Hey Freak!

Now, everybody knows, I love me some Star Wars. More than most people. I'm one of those geeks who can recite almost every line; even R2's beeps.

That said, I don't think I'd ever ever EVER join... a Jedi Church. No, seriously. I guess there's a Jedi Church in North Wales. I know this because the leader of that church was attacked recently. Any guesses as to who did the attacking?

Of course!

Hee.

Mom appalled at racy books in store for teens. Maybe someone should tell her that she should change her name, too.

That, or... yeah, suuuure you were going to find clothes for "your son." You conniving little cougar, you.

We've probably all seen street musicians, out and about, playing for tips. Some of us have stopped to listen, occasionally. Sometimes, we leave tips. But I think that most people are just annoyed by street musicians, and probably think that the world would be a better place if these one-step-up-from-a-beggar people were cleaned off the streets.

So. What happens when one of the world's greatest violinists shows up at a subway station with a violin worth $3.5 million and starts playing for tips? Would people notice the musical genius? Would crowds gather 'round for a free concert of classics (granted, nobody knew that he was a musician who normally plays for people paying more than $100 a ticket to hear him)? Would he even make twenty bucks?

He emerged from the Metro at the L'Enfant Plaza Station and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.

It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L'Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.

...

No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities -- as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

It's a very interesting article about human nature. It sure made me stop and think... "What would I do in that situation?" Would I be just another passer-by, simply ignoring the performance? Could I be moved by the performance of a street musician? I would like to think that I'd at least stop and listen (and tip), in appreciation of the talent, even if I wasn't moved. So, I guess, the big question that I asked myself was "What kind of person do I want myself to be?"

Go ahead. Read the full story. Would you have stopped and listened? What would you have done?

This article [read] was in the paper yesterday.

The San Diego County District Attorney's Office charged (transients Damian) Maple and (Frank) Montoya last week with aggravated mayhem and torture in the attack Feb. 27 on Robert Schneider. Schneider, 26, was beaten unconscious with a skateboard, then pushed into a smoldering fire on the beach. He remains hospitalized with major burns and fractures.

Dude. That's fucked up. Beat the shit out of a guy, and then push him into a smoldering fire? What assholes. After beating the guy to unconsciousness, you'd think that there'd be no need to further injure the guy, much less push him into a fire. Thankfully, the guy is still alive, and the two transients have been caught.

Oh, there's more?

San Diegans Carl Gregory and Roseann Iovine have announced that to support Schneider's recovery they will host an Australian barbecue from 2 to 6 p.m. April 13 at Bondi Bar & Kitchen, 333 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Whoa.

Seriously?

Honestly... I feel bad, even horrible for laughing, but... that is just funny.

Have you heard about this? I read about it at Shakesville, and I guess it's true - Canadian is the new black.

But not in a good way.

You see, some crafty racists have taken to calling black folks "Canadians." Apparently, they don't want to have to endure the stigma of being labeled racists, so they picked a much "nicer" word than nigger. So they call them Canadians. [story]

And that's supposed to appease the rest of us non-racists. Or fool us. Or something.

Listen, you fucking assholes. Calling blacks "Canadians" doesn't make you any less of a fucking racist. Calling blacks "Canadians" isn't fooling us. Using "Canadian" as an insult is, well, an insult to all Canadians. Sure, a lot of people joke about Canada, but seriously, they're probably our closest ally. Why the fuck do you want to piss them off?

I guess that when you're a flaming racist, you're just a fucking idiot anyway...

Fucking douchebag racists.

Dear Nancy Pelosi,

It's time to put impeachment back on the table. Impeachment. Back on table.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003.""

That comes from a story that we knew all along: False Statements Preceded War. (935 false statements in the two years following the terrorist attacks on 9/11)

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

No shit.

So, tell me, Mrs. Pelosi. Don't you think that dragging our fine nation into a war it didn't need is a good enough reason to impeach both the President and Vice-President?

Impeachment. Back on table.

(OK, maybe it was never on the table in the first place. But it should have been. Damned spineless Democrats)

Hurt? Been declared "medically unfit"? Well, suck it up, soldiers...

