Genius on TV

Deconstruction

2008-07-18T08:52:00.002-05:00

I went to wikipedia to see what was up with today's xkcd alt-text, and it was worth it. Here is the highlight for the wikipedia article on deconstruction:

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Deconstruction is the process of reducing things to their component entities, and examining their assumptions. Here, the New Haven Coliseum sports arena is deconstructed into its component entities, which a Judeo-Christian might find to be topologically homeomorphic to ash and dust particles, illustrating the Judeo-Christian concept of ashes to ashes, dust to dust. However, a Buddhist might see the coliseum reincarnating into an ethereal cloud, and a Zen Buddhist might ask: What is the sound of one building reincarnating?. An advocate of deconstruction might argue that we privilege our chosen worldview in what we see, while a physicist might argue the objective reality to be : First there was a building. Then it blew up.

More proof that Apple computers just aren't worth it

2008-06-30T11:06:00.001-05:00

Learn how to really use a computer and it'll save you time, pain, and money. Unless you really get into it, in case you'll spend lots of time and money in your new hobby, and probably cause yourself some pain as well...

clipped from crave.cnet.co.uk

Want to upgrade the hard drive in your MacBook at the time of purchase? You'll have to turn your wallet upside down. Going from a 120GB 5,400rpm drive to a 250GB 5,400rpm drive will set you back £90.01 from the Apple configurator. Doing the same upgrade with a Dell XPS M1330 costs just £30.01 on the Dell site. Here, Apple is a whopping 200 per cent more expensive than Dell.

Upgrading memory isn't cheap if you're an Apple customer. Buying a MacBook and switching from 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 to 4GB -- across two 2,048MB DIMMS -- using the Apple Web site will cost an extra £120. Doing that same swap with the Dell XPS M1330 costs just £40.01. Again, Apple is charging around 200 per cent more than Dell.

Apple is generally more expensive than Dell for components that are, in most cases, identical to those used in Dell machines. So why so pricey, Apple? Less buying power? Greed? Good business sense? Whatever the reason, we think it's an interesting state of affairs. -Rory Reid

Bright and even Younger Future for the Gunners

2008-06-23T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm getting excited for the up coming season. The boys even surprised me last year, I honestly had my doubts at the beginning of the season that such a young squad could take the title. Obviously it didn't, but to come so close was amazing. Teaches me to not have complete faith in Wenger. GUNNERS!

clipped from soccernet.espn.go.com

Nasri claims to have completed Arsenal transfer

It is understood the midfielder - who can play down the centre or on the wing -
is likely to have cost Arsenal around £12million, and would be their second
major signing of the summer following the capture of promising Welsh teenager
Aaron Ramsey from under the noses of Manchester United.

Wenger had made it clear he continues to have great faith in his current young
squad - which finished third after leading the Premier League for long spells
last season.

Belarus winger Alexander Hleb is another whose future is uncertain, while
Wenger has been linked with a swoop for Russia's Euro 2008 star midfielder
Andrei Arshavin.
Nasri's agent Jean-Pierre Bernes later told L'Equipe: 'Nothing has been
finalised. It is premature to announce this. Discussions are continuing between
the two clubs and the player.'

Milan admit defeat in Ronaldinho transfer race

2008-06-19T21:21:00.001-05:00

No more of that "Serie A is better than EPL" stuff anymore please. Ronnie going to Man City would make encounters with that team definitely more interesting, its almost a shame Sven isn't there anymore to build a team around him.

clipped from soccernet.espn.go.com

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has admitted the club cannot compete
financially with Manchester City in the race to sign Ronaldinho.

Galliani said Milan and other Italian clubs are being squeezed out of several
transfer moves as clubs in England, Spain and Germany have more money to spend.

'I cannot ignore that Italian football is now in fourth position in Europe
behind England, Spain and Germany,' he said in Gazzetta dello Sport.
'We simply cannot compete with certain figures anymore.
'Manchester City have offered the Brazilian (Ronaldinho) 12 million euros
(£9.5million) a year. We can only compete with that if they (Barcelona) give him
away for free.'

Cannon Ball Run

2008-06-19T21:19:00.001-05:00

Update Life Goal: Participate in a Cannonball Run

clipped from blog.wired.com

Carbon Footprint Be Damned, the Cannonball Run Is Back

"How much more do they want to strangle the human race," asks race founder Tim "Maverick" Porter. "Why can't car enthusiasts have a little fun?"

The Great American Run descended from the Cannonball Run, the celebration of unfettered speed moto-journalist Brock Yates founded in 1971. The only point was crossing the country as quickly as possible. It was blatantly illegal and wildly popular -- it's spawned two movies and several imitators - until the 55 mph speed limit and a lot of heat from the cops shut it down in 1979. (By the way, the current record for crossing the country stands at 31 hours and 4 minutes, set by Alex Roy and Dave Maher during a flat-out run that Wired wrote about.)

Registration is open, but you'd better have a healthy bank account -- the entry fee is $20,000. Gasoline and carbon offsets not included.

Thyspace

2007-08-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

Briliance is never truly accepted, and so a certain newspaper article written by Jacob Lamb and yours truly was struck down by the mighty fist of C Bo. We had a good laugh about it though, so it must be spread about anyways.

MYSPACE THROUGH HISTORY

AD 11 - Jesus invents Myspace as "Thyspace" (See Mark 1:12)

620 - Mohammed starts group "Islam." Many Arabic nations join, but it splinters and is known today as "Facebook."

1096 - The First Crusade is sparked when Christian pilgrims are blocked from the Holy Land's homepage.

1344-1400 - Virus "bubonic.plague" deletes over 25 million profiles during the larges epidemic known to man.

1452 - Gutenburg's printing press drastically decreases the time limit to resed chain letters. "You have three hours to re-press this message or you will be drawn and quartered."

1517 - Martin Luther, in protesting the Catholic Church, is excommunicated for posting his "95 Blogs."

1529 - Henry VII removes himself from the Pope's blog subscription. England is subsequently excommunicated and forbidden to join any religious groups.

1732 - The Salem Withc trials use comments to condemn scores of women and men as being witches.

1859 - Darwin causes great contraversy when he proposes the evolutionary nomenclature change of "Thyspace" to "Myspace"

1776 - The American colonies revolt for a number of reasons, namely high taxation with out fair representation in Britain's Top 8, e.g. "No Taxation Without Representation."

1789 - Revolution is sparked in France in response to Marie Antoinette's bulletin entitled "LeT tHeM eAt CaKe!" It is believed that the terrible capitalization was half the motivation.

1929 - The stock market crashes after mass profile deletion by Tom. Depression follows.

1941 - The United States joins the group "Allied Forces."

1962 - The Cold War hightens when the US ignores the USSR's request to be added to its Friends List.

Jan 3, 2007

2007-08-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

Old cabinets, they wanted. They were an upper middle class family, obviously well off, and they needed new cabinets for their bathroom. But not "new" cabinets. History, even if it is made up, is important, and it is odd how such a simple desire as some cabinets can illustrate our society as a whole.

We are entering a new age. No big surprise here, we delve further into the future each and every day; hop, skipping and jumping from day to day, iPod in hand and computer sitting at home waiting to broadcast that day unto the whole world. Think of how out of place, nearly unimaginable this would have been ten years ago, to have a massive music library literally in one's hand and an endlessly connected life style with technology and other people. But, we look back. It seems that somewhere within our social consciousness, we realize that as everything become easier, life becomes harder.

