Thursday, September 30, 2010

Michigan Assistant Attorney General Stalks Student Council President because he is (you guessed it) Gay

Speaking of cyber bullying...
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This is a picture of Chris Armstrong. elected Michigan's Student Council President. This picture has been updated by the Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell - in his off duty hours. The Assistant At tourney General of Michigan keeps a blog posting of the comings and goings of this young man - where his family and friends live - and has protested outside his house.
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Mr. Shirvell's blog refers to Chris Armstrong as a disciple of Satan. And the Assistant Attorney General of Michigan thinks it is fine because it is on his own time. I am sure if a family went to him about their child being taunted for being gay - he would be very helpful (sarcastic quotes assumed to not be necessary).
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Mich. Asst. Attorney General Andrew Shirvell Targets Gay Student Body President Chris Armstrong. One other thing - the "Radical Issue" that Chris Armstrong is pushing is gender neutral housing. which UCLA and Wisconsin have had for over 20 years.
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Anderson Cooper has an amazing interview with this self-proclaimed religious Christian- "who has no hate in his heart" and believes Chris Armstrong is a "Child of God". Makes you wonder what he does to people he doesn't like!
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Nice Week: 3 Suicides and a Broken Arm


This young man on the left is Tyler Clementi.
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Whoops.. WAS Tyler Clementi. Tyler is dead now, he killed himself jumping off the George Washington Bridge.
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The other smiling young man is Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, center, and another classmate, Molly Wei. Dharun and Molly thought it would be great fun - once Tyler asked for privacy in his dorm room and Dharun agreed and went to Molly's room -, they thought it would be great fun remotely turn on Dharun's web came and catch him kissing a boy.
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And they send the live feed out to everyone he knew.
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Where the fag feed was broadcast, rebroadcast and laughed about.
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Tyler killed himself over this illegal action - horrified that people find out he was gay. Story


This is Seth Walsh. He is 13.
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Wait.. .WAS 13.
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He was bullied at his Tehachipi (CA) middle school because people thought he was gay. He hung himself in the backyard tree - and only died the other day after 9 days in a coma.
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At 13 - my bet is "gay" isn't what the kids called him in school. Where most of the kids knew and nobody did anything.

This? You know already Asher Brown's story. He WAS a 13 year old boy from a Cypress (TX) Middle School kid - who admitted to his parents he was gay and being taunted about it. He shot himself in the head the next day. Story
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This boy, Tyler Wislon, is still alive - he is 13 and does gymnastics. He is smaller than the other kids at his school and likes gymnastics and girls. So he became a cheerleader - which was to faggy for the middle school football team.
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The beat him up and broke his arm.
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Again- because he is perceived as a fag in middle school, it was acceptable for the football team to taunt him and try to get him to fight. It crossed the line only when they broke his arm. Maybe it is lucky they did that before they hounded him into killing himself.


One last picture of Tyler Clementi. One he knew was being taken by a Webcam.
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It is absolutely impossible for me to not see the demonization of gay people - "They will DESTROY marriage." "AIDS is God's Punishment!" Or Pastor Eddie Long, who sleeps with teenage (of legal age - but 20 was too old) who says, "The problem today, and the reason society is like it is, is because men are being feminized and women are being masculine! You cannot say, ‘I was born this way.’ … I don’t care what scientists say!”
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It is impossible to see this demonization NOT effecting people. And it has been a week where the results are obvious. Not important to most people - too busy seeing if Sarah Palin was boo'ed on Dancing with the Stars or if Margaret Cho's scores were too low. Not important, but obvious.
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it was a great week....

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hereditary Communism

It kind of cracks me up that North Korean is a Hereditary Communist “People’s Republic”. So many of those words don’t go together. FYI – in the picture below, the big statue behind Kim Jon Il is the Kim Il-Song – the Eternal President of North Korea. Dead, but still President. Kim Jon Il’s 3rd son will be the next leader (Dear Leader was Kim Il, Great Leader is Kim Jo… what Leader will the son be????)
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North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il (C) attends the Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang September 28, 2010 in this picture released by the North's KCNA news agency September 29, 2010. Kim's son, Jong-un, became his second in command at the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Military Commission on Wednesday, teeing him up for succession. REUTERS/KCNA
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Below is a picture of the baby enjoying a slugfest on ice.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Bite Me

