Spread Spectrum

I just finished an interesting article on spread spectrum. I got the article from a university subscription site so I won’t link but the title is “Into the Great Wide Open” by Jesse Sunenblick for the Columbia Journalism Review. Although I was told these issues have not been resolved, the article is a few years old so I am not positive.

The basic crux of the article is scarcity—in relation to radio spectrum—is bullshit. Admittedly, I can barely grasp the concept of delivering audio and video around the world via airwaves, so I won’t spend anytime trying to explain the technology. Here is his explanation:

…When you connect to the internet at Starbucks, when you use your cell phone, or when you use many of the other radio technologies that constitute our current wireless craze, you are using spread spectrum. Spread spectrum works by contradicting the traditional rules of radio communication, in which a signal is sent over a single frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum for which it has no license from the FCC…licenses aren’t necessary for spread spectrum transmissions, but the devices currently aren’t allowed to operate at more than a few watts of power…Spread spectrum offers a far more efficient way of using the radio spectrum…Now the FCC is considering a series of rule changes that would open up more of the spectrum for unlicensed radio…

Needless to say, the television and radio networks are lobbying hard against these rule changes. If the FCC did open up the spectrum, there are endless possibilities. However, that is a very big “if.” It is the exception rather than the rule for commissions to defy powerful lobbies. These lobbies are powerful precisely because they persuade commissions to implement their wishes. The sheer amount of money that could be lost by media conglomerates means that these lobbies will spend a lot more money fighting deregulation than the opposition will advocating it.

At the heart of this article is an idealistic notion that we would use this technology to increase public dialog, increase community activism, increase global education and even advance world peace. These noble ideas perhaps would be a component to this advance in technology. However, it is also likely that this would further segment audiences into smaller sections. Hate groups, exploitive pornographers and even increased governmental intrusion would likely result from this as well. The same things this article claims are possible is the same thing possible with the internet. To an extent some of these concepts have been realized. The internet has definitely torn down borders and made increased dialog and instant communication possible.

The latest trend of the internet blogging and online communities such as “My Space” seem to fall short of the ideal. Rather than increase dialog and understanding, blogs seem to further entrench people in their beliefs. For example, a good deal of blogging centers on politics. However, many bloggers are not attempting to find mutual consensus but rather rallying around ideologies and reading counter points only to attack, not to enter genuine dialog. Reinforcing beliefs and values rather than broadening them. Likewise, sexual predators have used MySpace.com as a hunting ground. Pedophiles use the internet to share pornography and further exploit children. Terrorist groups also create blogs, websites and videos to spread their hateful messages.
This does not mean that the negatives outweigh the positives. The possibilities of deregulation seem limitless and this alone is reason enough for me to support it.

Quote for the Day!

"Fear is stronger than love." Tupac Shakur

The Palestinians

Perhaps Israel should pull out of the West Bank. If the problems in the Gaza Strip are a sign of what we can expect, Israel might be better off pulling out and letting them fight it out.

Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead!

Well demoted at least. The Raiders offense has been non-existent this year and demoting Walsh from his coordinator position while 12 weeks too late is still welcome. I do believe that my dreams of Troy Smith are probably dead too. We will win just enough games to lose out on him.

While the lack of production is not entirely his fault, I am glad that Art can make the tough decisions. I didn't think he had it in em.

A Raider Villanelle

The agony of defeat has ignited my previous dormant artistic side. Here is my ode to the Raiders and the debacle that they are passing off as pro-football. Please win this weekend Raiders, please!



They have hit an all time low
fumbling and bumbling causing me pain.
If they will progress, I do not know.

At the beginning of their record stands an O!
An entire off-season in vain.
They have hit an all time low.

The coach says that this is—oh
shut up! Please you sound so lame.
If they will progress, I do not know.

If there was hard work, it does not show.
There is more than one to blame.
They have hit an all time low

The play caller seems to blow
from a wilderness retreat he came.
If they will progress, I do not know.

Curse words out of my mouth do flow
for my season you did maim.
They have hit an all time low.
If they will progress, I do not know.

Iraq

Wouldn't it be nice if our politicians could deal with this issue without politicizing it. I am directing this at both parties. If Bush and gang did not attempt to use it as a wedge to beat the dems in 04 and the Dems would participate perhaps they could think of some ideas such as this perhaps we could turn Iraq around yet.

I am not holding my breath. As someone who supported and still supports the mission the complete incompetence of our political machine is astounding. A stable, secure Iraq is in the interest of the entire world. Yet the D's and R's act like it is a political weapon.

Enough is Enough

Sex scandals, corruption charges and pork barrel projects seem to be the only thing coming out of congress these days. No wonder the approval rating for congress is lower than at any point in the last twelve years. Ironically, twelve years ago was when the voters threw the Democrats out of the house, which they controlled for years. Notice the trend? Both the Democrats and the Republicans take turns controlling congress before the public gets so mad that we throw them out and hands the reigns off to the other party. Sadly, this begins the completely twisted cycle all over again.

Voting these days is like playing Three-card Monte, no matter which candidate you pick it’s a loser. Don’t believe me though, watch their campaign ads. The candidates gladly inform us their opponents are incompetent and dishonest. Is it any wonder half the country chooses not to vote? The big question is, why does the other half continue to play this no-win game? First off, responsible citizens must exercise their right to vote. This is what makes free societies strong. People that choose not to exercise their right to vote, lose any legitimacy when complaining about government. I believe part of the reason the government behaves the way it does is because they don’t think anyone will hold them accountable. A politically active public is necessary to force change in government.

Enough is enough! It is time to quit voting for the lesser of two evils; there is an alternative. Vote for a third party. I know, you don’t want to waste your vote, right? Therefore, you force yourself to vote for the lesser of two evils. If voting for someone who cannot win is a waste of a vote, then voting for someone you don’t like is a waste of democracy. You waste your vote, when you vote for someone that you know is not the right person for the job. The system will only change if we the people force it to change. If enough people began to vote for third parties, we might be able to create a better democracy. The greatest country on the planet must be able to field better choices than this. By monopolizing elections, the Democrats and Republicans force us to vote for their watered down the list of candidates thereby propping up this broken system.

Third party candidates are not beholden to the interests of a national political party. Both the Democrat and Republican candidates must conform to the national agendas that their parties set. These agendas do not represent local values. We must hold Government accountable. The parties have to realize the people are angry and are not going to take this corruption and incompetence anymore. The government can deal with a politically apathetic electorate but a politically active electorate can spur change. We all complain about political scandals, but we are just as responsible for allowing these parties to dominate politics. So a vote for a third party is a vote for change.

Me? I'm voting Libertarian.

Ouch!

It seems like just yesterday I posting about an impressive 3-0 preseason record for my beloved Oakland Raiders. My how things change; we are now 0-2 and 2-14/3-13 seems inevitable.

There have been so many breakdowns that I would spend all day if I were to try and list them all. Obviously the O-line is the biggest concern. We have a huge line (avg ht/wt 6-5, 315) and the majority of them were drafted in the first three rounds. We have two coaches that are in the hall of fame for their O-line play. I thought for sure our line would be solid.

Going in to the season my biggest fear was the offensive coordinator Tom Walsh. He has not coached in the NFL since he was fired by the Raiders in 94 and it is evident. I hate to dump on a coaching staff after 2 games but OH the games. Hopefully Shell will not let Walsh drag him down this time like he did in 94.

Thank god for Fantasy Football!

Five Years Later

Can it really be five years since 9-11? More attacks seemed certain and the future was dim. I entered college (at 25) and now I am 3 semesters away from graduating with 2 bachelors degrees. One in political science and one in Public Relations. I am seriously contemplating law school (we'll see how I do on my LSAT's) , oh yeah I also received an A.A in liberal arts. Not bad for a high school dropout (tamest part of my past) who never planned on going to college. But this is about 9-11. That day certianly focused me and impcacted me as nothing before had. I will forever be a better person for the horror of that day. I really decided to change my future and do something positive. It is not much but that is my way of giving back to those who had everything taken from them. I will never forget!

No Class

In the most recent episode of Real Sports, Bryant Gumble closed the show by offering this advice to new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"Before he cleans out his office," Gumbel said, "have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

Is it too much to ask Gumble to conduct himself with an ounce of class. Don't get me wrong I enjoy controversial rants by the likes of people like Coulter as much as the next guy. However, if Gumble is going to pretend to be a journalist he should at least act like a professional. If however he is wants to be a controversial commentator then he has no business calling NFL games. His recent deal to do play by play for the NFL channel should be instantly revoked.

