The New Road

Maintaining the culture

If there was any doubt about the racist policies of the Bush administration and the theo-cons those are gone now. Bush is on his immigration tour. I listened a little to Hannity who was covering Bush's speech. He did it in segments and as an intro to a segment Hannity talked about what Bush had already covered; border security, guest workers, and then this slipped out "maintaining the culture"... Bing! It was probably just a slip, but he couldn't have hit his racism more dead on if he tried. This immigration debate isn't about security. It isn't about terrorism. It's about the racial and ethnic mix in America and maintaining that, in favor of whites.

Two hundred years on and we are fighting the civil war all over again. Didn't the north win? California has the eight largest economy in the world, and that includes countries. It's also the most diverse and tolerant state in the nation. With it's wealth of physical, cultural and educational resources one has to wonder if the south just spent more time developing these things, as opposed to fighting cultural wars how much different this nation would be.

Professor Frink

Professor Frink, Professor Frink, he'll make you laugh, he'll make you think, then he'll do thing, with the thing and the... person... Boy, that monkey is going to pay: Chaos Theory, Frink Song, Matter TTransporter, Instantly Killed, Enjoying on many levels.

Just in time for Christmas

Just in time for Christmas, Podcasting Hacks gets Slashdotted with a great review. Love it!

Couldn't have said it better

Yeah, this is spot on:

G-d bless President Bush, holding himself out there for ridicule and vile hate so that we might be stay free.

Dat be dere gud Englush.

Happy Turkey Day!

Oh, yeah, Happy Turkey Day everybody! Hope you are spending it with those you love. I have to go to work, but tonight I'll be home with Lori, Megan, Pam, Yvonne, Josephine, Sadie, Oso, Darby and Aisha.

Mission to Mars in jeopardy

It appears that Bush's mission to Mars is in financial danger. So much for my side plan of installing a CB on the dashboard of the shuttle and sending up someone like Pat Robertson to report back to the south; "The earth is round... Ten four."

Seriously, we are supposed to teach this crap in schools? So if we put God into the debate about where we came from. Do we then apply it to other parts of science as well? Because biblical theologians say that the Earth is 6,000 years old does that mean the we have to bend carbon dating to match that twisted version of reality? At what point does it end?

Media Matters

What's wrong with Tobin Smith's face? Clearly the audio is out of sync. I get that. But there is way to much makeup going on here, and he is trying to stay in one position on a shot that includes the torso. It's just... scary.

Pulled muscles, ouch

Like most starting players in golf when I would screw up a swing it would usually be over the ball. I would either miss it entirely or top it and send it scuffling along the ground.

Now, with a lot more time and practice spent on my swing, I always hit the ball on the bottom half, and sometimes even bottom out before the ball. I'm working on that, but it's really tough to fix. Why? Because at the range I practice hitting on these plastic mats. And while whiffing the ball over the top just hurt my pride, digging the club into a bunch of hard plastic leaves me with nasty pulled muscles.

Turns out, this is nothing new. I went out last night. Grounded out my seven iron and pulled the muscle just below my armpit on my right side. Ouch! So I looked online. Turns out there is a lot of talk about this. There are mats that are more expensive that simulate grass and won't cause the injuries that the ones at my range do.

Obviously there are things I can do; warm up a lot more, and start with a slower swing until I get the kinks that come with the first few swings out of the way.

But, seriously though, this hurts, a lot. And that sucks since I only have a few more days of practice left before South Carolina.

Bush wanted to bomb Al Jazeera

The Mirror reported this morning that Bush wanted to bomb Al Jazeera. The article thinks that these revelations will be explosive. I doubt it. The only people who haven't turned against this administration are moderates that won't be moved by this revelation. And the hard right would applaud bombing Al Jazeera. Frankly the right would be happy just to bomb anyone at this point; Iran, North Korea, France, Canada, etc.

NPR : Series on food

NPR is doing a three-part series on Americans suffering from starvation. That consists of people not eating well, or not eating at all. And these are hard working folks. I listened to the first episode on the train this morning and I found that it gave me a fresh perspective. It's sad that this happens in America. Our priorities are really screwed up.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Lori and I spent almost $100 on a movie, dinner and babysitting last night. We went to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

It was an almost packed house. We ended up waiting in line before a middle aged couple who seemed nice and funny. We entered the theatre and ended up sitting together. As the previews came up they talked a little during them, just as Lori and I did. It seems to me that as a society we accept people talking during the previews. I mean, you gotta figure out if you want to see the movies, right?

