Is he a responsive president or a wishy washy one?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/30/bush.reversals.ap/index.html

He resisted a commission to investigate Iraq intelligence failures, but then relented.

This is just an example of how this president is dammed if he does what his opponents want or dammed if he does not.

I just thing it is interesting when they critique him when he does not give them what he wants. Then they criticize him when he does what they want.

cube

Here is a great idea

For all of you who I have not emailed, here is an interesting link.
http://www.maybeithinktoomuch.com/election/

This is a fun game.

What is really cool would be to take an average of everyone who put their two cents in and how accurate the tool is.

Assuming that bloggers will sign up, and that bloggers are smarter than everyone else, then it could in theory be highly accurate.

cube

Edit:
My tally was:
I predict that George W. Bush will win the election with 286 electoral votes spread across 27 states.
John Kerry will receive 252 electoral votes spread across 24 states.

Right now i just picked the same states which each party won last time. I am going to review some information before i make my finial decisions.

Mark,
I told all my friends that might be intrested, some are fairly astute. I did my part, now i will just bug them until they get give in.

Some of the information that i am going to review is here.
http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/statetotals.asp?cycle=2002

http://www.bodog.com/sports-betting/non-sports-events.jsp

http://www.fundrace.org/moneymap.php?cand=RepVDem&zoom=County

http://www.baseballcrank.com/archives/002553.php

Also this is a good site to check out.
http://news.us.newsfutures.com/group/group.html?groupId=2379

3 million jobs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31145-2004Mar28.html


Pointing to the 3 million jobs lost since Bush took office and the 43 million Americans without health care, he scoffed at the president's recent claim that the U.S. economy was now "turning a corner."


I thought it was 2 million jobs lost.

From their homepage.

http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/bushpresser/index.html

Fact: Over 2 Million Jobs Have Been Lost Since Bush's 2001 Tax Cut Was Enacted. In 2001, when touting his tax cut Bush said, "My plan is good for the long-term health of our economy. It is good for the businesses that create jobs." Overall, 2.1 million jobs have been lost since the 2001 Bush tax cut was enacted; the measure was signed on June 7, 2001. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov; Bush Remarks, 6/7/01; Bush Remarks Announcing the Tax Cut Plan, 2/5/01]


I just thought i would point that out.

cube

edit: i did not read close enough, one is talking about when bush took office and the other one is taking about since the tax cut.
note: unemployment numbers say that 308,000 jobs were created in march of 2004

Exculisve: Real entertainment

A reall man only needs these two site to be entertained for the rest of his life.

http://rock103.com/drakeandzeke/asheard/timeoutforspanish.html

Example:
Me siento como estoy en Factor del Miedo, usted puta repugnante.

and
http://www.freetranslation.com/

Means: I feel as I am in Factor of the Fear, you revolting prostitute

Rock 103's version is:
I feel like I'm on Fear Factor, you nasty whore.

is not the internet cool and really funny.

cube

No way....10,000,000 jobs

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28396-2004Mar26.html

IN AN ECONOMIC speech yesterday, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) declared he would create 10 million jobs in his first term as president and offered a reform of corporate taxes as a tool to reach that end. It is true that job creation in the long run could be improved by better tax policy and particularly by reforms that simplify the tax code. But Mr. Kerry proposed a different reform, one that would remove the bias in the tax code in favor of creating jobs offshore. "We now have a tax code that has American taxpayers paying to ship jobs overseas. That makes no sense," the candidate declared.

There are not even 10 million jobs in the US right now. If the economy created 2 million jobs then we would be at full employment. The only way to create 10 million jobs is to get rid of the 10 to 15 million illegal immigrants we have in the US right now. No one really thinks that is possible. Although it would create jobs for all the people looking for them.