Besides showing absolutely no-class Gumble demonstrated that he does not understand the sublties of the CBA's. Most of the criticism leveled at Upshaw & the NFLPA is the fact that they agreed to a hard salary cap and that players don't get guaranteed contracts.

Sure MLB and NBA both have guaranteed contracts but to the detriment of the game. Teams are constently saddled with underachieving players that have ridiculous contracts. In NBA & MBL only a handful of teams are competitive each year and both leagues have experienced extended strikes or lock-outs in the recent past. Let's not forget that NFL teams have 53 man rosters and there is no way that teams could have 53 guaranteed contracts. The average career for an NFL player is 3.8 years rookie contracts are six years. If contracts were guaranteed that would ruin the NFL.

True, it was Upshaw that agreed to a hard salary cap in exchange for free-agency. Since this agreement the television contracts for the NFL have skyrocketed. So while a salary cap might seem like a bad deal for players, it is not a bad deal if the revenue is significantly higher. Teams are The NFL is head and shoulders above the NBA & MLB in total revenue. If the NFL adopted the CBA of MLB or the NBA the result would be an uncompetitive league with lower ratings and smaller television contracts. That means a smaller pool of money with which to pay players.

Ther is a reason that the NFL has all of their playoff games aired on network television not cable like NBA & MLB. Also baseball and basketball have far more games than the NFL to generate live gate revenue. With only 8 regular season games, TV contracts are imperitive to the financial success of the NFL.

Raiders 3-0

I know it is only pre-season but any time the Raiders beat the niners I am happy. We looked great in our third game, the O-line was solid, the D was awesome, it seems that Art just might turn this team around yet!

About time!

I think the Democrats are finally on to something. Although it remains contrversial they have inserted Nevada and South Carolina into the primary mix. story. Nevada will hold its caucuses prior to New Hampshire and S.C. will hold it's primary right after N.H.

I realize the traditionalist do not like this but this is a good thing. The primary system as it is now run is broken. I would like to see the primaries broken down by region, North West, East and South. It is silly that candidates can win Iowa and New Hampshire and end up the defacto candidate. I would like to see more radical changes to the primary system but this is a start.

Is it time?

To divide Iraq into three seperate states? It worked for Yugoslavia, I believe it will work for Iraq. Some people say we must respect the territorial continuity of Iraq but I say Iraq was a make believe country when the lines were arbitrarily drawn in the first place. Hopefully this would stop much of the sectarian violence that has become common place over the past year. I also think that this would stop much of Iran's influence. While it is true that both countries have a Shia majority, the Shia in Iraq are Arab and the Shia in Iran are Persian. Lets not underestimate the power of racism. If the Arab Shia were not fighting Arab Sunni's everyday then perhaps they would not need the help of Iran. As for the Kurds, they have had there shit together for along time.

Discover the meaning of life

Accoding to this article mushrooms produce a spiritual effect on users that can be compared to the birth of a child or death of a parent. Now I have never had a child nor have either of my parents died, but I have done, errr, know someone who has done mushrooms. My "friend" claims that he too had a spiritual trip. I guess he attempted to discover the meaning of life. "He" went rock climbing and actually did find the meaning before he lost it while coming down. According to the study 2/3 of the respondents said the experience was the five top meaningful experiences of their lives two months after taking the drug.

This is NOT an endorsement of mushrooms, mind you, just passing on some information.

Plight of the Wiccan

The wife of a Nevadan soldier that died in military service in Afhghanistan is fighting for the government to place a Wiccan emblem on her husbands tombstone at the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterens Memorial Cemetary. full story

The emblem which is an encircled five point star is not on the approved list, which according to different stories is between 35 & 39. Unfortunately I cannot find the list to review accepted symbols. Personally, I think that with 30+ approved symbols there has to be many marginal religions represented. Therefore the state should place the symbol on his marker. To be clear, I do not think that the state should just place any old symbol on any tombstone but I have heard of Wiccan's for at least 15 year, which seems to mean that it cannot be that marginal. But then again I am from California and my view of the world is skewed accordingly.

Good Ridance!

While I am not usually one to pile on a dead person, Ken Lay was a scum bag who just got out of the lengthy prison sentance that he rightfully deserved. All of his assets should be siezed and his wife should be forced to start over from scratch.

Criminals like Lay and Skilling effected much more people than any street thug ever has. White collar crimes like these two pulled off are much more harmful to society than street crime. Thankfully the justice department has started handing out harsh sentances to these criminals. (in the interest of full disclosure, I had to pay outrageous energy costs due to Enron scamming California)

The hottest new blog

I recently stumbled onto the hottest new blog for fantasy football, ok, it is really my new blog for fantasy football and I have only done 1 initial post but I am excited none the less. Check it out here.

Its that time of year again...

It is never to early to start scouting your next fantasy football team. Here is an excellent IDP (individual defensive players) expert draft.

Needless to say I am completely addicted to FF.

What's your carbon number?

You can find out here

According to the calculator my number is 34,000. Lucky for me though, I can reduce this number by 2/3 if I send Al Gore $6 a month for the rest of my life.

I find the numbers extremely suspicious. Driving my 2004 Hyundai, 18,000 miles a year places me well above the national average of 15,000. I find this hard to believe. Thankfully my girlfriend and I must offset my number somewhat since we share the same car. I have been much more inclined to believe that global warming is man made but this website is begining to make me rethink this stance.

The Race Card

Asked if he thought race was a factor in Pelosi's decision, Jefferson replied before the vote, "It's not happened before. The first time it's happening, it's happening to an African-American." story

Wow, the willingness to play the race card never ceases to amaze me. Here is the problem for the Democrats, they have shamelessly supported all racial minorities playing the race card no matter the circumstance, so it was only natural that it would come back and bite them on the ass. Since they have supported every allegation of racism it will be much harder for them to fend off these attacks. Can you say chickens coming home to roost?

This use of the race card as a weapon to use when someone gets in trouble is the main reason my political views changed so greatly. All of us "minorities" have the obligation to speak up when people try and scapegoat race after they screw up. It has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the $90,000 in his freezer and the FBI tapes of him accepting bribes.

Iraq & Iran

I know a popular argument against the Iraq war is that it only strengthens Iran. The logic is that both countries have a majority of Shi'ite Muslims, therefore Iraq will be the puppet of the Iranian regime. It appears that this logic is not so sound. An Iraqi Shi'ite mob attacked and set fire to an Iranian consulate because an Iranian television station aired a program which they believed insulted an Iraqi cleric.

This argument has always seemed borderline racist to me. Iraqis are a proud people (just like any other country) they do not wish to be the plaything of Iran. I do believe that Iraq will have much friendlier relations but they will not be their puppet.

Not so fast

It now appears that the Isreali Defense Forces probably were not to blame for killing the Palestinian family in Gaza after all. story

More on Tuesday after the full report is released. Lets see how much coverage this gets.

Newt

While I like Gingrich and believes he has a legitimate shot at the 08 presidential nominantion, I am shocked to hear him criticize the justice department for raiding Congressman Jefferson's office last month.

"It is an example of the arrogance of this administration toward the legislative branch, and it's intolerable," he said. "If I was speaker, there would be no appropriations to the Justice Department until this is resolved."

What???? I do not follow this seperation of powers logic. Does this mean that Congress believes they could hide murder weapons in their congressional offices and be protected under seperation of powers? Does this mean the justice department can not protect the Congressional builing?

It seems rather simple. Get caught with $90,000 in your freezer and your office is getting searched. Plus, the justice department had supenoed documents from Jefferson months ago and he refused to turn over these documents.

Huh????

Well, its official the fringe has spoken:

Targeted assassinations are unethical, and they don't work. For those reasons, I was wrong to exult over Zarqawi's death yesterday. Sure, he was an evil human being. But all that's been accomplished by this strike is one death that encourages those on both sides who would escalate the cycle of violence even further.

Hmm, this does not seem like sound logic to me. Don't people get it, Al Qaeda does not need a reason to escalate violence. They will escalate the violence whenever they have the capability to escalate, they don't need any extra reasons.

This reminds me of conversations I have had about Saddam recieving a fair trial. This is not possible. A fair trial, implies a presumption of innocence. When guilt is not in question then the trial is just to go through the motions and lay out exactly what charges this person is being convicted of.

