Thank This Man For Taking Inaction

Interesting recollection and praise of a Russian missle command officer by the name of Stanislav Yefgrafovich Petrov. Read about what he didn't do here: http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/categories/security/589/remember-the-forgotten-hero-who-saved-the-world.thtml.

It's Not An Aristocracy

That last post was casting a halfway positive light on Bush. Since I do not want to be considered someone actually supports our current representatives in government, allow me to write critically now about the executive branch's attitude that oh so pisses me off.

So apparently an internal intelligence report was leaked from the White House that contains statements and supporting evidence that the war in Iraq has actually worsened terrorism.

Well, thanks for leaking that out, but it doesn't exactly take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that one of the roots of this Jihadhist movement is the West's, namely my country's, inability to keep its nose and troops out of the business of the rest of the world in an aggressive manner. So the fact that we toppled what was a 'stable'¹ government and tried to artificially inseminate a representative democracy into a land that doesn't know how to think holistic has lead to even more radical violence against the citizens of the region and increases the threat level of terrorism to my country, the organizer of the whole affair, should not surprise anyone.

But no, actually making that type of information public would apparently "create confusion in the minds of American citizens", says George - http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-terrorpol27sep27,0,490186.story?coll=la-home-headlines.

What exactly do we have to be confused about? Can the American public not take information our own government has and form our own ideas and opinions about that information? After all, this is a representative democracy, George. By that very nature, you and your branch are merely an extension of us. So why is information good enough for you not good enough for us and could be "confusing" to us as your citizenry? This is not an aristocracy. This country should not be run with this type of elitist attitude that imperative information to help make decisions gathered by specialists whom our representatives deem apt for the job should be kept in secret up in the ivory tower. The whole model depends on openness, not some man in a suit saying "trust me/us". The executive branch wants us to believe that the war in Iraq and all other sorts of legislative matters (e.g. the Patriot Act) are effective in fighting terrorism - but we as citizens have no proof, just the word of men in suits and no open information. It is a complete antithesis of a democracy.

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1. OK, so Iraq was a dictatorship - and I think dictatorships are crap. But that country is a quasi-anarchy now without hardly any enforcement of law.

George Makes Federal Spending More Transparent

And in other news, I just passed a pig on the side of the road with appendages that look slightly like wings...

No, in all seriousness, check this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060926/ap_on_go_pr_wh/budget_online

It looks like Congress and George have finally decided to make some parts of the United States federal government transparent to its citizenry. Personally, I never thought I'd utter the words 'George (Bush)' and 'transparent' in the same sentence without the qualifying words 'lack of, but apparently this is true. Kudos to the federal and legalslative branches of government for actually passing a bill like this which makes information on just what our money is going to more open. A transparent government is a *Good Thing* and is critical in a representative democracy in which those in power should be merely extensions of us.

I personally have berated Bush for signing military spending bills that have been earmarked with so much pork that I figured him to be an absolute coward when it came to monetary policy. At least this is a step in the right direction. It doesn't sanctify him of his past fiscal errs in my eyes, but it is a positive. It is also a positive for the entire legalslative branch, that they could even eek out a bill like this. Now we just have to wait to see if such a system can even see the light of day - it scheduled to come online in Jan. '08.

George Makes Federal Spending More Transparent

And in other news, I just passed a pig on the side of the road with appendages that look slightly like wings...

No, in all seriousness, check this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060926/ap_on_go_pr_wh/budget_online

It looks like Congress and George have finally decided to make some parts of the United States federal government transparent to its citizenry. Personally, I never thought I'd utter the words 'George (Bush)' and 'transparent' in the same sentence without the qualifying words 'lack of, but apparently this is true. Kudos to the federal and legalslative branches of government for actually passing a bill like this which makes information on just what our money is going to more open. A transparent government is a *Good Thing* and is critical in a representative democracy in which those in power should be merely extensions of us.

I personally have berated Bush for signing military spending bills that have been earmarked with so much pork that I figured him to be an absolute coward when it came to monetary policy. At least this is a step in the right direction. It doesn't sanctify him of his past fiscal errs in my eyes, but it is a positive. It is also a positive for the entire legalslative branch, that they could even eek out a bill like this. Now we just have to wait to see if such a system can even see the light of day - it scheduled to come online in Jan. '08.

Thom Yorke

For anyone who likes any type of progressive music, listen to this CD: found at Amazon/CDNOW. For anyone not in the know, Thom Yorke is the frontman for Radiohead. The Eraser is his first solo stint.

I've been listening to this non-stop for about the past 4 days. Pretty much fits my mood at the moment, which is somewhere near a half-melancholy, a good mix of ennui, a small dash of despair, and a collective thought stream of "what the fuck"'s. Nevermind the fact that Thome wrote some outstanding music. I don't think there isn't a good song on the CD, either musically, structurally, or lyrically. Of course, these days, anything that has an electronic root to it and has heavy and quickly paced bass/percussion combined with a melodic high pitch pretty much rocks my boat. But nonetheless, I think it is pretty darn good. At least give it a listen.

