End of the year newz collection

Woman avoids jail by agreeing to have no more children
The professional examination of poo
Senate OKs acountless, warrentless wiretapping for CIA, FBI
Florida EPA run by former industry and business lobbyists
 Breastfeeding doll for children comes with nipple-bra
 Gov. says woman cant breastfeed while waiting tables/serving food
 Latest teacher-student sex scandal is girl on girl
 The end of the Hawaiian Islands is neigh!
 Kid find 13,000 year old bones
 Bellingham man randomly punches baby in face
 Swedish woman found guilty of sex with skeletons
 DSHS ignoring abuse in group homes - just like Florida
Extreme high tides threaten west coast waterfront homes
Germany -just- banned animal-human lovemaking
8 types of nanotech that exist today
NASA awards kids who throw toilet paper the farthest
Fish plays dead to catch birds

What's in your bedroom?

In my option, a lot of the symptoms of poverty come from poor, unsafe, unstable housing.  This excellent photo essay really puts the have and the have-nots in perspective, when it comes to what environment kids call home. While I loved the Mercer Island house I grew up in..it was huge. Smaller homes bring/force family togetherness. I often fight with my parents about the cost of their currnet home. I feel it is morally repugnant to own house thats value exceeds an average mans lifetime income. Everyone deserves nice things but their house is a symbol of the monetary divide in America. I could provide good quality housing for 10-20 homeless families with the money from this condo for 2 people.

Les Mis movie review: Sam Barks is a hottie

In the traditions of my people I saw a movie on Christmas day. Les Miserable is certainly one of my favorite musicals and the 1998 non-musical movie with Liam Neeson wasnt half bad. I wasnt fond of the casting choices in the new les mis..they weren't terrible..I thought Russle Crow was a good choice unlike some people..and this Samatha Barks actress is a prefect woman..woof woof woof! though didnt have much of a role..the rest of the cast didnt work for me. The singing is still great, at least for half the movie. I've always felt the 2nd half of Les mis was never on the same level of story or song as the first. Its worth seeing if you havnt heard the music recently and its not in any way a bad movie. But seeing it in a theater venue is better. And the 1998 movie is better (but no singing). And the CD is better.

Arm the schools please!

I gotta side with the NRA (aka the people who know and deal with gun people) on this one. There is no magic faery dust that will remove all the guns from America nor effective way to prevent people from getting guns who shouldn't. No matter what you think about guns - there are 10s of millions of them out there and government isnt able to keep track of them all. It may look good for a politician to say they want to ban guns but actually eliminating the threat of bad guys getting their hands on a gun is impossible. We live in a flawed world and realistically we need to arm schools to provide protection for our kids. That doesnt mean every kindergarten teach needs to pack heat though. Thats a red herring argument. Treat them like defibrillators or another emergency devices. Have 1-2 in the building locked up somewhere and train a few members of the staff to use them if the need arises. We should ban high capacity magazines and the weapons that fire them, but unlike the toothless Clinton Assault weapons ban, lets not just ban all new weapons and magazines but the all old ones too. It wont keep us 100% safe and it wont prevent people from stockpiling illegal guns and ammo..but its something.

Hobbit Review :: Pleasantly Suprised

I went into this movie expecting to hate it. I didnt like the 3 lord of the rings movies and I remain repulsed by the cult like attitude some people have toward those movies. I also read a lot of complaints and negetive reviews online from early Hobbit showing.

When I came out I wanted more, though maybe not 2 more movies. The guys waiting to pee in the bathroom seemed to agree. I honestly didnt notice the lenth at all and if fact there were a few scenes which I wish they expanded upon. I also didnt notice the change in film speed - I saw the non 3d version and it didnt appear washed out to me. My only real complaints would be over a few animated falls characters took that didnt look remotely survivable. If you fall 100+ feet accompanied with stones and  huge logs that made up a bridge, and then have a 500+ pound Ogre land on you, your not walking way without some sort of serious injury or limp.

This movie succeeds IMHO because it stays about the story and doesnt focus on individual characters nearly as much as the previous 3 films. Gandalf and Biblo get one or two real scenes of his own, but the rest of the movie is a chorus of rotating dwarfs who were all generally likable and not annoying like Legolas and Gimlee. There was a Jar-Jar Binx character for the kiddoes and I thought he got all the time he deserved and not a moment more.

