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I'm pretty even handed about letting people get in front of me. I won't let in a million, but I try and let one person in so it's an interleaving process during a merge.

If you signal I'm more likely to let you in.

If you're polite and don't try and cram your car into the space I'm occupying I'm more likely to let you in.

If you don't drive some stupid-ass, gas-guzzling, monster, jacked pickup truck complete with chromed trans-axle I'm more likely to let you in.

If you have to drive for a living (taxi, tractor trailer, FedEx, etc.) I'm more likely to let you in.

If you're not on a cell phone I'm more likely to let you in.

But...

Once I give you the space, then fucking go. Don't sit there and gawk at me, don't pick your nose, don't stare stupidly into space just go, go, GO because I won't wait forever.

There's nothing I hate more then slowing down to give someone the opportunity to merge and then having to wait while they decide to take the space. You have about 5 to 6 seconds after I pause... because after that tough luck, I'm not going to hold everyone else up because you can't react.

COPIAGUE, N.Y. (AP) -- A Long Island man who flipped his finger at a police cruiser and then popped a wheelie on his motorcycle is recovering from injuries after crashing.

Well, that was a self-resolving situation wasn't it? First being stupid enough to flip off the cops, *then* popping a wheelie, and finally crashing and burning right in front of them.

Here's to Frank Patti, 26, of West Islip, just two seconds (and probably one helmet) short of a well deserved Darwin Award. At least he should get honorable mention.

As the days count down, and his credibility remains in the crapper W feels little or no compulsion to even try and tell the truth any more. At least before he used to humor America as he tried to put on a straight face, these days he doesn't even go that far:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush put politics ahead of the facts Tuesday as he sought to blame Congress for high energy prices, saying foreign suppliers are pumping just about all the oil they can and accusing lawmakers of blocking new refineries.

Facts? What facts? The only fact W ever knew that mattered was that he was the president and immune from laws, conscience and the will of the people he was elected to serve.

Yeah, yeah it's hardly news and less than blog-worthy but still cathartic none the less...

I get a kick out of reading the headlines in my spam-box before I delete them. There's almost always a few gems that make me smile. Here's a few from today:

• Hugest Ass! CLICK THE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO
• Invitation to world blowjob day
• Titanic dimension without much effort! Short and thin weenies provoke female derision, so take care to increase it!
  Let this wonderful treatment come to the rescue of your manliness!
• Brad pitt wants to get closer

It's almost like a turing test for spam-bots, the output is amusingly phrased in a manner that only machines (and those severely unfamiliar with english grammar) can produce.

Still... world blowjob day? If it has anything to do with Brad pitt having his manliness rescued with a huge ass I know I don't want any part of it.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A top Iranian judiciary official warned Monday against the ''destructive'' cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.

Yes this is the same society that sports men so macho that their women have little or no say in their upbringing, marriage, dress or legal voice. And they're afraid of a doll. These big tough guys have been kicked in the nads with a little pink, plastic slipper on the end of a well tanned, if somewhat rubbery foot.

Authorities launched a campaign of confiscating Barbies from toy shops in 2002, denouncing the un-Islamic sensibilities of the iconic American doll. But the campaign was eventually dropped.

It can only be hilarious, in a sad way, that these specimens of masculinity have been reduced to chasing down toys and declaring them a "threat". Is your culture so fucking weak that you can't even let little girls play their dolls?

The Times recently posted an article that propelled itself to the top and has more or less bobbed about the top-five most popular ever since. I'm sure this was in part due to its prominence for two days on the front page with the leader asking why gay men are opting for "marriage".

In a brilliant array of 50's-esque knockoff photos (the wife 'cleaning' under her husband's feet, the husband proudly encircling the wife as she clutches her well done roast) the reader is treated to the inner dialogs of young twenty-something gays as they ponder nuptials.

Frankly I couldn't give a crap about gay marriage one way or another. If people want it, fine. If they hate it, fine. I don't really have any great opinion one way or another. What annoys me about the article, however, is the pretense of mystery.

Gosh, gee, golly, why oh why do young gay men, the types who love to kiss in public, throw lavish parties, and dress in fancy spats, getting married? Who the hell knows, right....?

Rather shameful is you ask me, for someone who is earning money in our military to hate the people that live in his home country. Honestly it makes me wonder why he fights for us at all if he can't abide his fellow citizens.

Well, lets caveat that, he hates all non-christian Americans. That means Jews, Muslims, Athiests, Buddhists, Wiccans and... well, everyone just not christian. In fact he hates them so much this is what he had to say to another soldier:

“People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!”

Well guess what cocksucker, too fucking bad for you. While you're out there getting shot at remember, you're getting shot at for *all* americans, even us non-christian ones. It's uneducated, fucktards like yourself that made our founding fathers put "freedom of religion" into the constitution as opposed to "freedom to be christian". In fact they didn't even mention god in the pledge when they wrote it originally. If you weren't just a moron maybe you'd know that.