Social facades must now be maintained, else the status quo isn't being met. We are now much more welcome to differences as compared to the white picket fenced 50s, but with that understanding comes expectation, the expectation to be different, but only just like everyone else. As social creatures, we expect others to fit into groups. Its only natural, coming from the tribes of old, except then tribes were more than just a collection of acquaintances. Friendship, while not lost, has become diminish. The lack of traditional threats eases our willingness to fight for that which we love, be it people or merely ideals.

Today, threats to life and limb still exist, but in a completely different manner. The faceless enemy is forever watching, plotting, but we don't know who it is. Is it the foreigner, the one who supposedly hates our ideals, or is it us? Do we create our own problems, and drag others with us as we take the plunge? This blazing connection has been created between vastly different cultures, but has this connection only increased the schism? Enemies require a face, and we have revealed ours to the world.

So, what is the answer? There isn't one. New ages bring new problems, and new problems bring the desire to go back face the problems of yesteryear, the ones to which we already have the answers, or at least a vague clue to what is going on. The light of knowledge, while growing every day, saturating us in everyday life, has not removed the shadow of doubt, of the fear that something lurks just around the corner. We don't know if we can reach that corner in the first place.
So, we sink back, searching for a basis, looking for something to counter act the mixed blessing of progress, replacing its sheen with something that has been mechanically worn, if only to comfort us and convince us that we won't have to face this problem, at least not yet...

Dec 14, 2006

2007-08-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

Did you know that boredom is the third leading cause of cancer in Subsaharan Africa? I guess its a good thing I a good hop skip and jump from there, else I'd have a bad stroke of leukemia about now. As opposed to a 'good stroke' of leukemia, I guess, in which case I'd probably jumping out of my socks in happiness?

Think the last blog was pointless? It had nothing on how this one will turn out. But don't worry! This one is limited edition, so read now or... um... I guess you won't be too disappointed if you never read it. You are on myspace anyways, so you must be bored out of your mind anyways.

On with the news. How about a song?

Kofi Annan told of US
Leos will crash into bus
People going hungry
America has all the money
Lala Lala La La

Ummm.... yeah. I hope you appreciate the work that went into that.

Now for more in depth on each of those.

Kofi Annan, head person for the UN (technically he's the 'Secretary General,' but in Soviet Russia "Comrade called he!") is stepping down, and he made some remarks about the US. I honestly am not sure what they were, but it involved something involving so-called 'co-operation with foreign nations.' You'd think this guy thought he was president of the world.

Also, your astrological sign actually might mean something... or not. Some insurance-involved person thought it would be funny to see if there is any difference between what time of the year you were born and the number of accidents involved with where which. There was. Apparently you shouldn't ride with a Leo... EVER. (Fun fact: insurance and insurgence gets confused with spell check!)

People going hungry.... uhhh... nothing much new here. Apparently less people in America eat now. Damn anorexia.

To make up for the frigidity of the previous comment, another fun fact: The top 2% of the entire human population has half of the money, and the bottom 50% have 1% of all wealth. In fact, North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia have 90% of all monetary resources. Those statistics only floored me. In case you were wondering, the study was carried (more or less) under the commission of that Kofi guy mentioned earlier (wow, its like a Tarintino movie that circles back on its self).

A good bit of that was somewhat old news. But I needed to write something. Like I said, limited edition, you better print this one out, because I'll probably delete it in a few days.

Now for new news! Unfortunately, there is no song with this one.

Princess Diana was not a victim of a plot. Yup, new news. Here's the link: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16240988.htm

Kofi's replacement was sworn in. He's a jolly old man named San... er... Ban Ki-Moon. Yay!

A couple fun you tube links:

10 Things I Hate About Commandments
Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Charlie the Unicorn
Bro Rape
George Washington

If you managed to read this far, check out the videos. They will make you feel like you didn't completely waste your time.

The Cultural Benefits of Wearing Shorts (a blog for those with too much time) - Dec 11, 2006

2007-08-02T14:32:00.000-05:00

Anybody who knows me knows that I do not EVER wear pants. This topic has been a matter of great social interest, apparently, because I have more people ask me about this lately. It is a bit odd when people who you have never met ask why you always where shorts. This is awkward, because there isn't a single reason, so I sum it up to "because I can," which is never a satisfying answer. So, for the first time, I will publicly list all of the reasons why my method makes me better than you... er... why I always wear shorts.

It all began on a fateful day, four long years ago. I was a little pathetic freshman, and being such, I made a stupid bet. We were discussing our odd upperclassmen in art. Among the topics was a guy who seemed to always wear shorts. After a while, we concluded that he did, in fact, own a pair of pants and that he did wear them sporadically. It was at the advent of winter, and among those at the table was Chris Garrett. So, we did the logical thing and made a bet to see who could last the longest in shorts.

It might surprise some, but I lost that bet (only because I forgot about it, though). For some reason, however, I continued to wear shorts. No reason in particular. I had never been a huge fan of pants, and the cold didn't bother me, so my attire mainly consisted shorts. A few people questioned why I would do this, but I explained the bet and how I didn't really feel like wearing pants. A year passed, and my sophomore year I did relatively the same thing. On a few days, I may have worn jeans, but it was a rare occasion.

By my junior year, I never touched a pair of pants outside of formal occasions. Soccer had deadened all feeling of cold in my legs, so the temperature never bothered me unless it was too hot. I also noticed that it was a convenient conversation starter. People are interested in the insane and the unique, if only to make themselves feel superior. It still wasn't a big deal though, but maybe it was because I never did anything too crazy.

For some reason, this year, people are incredulous to the idea of someone wearing shorts year-round. It may be a slight bit colder this year than last, but that still doesn't explain how I can't walk into a football game without a half dozen people questioning my mental well-being. One of my favorite games was the day that the class favorites/who's who/whatever were announced. I was labeled most intellectual, and then that night my intelligence was bashed continuously. I think I was the only one who noticed the irony and remained relatively warm (the key is upper body heat, everything else follows).

The pinnacle of my short experience (pun intended) was last Friday, at the state championship. I was standing on the end of the the row, somewhat unwillingly because that is where the wind feels the worse. It was the second quarter I think, and I was down to just my UnderArmor and shorts. I shed my Arsenal shirt and sweater because I was afraid that the team would lose in the final like the Gunners and because they were both red (they need memos about opposing teams colors). I caught out of the corner of my eyes that some one was filming my legs! I was surprised, but not overly so, because like I said earlier, people are interested in insanity, and sports love fanatics. The corresponder asked me why I was in shorts. I blinked and tried to remember, so I said luck. Then we had to start over because the cameraman was bumped while standing in the aisle. So he asked me again. I said, "for luck, we haven't lost in the playoffs with me wearing shorts." That was a bit obvious since we had made it this far, and he pressed on, wondering that there surely was a better reason. So, I fell back to my old standby, "because I can." Elizabeth Schexsnyder (or however that one is spelled) reminded me, superstition. So I repeated that one a couple times. "So its mind over matter?" Yeah. "And you've lost your mind." Yeah.