World Cup

I know, I know, soccer sucks right? Wrong! (well maybe MLS sucks, but not the World Cup) No commercials, country versus country and it only happens every four years. Unfortunately, since it is in Germany the games start in the morning so any of you productive people will only be able to watch on the weekends. But hey its a great excuse to begin drinking at 7 a.m.

GOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Germany just scored)

Jose Luis Castillo Disgraces Boxing

Well my Saturday night has been ruined. For months I have been anticipating the third fight between Diego "Chico" Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, but Castillo failed to make weight. He also did not make weight for the second fight (which he won be KO) but this time Coralles refused to fight him. The problem is that Castillo has been saying for weeks that he is on schedule to make weight and that it would not be a problem this fight. Castillo came in at 140lbs which is a full division above 135. Five pounds may not seem like much but in boxing it is crucial.Kudos to Corrales because he could have gotten seriously injured. Castillo's promoter Bob Arum is out more than a million dollars before the lawsuits, which will come. Likewise, Castillo is facing lawsuits and sanctions from Corrales, his management the NSAC and Showtime.

This is horrible for boxing and horrible for fans that shelled out big bucks for air fare and hotels. Castillo needs to be suspended for at least one year.

Is CNN intentionally mistranslating?

According to this they just might be.

CNN translation:
Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology and the international community should drop its demands that Tehran prove it's not trying to build a nuclear weapon, Iraq's foreign minister said Friday.

[…]

"Iran doesn't claim that they want to obtain a nuclear weapon or a nuclear bomb, so there is no need that we ask them for any guarantee now," Hoshyar Zebari said after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.

Omar's Translation:

We respect Iran's and every other nation's right to pursue nuclear technology for research purposes and peaceful use given they accept [giving] the internationally required guarantees that this will not lead to an armament race in the region…

True Courage (& Good Reading)

For those of you who have not checked out the blog, "Iraq the model" do so!


Here is just a snipet of the latest post:

The other day I was with some friends at home and the subject eventually surfaced "let's just wait for another six months, I'm sure things will improve by then" one friend said and I nodded in agreement "I'm not willing to take the risk, what if I get killed or kidnapped tomorrow or next month!? I'm leaving Iraq to live somewhere else until I believe it's safe to return, we live only once guys!" and I nodded in agreement too.
Both opinions make a lot of sense and I could never say the first friend was a coward since he's still living through what I and the other friend are living through.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and so do many people but they wonder if the tunnel is going to collapse before we reach its end.

Happy Birthday Malcolm X

“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you send him to the cemetery.”

Malcolm X is perhaps the most misunderstood American in the history of this country. Many say that he is a hate-monger or that he preached violence, but nothing could be further from the truth. Malcolm never preached violence; he only advocated the use of violence for self-defense. This is not a hateful message rather it is common sense. Malcolm X is only saying things that most parents teach their children at a young age.


But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, Hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined wretched survivor? If you have not, then you are not a judge of those who have. But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then you are unworthy of the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a sycophant…
Thomas Paine, Common Sense 1776

Certainly, no American would claim that Paine was a hate monger or that he preached violence. Quite the contrary, he is regarded as an American Patriot and rightfully so. King George treated the colonists much better than white society treated black society. Therefore, when Malcolm said that he wanted freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary he was echoing the sentiments that American patriots had always professed.


I cannot understand why many Americans, especially conservatives are so hostile to Malcolm X. I suppose that much of the contempt directed at Malcolm X stems from his early views on whites. He believed that they were all devils. This twisted view was shaped by the Nation of Islam. However, Malcolm abandoned this racist ideology after making a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Likewise, many detest his anti-capitalism rhetoric. I suspect his economic views would change if he witnessed the fall of the Berlin wall and the Soviet Union. Many people believed that capitalism was a zero-sum game however this idea seems to have vanished from the mainstream. Even though he completely changed his racist views he knew that his image would be exploited in death.

"He will make use of me dead, as he has made use of me alive, as a convenient symbol of hatred"

Tie a yellow ribbon, on your shirt?????

Well it is official, Iran lawmakers passed a law that would force Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear cloth identifiers.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

Update: Story is starting to seem fake

Update: Story is bogus!

The Great Emancipator

No not honest Abe, but Niccolo Machiavelli. He could be considered one of the most influential people ever. His influence has expanded for more than 450 years. His name has become a popular adjective and Tupac, even informally changed his name to Makeveli in honor the philosopher. Machiavelli did much more than influence Tupac, he also inspired some of the most influential philosophers of the ensuing centuries, such as Locke, Rousseau, Marx and Nietzsche.

Although many consider Machiavelli a teacher of evil, I consider him the founder of political science. It is true that The Prince, did promote many controversial ideas, but he was simply approaching politics scientifically. Machiavelli wrote in a time that did not allow free expression of ideas. He invited change, dismissed limitations, advocated for the protection of property, created an historical analysis of maintaining power and even exposed the limitations of Christian morals.

Machiavelli lived in the 15th and 16th century two hundred years before the enlightenment. In these centuries, Aristotle was dogma and the church used force to suppress knowledge. He did not have the freedom to speak freely in the way that Locke, Rousseau, Marx and Nietzsche did. He was required to veil the true meaning behind his words while they could freely expand on every concept. It would have been suicide for Machiavelli to attempt to expand on the ideas promoted in The Prince. Yet he was able to emancipate politics from the philosophical good, which Socrates and Plato had imposed.

Global Warming

Far be it from me to play scientist. Generally I am a skeptic on most contested theories until I see real proof. However, this article is interesting.

Al Gore???

Wow, the liberals never cease to amaze me. For about the last two weeks the libs at the Huffington Post have been asking Hillary to step aside because she is unelectable. On the surface this seems logical, but they believe that Al Gore should be the democrat to run because he is electable. Huh???? If Al Gore does not epitimize "LOSER" then I don't know who does.

Please Run Gore, Please.

Like Father, Like Son, Like Family

It seems that Patrick Kennedy a Democrat member of congress from Rhode Island, oh and the son of Ted Kennedy, was involved in a car accident at 2:45 a.m. Apparently the officers on the scene were not allowed to administer a sobriety test.

Boy the Kennedy family sure turned out to be one big piece of crap!

Moussaoui

It's decided then life in prison. Before anyone starts with the "we should not make a martyr out of him, this is real punishment, bit." Consider for a second that he now will be free to attend the Mosque weekly while preaching his brand of extremist Islam. He will have a life time to recruit disenfranchised Muslims to the terrorist cause. Hopefully, we can get some frontier justice (ie: tooth brush to the neck) but I am not holding my breath. After the verdict was read Moussaoui said "America, you lost. I won." He clapped his hands as he was escorted away.

Sure did not seem like he wanted the death penalty. The jurors believed that his role was not significant enough to warrant death. While I was not on the jury, it seems that if we catch an Al Qaeda terrorist that admits and rejoices to being a terrorist the least we can do is oblige him with death.

Update: it appears that Moussaoui is going to super max, not sure how long he will be classified as a super max prisoner or how long it will be until the Frenchies try and get him transferred to France. I still think he should have received the death penalty. I think that people who admit to being Al Qaeda in court should be put to death.

A Day without an Immigrant

It's official, it seems that everyone enjoyed their day! Maybe next time they can do a year without an immigrant.

If they continue to hold these rallies and let radical groups such as the Brown Berets and Mecha speak for them they will be banned for sure. Since groups like Mecha and the Brown Berets think that there should be no borders, we should send their asses right over it.

As an American of Mexican descent, I find it treasonous to hear immigrants or other "Latinos" claim the South West should go back to Mexico. Uh no! Mexico already got its ass kicked once, I don't think they want another taste. The borders of Mexico were created by a European power. There was no such thing as Mexico before the Spanish invaded and took over. Don't these idiots realize that Spanish is the language of the Conquistadors? Spain is in Europe, fools!

To be clear, I am in favor of immigration for ecomical reasons (such as the 78 million baby boomers that are about to retire and suck social security and medicare dry) but the more illegal immigrants take to the streets, allowing some to make wild statements such as reuniting Mexico, the more inclined I am to stop immigration. Maybe we can force the old people to work if they want their social security check.

War on Drugs (updated)

Mexico is proposing a bill decriminalizing small amounts of Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin and Ecstacy. The politicians of San Diego are outraged.

"I'm going to call this action what it is, appallingly stupid, reckless and incredibly dangerous." San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. As stupid as our short-sighted politicians?

It is official, Mexicans can be Americanized. Now we both have amazingly stupid politicians!