From MSNBC: "People need to shake off this lethargy. People need to buck up," Obama told Rolling Stone in an interview to be published Friday. The president told Democrats that making change happen is hard and "if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place."
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If this quote is true, then I would like to return the favor to the President. Not serious, Bite Me.
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I was serious enough to contribute time, money and effort to help get you elected.
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I was serious enough to work to convince people (like my mom) you weren't a liar like John McCain.
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I was serious enough to believe you and the "We're going to close Gitmo" line of BS.
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I was serious enough to believe you when you said that you disagreed with the Bush secrecy, wiretapping and privacy issues.
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And, I am now serious enough to understand that you are an excellent politician, but not a great leader.
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And, I am now serious enough to think it doesn't make a heap 'o difference which of the parties gets into office.
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I would quote your charming asshole of a Chief of Staff - but I try not to speak like that in print.
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So thanks for berating me buddy. I am now disillusioned AND pissed off.
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Yes. Seriously pissed off.

Not Watching: But Enjoying Recaps

So... as you may or may not know (I forget - but heaven knows I tend to tell people what I think :-) - we are NOT watching Dancing With The Stars this year. I can't reward the Bristol Palin / The Situation casting (much as we didn't watch the Tom DeLay year).
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And not watching the beginning makes it much eaiser not to watch later.
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Plus we are watching the Event.
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...having said that, however, I do love the recaps. Here are my favorite comments from Salon's Recaps.....
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Jennifer Grey
I love Jennifer Grey and she danced an incredible jive. But it's really hard not to be more drawn to her partner Derek bopping around like a happy bichon frise puppy. Together, they once again set the bar for the rest of the pack.
Score: 24
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The Situation
The Situation reminds me of one of the third grade boys that I used to teach. He was a huge pain in the classroom but had an easy smile and devilish personality that made you like him anyway, so he got away with more than he should. The Situation has the same naughty appeal. The only problem is that he's not a third grader anymore -- at least not the same age as one -- and on a grownup show like "Dancing with the Stars," he's a guido out of hot tub. The dance was once again a disaster, although this week he got a few props for upping the effort level. Situation unknown.
Score: 18
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Kurt Warner
Kurt was quite the dandy boy in practice, offering choreography tips and agreeing to spray tan for the love of the performance. I find him disturbingly sexy -- I can only assume because I'm inappropriately homosexualizing his profound love of Jesus in ways that would appall the gays and send me straight to the fiery pits of Baptist hell. So be it. I'm a sucker for simple, sweet jocks -- and I honestly don't think they come much simpler.
I think the dance was fine. I can't actually remember anything specific besides the tight polyester pants.
Score: 21


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Bristol Palin
Sarah Palin is a little weird. I already knew she wasn't the brightest bulb, but I didn't realize how socially awkward she was until Bristol took her dance partner to Wasilla to meet her mother who coo-ed and ooh-ed about how proud she was of her daughter without exhibiting anything that could be recognized as a genuine emotion. She also flew in for the performance where she sat in the studio audience with the exact same silly Botox-ed smile on her face, wiggling and clapping excitedly whenever the camera panned to her. Perhaps this is mama bear love -- mavericky Alaskan style?
In contrast, Bristol seems to have loosened up a bit and came across as much more relatable and comfortable this week. Her dance was lovely -- even though it was performed to another not-so-subtle choice of song -- "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes. You watching, Levi?
Score: 22

Monday, September 27, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

34-12 (Sniff) I Love LA


Colombia Football Game This Morning (We won 21 - 10)


Ed, Roar-Ee and Scooter before the start of the Colombia / Towson game.
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We went up to Washington Heights to watch Colombia play in their second game. We had a lot of fun (plenty of seats :-). Colombia won for their first win of the year.


Game Play - lots of fun



This is their Defensive Captain - who was hurt last year. Kind of cute.



See this picture. In the background is the bridge over the "Harlam River" (which connects the Hudson River to the East River - although neither the Harlam "River" or East "River" is a river in the geographical sense. But in the distance you can see a sailboat on the Hudson.
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Also check out the top of the cliff that you can see with the letter on it. That is a "C" for Colombia University.


This is the same "C" outside the stadium right on the watr by their boathouse (SO not as nice as Madison's).

So of the "8 Great College Football" Road Trips... I've been to 2 Both with the Badgers!