At least, that is how I remember it. That is where you, the valued reader, come into play. If you happen to know anyone who taped the Channel 19 news on Saturday night, let me know or get me a copy! You have already wasted several precious minutes of your life reading about how I don't wear pants, so you can obviously break your mind away from fighting cancer long enough to get me a copy. Please....

While I'm at it, I should also let you know that shorts are the path to enlightenment and success. Every failed empire lacked shorts, from ancient Rome to Napoleon's France. The US has been faltering lately, so support your country and wear shorts!

Dec 28, 2006

2007-08-02T14:31:00.001-05:00

I just got an iPod, and it has barely been out of my reach for the past five days that I've had it. Today, interestingly enough, I heard the first about a 'piracy tax.' It is Universal's idea to get a small cut of each iPod sold, along with each Zune (they've already worked out the latter). Yes, many people pirate music. I'll admit that very few of my songs were physically purchased. But, lately, everyone is blaming the system itself and not the consumer for 'stealing' the music. I'm gonna agree with that. A CD costs around $15 to $20. I can print up a CD for less than a dollar, and with all of the fancy packaging and distribution, I'll allow that it takes about $5 to get a CD to a customer (still a gross overestimate). I'm not even going to count advertisement, because music is mostly popularized by word of mouth and radio. Now, please explain to me how artists make less than a dollar off of a CD. Seriously, if you know why, please comment.

I won't bother accusing the vast labels of hurting the music industry as a whole. Instead, I'd like to suggest a simple replacement, that, while it needs some fine tuning, it could turn out to be massively profitable. It is a well known fact that artists make a large portion of their income from playing live. Why doesn't a studio simply pay for recording an artist, distribute the music over the internet for exceedingly low prices or in simple CDs that don't cost an arm and a leg for their target audience. Then, get a ten percent cut off of all of their sponsored band's concerts. Without wasting money on plastic discs, the consumer can spend more money on the experience of a band, which is why concerts remain popular. You cannot replicate that feeling. It would not be hard for this small fledgling studio to eventually get to the point of having its own concert halls, were it can host its own artists, once again maximizing profits. A simple advertisement campaign to encourage going to concerts, not even specific concerts, would also help.

I guess my whole point is that music is no longer a good. It is a service now, and it must take in profits like a service. It's simple adaptation. The first company to figure this out and act on it will be the one leading the pack, until the next entertainment revolution comes around.

Nov 29, 2007

2007-08-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

Been thinking some more. Naturally, no more good came of it. :D

There was a quote in the paper today about how a person placed a peace sign in her yard and was forced to take it down because the community saw it as a protest against the Iraqi war. Well, way to go America! You have officially lost it. How are people so hypocritical? Wake up, people! If you are Christian (which, according to the census, most Americans are), then you shouldn't have a problem with one of Jesus's basic teachings. I am not saying the war in Iraq is terrible, but that is just holding a double standard. This works to an advantage to me, though, so now all you faithful readers (cancel that 's') get a nice long rant.

While the war is not one of the most unjust actions the US has ever taken (ditching habeas corpus wins that one), it was obviously not well thought out. Now we are about three years into an operation that has no end in sight. It is a nice little dilemma: do we leave and destabilize the region, letting the already volatile nation slip into civil war or be overrun by a far more organized enemy? Or, do we stick around, enforcing a system that will never work on a people who don't want it, while innocents are being slaughtered in the streets. If we wanted to get rid of Saddam, kill him, and repeat the process as necessary. Maybe one day, a ruler would come along that was bad enough that the people would actually rise up and demand freedom. But, I wouldn't count on that.

So many people have trouble understanding that there are such things as 'different cultures.' That means that the said group of people hold different standards and become happy through their system. The best way to learn about this is learn about nations that are somewhat similar to us. For example, the French go for a very structured childhood in comparison to America's turn them loose and watch them grow thing. Not amazingly different, but still an obvious contrast. Now multiply that by tenfold. There, you have the Middle East. France, England, and most of Europe fought for their freedom. In fact, most democratic nations earned it through their own blood, sweat and tears, though upheaval and civil war. The Middle East does not seem to have that drive. Perhaps, it is because, as the Cradle of Civilization, they are so accustomed to a dictatorship of sorts.

Successful kings are what kept the Middle East one of the dominate areas of the Earth for millenia. They managed to get civilization walking, running, and jumping hurdles up until World War I. That was less than a hundred years ago, for those of you who aren't history buffs. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Europeans stepped in and tried to keep the region stable, and the managed to do so, to a more or less extent until World War II. Let's put that in perspective. This region has only been on its own with out real guidance for about sixty years. The USA required about two hundred years to gel together from a bunch of colonists who were just fine making money for the motherland, to a couple of colonists who were kinda peeved about some taxes that weren't really all that bad. England went back and forth between Parlamentary control and monarchy for several hundred years. France went through fourteen or so revolutions and two World Wars to become stable (they are on the fifth republic now, and that doesn't count reigns of terror, either). My point is that it is far too soon to expect the Middle East to become just like everyone else. And, why should they anyways?

There seems to be a genuine lack of respect for diversity today. It is possible for people to be happy under many diverse circumstances. While being under the rule of a maniac would not generally be considered one of them, there were many people who benefited, along with those who suffered. It's not right, but it is how the world works. Now, I'd venture to say there are very few Iraqis who are as well off as before, and while Hussein did a fine job of killing off his one people, at least it wasn't as much of a lottery walking down the streets. All we did was shift the balance of security so that anyone could get hurt, not just those unlucky enough to be in the wrong sect. Once again, not in anyway fair, but it did work for a large portion of innocents. So far, we have spent hundreds of billions in this country. You cannot tell me that we couldn't buy off a few people to overthrow the country from with in for just a few billion dollars, rather than plunging the entire region into chaos and completely destroying infrastructure. Way to build those bridges, Bush! Too bad there were already some there before you marched troops over them!

And so ends my anti war rant for today. The moral: no matter what you do, a smart-ass teenager can tell you a better way to do it.

Beating Off in Public - Nov 13, 2006

2007-08-02T14:28:00.001-05:00

For the three of you who dared read beyond the admittedly odd name, I just came back from Georgia Tech. It so happens to be a pretty neat place. Before I visited, it was on my short list, but it was no where near the top. Now, it is neck and neck with MIT. So, obviously, I had a great time there.

I took part in the connect with tech programmish-thingamajig (technical term, don't worry about it), in which I spent a good part of two days on campus and spent the night in one of the undergrad dorms. Like any place where many people are seeing each other for the first time, it was somewhat awkward. I'm not quite sure what I was going with that, but on wards. We took a tour of the campus first, and it was a nice place. Anywho, I got to meet a load of people, eventually including my host person Luke Walker, who happens to be from Texas. Apparently, there are more Star Wars fans than Chuck Norris fans on campus, just judging by the number of parodies on his name.

Once again on a tangent, I try to recoup. After all this (this being meeting everyone and eating dinner), we (we being the five connect people and three tech people) played some pool (I lost horribly) and (I try to insert as many parentheses as possible) we played some trivia, explaining the title. The name of our trivia team was Off in Public. Hehe, get it? Since no one can beat us, transitively backwardly forward, they also cannot beat off in public. Its just not right. We won, of course, but it didn't involve our awesome name as much as some of our opponents thought. It more involved cell phones and Google. No it wasn't cheating! It is called "using available resources."

