About Me

I always question myself about me. I wonder about who I am and how I am perceived by others. The reason for this is simple, I know that the way I do things is found to be odd or annoying or rude or just strange many times. Recently I joined Twitter to see what it is like. From there I have joined several other sites. I have two sets of accounts, one has my real name or a very close approximation, the other has another handle for the name. The second set of accounts is to minimize people from tracking me down without some effort and sophistication. The first set is so I can maybe meet the people in real life.

Today my lack of social grace hit me in the face again and I felt bad about what I did, and now I am feeling melancholy about my inability to overcome some real social ineptitude I have. I seem to have insulted a very nice young lady on Twitter while trying to be smart. I spend so much time is spent inside my head that I fail to take into account people perceiving my comments any differently than I perceive the comments. All too often I insult people without meaning to, largely due to gaffs in my word selection, but also due to a level of insensitivity.

At the end of the day I am sitting here alone in a hotel room, traveling for work again, frustrated because of my poor social skills. While I often enjoy being alone, I am not enjoying being lonely. I am not sure exactly what I want, but I do know that being a social clod is not part of my desires. When I look at my father and the place he is in his life I know clearly that I want to be no where near where he is, except alive that is.

So in the end, my life is better than I make it out to be, better than many other people's lives, and can be better still once I get my act together.

Many High School Biology Teachers Still Teach Creationism

Good to see that religious faith is more important than education. When 12.5% (that is 1 out of every 8 if you went through religious education) of high school teachers teach that creationism/intelligent design are co-equal with evolution as science there is no wonder in my mind why other countries are beating the US in eduction. With the amount of money available for education in the US we should be #1, like we were at one point, in science education. Not slipping behind other nations and needing to import knowledge workers using H1-B visas just to keep up. The US deserves to get its ass kicked on eduction if we are to allow this BS to continue.

Is the government compiling a secret list of citizens to detain under martial law?

Most definitely an alarming title to an article, yet a thought provoking idea. I am sure under the current cabal there is a list. Under a new administration without some serious purging of the ranks of the Intelligence Community (IC) and Law Enforcement (LE) community I am sure it will continue. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the career people in IC & LE who do the hard work to keep America strong, safe and free. This goes as much for the career lawyers in the Civil Rights division at the Dept of Justice (DoJ) as it does for the unsung analysts at the CIA and NSA. I am afraid of the hot shot political appointees who are more interested in ideological purity than keeping America safe. I am talking about the Bush appointees at DoJ who think cracking down on adult entertainment (better known as porn) than it is to conduct investigations into actual criminal activities. I fear the hot heads appointees and their hand chosen lackey's in the IC who think everyone who disagrees with the President is a traitor.

America was a great nation until this President. Know we are free falling into a deep abyss. G.W. Bush will go down in history for being the President who not only saw America fall from its place at the top, but also the one, through his own stupidity, ignorance and stubborn pride, that shoved America from that lofty place on to the scrap heap of history.

UK Phone calls database considered

Yet again I am amazed at the hubris shown by the government of one of the two most 'Free' countries in the world. It has been learned that "Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK". Now again, I need someone to explain to me how a 'free' society is going to survive, much less flourish when every electronic communication is captured by the government. I bet Stalin would have given someone else's left testicle for that kind of information. The concept of "if you have nothing to hide, then you won't mind" is an idiotic concept both on its face and in reality. NO GOVERNMENT should ever be allowed to gather any communication of any citizen without the reasonable belief of the commission of a crime.

In the past I have refuse to go to Israel and Utah on the basis that they are both theocracies (ok, Utah is harder to prove than Israel, but it is still de facto run by the Mormon Church). Now I have to decide if I want to go to the UK or stay in the US. I am left with the question if I can't stay in the US, where can I go to still be free?

Freedom is not free, when will the couch potatoes of the US & UK refuse to put up with this trampling on their rights? I will tell you about the Americans, never. The sheep that claim American citizenship are drugged into a stupor by mind numbingly idiotic TV (much of which the vaunted Hollywood industry has to steal from UK TV). Ray Bradbury warned of this mind numbing in his novel "Fahrenheit 451". His warnings are coming true.

I weep for my country. I fear for my kid's liberty. I mourn my country.

Surveillance of US citizens by US Govt

This is the kind of stuff that gets me insane. I am perplexed and disturbed by the belief held by government officials of the US and Law Enforcement (LE) personnel around the country that it is acceptable to conduct wholesale surveillance of US citizens. WTF?! The major difference between the US and China or Russia or the old East Germany is that the US (and its friend the UK) use technology to spy, where the others use people. Oh, and the US/UK claim to be 'free' societies. Free DOES NOT include being watched by the government.