Eric Thompson made money off the Virginia Tech killings. How? He sold a gun that was used in the killing. And he ain't in the least bit sorry because now he's visiting the campus trying to sell more guns to the students directly.

It reminds me of the e-scammers who have pop-ups warning you that your computer may be infected if you don't click on their add. When you do, your computer is promptly infected so now you really do need to buy a product. It's damn similar if you ask me. He sold a gun, it was used to murder people, now he (with the backing of the NRA) wants to sell *more* guns so people can carry them concealed on campus.

Yes, clearly, when you have thousands of young people carrying loaded weapons the place will be safer for everyone. This is because each and every gun-toting person will be firmly in control of their weapon and temper 100% of the time. And if they're startled, scared, drunk or enraged, one shot will then be able to cause 10x or 100x the carnage as everyone takes aim at everyone else.

Eric, take your fucking guns and go home, you already made your buck - you don't have to rub it in anyone's face now.

So the word is that the Pope likes cats. Actually he cared for a number at his home when he lived in Germany. There was even a petition (which failed) to let his cats come with him to Rome. This information about most people wouldn't be a big deal, but you know, this is the Pope.

It's not like I disliked the Pope per se, it's just that I had no real reason ~to like him. But now that he's an avowed cat lover, well, I guess that changes things a bit.

Anyone who loves cats and cares for them (or any animal really) is 'ok' in my book. At least now I know if I were stuck on a plane in the seat next to him we'd have something to talk about...

"JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli court has ruled that shops can sell leavened bread during Passover in violation of Jewish religious law, deepening tensions between observant and secular Jews ahead of the weeklong holiday."

It's a problem, it seems, for the orthodox that non-orthodox (and others) can get access to leavened bread. I don't understand it really, since the freedom to practice religion is supposed to be an essential tenant of Israels existence. So why the hate? And it is hate, when you threaten to burn down the local pizza place if they choose to try and earn a living during the holiday.

''The argument is not about the law,'' said Yehuda Meshi-Zehav, a spokesman for the ultra-Orthodox community. ''It's about people trying to keep Israel as a Jewish country, and people trying to make it the opposite.''

Horseshit. Until Israel kicks out everyone who chooses other than orthodoxy then its simple discrimination to force everyone to conform. Last I checked Israel was a Democracy, and part of that requires equal respect on both sides of an issue.

On the occasion when I stare in the mirror and note all the ravages of age it occurs to me that medicine has a "cure" for these ills. I ponder this for a moment or two and then decide that spending money on myself to improve my looks isn't just shallow but stingy. How can I spend a few thousand on my image when my kids still have to go to college?

... that's how I imagine a rational woman thinking. But clearly not all women meet my definition of "rational". Still, as there are weaknesses in the psyche, there are vultures who prey upon them:

"A Florida plastic surgeon has written about just that in ''My Beautiful Mommy,'' a picture book due out April 28 that tries to calm the fears of kids with parents getting tummy tucks, breast enhancement procedures and nose jobs. [...]

Illustrations show a crook-nosed mom with loose tummy skin under her half shirt picking up her young daughter early from school one day and taking her to a strapping and handsome ''Dr. Michael.''"

Yeah, I wonder just how "strapping" the real Dr. Michael (Dr. Michael Salzhauer) is. Well not really, I googled him. He's pretty ordinary looking, and frankly could use some touching up himself. But he's got a business going on, and he's out to sell it as best he can. Boobs, butts, arms, faces, something his staff I'm sure gets a discount on (to see the published picture of his 'patient affairs' coordinator tossing her boobs out onto the couch like poker chips.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with writing a book that supports your job, but it's still pretty fucking shallow material which is pretty damn hard to justify.

"Diane Kuplack understands.

At 37, Kuplack has six biological children under the age of 12, including 5-year-old twins, along with two older stepchildren from her husband Matt's first marriage. She said it was ''nerve-racking'' trying to decide what, if anything, to tell her children about the breast implant surgery she scheduled for Friday."

Hey Diane nice tits, but how are you going to explain to the kids that you blew their college tuition on getting the implants six years ago? Will you be sure to tell them the reason you can't spend on their wedding was because you have to have those same implants removed?

Then the big day arrives -- mommy's bandages are gone and illustrator Victor Guiza lights up the new and improved mommy with a sparkly princess pink background.

''Mommy, your eyes are sparkling like diamonds,'' the girl exclaims. ''You're the most beautiful butterfly in the whole world.''

Oh hurl....

Ratings at any cost? Well why not? That's what the staff on the Dr.Phil show must have thought when they decided to post bail for Mercades Nichols.