Kerry is a moron. I really don't believe that he said this, but it is staring me right in the face.

cube

Well if you are going to ban a religion ban this one

Taken Questions
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 26, 2004
Question Taken at the March 26, 2004 Daily Press Briefing


Russia: Banning Religious Activities of Jehovah s Witnesses in Moscow


Question: What is our response to the recent decision to ban the religious
activities of Jehovah s Witnesses in Moscow?

Answer: We deplore the recent decision of Moscow s Golovinskiy Court to ban the
religious activities of Jehovah s Witnesses in Moscow and to liquidate their
legal entity. We understand the Jehovah s Witnesses will appeal the decision,
and that the appeal will stop any immediate action to implement the decision.

We urge local authorities and the Russian Government to honor their commitments
to respect the right of all faiths to religious freedom.

2004/329

[End]

Released on March 26, 2004

***********************************************************
See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/ for all press statements
************************************************************
To change your subscription, go to http://www.state.gov/www/listservs_cms.html


cube

Exclusive: What they hell were they thinking

Just a little info from the friendly CBO.

http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4011&sequence=0

The Social Security system is a collective one. Each worker's Social Security taxes are not put aside to pay his or her eventual benefits; instead, they are used to finance the system in general, largely for current retirees. As with other federal levies, Social Security tax receipts go into the U.S. Treasury, and any portion not needed to pay current beneficiaries is used to finance the government's other functions or to reduce its debt.

Who the hell thought of that idea?

cube

Exclusive: Get your own programs

This article had some very interesting points.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23350-2004Mar25.html

But let me hit the highlights.
Yet it comes as other forces are also weakening Microsoft's grip on desktop computers" -- such as Linux.

America's problem.

It expands the technical information Microsoft is forced to disclose so that rivals such as Sun Microsystems, Novell and makers of the Linux operating system can make their products work with Window
Eu deciding what one American company shows other American companies.

, many Microsoft "competitors said they were happy to see the European Commission go further than the U.S. antitrust enforcers in addressing Microsoft's anti-competitive conduct."

What competitors? EU companies?

Rob Glaser, chief of longtime Microsoft foe RealNetworks. Glaser told the New York Times: "This would be a step in the right direction, helping to open up the industry further for competition and innovation." However, the Times noted that "even Mr. Glaser has modest expectations for the immediate impact of the European ruling."

Ahh American companies.

Another piece in The New York Times quoted Matthew Szlulik, chief executive of the Linux software firm Red Hat. "This sends a clear message to the international and European marketplaces that innovation and choice really matter. As the E.U. looks forward, they are going to create an environment that inspires competition and leads to better products and lower prices," Szlulik said.


An American company commenting on the EU ruling.

: "If upheld in the European courts, the commission's decision sets a precedent with implications for other companies, including Silicon Valley firms such as Google Inc., Network Associates Inc. and Symantec Corp., that might compete with new add-ons to the Windows operating system. RealNetworks Inc., based in Seattle, is waging its own lawsuit against Microsoft in the United States over the bundling of Windows Media Player with the operating system, the same practice that the EC deemed anti-competitive

And once again, they are hoping that America pays attention to what Europe is doing.


There are no European companies I know of which even compete against Microsoft. In any of it's markets: Development tools (The things the other companies products are programmed in), web technology (browsers and other web tools),database management Systems (DBMS:Main competitor is Oracle), server software (Sun is a main competitor along with IBM), media players (Main competitor is Real player), and last of all the casual OS for home or professional use (Linus and Macs here are the competitors).

These are American companies competing against each other. If you EU wants something to say about the software market, they need first get software into the market. Then they can make judgments. Right now they are sticking their nose in Americas kitchen.

the cube has spoken

Exclusive:Why not an independent Taiwan?

...is the name of this article.
http://www.iht.com/articles/511522.html

A very interesting article, but he really seems to miss the major point that if American and China are in a war. Millions of people will die to save a relatively small country.

What people should really be concentrating on are ways that Taiwan can gain it's independence. Right now they are China's bitch, and America would like to keep from getting into a very messy war with China. This leaves Taiwan with the option of solving the problem it's self.