Then the movie came, and the guy asked the lady a few questions, which she answered. Simple questions, who are these people, what are they doing, what did they just say. That sort of thing. Ok, a couple of points here. First, you can't reasonably expect to see the fourth movie in a series with a long arc and expect to just pick it up from the beginning. And, really, in the movie, during the movie, in a crowded theatre, is not a time to get caught up on the series.

Second, unless you are seeing an art-house film the movies usually will wind themselves up really nicely. In particular these Harry Potter films tend to be very clear cut. Why? Because they are for kids. And because they are designed just like sophisticated Scooby Doo movies. "Harry, who is the evil wizard?", "It was the greenskeeper who wanted to chase away the tourists to get the insurance money, Scoob."

The problem was that this went on, and on, and on, through the entire movie. I was getting the picture, the sound, and a running commentary. Now I normally shut that crap down with the young kids. But with these folks it was clear that the guy was either hearing impaired or, well, impaired in some other ways. Now in this theatre you can get hearing apparatus to help you if you can't hear the 100dB soundtrack.

Of course, it could have been the movie. But no, this move, on a technical level, was a success. It was mic'd properly and the music and lines were enunciated clearly. What was wrong with the movie was everything else, the pacing was way off, and the editing was a disaster. Great scenes likes the World Quiddich Cup were cut abruptly short. While other meaningless comedy scenes, like a scene with Harry and a ghost in a tub, were played uncomfortably long. I would have given anything if several minutes of the tub scene were cut in favor of several more minutes of the World Cup.

From what Lori tells me this will be an ongoing problem with movie versions of the Potter books. They are getting longer and longer and the movies remain the same length.

I suffered through the first two Potter films. I really liked the third movie. But this fourth movie was just flat. Of course, it could have been the commentary running in the seat next to me. But really, this wasn't a good movie. Certainly nowhere near as good as the excellent third installment. Here is hoping for a better fifth movie.

Bush abdicates military authority

Bush in his latest speech has abdicated military authority as Commander-in-Chief:

"...our strategy in Iraq will be driven by the sober judgment of our military commanders on the ground"

Great. So now we will be there until our generals commit treason and abandon their posts.

I thought this man was supposed to be some great leader. He doesn't even understand his own responsibilities in his role. Idiot.

Verge of victory

Up until a couple of days ago Hannity was giddy about the idea of staying the course for years in Iraq. "No, we won't give you a time table. It will take as long as it takes." That sort of no plan crap. Now yesterday he says to a caller that the Demoncrats want to "cut and run" (Republican talking point) just when we are on the "verge of victory". Verge of victory? What the hell is that? One day it's going to take years, the next day it's "verge of victory". What bullshit. How can anyone listen to Sean's crap?

More Conservative "humor"

Here are some snippets of what conservatives call funny:

The real calamity for the people of New Orleans in the Katrina hurricane is that the wind swung every baseball cap around so that the peak faced forward - causing the looters to suffer an identity loss.

Since Lincoln freed the slaves, their descendants have been faced with the dilemma of whether to go on welfare or on television.

Doubtless I am not the only person in America, nor will I be the last person in America to observe that they shot the wrong Kennedy.

As long as they’re not dong much else, the Strategic Air Command should be dispatched to tidy up Iran.

It is unfortunate that the oil is not on top of the ground and the Arabs are not underneath it.

It seems a reliable conclusion that Valerie Plame and Mary Mapes are the same bitch.

It should be against a pig’s religion to eat Moslems.

Palestine is the gangrene of the Middle East.

I really don't understand it. At all.

Stunning and touching story

I love audio because it can touch you so deeply. There are times when I listen to shows like This American Life and I just can't stop driving because I so want to hear the whole story. And sometimes I just cry along with the characters. This story (MP3 link) was one of those times.

It's the story of a man who was lobotomized as a boy in a practice that was fairly common at the time. The way he describes it is so evocative it really draws you into the story.