This is not to say that I believe all drugs should be legal. Just that I think the war on drugs is extremely ineffective and is wasting tax dollars. There has to be a better way to do this. (OK I am still pissed that the privatation of social security did not pass & I believe that is appallingly stupid, reckless and incredibly dangerous)

Sudan

Watching coverage of the recent protests about the genocide in the Sudan, I cannot figure out why the protestors do not reiterate the point that the murderers are Islamic Arabs killing black Africans. If this was Jews stealing their land it would be on the front page of every paper and every liberal would be outraged. Maybe the blacks don't mind the Arabs stealing African land, after all they aren't white.

United 93

Against my better judgement I braved the movies for the first time in almost 1 year. Instantly I remembered why I don't go to the movies. One lady brought her new born baby, while the kid next to me chatted on his cell.

Anyways on to the movie... I was not impressed. Granted, I am a 9-11 junkie so I had already saw the A&E made for tv movie about United 93, every thing put out by National Geographic, as well as every documentary I can get my hands on about 9-11, so perhaps I am a tad desensatized now. There was nothing new, still there were some dramatic parts. The passangers attacking the terrorists and the terrorists attacking the crew come to mind. If you hate the going to the movies as I do, you can wait until it is out on DVD.

Gas Hysteria

Although I do not like the rapid increase in gas prices, I am shocked to hear so many "conservatives" call for the government to investigate this. I hear them say that they are making too much profit. That smacks of Communism to me. If one were to look at this objectively then they would see that adjusted for infaltion gas is as cheap today as it was 25 years ago. I got this chart from Instapundit.

I think people should examine the price of movie tickets, comic books, soda, hell houses or cars or any product 25 years ago and see if gas is significantly higher. It is not. Get over it people prices rise. The cheapness of our gas causes many to waste it and maybe the increase will cause us to use energy more wisely.

Babies in Prison

CNN just covered a story about a California womens prison which is about to introduce a new program that will allow women in prison to keep their newborn babies in a special facility will they will learn parenting skills and receive drug treatment.

"Just because were in here doesn’t mean were bad mothers,” Lucinda Hernandez

Uh, Wrong! That is exactly what it means. This is outrageous, the babies need to be stripped from these unfit mothers. These babies should be either placed with family or put up for adoption. The mothers must first kick their drug habits and get out of jail before they are allowed the chance to raise their children.

Common Sense

Ann Coulter's new column is pricless. Here ia the best stuff:

However the Duke lacrosse rape case turns out, one lesson that absolutely will not be learned is this: You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don't hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money.

Also, you can severely reduce your chances of being raped if you do not go to strange men's houses and take your clothes off for money. (Does anyone else detect a common thread here?

I could not agree more.

Now I am really starting to like China

I know this is not a popular opinion but I am really starting to like China. During the ceremony introducing the Hu Jintao the President of China a protestor began shouting that his days were numbered, and asking Bush to stop his killing. Usually it is Bush being screamed down by left wing wackos in foreign countries, it was refreshing to see someone esle being yelled at. I can already see the wackos in Europe, burning effigies of him during his visits.

Terrorist Professor

The terrorist professor made famous by going on the O'Reilly factor plead guilty to supporting terrorists and will recieve a 46-57 month sentance. There was alot of hoopla after he was acquitted on 8 counts of terror related charges last December. I wonder what the media will say now. As part of the plea bargain he will be deported.story

Good Ridance!

Dirty Arab

Well it seems that the Moussaoui defense team has given up on the crazy bit and is seeking to play the victim card. I guess he was abused by his dad as a child. He waws in an orphanage, but wait, he was also called a "Dirty Arab." The Horror! Kill Him!

The other argument I keep hearing is that we can't kill him because this is what he wants. Excuse me! If he wants death lets bring it to him. All of these Islamofaciscists want death, don't you get it. We just need to get the stomach to kill them. You know the old saying, be careful what you wish for.

The Gays are coming, the gays are coming

Apparently some gay parents had the nerve to attend the White House Easter Party. story Although I do believe that the gay parents wearing rainbow leighs was political and might have been overdoing it, that speaks more to others uncomfort than it does to them.

I for one do not care about gays. Let them marry, let them celebrate Easter it is no skin off my back. My parents generation has already destroyed marriage so I don't buy any arguements that claim gays will ruin it. Get over it people, gays have been around since forever.

Hamas

It appears that the new and improved moderate Hamas does not have the political will to be a partner in peace with Israel. I held out hope for awhile hoping that the intoxication of power would allow them to rethink their hardline stance against Israel. Although I believe that the second intifada did increase the Palastinian political power the inability to know when to stop is undermining their cause. I say it increased their bargaining power because the second intifada showed that they have the capacity to strike Israel hard in Israel. A strong enemy has much more leverage than a weak one. This is why our enemies want a nuke so bad, they know that their political power increases as their military might does. If Hamas would clamp down on the other terror groups and restore order to Gaza they would be viewed as legitimate partners. Alas they now seem impotent.

Fire Rumsfeld 2 Months Ago!

I believe the time may have passed for Bush to fire Rumsfeld without appearing impotent. Bush could have shored up more support and created a new energy for the war by naming a new S.O.D but he chose to wait and do nothing. If he replaces him now he will appear weak and reactionary. But every day that he does not he seems more and more out of touch. Tough position but his own fault.

Cowardly Central

Check out the response to complaints of the censorship of South Park's "Cartoon Wars." It would be funny if it weren't so sad. They failed to stand up for free speech, yet by reading this one would think they showed the image.

This piece of garbage is a must read

The Jaywalking Grandma

After it became public that an 82 year-old woman has received a $114 jaywalking ticket she has been receiving national attention. People are outraged at the police for doing this to such an old woman. story
To summarize, she began crossing while the red do not cross light was flashing for this she received a ticket.

Excuse me if I don't burst into tears. Maybe I am impatient but I am sick of driving behind old people who think it is alright to go under the speed limit or walk so slow across the street that they impede traffic. They should be ticketed just like anyone esle. If you are to old to drive have someone drive you if you are to old to walk get one of those old people scooters.

Free Speech Gone in South Park

Well whoever saw last nights South Park saw an otherwise excellent South Park ruined by censorship.

Comedy Central refused to allow an image of the prophet Mohhamed ironically they did allow Jesus, President Bush, a random pregnant single mother, and various other random Americans to shit on each other and the U.S flag. I guess it does not matter if they offend their consumer base because we are just a bunch of schmucks who won't do anything about it.

Democrats & Immigration

Republicans Frist & Hassert issued a joint statement regarding immigration, here is my favorite part:

"In December, the House of Representatives passed a strong border security bill aimed at securing our borders and preventing illegal immigration," the statement said.

"However, on December 16, 2005, there were 191 House Democrats who voted to oppose House Republican efforts to reduce the crime of unlawful presence in the United States from a felony to a misdemeanor. Instead, they voted to make felons out of all of those who remain in our country illegally. (Some conservative Republicans also favored making unlawful presence a felony.)

But I thought the Democrats were for immigrants. It appears that they are trying (somewhat successfully I might add) to exploit this issue and win back some of the Hispanic vote they lost last time.

South Park Tonight!

Will America bury their heads in the sand? Will Comedy Central puss out? Tune in tonight for a can't miss South Park, 10 p.m. est, 7 p.m. pst.

If I had to guess then I would guess that they show it.

The War is Lost!

Or so say some prominent conservatives such as William F. Buckley and Newt Gingrich, Barnett digs a little deeper in an excellent defense of the war. check it out
Here is a brief quote:

Saying we “lost the war” in Iraq is simply saying “I want a return to the old days of the Powell Doctrine,” which only got us 9/11 and the rising Occidentalism of the Salafis who think American “staying power” is defined by helicopters fleeing over the horizon with their tail rotors between their legs.

The Powell Doctrine was perfect for the old Neocons, because it was a strategy of limited regret, limited impact, limited success and guaranteed long-term reliance on military arms to do nothing more than maintain a declining status quo.

But the Bushies went beyond those limitations on Iraq, which I thought and still think was completely necessary. Yes, it exposed a lot of bad thinking, bad planning, bad force structure, bad doctrine, bad operations, etc. in the U.S. military, but all those exposures have led to necessary change--and change long-delayed at that.

As for the Iraq situation dragging on, it’s so weird that the conservatives can listen to the insurgency experts talk about needing a good decade to defeat such an effort and yet declare, just three years into the intervention, that all is obviously lost. Where these guys’ sense of history is, I do not know.

Wehner points out that “One might hope our own democratic development--which included the Articles of Confederation and a ‘fiery trial’ that cost more than 600,000 American lives--would remind critics that we must sometimes be patient with others.”