Well my idea is to total up the worth of Taiwan. This would be total assets: Land, buildings, economic worth, and China could even put a value on the taxes people would pay. Also economic returns could be estimated for the next 75 years (very poorly though). Then Taiwan should make an offer to buy their selves from the china government. This would allow both to save face. It could possibly take a lifetime for Taiwan to do that, but I don't see china going anywhere (they have not gone anywhere for thousands of years). Taiwan can always stop paying the installments, if they decide that they really don't want their freedom.

With this idea and ideas like it (such as the UN buying the Kurds one Oil field, and letting them make money and buy portions of their country over time.). Many many conflicts could be solved. The Palestine people could buy portions of their land back from Israel. Even buy other parts of other countries, to start another country.

(of course if you care so much about a piece of land that you are a going to die for it, well that is your problem.)
A corporation state could be the next big fad, you never know it could catch on.

the cube has spoken

Exclusive: One nation under nothing

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/24/EDGL95PE8B1.DTL

This article started off fair interesting with this line: "My parents arrived here from India in one of the waves of immigration that have brought millions of families to the United States during the past 300 years" and set my teeth on edge with this line: "But the assertion in the Pledge of Allegiance that this is a nation "under God" prevents many immigrants outside the Judeo-Christian tradition from participating in this fundamental ritual of American patriotism".

The last statement is fairly interesting because of these facts. The Islamic God is the same are the Judeo-Christian God, although if this were a Muslim country it would most likely be "One nation under god and his prophet is Muhammad". The fact remains that the Muslim still can't find fault in the statement, "One nation under God". They just have some additions.

Here is a quote about Hinduism:
"Hinduism is generally associated with a multiplicity of Gods, and it does not advocate the worship of one particular deity. The Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism amount to thousands, all representing the many aspects of only one supreme Absolute called “Brahman”. However, people who don’t know this, misinterprets the fact that Hinduism has a multitude of Gods! What one should understand is that although there are many manifestations of Brahman in the forms of deities each deity is really an aspect of the Brahman or, ultimately Brahman itself. "
So I have leaned Hindus have a problem with the word "God". I would be in favor of changing the word to "God(s)”, if it would make them happy. Again this group cannot find fault with the statement "one nation under God". They just have some additions.

Finally, a break down of India's religion from the CIA world fact book:
Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5%

Now I can continue reading the article.

Cube

Exclusive: Recent Interaction with the outside world

Here is a recent email that I sent to the good guys at the TN senate office.

Senators,

I have an idea that I would like for you to consider.

An abortion tax could have several major consequences for the state of Tennessee. It could augment the funding of several departments (education, adoption agencies, and the Tennessee foster care program). Also, it would price the cost of an abortion in Tennessee out of the competitive market. This means women looking for such a service might choose to go to another state because it would be cheaper.

Thanks for you time and I hope that you will consider my idea as a potential tactic for lessening the impact abortions have on society (at least in our state)

I would propose a 100 - 250 tax adjusted for inflation, this would be reasonable given that I was able to price an abortion for about 350 dollars.

http://www.memphisreproductivehealth.com/1.html


PS. My reasoning is along these lines. It is bad for a society to kill it's young and old, although at this point we can't outlaw abortions, we can use the tax money generated to fund solutions.


Not a bad idea if I do say so myself.

cube

Edit: Here is an link that I found.
http://www.robmatherly.com/archives/cat_intolerance_is_tolerance.php#000296

Edit2: Some addition research yielded this.
http://www.afterabortion.org/MAR/IGAPPXC.htm

Exclusive: When Unions go too far

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/8203320.htm

This is a great article. I fully support getting a fair wage, and good working conditions.

The working conditions should be set by the government (it falls under that protecting life thing), and the fair wage should be negotiated by the person getting the job.