Let me make my position perfectly clear, without a warrant based on a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity it is UNACCEPTABLE to conduct any form of surveillance of people in the US.

If Scalia believes the Constitution should be interpreted through the eyes of the founding fathers, I want him to explain how the founding fathers would have supported this. I want to hear about how Jefferson and Madison would have considered the inserting government oversight into the daily activities of citizens.

I want to hear from the people opposed to a 'nanny state' how this is any better.

In short spying in America, no matter what you call it, is wrong.

Sex and the American Mom

An article on Huffington Post talks about a study showing that 1 in 3 moms are getting sex on the side. Bully for them & where can I meet them. Unless of course my wife is one. Of course all we ever hear about are how men cheat. Unless I am mistaken former NJ Gov McGrevy is the only guy called out for cheating with another man lately. So all of these other guys caught cheating were cheating with either animals (not likely) or WOMEN. Funny how that works out.

Why Bother?

I do not understand this. If I wanted sex in college, I did as I do now, beg and plead until pity is taken on me.

Bush says gave up golf in solidarity with Iraq dead

He is soooo nice for doing this for those who have lost so much. Well I know that he is more hurt by the loses than any of the families of the who died. VP Cheney said so. Well it is good to know he is doing so much for America and its veterans.

One of my favorite people, Bibbe Hansen

Bibbe Hansen is one of my favorite people in the world. Too many positive words to describe her. She has released two chapters from her forthcoming Memoir. It is as fascinating as she is, so go read about a wild woman who has lived a very full life.

Protest against not helped spying

In a Washington Times editorial the Democrats are attacked for not allowing a vote on updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that illegally spied on Americans. This is complete crap. The normally spineless Democrats are finally keeping Americans safe. Safe from internal enemies of America.

The maneuvering is pure election year dancing, but the end result is the same. It is ESSENTIAL that no retroactive protections be given to those who break the law. It is both unfair and unconstitutional. Verizon and AT&T should be eligible for lawsuits for breaking the law and Bush should be tried for it too.

Another series of small wins for FoB

Another in the ongoing battle against the American public and for the FoB (Friends of Bush). This president will go down as one of the worst ever, and he will have so messed up the system that it will take a decade or more to fix the problems. The damage done by his packing the Supreme Court SCOTUS will damage the freedom of Americans for a very long time. Time after time the concept of what it is to be Free and what it is to be an American is lost in the push to help his friends.

"Faced with an unfriendly Congress, the Bush administration has found another, quieter way to make it more difficult for consumers to sue businesses over faulty products. It's rewriting the bureaucratic rulebook."

Holier than Thou

Another Republican gets caught having an affair. This is the same party that wants to spy on you and me in the name of 'National Security'. They tell us we should not fear being monitored because if we have nothing to hide then it is ok for them to look. Well it looks like they are the ones with things to hide.

Violence intensifies in Sri Lanka

I know most Americans do not know anything about Sri Lanka nor about its civil war/independence movement/terrorist problem. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, have been waging a struggle for autonomy from the central government for years. One of the things that makes the LTTE so interesting is that they have their own air force and navy.

Keep in mind that all reported numbers of killed and wounded are wrong since both sides inflate the impact on the opposing force and minimized their own losses. Here is a current report.

Ignorance is bliss

This site is full of Fundie bullshit and basic ignorance. For those of you who use computer languages other than the M$ 'standards' and those familiar with any flavor of Unix, especially Linux, may find some humor in this post.


Were I so ignorant, I would be sooo happy.

Zimbabwe under army rule

Well, no real surprise here. Zim has been under Mugabe's fist for 28 years, and neither he or those who benefit from his rule will give up power willingly.

Mugabe turned Zim from a major food exporter to a poor nation that needs help feeding itself. This is another example of what destruction an idiot for a president can do.

More GW Bush initiatives

"THE US Government injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will, The Washington Post reported today, citing medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged."

This is just another WTF from the Bush administration.

Biblical Storms

Sunday morning my wife starts talking to me about the heavy storms in the South and the Cyclone in Burma. Not a word about the people, or any of the damage done. She starts going on about the bible talking about these kinds of storms. Of course it is easy to see that John the Divine predicted these storms as signs of the 'End Times'. Science has no ability to discuss or predict these events at all, science is just noise for the ignorant.

There is a line the 'devout' use about those who do not believe. They talk about the 'scales' that cover our eyes and keep us blind to the 'Truth' of the Christian bible. Then those of us with 'scales' sit around stumped wondering what it will take to remove the scales from their eyes so they can use their minds and understand what science can prove via empirical means.

In the end we are at loggerheads, both sides trying to enlighten, educate and win the other side. After all this time, all I want is to be left alone and treated with the same benign indifference I treat others with.