So there is a cool story about the 8 Best College Football Road Trips. And I want to go to almost all of them (Boise? Really?)
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But the funny thing is I have been to 2 of the Games - both with the Badgers, not UCLA. Go figure.
story

Once Upon a Time (A Different Time)

Once upon a time....
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a long time ago...
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Scooter had the bestest car in the world. A Blue CRX-HF (high fuel efficentcy) that once got 52 MPG from LA to Vegas (with a big ass tail wind - but still!). Oh sure, it had a tiny engine (1.0 L - really 1.0! less than a Harley) but it was tiny and light and fun fun fun to drive.
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Of course, it got old and paid off. And Scooter, being young and dumb, decided to trade it in on something new and SUVier.



And Scooter regretted ever since.
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And now.... NOW ... now that Scooter can't have wheels (for you kids in the audience that is old hipster speak for a cool car) - Honda has brought the CRX back. This time as a Hybrid and called it a CRZ -but it's a lie.
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It is a CRX, updated to today's style and with a hybrid engine. And - although I can't have it (they ride close to the ground and it would get beat to death in New York- even if I could afford to garage it - which I can't) - so even though I don't really want one, I want it.
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I don't actually want to have it here. There are no hairpin turns - no Hollywood Hills to drive - no Mullholland to play on - so no, I don't really want one.
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But I want one.

Doing what we do best: Making Lemonaid


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Why is this funny? Well, once upon a time - back when he was a man - Senator John McCann said that Don't Ask Don't Tell should be repealed when the Defense Department said it should be.

They did.

So Senator John McCann said DADT should be repealed when the Generals said it should be repealed.

They have.

But John McCann is a fully safe Republican in Arizona, so he is now free to be the man of honor we always thought he would be.

He isn't.

When life gives you lemons... make dance music.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Pictures I Love from Reuters Today


Sochi! Classy home of the 2014 Olympics!
A photographer puts a python on a sunbather for a snapshot on a beach outside Russia's Black Sea city of Sochi September 23, 2010. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin



Your Tax Dollars at work in Afghanistan!
Female officers, also trainers for the Afghan National Army (ANA) attend a graduation ceremony in Kabul September 23, 2010. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Transformers: Bra to Gas Mask


I swear I do not spend time looking for cockamamie bra ads at work - they just seem to find me.
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The latest is this Bra that converts quickly (well reasonably quickly for the inventor who tried to remove it from a model) into a gas mask.
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I know this is a real product, I am just not sure if it is usable - or just an excuse for the inventor to fondle women at will when he "thinks" it might be an emergency in the future ("Honest Officer, I thought it was a poison gas attack on the subway - I was reaching for a gas mask. Can I help it that the first 4 women weren't wearing the gas mask bra? Or that it was incense?"

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Pretty Picture of UCLA as one of the Top 20 Universities in the World


Very cool picture about the Times of London Rankings of the Top 200 Universities in the World. Only top 20 shown (UCLA is #11, but after CalTech, Stanford and Berkely in California). Full story here.
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PS If you are only looking for Wisconsin, it's 43 - Above UC Irvine, but below both UC San Diego and Gerogia Tech (but above Minnesota).

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Bright Day in LA


So, this year UCLA is 1-0 when I am in the same time zone!
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Actually I DO know it is bad luck to say something nice about the Bruins before a game (it is the Curse of the Nincompoops!) - but screw it, they are playing Texas. If we get hummed it is not my fault!
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Last Saturday I got to watch my team, in my time zone at a normal hour and I was happy happy happy.
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We won.
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Not only won, but showed a little defense against an amazing offense - so Go Bruins!

Saxby is Not Truth in Advertising


So someone from Saxby Chambliss' office took work time to post on a gay news website (http://joemygod.blogspot.com/ - which is full of faggy news, but not nakid men-web site) that "All Faggots Should Die".
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That's it, he just used a work computer at the Senator's office to post "All Faggots Should Die" which is - you know - a normal kind of epitaph. (Of course, not in battle, Saxby voted to keep us out of the Armed Forces -but whatever).
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Anywho, discussing the appropriateness of this is neither here nor there. If you hate Fags you think it is a hoax - but a good idea anyway. If you are ambivalent about homo's or are used to the slurs - who cares? Another bigot Georgia resident hates fags, feigned shock!
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But it does bring up an odd thing. Saxby Chambliss is an interesting name. It implies either sexy or funny. As you can see from this picture Fag-hating Saxby is neither.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Reeve Carney: Spiderman on Broadway

So Eddie was out tonight walking the pooch tonight and met Reeve Carney, the new Spiderman (on Broadway). They chatted and he brought him up to meet me, see the house (he lives here too). All in all, he was very nice and understated.
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Anyway, here is the story about him in the New York Times.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Out at rockell with Gavin and Mucky

And so...