Me? I just like to remind everyone of the UN’s own estimate that we killed about 50,000 Iraqis each year for 12 years with our pointless sanctions between Desert Storm and OIF. Makes for a nice round number, doesn’t it.


I would be lying to say that I do not think about the viability of the War constantly. Although there is no clear cut answer, I believe we should have some more patience.

Amnesty

Recently I said that amensty was in order. I want to clear up exactly what I mean.

First, those claiming that we can easily deport all of the illegal immigrants do not seem to have thought this through. The resources needed to find all of the illegal immigrants alone would be huge. Second, once we find them we will have to send them to some sort of hearing, which I am guessing will also be extremely costly. Next, once these illegals are gone where are we going to find enough workers to replace them fast. I don't want to hear about prisoners either. The incentives for them to do a good job would not be there and many of them would definitely not want to work in the fields. Now have any of these people that want to deport immediatly ever taken a course in ECONOMICS! Hello people it is called supply & demand. You cannnot get rid of these illegals and not expect more to come as long as there is a demand for there labor. Lastly, we need to increase quotas for laborers from Latin America.

As for amnesty, I believe that those who have been here and working for at least two years should get some sort of program where they pay back taxes or a fine and then are given work visas. Once those visas expire then they should be allowed to file for citizenship.

Something like this must be done. Let us not forget that it is our economy which makes us a super power.

America's best ally China?

Those who know me realize that I am a huge fan of Thomas Barnett. This article is a must read. Here is the crux of his argument:

Some history: A century ago, England reigned as the leading military superpower with its global network of colonies and its world-class navy. Meanwhile, America was the upstart power with its booming industrial base and Great White Fleet that it used primarily for threatening - and sometimes conquering - small island nations.

England was smart enough back then to realize that America's rise was unstoppable. So the Brits followed the first rule of ruling the world: Don't fight the inevitable! Instead, Britain took America under its wing, playing Greece to our Rome. The British mentored our rise, knowing that it preordained their decline.

Fast forward: This time around, we're playing the Brits, and the Chinese are playing the Americans.

Far be it from me to argue with Barnett. I for one would welcome the partnership.

Borders First!

IMHO, it seems counter productive to have a debate about what we should do with the 12 million illegal immigrants in this country before we secure our borders. The first thing we need to do is stop the flow of illegals, then we can decide what to do with the ones that are here. This is because if we do offer some sort of amnesty deal then millions more would enter the country hoping to fast track themselves to citizenship.

I believe that amensty, however bad a policy it might be, is the best option, BUT ONLY if we secure the borders. It makes no sense to me, to waste resources going after illegal immigrants whom we can only imprison or deport. That would cost millions upon millions and would harm production. If we were able to deport all 12 million overnight, what would happen to the economy? Certainly, losing millions of workers overnight would be catastrophic to economic production. Illegal immigration has been an issue long before 9/11 yet I do not remember so many ivoking security as the main reason to close the border.

To be clear, I think fear mongering is way overdone. First, I believe that some are going way too far by invoking the War on Terror. To be sure, open borders are not good for stopping terrorists that want to attack but lets not go too far.

Likewise, the race card being played by some is tired and old. Sure, its racist to have a border policy. I wonder why these newly oppressed Mexicans do not claim that Mexico is racist for its strict border policy. Better yet why aren't they protesting Vicente Fox's non-existant programs for the poor? No they want to come here to get opportunities that are not available in their country and then they have the nerve to cry racism once we try and regulate our border.

Didn't we see this coming

It's official, the immigration protesters have officially become tools of the left. This is my worst fear! The left has used Mexicans protesting the new immigration bill to promote their crappy agenda. Michelle Malkin has pictures up of Mexicans marching with a banner for A.C.C.E.S.S or Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. Likewise, Dawud Walid, 34, of Detroit, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan, attended the Detroit rally. True that Mexicans are not the only illegal immigrant group but do Mexicans really want to get in bed with fringe groups. (other attendees include A.N.S.W.E.R., and the Black Panthers, to be fair I actually like the old Black Panther movement). pictures

As an American of Mexican descent, I fear that this sudden spark of political activism by the Hispanic community will end with the Hispanic community becoming tools of the left, much like the African-American movement. I can already see the crappy leaders that worship from the goblet of racism. Any Hispanic that denies that we are a completely oppressed race will then lose their ethnicity.

Iran

The Bush administration is ratcheting up plans to strike Iran's nuclear facilities according to Seymour M. Hersh

Personally, I believe that Bush should not be the President to take out their nuclear facilities. Although, estimations are all over the board, I believe that Iran is at least 3 years away from making a nuke. Bush should leave this to the next President who must do this attack with broad international support. We need to learn from Iraq. It is extremely difficult to nation build with many countries constantly undermining the effort.

Their Here!

China's new line of cars is about to be intoduced. The first car should be ready this year with an expected production of 600,000 cars a year by 2010. story

As if Ford and Chevy needed anymore bad news.

Stick a fork in em!

Their done! France has repealed the controversial law that would have allowed employers to fire workers under 26 years of age without cause. Wow!

I see no way that France can continue to compete in a global market with their backwards view on work. How can an employer run a business if he or she can not fire anyone?

Judas a Hero?

Apparently there is a newly translated gospel of Judas. Story

I for one am fascinated with the topic and I would love to read the manuscript. There are many gospels that are not included in the bible. To me, the inclusion and exclusion of gospels in the new testament was highly political and it lead me to not only question my faith and my beliefs but ultimately change them.

National Geographic is doing a special on the Gospel of Judas, Sunday, April 9, 10 p.m. EST

Don't miss it!

South Park & Muhamed

You have to watch this weeks epsiode of Sout Park, it is funny and important. They are trying to get Comdey Central to allow them to have "The Prophet Muhamed" in an episode but the powers that be do not want them doing it. They created this show to parody their fight with the TV suits. Comedy Central allows them to degrade Christianity, Judasim, Mormons, Mexicans, Blacks, Scientologists, etc...yet they will not allow them to make fun of Islam? Can you say hypocrit? More later...

Something Cool

Wednessday at precisely three seconds and two minutes after 1 a.m. The time will be 01:02:03 04/05/06, that won't happen for another hundred years. Well, I think its cool. (Hat tip Andrew Sullivan)

Paul & Jesus

I consider Paul one of the most influential people in Western Culture. I believe that Christianity is the religion of Paul and not Jesus. Imagine if Paul would have gone east into Asia instead of West. Rome most certainly would have never become Christian; perhaps the East would be Christians and the West Muslims? Perhaps not, anyway on to Paul.

Paul traveled around not to spread the teachings of Jesus, but to transform Christ into a god. I believe that he alludes to that in Galatians. “Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being…but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2, 11-12). Revelations of Christ after his death, to me, this speaks volumes. Jesus never claimed to be a god nor did he desire to create some universal religion, he wanted Judaism to reclaim its morals. Not so with Paul, he was intent on creation of a new order.

Paul said that the laws were in place because of the excessive depravity from humans. Paul said that with the coming of Christ the need for laws to obtain salvation or to be righteous is no more, all that one needs now is faith. Before the coming of Christ, the Hebrews relied on adherence to the laws to gain access to the promise land. Faith in Paul’s teachings not in the teaching of Christ.

Even though Paul claimed to be spreading the teachings of Jesus there are some differences in the message they deliver to the people. Paul was forcefully telling people that the laws no longer applied, “…because by works of the law no one will be justified,” (Galatians 2, 16). Paul was upset because the pagans he converted to Christ had begun to observe Jewish law after enticement from other missionaries (Galatians, Intro). Paul constantly reminded new converts that faith, not laws was the ticket into heaven. Paul said that faith replaced law because this was Gods will. This message was vastly different because Jesus did not tell people that the laws were no longer relevant in such absolute terms.

“…I say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law…” (Galatians, 5, 18). As Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, he focuses on obeying the spirit of the law, not the abolition of the law. Jesus told his followers that it would be harder to get to heaven following his words because God will judge people by what is in their heart not just by their actions. Not once did Jesus claim that faith in him would lead to salvation.

No matter, because I have lost this argument I believe that most would consider this a ridiculous position. Unfortunately, once the split from Judaism occured they manipulated scriptures and used Christian law (such as only clergy can interpret scriptures) to maintain their power of society. It appears that Paul is the catalyst behind this change. The only logical step after this would be for Martin Luther to discredit Catholic laws, which of course he did. It appears that you cannot rescue religion from human corruption.

