riot police prevented about 300 protesters from approaching the Supreme Court.

    In the southern city of Luxor, more than 1,000 people are said to have taken part in a protest.

    Witnesses in some cities, including Suez and Benha, are quoted as saying police beat protesters with batons to disperse them.

    The group has held a series of protests since December gradually attracting larger numbers of participants.

    Kifaya says it will keep on protesting until the authorities release all those detained in demonstrations.

    Godspeed to these folks. A democratic Egypt can be an inevitability if it's properly fought for by Egyptian patriots.

    Ethiopian Whining

    Good grief! Following up on this post, there are now archaeologist whining about the return of the obelisk. I guess you just can't win.

    India Wants In

    The Indian government have lobbied terrorist sympathizer and supporter Kofi Annan to support their bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

    I vote we give them France's seat.

    Going Nucular

    President Bush has revealed a new plan for American energy independence, and it includes, among other things, the most common sense measure you can find in any energy bill: more nuclear plants. Booyeah, and I say again, booyeah.

    Return of the Foam

    Remember this post from a couple of weeks ago? Well, I thought I'd posted this article (via Harley, but apparently I didn't. So now I have, and I have something to add to it: an alternate version E-Mailed to me by Lycan.

    Guess I was right, eh? That happens a lot.

    I'm the DJ

    For some reason, while I was in the shower I got to thinking about the current state of commercial radio. I like what's happened to AM radio in the last twenty years, but I really hate what's happened to FM radio in the last fifteen or so years.

    Basically, the way commercial stations are set up these days, you could train a monkey to operate them. And not a higher order of monkey, either; you could train one of those little rhesus monkeys to do it. You don't even have to load a CD anymore on commercial stations; it's all looped and preprogrammed. A lot of DJs don't even speak live on the air; a lot of it is prerecorded, so that even some multi-person shows can consist of nothing more than a couple of hours of banter, broken up and stuck between songs.

    Me? I'm a real DJ. On my show, I play real CDs and records. I read real grants (read: what we call "adverts" on public radio) and public service announcements, I speak live on the air, and I have real talent. As opposed to most FM radio disc jockeys, I am a real on-air personality. It makes me absolutely livid to know that a guy could put "DJ" on his resume for having worked at a modern automated commercial radio station, and I could put the same for my experience over the last two years, and he'd win out in spite of having no real talent, save for sticking a microphone in someone's face on a remote every weekend and asking them to say "I listen every day at work!"

    I'm the DJ; those other guys are hacks, like Alexander the Greek. That's right, folks: commercial radio disc jockeys are the Alexander of radio.

    Maggie Gyllenhaal: Celebrity Twit

    Well, it looks like we've got another asshat "celebrity" who doesn't know when to keep her damn mouth shut.

    Maggie Gyllenhaal has waded into sensitive political waters by raising questions about Sept. 11 and American foreign policy.

    The 27-year-old actress, who stars in a new film about the 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center, said in an interview last week that the United States "is responsible in some way" for the attacks.

    A fan Web site devoted to Gyllenhaal was overwhelmed with criticism, forcing the site's editor to remove the ability to post messages "because it's gotten too outta hand."

    In a statement issued Monday by her publicist, Gyllenhaal said Sept. 11 was "an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world. Because it is always useful as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict.

    "Not to have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves is to betray the victims of 9/11."

    I have never seen a Maggie Gyllenhaal film, folks. I've heard of her, but from what I can tell, she's essentially had bit parts in a few films, and the lead in another film that got essentially no press. She's barely even the Jessica Simpson of acting. (This reference should denote that nobody knew who Jessica Simpson was until the stupid television program made her a star for being such a total nitwit, and nobody knows who Maggie Gyllenhaal is, either.)

    So now she's got another bit part in an independent film about people living in New York after 9/11, founded to revitalize New York City after 9/11, and she, a B list actress at best, thinks her handful of bit parts gives her the clout to make a statement like this?

    Upon closer research, she's revealed to be an English major with no real experience in anything, save for theater. This obviously qualifies her, at the ripe old age of about twenty-eight, to comment on world affairs and question American foreign policy.

    Welcome to the Hollywood mindset, folks. Maggie Gyllenhaal can read and recite text, so you should listen to what she thinks about the world. Tell me something I haven't heard before, Mags.

    26 April 2005

    Extension

    You know how Bulgaria and Italy have said that they'll be pulling out of Iraq? Well, the Danes have extended their mandate. I guess everyone isn't bailing out, are they?

    More Hot Italian Air

    I'm getting really sick of this woman. She's got pretty much zero credibility anymore.

    The Glass is Half Empty

    Once again ignoring the fact that millions of people have been liberated and given say in their own lives, the BBC reports on a very serious issue: the loss of antiquities in Iraq.

    I'll point out once again, folks, that Saddam parked military assets next to historical sites. If anything, the occupation probably opened things up for greater exploration and more accountability. Is the looting an absolute tragedy? Of course. Is it an unfortunate but necessary by-product of giving freedom to millions of people and preventing future wars? Yep.

    Rigged Election Mullahs

    Who's going to be running for President in Iran this year? Why, a mullah, of course!

    Former Iranian President and cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has indicated he plans to stand in June's presidential elections.

    He told Iran's state-run news agency he felt he had to "swallow the bitter pill" of contesting elections again for the sake of the country.

    Opinion polls suggest Mr Rafsanjani will be the frontrunner in the contest.

    Local media has been on tenterhooks about when he might declare he is in the race.

    This should be entertaining.

    Fast Times in Little Togo

    This election is completely legitimate, I'm sure.

    Faure Gnassingbe, candidate of Togo's ruling RPT party and son of the former leader, has provisionally won Sunday's presidential election, officials say.

    Opposition supporters immediately poured onto the streets of the capital, Lome, erecting burning barricades. They say the poll was rigged.

    Many residents stayed indoors as thick black smoke wafted across the city.

    The army tried to install Mr Faure after his father died but pressure led him to step down and call an election.

    Security forces used tear gas to disperse the opposition protesters in central Lome but shops were reportedly looted in other areas.

    Keep an eye on this one. There have been a number of seedy elections in Africa lately, most notably in Togo and Zimbabwe. It seems that very little good news is coming out sub-Saharran Africa these days.

    European Moral Authority

    What do you do if you're European and want to prove that you have higher moral standing than your knuckle-dragging American colonist cousins? You import prostitutes from Nigeria.

    Lockheed Rounds It Out

    Following up on that earlier post about Boeing and India, Lockheed Martin has scored a $1.1 billion contract to maintain and upgrade Turkey's fleet of F-16 aircraft.

    Out-friggin'-standing.

    Whatcha Listenin' To?

    I'm sitting in the lab listening to the following:



    I was also listening to this earlier:



    And I'll probably be listening to it once Chris Isaak is over.

    How 'bout you?

    The Disarmament Continues

    Apparently European governments can't even trust their own agents with firearms.

    Belgium's secret service has confiscated guns from its agents following a near miss last year.

    Members of the Surete de l'Etat were ordered to disarm after news emerged that an agent only narrowly escaped injury when another opened fire.