Anyhoo go see and lets hope they keep it to two movies, not three, because they covered at least 50% of the content of the book in this one movie. Also be sure to check out The Hobbit Cartoon which was an excellent flick for its era.

Lets make music together

One of the forefathers of modern MMO's has been resurrected! Ashrons Call 2..which so many hated but I still believe had one of the most "living" worlds ever made has been brought back online. One my favorite aspects of AC2 was the music system as seen below.

Joe's list of movies everyone should see

sorta work in progress..no particular order..click below for the list..I welcome feeback in the comments section..use name/url so I know who you are

3 child welfare news items

First - Florida has decided it is a good idea to check the criminal record of parents accused of abuse via the State Child Abuse hotline (1-800-962-2873). Really? We werent doing this already? Really?

Second -DSHS in Washington has settled yet another neglegecy class action brought by foster children abused in the system. So the tax payers are on the hook for 11 million but where is the accountability for caseworkers and administers who knew about the problems and did absolutely nothing. Still likely employeed no doubt or collecting their pension on some tropical island.

Here is another one...for 12/12/12 a man drew a pentagram on the back of his 6yo son with a knife. He's been charged obviously...but the child remains in the care of the wonderful woman with such good judgement to live with and have a child with this guy. I think the child is safer with the pentagram carver.   

Dec13 big meteor shower + more news

Got some good ones this month! Check them out!

DEC 13 Geminid meteor show expected to be best ever

woman "suffering" from constant arousal commits suicide
Adoption agency gives away child of soldier serving overseas
5yo saves family from fire
Elementary students foaming at mouth took LSD
Florida school closed for whipping students open again
Faster Than Light spaceship engine may be too destructive to use
Blackwater mercenary guild still gainfully employed by taxpayers
Child dies hours after Tulalip NA unit caseworkers close case
Florida placing kids in nursing homes due to lack of caregivers
Many sick kids in US given liquid weed by doctors
Walla Walla 13yo charged with felony for having pot in locker
City lets boy with autism keep therapy chickens
11yo nearly killed by water bottle stuck to tongue

Nothing kills like success(Taco Lu)

Just a little update on the Taco Lu new location - HATED IT. The new building feels like a fancy restaurant (not a taco cantina) and looks like a ski/hunting lodge(not a taco cantina). Being literally the only place to eat in Jax the people who couldnt get into the old location now flock to the new. I still can only get a seat by snagging one at the bar unless I want to wait 45 mins. Everything that was intimate and "real" (if crowded) is gone replaced by a -store- that belongs with the chain restaurants at St. Johns Towncenter. The old bar was busy but had dark nooks that buffeted you from the throngs. The "open" ski lodge design brings everyone's noise into your face like a school cafeteria. Parking is still impossible even with the larger lot and I lol'd at the huge line for the "free" valet.

I wonder if they'll be able to maintain quality and price with such an increase in demand. I guess nothing kills like success. 

Confusing "justice" in Jacksonville

So two cases in the news here are real puzzlers. First, a female teacher has numerous sexual encounters with her 16yo student...and only gets probation? What are we saying as a society here? If what she did wasnt punishable by jail time then why forbid her from teaching? Would the punishment be different if the teacher/student genders were reversed? Then there is this conviction which makes no sense to me. Was this woman mind controlling the guy? I really dont get how this woman is at fault unless the guy was mentally incompetent or she was forcing him to draw the weapon on the police somehow.

In both cases a judge should have stepped in and set things right. Course judges, being lawyers, are above most forms of accountability..

NovNewz x2

Florida 17yo denied abortion wins on appeal

I love how the judges rule that the 17yo is too immature to choose to have an abortion but apparently gives no thought to how mature she needs to be to actually raise the child once its born...or were they going to force her carry the baby to term then take it away from her?
Anyhoo more news..

Burger King testing out black buns
Its not so easy to up and move to Canada
Kids swim with -tigers- at Tampa area park
Judge caught beating daughter still a judge
Florida schools dont background check landscapers
Students use pee to generate power
Privatizing government isnt always cheaper
140 murders; just an average night  in Brazil
Cops taze homeowner for fighting house fire
"special" schools handing out felony charges too often
Stacked panel finds no problems with Stand Your Ground law
Uruguay President works for 12k, drive VW bug
Smurfette is dead
Russian floating city is sinking
Visit the body farm!
Florida man twists off 2yo's nipple
Hockey player arrested for dressing like cartoon character
Modern bread is toxic to humans

Big news from Mars?