But many people have decided that Unions are the way to go, and in this case while fighting for jobs the Union actually lost the jobs that they were fighting for. Which I feel for the people who did not get hired, but really it is the Union leaders fault. They got a big head, and did not negotiate, so they screwed their selves over real good. When your union is costing you your job, do you stay in the Union?

cube

Exclusive: Real problem with drugs

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114494,00.html

America has its fair share of unfair trade agreements. From my POV, America is in the right on this one.
This article, which is from fox, is supporting and extolling the virtues of free trade. It is all the other countries that are screwing up the market.

Because Europe, Canada and Japan suppress drug prices through price controls and other mechanisms, the resources necessarily come from America, which also derives a massive benefit, they argue

If prices are artificially reduced in the rest of the world and the companies are losing money, then in areas of no price controls the price of the goods in question will rise.

Our goal should be to make American drugs tariff free in all countries, and put fair prices on the drugs. America's drug companies will only be able to compete if our drugs are protected from patent infringement, and out products are much better. Although out products may not be that much better now, after our companies are through doing some serious R and D with the profits our companies made, the worlds other countries will just be living off of our patents. Since they are relying on us to protect them, they might as well allow us to heal them also.

We can charge the hell out of them for the medical care though.

Cube

Exclusive: Law enforcement and terrorist working together to make our lives hell

And I quote:

In the hour-long interview Wednesday on Onda Cero radio, Zapatero said that "fighting terrorism with bombs ... with Tomahawk missiles, isn't the way to defeat terrorism.

"Terrorism is combated by the state of law. ... That's what I think Europe and the international community have to debate," he said.


http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=1219

Law enforcement officials have failed, I am sorry but that is the truth. The FBI had some of the 9-11 terrorist names, but did not check them out well enough before 9-11. Granted that was in 1983 (or more exactly 1999 or 2000), and things were different (like the paratiot act was not passed, and information sharing was not in style).

The Spanish authorities had a one of the guys name before the 3-11 attacks, which they now have in custody. I realize the challenges the law enforcement officials face and do not blame them for the attacks, hey did not succeed in protecting America, though. I am willing to let the government try something a little new (like taking over a few countries), and see what happens in five years. Once we get to that point we can sit back and do a zero based study of the current situation.

Additionally, I don't know about the Spanish, but I expect the federal government to protect my life from terrorists. Using both laws and some serious high tech weapon-kicking ass. Law enforcement and the army are both tools, and certain tools should be used at certain times.

The cube has spoken

Exclusive: Bad news for women

...good news for middle aged men.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040317073152.htm

postmenopausal women have breast tissue more akin to that of younger women.

I am in full support of younger looking breasts (although not too young. That is a felony brother), and I think there should be more of them in the world.

the cube has spoken

Exclusive: The planet X

Sandcastle brought to my attention these little known facts.

Check this website out for the down low on the planet X.

http://xfacts.com/x.htm

At first this site does not seem to lend itself to creditability. They do associate with the host of coast to coast, my favorite late night talk show.

But let me lend a little creditability to their arguments.

http://xfacts.com/iraq2003/1.html
This section talks about Utnapishtim.

"'Utnapishtim survived the flood for six days while mankind was destroyed, before landing on a mountain called Nimush"


This story is taken from the XI tablet of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic story. The first that we have recorded of it's kind.
It was written before that silly thing the Christians use.
Check out this link for a second opinion.
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MESO/GILG.HTM

This does not come as a surprise. There are other recorded stories of the flood from the same area, but even the Aborigines have a flood story.

I cite this example here just to add strength to the Gilgamesh Epic.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/3766.asp


Then there is this section of the site about the X planet, which has some interesting info.

http://xfacts.com/eyes.htm

Even today we still use the same Mathematical system, Calendar, and Time as they created it so long ago

Well this site goes into detail on those topics.
http://www.crystalinks.com/sumer.html

And i qoute:

"counting 12 lunar months as a year"
"The first great innovation after the act of writing was the separation of the quantity of the good from the symbol for the good.

