Life Rant

So, 36% of people recently polled by Scripps Howard/Ohio University think that the U.S. government was at the very least partially complicit in the attacks of September 11th.

Are you people insane or delusional? I'll give you a choice, but it's definitely one or the other.

Of course the following bit isn't suprising at all:

The survey also found that people who regularly use the Internet but who do not regularly use so-called "mainstream" media are significantly more likely to believe in 9/11 conspiracies. People who regularly read daily newspapers or listen to radio newscasts were especially unlikely to believe in the conspiracies.

Gee, people who get most of their information online are more likely to believe in these crackpot theories.... Shocking. Really.

Because we all know that everything on the internet is absolutely true, right? I mean you have to have some sort of credentials or history of journalistic knowledge or integrity to take fiive minutes to throw up a website or blog.

Right?

Uh, no. ANYBODY can create a website, and doctored or poorly interpreted videos, hearsay, and innuendo can be MADE to sound like "the truth" when in fact it's a huge load of horseshit (pardon the language, but I was really flabbergbasted by this information).

The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with only a high school education and Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement in 9/11.

Do I really have to add anything to the paragraph above? "Young adults" (I use the term "adults" loosely), non-college educated and shock of shocks: Democrats, are most likely to believe this tripe.

Color me stunned.

Posted by Vic at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"More money for public schools!"

I don't think so, bub.

There is an uproar over a survey distributed to a Wisconson high school class whose teachers required answers and an essay in response to questions that are so outrageous that, well... just shift your eyes leftward.

Now tell me with a straight face that this isn't promoting a homosexual as equal to hetero lifestyle. Do you think that just MAYBE we ought to be asking teens, going through a tumultuous period in their lives who are leaning towards being gay whether THEY are sure about their "selection"?

I am so bloody sick to death of hearing how schools just need more money to educate our kids better. Bite me. Private schools educate kids FAR better for LESS cost per student, so take your request and pack sand. Why are kids failing? Take a look at the "curriculum" to the left. Is this what you send kids to school to learn? They'll graduate "enlightened" and qualified to work at Burger King instead of go on to college.

I mean if it wasn't so disturbing, I'd laugh out loud... "Why do you flaunt your lifestyle with wedding rings, photos at work and talk of your heterosexual escapades?"

Man...

Sure, I see that they're trying to turn the tables here, but it's ridiculous to try and flip things this way IMHO. Perhaps we can also mainstream "swingers" (which I learned today have a new neutral sounding name: "poly") as a respectable alternative lifestyle. How about self-proclaimed "witches"? Maybe we should try to embrace them as well and give them equality with that pesky Christian religion. We are after all in the land where the minority is normal and the majority are abnormal. Talk about "1984"...

I can see this in some whacky liberal college class, but high school?

I am here to tell you that I will NEVER put my daughter in a public school. Ever.

Source: Millwaukee Journal Sentinal

Posted by Vic at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I have to say I find it really annoying that my local landline phone provider is Qwest. The only reason I even have a landline account is because I call my mom in Portugal and I can't do that (affordably) with a cell phone.

I'm annoyed because Qwest is the only major telecom provider which has refused to cooperate with the government's request for phone call datamining to ferret out communications between terrorists. Why does that bother me? Couple of reasons:

1. Why in the hell is this even in the news?

Can you imagine how WWII might have turned out if back then there were the amount of information leaks there are today? Or if back then the media had the same outlook of "scoop the other guy at all costs, regardless of the consequences"? I have a feeling I'd be typing this in German instead of English.

2. "Qwest Communications: The Terrorist's Choice"

Might as well make that their new motto. If you were a terrorist and you knew that there was only one phone company that wasn't handing over call log information to the NSA, which provider would YOU use for communications?

3. Phone number tracking: So what?

Have you ever given any thought to the fact that banks and marketing companies have been tracking your every purchase for decades? Do you think that your credit card and ATM purchases aren't datamined to the nth degree and that info isn't used to more effectively target your wallet? How about a Tivo or other brand DVR? Do you not realize that the provider keeps a record of EVERY program you watch? Where's the outcry in regards to corporate datamining? So it's ok in the name of capitalism but God forbid that it be used to protect U.S. citizens?

Get your priorities straight, people.

Posted by Vic at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yup, yet more validation as to why I moved away from California. The state senate (along party lines, Dems: yes, Repubs: no) voted to support the nationwide boycott of schools, jobs and stores by illegal immigrants. Nothing like having the government endorse illegal activity, eh?

Personally I think it's a fine opportunity to note who doesn't show up and send the info to the INS.

Not that they'd be able to do anything of course.

You know, it's funny... I'll bet that if illegal immigrants made a concerted effort to "Americanize" and forced themselves to learn the language and if they would stop chanting "La Raza" and instead wave American flags there would be a very different split on how people feel about this issue.

But instead these folks are wanting their cake and to eat it too... Mexican pride, wave their flag around, speak their native tounge, expect business and schools to adapt to their language. I swear it's just another sign of people mistaking privileges for civil rights.