After the social, we went to the post-social social (catchy, isn't it?), where we (at this point being a large group of people) watched V for Vendetta. Good movie, it is. I had never seen it before, and I managed to keep my sleep deprived self awake for the duration of the film. We (now it is a small group) went back to the dorm and crashed.

Monday was standard college visitation stuffs. I went to a physics II class and struggled to stay awake (several people were not so successful), toured the campus some more and saw some sights. Something ridiculous there is a guitar playing robot. It was awesome beyond belief. I jokingly called out Free Bird while we were watching it, and the guy made it play it! Albeit, it wasn't the best rendition, but it was pretty amazing. That and going to the warehouse where they make competition F1 and off road racers were the highlights. If I go to Georgia Tech, I'm definitely going to be on the off road team. Needless to say again, I had a great time.

Why are you on myspace reading this? You really need a hobby.

Beating

2007-08-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Nov 7, 2006

2007-08-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, that was a weekend.

Friday was interesting. I was voted most intellectual, but that night I was called stupid numerous times. Possibly it was due to my wearing shorts? I also got my drunk friend to call Subway, which was amusing. Apparently they don't like it when someone orders a stuffed crust pizza or quarter pounder.

Saturday morning blew hard. I had to wake up early to drive to Huntsville for the SAT subject tests. I bought a graphing calculator the night before, so I played with my new toy before the Math Level II test, but it didn't help me much on the test. Maybe that was because I haven't taken a math course in nearly a year. Perhaps I should have taken the Level I test, but that could have just as easily backfired on me if I made too many stupid mistakes. The chemistry subject test went much smoother, and I answered all but about three questions. Unfortunately, we hadn't made it to all of the areas covered on the test yet.

I went to our annual youth group camp out a couple hours later than everyone else. We decided the best way to kick the night off was to make a movie. The result: twenty seconds or so of Rachel being chased by Tim. I'll be sure to post it somewhere once its edited.

We obviously didn't get to far with that, mostly because dinner interrupted us in the middle of shooting. Three chili dogs and a load of Fritos and Zebra Cakes later, we had the campfire mass, which is also cool. Then the action began.

One could say that the theme of the night was hardcore elementary games. We spent a good few hours playing hide and seek in the pitch black. Several of us sustained injuries, from me running through a lamp pole to Rachel's little brother being clotheslined a couple times. We settled down for some marshmallows and hot chocolate (even though it wasn't terribly cold out), and then we broke out a game of duck duck goose. I know are thinking "what kind of morons play duck duck goose?" It becomes much more interesting when it is played between various cross country runners and soccer players on slick grass. In the end, Sammy took the honor of winner, and we moved on to red light, green light. That one kinda sucked, and it took a massive paper rock scissors tourney to decide who would be the light. Afterwards, we all settled down again, and by this time it was around midnight. Tom attempted to herd us into our tents, but he made the fatal mistake of telling us we didn't have to sleep, or even pretend to do so.

Our response: busting out various Weird Al raps. Apparently neither Andrew or Zach liked this, as they took down the tent Tim, Sammy, and I were in at the time. IT WAS ON. Over the next two hours, a stealthily waged war was fought with marshmallows and burning sticks. All of this seems like a much better idea after midnight. After a few failed attacks and an incident involving Philip running into a van (incidentally, the one Tom was sleeping in). We decided to make our final push. Tim, Sammy and I crept out of the tent, shirtless (it wasn't cold or anything) and cover in war paint (ashes) of course , and executed a brilliant flash attack on Andrew and Zach's tent, pulling their poles out of the ground. They had no response to this awesome show of force, so, in celebration, we pelted Philip's tent with marshmallows for running into Tom's van.

Victorious, we went to sleep and rose in the morning to exchange stories with the bystanders and the enemies. The rest of the stay was fairly uneventful, but still fun.

Then, I had to return to Athens to play in the regional soccer tourney. We came in second in our pool the day before, so we faced the winner of the other pool: Killen. In the regular season, they were the only team to beat us ( I wasn't there for that one), so we made up for that with a 8 - nil thrashing. We all knew from the beginning who we would meet in the final: Albertville. For those who don't know, Athens and Albertville do not have a good track record in AYSO soccer. It is almost always us who are in the top two in both the regional and state tournaments, and it is never friendly when we meet. Albertville apparently thinks that AYSO is a big deal, because they will stop at nothing to win. This team dives (attempts to draw fouls) more than Italy. You can literally not touch them without an Albertville player falling to the ground, feigning injury and sometimes even crying. The sad part is that the refs are obviously not good judges of bad acting, so the calls are always terribly one sided. I had the luck of being captain for this game, so after a few minutes of this, I went up to the ref and very respectfully pointed out that they are trying to draw the fouls. He, like every other ref, said he would watch for it. After a few more minutes, my goal keeper and I collided, compounding an earlier injury, and I was out of the game. The calling only became worse as the game drudged on, and we were obviously going to lose, due to the fact that they could be Broadway actors and they have played together year round for years (most of my team had never seen each other before this year). It was exceedingly frustrating and being relegated to the bench only made this worse. The game ended 4-1, us obviously in second place in the area. After some not so friendly hand shakes, I went up to the ref and asked him if he was going to ref Albertville's next swim meet (in reference to their diving). He smiled, obviously not understanding what I was getting at, so I made it plain for him and told him that this was the worst showing of refereeing since the last time I played Albertville. His face fell, and I walked off with an accomplished smirk. About a minute later he walked over and gave me a red card. He asked me if I understood why I received this, and I said yes, as long as he understood why I said what I had. Needless to say, I didn't see him for the rest of the few minutes I was there.

That was the last AYSO game I will ever play in, and I think it was a fitting way to finish it: frustration and poor refereeing, but also sitting on the sideline, cracking jokes and honestly not caring much about the out come.

how gullible are we? - June 21, 2006

2007-08-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

"Everyone needs to take the time and read this. Just take a break from all your other stupid bulletins about who is gonna die or if your love life will suck for 7 years and be serious and do the right thing. Repost this or you have no soul seriously. A kid needs our help so do the right thing.

Hi, my name is Bryan Warner. I am 21 years old, and I have a large tumor on my brain and severe lung cancer. The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. "The Make A Wish Foundation" has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is reposted. For those of you who repost, I thank you so much. But for those who don't repost it, I will still pray for you. Please, if you are a kind person, have a heart. Please, please, PLEASE REPOST THIS MESSAGE!

Bryan Warner
631-648-8089 Home

Please feel free to call me for anything.

*hey it wont cost you but 10 seconds of your time"

OK people. You really are not morally obligated to repost this trash. Do just a little thinking and this falls on its face in more ways than you would imagine. Lets go through them all shall we?

How about starting with Mr. Warren's situation. I'll give him thebenifit of the doubt and say that he was terribly unlucky to get this brain tumor (or otherwise involved in an industrial related accident, unlikely for a 21 yr. old). With a tumor such as his, radiotherepy is the only option, and his chances of survival are already well below 50ÃThen you must account for the lung cancer, the most fatal kind of cancer. If it is severe, I wouldn't bet on our buddy Bryan to pull through, even with your loving support.