For people who don't know who she is, she's one of a group of teenagers who decided to beat up a peer and post it on YouTube to become famous. This predominantly female group beat, stomped and kicked a cheerleader and found the fame they wanted when it became one of the most watched (and commented on) clips around. Of course they also got their asses arrested.

It seems that the Dr.Phil show is used to helping out "potential guests" with cash, clothes, travel, etc. but the idea of posting bail just to get an interview seems, well repugnant is one word.

It seems that these overzealous staff members might have gone a little too far, even for the talkshow circuit. The Dr.Phil show decided not to invite her to appear since their "guidelines have been compromised."

Still it seems that crime pays, at least in this case it paid free bail. Sure she'll probably wind up with a record and possibly some jail time, but at least Mercades got her 15 minutes of fame...

Even when all his colleagues are boycotting the opening ceremonies, even when members of his own party have passed a resolution condemning China, Bush can't take a hint and contribute.

Frankly it's not surprising, since he's just a little boy in a man's body who can't see beyond the concept of "games". To him it's just another sporting event with lots of people, and China happens to be where its taking place.

Does he represent the American public or American sentiment? Hell no. The Emperor only cares about his clothes...

BEIJING (AP) -- China vowed Saturday to ramp up a campaign requiring Tibetan Buddhist monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to Beijing. [...]

The Tibet Daily newspaper reported Saturday that the government pledged to ''strengthen patriotic education'' especially among young monks to help them ''become patriotic, religion-loving and law-abiding.''

Yes fuck you PRC and further fuck your dreams for nationalistic glory under the guise of the upcoming Olympics. I plan on telling my children every day of the Olympics about your actions in Tibet and encourage them to tell their friends about your 1984 tactics.

One more time (get used to hearing it) Fuck You China.

I'm lucky, I own a Volkswagen. Why? Not for any super-special reason you'd see in a commercial, but because the gas tank is on the "euro" side as opposed to most japanese and american cars. As a result the line tends to be shorter on my side of the pump.

Tonight I went and pulled into the station. I get out and notice a young woman (early 20's) with a gold phone clamped to her head standing on the opposite side of the pump. Behind her car is a small japanese shit-box and behind that is an SUV. Now, apparently the shit-box driver just wanted to pull past her and park next to the station office. The guy behind him wanted to use the other pump... but neither could move because phone-girl was blocking all the space.

So they waited.

and they waited.

and they waited still more.

In this time (note that she was standing at the pump *before* I even drove up) I was able to: park, use my card, fill my car (which was on empty - so 15 gallons worth of gas) and as I'm about to get back into my seat an employee comes up behind phone-girl and taps her; "Um, the pump has timed out".

Seems phone-girl couldn't shut the fuck up long enough to actually use the pump. She swiped the card and then stood there for at least 5 - 7 minutes while the people behind her waited, wasting their lives because the person on the other end of the phone was more important than the real people she was blocking.

On the way out I muttered "Un-Fucking believable, Bitch couldn't Shut the Fuck Up." Honestly I probably should have said it to her face...

Another blessing of Bush's management of our economy. Be afraid, be very afraid...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.

It's not exactly Caveat Emptor, but a digital version of it. The difference in this case is that the buyer isn't accidentally naive but deliberately so. If you choose to ignore the rules, then getting burned by them isn't anyone's fault but your own. At least that's what logic would dictate, but no, we live in America where blame is an anathema and getting money for blame is the holy grail.

The girl is being called "Julie Doe". Why? Because she's 14. But when she went on MySpace she claimed to be 18. She decided to meet up with someone she'd met online and the guy decided (who knows what she was thinking) to have a go at it anyway. The parents found out and got him thrown in jail (20 years is a long time to think about "Well maybe I should have booted her out when I found out how old she was").

Now the parents want $30 million, yes thirty million, from My Space because they should have done "more". More? How exactly do they do that? How to you validate someone's age online? Believe me I'm 21! Actually, ok, you got me I'm only 11 but a genius! Ok, ok, actually I'm 57, but I've still got it... How do you "ask" someone without demanding proof that's impossible to provide?

Gregory Coleman, a lawyer for the girl's family, said the law only gives MySpace a ''limited shield'' from liability.

''It has a responsibility to (protect) children,'' he said.

Wrong dickhead. The *parents* have the responsibility, not MySpace, and not when little Jezebel decides to lie about her age in the first place. Parents need to get a grip, maybe they should take a paddle to their fourteen year hold who decided to go see some guy alone in his truck in a parking lot. The only criminals I see in this picture are the parents who want to make some money off their daughters stupid decision. Honestly, they're the ones that need some social adjustment, even more than their daughter.