    Weapons will be issued only if specifically needed, the justice ministry told the BBC News website.

    Separately, the work of the state security body may change if a ban on phone tapping is lifted.

    What a joke. I love Europe, but they're every bit as fallible and incompetent as they paint Americans as being, if not moreso.

    "Activists"? No. Hooligans!

    Have a look at these two stooges from Greenpeace. What a couple of losers. Then again, what did you expect?

    The Hunt Continues

    It looks like coalition forces almost caught al-Zarqawi in February.

    A Desperate Plea

    The French and Germans are getting desperate on this E.U. constitution issue.

    PARIS, France (AP) -- The leaders of France and Germany joined forces Tuesday behind the European Union's embattled constitution, saying it will boost Europe's clout in the world if the document is adopted.

    In a joint statement, President Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder said the EU text, which faces growing opposition in France, marks a "major step" in Europe's efforts to come together politically.

    The two leaders, who have long worked closely together, "reaffirmed their conviction that implementation of the constitutional treaty will be an important step to confirm Europe's weight on the international scene and to reinforce its capacity to act in the service of peace and security."

    The German chancellor's support came as Chirac is struggling in a bruising referendum campaign over the European constitution. Faced with growing opposition to the treaty in France, Chirac needs all the help he can get to push through its adoption in the May 29 vote that is being watched anxiously by governments across Europe.

    And in the meantime, drosofans everywhere are sitting by and being entertained.

    Abnormal Recommendation

    I don't usually do this, but there's a lot of weird (and some interesting) world and U.S. news over at Fox News today. Go check these out:

  • Federal Jury Convicts Islamic Scholar
  • Skin Found on Arby's Sandwich
  • Letourneau Wedding to be Televised
  • Cops: Man Killed Over Racist Joke
  • Man Who Used Billboard to get Liver Dies
  • Australia Announces Camel Hunt

    Read 'em if you have a chance. More to come!
  • Terrorist Regime Exodus

    Syrian troops have completed their withdrawal from Lebanon. Outstanding.

    Suck It, Airbus!

    Air India has put in a $6.9 billion dollar order... With Boeing.

    BOMBAY — Air India approved on Tuesday the purchase of up to 50 long-range Boeing (BA) aircraft at a cost of about 300 billion rupees ($6.9 billion), the U.S. plane maker's second multi-billion-dollar deal in as many days.

    The order, subject to Indian government approval, includes eight 777-200LR ultra-long-range aircraft, 15 777-300ER aircraft and 27 787 long-range aircraft, India's state-run international carrier said in a statement.

    Shares in European aerospace group EADS, which owns 80 percent of Boeing's arch rival Airbus, were down 1 percent in Paris on Tuesday, while shares in Britain's BAE Systems Plc, which owns 20 percent, were down 1.8 percent.

    Boeing Co. had said it hoped to corner a big share of the estimated $35 billion market in India over the next 20 years.

    I could say a lot of things about this, but I'll limit myself to saying that it's just pretty darn excellent.

    Explosive Verbal Diarrhea

    I watch Fox News pretty much exclusively when it comes to getting my television news coverage. I'm not always impressed, but I'm like that they report the other side of the story in a lot of cases.

    One thing I dislike about Fox News has to do with their internal advertising. My biggest beef is with their advertisements for The O'Reilly Factor. I'm not a big fan of Bill O'Reilly, and though we agree on a lot, I think that he's pretty much worthless overall. In the "No Spin Zone" O'Reilly has a habit of harassing and denegrating his guests. Sometimes he's right to do it, but that's a rarity. Anyway, that's not the point.

    Whenever they preview whatever dog and pony show they have tonight, they give the teaser, and then the disembodied voice of the Fox News announcer saying "It's an explosive O'Reilly Factor you can't miss!" Okay... How can they all be "explosive"? The truth, of course, is that they're not all explosive, and they cheapen the entire affair by continually referring to Bill's whining as such.

    Right then, time to get ready for the radio show.

    A Brief Update

    well, we got the Matriarch laid to rest, and I accidentally confused her successor, my great-great aunt, just enough to get me worried as to whether or not she's starting to lose it. I sort of doubt it, as she's been very sharp when I've seen her frequently in the past couple of weeks. I think she was born in about 1910, and with last year's death of their younger brother, who was only in his late seventies, and last week's death of the Matriarch, and the additional deaths of their cadre of cousins over the past few years, the new Matriarch is the last surviving member of that generation. I expect her to live for quite a while longer; she's ninety-four, and when she dies, most of the history of two generations will die with her. I've tried to learn and chronicle as much of it as I possibly could, but even this historian can only do so much.

    Tonight I went to a lecture on campus, presented by a club that I helped to re-found in 2002 and was president of last year. Even though I've had no involvement with the club this year due to differences with my successor, Professor Benstein, who spearheaded the whole thing, told me that he credited me with getting the ball rolling since he'd mentioned it to me and I'd shown a lot of interest in it all. Without giving too much information, the speaker is a high profile veteran from World War II who was portrayed in a television program several years ago. It's a bit disconcerting to know that the successor, who I don't always get along with, was somehow able to pull off what I never could, at least not with that club. On the other hand, it's reassuring to know that my two years of hard work just keeping the club running put them on a stable enough footing to allow them to put on something of this scope. Basically, they packed to beyond capacity the biggest lecture hall on campus. My overall contribution to tonight's success was minimal, and happened nearly a year ago, but it's still nice to know that it probably wouldn't have happened without me.

    The only other major news I have to report this evening before I turn in is that from 2230 to 2300, I watched an early episode of The Cosby Show. I was impressed. I wasn't impressed by the episode itself; I was impressed by how much better it got than that early episode.

    I'm off to bed, wankers. I promise to post some news tomorrow. Keep discussing Star Trek.

    25 April 2005

    Discussion Point for Today

    The funeral's in about two hours, so I'm going to post this and then go home to get ready. Your assignment for the day, if you choose to accept it (or are capable of accepting it in the first place):

    Alexander 'the Great' should be referred to as Alexander 'the Greek.' He was a hack.
    - Fly, 2004

    Discuss. I may be back tonight.

    The Storm

    This morning I read a post over on one of my favorite buddy blogs, Tales of Annie. Reading her description of her experiences with storms, and her search for general revelation therein.

    Reading her post reminded me of one of the reasons why such things as Majo's death happen in a world that is governed by a God such as ours. I've said it before: we must first experience the pain of the City of Profane Darkness if we can every truly understand the joy to be found in the City of Blinding Light.

    It doesn't make it any easier, but to understand something makes it more bearable.

    Spoiler?

    By now Harley should have seen the newest episode of Enterprise; Poosh, you're out of luck my friend, so if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read this.

    Okay, so I did some looking, and some reading. I think that the registry number on the ship the mirror universe Enterprise crew boarded was "NCC 1764." I know that it was at least "NCC 176-". NCC 1764 was USS Defiant; not the little warship that could from Deep Space Nine, but the Constitution class ship that was trapped in the Tholian tractor web in the third season episode "The Tholian Web." The line over at the official website is that USS Defiant was caught in Interphase, and the entire crew went insane.