I had reported in the November news links that nothing useful has been discovered as yet on Mars. Apparently that is no longer the case. The last "big annoucement" was over some planken in Antarctica that was silicon based..so I'm not holding my breath for space alien fossils.

John Grotzinger, principal investigator for the Curiosity rover mission, revealed to NPR that "This data is gonna be one for the history books. It's looking really good."

Woman post Resume on I95 Billboard.

Hmmm..what a great idea! If only someone would use these giant signs to attratch attention to reforming the foster care system...

Wilburn is paying $250 to post her information for 24 hours.

Great Yoda song

 The original Be a Man from Mulan is like one of my favorite songs.

Jacksonville Taco Lu is New!

The only restaurant in Jacksonville worth eating at has finally opened its new location. For those of you who havnt tried it, Taco Lu is an up scale "Cantina" that serves lots of alcohol and tacos. While you can get tacos anywhere..Taco Lu brings in unusual ingredients, fresh local fish, and manages to keep the bill fairly small. My favorites are the Scallop Avocado taco, Wahoo with wilted spinach taco, and the brisket royal with grapes and cubes of queso taco. They also offer excellent chips and salsa for free. The salsa is perfect mixed of having great flavor but not being too spicy. Total thumbs up..though avoid the mens bathroom in their original location..I guess they are trying to keep the name authentic.   

Canadian convervative plan leaked

The western wrold went through a bit of a wave of conservatism lately. Many government titled to the right, including Canada and Australia, based largely on oil and natural resource development lobbies. It seems the Canadain movement however is a one trick pony.

" For generations Canada has been a voice for peace and democracy in the world, but the prime minister is abandoning that proud legacy..The Conservatives' new foreign policy plan, crafted in secret, includes no vision for human rights, no vision for peace and security, no vision for aid and international development, no vision for Canada as an even-handed leader on the world stage.”

Lincoln Movie Review

I saw the new Lincoln movie tonight..it was - messianic. A good film..the ending was a bit truncated. You walk out wondering what this Christ guy had on Lincoln. Daniel Day Lewis, who I've heard of but never seen in another movie, played on Oscar winning Lincoln who you couldnt help but love. He was the Everyfather; a kindly curmudgeon who wandered around the Statehouse in a blanket telling stories while sipping tea. Lots of other great actors in this film - like James Spader (who didnt impress) David Strathaim (of Sneakers fame) and Tommy lee Jones. I started the movie out saying the Jones was too typecast to play the role he got..but he surprised me. I think we can expect a sequel called "Grant".

Kick the next doctor you meet in the nutz(ovaries)

I am so #$%^@#$# sick of doctors and clinics EXPLOITING people; demanding 100s of dollars and unnecessary medical procedures just to get scripts written for basic maintenance meds  you can get over the counter in any other country in the world. One reason we have such high medical costs in this country is because doctors are SCREWING their patients by charging for unnecessary "exams" or billing insurance companies at even more ridiculous prices. This causes people to go to the doctor less which means less preventative medicine and more costly procedures down the line that could have been caught early if doctors ddint act like car salesman trying to sell everyone the mystery "undercoat"

So please kick the next doctor you see in the nutz and/or ovaries. Its no wonder public clinics need bullet proof glass at the pay widows. RAWR

Want an offical answer from the Pres?

You can now file official petitions with the White house, and if you get 25,000 signatures they promise an official reply. Thus far its mostly petitions for independence from the United Sates. If we broke up into a confederation of states it would make wars much hard to start. I wonder how much tax dollars are going to pay the people who read and respond to these things.

Harold and Kumar Trifecta

In honor of Washington legalizing pot I decided download (Pirate Bay.se) and watch the three Harold and Kumar movies. Couple good chuckles..I think Go to Whitecastle is the best..the other two mostly recycle the jokes. One question - We just voted to get the government out of the Alcohol sales business so why are we handing them the keys to the Pot stores? And didnt we just sell all the properties..so now we need to buy them back to make pot stores..and hire all those people back..this was ill done.

