Land of Oz

Just go out and vote.

Fore & Aft

Some things are just too important to ignore. There's a coffee machine in our office that has labeling that bugs me every time I go past it. I've attached a rather bad sketch of it in this rant. The pot to be made is put on the heater pad A, a small bag of grounds are placed in a compartment just above it, and a small button labeled Brew is pushed. The machine is hooked to the water supply, so the water is automatically heated and dripped through the grounds to make coffee. What drives me crazy is the labeling for the heating pads.

The buttons are labeled: "ON/OFF FRONT REAR BOTTOM BREW" A is the front, B is the rear, and C is the bottom. What I can't figure out is why C is the bottom. C is no lower than A, nor is A forward of C. So why is A front? And since C is the bottom, why isn't B the top? After all, B is above C and A.

And if you really like coffee, my 2fers will probably cure of that habit.

2fers: Pooped Coffee and Coffee Enema

Vote!

Just a few semi-connected comments today. Why does an election always wind up with the candidates saying how fucked up their opponent is instead of what they are going to do. "I have a plan for..." and "he's a crappy person" really don't do much for me. How about spelling out your plan and why I should vote FOR you rather than AGAINST the other person.

Gay marriage - why do the same people who complain about gay marriage being unnatural since it doesn't continue the race also get so upset saying children need a mom and dad. If you're complaining a gay marriage won't have kids, why complain about a gay marriage being bad for the children? Isn't having a mom and mom or dad and dad better than growing up in an orphanage?

Three hundred some odd tons of explosives missing in Iraq. First, the fact that stuff is missing isn't a surprise - there's uncounted tons of that stuff missing. What is worrisome is that we knew it was there, in fact we were specifically warned it was there and did nothing about it. How many G.I.s with missing bits can blame those missing tons of explosives on their lost body parts?

If you don't want to take the time to vote, look for someone who has the opposite political viewpoint as you do and take them out and get drunk together. Since you're both voting on opposite sides, it doesn't change the election outcome and you may learn something of each side's views.

I'm doing some remodeling in our house and just ran across several pages of the April 24, 1918 local newspaper. Turkish cigarettes were 13 cents, ketchup was 15 cents a bottle and their looking for able-bodied help to make shells for the USA. A Packard costs $925 and they just changed a street name from Germania to Federal (can't support the huns you know).

2fers: 1918 Flu Epidemic and The year 1918

Can you say confusing?

How would you like to be a G.I. in Iraq these days? It's bad enough that you're in Iraq in the first place. Hot, dirty and nasty and soon it will be cold, muddy and nasty - and that's just the weather. You have all kinds of folks who are perfectly willing to blow themselves to bits if they can just get a part of you. One minute you're being shot at by "militants" and the next minute there's a crowd of "innocent civilians" looking at you -- and they're still the same crowd.

And that's the bad guys. On your side, you're undersupplied, lacking in body armor, vehicle armor, radios, and other essentials. You're told you're there because of WMD, hardly any of which has been found and because of 9/11 ties with Al Qaida - which have yet to be proved.

And now you have some folks getting court martialed for following orders (prison guards among others). They are being told you shouldn't always follow orders, especially when the suck. On the other hand, you have some folks for not following orders (transportation troops among others). They are told you should be a good little G.I., suck it up, and follow orders.

I'm glad I was a G.I. when the worst worry was a USSR nuke hitting Wichita or an IRA "politician" leaving a bomb on a crowded London street. It seems you have more to worry about from your leaders than you do from the idiots trying to blow you up.

2fers: Quakers and My Lai

Nearer my god...

Here's something I read that's more than a little scary. With Bush quoting his faith-based crap all over the place and continually bringing up that he's doing god's will, this bill is spooky:

Last week, a bill was introduced in both chambers of Congress to "limit the jurisdiction of Federal courts in certain cases and promote federalism." The House version is H.R. 3799, and the Senate version is S. 2082. The bill is titled, "The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004." Initial sponsors of the bill include Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL), Rep. Michael Pence (IN), Sen. Richard Shelby (AL), Sen. Zell Miller (GA), Sen. Sam Brownback (KS), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC).

Although I'm far from a legal eagle, and depending on which hand the site you're reading about this is, it does seem to incur some scary stuff. Can you say theocracy? One of the main points of the bill follows:

"the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element's or officer's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."