Source: CBS (via Drudge)

Posted by Vic at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

At a time when a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. is tickling $3 (and is already above that in Hawaii) the announcement that Lee Raymond, ex-CEO of Exxon will be receiving a retirement package worth over $400 MILLION and has already been paid over $600 MILLION over the course of his time there is just insane to me. I don't care if it's in stock options or some other as of yet non-spendable form or WHATEVER.

We're not talking the CEO of a company that makes something like sofas or Oxy-Clean or a bloody Thighmaster that wouldn't impact people if it didn't exist or wasn't sold. This is OIL, folks, something the country cannot survive without and screw capitalism, something needs to be done.

BTW, in case you weren't aware, even the climb in price per barrel of oil to over $70 does not justify (mathematically speaking) the price per gallon we are paying at the pump. You ARE aware that profits of oil companies have DOUBLED from a year ago, aren't you? That certainly doesn't jive with the theory that the price at the pump is just keeping up with the price of oil per barrel.

No don't get me wrong, I'm the first to admit that it takes a lot to run a business, whether it's a corner store or a conglomerate. Risk is involved, capital is involved and those that make the leap should be rewarded. But this? This is abhorrent and is EXACTLY the sort of thing that makes the common person look at giant corporations as "evil" entities. It is friggin' rape or extortion, pure and simple. Take your pick.

Source: Reuters

Posted by Vic at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Got a couple of items sent to me by a reader... one of them actually kind of makes sense, and the other makes me so mad I want to go out and slug some parents:

Larger ambulances needed to acommodate obese passengers

It seems that a Las Vegas company is putting extra heavy duty (pardon the pun) ambulances into service due to the increasing number of morbidly obese passengers. If you think about it, it actually makes sense... despite what so-called "fat rights" groups say, obesity causes a variety of medical problems (that we all pay for through higher medical insurance rates, thanks very much), so an increase in obese passengers doesn't surprise me. A statement from the manufacturer of these extra-wide ambulances with beefier gurneys and winches:

...in the last six months, AMR has handled 75 calls involving patients that weighed more than 600 pounds.

Nice, huh?

Now here's the one that sends me through the roof:

Car seats not large enough to accomodate some children

A new study says many young children are too heavy for standard car-safety seats and manufacturers are starting to make heftier models to accommodate them. It seems that over 250 THOUSAND children are too heavy for standard car seats to accomdate them, and most of those are three-year-olds who weigh more than 40 pounds.

Sickening that parents are doing this, yes, doing this to their kids. I am fast hitting the point where I won't be able to keep my mouth shut in public. I'll no doubt either really offend someone or get my butt kicked.

I'll keep you posted on which it turns out to be.

Posted by Vic at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So... seriously, can you count the number of times over the last few days that you have heard the term "illegal" connected to the words "immigrant" or "immigration"? I mean OUTSIDE of conservative talk radio... like on the news (radio or TV) or in a newspaper.

I can tell you how many times for me:

ONE.

All over the airwaves and print media the word "illegal" is conspicuous in it's absence:

"Immigration debate defies easy political categories"

"Immigration Protests"

"Immigration law backlash not likely"

"Kentuckians join immigration rally"

"Does immigration bill cross the line?"

"Washington's anti-immigration policy: How tough is too tough?"

"Another day of immigration rallies"

You get the picture...

Continue reading "The -> ILLEGAL <- Immigration Debate" »

Posted by Vic at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I can think of no one in the Federal government who is tougher on, or more concerned with the security of the United States than President Bush. This is why although my knee-jerk reaction to the news that a UAE-based company was in line to take over management of a number of U.S. ports was astonishment and concern, I didn't go all-out ballistic at the idea.

Although President Bush's press office, Cabinet, or whoever is in charge of such things has an ABYSMAL record at communicating policy to the public, I know that the man is not the clueless fool the Left has made him out to be. It just didn't make any sense that a president who is SO tough when it comes to national security would approve a deal that would put the U.S. at risk. Quite the opposite, one would think that there must be something GOOD that would come out of something like this in regards to security.

Although he is brutally frank and as far as you can get from "politically correct", I tend to agree with radio talk show host Michael Savage on a lot of points. It was from him that I first heard about the deal and I imagined him frothing at the mouth while he raged against the insanity of it on his program. From there the news started spreading to other media outlets and soon after the first politicians to jump on the "outrage" bandwagon were a couple of Democrats (predictably) including Senator Hillary Clinton.

Continue reading "Dubai Port Deal May Haunt Us" »

Posted by Vic at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Another (ex-) postal worker has gone ballistic (sorry, no pun intended) and killed six people at a mail processing plant, and then killing herself.

It happened last night in Santa Barbara, California. Although the last time a postal worker went homicidal was 8 years ago, it still seems like there's something inherent to the job (or the losing of the job) that makes people go nuts. I wonder why this doesn't happen with Fed-Ex or UPS workers?

One thing that drives my absolutely insane concerning these murder suicides is the fact that the shooter is (in my mind) the worst kind of coward... If you want to kill yourself, fine, but to murder innocent people and then not hang around to punished is to me doubly vile.

My condolences to the families of the victims.

Source: Forbes

Posted by Vic at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)