Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Refinance a-hoo-ha!

posted by John Blanco @ 5:53 PM

 

Well, it's that time to refinance the home. Uggggg. This will be the third time going through this economic crap. :-) Once for the original, and now the second refinance. Sometimes I'd rather just pay the extra money to not have to deal with it...but that wouldn't be smart.

Sigh.

Well, work has been REAL boring lately. Hopfully something fun comes my way. I haven't had anything interesting to work on since, uhhhhh, last year?

Blech.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Remember when Kosovo seemed scary?

posted by John Blanco @ 8:42 PM

 

“President Clinton is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”

- Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), 1999.

We Will Fight!

posted by John Blanco @ 5:43 PM

 



The wristbands are here. We shall fight for 2008!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

That's Two; And That's Good Times

posted by John Blanco @ 3:56 PM

 

Yesterday, ten of us buddies got together to hang out and celebrate Ramon's 32nd birthday. :-) We met up at Grinka's at 11, went out to a Thai place for lunch, and then Woodie's Wood Fire on Evans for a buffet dinner. Whoo-aaaa!! For dessert, a birthday cake which by some miracle I passed on...but I did enjoy a couple of Zima XXX that I'd been craving since we went on the Coors Brewery tour. ;-)

In between, we played board games and sat around and chatted. Had a hoot of a time. Kimmie even showed the waitress that Woody's her vagina*. What fun!

Yesterday also saw the Mets win the second Subway Series, with the final score of the game of 10-3! Tonight is the finale! A Met win and we SWEEP at Yankee stadium! We've already got our first win there...which is amazing, considering how many seasons they've been playing this. I thought we'd won a series there before.

The Yankee shipping is sinking fast! NO PITCHING. But, the Mets still have a ways to go to prove themselves. They're still only .500, but 3 games behind for the Wild Card. :-) (With the whole frickin NL East seemingly competing for it!)

Today, relaxation. We tried to watch Season One of Sex and the City, which we rented, but the first DVD is screwy and we couldn't watch episodes 1 or 4. Crap-o!

It just started hailing here in Littleton. So, us cabiners will have some dinner and then I'll be watching the Mets (while codin') at 6.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!! :-)

* - Kimmie wore it as a charm around her neck. It's not real. ;-)

Friday, June 24, 2005

He's Your Daddy!!

posted by John Blanco @ 7:44 PM

 



Mets WIN! 6-4!!! Pedro dominated the Yankees tonight in Yankee Stadium! After winning 2 of 3 in Philly, the Mets may be starting to get heated up. The battle between these two struggling teams turned up roses for the Mets tonight!

Two more games set for this weekend. Benson and Glavine are going. Let's Go Mets!

Response to Karl Rove

posted by John Blanco @ 7:01 AM

 

This man called into the Randi Rhodes Shows yesterday. I heard it live, and it was heartbreaking, but powerful.

Listen here.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Mets vs. Yankees

posted by John Blanco @ 6:01 PM

 

Round 2 of the Subway Series starts tomorrow! While it will be fun to watch as always, both the Mets and Yankees will come into it in a bit of a slump.

Unfortunately, the Yankees' slumping pitching is far less serious than the Mets' horrific hitting as of late. So, I don't think we'll do too well. Although, our three best pitchers are going.

Will be fun! Let's Go Mets!

It's Been Awhile...

posted by John Blanco @ 5:01 PM

 

It's been a while since I've blogged because it is too damn hot to blog. :-) The weather has been crazy! It's been upper 80's, hot as all heck, but there's always an hour of the day where the clouds roll in and we get some rain. Very weird.

Anyway, hasn't been too much to talk about. The Bushies look to be dying. Man...all the polls are showing the Iraq war support is sinking to about 40%! 40 FRICKING PERCENT!!!! This down from about 95% when we went into Afghanistan in a more just war.

Put it this way...unless you're in a war and the reason is so obvious that there's no reason to question it, it's the wrong war. The fact that 40% of the people of this country don't think it was worth it....THAT tells ya something. This isn't politics, where 50% is the baseline...The frickin BASELINE should be 100%!!!