That is, to represent three units of grain by a symbol for 'three' followed by a symbol for 'grain-unit' in the same way that we would write 3 sheep or 3 cows or, more generally, 3 liters or 3 kilometers."

Of course if you follow the news, all of this is brought on by the discovery of the brand spanking new planet Senda.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/planet_like_body.html

If they only just now found Senda, what else is out there?

Cube

Exclusive: In related News

Please help government. Come save the day.

http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=517857

Considering the enormous challenge ahead, some health policy and nutrition experts say the government's response falls flat.

Heh heh, was the writer trying to make a pun here. You know flat response, round people.

They this line from the one cool Vanillia song jumped in my head.
"If there is a problem, YO I'll solve it".
At least I think that is the line.

The day the government controls what goes into my mouth, or how it goes in, or what it looks like when it goes in is the day that I will sue the government and say they are also responsible for what comes out of my butt, or how it comes out of my butt, or what it looks like when it exits my butt.

The Cube has spoken.

Exclusive:The answer to everything.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4535229/

Highlights.
Question 1: How do most Americans react when Janet Jackson's nipple is exposed on television or Howard Stern fills the morning airwaves with raunchy sex talk? Answer: "The government has to do something about this filth!"
That may be true. But this man is using the typical salesman technique of asking a question that you will agree to, so that you will be more likely to agree with further statements.

That's the kind of week it was in America, as our federal lawmakers voted down a bill that would allow consumers to sue restaurants (specifically fast-food restaurants) for making them fat. A day later, the same lawmakers voted for higher penalties for vulgarity on the airwaves. The mixed message: "The government can't help your bulging waistline, but we'll protect your offended eyes and ears."


Now I am going to have to do some explaining here.

I consider the environment, along with the airways, common property. The government has given property rights to Americans and it is also in charge of making sure that your right to that property is not infringed, or that the property is not damaged or stolen. That is why I believe the government does have a place in protecting the environment, and handing out sections of the airways for public use. The American people as a whole own the airwaves and the environment; the government represents the American people when it comes to these situations.

So the FCC's prime job is to divvy up the airways to individuals, corporations, or totally biased groups, and to protect each of the groups right to own the property and not damage it (in the case of the environment). It really can't be argued effectively that the cheeseburger that you eat is common property and the government should control how they are handed out.

Secondly, the government does not say what you can and can't say/show on the airways. They only say that you have to classify your material and that you can't go outside of those guidelines for you particular level of show. This is to protect the consumer so that the consumer knows what they are getting before they get it. You can show all the porn you want, as long as you label it as TV-MA.

Radio stations are different because they have been around longer (and therefore have had the chance to get regulated more, which is unfortunate). Radio stations should really push for a scheme much like TV's have. It could be made publicly known which stations are TV-MA (like the ones higher than 107.5 are all porn radio stations), but since they are not visual in nature. And that is the prime reason why radios stations can't be offensive, because the consumers can't know what they are getting until they have gotten it already.


The reason the government collects the information on the TV shows is to relate that information to the consumer. They do that with the food industry, and are looking to do that with the schools of American (thank god the graders are finally being graded. Someone must watch the watchers).

Truer words were never spoken by a Bush Administration official (except, perhaps, that time when the president admitted that he started the war with Saddam because "he tried to kill my daddy").
He never said that.


(Don't hold your breath for anything major here; whatever the scientists uncover will be cleansed of any anti-Big-Business recommendations before it reaches any policymaker's desk at the White House. Just ask the guys who did the EPA pollution studies that somehow absolved the power plant operators).
Absolved the power plant operators for what?
Most likely they were absolved for something they had not control over.


Thompson is talking the talk by linking obesity prevention to our nation's historic battle against smoking, but it would be nice if he had actually walked the walk: If we're really serious about treating high-fat, unhealthy foods the way we treated cigarettes, we need to bring back two major weapons in the public health arsenal: lawsuits and taxes.