Immigration

I think if we are going to have an honest debate about immigration than both sides have to admit to their overstatements.

First, unskilled illegal immigrants drive down wages for the labor jobs. The unskilled illegal immigrants taxes do not cover the costs of services provided such as education and healthcare. Likewise they are taking jobs that Americans want, for example according to Newsweek illegal immigrants make up, 29% of all roofers and agricultural workers, 25% of all brick masons and construction laborers,20% of all computer hardware engineers, 18% of upholsterers. The point is Americans are already doing these jobs! These are all professions that Americans have always worked in, the difference is Americans don't want to work for peanuts.

But...

We need immigrants to keep our economy growing. The current birthrate demands that we import workers into this country to meet labor demands. Also, it is not good policy to make illegal immigrants felons. If we arrested the 12 million illegals the court costs (translators for all)and incarceration costs would bankrupt the country, not to mention the blow the economy would take from the significant loss of a labor force.

There is also another improtant factor to consider and that is culture and identity. Many fear that Mexican immigrants will not assimilate. I think this is happens because people know that Mexicans have been coming to this country since the US first won it from Mexico in war. It appears as if Mexicans are not upward mobile and prefer to stay segregated off with their own people. This is not so true. Third and second generation descendents of Mexican immigrants (I am a third generation)usually do not speak Spanish and are American. Unlike other immigrant groups, such as the Irish or Italians or whomever, the Mexican immigrants keep coming. This means that Mexicans are always in low employment positions. It makes it appear that Mexicans as a whole have not imroved their lot and that is not true. The descendents of the Mexican immigrants from the 1920 wave of Mexican immigration have assimilated and prospered. That being said it is a different time. My grandparents refused to allow their children to speak Spanish because they were Americans, you don't see that too much anymore.

The bottom line is we must take control over our borders. It is illogical to claim we cannot regulate and control our borders because the country was founded on immigration. But we need to do it in a sensible way that allows for economic growth.

New Template

The black was becoming a little tiring for my eyes. I decided to try a light background and see if that helps. Any comments are welcomed.

Jesus & the Jewish Laws

Although I am not religious, I was raised catholic and I enjoy reading the bible. I read it much like other philosophy books. So here is my interpretation of Jesus and Jewish Laws.

The Old Testament explains God’s covenant with Abraham and his special relationship with the Hebrew people highlighted in his dealings with Moses. Next the Torah laid out specific laws that the Hebrew people needed to follow in order to maintain their relationship with God. That became the status quo for hundreds of years, but that all changed with the birth of Jesus. Jesus believed that the Hebrew relationship with God was compromised by the continuation of the ancient laws. He believed that the Pharisees had perverted the purpose of the laws thereby negating the need for those laws.

The social meaning of law is to preserve society, it does that by reinforcing values or traditions that the society holds high. The number one goal of every society is self-preservation, society’s meet this goal be turning customs and traditions into law. The ancient Hebrew gained their identity from the laws and legitimized their right to Jerusalem through the laws of God. Eventually those laws used to strengthen their identity and their relationship with God began to weaken their spirituality.

“For if the inheritance comes from the law, it is no longer from a promise; but god bestowed it on Abraham through a promise,” (The New American Bible, Galatians 3, 18). Certainly, laws cannot determine whom God allows into heaven and whom God sends to hell. God promised Abraham eternal salvation but the Pharisees began to use the laws as a control mechanism. They used the laws to acquire more power and began to corrupt the laws. This is why Paul felt that it was necessary to defy the Pharisees and compel people to disregard the laws because the coming of Jesus nullified those laws and enabled everyone to become a child of Abraham. Paul claims that Jesus came down to accept the burden that humanity had been shouldering until that point in time.

The problem is that over time the Hebrew laws began to lose meaning. This happens because people subconsciously follow laws with out putting much thought into why they are obeying this particular law. Jesus displayed the problems with passively following laws. People begin to follow the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. Jesus believed that people should follow the laws in their heart. Jesus did not believe that simply performing a specific action such as circumcision makes one righteous. “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition,” (New American Bible Mark 7, 8).

This led to a certain amount of confusion because the Hebrews thought that Jesus abolished those laws. For example, the Hebrew would consider a person that never murders and never commits adultery as righteous. Jesus said that if that person has hate constantly in is heart and lust always in his mind than he is not righteous and it does not matter that he does not act on these feelings. The mere presence of negative thoughts means the person has violated the spirit of the law. Jesus tells his followers “…it was said to your ancestors, you shall not kill…but I say to you whoever is angry with his brother is liable to judgment,” (New American Bible Matthew 5, 21-22).

The laws also contributed to the Hebrew identity. By abolishing these laws, Jesus transformed the religion from one of a cultural and region specific religion to that of a universal religion. “Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham,” (New American Bible, Galatians 3, 7). This means that salvation is no loner for a particular people but rather for all who believe. This is extremely important because until this point, the Hebrew's were the chosen people of God and only descendents could obtain entrance into heaven.

In my opinion Jesus is not the son of an almighty super natural being but rather a philosopher and preacher of peace and justice. I do not, as some do, begrudge others or smite them for interpreting it different.

The French

Is it any wonder that the French are irrelevant? There are estimates that more than 1 million protestors took to the streets today. They are protesting a new law which would allow employers to fire workers under 26 if they have been there less than 2 years. complete story

These quotes sum up the mindset of the French.

"We're demanding the complete withdrawal of the CPE. You can't treat people like slaves. Giving all the power to the bosses is going too far," said Gregoire de Oliviera, a 21-year-old student protesting in Paris.

The problem is we are studying just to be exploited. The government must withdraw the CPE. We will continue to protest on the streets," said Laura Dali, an 18-year-old student in Paris.


It seems obvious that France can only lose political, economic and military power in the future. People should not have a right to a job just as an employer should not have a right to my labor.

Blogs VS Old Media

As a journalism major I constantly hear about the horrors of blogging via my professors. Their rational is bloggers are not journalists, they are biased and they play fast and loose with the facts. Recently, accomplished journalist Dan Thomasson visited my media ethics class. When I asked him what he thought about blogs he was not positive. He characterized this rise of new media as "a very disturbing period of time."

This is a close-minded view of blogs. Blogs are the equivalent of the op-ed page; the difference is that the audience can usually respond to the story and other’s readers responses to the story. Any intelligent person can tell if a person has thought out a response to a complex issue or is just regurgitating partisan talking points. Any hint of poorly thought out opinion will be ridiculed and attacked. I think that the fact that the readers know a bloggers political leaning prior to reading makes it more ethical. Traditional media claims to be objective while blogs are honest about their bias.

To be sure, there are partisan blogs that reset talking points but only partisan people who do not want objectivity would limit themselves to those blogs. Blogs acknowledge that readers do not want passive participation but rather they desire to have their voice heard as well. Traditional media outlets choose to insulate themselves from their audience reserving their participation to a few “letters to the editor” that will be printed. While news editors continue their role as gate keeper; blogs invite the masses to join the discussion through a much bigger gate.

Fatherhood

Mens rights activists have just sued to have the right to decline fatherhood. complete story

It is about time! Roe v Wade has granted women complete dominion over the family. Women's groups believe that just informing the father of a child of an abortion is an undue burden. "Reproductive rights" are only rights for women. Any attempts by men to assert some rights are viewed as archaic and as a return to the days of oppression. So it is the woman's choice to keep or abort the baby but once the woman decides then the man must adjust to her decision. If she keeps the baby then he must pay child support for eighteen years, if she aborts then tough luck maybe next time.

The act of childbirth, while physically trying is the easy part of parenting. It is the sacrifices and the financial obligations, which last at least eighteen years that are the hard part. Nobody tells their children dont have kids young because it will hurt. They discuss the difficulties of raising the child.

If a man is willing to assume all obligations of child rearing then he should have that right. If that is too much to ask then fatherhood is meaningless.

India

Pres. Bush agreed to give nuclear technology to India if they opened their civilian nuclear facilities for inspections.story

Of course there are some in congress who are dead set against this and believe it will provide incentives for other countries to develop nuclear weapons. Certainly, that is possible. But I think it is positive and India should be embraced as an ally.

NFLPA

"I won't come down," said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, who is asking for 60 percent of league revenue for players, four percentage points more than the owners are offering. "The players know that. Only the owners can make a proposal."
complete story

It is time fot the owners to break the NFL union. Usually I am on the side of the players but 60% is outrageous, the owners should lock them out. They do not deserve 60% and Gene Upshaw needs to be fired by the players.