So, that backdrop provides a lot of humor when I tell you that 710 AM, KNUS, a completely Conservative and right-wing radio station, with Hugh Hewitt as the host, had the nerve to say:

"These liberals are just out of touch with the average American."

No, buddy, YOU are out of touch. And the numbers drop every day. Ya got Cheney saying the insurgency is in its "last throes" and then the Army commanders saying the resistence is the same or stronger than 6 months ago!

It's actually a Republican talking point that liberals hate the troops. A TALKING POINT. LIBERALS HATE THE TROOPS.

WTF?!?!

It's all going to gell for me. The reporters are starting to attack Scott "I have no dignity" McClellan for not answering questions truthfully, or at all. It'd be almost amusing if there weren't people dying over this.

I'll end this angry blog with this from Atrios (see his link on the left border):

For the record, my motives aren't to get more troops killed. If those were my motives I'd ship them off to a war on false pretenses without sufficient equipment to keep them safe.


 

Sunday, June 19, 2005

My Right-Wing Brother-In-Law!

posted by John Blanco @ 4:24 PM

 



This is my brother-in-law, in a picture taken today while we celebrated Father's Day. :-) He loves his guns: semi-autos, rifles, etc. He believes the Dems will take them away from him.

This was his entire reason for voting for Bush.

Other than the gun issue, he doesn't like Bush's Social Security plan. He thinks he's fucking up the war. He thinks Bush is a dumbass.

But, he loves his guns.

He hates Hillary. He calls her "a crazy, left-wing radical." He can't explain why. He also believes that the price of property in New York and the rest of the east coast is related to Democrats and doesn't see supply-and-demand as a possible reason.

He doesn't have a stance on the abortion issue. He isn't into God very much. He drives a bus for handicapped and elderly people, so his job is worth merit.

But he loves his guns.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

A Nice Day Downtown

posted by John Blanco @ 9:02 PM

 

OK, it was 90+ degrees, yuck! But, Jay, Michele, and I had a lot of fun. We went downtown just after noon.

First, we went to the Firefighters Museum. This was a neat place, with lots of old fire stuff and a cool, little building. Got to play on the pole and wear firefighter outfits. Was fun!

Then, we went to go eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, Denver style! Ran into some awesome Marilyn Manson gear, which I have a pic posted. We sat by the Beatles stuff. My friend Chris would we so jealous.

Afterwards, we stopped by the Coyote Ugly bar, which must be relatively new, and watched the bartenders dance. At one point we gave Michele a couple bucks to tip the dancing girl, but they weren't in front of us on that rotation. Michele gets off lucky!

From there, we went back to Jay's hi-rise to watch the video we'd rented: Game Over. This is a documentary of Garry Kasparov's match against Deep Blue in 1997. Garry lost the match on a terrible 6th game, but the real controversy was a very *positional* move the machine apparently made in Game 2, Garry's first loss. To this day, he still claims that the programmers intervened. Just for the record, we ran the game on Fritz and Fritz chose the same move as Deep Blue. Hmmmm...

We came back down and stopped at an outdoor festival at Larimer Square. Not quite sure of the name of it. There were almost a hundred street artists chalking up these magnificent pictures in the street! Very cool stuff! Lots of heat as well...ugggg, so nasty!

Then, we capped off the day with Qdoba and some shopping. I'm dog tired now...blech. The heat can really kill ya. But what a fun day!!!

The Cute Firefighters!

posted by John Blanco @ 8:46 PM

 



This is me and Michele playing dressup at the Firefighters Museum. This is an old firehouse that's been changed into a...well, museum. Lots of old stuff...and you get to wear the gear!

Daisy's Shirt!

posted by John Blanco @ 8:45 PM

 



So we go to the Hard Rock Cafe...I'd walked past it hundreds of times, but finally, we went in. While we were waiting for our less-than-fabulous burgers, we perused the memorobilia on the wall. Jay found something cool...

A MARILYN MANSON SECTION!