Cigarette companies intentionally withheld information about their products. The evil fast food chains have done nothing of the sort. If a person ever thought that a 3,000 calorie meal is good for them, they hopefully will die before they have a chance to reproduce and spread their stupidity genes.

Okay, so you don't like the idea of the "fat tax" or government regulations? Fine. Get fat. But is it too much to ask that government do something simple like limiting the kinds of advertising your kids are seeing?

He just said if you don't like government regulations, would you consider these government regulations.
Hell no.

Where is the personal responsibility?
Who has a better chance of controlling what children eat the government, or the parents of the children?

Of course, the government does have the power to control what goes on under it's own house. Schools are a prime example of this. As a child I ate more meals at home than I did at school although, with some children that may not be the case. For those children the government should try to provide health meals, and if the kids don't eat them.... at least they are not fat.


All that said I do agree with this guy on these ideas....
Yet every time some legislator proposes a simple tax on high-fat or high-calorie foods,

Of course the money should be given according the sections of the health industry so that Americans irresponsibly would at least be paid for, and to groups that educate about how to make healthy foods. The government should keep very little of it (only enough to support the enforcement of the law). If you are going to tax a problem, make sure the maximum amount goes to problem, not to government.

Now she's pushing a bill that would require restaurants to provide nutritional information about the meals—
The consumer should know what we are getting before we buy.

Funny thing is, do you think this guy supports the grading and testing of schools.
I bet not. He supports the testing of the food your kids eat, just not what your children are learning. I support both.

The Cube has spoken.

Exclusive: The enviorment thing again

Recently, I have realized that most of my material is comments on other peoples material. Or more exactly comments on other's articles.

So in order to distinguish myself in the blogsphere, I have decided to label things as exclusive in order that my material will seem more important.

Now on to the post.
Check this site. I am getting the info from the post from here.
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php

Facts:
America has the highest CO2 emissions in the world.
America has the highest Electricity consumption in the world.
America has the highest Electricity production in the world.
America has the highest Oil consumption in the world.
America has the highest Oil imports (net) in the world.
America has the most Tractors in the world.
America has the highest Grain/Corn production.
America has the most Airports - with paved runways.
America has the second highest GDP (per capita).
America has the highest GDP.
American has the most Motor vehicles.


I find all of this information very interesting. All the facts are true, and not all of them are good. America is the single largest consumer of products (oil, Electricity) that produce CO2. Co2 is the primary agent responsible for global change (according to scientist who believe that the climate is changing).

The article below I found very insightful.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040302082113.htm

Highlights.
Economists have generally explained differences in carbon dioxide emissions using per capita income as their gauge, whereby emissions first rise with increasing income but at a decreasing rate. Geographical factors have been largely neglected by economic analysis and were paid little attention in Kyoto environmental summit in 1997.

and
Big countries with scattered populations have higher emissions than smaller countries with more dense populations.

So in order to test out this new concept I decided to compare America to other countries. But America is so unique that you have to use an entire trading bloc (EU) to come up with any meaningful comparisons.

http://www.eurunion.org/profile/facts.htm

Basic Statistics 2002
Area, 1,000 Square Miles
EU-15: 1,249.0
US: 3,717.9

We are over twice the size of the EU in square miles.

Population (Millions)
EU-15: 379.6
US: 289.0

They have about 31 percent more people than we do.
289 * .31 = 89.59
89.59 + 289 = 378.59

Population Density/Square Mile
EU-15: 303.4
US: 77.7

They have about 390 percent more people per square mile.
77.7 * 3.904 = 303.3408


Gross Domestic Product (Billions $)
EU-15: 8623.0
US: 10383.1

And finally if nations where comparing penises, they would have to grow theirs by 21 percent to catch up.