The end of the segment is the toughest to take. A woman sits with her grandmother (?) and sings her a song as her grandmother, in her lobotomized stupor tries to follow along. It's heartbreaking. Even more so for me as it's the same song that Lori often sings to Megan before she goes down for the night.

No other medium can touch you the way audio can. It's the simplest act of story telling. It's the way that we all learn to communicate in this world. By relating stories about ourselves. It's primal. It's moving. That's why I love it.

People who let the war just slide are unpatriotic

I've been saying this for a while, but it's nice to see someone from the right finally come out and say it. If you don't question why we are at war. If you just have blind faith in our leaders. You aren't fulfilling your duty as an informed citizen of America.

This from Chuck Hagel:

Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran and a potential presidential candidate in 2008, countered in a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations that the Vietnam War "was a national tragedy partly because members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the administrations in power until it was too late."

"To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic," Hagel said, arguing that 58,000 troops died in Vietnam because of silence by political leaders. "America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices."

"To not question your government is unpatriotic." Abso-freaking-lutely. We have the power to vote for a reason. As citizens we have an integral role to play in the proper functioning of government. And that role is to be understand what the government is doing, and to affirm or object based on that understand. What I see right now in the Republican party is a bunch of sheep who think they were given one vote by God, and that vote was for one-party Republican rule forever.

Shocker! Oil executives lied

The oil execs who went to Washington last week to answer questions about why the prices are so high, lied. Wow! Crazy I know. They were asked whether they met with Cheney to talk about the energy policy. They all said no, and they all had. Lovely.

Anywho... none of that lying is actionable. Why? How can they lie to Congress and get away with it? Because they weren't sworn in. Odd, that's standard procedure. Makes you wonder if the committee knew they were going to be lied to. It also makes me wonder who was behind the whole 'not swearing in' thing and want to ask them, well, why.

Bush, the Republicans and all of his cronies have set a very high bar for government corruption. They make Nixon and Reagan look like saints.

Bush was right song

I've heard a lot of the "Bush was right" song this morning. It's obviously insipid, but I also find it deeply offensive. The guitar lick just before the chorus is the schoolyard "na na, na na, na naaa..." line. This isn't about politics at this point. It's about saving the lives of our soldiers. It's about saving our country from a foreign and domestic policy gone literally nuts.

On a related note I heard little fragments of Cheney's speech. I love how they trot him out to make the really bold attacks. Of couse the man has an approval rating just below Hitler, Stalin and human fecal matter. So what does he have to loose. Right? As he would say, "Go fuck yourself."

Bush tanking even in the blood red states

Even in blood red states like Tennessee Bush is polling badly. He has lost fifteen points since last spring and is now down to 40% approval. Wow.

Wrong Brothers

The nuts over at RightMarch have two morons writing pro-Bush rock music for them. Olbermann, who is quickly becoming a hero of mine, put some video to their music. The point of the drivel in the song is that there really were WMDs in Iraq and Bush was right. Yeah. I hear this sometimes from the right. They think Bush just doesn't want to mention that he was right about WMDs since he is such a good guy. Um, right.

(Actually a lot of that kookery comes out of Melanie Morgan and her crowd right here in SF. She went to Iraq and says she talked with some General in a jail who wouldn't talk with any of his torturers, but would spill all of the weapons secrets to her. Right...)

Anyway, a couple of things about this music thing. First, Rock? What were you thinking? The jingoistic-wingnuts all do Country. Listen to Hannity, in fact, just look at Hannity's listening list that he posts on his site. All Country. All white.

After that, well, Olbermann is right. The song just sucks. Seriously, what happened to hokey good old jingo tunes like "Tie A Yellow Ribbon".

Oh, yeah, and beyond all that, Bush is wrong. Wrong about the war. Wrong when he bashes gays to whip up the base. Wrong when he wants public schools to teach Intelligent Design and religion. Wrong in the way he divides this nation for political gain. Wrong in his crony hiring that ends up killing our own people. Wrong in his use of torture. Wrong in his use of white phosphor on civilians. Wrong in his destruction of the government. Wrong when he wants to have Christianity become the national religion. Wrong when he wants to tell women how to live their lives. Wrong in his approach to the war on terror. Wrong about 'total victory'. Wrong in his use of nasty political tactics. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Blood is in the water

Clearly blood is in the water over Iraq and the reasons that we went to war. None of this is new, but it's nice to finally hear it in the mainstream.

