Monthly Archive for December, 2005

blog.demiurgiclust

…is now running on Wordpress TWO-POINT-OH! :D

Yeah, baby!

new rules ~ festivus 2005 extravaganza, part two

Time for Part Two.

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New Rule: It’s time for Congress to impeach George Walker Bush.
Illegal wiretapping. Illegal war. Good lawd; he’s done enough stuff to this country to make anyone’s head spin. I mean, really! But then again, this is the same guy who said it’d be a lot easier if this were a dictatorship…as long as he was the dictator.

Note to self: Find a copy of 1984.

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New Rule: The next time there’s a conflict of interest in regards to pulling the plug on someone in a persistent vegetative state, those involved in said conflict must settle it themselves, without getting the government (local, state, or federal) involved. Or the media.

I am, of course, referring to the fiasco that centred around Terri Schiavo. The plug was pulled on her in mid-to-late March of this year; and she passed away near the end of the month. It was a mess in the media. There were hoards of people gathered outside where she was staying, holding vigil. Most of the media was there too. Florida governor Jeb Bush wanted her to become a ward of the state.

Was any of this stuff really necessary? I mean, come on. Terri Schiavo was a grown woman, not a little kid. She was in a PVS for fifteen years. 90% of her brain–which included virtually everything needed to function–was gone. She was blind (which an autopsy confirmed). She couldn’t eat. She couldn’t talk. She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t do anything except lie in her bed and get fed through a feeding tube. There are probably plenty of people like this everywhere; why not have the media direct their energies toward them?

Oh, yeah. That’s right. Because there was this whole duh-RAMA involving her husband, Michael, who either had decided he needed to move on with his life and got another girlfriend or is a total arse (depending on who you ask) and Terri’s parents, the Schindlers, who were either obsessed with keeping her alive to feed some emotional void or genuinely thought their daughter was not in a PVS and was responsive (again, depending on who you ask). He wanted the plug pulled, as he believed his wife didn’t want to “live” this way; they wanted it left in, saying she was still alive. I ask them: Yeah, she may’ve been alive, but was she living?

Anyway. If any other families need to fight this sort of thing out, they should settle it amongst themselves. Have a tug of war, a hockey shootout, a game of Horse, whatever. Just leave the rest of the country and the world out of it!

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New Rule: If your team is sucking, don’t trade your best player!
Yep. Bruins reference. Joe Thornton to be exact. Three weeks ago, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for three mediocre guys. Now? San Jose is doing better; while Boston continues to suck. That’ll learn them.

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New Rule: Free Katie!
I don’t think anymore explanation is needed than this.

In a related story, the Tom Cruise couch jumps seen (almost) everywhere are very creepy sights. Either find the git his meds or introduce him to a straight jacket.

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That’s all the Festivus “New Rules” I can think of. Keep in mind that Festivus doesn’t end until you can pin the head of your family down to the ground. ;)

new rules ~ festivus 2005 extravaganza, part one

So Festivus is coming up on Friday. Rather that just do my Airing of Grievances straight up, I’m doing them in the form of New Rules. :) Why? Well, why not?

Here goes… Part one. Yes, Part One.

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New Rule: Former dictators can’t act like divas in prison.
Two weeks ago, Sadaam Hussein didn’t show up to trial because he thought the trial itself was unjust. Earlier this week, he refused to show up in court because he didn’t have any clean underwear. He’s also complained about unsavoury conditions in prison itself. Look, fella. I don’t care that you were president of Iraq; virtually no one taking you to trial does. Mmmkay? As far as anyone else is concerned, you’re finally getting a taste of your own medicine. *nod*

The day in the Sadaam Hussein trial.

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New Rule: No more wars on concepts or holidays!
First it was the “war on drugs”. It hasn’t been won. Then it was the “war on terror(ism)”. With or without the “-ism”, despite what GWB may think, we’re not exactly winning that, either.

Now? Apparently some Christians out there think there’s a “war on Christmas”.

This one just takes the cake. Not to mention it’s another case of a handful of them taking something–various stores refusing to wish their patrons a “Merry Christmas” and wishing them “Happy Holidays” instead–and blowing it way out of proportion. Years ago, Christians were whining about Christmas being too commercial for them. Now they’re mad because the check-out guy at Target is wishing them “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas”. Make up your minds, people? What do you want?