Keep these facts in mind when people tell you that America is the biggest polluter in the world.
Europe has half the space to cover than American would with its public transportation system and more people per square mile with their public transportation system. This means cost per mile is much lower. Also cost per person is lower to. The all-important metric of cost per person per mile is greatly lower.

To become smaller polluters we would have to shrink our GDP. Or we could increase our population, so that the government would have the tax inflows to build massive public transportation systems.

As a side note:
I have heard a lot of people compare the amount of taxes America pays to Europe tax rate. This happens when people complain about high taxes. People always say well, the taxes in Europe are higher. Remember when they tell you this, that even though that is true. Our taxes could also be lower (proper auditing, and reducing the size of the government are two good places to start).

Cube

An intresting blog

I don't know how I feel about the man who writes this blog.
The blog is interesting never the less.

http://www.thehomelessguy.net

     My mixed feeling on this issue stem from the fact this man is more than capable of providing for his self, but chooses to live off of the goodness of others (and the state (he does use the library computers heavily). Would you expect anything less form the cubicle. He does state moral reason for not going corporate. Of course this is the beauty of America, I may not agree with him and he may not agree with me. Yet, he does not have to live by my system and I don't have to live by his.

     Although, I will admit the string desire to go hiking, hitchhiking, and to be homeless for a little while (but that is just because I am lazy, just want to chill, and to see large parts of America). Although, I want to spend large amount of time playing video games too.

Cube

Everyone makes mistakes

...but this person did screw up big.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113746,00.html

Sherry Hattaway was taking students from Pasco Middle and High Schools in Lacoochee, Fla., home last Thursday afternoon when a four-foot alligator crossed the road and went into a field, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

"Can we catch it? Can we catch it?" asked some of the 11 kids on board, according to Jimmie Scroggins, father of two riders.

Hattaway first said no, then changed her mind and pulled over.

But what is most amazing is that the kids did an great job of catching the animal.

Four boys ran off the bus, hopped a fence, chased the alligator into a mud hole, got it to clamp its teeth around a stick and wrapped its head with their shirts. A fifth boy happened to have a roll of electrical tape handy, which took care of keeping the reptile's jaws shut.

And that is why no country will ever win a war on US soil. May god bless the alligator catching rednecks, because we love them.

cube

A little fat on the side, please.

Here is a recent article from the drudge report.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040309/D8173CP00.html

"It's going to overtake tobacco" if the trend continues, Gerberding said. "At CDC, we're going to do everything we can to prevent it," she said. "Obesity has got to be job No. 1 for us in terms of chronic diseases."

Well there are several ways to solve this problem.
I let you decide which is better.

1. You could make law regulating the size and relative helpfulness of meals.
Effects: Total regulation of the food Americans consume will definitely solve the problem and piss off lots of
Americans. (More government)

2. You could remove all food subsidies
Effects: Right now dairy and meat receive large subsides, and removing the subsides would raise the prices on
dairy and meat. Hopefully market economics would then take over, and more people would eat rice. (Less
government, entire departments would disappear)

2.A.Then subsidize only healthily foods.
Effects: Right now dairy and meat receive large subsides, and removing the subsides would raise the prices on
dairy and meat. Hopefully market economics would then take over, and more people would eat rice. (Same
amount of government.)

3. You could remove all taxes on food, and tax the unhealthier items the most.
Effects: This would make unhealthily snack items more expensive, and would give the state money to
educate the youth, run the youth, and treat the already fat. If the funds raised from the fat tax were
put into a feedback loop to solve the actual problem it taxed, this would be a viable solution.
(same amount of government, but it is allowing market economics to fuel the money for the problem)

4. You could make discrimination based on BMI (Body Mass Index) legal. This would allow planes, trains,
and public transportation to charge the truly fat peoples more. It would also allow health insurance
to charge the fat more also. BMI can be calculated very exactly using other tools besides height
and weight. This would only be fair, because if you have large amounts of muscle and small
amounts of body fat, you BMI would still be high. (same amount of government)

Any more ideas would be appreciated.
Cube

Smart man

As some of you know i have a daily desk calendar which is entitled "Words of Wisdom". The words of divine wisdom are from the dalai lama, although i don't know if the words are offically sancationed.

http://www.dalailama.com/

Here is a recent qoute:
"The roadblocks to a peaceful or happy twenty-firts century are Westren materialism and greed".