    What ship is in a Tholian dock? An NCC 176X from an alternate reality, a century in the future. Where did it come from? An interphasic rift. Could the latest episode and its sequel(s) be a tie-in to both the obvious "Mirror, Mirror" episode and "The Tholian Web"?

    Now, I can't say for a fact that I've seen all of the original "The Tholian Web" episode, and if I have, I've only seen it once, and several years ago. But it seems to me that we may have a direct tie in about to be revealed.

    Speculation? Denunciation of your friendly neighborhood Super Fly as a nerd king? Post it up, wankers.

    24 April 2005

    What We Esteem Highest

    (Fair warning, this one's long.)

    It's not often that I cry, but I can be a man admit that it happens. Generally speaking, I don't cry when I'm in physical pain; I swear or complain. I cried when I had to leave the Mirror, but not when we broke up. I occasionally cry when I'm overcome by the extent of God's love for me, and I cry when someone dear to me dies unexpectedly. The calendar year 2005 is scarcely a third complete, and I've already cried more this year than the entire rest of the time I spent in college, and you could probably add high school to that. First it was my grandfather, in the first week of January. Now I've lost the only creation God ever engineered that honestly loved me without condition: my dog, Majo.

    I realized, rereading the previous post, that I wasn't terribly clear as to the details.

    We got Majo when I was thirteen, when our previous dog (Buck) began having real problems getting around. Both were black labradors; black labradors are quite possibly the finest dog man ever bred out of the wolf. We had her the entire time that I was in high school, and most of the time that I've been in college (I'm due to graduate in June).

    Most dogs are great, particularly big dogs. Buck was great; he was an old man from the beginning. He'd run around if you wanted him to, but spent most of his life just laying around the back garden. He was a wonderful bird dog, and my dad and Twitley (my brother, not his real name) took him out hunting constantly before he couldn't get around anymore. He had a very calm temperament; he'd bark at a few things, but you could put a two year old neighbor girl down with him, and she could pull his ears or pinch him and the most he'd do would be to get up and move. Buck lived to be forteen years old before he just couldn't, or wouldn't, get up one day, which meant that we couldn't get food down him to give him his medication. I was fifteen at the time, and I helped dad take him around the block to dad's buddy the veterinarian. I watched while they put him to sleep, and I stayed there with him, crying for some of it.

    Majo was a great dog, but for different reasons. Whereas Buck was content to give you attention when you sought it, Majo demanded attention constantly. You could tell Buck to "stay" and he would. Majo was terrible at staying where she was told, because she was always curious. She wanted to see what you were doing if you walked away from her. It took Buck a while to get used to her, because she was so damned curious about him, and wouldn't leave him alone.

    I'm told that Majo was a great bird dog, too, though I can't say for a fact that I ever went out bird hunting with her. She was a lot more high maintenance than Buck was. The only big thing I can remember about Buck with respect to medical care was that he had a couple of tumors removed once, and we had him on some pills or something to help him move around during the last year or so. We had more problems with Majo. Her primary issue was boredom. Some dogs, particularly hunting dogs, tend to get extremely bored, and will actually lick raw spots on their limbs. We started dealing with that about five years ago, either before or after I spent a week in DC. Every now and again it would get bad enough that we'd be in for more medication. The take-away from that is how energetic and excitable Majo was. She wasn't designed to be cooped up in the kennel all day. If we could have trusted her in the back garden like we could Buck, it wouldn't have been an issue, but her excitement and curiosity required us to put her in the kennel unless we were there to supervise her.

    A lot of the time, though, Majo was exceptionally well behaved. She even did things that showed me just how smart she was. Since last Autumn, she'd been sleeping in a crate kennel in the garage because of some hair loss on her back. I may have babied her a bit, but I think it helped her, because it meant that she got more contact in the morning than me just getting her out and putting her right back in with a full dish of food. With me putting her in every night and putting her out every morning, it gave her a few minutes to walk around and get her bearings a couple of times a day, and a routine. Except for the times when she ran off (which were infrequent for the most part, and helped to encourage my patience), she was perfect.

    Yesterday I let her out of the crate kennel later than usual, but she and I stayed in the garage for a while as I cleaned my car out in preparation for the field exercise with the Marines. As usual, I had to call her back from exploring once. I gave her a little more physical attention than I generally have time for; aside from being patted on the sides, she seemed to enjoy having her collar bone scratched. She was a tough dog to please, because she was always so excited to be getting attention that she was moving all over the place. She ate while I cleaned the car out, and then I let her stay in the garage while I did some things inside the house. Before I left to go out with the Marines, I put her in the kennel; she ran out there, turned around, and sat down next to the gate like usual, waiting for me to finish the walk.

    While I was up with the Marines, I barely caught a call on my mobile phone from my dad saying that she was acting strangely and asking me if she could have gotten into anything in the garage when I had her out. A year or so ago she had a bit of an episode when she got into some fertilizer or something. This time, she was laying in her kennel, out in the rain; this was unlike her. Dad went to let her out, and she took a few steps into the lawn, and then her backside plopped down and she was laying down in the grass. Dad called his buddy the vet, and while he was waiting, she started looking worse and worse. He called again, and met the vet at the veterinary hospital a few minutes later.

    At some point I called and asked if she was getting better, and if I should come home, and he said that he didn't know. The vet worked on her in the back of Dad's Suburban for a few minutes, and she was wagging her tail, but not moving much else. Dad said that it sounded like her breathing was getting very shallow. They took her inside, and Dad went back out to close and lock the Suburban. When he came back in, the vet was still working, and then at one point Majo's head dropped back, and that was it. The vet says that it was something to do with her heart, a heart attack or aneurism or something.

    Today at work we had the chapel visitation for my great-grandmother, as I mentioned below. Dad had received instructions from the vet that if I wanted to spend some time with Majo before she was taken to the pet crematorium, that it needed to be today, and that I should call him between 1130 and 1200. I went down there, and I probably spent about half an hour with her, and I cried. It came in fits and starts, but the tears were there, and my face probably still shows it; it certainly still feels it.

    I certainly didn't spend time with Majo every day of her life, but I spent time with her for most of them. I was the one who fed and watered her, I was the one who noticed when she was behaving abnormally. She was my best friend not because of some silly cliche, but because she always, always, always loved me, even when I had to discipline her, even when I didn't make time to spend with her; every time she saw me, she was excited, and any time I needed some company, she was there without question, without fail.

    So why am I feeling guilty? I'm not necessarily feeling guilty. On the other hand, it's a very, very strange sensation to be mourning an animal more than my great-grandmother. Of course, there's a rationale behind that. Majo died suddenly, while we had warning with the Matriarch. Majo died young for a lab, while the Matriarch was nearing ninety-six, and had been in declining health for years. So I'm not guilty about lamenting Majo so much; we lament greatest what we esteem highest. Majo earned my lamentations, perhaps more than any other creature I've ever encountered.

    I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle all of this, aside from ploughing right through it and doing what I can to press on. All I can say is that this doesn't feel right, and it's going to take some time for me to reconcile that in my head.

