Okay...I know postings have been lacking lately.  I apologize.  Life and work have been too busy lately.  And, there is so much to post about:  my Austin trip, Alito, the fact that the Coaches Poll didn't have the Zags ranked , and other hoopla.  But, I just don't have time right now.  Sorry.  Maybe later.

 

In the meantime, check out this beauty from the Archives. 

So...Austin is kind of a funny place.  I can't really get a hangle on it.  The downtown area isn't what I expect from downtown areas...but of course, I am used to Seattle. 

 

My hotel is nice, but I am kinda in the ghetto.  I walk to to the strong smell of urine.  It's horrible.  There is this little stream that runs by the hotel.  At first, I thought, "Oh, how nice, a stream."  Then I walked over to it and noticed the shopping cart in the stream as well as the even stronger scent of urine. 

 

I can't figure out why some people have a twang and why some don't.  Many people without twangs were born in Texas, so why don't they have one?  I don't know.

 

That's really all I have time for.  I logged into my e-mail to find about 200 messages, so I have a lot to do.

 

More tomorrow.

Hi there,

 

So, I am sitting in Austin.  I want my first blog to be about how American Airlines sucks.  I flew in yesterday.  I knew prior to making my reservations that AA sucked...but they were the only ones that can get me out after the conference on Friday.  I really want to be home so I can chill for the weekend. 

 

Why does AA suck?  Well, I swear, everyone hates their jobs.  Nobody smiles.  The stewardesses act like they have better places to be.  They only give me a cup on tomato juice, they don't give me the can.  And, they are always late and/or overbooked. 

 

I've flown with them 3 times this year.  Reserve Duty, Vacation, and now.  Reserve Duty, I had no choice.  Vacation, they were the cheapest trip to Jamaica.  Austin, I already told you. 

 

I am thinking about calling them and letting them know how much I think they suck.  Maybe they'll upgrade me to first class.

 

I'll try to write more about Austin tomorrow.  I'm feeling ill so I am going to go to bed.  I think American Airlines has made me sick.

Whoa!!!! Hold the phone.  This is from OhioRebublican's site (found in the links section on the right).  Newsmax is reporting rumors that VP Cheney will step down and Condi Rice will be tapped for VP.  GENIUS!  Although, who knows how legit Newsmax is...still, great theory to talk about around the water cooler. 

 

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Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 11:13 a.m. EDT

Rumor: Cheney to Resign; Rice as V.P.

After a Washington Post story suggesting that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office is involved in the Plame-CIA investigation, rumors are flying around Washington that Cheney might step aside – and be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"If that should happen, there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated – another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP,” a White House insider told Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report.

Some observers are whispering that the driving force behind the Rice-for-Cheney scenario is political pundit Dick Morris’ new book "Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.”

In the book, Morris and co-author Eileen McGann warn that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the U.S. unless she can be stopped.

Too much going on today since I am leaving for Austin tomorrow.  So, I don't have much blogging time.  I will try to blog while I'm there and maybe get some photos, but no promises.

 

 

So, here is a brief post about my 2nd favorite show right now: Desperate Housewives.  Who do you think the dude in the basement is?  I am guessing it's Betty's other son.  He is too young to be her husband as people originally thought.  And, I doubt it's just some random dude...there has to be some relation. 

 

We'll just have to wait and see. 

 

And, why the freak do we have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode of Lost?  Jerks.

And people say Karl Rove is bad.  I admit, I'm not a fan of the Rove smear tactics.  But, Democrats are worse.  Only problem is...they aren't as good at the delivery.

 

David Irons is the Republican running against incumbent Democrat Ron Sims for King County Executive.  Remember, King County is a HEAVILY Democratic area thank to the city of Seattle.  Also, Sims was the guy who led King County through the wonderful election of 2004. 

 

Coincidentally, recent polls indicated that Irons was ahead of Sims.  Would this news have surfaced if Sims were leading.  Who knows.  I think not.  I think this is right along the lines of "Bush Arrested for Drunk Driving" or "Memos from CO state Bush was AWOL."  Especially since the state has attracted a lot of attention from the larger US Democratic party (both Kerry and Dean have been showing up here and there.)