Clinton has come in from the sidelines:

"Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was done," Clinton told students at a forum at the American University of Dubai.

"It was a big mistake. The American government made several errors ... one of which is how easy it would be to get rid of Saddam and how hard it would be to unite the country."

Better late than never. With Carter having said much the same thing recently that leaves two out the three remaining ex-presidents now strongly against the war. Of course Bush Sr. would never come out and say as much but his autobiography basically laid out the current quagmire years before we went to war, and Bush himself has been oddly silent on all of this.

Yeah, there is definitely blood in the water here. Both sides are very frustrated about the war. On the right the folks want the army to fire up the nukes and start levelling whole cities to subdue the insurgency and the populace. On the left we just want a pullout, given our previous experience with Vietnam. Neither of these options is going to happen which leaves us all in a lurch with no plan.

Clearly we aren't going to just walk away, and clearly we aren't going to go nuclear. So what do we do? Turns out even the Republican Congress doesn't know. So they took the tiny bit of Democratic legislation on the table, which required reporting and a timeline. Then pulled the timeline language and put it up as the Republican solution to the problem. Can Republicans really call the Democrats shrill and complain they have no plan when the plan they just passed was started by the Democrats?

Personally I think a timeline is the best way to go. A timeline would, instead of fueling the insurgency, put a clear end point on the invasion and ensure that all sides in Iraq take steps to become politically active so that they can be involved in the process after we leave. Either that, or there will be civil war, and frankly, that's always been on the table and there is nothing that we can do to take it off.

The worst thing that could happen at this point is for a lame duck president to just limp out of office three years from now with the troops still fighting for their lives against an ever growing insurgency in Iraq. We need a real plan, executed by a real leader. Not some incoherent madman bumbling around talking about an inconceivable impossible "total victory".

(I'm going to my run-on sentence anonymous class later this month. ;-) )

Is it just me?

I seem to remember Rumsfeld on the on the Sunday morning shows before the invasion of Iraq basically pitching it this way; We have a lot of guys in the desert in Kuwait. They need to get moving before summer time when we can't do the war thing. So we've got to get a move on.

Clearly the guys in the administration were the biggest proponents of the war. And to try and blame this war on anyone else, like the Democrats, or foreign agents, is a total fabrication.

O'Reilly : It was all just a big joke

Apparently Bill O'Reilly says that the whole SF thing was just a big joke. Right wingers are really screwed up, there is just no other way to say it. Terrorist threats, assassination threats, torture, genocide, it's all just one big joke. How is it funny to want to see SF destroyed by terrorist attacks? How is it funny to call for the destruction of a landmark dedicated to the firefighters that saved the city after the big quake? How is that at all funny?

Answer is, it's not. And Bill O'Reilly is just another gutless Republican loser.

Also, what is with this kinky/illegal/immoral sex obsession stuff, anyway? Bill O'Reilly with his loofas. Cheney's wife with her lesbian romance novels. And Scooter Libby who writes about ten year old girls being held in cages in raped by bears in his smut novel.

These people are sick. Gutless. Weak. And sick.

Just a few reminders

So that we don't loose site of a Republican party absolutely in love with this war. Let's not forget this:

And this:

Now these people are running from the war and blaming it on the Democrats and foreigners. They are cowards. They can't govern. They are destroying this country.

Squirrel speak

If only Oso knew how to interpret the Squirrel speak.

Bush : United in hatred

I like this blog entry from the Huffington Post. Yes, Bush is finally a uniter. Because now we all hate him. Nice job, George!

And, BTW, don't we have enough movies about how Bush is the worst president ever? It's getting old.

Clinton was such an embarrasment

Clinton was an embarrasment, eh? Seems strange that his poll numbers only dipped below 50 in one poll over just a few weeks, and for most of his time in office had poll numbers in the 60s and above. The shrub on the other hand has been below 40 for months now and there is no sign of the coming up any time soon.

Bush's Gettysburg Address? What an insult.

Some Republican morons have been calling Bush's veterans day speech his version of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I certainly hope not. Lincoln didn't spend any words attacking his political opponents. He was a man of actual vision, unlike the shrub who get's pissy if he misses his nap times like a baby.