    A Quick Message to Newbies

    This is addressed specifically at one person, but generally to everyone who reads TSTF regularly. For various reasons, I prefer to retain as much anonymity as possible. Most of the people who post here regularly (well, about half) know some details about me. A couple of people know a lot about me.

    I don't use my first name on this blog, nor do I lose my last name. Accordingly, it would be nice if people who post here regularly, or regular readers who are posting for the first time, would NOT USE MY NAME WHEN POSTING A COMMENT, particularly now that I'm using HaloScan and have no clue how to go back and edit said comments. If you want to call me by name, substitute "Fly" for [(DON'T) INSERT NAME HERE].

    Don't take it personally. Do make the adjustment if you post here. Thanks.

    Owen. Clive Owen? Wrong!

    Fox News has an article about the possibility of Clive Owen assuming the mantle of James Bond. I've made my thoughts on the issue crystal clear before. Apparently some reports say that Owen has turned down the role in order to avoid type-casting.

    More on this as it develops.

    Somebody Save Me...

    ... Or shoot me. At this point, I'm not that particular. I'll write more of my thoughts later, but let's suffice to say that my great-grandmother's chapel visitation, going to see my dog for the last time (which will wrench tears from my eyes, it already has), and dealing with overzealous family and complete strangers at the aforementioned visitation, is not my idea of a good Sunday.

    If I weren't so zealously devoted to the whole "never been drunk" thing, I'd have about three bottles of Guinness tonight. Yarrrrrrr.

    Ninety Years Later

    Apparently they're having two days of ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the invasion that proved that in 1915, the Limeys and the Frogs had zero common sense when it came to tactical and operational planning.

    Note to self: when carrying out a recce before an invasion, do more than just look through a pair of binoculars at the shoreline from the deck of a ship.

    Days Gone By

    I don't know about you folks, and Manda will probably track me down and kill me for even commenting on this subject, but I think that the cheerleaders in this story's photo are a little chunky.

    Curse of Job

    I refuse to profane the name of God. I refuse to believe that God does not have a plan for my life, for every waking moment of my life. I refuse to hate God, and I refuse to lash out at him, and express my shock and my anger. I refuse to believe that God is not the greatest source of grace and mercy and beauty in my life.

    I can, however, begin to wonder what possible message God could be trying to send me, if any, by taking my grandfather, my great-grandmother, and now my dog, all in the course of less than five months.

    Without warning, today, while I was twenty miles away, on top of a hill with the Marines while they practiced land navigation, the dog had a heart attack. less than an hour later, before I was able to even consider getting back, she was dead. No warning. She was running around and dog-smiling like usual when I left her.

    I know I don't swear much on here, but... Fucking A.

    23 April 2005

    Enterprise: Stardate 2005.04.22

    Okay, I know that at least Harley and King Sip watched it, and maybe a few of the rest of you. What'd you think?

    I obviously loved the costumes on Jolene Blalock and Linda Park. Unfortunately, the goofy leather gear on the male actors does the same thing that the similar gear did in the TNG episode Yesterday's Enterprise: it made them look goofy.

    They've got a mere handful of episodes before they tank the series, and I question their decision to use several of the final episodes as an opportunity to explore the Mirror universe. It was somewhat interesting when they did it every so often on Deep Space Nine. I don't have a big problem with it, but it seems like an easy way out of writing something original.

    I realize that this episode was scripted, and probably filmed, maybe even edited and finished, before they announced that Enterprise was going to be cancelled. Even so, it seems sort of asinine that they're not using the last six or seven episodes to really do a strong, cinematic wrap-up to the series.

    Even so, I enjoyed it so far. Beyond the female costuming, it was nice to see a real Tholian for the first time. A lot of this begs the question: Why weren't they doing this kind of stuff the first three seasons? Why were they so damned preachy and political when they could have been action packed? Enterprise had a lot of potential, and if they'd done action episodes like this during the first couple of seasons, instead of some of the tripe they actually did, they could have easily made it to the customary seven seasons of the preceding incarnations.

    Anyway, enough about what I think. What did you think?

    Wrapping Your Feet

    Now, I'm no shoe connoisseur, but I've never subscribed to the idea that a guy can get by with a pair of dress shoes for weddings and funerals, a pair of trainers, and nothing else. Here's what I currently own:

  • Birkenstocks
  • flip flops (future shower shoes)
  • combat boots
  • old combat boots (for running)
  • black dress shoes
  • old black dress shoes
  • old hiking boots
  • running shoes
  • slip-on Roper ranch shoes

    I think that's pretty much it. So what about you gents? And even the ladies. What's your philosophy on shoes? How many shoes can a guy have before he ceases to be respectable? How many shoes do you ladies have? (Other than Manda's infamous "fuck me" pumps, of course, which are implied.)

    Post it up, folks.
  • 22 April 2005

    Stupidity: The Mother of Invention?

    Okay, so my Birks are in the shop, having the cork and latex foot bed and the rubber sole completely repaired. I'll be without them for about a week. It would have made more sense to have taken them in during the winter, but let's face it, I was absolutely friggin' busy. As it turns out, we're now experiencing a good deal of heat in the Northwest, which means that I need something other than my heavy slip-on ranch shoes to wear.

    Solution? Buy a $4.99 pair of flip flop thong sandals at the general store. I went there before class and picked up a pair, and immediately put them on upon arrival at my car. I'm still getting used to them, but I've come to the following conclusions:

  • These are the most uncomfortable footwear I've ever owned
  • These are probably the most impractical footwear I've ever owned

    These two determinations have convinced me that flip flop thong sandals were designed and manufactured by fashion designers to capitalize on the pure stupidity of the sorority and fraternity crowd. Why am I any different? Because in a week, when my Birkenstocks are back, these flip flops of mine will be relegated to the status of gymnasium/hostel shower shoes. The "Greek" crowd wear theirs all the time.
  • Pseudo Honorable Mullahs

    Apparently the mullahs are honoring safety regulations as they build their illegal reactor at Bushehr. I'd be more impressed if they honored international law and treaties by not building their illegal reactor in the first place.

    Necropolis

    Apparently they've found a massive necropolis, or city of the dead/cemetery/what have you, about six hundred miles south of Cairo.

    Mad Dutch

    The Dutch have diagnosed the first case of Mad Cow Disease in a Dutch person.

    France and the EU

    And now, continuing coverage of the French popular rejection of the French-dominated European Union. I'm entertained all over again.

    And So It Begins

    Well, Pope Benedict XVI is wasting no time, alienating hippies everywhere in his first week in office.

    Pope Benedict XVI has responded firmly to the first challenge of his papacy by condemning a Spanish government bill allowing marriage between homosexuals.

    The bill, passed by parliament's Socialist-dominated lower house, also allows gay couples to adopt.

    A senior Vatican official described the bill - which is likely to become law within a few months - as iniquitous.

    He said Roman Catholic officials should be prepared to lose their jobs rather than co-operate with the law.

    This is, of course, good news. I'm not a Roman Catholic, but the Roman Catholic Church has a tendency to speak for most of Christendom, whether the rest of us like it or not. In this case, I completely agree with Pope Benedict XVI, who in turn agrees with both scripture and his predecessor.