Or maybe the real reason some of them are pissed off is because those who celebrate other holidays–Advent, Yule, Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa–are finally being treated equally; and it’s driving them up the wall. Maybe someone needs to remind them that December 25–the day on which Christmas is celebrated (and this year, Hanukkah starts on the same day)–was originally a Pagan holiday (the feast of the Son of Isis–she being the Pagan goddess of Nature; the birth of Mithras; among other things), and that it only became Christmas in the year 350, as a means of converting the Pagan Romans to convert to Christianity. Many of those old Pagan traditions–the feasting, the Yule log, the Christmas tree–still exist; and I would dare say most Christians take part in those traditions in some form or another.

Anyway, no one is stopping Christians themselves from wishing someone a “Merry Christmas”. Put it on your cards for this year. Shout it out from the rooftops of your house if you want. As long as the sentiment is there, and you really do mean “Merry Christmas”, it doesn’t matter.

Pagan origins of Christmas

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New Rule: If you say no amount of money will send you to a rival team, stick to your word!

Today Red Sox Nation, I can imagine, is very livid about Johnny Damon going to the New York Yankees for $52 million over four years. Back in May, he said he’d never go to the Yanks. He loved Boston. After all, he was part of the biggest comeback ever in ALCS–perhaps even all of baseball–history in 2004, not to mention he helped Boston win their first World Series in 86 years. Where’s Theo Epstein when you really need him? If the Bruins trading Joe Thornton was bad, this is ten times worse.

Thoughts on the Damon acquisition and how it could help those freakin’ Yankees.

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New Rule: Selecting a hockey player who assaulted another hockey player–no matter how good the assaulter may be–is never a good idea.

Vancouver Canuck forward Todd Bertuzzi is among those selected to play on Team Canada at the Olympics in a couple of months. He’s known for his assault on Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore–who, more likely than not, will never play hockey again–near the end of the 2003-04 season. He was suspended for the rest of that season, and the suspension carried over into the lockout last year. His year of probation that he received in court ends this week.

While some fans have probably forgotten this incident and forgiven Bertuzzi, I doubt others have. I betcha Avs fans who are also Team Canada fans are pissed. Heck, when the incident happened two years ago, I thought that constituted a permanent ban…and not just from the NHL, either. It’s one thing to check a guy into the boards while trying to get the puck to a teammate or whatever. It’s another thing to bash a guy and break his neck. I say, ditch him from the team and take Sidney Crosby instead.

Bertuzzi headed to the Olympics

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To be continued….

mmm…new theme

Minimal. It’s actually based on an old dL layout, which I also used here, only there are no tables this time. Woohoo! :)

I have no idea how to get rid of that bullet or whatever next to “blogs and journals”. Any ideas, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

have you ever had the feeling…

…you were being watched?

If you’re an anti-war activist, the Pentagon could be spying on you. This after reports coming out that there’s been wiretapping of US citizens going on since 2002 and GWB’s defense of said practice.

How is invading the privacy of your average Joe or Jane US-ican going to stop terrorism?

“To say ‘unchecked power’ basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject,” he said angrily in a finger-pointing answer. “I am doing what you expect me to do, and at the same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country.”

Like hell! And it is unchecked power!

Yes, the act dates back to 1978; but it doesn’t matter, in my opinion. It’s totally unconstitutional. All of it. On the other hand, “It’s just a GD piece of paper”, according to Dubya.

No, sir. It’s not.

Put aside, for a moment, political affiliation or personal beliefs. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent. It doesn’t matter if you support the invasion or Iraq or not. Despite our differences, the Constitution has stood for two centuries as the defining document of our government, the final source to determine – in the end – if something is legal or right.

Every federal official – including the President – who takes an oath of office swears to “uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Emphasis mine, of course.

But then, us US-icans live in a country where one president can invade another country illegally sending over 2000 soldiers and around 30,000 civilians to their deaths, erode our civil liberties, nominate guys for SCOTUS who think it’s okay to torture (which is also unconstitutional, by way of the Eighth Amendment) and get away with it all; while another was impeached for, pretty much, lying about giving a blow job to an intern. Or whatever. Meh.