So all hope is lost for the "Make a Wish Foundation?" Yeah, especially since they wouldn't have been involved in the first place. That foundation's aim is to grant the wishes children who are terminally ill (albeit, probably not the wish to stay alive). While it is easy to say Bryan is terminally ill, he is not a child, and he would not be recieving funds from the Make a Wish Foundation to pay for medical expenses. What kind of heartless organization would use such a method to donate funds anyways? If the money is there to save lives, use it. Don't wait for misguided teens to repost a message.

Not that they would know if you ever reposted a message. No technology is available that tracks forwarding of emails (where most of these come through). And while all of these bulletins are stored on a hard drive somewhere, it is doubtful that Myspace would allow any organization to count the number of times a message is posted. They probably aren't stored in a coherently searchable form anyways.

So, Bryan's not getting money nor will he survive. Feeling sorry for him? Don't. There is no Bryan Warren in the area of NY provided. The phone number works, but it is, in fact, the number of a Patrick B Hill. I would love for someone to try it, to prove me right. I'm just using information from the whitepages.com, if anyones curious.

I must be a horrible, horrible person for pointing all this out, right? At least we could all get warm, fuzzy feelings from reposting such a message. You shouldn't. The true sick person here is the one who originated the message in the first place. What kind of insane person derives joy from telling a terrible lie, and then seeing how far it would propogate? Do everyone a favor, and when you see such a message, reply to the poster to learn the facts. If you want something decent to post, repost this, and maybe one day these stupid and terrible lies will stop.

The Grand Trip To Boston, NYC, and DC - June 4 - 12, 2006

2007-08-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

Day 1
Sooo.... 12 hrs into the 20 hr trip to Boston, Mass. Kinda long to be in a van, but fortunately we brought a laptop so it wasn't too unbearable. Still a long ride though. Most sleep I've gotten in a long time... like the last family vacation. I was mostly unproductive the whole day, but I did make another stop action movie, and I am uploading it at the moment. Eight seconds of gum wrapper goodness. Hopefully i compressed it right and it will upload unlike my last one, which i still have to recompress and upload. Anywho, check it out and comment on how utterly pointless it is. I think I'll write a paper on it trying to connect it to some huge theme. That'll pass some time. Dont be surprised if you see that tomorrow.

Day 2
Woot! Boston! The longest ride is over, now it'll be just short trips. Boston is pretty cool. It has a very spacious feel to it, and I'm really liking the weather. I enjoy the cold, and the temperature up here is great. You hear that Boston is America's walking city and you can tell by the people. Let's just say there is a noticable size difference between people in Alabama and people in Boston. I wonder if there is a corrorlation (sp?) between population density and that? It would make sense. Traffic up here was horrible by the way. Crazy stuff. Apparently they don't line streets in Boston or use street signs or worry about running over pedestrians. Very different place for me. I enjoy traveling, but I have never managed to go very far. This is pretty awesome.

Strange things I noticed on the way up:
I-84 marks every tenth of a mile. Why?
At the Connecticut rest area (I think) there was a sign that said 'pedestrian walk.' I want to know what it was pointing out (I think it was just some walking trail) and what else a pedestrian does. Isn't someone who walks a pedestrian by definition?
The accent change never really hits hard until Massachusetts. Before we hit the state line, the accents were fairly neutral, but after... wow. Almost as bad as I had imagined. You can definitally tell you're near Boston when you here someone talk.

I'm sure that of the .0005 people reading this (I don't know how that works out), at least some of you have been here, so this all sounds kinda stupid... but it is pretty awesome just to finally go someplace you've been waiting to go for a few months now.

Tomarrow: the MIT campus and the Museum of Fine Arts (Dega and Picasso are there!)

PS. There is an awesome little Italian resterant just down the street from my hotel. Just thought I'd let you in on that.

Day 3 - MIT
MIT IS FREAKIN AWESOME!!! Several new experiences for me today (not all relating to MIT):

Making a waffle. The hotel I'm staying at allows you to make your own waffles. I learned a valuable lesson while making my waffle: when a waffle maker beeps at you really loudly, read the directions.

Riding on a subway. Kinda interesting that my first subway ride was on the nations oldest. It was pretty interesting in a could be mundane, but still halfway fun sort of way.Sorta like driving a car for the first time, it's really cool, but you know one day it could get kinda old or at least a little too normal. I hope that is the case for me.

Getting lost in Boston. Well, not really lost, just going to the right place in a different way than I thought I was. All those stories of people up North being rude and unhospitable? Completely against what I've been seeing. Everyone seems just as nice as back home.

Going to MIT. Wow.This still hasn't completely sunk in. Its kinda hard to comprehend visting this place after dreaming about this for so long. Everything was even cool than expected. You know you are in an awesome place when the guy you catch for directions inside the school has a heavy Russian accent. That is just classy. I'm pretty sure he was a professor, I wonder what of? Anywho, the admission information session was all stuff I already knew pretty much, but it helped sink in that I was really here. Just to look over out the window and see the common (albeit with thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of chairs, commencement is on friday, and I have never seen so many chairs set up for an event.) was really awesome. Then came the tour. Setting up for comencment took some away from the experience (I wish I could have come while school was in), but it couldn't keep me from being completely in awe of this place. Everything is so planned out. State of the art facilities, brilliant architecture (I'll upload some photos), and a sense of fun hanging in the air makes this place irrisistable. If I am able to walk the infinite corridor one more time i will be exstatic, if I get accepted, it will be one of the happiest days of my life.

Since I really can't put the experience of MIT into words, I guess I'll just skip over some. After the tour (which was AWESOME) we grabbed some lunch on campus. Really awesome sandwich. The first time I've ever had a bagel sandwich, and hopefully not the last from this shop. Then we went over to the MIT museum. It was kinda small, but it had cool exibits of robots and holography, and a really awesome little program I can't find. Something called Natual Interaction. It was a little app that translated sketchs into full fledged physics simulations. Really cool.

After that everyone was pretty much collapsed so we grabbed some ice cream and headed for the hotel. This brings me to even more new experiences:

Nearly getting ran over a bus. It missed obviously.

Watching the full length of a bad game show. There apparently is an awful litttle show on Discovery called Cash Cab that my sister was watching. Unfortunately, my other sister had the computer which left me with nothing else to do.

Watching a movie on HBO. Star Wars Episode III. Awesome fight scenes, but not the best made movie in the world. Hopefully someone will redo the entire series to its best in a few years.

Not talking about nearly getting hit by a bus but, instead, talking of what I watched on TV. Kinda pathetic, isn't it?

Well, that isn't near all that happened today, but I really can't put the rest into words.

Days 4-6

Sooo... Long time no type. I missed a couple days there, oh well. I'll try to catch up. Hmmm... I guess I should start with my second day in Boston.

It rained. And rained. And rained. It kinda sucked and ruined our plans. So, we went to the musuem of fine arts. It was pretty cool. I got to see some Picassos and other junk, but the coolest thing was the Egyptian exhitbits. It is one thing to see pictures of 6000 year old objects, but to stand right next to them. Kinda creepy to think all those statues were of real people who lived thousands of years ago. That's a LONG time. The rest of the museum was pretty cool, but nothing was near as awesome as that.

We tried to make our way over to the USS Constitution, but Boston streets are confusing, and we didnt'. So we stopped and got some clam chowder and left. I'll miss Boston, but hopefully I'll be back in a year.