Which to me means (as I understand it) that if some idiot in Podunk, Mississippi decide to make sodomy a stoning offense based on the bible, the Supreme Court not only couldn't overturn it, they couldn't even review it.

I'd suggest that women start getting their red, white and blue abayas, hijabs or veils together. And don't forget about not working on sabbath - whenever that will be. And according to commandment 4, you artists had better be really-really careful of your "graven images."

2fers: Senate Bill 2323 and Ten Commandments

Unbelievable!

About two years ago, my car was keyed and I made the huge mistake of taking it Saginaw Auto Collision, in Carrollton Michigan. The first day I had it back, I left my house, turned a corner and the passenger door swung open. My passenger wasn't amused and neither was I. I took it back to get the door handle fixed. Then the door leaked in the rain - I took it back to get it fixed. I found some rubber blocks under the seat - I took it back to get it fixed. The inner door panel was cracked and I finally gave up taking it back. Each time I took it back, it seemed it got worse.

This year the door locks and windows quit working. It turns out that they just ripped apart the harness last time instead of disconnecting the clamps correctly and broke them. It cost me $150 to get that temporarily fixed at Volkswagen. Last month the car was hit in an accident and the same side was damaged. The new auto body shop has been giving me a laundry list of extra parts I have to get because Saginaw Auto Collision fucked them up. The reason the door handle came off was that the threaded holes in the handle were stripped and so were the bolt heads. The inner door panel had been damaged and so was the window trim. All of these things are on the interior of the car where the lowly customer can't seem them.

I went back to Saginaw Auto Collision today to complain. I got two very interesting excuses from either the owner or manager. The first was that everyone does shoddy workmanship these days, and they are no different!! He gave me an example of a bad air compressor he ordered from Sears. The second reason was that he pays too little to hire good employees so he has to do with what he gets. That's the same excuse he gave me two years ago when he couldn't fix my car. And then he asked if I expected him to be responsible for every car that is worked on! Duh! It's not his fault if his employees hide shoddy workmanship - it's his cheap, crappy employees who are to blame.
----------updated 10-21-04--------------
I just picked my car up today from the new collision repair shop after six! weeks of work. They didn't hook up the interior door latch!!!! You can only open the passenger door from outside. Sigh -- it seems the other auto shop idiots are correct -- everyone does do crappy workmanship these days.

Letter to the Ed

Michigan is one of the states that has a same-sex marriage proposal on the ballot. Here's my letter to the editor (I don't know if it'll be published or not)

Almost every day in the paper, we read about the problems with family. Single mom this and single dad that. Kids who return home to empty houses after school or who are wandering the street at night. Depending on where you look 30%-60% of all marriages end in divorce. I doubt those statistics include spouses who just walk out or weren't married in the first place. This is the state of marriage that so many are trying to protect. Why?

In a couple of weeks we'll be voting. One of the Michigan specific issues is Proposal 04-2, that wants an amendment to the state constitution regarding men, women and marriage. Obviously this is targeting two women or two men who want to live together and enjoy the legal protections of marriage. Is that so bad? If you love someone and have been living with them for years, is it too much to ask to be able to have a voice in their medical care? Should a loving couple be denied the opportunity to raise a child simple because they are of the same gender?

A legal union between two people has nothing to do with religion or the eyes of God. It has to do with legalities, politics and the eyes of lawyers. And yes, if you want a religious basis, it wasn't Adam and Steve; however Adam and Eve were the ones responsible for the original sin. If you're concerned of what God thinks about this, let God decide and not the lawyers.

2fers: Michigan Votes and Domestic Partners

Thai today, gone tomorrow

As you probably know, I live in Saginaw, Michigan. Not exactly the diversity center of the U.S. I happen to like Asian food, especially Indian and Thai. When I moved here about 8 years ago, there was a local Thai restaurant that was pretty good. It closed the first year I was here. They simultaneously increased their prices and cut down their portions significantly and soon thereafter went out of business. I don't know if the price increase was a last ditch effort to stay afloat or not, but an entree went up about 30% and they didn't last too much longer.