Well, Mr. Dalai Lama. I don't see McDonalds's creating WMD's, i don't see Microsoft selling nuclear Technology, and i don't see Wal-Mart killing people when they don't come to work.

When goverments allow business to be free. They innovate, and grow. There were hundreds of thousands of sam waltons in the world. Men who owned their own stores and wanted to make a little more money. There have been thousands of programmers who have aspired to create their own products.

When goverments allow business to be free they cannot control the people as easily, so they are free to pursure they own desires.

The sad thing is the Buddhist monk may belive these things, but they won't ever be aggressive enough to do anything about it.

cube

Da pig is dead

All,
I am eternally grateful for your support in these trying times.

http://www.radiopig.com/

Check out the link above, please.
It used to be the website of the pig, but now the pig is dead.

This is the saddest day of my life. I did not want the pig to die, just to play better music.

I am going to buy some ice cream tonight and pig out on it (or may some BBQ and pig out on some pig), to morn the death of my beloved station.

I don't know if what I was hearing was a symptom of something deeper or the changes the Pig made really screwed them over.

Here is a link to an earlier post about the pig.

Recent interaction with the world


cube

A really funny article

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113326,00.html

Wouldn't it be great for me to blame my baker for being fat. Leave it to the Europeans to blame our dollar for them being stupid.

I sense some anti-European sentiment.

cube

The Bush haters in action

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040305/ELECTIONADS05/TPInternational/Americas

Some funny quotes:
I find it offensive that he has used 9/11 as a pretext for the election," said Colleen Kelly, whose brother, Bill Kelly Jr., died in the World Trade Center and who has become a leader of the victims' movement. For her, "9/11 was a failure of this President to act."

Wow, even most democrats won't go there, because they were in power the 8 years before the attack. So the comeback of the GOP is predictable, and also valid. Additionally, this president has taken over two countries since 9/11. Weather or not you agree with those polices and the reasons. You will have to agree the president did take action.

Ron Willett of Walnut Shade, Mo., was quoted by Reuters as saying he was disgusted when he saw the ads. Mr. Willett, whose 29-year-old son John Charles was killed, said he is now so upset, "I would vote for Saddam Hussein before I would vote for Bush."

This man most likely should be shot just to put him out of his misery, and make it where I don't have to listen to him.

cube

Mars the 51st state.

Well the site that one of the mars rover was once covered in water.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/02/mars1.TMP

Of course the rest of the world must confirm this before anyone believes it (but geology is a fairly simple science compared to actually getting to Mars, so I am inclined to believe this report.

Of course the next question I naturally ask is: Who owns Mars?

Well think America should get it, we put our robots there first (not really but ours are there now). If any one wants to take it from us, they will have to send bigger better robots to fight ours or mars. An no one really wants to get into a robot war with the US. The have cable TV, they know how mean our robots can be.

Of course to make it livable, we should start terraforming it right now.
Any mistakes that we make at this stage of the game will be fixed later on with better technology.

I want go into any major ideas I have on the subject, but let me just say global warming is the want to go on Mars.
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm

This article only give three way of heating mars, all of which sound far fetched.

The only one that will work is one he did not mention. A plant-like mold or moss of some kind could be used to create methane (or some other greenhouse gas like Carbon dioxide) which would heat mars.

Here is what I was talking about.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/pioneer.htm

Matteia: It has been suggested that this organism might be used to liberate carbon dioxide on Mars and as part of a biogeochemical carbon cycle

cube