Scary truth about "facilities" for children

The Tampa Bay Times ran a story recently about how children's group homes in Florida have a loophole enabling them to abuse the kids staying there and violate their civil right with impunity. While this seems shocking it really shouldn't be news to anyone. Government, police and the courts violate adult civil rights all the time. Usually out of sense of expediency but also to circle the wagons around themselves or punish naysayers. Those adults usually have lawyers and the ability to speak loudly on their own behalf. Children who end up in the care of the social welfare system are rarely knowledgeable about their rights or capable of speaking for themselves. So they get "processed" with expediency and the State's best interest at heart. This lack of value for the rights of American Children gets reflected in the quality of the facilities that care for them and the people who keep jobs there. Between weak legal protection, lack of accountability they end up attract employees and patrons looking for safe places to experiment with unorthodox, usually illegal methods.

We need to do better. 

Why I'm not voting for Obama 2morrow

My main reason for not voting for Obama tomorrow is military spending and weapon sales, The weapon plants, the jet builders, the tank manufacturers are still operating at full keel on Obama's watch. Without weapons to build and sell and wars to fight in those workers/solider would be unemployed. But thats the hard path I voted for him to lead us down in order to ween us off the teet of the military industrial complex.

November Newz

Some good ones this month!

New Jersey permits vote by email
Teacher wears maid outfit to reward students
School for Polygamist families closes in Canada
Coral orgy mistaken for chemical spill
Florida schools consider closing for Muslim holidays
Mars rover finds nothing useful on Mars
Poll worker rejects ballot; Judge rules voter cant vote again
Man gets 6 years in prison for failing to pay postage on mail
Florida the craziest state;Jacksonville still murder capital
Cops taze 10yo boy for refusing to wash patrol car
10 worst nuclear boo-boos
Movement claiming the Earth is flat gains momentum
Ferry system canceled 37 sailing due to AWL employees
Seattle removed hygiene requirement for Taxi drivers
Hanford radioactive wastewater leaking into groundwater
Teacher wants benefits, sickleave for being hit by fish
Business illegally dumps tons of Iron into sea off BC

Howls Moving Castle

Just saw this one on TV. Miyazaki, famous for creating Princess Mononoke (which I thought was a bit gory/scary/sad) continues to make interesting films. I like how gender neural many of his films are. A girl would enjoy watching I think just as much as a boy, which is good bacause girls need TV role models other than Disney and its Princesses.

October news links

Project uploads insect brain into robot
Government letting drug companies cherry pick data
Government orders college to start women's ice hockey program
School pays employee $55/hr to open envelope
405 tolls cost more money and create more traffic
425 lbs man tries to grab child and run away
Animal doctors concerned about spike in pets getting high
12yo girl has higher IQ than most famous scientists
Police send dent repair bill to mother who son was killed by police car
FEMA pays twice the homes value to elevate home above flood zone
Mystery giant eyeball I.d'd
Christians protest anti-bullying program because it supports gay kids
Florida law outlaws couples from living together while unmarried
School Librarian has awesome giant tattoo
CNN article written by "Richard Pound"
Teacher tells entire class to spit on student
Teacher sends class nude photo of herself; students, not teacher suspended

10 newspapers rec McKenna over Inslee

This sorta suprised me. Maybe they are all owned by conglomerates of Fox..but still..well I guess the people of Washington want a major change..cant say I blame them but I wish they would pick someone from a 3rd party. Or at least a non-lawyer..

Slideshow of Gov' waste

Nice little visual showing off the the various questionable projects our Gov has invested tons of money in. 

Detriot Police hand out flier threatening visitors

In an effort to get locals to vote for stronger union powers, police had out threatening letters to baseball fans. The letter warned readers that they shouldnt be in Detroit because Detroit is Americas most dangerous city.

Canada defunds its own evironmental testing

Environmental regulation getting in the way of your pet project?? Defund the testing and research so no one can say what is going to happen! This seems to be the maneuver of choice for political types who's pet project will do bad things. In this case, even though the shipping route is extremely hazardous and the Native peoples living there dont want it,  Prime Minister Harper is going to build his oil dock regardless. There should be a law against tinkering with research.

Zeppelin Comeback

Interesting story about a boom in airship construction. I hope these people realize that Helium on Earth is produced as byproduct of petroleum drilling..If the return to airships is an effort to escape oil dependance we need to look somewhere else.
A blimp is shaped by the gas inside of it, whereas a zeppelin has a rigid skeleton inside. The helium-filled sky balloons, or aerostats, used over Afghanistan are neither blimps nor zeppelins. But they all fall under the term “airship.”

How starfish Tube feet work

Interesting science blog here about starfish fish. FYI:: Not 100s of tiny plungers!