Well, it's lock up time at the OK Corral. If you remember the early pictures, those Palms were planted by us. The Wisconsin Chairs at the far end are from Ed's Mom. The cushions in the foreground are (if you can believe it) older than Sean Neppl.

How much fun has it been. Indescrible. Thanks to everyone that made it so special for us by spending time with us... (Roll Credits)

The (mostly) usual suspects:
Lynn Benedict
Bradley Davis
Terri Robinett
Gavin Feinberg
Mickey Maxwell
Joey Gonzales
Norman Dostal
George Fischer
Brian Luce
Steve Timinskus
Steve Lamerie
Gary Cohen
Laurant Melin
Jeff Maxx
Karen Ruiz
Rose Ware
Leo Ware
Joe Blasco
Randy Susovitch
Paul Kenney

Dogs:
Ashford
Hastings
Trevor
Dude
Jake
Sammy
Casey
Sam
Tru
Scout
Harley
Bailey
Miss Abby

Ed's Family:
John Neppl
Susan Neppl
Sean Neppl
Faith Neppl
Phil Neppl
Julie Neppl
Jo Amiot
Don Amiot
Carson Amiot
Ursula Amiot
Jim Neppl
Diane Neppl

Scott's family:
Zela Mitchell
Sheri Nichols
Nick Nichols
Honey DeYoung
Tiffany Daneyer
T Daneyer
Quinten DeYoung
Timo DeYoung
Connie DeYoung
Alise DeYoung
Alana DeYoung
Rick DeYoung
Nushua DeYoung
The Mormans
Jerry's ashes Mitchell

Lynn's family:
Renee
Sue Potts

Scott's coworkers:
Cliff Caplan
Mike Sears
Netty Meirhoff
Katherine Bleakley
Cameron Bleakley
Tyler Bleakley

The Europeans:
Jane Hunt
Lisa Hunt
Laura Hunt
Dan Hunt
Tony Read
Gill Read
Peter Neubauer
Keith Bain

Muffins friends:
Crazy Jan
Crazy Kathy
Taylor Soriel
Crazy Diane
Crazy Kay

Ed's coworkers:
Shaun Kammerath
Jim Kammerath
Eileen Flaherty (and son's litte league team)

Neighbor friends:
Tim Cronin
Cris Cronin
Radioactive Friend (from Chemo, not Crazy)

Cris's Dad
Cris's Mom
Tamara Mendez
Marco Mendez
Christian Mendez

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Cristiano Looks for His Shirt

(mainly unsuccessfully)

Alice in Terrorist Land

I like this. (full story)

Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 12:

"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.
"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first -- verdict afterward."
"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly. "The idea of having the sentence first!"
"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen, turning purple.
"I won't!" said Alice.
"Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.

Scott Shane, The New York Times, April 6, 2010:
The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday. . . . It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said.

The Associated Press, yesterday:
The Obama administration is considering filing the first criminal charges against radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in case the CIA fails to kill him and he is captured alive in Yemen.
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And before you tell me he is a terrorist, I say, "Says who? What is the evidence (if any)?" Because Obama says so is just as crappy an answer as Because Bush says so.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Totally Cool: Totally Tiny House from Stephen's Creek WI


This is a teeny tiny house in Wisconsin. (the story from USA Today)


It is really cool and less than 300 sq feet. I think it is a great week-end retreat. It has 2 sleeping lofts (but if I had to climb over Ed and climb down the stairs into that tiny bathroom everytime I had to pee - I would wake up the whole house.
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Plus how would Trevor get down in the middle of the night.





Anyway, very very cool project, but an architectural firm from Stephen's Point Wisconsin - Ed's hometown.

A Fate Too Horrible To Mention



click to expand

Monday, September 13, 2010

Vitas Gerulaitis


So Aldona and Joe are here and we were watching and talking tennis. Aldona brought up Vitas Gerulaitis - the famous Lithuanian / American tennis player. And we found this quote - which I totally find great...
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"And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row"
– after finally beating Jimmy Connors at the 1979 Masters following sixteen straight losses.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

It's Just Sad to Watch


I stayed up and watched as much of the UCLA game as I could last night / this morning. It was sad. Not "sad" as in I am annoyed and want Ricky's Head. Not "sad" as in what kind of sad, pathetic offensive show was that Norm Chow?

No, literally "sad" as in, "It made me sad to watch it."

First they vote for Prop 8. Now UCLA sucks. And Meg Whitman might be Governor.