Now on to yesterday: New York City. I had a mix of expectations about this city, and they were mostly right. The vibe there is a bit uncomofortable to me. I'm not sure what it was, maybe just the sheer number of people and the loudness of the area. But,it was also as interesting to visit as I hoped it world be. The first thing we did was visit the Statue of Liberty.. no... the first thing we did was try to park, which is apparently not possible in New York. I think they line the streets with cars that nobody owns just to give tourists trouble. So, we wandered around for a good while, and eventually my dad just dropped us off and told us to have fun. So we got to stand in line. The weather was still not great, but it worked in our favor as the line wasn't too bad. We were in it for maybe an hour and then onto the ferry. That's where we got our first good look at the statue. Wow. It's really odd (and has happened to me a lot in the past few days) to see something in real life that you have only seen in pictures for years. The fact that you are really there is kinda hard to comprehend. But it was awesome to be there. I tried to take enough pictures to make a stop action movie, but the pictures didn't turn out so well, but I will upload it anyways.

After the Statue of Liberty, we dropped by Ellis Island, but mostly only because it was the next stop on the ferry. It was sorta interesting but not much more. The coolest things were some graphs that showed how immagration changed over the history of US and some empty rooms. The only reason that was any good because I knew the history behind the place.

Next, we got drove around. That was probably more interesting than Ellis Island. We passed through Chinatown and Brooklyn and even over the Brooklyn Bridge. We eventually found some place to park and went to Wendy's. Generally that's not all that interesting, but when you are on the corner of 35th and 6th in New York, it is. Good thing, too, because that was probably one of the worst Wendy's I've ever been to (and I've been to many). Inside, it was burning up and the food was all room temperature. Fortunately the next building we went into was much better. Most people have heard of it. I'm pretty sure its called the Empire State Building. That place was awesome. I didn't really do anything except walk around in the lobby, but it was a cool place. I wish I could have taken the ride to the top, but we were pressed for time. Next we drove around some more, most notably a little place called Times Square. I'm at a loss of words for Times Square. There was just so much energy there. We passed through at about 10:30, and it was lit up like it was day. Not much to say except for WOW.

Now the whole time the three of you have been reading, you should have noticed a key word several times: drive. Let me say (type) right now that it was a very bad idea. Our original plan was to park at a subway and ride in, but the staff at the hotel we were staying at just out side of New York suggested we just park in town. Don't listen to staff in a hotel (or at least this one, every other one has been helpful). The reason for not driving in New York goes way beyond the fact of crowded streets, the traffic wasn't unbearable. The problem lies in the fact of the cab drivers being mental. Let me say (type) that again to get the full effect across: the cab drivers are MENTAL. There is no other way to put it. We were cut off so many times it wasn't funny. What was funny, though, was a cab that had a bumper sticker that said "Don't Tailgate." It wasn't like the cabs didn't do that themselves every, oh, .5 seconds. Needless to say, my dad got out of town as quickly as possible. Oddly enough, one thing I notice about New York: there were no dents in the cabs. How that is, I will never know.

Now for today. It's around 2, and we have been driving for most of the day to get to our condo that is outside of DC. What is really killing me is that the World Cup opener has already come and gone, and I don't know the scores. Fortunately, that was voluntary, because ESPN is re-airing the games tonight. I can't wait to see! The only thing else I did today was stop in a little town called Hershey, Pennsylvania. The actual town though. We forgo-ed a tour because everybody is tired and wants to get to the condo. The area smelled really good though, and there was a good restaurant that we ate at.

Day 7
Sooo... long time no blog. Well, I just uploaded my last one, but i wrote it a few days ago. Apparently the condo I am staying in doesn't have wifi like all of the hotels. I'm gonna have to use *shivers* dial up whenever I go back there. But I am in a hotel right outside of DC at the moment, so all is well on the internet front. Anyways... what happened today?

I woke up at an ungodly hour, 5 or something (maybe six, I'm not sure). That was kinda unpleasant, but our condo is two and a half hours from DC, and my Dad wanted to go to church at the basilaca. We were late. Oh well, but it was pretty cool. Really big, too. REALLY big. It had a tower outside (I'm assuming for bells, though I did not see or hear any) that was several hundred feet tall. Anyways, it was big. Inside, there was plenty of art/mosaic/things as you would expect in any cathedral/basilica/thing, and the biggest organ I have ever seen was in there as well. So, after mass, we toured it, took some pictures, and visited the (very bright) crypt. Yay. All fun.

Anywho... we left and got lunch, I had a ruben. It was interesting. I've never had one of those before. Then, we went to the zoo. Not much there. Some animals that didn't move much, but now I can say I have seen a live giant panda. woot. It was a bunch of walking, and somehow all of it was up hill. But eventually we left.

Then we went to the museum of natural history. Now that was pretty cool. Dinosaur skeletons (I was huge into dinosaurs back in the day, aka pre-3rd grade), stuffed animals (more interesting than the live ones at the zoo, and earthquakes. Well, the earthquake was in Japan, but they had a real-time seismograph hooked up, and as soon as I walked up to look at it, a 6.3 started off. It was pretty interesting, and I'm sure I will hear something about it on the news tomarrow. It was great timing on my part (I hope no one was hurt, 'cause I'm talkin about this a little two casually considering it was such a big quake). Anywho, it was cool. I saw a bunch of nifty junk, took a few pictures, and walked around some more. I still have to say that the Egyptian exhibit in the Museum of Fine Arts has been about the coolest thing so far, but the dinosaurs were just as good.

So, with feet aching, we left the Smithsonian (two more to hit tomarrow), but we decided that since we were already in the area, we'd go ahead and knock the White House off the list. So we walked some more, took a few more pictures along the way (one of 13 1/2 St.), and passed by a ton of security guards. Then, there it was. Almost exactly like as every picture I have ever seen of it. Except I was further away from it. It had to be removed at least a few hundred yards from the fence, but we were still close enough to be able to make out a few people (snipers?) on the roof. It was okay, but just one of those things you can say you have done. Definitally not a life changing experience.

Weeellllll... thats about it for the day. One day I'll upload pictures, but probably not for another week. Sooo, thats all folks.

For the vacation anyways. Now for the world cup. It's been going pretty awesomely. High average goals scored, only one goaless draw (Sweeden vs Trinidad, it wasn't even a bad game. Plenty of attacking.). It is definately going good. Unfortunately, I've not been able to watch many of the games (only the ones on Saturday), but after tomarrow I will catch them all. It looks like this will be a great display of attacking football, and I can't wait to see many of the teams underway. Jaw dropping moments:

1st goal. WOW. Catch a video of this stunner from Germany. Goal of the tourney and it is the first one. I wish I could have seen it live.

Beckham's free kick. Nice. I love the fact that it is an own goal from the guy who was talking smack (two minutes in!). I'm generally not a Beckham fan, but it was an okay performance from him.

Sweeden -T&T being nil-nil. This really floored me. Not only that Sweeden didn't score (they should have many times), but also the quality of T&T's play. Hislop was a giant, and I can't say that I'm sorry that it was a draw. I like to see the underdogs pull though, and this was definately a win for the Soca Warriors.

Well, that's all for all for now. Email or message me if you want to get a hold of me (not sure why you would), and support our national team tomarrow versus the Czechs. I won't, but I wish I could be.