3 sponsors drop out of presidential debates

Apparently in order to debate in a presidential debate you have to be approved by the "Commission on Presidental debates" ...which is shockingly funded by a bunch of large corporations. 3 of which dropped their funding of the CPD over the complete exclusion of 3rd party candidates. Some would say they arnt "popular" enough..but its a chicken and egg problem..how do you get nationally popular without any media coverage? Without being invited to debate? Its a rigged system.

Mostly Northwest News Links!@

World of Warcraft barcodes your screenshots
Ratpocalypes
Malaysian schools on the hunt for gay kids
Pro-Life Christian start adopting embro cells..instead of real kids
Cell phones in India but no toilets
Wa state pays doctor 600k for vendetta, conspiracy against him
Russian sub caught in Gulf of Mexico
new theory reopens closed case on FTL travel
6 kids escape Wa states largest kiddie prison
Undead Zombie bees invade Wa
Man arrested for complaining about Seattle PD released
Police officer gets 3 years PAID leave for use of excessive force
Facepage page outs Tacoma residents who talk to police
Iran news agency prints Onion fake story as real
Newest in Japanese women's Fashion? underskin Bagel implants
9yo executes 9yo with gun

Looper review

Caught the Bruce Willis movie "Looper"..good entertainment, absolutely worth the $5.50 that I paid (did movie prices go down?). Included were elements of Terminator and Matrix along with Willis' movies ala Mercury Rising and Sixth Sense. Joseph Gordon-Levit is apparently having a career resurgence which is well deserved. Like Prometheus, this movie included what I thought was a fairly random sex scene brought on by the female lead's boredom. I'm not sure if this scene was included as some sort of feminist "ya women get horny too" bit, but with her 5yo sleeping in the next room, mom misuses a panic button to summon up Gordon-Levitts character for a roll in the sheets, who btw she has only known for less than 12 hours and had recently unload a shotgun into his chest. She's spent more time pointing a gun at him than speaking thus far but I guess she's in the mood and has nothing better to do so lets throw cation to the wind. It does leave open a possible plotline where that one time spawns a child..and with time travel movies that can have all sorts of ramifications. Shrug.

Music Video: Break it Slow (at Costco of all places)

Allen Doyle (of Great Big Sea) playing Break it Slow at the Halifax Costco. I heard an interview with him on NPR and really liked this song. Costco should support local artists everywhere in this way.

Eve Pew Pew

Here is a good example video of a battle in Eve, the space game that diplomat in Libya was a player in. Too complicated for me but I love to download podcasts of the pilots and listen to them talk.

Yet another mentally ill parent offs their kids

Sick people with a disease of the mind hear the voice of god from the toaster telling them to kill their kids and they do it. This isnt something that occurs in the shadows of some third world county. It seems to happen every other week here in America. Oh here is another dead kid. And Another dead kid. And more dead kids. Hey one more for the road why not?

Families need to put the lives of these innocent babies first and their relationship/friendships with the parent second. I wonder how many lives could be saved if people were more worried about the children then coming off rude/judgmental>? 

Update : "Petryszak had for weeks considered calling the Florida Department of Children and Families to report the situation.He never did." People ALWAYS know but dont act. I say lock them up for failing to report. I think its actually a law in florida. Crazy people are crazy and cant help themselves. Its tne non-crazy people that need to be responsible and put the kids lives first.

Romney's gaffe

Back in May, Mitt Romney said a bunch of politically incorrect things to a group of people at a fundraising dinner in Florida. He was pointing out the goal posts to his audience by saying that a large portion of Americans feel its the governments job to provide handups/handouts and these people will never vote for Republicans.

Click below for the rest:

Strikes suck

There are two bad strikes going on.

The Chicago teachers union recently voted to seriously inconvenienced 350,000 families in order to:

1.Prevent student achievement, growth and accomplishment to count for more than 30% of a teachers evaluation.

2. Prevent higher rated teachers from being payed more than lower rated teachers.

And the ~30 odd National Hockey League fat cat billionaire owners didn't like the agreement they agreed to seven years ago that gives LESS THAN HALF (47%) of the profits to the people who, you know, actually play the game. Hockey has never been more popular in America and nothing chills sports enthusiasm more than greedy labor disputes. Take about shooting yourself in the foot with a bazooka.

In both cases the system of strike/compromise is maintaining a system that is broken and needs to die so that it can be reborn in a more modern, functional framework. Just My 2 cents. 