NFLPA & the CBA

As a die-hard NFL fan, the failure to extend the CBA is frightening for me. Apparently, there are two sticking points. First the players union wants to have 60% of the gross total revenue while the owners want to give them 56.2% (something like that). If no deal is reached by friday then this year teams will need to cut big named and big money players. After this year there will be no salary cap. That would be horrible. I do not want to see the NFL turn into MLB. I think the owners should threaten the union with a lock-out if they dont agree. With out a cap most team would not be able to compete and that would be bad for business.

The second point is over revenue sharing, some teams want to expand the sharing to include local revenue in addition to TV contracts and merchandise. Not sure how I feel on this. The Raiders dont make much local money but we sell more merchandise than any team in the league.

Kurdistan

If you have a second you should check out these pictures (hat tip Andrew Sullivan) from the Kurdish areas in Northern Iraq. They are pretty immpressive and much different than what is shown on the news or what is happening in Baghdad. pics

High School Exit Exam

In order to graduate high school, students in California need to pass an exam proving that they are ready to graduate. Students who do not speak English are claiming the test is biased. story

Apparently there are about 40,000 students that do not speack much english that have yet to pass. They believe that this test is unnecessary and punitive.

Here is a quote from the student they profiled:
"I need a diploma," said Iris, a chestnut-haired girl who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the Mexican state of Jalisco. "I want it. I deserve it. I've been going to school and studying. I want to have a profession."

And this one:
"My heart just breaks, because many of these students have been in this country just six months or a year," Martinez-McCoffey said later, her eyes welling with tears.


If you have only been in this country six months to a year than you probably should have waited to finish school if that was not possible then you must find another way. A high school diploma is not a right but a privilage that must be earned. Truthfully, I dropped out to take the GED. But here is a plan for any that cannot pass the test. Simply enroll in community college by the time you finish the required curriculum for the school your high school credits will be earned. What good is a diploma if you dont speak English?

First it was Irving...

Now a 61 year-old man from Germany has been convicted for insulting Islam. story

Although these cases are in Europe the threat is real here as well. There is no doubt that many would like to see racism or hate speech a convictable offense in this country as well.

Black History Month

Am I the only one that finds Black History Month offensive?

Perhaps there was a time when it was needed. But blacks should see it as a slap in the face. All black history and any other different racial history should be incorporated into American history and be taught at the appropriate time slot. For example, when teaching the 19th century throw in Fredrick Douglass, etc...

Civil War

It seems as though the Sunni's and the Shia's might just get it on after this Mosque attack. story

The angle that I am concerned with is how will this effect Middle Eastern politics? Certainly, the Sunni dominated region must really be aprehensive to Shia Iran acquiring a bomb. I wonder if the Sunni countries will push the U.S or Europe to strike their nuclear facilities sooner rather than later?

Also, what does that mean for the US military if a civil war breaks out?

Hypocrisy

Europe cannot scream about freedom of expression while locking up people for denying the holocaust. story

Keep Your Laws Off My Body

A 31 year-old Illinios woman wants doctors to circumcise her 8 year-old son against the objections of his father. story

This is outrageous! Girls are allowed complete control over not only their body but seperate bodies growing inside of them and boys are not even allowed dominion over their penis? This makes no sense to me. First, why does this woman want to have her 8 year-old son circumiced? This sounds border line sexual to me.

I think that all arguments over the health ocncerns are void in this country. Perhaps in Africa where AIDS is everywhere and the foreskin does help spread the disease it is necessary, but in this country it is only for cosmetic purposes. There has been no recent studies pointing to a need for circumcision. If a boy wants part of his penis snipped it should be for him and him alone to decide (when he is an adult).It is dehumanizing to allow mothers or fathers dominion over their childs penis.

I realize the Jewish religion has ceremonial traditions that demand that babies get this done, but I think it should be illegal for parents to force this on their children. Certainly the covenant would mean more if it was undertaken by an adult fully aware of this implications of this decision than a child who has no idea of what is happening. Religous ceremonies should not be legally protected when they give away a humans rights. Nobody in this country believes for a second that Muslims should be able to cut off the clitoris, why is the foreskin any different?

Certainly, parents should not have complete control to force cosmetic surgery on their children. A just society would allow boys control over their own penis, would it not?

Dick Cheney

I do not get all of the hysteria about Cheney taking a day to notify the press. Of course the press corps and many others are going nuts, Andrew Sullivan writes: "...You are not a monarch; and you are not a Pope. You have seriously wounded another human being. The news was kept from the public for a day. The man is in intensive care. There are many serious questions about the incident: How did it happen? What happened immediately thereafter? Why the decision to keep it secret for so long?..."

Maybe Cheney did not want the hospital to become a circus, which it would have.
It seems that there are many issues that are more important to be spending so much time on this. I really dont care that he shot someone on accident. Maybe the press should focus this much attention to Iraq, the Sudan, etc...

Batman

Batman writer FRANK MILLER tells the New York Post, "It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda. Batman kicks al-Qaeda's ass."

It is nice to finally see some Americans comic book heroes getting into the propaganda. Long over due!

Spelling Bee update

Well the parents succesfully scared the school district into submission. The school will now be sending the three finalists to the state spelling bee. story

"In this case, we found it really unfortunate that the parents of this child did not follow the rules. I don't believe they had a leg to stand on, but we're trying to do what's right. We did not want this to affect the other students in the spelling bee."School official

"I spent a really long time studying for all of this," Sara said Wednesday. "If I would have gone down by misspelling the word, I would have been fine with it. Someone would have been a better speller than me. But I didn't get that word wrong and it is really not fair that I got sent down because I would have really like the chance to go to state."

I hate to sound unsypmathetic but this girl is going to have to learn that life is not fair. I think her parents missed an excellent opportunity to parent and instill some character in her. It seems to me that they missed the boat and actually could have set a bad example for her. It has been my experience that life will always try to knock you down. There will not always be mommy and daddy around to hire a lawyer and threaten law suits.

Perhaps, I am overreacting after all she did spell the word right and I do not even have children, then again maybe I am not.

Hope is on the way!

It seems that the us conservatives who believe that the "war on marijuana" is foolish are no longer in the minority, well at least we have allies. story

I for one think it is a huge waist of resources. As long as people are able to go out and drink shots of Tequila and whiskey people should be able to smoke a joint.

Great Example

Parents of an 8th grade girl in Reno, are threatening to sue the school district because their child was mistakenly kicked out of the spelling bee. I guess she spelled the word right and the judges got it wrong. Now the parents lawyer is threatening legal action unless the school bord does the last round over. story

What a great example the parents are setting. Is it any wonder that people in this country think that everyone owes them something?

Made in China

The NYT has an excellent article discussing the growing trade deficit with China. The gist is that most stuff is only assembled in China not made there so the large deficit numbers are misleading.

Here is a telling statistic quoted from the article.

"In fact about 60 percent of this countries (China) exports are controlled by foreign companies according to Chinese customs data."

The author goes on to say that the Chinese workers average about .75 an hour. While that is certainly low and should continue to be raised that is much higher than I believed it was.

Anyway it is an extremely interesting article and I encourage everyone to read it. complete story

note: you need a subsription to read the NYT on-line, however it is free

The hypocrisy of Gambling

For anyone that does not know, Wayne Gretzky and other NHL officials and players have been caught running a gambling ring. story

According to the reports the players did not bet on NHL only other sports. I don't care! furthermore it is disturbing to me that people can be arrested for gambling. It is 2006, shouldn't adults be able to decide if they want to risk their money?

I am a die-hard sports fan and I would never want the integrity of the game questioned, but players betting on other sports does not bother me.

Joe Montana

Let be start by saying of all the players I hate in the NFL, there are two above all that I hate Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, with Tom Brady quickly rising on the list.

That being said I think he is taking too much flack for missing the Super Bowl pre-game show. The NFL invioted all of the former SB MVP's and reportedly Joe did not show because he wanted 100K. Everyone has been saying it was bush league for him to do that, or that the NFL gave him everything he should give back, etc...

Joe made himself, the NFL is a for profit business so excuse me if I dont begrudge someone trying to make a profit. Maybe he does not want to be involved with the NFL, that is his choice. He is in no way obligated to make appearances or attend NFL events.

Modern Civil Rights Movement

As a minority I cringe whenever these phony civil rights leaders open their ignorant mouths. It has not changed. At the King funeral these "civil rights leaders" used the occcasion to insult President Bush. I understand that politics is nasty but have some class because they are denigrating the entire movement. They have been reduced to ignorant whiners.