The man is a moron. The speech was little more than the usual spinning bullshit that you get out of people like Mclellan, Rove, Libby and their replacements. It's insulting to all of us that these shits are even compared to Lincoln.

Frankly I think these Republicans are gutless and weak. Take the people who used to comment on this board, threaten me and my family. The day I turned on tracking, the comments stopped. Gutless and weak. All talk, no action. Gutless, whiney and weak. Just like little bullies, when somebody stands up to them they yell, scream, throw a tantrum, then retreat to the shadows because their close minded philosophy never stands up in the light of day.

O'Reilly wants to see SF attacked by terrorists

Bill O'Reilly spouted more of his lunacy recently. This time advocating the destruction of San Francisco by terrorists. The Freepers, all of whom agree, showed more of their compassionate conservatism.

Such people ought to be deported. San Francisco is the most dispicable place in America...

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I don't want any American city wiped away, but if it must happen, San Francisco would certainly be missed the least (by the normal people).

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If San Fran is attacked tomorrow I think we should all just look the other way...

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"Baghdad by the Bay," is unintentionally appropriate. The entire San Francisco Bay Area from Marin to San Jose is on my s**t list.

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Be gone, San Francesspool. And good riddance to bad rubbish!

Mmm... that's good compassionate conservatism for you. So much hate from people who worship a man who taught peace and love. And I love the undertones of all of this; if you don't believe in our lunacy then you aren't an American and deserve to die.

Yuck, Freeper stink... I need a bath.

BTW, as I was reading there was a cute sign of these folks ignorance and stupidity. One wondered if the name of the Stinking Rose restaurant was gay reference.

Ahnold finally making a little sense

This from Ahnold today:

"If I would do another 'Terminator' movie I would have Terminator travel back in time and tell Arnold not to have a special election," the former action film star joked. "I should have also listened to my wife who said don't do it."

Yah, Ahnold, your election vas a disaster and deez types of tings.

Ahnold, while you are in the mood for advice, take some more... resign.

This is Bush's war

When Bush goes on the offensive to lie to you about how Iraq was behind 9/11, and how fighting the Iraqis over there helps keep them from attacking your local Wal-Mart, just remember this image:

This is an Iraqi burned alive in Fallujah by the illegal use of White Phosphor munitions on what are obviously civilian targets. Did the melted mother clutching her melted baby attack us on 9/11?

White phosphor sticks the skin and burns straight through to the bone while the victim is still alive. This type of killing has to stop. The use of napalm and white phosphor against civilian targets must stop.

Next time Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity talk about leveling cities in Iraq to stop the insurgents, think about this image. This is what that looks like.

Could you pull the trigger?

Could you burn people alive?

Take a good hard look. We did this. All of us. Hell yes elections have an impact.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Lori and I went to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang last night. I thought the screenplay was creative as hell. The acting was great. But at times I found myself a little distracted because the plot of the movie was so twisty. That twistiness broke the suspension of disbelief. Plus the constant asides to the camera, which were a hoot, also distracted. So I guess I would say it was clever and well written, but not a great story on it's own.

The new math... it's tough

For whatever reason I stumbled on this site. Which tells me that of the Park City High students "3 out of 4 don't smoke pot" and "9 out of 10 don't use drugs." Wha?

So what this is telling me is the 25% of Park City High students smoke pot, and that only 10% of Park City High student use drugs. Is pot not a drug? Wha?

This new math... It's so hard.

Redistricting, mmm, yeah, not so much

Apparently Californian's didn't want to become another Texas.

The best one was the electric re-regulation failure:

Look at those numbers, only one is even in the fifties!

Unfortunately that probably would have been good. I think it just got caught up in the "Just vote no on everything" campaign. Which, by the way, worked big, big, big time.

Tagline says it all

The tagline here says it all:

Republicans really like torture.

Woo hoo!

Every single California proposition failed. In particular those four horrible power grabbing propositions the governator wanted. Well, I would gloat, but that would be wrong... So, I'll let Ahnold do it for me... "I vas turminated." Indeed.

Bye, bye, Ahnold! Buh bye! Buh bye!

We need to make sure we don't fall into that trap that we did with Reagan. In the last few years of Reagan reports went out playing him out to be inept and incompetent and critical of those that would attack him because, "how could you attack old Ronnie." Bullshit. The guy was as potent and lethal as ever. These neo-con fascist are not struggling, they are pit vipers that we have by the neck and we can't let them go. We have to be strong and put feelings of political fairness aside. They would gave us no quarter, and they deserve none now.