A couple of years ago, another Thai restaurant opened about 10 miles north of here. It lasted about 6 months and finally went out of business as well. The town of Midland, about 30 miles away, had two Thai restaurants. I would go up about once a month or so to eat. One offered a fantastic bowl of chicken-ginger soup. I loved it. About two years ago, the bowl I had wasn't very good. I asked if they changed their recipe and they said, "no - it's the same as always." It wasn't but I figured the cook might be having a bad day, so I returned a couple of weeks later to try the soup again and it was worse. I quit going and a few months later it closed. I'd heard that they got new owners and no one that I talked to ever returned.

This week I ran across a coupon for another Thai restaurant in Midland. Actually, I'd eaten there before but for whatever reason the place completely slipped my mind. We went up this weekend to eat there and guess what? It closed. The address now had a Chinese restaurant (closed as well) sign and the entire building was up for sale. I looked in the local phone book and found another restaurant of the same name on Main St. After some fumbling around the back streets of Midland we found it. Under the big banner advertising buffet for $5.95 was a smaller sign - yes "closed." Looking into the window I could see an almost empty room with one lone chair sitting in it. sigh....

2fers: Thai Recipes and Indian Recipes

The Pot Calling the Kettle...

Here's a quote I read on BBC referring to a recent Eminen video, "Black Entertainment Television (BET) president Robert Johnson said he felt it was inappropriate to disparage a celebrity [Michael Jackson]."

I take it that it's OK to disparage women and others however. Have you ever listened to some of the rap that is played? Ho's and bitches and cappin' cops?? I guess that's OK, while making fun of Michael Jackson {snicker} isn't? Here's somebody who acknowledges sleeping with little kids saying it's natural. Here's somebody whose own mother wouldn't recognize from his childhood pictures, yet denies having had plastic surgery. Someone who dangles "his" kid off the side of a hotel and doesn't see a problem. Who lives in never-never land of all places.

Please, if you don't see any problem in calling any women a whore, don't get all sanctimonious about an Eminen video making fun of Michael "want some candy little boy" Jackson. By the way, I will admit that this rant is based mostly on hearsay, since I don't and won't listen to rap. However I have looked at some of the lyrics from rap songs, and let me just say, based on a very small sample (Mos Def, Ja Rule, Jay-Z {names from the current bet.com music page}), Mr. Johnson has a lot of nerve complaining about disparaging anyone, especially celebrities.

2fers: Not disparaging music and Disparaging Music

Flu Shots

A couple of weeks ago flu was a bad, bad thing. Here's some quotes;

From CNN Sept 24

"But every year, it [flu] kills about 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes another 200,000."

"Yet too many people don't bother to get flu shots, even those at highest risk of influenza-caused complications."

""When you are vaccinated, you not only protect yourself, you protect your loved ones," stressed Dr. Walter Orenstein, the associate director of Emory Vaccine Center."
From medicinenet.com Sept 23

"That's why it's crucial that people -- particularly those most vulnerable -- get a flu shot this fall, U.S. health officials said at a press conference Thursday in Washington, D.C."

"Annual hospitalizations for the flu now average approximately 200,000, up from 114,000 a few decades ago. And there were 36,000 deaths last year, compared to 20,000 annually just 20 years ago, said officials at the conference, which was sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the National Coalition for Adult Immunization."
From seattlepi.com Sept 23

"Virginia Mason [medical center] officials, saying flu is the most frequent cause of death from a vaccine-preventable disease nationwide, believe the policy is not only desirable, but also necessary."
From fredericksburg.com Sept 25

"In other words, everyone should get it [flu vaccine]. Or as Dr. Michael P. Neylon put it this week, "Anybody who does not want to miss a week of work or be miserable for a week."

"Interest in the flu shot is expected to be high this year after an unusual season last year. The CDC describes the 2003-04 flu season as "moderately severe."

Ooops - never mind, we don't have any flu vaccines, so you don't really need one after all.

2fers: CDC and NIH

We've turned the corner - really

Crude oil hits $53 a barrel - Dodge offers a 500 hp/8 mpg pickup

Saddam "no weapons" Hussein in jail - Kim il "I got nukes" Song not

Terrorists on the run - new terror warnings to schools

Cold winter coming - heating prices 30%-50% higher

Better security in airports - Washington DC airports will allow guns on property

Iraq winding down - September 3rd highest US GI death rate

Report says no WMD in Iraq - Cheney says that justifies war

one more time

Heard the latest about Iraq, Saddam and WMDs?