Abstinence, the dysfunctional solution to teen-pregnancy, is back in the news. This time with a bouncy Harvard student who feels compelled to tell everyone why she's frigid. Ok, well it's super that you found a solution in throwing away the prettiest and most attractive years of your life because you don't want sex, but being a poster-girl for bullshit like: "abstinence makes for better marital-sex", or "it improves your health is"... just that bullshit. Personally I'd love to see how a lack of experience makes you a better lover. I suppose if you're marrying some fumble-fingered virgin guy you'll both be excited enough to cream your pants just undressing for the first time, but trust me, that's not "good" sex.

On one hand I don't understand why these sexless-evangelicals can't just go about being abstinent silently. On the other hand, I'm very glad they don't, because it gives me something to laugh about.

"virginity is extremely alluring, though its mysterious allure . . . is not rooted in an image of innocence and purity, but rather in the notion of strength." As she told me later, "It takes a strong woman to be abstinent, and that’s the sort of woman I want to be."

Here - let me sum it up in one word: "Spinster".

Honey, you're really narrowing your field by limiting yourself to men who haven't had sex in their lives (or so they may claim). Part of growing up is developing your skills with the opposite gender, kissing, cuddling and yes, learning how to make-love with a degree of skill.

If you want to pass that up, fine, be our guest, but please... don't think you're unique or special. And by the way, hon? Oral sex is called oral sex for a reason, even if you choose to think of it otherwise. Still that might be the one saving grace for the abstinence followers: "Abstinence - you may be a lousy fuck but boy can you give great head."

I don't get it. How goddamn lazy can a person be that they can't turn their engine off while fueling their car? There are stickers on every pump that state in bold lettering: 1. Do Not Smoke and 2. Shut Off Engine. If you managed to turn your car on to get it to the pump, I imagine you should be able to restart it to leave.

It's a safety issue, more from the point of accidentally knocking your car into gear than blowing something up from a spark, but still... You're not saving yourself any time, realistically speaking, by leaving your car running while fueling.

Why can't people fucking shut off their ignition while gassing up their cars?

You have to love Microsoft. After decades of training MS Office users in where to find menu options, settings and adjustments Microsoft in their grand wisdom decided to throw it all away for a completely ghey look and feel. Maybe someone needs to have at them with the big-ass cluebat because apparently "give the customer what they want" is worth dick when your motto is "we'll cram this down your throat whether you like it or not".

The UI sucks. I'd say tt looks like a fucking clown-car, only that's insulting to clown-cars. Screen real estate is wasted, colors are over the top, and useful menu items are fucking lost.

It's so bad that more than one company has sprung up to provide "add-ons" to make 2007 look like classic office 2003. Yeah it's that bad.

Hey Microsoft, way to fuck up a good product.

Open Office here I come!

Parents who pick "the power of prayer" over medicine deserve to be thrown in jail. It doesn't get any simpler. You can't believe someone into good health, I'm sorry. This is the real world.

WESTON, Wis. (AP) -- Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl's death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.

The Aunt called 911 eventually, but by then the daughter was in a coma. I mean how far does someone have to go before religious idiots will realize that they're not helping, they're killing someone by their lack of action?

The sickly funny part is the mother's statement on the matter:

The girl's mother, Leilani Neumann, said that she and her family believe in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but that they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.

Clearly her version of religion means she can lie like a bitch when she pleases. If she wasn't a fucking fanatic and wasn't against doctors then why didn't she take her child for treatment while there was still time?

Leilani Neumann said she and her husband are not worried about the investigation because ''our lives are in God's hands. We know we did not do anything criminal. We know we did the best for our daughter we knew how to do.''

No Leilei you didn't do the best for her, you did what *you* wanted to do. And your choice killed her.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

Ok what's up with this bullshit? Some lady goes through a metal detector without incident and then gets wanded. The wand beeps around her chest. Instead of being offered a "pat-down" the officers demand she remove her piercings. They didn't unscrew, no, they had to be removed with pliers.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

Basically a few male officers in the TSA decided to have some fun, at someone's expense. It's not mandatory to have to remove body jewelry. Like someone can fucking hijack a plane with a nipple ring? It's bullshit. Clearly someone was having some fun. You would think that the TSA would discipline the officers involved.

Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA's customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded the screening was handled properly, Allred said.

So in the end this woman was humiliated, and injured when she had to have the rings re-inserted later. TSA has had multiple incidents of officers mistreating woman, demanding patdowns, using their palm instead of the back of their hands across private areas.

You have to wonder what they do in the case of a Prince Albert...

... Free Tibet!

thank you

You know it's odd for someone like me who has been involved in martial arts for over a decade to be against a venue that involves the sport. Further, I'm all for kids learning martial arts at a very young age. But I think the "Ultimate Fighting" proponents have gone out of their fucking minds by holding matches for kids.