Viva La France

I will not draw the prophet 

Muslim Protests

Michelle Malkin has some nice photos from some of the demonstrations against newspapers running cartoons of Muhammed. The scary part is these are pictures from a London protest. The pictures speak for themselves. pics

Props to Europe (updated)

Say what you will about the courage of the Euros, but it is the European press that has the balls to challenge the muslims. In our country the press and the left will only attack Christianity. For some reason the left is always quiet when it comes to Islam but not in Europe. Papers in France,Germany, Spain and Switzerland have all backed the Danes and repreinted all of the cartoons about the prophet Muhammed (I am not sure on the spelling because it changes all the time). pics

This is courageous and needs to be done. Of course the Muslims are going ape shit. They are boycotting Danish goods and some are escalating to violence. article

CNN does not have the balls to show the photos, they have them blurred out when covering the story.

"A Danish government can never apologise on behalf of a free and independent newspaper. This is basically a dispute between some Muslims and a newspaper," said Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Compare that to the US governments position.

"Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable," said State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus.

Now compare to Egypts ambassador to Denmark

"Mona Omar Attia, Egypt's ambassador to Denmark, said after a meeting with Rasmussen that she was satisfied with the position of the Danish government but noted the prime minister had said he could not interfere with the press. 'This means the whole story will continue and that we are back to square one again. The government of Denmark has to do something to appease the Muslim world,' Attia said."

Do they now?

And to the Arab street.

"Whoever defames our prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of others in the West Bank city of Ramallah.


"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.

Democracy

Since the Hamas victory yesterday, I have heard many talking heads make statements such as, "becareful what you ask for" or "Islam is not compatible with Democracy." It seems that both conservatives and liberals are united in the belief that the Hamas victory proved that Bush was wrong for "pushing Western values on the Middle East."

This is complete BS in my humble opinion. I think it is a human right for people to have a say in their government. Why would anyone oppose voting in the Middle East? Are they scared the radical Islamic parties will win?

I hate to break the news to everyone but the Middle East is already full of radical governments. If there are elections then we know that this is the will of the people not just a minority of radicals. It appears that many would rather condemn a large portion of the worlds' population to subjugation, that is heartbreaking.

Flatline (updated)

Only two outcomes that I see with the Hamas victory. 1. Israel sets their own border setting off a war between the two with outside parties being drawn in. or 2. Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel and world peace breaks out. (cough, cough, this is good shit)
To be clear I dont think that Hamas will just disarm peacefully but rather I could see them becoming intoxicated with power and therefore change there beliefs in order to maintain power.
Regardless this election is huge, but we need to wait for Israeli elections in March to learn the full implication. For the record I think it is positive to have elections everywhere no matter the outcome. I would rather know that the majority of people want an extremist government, than to be told constantly that the people like us it is just the repressive government that does not.
So much more to say but the semester has started and I have HW.

UN Imperialism????

"We don't listen to anybody," said George Kassi, 19, as he hoisted as a stone to throw at the headquarters of the United Nations mission. "We want the complete liberation of Ivory Coast. I won't go home until the U.N. and France leave my country." complete story

I thought the French and the UN were the good guys? Whenever statements such as these come are directed towards the US they are instantly legitimate. These are the same type of statements coming out of France and the UN in regards to the Iraq war.

I know it is popular to say that the only reason that we have any attachment to the Middle East is because of the oil. But to that I say so what! At least we care and are engaged in the region. Africa is more chaotic and worse off than the Middle East. When the Middle East does stabilize (at some point it has to)there will be an even bigger mess in Africa.

The Truce

Please tell me none of the Democrats will be so stupid as to suggest we discuss Bin Ladens truce? It really saddens me to ask such a dumb question but with Democrats such as Dennis Kucinich or Barabara Lee, I am not sure. tick-tock-tick-tock

Labor Unions

Labor Union reps in San Francisco were outraged that Gov. Schwarzenneger attended the MLK breakfast. complete story.
This is why I dislike labor unions. Although most people in labor unions are blue collar, conservative people, the leadership has gone extremely left.
This exploitation of MLK by SF unions is disgusting.

The Kennedy's

I saw a documentary named "Kennedy's: The Curse of Power"(? at least I think that was the name). Holy Shit, this is a screwed up family. I never realized that the father Joe, was a NAZI sympathizer, nor did I know that he had his daughter get a lobotomy. A FREAKING LOBOTOMY. How anyone from this family was ever elected to position I have no idea.

Alito & CAP

Alhtough I think Alito seems like a stellar candidate, his denial of any knowledge of his membership in CAP (Concerned Alumni of Princeton) seems, shall we say, tough-to-believe. I would think that he should be able to remember involvement or at least what the club stood for. His continual denial about anyknowledge of the issues that the club cared about is difficult for me to believe. He is an extremely intelligent person and he should remember the club if he thought enough of it to list it in his resume. The Democrats claim the club favors keeping women and minorities enrollment low. It probably means that they oppose affirmative action, which is much different.
After Sen. Kennedy read various quotes from articles in CAP newsletters, Alito denied any knowledge of the articles and distanced himself from the comments. He went further and said he would not have been part of the organization had he known the organization held these views. He claims that he joined because of the schools objectional treatment of the ROTC program.
While I believe that the ROTC was probably a large part of the reason he joined, it seems suspicious to me that he knew nothing else about the club. Kennedy is demanding the committe vote to subpoena the CAP records, this seems reasonable since Alito is denying any active invovlement in the group.
It is important to note that I do not believe his involvement with CAP is bad or should keep him out, just that it is hard for me to believe that he knew nothing of this alumni group that he joined. If he is lying about his involvement then I think that is a reason to vote against him.
(note: I am in agreement with Sen Kennedy, which besides being very troubling to me, also means I could be wrong)

Husband's Rights?????

During the Alito hearings today, Dianne Feinstein quoted Justice O’Conner, in reference to Planned Parenthood v Casey, “The state may not give to a man the kind of dominion and control over his wife that parents exercise over their children”. This quote suggested that Alito was equating wives with children when he ruled that married women must notify their husbands before having an abortion. This is and was an attempt to cloud the issue. Feinstein using this quote is her attempt to frame the argument of one of Women’s rights, however it is not so. Marriage is a contract that enforces shared responsibility on all parties. For example, if a woman gets the abortion, something goes wrong, and she needs to go to a real hospital, the husband will be financially responsible for those bills. If she dies, he will incur the cost. Not to mention the fact that the baby is his and he should at least know that this decision is being made. I realize that men do not have the same rights to their unborn children but certainly we are due the respect of notification. Alito simply ruled that a woman notifying her husband did not equate an undue burden save for some exceptions: full text


1. If the husband is not the father of the child
2. If he cannot be found after diligent effort
3. The pregnancy was a result of a spousal sexual assault and the authorities have been notified
4. The notification will lead to bodily harm on the woman

If it is, an undue burden for a wife to tell her husband that she is aborting their child then marriage need not worry about some alleged threat from gays because it is already meaningless.

Sharon's Stroke

What a difference a month makes. This stroke could not have come at a worse time. Sharon (for better or worse) was going to forge ahead on a peace plan even if he had to draw the lines himself. I cannot imagine what the majority of Isrealis are thinking. Sharon was able to transform himself from a right-wing hawk into a centrist working for peace. I cannot remember such a drastic transformation of a political figure in recent times.

USC vs TEXAS

First off, great game Vince Young played his ass off. But USC clearly got out-coached. If they would have played old school football, kick the ball on the 4th(if 4th and 1 was easy every team would go for it) they would have won. It's 4th down and 2, ball on the 45, USC has a 5 point lead and they go for it????? Bad decision, but understandable because Young was torching their defense and the only way USC could gaurauntee a victory was to keep the ball. They should have punted the ball and made Young go 80 yards regardless. But the decision to go for it on 4th and 1, at the 17, the 17!!!!!!!! The worst coaching decision in a big game that I have evere seen. USC was up 7-0, why in the world would they not kick the field goal????? Lastly, they wasted their last time out on a 2-point conversion play, with only 19 seconds left. Keep the time out!!!!!Their was no need for USC to make a statement or try and finish Texas off in one blow last night. USC was the better team and should have acted like it. Championship teams take points and do not have to take chances like that. Texas, I could understand because they needed something big to win. USC provided the opportunities with the two 4th downs and the Bush lateral. Props to Texas for taking advantage.