As far as I can tell, we went to war because Saddam was using WMD, then he was about to use WMD, then he was producing WMD, then he was ready to produce WMD, then he was thinking about getting ready to produce WMD, then he was thinking about getting ready to plan to produce WMD, and now his intent was at some time in the future to pursue plans to get ready to produce WMD.

By the way, does any one else hate the term weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and its corresponding bullshit level? Here's one definition:

U.S. Department of Defense, Proliferation Threat and Response 2001, "Message of the Secretary of Defense," refers to weapons of mass destruction as those with "...capabilities to inflict mass casualties and destruction: nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons or the means to deliver them."

What exactly differs a WMD from say, a 20mm modern Gatling gun - or a .30 cal Civil War Gatling gun for that matter? If a Buff drops a CBU-75 Sadeye in the Middle East is it a device for policy change or a WMD.

I'm confused here. Is an Indian or Pakistani nuke a WMD or does it have to be owned by only certain people. And if the southwest Asian versions are WMDs, why don't we bomb them? Sometimes I think only the Middle East folks have WMDs, but then Israel pops up. They have nukes and missiles and stuff, but they don't seem to have WMDs either - at least not the kind of WMDs that we don't like.

2fers: One side or The Other

Morale Booster/Busters

Who is it that makes the policies for "morale boosting" in a company? I've never quite figured that out. Right now, I have in my email box two emails from management. One tells me that on casual days wearing caps and t-shirts is very frowned upon as it isn't professional. The other email tells me that I should be wearing a t-shirt and cap this week to promote morale and professionalism. It's not just this current company either. Of course I say this both because it's true and also to keep me from getting into trouble.

I spent 22 years in the military and we'd often get some totally out of touch commanding officer who would do some strange thing to promote morale, while in actuality putting it into the dumps. One common item is to come up with weird clothing item to promote morale. A special cap or scarf would often be chosen. Naturally, that's one more item you have to purchase and maintain. Granted they'd usually issue you the first one, but then you had to keep it clean and usually you'd need at least a couple more in case you lost or damaged the first one. Not to mention having to keep in mind you'd get chewed out if you weren't wearing the item in the approved manner.

Another one is a party with the boss - sigh. As if one can relax at a party with the boss. Of course they always say, what is said here, stays here. As if! What drives me crazy is when they take you to a restaurant and the boss orders a drink. Then what do you do? Do you order a drink as well to fit in? If you do then maybe you may appear to have a drinking problem or be anti-social. And if you don't order a drink, then you also appear to be anti-social. I usually don't so even if I appear anti-social, at least I'm not drinking on the job -- and make no mistake -- a party with the boss is on the job.

And so, you can forget about raises and bonuses and heaven forbid, you use an extra few sheets of copier paper -- at least we have pretty caps.

2fers Sumo Wrestling Kits and Cheers

It's Getting Better

Here's an excerpt from a recent Reuters article:

At least 76 U.S. troops were killed this month, reflecting a steady increase in American deaths since the United States transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on June 28, officially ending the occupation, according to a count of U.S. fatalities announced by the Pentagon.

Forty-two U.S. troops were killed in June, 54 in July and 66 in August.

Only three other months have produced a higher American death count than September since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 to topple President Saddam Hussein.

The highest death count, with 135 U.S. military fatalities, came this past April, with the simultaneous flaring of the insurgency in the so-called Sunni Triangle and in the Shi'ite south. Eighty were killed in May as well.

In November 2003, 82 U.S. troops died during a spike in insurgent violence that coincided with the Islamic holy month Ramadan.

Yes, I will admit there's been successes in Iraq. And maybe the press emphasizes the bad instead of the good, but it's kinda hard to dismiss statistics like this. And these are just deaths - there's little mention anymore about wounded. How many G.I.s don't fit into this metric, but are instead wounded. They're not dead, but they're missing an arm or a leg or an eye.

Today's body armour is pretty good stuff. It keeps you alive while the blast takes off your appendages. I know it cliche by now, but this sure does sound a lot like 'Nam. They were both started by a president under somewhat shaky reasons - the Gulf Of Tonkin and WMD - both of which history shows to be less than what was believed at the time. Both contain good guys and bad guys who can't be told apart. Both involve shoring up or building an existing weak government. Both have adversaries who have no problems blowing themselves to bits as long as they take a couple of infidels/non-communist bodies with them. Both have small strongholds of safety while most of the countryside belongs to the bad guys. However, we lost in one and in the other...