 

So...apparently, Mr. Irons beats his mother.  (Ha Ha, yea right.)  No, really.  David Goldstein (our friend over at www.horsesass.org) apparently did some investigating.  He posted on his blog (which is very popular in this region) that Irons knocked his dear old mother to the floor and then "ripped the phone from the wall" when she tried to call 911.  Since then, the "news" has made it to the national level (couresy of the Seattle PI, of course).  You can find it on MSNBC.

 

Why do we even give this crap attention?  This is why we hear this kind of garbage year after year...cause the same scmucks but into it.  It' the National Enquirer in Prime Time.  Stupid.

 

Thank God I live in Pierce County.  We can count on our bad news about public officials to be real. 

Gosh...who to root for. 

 

So, instead of our legislature coming up with a strong plan for malpractive reform...we have to choose between two inititives.  One supports insurance companies (I-330) and the other the trial lawyers (I-336). 

 

I-330 is heavily supported by state Doctors.  If you believe the talk about physicians leaving the state in droves, this is the bill for you.  I-330 will put a cap of $350K on non-economic damages.  Also, if you want to go to court, you have to settle for the result of Binding Arbitration.

 

I-336, the trail lawyer bill, is aimed at punishing physicians who are found guilty of malpractice three times in 10 years.  At first, one might think "of course they should lose their license...that's a lot of malpractice."  But, take a look at some of the recent decisions.  The courts favor the patient.  A Brain Surgeon can be found guilty of malpractice for losing a patient in a highly dangerous surgury.  Plus, the lawyer gets to sue for an unlimited amount of money (IE: a billion dollars for a missed stitch). 

 

Good editorial in the News Tribune that states it pretty much exactly how I see it (although I am linking to the article, in no way do I support endorsements by the media).

 

Vote No on both.  This isn't a case where you need to choose one or the other.  No on both.  Make the legislature fix it like they should.  The "one-size-fits-all" theory behind both of these initiatives is crappy. 

Two days after giving birth to a littler of five pups, Giselle (top) allows Finnegan (the squirrel) to join the litter in Seattle. 

 

Photo by Dean Rutz of the Seattle Times.

Next week, I will be traveling to Austin with some collegues for the Austin Game Conference.  This is pretty much a small version of the Game Developers Conference (GDC).  GDC was held earlier in the year in San Fransico.  Austin (and Texas) is home to many game studios, so they decided to hold a small conference for the locals...and anyone else who wants to go...like me.

 

Anyway, I will be attending the Women Gamers conference on Wed. Oct. 26.  Then, I will be manning the Xbox/MGS booth at the Career fair in the Technical Pavilion at the Austin Convention Center.  I learned last week that our booth will be right next to the Sony booth. 

 

For those of you who haven't figured it out...I might as well just tell you since I've left enough clues.  I work for Microsoft...specifically, I recruit for Xbox (all of it) and Bungie Studios (that's right...the Halo guys). 

 

So, when I learned we were going to be right next to Sony, I went on a mission.  I thought, "Wouldn't it kick ass if we could have a playable system working at our booth so when potential candidates come a-callin' they can choose between a company with a fully armed and operational battle station...or a company with some pictures of something nobody can prove exists."

 

It took some smooth talkin', but I got one.  I am only writing this cause I'm totally stoked that I'll actually be in possession of one of the first non-test, non-developmental, non-prototype, Xbox 360 systems.  We'll have a playable Kiosk essentially the same as you will soon see in Game Stores.  This is one of 20 currently in existance, and the only one not located on MS property.  I'm so cool.

 

So, if you wanna try it...and you're in Austin...come on by.  But, you have to bring me a qualified game programmer or animator.  And, "Because I think Halo kicks ass!" is not a qulification, despite what you read in 65% of the cover letters I get. 

 

Thank you to OfficeLife (AKA: Ms. Jones or whatever her secret identity is) for answering the question "What the Heck is the Glass Ceiling?"