    30,000 Virgins

    Poosh is going to kill me for this, but... Look! A virgin convention!

    Unholy Combat

    What do you do if you're an Islamofascist terrorist who's trying to protect your faith from "corrupt Zionist infidels" in the Saudi government? You guessed it: start a gunfight in Mecca.

    JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Islamic militants clashed with Saudi security forces in Islam's holiest city Mecca and the nearby port city of Jeddah in gunbattles that killed two militants and two policemen Thursday, a day Saudis were going to the polls in the latest round of municipal elections.

    It was the latest fighting in Saudi Arabia's two-year-long crackdown on al Qaeda-linked militants opposed to the kingdom's ruling family, a campaign that authorities have said they were winning with the killings of several high-level suspects over the past month.

    In the Mecca battle, militants holed up on a hill in a low-income neighborhood, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at police, residents of the area said. Security forces called in helicopters that fired down on the militants, they said.

    The fighting started when four militants in a car -- a driver and three others disguised in women's all-covering robes -- tried to cross through a checkpoint into the city several hours after polls closed, said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

    What a bunch of idiots. How stupid do you have to be to desecrate your own holy city? Honestly.

    Child Rapist Commits Suicide

    Well, it looks like some people accomplished something good.

    OCALA, Fla. — A convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs posted in his neighborhood calling him a child rapist.

    Clovis Claxton, 38, was found dead by his father with one of the signs beside his body. It was less than a day after his release from a psychiatric hospital.

    His mother blames Marion County Commissioner Randy Harris for her son's death. Harris proposed putting up flyers in the neighborhoods of sex offenders to alert neighbors.

    This horrible incident would have never happened if Florida would have done what it's morally, if not legally, obligated to do: execute sex offenders.

    VP Kicks Ass

    I couldn't agree more with Vice President Cheney.

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney warned Democrats Friday that he will cast the tie-breaking vote to ban filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees if the Senate deadlocks on the question.

    Republicans are moving the Senate toward a final confrontation with Democrats over judicial nominations. Internal GOP polling shows that most Americans don't support Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan to ban judicial filibusters — a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member Senate.

    "There is no justification for allowing the blocking of nominees who are well qualified and broadly supported," Cheney told the Republican National Lawyers Association. "The tactics of the last few years, I believe, are inexcusable."

    "Let me emphasize, the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate," Cheney said. "But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up or down vote."

    These judicial filibusters are immature and unprofessional. It's pure partisan politics. The Democrats can't seem to do anything but lose seats in the Congress, so their solution is to break the rules and cheat in order to get their way. The so-called "nuclear option" calls their bluff. I don't like that it has to be used, but perhaps it will show them how the Founders really intended representative government to operate.

    Lubin' it Up

    Gee, I wonder what he wanted this for?

    SANTA MARIA, Calif. — The judge in Michael Jackson's molestation case has refused to allow the prosecution to present an account in which a man alleged he was asked to bring Vaseline to Jackson's bedroom while the pop star was with a boy.

    The boy named in the incident received a multimillion-dollar settlement from Jackson in 1994 and subsequently declined to cooperate in a criminal investigation. No charges were filed in that case.

    The man who told the account, Kassim Abdool, used to work for Michael Jackson. He was one of several workers who lost a wrongful termination lawsuit to Jackson in 1997 and was ordered to pay damages to the singer in a countersuit.

    Michael Jackson asked an assistant to bring him Vaseline while he was with a boy? You've got to be kidding me. I hope they nail that guy to the wall and let the other inmates have a go at him.

    Stealing an Upgrade

    This article begs one simple question: what parent in their right mind gives a seventeen year old a 2002 BMW?

    No discipline, I tell you what.

    Thursday Update

    Today has been absolutely productive. I got many, many errands taken care of. Depending on whether or not Matt calls me and we go get chow, I'll possibly spend the rest of the night here at home, and that's fine by me.

    The big news from today, other than getting a ton of stuff done, is that I finally got a call from the Feds. I learned the following details about my situation. Without revealing too much, I'll just say that it sounds like they're actively seeking people for the division I applied to, but it sounds like they're delayed on processing applications. I may know more tomorrow or by the end of next week.

    One other important detail is that if I get a job offer and decide to go back to England and work for the Summer, it won't cancel the job offer, it will just delay the security screening process. It's worth considering. Having spent five years doing brain work, it would be nice to do some grunt work and get myself in shape without having to think too much for a while. I'll keep y'all posted as I'm able.

    21 April 2005

    A Message to Harley

    Hey, mate, I read up on your site about your computer troubles. I hope you get things sorted out; if you have to take an equipment-mandated break, there'll be a place waiting for you here when you get things sorted out.

    Journalistic Integrity? Ha!

    Every time I post something from MSN, I make a careful point of noting that most of what they decide to put up on their site is absolute useless nonsense; sometimes that's even what I post from them, just to demonstrate such. But this one is pretty entertaining, because it's true.

    I've been involved in journalistic endeavours of one sort or another since I was fourteen, and I'm almost twenty-three. It always astounds me (and sometimes entertains me as well) how any journalist will tell you to your face that they have integrity, and that they're objective; then they'll go off and print a story without having fully researched it, or they'll post lies and half-truths "for the greater good." Or they'll gaff off and get caught, like two of the folks mentioned in the linked article.

    Ahhhhh, journalism. What an entertainment it is.

    20 April 2005

    Negotiation Progressin' Mullahs

    Looks like diplomacy is at work between the EU3 and the mullahs.

    Iran warned that talks with the European Union could collapse as negotiators met in Geneva Wednesday to discuss EU demands that the Islamic Republic abandon nuclear fuel work in order to guarantee it will not make atomic weapons.

    Iran expects the Europeans to accept its proposal to allow uranium enrichment, despite Western demands that it cease all such nuclear fuel work, Tehran's top nuclear official Hassan Rowhani said in an interview published in London's Financial Times Wednesday.

    "The Europeans should tell us whether these ideas can work as the basis for continued negotiations or not," Rowhani said.

    "If yes fine. If not, then the negotiations cannot continue," he said.

    Translation: "If you continue to let us do whatever the hell we want, we can continue talking to you and making you feel good about your diplomacy and talking and such. If you make us abide by international law, the talks are over!"

    Bahrain: Quagmire!

    It's a quagmire!

    For the first time in the Arab world, a woman has chaired a parliamentary session in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

    Alees Samaan, who is Christian, also became the first non-Muslim to act as speaker in predominantly Muslim Bahrain, if only for a few hours.

    Details of the story are published on the front page of Bahraini newspapers, which describe the event as historic.

    The leading pan-Arab newspaper, al-Hayat, also reported the session on its front page.

    The Bahraini press speak of warm applause as Ms Samaan walked up to the speaker's chair.

    At the end of the session, colleagues were said to have rushed to the podium to have their pictures taken with her.

    Wow. It's a good thing we're not pushing freedom and democracy in the Arab world, or else women might actually get to participate in government and society.

    Nork Update

    Apparently the North Koreans have shut down one of their reactors, causing speculation that the fuel might be used to make more atomic weapons.