Ailing GIs deployed to war zones - Fort Carson sent soldiers who were not medically fit to war zones last month to meet "deployable strength" goals, according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post.

One e-mail, written Jan. 3 by the surgeon for Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, says: "We have been having issues reaching deployable strength, and thus have been taking along some borderline soldiers who we would otherwise have left behind for continued treatment."

Capt. Scot Tebo's e-mail was, in part, a reference to Master Sgt. Denny Nelson, a 19-year Army veteran, who was sent overseas last month despite doctors' orders that he not run, jump or carry more than 20 pounds for three months because of a severe foot injury.

Nelson took the medical report to the Soldier Readiness Process, or SRP, site on Fort Carson, where health-care professionals recommended Nelson stay home.

The soldier, who has a Bronze Star and is a member of the Mountain Post's Audie Murphy Chapter, was sent to Kuwait on Dec. 29.

Nelson says he was one of at least 52 soldiers deployed who should not have been, and a veterans group says the military is endangering soldiers to meet its goals.

So, yes, the health of soldiers is less important to the military than meeting arbitrary (and meaningless) "deployable strength" goals. There are NO repercussions if these goals are not met. to reiterate, yes, these troops are endangering their (mental as well as physical) health so that they can meet a fucking quota. Nice.

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said: "The military must follow existing law and examine our soldiers before they deploy to the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones. And the military must stop sending soldiers with physical or psychological conditions that require medical treatment into the war zones because this endangers the soldier, the unit and the mission."

Word.

Finally. The Bush administration is doing something to protect the troops. Usually, it's all just talk, but yes, this time, there is real protection involved.

The only problem? He's protecting them from environmental law.

President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast -- a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.

The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East.

The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, "are in the paramount interest of the United States" and its national security, Bush said in a memorandum.

"This exemption will enable the Navy to train effectively and to certify carrier and expeditionary strike groups for deployment in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security," the memo said. [full story]

Ah, yes. Because experimenting with sonar is much more important than, say, the well-being of area marine life, and, in the big picture, our entire ecosystem. Fuck whales, man. We gotta have our sonar! Besides, what have whales ever done to help protect the country? Fucking slackers.

I figured I'd check in, lest anyone think I was killed or something. There are currently two fires burning in/around San Diego... the Witch Creek Fire (north), and the Harris Fire (south). Neither one is close to me at the moment, but I'm one of the lucky ones. From what I've heard, half a million people have been moved/evacuated since Sunday, when the fires started. The skies to the north and south are both filled with smoke. And the place I recently moved out of? Up in Scripps Ranch? I wouldn't be surprised if that area has already been evacuated, since it's pretty close to the fires up north. But again, luckily, I'm not near any of the fires. For now.

There are some great pictures of the fires in the San Diego Flickr pool, if you're so inclined. And there's also a flickr group dedicated to the current Southern California Fires.

Because of this. A planned hotel in space.

"Galactic Suite," the first hotel planned in space, expects to open for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the world in 80 minutes.

Its Barcelona-based architects say the space hotel will be the most expensive in the galaxy, costing $4 million for a three-day stay.

During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Seriously, wouldn't that be the coolest thing? Being in space. Looking down at the Earth. Imagine what you'd see. Hell, you could see the aurora from space, if you're really lucky. I'm sorry, but that'd be about the coolest thing ever.

I'd better start saving my pennies now.

In other news, coming up this weekend:

• The Perseid Meteor Shower. "For best viewing, try to find a dark spot, away from city lights and look east. For added bonus, Mars will be out, in full red bloom, in the constellation Taurus, just below Perseus." Peak shower time is 2am, Monday morning.


• This one, you can enjoy without having to stay up late, and be in a dark place... Deep Blue is on the Discovery Channel on Sunday at 8PM. This show is made from the same folks who brought us Planet Earth (which, I think is periodically rerun on Animal Planet). The photography/cinematography is just amazing. I mean, AMAZING. I hope Deep Blue is every bit as cool as Planet Earth, because... wow. Trust me on this one - set your DVRs.

Have a good weekend!

I was deeply saddened to hear that the Weekly World News will no longer be published. That's right, the most effective eye-catcher in line at the grocery store will be shutting down its print edition (but the online edition will continue to function normally).