Day 8
Ah yes. It was a dark and stormy morning. Seriously. That was kinda a bummer to wake up to after my second day in Boston. At least we had plenty of stuff to do inside, and the forecast said it would clear up (and it did).

So... we went to the subway and rode and rode and rode and rode. Something like 11 stops later we got off. (If you can't tell, I'm not sure what I did, I'm just running through the day in my mind). Then we got off (hope I didn't surprise you there), and went to the place where they make money to get tickets for the tour. We got them, then to my favorite museum: the national air and space museum.

That place was awesome. Easily the best. I'm one of those guys who have always wanted to be a paleontologist or astronaut, and the Smithsonian has really appealed to me. My astronaut side was going crazy. The first thing I saw when I walked in was the actual apollo 11 capsule. Real. Sitting there. It was freakin amazing. Then I looked up. SPACESHIPONE!!!! I didn't know that was even there. That was even more amazing. For those who don't know what spaceshipone is, look it up in wikipedia. Then you will understand. I just walked around for a few minutes in awe at all of this great stuff. Then, for the thrill of the vacation, I got to fly an F18. Naturally, it was just a simulator, but I was in control! That was a dream come true for me. I literally could not stop smiling during and after that. The list of amazing stuff there just went on and on. A moonlander (albeit one they didnt use), the wright brother's plane, spacelab, a V2 rocket. It was all amazing. The only thing they didn't have there was a Saturn V, but I get to marvel at that all the time when ever I go to Huntsville. Kid in a candy shop moment all of it. I can simply not convey what it was like for me to see all of that.

After we left (alas, all good things must end), we walked over to the American history museum, but not before i could make a stop action movie of the capital building.

Initially I wasn't impressed with the American History museum as it portrayed the US's history so simplistically (something I hate after taking AP History), but on the second floor, there was some cool stuff. There was a nice exhibit of the presidents, I freaked some people out with a very robust portrayal of JFK (there was a 'be the president' station where you stood in front of a screen and read a famous speech, mine was 'ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country). It showed the all of the facets of the office quite well, I think. Sadly enough, it also displayed the ignorance of some people. There was a poll station where you could vote on the most effective president. Let me say something very clearly: neither Bill Clinton or either Bush should be in the top five! FDR was clearly the most effective president, and you could argue Lincoln, Jackson, and Jefferson, and the Progressive presidents (Roosevelt, Taft (i think, i always forget), and Wilson). Maybe Washington, but even he did very little in office. In fact, he was trying to set a precedent of presidents who didn't interfere too much. Just clearing that up that no recent (read post-regan) president deserves to be in the top 10. Sorry for the rant.

Anywho, it was a pretty cool exhibit. Another cool exhibit was the culture one. I got to see the muppets and mister Rogers's sweater! After that, I had to rush through the war exhibit. That was the most interesting one of this museum. I can say now that I have seen every weapon used in every war by the US, and by several of its enemies, and I took pictures of most of them. I also got a shot of the USS Constitution (I think, it was some old destroyed gunship), the underside of a wwii jeep (there was one hanging from the ceiling), and a huey (I think, it was in the 'nam section). Yes there was a full scale huey inside of this place. The cold war area was pretty cool, but I had to rush through it, because by this time they were closing.

After catching all of the Smithsonians, we saw some of the monuments. The Washington monument was big. Really big. A lot bigger than I expected. After that we hit up the WWII memorial, that was pretty cool. Then we walked over to the Vietnam Memorial. That one was... wow. Every name a person. It hit hard. I managed to get a really good shot of it (it was amazingly fitting), I will upload it.
After that we hit up the Lincoln Memorial. It was okay, but not the same impression factor that the others had. Then I ran a mile to try to catch the tour for the money making place. We didn't make that one. But we did make it to the Jefferson Memorial. That was pretty good. I liked the quotes on the wall. Then we headed back.

Overall, I have to say I liked DC. It would be cool to live there for a while just to see everything, but I didn't like it near as much as boston either. I'll post another blog with my overall reaction to my trip in a day or so. It's still sinking in.

I'm a MILLIONAIRE - Friday, June 20, 2006

2007-08-02T14:02:00.002-05:00

Yes! Fredcai (my KOL character) has over a million and a quarter in cold, tender meat. Just thought I would let you in on that. If you wish to add to that, check out the my store in the mall, Deal Carnival.

Monday, April 10, 2006

2007-08-02T14:02:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am such a loser that I am going to post an essay that I wrote for English. I happen to be very proud of this essay though. Not everyone can connect the roots of Athens being titled the chicken stew capital of the world to mammoths and printing presses. I am just that good, though. So, enjoy.

Of Mammoths and Printing Presses

Chicken stew has been a staple of the diet and ambrosia to the tongue for centuries. Because of this, it is truly a great distinguishing title that Athens, Alabama has, the Chicken Stew Capital of the World. As well known as this fact is, few are aware that chicken stew is directly due to the effects of the mammoth and the printing press. Without these two crucial objects in history, Athens would have never become the world renowned city it is today.

Mammoths were the behemoths of the ice age. Their awesome size, however, made them a tantalizing target for primitive men. The small hunters had to truly work as a team to bring down their prey, and once this deed was done, they celebrated the successful hunt. During this time of enjoyment, music was introduced. Men eventually combined the teamwork of the hunt with this new form of art to create bands.

Several thousand years later, a man named Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, and as he was German, he was probably enjoying a beer and the music of an oom-pah band (thanks to the mammoths of old). The increased numbers of books from printing press allowed for general schooling, and the exchange of knowledge led to an increase of exploration. The New World was discovered and, a few hundred years later, the town of Athens was founded. The idea of education spread and finally found Athens, and thus Athens High School was founded. Building upon the ancient ceremonies of the hunt, the marching band was also formed.

People enjoy eating. Due to this fact and the difficulty of hunting prey such as mammoths, they began to domesticate animals. Chickens have become a very popular source of food due to their tasteful flesh and their ease of domestication. With the advent of the industrialization, spurred by the printing press, chicken processing plants were built to efficiently pack the coveted meat of Gallus gallus. One such factory was built in Athens.
As the town grew into a city, its high school and its marching band also expanded. To procure more funding, the band took advantage of the local chicken factory. They started selling delectable chicken stew, and Athens took its rightful place as the Chicken Stew Capital of the World. Unfortunately, this title also carries risks, such as being the likely first strike of a Chinese invasion (a popular expression in China is no chicken, no satisfaction).However, it is clear that the illustrious city of Athens, Alabama stands prepared to defend its chicken stew and the stews mighty and intricate history, all because of mammoths and printing presses.