Yes, Denverites, if you ever find yourself in the Hard Rock Cafe, go up to the bar area, to the far left where the wall is rounded, and you'll find a whole bunch of Marilyn stuff! I was in heaven!

The pic above is the shirt that Daisy Berkowitz wears during the "Sweet Dreams" video. Very cool! They also had autographed stuff, including a music sheet for "Tourniquet." There was also a pair of boots worn by both Marilyn and Daisy on stage. I couldn't believe it...so awesome!

Coyote Ugly

posted by John Blanco @ 8:44 PM

 



After the Hard Rock Cafe, we dropped by to see Coyote Ugly at the Pavilions. We had a drink and waited around for a bar dance. Can you guess which ones are fake? ;-)

A Little Redesign

posted by John Blanco @ 9:23 AM

 

Not to worry, I'm not becoming an advertising whore. :-) But I hope all my Democrat friends get themselves a wristband at Think Blue Dems. Michele and I will be soon equipped!

A three-day weekend of sorts for me. I took Monday off because of a doctor's appointment...so I'm putting serious plans together about what I need to get done.

Last night, we went to Black Angus and watched Sideways. Good flic. Very enjoyable. Hilarity ensued. ;-)

This morning, they officially took the old entertainment center away during large item pickup. Whoo! We're also headed downtown to hang out, and hopefully meet up with Jay. I've got an idea for something very chess-y to do. MUA HA AH HA.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Father's Day. We're headed over to the in-laws, with GameCube in hand very likely. It's also her brother Andy's birthday (almost) as well. Will also talk to him about re-doing our mortgage again. Maybe this time we can do it? ;-)

On this break, I also need to get some work done. I'm at a point where I'd like to get Avatara working over the Internet. I may not be able to get it all done, but it's possible. Something very basic. I'm going to need a lot of time to tweak the networking system, so the sooner I get it established, the more I can do that. It's the toughest work I've ever had to do.

Well, time to get started on the day. See ya around, Blogger.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Damn-ing

posted by John Blanco @ 8:00 PM

 

A damn-ing day.

Today, John Conyer held his Forum on the Downing Street Memo. Great witnesses, great testimonials. The DSM is gaining steam every day. Where once it was quiet, now it's repeatedly mentioned on CNN, NBC, etc. It's in all the major newspapers. AP is covering it. C-SPAN covered the forum LIVE today. And replayed it. The Wingnut shows are even talking about it -- no doubt denying the facts, but mentioning it nonetheless -- and 565,000 American people signed a letter full of questions that Bush has previously refused to answer.

The evidence is damn-ing, and the silence by the White House just proves it all the more.

Also today, Sean and I took a trip to NY Subs to see the sign we knew we'd see: NY Subs has closed down! Yes, after two weeks of claiming that they're fixing the AC (bullshit), the sign is up. The store is closed. Apparently the owner was negligent. Not sure what exactly happened, but unless a new owner steps in, there will be a new eatery hopefully. ;-) Subs is damn-ed.

And finally, Avatara is going swimmingly. I've got some nicer graphics in there, still temporary though, and I made more inroads tonight. I'm going to be moving on the the "paper doll" facility and some t___ w____ enhancements next.

But the weekend s coming. It's Friday ya bastards!!!!!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Is the Iraq KIA Count a Fraud?

posted by John Blanco @ 7:48 PM

 

US Military Report: The High Death Rates Exposed

This is just coming across. Is it possible that rather than 1,700+ dead, the Iraq death toll is in the 7,000's? If this is true, it will be a disgusting revelation that will really have me infuriated.

I say this tentatively because this is a new news source to me, but it's well reported. I will give it time to see what comes of it.

Prickly City - Sunday, June 14th, 2005

posted by John Blanco @ 7:38 AM

 

Monday, June 13, 2005

Live Coverage of the Michael Jackson Verdict...

posted by John Blanco @ 2:19 PM

 

NOT GUILTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Weekend Wrapup

posted by John Blanco @ 9:51 AM

 

What an assorted weekend!