    Of course, none of this can actually be happening, because the North Koreans signed a treaty with former President Carter promising not to continue their nuclear program. Right?

    Dividends of Climate Change?

    Somehow, this will probably be blamed on President Bush and Halliburton.

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- The world's biggest iceberg has hit the end of an Antarctic glacier, snapping off a block about 5 square kilometers (3 square miles), a New Zealand scientist said Wednesday.

    The giant iceberg, known as B15A, ran into the tip of the Drygalski Ice Tongue in "more of a nudge than a collision," said Lou Sanson, chief executive of the government scientific agency Antarctica New Zealand.

    The clash between the 160-kilometer (100-mile) -long iceberg and the 70- kilometer (40-mile) -long glacier near McMurdo Station on the north Antarctic coast was first predicted by scientists in late December.

    The collision was discovered by scientists reviewing satellite photos taken last weekend, Sanson told The Associated Press.

    "That's the only record we've got of it," at this stage, he said.

    Okie dokie.

    Dead Man Walking

    A federal judge is set to allow Zacarias Moussaoui to plead guilty to the charges against him relating to his part in the 9/11 terror attacks.

    I hope they execute him on live television, and remove every scrap of dignity he may have left in the process.

    The Company and the Finks

    Apparently there are a couple of reporters facing possible jail time over some sort of involvement with a reporter's leak of the name of an undercover C.I.A. agent. Their pleas to have their case heard by a federal appeals court has been rejected, and I have absolutely no sympathy for them.

    Stepping Down in Italy

    For those of you who haven't seen, everyone's favorite Italian prime minister, Sylvio Berlusconi, is set to resign.

    Boltonesque Diplomacy

    Anyone who pays attention to American politics knows that there's currently a big dispute in Congress over President Bush's nomination of John Bolton for ambassador to the United Nations. It sounds to me like this Bolton guy sees the U.N. for what it is, and will likely act accordingly in his duties as ambassador, if confirmed.

    What do you folks thing? Post it up!

    Arnold Schwarzenegger: Super Governor

    You've gotta love Governor Schwarzenegger. He's now come out in favor of tightening border security. This guy's absolutely outstanding.

    Continuing the Cycle

    Hey folks. Sorry about the light posting yesterday. I'll try to post some stuff during the day today.

    Here's the scoop. Yesterday while I was at the radio station in the morning, I got royally, unilaterally, and inappropriately chewed out by my program director, who was on an absolute power trip, and this interrupted my Tuesday rhythm. The talk show I've been doing got cancelled for yesterday, and part of my day was spent troubleshooting the situation with the station manager. Once that was largely taken care of, I was out at the vineyard spending time with my great-great aunt, the new family Matriarch, whose sister (the former Matriarch) died yesterday morning. Then I did my late show at the station. Then a friend of mine who's close to the situation with the program director showed up and we talked about this and other happenings.

    Wednesday is the day when I spend the most time in class, and I have an article due tonight for the independent paper, so posting may be light again today. Expect more tomorrow.

    And if your name is Poosh, next time I get a chance I'm going to add a link to your site. For one thing, it's reciprocal (since I see that I got a referral from you, whoohoo!) and for another thing I dig your site. Thanks, mate!

    19 April 2005

    Outta Here

    Well, that's good enough for government work, at least for now. I'm going to head to lunch with Gus. Expect a little bit more tonight.

    Sacre bleu!

    It's a good thing that the French didn't join the Coalition of the Willing a couple of years ago. To do so would have risked pissing off their citizens.

    A French court has upheld a school's decision to expel three Sikh boys for wearing turbans to school.

    The tribunal said the boys' continued wearing of an under-turban made them "immediately recognisable as Sikhs".

    Under a law passed amid protests in March 2004, French students are barred from wearing conspicuous religious symbols at school.

    The boys' lawyers said they would appeal and if necessary take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

    The boys, aged 15 to 18, were expelled from the Louise-Michel school in Bobigny, north-east of Paris, last November.

    Whoops!

    Freedom Watch

    Boy, it's a good thing the United States hasn't been unilaterally spreading freedom. If they did, something like this might happen!

    Parliament in Kuwait has given initial backing to a law allowing women to vote and compete for office in municipal council elections for the first time.

    The bill must pass a second reading in two weeks and be signed by Kuwait's ruler before it can come into effect.

    Twenty-six MPs voted for the law, three abstained and 20 voted against it.

    Despite the support of Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Jaber al Ahmed al Sabah, past efforts to give women voting rights have been blocked by parliament.

    Legislators representing Kuwaiti tribes have led the opposition, arguing that giving women greater political rights is against Islam and will undermine their domestic role.

    If it weren't for those pesky infidel Americans, the women would still be veiled and in the home where they belong. Right? Right!?

    Archaeology Watch

    Here's another story about Europeans pilfering priceless artifacts.

    An ancient Iranian artefact that Iran says was taken out of the country illegally has been withdrawn from sale, UK auctioneer Christie's says.

    Christie's said they were happy to comply with a London court ruling to give Iran time to provide evidence in support of the allegation.

    Iran says the 2,500-year-old stone relief from the ancient city of Persepolis was smuggled out Iran.

    Knowing the mullahs, it's probably safer in Europe than it is in Iran... You infidel swine!

    Yarrrr

    It looks like I'm not the only land-locked pirate on the radio.

    The Re-Swipe

    Remember this story? Well, it looks like it has a happy ending after all.

    Off to Prison

    Well, I'm glad to see that this little punk got at least a portion of what he deserved.

    LOS ANGELES — A Caltech graduate student convicted of helping to firebomb scores of sport utility vehicles was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution.

    A federal judge Monday rejected William Jensen Cottrell's plea for leniency.

    "There's no way I'd ever be involved in anything like this again," Cottrell said. "I won't ever even jaywalk again."

    However, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner said Cottrell had engaged in domestic terrorism and "we're very, very lucky" that no one was killed in the arson attacks.

    This little twerp's quote reminds me of an episode of M*A*S*H...

    Klinger: Sir, I'd like to talk to you about something.
    Henry: You wanna reenlist, right?
    Klinger: Sir, I have to confess. I'm a communist, an atheisitc, Marxist, card-carrying, uh...
    Henry: Bolshevik?
    Klinger: No, honest!
    Henry: You are not.
    Klinger: I am too... You imperialist dog!
    Henry: Klinger, I've never hit a woman before.
    Klinger: Sir, what do I have to do to get out?
    Henry: That's your problem, Klinger. I've got a desk full of my own. Out!

    Novelty T-Shirts Temporarily Worthless

    I may still buy one of these for later on, but for now they've got a new pope.

    VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, the Vatican's chief overseer of doctrine, assumed the name Benedict XVI Tuesday after he was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church following one of the shortest conclaves in history.

    Ratzinger — one of the closest friends and advisers to the late Pope John Paul II — appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to offer his first words and prayers as pontiff.

    The cardinals "have elected me — a simple, humble worker in God's vineyard," he said in Italian to the excited crowd below.

    "The Lord knows how to work and how to act … and I especially trust in your prayers,” he said.