How old? 6 to 14 years old.

Unlike adult matches there's supposed to be plenty of supervision, and the kids wear protective gear... but there's still blows to the head and body, and submission holds. The proponents like to classify it as an extension of mixed-martial arts, but generally most reputable schools don't teach joint-locks to six year olds. Yes I have a problem with this.

You don't really have to be a psychic to see what's going to happen. Some kid is going to get hurt badly enough that he'll require surgery and may wind up crippled/dead as a result. I'd put a 90% probability on it. But until this happens people will go ahead and put this on.

I'm a dedicated martial artist, and I'm all for kids learning discipline and self defense. I don't believe they should be practicing it on each other with full-force until their bodies are ready to handle it and they can make rational decisions on their own.

To me the people behind this idea are basically the same types of people who get off on dog-fighting, since kids and animals have a certain degree of innocence... can anyone really defend two kids in a cage match with a bunch of adults around them screaming "Kill 'em!"?

... that ordinary people aren't experts.

Ok, that's trite, but still it's the heart of the matter when "ordinary people" (read patients) decide to do their own testing. You can test at home for all sorts of genetic things these days - inclination towards specific types of cancer, bipolar disorder, and more. The problem, as the "experts" like to put it, is that by finding this information out on your own you might draw the wrong conclusion... or the right conclusion.

''People are always rushing to the market on the basis of one or two studies,'' said Dr. Muin Khoury, director of the National Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ''We have very little evidence that telling people their genetic information is going to make any difference.''

Is that so? Is ignorance bliss? I don't really understand it (perhaps because I'm not an expert) but if I were bipolar wouldn't it be a good thing to know? If I were destined for a fatal cancer wouldn't it be better to be aware before it developed?

Some people are taking action on this information, and it's fascinating how when a woman decides to have a double mastectomy based on information her doctor gave her - that's all well and good. If someone were to walk into a doctor's office and demand a double mastectomy based on a test, where she sent her own samples to the lab and received the results herself, she'd be called a psycho.

There's a new trend, actually, where doctors have been dumping patients who do too much research on their own, and try and influence their own health decisions. The cornucopia of information available to the ordinary web-user is enormous, and unlike any time in the past, patients are able to share their information directly with the entire world: "This happened to me, learn from it."

Patients taking Psynomics' bipolar test may feel branded by a positive result, even if they are not ultimately diagnosed with the disorder, said Hank Greely, a professor of law and genetics with the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Or they may feel false hope from a negative result, despite the company's disclaimers.

But how is this different from the same results given to them by their doctor? Well for one, there's less indirection. Giving the patient the direct results means there's no chance for the doctor to screw up their records and misdiagnose or misread the results. But what else? Oh yeah, there is the second big difference - cost.

The medical industry will circle the wagons, even as the pharmaceutical industry tries to end-run by marketing stuff directly to the consumer ("ask your Doctor if blahblahblah is right for you..."). Testing is a new tweak on giving ordinary people access to information about themselves that they never could have obtained without paying for at least two office visits (one to schedule the test, one to get the results). Doctors don't like this. I'm pretty sure the tiebreaker will come down from how insurance companies decide to weigh in.

Until then, most of us are probably better off getting these tests but keeping the results to ourselves, and keeping a watchful eye on our doctors.

"Parents like Linda Palmer [...], Julie Chiariello and Sybil Carlson believe vaccines are dangerous. "

... and so they don't vaccinate their kids. You know I really don't give a flying fuck if these retarded bitches kill their own kids but it should be a crime equal to murder if their sick kids kill someone else's.

Media hype non-withstanding, there has been no definitive link between immunization and anything (other than the ability to prevent the spread of infectious and fatal diseases).

Had I the power I'd deport these women and their brats to Nigeria where polio made a massive recurrence due to exactly the same butt-headed fears. You want to live in a first-world nation? Then you need to comply with the rules of living in a first-world nation. Yeah it's fucking nice that everyone ELSE immunizes their kids so yours doesn't get sick... now how about returning the favor?

I was snooping around on Google when I decided to look up an RPG I'd only vagely heard about. I found this review. My gods, this boy can WRITE! Here, cast your eyes on just the intro...

Contrary to my expectations, the World of Synnibarr did not suck all of the flesh off of my face, leaving behind only a screaming skull. It did not rape my other gaming products, leaving them pregnant with “neomods”, McCracken-speak for something as simple as a gaming module. It did not shoot twin streams of hydrochloric acid into my eyes, nor did it squat on my chest and stare at me when I was trying to sleep.

But it God-Damn well should have, because any of the above would have been better than actually trying to review this bastard.

My hat is off to you Sir! An outrageous and eloquent use of prose! Author, author!!

The whole article...

