Britain: UFO Free

I always love some odd British andecdote.

None of the numerous UFOs reported over Britain in the last 30 years was a flying saucer, the government said as it released previously secret defence files probing mysterious aerial sightings.

The declassified study -- "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) in the UK Air Defence Region" -- concluded that such UAP do exist and are "usually described as coloured lights and sometimes as shapes".

"Very occasionally they are reported with sound and even with smell," it added.

But it noted that "reports occur because they comprise unfamiliar and unexpected lights, shapes and patterns, in the context in which the observer sees them. The phenomena occur on a daily, worldwide basis".

Yahoo! News

Amazing

This site is amazing. They have full screen panoramic pictures that are 360 degrees. Literally. The camera is fixed and you can rotate it all the way around and it looks like it would if you were actually there and turned around. Some of them even have sound to give them extra ambience. Stuff like this really interests me for some reason.

z260

Now this is good parenting

I really hate when I encounter parents who are extremely submissive to their children. It bugs me, and for some reason I feel that it reflects extremely poor on their characters. For them to allow their children to act with such disrespect is a sign of zero self confidence and an unwillingness to take control. And then have completely idiotic parents such as this one:

A Guilford woman is accused of giving her daughter cocaine last month, resulting in the 22-year-old woman having a seizure and being rushed to the hospital, according to court documents.

Kimberly M. Wrublevski, 49, pleaded innocent to a felony count of cocaine delivery and a misdemeanor count of cocaine possession in Brattleboro District Court on Tuesday. She faces up to four years in prison and $77,000 in fines if convicted.

Wrublevski is accused of giving her daughter, Amanda M. Wrublevski, and her daughter's boyfriend, Jesse R. McMahon, one gram of cocaine with which to experiment, according to court documents. Amanda Wrublevski allegedly had a seizure, hit her head on a coffee table and stopped breathing after using cocaine April 19, court documents stated.

However, this is not a one time thing. Honestly, I'm unsure as to why the daughter was begging her mom to get coke. Obviously there were plenty of drugs just laying around the house in the first place.

A search of Wrublevski's home in Guilford also revealed a homemade bong with what appeared to be crack cocaine residue in it and crushed-up Percocet pills on a yellow glass plate, police said.

Nice. Very Nice. Rutland Herald

New Police Tactics

What happens when a regular old street cop sees a drug dealer, chases after him, but is let down when the suspect is apprehended but has swallowed the drugs. Well, thanks to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the police have a new, yes, New tactic in their arsenal.

Police officers who forced a drug suspect to drink a laxative in hopes of recovering a swallowed bag of heroin were within their rights, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday

Thanks ABC! You are awesome! ABC News

Marines, Fishing Poles, and Forbidden Websites.

Thanks to Wonkette for uncovering this. Basically, she reported on the Marine's policies regarding filters placed on computers that Marines use, mostly to keep them from going to unwanted or malicious sites. It is very much akin to the filters used in corporate offices and high schools, where more "controversial" material is blocked from being accessed. A Marine tested out the new system and responds to Wonkette with:

Unfortunately anonomizers don't work out here (never have). Anyway, I had a few minutes today and thought I'd look and see what else was banned on the Marine web here. I think the results speak for themselves:

* Wonkette – “Forbidden, this page (http://www.wonkette.com/) is categorized as: Forum/Bulletin Boards, Politics/Opinion.”

* Bill O’Reilly (www.billoreilly.com) – OK

* Air America (www.airamericaradio.com) – “Forbidden, this page (http://www.airamericaradio.com/) is categorized as: Internet Radio/TV, Politics/Opinion.”

* Rush Limbaugh (www.rushlimbaugh.com) – OK

* ABC News “The Note” – OK

* Website of the Al Franken Show (www.alfrankenshow.com) – “Forbidden, this page (http://www.airamericaradio.com/) is categorized as: Internet Radio/TV, Politics/Opinion.”

* G. Gordon Liddy Show (www.liddyshow.us) – OK

* Don & Mike Show (www.donandmikewebsite.com) – “Forbidden, this page (http://www.donandmikewebsite.com/) is categorized as: Profanity, Entertainment/Recreation/Hobbies.”

Thanks Wonkette

Brewers

Current Stats (from Brewers.MLB.com):

We are currently 22-19 and 4 games out of 1st place. If only we can start winning on the road, we can possibly move up in the standings since our at home record is 16-7 so far. Turnbow is doing extremely well, with exception to his last few games where he struggled. Jenkins is proving to be a clutch player with each new game.

Turnbow already has 13/14 saves.

I think I might go to the game on Saturday, because a friend of mine is graduating college and his having tail-gating and fricken' awesomeness.

Work

I work at Martino's, which is a hot-dog place by the airport. The work is easy but dirty, the pay is merely adequate and the workers are OK. However, it's becoming increasingly stressful for a number of reasons:

1. The owner is very unpleasant to work with. His idea of a fun working environment is to constantly give people a hard time. Everyone knows he's joking, but whenever anyone tries to return his "insults" he pulls rank and gets an attitude. Not cool.

2. Some of my co-workers are bags of rocks with arms. Honestly, I worry about the state of our public school system if kids don't even know how to sweep a floor properly.

3. I try to do a very good job on everything I do. My superiors have noticed this and have complimented me. However, now I'm always scheduled to do one of the most stressful and busy positions at the restaurant. I appreciate the high standards they have of me, I just wish sometimes they'd give me a break once in a while.