Musing

Balances keeps existence existing, without it things would get used up and the house of cards would collapse.
Balance is maintained through cycles. Cycles are maintained through indifference. The grand sand castles get swept away along with the malformed lumps and in the end everything stays in balance as there is only inconsequential growth in the grand scheme of things.
The indifference of existence breed struggle; a competition for survival where there will be no favorites and and you get out of life only what you make of it.
Human beings were born from this struggle and competition is in our nature. Success has led us to compete with Nature itself, to supplant it with our own image and make ourselves out to be gods.
Nature is ever indifferent. If we succeed in taking its throne will we rule as indifferently and thus maintain the cycles?

Our government ?

Another set of Joe's newslinks

Swedish Gov to provide free night time childcare
Dawn probe moving on to Ceres moonlet
JZ Knight and Ramtha give 5k to Dems
Photos of critters brought up from undersea mountain.
Hospital charges woman $60,000 to treat scorp sting
Boston taxpayers ordered to pay for inmates sex change
Thousands of fish dead on the shores of Lake Erie
Another "Teacher of the Year" spreads her legs for students
My fav actress charged with hit and run
Swedish clothing store opens in Jacksonville
Iran using perfume to cover up army odors
Honesty doesnt pay; Loyal customers often pay more
Obama green lights risky oil drilling off Alaska Coast
Scientists grow a weave of flesh and electronic together
Newly discovered Jellyfish's body made of jellyfish testicles.
Canadian province elects leader with goal of seceding from Canada

Joe's Interesting news links redux

8 craziest people running for political office
Tampa schools disallow kids to hand out church fliers;parents/churches sue
Government orders 174000 rounds of ammo to arm Welfare caseworkers
Teacher keeps job after horrible classroom bullying caught on cellphone
11 year old girl hit by 9 year old driver
Canada nationalizes business that you pay to teach your child to ride a bike
Tennessee no longer allowing refusal of breath tests at traffic stops
Canada moving towards allowing zero/failing grades back into schools
Cops shoot and kill man who impregnated 11yo girl. Mother not charged.
Kool video of worldwide fires over the last 12 years
Gov of Brazil weakens rainforest protection 

Been to a Library recently?

Today I found myself waiting out a squall in the Jax public library...which is one of the fanciest buildings I've been in since the Alhambra palace in Spain or maybe the Scottsdale Hilton. 4 stories of polished marble, reflecting pools and vaulted ceiling been primarily used by homeless people to watch porn on the internet. Oh and you can rent movies there for free instead of paying 1 dollar at a Red Box. The internet now serves the role the public library system did and there are much more efficient ways of providing free internet access to the pubic. Yes..I get that government buildings are suppose to inspire a sense of grandiose majesty..but we cant afford majesty when schools are reducing the school year and the section 8 public housing waiting list has a 2 month waiting list of its own for homeless families.

Captain Planet Movie trailer?

Bringing back all the old cartoons I guess..

R.I.P. Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison's book The Stainless Steel Rat was one of the books that got me into reading. My favorite quote from that book has graced the bottom of this blog since its inception. RIP Harry Harrison.

Kathi Goertzen passes

Sad. What a dignified death though.<

Excellent view of Perseid meteor shower Sat and Sun!

Look to the skies!

Wa. health inspector fine 11yo for unlicensed charity stand

What kind of person writes an 11yo a ticket for fundraising for veterans ? The "government" kind; getting a large government salary and pension and medical benefits.

Administrator Dave Windom added, “You don’t want someone in the field making judgment calls on what they consider a worthy cause and cutting people slack. It opens the door for accusations of favoritism.

So..you dont want your employees to use common sense? Or you dont feel they have any? Oh and by the way how is it not favoritism for you personally to then pay the fine for them "because its a good cause".  Gunna pay my fines too?

Japan builds robot mech

Its like that borg from Robocop. Dont they have better things to be spending money on..like Nuclear waste cleanup? Hopefully Skynet wont get control of it!

Computer aristocracy

One of the benefits of buying video games on a PC is modability - the ability to go into your copy of the game and change stuff, add stuff etc.  OR at least it use to be. The online sales market has grown to the point where gaming companies now sell small changes in the game for 1-2$ a shot and thus have very little motivation to leave the game open to modification by the user. When it once was just a matter of changing a few numbers around in a simple spreadsheet, these days you need to learn the companies private programing language in order to make changes. This severly limits the number of people who can actually make modifications and eliminates the not for profit competition to modification/downloadable content sales.