What a joke

The latest right wing spin is so incredibly weak it's clear that the post-Rove machine is just a joke. The idea is that some Fox anchor-general named Valley was told by Wilson in the Green room that Wilson's wife was CIA. Which is, of course, crazy because not even Wilson's direct relatives, or any of his neighbours, knew about Valeria.

But, hey, let's just think about how that purported green room meetup went:

Wilson: Hello General Valley. So how is spinning apologies for the right wing death machine?

Valley: Go fuck yourself. Well, that's what Cheney says. Other than that I'm good. How is trying to get the truth out there to save lives, my scrawny liberal communist traitor to the country sub-human who should be exterminated?

Wilson: Ah, you know, tough with the likes of you going around poisining the well.

Oh, hey, by the way, remember this because it will come up a couple of years from now... my wife is a CIA operative.

I really have no reason to share that with you, but hey, it will make you Fox insta-punditiot of the minute a couple of years from now.

Remember, my wife is a spy.

Valley: Right, anyway, go fuck yourself. As usual.

Oh, man, wow. Of course. This is totally compelling. I completely believe that Wilson, while shielding Plame's identity from even his own family, would blab at length about it in a Fox green room. Absolutely.

This spin is so ridiculous that it really could only have been thought up by one man; steaming pile of human excrement, oxycontin freak, Rush Limbaugh, my friends. Perhaps Rush is our new Rove.

Category 7 : Worst TV Ever

Wow! We tried watching Category 7 last night and about 30 minutes into it we just turned it off. It was dreadful. The editing and pacing were horrible, the acting was off the chart bad, and the effects, ugh, there was nothing good to say about that. Category 7 is, by far, the worst TV I have seen in a long, long time. I was just hoping that the MST3K guys would pop up, but no such luck. Awful... Awful, awful, awful. Avoid at all cost.

2004 election stolen

The GAO release a report weeks ago on e-voting fraud in the 2004 elections clearly showing vote fraud. Not like this is any surprise, but the GAO is a non-partisan governmental body that audits the government and a bi-partisan panel of Senators stand behind the report. Yes, the elections were stolen, and borrowing a Repblican talking point; "Elections matter". And if they do matter, then the results of this election should be overturned.

Brutal Italian documentary

I watched the Italian documentary on Fallujah. I remember at the time hearing about white phosphor, it's horrible to see what it does to humans. It sickens me when people talk about leveling cities or glassing them over, this type of destruction is what that means. If you say, "we raze that city", have a look at this movie and say it again. This war... it's inhuman.

Breasts not bombs

Looks like I went to Mendocino at the wrong time. Oh, well. Actually, I looked up some pictures of this. Mm... Right.

Golf Update

If nothing else other than to bore Lori I will give you guys another golf update.

I've actually hit a pretty cool stage with my swing. I've actually found the swing; the grip, the grip strength, the backswing motion, the trigger, the downswing tempo, the swing path and the follow through. I like it all, it all feels comfortable and repeatable. Now I just have to practice the swing so much in that pattern that it becomes embedded in my hindbrain.

When I went to the range on Sunday I was very pleased with the results by the end but the beginning was tough. Frankly I've been having a lot of problems with my swing for about two weeks and it's been really frustrating.

In particular I've noticed that recently I've been consistently hitting the ball with the toe of the club causing very nasty slices. I confirmed this by putting some impact tape on the club and finding that, I was really hardly impacting the ball at all.

So I tried all kinds of stuff and then I remembered a book I was reading that said that the pros grip the club only lightly and I was gripping the club really like a vice. I loosened up my grip substantially and, viola, problem solved. The strikes were dead center in the club face, the balls are going straight, the distances are far longer, and best yet, I pulled out the driver and hit about five very straight for about 280, which is the best I've ever done.

It's amazing how much difference one little change can make. I now have a game again, and going to the range is fun again. I can't wait to get to South Carolina to play with my Mom, we are going to have a blast!