    The throngs responded by chanting "Benedict! Benedict!" as the church's 265th pontiff appeared following one of the fastest papal conclaves of the past century.

    Apparently this guy's extremely conservative, which means that reconsideration of controversial Roman Catholic doctrines is unlikely. Saint Jen of Arc said before they'd announced it that she hoped it wasn't Ratzinger, so I had to break the news to her. As you can probably imagine, I wasn't terribly gentle about it.

    The guy's seventy-eight, so we know right off that his tenure will be a limited one. It'll be interesting to see how things pan out.

    Waving Goodbye

    It appears that the family Matriarch is in her waning days. I'll not go into detail just yet, but yesterday apparently wasn't a good day for her, and half the family went to see her with the expectation that she might not survive the day.

    I'll not care to see my great-great aunt when she assumes the Matriarch's status officially, instead of just nominally. The Matriarch will turn ninety-six in May, the Aunt is ninety-four. Of about seven cousins, the Aunt will be the last survivor from that generation. She also lived with their mother, who was the last survivor of the previous generation; it's a status neither my great-great grandmother, nor my Aunt, wanted.

    Anyway. Just wanted you folks to know, because it could become an issue, and soon.

    UPDATE: When dad got up this morning, he informed me that the Matriarch died last night around 01:00.

    The Fly Witnesses a Hit-And-Run

    Remember that diversity class that I had so much trouble with? Today it actually came in handy. It gave me an opportunity to identify the perpetrator of a hit-and-run automobile collision. Have a seat, wankers; this one's worth reading.

    After I got out of my math class (which isn't as lousy as I thought it was going to be), I got a voice message from my buddy Matt saying that the two of us should have lunch. Matt and I eventually met up, and wound up tailgating it on the tailgate of my '89 Blazer. We had an extensive and in-depth conversation about many things, which Matt can write about on his own blog if he so desires.

    As we were sitting there, one of the guys from the aforementioned diversity class, who never spoke a word the entire term, parked a couple of spaces down from me. He never acknowledged me, which isn't that surprising since we'd never spoken before. He walked away, and I didn't pay him any mind. At some point later, he came back, and got back into his blue Nissan pickup. He proceeded to pull out of his parking space and back into a white Pontiac Bonneville SE. He sort of looked over his shoulder, glanced at Matt and I, and then... You guessed it. He drove right off.

    Once we saw that he was driving off, I immediately scoped out his license plate number and procured a blank note card from my rucksack. I wrote down a description of the offending vehicle and of the damaged vehicle, and Matt and I set off on the half block journey to the Department of Public Safety. Before we got there, we saw a Public Safety vehicle and flagged it down; they, in turn, called in a state trooper, who had just driven by. Apparently, "He's new and he's looking for something to do."

    Matt and I gave them the note card and all of the information they asked for, including our names, phone numbers, and driver's license numbers. The DPS officers were falling all over themselves to compliment us, because we gave them a veritable cornucopia (yes, I said it) of information. We asked the state trooper if we got a free get out of jail free card, and he said no, but that he had some "Junior Trooper" stickers; apparently we have to go to court to get those.

    Eventually the lady who owned the car came back, and we told her everything. She's probably in her thirties, and lives in the same town as me. She works at a local seafood restaurant, and said that she'd give us extra fish if we came in this week. Will we do it? I have no idea.

    Anyway, later on the state trooper came back (as we were still tailgating an hour later) and told us that they'd run the plate, and that it was registered to someone born in 1953 and someone born in 1963; most likely the guy's parents. He asked if we could identify him, and I said sure, no problem, so I'll likely get a call. I can't say as I have much sympathy for the guy. How stupid do you have to be to drive away from the scene of a felony hit-and-run when there are two witnesses sitting right there? Especially when it's a stupid fender bender!

    Anyway, right now I'm sitting in the computer lab, but not the lab I usually go to. This lab is much smaller, and though it's the first lab I ever entered on campus all those years ago when I was part of a middle school program (must have been Summer of '95), I've spent next to no time here since it's mostly frequented by engineering students, and the only computers that us regular redneck folk can use are Macs. How am I on a PC, and why am I here in the first place? Well, I'd have lost ten minutes walking to the lab I normally use, and this is in the vicinity of my biology midterm, which I'll leave for in a few minutes. And how am I on a PC, instead of a stupid Mac? Last term I took Computer Science 101, which means that I have an Engineering Department account. Apparently the account lasts for one term past your Computer Science 101 experience; that term just happens to be this, my last term. I rule.

    Now, congratulate me on being an upstanding citizen. I deserve it.

    Thus Saith The Fly.

    18 April 2005

    Pope Watch

    If they elect a new pope, I'll post it here.

    Personally, I'm campaigning for Cardinal John Frink, mmmglaven.

    Simpsonian Inequalities

    It's no secret that The Simpsons has endured a slow decline over the last four or five years, though they'll have some gold every now and again. It seems like the strangest question I've ever come up with, but... Did anyone else notice that The Simpsons didn't suck last night? It was a little over the top in places, of course. For example, Vice President Cletus? And I quote:

    You want me to attend the funeral of the Sull-tan of Brunei? Well, I will consider it my honor. HEY! Brandine! Pack my even-in' brit-ches! We's goin' to Bru-nei!

    Overall, I really enjoyed it, which has become an increasing rarity. Of course, there were the disadvantages. Once again, it wasn't funny for a nuanced political or social commentary, though it was there; once again, the writers were forced to leave Springfield (in this case, going to Springfield of the future) in order to give our favorite family a funny situation.

    To be honest with you all, I think it would be a big advantage to the show if they converted to something like South Park. South Park gives absolutely biting social and political commentary, and many episodes of South Park deal with very recent events. The writers on The Simpsons have really been reaching lately, and it would do them well to reformat the show so that they can keep things in Springfield more often.

    YVAN EHT NIOJ. Thus Saith the Fly.

    17 April 2005

    Krazy Kofi Strikes Back

    What do you do when you're an inept, corrupt, bumbling stooge in charge of the world's most colossal current failure, and you're accused of such? Try to shift the blame, of course!

    The US and the UK have rejected allegations by UN chief Kofi Annan that they turned a blind eye to oil smuggling by Saddam Hussein's regime.

    Mr Annan suggested the two had inadequately policed UN sanctions against Iraq, enabling the regime to earn huge amounts in illegal deals.

    UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the charges were "inaccurate", while Washington was also dismissive.

    The UN has itself been under fire over the so-called oil-for-food programme.

    American and British warships and aircraft policed the Iraqis, boarded Iraqi freighters, and did whatever they could to hold Saddam accountable to the conditions of the Oil-For-Food program while the U.N. nut jobs were sitting on their hands, doing little more than condemning Israel and getting rich off of ill-gotten money from the aforementioned program. And now Kofi Annan has the audacity to blame the Americans and the Brits for his own complete and total failure?

    How quaint.

    Border Brawl

    Well, as India and Pakistan establish trading relations, there's been an exchange of gunfire on the Indian/Bangladeshi border.

    PlutoNorks

    Once again, we see the dividend of Jimmy Carter diplomacy.