Friday night the Yog and I treated ourselves to Claim Jumper...site of her Bachelorette Party and one our spoil-yourselves shindigs. I loved the salad bar there, but remind me not to get the chicken dish anymore. ;-)

Afterwards, we went to Highlands Ranch to see "Madagascar." Another good animated movie, though maybe not up there with the Nemo's of the world. Still...I like to move it, move it...I like to move it, move it...MOVE IT!

Saturday, we met up with the JeffCo Young Dems for some mini-golf at Putter's Pride. I'd never golfed there (haha), and it was pretty cool. They actually have three courses, too. I took first place on the strength of a strong back 9 (I averages a 2 score over the last 9 holes, including two holes-in-one.) The Yog ended with a, heh heh, 69. :-) The Young Dems are a very cool group...we also discussed upcoming events, so you know I'll be advertising those here.

Yesterday was also a big work day for us. Michele and I decided to redo our living room. We wanted to catty-corner (sp?) our TV instead of the way it was, facing across the room. There were problems with this:

1) Only the three people on the main couch could see the TV well.
2) You couldn't see the TV from the kitchen or dining area.
3) The TV wasn't accessible to the large span of the room, making things like "company" very hard to manage. :-)

We bought a new entertainment center for a wicked-good deal at Target. (Real wood, special brand!) Then we spent a while putting the thing together, together. After that, I disassembled (or is it dissembled? heh heh) the old entertainment center, which was quite emotional. I bought that entertainment center for my first apartment in downtown Denver...when I left college. I've carried along that POS since then...

And now it's rubble. :-)

The new living is AWESOME now! Not only is the TV perfectly placed and more easily viewable in so many ways (and it's even higher up, too), but now we have even more room for shelves and stuff, since the old entertainment center was a bad misuse of space.

The cost: two blisters on my right hand. :-( Hope they heal by worktime, tomorrow.

Today is rainy, so no mowing going on. Not sure what's on tap, except we absolutely must go food shopping. I'd like to work on Avatara a bit, there's a piece I've needed to get done for a week and I'd like to move past it. It involves GUI/screen-draw issues.

Mets play at 11. Last night was AWESOME! Marlon hits a game-typing, inside-the-park home run to tie it 2-2 in the 9th! Then, down 3-2 in the 10th, Cliff Floyd hits a 3-2, 2-out, walk-off home run to win it for the Mets 5-3!!! The real drama was the Mets had 2 on, none out when Beltran and Piazza each struck out. Had they lost it, it would've been a horrific sight.

OK...it just started pouring here again! MY Gosh! Is this frickin Seattle?! So much rain!

PS - The lawn loves it.

Friday, June 10, 2005

AT&T Sells Sex Favors?!

posted by John Blanco @ 11:09 AM

 

Yesterday, I heard just about the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life.

There's a man named Eugene who got a telemarketing call so outrageous some months ago that he went out and bought a phone recorder. He got more of the same calls, and decided to record them.

Luckily, he's a comedian. :-)

A new phone company called UAT is trying to undercut the business of AT&T, MCI, Verizon, etc. by claiming that they are the only pro-Christian phone company. What's better is what they excuse these other companies of doing. :-)

I've linked to the first and second of three phone calls that Eugene received. The second is by far the funniest. They are both absolute must-listens!!!

The First Call: Gay T & T?
The Second Call: AT&T Sells Sex Favors?!

For the whole story, click here.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

The Jefferson County Democrats

posted by John Blanco @ 9:15 AM

 

Jefferson County Democrats Homepage

Last night, Michele and I attended our first meeting of the Jefferson County Young Democrats. We had fun visiting the Democratic HQ and meeting new people who shared the same political beliefs that we do.

We discussed upcoming events and some issues, and hopefully soon you'll see us being involved in charity events while trying to grow our new, little group. :-)

If anyone here reading is in Jefferson County (doubtful, I already know you if you are), then you may want to inquire within at the link above!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

I Love Howard Dean

posted by John Blanco @ 8:36 AM

 

Howard Dean's been gettin some media coverage lately for comment's he's made about the Republican Party. He's coming strong, and our party needs it.

