BunkBlog

I don’t understand how so many people, presumably graduates of high school or even college, can be so credulous or just plain stupid. Just in the past week, I’ve seen a few surprising things folks say and seemingly believe.

Many people continue to promulgate the story about Speaker Pelosi demanding a giant aircraft to fly cross-country. In case you’re one of those not involved in the reality-based world, the House Sergeant at Arms requested a larger plane for the Speaker than her predecessor had. The reason for that is because the Speaker, due to security concerns, is expected to fly nonstop to her home district from DC. Hastert lived in Illinois, Pelosi lives in California. Basic physics, folks.

A strange number of folks continue to blame President Clinton for everything wrong in the world, and when that doesn’t work, they just try to say that whatever bad things President Bush does are okay because Clinton did them too. Except they get facts grossly wrong. A letter in last week’s newspaper said that Clinton was responsible for thousands of deaths, and at least Bush hasn’t been convicted of perjury. Well, Clinton wasn’t convicted of any crime either, so huh? And, as for the thousands of deaths, I find no data to support that. If we are discussing only deaths of US citizens, Clinton’s forays into various locales caused approximately 100 deaths. If we include civilians or enemy combatants killed in Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo, et cetera, the numbers undoubtedly rise into the thousands but probably (by most estimates) not above 15,000. But, to be fair, if we want to blame President Clinton for anyone who died in military actions he promoted, we need to blame President Bush for all deaths related to military actions he promotes; that number is somewhere above a half million, by all estimates that use real numbers instead of guesses.

Ann Coulter called John Edwards a faggot. I honestly don’t get it. Is the woman so completely unhinged that random gibberish is falling from her lips now? Has there ever been the slightest indication that Edwards is not straight, if that was even relevant? Of course, Coulter has a history of calling every man in the Democratic party gay: Al Gore is a “total fag,” Bill Clinton had the “whiff of the bathhouse,” etc. I love that she implied that Clinton was gay, cuz that horndog was chasing every skirt he saw, but no slacks.

And, naturally, Al Gore continues to be harassed by the Right even though he’s not remotely close to an elected office. Latest jabs are that he’s overweight (ooh!) and that his house in Tennessee uses a lot of electricity, and is therefore producing greenhouse gases at a hypocritical rate. The people who make this attack are usually the same folks who deny that greenhouse gases cause global warming, science be damned. Makes you wonder why they would point out that something they don’t believe is happening is being exacerbated by someone’s actions to begin with. Secondly, the Gores do use a substantial amount of electricity, but they pay double the market rate in order to buy only renewable energy. So, no greenhouse gases there after all. I still wonder about why anyone with a small family needs to use 20 times as much electricity as the national average, even when you include the security detail and offices on the premise. But, it’s not increasing greenhouse gases. Darn facts sure cause trouble.

Local radio station, which (like half the stations in the country) bills itself as “the best of the 80s 90s and today,” just announced it was New Music Monday.  The next two songs were Citizen King’s “Better Days” from 2000 and When in Rome’s “The Promise” from 1988.  Yeah.  New music.  *sigh*

Ah, the irony.  Ned “Carlos Mencia” Holness has used the power of the DMCA to get the YouTube video of his joke-stealing smackdown removed.  So, um…it’s okay for you to use other people’s material without credit for your own profit, but not for someone else to show that you have been doing so?  Ouch, my head.

Joe Rogan has a MySpace page, and a well-known dispute with Carlos Mencia. Understand, Carlos is actually Ned Holness, and is not Mexican. When put on the spot, Mencia..er, Holness will actually admit these things. Further, it is not a secret that he steals jokes from other comedians and uses them in his act. George Lopez says so, Joe Rogan says so, anyone who thinks they aren’t going to lose a career about it says so.
And that’s where it gets truly surreal. Since Joe Rogan has millions of dollars from doing NewsRadio and Fear Factor and Ultimate Fighting, he no longer needs to fear the loss of a gig.  He called out “Carlos Menstealia” when Rogan was leaving the stage at the Comedy Store last week. Pauly Shore (son of the owner) banned Rogan, even though there is video on the internet of about 8 different comedians agreeing that Mencia is a plagiarizing douchebag. Next chapter in the saga – Rogan and Mencia are both represented by the same talent agency. Well, they were yesterday.  Now, Mencia is represented by that agency.