How the US Lost the War on Terror - Friday, October 20, 2006

2007-08-02T13:59:00.000-05:00

First, I'd like to thank the one guy who really made this possible: George W. Bush. Due to your brilliant single-mindedness, you killed America. Years from now, the tragedy of Bush's reign won't be September 11, but the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This little piece of legislation managed to kill the nearly 800 year tradition of habeas corpus, or the right to know why you are in jail.
Habeas corpus was established by the Magna Carta in 1215. Since then, (nearly) every arrest in England, America, and many other countries have required a reason behind them. Yes, there were times when this was trampled on, but this was in times of all out war or insurrection (or perhaps a brutal leader). It is, just as much as anything else, the very foundation of all of our rights. Without habeas corpus, there are no laws, just general guidelines that the leader can overturn at will. Since the writing of the Constitution, habeas corpus has only been suspended twice: by Abraham Lincoln in Maryland during the Civil War and by Grant in South Carolina. What's the difference from now? Both of these times, it was legal. The Constitution grants the right to suspend habeas corpus during times of insurrection (the two listed) and invasion. Mind telling me who is revolting and/or invading?
Why would any law be passed that is completely unconstitutional? To protect us, of course! You see, habeas corpus is only suspended for 'enemy combatants.' That doesn't seem too bad, until you read their definition of 'enemy combatant' and realize that, surprise, a presidentially hand picked tribunal decides if you are a combatant or not. This alone directly steps all over the the fifth and sixth amendments and indirectly erases nearly all of the rest of the Bill of Rights off the board. Whats the point of free speech when you can be arrested for anything you say. No exaggeration there:

Sec. 950iii. Contempt

`A military commission under this chapter may punish for contempt any person who uses any menacing word, sign, or gesture in its presence, or who disturbs its proceedings by any riot or disorder.

Thats right, you know longer have the freedom of speech.

When I first heard about this bill, I thought that it was an over reaction. Surely such a bill could make it through Congress, let alone not even be challenged by the Supreme Court, but it has.

Surely this cannot get any worse, right? Wrong. Torture was also legalized. While not directly stating this directly, the law allows physical and mental harm to be induced during interrogation up to organ failure. Hmmm, that's commonly known as torture, and it happens to be against the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, not to mention countless other treaties which we happen to be signatories of. Best example: waterboarding, a form of torture simulating drowning, was considered a serious war crime in World War II. A congressman (Ted Kennedy, I believe) specifically asked that at least this one specific thing is outlawed, but somehow it never made it in there. What a shame, huh?

The list goes on and on. This law is a blatant attack on our rights as Americans and as human beings. Are we going to take this sitting down? In order to defeat evil, be have become it. As Benjamin Franklin once spoke, "those willing to give up a little bit of their freedom for a little bit of security deserve neither and will lose both." We are losing both...

YouTube Fun - Wednesday, August 30, 2006

2007-08-02T13:58:00.000-05:00

As many of you know (*snickers at the thought*), that title means 'Headbut.' Coincidentally, that is also the name of a really catchy song. I've decided I'd take this portion of my valuable time to share some special videos with you. Since you are already bored (elsewise you wouldn't be reading this), check these out.

Music video for y'all who know your math. Good stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTby_e4-Rhg

Another music video thats really funny if you know what its about. The catchiest song from one of the biggest events of the summer: Zidane's headbutt. Let's face it, no one will write (good) songs about Isrealis killing innocent Lebonesians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWAJh...p de Boule

The flash video of my current song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ejM4ZiJnj8&search=ultimate showdown

Hehe. Thats all I have to say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leEsz9ci5XE

Sounds like ukeleles. Unfortunately, you can understand the singer, which makes it completely unrealistic. Hehe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDyIC3NYiSA

Friday, July 14, 2006

2007-08-02T13:57:00.000-05:00

Sooo.... Who is still mourning? *raises hand* Why Zidane?! WHY? I'll move on, someday....

In more happy news: I got a five on my AP History exam! Yay me!

I also managed to pick up Freelance. It's fun. Yup. And, I got some MC Hawking songs. Bloody hilarious. Hehe, British people.

Speaking of British people, for some reason I'm attending a soccer camp that would be completely worthless if others from the high school team were there. We make fun of the British guy. It's fun. Until he got nailed in the face. I'm not quite sure what happened there. Favorite comment from him: "You really are French, aren't you?" - in response to my balancing a ball on my foot while he was talking.

More happy news: first paycheck today! Yay! $70! Sure, not much, but considering I only "worked" (more just stood around) a couple days, I'm happy.

Wierd (and badly told) story time:
I went to see Superman the other day (I think its more like a week ago now) with Lindsey, and we went by Burger King to have lunch with her boyfriend. (Excited yet?) Anywho, she drove (might be important, not sure), and as we were getting out, two badly kempt guys walked up to us and asked if we were friendly. How many times have random guys with missing teeth asked you if you were friendly? It kinda throws you off. Naturally, you can't just blow them off (they had us cornered anyways), so we kinda played along, slightly nervously (especially in Lindsey's case cause they were more talking to her, because she was driving I think, just a random guess). ANYWHO, they said they were going around looking for friendly people to get points. Alrighty, then. I figured they just wanted us to do something to prove we were slightly friendly, like sign something or another. By friendly, they meant 'person who buys a magazine.' At first they said it was for a class. That's nice, but I don't buy magazines. Then they talked about all of this stuff they would get if they got the most points (trip to Rome, I think they were after). That's nice, will you get some teeth there? (I just thought that, not actually said that. I think that would have made me a not friendly person.) They kept going on and on about all of this cool stuff they would get, as if that would help their case. At this point it was for a good cause. So they took out a ratty pamplet with magazines and prices and such, which I didn't look at, but to make them happy, Lindsey did. It didn't work. So we said, sorry, no money (kinda awkward when you are going to buy lunch), and it was mostly true. I offered them $1.90. They refused fortunately, cause I wasn't about to give it to them. Once again, they talked about all the stuff they would get (a trip to France this time, I wonder what happened to Rome?), and turns out, these guys were last years winners. YAY! I really cared, as you can tell by now, almost as much as I believed them. Around then they realized that we weren't going to buy any magazines. So then they tried to recruit us, even after we told them we were still in school. I will give them that they were tenatious. They talked about all the money they made going around doing this stuff (I thought this was for a class, no wait, I mean a charity), and they could do this wearing what ever they wanted (obviously enough judging from first glance). One guy even showed us his $2500 watch (the other left his in the hotel room). That really floored me, I simply couldn't get over all of the rhinestones, uh, *diamonds* in that watch. They just kept going and going and going and going. I also must admit they had good strategy in pinning us in. Why didn't we just tell them to get lost, you are wondering. While these weren't huge guys, they still didn't look like the type you want to piss off. The last thing I wanted was to have the rest of their teeth implanted into my skin. That's why. Finally, one guy offered us a phone number to call if we were in anyway interested. Lindsey took it, and admited that it was just to get them to go away after the guy asked. All in all, it was pretty wierd, but I had fun noticing all of the incosistancies and ironies of their pitch, then again, they never talked to me. Not much I could do there.

A couple nights later I searched the web to see if their contest was real. Ends up, it is actually some corprate conspiricy to sell magazines at a high price (no joke there). I felt a little pity for them, but then I realized they could wear whatever they wanted (ok, that wasn't friendly). Did I mention that Lindsey's boyfriend (who is far more intimidating than me, I might add) was sitting around in the parking lot for half of the time? Hehe. That was funny, too.

ANYWAYS. One last thing. Italy's top clubs just got relegated and/or were put at a point defiencincy for the next season. Serves them right. Stupid Italians. No sympathy from me now.

Back in Black

2007-08-02T13:47:00.001-05:00

But don't worry, the background will change after a while. I used to update my myspace blog fairly regularly, but after a while I dropped the habit. Here, I take a stand against procrastination. Here, I make bold claims about starting the blogging the renewed. Here, ummm.... check out some of the stuff I right. I'll probably just post a backlog of stuff I like to start out, but it shall grow in time.