Dean told a forum of journalists and minority leaders Monday that Republicans are "not very friendly to different kinds of people, they are a pretty monolithic party ... it's pretty much a white, Christian party."

Some Republicans are up in arms. And ya know what? GOOD! You may not say you're racist or prejudice, but when you oppose health care for 9 million children who don't currently have any, and you want to keep the minimum wage provide for a below-the-poverty-line lifestyle, you indeed are *not* being friendly to different kinds of people.

And anyways, you're never going to convert some hardcore Republicans, so let Dean expose the voice of the Democratic base. If a few Democrats want to protect their fragile image from Republican voices, let them do it. We don't give a flying flip about Joe Biden anyway. have you seen his voting record?

So, anyway, this link harkens us back to the infamous "Dean Scream." If I close my eyes and listen to him speak, pride runs through my body. If I was politically cognizent during the 2003 Primaries, I'd have voted for Dean.

So, what's with the Scream then? Here's all the proof you need to know that Dean is *not* a loony. :-) The power of a room full of Dean-iacs led him to it.

The Dean Scream was a Fraud

Go Dean! Go Dems!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

CNN.com - Kerry, Bush had similar grades - Jun 7, 2005

posted by John Blanco @ 8:01 AM

 

CNN.com - Kerry, Bush had similar grades - Jun 7, 2005

This is the funniest story I've ever seen CNN. Somehow, they're trying to relay the point that President Bush is *equally* as smart os Senator Kerry.

OK...so we shall judge this by grades?

How about their ability to give a speech? Ability to debate? Knowledge of tax issues? Value of the world community and how this relates to terrorism? Ability to say "nuclear"? :-)

Gimme a break!

Jack-off WCBS (NY) Lays-off Cousin Brucie??

posted by John Blanco @ 6:55 AM

 

OK, give me a minute to harken back to the halcyon days of my youth when working for my parents' businesses, in New York, was all life was...with some school. :-)

My parents owned two businesses that I worked for: 21st Century Dry Cleaners and Veronica's Deli. In each of these shops, my mom had WCBS playing the whole day. (At the deli, baseball games trumped the radio, so we could hear the Mets lose whilst we worked.)

The lead guy on WCBS was a man dubbed "Cousin Brucie," who played nothing but oldies (as did the rest of the station) all day long. He was a DJ there for decades.

Well, last week, idiot WCBS fired Cousin Brucie, and the whole crew, and replaced the format with the Jack FM format -- something we recently got here as well.

Think: 2,000+ song jukebox, no DJ's, random format.

Very sad...is the radio industry dying? First, we have the hiijacking of the airwaves to lying, Conservative blowhards. Then, we have Clear Channel sucking up radio stations and blasting the airwaves with suckitudge. Then, we're losing the better DJ's to privatized XM/Sirius (which I think is cool, anyway). Now...we get an automated radio station. How personal.

It seems to me that the radio industry is fighting their own fate by expediating the very thing they're frightened of. Though, my guess is that the Jack FM format doesn't necessarily represent "the radio industry."

Right now, I don't listen to any FM here in Littleton, CO. When I'm desperate, I check out Alice or KTCL, but rarely do I hear anything I like. I'm stuck in AM world for now, 760 AM and 1390 AM.

Update: Cousin Brucie has signed on with Sirius Satellite Radio! He now has a national music and talk program. Congrats!

Sunday, June 05, 2005

The AC Gang - AC Finale!

posted by John Blanco @ 8:41 PM

 

My Turn w/ Ice Cream

posted by John Blanco @ 8:40 PM

 

We Are the Nobodies, Wannabe Big Fatties!

posted by John Blanco @ 9:56 AM

 



Blech!

Last night was the AC Finale! The Jochele (John and Michele) got over to the Grinka's (Greg and Minka) to meet up with Rammie (Ramon and Kimmie) and Kawn (Kevin and Shawn) and Adron (Aaron and Adrianna) to watch the presentation of our film, The Fashion of the Christ, which we filmed back in November!