 

In case you haven't noticed, OfficeLife (AKA: Poofy Prom Dress and 5 Second Frencher) has hit the big leagues.  She's been in my links for a while, but has been upgraded to Blog it Right.  Make sure to read the comments. 

Did you all know there way an election recently held in Iraq?  No?  It's true.  The Iraqi citizens just voted on their constitution.  Although it's still too early to tell, it sounds like over 60% of the population showed up and it sounds like the Constituion will pass. 

 

Did you hear about this in the news?  No?  Neither did I.  I purused the three major local papers (Seattle Times, Seattle PI, and News Tribune) and it took me a while to find the article on the bottom of the page.  I also frequent MSNBC.  Finally, after 12:00, they posted an article about the Iraqi election.  Here is the headline:

 

Iraq to audit vote amid fraud allegations

U.S. airstrikes on suspected militants kill about 70 people

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9659209/

 

I think it's funny that the Iraqi elections are less important in the eyes of the media that the White Sox win, Karl Rove, or the theft of a ceremonial tomahawk in Walla Walla (no kidding...it's currently the main headline at the PI).  At least until something goes wrong...then it's news. 

Yeah, Yeah...so I haven't blogged in a while.  It's not like I don't have other things going on. 

 

Okay...blog loyalists will know that I am a huge supporter of Inititive 901.  I won't go into all the reasons why because I have blogged on them before.  I want to go over why I am annoyed with the Anti-901 campaign.

 

I was stopped at the light going north on the corner of 38th and Pacific in Tacoma (for you South Enders) and I saw a sign that said "No on 901."  On the bottom of the sign it said, Freedom is the right to choose, or something like that.  On the top of the sign, it said, "Say No to New Taxes."  WTF?  901 has nothing to do with new taxes.  Taxes won't go up a penny if 901 passes.  That is a blatent lie and I have no doubt that people in my neighborhood will buy into it. 

 

The other thing I am annoyed at are the yahoos that own the Pegasus restaraunt.  The Pegasus is on Puyallup Ave, right down the street from the Tacoma Dome bus station.  The owners lead the charge against the Pierce County Health Dept. when the smoking ban was originally put into place.  I would hear him on the radio (with his raspy voice probably due to decades of smoking) talk about how this assult against smokers was similar to the way black people were treated in the 50s and 60s.  Dude...not even. 

 

Pegasus now has, on their markee, a sign that reads "Save our Jobs...Vote No on 901."  Again, misleading.  Perhaps Pegasus will go out of business if the smoking ban is put into place.  But, it would only be because the smokers don't want to tolerate their food anymore.  If your restaraunt is any good, people will keep coming for other reasons.  The argument keeps coming up that people will go out of business if this Initiative passes.  All I can say is look at California and New York...they're doing just fine. 

 

Anyway, I have bloged the arguments before, so I won't do so again.  But, if you want to hear to fors and againsts written by the campaigns, check out the sites below. 

 

Yes:  http://www.healthyindoorairwa.org/  (This site wasn't working when I tried to get on...do we have some smoking hackers out there?)

No:  http://www.smokingpermitted.com/no901/  

President and Mrs. Bush were interviewed by Matt Lauer of the Today Show.  They were in New Orleans working with Habitat for Humanity at the time.

 

Matt asked them about many issues including Hurricane relief, Iraq, and Harriet Miers.  Twice, once by George and once by Laura, they commented that she "has broken the glass ceiling."  What the heck does this mean?  I seem to remember it also being used when Halle Barry (undeservingly) won the Best Female Oscar a couple years back.  So, I assume it has something to do with females being the first at something.  Whoop-di-do. 

 

Matt also says that perhaps people are against Miers due to sexism.  Laura goes, "Maybe...that could be it."  Dude..Laure, honey...I love ya, but don't play the game.  You're not very good at it.  This doesn't have anything to do with sexism.  That's the only thing Bushie supporters can throw out there.  People don't support Miers because she's not qualified.  She's a crony. 