I came upon a interesting article about how BASIC, one of the computer languages I learned to use as a kid, is no longer included on the PC. I wonder if this is another effort to limit the population of people with the power to aguement computers. 'Cause if we cant make changes ourselves we'll have to buy it from Them.

News Posts!

Man jailed for for praying at home
Jacksonville may have dustedTB outbreak under rug
Aurora Co. shooting is the "liberals" fault
The Great One selling arena plan to Bellevue
Online poker cashes out
Rescue worker billed for ambulance ride
St Pete council denies voter petition to have vote on horrible pier plan
Reporter charged with video taping police

DSHS being sued over Leader's history

Anne Bremmer has a history of taking case for the publicity, but with this one she has a point. Why would WA gov hire someone with a track record of dead kids on her watch? Maybe because they prefer loyalty over competence?

Gary Johnson - on the pres ballot in 50 States

There is an alternative to Obama and Romney. Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 States. Check out his website here. A 3rd party candidate is not a waste of your vote. It a statement of disgust in the status quo. We are never going to change the system if folks are cowered into not taking that first step. While your at it demand your news networks cover this guy as much as they cover the other candidates.

Soldier joins the Jedi for reunion with son

Elderly protesters break into Y-12 nuke arsenal

Nothing is impregnable but one hopes the billions of dollars we give to military subcontractors at least protects our nuclear weapons from old people. Guess not :(

Happy Little Cloud

Remeber this guy ? He grew up right here in Daytona Beach!

Guild Wars 2 Music Video

This game is coming out Aug 28..I cant wait. Free to Play btw. Pretty song.

Oz

Hadnt heard about this..looks good..I remember absolutely loving the rest of the books after Wizard.

Hookers rumbling in New Zealand

Apparently destroying roadsigns Hunkamania style is a great sale pitch for the women of ill repute.

Funny Photo

via fark.com

Possible GOP VP from WA State

Along with much that goes on in Eastern Wa..I've never heard of her. She seems ok on the issues..I wonder about her son with down syndrome. Is that her rally flag toward conservatism? Palin made the argument that her sick child was a blessing and thus abortion of any kind is bad. As someone who has worked with the mentally ill, abortion can be a blessed end to what would be a cruel horrible painful life. I'd like to know if she is caring for her child out of a sense responsibility or if she is one of these selfish sick mothers who feel brain dysfunction is just another rough diamond facit in the snowflake of human personality.
 Edit : Turns out she's been prolife for years and only recently had the child with down syndrome. She's one of the pro-child suffering people then...but at least she walks her talk.

TMNT gets Teen Titan's style remake on Nik

That poor voice actor is totally typecast as Beastboy for the rest of his natural life.

Hit by pitch; advance to 1st

We've all pretended at one point in our lives or another to throw a baseball so fast the throw causes the ball to catch fire. Someone actually took the time to evaluate the physics of that action.

Luongo: what a loser

I was at the Hockey Shop in Surrey, BC once when Luongo was schedule to do a signing. There were about 30 families waiting to get his sig..not a huge crowd by any means. Luongo threw a fit over the Hockey Shop not having his favorite type of sparkling water. Made a damn fool of himself and eventually bailed on the fans, refusing to sign anything over the lack of sparkling water. What a classless putz. I called hime Lwrongo from then on. Fans still thought he was the bees knees even though he was no leader and couldnt hold it together in the playoffs Finally, it appears he going to "move on". Orevwa Lwrongo

Stories that caught my eye

Been collecting links for a while..now its time to set them free!

Phoenix Coyotes ink deal to stay in Phoenix
One way to stop a war; stop insuring the warships
3rd grader strip searched by (female) principle over $20
Seattle pool to allow topless swimming for women
Country of Uruguay (great beaches!) gets into the marijuana business
Sex with dogs still allowed by law in City of Tampa
Women hit by wild pitch sues 11yo child pitcher
7yo golfer called world's best in junior bracket after 1 year playing
Top Miami Chefs face off in snake cook off
Wa Gov tells judge he has no rights to question legislature actions
+1 for accountability; Seattle Police lose car cam lawsuit
Man used enema tubes then return them to shelf for resale
Heroic 6yo kept crushed man awake, alive all night then went for help
Yet another Tacoma teacher gets busted for sleeping with her students
Paul Allen shows up in male stripper movie
Tampa boy horribly abused by mother seems to be getting better
NSA whistleblowers report massive domestic government spying program
Christian dinosaur exhibit claims humans and dinosaurs lived together

Kid makes video message to himself; watches it 20 years later

Via the Dave Ross show, a guy having a chat with his 12yo self. My family wasnt into video (though strangely a tape survived from my 1yo birthday) but as a kid I made a collection of "radio talk show" recordings. Now that everyone and their dog has a video cam in their phone I dont think we'll be able to escape our past selves so easily. 