So, a college student in Canada studying chemistry starts a help group on Facebook. He gets a 'B' in the class which is then changed to an 'F' when the teacher discovers the site. Why? Because the teacher (unnamed at this time) considers electronic sharing of thoughts and ideas as cheating. Here's the scoop:

TORONTO (AP) -- A Canadian university ruled Tuesday against expelling a first-year engineering student accused of cheating through an online study group on Facebook.

Chris Avenir's apparent exhortation to fellow Ryerson University engineering students to ''input solutions'' to assignment problems on the social networking site raised the ire of a professor.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old was told that while he wouldn't be expelled he would receive a zero on the assignment section of the chemistry course, which was worth 10 percent of his final grade. Despite that, Avenir still passed the course.

Hello old fashioned? I remember when calculators in math classes were considered "cheating" (slide rules probably weren't). This is a great example of how universities and their mouldering, doddering old teachers can't keep up and fear what they don't understand.

The site was never hidden, and all the content is available to *anyone*. Chris not only got slapped for creating the site, but also for 146 charges of "enabling misconduct". Awesome... Supposedly the university embraces the use of technology in learning, I'm guessing that applies only to abacuses and 5" floppies.

Why is anyone surprised? I mean really - if nothing else our president is thoroughly consistent. Denial that there's any serious problem with the economy, after years of raping it silly, is in the same vein as telling everyone that the war was worth it.

The administration was elected, re-elected and has continuously operated on the principle that they are only answerable to god, and not the public that elected them. As a result, if lying, ignoring the facts, violating the agreed upon laws - both national and international - are useful in justifying their actions, then so be it.

Torture is necessary. Killing is necessary. It's always the same old bullshit "do what we say or the terrorists will get you", or, "following the laws is too complicated, just do what we say". Pollution laws enacted by states are "burdens" or "too confusing". And unemployment can be solved by "tax rebates". Evidence of how decisions are made, what people were consulted or what emails were sent are either "privileged" or "unimportant". On and on and on.

2009 can't come quickly enough. I don't care who wins this time, so long as they have education and a conscience. Anything has got to be better than this...

In an attempt to "do something" about the fact that people keep re-printing the cartoon about muahammad muslim nations have banded together to come up with a solution. That solution is to take offending nations to court.

It's fabulously funny, that nations who have no issues with burning flags, stomping living presidents in effigy, and desecrating and destroying symbols of other religions (remember when the Taliban blew up an ancient sculpture of Buddha?) simply can't take it when the shoe is on the other foot. One might even recall that Iran hosted an anti-restOfTheWorld cartoon contest to strike back. Yet that's completely acceptable.

''I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy,'' said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. ''There can be no freedom without limits.''

Freedom from blasphemy? Freedom of speech is just that, freedom of speech. It means people can express themselves how they like. This is why muslim nations can't ever support a democracy, because they can't conceive of what a democracy really means. Nor can they understand how multiple cultures can co-exist. Of course, they're also the ones that insist that if you leave their religion you must be put to death.

''Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination,'' charged Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

Hello Pot? This is the Kettle Calling... of course the difference being that in first-world nations we're big enough to take it and keep smiling.

Danield J. Collins, 39, told his children during a visit to his home on Sunday that he wanted them to ''learn how to kill'' and gave his 11-year-old son a knife to do it, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

The boy tried to save the cat by hiding it under a sofa bed and putting ketchup on a knife when Collins went to the bathroom. But when the father realized the cat was not dead, he forced his daughter to hold the knife and then held her hand tightly as he drove the knife into the animal, Muncie police Detective Jami Brown said.

Police said Collins stabbed and strangled the cat himself, and told his son to throw the dead pet in the trash. Officers retrieved the carcass to be used as evidence.

Words cannot describe the hatred I have for this man. All I can say is that I hope Karma runs true. If it does then life has an awful, painful, horrible future for Daniel. I hope the news captures it because when it does I plan on celebrating.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Contraband candy has led to big trouble for an eighth-grade honors student in Connecticut.

Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.

It used to be guns that were the issue. Then it was a picture of a gun. Now it's healthiness. The idea that a top student would be suspended and stripped of his class-VP title for a bag of skittles is fucking moronic. What about a warning? What about just taking the candy away?

Banning candy is one thing, being mentally retarded about how you implement the ban is another.

Here's the story: It's Christmas time. A lady wants to let her children donate money to the Salvation Army kettle. It's cold and snowy out - so she pulls up in a spot 10 yards away, with a direct line of sight to the bell ringers. Her two year old is asleep in the back, so she puts on her flashers, locks the doors, and sets the alarm. Then she walks her kids across the street, puts in the money and walks back.

Next thing, she's sitting in a patrol car being arrested for neglect.