 

I said I would give her a shot...see what I can learn about her, but I'm not learning anything other than she goes to church, she's probably pro-life, and she may support affirmative action.  So, what.  What does she know about the law?  How will she interpret the Constitution...literally, or as she thinks it should read.

 

Yeah...I want her nomination pulled.  Or, if not pulled, then I hope our Senators can be counted on to defeat her.  I know it's harsh...but come on.  This is the Supreme Court.  Don't put a "good 'ol boy" (or girl) in there.

 

Now...someone fix my ceiling. 

 

Okay...the Nobel Peace Prize is officially a sham.  I mean, really...they give it to the International Atomic Energy Agency and it's leader Mohammed ElBaradei...for what?

 

Are they really deserving of this award?  What have they done?  They all sit around and talk about how bad nuclear weapons are.  Sometimes, they even travel to foreign countries to talk about how bad nuclear weapons are.  Have they actually succeeded at anything?  Let's see:

 

They went into Iraq...Saddam Hussein kicked them out.  US invades Iraq.

 

They went into North Korea...Kim Jung Il kicked them out.  North Korea still talks about using nukes against the US.

 

They went into Iran...oh, wait...they haven't gone into Iran.

 

So, essentially, they get a pretty little medal and lots of money for what?  Wearing ties and looking important in other countries.  Way to go! 

 

I guess it could be worse...remember when they gave it to Yasser Arafat? 

Do you have a favorite sports team?  Do you like to razz your friends who support different teams?  Do you like to talk smack to annoy those whose teams are opposing yours?  I do.  And, I do it often...although, with the Mariners coming in last in the AL West for the second year in a row, I wasn't able to talk much smack this baseball season.  But, college basketball starts again in a couple months.  GO ZAGS!!!

 

Anyway, I have developed Rules for Smack Talking.  This is to prohibit people from talking smack simply to piss people off or simply to sound cool. You can root for whatever team you want.  But, you must have the right to talk smack.  "Because I own a Red Socks cap" doesn't cut it.  So, here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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washingtonpost.com Withdraw This Nominee

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, October 7, 2005; A23

When in 1962 Edward Moore Kennedy ran for his brother's seat in the Senate, his opponent famously said that if Kennedy's name had been Edward Moore, his candidacy would have been a joke. If Harriet Miers were not a crony of the president of the United States, her nomination to the Supreme Court would be a joke, as it would have occurred to no one else to nominate her.

We've had quite enough dynastic politics over the past decades. (Considering the trouble I have had with Benjamin and William Henry Harrison, I pity the schoolchildren of the future who will have to remember who was who in the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton presidential alternations from 1989 to 2017.) But nominating a constitutional tabula rasa to sit on what is America's constitutional court is an exercise of regal authority with the arbitrariness of a king giving his favorite general a particularly plush dukedom. The only advance we've made since then is that Supreme Court dukedoms are not hereditary.

It is particularly dismaying that this act should have been perpetrated by the conservative party. For half a century, liberals have corrupted the courts by turning them into an instrument of radical social change on questions -- school prayer, abortion, busing, the death penalty -- that properly belong to the elected branches of government. Conservatives have opposed this arrogation of the legislative role and called for restoration of the purely interpretive role of the court. To nominate someone whose adult life reveals no record of even participation in debates about constitutional interpretation is an insult to the institution and to that vision of the institution.

There are 1,084,504 lawyers in the United States. What distinguishes Harriet Miers from any of them, other than her connection with the president? To have selected her, when conservative jurisprudence has J. Harvie Wilkinson, Michael Luttig, Michael McConnell and at least a dozen others on a bench deeper than that of the New York Yankees, is scandalous.

It will be argued that this criticism is elitist. But this is not about the Ivy League. The issue is not the venue of Miers's constitutional scholarship, experience and engagement. The issue is their nonexistence.

Moreover, the Supreme Court is an elite institution. It is not one of the "popular" branches of government. That is the reason Sen. Roman Hruska achieved such unsought immortality when he declared, in support of an undistinguished Nixon nominee to the court, that, yes, G. Harrold Carswell is a mediocrity but mediocre Americans deserve representation on the court as well.