Teddy bear bomber unmasked!

Log this under creative and crazy I guess. Radio/Free Speech protesters air dropped free speech leaflets and teddy bears over Minsk, Belarus.

The initiative was meant to draw attention to Belarusian opposition groups such as Charter 97 and "Tell the Truth!" which are fighting for free speech in Belarus - a country ruled since 1994 by president Alexander Lukashenko, who is often referred to as "Europe's last dictator".

Obama/Clinton support arms dealers over freedom/change

The United States has reached the point economically where we need to promote war or face depression and job loss. If you need another reason why Obama is just Bush 3.0, just more of the same, take a look at these shenanigans going on with the US foreign aid to Egypt's junta leadership. We are giving them US tax dollars with the political correct tag of "foreign aid", which they are only allowed (via our required approval for spending) to use to buy weapons and vehicles from US arms manufacturers. Since when is it ok for the President to essentially giving tax dollars to private companies? Would these companies even exists were it not for this roundabout tax grant? So why is a Democrat supporting/promoting US arms makers? Clinton explained this: US jobs. Obama's election hinges on the economy and his chances would be hurt if the bullet and jet factories laid off workers, which would make the economy look even worse than it already is. Democracy needs to be put on hold in another country because 4 more years of this guy getting nothing done here is more important?

This is not change. This is not what I voted for. I want a president who will choose not to arm Junta's even if it makes him look bad. I want a president who would never use taxpayer money in this backdoor fashion. We need less guns and bullets in the Middle East and we need the US arms dealers to go out of business. The government needs to stop giving taxpayer money away to private business - those Billions need to go to education and health care in THIS COUNTRY.

I am not going to vote for someone just because they have a D next to their name. Romney has flip flopped all over the board so we have no idea what he'll do..but it cant be any worse and maybe he'll actually accomplish something with the cooperation of congress.

What does Jenny Durkan want ?

In a political, reactionary "look at us! we're doing something!" response to the shootings in a Seattle cafe, US Attorney Jenny Durkan called for extra prosecution if you are accused of something and have a gun. Here in Florida we have extreme mandatory sentences (which I'm sure the private jails love) for individuals who fire a gun even if no one is actually hurt. Incredible examples like that Ronald Thomas and Marissa Alexander show what you end up with when you go down the slippery slope Att. Durkan is talking about. Dont expect any justice from a government run justice system thats for sure. On the other side of that coin you have these "everyone is a golden snowflake" types who think medical holiday or max 21 years is in order for a mass killer of  80 children. Click below for my rant.

NHL top goalie is who?

I guess getting your team to the cup AND actually winning it is NOT required to be considered for the NHL goalie of the year trophy. I figured Jonathan Quick was a shoe in for a trophy that goes to the goalie who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". Apparently that was the Ranger's goalie and not the guy that actually won.

Someone actually fianced Space Stallions cartoon

A while back I blogged about a cartoon that I thought was a joke. However, for good or ill Space Stallions is a go! Someone paid for 26 episodes to be made. Meanwhile my parents couldnt find a friend willing to part with $400 bucks to help fund my refugee's hockey school :(

Florida law permits homeless to attend college for free

You got to wonder how this sorta thing made it on to the books. Florida is not known as a bleeding heart state and most politicians here became politicians to serve their own agenda. Was this a sneaky way of Legislators getting out of paying tuition for their kids (since most college student could be considered "homeless")

Michael Bay's TMNT-like movie canned! Thank you Jesus

Apparently this was going to be a horrid unfaithful adaptation of our favorite childhood show. The people who green light this stuff arnt interested in honoring the show. They are interested in making money with computer generated explosions.

HBO pulls Bush head episode

If you can find an unedited copy get it while you still can! I dont see what the fuss is all about.

A Clear Understanding of Measurement

Accurate podcast review of Prometheus

Qt3 get it all right...I couldnt stop laughing..and its sooo true

Theron is pretty hot..Havnt seen her in anything..going to have to dig up some former films..olala