Beer Me.

The past few days have been beer filled. On Friday night I hung out around a nice warm outside fire with my homegirl Katrina, my homeboy Bill (affectionality referred to as the King of Billarus), Bill's fiancee Naomi, and one cool ass dog. I started on some extremely smooth organic beer whose name alludes me. Then I was sipping on some of Katrina's homebrew - Raspberry Wheat. It was a great sweet beer. A bit too sweet to drink more than a bottle, but perfect for a 12oz sipping.

Saturday night was Samuel Adams Octoberfest night at Pesci's after the Western football game. Octoberfest + Jackass: The Movie = fun times had by all.

Sunday night was a Corona with Pizza.

Monday was null on the beer. Everyone needs a day off eh?

And today was a couple of Newcastles for happy hour followed by some more pizza.

So after these past few days, I've come to the realization that beer is the savior of mankind for a) tasting good b) feeling good c) going so damn well with Pizza! In fact, I like it so much that I am proposing a new "WAR ON TERROR" strategy. If we hope to solve the problems in the Middle East, start shipping the beer. And I'm not talking about cheap Budwieser bullshit... send over the Samuel Adams and some Rolling Rocks. That will end terrorism in a fucking heartbeat. Even beer may enlighten those without much rationality.

Black People Know How to Worship

I observed an interesting dichotomy this morning. After scarfing down some breakfast, I began flipping through some television channels in hopes of finding an NFL show on early in the AM - it was approximately 8 o'clock. My hopes were not realized.

But on the way from ESPN to ESPN2, I passed over two particular channels that caught my eye. The second one probably wouldn't have caught my eye had I not viewed the the other channel first. I didn't bother to check what station the first channel was as I did not stay tuned in for over 20 seconds. What I saw on that first channel was some slick haired, make-up pasted, pale white guy with a microphone set hanging from the side of his head down to his mouth, crying and blathering something about him, those present, and those viewing not being worthy in the presence of the christian god. I typically breeze directly over these programs, dismissing them as the normal "strike the fear of the heavens into your heart, make you feel like shit for being an unworthy lowly human being without the ability to function daily without the presence of a deity through your television set so you keep coming back for redemption" type sermons that are quite present on the evangelical programs that pervade the Sunday morning airwaves. But this guy was crying. He looked so pained, so uncomfortable.... and a bit fake. I didn't have time to analyze this last observation as I didn't stick around long enough to verify either way. I began channel flipping again.

So before I arrive at my next destination on the roadmap of cable television, I flipped past BET. For those who have not been introduced, BET is the Black Entertainment Television network. I flippped past, saw some gospel for .5 seconds, and flipped the next channel. Then my brain synapses began firing with odd activity. A observation arrived in my brain based on the split second that my eyes received visual input from the television that displayed BET. "The people who were on, they were smiling", I thought to myself. I flipped it back. I was treated to what looked like a rock concert. Everyone in the congregation was standing. There were many people, in the vicinity of 10-15 near the podium - a rather colorful podium, but one that was not crafted in such a way to give of an air of divinity. All of these people were moving, half dancing, clapping, smiling, and glowing with eyes wide open as if they were completely enjoying themselves. The chorus was doing much of the same. The preacher, if you could call him that since I did not hear much preaching and instead heard someone speaking word in rhythm to the upbeat, almost hip-hopish gospel music playing in the background, was more animated than anyone else. It actually looked... fun.

What a novel concept, fun in church. Something I never experienced for sure. Then the prospect of a contrast and comparison hit my mind. I tried to find the original channel of the pasty white dude I found earlier. When I finally discovered him again about 40 seconds later, he and three other people were sitting down in chairs, all with their heads bowed, their backs as straight as a 2x4. The pasty white man would continue to say a series of 4-7 words within some sort of pledge, pause, and the other three individuals would repeat them in a monotone, assimilated borg, type manner. The appearance of joy or happiness was completely absent from their faces or body languages. The scene was about as dogmatic as one could imagine - so much so that I would wager money that if the pasty white man had said "My cat's feces is quite tasty" then the other three probably would have repeated that too!

I flipped back to BET one more time. No longer was the "preacher" the focus of the camera. Instead someone else off to the side was singing. And they were singing very loud and proud. And the congregation was clapping with the beat, swaying to and from in rhythm. Most everyone still kept the smiles on their face. The lyrical content was about "Thanking God" - which even further contrasted the two programs. The way the group on BET went about worshipping was all about thankfulness and appreciation for the blessing they have. There was no notion of being unworthy of God and all other sorts of demeaning things to the human soul, just thanking. And a very joyous and gracious thanking at that.