To serve in Congress, or even as president, there is no requirement for scholarship and brilliance. For good reason. It is not needed. It can even be a hindrance, as we learned from our experience with Woodrow Wilson, the most intellectually accomplished president of the 20th century and also the worst.

But constitutional jurisprudence is different. It is, by definition, an exercise of intellect steeped in scholarship. Otherwise it is nothing but raw politics. And is it not the conservative complaint that liberals have abused the courts by having them exercise raw super-legislative power, the most egregious example of which is the court's most intellectually bankrupt ruling, Roe v. Wade ?

Miers will surely shine in her Judiciary Committee hearings, but that is because expectations have been set so low. If she can give a fairly good facsimile of John Roberts's testimony, she'll be considered a surprisingly good witness. But what does she bring to the bench?

This, say her advocates: We are now at war, and therefore the great issue of our time is the powers of the president, under Article II, to wage war. For four years Miers has been immersed in war-and-peace decisions and therefore will have a deep familiarity with the tough constitutional issues regarding detention, prisoner treatment and war powers.

Perhaps. We have no idea what her role in these decisions was. But to the extent that there was any role, it becomes a liability. For years -- crucial years in the war on terrorism -- she will have to recuse herself from judging the constitutionality of these decisions because she will have been a party to having made them in the first place. The Supreme Court will be left with an absent chair on precisely the laws-of-war issues to which she is supposed to bring so much.

By choosing a nominee suggested by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and well known only to himself, the president has ducked a fight on the most important domestic question dividing liberals from conservatives: the principles by which one should read and interpret the Constitution. For a presidency marked by a courageous willingness to think and do big things, this nomination is a sorry retreat into smallness.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

If anyone is interested, the clip at the top is a Canadian Artist named Jorane.  You can check out more of her songs and videos at www.jorane.com.

 

Interesting thing about this song...she is not using words.  Her native language is French (Quebec, you see) so I originally assumed she was speaking French.  She isn't.  She's just singing sounds.  Beautiful, isn't it? 

There is only one thing to talk about today....LOST!  (keep in mind...I write these articles as if you've seen the show, so I'm not going to explain things if you haven't.  You may want to move along to bigger and better blogs.  Like this one.)

 

So, Desmond is obviously a littl nutty...but, wouldn't you be, too, if you were stuk in a hatch on some random island for, did he say, 3 years. 

 

I'll come back to that...I want to start with "The Others."  I don't think these people are The Others.  They are other people on the island, yes...but I don't think they are THE Others.  It looks like they are nothing more than other passengers.  I say this because we know Ana Lucia was on the plane...we saw her in the Season Finale.  She seems to get along pretty well with these crazies.  Almost like they have known each other for the last month and a half???   THE Others took Danielle's baby 16 years ago.  So, there is still someone else on the island. 

 

The plane broke in half and we know (because the producers told us) that there are survivors from the back of the plane.  Entertainment Weekly hinted that we would see two groups on the island.  One that has become more Democratic (following a leader and helping each other) and one that would be more militaristic (every one for themselves).  I think we just met the other group of passengers.  Who knows where this story will go...but, it could go anywhere.  I mean...if you think about it, so far, in three episodes, we've only seen about 2 hours of action...if even that. 

 

Back to the hatch.  So...there is a scientific experiement that has been taking place on the island.  The copywrite on the film Jack and Locke watched was 1980...well before the time Danielle crashed (assuming the crash happened in 2005).  So, it's logical to assume The Others have something to do with this experiement. 

 

Jack has been kind of a jerk since the season started.  I think we are definitly seeing the "fight" between Faith and Science here.  We hear in Locke's flashback and Locke says to Jack, "That's why it's called a leap of Faith."  I am prepared to go with the Faith line (afterall, Locke is walking again, the plane did crash on this particluar screwed up island, etc) but FAITH IN WHAT?  That's what he never says.  What is he asking Jack to have faith in? 