Now, I don't know about you, but I love the Weekly World News. There was always something interesting to read about while standing in line. Bat-boy. Zombies. Vampires attacking troops in the Middle East. Elvis alive and running for President in '08. That is gold, there, my friends. I'll admit, I've bought quite a few. I think everybody has bought at least one edition, even though it's kinda embarrassing when you're actually buying it. But you know, there's just no substitute for such creative craziness. The WWN was a bit of a security blanket. No matter how shitty your day is going, if you're in the store and you happen to pass the tabloid rack, you could always peruse the WWN for a good laugh. It's like he's like your crazy uncle who, while you don't believe a word he says, makes you smile because you know that at least he's cracking people up.

I really hope someone compiles a "Greatest WWN Headlines" list, on VH1 or E! or somewhere. Because dammit, WWN is an institution. Plus, they make stupid list shows for everything else; why not for the passing of a legend?

Remember a few days back when I blogged about the couple who was too busy playing D&D to care for their starving children? Well, Gloria Ramirez and Anthony Moya of Lubbock, TX probably consider them to be "amateurs."

A judge Wednesday ordered seven children removed from their rat-infested home strewn with dirty diapers after the mother's miscarriage led to the discovery of the dead fetus in a baby wipe box in the refrigerator. [full story]

And that's just the first paragraph from the story. And no, it doesn't really get better from there, either.

I need to start reading some happy news.

When bad dogs won't fight, there's one man who's your best friend.

Michael Vick.

"No dog is too much for me to handle. I train fighting dogs, and if they don't fight, I kill them. I am the Dog Murderer."

(not a real quote - I was just paraphrasing the intro to The Dog Whisperer)

So, it seems like Vick and some of his pals were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines. Not only that, but if the dogs wouldn't fight (or, "not ready" to fight), then they were killed by electrocution, hanging, and one dog was even killed by just being repeatedly slammed to the ground. Can you fucking believe that? Throwing a living creature to the ground over and over until it's dead. That is some seriously fucked up shit.

Let's hope that he's in prison for a long time. Let's hope that this guy never gets a chance to play in the NFL again. Let's hope that some dog loving prison gang slams Vick and his friends repeatedly to the ground.

I'll never understand this kind of thinking. Over at the Cryptic Philosopher's, I read this little bit:

RED OAK, Texas - An 18-year-old man was arrested Friday and accused of killing a zebra named Zambi in a drive-by shooting.

Zambi was shot dead July 5 as he grazed in a pasture at HiView Farms outside of Waxahachie, about 30 miles from Dallas, said Lt. Kevin Ketchum of the Ellis County Sheriff's Office. The farm is also home to camels, llamas and ring-tailed lemurs.

...

Joshua Romano and four friends were swimming in a creek but had to leave because of rain. They spotted the zebra as they were driving down a road near the farm. That's when Romano pulled out a deer rifle and shot Zambi dead, Ketchum said. [full story]

I mean, seriously, WTF? If you saw a zebra while out and about, would your first instinct be to kill it? I don't know about you, but my first instinct would be to find my camera. I guess I'm weird that way.

And did you hear about this? Some dickwad was New York's resident hawk. Now, I'm not sure how beloved this hawk (named Pale Male) is, but really, what's the point of throwing rocks and spitting at a bird that's not bothering you? To show how "cool" you are? Wha, didn't you outgrow that childish bullshit back in 4th grade? How'd you like it if random people threw rocks and spit at you?

Seriously, why do people have to be such dicks?

I'm not a parent myself, so I try not to talk about what parents should do. You know, how to raise their kids, blah blah blah. But, I don't think I'm wrong in saying this: if you can find time to fuck, then you should be able to find time to raise your kids.

The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Police also said that they had to shave the girl's head, because her hair was matted with cat urine. Cat urine. She also suffered from a mouth infection, dry skin, and dehydration. The boy had a genital infection, and was also treated for starvation. And, his lack of muscle development meant that he had difficulty walking.

So, what, you ask, were the parents doing while their children were rotting away?

Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care. [full story]

Seriously.

Like I said, if you can find the time to fuck (which they obviously did), you should be able to find time to raise your children. Don't worry; the game will still be there when you get back.