The Royals are here

I just came to downtown SF for a meeting and stopped by the Peet's Coffee in the Ferry Building. I stood in line for coffee with a bunch of photographers all wearing "Royal Visit to the United States of America" (or something close to that) tag. Apparently they are coming by around noon. I'm not really a fan so I probably won't go out of my way, but it's interesting seeing all of the setup required to host these folks.

Canes win over V.T.

It was at two minutes left in the fourth quarter that I realized... I was relaxed. That's the first time in a while that I was relaxed during a Canes game. Thank you!

Chicken Little

I saw Chicken Little this morning with Megan. She was pretty involved the entire time, which is a good sign. For myself I thought the movie had some lulls that could have been evened out to give the movie better pacing. The Incredibles, for example, dealt with family issues but dealt with them in the context of the action and that gave a nice curve to the action. I also thought the plot was almost a little thin, I mean, come on, it's a movie based on a derogatory name. How far does that get you? Answer, not very far. That being said, a lot of the content of the movie was inventive, and at some points more scary than what you would imagine was workable in a G-rated movie.

Update: Woops, Lori says Chicken Little was a kids book. I thought it was just a saying.

Bush believes in torture

The first time Bush threatened action to stop the inclusion of some anti-torture stuff I thought it was a fluke. It was too broadly written, or vague, or something. But now he is stopping attempt after attempt by the Congress, specifically John McCain, to include anti-torture wording in several bills. Every time it's in there Bush's administration has gone out of it's way to stop it. In particular they are concerned about the CIA not being able to torture suspects, probably in their black site prisons.

These people, these neo-cons, really believe in the value of torture. I'm convinced at this point that it's not just fun and games, I think they believe torture works. What's even more interesting is that it appears that some of the faulty Iraq intelligence came from a detained Al Qaeda source. Which is yet more evidence that information from torture is worthless. In addition to the fact that public knowledge of our own torture threatens the safety of our own troops in the field.

Cronyism that kills

Yet more news of cronyism from the shrub:

President Bush last week appointed nine campaign contributors, including three longtime fund-raisers, to his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a 16-member panel of individuals from the private sector who advise the president on the quality and effectiveness of U.S. intelligence efforts...

Has he learned nothing at all? Is he even involved? Is he even sane at this point?

The country is in real jeopardy. This is far worse than Watergate and Nixon.

Another great review of Podcasting Hacks

A new review of Podcasting Hacks is up on about.com:

...I was intrigued by the possibilities of podcasting explored in this book - there's just so much you could do with this relatively new medium, and the author of "Podcasting Hacks" sure does a good job of conveying his own excitement and expertise in the podcasting field.

Wow. I'm really happy with the way the book has been accepted.

Our long Java nightmare

I finally let my feelings about Java and the dot-com bubble times roll out in print. It's pretty raw, but I feel good about it. Let 'em come at me if they want to.

Huge shout out to Dru Nelson for inspiring this.

Disney is podcasting

Disney is now podcasting. Though currently the feed seems to be broken.

Taking a break from the trick'or'treating

War on Bird Flu

I just had to laugh this morning when I saw in the paper that Bush had declared "war on Bird flu". On, for pity's sake, let's just not do the "war thing" again.

Let me put it this way. Here are recent failed wars: War on Terror, War on Iraq, War on Afghanistan, War on Drugs, War on Poverty, War on Somalia, War in Iraq I, War in Vietnam, War in Korea, etc. etc.

And here are the wars that we actually really won: War in Kosovo, World War II.

And I'm sure there are many, many, many, wars that have failed that I'm leaving out. So who does this "war thing" appeal to other than right wing fascist nutcases anyway?

What does this "War on Bird Flu" mean anyway? Spending $100M less on pandemic preparedness than we would have if Bush had simply accepted the proposed budget as is. Nice. I feel way safer now. Oh, thank you fear and terror administration.

These people are on crack

All the Republiscum senators are in a tizzy about being called to account for corruption and wrongful war in a closed session. They then fall into talking point idiocy:

"They'll go to any extent to try to avoid ... any discussion about shrinking the size of government. Being more responsible with the taxpayers' dollars is just so painful that they had to go into private session to recoup and come out again hopefully soon so we can get back to the business at hand," said Santorum.

Who the hell is this person and what planet does he occupy? Shrinking the size of government? Being responsible with taxpayer dollars? Who is doing that? Bush. You are... insane.