So based on this little 10 minute episode on my Sunday morning and my experiences in churches here and there, I am beginning to become convinced that black people know how to worship. The worship is one that brings joy to their heart and to their faces. The other show was just further evidence of my strengthening opinion of the general state of predominiately WASP christian churches, that is they tend to be a dogmatic setting of conformity for only the sake of confirming and giving off a perception of piety so that others opinions of them and their morality are not lessened. Not much joy, or so I observe, is really created from that.

But as with pretty much all things in life there are always exceptions to the rules and counter-examples to observersations. My family goes to a church populated with only white people, but it is an extremely nice community, has a very humble preacher, and no one gives off the 'holier than thou' stigma that so turns me off from organized Christianity. I'm also willing to wager that there many churches at are predominately non-white that are just as dogmatic as what I have just described.

But for this morning, the black congregation won my heart on how to worship.

Perfect Weather

It was 5 PM. I went home from work early to start my jog before dinner time. It was a cool 70-something degree afternoon. The sun was not out. I ran a slow pace. But it felt awesome. Best weather I've felt since I've been in this city. Several people were outside in my neighborhood, either walking their dogs or throwing the nerf football around. Apparently they thought it was wonderful outside today too. I wish all days felt like this.

One More Day

Until the opening of the NFL Regular Season. Hallelujah!

Now all of my Sundays will be spent pathetically glued to the television with periodic gazes to my computer monitor to check the Fantasy Football scores.

This year, I am going to make some predictions. Maybe I will come back later in the year and see just how accurate I was. I'll pick how each division will finish, who the playoff teams will be, who will play in the Super Bowl, and who wins it.

AFC East

1. Patriots


2. Dolphins


3. Jets


4. Bills

AFC South

1. Jaguars
2. Colts
3. Texans
4. Titans

AFC North

1. Bengals
2. Steelers
3. Ravens
4. Browns

AFC West

1. Chiefs
2. Raiders
3. Broncos
4. Chargers

NFC East

1. Cowboys
2. Giants
3. Eagles
4. Redskins (sorry Pesci)

NFC South

1. Panthers
2. Falcons
3. Saints
4. Buccaneers

NFC North

1. Vikings
2. Bears
3. Lions
4. Packers

NFC North

1. Cardinals
2. Rams
3. Seahawks
4. Niners

League's Best Record: Panthers

League's Worst Record: Titans

Playoff Teams:

AFC: Patriots, Dolphins, Jaguars, Colts, Bengals, Chiefs

NFC: Panthers, Vikings, Cardinals, Cowboys, Falcons, Giants

Superbowl: Cowboys over Colts

(Note: All of these picks were just pulled straight from my ass and involve minimal logic)

The Astro Creep

It has been nearly 48 hours since I took a wet walk from my house over to the Ampitheater for a rushed concert. The summer of concerts ended this week with our finale: Godsmack and Rob Zombie. I was much more thrilled about the latter than the former - and my excitement was realized and justified.

Now, aside from the fact that Rob Zombie really can not sing worth a damn compared to most of metal counterparts, his ability to put on a show so far has only been bested by Nine Inch Nails¹. In short, I was treated to about an hour long of Rob running around on stage and jumping from box to box screaming and screeching out lyrics from most of his new stuff. I'd say probably the best performance was of Never Gonna Stop, which I personally think is his best song since he disbanded White Zombie. Other songs in the set list were American Witch, Devil's Rejects, Foxy Foxy, let it all Bleed Out, House of 10,000 Corpses, Thunder Kiss 65 and More Human than Human (i think the last two songs are obligatory for him to play). The whole time the band was on, there was video being played, most well put together clips of old horror flicks, Japanese anime, cheesy Japenese sci-fi, and scenes from the two movies he has directed. All the while, there are a couple of scantly clad women dancing in the background perfectly to beat of each song. While More Human than Human was playing the huge 10 foot tall robot made an appearance and danced on stage with Zombie. It was quite the spectacle. Zombie also did a cover of a cover, performing Marilyn Manson's rendition of Sweet Dreams - John5, a former Manson guitarist now plays for Zombie, so I do not know if this was his doing or just something that Zombie is initiating himself. Nonetheless, it was a pretty well done cover. Now if only his show would have lasted longer than an hour.

Godsmack was good. Sully sounds good live, and the band themselves sound better live than on CD. I'm not a big Godsmack fan, but I still enjoyed them. Highlight of the show as a performance of Shinedown during the "encore"².

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1. I do not exactly have the most concert experience, really only seeing about 5 shows, but NIN still takes the cake by far. Trent Reznor and his production are pretty amazing live.


2. I guess it is mandatory that a band leave the stage 15 minutes before they are scheduled to be done, to fake like they are done, and then give an "encore". It is kind of cool, but terribly predictable. I'd rather just see bands just play through and stop the fake drama.