    North Korea has halted operations at a nuclear power reactor at the center of an international row, a move that could let Pyongyang reprocess spent fuel to retract plutonium and boost its nuclear arsenal, a press report said Sunday.

    The United States will shortly send Christopher Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, to South Korea, Japan and China for talks to cope with the new development in the nuclear stand-off, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun said.

    Washington has verified that operations at the five-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon were suspended in April, the influential daily said in a report from Washington quoting sources including US government officials.

    The US administration reached the conclusion by analysing satellite pictures and estimating temperatures on the walls of nuclear facilities and amounts of steam coming from boilers at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, the report said.

    Thanks, President Carter!

    Big Trouble in Big Asia

    Following up on this post, there's more news from the recent flare-up of Sino-Japanese tensions.

    BEIJING, China (AP) -- China on Sunday rebuffed Japanese demands for an apology after stone-throwing protesters damaged the Japanese Embassy and a consulate in demonstrations over Tokyo's wartime history and campaign for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.

    "The Chinese government has never done anything that wronged the Japanese people," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told his visiting Japanese counterpart as China allowed new demonstrations in at least six cities.

    Li said Japan, instead, was to blame for "a series of things that have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" over issues such as relations with rival Taiwan and "the subject of history" -- a reference to Japanese school textbooks that critics say minimize World War II atrocities.

    Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura appealed to Li to protect Tokyo's diplomats and citizens as his government denounced violence on Saturday in Shanghai, where police allowed 20,000 rioters to break windows and damage restaurants and cars.

    I don't continue to blame the Japanese for their attack on Pearl Harbor, just like I don't continue to blame Germans for the Holocaust. Why? The answer is simple: all of those responsible are long since dead. Japan is now one of the

    Things I Won't Miss About College

    Tonight I got an instant message from a girl I used to hang out with saying that she and a friend were headed out to one of the local watering holes. She invited me to join them, and against my better judgment, I accepted. This involved showering, putting some decent clothes on, and driving twenty minutes or so just to get back to College City. When I arrived, the following adverse conditions were present:

  • Excessively loud hip hop music (double threat)
  • Watered down Guinness
  • Scores of girls who I had little chance and even less desire to spend any time with
  • The threat of being harassed as I left by College City police

    The following favorable conditions were present:

  • (None)

    I've "been out" a mere handful of times since I hit twenty-one nearly two years ago, and every time I've been shocked that this is what I've been "missing" every weekend. Honestly, what's the point? I realize that I'll be forced to maintain at least some association with people like this during the next eight or nine years of my life, but I'm personally glad that I've been able to establish a group of mates (and their wives/girlfriends) who are better suited to a discussion of why Alexander the Greek was a hack over a pint at a civilized pub than they are to drinking eight shots and then groping brainless sororitutes on an overcrowded dance floor.

    And at this particular watering hole, tonight was "foam night". Several times I was asked: "Don't you want to go dance in the foam? No? Why? Is it the foam, or is it the dancing?" Maybe both? Ya think?

    There are a lot of things I'm going to miss about college life. Dealing with this caliber of unwashed miscreants, their attrocious swill, and their asinine "music" is not one of them.

    Right then, I have to be at work in less than ten hours. G'night, wankers. More news tomorrow.
  • Wankers: Decide for Fly

    I've got enough money to get a funny T-Shirt. Your mission: peruse the selection at the following spots:

  • T-Shirt Humor
  • Busted Tees
  • Cotton Factory

    Decide what shirt I should get.
  • 16 April 2005

    Lazy Saturday Afternoon

    Right now I'm cleaning up my bedroom. Specifically, I'm doing something that's long overdue: reorganizing my CDs. I have a very particular system of organizing my CDs.

    The general section, which basically translates into "Rock and Roll", begins on the top shelf with my complete collection of U2 albums and EPs. Things then go in descending order. After U2 is Chris Isaak, whose entire catalogue I have, but that consists of less releases than U2 (as U2's career has been both more prolific and longer than Isaak's).

    We then come to the normally organized section. There are two bands that I have six discs for (well, nine in the case of Pearl Jam, but those are two-disc live concert releases). Even though I'm a much bigger Proclaimers fan than I am a Pearl Jam fan, Pearl Jam comes before the Proclaimers because I have six releases from both. Within an artist's section, they're arranged chronologically. For instance, the Proclaimers are arranged as follows:

  • This is the Story (1987)
  • Sunshine on Leith (1988)
  • Hit the Highway (1994)
  • Persevere (2001)
  • Best of '87-'02 (2002)
  • Born Innocent (2003)

    From there it goes to Hootie and the Blowfish, which comes before The Offspring, each weighing in with five albums, organized chronologically. Get the picture?

    Following the general section, we come to the specialty sections. Comedy, then soundtracks and easy listening. I've also got an extensive Christian music section, most of it dating back to sophomore and junior years of high school before I became disillusioned with the corrupt Christian music industry.

    Since 1996 I've amassed a collection of perhaps two to three hundred compact discs, and I rarely get rid of much of anything. For example, my original copies of Switchfoot's The Legend of Chin and Third Eye Blind's self-titled debut album are both scratched up. This has required me to purchase replacement copies; for some reason, though, I haven't ditched the original copies. (History majors have a hard time throwing things away.) Needless to say, the whole thing is a daunting task.

    How about you wankers? What are you up to today?
  • Guide Me

    Give me a reason for life and for death, and a reason for drowning while I hold my breath...

    A Question for the Gents

    I'm not quite sure why I haven't been getting cmments to the posts that would usually generate a lot of questions, but having read Sip's latest post, and remembering that he said he'd likely be grey-haired in the next couple of years, I'd pose a question to you Y-chromosomed patriots who visit regularly.

    If given the choice, would you go grey, or go bald?

    To be honest, I'd probably choose to go grey. On the other hand, baldness is easily cured: shave it all off. I've got no objections to doing that, as I've had my head shaved several times before.

    Post it, wankers.

    The Beautiful Pain

    Watching Bane produce something like the following passage is about as expected... Well, just read it.

    John merely watches. He is mostly watching and trying to smile with his new face, which pains him as the new mouth bolts drag on the inside of his lips, a situation which we hope to rectify Monday. John is not terribly crafty, seeing as how God chose to, at least temporarily, deny him serviceable fingers. I...we, make him fend for himself as best he can, and it tortures me to watch him work so hard at a button, or a zipper, or hold a crayon.

    He sometimes holds his little hands out and just looks at them. Quizically. I take his hands and kiss them and never let him hide them. I love it when he holds my face in those scarred, broken hands, or claps them enthusiastically to one of his favorite Jesus songs. He's a good, nay, a great clapper. He can give a clap offering like nobody's business.

    It is hard, though, when someone has the courage to ask him how old he is, and he gamely tries to show them seven fingers, and the last three won't bend out of the way.

    So far, 2005 has been a demonstration (to me, at least) of how God redeems people through their pain and frustrations. I've never met Bane, or his son, but reading about this little miracle child, and the way he fights against his body to overcome the challenges and temptations that God allows him gives me a strength that's difficult to describe, and that's exactly what I need these days.