Ramon and Aaron directed it, we all starred in it, and Aaron finished it off with the arduous task of editing it. It was wonderful! Some highlights were a scene of Shawn and I beating up Jesus (Kevin) in slow motion, while playing to "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (The plotline was that Jesus was taking all the modeling jobs, and refused to work for Donatella Versace, played by Adrianna).

Michele had a good scene where she's scene from the knees down in a bathrool stall, eating and then puking up S'Mores in a bolemic fit. :-) The line of the movie comes from Pontius Pilate, who says about Jesus, "I've seen Jerusalem, and he's no Jerusalem."

After the movie, we trekked to the Coors Brewery in Golden where we went on the free beer tour. It was cool because I'd gone on this tour with my brother, Mike, back when I was in high school, but was too young to sample the free beer at the end of the tour. This time around, I did...including Zime XXX Hard Apple which tasted like Jello and was delicious. :-) I don't drink much, but you couldn't pass it up. hahaha

We then went to Golden Library for the annual viewing of the AC Scrapbook! Kevin did another excellent job! We have lots to write, still!

After that, we went back to the Grinka's where we chatted for a bit and then bid goodbye to K (Kevin), Annie, and Lerri. The rest of us, Adron and Rammie and Jochele and Grinka and Shawn), decided to go out for dinner downtown at BD's Mongolian BBQ, which is a buffet-style eatery with cooks that grill up your selected dish right in front of you. An old-time favorite!

The first bowl I made was a NY Strip Steak, Pepper, and Broccoli Soy bowl. I took it easy because I like to have more than one dish. The second bowl was an inspired Sausage and Pepper BBQ bowl, which Michele and I shared. :-)

We also walked over the new Millenium bridge which is conveniently located next to a set of condo's I have vowed we will live in some day. Gorgeous!

On the way back, we decided to go for ice cream. What an event! We went to supermarket and fought, deliberated, and settled on the following menu:

Neopolotan Ice Cream (Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry)
Mint Chocolate Chip (*drool*)
Cookies N Cream

Bag o' Walnuts
Bottole o' Cherries
Two kinds of whipped cream: bowl and spray
Bananas
Soda

Let's just say we had a field day putting our dishes together. :-) The pic above is Michele enjoying her cherry. We all wanted to puke afterwards.

A couple of hours chatting in the dimly lit front Grinka room in their new house, including scary ghost stories which left me shaken, and we left late at about 11:30 PM. What a day!

Today is recovery day. :-) I've gotta mow the lawn, do the bills, and then I'm meeting Bob for some chess at 1 PM. (First time we're meeting actually, we've been emailing for a month now.) Then, tonight the Met game is on ESPN! Yeah! They actually play two today...they've been doing well lately, so hopefully we can keep it up and maybe sweep the struggling Giants. A game out of first we are!

Later, I also hope to mark up the AC scrapbook.

Well, geesh, that sounds like a lot! I'd better get started! Gotta go!

Friday, June 03, 2005

Moving Forward...

posted by John Blanco @ 10:49 AM

 

Michele and I have made steps towards joining the Jefferson County Young Democrats. :-) We're extremely pleased by this step, and we'll know better our intentions on June 8th when we attend our first meeting.

One of my resolutions for this year was to become more involved in the community. As I've become more politically charged for the last year plus, this is an excellent outlet for me. It will be good knowing that I'm not just complaining about our government as it stands today, but actively trying to make a difference in changing it.

My objectives for the push to the 2006 elections is to convince people that votes for single-issues such as gun control or abortion pale in comparison to the issues of how a government affects out lives. Healthcare, education, foreign policy, scientific research, job creation, and protecting the least among us are all aspects of the government that are the most important.

When you vote for a candidate based on your personal feelings on abortion or guns, one has to realize that you may not see any change in that area. As partisan issues, we must all come to a concensus resolution and agreement on how to handle these issues. Partisan fighting solves nothing.

It has become apparent that special-interest groups that care about these one-sided issues have hijacked the more important pursuit of a better future for our children.