Why? Because a "community (dis)service officer" got in her face and started harassing her for "abandoning" her child. It didn't matter that she could see her child the whole time. Or that she never went in the store. Or that it was cold and snowy. Or that the baby was asleep. All that mattered is that this officer had decided to make a point and the Police chief: Timothy Sulikowski is backing her.

Crestwood Police Chief Timothy Sulikowski declined to comment about the case. But he did not dispute the contention that Coyne parked nearby or was away from her car for just a few minutes.

He did, however, suggest Coyne put her child at risk.

''A minute or two, that's when things can happen,'' he said.

Happen? What exactly is going to happen in an alarmed, locked car? Further if the car did get hit by a truck would it have mattered if the mom was inside or not? No one could get into the car, and the child was safely strapped in the child seat. Go on, tell me - what exactly could happen?

Someone needs to get a fucking grip. You're in Chicago and you're going to prosecute a decent woman who was taking her kids to donate to charity? What's the message to her other children? The police are evil? Or it's wrong to donate to charity?

The 36-year-old suburban mother is preparing to go on trial Thursday on misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and obstructing a peace officer. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,500, even though child welfare workers found no credible evidence of abuse or neglect.

Hey Timmy! Did your mom drop you as a baby or something? Because if she didn't she sure should have...

As far as successful campaign slogans go I'm not certain this is a winner, but it sure the heck got my attention...

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) -- For guys who park in front of the TV during college basketball's March Madness, the Oregon Urology Institute has a suggestion: Why not use that time to recover from a vasectomy?

''When March Madness approaches you need an excuse ... to stay at home in front of the big screen,'' the clinic's radio ad says. ''Get your vasectomy at Oregon Urology Institute the day before the tournament starts. It's snip city.''

On the one had the sheer audacity makes me smile, on the other I have to wonder if anyone at all will take them up on it.

The Times ran an article today that talked about why people weren't switching to Vista in droves. It was a pretty funny article because it gave individual vignettes of semi-anonymous users woes and crises. Later they revealed that these users were high-powered MS execs. Seems this information has come to light as a result of a class action suit against the Evil Empire resulting from the "Vista Capable" fiasco (in short - machines granted that moniker were either unable to run Vista graphics *or* were unable to run any software other than just the OS because... nothing was compatible).

I think it's funny, personally, that anyone - even an MS exec would think upgrading to Vista would be a good idea at all. Other than the "Ooooo Pretty" factor what else does it do that XP doesn't? I mean in a practical sense?

Here's what I need a machine to do:
1. Boot/Shutdown
2. Not crash in the process of booting or running (shutting down is optional unless it corrupts my drives)
3. Provide net access
4. Support my printer/ router/ camera/ flashdrives/ trackball
5. Play my games
6. Run my basic apps for word processing, image editing

That's it really. That's what I need a machine to do - sure there's more I'd like, but that's gravy in my mind. And if an OS can't suitably do all the necessities, then why the fuck would I want to use it?

But there's more... If I'm going to go through the hassle of getting a new OS installed, then I want it to take at most the same amount of RAM as the current OS, or less. Why would I want to spend more memory for the same capabilities?

Vista really doesn't offer me anything special that I'd prefer over XP. I even run 64bit XP so eh, again - nothing there in Vista-land for me in that respect either. Hell even with XP, I still use the "classic windows" look and feel, because I'm not interested in wasting even a nibble for flash that's not part of a game.

It took a long time for me to move from NT to 2k and even longer from 2k to XP (in fact I still have 2k machines around). I'm not fucking upgrading to Vista until I'm backed to the edge of the cliff with one foot wiggling in thin air... Half Life Episode 50? Fear Expansion XXIX? Unreal Tournament 2025? Dunno - but I'll post something when I get there...

"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children..."

That's what the law says. Simply put, just because you decide to reproduce does not entitle you to raise that child in any way you see fit. American public schools are designed to provide an accepted level of education to children to ensure that kids can become functional adults who can contribute to their society. Just because a public school don't expound or enforce religious beliefs does not mean that a school is unfit to train students in the necessary skills to survive. Schools teach children to read, write, and count - the bible does not. And if it means so much to a parent, then there are religious institutions available at a premium cost.

While parents are responsible for how their children are raised they are also not entitled, as parents, to freely abuse or mistreat them. In the case of Phillip Long, a home-schooling parent from CA, his eldest child claimed "mental and physical abuse" as part of being home-schooled. This lead to a lawsuit wherein one of the Judges issued the statement at the top: Parents do not have a *right* to home school.

I'm tired of all the religious zealots in the US forgetting the fact our country was founded on the basis of religious *freedom*. The basis of this is that we allow people to practice what they want, so long as it does not interfere with the rights of others. Beating your child as part of your "religious beliefs" *is* interfering with the rights of another, and it's not allowed. Further, in order to teach your child, you must be at least as educated as you want them to be, if not significantly more. If teachers need a degree to teach, then parents have to submit to a level of certification as well.