The Return

What's been new?

Bush is handling Immigration. McClellan is out, Tony Snow is in. Who else do you need but a former FOX news anchor? This washer is definitely on spin cycle.

I just received two new CDs: Don Caballero's "World Class Listening Problem" and Dysrhythmia's "Barriers and Passages." Both bands are among my favorites and for some odd reason both have signed to metal label Relapse Records.

Spring Break Capsized

My break was completely lackluster. Nothing exciting happened and I ended up working a lot. I am almost too bored to finish writing thi.....s.

Keeping with the current trend of being totally trendy and following trends, I created another blog for class. This one will focus on the Milwaukee Brewers, the desperados of the midwest. That's not a real nickname for them. Hopefully it will catch on, and Bob Uecker can announce it half-nasally in his trademark drawl. Well, not drawl so much, as it conjures up images of cigar-chewing, tar-faced kindred spirits of the Old West. However Uecker talks and whichever way you choose to describe it, you probably know what I mean.

Toeing the Line: After This, You Might Think I'm Lame

I'm pretty excited for ABC's new show: American Inventor.

I don't know why, either. I like seeing new inventions, and it will be interesting to see how much convenience some people need on a day-to-day basis. Will there be shoes that walk for you? Maybe they can breed a dog that never defecates. Those would definitely sell, seeing as picking up after your dog is so time consuming and difficult. But then those in the pooper-scooper industry would surely be out of work. Do I want the destruction of the lives of those selling The Jaw on my concience? No thanks.

Congress Increases Debt Limit for Fourth Time: Administration Needs Fiscal Gastric-Bypass Surgery

Thanks to Bloomberg for this story:

The U.S. Congress approved a $781 billion increase in the federal government's debt limit, the fourth time lawmakers have raised the cap since President George W. Bush took office.

Fiscal responsibility? Granted, Bush has been hit hard with natural disasters. But his war of choice is costing significantly more than had been predicted. The Bloomber article states this:

Since Bush took office in 2001, the federal budget has gone from four years of surpluses, the longest such run since before the Great Depression, to deficits brought on by a recession, tax cuts, the Sept. 11 attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and Gulf Coast hurricane damage

Still, though. This administration has performed poorly in matters of fiscal maturity. No-bid contracts to Halliburton. Giving Halliburton even more money from disputed funds. I wonder how well the economy would be doing if Bush's "middle class benefitting" tax breaks didn't widen the income gap by predominantly favoring the wealthy.

What a 180

Bush on 10/6/04

I will never hand over America's security decisions to foreign leaders and international bodies that do not have America's interests at heart.

Hat Tip to Digby

Hypocricy, Again: Why the Surprise?

Today, Bush visited Milwaukee to discuss his "plan" to decrease America's dependance on oil. Most specifically, foreign oil, and Bush told the crowd he plans to find a solution for this problem.

President Bush declared this morning that America's dependence on oil is a "national security problem" that his administration is working to correct.

Interesting. His administration is looking to correct this problem. Is that why they slashed clean energy programs in the latest budget? Does Bush want to move to healthier forms of energy (ie renewable energy) or simply push support for domestic energy programs that are equally as hazardous to the environment?

Rampant Homophobia: The New Black

I was perusing the Chicago Tribune's "Dear Amy" website (much akin to "Dear Abby," and, as a sidenote, why do a lot of these "Dear [Columnist]" columns either have the actual name starting with an 'A' or the columnist uses a pen name that starts with an 'A?' Is there a Pavlovian response to an advice columnist whose name begins with 'A?' Or is it just basic marketing with evidence being "Dear Abby's" longetivity and popularity?). Anyway, I was expecting a slightly different response from Amy but was pleased with the answer given when she was asked this question:

Dear Amy: My husband and I have lived in our quiet suburban Denver neighborhood for six years.

About two years ago two young gay men moved in across the street. They've taken the ugliest, most run-down property in the neighborhood and remodeled and transformed it into the pride of the street.

When it snows, they shovel out my car and are friendly, yet they mostly keep to themselves.

Last month I went out to retrieve my newspaper and watched them kiss each other goodbye and embrace as they each left for work.

I was appalled that they would do something like that in plain view of everyone.

I was so disturbed that I spoke to my pastor. He encouraged me to draft a letter telling them how much we appreciate their help but asking them to refrain from that behavior in our neighborhood.

I did so and asked a few of our neighbors to sign it.

Since I delivered it, I've not been able to get them to even engage me in conversation.

I offer greetings but they've chosen to ignore me.

They have made it so uncomfortable for the other neighbors and me by not even acknowledging our presence.

How would you suggest we open communications with them and explain to them that we value their contributions to the neighborhood but will not tolerate watching unnatural and disturbing behavior.

-- Wondering

You can read the answer at the link above and I applaud Amy Dickinson's giving of zero creedence to 'Wondering's' self-justified and hypocritical homphobia. I was expecting, at least, a sort of shoulder-pat from Amy to console this close-minded woman's world outlook. But "Dear Amy" stayed steadfast and to the point:

Because you don't sound likely to apologize, you are just going to have to tolerate being ignored.

Hopefully the neighbors find a way to mend fences. Until then, I hope "Wondering" searches her religious soul for a little thing called "tolerance."

Welcome

Keeping pace with my current attempts to be on the forefront of popular trends, I'm creating a liberally-slanted blog. I'm so trendy. Isn't Pulp Fiction an amazing movie? I just finished watching it. You might have heard of it.