 

What's the story with Jack's wife...why does he get all emotional when Desmond asks him about her?  I was expecting (as I'm sure was their intention) Jack to yell, "She died" when Desmond pushed him...but he didn't.  He said, "I married her."  We knew that.  Anxious to hear the story there. 

 

Finally...I still can't remember when Hurley told Locke his name, but Locke is calling him Hugo now.  Did I just miss it?  I don't think I did.  I think there is something to that. 

 

Peace!

 

I am currently drinking an Odwalla "Superfood" juice.  Supposedly, it makes up an entired days recommendation of fruits.  Who knew a green juice could taste so good.

 

Anyway, on to other things:  The movie Crash.  This is NOT the NC-17 rated 90s film starring James Spader where wackos who are turned on by car crashes get together to crash and have sex.  This is the more recent 2004 version (recently released on DVD where I could watch it from the comfort of my own home thanks to Netflix) about Racism. 

 

The film takes place in LA.  Arguably, the most diverse city in the USA (although, the NY Times as one time said the most diverse city was Detroit...which is 80% African American). 

 

Crash interlocks the lives of multiple strangers of different races.  Basically, it investigated the predjudice hidden (or not so hidden) within all of us.  Nobody is spared.  You have the racist white cop.  The persian who people think is Arab who himself lashes out at the Hispanic locksmith.  You have Sandra Bullock's bitchy character who belittles their Hispanic housekeeper only to find out her housekeep is the only one there when she needs her.  You have Brendan Fraser, the local DA who is up for reelection...he doesn't appear racist, but he is trying to find as many ways as possible to court the black vote, including putting a possible innocent white cop in jail for shooting a black man.  You has Asian slave smuggling and the Black guy who thinks all White people are out to oppress him. 

 

The movie is chilling in some places and heartbreaking in others.  By far, the best and most emotional scene is when a gun is pulled on the locksmith.  His daughter runs into his arms and just after the shooter fires, the little girl says, "I'll save you, daddy."  Cried like a baby.  Don't worry...it's not as bad as it sounds.  You have to watch it cause I'm not gonna ruin the best part of the movie. 

 

Anyway, my only complaint is that I wish they had connected the characters a little better.  The movie was shot in vignettes, much like Magnolia, but, unlike Magnolia, they weren't all connected.  Some were some weren't.  It probably just a preference, but I would have liked to see all or nothing. 

 

rasicm sucks.

I think that's my stupidest headline, yet...but, I'm keeping it.

 

The Seattle City Council passed a law restricting strip clubs and strippers in Seattle.  Strippers are no longer able to directly collect tips and they are no longer allowed to give lap dances. 

 

Apparently, being a stripper is like being a hair dresser.  The girl pays the club owner for a spot and then she gets to collect whatever money she can.  Most of this money is collected from lap-dances at $20 or more a pop.

 

So, by taking away lap dances, essentially, the majority of income is gone for these talented "performers."  (pshaw...I seriously gafawed when I heard the radio call them performers.)

 

So, I am curious...is this a good move, or a bad move.  Despite my knowledge, I am not one of those creepy guys in shades and a trench coat that hides in the corner oogling stripper chicks.  My knowledge comes from the news.  I am not a fan of strip clubs and in no way do I think stripping for money is a form of Speech protected by the constitution.  And, lap dancing for money...how is that not prostitution?  But, that's just my opinion.

 

Many people see stripping as a form of empowerment for women?  Huh?  How is getting naked and being started at by creepy guys who can't get any a form of empowerment?  Women are seen as objects in these clubs.  But again, just an opinion.

 

The fact is...many of these girls use the money they make to go to school, support their familes and basically, stay off of welfare.  Fact is, if many of these women aren't able to bring home the bacon like they do now, we will have more single mothers mooching off the system.  So, I am wondering if we shouldn't just let them get busy on a dude's lap.  It's a secure environment, they make good money, and it's steady work (there will always be creepy guys who aren't getting any). 

 

However...the same arguments can be used in support of prostitution.  Really, how far apart are the two?  So, ultimately, I guess this is a good move.  If you need to get your jollies by checking out naked women, well...that's what the internet is for, isn't it.