While some of that has been mitigated by the fact that home schooled students still need to pass standardized tests, it doesn't mean that the child learned in a nurturing or encouraging environment. Learning should not be hell, and if parents are abusive in how they teach then a reporting mechanism is required. Chances are if they're at least college educated they won't be... but that's just my opinion.

Well, that's *your* fault because you weren't brought up correctly! A good, decent, law-respecting citizen embraces the NSA and all its activities. An honest, patriotic, loyal citizen realizes that there's *is* no such thing as privacy or the right to maintain records out of the hands of the government... because that would be hiding something. And only terrorists need to hide something.

This generation of citizens seems like a lost cause. They insist that the constitution provides them a degree of privacy and security to maintain their own data. The nerve! The founding fathers would never have allowed that if they'd known just how dangerous it would be to the institutionalized government of the future.

So what to do? Start indoctrinating them young! Flashy NSA sites! For Kids!

http://www.nsa.gov/kids/

Halliburton, Cheney's company, put a clause in their employee contract that said essentially all litigation brought by the employee against the company could only be solved by arbitration. So when a female employee was held hostage in a shipping container and raped, they are being allowed to enforce the 'arbitration only' rule. It doesn't matter that it wasn't at work per se, it was at the barracks. It doesn't matter that it wasn't on the job, but on her own free time. It only matters that it's litigation and that it's against a company protected by the highest of the high (or lowest of the low, depending on your point of view).

It's pretty typical, in this administration, that people are only seen as tools, and that the business trumps individual rights, protections and freedoms. It's one thing to enforce litigation that's work related (such as harassment on the job), it's entirely another to support murder, abuse, and rape against an American citizen, simply because they're working outside the US.

Still we know how it goes, "it's for the safety of America" that contractors get to set their own rules and not be held liable in any way shape or form for the job they do in Iraq.

If "patriotism is the last bastion of the scoundrel" then what do you call someone who unceasingly invokes the specter of fear in the name of national security in order to repress their citizens?

I love how protecting someone's "right to be a retard" is now an acceptable litmus test. "So what if I'm illiterate? My child should be raised like me!" It's nice how Texas is so much more progressive in that respect than other states, the leading edge of stupidity. And the latest evidence to this is the law they passed that enabled young drivers to be trained by their parents instead of a certified driver-safety program. The results? That kids "taught" by their parents got into more accidents, and drove more poorly than kids who were properly trained. No surprise there.

"In April 1997 the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) implemented rules, based on legislation passed in 1995, that provided for parent or guardian-taught novice driver training that meets all of the driver training requirements necessary for licensing between age 16 and 18. As currently constituted, the parent-taught driver education program in Texas essentially grants to parents the same role, rights, privileges, and responsibilities as were formerly granted only to State-licensed and approved novice driver instructors and driver education programs."

They did this, ostensibly, for the "convenience" and "comfort" of the students. What wound up happening was that parents were sticking their kids (who can legally start driving at 14, in cases of "hardship") behind the wheel earlier and with less training and pushing them out onto the roads. Probably because it was more "convenient" for them. And while kids who were taught by their parents claimed they were as skilled as peers who took a certified class, it's pretty obvious that it wasn't true:

"Based on driver records, PT novice drivers were convicted of more traffic offenses than commercial or public school-trained drivers before implementation of the GDL program, especially in the first year of driving...However, during the period when requirements for adult supervision are reduced (provisional license), and after supervisory and other GDL restrictions are removed (full licensure), PT drivers again experience proportionally more total traffic convictions and more, and more serious, crashes than drivers trained under commercial/public school DE programs."

PT is parent trained.

GDL, is Graduated Drivers Licence. It separates drivers over and under sixteen, and restricts the hours and passengers of those under that limit. While GDL helped to a certain degree, it couldn't eliminate the fact that parent-taught kids got into more accidents.

Although the numbers point to the fact that parent training is a bad thing, more and more people in Texas are signing up for the program because it's easy. Lawmakers have tried to rescind it, but they can't because of its popularity.

Does this mean that any parent that decides to train their kid to drive is a shitty, selfish parent? Not 100% of the time, but probably more often than not. Most parents have a pretty hard time staying calm with their kids by the time they're teenagers anyway... Not to mention a lot of adults clearly are crappy drivers themselves. Expecting a parent to be calm while teaching their kid a defensive driving maneuver while they're headed for another car is pretty damn unlikely. The only thing that is predictable is the fact that in a choice between safety and convenience, Texans prefer to take risks over prevention... because it's their "right".

If I'm only allowed 0 to 5800 on my tach why show me that it goes up another 1200 rpm? It's not like I can actually USE those upper RPMs...