This is some bizarre shit, but I love that Rogan has the balls and the security to actually stand up for something here. And the entertainment industry is just plain evil.

Just finished watching The Truth About Cats & Dogs. It just confirmed my previous belief that Janeane Garofalo is hawt. I’m just saying, I’d shag her rotten. Don’t take this the wrong way, just that I’d wreck that.

Playing with the geotag feature of Flickr, I came across this strange picture from my old stomping grounds at Fort Ord. This paint can apparently was left behind when the Army pulled out of the post in 1993. The photo was taken 13 years later, and the spill still has the illusion of freshness. Strange as heck.

ord_autoyard13

Originally uploaded by A.p.K..

One side benefit to living alone for five days a week, minus the cat (and thanks again for reminding me, Yahoo!, that Valentine’s Day is this week) – nobody complains about playing Plastic Bertrand’s Ca Plane Pour Moi at high volumes.

We went to the indoor air show today. That’s a trip. I guess it’s pretty cool to have a large auditorium to use for radio-controlled airplanes, since the weather doesn’t always cooperate. It was very cool, especially seeing how homemade-looking some of the planes were. Lots of styrofoam and cardboard were in evidence, with a rare airplane that looked retail. There were even a couple of planes that looked like jets, but obviously weren’t. Their propellers were just well-disguised in the wings or in front of the tail. They bill it as the first annual, and if they make good on that, I’m sure we’ll hang out there again next year. What the heck, it’s free!

So, when the Democratic minority threatened a filibuster against something of importance, like the lifetime appointment of a candidate they found objectionable, that’s an unprecedented[1] abuse of procedural rules and the minority should just shut up and color, straight up-or-down vote time. When the Republican minority filibusters[2] a non-binding resolution with as much importance as declaring today National Chocolate Day, it’s perfectly reasonable, even though it ends with the sponsor of the bill voting against it? Seriously, flip flop?

[1] This word, I do not think it means what you think it means.
[2] Not threatens, actually blocks a vote.

Since I got 25 of 25 correct, that means that less than 2% of respondents did the same.  Ouch.

What moronic wanker of a “security expert” decided that the Adult Swim guerrilla advertising devices were improvised explosive devices? Improvised Light Bright, maybe!

They shut down significant portions of Boston for these things.  Look at them.  Would you have done anything besides say, “that is the ugliest creature to flip me off ever?”

Some stories are just too darned funny to not share. I think this was on Boing Boing, so if you’re a real geek you’ve seen it already. Apparently, some pot dealers are getting creative, and mixing up the “munchies” part of the weed experience with the “getting high” part. Witness, Pot Tarts and Buddafingers. How do the DEA agents not laugh their asses off when they bust these guys?

Break me off a piece of that Keef Kat bar!

Note: this blog does not advocate doing illegal drugs.

West Texas. Below freezing for several days in a row. Unnatural.

Last month, sledding was done on cardboard, in shirtsleeves:

I killed Concho Online today. I attempted to launch this site a couple years ago, as a citizen journalism site, or hyperlocal media site, depending on your inclination. Since nobody but me had posted anything on it since last winter, it had obviously devolved into another personal site. Eh. I’ve got enough self-aggrandizement going on.

Spotted at a bank this afternoon: Moble Branch Ribbion Cutting Ceremony. Ouch.

To follow up really quickly on my earlier spelling post, here’s another one:

Plead – the past tense of plead is either pleaded or pled. The past tense of plead is not plead.

Voltron makes no sense at all. Giant robotic lions that merge to form a massive universe-defending robot, and they’re afraid of a black cat and witch. Did they merge two different stories here?

Robert Anton Wilson is an ex-Discordian. He will be missed.

From our local catfish restaurant’s television ad: “We have chicken-fried bacon!” Yes, folks, bacon is so healthy already, it’s even better once it’s been batter-fried. They probably cover it with gravy too. Mmmm….feel those arteries hardening!

Alex actually stayed up until midnight, barely.  He was very happy to see the ball drop in New York, while snacking on cheese and crackers and sparkling grape juice.

Now, he’s slamming Hot Wheels into each other.  Good start to the year.