I hope to convince Republican and Neo-Con voters that many of their ideals and values can still be addressed while, at the same time, we improve the state of our schools, medical care, and how we look at the world and how the world looks at us.

A Democratic President listens to the people, and important issues like abortion, guns, and stem cell research can still be discussed in an open forum in the pursuit of an answer that we can agree on.

This is democracy.

Update: A Young Democrat has found my blog. I am being assimilated! ;-)

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Sports Wrap

posted by John Blanco @ 8:09 PM

 

Ooooh, ohoohohohoh, so much of interest, so little time!

THE YANKS GOT SWEPT!!

Ohhh, ohhhhh, and not just swept....SWEPT BY THE ROYALS! :-D *MUA HAHA AHAHAH AHA HHHA A* Oh man, the $208 million dollar team versus the $30 million dollar team! And the Yanks got punk'd. :-)

The Mets, on the other hand, led by Pedro, win their series against the D-Backs. A dandy showing against the D-Backs, who are doing well this year. Now, time for the Giants.

And the Braves lost...yeeeehaw. Mets 1.5 games out of first. :-)

Incidentally, there was a funny little highlight during the Met game tonight. In the 1st inning, the infield sprinklers turned on for no good reason while the Mets were on the field. Here's a pic:

Monster by Steppenwolf

posted by John Blanco @ 7:41 AM

 

Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope
Like good Christians, some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

The blue and grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war over
They stuffed it just like a hog

And though the past has it's share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

(Suicide)
The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
And now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watchin'

Our cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watching

(America)
America where are you now?
Don't you care about your sons and daughters?
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Sammy The Stem Cell

posted by John Blanco @ 7:34 PM

 

Stem Cells are Living Persons!

And Sammy proves it...hear him convince Marc Maron of Air America Radio's Morning Sedition. :-)

Bush Teaches Vocabulary

posted by John Blanco @ 11:23 AM

 

The Moderate Voice - Bush Blasts Amnesty International Report As "Absurd"

"I'm aware of the Amnesty International report, and it's absurd," he said.

President Bush says the allegations about mistreatment have been made by prisoners who hate the United States.

"It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of, and the allegations by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble - that means not tell the truth," he said.


Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Bush. However, what you meant to say was dissemble. Defined as follows:

dis·sem·ble

1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. See Synonyms at disguise.
2. To make a false show of; feign.

A word I will never forget for the rest of my life. :-) Explaining to a group of WRITERS at a press conference what a word means, when they were confused because you said the wrong one. It's priceless.

UPDATE: A caller on Air America Radio just informed us that "dissemble" was the Dictionary.com word of the day (see here) on Monday, ONE DAY before Bush's speech! This explains why he got it wrong, and purposefully felt the need to tell us what it means -- HE JUST LEARNED IT! HILARIOUS!

Bush Ratchets Up Fight Against Stem Cell Research

posted by John Blanco @ 10:44 AM

 

Think Progress » Bush Ratchets Up Fight Against Stem Cell Research

This is priceless:

Today President Bush announced that he plans to veto any legislation that would loosen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research:

I’ve made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers’ money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life – I’m against that. And therefore if the bill does that, I will veto it.

That’s strange. When he’s talking about the death penalty, President Bush says he likes policies that destroy life in order to save it:

I have been supportive of the death penalty, both as governor and President. … And I happen to believe that the death penalty, when properly applied, saves lives of others.

So, let’s get this straight: President Bush supports state-sanctioned killing because he “believes” that it will save lives, despite the multitude of studies showing that’s nonsense. And President Bush opposes research that could rescue millions from the living hell that is Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injury, stroke, etc., because he objects to “destroying” embryonic, in vitro stem cells that would have been discarded anyway.

Oh, and don’t forget, this mangled, convoluted logic is called “principled.” And it shows a committment to a “Culture of Life.”

My head hurts.

You know you're a Republican when...

posted by John Blanco @ 7:08 AM

 

Just to prove the hypocricy of the existing administration...

You know you're a Republican when...

...Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

...trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

...A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

...Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

...the best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

...providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

...global warming is junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

...being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.