Sad.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Old v New

I kind of like the juxtaposion of the new bs old statuary

Syfy Does It Again!

At last! Part shark. Part octopus. All Sharktopus. It’s here. Happiness.

Bragging is bad Karma (even in Shintoism)


Japan has long had the longest living people in the world. This, they have lectured the world with smug satisfaction, is the result of a sushi diet, respect of elderly people and a homogeneous population.
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Now it turns out, it is also the result of perennial lying and the defrauding the government of pensions. (Story)
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I am not saying that they aren't long lived. I am just saying that in many countries "long lived" includes have to be breathing. In Japan, apparently, the definition is just getting benefits.
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From the Story.
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The nationwide search started when officials went to wish their oldest male citizen a happy 111th birthday. They found a 30-year-old mummy instead. The family had continued to collect Sogen Kato's pension after his death, which likely occurred in 1978.
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Japan initially released figures that listed the population of people over 100 at around 40,300, but the audit turned up 230,000 missing centenarians on the public registry. Many of the missing would be at least 150 years old, and some may have died as long ago as World War II.
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Missing number of people 230,000 (Two Hunderd Thousand Plus - about the size of Madison Wisconsin)

Thursday, September 09, 2010

About the Koran Burning... And Overreaction (kind of a non-PC post)

Okay, let me start with the standard blah blah...
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Pastor Crazy Pants shouldn't burn the Koran on 9/11. It is a stupid thing to do. It is his right to do this, but it that doesn't make it right.
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Also in the blah blah, I don't see the parallel between this and Park 51 (the Islamic Community Center in downtown - also referred to as the Ground Zero Mosque). The Koran burning is a deliberately offensive act. The Community Center was not proposed to be divisive.
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Okay, enough with that.
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Are "they" overreacting a little?
Story
Another Story
Another Story
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I mean if 50 people burned the Bible, Latin American wouldn't threaten to rain destruction down on us. If 50 people burned the Torah, Israel wouldn't start burning US flags.
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Why do these people feel the need to threaten death to 300,000,000 American because of 1 Pastor Crazy Pants? Hell, 20 Islamic nuts killed thousands in the 9/11 attacks, and we didn't rain down destruction on all Islamic Countries. We told the Taliban in Afghanistan to kick out Al Quida - they didn't so we over threw them.
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If you want to be treated like adults, act like adults. Don't let 50 crazy people dictate how millions of adherents choose to react.
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Look here is a picture of you actually burning a US Flag (not threatening to in 3 days). Look at us, "ho hum - crazy people." That is how you need to treat Pastor Crazy Pants.

At The US Open Last Night

So...
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Last Night at the US Open was fun. The games were pretty good. And not too long (always nice on a school night).
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It was also (gentile) star night.
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This is looking at the player's box from our seats. The blonde is Gwen Steffani - Gavi (Gavin Rossdale - her husband) was in the front row - apparently he follows Federer a lot. The big glasses woman is Anna Wintour (the Editor of Vogue and the subject of the book "The Devil Wears Prada").
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Earlier in the evening (when Caroline Wozniaki as playing) the player's box held The Donald. Yes Donald Trump and his wife (?) can be seen in the photo below.
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And yes, he does look just as plastic in person and yes, his wife is a stone cold fox.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Gnomes Gneed a Ghome


More than 100 lawn gnomes sit in the evidence room at the Police Department waiting for a city auction, where they will be sold, along with trucks, computers and even a front-end loader. But they are the most unique item at the auction, which is Thursday. - News-Record photo by Alton Strupp
Apparently 2 teenage girls in Wyoming went on a Garden Gnome Crime Spree and only 50 of the about 150 gnomes were claimed. So the rest are on auction to a good home.

So Will He Get a Backbone Finally.


I like this story. I don't believe it, but I like it.
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Personally, I think that it doesn't make sense to extend tax breaks for people making more than $200K. If you make more than $200,000 a year, you should be able to give a tiny bit more back to the country that supported you.
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It's not for welfare or crap - it's for roads, the wars that we insist on fighting, the bailout of Wall Street, schools and medicare.
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Hell, we have a government, it has to be paid for.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Tomorrow we see Federer vs. Soderling


It isn't the prettiest match up but Roger Federer vs Robin Soderling should be a fantastic game!


The prettiest matchup would be Marco Chuidinelli (Swiss) vs Richard Gasquet (French), but they both lost already. Gone, but not forgotten - as they say.